An adaptive meta-search engine considering the user’s field of interest

AbstractExisting meta-search engines return web search results based on the page relevancy to the query, their popularity and content. It is necessary to provide a meta-search engine capable of ranking results considering the user’s field of interest. Social networks can be useful to find the users’ tendencies, favorites, skills, and interests. In this paper we propose MSE, a meta-search engine for document retrieval utilizing social information of the user. In this approach, each user is assumed to have a profile containing his fields of interest. MSE extracts main phrases from the title and short description of receiving results from underlying search engines. Then it clusters the main phrases by a Self-Organizing Map neural network. Generated clusters are then ranked on the basis of the user’s field of interest. We have compared the proposed MSE against two other meta-search engines. The experimental results show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method

The burden of breast cancer in Italy: mastectomies and quadrantectomies performed between 2001 and 2008 based on nationwide hospital discharge records.

BACKGROUND: Where population coverage is limited, the exclusive use of Cancer Registries might limit ascertainment of incident cancer cases. We explored the potentials of Nationwide hospital discharge records (NHDRs) to capture incident breast cancer cases in Italy. METHODS: We analyzed NHDRs for mastectomies and quadrantectomies performed between 2001 and 2008. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) and related 95% Confidence Interval (CI) in the actual number of mastectomies and quadrantectomies performed during the study period were computed for the full sample and for subgroups defined by age, surgical procedure, macro-area and singular Region. Re-admissions of the same patients were separately presented. RESULTS: The overall number of mastectomies decreased, with an AAPC of -2.1% (-2.3 -1.8). This result was largely driven by the values observed for women in the 45 to 64 and 65 to 74 age subgroups (-3.0%, -3.4 -3.6 and -3.3%, -3.8 -2.8, respectively). We observed no significant reduction in mastectomies for women in the remaining age groups. Quadrantectomies showed an overall +4.7 AAPC (95%CI:4.5-4.9), with no substantial differences by age. Analyses by geographical area showed a remarkable decrease in mastectomies, with inter-regional discrepancies possibly depending upon variability in mammography screening coverage and adherence. Quadrantectomies significantly increased, with Southern Regions presenting the highest average rates. Data on repeat admissions within a year revealed a total number of 46,610 major breast surgeries between 2001 and 2008, with an overall +3.2% AAPC (95%CI:2.8-3.6). CONCLUSIONS: In Italy, NHDRs might represent a valuable supplemental data source to integrate Cancer Registries in cancer surveillance

Room temperature plastic flow localization in a Mn-alloyed austenitic steel

A fully austenitic steel containing 0.5 wt.% C and 22 wt.% Mn was recently proposed for the fabrication of automotive body structures by room-temperature sheet forming, the goal being weight reduction and better crash performance owing to its much higher yield stress and elongation (as compared to presently employed ferritic and multiphase steels). Full-thickness tensile specimens, cut from as-produced sheets, were polished and tested at different strain rates, and the macroscopic surface relief eventually induced by the plastic deformation was recorded with a video camera. Between 0.3 and 0.4 true strain, successive macroscopic deformation bands (forming about 45° angle with the tensile axis and involving the full specimen width) travel along the specimen, a new one being nucleated as the previous reaches one of the specimen heads, whereas the gage displacement vs. stress curve shows a series of steps, each corresponding to the transit of a band through the gage length, and the cross-head displacement vs. stress curve shows isolated stress peaks, each immediately preceding the nucleation of a new band. Afterwards, and up to rupture, a series of stationary deformation bands appear, most being immediately adjacent to the preceding ones, with the stress vs. strain curve showing a series of serrations with large stress drops. As the strain rate is increased from 0.0004 to 0.4 s-1, the overall flow stress slightly decreases and the mentioned plastic localization phenomena become less evident

Eosinophil-Driven vs. Eosinophil-Associated Severe Asthma: Practical Implications for Target Treatment

Severe asthma (SA) is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting approximately 10% of asthmatic patients, and eosinophils are considered key pathogenetic actors in a significant number of patients. Biological therapies have been demonstrated to improve asthma control by decreasing exacerbation rates and reducing the use of oral corticosteroids. In this context, phenotyping and endotyping patients with SA is essential for selecting the most effective therapeutic approach. For this purpose, biomarkers such as IgE, absolute blood eosinophil count, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) are crucial in defining a patient’s inflammatory profile. Their integration provides a framework for classifying asthma into T2-high, T2-mild, or T2-low categories, guiding personalized treatment strategies. By incorporating multiple biomarkers into a unified model, it is possible to better stratify patients and optimize biologic therapy selection, paving the way for improved outcomes in SA management. This review aims to evaluate the role of phenotyping and endotyping SA patients, with particular attention to the impact of eosinophilic inflammation and combinatory biomarkers on decision-making processes for the selection of biological therapies

Hypertension and Periodontitis: A Joint Report by the Italian Society of Hypertension (SIIA) and the Italian Society of Periodontology and Implantology (SIdP)

An accumulating body of evidence supports an independent association between high blood pressure (BP) and periodontitis, possibly mediated by low-grade inflammation. This joint report by the Italian Society of Hypertension (SIIA) and the Italian Society of Periodontology and Implantology (SIdP) working group on Hypertension and Periodontitis (Hy-Per Group) provides a review of the evidence on this topic encompassing epidemiology, biological plausibility, relevance, magnitude, and treatment management. Consensus recommendations are provided for health professionals on how to manage BP in individuals showing signs of poor oral health. In summary, (1) large epidemiological studies highlight that individuals with periodontal diseases have increased risk for high/uncontrolled BP independent of confounders; (2) mechanistically, low-grade inflammation might have a causal role in the association; (3) BP profile and control might benefit from periodontal treatment in pre-hypertensive and hypertensive individuals; (4) oral health status should be evaluated as a potential risk factor for high/uncontrolled BP, and effective oral care should be included as an adjunct lifestyle measure during hypertension management. Further research is needed to optimize BP management in individuals with poor oral health

Association between subclinical atherosclerosis and oral inflammation: A cross-sectional study

Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) values and periodontal and peri-implant diseases in a sample of patients with hypertension. Methods: A total of 151 participants with presence of at least one dental implant in function for >5 years were recruited. Anthropometric measurements, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, ultrasound assessment of carotid arteries (c-IMT and presence of plaque) were recorded and venous blood samples obtained. An oral examination was performed by calibrated examiners to ascertain prevalence and severity of periodontal and peri-implant diseases. Binomial logistic regression was performed to investigate the potential association between various measures of exposure of dental diseases and predictors of cardiovascular risk (c-IMT > 0.9 mm and presence of plaque or their combination). Results: Diagnosis of periodontitis (OR 6.71, 95% CI: 2.68-16.76, P  0.9 mm and/or plaque presence independent of age, sex, smoking, 24 h systolic blood pressure and body mass index differences. No statistically significant results were noted for peri-implantitis. Linear regression models confirmed a positive association of cumulative mucosal/gingival inflammation (β = 0.011, SE 0.002, P < 0.001), diagnosis of periodontitis (β = 0.114, SE 0.020, P < 0.001), and peri-implant diseases (β = 0.011, SE 0.002, P < 0.001) with increased c-IMT values. Conclusions: This study confirms a positive association between mucosal/gingival inflammation and subclinical atherosclerosis assessed by c-IMT values and the presence of carotid plaque in patients with hypertension, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Future studies are needed to further characterize this relationship

Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) protects against endothelial dysfunction in a human model of systemic inflammation: a randomized clinical trial

Objective: Inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction are known to contribute to ischemia-reperfusion injury. Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) protects from endothelial dysfunction and the damage induced by ischemia-reperfusion. Using intensive periodontal treatment (IPT), an established human model of acute systemic inflammation, we investigated whether RIPC prevents endothelial dysfunction and modulates systemic levels of inflammation and oxidative stress. Approach and Results: Forty-nine participants with periodontitis were randomly allocated to receive either 3 cycles of ischemia-reperfusion on the upper limb (N=24, RIPC) or a sham procedure (N=25, control) before IPT. Endothelial function assessed by flow-mediated dilatation of the brachial artery, inflammatory cytokines, markers of vascular injury, and oxidative stress were evaluated at baseline, day 1, and day 7 after IPT. Twenty-four hours post-IPT, the RIPC group had lower levels of IL-10 (interleukin-10) and IL-12 (interleukin-12) compared with the control group (P<0.05). RIPC attenuated the IPT-induced increase in IL-1β (interleukin-1β), E-selectin, sICAM-3 (soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 3), and sTM (soluble thrombomodulin) levels between the baseline and day 1 (P for interaction <0.1). Conversely, oxidative stress was differentially increased at day1 in the RIPC group compared with the control group (P for interaction <0.1). This was accompanied by a better flow-mediated dilatation (mean difference 1.75% [95% CI, 0.428–3.07], P=0.011). After 7 days from IPT, most of the inflammatory markers, endothelial-dependent and -independent vasodilation, were similar between groups. Conclusions: RIPC prevented acute endothelial dysfunction by modulation of inflammation and oxidation processes in patients with periodontitis following exposure to an acute inflammatory stimulus