Computational Stylometry and Machine Learning for Gender and Age Detection in Cyberbullying Texts

The aim of this paper is to show the importance of Computational Stylometry (CS) and Machine Learning (ML) support in author’s gender and age detection in cyberbullying texts. We developed a cyberbullying detection platform and we show the results of performances in terms of Precision, Recall and F-Measure for gender and age detection in cyberbullying texts we collecte

Paleoenvironmental implications through the study of an Eemian paleosol in northwestern Sardinia (Italy)

The aim of this work is to define the paleoenvironmental changes related to a soil belonging to the studied succession, by means of an in-depth micromorphological study. In particular, the presence of this paleosol is associated to the fast climatic fluctuations that took place between MIS5e and MIS5c

Stratigraphy and chronology of the Cala Mosca site, SW Sardinia (Italy)

The relict beach deposit of the Cala Mosca marine terrace is considered an important section of Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5e (ca. 125 ka) sea-level highstands. Analysis of the stratigraphy and sediments of the deposit indicates the presence of a composite marine terrace comprising two superimposed marine units, luminescence dated to the MIS 5e (137 ± 7, 134 ± 7 ka) and MIS 5c (92 ± 6 ka) substages. The stratigraphic superimposition of the two highstands, both placed ∼5 m above present sea level, agrees with other areas along the Sardinia coasts. The evident superimposition of two sea-level highstands and development of the composite terrace cannot be accounted solely by high-frequency sea-level oscillation that occurred within MIS 5 for the Mediterranean Sea. This suggests controversial, but significant, regional versus local tectonic activity occurred during the Late Pleistocen

Monitoring Social Media to Identify Environmental Crimes through NLP - A Preliminary Study

This paper presents the results of research carried out on the UNIOR Eye corpus, a corpus which has been built by downloading tweets related to environmental crimes. The corpus is made up of 228,412 tweets organized into four different subsections, each one concerning a specific environmental crime. For the current study we focused on the subsection of waste crimes, composed of 86,206 tweets which were tagged according to the two labels alert and no alert. The aim is to build a model able to detect which class a tweet belongs to

ALLOSTRATIGRAPHY AND SEISMIC STRATIGRAPHY OF THE MIOCENE SEDIMENTS OF THE SPICCHIAIOLA - POMARANCE AREA, SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE VOLTERRA BASIN (TUSCANY, ITALY)

The objective of this work is to analyze the Miocene depositional units of the southern side of the Volterra Basin (Tuscany, Italy) utilizing outcrop and seismic data and to establish the major events that led to their formation. Four depositional units have been recognized: Unit 1 is characterized by marine sediments of late Serravallian-early Tortonian age; Unit 2 is characterized by fluvio-lacustrine and brackish deposits of late Tortonian-early Messinian age; Unit 3 is characterized by marine deposits of early Messinian age; Unit 4 is characterized by the lacustrine deposits ("Lago-mare" facies) of late Messinian age. The deposition of these four units is associated with an extensional tectonic regime that has been active in Tuscany since the late Tortonian. This regime generated half graben type structures in which deposition occurred. The recognized unconformities between the units are mainly related to uplift as a consequence of the extensional tectonic regime.   &nbsp

Evolution and architecture of a West Mediterranean upper Pleistocene to Holocene coastal apron-fan system

The Quaternary deposits of tectonically stable areas are a powerful tool to investigate high-frequency climate variations (<10 ka) and to distinguish allogenic and autogenic factors controlling deposition. Therefore, an Upper Pleistocene—Holocene coastal apron-fan system in north—western Sardinia (Porto Palmas, Italy) was studied to investigate the relations between climate changes, sea-level fluctuations and sediment source-supply that controlled its development. The sedimentary sequence records the strong influence of local (wet/dry) and worldwide (sea-level) environmental variations in the sedimentation and preservation of the deposits. A multi-disciplinary approach allowed subdivision of the succession into four major, unconformity-bounded stratigraphic units: U1 U2, U3 and U4. Unit U1, tentatively dated to the warm and humid Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5, consists of sandy, gravelly coastal/beach deposits developed during high sea-level in low-lying areas. Unit U2 consists of debris-flow dominated fan-deposits (ca 74 ka; MIS 4), preserved as partial fills of small valleys and coves. Unit U2 is mainly composed of reddish silty conglomerate to pebbly siltstones sourced from the Palaeozoic metamorphic inland hills (bedrock), superficially disintegrated during the preceding warm, vegetation-rich MIS 5. The cold and semi-arid climate strongly reduced vegetation cover along the valley flanks. Therefore, sediment gravity-flow processes, possibly activated by rainstorms, led to deposition of debris-flow dominated fans. Unit U3 consists of water-flow dominated alluvial-fan deposits (ca 47 to 23 ka; MIS 3), developed on a slightly inclined coastal plain. Unit U3 is composed of sandstone and sandy conglomerate fed from two main sediment sources: metamorphic inland bedrock and Quaternary bioclastic-rich shelf-derived sands. During this cold phase, sea-level dropped sufficiently to expose bioclastic sands accumulated on the shelf. Frequent climate fluctuations favoured inland aeolian transport of sand during dry phases, followed by reworking of the aeolian bodies by flash floods during wet phases. Bedrock-derived fragments mixed with water-reworked, wind-blown sands led to the development of water-flow dominated fans. The Dansgaard—Oeschger events possibly associated with sand landward deflation and main fan formations are Dansgaard—Oeschger 13 (ca 47 ka), Dansgaard—Oeschger 8 (ca 39 ka) and Dansgaard—Oeschger 2 (ca 23 ka). No record of sedimentation during MIS 2 was observed. Finally, bioclastic-rich aeolianites (Unit U4, ca 10 to 5 ka; MIS 1), preserved on a coastal slope, were developed during the Holocene transgression (ca 10 to 5 ka; MIS 1). The studied sequence shows strong similarities with those of other Mediterranean sites; it is, however, one of the few where the main MIS 4 and MIS 3 climatic fluctuations are registered in the sedimentary record

Marine benthic forms of the Marine Protected Area Capo Caccia-Isola Piana (Sardinia, Italy)

The great ecological and economic value of the biocenoses of Marine Protected Area 'Capo Caccia-Isola Piana' (MPA) requires a constant monitoring. For this reason, a continuous study of the area producing overlapping maps useful to control in real time the evolution of the biocenoses is necessary. The integrated use of several methodologies, such as Side Scan Sonar, Remote Operating Vehicle and Drone, has allowed us to realize a very detailed map. This paper presents the marine benthic map of the MPA and compares the present situation with that recorded in 2008

Targeting mGlu5 metabotropic glutamate receptors in the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in a mouse model of phenylketonuria

We studied group-I metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors in Pah(enu2) (ENU2) mice, which mimic the genetics and neurobiology of human phenylketonuria (PKU), a metabolic disorder characterized, if untreated, by autism, and intellectual disability (ID). Male ENU2 mice showed increased mGlu5 receptor protein levels in the hippocampus and corpus striatum (but not in the prefrontal cortex) whereas the transcript of the mGlu5 receptor was unchanged. No changes in mGlu1 receptor mRNA and protein levels were found in any of the three brain regions of ENU2 mice. We extended the analysis to Homer proteins, which act as scaffolds by linking mGlu1 and mGlu5 receptors to effector proteins. Expression of the long isoforms of Homer was significantly reduced in the hippocampus of ENU2 mice, whereas levels of the short Homer isoform (Homer 1a) were unchanged. mGlu5 receptors were less associated to immunoprecipitated Homer in the hippocampus of ENU2 mice. The lack of mGlu5 receptor-mediated long-term depression (LTD) in wild-type mice (of BTBR strain) precluded the analysis of hippocampal synaptic plasticity in ENU2 mice. We therefore performed a behavioral analysis to examine whether pharmacological blockade of mGlu5 receptors could correct behavioral abnormalities in ENU2 mice. Using the same apparatus we sequentially assessed locomotor activity, object exploration, and spatial object recognition (spatial novelty test) after displacing some of the objects from their original position in the arena. Systemic treatment with the mGlu5 receptor antagonist, MPEP (20 mg/kg, i.p.), had a striking effect in the spatial novelty test by substantially increasing the time spent in exploring the displaced objects in ENU2 mice (but not in wild-type mice). These suggest a role for mGlu5 receptors in the pathophysiology of ID in PKU and suggest that, also in adult untreated animals, cognitive dysfunction may be improved by targeting these receptors with an appropriate therapy