The Expanded Risk Score in Rheumatoid Arthritis: performance of a disease-specific calculator in comparison with the traditional prediction scores in the assessment of the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The increased risk of cardiovascular disease has emerged as a major issue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis – it has been estimated that the cardiovascular disease burden in rheumatoid arthritis is comparable to that of diabetes mellitus

POS0048 SEROPREVALENCE OF ANTI-SARS-COV-2 ANTIBODIES IN RHEUMATIC PATIENTS TREATED WITH BIOLOGICAL AND TARGETED THERAPY LIVING IN LOMBARDY, ITALY (MAINSTREAM PROJECT)

Background:Emerging observational data have shown that rheumatic patients seem not to be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection neither to worse outcomes. However, the true prevalence of COVID19 is still unknown due to the high proportion of subclinical infection. In this scenario, measuring the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 may be crucial to improve the knowledge about the impact of COVID19 in rheumatic patients.Objectives:To estimate in a COVID19 high-endemic area (Lombardy, Italy) the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a large cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthritis (SpA) treated with biologic (b-) or targeted synthetic (ts-) disease modifying drugs (DMARDs).Methods:A seroprevalence cross-sectional study was conducted in the period between 4th May and 16th June 2020, including patients with confirmed RA or SpA treated with b- or tsDMARDs. Patients were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies against main viral antigens (nucleoprotein [N], spike 1 [S1], receptor-binding domain [RBD]) using ELISA. These data were compared with those observed in the healthy population in the same period and region. Patients also answered a questionnaire on history of symptoms consistent with COVID19, risk factors and comorbidities. Serological response to RBD was evaluated according to symptom severity (asymptomatic, minor, or major [respiratory and fever >37.5°C] symptoms).Results:The study population included 300 patients (62% females, mean age 53 years, 20% over 65 years old) diagnosed with RA (56%), psoriatic arthritis (23%), or ankylosing spondylitis (21%), treated with anti-TNF (57%), abatacept (20%), anti-IL6 (11%), or JAK inhibitors (5%). Four patients (1.3%) referred a prior diagnosis of COVID19 defined by nasopharyngeal swab. Immunoglobulin titers were evaluated resulting in 9%, 13.6%, and 13.3% positive patients for IgG, IgM and IgA, respectively (Table 1), with no significant difference to the healthy population. Among seropositive patients, 55.3% were asymptomatic, 16% had minor and 19.6% major symptoms, 7.1% were hospitalized. No deaths or admission to intensive care units occurred. IgM, IgG and IgA titers to RBD were higher in patients with both minor and major symptoms compared with asymptomatic ones (Figure 1). No differences were found between seronegative and seropositive patients in relation to age, sex, rheumatic diagnosis, and treatments with b- or tsDMARDs. A relative lower risk of seropositivity was observed in patients receiving concomitant methotrexate (RR 0.49, 95% CI 0.25-0.94; p 0.04), while an increased risk was associated with obesity (RR 2.33, 95% CI 1.26-3.79; p 0.019) and presence of at least 2 comorbidities (RR 1.94, 95% CI 1.11-3.15; p 0.037). Corticosteroids use was numerically more frequent in seropositive than seronegative patients (18% vs 14%).Conclusion:This study confirms that, even in a cohort of rheumatic patients, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection is much greater than that observed by capturing only swab-diagnosed COVID19 cases. The underlying rheumatic disease and ongoing therapy with b/ts-DMARDs do not seem to impact SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity, which conversely seems to be proportional to the intensity of COVID19 symptoms and less frequent in patients receiving concomitant methotrexate. The project was co-financed by Lombardy Region 2014-2020 Regional Operational Programme under the European Regional Development Fund.Table 1.Prevalence of specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.AntibodiesPosivite(n)Seroprevalence (%)(95% CI)IgG279%(6.2 – 12.7)IgG anti-N268.6%(5.9 – 12.3)IgG anti-RBD206.6%(4.3 – 10)IgG anti-S1186%(3.8 – 9.2)IgM4113.6%(10.2 – 18)IgM anti-N3511.6%(8.5 – 15.7)IgM anti-RBD258.3%(5.7 – 12)IgA4013.3%(9.9 – 17.6)IgA anti-N3712.3%(9.0 – 16.5)IgA anti-RBD258.3%(5.7 – 12)IgG+IgM237.6%(5.1 – 11.2)IgG+IgM+IgA227.3%(4.9 – 10.5)IgG+IgA248%(5.4 – 11.6)IgG/IgM/IgA5618.6%(14.6 – 23.4)Figure 1.Antibody levels (S/Co) against SARS-CoV-2 RBD.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Neural sentiment analysis for a real-world application

In this paper, we describe our neural network models for a commercial application on sentiment analysis. Different from academic work, which is oriented towards complex networks for achieving a marginal improvement, real scenarios require flexible and efficient neural models. The possibility to use the same models on different domains and languages plays an important role in the selection of the most appropriate architecture. We found that a small modification of the state-of-the-art network according to academic benchmarks led to a flexible neural model that also preserves high accuracy. In questo lavoro, descriviamo i nostri modelli di reti neurali per un'applicazione commerciale basata sul sentiment analysis. A differenza del mondo accademico, dove la ricerca è orientata verso reti anche complesse per il raggiungimento di un miglioramento marginale, gli scenari di utilizzo reali richiedono modelli neurali flessibili, efficienti e semplici. La possibilitá di utilizzare gli stessi modelli per domini e linguaggi variegati svolge un ruolo importante nella scelta dell'architettura. Abbiamo scoperto che una piccola modifica della rete allo stato dell'arte rispetto ai benchmarks accademici produce un modello neurale flessibile che preserva anche un'elevata precisione

Long-Term Outcome and Risk Stratification in Dilated Cardiolaminopathies

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Computerized Glow Curve Deconvolution of Thermoluminescent Emission from Polyminerals of Jamaica Mexican Flower

The aim of this work is to study the main thermoluminescent (TL) characteristics of the inorganic polyminerals extracted from dehydrated Jamaica flower or roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) belonging to Malvaceae family of Mexican origin. The TL emission properties of the polymineral fraction in powder were studied using the initial rise method (IR), finally the complex structure and kinetic parameters of the glow curves have been accurately analysed using the Computerized Glow Curve Deconvolution (CGCD) assuming an exponential distribution of trapping levels. The extension of the IR method to the case of a continuous and exponential distribution of traps is reported such as the derivation of the thermoluminescence glow curve deconvolution functions for continuous trap distribution. CGCD is performed both in the case of frequency factor, s, temperature independent and in the case with the s function of temperature.JRC.G.8-Nuclear safeguard

Design and Characterisation of a Pulsed Neutron Interrogation Facility

The Joint Research Centre recently obtained a license to operate a new experimental device intended for research in the field of nuclear safeguards. The research projects currently being planned for the new device includes: mass determination of fissile materials in matrices, and detection of contraband non-nuclear materials. The device incorporates a commercial pulsed neutron generator and a large graphite mantle surrounding the sample cavity. In this configuration a relatively high thermal neutron flux with a long lifetime is achieved inside the sample cavity. By pulsing the neutron generator, a sample may be interrogated by a pure thermal neutron flux during repeated time periods. The paper reports on the design of the new device and the pulsed fast and thermal neutron source. The thermal neutron flux caused by the neutron generator and the graphite structure has been characterised by foil activation, fission chamber and 3He proportional counter measurements.JRC.G.8-Nuclear safeguard