Corrigendum: Child and adolescent behavior inventory (CABI): A new instrument for epidemiological studies and pre-clinical evaluation

Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory (CABI): A New Instrument for Epidemiological Studies and Pre-Clinical Evaluation Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, 2013, 9: 51-61 Correction: Few corrections have been provided and replaced online in 15th, 20th, 21st and 22nd rows of the Appendix

Parametric Assessment to Evaluate and Compare the Carbon Footprint of Diverse Manufacturing Processes for Building Complex Surfaces

At present, building design is faced with a need to properly manage complex geometries and surfaces. This fact is not only driven by the increased demand for visually stunning spaces but also stems from the rise of new design paradigms, such as “user-centred design”, that include bespoke optimization approaches. Nevertheless, the escalating adoption of customized components and one-off solutions raises valid concerns regarding the optimal use of energy and resources in this production paradigm. This study focuses on the Life Cycle Assessment of a novel Cement–Textile Composite (CTC) patented material. It combines a synthetic reinforcing textile with a customized concrete matrix, to generate rigid elements that are able to statically preserve complex spatial arrangements, particularly double-curvature surfaces. Moreover, the CTC offers a low-volume cost-effective alternative for custom-made cladding applications. The study performed a comparative carbon footprint assessment of the CTC production process in contrast to other technologies, such as CNC milling and 3D printing. To facilitate meaningful comparisons among diverse construction alternatives and to derive generalized data capable of characterizing their overall capacity, independent of specific production configurations, the present study implemented a generalized parametric shape of reference defined as a bounding box (BBOX), which encloses the volume of the target shape. Comparing different production technologies of the same shape with the same BBOX results in a significant carbon saving, up to 9/10th of the carbon footprint, when the CTC technology is adopted. The study therefore highlights the potential environmental advantages of CTC in the fields of architectural design and building engineering

Thermal Balancing Policy for Streaming Computing on Multiprocessor Architectures

As feature sizes decrease, power dissipation and heat generation density exponentially increase. Thus, temperature gradients in Multiprocessor Systems on Chip (MPSoCs) can seriously impact system performance and reliability. Thermal balancing policies based on task migration have been proposed to modulate power distribution between processing cores to achieve temperature flattening. However, in the context of MPSoC for multimedia streaming computing, where timeliness is critical, the impact of migration on quality of service must be carefully analyzed. In this paper we present the design and implementation of a lightweight thermal balancing policy that reduces on-chip temperature gradients via task migration. This policy exploits run-time temperature and load information to balance the chip temperature. Moreover, we assess the effectiveness of the proposed policy for streaming computing architectures by analyzing deadlines misses and architectural thermal effects of task migration using a cycle-accurate thermal-aware emulation infrastructure. Our results using a real-life software defined radio multitask benchmark show that our policy achieves thermal balancing while keeping migration costs bounded

Desarrollo tecnológico con aplicación en terapias fotodinámicas para el tratamiento de lesiones de la piel

La terapia fotodinámica es un tratamiento de primera línea para ciertas lesiones de la piel como la queratosis actínica (QA). Con tales fines se emplean emisores de luz con alto costo de adquisición y mantenimiento. El Departamento de Bioingeniería, del Centro de Microscopía Electrónica de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), desarrolló una nueva versión de dispositivo emisor, de bajo costo de fabricación, que emite luz pulsada intensa y es capaz de irradiar luz roja (630 nm) y azul (405 nm). Este dispositivo es potencialmente útil en el tratamiento de QA y carcinoma basocelular. Por otra parte el Departamento de Farmacia de la Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, UNC, ha formulado el compuesto basado en el ácido α- aminolevulínico (ALA) que es el precursor del agente fotosensibilizador protoporfirina IX, habilitado por la ANMAT en presentaciones similares, y la Farmacia Central del Hospital Nacional de Clínicas (HNC) de la UNC, efectuó la preparación del medicamento como formulación magistral y extemporánea al 20%. Todas estas dependencias internas de la UNC articularon en la ejecución de un proyecto de Innovación Tecnológica, financiado por la SECYT-UNC, a los fines de completar las etapas de desarrollo y los estudios necesarios, para poder utilizar el equipamiento y el medicamento para terapias en el mencionado hospital. El presente trabajo aborda de manera particular, los resultados preliminares obtenidos en el estudio clínico, realizado en el área de Dermatología del HNC. Cabe destacar que como parte del proyecto, se pretende la construcción en serie del dispositivo emisor a través de la Institución Contraparte participante del proyecto, que es una reconocida empresa local fabricante de equipamiento médico.publishedVersio

Assessing Task Migration Impact on Embedded Soft Real-Time Streaming Multimedia Applications

Multiprocessor systems on chips (MPSoCs) are envisioned as the future of embedded platforms such as game-engines, smart-phones and palmtop computers. One of the main challenge preventing the widespread diffusion of these systems is the efficient mapping of multitask multimedia applications on processing elements. Dynamic solutions based on task migration has been recently explored to perform run-time reallocation of task to maximize performance and optimize energy consumption. Even if task migration can provide high flexibility, its overhead must be carefully evaluated when applied to soft real-time applications. In fact, these applications impose deadlines that may be missed during the migration process. In this paper we first present a middleware infrastructure supporting dynamic task allocation for NUMA architectures. Then we perform an extensive characterization of its impact on multimedia soft real-time applications using a software FM Radio benchmark

Assessing Task Migration Impact on Embedded Soft Real-Time Streaming Multimedia Applications

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Multiprocessor systems on chips (MPSoCs) are envisioned as the future of embedded platforms such as game-engines, smart-phones and palmtop computers. One of the main challenge preventing the widespread diffusion of these systems is the efficient mapping of multitask multimedia applications on processing elements. Dynamic solutions based on task migration has been recently explored to perform run-time reallocation of task to maximize performance and optimize energy consumption. Even if task migration can provide high flexibility, its overhead must be carefully evaluated when applied to soft real-time applications. In fact, these applications impose deadlines that may be missed during the migration process. In this paper we first present a middleware infrastructure supporting dynamic task allocation for NUMA architectures. Then we perform an extensive characterization of its impact on multimedia soft real-time applications using a software FM Radio benchmark.</p

Le indagini statistiche e le fonti amministrative: confronto e verifica della qualità delle informazioni

Nel caso di archivi amministrativi, un aspetto particolarmente rilevante riguarda la definizione del dato amministrativo, che spesso non è di facile lettura e non è rispondente a definizioni e classificazioni utilizzate nella statistica ufficiale. Sempre citando Giovannini (2006), “l’uso di concetti, definizioni e classificazioni standardizzate accresce la coerenza delle informazioni provenienti da varie fonti, mentre l’esistenza di modifiche di carattere metodologico può impedire la comparabilità nel tempo delle serie storiche riferite alla medesima grandezza” (p.190). Un esempio a questo riguardo è la differente definizione di occupazione, così come può essere desunta dagli archivi dell’Istituto Nazionale di Previdenza Sociale (Inps) e quella invece adottata dall’Istat in ottemperanza ai relativi regolamenti comunitari. D’altro canto, le informazioni statistiche sul mercato del lavoro in Italia, e in particolare sull’occupazione, possono essere desunte da diverse fonti e da una molteplicità di soggetti (Istat e altri enti del Sistan, Inps, Ministero del Lavoro, Ministero dell’Economia, Regioni, …). L’atteggiamento dell’utilizzatore di fronte ad una gamma di informazioni così diversificata può essere di due tipi: si può scegliere a priori una fonte informativa, aderendo alle definizioni ed ai criteri in essa adottati, garantendo comparabilità limitata, nel tempo e nello spazio; in alternativa, si può tentare di ricostruire un quadro di comparazioni temporali, settoriali e territoriali, al fine di pervenire ad una più completa valutazione della situazione e dell’evoluzione dell’occupazione in Italia. Seguendo la logica dell’utilizzatore, questo secondo approccio è senza dubbio quello più utile e fecondo, ma è necessario allora evidenziare i punti di forza e le criticità che derivano dal ricorso a fonti diverse. Queste motivazioni portano dunque alla definizione degli obiettivi dell’indagine, ossia evidenziare i punti di forza e di criticità che gli archivi amministrativi dimostrano di avere se confrontati con consolidate rilevazioni statistiche, partendo da un caso specifico, il confronto tra i dati relativi all’occupazione provenienti dagli archivi dell’Inps e dall’indagine sulle forze di lavoro condotta dall’Istat