In this work, an innovative cellulose-based superabsorbent polymer (SAP) was experimentally assessed as an environmentally friendly alternative to acrylate-based SAPs, for the optimization of water consumption in agriculture. The cellulose-based SAP was synthesized and tested for its swelling capability in different aqueous media. The effectiveness of the SAP in agricultural applications was then evaluated by analyzing its performance after several absorption/desorption cycles, over a period of approximately 80 days, upon addition to different types of soil, i.e., white and red soil, for the cultivation of two varieties of plants typical of the Mediterranean area (tomatoes and chicory). The results confirmed that SAP-amended soil can store a considerable amount of water and can release it gradually to the plant roots when needed. The adoption of the proposed SAP in cultivations could thus represent a promising solution for the rationalization of water resources, especially in desert areas.

In most water distribution systems, a fairly sizable amount of water is lost because of leaks and faults in pipes. For this reason, the individuation of leaks is extremely important for the optimization and rationalization of water resources. However, the techniques and methodologies that are currently used for the individuation of leaks, despite being universally accepted, are extremely time-consuming and require highly-experienced personnel. Additionally, such techniques become unreliable and ineffective when the measurements are not performed in specific operating conditions of the pipe (e.g., high water pressure). On this basis, in this paper, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based system for the non-invasive detection of leaks in underground metal pipes is presented. Not only does the adoption of the developed system leads to accurately pinpoint the leak, but it also allows to dramatically reduce the required inspection times. The TDR-based system for leak detection is described in detail (with particular attention to the measurement principle behind the method and to the methodology). Furthermore, a strategy for enhancing the accuracy in pinpointing the leak is addressed. The proposed system is validated through experimental campaign that consisted in carrying out a leak-detection survey through the traditional methods and through the proposed method.

Remote monitoring of the elderly in telehealth applications requires that the monitoring must not affect the elderly’s regular habits. To ensure this requirement, the components (i.e., sensor and antenna) necessary to carry out such monitoring should blend in with the elderly’s daily routine. To this end, an effective strategy relies on employing wearable antennas that can be fully integrated with clothes and that can be used for remotely transmitting/receiving the sensor data. Starting from these considerations, in this work, two different methods for wearable antenna fabrication are described in detail: the first resorts to the combined use of nonwoven conductive fabrics and of a cutting plotter for shaping the fabric, whereas the second considered fabrication method resorts to the embroidery of conductive threads. To demonstrate the suitability of the considered fabrication techniques and to highlight their pros and cons, numerical and experimental results related to different wearable antennas are also reported and commented on. Results demonstrate that the presented fabrication techniques and strategies are very flexible and can be used to obtain low-cost wearable antennas with performance tailored for the specific application at hand.

In this paper, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based system for measuring water content of raw construction materials is presented. The proposed system relies on the fact that the presence of water leads to an increase of the dielectric permittivity of materials; therefore, from TDR-based permittivity measurements, it is possible to infer the water content value. In practical applications, the proposed system could be used for assessing the intrinsic water content of construction materials before they are poured into the concrete mixture. Knowing the intrinsic water content of the raw materials, in fact, would allow to evaluate the optimal amount of water that should be added to the mixture in order to achieve the desired water-to-cement ratio. This, in turn, would permit to fine-tune and control the mechanical properties of the final concrete structures. For assessing the feasibility of using the proposed system for the intended purpose, water content measurements were carried out on three construction materials, namely, sand, gray cement, and white portland cement. For each of these materials, a calibration curve relating water content to the apparent dielectric permittivity was derived; additionally, through repeated measurements, also a confidence interval was associated with the calibration curves.

This study presents a wearable antenna for a global positioning system–global system for mobile communication (GPS–GSM)‐based anti‐theft tracking system to be embedded in high‐cost clothing and luggage accessories (such as leather bags). To assess the feasibility of this solution, a prototype antenna was designed mimicking the shape of one of the Levi Strauss & Co.’s logos, and it was fabricated using a conductive non‐woven fabric on a layer of leather. Furthermore, to cover both the GPS L1 and the GSM‐1800 bands with a single radiating element, positive‐intrinsic‐negative (PIN) diodes were employed to reconfigure the operating frequency of the antenna. Experimental data demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed design strategy are presented and discussed.

In this paper, different customized systems for microwave permittivity measurements on liquid samples, based on reflectometric measurements, are presented and analyzed. Their performance is compared against the one deriving from the most widely adopted commercial measurement setup. The systems are designed with the aim of providing less expensive solutions without compromising measurement accuracy. The purpose of the first proposed solution is to replace the commercial measurement software exploiting a reformulation of the classical theory. Based on this alternative formulation, a “homemade” probe is built by properly modifying an N-type coaxial connector, thus providing a system requiring a lower quantity of liquid under test. Moreover, a different experimental approach which uses time-domain reflectometry (TDR) instrumentation is presented. Such solution is by far the least expensive, as it allows avoiding the use of costly instrumentation (such as a vector network analyzer). In order to metrologically characterize the proposed solutions, a series of repeated measurements is performed on a set of well-referenced liquids. After extracting the Cole–Cole parameters through each of the considered measurement methods, the resulting type A uncertainty is evaluated. Finally, comparison with literature data allows the estimation of measurement bias. The analysis evidences that custom solutions generally exhibit an accuracy comparable to the one of the commercial solution, with a slight degradation of performance for the TDR-based setup, which, however, compensates for this drawback with its appealing low cost.