A Recommendation System as a Digital Marketing tool for Online Communities

Recommender systems are able to predict users’ preferences and items of interest, by analysing historical data on their behaviour and actions. Different techniques exist and are applicable in different scenarios. This thesis explores how to combine Content-Based and Collaborative-Filtering techniques in a hybrid system and how personalised recommendations and one-to-one marketing techniques can lead to an improvement in user engagement. Specifically, it is analysed the case of online platforms where there is no rating system in place. Results are empirically tested and evaluated with training/testing approach and recommendations seem to be quite accurate. However, further online evaluation is needed to measure any actual increase in user engagement

Predicting diabetes second-line therapy initiation in the Australian population via time span-guided neural attention network

Introduction The first line of treatment for people with Diabetes mellitus is metformin. However, over the course of the disease metformin may fail to achieve appropriate glycemic control, and a second-line therapy may become necessary. In this paper we introduce Tangle, a time span-guided neural attention model that can accurately and timely predict the upcoming need for a second-line diabetes therapy from administrative data in the Australian adult population. The method is suitable for designing automatic therapy review recommendations for patients and their providers without the need to collect clinical measures. Data We analyzed seven years of de-identified records (2008-2014) of the 10% publicly available linked sample of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) electronic databases of Australia. Methods By design, Tangle inherits the representational power of pre-trained word embedding, such as GloVe, to encode sequences of claims with the related MBS codes. Moreover, the proposed attention mechanism natively exploits the information hidden in the time span between two successive claims (measured in number of days). We compared the proposed method against state-of-the-art sequence classification methods. Results Tangle outperforms state-of-the-art recurrent neural networks, including attention-based models. In particular, when the proposed time span-guided attention strategy is coupled with pre-trained embedding methods, the model performance reaches an Area Under the ROC Curve of 90%, an improvement of almost 10 percentage points over an attentionless recurrent architecture. Implementation Tangle is implemented in Python using Keras and it is hosted on GitHub at https://github. com/samuelefiorini/tangle

Effect of remifentanil and fentanyl on postoperative cognitive function and cytokines level in elderly patients undergoing major abdominal surgery

Purpose Postoperative cognitive dysfunction is a frequent complication occurring in geriatric patients. Type of anesthesia and the patient's inflammatory response may contribute to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). In this prospective randomized double-blinded controlled study we hypothesized that intraoperative remifentanil may reduce immediate and early POCD compared to fentanyl and evaluated if there is a correlation between cognitive status and postoperative inflammatory cytokines level. Methods Six hundred twenty-two patients older than 60 years undergoing major abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to two groups and treated with different opioids during surgery: continuous infusion of remifentanil or fentanyl boluses. Twenty-five patients per group were randomly selected for the quantitative determination of serum interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 to return to the ward and to the seventh postoperative day. Results Cognitive status and its correlation with cytokines levels were assessed. The groups were comparable regarding to POCD incidence; however, IL-6 levels were lower the seventh day after surgery for remifentanil group (P= .04). No correlation was found between POCD and cytokine levels. Conclusions The use of remifentanil does not reduce POCD

Ontology-based modular architecture for surgical autonomous robots

In this work, we present a workflow for the design and the deployment of an architecture for the ex ecution of a surgical task (i.e. tool positioning on the correct trajectory for needle insertion), where the architect ure’s components skeleton are automatically derived from ontological description. We formalized basic knowledge in a way that is readable and processable by both man and machine

Resilient Drone Mission Management and Route Optimization in Drone Delivery Context

The last two decades were characterized by a rapidly increasing of innovative solutions in the microelectronic field, having therefore a significant impact on a huge set of applicative scenarios. This aspect allows the development and improvement of new solutions, giving the possibility of growth and development of new markets, such as the drones ones. Actually, in the unmanned field we have seen an exponential growth of the market, given not only from the increased computing capabilities, but also by a more efficient developed hardware, thus leading to the definition of innovative uses, service paradigms and applications. The latter span in several different areas, from agriculture monitoring to society's services including the Package Delivery which immediately plays a strategic role in the modern society. These types of applications took place mainly in an urban environment, highlighting therefore new rules, needs and management system in order to accommodate the mission's achievement guaranteeing at the same time a high degree of resilience, citizen safety and risks minimization. Furthermore, to assist these types of operations, T-DROMES, a RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems) fleet and mission management solution, was developed allowing to scale-up the use of drones in complex operations from a geographical and mission point of view, in different applicative scenarios. The paper aims therefore to presents the tools capabilities and how the developed architecture is able to manage the entire mission for any context scenario and how the developed platforms and tools can be a valid framework for developing new operative working models

Oxidative Stress in HPV-Driven Viral Carcinogenesis: Redox Proteomics Analysis of HPV-16 Dysplastic and Neoplastic Tissues

Genital infection by high risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV), although recognized as the main etio-pathogenetic factor of cervical cancer, is not per se sufficient to induce tumour development. Oxidative stress (OS) represents an interesting and under-explored candidate as a promoting factor in HPV-initiated carcinogenesis. To gain insight into the role of OS in cervical cancer, HPV-16 positive tissues were collected from patients with invasive squamous cervical carcinoma, from patients with High Grade dysplastic HPV lesions and from patients with no clinical evidence of HPV lesions. After virological characterization, modulation of proteins involved in the redox status regulation was investigated. ERp57 and GST were sharply elevated in dysplastic and neoplastic tissues. TrxR2 peaked in dysplastic samples while iNOS was progressively reduced in dysplastic and neoplastic samples. By redox proteomic approach, five proteins were found to have increased levels of carbonyls in dysplastic samples respect to controls namely: cytokeratin 6, actin, cornulin, retinal dehydrogenase and GAPDH. In carcinoma samples the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase A, ERp57, serpin B3, Annexin 2 and GAPDH were found less oxidized than in dysplastic tissues. HPV16 neoplastic progression seems associated with increased oxidant environment. In dysplastic tissues the oxidative modification of DNA and proteins involved in cell morphogenesis and terminal differentiation may provide the conditions for the neoplastic progression. Conversely cancer tissues seem to attain an improved control on oxidative damage as shown by the selective reduction of carbonyl adducts on key detoxifying/pro-survival proteins

Oxidative Stress in HPV-Driven Viral Carcinogenesis: Redox Proteomics Analysis of HPV-16 Dysplastic and Neoplastic Tissues

Genital infection by high risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV), although recognized as the main etio-pathogenetic factor of cervical cancer, is not per se sufficient to induce tumour development. Oxidative stress (OS) represents an interesting and under-explored candidate as a promoting factor in HPV-initiated carcinogenesis. To gain insight into the role of OS in cervical cancer, HPV-16 positive tissues were collected from patients with invasive squamous cervical carcinoma, from patients with High Grade dysplastic HPV lesions and from patients with no clinical evidence of HPV lesions. After virological characterization, modulation of proteins involved in the redox status regulation was investigated. ERp57 and GST were sharply elevated in dysplastic and neoplastic tissues. TrxR2 peaked in dysplastic samples while iNOS was progressively reduced in dysplastic and neoplastic samples. By redox proteomic approach, five proteins were found to have increased levels of carbonyls in dysplastic samples respect to controls namely: cytokeratin 6, actin, cornulin, retinal dehydrogenase and GAPDH. In carcinoma samples the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase A, ERp57, serpin B3, Annexin 2 and GAPDH were found less oxidized than in dysplastic tissues. HPV16 neoplastic progression seems associated with increased oxidant environment. In dysplastic tissues the oxidative modification of DNA and proteins involved in cell morphogenesis and terminal differentiation may provide the conditions for the neoplastic progression. Conversely cancer tissues seem to attain an improved control on oxidative damage as shown by the selective reduction of carbonyl adducts on key detoxifying/pro-survival proteins

Pancreatic cancer growth using magnetic resonance and bioluminescence imaging

OBJECT:Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal human cancer and appropriate experimental tumor models are needed for the development of innovative therapeutic approaches. This paper describes an experimental model of human pancreatic cancer and a related non invasive imaging technique suitable for monitoring tumor growth and metastatization. The aim of the work was the implementation of an experimental platform suitable for assessing the efficacy of new therapeutic agents.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Human pancreatic cancer cells (PANC-1-Luc+) were injected into the pancreas of female athymic CD1 mice. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at 4.7T and Bioluminescence Imaging (BLI) were performed in each mouse at three time points after cell inoculation (1, 2 and 3months). Two groups of mice were studied: the first group of n=13 mice in which 5*106 cells were injected and the second group of n=10 mice in which 2*106 cells were injected. MRI examination included T2w acquisitions and (at the last time point) Dynamic-contrast-enhanced-MRI (DCE-MRI).RESULTS:Each mouse underwent three longitudinal MRI and BLI examinations. BLI was more sensitive than MRI producing higher detection rate at early time points. Moreover in one case of abdominal dissemination of pancreatic tumor cells, small tumoral masses were detected by BLI and not detected by MRI. However BLI appears more prone to experimental error most likely due to photon attenuation. In 4 mice BLI produced false negative results. DCE-MRI experiments providing information on tumor perfusion were conducted successfully in this anatomical district and demonstrated that the tumor tissues from the second experimental group are more vascularized compared to the first group.CONCLUSION:The present study performed on the experimental model of pancreatic cancer here described shows that MRI and BLI are complementary techniques and that synergistic application of both can overcome the intrinsic limitations of each.Object Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal human cancer and appropriate experimental tumor models are needed for the development of innovative therapeutic approaches. This paper describes an experimental model of human pancreatic cancer and a related non invasive imaging technique suitable for monitoring tumor growth and metastatization. The aim of the work was the implementation of an experimental platform suitable for assessing the efficacy of new therapeutic agents.Materials and methods: Human pancreatic cancer cells (PANC-1-Luc +) were injected into the pancreas of female athymic CD1 mice. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at 4.7 T and Bioluminescence Imaging (BLI) were performed in each mouse at three time points after cell inoculation (1, 2 and 3 months). Two groups of mice were studied: the first group of n = 13 mice in which 5 * 10(6) cells were injected and the second group of n = 10 mice in which 2 * 10(6) cells were injected. MRI examination included T2w acquisitions and (at the last time point) Dynamic-contrast-enhanced-MRI (DCE-MRI).Results: Each mouse underwent three longitudinal MRI and BLI examinations. BLI was more sensitive than MRI producing higher detection rate at early time points. Moreover in one case of abdominal dissemination of pancreatic tumor cells, small tumoral masses were detected by BLI and not detected by MRI. However BLI appears more prone to experimental error most likely due to photon attenuation. In 4 mice BLI produced false negative results. DCE-MRI experiments providing information on tumor perfusion were conducted successfully in this anatomical district and demonstrated that the tumor tissues from the second experimental group are more vascularized compared to the first group.Conclusion: The present study performed on the experimental model of pancreatic cancer here described shows that MRI and BLI are complementary techniques and that synergistic application of both can overcome the intrinsic limitations of each. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Integrated multidisciplinary ecological analysis from the Uluzzian settlement at the Uluzzo C Rock Shelter, south-eastern Italy

open20siThe Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, between 50 000 and 40 000 years ago, is a period of important ecological and cultural changes. In this framework, the Rock Shelter of Uluzzo C (Apulia, southern Italy) represents an important site due to Late Mousterian and Uluzzian evidence preserved in its stratigraphic sequence. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary analysis performed on the materials collected between 2016 and 2018 from the Uluzzian stratigraphic units (SUs) 3, 15 and 17. The analysis involved lithic technology, use-wear, zooarchaeology, ancient DNA of sediments and palaeoproteomics, completed by quartz single-grain optically stimulated luminescence dating of the cave sediments. The lithic assemblage is characterized by a volumetric production and a debitage with no or little management of the convexities (by using the bipolar technique), with the objective to produce bladelets and flakelets. The zooarchaeological study found evidence of butchery activity and of the possible exploitation of marine resources, while drawing a picture of a patchy landscape, composed of open forests and dry open environments surrounding the shelter. Ancient mitochondrial DNA from two mammalian taxa were recovered from the sediments. Preliminary zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry results are consistent with ancient DNA and zooarchaeological taxonomic information, while further palaeoproteomics investigations are ongoing. Our new data from the re-discovery of the Uluzzo C Rock Shelter represent an important contribution to better understand the meaning of the Uluzzian in the context of the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition in south-eastern Italy.First published: 13 July 2021openSARA SILVESTRINI, MATTEO ROMANDINI, GIULIA MARCIANI, SIMONA ARRIGHI, LISA CARRERA, ANDREA FIORINI, JUAN MANUEL LÓPEZ-GARCÍA, FEDERICO LUGLI, FILOMENA RANALDO, VIVIANE SLON, LAURA TASSONI, OWEN ALEXANDER HIGGINS, EUGENIO BORTOLINI, ANTONIO CURCI, MATTHIAS MEYER, MICHAEL CHRISTIAN MEYER, GREGORIO OXILIA, ANDREA ZERBONI, STEFANO BENAZZI, SPINAPOLICE ENZA ELENASARA SILVESTRINI, MATTEO ROMANDINI, GIULIA MARCIANI, SIMONA ARRIGHI, LISA CARRERA, ANDREA FIORINI, JUAN MANUEL LÓPEZ-GARCÍA, FEDERICO LUGLI, FILOMENA RANALDO, VIVIANE SLON, LAURA TASSONI, OWEN ALEXANDER HIGGINS, EUGENIO BORTOLINI, ANTONIO CURCI, MATTHIAS MEYER, MICHAEL CHRISTIAN MEYER, GREGORIO OXILIA, ANDREA ZERBONI, STEFANO BENAZZI, SPINAPOLICE ENZA ELEN

PMCA-based detection of prions in the olfactory mucosa of patients with Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder caused by the conformational conversion of the prion protein (PrPC) into an abnormally folded form, named prion (or PrPSc). The combination of the polymorphism at codon 129 of the PrP gene (coding either methionine or valine) with the biochemical feature of the proteinase-K resistant PrP (generating either PrPSc type 1 or 2) gives rise to different PrPSc strains, which cause variable phenotypes of sCJD. The definitive diagnosis of sCJD and its classification can be achieved only post-mortem after PrPSc identification and characterization in the brain. By exploiting the Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC) assay, traces of PrPSc were found in the olfactory mucosa (OM) of sCJD patients, thus demonstrating that PrPSc is not confined to the brain. Here, we have optimized another technique, named protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) for detecting PrPSc in OM samples of sCJD patients. OM samples were collected from 27 sCJD and 2 genetic CJD patients (E200K). Samples from 34 patients with other neurodegenerative disorders were included as controls. Brains were collected from 26 sCJD patients and 16 of them underwent OM collection. Brain and OM samples were subjected to PMCA using the brains of transgenic mice expressing human PrPC with methionine at codon 129 as reaction substrates. The amplified products were analyzed by Western blot after proteinase K digestion. Quantitative PMCA was performed to estimate PrPSc concentration in OM. PMCA enabled the detection of prions in OM samples with 79.3% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Except for a few cases, a predominant type 1 PrPSc was generated, regardless of the tissues analyzed. Notably, all amplified PrPSc were less resistant to PK compared to the original strain. In conclusion, although the optimized PMCA did not consent to recognize sCJD subtypes from the analysis of OM collected from living patients, it enabled us to estimate for the first time the amount of prions accumulating in this biological tissue. Further assay optimizations are needed to faithfully amplify peripheral prions whose recognition could lead to a better diagnosis and selection of patients for future clinical trials