Analysis of similarity measurements in CBIR using clustered tamura features for biomedical images

Content based image retrieval (CBIR) is an important research topic in many applications, in particular in the biomedical field. In this domain, the CBIR has the aim of helping to improve the diagnosis, retrieving images of patients for which a diagnosis has already been made, similar to the current image. The main issue of CBIR is the selection of the visual contents (feature descriptors) of the images to be extracted for a correct image retrieval. The second issue is the choice of the similarity measurement to use to compare the feature descriptors of the query image to ones of the other images of the database. This paper focuses on a comparison among different similarity measurements in CBIR, with particular interest to a biomedical images database. The adopted technique for CBIR is based on clustered Tamura features. The selected similarity measurements are used both to evaluate the adopted technique for CBIR and to estimate the stability of the results. A comparison with some methods in literature has been carried out, showing the best results for the proposed technique

«Words in their forge». Autorialità, poetica, traduzione e autotraduzione in Sleep di Amelia Rosselli

L’intervento si propone di verificare le modalità di costruzione della componente autoriale in Sleep di Amelia Rosselli, la raccolta di poesie in inglese, con versione italiana di Antonio Porta, pubblicata in forma di plaquette da Rossi &Spera nel 1989 e, in edizione accresciuta con traduzione di Emmanuela Tandello, da Garzanti nel 1992. La silloge rosselliana costituisce un caso esemplare per l’analisi della figura autoriale, poiché la ricostruzione della complessa storia genetica ed editoriale del libro (testimoniata dai materiali conservati presso il Centro Manoscritti dell’Università di Pavia e presso il Centro APICE dell’Università di Milano) consente di indagare il dialogo instaurato tra il sistema stilistico-poetico di Porta e quello di Rosselli

«In serpentile scorza»: presenze serpentine nell'«Orlando furioso»

Il saggio intende indagare la presenza delle figure serpentine nell’Orlando furioso. A una prima sezione dedicata all’analisi delle similitudini del serpente nel poema ariostesco (significativamente poste in punti di svolta della narrazione), fa seguito una seconda in cui viene offerta una lettura dei canti XLII e XLIII. Dallo studio emerge chiaramente come a questa altezza del poema sia possibile avvisare un significativo implemento della presenza di esseri a vario titolo investiti di proprietà anguiformi. L’analisi di intertestualità tematica consente di cogliere le modalità ariostesche di contaminazione fra fonti di tipo classico (il mito di fondazione della città di Manto) e romanze (il filone delle storie e novelle legate al motivo del Fier Baiser) e di proporre cosí alcune nuove ipotesi interpretative sulla funzione svolta da episodi solo apparentemente slegati dai principali filoni narrativi del Furioso. The paper intends to investigate the presence of serpentine figures in Orlando furioso. A first section is dedicated to the analysis of similarities of the snake in the poem (significantly placed in the turning points of the plot). In the second half is offered a reading of XLII and XLIII cantos. The study shows clearly that, in this part of the poem, it is possible to observe a significant increase of characters in various ways linked to the serpentine properties. The thematic intertextuality analysis allows to grasp the Ariosto mode of contamination between classical sources (the founding myth of the city of Mantua) and romances (the stories and tales tied to the Fier Baiser topic). Furthermore this paper proposes some new interpretative hypothesis about the function performed by episodes seemingly detached from the main Furioso’s narrative strands.

Certifications of Critical Systems – The CECRIS Experience

In recent years, a considerable amount of effort has been devoted, both in industry and academia, to the development, validation and verification of critical systems, i.e. those systems whose malfunctions or failures reach a critical level both in terms of risks to human life as well as having a large economic impact. Certifications of Critical Systems – The CECRIS Experience documents the main insights on Cost Effective Verification and Validation processes that were gained during work in the European Research Project CECRIS (Certification of Critical Systems). The objective of the research was to tackle the challenges of certification by focusing on those aspects that turn out to be more difficult/important for current and future critical systems industry: the effective use of methodologies, processes and tools. Starting from both the scientific and industrial state of the art methodologies for system development and the impact of their usage on the verification and validation and certification of critical systems, the project aimed at developing strategies and techniques supported by automatic or semi-automatic tools and methods for these activities, setting guidelines to support engineers during the planning of the verification and validation phases. Topics covered include: Safety Assessment, Reliability Analysis, Critical Systems and Applications, Functional Safety, Dependability Validation, Dependable Software Systems, Embedded Systems, System Certification

Joubert Syndrome and related disorders

Joubert syndrome (JS) and related disorders (JSRD) are a group of developmental delay/multiple congenital anomalies syndromes in which the obligatory hallmark is the molar tooth sign (MTS), a complex midbrain-hindbrain malformation visible on brain imaging, first recognized in JS. Estimates of the incidence of JSRD range between 1/80,000 and 1/100,000 live births, although these figures may represent an underestimate. The neurological features of JSRD include hypotonia, ataxia, developmental delay, intellectual disability, abnormal eye movements, and neonatal breathing dysregulation. These may be associated with multiorgan involvement, mainly retinal dystrophy, nephronophthisis, hepatic fibrosis and polydactyly, with both inter- and intra-familial variability. JSRD are classified in six phenotypic subgroups: Pure JS; JS with ocular defect; JS with renal defect; JS with oculorenal defects; JS with hepatic defect; JS with orofaciodigital defects. With the exception of rare X-linked recessive cases, JSRD follow autosomal recessive inheritance and are genetically heterogeneous. Ten causative genes have been identified to date, all encoding for proteins of the primary cilium or the centrosome, making JSRD part of an expanding group of diseases called "ciliopathies". Mutational analysis of causative genes is available in few laboratories worldwide on a diagnostic or research basis. Differential diagnosis must consider in particular the other ciliopathies (such as nephronophthisis and Senior-Loken syndrome), distinct cerebellar and brainstem congenital defects and disorders with cerebro-oculo-renal manifestations. Recurrence risk is 25% in most families, although X-linked inheritance should also be considered. The identification of the molecular defect in couples at risk allows early prenatal genetic testing, whereas fetal brain neuroimaging may remain uninformative until the end of the second trimester of pregnancy. Detection of the MTS should be followed by a diagnostic protocol to assess multiorgan involvement. Optimal management requires a multidisciplinary approach, with particular attention to respiratory and feeding problems in neonates and infants. Cognitive and behavioral assessments are also recommended to provide young patients with adequate neuropsychological support and rehabilitation. After the first months of life, global prognosis varies considerably among JSRD subgroups, depending on the extent and severity of organ involvement

A Mathematical Model for the Flow Resistance and the Related Hydrodynamic Dispersion Induced by River Dunes

Present work is aimed at the derivation of a simply usable equation for the total flow resistance associated with river bedforms, by a unifying approach allowing for bypassing some of the limiting restrictions usually adopted in similar types of studies. Specifically, we focused on the effect induced by the out-of-phase free surface undulations appearing in presence of sand dunes. The proposed expression, obtained by combining the balance of momentum referred to the control volume whose longitudinal dimension coincides with the dune wavelength and the energy balance integrated between its extreme sections, was tested by comparison with some laboratory experimental measurements available in the literature and referred to steady flow past fixed, variably rough bedforms. In terms of shear stress or friction factor, the proposed theory provides estimates in good agreement with the real data, especially if evaluated against the performances provided by other classical similar approaches. Moreover, when analyzed in terms of hydrodynamic dispersive properties as a function of the skin roughness on the basis of a previously derived analytical solution, the dune-covered beds seem to behave like meandering channels, responsible for a globally enhanced fluid particles longitudinal spreading, with a relatively reduced effect in the presence of less pronounced riverbed modelling

Opportunism and MPs’ chances of re-election: an analysis of political transformism in the Italian parliament

We identify as political transformists the Italian members of parliament (MPs) who cross the aisle and vote for legislation opposed by their own political group—i.e., MPs who transform from the political opposition to the ruling parties (or from government supporters) into a force supporting the government (or opposition)—thus representing sources of party and governmental instability. Transformism, which characterized 471 MPs over the period considered, does not coincide with the broader phenomena of party switching already studied in political science. Once we disentangle the distinct behaviors, we study whether transformism helps extend the tenures of all 7128 MPs observed from 1946 to 2013. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first work to consider the role of transformism in the survival of politicians. Our results suggest that transforming MPs suffer marked reductions in their survival probabilities, especially when compared with their fellow parliamentarians. However, transformist MPs, immediately after coming out as such, are more likely to survive than MPs remaining reliably loyal to their parties. That is, over time, transformists are punished by the electorate, but newly transformed politicians enjoy short-term comparative electoral advantages, thus shedding light on the relevance of a long-standing Italian political phenomenon