Machine Learning-Based Elastic Cloud Resource Provisioning in the Solvency II Framework

The Solvency II Directive (Directive 2009/138/EC) is a European Directive issued in November 2009 and effective from January 2016, which has been enacted by the European Union to regulate the insurance and reinsurance sector through the discipline of risk management. Solvency II requires European insurance companies to conduct consistent evaluation and continuous monitoring of risks—a process which is computationally complex and extremely resource-intensive. To this end, companies are required to equip themselves with adequate IT infrastructures, facing a significant outlay. In this paper we present the design and the development of a Machine Learning-based approach to transparently deploy on a cloud environment the most resource-intensive portion of the Solvency II-related computation. Our proposal targets DISAR®, a Solvency II-oriented system initially designed to work on a grid of conventional computers. We show how our solution allows to reduce the overall expenses associated with the computation, without hampering the privacy of the companies’ data (making it suitable for conventional public cloud environments), and allowing to meet the strict temporal requirements required by the Directive. Additionally, the system is organized as a self-optimizing loop, which allows to use information gathered from actual (useful) computations, thus requiring a shorter training phase. We present an experimental study conducted on Amazon EC2 to assess the validity and the efficiency of our proposal

Italian aquaculture context analysis and description for creation of diversified production enterprise

L’importanza dell’acquacoltura estensiva è riconosciuta dall’Unione Europea. Tra gli impianti d’allevamento siciliani vanno annoverati quelli nelle vasche d’ingresso dell'acqua delle saline di Trapani e Paceco, dove vengono allevate orate, spigole, cefali e anguille. La diversificazione attraverso la molluschicoltura, con particolare riguardo alle ostriche, Crassostrea gigas e Ostrea edulis, potrebbe offrire ottimi vantaggi, tale obiettivo potrebbe essere realizzato sfruttando il Fondo Europeo per gli Affari Marittimi e la Pesca 2014-2020 (FEAMP). La presente ricerca riguarda un progetto d’avvio d’impresa d’acquacoltura estensiva polifunzionale. Per realizzarlo è stato delineato un percorso: individuazione aree vocate alla produzione di pesce di salina nell’areale Trapanese, consultazione associazioni professionali di categoria, analisi della forma d’impresa idonea, produzione documentale di tipo amministrativo, valutazione della produzione presente, valutazione delle produzioni ipotizzabili in diversificazione e linee di finanziamento. Individuata l’area si è proceduto alla costituzione di una società cooperativa ed all’affitto. La caratterizzazione climatica è stata fatta valutando precipitazioni, temperature e maree. Una pesca di saggio su 4 ettari di superficie è stata effettuata nell’arco di 5 giorni, la specie più pescata è stata Sparus aurata, poi Dicentrarchus labrax e cefali, principalmente Liza aurata, Mugil cephalus e Chelon labrosus. Il quantitativo del prodotto era 200kg, con densità di pesca di 50kg/ha. I campionamenti hanno evidenziato soggetti di 0,560kg. Ipotizzando un prezzo di vendita di 12€/kg, è stimabile una produzione per ettaro di 600€ lorde. L’attività svolta, nell’arco di due anni, porta a concludere che per rendere vantaggioso questo tipo d’allevamento bisogna incrementare le produzioni mediante impesciamento e sembra opportuno diversificare attraverso la molluschicoltura. È necessario puntare ad una produzione di qualità, sviluppando eventuali attività d’ittiturismo. Riguardo la vendita del pesce, per poter effettuarla in piccoli quantitativi è sufficiente registrarsi ai sensi del Reg.CE 852/2004, comunque l’operatore del settore deve rispettare le buone pratiche igeniche.The importance of extensive aquaculture is recognized by the European Union. In Sicily one of the most traditional fish farming type is saltwork extensive aquaculture, mainly located close to Trapani and Paceco, where sea-breams, sea-basses, mullets, eels were reared. The diversification through the shellfish farming, with particular regard to oysters, Crassostrea gigas and Ostrea edulis, could offer great advantages; this objective could be achieved by exploiting the European Maritime and Fish Fund 2014-2020 (EMFF). This research deals with a startup project of a multifunctional extensive aquaculture business. The first steps were: identifying suitable areas for the production of marine finfish in saltwork near Trapani, consulting professional associations, identifying the most suitable type of firm, administrative document production, assessment of fish production, evaluation of possible diversified production. After the identification of the area a cooperative society was set up and the area leased. The climatic characterization was done evaluating precipitations, temperature and tides. A test fishing on a surface of 4 hectares was carried out over a period of 5 days, the main species fished were Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax, Mugil cephalus, Chelon labrosus and Liza aurata. The quantity of the product was 200kg, with 50kg/ha of fishing density. Sampling showed subjects of 0,560kg. Assuming a selling price of €12/kg, it can be considered a production of €600 per hectare. The work carried out over two years, leads to the conclusion that, to take advantage of this type of farming, it is advisable to increase the production by fingerlings seeding, and diversified the production through shellfish farming. The aims are quality production increase, development of fishing tourism activities. As regards the sale of fish, if in small quantities, it is enough the registration, according to Reg.EC 852/2004. In any case the business operator must comply with the rules good hygienic practices

Tandem bullets. Case report and ballistic analysis

Background: In forensic ballistics, the phenomenon of tandem bullets occurs when two or more bullets are ejected from the barrel of a firearm in a single shot. The injuries caused by these bullets have been described in the literature and include several possibilities, whose severity seems to be especially related to the mass increase of the exploded cartridges and to the distance at which the shots are fired, as a result of the sudden drop in kinetic energy that occurs.Case presentation: We report the case of a subject hit by a tandem bullet, during an attempted robbery, describing the injury reported in relation to the ballistic analysis of the case and examining the dynamics in which this circumstance occurred.Conclusions: The ballistic analysis conducted in our case confirmed that the harmful potential of "tandem bullets" is inversely correlated to the mass of the fired bullets. In our case, the exploded shot, consisting of two 38 Special caliber bullets fused together, hit the body of the subject involved with minimal kinetic energy and penetrating potential. We believe that further ballistic studies should be conducted on a cadaveric model by exploiting cadaveric donation programs for scientific research purposes, in order to investigate the wide spectrum of possible injuries that can occur, also simulating the effects of unjacketed tandem bullets

Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT) as a Biomarker of Alcohol Abuse: A Retrospective Study of the Italian Drinking Trend among Drivers from 2016 to 2022

alcohol abuse is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. early diagnosis of alcohol abuse enables preventive intervention on the effects and risks associated with its consumption. carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is one of the most reliable biomarkers of chronic alcohol misuse. we retrospectively studied a population of 12,624 subjects who had their driving license suspended for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from 2016 to 2022. the analytical determination of CDT was performed following a certified high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. data were split by year, age and gender. the majority of subjects with positive ÍT were male, although the trend of positivity was similar between males and females. a steady increase in both the number of tests performed and the number of positives was observed over the years. patients aged 41-50 years had the highest prevalence, followed by 51-60, 31-40 and 18-30 years. CDT continues to be a steady marker for diagnosis of alcohol abuse in the majority of cases. data emerging from our study are in line with the increasing national trends on traffic accidents, injuries and deaths related to alcohol and drug DUI (driving under the influence), requiring the implementation of preventive measures to limit this ever-growing phenomenon

Medical Liability: Review of a Whole Year of Judgments of the Civil Court of Rome

Background: Complaints about medical malpractice have increased over time in Italy, as well as other countries around the world. This scenario, perceived by some as a "malpractice crisis", is a subject of debate in health law and medical law. The costs arising from medical liability lawsuits weigh not only on individual professionals but also on the budgets of healthcare facilities, many of which in Italy are supported by public funds. A full understanding of the phenomenon of medical malpractice appears necessary in order to manage this spreading issue and possibly to reduce the health liability costs. Methods: The retrospective review concerned all the judgments drawn up by the Judges of the Civil Court of Rome, XIII Chamber (competent and specialized section for professional liability trials) published between January 2018 and February 2019. Results: The analysis of data concerning the involved parties showed that in 84.6% of the judgments taken into account, one or more health facilities were sued, while in 58.2% of cases, one or more health workers were present among the defendants. When healthcare providers are the only ones to be summoned, it is dentists and aesthetic doctors/plastic surgeons who undergo most of the claims. In the overall period analyzed, the amount paid was 23,489,254.08 EUR with an average of 163,119.82 EUR. Conclusion: The evidence provided by the reported data is a useful tool to understand medical malpractice in Italy, especially with regard to the occurrence of the phenomenon at a legal level, an aspect still hardly mentioned by existing literature

Assessing the robustness of decentralized gathering: a multi‐agent approach on micro‐biological systems

Adopting a multi-agent systems paradigm, we developed, tested and exploited a computational testbed that simulates gathering features of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. It features a tailored design and implementation to manage discrete simulations with autonomous agents on a microscopic scale, thus focusing on their social behavior and mutual interactions. Hence, we could assess the behavioral conditions under which decentralized gathering could occur. We investigated the dependence of the model dynamics on the main physical variables, namely density and number of amoebas, gaining indications that the process strongly depends on both. This result integrates previous researches, where density is identified as the sole relevant variable. We determined a high-density and high-numerosity region where assuming a scale-free behavior is safe. We also estimated the systematic uncertainties arising from a number of amoebas off the scale-free region, when coping with limited computational resources. Finally, we probed the robustness of the simulated gathering process against both extrinsic and intrinsic noise sources

Informed consent. Legal obligation or cornerstone of the care relationship?

: The topic of informed consent has become increasingly important in recent decades, both in the ethical-deontological field and as a duty of law. The review covered all sentences issued by the 13th section of the Civil Court of Rome during the period January 2016-December 2020. During this period, 156 judgments were found in which a breach of consent was required; in 24 of these, specific liability was proven, and the corresponding compensation liquidated. Moreover, 80% of the cases concerned the lack of information provided. The most involved branches were those related to surgical areas: general surgery, plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine and orthopaedics. The total amount of compensation paid was EUR 287,144.59. The research carried out has highlighted how, in a broad jurisprudential context, the damage caused by the violation of the right related to informed consent is considered, and how it impacts on the economic compensation of damages. Additionally, it showed that the areas most affected by the information deficit are those related to the performance of surgical activities, which are characterized by greater invasiveness and a higher risk of adverse events. The data reported underline the exigency to consider informed consent not as a mere documentary allegation but as an essential moment in the construction of a valid therapeutic alliance, which is also useful for avoiding unnecessary litigation that is becoming increasingly burdensome for healthcare systems all over the world

The new small tyrosine-kinase inhibitor ARQ531 targets acute myeloid leukemia cells by disrupting multiple tumor-addicted programs

Tyrosine kinases have been implicated in promoting tumorigenesis of several human cancers. Exploiting these vulnerabilities has been shown to be an effective anti-tumor strategy as demonstrated for example by the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, ibrutinib, for treatment of various blood cancers. Here, we characterize a new multiple kinase inhibitor, ARQ531, and evaluate its mechanism of action in preclinical models of acute myeloid leukemia. Treatment with ARQ531, by producing global signaling pathway deregulation, resulted in impaired cell cycle progression and survival in a large panel of leukemia cell lines and patient-derived tumor cells, regardless of the specific genetic background and/or the presence of bone marrow stromal cells. RNA-seq analysis revealed that ARQ531 constrained tumor cell proliferation and survival through Bruton's tyrosine kinase and transcriptional program dysregulation, with proteasome-mediated MYB degradation and depletion of short-lived proteins that are crucial for tumor growth and survival, including ERK, MYC and MCL1. Finally, ARQ531 treatment was effective in a patient-derived leukemia mouse model with significant impairment of tumor progression and survival, at tolerated doses. These data justify the clinical development of ARQ531 as a promising targeted agent for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Notulae to the Italian flora of algae, bryophytes, fungi and lichens: 13

In this contribution, new data concerning bryophytes, fungi and lichens of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the bryophyte genera Bryum, Cryphaea, Didymodon, and Grimmia; the fungal genera Bryostigma, Cercidospora, Conocybe, Cortinarius, Endococcus, Inocybe, Psathyrella, and Sphaerellothecium; the lichen genera Agonimia, Anisomeridium, Bilimbia, Diplotomma, Gyalecta, Huneckia, Lecidella, Lempholemma, Myriolecis, Nephroma, Pannaria, Pycnothelia, Pyrrhospora, Rinodina, Stereocaulon, Thalloidima, Trapelia, Usnea, Variospora, and Verrucaria