GEOLOGY AND WINE PRODUCTION: A PRELIMINARY CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEFINITION OF THE IRPINIA AREA TERROIR (AVELLINO PROVINCE)

Il comprensorio irpino, una delle aree di più antico insediamento, coltivazione, studio e diffusione della vite, è un territorio di estremo interesse per la vitivinicoltura nazionale caratterizzato, come è, da una produzione di pregio, tra le più importanti nel mondo, che s’identifica in tre DOCG: Taurasi, Greco di Tufo e Fiano di Avellino. Di quell’area, larga parte della quale ricade entro il Parco Regionale dei Monti Picentini, vengono descritte le caratteristiche litologiche, morfologiche ed idrogeologiche. Viene, poi, formulata la proposta di inserire gli areali di quelle DOCG entro gli itinerari disegnati a collegare, illustrandoli e rendendoli fruibili a tutti, Patrimonio Geologico e Patrimonio Biotico di quell’Area Naturale Protetta.The Irpinia district, one of the oldest areas of settlement, cultivation, study and diffusion of the grapevine, is a territory of great interest for the national wine growing. This area is characterized of high quality production, among the most important in the world, corresponding to three DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin): “Taurasi”, “Greco di Tufo” and “Fiano di Avellino”. The lithological, morphological and hydrogeological features of this area, a large part of which is included within the Parco Regionale dei Monti Picentini, are described. The proposal to include the DOCG areas within designed routes to connect the Geological and Biotic Heritage of the Natural Protected Area of the Monti Picentini is then formulated

Invasive pneumococcal diseases in children aged 1-59 months in sicily, Italy: Importance of active family paediatrician surveillance and vaccination coverage

Purpose: Aim of this study was to analyze pediatric invasive pneumococcal disease rates several years after the implementation of infant pneumococcal vaccination. Methods: The study was carried out in Sicily and involved about 30,000 children, aged 1-59 months, actively monitored by 100 family pediatricians during 2010 and 2011. All children who met the inclusion criteria were considered eligible, recorded using a stan-dardized case report form and investigated for the presence of S. pneumoniae in speci-mens from sterile sites. Results: None of the 40 eligible children was confirmed as a case of invasive pneumococ-cal disease. The incidence rate of invasive pneumococcal disease cases was 0.0/100,000 in both years. Regional childhood pneumococcal vaccination coverage rates were 90.7% in 2010 and 92.0% in 2011. Conclusions: Our results show that during the study period invasive pneumococcal dis-ease cases were rare in Sicilian children, suggesting a very effective control of the disease in a region with very high vaccination coverage against S. pneumoniae

Development of a Digitally Controlled Inductive Power Transfer System with Post-Regulation for Variable Load Demand

none6noInductive Power Transfer (IPT) is an emerging technology enabling a contactless charging process in manifold applications such as electric vehicles, wearable and portable devices, or biomedical applications. Such technology can be profitably used to develop enhanced electronic solutions in the framework of smart cities, homes and smart workplaces. This paper presents the development and realization of a series–series compensated IPT System (IPTS) followed by a post-regulator implemented by means of a DC–DC converter. Such a system is modeled through a first harmonic approximation method, and a sensitivity analysis of the IPTS performance is carried out with respect to the variations of the primary inverter switching frequency and phase-shift angle. As an element of novelty of this work, the bias points are determined which allow the efficiency maximization while ensuring system controllability. An enhanced dynamic modeling of the system is then performed by means of a coupled mode theory, including the inverter phase-shift modulation and extending its validity to whatever operating frequency. A digital control of the post-regulator is implemented by means of a commercial low-cost microcontroller enabling the output voltage regulation under both fixed and variable load conditions through a voltage mode control technique. An IPTS prototype is eventually realized, which is able to correctly perform the output voltage regulation at the desired nominal value of 12 V for static resistive loads in the range [5, 24] W, yielding the output power in the range [6, 28.8]Wand the experimental efficiencies going from 72.1% (for 24 W) to 91.7% (for 5 W). The developed system can also be effectively used to deliver up to 35Woutput power to variable loads, as demonstrated during the battery charging test. Finally, an excellent output voltage regulation is ascertained for load transients between 5 W and 24 W, with limited over- and undershoot amplitudes (less than 3% of the nominal output voltage), thus enabling the use of the proposed system for both fixed and variable loads in the framework of smart homes and workplaces applications.openKateryna Stoyka, Antonio Vitale, Massimo Costarella, Alfonso Avella, Mario Pucciarelli, Paolo ViscontiStoyka, Kateryna; Vitale, Antonio; Costarella, Massimo; Avella, Alfonso; Pucciarelli, Mario; Visconti, Paol