Testing a Random Number Generator: formal properties and automotive application

L'elaborato analizza un metodo di validazione dei generatori di numeri casuali (RNG), utilizzati per garantire la sicurezza dei moderni sistemi automotive. Il primo capitolo fornisce una panoramica della struttura di comunicazione dei moderni autoveicoli attraverso l'utilizzo di centraline (ECU): vengono riportati i principali punti di accesso ad un automobile, assieme a possibili tipologie di hacking; viene poi descritto l'utilizzo dei numeri casuali in crittografia, con particolare riferimento a quella utilizzata nei veicoli. Il secondo capitolo riporta le basi di probabilità necessarie all'approccio dei test statistici utilizzati per la validazione e riporta i principali approcci teorici al problema della casualità. Nei due capitoli centrali, viene proposta una descrizione dei metodi probabilistici ed entropici per l'analisi di dati reali utilizzati nei test. Vengono poi descritti e studiati i 15 test statistici proposti dal National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dopo i primi test, basati su proprietà molto semplici delle sequenze casuali, vengono proposti test più sofisticati, basati sull'uso della trasformata di Fourier (per testare eventuali comportamenti periodici), dell'entropia (strettamente connessi con la comprimibilità della sequenza), o sui random path. Due ulteriori test, permettono di valutare il buon funzionamento del generatore, e non solo delle singole sequenze generate. Infine, il quinto capitolo è dedicato all'implementazione dei test al fine di testare il TRNG delle centraline

Do Board Games Make People Smarter? Two Initial Exploratory Studies

In recent years, the authors have witnessed the rebirth of board games. This contribution aims to investigate the educational potential of non-random board games in two ways: the comparison of performances of “expert adult players” and “adult non-players” through a correlation study (n=45) and the comparison between the results achieved by a group of children after 26 hours of game training (n=10) and those of a control group that carried out traditional educational activities (n=10) by using a nonrandomized control group pretest-posttest. Specifically, the findings relating to fluid intelligence, analytical and converging cognitive processes and creativity were compared. The results suggest that non-random board games can be an important stimulus for the cognitive functions, with a particular focus on the creative side, and therefore have an important educational function

The unbearable (technical) unreliability of automated facial emotion recognition

Emotion recognition, and in particular acial emotion recognition (FER), is among the most controversial applications of machine learning, not least because of its ethical implications for human subjects. In this article, we address the controversial conjecture that machines can read emotions from our facial expressions by asking whether this task can be performed reliably. This means, rather than considering the potential harms or scientific soundness of facial emotion recognition systems, focusing on the reliability of the ground truths used to develop emotion recognition systems, assessing how well different human observers agree on the emotions they detect in subjects' faces. Additionally, we discuss the extent to which sharing context can help observers agree on the emotions they perceive on subjects' faces. Briefly, we demonstrate that when large and heterogeneous samples of observers are involved, the task of emotion detection from static images crumbles into inconsistency. We thus reveal that any endeavour to understand human behaviour from large sets of labelled patterns is over-ambitious, even if it were technically feasible. We conclude that we cannot speak of actual accuracy for facial emotion recognition systems for any practical purposes

Problema di Cauchy-Dirichlet per l'equazione del calore

In quest'elaborato si risolve il problema di Cauchy-Dirichlet per l'equazione del calore, prendendo come oggetto d'esame una sbarra omogenea. Nel primo capitolo si studiano le serie di Fourier reali a partire dalle serie trigonometriche; vengono dati, poi, i principali risultati di convergenza puntuale, uniforme ed in L^2 e si discute l'integrabilità termine a termine di una serie di Fourier. Il secondo capitolo tratta la convergenza secondo Cesàro, le serie di Fejèr ed i principali risultati di convergenza di queste ultime. Nel terzo, ed ultimo, capitolo si risolve il Problema di Cauchy-Dirichlet, distinguendo i casi in cui il dato iniziale sia di classe C^1 o solo continuo; nel secondo caso si propone una risoluzione basata sulle serie di Fejér e sul concetto di barriera ed una utilizzando il nucleo di Green per l'equazione del calore

Un’esperienza di ricerca-formazione basata sulle competenze, nell’Istituto Comprensivo Melanzio-Parini di Castel Ritaldi

In recent years, the world of education has found itself facing a series of changes to meet the increasingly pressing needs of the world in which we live. From the methodological point of view, a series of innovative didactics have been developed, detached from the frontal lesson and from a transmitting idea of knowledge, favouring an active didactics where the student is at the centre of the learning process. In this article we present the results of a research-training aimed at verifying the effects of active and competencebased didactics in two classes (second and fifth) of primary school. To this end, the participating subjects were subjected, ex ante and ex post, to tests that verify their cognitive functioning, but also their approach and motivation to study. The results show an increase in the above mentioned dimensions for the experimental groups, compared to peer control groups, suggesting that these didactic interventions may have both a direct effect on the subjects’ learning, but also an empowerment effect of psychological and neuropsychological transversal dimensions.Negli ultimi anni il mondo della didattica, si è trovato ad affrontare una serie di cambiamenti per rispondere ai bisogni sempre più cogenti del mondo in cui viviamo. Dal punto di vista metodologico si sono sviluppate una serie di didattiche innovative che si distaccano dalla lezione frontale e da un’idea trasmissiva del sapere, privilegiando una didattica attiva dove l’alunno è al centro del processo di apprendimento. In questo articolo vengono presentati i risultati di una ricerca formazione tesa a verificare gli effetti di didattiche attive e per competenze in due classi (seconda e quinta) di scuola primaria. A tal fine i soggetti partecipanti sono stati sottoposti, ex ante ed ex post, alla somministrazione di test che verificano il funzionamento cognitivo, ma anche il loro approccio e la motivazione allo studio di cui sono portatori. I risultati mostrano un incremento delle dimensioni sopra citate per i gruppi sperimentali, rispetto a gruppi di controllo di pari, suggerendo che tali interventi didattici possano avere sia un effetto diretto sugli apprendimenti dei soggetti, ma anche un effetto di empowerment di dimensioni psicologiche e neuropsicologiche trasversali

Circadian and sex differences in carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity in young individuals and elderly with and without type 2 diabetes

The incidence of cardiovascular events is higher in the morning than in the evening and differs between sexes. We tested the hypothesis that aortic stiffness, a compelling cardiovascular risk factor, increases in the morning than in the evening in young, healthy individuals between 18 and 30 years (H18-30) or in older individuals between 50 and 80 years, either healthy (H50-80) or with type 2 diabetes (T2DM50-80). Sex differences were also investigated. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) recorded via Doppler Ultrasound, blood pressure and heart rate were checked at 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., at rest and during acute sympathetic activation triggered by handgrip exercise. Cf-PWV values were lower in the morning compared to the evening in all groups (p < 0.01) at rest and lower (p = 0.008) in H18-30 but similar (p > 0.267) in the older groups during sympathetic activation. At rest, cf-PWV values were lower in young women compared to young men (p = 0.001); however, this trend was reversed in the older groups (p < 0.04). During sympathetic activation, the cf-PWV was lower in women in H18-30 (p = 0.001), similar between sexes in H50-80 (p = 0.122), and higher in women in T2DM50-80 (p = 0.004). These data do not support the hypothesis that aortic stiffness increases in the morning compared to the evening within any of the considered groups in both rest and sympathetic activation conditions. There are differences between the sexes, which vary according to age and diabetes status. In particular, aortic stiffness is higher in older women than in men with diabetes during acute stress

A systematic study of the valence electronic structure of cyclo(Gly–Phe), cyclo(Trp–Tyr) and cyclo(Trp–Trp) dipeptides in the gas phase

The electronic energy levels of cyclo(glycine–phenylalanine), cyclo(tryptophan–tyrosine) and cyclo(tryptophan–tryptophan) dipeptides are investigated with a joint experimental and theoretical approach. Experimentally, valence photoelectron spectra in the gas phase are measured using VUV radiation. Theoretically, we first obtain low-energy conformers through an automated conformer–rotamer ensemble sampling scheme based on tight-binding simulations. Then, different first principles computational schemes are considered to simulate the spectra: Hartree–Fock (HF), density functional theory (DFT) within the B3LYP approximation, the quasi-particle GW correction, and the quantumchemistry CCSD method. Theory allows assignment of the main features of the spectra. A discussion on the role of electronic correlation is provided, by comparing computationally cheaper DFT scheme (and GW) results with the accurate CCSD method

Epilepsy in Neurodegenerative Dementias: A Clinical, Epidemiological, and EEG Study

BACKGROUND: Seizures are common in patients with dementia but precise epidemiologic data of epilepsy in neurodegenerative dementia is lacking. OBJECTIVE: The first aim of the study was to investigate prevalence and clinical characteristics of epilepsy in a large cohort of patients with neurodegenerative dementias. Subsequently, we explored clinical, neuropsychological, and quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) data of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with epilepsy (AD-EPI) as compared to AD patients without epilepsy (AD-CTR). METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated consecutive patients with a diagnosis of a neurodegenerative dementia and a clinically diagnosed epilepsy that required antiepileptic drugs (AED). All patients underwent baseline comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. A follow-up of at least one year was requested to confirm the dementia diagnosis. In AD patients, qEEG power band analysis was performed. AD-CTR and AD-EPI patients were matched for age, Mini-Mental State Examination score, and gender. RESULTS: Thirty-eight out of 2,054 neurodegenerative dementia patients had epilepsy requiring AED. The prevalence of epilepsy was 1.82% for AD, 1.28% for the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), 2.47% for dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and 12% for primary progressive aphasia. Epilepsy were more drug-responsive in AD than in non-AD dementias. Finally, no significant differences were found in neuropsychological and qEEG data between AD-EPI and AD-CTR patients. CONCLUSION: In our cohort, AD, FTD, and DLB dementias have similar prevalence of epilepsy, even if AD patients were more responsive to AED. Moreover, AD-EPI patients did not have significant clinical, neuropsychological qEEG differences compared with AD-CTR patients

Do the current guidelines for heart failure diagnosis and treatment fit with clinical complexity?

Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome defined by specific symptoms and signs due to structural and/or functional heart abnormalities, which lead to inadequate cardiac output and/or increased intraventricular filling pressure. Importantly, HF becomes progressively a multisystemic disease. However, in August 2021, the European Society of Cardiology published the new Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic HF, according to which the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) continues to represent the pivotal parameter for HF patients' evaluation, risk stratification and therapeutic management despite its limitations are well known. Indeed, HF has a complex pathophysiology because it first involves the heart, progressively becoming a multisystemic disease, leading to multiorgan failure and death. In these terms, HF is comparable to cancer. As for cancer, surviving, morbidity and hospitalisation are related not only to the primary neoplastic mass but mainly to the metastatic involvement. In HF, multiorgan involvement has a great impact on prognosis, and multiorgan protective therapies are equally important as conventional cardioprotective therapies. In the light of these considerations, a revision of the HF concept is needed, starting from its definition up to its therapy, to overcome the old and simplistic HF perspective

Validation of the REM behaviour disorder phenoconversion-related pattern in an independent cohort

Background: A brain glucose metabolism pattern related to phenoconversion in patients with idiopathic/isolated REM sleep behaviour disorder (iRBDconvRP) was recently identified. However, the validation of the iRBDconvRP in an external, independent group of iRBD patients is needed to verify the reproducibility of such pattern, so to increase its importance in clinical and research settings. The aim of this work was to validate the iRBDconvRP in an independent group of iRBD patients. Methods: Forty iRBD patients (70 ± 5.59 years, 19 females) underwent brain [18F]FDG-PET in Seoul National University. Thirteen patients phenoconverted at follow-up (7 Parkinson disease, 5 Dementia with Lewy bodies, 1 Multiple system atrophy; follow-up time 35 ± 20.56 months) and 27 patients were still free from parkinsonism/dementia after 62 ± 29.49 months from baseline. We applied the previously identified iRBDconvRP to validate its phenoconversion prediction power. Results: The iRBDconvRP significantly discriminated converters from non-converters iRBD patients (p = 0.016; Area under the Curve 0.74, Sensitivity 0.69, Specificity 0.78), and it significantly predicted phenoconversion (Hazard ratio 4.26, C.I.95%: 1.18–15.39). Conclusions: The iRBDconvRP confirmed its robustness in predicting phenoconversion in an independent group of iRBD patients, suggesting its potential role as a stratification biomarker for disease-modifying trials.</p