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

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

Assessing young people's political engagement: a critical and systematic literature review of the instruments used to measure political engagement

Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing interest in understanding youth political engagement. However, it has been argued that the instruments used to assess the concept often lack adequate validation, and this is important as this practice may result in biased statistical conclusions. Consequently, the main aim of the present study was to systematically review, summarize, and critique the extant research evidence on the development of psychometric instruments that assess young people’s political engagement. Following a systematic review of the literature, seven instruments were identified that were both valid and reliable, but none explicitly assessed young people’s political engagement. Instead, they considered broad concepts and/or dimensions related to political engagement. Emphasising the lack of statistically robust standardised measurement tools that empirically assess young people’s political engagement, the available evidence confirms the pressing need to adopt a robust psychometric approach to assess political engagement in youth

Comparison of anticoagulation quality between acenocoumarol and warfarin in patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valves: Insights from the nationwide PLECTRUM study

Vitamin K antagonists are indicated for the thromboprophylaxis in patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valves (MPHV). However, it is unclear whether some differences between acenocoumarol and warfarin in terms of anticoagulation quality do exist. We included 2111 MPHV patients included in the nationwide PLECTRUM registry. We evaluated anticoagulation quality by the time in therapeutic range (TiTR). Factors associated with acenocoumarol use and with low TiTR were investigated by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Mean age was 56.8 ± 12.3 years; 44.6% of patients were women and 395 patients were on acenocoumarol. A multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that patients on acenocoumarol had more comorbidities (i.e., ≥3, odds ratio (OR) 1.443, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.081-1.927, p = 0.013). The mean TiTR was lower in the acenocoumarol than in the warfarin group (56.1 ± 19.2% vs. 61.6 ± 19.4%, p < 0.001). A higher prevalence of TiTR (<60%, <65%, or <70%) was found in acenocoumarol users than in warfarin ones (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Acenocoumarol use was associated with low TiTR regardless of the cutoff used at multivariable analysis. A lower TiTR on acenocoumarol was found in all subgroups of patients analyzed according to sex, hypertension, diabetes, age, valve site, atrial fibrillation, and INR range. In conclusion, anticoagulation quality was consistently lower in MPHV patients on acenocoumarol compared to those on warfarin

A Multicenter Retrospective Survey regarding Diabetic Ketoacidosis Management in Italian Children with Type 1 Diabetes

We conducted a retrospective survey in pediatric centers belonging to the Italian Society for Pediatric Diabetology and Endocrinology. The following data were collected for all new-onset diabetes patients aged 0-18 years: DKA (pH < 7.30), severe DKA (pH < 7.1), DKA in preschool children, DKA treatment according to ISPAD protocol, type of rehydrating solution used, bicarbonates use, and amount of insulin infused. Records (n = 2453) of children with newly diagnosed diabetes were collected from 68/77 centers (87%), 39 of which are tertiary referral centers, the majority of whom (n = 1536, 89.4%) were diagnosed in the tertiary referral centers. DKA was observed in 38.5% and severe DKA in 10.3%. Considering preschool children, DKA was observed in 72%, and severe DKA in 16.7%. Cerebral edema following DKA treatment was observed in 5 (0.5%). DKA treatment according to ISPAD guidelines was adopted in 68% of the centers. In the first 2 hours, rehydration was started with normal saline in all centers, but with different amount. Bicarbonate was quite never been used. Insulin was infused starting from third hour at the rate of 0.05-0.1 U/kg/h in 72% of centers. Despite prevention campaign, DKA is still observed in Italian children at onset, with significant variability in DKA treatment, underlying the need to share guidelines among centers

Experimental Observation of Plasma Wakefield Growth Driven by the Seeded Self-Modulation of a Proton Bunch

We measure the effects of transverse wakefields driven by a relativistic proton bunch in plasma with densities of 2.1 x 10(14) and 7.7 x 10(14) electrons/cm(3). We show that these wakefields periodically defocus the proton bunch itself, consistently with the development of the seeded self-modulation process. We show that the defocusing increases both along the bunch and along the plasma by using time resolved and time-integrated measurements of the proton bunch transverse distribution. We evaluate the transverse wakefield amplitudes and show that they exceed their seed value (&lt; 15 MV/m) and reach over 300 MV/m. All these results confirm the development of the seeded self-modulation process, a necessary condition for external injection of low energy and acceleration of electrons to multi-GeV energy levels