A Method for Sensing Dielectric Properties of Thin and Flexible Conductive Biocomposites.

This study investigates the dielectric properties of conductive biocomposites (CBs), which are integral to the development of advanced materials for flexible electronics and medical devices. A novel method employing Microwave Reflectometry (MR) is introduced, utilizing a miniaturized Vector Network Analyzer (m-VNA) and a dedicated sensing element (SE), to extract the dielectric properties of CBs. The method is grounded in a minimization principle, aligning the measured S11 reflection scattering parameter with its electromagnetic (EM) simulation, facilitating a refined process for determining the dielectric properties. The experimental setup was meticulously engineered, optimized, and validated using reference dielectric samples (RDSs) with known dielectric properties. The method was then applied to three innovative CBs, resulting in an accurate extrapolation of their dielectric properties. The findings highlight the method's versatility, cost-efficiency, and applicability to ultra-thin and flexible biopolymer films, offering significant potential for advancements in flexible electronics and bio-sensing applications.

Accurate Detection and Localization of Water Pipe Leaks through Model-Based TDR Inversion.

The problem of water scarcity affects many areas of the world due to water mismanagement and overconsumption and, more recently, to climate change. Monitoring the integrity of distribution systems is, therefore, increasingly important to avoid the waste of clean water. This paper presents a new signal processing technique for enhancing the performance of the methodology of leak detection in water distribution pipes based on time domain reflectometry (TDR). The new technique is based on a particular kind of TDR inversion (spatial TDR) based on a "gray-box" lumped parameter model of the system. The model does not include, e.g., radiative phenomena, non-TEM (transverse electromagnetic) modes etc. but is capable of reproducing accurately the complicated reflectograms obtained by a TDR leak detection system assuming a proper profile of capacitance per unit length along the sensing element. Even more importantly, the model is identified using only the reflectograms taken by the system with very little prior information about the system components. The developed technique is able to estimate with good accuracy, from reflectograms with unclear or ambiguous interpretation, the position and the extension of a region where water is located. The measurement is obtained without prior electromagnetic characterization of the TDR system components and without the need of modeling or quantifying a number of electromagnetic effects typical of on-site measurements.

Molecular Signature of Biological Aggressiveness in Clear Cell Sarcoma of the Kidney (CCSK).

Clear cell sarcoma of the kidney (CCSK) is a rare pediatric renal tumor with a worse prognosis than Wilms' tumor. Although recently, BCOR internal tandem duplication (ITD) has been found as a driver mutation in more than 80% of cases, a deep molecular characterization of this tumor is still lacking, as well as its correlation with the clinical course. The aim of this study was to investigate the differential molecular signature between metastatic and localized BCOR-ITD-positive CCSK at diagnosis. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-transcriptome sequencing (WTS) were performed on six localized and three metastatic BCOR-ITD-positive CCSKs, confirming that this tumor carries a low mutational burden. No significant recurrences of somatic or germline mutations other than BCOR-ITD were identified among the evaluated samples. Supervised analysis of gene expression data showed enrichment of hundreds of genes, with a significant overrepresentation of the MAPK signaling pathway in metastatic cases (p < 0.0001). Within the molecular signature of metastatic CCSK, five genes were highly and significantly over-expressed: FGF3, VEGFA, SPP1, ADM, and JUND. The role of FGF3 in the acquisition of a more aggressive phenotype was investigated in a cell model system obtained by introducing the ITD into the last exon of BCOR by Crispr/Cas9 gene editing of the HEK-293 cell line. Treatment with FGF3 of BCOR-ITD HEK-293 cell line induced a significant increase in cell migration versus both untreated and scramble cell clone. The identification of over-expressed genes in metastatic CCSKs, with a particular focus on FGF3, could offer new prognostic and therapeutic targets in more aggressive cases.

Sluggish retrieval of positive memories in depressed adults.

Although depression is associated with poor memory for positive material, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We used the Hierarchical Drift Diffusion Model (HDDM) to determine whether slow evidence accumulation at retrieval contributes to depressed individuals' difficulty remembering positive events. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II and were stratified into High BDI (HBDI; BDI-II > 20, n = 49) and Low BDI (LBDI; BDI-II < 6, n = 46) groups. Next, participants completed an oddball task in which neutral, negative, and positive pictures served as rare targets. One day later, recognition memory was tested by presenting the encoded ("old") pictures along with closely matched ("new") lures. Recognition accuracy was analyzed with a generalized linear model, and choice and response time data were analyzed with the HDDM. Recognition accuracy for old positive pictures was lower in HBDI versus LBDI participants, and the HDDM highlighted slow evidence accumulation during positive memory retrieval in the HBDI group. Impaired memory for positive material in depressed adults was related to slow evidence accumulation at retrieval. Because oddballs should elicit prediction errors that normally strengthen memory formation, these retrieval findings may reflect weak positive prediction errors, at encoding, in depressed adults.

Bilateral adrenal primary tumor in Stage 4S neuroblastoma: The Italian experience and review of the literature.

Bilateral adrenal neuroblastoma (NB) is rare and is mainly stage 4S. Its incidence, presenting features, management, and outcome have not been fully defined yet. We searched the Italian NB Registry (RINB) for stage 4S NB infants with bilateral adrenal primary tumor to compare them with stage 4S NB with unilateral tumor. Between 1979 and 2016, the RINB enrolled 3731 NB patients aged 0-18 years including 317 infants (8.5%) diagnosed with stage 4S NB. Eleven/317 (3.5%) had a bilateral adrenal primary tumor (Group 1) and 190/317 (59.9%) had a unilateral tumor (Group 2). Group 1 infants were significantly younger (51 vs. 89 days) but were comparable with Group 2 for any other presenting features. In the absence of specific protocols, upfront treatment was based on symptoms, size of adrenal tumors, and biology, and consisted of observation in 5 cases, radiotherapy in one, chemotherapy in 2, and surgery in 3. Five/11 developed progression and 2 of them, both with MYCN amplification, died. The 5-year EFS rates of Group 1 and 2 were 54.5% vs. 73.3% (P=.14) and 5-year OSs were 81.8% and 89.4%, respectively (P=.44). Our data support the hypothesis that 4S NB infants with bilateral adrenal tumors can have favorable outcome with personalized therapeutic approach. The three patients with MYCN amplified tumor benefited from upfront aggressive chemotherapy, in accordance with current protocols. Because of the rarity of this intriguing form of neuroblastoma, collaborative prospective studies are warranted, especially in view of gaining a better insight on its biological and genetic features.

A Method for Extracting Debye Parameters as a Tool for Monitoring Watered and Contaminated Soils.

Soil monitoring is a key topic from several perspectives, such as moisture level control for irrigation management and anti-contamination purposes. Monitoring the latter is becoming even more important due to increasing environmental pollution. As a direct consequence, there is a strong demand for innovative monitoring systems that are low cost, provide for quasi-real time and in situ monitoring, high sensitivity, and adequate accuracy. Starting from these considerations, this paper addresses the implementation of a microwave reflectometry based-system utilizing a customized bifilar probe and a miniaturized Vector Network Analyzer (m-VNA). The main objective is to relate frequency-domain (FD) measurements to the features of interest, such as the water content and/or the percentage of some polluting substances, through an innovative automatable procedure to retrieve the Debye dielectric parameters of the soil under different conditions. The results from this study confirm the potential of microwave reflectometry for moisture monitoring and contamination detection.

Permittivity-Based Water Content Calibration Measurement in Wood-Based Cultural Heritage: A Preliminary Study.

In this work, the dielectric permittivity of four kinds of wood (Fir, Poplar, Oak, and Beech Tree), used in Italian Artworks and structures, was characterized at different humidity levels. Measurements were carried out using three different probes connected to a bench vector network analyzer: a standard WR90 X-band waveguide, a WR430 waveguide, and an open-ended coaxial probe. In particular, we investigated the dispersion model for the four wood species, showing how a log-fit model of the open-ended data presents a determination coefficient R2 > 0.990 in the 1−12 GHz frequency range. This result has proven helpful to fill the frequency gap between the measurements obtained at different water contents with the two waveguide probes showing an R2 > 0.93. Furthermore, correlating the log-fit vertical shift with the water content, it was possible to find a calibration curve with a linear characteristic. These experimental results will be helpful for on-site non-invasive water monitoring of wooden artworks or structures. Moreover, the final results show how the open-ended coaxial probe, with a measurement deviation lower than 7% from the waveguide measurements, may be used directly as a non-invasive sensor for on-site measurements.

Split Ring Resonator Network and Diffused Sensing Element Embedded in a Concrete Beam for Structural Health Monitoring.

The aim of this work is to propose two different and integrated sensors for the structural health monitoring of concrete beams. In particular, a diffused sensing element and a split ring resonator network are presented. The first sensor is able to detect the variations in the dielectric properties of the concrete along the whole beam length, for a diffuse monitoring both during the important concrete curing phase and also for the entire life cycle of the concrete beams. The resonators instead work punctually, in their surroundings, allowing an accurate evaluation of the permittivity both during the drying phase and after. This allows the continuous monitoring of any presence of water both inside the concrete beam and at points that can be critical, in the case of beams in dams, bridges or in any case subject to a strong presence of water which could lead to deterioration, or worse, cause serious accidents. Moreover, the punctual sensors are able to detect the presence of cracks in the structure and to localize them.

Genomic Analysis Made It Possible to Identify Gene-Driver Alterations Covering the Time Window between Diagnosis of Neuroblastoma 4S and the Progression to Stage 4.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a tumor of the developing sympathetic nervous system. Despite recent advances in understanding the complexity of NB, the mechanisms that determine its regression or progression are still largely unknown. Stage 4S NB is characterized by a favorable course of disease and often by spontaneous regression, while progression to true stage 4 is a very rare event. Here, we focused on genomic analysis of an NB case that progressed from stage 4S to stage 4 with a very poor outcome. Array-comparative genomic hybridization (a-CGH) on tumor-tissue DNA, and whole-exome sequencing (WES) on exosomes DNA derived from plasma collected at the onset and at the tumor progression, pointed out relevant genetic changes that can explain this clinical worsening. The combination of a-CGH and WES data allowed for the identification iof somatic copy number aberrations and single-nucleotide variants in genes known to be responsible for aggressive NB. KLRB1, MAPK3 and FANCA genes, which were lost at the time of progression, were studied for their possible role in this event by analyzing in silico the impact of their expression on the outcome of 786 NB patients.

Implementation of frailty preoperative assessment to predict outcome in patients undergoing urological surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A common limit of the widely used risk scores for preoperative assessment is the lack of information about aspects linked to frailty that may affect outcome, especially in the setting of elderly patients undergoing urological surgery. Frailty has recently been introduced as an additional characteristic to be assessed for better identifying patients at risk of negative outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To examine the evidence for recent advances in preoperative assessment in patients undergoing urological surgery focussing on the detrimental effect of frailty on outcome, including major (mPCs) and total postoperative complications (tPCs), discharge to a facility, and mortality. The secondary aim was to establish which cut-off scores of the modified Frailty Index (mFI, 11 items) and/or simplified FI (sFI, five items) predicted PCs. METHODS: We searched PubMed, the Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Cochrane Library and clinicaltrial.gov from inception to 31 May 2020. Studies reporting relationships between the investigated outcomes and patients' frailty were included. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) through a random effect model by using Revman 5.4. RESULTS: Frailty, assessed by different tools, was associated with a significantly higher rate of 30-day (OR 1.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58-1.89) and 90-day (OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.14-3.82) mPCs and 30-day tPCs (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.76-2.52). A mFI of ≥2 was associated with a higher rate of 30-day mPCs (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.69-1.89) and greater 30-day mortality (OR 3.46, 95% CI 2.10-5.49). A pre-planned post hoc analysis also revealed that a sFI of ≥3 was predictive of mPCs (OR 3.30, 95% CI 2.12-5.12). CONCLUSIONS: Frailty assessment may help to predict PCs and mortality in patients undergoing major urological surgery. Either a mFi of ≥2 or sFI of ≥3 should be considered potential 'red flags' for preoperative risk assessment and decision-making. There is not enough evidence to confirm the necessity to perform frailty assessment in minor urological surgery.

Metastatic progression in infants diagnosed with stage 4S neuroblastoma. A study of the Italian Neuroblastoma Registry.

PURPOSE: Stage 4S neuroblastoma, a tumor affecting infants, is characterized by the capacity to regress spontaneously and high cure rate. About a third of these infants undergo tumor progression requiring antitumor treatment and 10-15% eventually die. In case of metastatic progression, it may occur either at 4S sites (mainly liver) or sites characterizing stage 4 (mainly bone). Aim of this study was to estimate incidence, presenting features and outcome of infants who progressed to stage 4S or stage 4 sites. PATIENTS: Of 280 Italian infants diagnosed with stage 4S neuroblastoma between 1979 and 2013 and registered in the Italian Neuroblastoma Registry, 268 were evaluable for this study, of whom 57 developed metastatic progression. RESULTS: Progression to stage 4S sites occurred in 29/268 infants (10.8%) (Group A) and to stage 4 in 28/268 (10.4%) (Group B). No significant difference was observed between the two groups at the time of diagnosis. At the time of progression, Group A infants were younger (7.3 vs 14.4 months, P = .001) and had a shorter interval from diagnosis to progression (3.8 vs 9.6 months, P = .001). Survival after progression was worse for Group B infants (45% vs 69%, P = .058) and was associated with age at diagnosis lower than 2 months (P = .005) and adrenal primary tumor site (P = .008). Survival rates increased for both groups along the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Infants who progressed to stage 4 did worse, possibly in relation to older age at progression and longer interval between diagnosis and progression. Large prospective studies of these patients may lead to more effective treatments.

Role of centers with different patient volumes in the management of rhabdomyosarcoma. An analysis by the Italian Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee.

PROCEDURE: The survival of children with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) has gradually improved as a result of the adoption of multidisciplinary treatments. Dedicated skills and facilities are indispensable and more readily available at reference centers. In this study, we examined the role of centers' experience (based on the number of patients treated) in their management of patients with RMS. METHODS: We analyzed 342 patients with localized RMS enrolled in the European RMS 2005 protocol from October 2005 to December 2016 at 31 Italian centers that are part of the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee (STSC). We grouped the centers by the number of patients each one enrolled (Group 1: >40; Group 2: <40 and >10; and Group 3: <10), and compared a number of indicators to assess the appropriateness of patients' diagnostic workup and treatment and their survival. RESULTS: Overall, 74.6% of patients were treated at 10 centers, and only three of them classifiable as high-volume centers. Only minor differences emerged between the three patient groups in terms of diagnostic investigations and treatment modalities. Survival was similar in the three groups. Approximately, one in four children treated at the centers in Groups 2 and 3 traveled to another center for surgery or radiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Patients treated at STSC centers with different amounts of experience had similar results in terms of survival. This is attributable to all centers in the network adhering to protocol recommendations and receiving the STSC's support on diagnostics and multidisciplinary treatments for RMS.

Malignant sacrococcygeal germ cell tumors in childhood: The Associazione Italiana Ematologia Oncologia Pediatrica (AIEOP) experience.

PURPOSE: To evaluate clinical features at diagnosis, prognostic factors, and outcomes of malignant sacrococcygeal germ cell tumors (SC-GCTs) in patients enrolled in the Associazione Italiana Ematologia Oncologia Pediatrica (AIEOP) TCG 2004 protocol. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective analysis was conducted on all consecutive patients diagnosed with malignant SC-GCTs between January 2004 and May 2017. Patients with stage I underwent surgery and subsequent surveillance, the others received pediatric cisplatinum-etoposide-bleomycin (pPEB) regimen and eventual deferred surgery. RESULTS: Of 45 patients, 35 were females. Age at diagnosis ranged from 1 day to 3.6 years (median 1.6 years); 26 were stage IV. Of 38 patients who underwent surgery, pathology revealed yolk sac tumor (YST) in 27 and teratoma + YST/embryonal carcinoma in 11, while seven patients were diagnosed based on imaging and elevated levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Of six patients approached with surgery, only one relapsed and was rescued with first-line chemotherapy. Overall, 38 out of 45 achieved complete remission, three a partial remission, and four were resistant. Ten out of 41 patients who entered remission later relapsed and nine were rescued with a second-line treatment. We observed a global failure percentage of 31% and a 5-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) of 95% and 69%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapyis generally effective in malignant SC-GCTs, even though almost one-third of our patients experienced events salvageable with second-line treatment. Most of the relapses occurred within 1 year from diagnosis. A close follow up with serial AFP level monitoring should be done for at least 2 years after diagnosis.

Spinal cord compression as tumor onset: an unusual case report of Hodgkin lymphoma in a teenager.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord compression (SCC) is an uncommon, severe complication of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), occurring in 0.2% of cases at the onset and in 6% during disease progression. We present a teenager with SCC with clinical onset of HL; her pre-existing neurological abnormalities covered the presence of an epidural mass, which could have misled us. CASE PRESENTATION: A 13-year-old girl presented with a three-month history of lower back pain and degrading ability to walk. She suffered from a chronic gait disorder due to her preterm birth. A magnetic resonance imaging of the spine revealed an epidural mass causing collapse of twelfth thoracic vertebra and thus compression and displacement of the spinal cord. Histological examination with immunohistochemical analysis of the epidural mass demonstrated a classic-type Hodgkin lymphoma. Early pathology-specific treatment allowed to avoid urgent surgery, achieve survival and restore of neurological function. CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents with back pain and neurological abnormalities should be prioritized to avoid diagnostic delay resulting in potential loss of neurological function. SCC requires a prompt radiological assessment and an expert multidisciplinary management.

Combined Punctual and Diffused Monitoring of Concrete Structures Based on Dielectric Measurements.

This work presents a microwave reflectometry-based system for monitoring large concrete structures (during the curing process and also while the structure is in use), through the combined use of punctual and diffused sensing elements. In particular, the adoption of punctual probes on a reference concrete specimen allows the development of an innovative and accurate calibration procedure, useful to obtain the value of the water content on a larger structure made of the same material. Additionally, a wire-like diffused sensing element can be permanently embedded in buildings and used to monitor the structure along the entire length of the sensing element. The adopted diffused sensing element can be used not only to detect dielectric variation during the curing process, but also throughout the service life of the structure. The combined use of punctual and diffused sensing elements represents an important innovation from a procedural point of view, able to provide detailed and quantitative information on the health status of the structure both during and after construction.

Genomic coamplification of CDK4/MDM2/FRS2 is associated with very poor prognosis and atypical clinical features in neuroblastoma patients.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial malignant tumor of childhood and is characterized by a broad heterogeneity in clinical presentation and evolution. Recent advances in pangenomic analysis of NB have revealed different recurrent chromosomal aberrations. Indeed, it is now well established that the overall genomic profile is important for treatment stratification. In previous studies, 11 genes were shown to be recurrently amplified (ODC1, ALK, GREB1, NTSR2, LIN28B, MDM2, CDK4, MYEOV, CCND1, TERT, and MYC) besides MYCN, with poor survival of NB patients harboring these amplifications being suggested. Genomic profiles of 628 NB samples analyzed by array-comparative genome hybridization (a-CGH) were re-examined to identify gene amplifications other them MYCN amplification. Clinical data were retrospectively collected. We additionally evaluated the association of FRS2 gene expression with NB patient outcome using the public R2 Platform. We found eight NB samples with high grade amplification of one or two loci on chromosome arm 12q. The regional amplifications were located on bands 12q13.3-q14.1 and 12q15-q21.1 involving the genes CDK4, MDM2, and the potential oncogenic gene FRS2. The CDK4, MDM2, and FRS2 loci were coamplified in 8/8 samples. The 12q amplifications were associated with very poor prognosis and atypical clinical features of NB patients. Further functional and clinical investigations are needed to confirm or refute these associations.

Neural and behavioral effects of subordinate-level training of novel objects across manipulations of color and spatial frequency.

Perceptual expertise is marked by subordinate-level recognition of objects in the expert domain. In this study, participants learned one family of full-color, artificial objects at the subordinate (species) level and another family at the basic (family) level. Discrimination of trained and untrained exemplars was tested before and after training across several image manipulations [full-color, grayscale, low spatial frequency (LSF) and high spatial frequency (HSF)] while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Regardless of image manipulation, discrimination (indexed by d') of trained and of untrained exemplars was enhanced after subordinate-level training, but not after basic-level training. Enhanced discrimination after subordinate-level training generalized to untrained exemplars and to grayscale images and images in which LSF or HSF information was removed. After training, the N170 and N250, recorded over occipital and occipitotemporal brain regions, were both more enhanced after subordinate-level training than after basic-level training. However, the topographic distribution of enhanced responses differed across components. The N170 latency predicted reaction time after both basic-level training and subordinate-level training, highlighting an association between behavioral and neural responses. These findings further elucidate the role of the N170 and N250 as ERP indices of subordinate-level expert object processing and demonstrate how low-level manipulations of color and spatial frequency impact behavior and the N170 and N250 components independent of training or expertise.

Defining the impact of prognostic factors at the time of relapse for nonmetastatic rhabdomyosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis for patients with relapsed rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) depends on a number of variables, including tumor characteristics, type of relapse, and treatment received. All published studies have considered tumor characteristics at initial diagnosis, but not at the time of recurrence. In this study, we compared tumor characteristics at diagnosis and at the moment of local relapse to better define the chance of cure in this group of patients. METHODS: We first analyzed 92 children with localized RMS treated according to the RMS96 and RMS2005 protocols who developed relapse after achieving complete remission at the end of treatment. Then we restricted our analysis to 51 patients with local recurrence to compare their initial tumor characteristics with those at relapse. All characteristics were studied using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The 10-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates for the whole group were 23.5% (15.4-32.6) and 34.4% (24.8-44.1), respectively. On multivariate analysis, only primary tumor site appeared to have a strong impact on prognosis (P = .0010). The 10-year PFS and OS rates of patients with locoregional recurrences were 22.7% (12.3-35.0) and 34.9% (22.1-47.9), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that tumors at unfavorable sites (P = .0044), and tumor size > 5 cm at recurrence (P = .0088) were associated with the poorest prognosis. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that to estimate the chance of cure in patients with relapsed RMS, we should also consider tumor characteristics at the time of relapse, and tumor size in particular.

Feasibility of a Wearable Reflectometric System for Sensing Skin Hydration.

One of the major goals of Health 4.0 is to offer personalized care to patients, also through real-time, remote monitoring of their biomedical parameters. In this regard, wearable monitoring systems are crucial to deliver continuous appropriate care. For some biomedical parameters, there are a number of well established systems that offer adequate solutions for real-time, continuous patient monitoring. On the other hand, monitoring skin hydration still remains a challenging task. The continuous monitoring of this physiological parameter is extremely important in several contexts, for example for athletes, sick people, workers in hostile environments or for the elderly. State-of-the-art systems, however, exhibit some limitations, especially related with the possibility of continuous, real-time monitoring. Starting from these considerations, in this work, the feasibility of an innovative time-domain reflectometry (TDR)-based wearable, skin hydration sensing system for real-time, continuous monitoring of skin hydration level was investigated. The applicability of the proposed system was demonstrated, first, through experimental tests on reference substances, then, directly on human skin. The obtained results demonstrate the TDR technique and the proposed system holds unexplored potential for the aforementioned purposes.

Fully-Textile, Wearable Chipless Tags for Identification and Tracking Applications.

In this work, two fully-textile wearable devices, to be used as chipless identification tags in identification and tracking applications are presented. For the fabrication of the fully-textile tags, a layer of fleece was used as a substrate, while an adhesive non-woven conductive fabric was employed for the conductive parts. To allow radio-frequency identification of these chipless tags, two alternative techniques were used. One relies on associating a binary code with the resonance frequency of resonant devices: the presence/absence of the resonance peaks in the transmission scattering parameter, | S 21 | , of a set of resonators is used to encode a string of bits. The second technique for accomplishing radio-frequency identification of the chipless tags resorts to a frequency-shift coding technique, which is implemented by modifying the configuration of a hairpin resonator. The obtained numerical and experimental results confirm the suitability of the proposed strategies for obtaining entirely-textile, wearable chipless tags for identification and tracking purposes, which can be particularly useful, especially in the industrial sector. In this field, in fact, the proposed solutions would guarantee a seamless integration with clothes and would facilitate the user's interaction with the IoT infrastructure. In this regard, one of the envisaged application scenarios related to the tracking of hides in the leather industry is also presented.