Proceedings of the Fifth Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics CLiC-it 2018

On behalf of the Program Committee, a very warm welcome to the Fifth Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics (CLiC-­‐it 2018). This edition of the conference is held in Torino. The conference is locally organised by the University of Torino and hosted into its prestigious main lecture hall “Cavallerizza Reale”. The CLiC-­‐it conference series is an initiative of the Italian Association for Computational Linguistics (AILC) which, after five years of activity, has clearly established itself as the premier national forum for research and development in the fields of Computational Linguistics and Natural Language Processing, where leading researchers and practitioners from academia and industry meet to share their research results, experiences, and challenges

Addendum to \u2018Efficacy of music therapy treatment based on cycles of sessions: A randomised controlled trial\u2019 (Raglio et al., 2010)

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to provide further detail about the results of a randomised controlled study published in this journal (Raglio et al., 2010, 14, 900-904), in which we assessed the efficacy of music therapy (MT) on the behavioural disturbances in people with moderate-severe dementia. Methods: Sixty patients were randomly assigned to the experimental (MT and standard care) and control group (standard care only). The experimental group received three cycles of 12 MT sessions each, three times a week. Each cycle of treatment was followed by one month of washout period, while the standard care activities continued over time. Results: The impact of the treatment (12 MT sessions) was reliable on NPI global scores, as the interaction Time by Group was significant (F 1,49=4.09, p=0.049). After the end of the treatment the NPI global scores of the experimental and control groups tended to become similar, as both groups worsened (Time effect: F 1,48=4.67, p=0.014) and the difference between them disappeared (F<1). Interaction Time by Group was not significant. Conclusions: The study confirms that active MT determines a positive response and can amplify and strengthen the efficacy of therapeutic interventions towards people with dementia

Music Therapy, Emotions and the Heart: a pilot study

In this pilot study we assessed the relation between changes in cardiac physiological parameters and psychological responses to music therapy . ECG Holter recordings were performed before, during and after a music therapy session in 8 healthy individuals. After the session mean heart rate decreased (p=0.05), high frequency of heart rate variability tended to be higher and QTc variability tended to be lower. During music therapy session \u201caffect attunements\u201d have been found in all subjects but one. A significant emotional activation was associated to a higher dynamicity and variations of sound-music productions. Our results may represent the rational basis for larger studies in different clinical conditions

Analysis of the Production, Installation and Commissioning of the European-XFEL Frequency Tuners

International audienceIn the European-XFEL superconducting linac, mechanical frequency tuners equipped with stepper motors and piezoelectric actuators provide cold tuning of each of the 768 1.3 GHz cavities. More than 820 complete tuning systems were fabricated and pre-assembled in industry, tested at several stages before and after assembly and successfully commissioned during cryo-module cold tests at AMTF (DESY). Quality control strategy adopted to preserve the well-assessed tuner reliability through such a large-scale industrial production is critically reviewed and the lessons learned are presented in this paper. The statistical analysis of the large set of data acquired up to the recent commissioning of the entire linac is then summarized

LA LETTURA MEDICO-LEGALE DELLA LEGGE 24/2017: TRA SICUREZZA DELLE CURE E DELLA PERSONA ASSISTITA E NUOVI PROFILI DI VALUTAZIONE COMPORTAMENTALE DEGLI ESERCENTI LE PROFESSIONI SANITARIE

Commento alla legge dell\u20198 marzo 2017 n. 24, introduce il lettore all\u2019analisi della nuova riforma sanitaria, avvalendosi di specialisti di ogni settore Il commento mette in luce gli aspetti pi\uf9 innovativi della riforma, ma soprattutto la sua discontinuit\ue0 rispetto ad un passato incentrato sul controllo e sulla sanzione, piuttosto che non sulla prevenzione dei rischi e dei danni e sulla protezione del paziente. Il commento pone in luce le diverse componenti della riforma, che si preoccupa, oltre che a ripristinare un corretto rapporto tra medico e paziente, di individuare i rischi, di ripartirli tra i diversi soggetti che partecipano alla creazione dell\u2019evento, e di contenere la spesa pubblica. Il commento sottolinea l\u2019opportunit\ue0, offerta dal legislatore, di contenere il contenzioso attraverso l\u2019operato del \u201cdifensore civico\u201d, mediante la trasparenza dei dati utili a riconoscere le problematiche del sistema, nonch\ue9 ricorrendo al ruolo dei consulenti tecnici d\u2019ufficio specializzati nel settore interessato dal sinistro e alla mediazione extraprocessuale

Association of statin pretreatment with presentation characteristics, infarct size and outcome in older patients with acute coronary syndrome: the Elderly ACS-2 trial

prior statin treatment has been shown to have favourable effects on short- and long-term prognosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). There are limited data in older patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of previous statin therapy and presentation characteristics, infarct size and clinical outcome in older patients, with or without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), included in the Elderly-ACS 2 trial

Association of brain amyloidosis with pro-inflammatory gut bacterial taxa and peripheral inflammation markers in cognitively impaired elderly

The pathway leading from amyloid-β deposition to cognitive impairment is believed to be a cornerstone of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, what drives amyloid buildup in sporadic nongenetic cases of AD is still unknown. AD brains feature an inflammatory reaction around amyloid plaques, and a specific subset of the gut microbiota (GMB) may promote brain inflammation. We investigated the possible role of the GMB in AD pathogenesis by studying the association of brain amyloidosis with (1) GMB taxa with pro- and anti-inflammatory activity; and (2) peripheral inflammation in cognitively impaired patients. We measured the stool abundance of selected bacterial GMB taxa (Escherichia/Shigella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eubacterium rectale, Eubacterium hallii, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and Bacteroides fragilis) and the blood expression levels of cytokines (pro-inflammatory cytokines: CXCL2, CXCL10, interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, IL-18, IL-8, inflammasome complex (NLRP3), tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α]; anti-inflammatory cytokines: IL-4, IL-10, IL-13) in cognitively impaired patients with (n = 40, Amy+) and with no brain amyloidosis (n = 33, Amy-) and also in a group of controls (n = 10, no brain amyloidosis and no cognitive impairment). Amy+ patients showed higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, CXCL2, NLRP3, and IL-1β) compared with both controls and with Amy- patients. A reduction of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was observed in Amy+ versus Amy-. Amy+ showed lower abundance of E. rectale and higher abundance of Escherichia/Shigella compared with both healthy controls (fold change, FC = -9.6, p < 0.001 and FC = +12.8, p < 0.001, respectively) and to Amy- (FC = -7.7, p < 0.001 and FC = +7.4, p = 0.003). A positive correlation was observed between pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, NLRP3, and CXCL2 with abundance of the inflammatory bacteria taxon Escherichia/Shigella (rho = 0.60, p < 0.001; rho = 0.57, p < 0.001; and rho = 0.30, p = 0.007, respectively) and a negative correlation with the anti-inflammatory E. rectale (rho = -0.48, p < 0.001; rho = -0.25, p = 0.024; rho = -0.49, p < 0.001). Our data indicate that an increase in the abundance of a pro-inflammatory GMB taxon, Escherichia/Shigella, and a reduction in the abundance of an anti-inflammatory taxon, E. rectale, are possibly associated with a peripheral inflammatory state in patients with cognitive impairment and brain amyloidosis. A possible causal relation between GMB-related inflammation and amyloidosis deserves further investigation

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32-0.77); P&lt;0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88-1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62-0.92); P&lt;0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61-0.88); P&lt;0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine