La nascita delle REMS in Toscana ai sensi della legge n. 81/2014

Il presente articolo descrive la nascita e lo sviluppo delle residenze per l’esecuzione delle misure di sicurezza (REMS) nellaregione Toscana alla luce della nuova normativa (Legge n.81/2014).Tale contributo analizza in particolare talune caratteristiche socio-demografiche e giudiziarie dei pazienti residenti nellaREMS di Volterra mettendo in luce talune criticità emergenti sia in ambito clinico che in ambito più strettamente forense

Proton Sensing of CLC-0 Mutant E166D

CLC Cl− channels are homodimers in which each subunit has a proper pore and a (fast) gate. An additional slow gate acts on both pores. A conserved glutamate (E166 in CLC-0) is a major determinant of gating in CLC-0 and is crucially involved in Cl−/H+ antiport of CLC-ec1, a CLC of known structure. We constructed tandem dimers with one wild-type (WT) and one mutant subunit (E166A or E166D) to show that these mutations of E166 specifically alter the fast gate of the pore to which they belong without effect on the fast gate of the neighboring pore. In addition both mutations activate the common slow gate. E166A pores have a large, voltage-independent open probability of the fast gate (popen), whereas popen of E166D pores is dramatically reduced. Similar to WT, popen of E166D was increased by lowering pHint. At negative voltages, E166D presents a persistent inward current that is blocked by p-chlorophenoxy-acetic acid (CPA) and increased at low pHext. The pHext dependence of the persistent current is analogous to a similar steady inward current in WT CLC-0. Surprisingly, however, the underlying unitary conductance of the persistent current in E166D is about an order of magnitude smaller than that of the transient deactivating inward Cl− current. Collectively, our data support the possibility that the mutated CLC-0 channel E166D can assume two distinct open states. Voltage-independent protonation of D166 from the outside favors a low conductance state, whereas protonation from the inside favors the high conductance state

La ricerca criminologica in Italia effettuata attraverso il metodo del self-report

Over the last twenty years the use of self-reports as tools of research in the field of criminology has increased at both international level, where they had already been in use for some time, and nationally. Nowadays, self-report research focusing on the analysis of deviant behaviour is in continuous increase, to the extent that in this paper we report studies (carried out between 1980 and 2007) that have made a valid contribution to the national and international body of literature on this subject (Tab.I). Findings from this overview show that the use of self-report delinquency studies in Italy is on the increase and provide more in-depth information about the extent of some deviant phenomena. Specifically, the results highlight that:- although deviant behaviours are rather common, most of the crimes committed are minor;- the most important risk factors involved in the onset of deviant behaviours are maladjustment, scholastic failure and especially family break-up;- female deviance was found to be more frequent than reported by the official judicial statistics;- among the types of deviant behaviour analysed, it came to light that: a) bullying is increasing and involves both males and females, albeit in different ways; b) the use of alcohol and spirits begins at an early age; c) the use/abuse of soft drugs is concentrated in the 13-14 years age group; d) the use of hard drugs is prevalent from eighteen year onwards.Important positive initiatives about bullying prevention (promoted by Ministro Fioroni, Ministry of Education) are been created at national level. Government organises campaigns of communication and diversification of information addressed not only teachers but also families and students in order to better understand the characteristics of this phenomena. It is important to underline that the Government also established a toll free telephone number (“numero verde antibullismo”) that helps people to tackle this important problem that has emerged only in recent years and that allows a constant monitoring of the phenomena.In questi ultimi venti anni l’utilizzazione del self-report come strumento di indagine in campo criminologico ha trovato una sempre maggiore applicazione non solo a livello internazionale, ove tale tecnica aveva trovato già da tempo largo impiego, ma anche in ambito nazionale. Oggi, infatti, le ricerche self-report centrate sull’analisi del comportamento deviante sono in continuo aumento tanto che nel presente lavoro sono riportati 21 studi, condotti dal 1980 al 2007, che hanno fornito un valido contributo alla letteratura nazionale ed internazionale sull’argomento.I risultati ottenuti da questa review evidenziano, in particolar modo, che:- nonostante i comportamenti devianti siano piuttosto comuni, vengono commessi in maggioranza reati minori;- i principali fattori di rischio coinvolti nella genesi dei comportamenti devianti sono il disadattamento, il fallimento scolastico ed, in particolare, la conflittualità all’interno del nucleo familiare;- la devianza femminile risulta essere più frequente rispetto a quanto emerge dalle statistiche giudiziali ufficiali;- l’analisi dei comportamenti devianti analizzati evidenzia che: a) il bullismo è un fenomeno in continua crescita e coinvolge entrambi i sessi, sebbene con modalità differenti; b) i giovani iniziano precocemente a fare uso di sostanze alcooliche e superalcooliche; c) l’uso/abuso di droghe leggere è diffuso principalmente tra i giovani di età compresa tra i 13-14 anni; d) l’uso di droghe pesanti è maggiormente diffuso tra i ragazzi con età superiore ai 18 anni.In un’ottica preventiva, il Governo ha promosso iniziative che riguardano in particolar modo il fenomeno del bullismo, attraverso l’attuazione di campagne di comunicazione e di informazione diversificata, rivolte agli studenti, ai docenti e alle famiglie, al fine di sensibilizzare l’opinione pubblica su tale fenomeno emergente. Inoltre, è stato istituito un numero verde antibullismo che permette un costante monitoraggio del fenomeno

Experimental characterization of Sigma Delta Radio over fiber system for 5G C-RAN downlink

Radio over Fiber is a promising technology for the 5G Cloud Radio Access Network. We demonstrate experimentally Sigma Delta Radio over Fiber by means of Sigma Delta Modulator (SDM) subsequently replacing expensive digital to analog converters. A second order SDM is proposed for LTE 20 MHz signal having 256 QAM modulation on a carrier frequency of 3.5 GHz for 10 Km of fiber length. The performance is reported in terms of error vector magnitude, adjacent channel leakage ratio and eye-opening penalty. The results show that the proposed architecture performance is cost and power efficient solution for next-generation wireless networks. Keywords: Radio over fiber, Sigma delta modulation, 5G C-RAN, EVM, ACP

Life Cycle Assessment of Tomato Cultivated in an Innovative Soilless System

The main goal of this study is to present the life cycle assessment results of an innovative closed-loop production system, called an agriponic system, used for producing tomatoes. In the study, this new system is presented, as well as its related environmental impacts generated for the production of the tomatoes. A life cycle assessment (according to ISO 14040) was applied to it, from seedling purchase and planting to harvest, using a functional unit of 1 ton of cherry tomatoes produced. SimaPro 9.3.0.3 software and the Ecoinvent database were used to analyze five impact categories. Plant growth emerged as the process unit with the highest impact, particularly for the ozone depletion potential (ODP), with a value of 0.00056 kgCFC-11eq, and for photochemical oxidation (POCP), with a value of 0.0784 kgC2H4eq impact categories. Greenhouse climate management presented a significant impact to the acidification potential (AP), with a value of 1.021 kgSO2eq. Conversely, the phases of plant transplanting, harvesting, and crop disposal had positive impacts for all impact categories considered in the study, because they were very low. In conclusion, agriponic greenhouse tomato production is a sustainable process. This is due to fewer pesticides that are used, and to nutrient solution reuse

Simple battery armor to protect against gastrointestinal injury from accidental ingestion

Inadvertent battery ingestion in children and the associated morbidity and mortality results in thousands of emergency room visits every year. Given the risk for serious electrochemical burns within hours of ingestion, the current standard of care for the treatment of batteries in the esophagus is emergent endoscopic removal. Safety standards now regulate locked battery compartments in toys, which have resulted in a modest reduction in inadvertent battery ingestion; specifically, 3,461 ingestions were reported in 2009, and 3,366 in 2013. Aside from legislation, minimal technological development has taken place at the level of the battery to limit injury. We have constructed a waterproof, pressure-sensitive coating, harnessing a commercially available quantum tunneling composite. Quantum tunneling composite coated (QTCC) batteries are nonconductive in the low-pressure gastrointestinal environment yet conduct within the higher pressure of standard battery housings. Importantly, this coating technology enables most battery-operated equipment to be powered without modification. If these new batteries are swallowed, they limit the external electrolytic currents responsible for tissue injury. We demonstrate in a large-animal model a significant decrease in tissue injury with QTCC batteries compared with uncoated control batteries. In summary, here we describe a facile approach to increasing the safety of batteries by minimizing the risk for electrochemical burn if the batteries are inadvertently ingested, without the need for modification of most battery-powered devices.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant DE013023)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB000244)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM086433)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant T32 DK 7191-38

Photometric stereo endoscopy

While color video endoscopy has enabled wide-field examination of the gastrointestinal tract, it often misses or incorrectly classifies lesions. Many of these missed lesions exhibit characteristic three-dimensional surface topographies. An endoscopic system that adds topographical measurements to conventional color imagery could therefore increase lesion detection and improve classification accuracy. We introduce photometric stereo endoscopy (PSE), a technique which allows high spatial frequency components of surface topography to be acquired simultaneously with conventional two-dimensional color imagery. We implement this technique in an endoscopic form factor and demonstrate that it can acquire the topography of small features with complex geometries and heterogeneous optical properties. PSE imaging of ex vivo human gastrointestinal tissue shows that surface topography measurements enable differentiation of abnormal shapes from surrounding normal tissue. Together, these results confirm that the topographical measurements can be obtained with relatively simple hardware in an endoscopic form factor, and suggest the potential of PSE to improve lesion detection and classification in gastrointestinal imaging.This work has been financially supported by the Comunidad de Madrid through the Madrid-MIT M+Visión Consortium

Linearity improvement of VCSELs based radio over fiber systems utilizing digital predistortion

The article proposes a Digital Predistortion (DPD) methodology that substantially meliorates the linearity of limited range Mobile Front Haul links for the extant Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and future (5G) networks. Specifically, the DPD is employed to Radio over Fiber links that contrive of Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) working at 850 nm. Both, Memory and Generalized Memory Polynomial models are implied to Single Mode (SM) and Multi-Mode (MM) VCSELs respectively. The effectiveness of the proposed DPD methodology is analyzed in terms of Normalized Mean Square Error, Normalized Magnitude, Normalized phase and Adjacent Channel Power Ratio. The demonstration has been carried out with a complete (Long Term Evolution) LTE frame of 10 ms having 5 MHz bandwidth with 64-QAM modulation configuration. Additionally, the effectuality of the proposed DPD technique is evaluated for varying levels of input power and link lengths. The experimental outcomes signify the novel capability of the implied DPD methodology for different link lengths to achieve higher system linearization

Real-life Evidence of Lower Lung Virulence in COVID-19 Inpatients Infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Compared to Wild-Type and Delta SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia

In vitro and animal models described lower replication capacity and virulence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineage in lower respiratory airways compared to wild type and other variants of concern (oVOCs). Among adult subjects admitted to our hospital (Turin, Italy) due to wild type, oVOCs, and Omicron SARS-CoV-2-related pneumonia (n = 100 for each lineage), the cases of Omicron pneumonia showed lower degree of lung parenchyma involvement (aβ -1.471, p = 0.037), less tendency to parenchyma consolidation (aOR 0.500, p = 0.011), and better respiratory functions (assessed by ambient air arterial blood gas analysis). After adjusting for demographic, previous immunity, and comorbidities, Omicron pneumonia still associated with lower risk of respiratory failure (for severe respiratory failure, Wild-type versus Omicron aOR 15.6, p = 0.005 and oVOCs versus Omicron aOR 31.7, p < 0.001). These observations are in line with preliminary findings from in vitro and animal models and could explain why Omicron infection has been associated with lower mortality and hospitalization in human