Archimedean spectral densities for nonstationary space-time

In this work we investigate methods for modelling space-time nonstationary data. We combine the approaches based on spatial adapting and spectral tempering of spectral densities with the desirable features of Archimedean functionals. We propose a class of spectral densities whose elements are shown to have a natural ordering with respect to the set of functionals, and some interesting closed forms for the covariance functions obtained as Fourier transform of the elements of this new class are shown. Finally, we show a new class of nonstationary space-time covariance functions, that are additionally asymmetric in time, and related to this methodolog

Models of covariance functions of gaussian random fields escaping from isotropy, stationarity and non negativity

This paper represents a survey of recent advances in modeling of space or space-time Gaussian Random Fields (GRF), tools of Geostatistics at hand for the understanding of special cases of noise in image analysis. They can be used when stationarity or isotropy are unrealistic assumptions, or even when negative covariance between some couples of locations are evident. We show some strategies in order to escape from these restrictions, on the basis of rich classes of well known stationary or isotropic non negative covariance models, and through suitable operations, like linear combinations, generalized means, or with particular Fourier transforms

On potentially negative space time covariances obtained as sum of products of marginal ones

Most of the literature on spatio-temporal covariance models proposes structures that are positive in the whole domain. However, problems of physical, biological or medical nature need covariance models allowing for negative values or oscillations from positive to negative values. In this paper we propose an easy-to-implement and interpretable class of models that admits this type of covariances. We show particular analytical examples that may be of interest in the biometrical contex

The Challenges of Social Work in the Management of the Covid-19

The discipline and profession of Social Work, concerned with the social change of indi-viduals and entire communities, the solution of problematic situations, as well as the in-crease in the well-being of citizens, also appears to have a specific role in dealing with emergency situations (earthquakes, catastrophic events, industrial accidents, epidemics and pandemics). The aim of the article is to describe, starting from the results of two investiga-tions carried out in Italy, the responses of social and social health services to the Corona-virus emergency, and the challenges faced by social workers. The main result is that social services have responded to pandemic by developing strategies that have enabled to deliveressential performance and to strengthen the internal cohesion of services, during a critical situation

New classes of spectral densities for lattice processes and random fields built from simple univariate margins

Quasi arithmetic and Archimedean functionals are used to build new classes of spectral densities for processes defined on any d-dimensional lattice Zd and random fields defined on the d-dimensional Euclidean space Rd , given simple margins. We discuss the mathematical features of the proposed constructions, and show rigorously as well as through examples, that these new classes of spectra generalize celebrated classes introduced in the literature. Additionally, we obtain permissible spectral densities as linear combinations of quasi arithmetic or Archimedean functionals, whose associated correlation functions may attain negative values or oscillate between positive and negative ones. We finally show that these new classes of spectral densities can be used for nonseparable processes that are not necessarily diagonally symmetric.This study was initiated when Emilio Porcu was research fellow at the Universitat Jaume I, department of Mathematics. He also acknowledges the support of the research fund FOR-916 Statistical Regularization. Jorge Mateu and Pablo Gregori acknowledge the support of MTM2010-14961 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education

A systematic review of quality attributes and measures for software product lines

[EN] It is widely accepted that software measures provide an appropriate mechanism for understanding, monitoring, controlling, and predicting the quality of software development projects. In software product lines (SPL), quality is even more important than in a single software product since, owing to systematic reuse, a fault or an inadequate design decision could be propagated to several products in the family. Over the last few years, a great number of quality attributes and measures for assessing the quality of SPL have been reported in literature. However, no studies summarizing the current knowledge about them exist. This paper presents a systematic literature review with the objective of identifying and interpreting all the available studies from 1996 to 2010 that present quality attributes and/or measures for SPL. These attributes and measures have been classified using a set of criteria that includes the life cycle phase in which the measures are applied; the corresponding quality characteristics; their support for specific SPL characteristics (e. g., variability, compositionality); the procedure used to validate the measures, etc. We found 165 measures related to 97 different quality attributes. The results of the review indicated that 92% of the measures evaluate attributes that are related to maintainability. In addition, 67% of the measures are used during the design phase of Domain Engineering, and 56% are applied to evaluate the product line architecture. However, only 25% of them have been empirically validated. In conclusion, the results provide a global vision of the state of the research within this area in order to help researchers in detecting weaknesses, directing research efforts, and identifying new research lines. In particular, there is a need for new measures with which to evaluate both the quality of the artifacts produced during the entire SPL life cycle and other quality characteristics. There is also a need for more validation (both theoretical and empirical) of existing measures. In addition, our results may be useful as a reference guide for practitioners to assist them in the selection or the adaptation of existing measures for evaluating their software product lines. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.This research has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the MULTIPLE (Multimodeling Approach For Quality-Aware Software Product Lines) project with ref. TIN2009-13838.Montagud Gregori, S.; Abrahao Gonzales, SM.; Insfrán Pelozo, CE. (2012). A systematic review of quality attributes and measures for software product lines. Software Quality Journal. 20(3-4):425-486. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11219-011-9146-7S425486203-4Abdelmoez, W., Nassar, D. 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Visualization and understanding of scope change dynamics in a large-scale industrial setting. In 17th IEEE international requirements engineering conference.Yoshimura, K., Ganesan, D., & Muthig, D. (2006). Assessing merge potential of existing engine control systems into a product line. In International workshop on software engineering for automative systems, Shangai, China, pp. 61–67.Zhang, T., Deng, L., Wu, J., Zhou, Q., & Ma, C. (2008). Some metrics for accessing quality of product line architecture. In International conference on computer science and software engineering (CSSE), Wuhan, China, pp. 500–503

Nidi Gratis in Lombardia. Attuazione e risultati

“Nidi Gratis” initiative, now in its fourth year, was introduced by Lombardy Region on an experimental basis in April 2016 as part of the “Reddito di Cittadinanza” program and was then confirmed for the following years thanks to a continuous investment of resources, including the use of European funds (POR FSE 2014-2020 Program) starting from the second annuity. The purpose of the initiative is to support the recipient families living in condition of economic and social vulnerability, excluding families’ cash outflows for the payment of the tuition costs of nursery schools (0-3 years) in the partaking municipalities, thus facilitating access to child services and answering to work-life balance needs. This research was promoted by the “Comitato Paritetico di Controllo e Valutazione del Consiglio regionale della Lombardia” and aims to evaluate the implementation and results of the initiative in the region. The sources used to conduct this analysis were different: (1) structured questionnaire by PoliS-Lombardia sent to all the nursery schools in the region; (2) stakeholders interviews conducted by PoliS-Lombardia; (3) customer satisfaction surveys available in Lombardy Region Open Data; (4) comparison of the employment status of the parents between T0 (declaration of the family unit economic situation at the beginning of the year) and T1 (Nidi Gratis application form); (5) further assessments of Lombardy Region performance conducted by PoliS-Lombardia. The main results indicate the strengths and weaknesses of “Nidi Gratis”, considering both the economic, managerial and administrative data related to the implementation of the initiatives, and stakeholders’ personal experience

Influencia del tiempo de ligadura del cordón umbilical en la morbilidad secundaria neonatal, los depósitos de hierro en el neonato y lactante, y efectos maternos asociados

Se pretende realizar una divulgación básica de la investigación en ciencias de la salud en la primera parte. Posteriormente se explica el estudio realizado. Dos grupos aleatorizados de pinzamiento precoz y tardío de cordón umbilical y descripción de los resultados y las posibles repercusiones en la criatura nacida y en las madre