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ANITA platform aims at improving investigation capabilities of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) by delivering a set of tools and techniques to efficiently address online illegal trafficking of counterfeit/falsified medicines, novel psychoactive substances (NPS), drugs, and weapons with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Expert.ai has developed a dedicated written content analysis engine to support investigative activity. The market already offers several solutions adopting AI and in particular Machine Learning (ML) to support investigative activities. The particularity of the work carried out in the ANITA project is to adopt a lateral thinking approach and the supervised generation of knowledge from the analysed contents. Rather than focusing on searching for specific proper names of substances, weapons, NPS, etc. that are constantly evolving in considerable speed, we propose to concentrate on searching for precursors, namely collateral concepts related with the target of the investigation. Is the case of accessories for weapons such as sights for rifles or glass vessels used to produce the drugs themselves? This approach is not compatible with the use of ML, but the use of deep semantic analysis of the text is necessary. This article reports the system's ability to automatically identify precursors and generate stimuli and knowledge which the investigator must validate; that enhances the creative and intuitive approach (serendipity) to investigation combining the best of the detective's skills with the power of AI and in particular Natural Language Understanding (NLU).

Few data are available on incidence of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) colonization and infections in mechanically ventilated patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We retrospectively evaluated all patients admitted to the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) of Hub Hospital in Milan, Italy, during October 2020-May 2021. Microbiologic surveillance was standardized with active screening at admission and weekly during ICU stay. Of 435 patients, 88 (20.2%) had MDROs isolated =48 h after admission. Of the remaining patients, MDRO colonization was diagnosed in 173 (51.2%), MDRO infections in 95 (28.1%), and non-MDRO infections in 212 (62.7%). Non-MDRO infections occurred earlier than MDRO infections (6 days vs. 10 days; p<0.001). Previous exposure to antimicrobial drugs within the ICU was higher in MDRO patients than in non-MDRO patients (116/197 [58.9%] vs. 18/140 [12.9%]; p<0.001). Our findings might serve as warnings for future respiratory viral pandemics and call for increased measures of antimicrobial stewardship and infection control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional oral hygiene is fundamental to prevent peri-implant disease. Appropriate instruments should be used in patients with restorations supported by dental implants: they should be effective in deposits removal without damaging the implant components surface. The aim of the present study is to investigate and summarize the results regarding the efficacy of oral hygiene techniques described in the literature in the last 10 years in patients rehabilitated with dental implants not affected by perimplantitis. The present systematic review was conducted according to guidelines reported in the indications of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). The focused question was: "Which are the most effective instruments for professional oral hygiene on implants not affected by perimplantitis?". The initial database search yielded a total of 934 entries found in PubMed®/MEDLINE and Cochrane Library. After full text review and application of the eligibility criteria, the final selection consisted of 19 articles. The risk of bias of included studies was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa scale (NOS) and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Curette, scalers and air polishing were the devices most frequently investigated in the included studies. In particular, glycine powder air polishing appeared to be significantly effective in reducing peri-implant inflammation and plaque around implants. The application of the more recent erythritol powder air polishing also yielded good clinical outcomes. Further studies are needed to improve the knowledge on the topic in order to develop standardized protocols and understand the specific indications for different types of implant-supported rehabilitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patient blood management (PBM) promotes the routine detection and treatment of anaemia before surgery, optimising the management of bleeding disorders, thus minimising iatrogenic blood loss and pre-empting allogeneic blood utilisation. PBM programmes have expanded from the elective surgical setting to nonsurgical patients, including those in intensive care units (ICUs), but their dissemination in a whole country is unknown., Methods: We performed a cross-sectional, anonymous survey (10 October 2018 to 13 March 2019) of all ordinary medical members of the Swiss Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the registered ICU nurses from the 77 certified adult Swiss ICUs. We analysed PBM-related interventions adopted in Swiss ICUs and related them to the spread of PBM in Swiss hospitals. We explored blood test ordering policies, blood-sparing strategies and red blood cell-related transfusion practices in ICUs., Results: A total of 115 medical doctors and 624 nurses (response rates 27% and 30%, respectively) completed the surveys. Hospitals had implemented a PBM programme according to 42% of physicians, more commonly in Switzerland's German-speaking regions (Odds Ratio [OR] 3.39, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-9.35; p = 0.018) and in hospitals with more than 500 beds (OR 3.91, 95% CI 1.48-10.4; p = 0.006). The PBM programmes targeted the detection and correction of anaemia before surgery (79%), minimising perioperative blood loss (94%) and optimising anaemia tolerance (98%). Laboratory tests were ordered in 70.4% by the intensivist during morning rounds; the nurses performed arterial blood gas analyses autonomously in 48.4%. Blood-sparing techniques were used by only 42.1% of nurses (263 of 624, missing: 6) and 47.0% of physicians (54 of 115). Approximately 60% of respondents used an ICU-specific transfusion guideline. The reported haemoglobin threshold for the nonbleeding ICU population was 70 g/l and, therefore, was at the lower limit of current guidelines., Conclusions: Based on this survey, the estimated proportion of the intensivists working in hospitals with a PBM initiative is 42%, with significant variability between regions and hospitals of various sizes. The risk of iatrogenic anaemia is relevant due to liberal blood sample collection practices and the underuse of blood-sparing techniques. The reported transfusion threshold suggests excellent adherence to current international ICU-specific transfusion guidelines.