Italian politics in an era of recession : the end of bipolarism?

Italian politics have undergone momentous change in the 2007–2017 decade under the impact of the eurozone crisis, whose peak in 2011–2013 could be equated to the earlier watershed years of 1992–1994. The lasting impact of the upheaval in Italian politics in the early 1990s could still be felt in the decade of economic recession, but there were also new challenges prompted by a crisis that had its roots in international financial contagion and which unravelled under the shadow of both recession and austerity. The changes were of an economic, social, cultural, institutional, policy-oriented and political nature. If one central quintessentially political theme stands out by the end of this decade it is the apparent exhaustion of the quest for bipolarisation that was initiated in the early 1990s

Effect of Sugars on Gelation Kinetics of Gelatin Gels

We investigate the rheological behavior of aqueous solutions containing animal gelatin, sugars and polyols. The aim is to study how the gelation kinetics, transition temperatures and gel strengths of an aqueous gelatin solution can be affected by the progressive addition of co-solutes. Aqueous solutions with a fixed mass percentage of gelatin of 6.8 wt% were prepared at various concentrations of sugars and polyols. Through Dynamic Temperature Ramp tests, performed at various ramp rates, and Dynamic Time Sweep and Dynamic Frequency Sweep tests, carried out at different temperatures, it was possible both to evaluate the transition temperatures and to monitor the gelation kinetics of the samples. It was found that the contribution of co-solutes positively affects both the gelation process and the thermal stability of the aqueous gelatin solution by reducing the gelation time and improving the mechanical properties of the gel in terms of network elasticity

Italian cross-sectional growth charts for height, weight and BMI (6–20 y)

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Methodology Based on Vector and Scalar Measurement of Traffic Channel Power Levels to Assess Maximum Exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation Generated by 5G NR Systems

Maximum-Power Extrapolation (MPE) for mobile telecommunication sources follows an established paradigm based on the identification and measurement of a channel that acts as a power reference. Prior to the 5G era, the role of reference channel has been played by always-on broadcast signals since they had the great advantage of being always transmitted at the maximum power level allowed for a generic signal channel. However, the beamforming implemented by 5G sources obliges us to rethink this approach. In fact, with beamforming the 5G source can transmit data traffic streams through a beam characterized by a much higher gain than the broadcast one. This implies that the detected power for traffic beams could be much higher than the corresponding power of broadcast beams. In this paper, a novel approach for 5G MPE procedure is presented, where the direct measurement of the received power of a traffic beam is used to assess the maximum exposure generated by a 5G system. An innovative specific experimental setup is also proposed, with the use of a User Equipment (UE) with the aim of forcing the traffic beam toward the measurement positions. In this way, it is possible to directly measure the power of each Resource Element (RE) transmitted by the traffic beam. As opposed to other MPE proposals for 5G, the discussed technique does not require any correction of the measured data since it relies only on the traffic beam pointing toward the measurement position, simplifying the overall MPE procedure and thus reducing the uncertainty of the MPE estimated field strength

Broadband Electromagnetic Sensing for Food Quality Control: A Preliminary Experimental Study

Quality control is of great importance in food industry, both for the evaluation of product characteristics and to avoid the occurrence of foreign bodies contamination in packaged items. With respect to the inspections against possible contaminants inside the product, different technologies are currently adopted along production chain lines. However, the number of accidents involving low density objects remains very large. To overcome this limitation, the use of electromagnetic technologies has been recently proposed. In this work, the synergic use of terahertz and microwaves technologies is proposed, so to provide high resolution images and in-depth inspections of different scenarios, including low density materials. A focus study on sugar samples is considered, reporting both its broadband characterization at microwaves and preliminary terahertz imaging to evaluate the integrity of the packaging. Ongoing research is devoted to the development and validation of a microwave device for monitoring food products along the production line

Local representative democracy and protest politics:the case of the Five-star Movement

In recent years, protest politics has become a relevant phenomenon in various European countries. Italy has witnessed the rise of the Five-star Movement (M5S), an anti-establishment party, which, at the 2013 general election, obtained one-fourth of the total votes. However, the story of this ‘party-movement’ started at the local level, as a civic network aimed at changing administrative practices in municipal government. By using an original dataset on representation in 671 Italian municipalities from 2010 to 2014, this article aims to explain not only the subnational political success of the M5S but also the challenges and contradictions that a newly formed movement faces in multi-level electoral arenas

Italian multicenter study on infection hazards during dental practice: Control of environmental microbial contamination in public dental surgeries

Background. The present study assessed microbial contamination in Italian dental surgeries. Methods. An evaluation of water, air and surface microbial contamination in 102 dental units was carried out in eight Italian cities. Results. The findings showed water microbial contamination in all the dental surgeries; the proportion of water samples with microbial levels above those recommended decreased during working. With regard to Legionella spp., the proportion of positive samples was 33.3%. During work activity, the index of microbial air contamination (IMA) increased. The level of microbial accumulation on examined surfaces did not change over time. Conclusion. These findings confirm that some Italian dental surgeries show high biocontamination, as in other European Countries, which highlights the risk of occupational exposure and the need to apply effective measures to reduce microbial loads