Machine-Learning-Based Tool to Predict Target Prostate Biopsy Outcomes: An Internal Validation Study

Abstract: The aim of this study is to present a personalized predictive model (PPM) with a machine learning (ML) system that is able to identify and classify patients with suspected prostate cancer (PCa) following mpMRI. We extracted all the patients who underwent fusion biopsy (FB) from March 2014 to December 2019, while patients from August 2020 to April 2021 were included as a validation set. The proposed system was based on the following four ML methods: a fuzzy inference system (FIS), the support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), and self-organizing maps (SOMs). Then, a system based on fuzzy logic (FL) + SVM was compared with logistic regression (LR) and standard diagnostic tools. A total of 1448 patients were included in the training set, while 181 patients were included in the validation set. The area under the curve (AUC) of the proposed FIS + SVM model was comparable with the LR model but outperformed the other diagnostic tools. The FIS + SVM model demonstrated the best performance, in terms of negative predictive value (NPV), on the training set (78.5%); moreover, it outperformed the LR in terms of specificity (92.1% vs. 83%). Considering the validation set, our model outperformed the other methods in terms of NPV (60.7%), sensitivity (90.8%), and accuracy (69.1%). In conclusion, we successfully developed and validated a PPM tool using the FIS + SVM model to calculate the probability of PCa prior to a prostate FB, avoiding useless ones in 15% of the cases

Validation of the Italian version of wisconsin stone quality of life (WISQOL): a prospective Italian multicenter study

Urolithiasis is a worldwide spread condition that affects patients' Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL), which measurement is an important tool for routine clinical and research practice. Disease-specific HRQOL measures demonstrated to perform better in assessing the effects of specific conditions. A disease-specific questionnaire for kidney stones, the WISQOL, has been validated in different languages, but an Italian version is still missing. Our aim is to produce and validate the Italian version of WISQOL (IT-WISQOL). Patients undergoing any elective treatment for upper urinary tract stones were enrolled. A multi-step process with forward- and back-translation was used to translate WISQOL into Italian. Patients were evaluated within 15 days pre-operatively and then at 30-, 90 days post-operatively and administered both IT-WISQOL and SF-36v2. Post-operative data such as 30 days postoperative complications, late stone-related events, successful status, and stone complexity were collected. Cronbach's α was used to evaluate the internal consistency of IT-WISQOL, while Spearman's rho was used for item and inter-domain correlations and IT-WISQOL with SF-36v2 correlation. We found excellent internal consistency across all domains (α ≥ 0.88), particularly when the total score is considered (α = 0.960). Test-retest reliability showed excellent results for the total questionnaire (Pearson correlation value: 0.85). The Inter-domain association ranged from 0.497 to 0.786. Convergent validity was confirmed by a good correlation with subdomains of the SF-36v2 measures. IT-WISQOL is a reliable tool to measure HRQOL in stone patients. It shows analog characteristics if compared to English WISQOL

Studio sperimentale delle prestazioni di dischi abrasivi

Studio sperimentale finalizzato al confronto delle prestazioni di alcuni prodotti abrasivi attraverso parametri caratteristici. Progettazione di un apparato sperimentale, definizione di una procedura di prova, campagna di misurazione ed elaborazione dei risultati mediante il modello del coefficiente di abrasion

La valutazione come agente di miglioramento. Il monitoraggio del Progetto Scuolinsieme

What is the impact that funded projects can have on school organization and student outcomes? How can it be monitored? Does monitoring detect impacts or is it itself a source of impact? It is possible to provide teachers with methodologies and tools capable of increasing their self-assessment possibilities? The article intends to provide some answers to these questions, describing - in a nutshell - the monitoring of the Scuolinsieme project, a set of interventions financed by the Fondazione per la Scuola della Compagnia di San Paolo, applied in 34 lower secondary schools from 2017 to 2020. Starting from a brief description of the interventions and of the system of indicators used, a monitoring strategy is presented. This strategy not only aims to detect the effects of the interventions themselves but intends to impact them, in concert with the planning and training actions. The first results highlight a positive effect of the intervention on the practices implemented by teachers and in their awareness of being the main agents of school improve- ment. This is possible if the teachers are appropriately supported by external experts who help to bring out the potential present in the school.Qual è l’impatto che i progetti finanziati possono avere sull’organizzazione scolastica e sugli esiti degli studenti? Come può essere monitorato? Il monitoraggio rileva gli impatti o è esso stesso fonte di impatto? Può fornire ai docenti metodologie e strumenti in grado di incrementarne le possibilità di autovalutazione? L’articolo intende fornire alcune risposte a questi interrogativi, descrivendo - in estrema sintesi - il monitoraggio del progetto Scuolinsieme, un insieme di interventi finanziati dalla Fondazione per la Scuola della Compagnia di San Paolo, applicati in 34 Istituti secondari di primo grado dal 2017 al 2020. Partendo da una sintetica descrizione degli interventi e del sistema di indicatori utilizzato, viene presentata una strategia di monitoraggio che non mira solo a rilevare gli effetti degli interventi stessi ma ad impattare su questi, di concerto con le azioni progettuali e formative. Dalle prime analisi dei dati emergono esiti promettenti associabili a tale approccio, soprattutto per quanto riguarda le pratiche messe in atto dagli insegnanti e la consapevolezza di poter essere essi stessi i principali agenti del miglioramento scolastico, a patto che vengano opportuna- mente supportati da esperti esterni che li aiutino a far emergere le potenzialità insite nell’istituto