Proceedings of Mathsport international 2017 conference

Proceedings of MathSport International 2017 Conference, held in the Botanical Garden of the University of Padua, June 26-28, 2017. MathSport International organizes biennial conferences dedicated to all topics where mathematics and sport meet. Topics include: performance measures, optimization of sports performance, statistics and probability models, mathematical and physical models in sports, competitive strategies, statistics and probability match outcome models, optimal tournament design and scheduling, decision support systems, analysis of rules and adjudication, econometrics in sport, analysis of sporting technologies, financial valuation in sport, e-sports (gaming), betting and sports

The convergence process of the European regions: the role of Regional Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy

The study investigates the convergence of labour productivity in 204 NUTS2 regions of the EU-15 between 1995 and 2006. The main objective of our work was to assess whether and to what extent European Union (EU) policies (Regional Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy) have been effective in promoting economic growth and fostering the process of convergence of EU regions. These policies can have an asymmetric spatial impact, even if some concrete steps have been taken to avoid an excessive concentration of costs or benefits. To verify the effects of EU policies we compare different scenarios: with/without EU policies. Under a methodological profile, we adopt the Solovian model proposed by Mankiw et al. (1992). For the estimates we used an econometric approach based on spatial filters with characteristics similar to Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) in order to obtain consistent estimates of both the convergence parameters β and the impact of the conditioning variables, policy measures in particular. Our technique allows the estimation of different convergence rates for each region and management of both the presence of spatial spillovers and structural differences in the regional economies. The results indicate that global convergence rates are comparable to those obtained in some other studies, while local coefficients help to interpret the regional growth paths in a more realistic way. Finally, we utilise a quasi-experimental design, the Regression Discontinuity, for comparing the results of policy interventions, in terms of regional β-convergence rates, with a ‘counterfactual’ scenario

Immunology and Homeopathy. 5. The Rationale of the ‘Simile’

The foundation of homeopathic medicine is the ‘Similia Principle’, also known as the ‘Principle of Similarity’ or also as the ‘Simile’, which reflects the inversion of pharmacological effects in healthy subjects as compared with sick ones. This article describes the inversion of effects, a widespread medical phenomenon, through three possible mechanisms: non-linearity of dose–response relationship, different initial pathophysiological states of the organism, and pharmacodynamics of body response to the medicine. Based on the systemic networks which play an important role in response to stress, a unitary and general model is designed: homeopathic medicines could interact with sensitive (primed) regulation systems through complex information, which simulate the disorders of natural disease. Reorganization of regulation systems, through a coherent response to the medicine, could pave the way to the healing of the cellular, tissue and neuro-immuno-endocrine homeodynamics. Preliminary evidence is suggesting that even ultra-low doses and high-dilutions of drugs may incorporate structural or frequency information and interact with chaotic dynamics and physical-electromagnetic levels of regulation. From the clinical standpoint, the ‘simile’ can be regarded as a heuristic principle, according to which the detailed knowledge of pathogenic effects of drugs, associated with careful analysis of signs and symptoms of the ill subject, could assist in identifying homeopathic remedies with high grade of specificity for the individual case

Immunology and Homeopathy. 4. Clinical Studies—Part 1

The evidence-based research of the effectiveness of homeopathic medicines in common immunologic disorders is reviewed. In part 1, we introduce methodological issues of clinical research in homeopathy, and criteria utilized to evaluate the literature. Then 24 studies (12 randomized and 12 non-randomized) on common upper respiratory tract infections and otorhinolaryngologic complaints are described. In part 2, the focus will be on allergic diseases and the effectiveness of homeopathy will be globally evaluated and discussed using the criteria of evidence-based medicine

Immunology and Homeopathy. 2. Cells of the Immune System and Inflammation

Here we describe the results of some experimental laboratory studies aimed at verifying the efficacy of high dilutions of substances and of homeopathic medicines in models of inflammation and immunity. Studies carried out on basophils, lymphocytes, granulocytes and fibroblasts are reviewed. This approach may help to test under controlled conditions the main principles of homeopathy such as 'similarity' of drug action at the cellular level and the effects of dilution/dynamization on the drug activity. The current situation is that few and rather small groups are working on laboratory models for homeopathy. Regarding the interpretation of data in view of the simile principle, we observe that there are different levels of similarity and that the laboratory data give support to this principle, but have not yet yielded the ultimate answer to the action mechanism of homeopathy. Evidence of the biological activity in vitro of highly diluted-dynamized solutions is slowly accumulating, with some conflicting reports. It is our hope that this review of literature unknown to most people will give an original and useful insight into the 'state-of-the-art' of homeopathy, without final conclusions 'for' or 'against' this modality. This kind of uncertainty may be difficult to accept, but is conceivably the most open-minded position now

Rationale and design of an independent randomised controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of aripiprazole or haloperidol in combination with clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One third to two thirds of people with schizophrenia have persistent psychotic symptoms despite clozapine treatment. Under real-world circumstances, the need to provide effective therapeutic interventions to patients who do not have an optimal response to clozapine has been cited as the most common reason for simultaneously prescribing a second antipsychotic drug in combination treatment strategies. In a clinical area where the pressing need of providing therapeutic answers has progressively increased the occurrence of antipsychotic polypharmacy, despite the lack of robust evidence of its efficacy, we sought to implement a pre-planned protocol where two alternative therapeutic answers are systematically provided and evaluated within the context of a pragmatic, multicentre, independent randomised study.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The principal clinical question to be answered by the present project is the relative efficacy and tolerability of combination treatment with clozapine plus aripiprazole compared with combination treatment with clozapine plus haloperidol in patients with an incomplete response to treatment with clozapine over an appropriate period of time. This project is a prospective, multicentre, randomized, parallel-group, superiority trial that follow patients over a period of 12 months. Withdrawal from allocated treatment within 3 months is the primary outcome.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The implementation of the protocol presented here shows that it is possible to create a network of community psychiatric services that accept the idea of using their everyday clinical practice to produce randomised knowledge. The employed pragmatic attitude allowed to randomly allocate more than 100 individuals, which means that this study is the largest antipsychotic combination trial conducted so far in Western countries. We expect that the current project, by generating evidence on whether it is clinically useful to combine clozapine with aripiprazole rather than with haloperidol, provides physicians with a solid evidence base to be directly applied in the routine care of patients with schizophrenia.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><b>Clincaltrials.gov Identifier</b>: NCT00395915</p

The Application of spatial filtering technique to the economic convergence of the European regions between 1995 and 2007

The \u3b2-convergence model has been widely used to predict the convergence rates of European regions to their steady states. However, this model has two major limitations. First, it does not take into account the spatial interactions of the economies and, second, it does not include their structural differences. Many authors have overcome the first problem by using spatial econometric techniques such as spatial lag or spatial error, but the latter problem has remained unresolved. In our model we use the spatial filtering technique to manage both spatial dependence and structural differences of the economies. Our results show that European regions have a wide range of convergence rates and in some cases regions with similar structural conditions are clustered. The spatial filtering technique is also able to highlight the scale (local, regional or global) of the phenomena that influence growth. This information is very useful for policy makers

Il processo di convergenza delle regioni europee tra il 1995 e il 2007

Lo studio analizza la convergenza della produttivita del lavoro in 259 regioni NUTS-2 dell’EU-27 tra il 1995 ed il 2007, confrontando le risposte del modello soloviano proposto da Mankiw et al. (1992) e di una sua estensione. Per le stime si e utilizzato un modello econometrico basato sui filtri spaziali con caratteristiche analoghe alla Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). Questa tecnica consente di stimare dei parametri di convergenza differenziati per ogni regione e di gestire sia la presenza di spillover spaziali, sia le differenze strutturali presenti nelle economie delle regioni. I risultati indicano che i tassi di convergenza globale stimati sono equiparabili a quelli ottenuti in molti dei precedenti studi, mentre i coefficienti locali aiutano ad interpretare in maniera più realistica i percorsi di crescita delle regioni.Crescita economica, convergenza regionale, filtri spaziali