Analyzing Intra-Distribution Dynamics: A Reappraisal

In this paper we suggest an alternative estimator and an alternative graphical analysis, both developed by Hyndman et al. (1996), to describe the law of motion of cross-sectional distributions of per-capita income and its components in Europe. This estimator has better properties than the kernel density estimator generally used in the literature on intra-distribution dynamics (cf. Quah, 1997). By using the new estimator, we obtain evidence of a very strong persistent behavior of the regions considered in the study, that is poor regions tend to remain poorer and rich regions tend to remain richer. These results are also in line with the most recent literature available on the distribution dynamic approach to regional convergence (Pittau and Zelli, 2006).

«Napoli a occhio nudo» di Fucini e la nazionalizzazione di un universo discorsivo ‘orientalizzante’ sul Mezzogiorno

Si analizza Napoli a occhio nudo di Renato Fucini, facendo dialogare le strategie retorico-discorsive che nel testo costruiscono l'immagine di Napoli con il dibattito sui processi di 'orientalizzazione' del Mezzogiorno. Se per 'orientalismo' si può intendere «il distribuirsi di una consapevolezza geopolitica entro un insieme di testi poetici, eruditi, economici, sociologici, storiografici e filologici» (E. Said), allora può avere senso chiedersi «come e quando l'Italia meridionale è divenuta “il Sud”, un luogo e un popolo immaginato diverso […]; un serbatoio di residui feudali, pigrizia e squallore da un lato, di contadini pittoreschi, tradizioni popolari ed esotismo dall'altro» (N. Moe). La letteratura italiana post-unitaria sul Mezzogiorno è presa in esame, allora, in quanto valido banco di prova per indagare i caratteri testuali di quello che appare un particolare processo di nazionalizzazione di un universo discorsivo sul Mezzogiorno, nato dallo sguardo eurocentrico del Grand Tour

Borgese, Jovine e Silone prefatori per il Touring Club Italiano

Si mettono a sistema tre brevi testi di tipo etnogeografico con cui si sono cimentati Silone, Jovine e Borgese negli anni Trenta-Quaranta del Novecento, concettualizzando e testualizzando i caratteri più peculiari della propria regione di appartenenza. Prenderò in esame la prefazione che Borgese scrisse per Sicilia (Touring Club Italiano, 1933) e le due prefazioni che Silone e Jovine scrissero per Abruzzo e Molise, (Touring Club Italiano, 1948). Mi ripropongo di innestare le ragioni di questi testi nel dibattito sui processi di “orientalizzazione” del Mezzogiorno italiano, intendendo per orientalizzazione i percorsi culturali di tra- sformazione in categoria metastorica e stereotipata dell'immaginario culturale, caratterizzata da arretratezza, barbarie, prevalenza dell'elemento naturale e dimensione folkloristica (Said), e dunque la costruzione di i- dentità regionali meridionali fondate in prevalenza su processi retorici e rappresentazioni letterarie (Moe). A partire dal riconoscimento della centralità che il campo letterario assume nella maggior parte di tali processi culturali, emerge infatti il ruolo determinante delle strategie retoriche di cui si sostanziano pressoché tutti i processi di “orientalizzazione”, fenomeni che sono per loro stessa natura testuali e dunque in buona parte letterar

Il Mezzogiorno di Bandi e Abba tra esotismi e stigmatizzazioni

Ad eccezione di taccuini, articoli di giornale o lettere, la maggior parte dei memorialisti garibaldini si dedicò alla scrittura solo alcuni anni dopo le imprese della Spedizione dei Mille. Considerando la provenienza non meridionale della maggior parte di loro, è interessante vedere come il Sud sia stato per lo più caratterizzato in senso esotico e memoriale: luogo misterioso e fonte di stereotipi, cullato nella memoria e testualizzato attraverso una scrittura che esalta il dato leggendario

Searching via nonlinear quantum walk on the 2D-grid

We provide numerical evidence that the nonlinear searching algorithm introduced by Wong and Meyer \cite{meyer2013nonlinear}, rephrased in terms of quantum walks with effective nonlinear phase, can be extended to the finite 2-dimensional grid, keeping the same computational advantage \BHg{with} respect to the classical algorithms. For this purpose, we have considered the free lattice Hamiltonian, with linear dispersion relation introduced by Childs and Ge \cite{Childs_2014}. The numerical simulations showed that the walker finds the marked vertex in $O(N^{1/4} \log^{3/4} N)$ steps, with probability $O(1/\log N)$, for an overall complexity of $O(N^{1/4}\log^{7/4}N)$. We also proved that there exists an optimal choice of the walker parameters to avoid that the time measurement precision affects the complexity searching time of the algorithm

Nerve lesions during arthroscopic procedure: a literature overview

Arthroscopy is more and more popular. Although minimally-invasive, it's not completely free of complications as nerves lesions which can be invalidating for the patient and frustrating for the surgeon with significant economic, psychological and medico-legal implications. The purpose was to review the literature about nerve injuries related to arthroscopy. A scientific literature review was performed in PubMed/Medline, including articles dealing with cases of iatrogen lesions of the peripheral nerves occurred during arthroscopic procedures. These lesions are mainly due to direct damage by nerve section while cutting for making the portals or during surgical maneuvers, or indirect damage due to traction or pressure mechanisms especially for errors in patient positioning. Also the tourniquet can lead to compression and ischemic nerve injury. Arthroscopy can cause both transient and permanent neurological lesions manifested with dysesthesia up to paralysis according to Seddon's classification in neuroapraxia, axonotmesis and neurotmesis. Incidence of complications in general and of nerve injuries during arthroscopy are reported by joint. A rigorous respect for surgical technique and all perioperative precautions, particularly in relation to the positioning of the patient, greatly reduce the risk of nerve injury. The suggested waiting time before surgical nerve revision is 6 months. In the meanwhile the patient should perform physiotherapy constantly and improvements should be evaluated with clinical examination and electromyography 15-20 days after the lesion, and thereafter at 3 and 6 months

Flood and landslide warning based on rainfall thresholds and soil moisture indexes: the HEWS (Hydrohazards Early Warning System) for Sicily

Abstract. The main focus of the paper is to present a flood and landslide early warning system, named HEWS (Hydrohazards Early Warning System), specifically developed for the Civil Protection Department of Sicily, based on the combined use of rainfall thresholds, soil moisture modelling and quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF). The warning system is referred to 9 different Alert Zones in which Sicily has been divided into and based on a threshold system of three different increasing critical levels: ordinary, moderate and high. In this system, for early flood warning, a Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA) model provides daily soil moisture conditions, which allow to select a specific set of three rainfall thresholds, one for each critical level considered, to be used for issue the alert bulletin. Wetness indexes, representative of the soil moisture conditions of a catchment, are calculated using a simple, spatially-lumped rainfall–streamflow model, based on the SCS-CN method, and on the unit hydrograph approach, that require daily observed and/or predicted rainfall, and temperature data as input. For the calibration of this model daily continuous time series of rainfall, streamflow and air temperature data are used. An event based lumped rainfall–runoff model has been, instead, used for the derivation of the rainfall thresholds for each catchment in Sicily characterised by an area larger than 50 km2. In particular, a Kinematic Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph based lumped rainfall–runoff model with the SCS-CN routine for net rainfall was developed for this purpose. For rainfall-induced shallow landslide warning, empirical rainfall thresholds provided by Gariano et al. (2015) have been included in the system. They were derived on an empirical basis starting from a catalogue of 265 shallow landslides in Sicily in the period 2002–2012. Finally, Delft-FEWS operational forecasting platform has been applied to link input data, SMA model and rainfall threshold models to produce warning on a daily basis for the entire region

Sex- and Gender-Specific Drug Abuse Dynamics: The Need for Tailored Therapeutic Approaches

Sex and gender have been gaining ever greater attention due to their associated risks, dynamics, patterns and protective factors underlying substance abuse and addiction. Such differentiations and the clarification of complexities thereof take on even greater relevance in light of drug abuse scope worldwide. According to the 2022 World Drug Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in 2020 an estimated 284 million people worldwide aged 15–64 had used a drug within the last 12 months. The authors have set out to shed a light on determinants and contributing factors of drug abuse based on sex and gender and outline policy and medicolegal remarks aimed at delineating sex- and gender-based approaches towards drug abuse therapeutic interventions that are both therapeutically and ethically/legally viable and grounded in an evidence-based set of standards. Neurobiological data suggest that estrogen may facilitate drug taking by interacting with reward- and stress-related systems. In animal research, the administration of estrogen increases drug taking and facilitates the acquisition, escalation, and reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. From a medicolegal perspective, it is of utmost importance to take into account the whole picture constituting each patient profile, which certainly includes gender factors and contributors, when outlining a therapeutic approach. Failure to do so could lead to negligence-based malpractice allegations, in light of the scientific findings representing best practices with which clinicians need to comply when caring for SUD patients

Female obesity and infertility: outcomes and regulatory guidance

: Obesity has been associated with reduced fertility, although the dynamics and mechanisms which link excess weight to reduced fertility are not yet fully clarified. Obese women, especially those with central obesity, are less likely to conceive per cycle. Obese women suffer from perturbations of the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis, disturbances of the menstrual cycle and are up to three times more likely to suffer from oligo/anovulation. A delicate hormonal balance regulates follicular development and the maturation of oocytes and it has been observed that obesity can alter the hormonal environment: adipocytes, in fact, are responsible for the production of a hormone called leptin (present in high quantities in obese women) which has been associated with reduced fecundity. In addition to compromising ovulation, obesity negatively affects the development and implantation of the endometrium. The expression of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is regulated, in part, by weight, so obese women with PCOS often have a more severe phenotype and higher subfertility rates. Furthermore, obesity impairs women's response to medically assisted procreation (MAP) treatments. The authors have set out to delineate a broad-ranging overview of obesity's impact on female fertility, by drawing upon sources spanning the 1994-2022 period. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures are also discussed as they relate to obese patients. In addition the dynamics by which maternal obesity reportedly affects fetal, neonatal and child development have also been briefly enunciated