Socio-demographic and clinical characterization of patients with obsessive-compulsive tic-related disorder (OCTD) : An Italian multicenter study

© Copyright by Pacini Editore SrlIn the DSM-5 a new "tic-related" specifier for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) has been introduced, highlighting the importance of an accurate characterization of patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive tic-related disorder ("OCTD"). In order to characterize OCTD from a socio-demographic and clinical perspective, the present multicenter study was carried out. The sample consists of 266 patients, divided in two groups with lifetime diagnoses of OCD and OCTD, respectively. OCTD vs OCD patients showed a significant male prevalence (68.5% vs 48.5%; p < .001), a higher rate of psychiatric comorbidities (69.4 vs 50%; p < .001) - mainly with neurodevelopmental disorders (24 vs 0%; p < .001), a lower education level and professional status (middle school diploma: 25 vs 7.6%; full-Time job 44.4 vs 58%; p < .001). Moreover, OCTD vs OCD patients showed significantly earlier age of OCD and psychiatric comorbidity onsets (16.1 ± 10.8 vs 22.1 ± 9.5 years; p < .001, and 18.3 ± 12.8 vs 25.6 ± 9.4: p < .001, respectively). Patients with OCTD patients were treated mainly with antipsychotic and with a low rate of benzodiazepine (74.2 vs 38.2% and 20.2 vs 31.3%, respectively; p < .001). Finally, OCTD vs OCD patients showed higher rates of partial treatment response (58.1 vs 38%; p < .001), lower rates of current remission (35.5 vs 54.8%; p < .001) and higher rates of suicidal ideation (63.2 vs 41.7%; p < .001) and attempts (28.9 vs 8.3%; p < .001). Patients with OCTD report several unfavorable socio-demographic and clinical characteristics compared to OCD patients without a history of tic. Additional studies on larger sample are needed to further characterize OCTD patients from clinical and therapeutic perspectives.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Multicenter phase II trial of gefitinib first-line therapy followed by chemotherapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): SAKK protocol 19/03

Background: Gefitinib is active in patients with pretreated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated the activity and toxicity of gefitinib first-line treatment in advanced NSCLC followed by chemotherapy at disease progression. Patients and methods: In all, 63 patients with chemotherapy-naive stage IIIB/IV NSCLC received gefitinib 250 mg/day. At disease progression, gefitinib was replaced by cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 1 and gemcitabine 1250 mg/m2 on days 1, 8 for up to six 3-week cycles. Primary end point was the disease stabilization rate (DSR) after 12 weeks of gefitinib. Results: After 12 weeks of gefitinib, the DSR was 24% and the response rate (RR) was 8%. Median time to progression (TtP) was 2.5 months and median overall survival (OS) 11.5 months. Never smokers (n = 9) had a DSR of 56% and a median OS of 20.2 months; patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation (n = 4) had a DSR of 75% and the median OS was not reached after the follow-up of 21.6 months. In all, 41 patients received chemotherapy with an overall RR of 34%, DSR of 71% and median TtP of 6.7 months. Conclusions: First-line gefitinib monotherapy led to a DSR of 24% at 12 weeks in an unselected patients population. Never smokers and patients with EGFR mutations tend to have a better outcome; hence, further trials in selected patients are warrante

The Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients (CRAFT) survey

We are developing a purely commensal survey experiment for fast (<5s) transient radio sources. Short-timescale transients are associated with the most energetic and brightest single events in the Universe. Our objective is to cover the enormous volume of transients parameter space made available by ASKAP, with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and field of view. Fast timescale transients open new vistas on the physics of high brightness temperature emission, extreme states of matter and the physics of strong gravitational fields. In addition, the detection of extragalactic objects affords us an entirely new and extremely sensitive probe on the huge reservoir of baryons present in the IGM. We outline here our approach to the considerable challenge involved in detecting fast transients, particularly the development of hardware fast enough to dedisperse and search the ASKAP data stream at or near real-time rates. Through CRAFT, ASKAP will provide the testbed of many of the key technologies and survey modes proposed for high time resolution science with the SKA.Comment: accepted for publication in PAS

Evidence Evaluation: Measure Z Corresponds to Human Utility Judgments Better than Measure L and Optimal-Experimental-Design Models

Evidence evaluation is a crucial process in many human activities, spanning from medical diagnosis to impression formation. The present experiments investigated which, if any, normative model best conforms to people’s intuition about the value of the obtained evidence. Psychologists, epistemologists, and philosophers of science have proposed several models to account for people’s intuition about the utility of the obtained evidence with respect either to a focal hypothesis or to a constellation of hypotheses. We pitted against each other the so called optimal-experimental-design models (i.e., Bayesian diagnosticity, log10 diagnosticity, information gain, Kullback-Leibler distance, probability gain, and impact) and measures L and Z to compare their ability to describe humans’ intuition about the value of the obtained evidence. Participants received words-and-numbers scenarios concerning two hypotheses and binary features. They were asked to evaluate the utility of “yes” and “no” answers to questions about some features possessed in different proportions (i.e., the likelihoods) by two types of extraterrestrial creatures (corresponding to two mutually exclusive and exhaustive hypotheses). Participants evaluated either how an answer was helpful or how an answer decreased/increased their beliefs with respect either to a single hypothesis or to both hypotheses. We fitted mixed-effects models and we used the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) values to compare the competing models of the value of the obtained evidence. Overall, the experiments showed that measure Z was the best-fitting model of participants’ judgments of the value of obtained answers. We discussed the implications for the human hypothesis-evaluation process

How a Technology Identity Can Enhance the Diffusion of Good Design Practices in Product Sound Design

People are plugged into an intangible sound universe. But only a tiny part of the sounds we are exposed to have been purposefully designed. Recently, designers are bashfully approaching these intangible products’ quality. Product Sound Design represents, in fact, a promising research field still scarcely explored. The design community is answering this concern through new design methods. An Italian university developed a patented method-and-tool, conceived to collect, analyze, and recreate various sounds to develop a new generation of products with designed mechanical (and, eventually, digital) sounds. Spreading this innovation within the design community is fundamental to stimulate future more focused and aware practices. As well as all new technologies, the new patent didn’t have its own identity from the beginning. Extensive work conducted with the scientific approach has therefore been undertaken to redesign its identity to make its disruptiveness intelligible and understandable

Management of HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer in Italy: A Maze Presenting Opportunities and Challenges

The management of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive early-stage breast cancer (BC) has changed in recent years thanks to the introduction of anti-HER2 agents in clinical practice as standard of care in the neoadjuvant setting. In this scenario, we probed the issue of which HER2-positive BC patients are eligible for neoadjuvant or for adjuvant treatment, since these therapeutic strategies seem to be mutually exclusive in clinical practice according to an Italian drug surveillance system. We reviewed both alternatives to establish which is more suitable, considering the anti-HER2 drugs available in Italy. Randomized clinical trials demonstrated a similar clinical benefit for chemotherapy administered as neoadjuvant therapy or adjuvant therapy. A meta-analysis, including 11,955 patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy, demonstrated an improvement in event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS). Moreover, the recent APHINITY trial, analyzed at 6 years follow-up, demonstrated the superiority of the combination pertuzumab–trastuzumab versus trastuzumab–placebo in previously untreated patients. A greater benefit was found in patients with positive lymph nodes treated in the adjuvant setting. Our analysis underlines the need for a therapeutic decision-making algorithm, which is still unavailable, to support clinicians in identifying patients suitable for neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy. Further prospective clinical trials should be performed in collaboration with other Italian Breast Cancer Centers to establish the best strategy to be adopted in early HER2+ BC