Knowledge management and Discovery for advanced Enterprise Knowledge Engineering

2012 - 2013The research work addresses mainly issues related to the adoption of models, methodologies and knowledge management tools that implement a pervasive use of the latest technologies in the area of Semantic Web for the improvement of business processes and Enterprise 2.0 applications. The first phase of the research has focused on the study and analysis of the state of the art and the problems of Knowledge Discovery database, paying more attention to the data mining systems. The most innovative approaches which were investigated for the "Enterprise Knowledge Engineering" are listed below. In detail, the problems analyzed are those relating to architectural aspects and the integration of Legacy Systems (or not). The contribution of research that is intended to give, consists in the identification and definition of a uniform and general model, a "Knowledge Enterprise Model", the original model with respect to the canonical approaches of enterprise architecture (for example with respect to the Object Management - OMG - standard). The introduction of the tools and principles of Enterprise 2.0 in the company have been investigated and, simultaneously, Semantic Enterprise based appropriate solutions have been defined to the problem of fragmentation of information and improvement of the process of knowledge discovery and functional knowledge sharing. All studies and analysis are finalized and validated by defining a methodology and related software tools to support, for the improvement of processes related to the life cycles of best practices across the enterprise. Collaborative tools, knowledge modeling, algorithms, knowledge discovery and extraction are applied synergistically to support these processes. [edited by author]XII n.s

The Economic Burden of Multiple Myeloma. Definition of a Model for Forecasting Patients’ Costs

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate healthcare costs in a single-centre population of patients with multiple myeloma (MM), in an attempt to develop a model for forecasting costs. Methods: A cohort of 387 MM patients, diagnosed at Policlinico San Matteo (Pavia, Italy), between 2002 and 2014, was analysed grouping patients into those eligible (n=223) or not eligible (n=164) for transplantation. After descriptive statistics, the benchmark model - Ordinary Least Squares - and different variations of the Generalized Linear Model were adopted. Results: The average total cost per patient was around €28,500 for patients not eligible for transplantation and around €87,000 for the eligible ones. The difference in marginal costs for transplant-eligible patients was probably due to higher costs for hospitalisation and the costs of the transplant procedure itself. The analysis highlighted four determinants useful for building a model to forecast expenditure: age, bortezomib use, lenalidomide use, and number of lines of therapies. The two most important determinants of expenditure were use of the novel agents and the total number of lines of therapy, which reflects a higher number of doses and a greater need for accesses to hospital. Conclusion: In conclusion, using a Generalized Linear Model, we identified four determinants in our cohort which were useful for building a model to predict expenditure for MM patients. Although the analysis was performed in a particular setting in a single hospital, the model could be applied to any scenario of patients

Avaliação gerencial de um hemocentro do norte de Minas Gerais:: relato de experiência

Objetivo: O presente estudo objetiva avaliar a qualidade do gerenciamento do hemocentro regional de Montes Claros/MG. Método: Estudo descritivo do tipo relato de experiência realizado em um Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia do norte de Minas Gerais. Por meio desse buscaram pontuar todas as informações pertinentes relacionadas ao Hemocentro nos dias 14 e 21 de novembro do ano de 2013, com base no Diagnóstico Administrativo/Situacional de Enfermagem e de Saúde. Resultados: A gestão estimula a reflexão acerca do valor do planejamento de acordo com o contexto local de cada setor da saúde para formular e consolidar a transformação e emancipação da práxis da enfermagem, já que o enfermeiro é o principal responsável pela organização do processo de trabalho da sua equipe. Conclusão: Conclui-se que quando a gestão em uma determinada instituição ocorre de maneira eficiente, há o aumento da qualidade e da organização dos serviços de saúde prestados a toda sociedade

A Knowledge Management strategy to identify an expert in Enterprise

The aim of this paper is to define a strategy to identify, manage and take advantage of competences in the enterprise via figures of opportune experts, with consequent advantages for workers and users in terms of problem solving. In such a context, industrial aspects, such as resources localization, research time and accessibility to the organizational hierarchy and the work load, are also considered. This allows to distinguish three different phases in finding the experts: Initialization, in which a score is assigned to workers on the base of competence levels; Propagation, where the search accuracy is improved using trust and closeness measures; Localization, where updates of scores are made in terms of social and geographical positions of users/enterprises and experts. The three phases allows to identify inside an enterprise the expert, who has the best competence and is close to the resource, that is in the shortest delay possible

Receptor crosstalk: haloperidol treatment enhances A(2A) adenosine receptor functioning in a transfected cell model

A(2A) adenosine receptors are considered an excellent target for drug development in several neurological and psychiatric disorders. It is noteworthy that the responses evoked by A(2A) adenosine receptors are regulated by D(2) dopamine receptor ligands. These two receptors are co-expressed at the level of the basal ganglia and interact to form functional heterodimers. In this context, possible changes in A(2A) adenosine receptor functional responses caused by the chronic blockade/activation of D(2) dopamine receptors should be considered to optimise the therapeutic effectiveness of dopaminergic agents and to reduce any possible side effects. In the present paper, we investigated the regulation of A(2A) adenosine receptors induced by antipsychotic drugs, commonly acting as D(2) dopamine receptor antagonists, in a cellular model co-expressing both A(2A) and D(2) receptors. Our data suggest that the treatment of cells with the classical antipsychotic haloperidol increased both the affinity and responsiveness of the A(2A) receptor and also affected the degree of A(2A)-D(2) receptor heterodimerisation. In contrast, an atypical antipsychotic, clozapine, had no effect on A(2A) adenosine receptor parameters, suggesting that the two classes of drugs have different effects on adenosine-dopamine receptor interaction. Modifications to A(2A) adenosine receptors may play a significant role in determining cerebral adenosine effects during the chronic administration of antipsychotics in psychiatric diseases and may account for the efficacy of A(2A) adenosine receptor ligands in pathologies associated with dopaminergic system dysfunction

The PLATO TOU optical design: description, properties, and nominal performances

The ESA M size mission PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillation of stars) is planned to be launched in the 2026, with the aim of discover exoplanets that will be characterized with unprecedented precision. The optical elements of PLATO are 26 small telescopes, the TOUs (Telescope Optical Units), that using partially overlapping Fields of View will permit instantaneous sky coverage larger than 2100 square degrees. Each TOU has an aperture of 120 mm diameter assured by an internal stop, and it is composed by 6 lenses, the frontal one having an aspherical surface and the last acting as field flattener. The mechanical structure is realized mainly in AlBeMet. We here describe the optical design, summarizing several optical properties (materials, coatings, etc.), and report on nominal performances of the TOU system