2,770 research outputs found
A full-wave radiation model for a class of gridded ground interconnecting structures
No full textA-full-wave model based on the spectral domain approach (SDA) has been developed to predict, under realistic exciting/loading condition, the radiation characteristics of planar interconnecting lines printed on a dielectric slab backed by a gridded ground plane. The radiated held level is computed through an asymptotic evaluation of the corresponding radiation integral. A class of gridded ground interconnecting structures is analyzed and spurious radiation effects due to the finite size of the full/gridded ground are pointed out
Le carte dei servizi: possibili strumenti di partecipazione e di misurazione della performance in ambito sanitario.
No full textLo studio muove dall'analisi delle carte dei servizi come strumento per misurare lo stato di salute del rapporto p.a. - cittadino, che nel settore sanitario assume un ruolo del tutto particolare, identificandosi con l'utente-paziente, titolare di diritti costituzionalmente tutelati. Alla luce di ciò la struttura sanitaria pubblica o privata, con l'adozione delle carte dei servizi sigla un patto con il cittadino-utente, impegnandosi ad erogare tutta una serie di prestazioni, che nel complesso si identificano nell'erogazione di un servizio complesso, la cui valutazione rileva anche in termini di efficienza della stessa amministrazione sanitaria. La carta allora diviene la sede per misurare e valutare le performances della struttura sanitaria, un processo per elevare gli standard quantitativi e qualitativi nella erogazione delle prestazioni sanitarie e un banco di prova per testare se l’obiettivo di migliorare la qualità e l’efficienza delle prestazioni sia stato realmente raggiunto e percepito dall’utente
Translating strategy into practice: A tool to understand organizational change in a Spanish university hospital. An in-depth analysis in Hospital Clinic
No full textPurpose: The progressive patient care (PPC) model, the patient-centered approach, and the lean philosophy are key ‘pillars of change’ in hospital settings. This work aims at providing a clear methodological guidance in evaluating a hospital’s positioning in reference to the main pillars of change, as well as on the effectiveness of how enablers of change are concretely enhanced. Methodology/approach: A mixture of qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations, and informal conversations has been used. The most valuable source of data consists of six interviews to key figures within the hospital. Findings: The PPC organizational model is detected to be Non-strategic. Although highly innovative, the new organizational features do not respond to the typical PPC approach. Patient-centeredness assumes a Developed/Advanced position. ‘Units’ are the major response to the hospital’s strategy of introducing patient centeredness. Finally, the implementation of lean reaches a Starting/Developed positioning. The approach followed is responsive to staff’s engagement and commitment, but implementation is isolated and ‘one-shot’. Its positioning on the scales of three pillars of change seems extremely coherent with the hospital’s strategic priorities. The highest position is reached for patient-centered care, which is the prior objective of the hospital’s main pressures for change. Originality/value: The approach’s major potential is in comparing the hospitals’ current position with its strategy, as well as detecting differences with similar settings. This approach provides hospitals’ management with an effective support in ranking priorities through insights on which enabling tools should urgently be further developed
L'imposta di soggiorno: uno strumento per rendere più vivibili le destinazioni turistiche o un mezzo per tassare il turismo?
No full textL’imposta di soggiorno è attualmente oggetto di particolare attenzione da
parte di tutti gli stakeholders che operano in ambito turistico, non solo per le
recenti modifiche apportate all’istituto, ma anche e soprattutto perché essa può
al contempo costituire uno strumento di rilancio o divenire un vincolo per il
settore turistico. Soggetto passivo dell’imposta è il turista, che visitando e soggiornando in una determinata località, usufruisce di servizi che impattano in
termini di gestione e di spesa pubblica sull’ordinaria erogazione dei medesimi.
In quest’ottica l’imposta in esame costituisce da un lato uno strumento di attua zione del principio comunitario “chi inquina paga” e, dall’altro, un modo per
implementare le casse comunali al fine di realizzare una politica turistica capace
di bilanciare pro e contra prodotti dagli ingenti flussi turistici sulla destinazione.
L’istituzione dell’imposta è, tuttavia, riservata ai Comuni che sono definiti turisti ci dalle Regioni attraverso il loro inserimento in elenchi appositi. Diventa allora
fondamentale indagare il ruolo dell’ente regionale, ma al contempo vagliare
anche le modalità attraverso cui viene amministrata la capacità di spesa turistica
affidata agli enti comunali, chiamati a disciplinare attraverso propri regolamenti, presupposti, finalità del gettito, natura del tributo e ruolo del gestore della
struttura ricettiva, oggi riconosciuto come responsabile d’imposta con diritto di
rivalsa nei confronti del turista inadempiente.The tourist tax is currently the subject of special attention by all tourism stakeholders, not only because of the recent changes made to the tax but also and especially because it can, at the same time, be a tool to boost tourism or on the contrary a constraint on the tourism sector. The taxable subject is the tourist, who benefits from services that impact the ordinary provision of the same services in terms of management and public expenditures by visiting and staying in a given location. With this in mind, the tourist tax represents, on the one hand, an instrument for implementing the “polluter pays” EU principle and, on the other hand, a way to increase the municipal coffers, which are necessary 850 Anna Cicchetti to implement a tourism policy capable of balancing the pros and cons of the large tourism flows reaching the destination. The introduction of the tax is, however, reserved for municipalities that are defined as “touristic” by the regions by their inclusion in special lists. It then becomes essential to investigate the role of regions and, at the same time, the way the municipalities manage their tax budget. In fact, municipalities are in charge of regulating through their own regulations, tax prerequisites, tax revenues purposes, tax nature, and the role of the accommodations’ managers, who nowadays play the role of tax collectors and can also recourse against the defaulting tourist
Incomplete Hankel and Modified Bessel Functions: A Class of Special Functions for Electromagnetics
No full textA novel class of special functions for electromagnetics is presented. Formed by the incomplete Hankel and modified Bessel functions, this class allows solving electromagnetics problems concerning truncated cylindrical structures. The differential and recurrence equations of these functions feature additional terms with respect to the classical theory of the Hankel and Bessel functions. The general properties, the most important analytical characteristics, and the large argument asymptotic approximations of the incomplete functions are derived using the steepest descent path (SDP) technique, showing that each special function splits into two terms. The first one has a discontinuous character and is linked to the saddle-point(s) contribution(s), while the second one, arising from the integral end-point contribution(s), compensates exactly the said discontinuity. In the solution of electromagnetic problems, the first term describes the geometrical optics (GO) field, the diffracted field being described by the second one. The general theory is employed to find the closed form analytical solution of the field radiated from a uniform line current source. Using the properties of the incomplete Hankel functions, it is demonstrated that this source excites cylindrical fields having optical character. Finally, the shape of the spatial regions where the GO solution cannot be applied is determined and discussed in details
Radiative performance of a Vivaldi antenna equipped with petal-shaped and massive lens
No full textThe radiative performances of a high-gain wideband Vivaldi antenna equipped with petal-shaped and massive dielectric lenses are presented. A full-wave numerical technique was employed to include surface wave propagation effects in the dielectric substrates forming the antenna elements and the petal-shaped lenses, as well as diffraction occurring at substrate truncations. Information useful for choosing the most suited lens (massive or petal-shaped) to fulfill system design requirements in terms of weight, cost, and realized gain, are presented
A class of lightweight spherical-axicon dielectric lenses for high gain wideband antennas
No full textA class of lightweight spherical-axicon-like dielectric lenses suitable for enhancing broadband antennas performances is presented. The proposed lenses, sized according to a reference massive lens, are formed by thin dielectric sheets spaced equiangularly on the azimuth plane (petal-shaped lens), or regularly orthogonally arranged along the lens axis (disks-shaped lens), thus yielding construction simplicity and significant weight reduction. While petal-shaped dielectric lenses are shown to yield mild gain increase, lenses made by thin dielectric disks, orthogonally periodically arranged along the lens optical axis, offer performances much closer to those achieved by comparable massive refractive spherical-axicon dielectric lenses. The time-domain and the focusing characteristics of the proposed lenses are investigated. Then, a Floquet’s mode-based model is proposed to describe the stop-band characteristics of stacked-disk lenses, illustrating the mechanism underpinning their sudden performance degradation observed at the stop-band onset frequency. Full-wave analyses, based on a locally conformal finite integration technique (FIT), implemented in CST Studio SuiteTM and validated by measurements or highly accurate FEM simulations, illustrate the excellent characteristics of the proposed lenses to operate with narrowband as well as ultra-wideband (UWB) waveforms
Radiation from Open-Ended Circular Waveguides: A Formulation Based on the Incomplete Hankel Functions
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