A tool for extracting XML association rules Braga, D.; Campi, A.; Ceri, S. ...
14th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence, 2002. (ICTAI 2002). Proceedings,
2002
Conference Proceeding
The recent success of XML as a standard to represent semi-structured data, and the increasing amount of available XML data pose new challenges to the data mining community. In this paper we present ...the XMINE operator, a tool developed to extract XML association rules for XML documents. The operator, based on XPath and inspired by the syntax of XQuery, allows us to express complex mining tasks, compactly and intuitively. XMINE can be used to specify indifferently (and simultaneously) mining tasks both on the content and on the structure of the data, since the distinction in XML is slight.
Drugs with anticholinergic effects are associated with adverse events such as delirium and falls as well as cognitive decline and loss of independence.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the ...association between anticholinergic burden and both cognitive and functional status, according to the hypothesis that the cumulative anticholinergic burden, as measured by the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) Scale and Anticholinergic Risk Scale (ARS), increases the risk of cognitive decline and impairs activities of daily living.
This cross-sectional, prospective study (3-month telephone follow-up) was conducted in 66 Italian internal medicine and geriatric wards participating in the Registry of Polytherapies SIMI (Società Italiana di Medicina Interna) (REPOSI) study during 2010. The sample included 1,380 inpatients aged 65 years or older. Cognitive status was rated with the Short Blessed Test (SBT) and physical function with the Barthel Index. Each patient's anticholinergic burden was evaluated using the ACB and ARS scores.
The mean SBT score for patients treated with anticholinergic drugs was higher than that for patients receiving no anticholinergic medications as also indicated by the ACB scale, even after adjustment for age, sex, education, stroke and transient ischaemic attack 9.2 (95 % CI 8.6-9.9) vs. 8.5 (95 % CI 7.8-9.2); p = 0.05. There was a dose-response relationship between total ACB score and cognitive impairment. Patients identified by the ARS had more severe cognitive and physical impairment than patients identified by the ACB scale, and the dose-response relationship between this score and ability to perform activities of daily living was clear. No correlation was found with length of hospital stay.
Drugs with anticholinergic properties identified by the ACB scale and ARS are associated with worse cognitive and functional performance in elderly patients. The ACB scale might permit a rapid identification of drugs potentially associated with cognitive impairment in a dose-response pattern, but the ARS is better at rating activities of daily living.
This study investigates the impact of general anesthesia (GA) versus conscious sedation/local anesthesia (CS/LA) on the outcome of patients with minor stroke and isolated M2 occlusion undergoing ...immediate mechanical thrombectomy (iMT).
The databases of 16 comprehensive stroke centers were retrospectively screened for consecutive patients with isolated M2 occlusion and a baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score ≤5 who received iMT. Propensity score matching was used to estimate the effect of GA versus CS/LA on clinical outcomes and procedure-related adverse events. The primary outcome measure was a 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0–1. Secondary outcome measures were a 90-day mRS score of 0–2 and all-cause mortality, successful reperfusion, procedural-related symptomatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, intraprocedural dissections, and new territory embolism.
Of the 172 patients who were selected, 55 received GA and 117 CS/LA. After propensity score matching, 47 pairs of patients were available for analysis. We found no significant differences in clinical outcome, rates of efficient reperfusion, and procedural-related complications between patients receiving GA or LA/CS (mRS score 0–1, P = 0.815; mRS score 0–2, P = 0.401; all-cause mortality, P = 0.408; modified Treatment in Cerebral Infarction score 2b–3, P = 0.374; symptomatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, P = 0.082; intraprocedural dissection, P = 0.408; new territory embolism, P = 0.462).
In patients with minor stroke and isolated M2 occlusion undergoing iMT, the type of anesthesia does not affect clinical outcome or the rate of procedural-related complications. Our results agree with recent data showing no benefit of one specific anesthesiologic procedure over the other and confirm their generalizability also to patients with minor baseline symptoms.
Summary Background Follicular lymphoma is the most common form of lymphoma in Europe and the USA. In this prospective, single-arm, open-labelled, multicentre non-randomised phase II trial (FLUMIZ ...FLUdarabine, MItoxantrone, Zevalin trial) we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of fludarabine and mitoxantrone plus radioimmunotherapy in untreated patients with follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Methods Patients with stage III or IV untreated indolent follicular NHL were enrolled between June 1, 2004, and April 15, 2006, at 13 Italian institutions, and were treated with oral fludarabine (40 mg/m2 on days 1 to 3) and intravenous mitoxantrone (10 mg/m2 on day 1) every 28 days for six cycles. Patients who had at least a partial response (PR) with normal platelet counts (>100×109 /L) and granulocyte counts (1·5×109 /L), and bone-marrow infiltration less than 25% 4–6 weeks after completion of the sixth cycle of chemotherapy were deemed eligible for consolidation treatment 6–10 weeks after the sixth cycle with one course of yttrium-90 (90 Y)-labelled ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin), which consisted of an initial infusion of intravenous rituximab (250 mg/m2 ) on day 1 followed by a second 250 mg/m2 infusion on day 7, 8, or 9. The second infusion was followed by a weight-based dose of90 Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan, administered as a slow intravenous push over 10 min. Primary endpoints were complete response (CR) and haematological toxic effects and secondary endpoints were overall survival and progression-free survival. Responses were classified according to the International Workshop for Response Criteria for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Analysis was per protocol. This trial is registered as a European Standard Controlled Trial on the EudraCT website http://oss-sper-clin.agenziafarmaco.it , number 2004-002211-92. Findings 61 patients were enrolled in the trial and received six cycles of fludarabine and mitoxantrone, after which an overall response was noted in 98% (60 of 61) of patients (43 of 61 patients had CR and 17 of 61 patients had PR). 57 patients (43 with CR and 14 with PR) were deemed eligible for subsequent90 Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan. Of the 14 patients who had PR after the initial treatment, 12 obtained CR after90 Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan. By the end of the entire treatment regimen 55 of 57 patients achieved CR. With a median follow-up of 30 months (range 21–48), 3-year progression-free survival was estimated to be 76% (95% CI 72·3–82·4) and 3-year overall survival 100%. 36 of 57 patients had grade 3 or 4 haematological toxic effects, and blood transfusions were given to 21 of 57 patients. Interpretation This trial has provided evidence for the feasibility, tolerability, and efficacy of fludarabine and mitoxantrone plus90 Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan in untreated patients with follicular NHL. Funding Italian Association for Leukaemias, Lymphomas, and Myeloma, Bologna, Italy.
OBJECTIVES
Typical carcinoids (TCs) are uncommon, slow-growing neoplasms, usually with high 5-year survival rates. As these are rare tumours, their management is still based on small clinical ...observations and no international guidelines exist. Based on the European Society of Thoracic Surgeon Neuroendocrine Tumours Working Group (NET-WG) Database, we evaluated factors that may influence TCs mortality.
METHODS
Using the NET-WG database, an analysis on TC survival was performed. Overall survival (OS) was calculated starting from the date of intervention. Predictors of OS were investigated using the Cox model with shared frailty (accounting for the within-centre correlation). Candidate predictors were: gender, age, smoking habit, tumour location, previous malignancy, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS), pT, pN, TNM stage and tumour vascular invasion. The final model included predictors with P ≤ 0.15 after a backward selection. Missing data in the evaluated predictors were multiple-imputed and combined estimates were obtained from five imputed data sets.
RESULTS
For 58 of 1167 TC patients vital status was unavailable and analyses were therefore performed on 1109 patients from 17 institutions worldwide. During a median follow-up of 50 months, 87 patients died, with a 5-year OS rate of 93.7% (95% confidence interval: 91.7–95.3). Backward selection resulted in a prediction model for mortality containing age, gender, previous malignancies, peripheral tumour, TNM stage and ECOG PS. The final model showed a good discrimination ability with a C-statistic equal to 0.836 (bootstrap optimism-corrected 0.806).
CONCLUSIONS
We presented and validated a promising prognostic model for TC survival, showing good calibration and discrimination ability. Further analyses are needed and could be focused on an external validation of this model.
OBJECTIVES
A retrospective database was developed by the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons, collecting patients submitted to surgery for thymic tumours to analyse clinico-pathological prognostic ...predictors.
METHODS
A total of 2151 incident cases from 35 institutions were collected from 1990 to 2010. Clinical-pathological characteristics were analysed, including age, gender, associated myasthenia gravis stage (Masaoka), World Health Organization histology, type of thymic tumour thymoma, thymic carcinoma (TC), neuroendocrine thymic tumour (NETT), type of resection (complete/incomplete), tumour size, adjuvant therapy and recurrence. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS); secondary outcomes were the proportion of incomplete resections, disease-free survival and the cumulative incidence of recurrence (CIR).
RESULTS
A total of 2030 patients were analysed for OS (1798 thymomas, 191 TCs and 41 NETTs). Ten-year OS was 0.73 (95% confidence interval 0.69–0.75). Complete resection (R0) was achieved in 88% of the patients. Ten-year CIR was 0.12 (0.10–0.15). Predictors of shorter OS were increased age (P < 0–001), stage III vs I HR 2.66, 1.80–3.92; IV vs I hazard ratio (HR) 4.41, 2.67–7.26, TC (HR 2.39, 1.68–3.40) and NETT (HR 2.59, 1.35–4.99) vs thymomas and incomplete resection (HR 1.74, 1.18–2.57). Risk of recurrence increased with tumour size (P = 0.003), stage (III vs I HR 5.67, 2.80–11.45; IV vs I HR 13.08, 5.70–30.03) and NETT (HR 7.18, 3.48–14.82). Analysis using a propensity score indicates that the administration of adjuvant therapy was beneficial in increasing OS (HR 0.69, 0.49–0.97) in R0 resections.
CONCLUSIONS
Masaoka stages III–IV, incomplete resection and non-thymoma histology showed a significant impact in increasing recurrence and in worsening survival. The administration of adjuvant therapy after complete resection is associated with improved survival.
Background
Recent scientific reports have shown that older persons treated with antipsychotics for dementia‐related behavioural symptoms have increased mortality. However, the impact of these drugs ...prescribed during hospitalization has rarely been assessed. We aimed to investigate whether antipsychotics are associated with an increased risk of mortality during hospitalization and at 3‐month follow‐up in elderly inpatients.
Methods
We analyzed data gathered during two waves (2010 and 2012) by the REPOSI (Registro Politerapie Società Italiana Medicina Interna). All new prescriptions of antipsychotic drugs during hospitalization, whether maintained or discontinued at discharge, were collected, and logistic regression models were used to analyze their association with in‐hospital and 3‐month mortality. Covariates were age, sex, the Short Blessed Test (SBT) score, and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale.
Results
Among 2703 patients included in the study, 135 (5%) received new prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs. The most frequently prescribed antipsychotic during hospitalization and eventually maintained at discharge was haloperidol (38% and 36% of cases, respectively). Patients newly prescribed with antipsychotics were older and had a higher Cumulative Illness Rating Scale comorbidity index both at admission and at discharge compared to those who did not receive a prescription. Of those prescribed antipsychotics, 71% had an SBT score ≥10 (indicative of dementia), 12% had an SBT score of 5–9 (indicative of questionable dementia); and 17% had an SBT score <5 (indicative of normal cognition). In‐hospital mortality was slightly higher in patients prescribed antipsychotic drugs (14.3% vs 9.4%; P = 0.109), but in multivariate analysis only male sex, older age, and higher SBT scores were significantly related to mortality during hospitalization. At 3‐month follow‐up, only male sex, older age, and higher SBT scores were associated with mortality.
Conclusion
We found that the prescription of antipsychotic drugs during hospitalization was not associated with in‐hospital or follow‐up mortality. Short‐term antipsychotic prescriptions (for acutely ill patients) may have a different effect than long‐term, repeated prescriptions.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Typical carcinoids (TCs) are rare, slow-growing neoplasms, usually characterized by satisfactory surgical outcomes. Due to the rarity of TCs, international guidelines for the ...management of particular clinical presentations currently do not exist. In particular, non-anatomical resections (wedges) are sometimes advocated for Stage 1 TCs because of their indolent behaviour. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the most effective type of surgery for Stage 1 TCs, using the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons retrospective database of the Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Lung Working Group.
METHODS
We analysed the effect of surgical procedure on the survival of patients with Stage 1 TCs. Overall survival (OS) was calculated from the date of intervention. The cumulative incidence of cause-specific death (tumour- and non-tumour-related) was also estimated. The impact of the surgical procedure (i.e. lobectomy vs segmentectomy vs wedge resection) on survival was investigated using the Cox model with shared frailty (for OS, accounting for the within-centre correlation) and the Fine and Gray model (for cause-specific mortality) using the approach based on the multinomial propensity score. Effects were estimated including in the model the logit-transformed propensity scores of segmentectomy and wedge resection as covariates.
RESULTS
A total of 876 patients with Stage 1 TCs (569 women, 65%) were included in this study. The median age was 60 years (interquartile range 47–69). At the last follow-up, 66 patients had died: The 5-year OS rate was 94.3% 95% confidence interval (CI) 92.2–95.9. The 5-year cumulative incidences of tumour- and non-tumour-related deaths were 2.4% (95% CI 1.4–3.9) and 3.9% (95% CI 2.5–5.6%), respectively. The analysis performed using the multinomial propensity score approach confirmed the significantly worse survival of patients treated with a wedge resection compared to those treated with a lobectomy (hazard ratio 2.01, 95% CI 1.09–3.69; P = 0.024). Similar effects of wedge resection are detectable for cause-specific deaths: tumour-related (hazard ratio 2.28, 95% CI 0.86–6.02; P = 0.096) and non-tumour-related (hazard ratio 1.74, 95% CI 0.89–3.40; P = 0.105).
CONCLUSIONS
In a large cohort of patients, we were able to demonstrate the superiority of anatomical surgical resection in Stage 1 TCs in terms of OS. This result should therefore be considered for future clinical guidelines for the management of TCs.
Patients with minor stroke and M2 occlusion undergoing best medical management (BMM) may face early neurological deterioration (END) that can lead to poor long-term outcome. In case of END, rescue ...mechanical thrombectomy (rMT) seems beneficial. Our study aimed to define factors relevant to clinical outcome in patients undergoing BMM with the possibility of rMT on END, and find predictors of END.
Patients with M2 occlusion and a baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score≤5 that received either BMM only or rMT on END after BMM were extracted from the databases of 16 comprehensive stroke centers. Clinical outcome measures were a 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0-1 or 0-2, and occurrence of END.
Among 10 169 consecutive patients with large vessel occlusion admitted between 2016 and 2021, 208 patients were available for analysis. END was reported in 87 patients that were therefore all subjected to rMT. In a logistic regression model, END (OR 3.386, 95% CI 1.428 to 8.032), baseline NIHSS score (OR 1.362, 95% CI 1.004 to 1.848) and a pre-event mRS score=1 (OR 3.226, 95% CI 1.229 to 8.465) were associated with unfavorable outcome. In patients with END, successful rMT was associated with favorable outcome (OR 4.549, 95% CI 1.098 to 18.851). Among baseline clinical and neuroradiological features, presence of atrial fibrillation was a predictor of END (OR 3.547, 95% CI 1.014 to 12.406).
Patients with minor stroke due to M2 occlusion and atrial fibrillation should be closely monitored for possible worsening during BMM and, in this case, promptly considered for rMT.
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