171,370 research outputs found
Non linear models for fitting dose-effect curves for quality indicators: the case of Chemical Index calibration curves
No full textBook of Abstract della 10th International Workshop on Statistical Modelling, Innsbruck
Learning multivariate statistical methods with a PC programme
No full textThe abstract relates to a report presented in ICOTS IV conference. It is concerned with the learning of multivariate statistical techniques with the help of a computer-based programme. The programme may help students and graduates to choose the most apprpriate technique in any particular research situation
Gene flow by selective emigration as a possible cause for personality differences between small islands and mainland populations
No full textWhether personality differences exist between populations is a controversial question. Even though such differences can be measured, it is still not clear whether they are due to individual phenotypic responses to the environment or whether they have a genetic influence. In a population survey we compared the personality traits of inhabitants of an Italian archipelago (the three Egadi islands; N=622) with those of the closest mainland population (Trapani area; N=106) and we found that personality differences between small populations can be detected. Islanders scored significantly lower on the personality traits of openness to experience and extraversion and higher on conscientiousness. We suggest that these personality trait differences could be an adaptive response to a confined socio-environmental niche, genetically produced by a strong, non-random gene flow in the last 20–25 generations, rather than the flexible response of islanders to environmental variables. To test this hypothesis, we compared subsets of the islander population classified by ancestry, birthplace, immigration and emigration and found that differences in extraversion can be accounted for by gene flow, while openness to experience and conscientiousness can also be accounted for by some gene–environment interactions. We propose a Personality Gene Flow hypothesis suggesting that, in small isolated communities, whenever there is strong, non-random emigration, paired with weak and random immigration, we can expect rapid genetic personality change within the population
STATREE: an expert system for choosing suitable statistical data processing techniques
No full textA decision tree is presented for the analysis of a situation where a statistical technique is to be chosen. The decision is on about the objectives of the analysis, the costs and other impairments of the choice, the availability of an adequate statistical technique for the stated purpose. The programme is available on request
evidence for maternally inherited factors fovouring male homosexuality and promoting female fecundity
No full textThe Darwinian paradox of male homosexuality in humans is examined, i.e. if male homosexuality has a genetic component and homosexuals reproduce less than heterosexuals, then why is this trait maintained in the population? In a sample of 98 homosexual and 100 heterosexual men and their relatives (a total of over 4600 individuals), we found that female maternal relatives of homosexuals have higher fecundity than female maternal relatives of heterosexuals and that this difference is not found in female paternal relatives. The study confirms previous reports, in particular that homosexuals have more maternal than paternal male homosexual relatives, that homosexual males are more often later-born than first–born and that they have more older brothers than older sisters. We discuss the findings and their implications for current research on male homosexuality
MALATTIA DI HUNTINGTON AD ESORDIO TARDIVO:ENTITA¿ CLINICA DISTINTA?
No full textIntroduction: Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG expansion in the HTT gene and characterized by motor symptoms (chorea), cognitive impairment and psychiatric manifestations. It usually has onset in adult life between the ages of 30 and 50, and leads to death within 17-20 years. When onset falls outside the usual age spectrum, diagnosis may be more challenging and prognosis may be different. The term ‘late-onset HD’, encompassed in earlier papers all cases with symptoms onset above age 60. There are few reports that have focused specifically on late-onset HD. They have concluded that motor problems are predominant, cognitive decline is mild, psychiatric manifestations are rare, and that disease progression is slower. However, these were purely observational studies in which no comparisons were made with classic-onset HD. Since the characterization of HD is important, mainly in the view of the risk for offspring, also in the case of late onset, we analysed the spectrum of clinical, cognitive and behavioural features in HD patients subdivided according to the age at onset, as specified below.
Methods: from 2004 to 2015 we analyzed clinical, cognitive and behavioural characteristics (UHDRS I,II,III scale) of a cohort of 66 patients with HD at the diagnosis (T0) and at the follow up (T1) and with a CAG expansion between 40 and 42. We divided patients on the base of onset disease:
- 37 patients with classic onset (CO) ≤59 years: 17 F and 20 M. 6 patients with 40 CAG, 10 patients with 41 CAG, 21 patients with 42 CAG. 33 patients had a positive family history for HD (13 maternal history, 20 paternal history). 32 patients had a 1-2 stage of disease, 5 patients had a 3-4 stage of disease.
- 29 patients with late onset (LO) ≥ 60 years: 18 F and 11 M. 11 patients with 40 CAG, 10 patients with 41 CAG, 8 patients with 42 CAG. 20 patients had a positive family history for HD (9 maternal history, 11 paternal history). 22 patients had a 1-2 stage of disease, 7 patients had a 3-4 stage of disease.
The age at onset was defined as the age at which the first motor symptoms became clearly manifest.
We investigated behavioural, cognitive or mood disorders (depression) associated to motor symptoms at the disease’s onset and we divided onset symptoms in: motor (M), motor + behavioural (M/P), motor + cognitive (M/C) or motor + behavioural + cognitive (M/C/P). 25 CO patients had only M onset, 12 M+ (1 patient M/C, 8 patients M/P, 3 M/P/C); 22 LO patients had only M onset, 7 M+ (2 patient M/C, 5 patients M/P).
Statistic: The data were analyzed using chi-square, Fisher’s test, T-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient as appropriate. Kaplan Meier analysis was used to assess disease progression.
Results: a statistically significant difference was observed in absence of family history in LO group (P 0.0403). No differences were observed in type of transmission. Frequencies of onset symptoms (M,M/P,M/C,M/C/P), stage at the diagnosis and mood disorder (depression) before motor onset were not significantly different in two groups. A significant inverse correlation between CAG repeat size and age at onset was observed only for the upper allele (P 0.0403). No significant differences were found in clinical, behavioral, cognitive (UHDRS I,II,III) characteristics, TFC and FA between two groups at the diagnosis (T0) and at the FU (T1). No difference in disease progression was found in two groups.
Discussion: A positive family history suggestive of HD, remains a helpful clue in diagnosing classic-onset HD. Previous studies on late-onset HD have suggested that motor disturbance (chorea) is the predominant early manifestation of late onset. In our cohort no clinical differences at diagnosis were observed in two groups. Similarly, the frequency of cognitive impairment and psychiatric manifestations at onset or at presentation was equivalent in late-onset and classic-onset HD patients. Previous reports have concluded that late-onset HD is relatively mild with slower progression compared to mid-life onset HD. To this regard, our findings in fact suggest that in terms of Total Functional Capacity, functional assessment and stage of disease, prognosis of late-onset HD is by no means better or more mildly progressing compared to classic onset HD.
Conclusion: our findings confirm that there are no clinical, cognitive, and psychiatric differences at diagnosis and at FU in two groups of patients. The prognosis of late-onset HD is not better compared to CO. Age of onset is only “better” of late onset
A large study on the effect of code obfuscation on the quality of java code
No full textContext: Obfuscation is a common technique used to protect software against malicious reverse engineering. Obfuscators manipulate the source code to make it harder to analyze and more difficult to understand for the attacker. Although different obfuscation algorithms and implementations are available, they have never been directly compared in a large scale study.
Aim: This paper aims at evaluating and quantifying the effect of several different obfuscation implementations (both open source and commercial), to help developers and project managers to decide which algorithms to use.
Method: In this study we applied 44 obfuscations to 18 subject applications covering a total of 4 millions lines of code. The effectiveness of these source code obfuscations has been measured using 10 code metrics, considering modularity, size and complexity of code.
Results: Results show that some of the considered obfuscations are effective in making code metrics change substantially from original to obfuscated code, although this change (called potency of the obfuscation) is different on different metrics. In the paper we recommend which obfuscations to select, given the security requirements of the software to be protected
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