Un’Architettura Ibrida Push-Pull per Mobile Crowdsensing usando il Web of Things

Il Mobile Crowdsensing (MCS) è un concetto in rapida crescita che sfrutta la diffusa presenza dei dispositivi mobili per raccogliere dati e analizzare l’ambiente circostante. Tuttavia, la scelta tra un’architettura basata su Push o Pull per un sistema di MCS può comportare limitazioni e una mancanza di flessibilità per i creatori delle campagne. Per superare queste sfide, questa tesi propone un’architettura ibrida Push-Pull per le campagne di raccolta dati basate sul MCS che sfrutta le potenzialità del Web of Things WoT). L’architettura proposta si basa su tecnologie web consolidate per standardizzare le interfacce e le interazioni tra i dispositivi. Ciò consente ai creatori delle campagne (crowdsourcers) di supportare simultaneamente diversi tipi di campagne, bilanciando la quantità di dati raccolti con la loro qualità. Inoltre, la possibilità di geolocalizzare i lavoratori MCS consente di migliorare ulteriormente la qualità dei dati raccolti. Per mettere in pratica l’architettura proposta è stata progettata e implementata un’applicazione Android abilitata per il WoT che consente la partecipazione attiva dei dispositivi mobili nella raccolta dei dati. Attraverso l’adozione di questa architettura ibrida PushPull basata sul WoT, è possibile superare le limitazioni delle architetture tradizionali per il MCS e fornire una soluzione innovativa che offre una maggiore flessibilità e scalabilità nella raccolta e nell’analisi dei dati provenienti dai dispositivi mobili

Case Report: Role of Ketone Monitoring in Diabetic Ketoacidosis With Acute Kidney Injury: Better Safe Than Sorry

BACKGROUND: Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is a well-known endocrinological disease in children and adolescents that is characterized by immune-mediated destruction of pancreatic β-cells, leading to partial or total insulin deficiency, with an onset that can be subtle (polydipsia, polyuria, weight loss) or abrupt (Diabetic Keto-Acidosis, hereafter DKA, or, although rarely, Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic State, hereafter HHS). Severe DKA risk at the onset of T1D has recently significantly increased during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with life-threatening complications often due to its management. DKA is marked by low pH (7.3) and bicarbonates (>15 mmol/L) with no or very low ketone bodies. Despite this, ketone monitoring is not universally available, and DKA diagnosis is mainly based on pH and bicarbonates. A proper diagnosis of the right form with main elements (pH, bicarbonates, ketones) is essential to begin the right treatment and to identify organ damage (such as acute kidney injury). CASE PRESENTATIONS: In this series, we describe 3 case reports in which the onset of T1D was abrupt with severe acidosis (pH < 7.1) in the absence of both DKA and HHS. In a further evaluation, all 3 patients showed acute kidney injury, which caused low bicarbonates and severe acidosis without increasing ketone bodies. CONCLUSION: Even if it is not routinely recommended, a proper treatment that included bicarbonates was then started, with a good response in terms of clinical and laboratory values. With this case series, we would like to encourage emergency physicians to monitor ketones, which are diriment for a proper diagnosis and treatment of DKA

Long-range Radio for Underground Sensors in Geothermal Energy Systems

The paper presents the design of a temperature monitoring system in a very harsh environment, such as Shallow Geothermal Systems (SGS), where the information of underground temperature is necessary to assess the thermal potential of the soil, for maximizing the efficiency of the SGS. The challenge is to get information at different depths (sometimes up to - 100m), to transmit data wirelessly in rural areas where conventional wireless connections (e.g. WiFi, GSM) are not guaranteed and energy availability poses severe limits. Our design exploits a recent new modulation protocol developed for long-range transmission, at the minimum energy cost, and a two-tier hardware architecture for measuring underground temperature. Aggressive duty cycling permits to achieve lifetime of several years. Experimental results demonstrate the utility of such a system during the design and the operational activity of a SGS

Grafting heterogeneities rule water intrusion and extrusion in nanopores

Hydrophobic nanoporous materials can be intruded by water only by exerting an external action, typically increasing pressure. For some materials, water extrudes when the pressure is lowered again. Controlling intrusion/extrusion hysteresis is central in a number of technological applications, including materials for energy applications and for high performance liquid chromatography, and experimental techniques, as liquid porosimetry, but is still far from being understood. In this work, we consider water intrusion and extrusion in common mesoporous materials grafted with hydrophobic chains, showing that the macroscopic properties of the system are significantly affected by subnanometric heterogeneities in the grafting. For example, intrusion and extrusion pressures can vary more than 20 MPa depending on the chain length and density of the grafting. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations reveal that local changes of radius and contact angle produced by grafting heterogeneities can pin the interface during intrusion or facilitate bubble nucleation in extrusion. These unprecedented microscopic insights can directly impact the design of energy materials and chromatography columns, as well as the interpretation of porosimetry results

Increase in newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes and serological evidence of recent SARS-CoV-2 infection: Is there a connection?

Several studies have investigated the correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in children, reporting an increased incidence of T1D and severe diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This study aimed to investigate the infection by SARS-CoV-2 in children with newly-diagnosed T1D to explore a possible link between SARS-CoV-2 infection, T1D and DKA. Thirty-nine children with a T1D new onset between October 15, 2020, and April 15, 2021, were enrolled. SARS-CoV-2 infection was investigated through a polymerase chain reaction on the nasal swab, dosage of specific antibodies, and an anamnestic question form. Nine (23%) of them had antibodies directed toward SARS-CoV-2, and five (12%) had a history of recent SARS-CoV-2 infection in themselves or in their family. No molecular swabs were positive. Compared to the general pediatric population, the overall incidence of COVID-19 was 5.6 times higher in the T1D patients' group (p < 0.00001). Referring only to the cases in the metropolitan area, we find a net increase in the incidence of T1D compared to the 5 years preceding our study, by 50% compared to the same months in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, by 69% compared to 2018/2019 and by 77% compared to 2019/2020. The same trend was observed regarding DKA cases. The attributable risk of the pandemic cohort compared to the previous year is 44%. The abnormal disproportion of SARS-CoV-2 infection between children with T1D and the pediatric reference population, with a ratio of 5.6, appears to support the causative role of SARS-CoV-2 in triggering the immune response underlying diabetes, as often described for other viral infections. The difficulty accessing care services during the pandemic, with a consequent diagnosis delay, does not justify the increase in observed T1D cases, which could to be directly linked to the pandemic. The acceleration of the immune process provoked by SARS-CoV-2 may play a suggestive role in the development of T1D with DKA. Multicenter studies are needed to deepen and fully understand the pathophysiological link between SARS-CoV-2 and the onset of T1D in children