Automatic Information Extraction from Investment Product Documents

In this paper we report on the activities carried out within a collaboration between Consob and Sapienza University. The developed project focus on Information Extraction from documents describing financial investment products. We discuss how we automate this task, via both rule-based and machine learningbased methods, and describe the performances of our approach

Evidence of increased axillary blood flow velocity without increased handgrip strength and endurance in persons with a fibromuscular axillary arch

Background: The purpose of this in vivo study was to compare axillary artery blood flow velocity, and maximal handgrip strength and endurance performance in young subjects with and without an axillary arch (AA). Materials and methods: One hundred and fifty-six young adults were screened for the presence of an AA on their dominant arm side. After physical examination subjects were checked using diagnostic echography for the presence of an AA. Sixteen subjects with an AA and 15 without an AA had their axillary artery peak systolic velocity quantified in 3 different arm positions using Doppler ultrasound. Maximal handgrip strength and endurance performance was quantified in the same positions using a functional rehabilitation system. Results: Mean peak systolic velocity was significantly higher in the AA group compared to controls in abduction/external rotation of the arm during muscle relaxation (p = 0.003) and contraction (p = 0.01). No significant differences between groups were found for maximal handgrip strength and endurance performance. Conclusions: This study provides evidence for a transient axillary artery compression by the AA in a throwing position. This is not reinforced by additional contraction of the shoulder muscles along with the AA. Axillary artery compression does not influence maximal handgrip strength and endurance performance in symptom-free young adults

Semantic technologies for the production and publication of open data in ACI - Automobile club d’Italia

Semantic technologies combine knowledge representation techniques with artificial intelligence in order to achieve a more effective management of enterprise knowledge bases, thanks to the separation of the conceptual level of the applications from the logical and physical ones, and to the automatic reasoning services they deploy for data access and control. In this context, Ontology-based Data Management (OBDM) [3] has consolidated itself as a paradigm for data integration and governance, based on a three-tier architecture: the ontology, the data sources, and the mappings, which declaratively link the ontology predicates to the data in the sources. In this talk1 we present a joint project by Sapienza University of Rome, the Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI), and OKKAM S.r.l.2, a spinoff of the University of Trento. The objectives of the project were the definition of an ontology of ACI’s Public Vehicle Register (PRA) and car tax domains, the development of an OBDM system to access the data through such ontology, and the creation of a web portal for the publication of ACI’s car parc data in Linked Open format

The operationalization of fatigue in frailty scales : a systematic review

Purpose: To identify the different fatigue items in existing frailty scales. Methods: PubMed, Web of Knowledge and PsycINFO were systematically screened for frailty scales. 133 articles were included, describing 158 frailty scales. Fatigue items were extracted and categorized in 4 fatigue constructs: “mood state related tiredness”, “general feeling of tiredness”, “activity based feeling of tiredness” and “resistance to physical tiredness”. Results: 120 fatigue items were identified, of which 100 belonged to the construct “general feeling of tiredness” and only 9 to the construct “resistance to physical tiredness”. 49,4% of the frailty scales included at least 1 fatigue item, representing 15±9,3% of all items in these scales. Fatigue items have a significantly higher weight in single domain (dominantly physical frailty scales) versus multi domain frailty scales (21±3.2 versus 10.6±9.8%, p=<0,05 ). Conclusion: Fatigue is prominently represented in frailty scales, covering a great diversity in fatigue constructs and underlying pathophysiological mechanisms by which fatigue relates to frailty. Although fatigue items were more prevalent and had a higher weight in physical frailty scales, the operationalization of fatigue leaned more towards psychological constructs. This review can be used as a reference for choosing a suitable frailty scale depending on the type of fatigue of interest

Effects of a Vitamin D and Leucine-Enriched Whey Protein Nutritional Supplement on Measures of Sarcopenia in Older Adults, the PROVIDE Study: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

© 2015 AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Background: Age-related losses of muscle mass, strength, and function (sarcopenia) pose significant threats to physical performance, independence, and quality of life. Nutritional supplementation could positively influence aspects of sarcopenia and thereby prevent mobility disability. Objective: To test the hypothesis that a specific oral nutritional supplement can result in improvements in measures of sarcopenia. Design: A multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-blind, 2 parallel-group trial among 380 sarcopenic primarily independent-living older adults with Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB; 0-12) scores between 4 and 9, and a low skeletal muscle mass index. The active group (n = 184) received a vitamin D and leucine-enriched whey protein nutritional supplement to consume twice daily for 13 weeks. The control group (n = 196) received an iso-caloric control product to consume twice daily for 13 weeks. Primary outcomes of handgrip strength and SPPB score, and secondary outcomes of chair-stand test, gait speed, balance score, and appendicular muscle mass (by DXA) were measured at baseline, week 7, and week 13 of the intervention. Results: Handgrip strength and SPPB improved in both groups without significant between-group differences. The active group improved more in the chair-stand test compared with the control group, between-group effect (95% confidence interval): -1.01 seconds (-1.77 to -0.19), P = .018. The active group gained more appendicular muscle mass than the control group, between-group effect: 0.17 kg (0.004-0.338), P = .045. Conclusions: This 13-week intervention of a vitamin D and leucine-enriched whey protein oral nutritional supplement resulted in improvements in muscle mass and lower-extremity function among sarcopenic older adults. This study shows proof-of-principle that specific nutritional supplementation alone might benefit geriatric patients, especially relevant for those who are unable to exercise. These results warrant further investigations into the role of a specific nutritional supplement as part of a multimodal approach to prevent adverse outcomes among older adults at risk for disability

Three-dimensional kinematics of the cervical spine using an electromagnetic tracking device. Differences between healthy subjects and subjects with nonspecific neck pain and the effect of age

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