Polyphonic voices of the Mediterranean in Boccaccio’s Sicilian novellas

Molte novelle del Decameron sono ambientate in Sicilia ed è proprio attraverso di esse che viene veicolata la bellezza dell’isola, la sua cultura multietnica, i sapori del cibo, ma anche la violenza e la criminalità, elementi che conferiscono una immagine suggestiva della Sicilia e degli abitanti di quest’isola posta al crocevia del Mediterraneo. Il presente contributo si propone di far emergere gli aspetti suddetti attraverso l’analisi di alcune novelle di Boccaccio; in modo particolare verranno prese in esame la seconda novella della quinta giornata, la decima novella della ottava giornata, la settima novella della decima giornata, la sesta novella della quinta giornata, nelle quali la storia, la letteratura e l’archeologia sono voci polifoniche che si intrecciano ed animano il continuum narrativo.peer-reviewe

On some limitations of data-driven weather forecasting models

As in many other areas of engineering and applied science, Machine Learning (ML) is having a profound impact in the domain of Weather and Climate Prediction. A very recent development in this area has been the emergence of fully data-driven ML prediction models which routinely claim superior performance to that of traditional physics-based models. In this work, we examine some aspects of the forecasts produced by an exemplar of the current generation of ML models, Pangu-Weather, with a focus on the fidelity and physical consistency of those forecasts and how these characteristics relate to perceived forecast performance. The main conclusion is that Pangu-Weather forecasts, and possibly those of similar ML models, do not have the fidelity and physical consistency of physics-based models and their advantage in accuracy on traditional deterministic metrics of forecast skill can be at least partly attributed to these peculiarities. Balancing forecast skill and physical consistency of ML-driven predictions will be an important consideration for future ML models. However, and similarly to other modern post-processing technologies, the current ML models appear to be already able to add value to standard NWP output for specific forecast applications and combined with their extremely low computational cost during deployment, are set to provide an additional, useful source of forecast information. .Comment: Expanded and revised version of original submissio

Cranial neuralgias: from physiopathology to pharmacological treatment

Cranial neuralgias are paroxysmal painful disorders of the head characterised by some shared features such as unilaterality of symptoms, transience and recurrence of attacks, superficial and "shock-like" quality of pain and the presence of triggering factors. Although rare, these disorders must be promptly recognised as they harbour a relatively high risk for underlying compressive or inflammatory disease. Nevertheless, misdiagnosis is frequent. Trigeminal and glossopharyngeal neuralgias are sustained in most cases by a neurovascular conflict in the posterior fossa resulting in a hyperexcitability state of the trigeminal circuitry. If the aetiology of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and other typical neuralgias must be brought back to the peripheral injury, their pathogenesis could involve central allodynic mechanisms, which, in patients with inter-critical pain, also engage the nociceptive neurons at the thalamic-cortical level. Currently available medical treatments for TN and other cranial neuralgias are reviewed

Gaia: The Astrometry Revolution

The power of micro-arcsecond ($\mu$as) astrometry is about to be unleashed. ESA's Gaia mission, now headed towards the end of the first year of routine science operations, will soon fulfil its promise for revolutionary science in countless aspects of Galactic astronomy and astrophysics. The potential of Gaia position measurements for important contributions to the astrophysics of planetary systems is huge. We focus here on the expectations for detection and improved characterization of 'young' planetary systems in the neighborhood of the Sun using a combination of Gaia $\mu$as astrometry and direct imaging techniques.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 314 'Young Stars & Planets Near the Sun', held on May 11-15 2015 in Atlanta (GA), USA (J. H. Kastner, B. Stelzer, & S. A. Metchev, eds.