A globally convergent matricial algorithm for multivariate spectral estimation

In this paper, we first describe a matricial Newton-type algorithm designed to solve the multivariable spectrum approximation problem. We then prove its global convergence. Finally, we apply this approximation procedure to multivariate spectral estimation, and test its effectiveness through simulation. Simulation shows that, in the case of short observation records, this method may provide a valid alternative to standard multivariable identification techniques such as MATLAB's PEM and MATLAB's N4SID

On the well-posedness of multivariate spectrum approximation and convergence of high-resolution spectral estimators

In this paper, we establish the well-posedness of the generalized moment problems recently studied by Byrnes-Georgiou-Lindquist and coworkers, and by Ferrante-Pavon-Ramponi. We then apply these continuity results to prove almost sure convergence of a sequence of high-resolution spectral estimators indexed by the sample size

Norm It! Lexical Normalization for Italian and Its Downstream Effects forDependency Parsing

Lexical normalization is the task of translating non-standard social media data to a standard form. Previous work has shown that this is beneficial for many downstream tasks in multiple languages. However, for Italian, there is no benchmark available for lexical normalization, despite the presence of many benchmarks for other tasks involving social media data. In this paper, we discuss the creation of a lexical normalization dataset for Italian. After two rounds of annotation, a Cohen’s kappa score of 78.64 is obtained. During this process, we also analyze the inter-annotator agreement for this task, which is only rarely done on datasets for lexical normalization,and when it is reported, the analysis usually remains shallow. Furthermore, we utilize this dataset to train a lexical normalization model and show that it can be used to improve dependency parsing of social media data. All annotated data and the code to reproduce the results are available at: http://bitbucket.org/robvanderg/normi

A Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score to Define Priority Access for COPD Patients

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate, through an ad hoc 17-item tool, the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score (PRDS), the priority access to PR prescription by respiratory specialists. The PRDS, scoring functional, clinical, disability, frailty, and participation parameters from 0 = low priority to 34 = very high priority for PR access, was retrospectively calculated on 124 specialist reports sent to the GP of subjects (aged 71 \ub1 11 years, FEV1%\u2009\u200951 \ub1 17) consecutively admitted to our respiratory outpatient clinic. From the specialist's report the final subject's allocation could be low priority (LP) (>60 days), high priority (HP) (30-60 days), or very high priority (VHP) (<30 days) to rehabilitation. The PRDS calculation showed scores significantly higher in VHP versus LP (p < 0.001) and significantly different between HP and VHP (p < 0.001). Comparing the specialist's allocation decision and priority choice based on PRDS cut-offs, PR prescription was significantly more appropriate in VHP than in HP (p = 0.016). Specialists underprescribed PR in 49% of LP cases and overprescribed it in 46% and 30% of the HP and VHP prescriptions, respectively. A multicomprehensive score is feasible being useful for staging the clinical priorities for PR prescription and facilitating sustainability of the health system

One-dimensional disordered photonic structures with two or more materials

Here we would like to discuss the light transmission modulation by periodic and disordered one dimensional (1D) photonic structures. In particular, we will present some theoretical and experimental findings highlighting the peculiar optical properties of: i) 1D periodic and disordered photonic structures made with two or more materials; ii) 1D photonic structures in which the homogeneity or the aggregation of the high refractive index layers is controlled. We will focus also on the fabrication aspects of these structures.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Automated characterization of TAS-MRAM test arrays

In this work the characterization results of 1kbit TAS-MRAM arrays obtained through RIFLE Automated Test Equipment of 1Kbit array are reported. Such ATE, ensuring flexibility in terms of signals and timing, allowed evaluating hysteresis and to perform 50k write cycles in a very limited time, getting a first insight on TAS-MRAM arrays performance and reliability

The Walsh family resilience questionnaire: The Italian version

Background: Resilience focuses on strength under stress, in the context of adversity. Walsh\u2019s theoretical model identifies relational processes that allow families to tackle and overcome critical situations, dividing them into three domains of family function. The aim of this study was to assess resilience in families of patients with a chronic disease by adapting and validating the Italian version of the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire (Walsh-IT). Patients and methods: An Italian adult sample of 421 participants (patients and relatives) was collected with the aim to assess the reliability and validity of the Walsh-IT. Concurrent validity was carried out by comparing this instrument with the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (FACES III) administered at the same time as the Walsh-IT. Results: Reliability showed high correlation between repeated measurements. The alpha coefficient was 0.946. Both parallel analysis and minimum average partial criteria suggested that the best number of domains is equal to 3, explaining 50.4% of the total variance. Based on the results obtained from the Rasch analysis, items 10, 11, 16, 22, and 23 have been removed resulting in a short-form questionnaire (Walsh-IT-R) of 26 items with three domains: shared beliefs and support (SBS, \u3b1=0.928); family organization and interaction (FOI, \u3b1=0.863); and utilization of social resources (USR, \u3b1=0.567). The total score of the Walsh-IT-R was strongly correlated with the total score of FACES III Real Family Scale (r=0.68; p,0.0001). Conclusion: Results support that the Walsh-IT-R is a valid instrument for the assessment of family resilience in Italy when contending with the challenges of chronic disease. It could be used in pre- and post-assessment in practice effectiveness research, offering a profile of family resilience processes at the start and end of interventions and follow-up

A Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score to Define Priority Access for COPD Patients

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate, through an ad hoc 17-item tool, the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score (PRDS), the priority access to PR prescription by respiratory specialists. The PRDS, scoring functional, clinical, disability, frailty, and participation parameters from 0 = low priority to 34 = very high priority for PR access, was retrospectively calculated on 124 specialist reports sent to the GP of subjects (aged 71±11 years, FEV1%  51±17) consecutively admitted to our respiratory outpatient clinic. From the specialist’s report the final subject’s allocation could be low priority (LP) (>60 days), high priority (HP) (30–60 days), or very high priority (VHP) (<30 days) to rehabilitation. The PRDS calculation showed scores significantly higher in VHP versus LP (p<0.001) and significantly different between HP and VHP (p<0.001). Comparing the specialist’s allocation decision and priority choice based on PRDS cut-offs, PR prescription was significantly more appropriate in VHP than in HP (p=0.016). Specialists underprescribed PR in 49% of LP cases and overprescribed it in 46% and 30% of the HP and VHP prescriptions, respectively. A multicomprehensive score is feasible being useful for staging the clinical priorities for PR prescription and facilitating sustainability of the health system

A Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score to Define Priority Access for COPD Patients

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate, through an ad hoc 17-item tool, the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score (PRDS), the priority access to PR prescription by respiratory specialists. The PRDS, scoring functional, clinical, disability, frailty, and participation parameters from 0 = low priority to 34 = very high priority for PR access, was retrospectively calculated on 124 specialist reports sent to the GP of subjects (aged 71±11 years, FEV 1 % 51±17) consecutively admitted to our respiratory outpatient clinic. From the specialist&apos;s report the final subject&apos;s allocation could be low priority (LP) (&gt;60 days), high priority (HP) (30-60 days), or very high priority (VHP) (&lt;30 days) to rehabilitation. The PRDS calculation showed scores significantly higher in VHP versus LP ( &lt; 0.001) and significantly different between HP and VHP ( &lt; 0.001). Comparing the specialist&apos;s allocation decision and priority choice based on PRDS cut-offs, PR prescription was significantly more appropriate in VHP than in HP ( = 0.016). Specialists underprescribed PR in 49% of LP cases and overprescribed it in 46% and 30% of the HP and VHP prescriptions, respectively. A multicomprehensive score is feasible being useful for staging the clinical priorities for PR prescription and facilitating sustainability of the health system

P-SOCRATES: A Parallel Software Framework for Time-Critical Many-Core Systems

The advent of next-generation many-core embedded platforms has the chance of intercepting a converging need for predictable high-performance coming from both the High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Embedded Computing (EC) domains. On one side, new kinds of HPC applications are being required by markets needing huge amounts of information to be processed within a bounded amount of time. On the other side, EC systems are increasingly concerned with providing higher performance in real-time, challenging the performance capabilities of current architectures. This converging demand, however, raises the problem about how to guarantee timing requirements in presence of parallel execution. This paper presents the approach of project P-SOCRATES for the design of an integrated framework for the execution of workload-intensive applications with real-time requirements on top of next-generation commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) platforms based on many-core accelerated architectures. The time-criticality and parallelisation challenges are addressed by merging techniques coming from both HPC and EC domains, identifying the main sources of indeterminism and proposing efficient mapping and scheduling algorithms, along with the associated timing and schedulability analysis, to guarantee the real-time and performance requirements of the applications