Schema-agnostic progressive entity resolution

Entity Resolution (ER) is the task of finding entity profiles that correspond to the same real-world entity. Progressive ER aims to efficiently resolve large datasets when limited time and/or computational resources are available. In practice, its goal is to provide the best possible partial solution by approximating the optimal comparison order of the entity profiles. So far, Progressive ER has only been examined in the context of structured (relational) data sources, as the existing methods rely on schema knowledge to save unnecessary comparisons: they restrict their search space to similar entities with the help of schema-based blocking keys (i.e., signatures that represent the entity profiles). As a result, these solutions are not applicable in Big Data integration applications, which involve large and heterogeneous datasets, such as relational and RDF databases, JSON files, Web corpus etc. To cover this gap, we propose a family of schema-agnostic Progressive ER methods, which do not require schema information, thus applying to heterogeneous data sources of any schema variety. First, we introduce two na\uefve schema-agnostic methods, showing that straightforward solutions exhibit a poor performance that does not scale well to large volumes of data. Then, we propose four different advanced methods. Through an extensive experimental evaluation over 7 real-world, established datasets, we show that all the advanced methods outperform to a significant extent both the na\uefve and the state-of-the-art schema-based ones. We also investigate the relative performance of the advanced methods, providing guidelines on the method selection

Kawasaki disease in infants less than one year of age : An Italian cohort from a single center

Background and aims Few data are currently available for Kawasaki disease (KD) below 12 months especially in Caucasians. This study aims to analyze clinical and laboratory features of KD among an Italian cohort of infants. Methods A retrospective chart review of KD children aged less than 1 year at time of disease onset between January 2008-December 2017 was performed. Clinical data, laboratory parameters, instrumental findings, treatment and outcome were collected in a customized database. Results Among 113 KD patients, 32 (28.3%) were younger than 1 year. Nineteen patients aged below 6 months, and three below 3 months. The median age was 5.7 +/- 2.7 months. The mean time to diagnosis was 7 +/- 3 days and was longer in the incomplete forms (8 +/- 4 vs 6 +/- 1 days). Conjunctival injection was present in 26 patients (81.2%); rash in 25 (78.1%); extremity changes in 18 (56.2%); mucosal changes in 13 (40.6%,) and lymphadenopathy only in 7 (21.8%). Mucosal changes were the least common features in incomplete forms (18.2%). Twenty-two patients (68.7%) had incomplete KD. Nineteen (59.4%) had cardiac involvement, of whom 13 (59.0%) had incomplete form. ESR, PCR and platelet values were higher in complete KD; especially, ESR resulted significantly higher in complete forms (80 +/- 25.7 mm/h vs 50 +/- 28.6 mm/h; p = 0.01). Conversely, AST level was statistically significant higher in patients with incomplete forms (95.4 +/- 132.7 UI/L vs 29.8 +/- 13.2 UI/L; p = 0.03). All patients received IVIG. Response was reported in 26/32 patients; 6 cases needed a second dose of IVIG and one required a dose of anakinra. Conclusion In our cohort, incomplete disease was commonly found, resulting in delayed diagnoses and poor cardiac prognosis. Infants with incomplete KD seem to have a more severe disease and a greater predilection for coronary involvement than those with complete KD. AST was significantly higher in incomplete forms, thus AST levels might be a new finding in incomplete forms' diagnosis. Eventually, we highlight a higher resistance to IVIG treatment. To our knowledge this is the first study involving an Italian cohort of patients with KD below 12 months

The landscape of cognitive impairment in superoxide dismutase 1-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Although mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 gene account for only a minority of total amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases, the discovery of this gene has been crucial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research. Since the identification of superoxide dismutase 1 in 1993, the field of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis genetics has considerably widened, improving our understanding of the diverse pathogenic basis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In this review, we focus on cognitive impairment in superoxide dismutase 1-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. Literature has mostly reported that cognition remains intact in superoxide dismutase 1-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients, but recent reports highlight frontal lobe function frailty in patients carrying different superoxide dismutase 1-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mutations. We thoroughly reviewed all the various mutations reported in the literature to contribute to a comprehensive database of superoxide dismutase 1-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis genotype-phenotype correlation. Such a resource could ultimately improve our mechanistic understanding of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, enabling a more robust assessment of how the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis phenotype responds to different variants across genes, which is important for the therapeutic strategy targeting genetic mutations. Cognition in superoxide dismutase 1-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis deserves further longitudinal research since this peculiar frailty in patients with similar mutations can be conditioned by external factors, including environment and other unidentified agents including modifier genes

Early anti IL-1 treatment replaces steroids in refractory Kawasaki disease: clinical experience from two case reports

Refractory Kawasaki disease (KD) is related to a major risk of coronary arteries abnormalities and its treatment is not standardized. In this regard, anakinra (ANA), an interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist, represents an emerging therapeutic option. We report two cases of children, diagnosed with KD, nonresponsive to two doses of intravenous immunoglobulins, successfully treated with ANA, without a prior use of steroids. Patient 2 developed a coronary dilatation, that improved significantly after ANA therapy. Our experience highlights IL-1 blockade effectiveness in reducing KD inflammation and suggests ANA adoption as second-line therapy, with a timesaving and steroid-sparing strategy. Our results, combined with the evidence of the IL-1 key role in KD and coronary arteritis pathogenesis and to the recent clinical evidence reported by the KAWAKINRA trial, encourage an earlier recourse to ANA in patients with refractory KD, in order to fight inflammation, and to treat and prevent the development of coronary artery aneurysms. Further studies are needed to better define the place of IL-1 blockade in KD step-up treatment

The application of the Boolean Stochastic Generation Method to model seepage under levees in heterogeneous soils

Soil heterogeneity plays an important role in incrementing the uncertainty about the reliability of geotechnical engineering works, especially levees. The presence of thin layers of soils more permeable than the surrounding matrix significantly changes the seepage flow net below and within the dike. However, the detection of these layers is extremely difficult. Consequently, to evaluate the overall safety of dikes it may be useful to adopt stochastic computation methods. The paper presents the calibration of a seepage model of an operational river embankment subject to sand boils. The levee, located along the Adige River (South Tyrol, Italy), has been monitored since 2016. Piezometers and spot temperature sensors are installed in the lateral banks while a distributed fiber optic sensors (FOS), buried in a 350 m long trench at the toe of the levee, is used to check temperature distribution in the subground. The Boolean Stochastic Generation (BoSG) method addresses the influence of layers of material with different properties with respect of the surrounding soil. 360 soil configurations were generated for a two-dimensional groundwater flow model of the levee and confronted with the monitoring data of two piezometers. This analysis permits to identify the configuration that has effects more congruent with piezometers data, which in this case is a configuration with a major presence of lenses on the waterside respect the field-side. This evidence could guide strategies for remedial works