Dominance Weighted Social Choice Functions for Group Recommendations

In travel domains, decision support systems provide support to tourists in the planning of their vacation. In particular, when the number of possible Points of Interest (POI) to visit is large, the system should help tourists providing recommendations on the POI that could be more interesting for them. Since traveling is, usually, an activity that involves small groups of people, the system should take simultaneously into account the preferences of each group's member. At the same time, it also should model possible intra-group relationships, which can have an impact in the group decision-making process. In this paper, we model this problem as a multi-agent aggregation of preferences by using weighted social choice functions, whereas such weights are automatically evaluated by analyzing the interactions of the group's members on Online Social Networks

Essere giudice

A brief political-existential essay, "Essere giudice" addresses the basic theme of the judge faced with the challenges of modernity, without any preceptive or pedagogical pretence. It is divided into ten chapters, each of which tries to answer a question: "Why is one a judge?" "Where is one a judge?" "When is one a judge?" "How long is one a judge?" "With whom is one a judge?" "With what means is one a judge?" "For whom is one a judge?" "How is one a judge?" "In what functions is one a judge?" and finally "Who is a judge?". It is up to the reader to determine whether the answers found by Francesco Caso have any value, if only for the fact that they have been attempted, perhaps for the first time.illustratorBreve saggio politico-esistenziale, Essere giudice affronta il tema di fondo del giudice di fronte alle sfide della modernità, senza alcuna pretesa precettiva o pedagogica. Articolato in dieci capitoletti, ognuno dei quali prova a rispondere a una domanda: “perché si fa il giudice?” “Dove si fa il giudice?” “Quando si fa il giudice?” “Per quanto tempo si fa il giudice?” “Con chi si fa il giudice?” “Con quali mezzi si fa il giudice?” “Per chi si fa il giudice?” “Come si fa il giudice?” “In quali funzioni si fa il giudice?” e infine “Chi è il giudice?”. Al lettore stabilire se le risposte trovate da Francesco Caso abbiano un valore, anche solo per il fatto di essere state tentate, forse per la prima volta

Correlazioni genotipo-fenotipo in una coorte di pazienti adulti portatori di mutazioni a carico del gene TNFRSF1A.

Introduction: Autoinflammatory diseases represent a group of disorders, characterized by recurrent inflammatory episodes involving different body sites. Pathogenetically, flares causes are related to inflammosome assembly and functionality alterations. Aim: The aim of the study was to analyze clinical manifestations and their outcome in a cohort of adult patients with recurrent systemic inflammatory episodes and microRNAs (miRNAs), miR-150-3p and miR-92a-3p profiles. Methods: For this study, clinical characteristics and their outcome in adult Caucasian Italian patients with recurrent systemic inflammatory episodes were considered and analyzed. For miRNAs analysis, after RNA extraction and reverse transcription assays, real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed. Results: Clinical manifestations resulted strictly dependent by TNFRSF1A genotype. In particular, a higher frequency of recurrent pericarditis, and recurrence of febrile episodes, in the group of patients with non-structural TNFRSF1A mutations, were shown, when compared to patients genetically negative. Patients carrying structural TNFRSF1A mutations showed the most severe phenotype, when compared with patients genetically negative and those carrying non-structural TNFRSF1A mutations. At the last follow-up, disease course was significantly heterogeneous and closely related to the presence or absence of TNFRSF1A mutations. In particular, patients with TNFRSF1A mutations were refractory to conventional anti-inflammatory therapies. Using real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, increased levels of miRNAs miR-150-3p and miR-92a-3p have been observed in patients with non-structural TNFRSF1A mutations and genetically negative, and not in healthy control subjects. Conclusions: Not-structural TNFRSF1A mutations seem to be associated with a distinctive phenotype, whose features are represented mainly by a high frequency of recurrent pericarditis, recurrent febrile episodes of long duration, and an inflammatory course that often requires a targeted therapy with biological agents. The up-regulation of miRNAs, miR-150-3p and miR-92a-3p, in patients with not-structural TNFRSF1A mutations, could be underline the importance of their use as possible biomarkes

Renormalized Graph Neural Networks

Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have become essential for studying complex data, particularly when represented as graphs. Their value is underpinned by their ability to reflect the intricacies of numerous areas, ranging from social to biological networks. GNNs can grapple with non-linear behaviors, emerging patterns, and complex connections; these are also typical characteristics of complex systems. The renormalization group (RG) theory has emerged as the language for studying complex systems. It is recognized as the preferred lens through which to study complex systems, offering a framework that can untangle their intricate dynamics. Despite the clear benefits of integrating RG theory with GNNs, no existing methods have ventured into this promising territory. This paper proposes a new approach that applies RG theory to devise a novel graph rewiring to improve GNNs' performance on graph-related tasks. We support our proposal with extensive experiments on standard benchmarks and baselines. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method and its potential to remedy the current limitations of GNNs. Finally, this paper marks the beginning of a new research direction. This path combines the theoretical foundations of RG, the magnifying glass of complex systems, with the structural capabilities of GNNs. By doing so, we aim to enhance the potential of GNNs in modeling and unraveling the complexities inherent in diverse systems

Early seizures in patients with acute stroke: Frequency, predictive factors, and effect on clinical outcome

Andrea Alberti, Maurizio Paciaroni, Valeria Caso, Michele Venti, Francesco Palmerini, Giancarlo AgnelliStroke Unit and Division of Internal and Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, ItalyBackground: Early seizure (ES) may complicate the clinical course of patients with acute stroke. The aim of this study was to assess the rate of and the predictive factors for ES as well the effects of ES on the clinical outcome at hospital discharge in patients with first-ever stroke.Patients and methods: A total of 638 consecutive patients with first-ever stroke (543 ischemic, 95 hemorrhagic), admitted to our Stroke Unit, were included in this prospective study. ES were defined as seizures occurring within 7 days from acute stroke. Patients with history of epilepsy were excluded.Results: Thirty-one patients (4.8%) had ES. Seizures were significantly more common in patients with cortical involvement, severe and large stroke, and in patient with cortical hemorrhagic transformation of ischemic stroke. ES was not associated with an increase in adverse outcome (mortality and disability). After multivariate analysis, hemorrhagic transformation resulted as an independent predictive factor for ES (OR = 6.5; 95% CI: 1.95–22.61; p = 0.003).Conclusion: ES occur in about 5% of patients with acute stroke. In these patients hemorrhagic transformation is a predictive factor for ES. ES does not seem to be associated with an adverse outcome at hospital discharge after acute stroke.Keywords: seizures, stroke, cortical involvement, hemorrhagic transformatio

Interleukin-17A (IL-17A): A silent amplifier of COVID-19

One of the hallmarks of COVID-19 is the cytokine storm that provokes primarily pneumonia followed by systemic inflammation. Emerging evidence has identified a potential link between elevated interleukin-17A (IL-17A) levels and disease severity and progression. Considering that per se, IL-17A can activate several inflammatory pathways, it is plausible to hypothesize an involvement of this cytokine in COVID-19 clinical outcomes. Thus, IL-17A could represent a marker of disease progression and/or a target to develop therapeutic strategies. This hypothesis paper aims to propose this "unique" cytokine as a silent amplifier of the COVID-19 immune response and (potentially) related therapy

Minimal disease activity in patients with psoriatic arthritis treated with ustekinumab: results from a 24-week real-world study

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory joint disease affecting around 40% of psoriasis patients. Minimal disease activity (MDA) criteria have been proposed to identify a state of low disease activity, one of the principal goals of treatment for psoriatic disease. This study investigated treatment with ustekinumab (UST) in the context of a real-world setting. Thirty-four PsA patients who had failure or inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or to anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha were enrolled. Demographic and clinical features, MDA criteria, and the impact of psoriatic skin manifestations on patients' quality of life (QoL) using the dermatology life quality index (DLQI) questionnaire were evaluated at baseline and after 24-week treatment. Adverse events were recorded. At week 24, 70.5% of patients (n = 24) achieved MDA. A sub-analysis of dermatological indices of the MDA criteria showed that the psoriasis area severity index score was significantly improved and body surface area was significantly decreased at 24 weeks compared with that at baseline (both p < 0.001). For the rheumatologic indexes, tender joint count, swollen joint count, and tender entheseal points were all significantly improved at 24 weeks of therapy (all p < 0.01 vs. baseline). Mean DLQI value decreased approximately fourfold, and there were no safety concerns. The achievement of MDA as well as the significant improvement in DLQI and lack of adverse events in the context of a real-life setting shown here confirms the efficacy and safety of UST in PsA

Vasculitis and COVID-19: what do we have to know?

As the main title 'COVID-19 revolution: a new challenge for the internist' states, the global coronavirus infection disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represented a new challenge for the internists. This paper is part of a series of articles written during the difficult period of the ongoing global pandemic and published all together in this fourth issue of the Italian Journal of Medicine, with the aim of sharing the direct experiences of those who were the first to face this severe emergency, expressing each point of view in the management of COVID-19 in relation to other diseases. Each article is therefore the result of many efforts and a joint collaboration between many colleagues from the Departments of Internal Medicine or Emergency Medicine of several Italian hospitals, engaged in the front line during the pandemic. These preliminary studies therefore cover diagnostic tools available to health care personnel, epidemiological reflections, possible new therapeutic approaches, discharge and reintegration procedures to daily life, the involvement of the disease not only in the lung, aspects related to various comorbidities, such as: coagulopathies, vasculitis, vitamin D deficiency, gender differences, etc.. The goal is to offer a perspective, as broad as possible, of everything that has been done to initially face the pandemic in its first phase and provide the tools for an increasingly better approach, in the hope of not arriving unprepared to a possible second wave. This paper in particular deals with vasculitis and COVID-19

The use of TNF-α blockers in psoriatic arthritis patients with latent tuberculosis infection

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthropathy associated with skin and/or nail psoriasis. TNF-α is an essential cytokine for the host defense, and its depletion by treatment may facilitate the risk of infections or their reactivation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TNF-α blockers in patients with PsA and concomitant latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) comparing their outcome with non-infected PsA patients. This is a retrospective study in 321 patients with PsA, attending the Psoriatic Arthritis Clinic at the University Federico II of Naples, who had an inadequate response to DMARDs and started therapy with TNF-α blockers. We identified 40 patients with LTBI, who were included in this study along with 40 not infected PsA patients as control group. At baseline (T0) and every 3 months for 2 years (T2), data concerning PsA activity were registered. All patients underwent chest X-ray every 6 months (or 12 if appropriate). In each group, 22 patients were on etanercept therapy, 14 on adalimumab, and 4 on infliximab. Anti-TNF-α therapy was effective in both group of patients, and no statistically significant differences were found in the analysis of the study variables between the two groups from T0 to T2. No serious adverse events occurred in both groups, and no patient was withdrawn from therapy. Our experience suggests that anti-TNF-α treatment is effective and safe in PsA patients with concomitant LTBI. Therefore, neither LTBI nor chemoprophylaxis seems to influence the course of anti-TNF-α therapy