A generalization of periodic autoregressive models for seasonal time series

Many nonstationary time series exhibit changes in the trend and seasonality structure, that may be modeled by splitting the time axis into different regimes. We propose multi-regime models where, inside each regime, the trend is linear and seasonality is explained by a Periodic Autoregressive model. In addition, for achieving parsimony, we allow season grouping, i.e. seasons may consists of one, two, or more consecutive observations. Since the set of possible solutions is very large, the choice of number of regimes, change times and order and structure of the Autoregressive models is obtained by means of a Genetic Algorithm, and the evaluation of each possible solution is left to an identication criterion such as AIC, BIC or MDL. The comparison and performance of the proposed method are illustrated by a real data analysis. The results suggest that the proposed procedure is useful for analyzing complex phenomena with structural breaks, changes in trend and evolving seasonality

Identification of multiregime periodic autotregressive models by genetic algorithms

.This paper develops a procedure for identifying multiregimePeriodic AutoRegressive (PAR) models. In each regime a possibly dif-ferent PAR model is built, for which changes can be due to the seasonalmeans, the autocorrelation structure or the variances. Number and lo-cations of changepoints which subdivide the time span are detected bymeans of Genetic Algorithms (GAs), that optimize an identification cri-terion. The method is evaluated by means of simulation studies, and isthen employed to analyze shrimp fishery data

"Mammà, tutto è fatto!". Impotenza maschile e unioni coniugali in Italia alla fine dell'ottocento

La disciplina del matrimonio civile nell'Italia post-unitaria comporta la possibilità di annullare una unione a causa dell'impotenza sessuale di uno dei coniugi. Il saggio prende in esame una serie di procedimenti giudiziari di annullamento per impotenza maschile e, in modo particolare, le perizie medico-legali che vengono prodotte nel corso del processo. L'incapacità sessuale di un marito e le sue conseguenze lasciano emergere il fitto intreccio tra soggettività, appartenenze familiari e norme sociali che si realizza nella dimensione corporea. Inoltre, le difficoltà della prova medico-legale sollevano il problema del rapporto tra medici e giudici in tribunale e, soprattutto, permettono di indagare sul mutamento che la crescente influenza degli psichiatri (e della loro visione dei generi) comporta rispetto all'esito dei procedimenti

CORENup: a combination of convolutional and recurrent deep neural networks for nucleosome positioning identification

Background: Nucleosomes wrap the DNA into the nucleus of the Eukaryote cell and regulate its transcription phase. Several studies indicate that nucleosomes are determined by the combined effects of several factors, including DNA sequence organization. Interestingly, the identification of nucleosomes on a genomic scale has been successfully performed by computational methods using DNA sequence as input data. Results: In this work, we propose CORENup, a deep learning model for nucleosome identification. CORENup processes a DNA sequence as input using one-hot representation and combines in a parallel fashion a fully convolutional neural network and a recurrent layer. These two parallel levels are devoted to catching both non-periodic and periodic DNA string features. A dense layer is devoted to their combination to give a final classification. Conclusions: Results computed on public data sets of different organisms show that CORENup is a state of the art methodology for nucleosome positioning identification based on a Deep Neural Network architecture. The comparisons have been carried out using two groups of datasets, currently adopted by the best performing methods, and CORENup has shown top performance both in terms of classification metrics and elapsed computation time

First report of Stephanitis lauri Rietschel, 2014 (Heteroptera, Tingidae) in Italy

The first report of Stephanitis lauri Rietschel, 2014 (Heteroptera, Tingidae) in Tuscany and Liguria (Italy). The species has been observed in Pisa (Pisa, Tuscany) and Piano di Vezzano (La Spezia, Liguria) on bay laurel plants. S. lauri has been firstly described in Greece and it was recorded in Cote d’Azur (France) in 2017

Role of regular physical activity in neuroprotection against acute ischemia

One of the major obstacles that prevents an effective therapeutic intervention against ischemic stroke is the lack of neuroprotective agents able to reduce neuronal damage; this results in frequent evolution towards a long-term disability with limited alternatives available to aid in recovery. Nevertheless, various treatment options have shown clinical efficacy. Neurotrophins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), widely produced throughout the brain, but also in distant tissues such as the muscle, have demonstrated regenerative properties with the potential to restore damaged neural tissue. Neurotrophins play a significant role in both protection and recovery of function following neurological diseases such as ischemic stroke or traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately, the efficacy of exogenous administration of these neurotrophins is limited by rapid degradation with subsequent poor half-life and a lack of blood–brain-barrier permeability. Regular exercise seems to be a therapeutic approach able to induce the activation of several pathways related to the neurotrophins release. Exercise, furthermore, reduces the infarct volume in the ischemic brain and ameliorates motor function in animal models increasing astrocyte proliferation, inducing angiogenesis and reducing neuronal apoptosis and oxidative stress. One of the most critical issues is to identify the relationship between neurotrophins and myokines, newly discovered skeletal muscle-derived factors released during and after exercise able to exert several biological functions. Various myokines (e.g., Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1, Irisin) have recently shown their ability to protects against neuronal injury in cerebral ischemia models, suggesting that these substances may influence the degree of neuronal damage in part via inhibiting inflammatory signaling pathways. The aim of this narrative review is to examine the main experimental data available to date on the neuroprotective and anti-ischemic role of regular exercise, analyzing also the possible role played by neurotrophins and myokines