A CHR-based Implementation of Known Arc-Consistency

In classical CLP(FD) systems, domains of variables are completely known at the beginning of the constraint propagation process. However, in systems interacting with an external environment, acquiring the whole domains of variables before the beginning of constraint propagation may cause waste of computation time, or even obsolescence of the acquired data at the time of use. For such cases, the Interactive Constraint Satisfaction Problem (ICSP) model has been proposed as an extension of the CSP model, to make it possible to start constraint propagation even when domains are not fully known, performing acquisition of domain elements only when necessary, and without the need for restarting the propagation after every acquisition. In this paper, we show how a solver for the two sorted CLP language, defined in previous work, to express ICSPs, has been implemented in the Constraint Handling Rules (CHR) language, a declarative language particularly suitable for high level implementation of constraint solvers.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, 1 table To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP

Erratum to: Distal pain and carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis among cashiers: a longitudinal study

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Uso integrato di sistemi di video monitoraggio e di misura delle prestazioni per migliorare il livello di sicurezza sul lavoro

Una delle tecnologie spesso presenti nelle aziende è rappresentata dai sistemi di videosorveglianza. Se da un lato l’efficacia di tali sistemi ai fini della sicurezza antintrusione è ampiamente riconosciuta, le potenzialità di un loro utilizzo per scopi di sicurezza sul lavoro non risultano ancora indagate. Il presente articolo illustra un progetto di ricerca applicata sviluppato dal gruppo di Impianti Industriali della Facoltà di Ingegneria dell’Università degli Studi di Brescia volto ad analizzare la potenziale utilità dell’utilizzo di sistemi di videosorveglianza per monitorare efficacemente le attività lavorative al fine di misurare, e quindi incrementare, il livello di salute e sicurezza sul lavoro. Nell’ambito del progetto, un sistema di video monitoraggio affiancato da un sistema di misura delle performance è stato implementato in un’azienda manifatturiera. La sperimentazione, resa possibile da un accordo tra parte datoriale e sindacale, ha consentito l’identificazione di interventi prioritari da attuare in azienda per il miglioramento del livello di sicurezza. Infatti, grazie all’analisi delle videoriprese è stato possibile individuare sia condizioni a rischio, che comportamenti a rischio o sicuri, connaturati con la specifica tipologia di attività dell’azienda. Le informazioni ed i dati così raccolti hanno consentito la quantificazione degli indicatori definiti dal sistema di misura delle prestazioni. Dall’analisi dell’andamento degli indicatori, si è evidenziato un aumento dei comportamenti sicuri durante il periodo di sperimentazione. Tale andamento può essere interpretato come conseguenza di breve periodo dell’effetto deterrenza legato all’installazione delle videocamere nei reparti produttivi. Una valutazione dell’efficacia di lungo periodo del sistema in termini di miglioramento del livello di sicurezza sul lavoro sarà possibile solamente a valle di ulteriori sperimentazioni. ------ Video surveillance systems represent one of the types of technology often available in companies. Even though the effectiveness of such systems for security reasons is well recognized, their potential for occupational safety reasons have not been investigated yet. This paper describes a research project, developed by the Industrial Plant group of the Engineering Faculty of the University of Brescia. The aim of the project is to analyse the potential of the use of video surveillance systems with the objective of effectively monitoring the working activity in order to measure, and therefore increase, the level of health and safety at work. Within the project, a video surveillance system coupled with a performance measurement system has been implemented in a manufacturing company. Through the experimentation of the system, that was possible because of an agreement between employer and unions, the priority interventions to implement in order to improve the safety level in the company have been identified. In fact, by means of the analysis of the video records, it was possible to identify both conditions at risk, and safe or at risk behaviours specific for the company. The gathered data made it possible to quantify the indicators included in the performance measurement system. A trend analysis of the indicators showed that the amount of safe behaviours increased during the experimentation period. This trend could be considered as a consequence in the short term of the deterrence effect connected to video cameras installation in the plant. An assessment of the long term effectiveness of the system in terms of safety level improvement will be possible only after further experimentations

The effectiveness of team-based learning in nursing education: A systematic review

Aim: Team-Based Learning (TBL) is an active teaching methodology, recently implemented also in the field of nursing education. The main objective of this study was to identify, appraise and summarize primary studies on the effectiveness of TBL in achieving learning outcomes in undergraduate nursing students. The secondary objective was to explore the generic competencies the students developed, and their reactions and attitudes.Study design: A systematic review of experimental and quasi-experimental studies.Databases sources: Cochrane Library, Pubmed/Medline, Cinahl, PsycINFO, and Eric; Google Scholar was used to search for grey literature and the reference lists of the retrieved papers.Review methods: A research protocol was developed according to the PRISMA-P guidelines. Two reviewers conducted the selection process. The "JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist" was used to check the quality of the selected studies.Results: We included 12 studies: 2 monocentric randomized controlled trials and 10 quasi-experimental studies. Nine out of 12 studies produced significant results in favour of TBL in terms of academic performance and skills development, however results were divergent when TBL was compared with other teaching methods. The results of 7 studies highlighted the effectiveness of TBL in improving the development of communication skills, inter professional learning, and self-directed learning. Divergent results were obtained with regard to problem solving and critical thinking skills. TBL promoted classroom engagement, however it did not seem to be associated with better learning outcomes.Conclusions: Overall, TBL was found to be effective in achieving undergraduate nursing students' learning outcomes, but evidence was not sufficiently strong to warrant that it is more effective than other teaching methods. The results of this review are in favour of the implementation of TBL in nursing education, however studies with more rigorous methods and with a mixed method design are required to improve the transferability of results

The effect of repeated online Team-Based Learning on undergraduate nursing students: a quasi-experimental study

Background: Little is known about how students’ experiences with online Team-Based Learning (TBL) may have changed over time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aims: to examine the performance of undergraduate nursing students in online TBL; to evaluate the change in students’ attitudes about teamwork and their accountability, preference and satisfaction with online TBL between 1st and 2nd year. Methods: A one-group pretest-posttest design was used. A cohort of thirty-three undergraduate nursing students attended online TBL sessions during 1st and 2nd year. Students’ performance in individual versus team readiness assurance tests in 2nd-year online TBL sessions was compared. Results from a structured questionnaire on students’ attitudes about teamwork and from the Team-Based Learning Student Assessment Instrument (TBL-SAI) were collected at different time points. Results: A statistically significant improvement was identified in students’ performance and in the categories “Overall satisfaction with Team Experience” and “Team Impact on Clinical Reasoning Ability” of the structured questionnaire. T-test of TBL-SAI mean scores showed no statistical significance. Conclusions: In repeated online TBL, teamwork increased students’ satisfaction and clinical reasoning ability. Group performance was higher than individual results. Students’ accountability, preference and satisfaction with online TBL remained high

Design of experiments for the optimization of a new process for the stabilization of air pollution control residues

This work is part of the Cosmos-rice project (http://www.cosmos-rice.csmt.eu/), which was funded by the European Union under the Life+ program (LIFE11/ENV/IT000256). The aim of the Cosmos-rice project is to develop and optimise a new process, named Cosmos-rice process, for the stabilisation of Air Pollution Control (APC) residues coming from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) using rice husk ash as stabilizing agent (Bosio et al., 2014). The objective of this work is to present and discuss the optimisation of the Cosmos-rice process parameters by means of the statistical Design of Experiments (DoE) methodology. The DoE refers to the process of planning the experiments so that appropriate data that can be analysed by statistical methods can be collected, resulting in valid and objective conclusions (Montgomery, 2001). In the first part of this work, after a presentation of the Cosmos-rice process, the selection of the appropriate input and output factors (i.e. the variables that can influence the process performance and the variables selected to represent the process performance) is discussed. In particular, the input factors include the percentage of rice husk ash, the mixing temperature and time and the environmental conditions (air temperature and humidity) during the seasoning phase, while the output factors include the concentrations of Pb and Zn in the leachate of the treated APC residues. In the second part, the plan of experiments set up for the optimisation of the Cosmos-rice process is presented. In particular, after showing the levels adopted for each of the input parameters, the resulting plan of 16 experiments is shown. Finally, the results obtained from the experiments, carried out by the Chem4Tech laboratory of the University of Brescia (Italy), are analysed by means of the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The MANOVA represents an extension of the univariate analysis of variance to the case of multiple dependent variables and allows for a direct test of the null hypothesis with respect to all the dependent variables in an experiment. Thanks to the statistical analysis, the relationships between input and output parameters have been identified, along with the best combination of the input factors levels. In particular, the environmental conditions during the seasoning phase have been found to be the parameter most affecting the effectiveness of the stabilisation process

Disentangling nonlinear geomagnetic variability during magnetic storms and quiescence by timescale dependent recurrence properties

Understanding the complex behavior of the near-Earth electromagnetic environment is one of the main challenges of Space Weather studies. This includes both the correct characterization of the different physical mechanisms responsible for its configuration and dynamics as well as the efforts which are needed for a correct forecasting of several phenomena. By using a nonlinear multi-scale dynamical systems approach, we provide here new insights into the scale-to-scale dynamical behavior of both quiet and disturbed periods of geomagnetic activity. The results show that a scale-dependent dynamical transition occurs when moving from short to long timescales, i.e., from fast to slow dynamical processes, the latter being characterized by a more regular behavior, while more dynamical anomalies are found in the behavior of the fast component. This suggests that different physical processes are typical for both dynamical regimes: the fast component, being characterized by a more chaotic and less predictable behavior, can be related to the internal dynamical state of the near-Earth electromagnetic environment, while the slow component seems to be less chaotic and associated with the directly driven processes related to the interplanetary medium variability. Moreover, a clear difference has been found between quiet and disturbed periods, the former being more complex than the latter. These findings support the view that, for a correct forecasting in the framework of Space Weather studies, more attention needs to be devoted to the identification of proxies describing the internal dynamical state of the near-Earth electromagnetic environment

Assessing satisfaction in simulation among nursing students: psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience - Italian Version scale

Background: The Satisfaction with Simulation Experience scale is a 5-point Likert scale that measures students' satisfaction in medium and high-fidelity simulation scenarios. This study aims at investigating the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience - Italian Version scale. Methods: A multi-centre cross-sectional study was conducted. The scale was administered to a sample of 266 undergraduate nursing students from two Italian universities after attending a medium- and high-fidelity simulation session in November 2022 and March 2023. Cronbach's alpha coefficient and item-total correlation were sorted out to assess internal consistency and reliability. The test-retest method was used as a measure of scale stability over time as well as the confirmatory factor analysis to verify construct validity. Results: The Cronbach's alpha value was 0.94 for the overall scale, indicating excellent reliability, and it was 0.84 or higher for each subscales, indicating good reliability. A large correlation coefficient of 0.60 or higher was found between each item and its subscale and between each item and the overall scale score. A medium test-retest correlation coefficient was found for most items (r > 0.30). The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the factorial structure found in the original study. Conclusions: Satisfaction is an important teaching and learning quality indicator along with the achievement of learning outcomes in simulation. The Satisfaction with Simulation Experience - Italian Version scale showed good reliability and validity; therefore, it could be a useful tool to assess simulation impact in Italian nursing students. The extensive utilization of the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience scale, along with its various validated versions, could facilitate assessing satisfaction in simulation across diverse contexts and enable comparisons of findings across studies in different countries

ITALIAN CONSENSUS STATEMENT (2020) ON RETURN TO PLAY AFTER LOWER LIMB MUSCLE INJURY IN FOOTBALL (SOCCER)

Return to play (RTP) decisions in football are currently based on expert opinion. No consensus guideline has been published to demonstrate an evidence-based decision- making process in football (soccer). Our aim was to provide a framework for evidence-based decision-making in RTP following lower limb muscle injuries sustained in football. A 1-day consensus meeting was held in Milan, on 31 August 2018, involving 66 national and international experts from various academic backgrounds. A narrative review of the current evidence for RTP decision-making in football was provided to delegates. Assembled experts came to a consensus on the best practice for managing RTP following lower limb muscle injuries via the Delphi process. Consensus was reached on (1) the definitions of \u2018return to training\u2019 and \u2018return to play\u2019 in football. We agreed on \u2018return to training\u2019 and RTP in football, the appropriate use of clinical and imaging assessments, and laboratory and field tests for return to training following lower limb muscle injury, and identified objective criteria for RTP based on global positioning system technology. Level of evidence IV, grade of recommendation D