The rigorous characterization of ultrahigh-frequency passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags is a challenging but mandatory task. Indeed, tags are the most critical devices in RFID systems: their performance should be adequately good, although stringent requirements in terms of compactness, used materials, and costs must be satisfied. Factors such as the goodness of the conjugate impedance matching between the chip and the antenna, the chip sensitivity, and the quality of the backscattered signal affect tag performance. Tag sensitivity and differential radar cross section (RCS) are the most significant metrics for tag characterization: they define the forward (from the reader to the tag) and the backward (from the tag to the reader) link reliability, respectively. Nevertheless, measurement of such metrics cannot be approached with conventional methods based on vector network analyzers or conventional RFID readers. Vice versa, commercially available instrumentation and solutions are very expensive and not totally flexible. In this paper, a novel approach for performance characterization of RFID tags is explored. To this end, we developed a very cheap (below $1000) and flexible tool based on software-defined radio, which enables measurement of tag sensitivity and differential RCS. An exhaustive experimental campaign has been carried out on ten commercial and four built-in laboratory RFID tags. Achieved results demonstrate the flexibility, accuracy, and appropriateness of the proposed approach.

Waste management is a challenge for modern cities as it impacts on environmental sustainability and on the level of quality perceived by citizens. In the last few years, several progresses have been made in this direction with the introduction in the city of door-to-door separate waste collection. A key element for the success of such actions is to achieve excellent cooperation from citizens. The Digital Transformation process in this sector will require time other than a careful management of the data associated with the waste collection processes. At this regard, the progress of hardware and software technologies enabling the Internet of Things (IoT) will contribute significantly to accelerate the whole process. Among these innovative solutions, the use of RFID tags with augmented capabilities and cloud-based software architectures capable of properly managing collected data will be crucial to obtain an intelligent and efficient waste management system. In this paper, an innovative system capable of capturing and processing data relating to the door-to-door separate waste collection in the context of future smart cities is presented. In particular, the system includes an innovative RFID sensor-tag equipped with low-cost weight sensors and a Cloud software system capable of managing the collected data and satisfying the various stakeholders’ expectations. First results on both functional and performance validation of the overall system are shown.

In this work, the application in Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) of different additive manufacturing (AM) 3D-printing technologies is discussed. In particular, the well-known Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology is compared with the promising Digital Light Processing (DLP), which is based on the photopolymerization of liquid resins. Based on the research activity of the authors on this topic, a brief introduction to the fundamentals of 3D-printing in electromagnetics as well as to the different applications of both FDM and DLP in realizing Radio Frequency (RF) devices, is firstly given. Then, a comparison of the two technologies is deeply faced. Finally, after evaluated the rugosity of substrates produced with both techniques to verify the potential impact on the design of electromagnetic structures, the two techniques are both exploited for the realization of the dielectric parts of a tunable RFID tag with unconventional shape. It consists of two elements interlinked one each other. The movement between them enables tuning of the resonance frequency as well as the impedance of the antenna. Despite the differences in terms of losses, rugosity, resolution, and dielectric constant, both techniques guaranteed satisfactory values of tag sensitivity, maximum reading range, and tunability. Nevertheless, the careful analysis of the results proposed at the end of the paper suggests how the selection of one technique over the other must be taken considering the specific application constraints.

The huge improvement in UHF radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, also driven by the vision of the Internet of Things, is leading to a widespread diffusion of several kinds of passive RFID tags. In fact, depending on the specific application, tags must satisfy key requirements in terms of size, thickness, shape, robustness, cost, working range, bandwidth, antenna directivity, platform tolerance, polarization, and so on. In such a scenario, the design of a specific application-oriented tag by an RF designer as well as the careful selection among commercially available solutions by system integrators rather than final users needs a dedicated measurement system enabling a rapid and cost-effective procedure for the on-air performance evaluation of RFID tags. Nevertheless, the design of such a system is not trivial, as tag performance depends on multiple major factors, such as chip sensitivity, quality of the chip-antenna conjugate matching, and antenna radiation properties. In this paper, after a theoretical formulation, an accurate, flexible, robust, and cost-effective RFID tag characterization and performance evaluation platform is presented and validated. It allows the calculation of the main metrics characterizing an RFID tag as a function of the tag activation power threshold when varying both interrogation frequency and tag orientation. The system is validated on both specifically designed and commercial RFID tags in terms of sensitivity, working range, and tag antenna radiation pattern: measurements show strong agreement with the theoretical and simulation results.

The robustness of wearable antennas to the human body proximity can be improved by properly placing the radiating element over a ground plane, or by shaping the ground plane, on the basis of the antenna electric and magnetic energy density distributions, aiming to confine the electric energy density in specific regions far from the antenna border. The effectiveness of the above design criterion has been assessed through both numerical analysis and experimental measurements, by optimizing the position of the radiating element of a wearable grounded UHF RFID tag operating at the ETSI band (865-868 MHz), with respect to its ground plane. A flexible tag characterization and performance evaluation platform is used to measure the tag sensitivity as a function of the antenna-body distance.

Background: Burnout is a multidimensional psychological syndrome that arises from chronic workplace stress. Health care workers (HCWs), who operate in physically and emotionally exhausting work contexts, constitute a vulnerable group. This, coupled with its subsequent impact on patients and public economic resources, makes burnout a significant public health concern. Various self-care practices have been suggested to have a positive effect on burnout among HCWs. Of these, physical activity stands out for its ability to combine psychological, physiological, and biochemical mechanisms. In fact, it promotes psychological detachment from work and increases self-efficacy by inhibiting neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, increasing endorphin levels, enhancing mitochondrial function, and attenuating the hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal axis response to stress. Objective: Our objective was to conduct a systematic review of the evidence on the association between physical activity and burnout among HCWs. Methods: We considered HCWs, physical activity, and burnout, framing them as population, exposure, and outcome, respectively. We searched APA PsycArticles, MEDLINE, and Scopus until July 2022. We extracted relevant data on study design, methods to measure exposure and outcome, and statistical approaches. Results: Our analysis encompassed 21 independent studies. Although 10% (2/21) of the studies explicitly focused on physical activity, the remaining investigations were exploratory in nature and examined various predictors, including physical activity. The most commonly used questionnaire was the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Owing to the heterogeneity in definitions and cutoffs used, the reported prevalence of burnout varied widely, ranging from 7% to 83%. Heterogeneity was also observed in the measurement tools used to assess physical activity, with objective measures rarely used. In total, 14% (3/21) of the studies used structured questionnaires to assess different types of exercise, whereas most studies (18/21, 86%) only recorded the attainment of a benchmark or reported the frequency, intensity, or duration of exercise. The reported prevalence of physically active HCWs ranged from 44% to 87%. The analyses, through a variety of inferential approaches, indicated that physical activity is often associated with a reduced risk of burnout, particularly in the domains of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Furthermore, we compiled and classified a list of factors associated with burnout. Conclusions: Our comprehensive overview of studies investigating the association between physical activity and burnout in HCWs revealed significant heterogeneity in definitions, measurements, and analyses adopted in the literature. To address this issue, it is crucial to adopt a clear definition of physical activity and make thoughtful choices regarding measurement tools and methodologies for data analysis. Our considerations regarding the measurement of burnout and the comprehensive list of associated factors have the potential to improve future studies aimed at informing decision-makers, thus laying the foundation for more effective management measures to address burnout.