Medical Education in Italy: challenges and opportunities

Italy is a country of 60 million citizens with a high life expectancy, an increasing prevalence of chronic multi-morbidity and a public healthcare system. There are 61 medical schools and more than one thousand postgraduate programs for 50 different specialisations. In this article, we describe the Italian medical educational system and its most recent evolution towards a process of internationalization, alongside pedagogical and cultural changes. The main challenges are in the process of students’ selection, which is still only based on the assessment of basic knowledge, and in the reform of the post-graduate education, which lacks an official, formal definition of the learning outcomes and the aligned methods of assessment. The opportunities come from the increasing awareness of the importance of faculty development programs. The pandemic itself acted as a catalyst of innovation, pushing toward more student-centered teaching-learning activities. Finally, an increase in international collaborations in medical education research could be effective to foster the development of medical education in the country

Rotordynamic Forces on a Three Bladed Inducer under Forced Whirl Motion Operating at Different Conditions

The paper illustrates the main results of an experimental campaign conducted in the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility) at ALTA S.p.A., aimed at characterizing the rotordynamic forces acting on a whirling three-bladed, tapered-hub, variable-pitch inducer, named DAPROT3. The forces acting on the impeller have been measured by means of a rotating dynamometer mounted just behind the inducer. The roles of the imposed whirl motion of the rotor, flow coefficient, cavitation number and liquid temperature have been investigated. The results have been obtained by means of a recent experimental technique, consisting in measuring the continuous spectra of the rotordynamic forces as functions of the whirl excitation frequency. This technique allows for extrapolating valuable information from the experiments by more accurately and rapidly characterizing the spectral behavior of these forces than can be obtained from a limited number of point experiments conducted at constant whirl frequency. Therefore, it is useful to better capture the complexity of the rotordynamic forces and assess their consequences on the stability of axial inducers

Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility at ALTA S.p.A.: Upgraded Capabilities of a Unique Test Rig

The paper illustrates the upgrades recently introduced in Alta’s Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility in order to extend its experimental capabilities, with special reference to the addition of an auxiliary pump for testing of turbopump inducers over a wider range of flow coefficients, and the set-up of an original apparatus specifically designed for the characterization of the dynamic transfer matrices of cavitating inducers and turbopumps. Examples are presented of the improved capabilities of the facility

A Reduced Order Model for Optimal Centrifugal Pump Design

A reduced order model for preliminary design and noncavitating performance prediction of radial turbopumps has been illustrated in a previous paper presented by the same authors. The model expresses the 3D incompressible, inviscid, irrotational flow through helical blades with slow axial variations of the pitch and backsweep by superposing a 2D cross-sectional axial vorticity correction to a fully-guided flow with axisymmetric stagnation velocity in the meridional plane. Application of the relevant governing equations yields a set of constraints for the axial evolution of the blade pitch and backsweep that allows for the closed form definition of the impeller geometry and flowfield in terms of a reduced number of controlling parameters. In turn, mass and momentum conservation are used to account for the mixing of the flow leaving the impeller and its coupling with 2D reduced order models of the flow in the diffuser (if any) and the volute, thus generating the information necessary for completing the geometric definition of the machine and for determining its ideal noncavitating performance in accordance with the resulting flowfield. In the present paper, the above ideal flow model has been interfaced with the calculation of boundary layers inside the blade channels and other major forms of flow losses, with the aim of developing an effective tool for rapid parametric optimization of the machine geometry and performance under appropriate design constraints such as target values of the specific speed, flow coefficient and impeller blading solidity

On the Preliminary Design and Performance Prediction of Centrifugal Turbopumps—Part 2

The ideal flow model for the preliminary design and performance prediction of radial turbopumps presented in the companion paper of the present volume (d’Agostino et al., 2017) is here interfaced with the calculation of the boundary layers inside the blade channels and other major forms of flow losses, with the aim of developing an effective tool for rapid parametric optimization of the machine performance and geometry under appropriate design constraints, such as assigned values of the specific speed, flow coefficient and blade solidity. A mixed-flow turbopump, with a six-bladed impeller, a vaneless diffuser, a single-spiral volute and nondimensional performance characteristics similar to those typically used in liquid propellant rocket engine feed systems, has been designed, parametrically optimized and manufactured in accordance with the indications of the present model. The pumping and suction performance of the machine have been determined in a series of tests in the Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility (CPRTF). Under fully-wetted flow conditions the measured pumping characteristics of the machine (hydraulic head and efficiency as functions of the flow coefficient) proved to be in excellent agreement with the model predictions, thus successfully confirming the validity of the proposed model as an effective tool for rapid and efficient design of high-performance centrifugal turbopumps

Elaboración de un manual de seguridad y salud ocupacional para la Empresa Pública de Faenamiento y productos cárnicos de Ibarra

Elaborar un manual de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional para la Empresa Pública de Faenamiento y Productos Cárnicos de Ibarra.La Empresa Pública de Faenamiento y Productos Cárnicos de Ibarra, brinda actualmente servicios de faenamiento de forma semi-industrial, por esta razón las actividades presentan un alto índice de riesgo laboral. A fin de cumplir el marco legal de nuestro país, Ecuador, y alcanzar los objetivos planteados de seguridad y salud ocupacional en la empresa, se adoptaron alternativas que garanticen el desarrollo seguro en las labores diarias. Para realizar esta investigación, se aplicó herramientas como: encuestas, cuyos resultados fueron tabulados y presentados en un diagrama de Pareto; diagramas de procesos para identificar in situ los factores de riesgo presentes en las actividades de faenamiento; matriz de riesgos que combinado con el método de triple criterio valoraron el riesgo, tomando en cuenta la materialización del mismo en forma de accidente; mismos que permitieron conocer la realidad de la empresa en seguridad y salud ocupacional. Además, se realizaron mediciones con un sonómetro, el cual marcó un nivel de ruido que excede el límite máximo permisible en el lugar de trabajo (85dB). Se evaluó la sobrecarga térmica en el área de flameado teniendo como resultado altas temperaturas durante tiempos prolongados, por tanto, el estrés calórico es un riesgo para la salud de los trabajadores. Se elaboró el manual de seguridad y salud ocupacional que consta de: principios, normativas, procedimientos de trabajo seguros, ergonomía, señalética, equipos de protección personal, plan de emergencia, mapas de señalética, evacuación y sistemas contraincendios, primeros auxilios, entre otros. Para elaborar el plan de emergencia se valoró al riesgo de incendio mediante el método MESERI. Además, se socializó el contenido del manual al personal, con el fin de encaminar a crear una cultura de seguridad y salud ocupacional dentro y fuera de la empresa, para salvaguardar la integridad física y mental de los trabajadores

PULCHER – Pulsed Chemical Rocket with Green High Performance Propellants: Project Overview

PulCheR is a research project co-funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n°313271, officially started as of January 1st, 2013. The project is mainly aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of a pulsed propulsion system in which the propellants are fed in the combustion chamber at low pressure and the thrust is generated by means of high frequency pulses, reproducing the defence mechanism of a notable insect: the bombardier beetle. The suitable design of the feeding lines, comprehensive of the injectors, allows the low pressure injection of the correct amount of propellants into the combustion chamber: the decomposition or combustion reaction increase the chamber pressure that rises to values much higher than the one at which the propellants are stored, exploiting the advantages of quasi constant volume combustion. The combustion products are accelerated through a convergent-divergent nozzle generating the thrust pulse and once the pressure inside the combustion chamber decreases under the injection pressure, the cycle can be repeated. The feasibility of this new propulsion concept will be investigated at breadboard level in both mono and bipropellant configurations through the design, realization and testing of a platform of the overall propulsion system including all its main components. In addition, the concept will be investigated using green propellants with potential similar performance to the current state-of-the-art for monopropellant and bipropellant thrusters. The present paper aims at presenting the main objectives and the current status of the PulCheR project

Race Walking Ground Reaction Forces at Increasing Speeds: A Comparison with Walking and Running

Race walking has been theoretically described as a walking gait in which no flight time is allowed and high travelling speed, comparable to running (3.6\u20134.2 m s1), is achieved. The aim of this study was to mechanically understand such a \u201chybrid gait\u201d by analysing the ground reaction forces (GRFs) generated in a wide range of race walking speeds, while comparing them to running and walking. Fifteen athletes race-walked on an instrumented walkway (4 m) and three-dimensional GRFs were recorded at 1000 Hz. Subjects were asked to performed three self-selected speeds corresponding to a low, medium and high speed. Peak forces increased with speeds and medio-lateral and braking peaks were higher than in walking and running, whereas the vertical peaks were higher than walking but lower than running. Vertical GRF traces showed two characteristic patterns: one resembling the \u201cM-shape\u201d of walking and the second characterised by a first peak and a subsequent plateau. These dierent patterns were not related to the athletes\u2019 performance level. The analysis of the body centre of mass trajectory, which reaches its vertical minimum at mid-stance, showed that race walking should be considered a bouncing gait regardless of the presence or absence of a flight phase