University of Udine
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SNOMED CT entity linking challenge
No full textObjective: This paper presents the results from a competition challenging participants to develop entity linking models using a subset of annotated MIMIC-IV-Note data and the SNOMED CT Terminology. Materials and Methods: As a basis for this work, a large set of 74 808 annotations was curated across 272 discharge notes spanning 6624 unique clinical concepts. Submissions were evaluated using the mean Intersection-over-Union metric, evaluated at the character level with the 3 best performing solutions awarded a cash prize. Results: The winning solutions employed contrasting approaches: a dictionary-based method, an encoder-based method, and a decoder-based method. Discussion: Our analysis reveals that concept frequency in training data significantly impacts model performance, with rare concepts proving particularly challenging. High concept entropy and annotation ambiguity were also associated with decreased performance. Conclusion: Findings from this work suggest that future projects should focus on improving entity linking for rare concepts and developing methods to better leverage contextual information when training examples are scarce
Response to Misoprostol Treatment in Early Pregnancy Loss: A Single-Center Prospective Observational Study
No full textIntroduction: Medical treatment with misoprostol represents one of the main treatments for Early Pregnancy Loss (EPL). In our study, we aimed to identify clinical features associated with a successful response to this approach. Methods: A prospective single-center observational study was conducted at the EPL Clinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fondazione A. Gemelli IRCCS Rome, Italy. Patients were categorized according to the type of treatment received: spontaneous delivery, elective dilatation and curettage, or medical treatment. A separate analysis was performed within the medical treatment group to distinguish women with a successful response from those with an unsuccessful one. The success of medical treatment was calculated as the response rate (number of patients who successfully responded to treatment/total number of treated patients) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI). For patients undergoing misoprostol treatment, a multivariable analysis was planned to identify predictors of a successful response, including variables with a p value less than 0.05 in the univariable analysis. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive ability of continuous obstetrics parameters for medical treatment success. The optimal cut-off value to differentiate responsive from unresponsive patients was also determined. The significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: Sixty-four patients who underwent medical treatment were analyzed. Amenorrhea age was the only parameter inversely associated with treatment success, indicating that an earlier amenorrhea age correlated with a better response to misoprostol. ROC analysis identified a cut-off of 62.5 days, with an AUC (95% CI) of 0.72 (0.55–0.89). An amenorrhea age of ≤ 62.5 days predicted a successful response to medical treatment with a specificity (95% CI) of 90.0% (89.8–90.2) and sensitivity (95% CI) of 54.9% (41.2–68.6). Conclusions: Amenorrhea age emerged as a potential predictor of treatment response in women with EPL undergoing misoprostol therapy. However, further studies of larger sample sizes are needed to validate and improve our model
Rice Husk Ash: is it a good substitute for cement in concrete?
No full textItaly alone produces 460,000 tons of rice husk per year, from which, in addition to exploiting the calorific value of combustion for centralized water heating, ash could be used in the production of concrete. In this way, it would be possible to exploit a material that otherwise has no further uses: not only to produce heat, but also as a substitute for cement. This is possible because the obtained ash is made up of over 85% silicon dioxide, that develops a strong pozzolanic activity. In this study the results obtained from laboratory tests on concrete samples, made with an increasing percentage of cement replacement with rice husk ash are analyzed. Two fundamental parameters are taken into consideration: the compressive strength at different maturation periods of the material and its workability, with the use of different water/cement ratios and fluidifiers. It is observed that the concrete resistance reaches a peak for RHA replacement between 5 and 15%, causing only a relative loss of workability, which can easily be recovered with the use of plasticizers. A coefficient has been calculated that can be adopted as a reference for the "environmental" performance of concrete, defined as the ratio between resistance and emissions, and its behavior has been studied by varying the percentage of RHA replacement
Xylitol Modification of Electrospun Polymer Scaffolds: Impact on Physicochemical and Antibacterial Properties
No full textElectrospun fibrous scaffolds based on cellulose acetate (CA), polycaprolactone (PCL), and poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) are versatile materials with applications spanning diverse fields, but in their pristine form, they typically lack significant inherent antibacterial properties. To address this limitation and expand their utility, this study explored the incorporation of xylitol, a natural antibacterial sugar alcohol, into these polymer matrices to enhance their physicochemical and antimicrobial properties. Electrospinning was employed to fabricate pristine and xylitol-loaded scaffolds with varying xylitol concentrations. Morphological analysis revealed polymer-dependent changes in fiber diameter and porosity. Mechanical testing assessed the impact of xylitol on tensile properties, while thermal analysis investigated alterations in melting temperature and crystallinity. The antibacterial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was evaluated using WST assay and live/dead staining. Notably, xylitol significantly enhanced the antibacterial activity against both bacterial species, with a more pronounced and rapid effect observed against S. aureus. The tailored scaffold properties and imparted antimicrobial characteristics highlight the potential of these xylitol-modified electrospun materials: they are easily produced, low-cost, and appropriate for a range of applications (dental applications, filters, masks, wound dressing, and packaging) where preventing bacterial contamination is crucial
I ‘nuovi parlanti’ nella trasmissione della lingua di minoranza alle nuove generazioni. Un confronto tra esperienze
No full textThe article introduces the topic addressed by the study seminar on the theme of new speakers and semi-speakers in relation to the prospects for the transmission of minority languages to new generations. Following a brief theoretical framework and an overview of the state of research concerning the four minority languages under consideration (Corsican, Friulian, Ladin, and Sardinian), the article outlines the features shared by these linguistic contexts, the common challenges they face, and the research questions that have emerged from the comparison of different experiences. Special attention is devoted to types of lan-
guage acquisition and learning, to sociolinguistic issues, to the motivations driving language learning, to the attitudes of “traditional” speakers, to the linguistic characteristics of the productions of different speaker types, and to the relationship between “norm” and “variety.
The resilient Merlot: from global growth to sustainable viticulture and winemaking in the age of climate change
No full textThe L1-relaxed area of the graph of the vortex map: Optimal lower bound
No full textWe prove a lower bound for the value of the L1-relaxed area of the graph of the map u:Bl(0)∖{0}⊂R2→R2, u(x):=x/|x|, x≠0, for all values of the radius l>0. In the computation of the singular part of the relaxed area, for l in a certain range, in particular l not too large, a nonparametric Plateau-type problem with partial free boundary has to be solved. Our lower bound turns out to be optimal, in view of an upper bound proven in a companion paper
