Early consensus management for non-ICU acute respiratory failure SARS-CoV-2 emergency in Italy : from ward to trenches

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Negation Detection for Robust Adverse Drug Event Extraction From Social Media Texts

Adverse Drug Event (ADE) extraction from user-generated content has gained popularity as a tool to aid researchers and pharmaceutical companies to monitor side effect of drugs in the wild. Automatic models can rapidly examine large collections of social media texts. However it is currently unknown if such models are robust in face of linguistic phenomena such as negation and speculation, which are pervasive across language varieties. We evaluate three state-of-the-art systems, showing their fragility against negation, and then we introduce two possible strategies to increase the robustness of these models: (i) a pipeline approach, using a specific component for negation detection; (ii) an augmentation of the dataset with artificially negated samples to further train the models. We show that both strategies bring significant increases in performance

Makrofauna Tanah Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit (Elais Guineensis Jacq) Di Lahan Gambut Dengan Pemberian Bahan Organik Pada Tinggi Muka Air Tanah Berbeda

This researchaims to know the species amountd, total individual, calculate population density (K) and relative density (KR) soil macrofauna in oil palm plantation (Elais guineensis Jacq) in peatland by giving organic matter in water level is different.This research are conducted by observation, sampling for soil macrofauna of data is determined by purposive random sampling method, and data soil macrofauna results to analyzed statistic descriptive. The results showed that the amountd species, total individual, population density and relative density of soil macrofauna were higher in water levels of 40-50 cm. The giving organic matter in the soil water level is different in the first month, giving palm fronds and Mucunna bracteata produces the number of species, the total individual, population density, and density of the soil macrofauna relative higher than that of oil palm empty fruit bunches,while in the third month the species, the total individual, population density, and density of the soil makorfauna ralatif higher in the provision of oil palm empty fruit bunches and palm fronds.In water levels same produce the amountd species, total individual, population density, and relative density of soil macrofauna higher ground in water levels of 40-50 cm except amountd species in the third month

Makrofauna Tanah Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit (Elais Guineensis Jacq) Di Lahan Gambut Dengan Pemberian Bahan Organik Pada Tinggi Muka Air Tanah Berbeda

This researchaims to know the species amountd, total individual, calculate population density (K) and relative density (KR) soil macrofauna in oil palm plantation (Elais guineensis Jacq) in peatland by giving organic matter in water level is different.This research are conducted by observation, sampling for soil macrofauna of data is determined by purposive random sampling method, and data soil macrofauna results to analyzed statistic descriptive. The results showed that the amountd species, total individual, population density and relative density of soil macrofauna were higher in water levels of 40-50 cm. The giving organic matter in the soil water level is different in the first month, giving palm fronds and Mucunna bracteata produces the number of species, the total individual, population density, and density of the soil macrofauna relative higher than that of oil palm empty fruit bunches,while in the third month the species, the total individual, population density, and density of the soil makorfauna ralatif higher in the provision of oil palm empty fruit bunches and palm fronds.In water levels same produce the amountd species, total individual, population density, and relative density of soil macrofauna higher ground in water levels of 40-50 cm except amountd species in the third month

Chasing Hypernyms in Vector Spaces with Entropy

In this paper, we introduce SLQS, a new entropy-based measure for the unsupervised identification of hypernymy and its directionality in Distributional Semantic Models (DSMs). SLQS is assessed through two tasks: (i.) identifying the hypernym in hyponym-hypernym pairs, and (ii.) discriminating hypernymy among various semantic relations. In both tasks, SLQS outperforms other state-of-the-art measures

Helmet CPAP to Treat Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure in Patients with COVID-19 : a Management Strategy Proposal

Since the beginning of March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused more than 13,000 deaths in Europe, almost 54% of which has occurred in Italy. The Italian healthcare system is experiencing a stressful burden, especially in terms of intensive care assistance. In fact, the main clinical manifestation of COVID-19 patients is represented by an acute hypoxic respiratory failure secondary to bilateral pulmonary infiltrates, that in many cases, results in an acute respiratory distress syndrome and requires an invasive ventilator support. A precocious respiratory support with non-invasive ventilation or high flow oxygen should be avoided to limit the droplets' air-dispersion and the healthcare workers' contamination. The application of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) by means of a helmet can represent an effective alternative to recruit diseased alveolar units and improve hypoxemia. It can also limit the room contamination, improve comfort for the patients, and allow for better clinical assistance with long-term tolerability. However, the initiation of a CPAP is not free from pitfalls. It requires a careful titration and monitoring to avoid a delayed intubation. Here, we discuss the rationale and some important considerations about timing, criteria, and monitoring requirements for patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure requiring a CPAP treatment

Fatigue fracture surface investigations with a 3D optical profiler

In this paper a set of specimens, used for the critical distance determination, are investigated with a non-contact 3D optical profiler. The fatigue fracture surfaces of both plain and V-notched specimens, under axial (mode I) and torsional (mode III) loadings are observed, investigating steel 42CrMo4+QT and aluminium alloy 7075-T6. The fatigue fracture profiles are compared to be previously obtained critical distances, both for mode I and mode III. The stage I to stage II transition was found at a smaller size than the axial critical distance, for the steel, while for the torsional load a local plateau at the nucleation was observed. The fracture surface of the axial loading was instead much irregular at the scale of the mode I critical distance, for the aluminium alloy, resembling a not concluded stage I, while again a relatively flat surface was observed for the mode III loading

The effect of a multidisciplinary approach for smoking cessation in patients with Crohn's disease : results from an observational cohort study

Introduction: Cigarette smoking is the most important risk factor for Crohn's disease (CD). The effectiveness of smoking cessation programs (SCPs) in patients with CD is still poorly understood. Methods: This was a retrospective, observational, single-centre, cohort study of 136 active smokers with mean age 55 years (SD=11), 58% males, including 27 (19.8%) patients with CD who entered the multidisciplinary SCP of the Luigi Sacco University Hospital of Milan from January 2017 through January 2019. A pulmonologist was responsible for the clinical and pharmacological management, while a psychiatrist and a psychologist conducted the counselling and assessed the motivation to quit, anxiety and depression using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the nicotine dependence with the Fagerstr\uf6m test. Patients were defined as quitters after 12 months. Results: Demographic and clinical characteristics, and Fagerstr\uf6m score, did not differ in patients with and without CD. At baseline, patients with CD had a higher BPRS (median: 27, IQR: 22-32; vs 25 and 22-28.5; p=0.03), and a lower motivation to quit score (median: 10, IQR: 9-13; vs 14 and 12-15; p<0.001). After 12 months, the quitting rate of smokers with CD was significantly lower (14.8% vs 36.7%; p<0.022) and the chance of quitting was negatively associated with the baseline BPRS (r=-0.256; p<0.003). Varenicline and nicotine replacement therapy tended to be less effective in patients with CD. Conclusions: The lower efficacy of SCPs in patients with CD might be secondary to a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression. Psychological issue recognition and support should be enhanced to increase SCP effectiveness in CD

Effect of inhaled bronchodilators on inspiratory capacity and dyspnoea at rest in COPD

It has been shown that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) develop dynamic hyperinflation (DH), which contributes to dyspnoea and exercise intolerance. Formoterol, salmeterol and oxitropium have been recommended for maintenance therapy in COPD patients, but their effect on DH has only been assessed for salmeterol. The aim of the present study was to compare the acute effect of four inhaled bronchodilators (salbutamol, formoterol, salmeterol and oxitropium) and placebo on forced expiratory volume in one second, inspiratory capacity, forced vital capacity and dyspnoea in COPD patients. A cross-over, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was carried out on 20 COPD patients. Patients underwent pulmonary function testing and dyspnoea evaluation, in basal condition and 5, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min after bronchodilator or placebo administration. The results indicate that in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with decreased baseline inspiratory capacity, there was a much greater increase of inspiratory capacity after bronchodilator administration, which correlated closely with the improvement of dyspnoea sensation at rest. For all bronchodilators used, inspiratory capacity reversibility should be tested at 30 min following the bronchodilator. On average, formoterol elicited the greatest increase in inspiratory capacity than the other bronchodilators used, though the difference was significant only with salmeterol and oxitropium. The potential advantage of formoterol needs to be tested in a larger patient population