342 research outputs found
Causes of effects via a Bayesian model selection procedure
No full textIn causal inference, and specifically in the causes-of-effects problem, one is interested in how to use statistical evidence to understand causation in an individual case, and in particular how to assess the so-called probability of causation. The answer involves the use of potential responses, which describe what would have happened to the outcome if we had observed a different value for the exposure. However, even given the best possible statistical evidence for the association between exposure and outcome, we can typically only provide bounds for the probability of causation. Dawid and his colleagues highlighted some fundamental conditions, namely exogeneity, comparability and sufficiency, that are required to obtain such bounds from experimental data. The aim of the present paper is to provide methods to find, in specific cases, the best subsample of the reference data set to satisfy these requirements. For this, we introduce a new variable, expressing the preference whether or not to be exposed, and we set the question up as a model selection problem. The best model is selected by using the marginal probability of the responses and a suitable prior over the model space. An application in the educational field is presented
Corrigendum: Why precision medicine should be applied across the continuum of care for metastatic colorectal cancer patients
No full textThe Editorial by Marco Puzzoni, Pina Ziranu, Laura Demurtas, Eleonora Lai, Stefano Mariani, Nicole Liscia, Paolo Soro, Andrea Pretta, Valentino Impera, Silvia Camera, Francesca Musio, Mara Persano, Clelia Donisi, Simona Tolu, Francesca Balconi & Mario Scartozzi, 'Why precision medicine should be applied across the continuum of care for metastatic colorectal cancer patients', which appeared in the January 2020 issue of Future Oncology 16(02), 4337-4339 (2020), was published with a grammatical error in the title, which has now been rectified. The authors and editors of Future Oncology would like to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused our readers
Sulla concezione autonoma della morale e dell'antropologia in Hans Kelsen
No full textThe notion of autonomy represents one of the key-concepts of modernity. But what it is its real meaning? Furthermore: what is the relationship of this concept with the categories of emancipation and self-legislation which seem to determine its destiny? This paper addresses these questions by drawing on the philosophical thought of Hans Kelsen. Kelsen adopts, as a matter of fact, the notion of autonomy as one of the central categories of his philosophical – ahead of his juridical – reflection, according to the idea of an authentic return to Kant. This essay offers therefore an original perspective on kelsenian philosophy starting with a comparison with Thomas Aquinas and intends to show how much the claim for the autonomous character of ethics is central in this author. As a matter of fact, in Kelsen’s approach the autonomy of ethics is not only the prerequisite for any anthropology, but also of the same pure doctrine of law.
As a result, this essay contributes to the understanding of Kelsen’s philosophical anthropology beyond the non-personalistic character of his legal theory
Prognostic significance of inflammatory-related parameters in patients with anal canal cancer
No full textPurpose: To investigate the correlation between inflammatory-related parameters and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in anal canal cancer population. Methods and materials: Patients diagnosed with anal canal carcinoma and treated with curative intent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) were included. Data about pre-treatment complete blood count were collected. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), fibrinogen (F), and a combination of these (F-NLR score) were correlated with OS. Results: A total of 58 patients were enrolled. In multivariate analysis, the strongest OS prognostic factor was NLR, with a hazard ratio (HR) for low NLR compared to high NLR of 1.30 (95% confidence interval 1.01–14.12). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with high NLR, F, and F-NLR had significantly shorter OS and DFS. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study providing evidence that elevated pre-treatment NLR, F, and F-NLR score significantly correlate with worse survival outcomes in patients with anal canal carcinoma. In view of our findings, future clinical trials in anal canal cancer patients are warranted to verify our results
Weekly hypofractionated radiation therapy in elderly non-resectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region
No full textIntroduction: Treatment of inoperable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) of the head and neck region is still debated. Case report: We report an original case of cure of cSCC of the head and neck region with weekly hypofractionated radiation therapy with megavoltage electrons prescribed for locally advanced inoperable disease. Results: Weekly hypofractionated radiotherapy assured complete regression and was well-tolerated. Conclusion: The real efficacy of this treatment in the therapeutic arsenal remains to be defined. A clinical trial is ongoing to test the use of 8 weekly fractions of 8 Gy hypofractionated RT regimens in non-resectable cSCC cases
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