Ethnicity and violence during democratic transitions: evidence from South Africa

This paper shows that ethnic diversity within the disenfranchised majority matters for the incidence of violence during democratization. We study the relationship between ethnicity and conflict in South Africa during the fall of apartheid. Migration flows following the implementation and repeal of apartheid segregation laws induce cross-sectional and time variation in the ethnic composition of districts. Using Census data from the years before and after democratization, we compare the evolution of conflict across districts experiencing differential changes in ethnic composition. We find that ethnic diversity and inequality within the black majority both correlate strongly and positively with the incidence of armed confrontations between black-dominated groups. Results suggest that during democratic transitions ethnic markers can become a salient technology to separate individuals into well-identified groups and mobilize them for political violence

Riemergenza del poliovirus ed implicazioni per la vaccinazione anti-poliovirus in Italia

Nel 1988, l\u2019Organizzazione mondiale della Sanit\ue0 (OMS) ha approvato il piano di eradicazione mondiale della poliomielite con l\u2019obiettivo di annullare la circolazione del virus a partire dall\u2019anno 2000. Tale target, per motivi economici, organizzativi, culturali, bellici e financo religiosi, \ue8 stato successivamente spostato in avanti negli anni fino a giungere attualmente al 2015. A seguito di questo impegno, negli anni si \ue8 registrata una riduzione dell\u2019incidenza di poliomielite di oltre il 99%, passando dai 350.000 casi annui di polio paralitica documentati nel 1988 in 125 paesi, alle poche centinaia di casi riscontrati nel 2013 sia negli ultimi 3 paesi endemici (Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan) sia in paesi polio-free spesso confinanti con quelli endemici ed interessati da un corollario di epidemie di dimensioni variabili

Implementation of the PaperRank and AuthorRank indices in the Scopus database

We implement the PaperRank and AuthorRank indices introduced in [Amodio & Brugnano, 2014] in the Scopus database, in order to highlight quantitative and qualitative information that the bare number of citations and/or the h-index of an author are unable to provide. In addition to this, the new indices can be cheaply updated in Scopus, since this has a cost comparable to that of updating the number of citations. Some examples are reported to provide insight in their potentialities, as well as possible extensions

On the use of the Infinity Computer architecture to set up a dynamic precision floating-point arithmetic

We devise a variable precision floating-point arithmetic by exploiting the framework provided by the Infinity Computer. This is a computational platform implementing the Infinity Arithmetic system, a positional numeral system which can handle both infinite and infinitesimal quantities expressed using the positive and negative finite or infinite powers of the radix 1. The computational features offered by the Infinity Computer allow us to dynamically change the accuracy of representation and floating-point operations during the flow of a computation. When suitably implemented, this possibility turns out to be particularly advantageous when solving ill-conditioned problems. In fact, compared with a standard multi-precision arithmetic, here the accuracy is improved only when needed, thus not affecting that much the overall computational effort. An illustrative example about the solution of a nonlinear equation is also presented

Decline in hospitalization rates for herpes zoster in Italy (2003–2018): reduction in the burden of disease or changing of hospitalization criteria?

Background: Herpes Zoster (HZ) is a very demanding disease caused by the reactivation of latent Varicella Zoster Virus. The main aim of this study was to estimate the burden of the HZ hospitalizations in Italy from 2003 to 2018 evaluating temporal trends. Methods: Retrospective population-based study analyzing Hospital Discharge Records. Hospitalization records reporting the ICD-9 CM 053.X code in the principal diagnosis or in any of the five secondary diagnoses were considered as cases. Trends of hospitalization rates have been evaluated by Joinpoint analyses. Results: Overall, 99,036 patients were hospitalized with HZ in the 16-year period of the study, and 83,720 (84.5%) of these patients were over 50 years. Hospitalization rate was 10.4 per 100,000 persons/year with a significant decreasing trend from 13.9 in 2003–2006 to 7.8 in 2015–2018 (p < 0.001). Hospitalization rates showed a 20-fold higher risk among subjects aged over 80 years and 11-fold higher risk among 70–79-year-old subjects with respect to those aged less than 50 years. Over time, a statistically significant increase was observed for the case fatality rate (from 1.2 to 1.7%; p < 0.001) and the median length of stay (from 7 to 8 days; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Zoster is a disease that causes hospitalization as relatively frequent complication and the observed reduced trend over time could be due to a restriction in hospitalization criteria instead of a reduced burden of disease. The decreasing trend should be carefully interpreted, since it could have an impact on promoting herpes zoster vaccination

Spectral solution of ODE-IVPs by using SHBVMs

Recently, Hamiltonian Boundary Value Methods (HBVMs), have been used as spectral methods in time for effectively solving multi-frequency, highly-oscillatory and/or stiffly-oscillatory problems. A complete analysis of their use in such a fashion has been also carried out, providing a theoretical framework explaining their effectiveness. We report here a few numerical examples showing their potentialities to provide a fully accurate solver for general ODE problems

PH-Controlled Assembly of DNA Tiles

We demonstrate a strategy to trigger and finely control the assembly of supramolecular DNA nanostructures with pH. Control is achieved via a rationally designed strand displacement circuit that responds to pH and activates a downstream DNA tile self-assembly process. We observe that the DNA structures form under neutral/basic conditions, while the self-assembly process is suppressed under acidic conditions. The strategy presented here demonstrates a modular approach toward building systems capable of processing biochemical inputs and finely controlling the assembly of DNA-based nanostructures under isothermal conditions. In particular, the presented architecture is relevant for the development of complex DNA devices able to sense and respond to molecular markers associated with abnormal metabolism