Mellin Analysis, Transform Theory, and Applications

This monograph presents the theory of the Mellin transform and the resulting Mellin analysis in a rigorous and unified manner. Often dismissed as a subordinate topic within Fourier and Laplace transform, it is instead demonstrated here that the theory is completely independent, can be studied within a self-contained framework, and exhibits some typical characteristics. In addition to highlighting the foundations of the theory, the book addresses applications to certain partial differential equations, sampling theory and numerical quadrature. These applications provide methods which are in turn of interest in various areas of mathematics, science, and engineering. Each chapter is enriched by numerous references to further literature and potential research directions. Researchers working in this field will gain new insights and appreciate the deserved attention for this underrated topic in harmonic analysis

Development of an Organoautocatalyzed Double σ‐Bond C(sp2)‐N Transamination Metathesis Reaction

The transamination reaction, which involves the conversion of one amine to another, traditionally relies on biological enzyme catalysts. Although chemists have recently developed a few transition metal-catalyzed methods, mimicking these enzymes to interconvert amine groups in acyclic substrates via transamination metathesis of a single C(sp2)─N bond, transamination of cyclic tertiary amines has remained a challenge in synthetic chemistry. Here, we present the development of organoautocatalyzed transamination metathesis of two C(sp2)─N bonds in a cyclic substrate that allows for the challenging transformation to take place with up to 95% yield under exceptionally mild reaction conditions at room temperature without external catalysts and/or additives. The reaction mechanism has been studied in detail through time-resolved 1H-NMR, 2D NMR, and computational methods. Remarkably, in situ-formed pyrrolidinium salt acts as a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) organoautocatalyst in this multi-step domino process. The new organoautocatalyzed methodology gives environmentally friendly, atom-economical, straightforward, and rapid access to N-substituted 3,5-dinitro-1,4-dihydropyridines (DNDHPs), thus offering facile entry to privileged bioactive compounds

Further Results on Orbits and Incidence Matrices for the Class O_6 of Lines External to the Twisted Cubic in PG(3,q)

In the literature, lines of the projective space PG(3,q) are partitioned into classes, each of which is a union of line orbits under the stabilizer group of the twisted cubic. The least studied class is named O_6. This class contains lines external to the twisted cubic which are not its chords or axes and do not lie in any of its osculating planes. For even and odd q, we propose a new family of orbits of O_6 and investigate in detail their stabilizer groups and the corresponding submatrices of the point-line and plane-line incidence matrices. To obtain these submatrices, we explored the number of solutions of cubic and quartic equations connected with intersections of lines (including the tangents to the twisted cubic), points, and planes in PG(3,q)

Predictive factors of health related quality of life in children and adolescents with celiac disease: An Italian multicenter study on behalf of the SIGENP

Background: In pediatric patients, celiac disease (CD) may influence the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Aims: The study aimed to assess HRQoL and further characterise the clinical factors associated with reduced HRQoL, in a large multicenter pediatric cohort with CD. Methods: The disease-specific questionnaire CD Dutch Questionnaire (CDDUX) and the generic questionnaire Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) were used to assess the HRQoL. Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were analyzed, univariate and multivariate analysis were conducted. Results: Eleven different Italian pediatric centers and 871 families were involved. Mean age at interview was 12.9 ± 2.9 years. The mean total CDDUX score of CD patients was 47.1 ± 18.8, revealing a neutral HRQoL (47.1 ± 18.8), and a good to very good HRQoL according to the PedsQL (81.4 ± 12.6), parents indicated lower scores (p = 0.03) with both questionnaires (CDDUX 45.1 ± 18.6 and PedsQL 79.9 ± 14.5). Patients with lower HRQoL were mainly female, living in Northern Italy, with lower parent's education level and non-biopsy diagnosis of CD. In multivariate analysis, the main predictor of lower CDDUX score was non-biopsy diagnosis. Conclusions: The HRQoL in a large cohort of Italian children is reported as neutral-good. This indicates a high level of adaptive behaviors in response to the daily challenges of CD. Parents tend to underestimate their children's HRQoL. Specific clinical factors, including non-biopsy diagnosis, may be associated to lower HRQoL

Omitting continuous covariates in binary regression models: Implications for sensitivity and mediation analysis

In statistical analysis, Cochran's formula plays a crucial role in disentangling the relationships between marginal and conditional regression coefficients. However, its results and implications are valid only within the linear case. Despite this, due to its simplicity and interpretability, practitioners often continue to use Cochran's formula also outside linear models. With reference to binary outcome models, we derived the approximated expression of the marginal regression coefficient when marginalization is performed over a continuous covariate and show that it mimics Cochran's formula under certain simplifying assumptions. We initially postulate a logistic link function and then show how it can be generalized. We then explore the implications of this formula in the context of sensitivity analysis and causal mediation analysis, thereby enlarging the number of circumstances where explicit parametric formulations can be used to evaluate causal direct and indirect effects, otherwise computed via numerical integration. Simulations show that our proposed estimators perform equally well as others based on numerical methods and that the additional interpretability of the explicit formulas does not compromise their precision

Assessment of seasonal soil moisture forecasts over Central Mediterranean toward groundwater management

It is highly likely that in the near future the Mediterranean region will experience increased aridity and hydrological droughts. Therefore, seasonal forecasts of soil moisture can be a valuable resource for agriculture and for evaluating the flux in the vadose zone towards shallow unconfined aquifers. However, their accuracy in this region has not been evaluated against observations. This study presents an evaluation of soil moisture in the Central Mediterranean region (35–50° N, 5–25° E) during the period 2001–2021 using the seasonal forecast system (SEAS5) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). In this perspective, standardized anomalies of soil moisture are compared with observed values in ERA5-Land reanalysis of ECMWF. In terms of the average magnitude of the forecast error and the anomaly correlation coefficient, the forecasts demonstrate good performance only in certain regions of the domain for the deepest soil layer: Hungary, peninsular Italy, internal areas of the Balkan Peninsula, Provence, Sardinia, and Sicily. These regions correspond to those with the largest memory timescale of soil moisture and do not exhibit a complex orography. The obtained results show that seasonal forecasts are useful to detect wet and dry events for the deepest soil layer in the mentioned regions, with lead times of up to 6 months. In these regions, the area under the relative operating characteristic (ROC) curve can reach values larger than 0.8. For all soil layers, dry events are generally better captured than wet events; the best forecast skill, on average, is obtained for the events where the antecedent condition is correspondent to the present condition (dry after dry, wet after wet). To illustrate these features, the case study of the 2012 drought period demonstrates the capacity of the SEAS5 model to forecast such an event for central and northern Italy with a 6-month lead time. Furthermore, the close correlation between soil moisture and the observed water table in shallow unconfined aquifers in Italy underscores the significant potential of seasonal soil moisture forecasts for underground water management applications

Bronchial foreign body caused by a grasshopper in a dog

An 11-year-old dog living in a rural area of Italy was evaluated for a persistent cough. Diagnostic imaging findings, combined with the clinical history and physical examination, revealed focal pneumonia, raising suspicion of a vegetal foreign body. Bronchoscopy identified a foreign body (a grasshopper) partially obstructing the left caudal bronchus, and its removal was successfully performed. Insects should be considered potential bronchial foreign bodies in the differential diagnosis