Macroscopic and microscopic perspectives for adoption of technologies in the USA

Adoption of a new technology depends on many factors. Marketing, advertising, social interactions, and personal convictions are relevant features when deciding to adopt, or not, a new technology. Thus, it is very important to determine the relative weight of these factors when introducing a new technology. Here we discuss an agent based model to investigate the behavior of agents exposed to advertising and social contacts. Agents may follow the social pressure, or maybe contrarians, acting against the majority, to decide if they adopt or not a new technology. First, we solve analytically the model that relies on the above quoted factors. Then, we compare the theoretical results with empirical data concerning the adoption of innovations by American households during the 20th century. The analysis of the diffusion dynamics process is done either for the whole period, or by periods based on the so-called technical-economic paradigms, according to Freeman and Perez. Three different periods are considered: before 1920, from 1920 to 1970, and after 1970. We study the evolution of the model parameters for each technical-economic period. Finally, by adjusting the key parameters we are able to collapse all the data into a universal curve that describes all the adoption processes

Appendectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: a multicenter ambispective cohort study by the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery and new technologies (the CRAC study)

Major surgical societies advised using non-operative management of appendicitis and suggested against laparoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hypothesis is that a significant reduction in the number of emergent appendectomies was observed during the pandemic, restricted to complex cases. The study aimed to analyse emergent surgical appendectomies during pandemic on a national basis and compare it to the same period of the previous year. This is a multicentre, retrospective, observational study investigating the outcomes of patients undergoing emergent appendectomy in March-April 2019 vs March-April 2020. The primary outcome was the number of appendectomies performed, classified according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) score. Secondary outcomes were the type of surgical technique employed (laparoscopic vs open) and the complication rates. One thousand five hundred forty one patients with acute appendicitis underwent surgery during the two study periods. 1337 (86.8%) patients met the inclusion criteria: 546 (40.8%) patients underwent surgery for acute appendicitis in 2020 and 791 (59.2%) in 2019. According to AAST, patients with complicated appendicitis operated in 2019 were 30.3% vs 39.9% in 2020 (p = 0.001). We observed an increase in the number of post-operative complications in 2020 (15.9%) compared to 2019 (9.6%) (p < 0.001). The following determinants increased the likelihood of complication occurrence: undergoing surgery during 2020 (+ 67%), the increase of a unit in the AAST score (+ 26%), surgery performed > 24 h after admission (+ 58%), open surgery (+ 112%) and conversion to open surgery (+ 166%). In Italian hospitals, in March and April 2020, the number of appendectomies has drastically dropped. During the first pandemic wave, patients undergoing surgery were more frequently affected by more severe appendicitis than the previous year's timeframe and experienced a higher number of complications. Trial registration number and date: Research Registry ID 5789, May 7th, 202

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Medição e caracterização de campos eletromagnéticos na Asa Norte e em Sobradinho para as faixas de frequência utilizadas na telefonia celular

Monografia (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, 2005.A crescente oferta de comunicação móvel e a conseqüente proliferação das antenas de telefonia celular despertaram o interesse da comunidade quanto à questão da saúde relacionada à exposição aos campos eletromagnéticos gerados por estas antenas. A polêmica aumentou ainda quando estudos foram publicados, ainda sem embasamento científico suficiente, ligando o uso dos aparelhos a casos de doença. Entretanto, existem várias outras fontes de campos eletromagnéticos, por vezes mais perigosas à saúde, que não são tidas como vilãs. Este estudo, no entanto, visa verificar o atendimento dos níveis de potência estabelecidos pela Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações para as faixas de telefonia celular. Devido ao fato de ser uma tecnologia relativamente nova, que também está presente em outros aparelhos que geram polêmica num nível menor, a telefonia móvel tem despertado um interesse incomum acerca dos efeitos de seu uso. Logo, no intuito de tentar demonstrar a adequação dos níveis de potência aos parâmetros estabelecidos na Asa Norte e em Sobradinho, idealizou-se este projeto, fundamentado em um vasto estudo dos efeitos das radiações não-ionizantes e da legislação regulamentadora pertinente. Assim, elaborou-se um mapa de cada localidade estudada a fim de demonstrar qual o nível de atendimento aos parâmetros estabelecidos. Os mapas proporcionam também a visualização dos níveis de potência normalizadas, com base nos níveis legais, podendo-se informar a população em geral quanto à sua segurança.The increasing offer of mobile communication services and the subsequent proliferation of antennas woke the interest of people in the effects of the exposition to the electromagnetic fields in radiofrequency generated by those antennas. The polemic increased when some research were published by the communications vehicles without the necessary conclusions linking the use of gear to the diseases. By the way, there are many other sources of electromagnetic fields, some times more dangerous, that are not taken as bad. For example, the radio diffusion in FM, where the wave lengths are the order of the human body, that can be very dangerous. This study intends to verify the attempt of the levels of power levels established by ANATEL to the mobile phone spectrum ranges. As it is a new technology, that is present in other gears that are polemic in a less degree, the mobile communication has awakened an uncommon interest to the effects of its use. So, in the intuit to show the adequacy to the levels of power levels to the parameters established at Asa Norte and Sobradinho, this project was idealized, funded in a vast study of the effects of the nonionizing and about the apt legislation. A map of each localization studied was made to show the level of attempt to the established parameters. The maps show the levels of normalized power, in base of the legal levels, tranquilizing the people in general about their safe

Experimental setups for FEL-based four-wave mixing experiments at FERMI

The recent advent of free-electron laser (FEL) sources is driving the scientific community to extend table-top laser research to shorter wavelengths adding elemental selectivity and chemical state specificity. Both a compact setup (mini-TIMER) and a separate instrument (EIS-TIMER) dedicated to four-wave-mixing (FWM) experiments has been designed and constructed, to be operated as a branch of the Elastic and Inelastic Scattering beamline: EIS. The FWM experiments that are planned at EIS-TIMER are based on the transient grating approach, where two crossed FEL pulses create a controlled modulation of the sample excitations while a third time-delayed pulse is used to monitor the dynamics of the excited state. This manuscript describes such experimental facilities, showing the preliminary results of the commissioning of the EIS-TIMER beamline, and discusses original experimental strategies being developed to study the dynamics of matter at the fs-nm time-length scales. In the near future such experimental tools will allow more sophisticated FEL-based FWM applications, that also include the use of multiple and multi-color FEL pulses