Can you do the wrong thing and still be right? Hypothesis testing in I(2) and near-I(2) cointegrated VARs

In this paper, we investigate the small-sample performance of LR tests on long-run coefficients in the I(2) model; we focus on a comparison between I(2) and near-I(2) data, i.e. I(1) data with a second root very close to unity, and report the results of some Monte Carlo experiments. With near-I(2) data, the finite-sample properties of the tests are (i) similar to those found with genuine I(2) data, (ii) systematically superior to those of the analogous tests constructed in the I(1) model, even if the latter is, in principle, correctly specified and the former is not. Therefore, there seems to be strong support to the idea that, in practice, modelling near-I(2) data using the I(2) model may be a good idea, despite the inherent misspecification

Extra-articular tenodesis combined with an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in acute anterior cruciate ligament tear in elite female football players

PURPOSE: The growing popularity of elite soccer among female participants has led to increased incidents of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures. Many authors underline a positive glide after ACL reconstruction (ACLR), especially in women. In fact, an isolated intra-articular ACLR may be inadequate to control rotational instability after a combined injury of the ACL and the peripheral structures of the knee. Extra-articular procedures are sometimes used in primary cases displaying excessive antero-lateral rotatory instability. The purpose of this case series was to report subjective and objective outcomes after combined ACL and lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET) with a minimum 4-year follow-up in a selected high-risk population of elite female football players. METHODS: Between January 2007 and December 2010, 16 elite Italian female football players were included in the study. All patients underwent the same surgical technique: anatomical ACLR with autogenous semitendinosus and gracilis tendons. After the intra-articular reconstruction was performed, an additional extra-articular MacIntosh modified Coker-Arnold procedure was carried out. Patients were assessed pre- and post-operatively with the subjective and objective International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) evaluation form, Tegner activity scale (TAS) and Lysholm score. Joint laxity was assessed with KT-1000 by measuring the side-to-side (S/S) differences in displacement at manual maximum (mm) testing. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 72.6 ± 8.1 months, two independent examiners reviewed all players. All of the patients had a fully recovered range of motion. Lachman test was negative in all patients (100 %). The evaluation of joint laxity and clinical evaluation showed a statistically significant improvement. No patients experienced complication or a re-rupture. DISCUSSION: The rationale of combining extra-articular procedures with ACLR is to restrict the internal rotation of the reconstructed knee, taking advantage of its long lever arm and thus providing more stability in the rotational axis and preventing the ACL graft from undergoing further excessive strain. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of an LET with ACLR in elite female football players demonstrated excellent results in terms of subjective scales, post-operative residual laxity and re-rupture rate with no complication, and a complete return to sport activity

Securing SOME/IP for In-Vehicle Service Protection

Although high-speed in-vehicle networks are being increasingly adopted by the industry to support emerging use cases, previous research already demonstrated that car hacking is a real threat. This paper formalizes a novel framework proposed to provide improved security to the emerging SOME/IP middleware, without introducing at the same time limitations in the communication patterns available. Most notably, the entire traffic matrix is designed to be configured using simple high-level rules, clearly stating who can talk to whom according to the service abstraction adopted by SOME/IP. Three incremental security levels are made available, accounting for different services being associated with different requirements. The core security protocol, encompassing a session establishment phase followed by the transmission of secured SOME/IP messages, has been formally verified, to prove its correctness in terms of authentication and secrecy properties. Performance-wise, in-depth experimental evaluations conducted with an extended version of vsomeip confirmed the introduction of quite limited penalties compared to the bare unsecured implementation

Antiplatelet therapy in elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome: Between scientific evidence and future perspectives.

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is an important strategy for reducing cardiovascular events (CV) after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Elderly patients undergoing DAPT have a higher risk of bleeding than younger patients for a variety of reasons. Stratification of thrombotic/hemorrhagic risk is mandatory in order to decide on the type and duration of DAPT. The percentage of patients ≥ 75 years represented in clinical trials is not large, so very often elderly people are prescribed treatment protocols only experimented on younger patients with a lower hemorrhagic risk. However, even in patients aged ≥ 75 treated with invasive or conservative therapy, after an ACS, a DAPT with aspirin 80-100 mg/day plus a P2Y12 receptor inhibitor for 12 months is recommended. In elderly patients, DAPT should be considered a dynamic process that can be modified over time based on the patient's clinical conditions, or any other necessities (non-procrastinating surgical interventions, comorbid-like effects that can increase hemorrhagic risk). In patients with moderate-high or very high hemorrhagic risk, DAPT treatment should last less than 12 months. A prolongation of DAPT beyond 12 months in this setting is limited to a very low percentage of patients, after careful assessment of ischemic/hemorrhagic profile

GRETL 2019. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library

[English]:This book collects the papers presented at the 6th Gretl Conference, which took place at the Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, University of Naples, on 13th-14th of June, 2019.The papers (which had been selected through a refereeing process) contain theoretical topics on computational problems as well as empirical applications using the program, and cover a wide range of topics in statistics and applied econometrics, among which Generalized Dynamic Factor Models, Propensity Score Matching, Bayesian Model Averaging, Spatial Models, Cointegration and Boostrap Techniques./[Italiano]:Il volume raccoglie i contributi presentati alla sesta Gretl Conference – che si è svolta presso il Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, nei giorni 13-14 giugno 2019. Gretl (Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library) è un software per le analisi statistiche-econometriche gratuito, open-source, scritto in C e disponibile su diverse piattaforme. Nato come versatile strumento di didattica, nei suoi 10 anni di vita è cresciuto enormemente anche come strumento di ricerca. La Conferenza ha visto la presentazione di studi sia teorici che applicati al fine di condividere i più recenti sviluppi del software e le nuove funzionalità. Il volume include 15 contributi di studiosi su diversi temi, tra i quali Generalized Dynamic Factor Models, il Propensity Score Matching, Modelli Spaziali e Modelli per Dati Ordinali, Cointegrazione e tecniche Boostrap, che sono stati accettati dopo un processo di revisione anonim

Revisiting the improved core confinement simulations for FT-2 tokamak

In the present paper, we revisit observations performed in FT-2 tokamak from previous works. Improvements of core confinement are observed and believed to be caused by wide orbits going from collisionless to collisional regimes. Similar phenomena can occur whenever gradient lengths are comparable to the orbit widths at the top of the pedestal and the loss cone is continuously and increasingly filled by heated particles, collisions and turbulent effects. The lower hybrid heating operator is introduced into the ELMFIRE code to increase the ion temperature during the simulations while keeping the edge temperature low with logical boundary condition at the limiter. Particular focus is given on how the radial electric field deviates from the neoclassical value while introducing turbulent effects.Peer reviewe

Protecting In-Vehicle Services : Security-Enabled SOME/IP Middleware

With every generation, vehicles are becoming smarter and more oriented toward information and communications technology (ICT). However, computerization is posing unforeseen challenges in a sector for which the first goal must be safety: car hacking has been shown to be a real threat. This article presents a novel mechanism to provide improved security for applications executed in the vehicle based on the principle of defining exactly who can talk to whom. The proposed security framework targets Ethernet-based communications and is tightly integrated within the emerging Scalable service-Oriented MiddlewarE over IP (SOME/IP) middleware. No complex configurations are needed: simple high-level rules, clearly stating the communications allowed, are the only element required to enable the security features. The designed solution has been implemented as a proof of concept (PoC) inside the vsomeip stack to evaluate the validity of the approach proposed: experimental measurements confirm that the additional overhead introduced in end-to-end communication is negligible

Treatment of Common Femoral Artery Lesions Involving the Superficial and Profunda Femoral Artery Bifurcation: Is the Snow Too Melted to Plow With New Endovascular Devices?

Surgical endarterectomy for common femoral artery bifurcation obstructive atherosclerotic disease repre- sents the "gold standard" therapy, with excellent long-term results and minimal complications. On the other hand, recent advances in endovascular therapy have led to a safer and similar effective results, with a potential reduction in hospital stays, quicker recovery to normal functional status, good short- and long-term clinical outcomes, and consequent lower morbidity and mortality. Percutaneous directional atherectomy and intravascular lithotripsy are game-changer medical devices for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease related to complex and severely calcific atherosclerotic plaque encroaching the common femoral artery bifurcation segment. The application of these devices, technical execution, and clinical experience is reported in two exemplary cases