An analysis of Italian university students' performance through segmented regression models: gender differences in STEM courses

AbstractThis paper investigates gender differences in university performances in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses in Italy, proposing a novel application through the segmented regression models. The analysis concerns freshmen students enrolled at a 3-year STEM degree in Italian universities in the last decade, with a focus on the relationship between the number of university credits earned during the first year (a good predictor of the regularity of the career) and the probability of getting the bachelor degree within 4 years. Data is provided by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). Our analysis confirms that first-year performance is strong…

IANUS - Comparative analysis - Appendix A: UST analysis

UST dimension concerns data different from already analyzed data of ABA, ENQ, and ECO for their own nature: UST data are individual/subjective data while ABA, ENQ, and ECO are aggregate/objective data. So, the analysis criterion used for UST data will be different from that used previously. Our aim, in this section, is an evaluation of the users’ opinions on facilities through a descriptive analysis of our sample results.

Retreatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin of chronic hepatitis C non-responders to interferon plus ribavirin: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Efficacy of retreatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin of non-responders to standard or pegylated IFN plus ribavirin has been assessed in various studies, but sustained virologic response (SVR) rates are variable and factors influencing efficacy and tolerability still remain incompletely defined. We aimed to focus on SVR rates and to identify factors influencing them in this meta-analysis. METHODS: MEDLINE as well as a manual search were used. Studies were included if they were controlled or uncontrolled trials, if they had been published as full-length papers and if they included non-responders to standard or pegylated IFN and ribavirin therapy. Fourtee…

IANUS - Metodologia pratica. Risultato N° 8. Appendice

Insieme all'applicazione del modello IANUS nelle strutture selezionate, si è sviluppata la concettualizzazione e la verifica di una metodologia per l'analisi comparativa. L'obiettivo di questo studio è mostrare i dati ottenuti, gli indicatori calcolati e i modi di effettuare confronti attraverso il sistema indicato di valutazione degli indicatori.

School Bike Sharing Program: will it Succeed?

Abstract Encouraging active and sustainable transport modes in order to limit the excessive use of cars, as well as reducing pollutant emissions and creating livable urban environments, has become one of the priorities for policymakers in recent years. The introduction of innovative systems increasingly being introduced in modern cities, such as bike sharing, can certainly contribute to the spread of cycling and thus allow a radical change in the mobility habits of their citizens. This can be especially true for high-school students who are often otherwise accompanied by their parents with private cars. This article aims to assess the influence that a bike sharing program for students has o…

Segmented relationships to model erosion of regression effect in Cox regression

In this article we propose a parsimonious parameterisation to model the so-called erosion of the covariate effect in the Cox model, namely a covariate effect approaching to zero as the follow-up time increases. The proposed parameterisation is based on the segmented relationship where proper constraints are set to accomodate for the erosion. Relevant hypothesis testing is discussed. The approach is illustrated on two historical datasets in the survival analysis literature, and some simulation studies are presented to show how the proposed framework leads to a test for a global effect with good power as compared with alternative procedures. Finally, possible generalisations are also present…

Gender Differences In Stem Courses: Analysis Of Italian Students' Performance

Gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses is a prevalent topic in the recent literature, and quantitative studies on this relationship are essential to understand better the discussion and issues claimed by the arguments and the theories on this topic. In Italy, since 1989, the overall share of females enrolling at university is larger than the males' one, but females are still underrepresented in almost all the STEM fields, while overrepresented in nursing, humanities, and law schools. Our paper aims to investigate the gender differences in terms of university performance in STEM courses in Italy. This is done via segmented regression models, representin…

Predicting in-hospital mortality from Coronavirus Disease 2019: A simple validated app for clinical use

Backgrounds Validated tools for predicting individual in-hospital mortality of COVID-19 are lacking. We aimed to develop and to validate a simple clinical prediction rule for early identification of in-hospital mortality of patients with COVID-19. Methods and findings We enrolled 2191 consecutive hospitalized patients with COVID-19 from three Italian dedicated units (derivation cohort: 1810 consecutive patients from Bergamo and Pavia units; validation cohort: 381 consecutive patients from Rome unit). The outcome was in-hospital mortality. Fine and Gray competing risks multivariate model (with discharge as a competing event) was used to develop a prediction rule for in-hospital mortality. D…

Statistics in Education

During the last few decades, educational systems have attracted a great deal of interest because they are closely related to economic and social systems. For example, ‘higher education has been affected by a number of changes, including higher rates of participation, internationalization, the growing importance of knowledge-led economies and increased global completion’ (Bologna Process, 1999). There is a worldwide need to include in the educational language new words and concepts such as assessment, evaluation, accountability, student performance, mobility, competitiveness as part of a new governance system

Bivariate logistic models for the analysis of the students' University "success"

We analyze the students’ success at University by considering their performance in terms of both “qualitative performance”, measured by their grade average, and “quantitative performance”, measured by University Credits accumulated. To jointly model both marginal and association relationships with covariates, the analysis has been carried out by fitting a bivariate ordered logistic model (BOLM), in a nonparametric fashion, by penalized maximum likelihood estimation. The advantages of such model are in terms of parsimony and parameters interpretation, while preserving goodness-of-fit. The application regards an engineering student (ES) cohort from the University of Palermo.

Alcune considerazioni sul processo di costruzione degli indicatori composti

In questo lavoro si illustra il processo di costruzione di un indicatore composto, espresso nella forma IC = f[T1(x1), T2(x2), …, TJ(xJ)], dove IC è l’indicatore composto, xj sono gli indicatori semplici, Tj sono le trasformazioni e f è la funzione di aggregazione. L’obiettivo del lavoro concerne due aspetti: il primo è l’analisi delle proprietà statistiche e matematiche delle Tj per tentare di individuare misure delle loro performance (per es. variabilità, resistenza, etc.), condizionatamente alla natura dei dati; il secondo è fornire indicazioni circa l’adeguatezza di alcune Tj non lineari, basate sui ranghi e molto usate in pratica, per costruire un buon indicatore composto.

Le carriere universitarie degli studenti negli atenei statali e non statali in Italia

Negli ultimi anni si è assistito ad un incremento della competizione tra gli atenei per “accaparrarsi” gli studenti, a cui si aggiunge una sempre maggiore attività di promozione e di reclutamento degli studenti delle università non statali (telematiche e non). Le università non statali, altrimenti denominate “libere Università”, sono promosse sia da enti di diritto privato che da enti pubblici (regioni, province, comuni). Esse sono legalmente riconosciute dal Ministero dell'Istruzione dell'Università e della Ricerca, e autorizzate a rilasciare titoli accademici, relativi all’ordinamento universitario, di valore legale identico a quelli rilasciati dalle università statali. La letteratura ha …

A New Sampling Method for Spleen Stiffness Measurement Based on Quantitative Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography for Noninvasive Assessment of Esophageal Varices in Newly Diagnosed HCV-Related Cirrhosis

In our study, we evaluated the feasibility of a new sampling method for splenic stiffness (SS) measurement by Quantitative Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography (Virtual Touch Tissue Quantification (VTTQ)).We measured SS in 54 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis of whom 28 with esophageal varices (EV), 27 with Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) F1–F3, and 63 healthy controls. VTTQ-SS was significantly higher among cirrhotic patients with EV (3.37 m/s) in comparison with controls (2.19 m/s,P<0.001), CHC patients (2.37 m/s,P<0.001), and cirrhotic patients without EV (2.7 m/s,P<0.001). Moreover, VTTQ-SS was significantly higher among cirrhotic patients without EV in comparison with bot…

Indicators and measures for the assessment of university students’ careers

In the Italian University System the problem of student failure and of delaying the degree is causing increasing concern both for universities and for stakeholders. In this paper we compare the teaching performances of the italian universities, and individual cohort data of three Faculties of the University of Palermo, to extract some information useful to policy makers.

Moving from North to North: how are the students’ university flows?

AbstractStudent mobility has been much commented upon and much studied. Student mobility has social, economic, and political consequences. This form of mobility is relevant, in Italy, in terms of south-north flows, while the mobility of northern students toward the South and Centre of Italy is negligible. To the best of our knowledge, a proper focus on the dynamics among northern regions has not yet been carried out. This study focuses on the interregional mobility of northern first-year students. To this end, we use a longitudinal dataset with students’ individual histories from 2008 to 2017, obtained from the cohort-based datasets collected using the Italian Ministry of University’s admin…

L'aumento degli immatricolati e la diminuzione percentuale dei " movers " nelle università italiane: merito del Covid?

Analisi della predittività dei test d’accesso per Economia

Questo lavoro sulla predittività dei test di accesso TOLC-E e TOLC-I si inserisce, a pieno titolo, in due progetti di ricerca promossi da alcuni autori di questo rapporto. Il primo, del 2016, è il “Protocollo di Ricerca per lo studio della mobilità universitaria (MS) e delle carriere universitarie” tra gli atenei di Palermo, Napoli Federico II, Firenze, Torino, Cagliari, Sassari e Siena e il Miur. Il secondo è un Progetto di Rilevanza Nazionale 2017HBTK5P dal titolo “From high school to job placement: micro-data life course analysis of university student mobility and its impact on the Italian North-South divide”, linea Sud, finanziato nel 2019 con la partecipazione degli atenei sottoscritto…

Mortality in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma predicted by six scoring: none is the winner

Some issues concerning the statistical evaluation of a screening test: the ARFI ultrasound case

In this paper we analyze some issues concerning the statistical evaluation of a screening test for classification. The case study is ARFI, an ultrasound device recently introduced, and used for the evaluation of liver fibrosis. First, we present a simple statistical evaluation based on a novel index that compare two competitors with respect to a gold standard, and then we propose a procedure that determines a table with the “acceptable” number of measurements to get an “accurate” diagnosis using the ARFI device.

Fibrosis staging in chronic hepatitis C: Analysis of discordance between transient elastography and liver biopsy

Summary.  In chronic hepatitis C, transient elastography (TE) accurately identifies cirrhosis, but its ability to assess significant fibrosis (Metavir ≥ F2) is variable. Constitutional and liver disease-related factors may influence TE and here we examined the variables associated with differences. Three hundred consecutive hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA positive patients had biochemical tests, TE and a biopsy performed on the same day. The Dale model was used to identify the variables associated with discordance between biopsy and elastography results. In 97 patients (34.2%), TE and histological assessment were discordant. Seventy-six of 286 (26.6%) had stage ≥F2 and TE < 7.1 kPa (false negat…

L'isola che se ne va

Le università rivestono un ruolo fondamentale per un territorio, oltre ad essere un luogo di alta formazione e quindi di creazione di capitale umano, la letteratura ha evidenziato che tali istituzioni attraverso il knowledge spillover possono talvolta rappresentare il motore dell’innovazione e quindi dello sviluppo economico (Wolfe 2005). Nonostante queste importanti funzioni, per garantirsi le risorse necessarie a portare avanti la propria attività le università italiane hanno un crescente bisogno di sviluppare la propria capacità di allargare il bacino di attrazione degli studenti, in quanto: i) parte della quota base del Fondo di Funzionamento Ordinario (FFO) ricevuta dal Ministero dell’…

ANALISI DELLE CARRIERE UNIVERSITARIE NELLE LAUREE SCIENTIFICHE DI BASE IN ITALIA NELL’ULTIMO DECENNIO

An analysis of italian university science students’ careers in the last decade · This paper deals with the study of Italian university science careers by analyzing administrative longitudinal data from the Italian Ministry of Education. Three freshmen cohorts enrolled in a three-year degree course 2011/12, 2014/15, and 2016/17 are analyzed in three time points : at enrolment, in order to assess their choices with respect to their individual characteristics ; at the beginning of the second year, in order to assess who moves to another course and who drops out ; at the fourth year, in order to determine the “best” students’ profiles. The students’ variables involved are gender, type of school…

Comparison of transient elastography and acoustic radiation force impulse for non-invasive staging of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C .

Transient elastography (TE) is adequate for a diagnosis of cirrhosis, but its accuracy for milder stages of fibrosis is much less satisfactory. The objective of this study was to compare the performance and the discordance rate of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) and TE with liver biopsy in a cohort of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients.One hundred thirty-nine consecutive patients with CHC were enrolled in two tertiary centers, and evaluated for histological (Metavir score) and biochemical features. All patients underwent TE and ARFI.TE was unreliable in nine patients (6.5%), while in no cases (0%) were ARFI invalid measurements recorded (P=0.029). By area under receiver operating ch…

Competing-risk analysis of coronavirus disease 2019 in-hospital mortality in a Northern Italian centre from SMAtteo COvid19 REgistry (SMACORE).

AbstractAn accurate prediction of the clinical outcomes of European patients requiring hospitalisation for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is lacking. The aim of the study is to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality and discharge in a cohort of Lombardy patients with COVID-19. All consecutive hospitalised patients from February 21st to March 30th, 2020, with confirmed COVID-19 from the IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Lombardy, Italy, were included. In-hospital mortality and discharge were evaluated by competing risk analysis. The Fine and Gray model was fitted in order to estimate the effect of covariates on the cumulative incidence functions (CIFs) for in-hospital mortality…

Performance of Radiomics Features in the Quantification of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis from HRCT.

Background: Our study assesses the diagnostic value of different features extracted from high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. These features are investigated over a range of HRCT lung volume measurements (in Hounsfield Units) for which no prior study has yet been published. In particular, we provide a comparison of their diagnostic value at different Hounsfield Unit (HU) thresholds, including corresponding pulmonary functional tests. Methods: We consider thirty-two patients retrospectively for whom both HRCT examinations and spirometry tests were available. First, we analyse the HRCT histogram to extract quantitative lung fibrosis…

Students’ university mobility patterns in Europe: an introduction

AbstractThis thematic series collects some papers on Italian students' mobility. The aim of this thematic series is twofold. First, to describe the phenomenon which is important for universities and for its negative socio-economic implications for the South of Italy. Second, to propose new applications of statistical methods for this topic and applications which can be extended to other forms of migration, too.

Studenti in calo e in fuga: quale è il destino degli atenei siciliani?

Negli ultimi anni si è assistito a un notevole decremento delle immatricolazioni in generale, e in Sicilia in particolare, a cui sono anche corrisposte maggiori immatricolazioni di siciliani nelle università del Centro-Nord. Dalle analisi dei dati ufficiali del MIUR è emerso che le variabili con maggiore influenza nei confronti del calo delle immatricolazioni in totale sono i diplomati che non provengono dal liceo e le aree disciplinare sociali e umanistiche. Questi elementi sembrano delineare un panorama universitario in cui non c’è più posto per le lauree “deboli” e gli studenti “deboli”. In questo quadro sconfortante si inserisce la riduzione dei trasferimenti ministeriali che hanno subi…

Optimizing Sequential Systemic Therapies for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Decision Analysis

Background: An optimal sequential systemic therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been discovered. We developed a decision model based on available clinical trials to identify an optimal risk/benefit strategy for sequences of novel systemic agents. Methods: A Markov model was built to simulate overall survival (OS) among patients with advanced HCC. Three first-line (single-agent Sorafenib or Lenvatinib, and combination of Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab) followed by five second-line treatments (Regorafenib, Cabozantinib, Ramucirumab, Nivolumab, Pembrolizumab) were compared in fifteen sequential strategies. The likelihood of transition between states (initial treatment, ca…

Multiple smoothing parameters selection in additive regression quantiles

We propose an iterative algorithm to select the smoothing parameters in additive quantile regression, wherein the functional forms of the covariate effects are unspecified and expressed via B-spline bases with difference penalties on the spline coefficients. The proposed algorithm relies on viewing the penalized coefficients as random effects from the symmetric Laplace distribution, and it turns out to be very efficient and particularly attractive with multiple smooth terms. Through simulations we compare our proposal with some alternative approaches, including the traditional ones based on minimization of the Schwarz Information Criterion. A real-data analysis is presented to illustrate t…

An association model for bivariate data with application to the anlysis of university students' success.

The academic success of students is a priority for all universities. We analyze the students' success at university by considering their performance in terms of both ‘qualitative performance’, measured by their mean grade, and ‘quantitative performance’, measured by university credits accumulated. These data come from an Italian University and concern a cohort of students enrolled at the Faculty of Economics. To jointly model both the marginal relationships and the association structure with covariates, we fit a bivariate ordered logistic model by penalized maximum likelihood estimation. The penalty term we use allows us to smooth the association structure and enlarge the range of possible …

Gender differences in Italian STEM degree courses: a discrete-time competing-risks model

In this paper, we highlight possible gender differences in performance of students attending Italian university STEM degree courses, controlling for sociodemographic and territorial variables.We used the micro-data from the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research database of the 2011-12 freshmen cohort enrolled at an Italian bachelor university degree course. The analysis was dealt with by fitting a discrete-time competing-risks model. Bachelor degree graduation, dropout, and change to non-STEM courses were considered as competing events. The aim is to highlight gender gaps in the student performance, and the STEM courses where this gap is more critical.

Introduzione

Questo lavoro sulla predittività dei test di accesso TOLC-E e TOLC-I si inserisce, a pieno titolo, in due progetti di ricerca promossi da alcuni autori di questo rapporto. Il primo, del 2016, è il “Protocollo di Ricerca per lo studio della mobilità universitaria (MS) e delle carriere universitarie” tra gli atenei di Palermo, Napoli Federico II, Firenze, Torino, Cagliari, Sassari e Siena e il Miur. Il secondo è un Progetto di Rilevanza Nazionale 2017HBTK5P dal titolo “From high school to job placement: micro-data life course analysis of university student mobility and its impact on the Italian North-South divide”, linea Sud, finanziato nel 2019 con la partecipazione degli atenei sottoscritto…

Women's career discrimination in the Italian Academia in the last 20 years

We examine discrimination against women in Italian universities in terms of career advancements for the last 20 years. Data is taken from the MUR archive. Two points are examined: the transition time from assistant professor to associate professor; and the transition time from associate professor to full professor.

Gender and Sex in Medical Practice: An Exploratory Study on Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitude among Sicilian Physicians

Personalized medicine is a new paradigm in health care, and the concept of socio-cultural gender, as opposed to biological sex, emerged in several medical approaches. This exploratory study aimed to investigate the knowledge of sex and gender in clinical medicine among Sicilian physicians. Data collection was based on an online survey sent to the members of the Medical Councils of Sicily (Italy). The questionnaire included nine specific items about awareness and attitudes regarding gender medicine and its importance in clinical practice. 8023 Sicilian physicians received the solicitation e-mail and only 496 responded. Regarding the knowledge of gender medicine, 71.1% of participants stated …

Does taking additional Maths classes in high school affect academic outcomes?

Several studies in the mathematical education literature show the effect of students’ high school skills in maths on their success at higher levels of education and work. In particular, the importance of maths course taking in US high schools is highlighted to be important for college enrolment and completion. The choice of taking additional maths courses or, as in Italy, of choosing a high-school curriculum with more maths, is not random: it depends on several substantial factors such as gender and socio-economic status. This selection bias implies that the differences in the academic outcomes might be traceable not only to mathematics ability and knowledge. In this paper, the aim is to es…

Nonsense-mediated decay mechanism is a possible modifying factor of clinical outcome in nonsense cd39 beta thalassemia genotype

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a surveillance system to prevent the synthesis of non-functional proteins. In &beta;-thalassemia, NMD may have a role in clinical outcome. An example of premature translation stop codons appearing for the first time is the &beta;-globin cd39 mutation; when homozygous, this results in a severe phenotype. The aim of this study was to determine whether the homozygous nonsense cd39 may have a milder phenotype in comparison with IVS1,nt110/cd39 genotype. Genotypes have been identified from a cohort of 568 patients affected by &beta;-thalassemia. These genotypes were compared with those found in 577 affected fetuses detected among 2292 prenatal diagnoses. The…

Are people willing to pay for eco-labeled wild seafood? An overview

In the last two decades, eco-labeled seafood has been becoming an instrument of sustainability directed towards consumers, addressing a market-based incentive for better management of fisheries. In this context, several studies across the countries have been conducted about how much consumers are willing to pay for fish caught by certifiably sustainable fishing activities. In this direction, the aim of this study was to systematize the available information about the willingness-topay (WTP) more for eco-labeled wild seafood. Therefore, only papers published on ISI journals were searched on “Web of Knowledge” and “SciVerse Scopus” platforms, using the combinations of the following key words:…

Survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: a comparison of BCLC, CLIP and GRETCH staging systems

Summary Background  A major problem in assessing the likelihood of survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arises from a lack of models capable of predicting outcome accurately. Aim  To compare the ability of the Italian score (CLIP), the French classification (GRETCH) and the Barcelona (BCLC) staging system in predicting survival in patients with HCC. Methods  We included 406 consecutive patients with cirrhosis and HCC. Seventy-eight per cent of patients had hepatitis C. Independent predictors of survival were identified using the Cox model. Results  One-hundred and seventy-eight patients were treated, while 228 were untreated. The observed mortality was 60.1% in treated p…

A segmented regression model for event history data: an application to the fertility patterns in Italy

We propose a segmented discrete-time model for the analysis of event history data in demographic research. Through a unified regression framework, the model provides estimates of the effects of explanatory variables and jointly accommodates flexibly non-proportional differences via segmented relationships. The main appeal relies on ready availability of parameters, changepoints, and slopes, which may provide meaningful and intuitive information on the topic. Furthermore, specific linear constraints on the slopes may also be set to investigate particular patterns. We investigate the intervals between cohabitation and first childbirth and from first to second childbirth using individual data …

Conclusioni

Questo lavoro sulla predittività dei test di accesso TOLC-E e TOLC-I si inserisce, a pieno titolo, in due progetti di ricerca promossi da alcuni autori di questo rapporto. Il primo, del 2016, è il “Protocollo di Ricerca per lo studio della mobilità universitaria (MS) e delle carriere universitarie” tra gli atenei di Palermo, Napoli Federico II, Firenze, Torino, Cagliari, Sassari e Siena e il Miur. Il secondo è un Progetto di Rilevanza Nazionale 2017HBTK5P dal titolo “From high school to job placement: micro-data life course analysis of university student mobility and its impact on the Italian North-South divide”, linea Sud, finanziato nel 2019 con la partecipazione degli atenei sottoscritto…

Gli studenti stranieri negli atenei italiani: un’analisi statistica dell’ultimo decennio.

La mobilità studentesca universitaria è un fenomeno che, negli anni recenti, ha assunto una rilevanza notevole, in ambito nazionale. Essa è, infatti, prevalentemente oggetto di numerosi studi sui flussi migratori Sud-Centro e Sud-Nord degli studenti universitari italiani che scelgono sedi universitarie in regioni diverse da quella della propria residenza. Nel tempo le dimensioni numeriche di questi flussi sono divenute sempre più consistenti, con ripercussioni non certo trascurabili sul tessuto socioeconomico delle zone di origine. La mobilità studentesca gioca un ruolo rilevante nell’ampliamento della “forbice” tra le macro-aree regionali (Nord-Centro e Sud e Isole), ovvero quel divario so…

A network analysis of student mobility patterns from high school to master’s

Human migration involves the movement of people from one place to another. An example of undirected migration is Italian student mobility where students move from the South to the Center-North. This kind of mobility has become of general interest, and this work explores student mobility from Sicily towards universities outside the island. The data used in this paper regards six cohorts of students, from 2008/09 to 2013/14. In particular, our goal is to study the 3-step migration path: the area of origin (Sicilian provinces), the regional university for the bachelor’s degree, and the regional university for the master’s. Our analysis is conducted by building a multipartite network with four …

Survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: a comparison of BCLC, CLIP and GRETCH staging systems

A major problem in assessing the likelihood of survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arises from a lack of models capable of predicting outcome accurately.To compare the ability of the Italian score (CLIP), the French classification (GRETCH) and the Barcelona (BCLC) staging system in predicting survival in patients with HCC.We included 406 consecutive patients with cirrhosis and HCC. Seventy-eight per cent of patients had hepatitis C. Independent predictors of survival were identified using the Cox model.One-hundred and seventy-eight patients were treated, while 228 were untreated. The observed mortality was 60.1% in treated patients and 84.9% in untreated patients. Among…

Chi rimane e chi se ne va? Un’analisi statistica della mobilità universitaria dal Mezzogiorno d’Italia

Nel 1999, il “Processo di Bologna” ha proposto la realizzazione dello spazio europeo di istruzione superiore (concretizzatosi nell’European Higher Education Area - EHEA) con l’intento di promuovere la conoscenza, la mobilità e la coesione culturale fra i paesi europei e il resto del mondo. Tali obiettivi sono stati ribaditi nel Comunicato di Bucarest (2012), approvato dai Ministri dell’Istruzione Superiore dei 47 membri dell’EHEA, in cui si mette l’accento sulla necessità di garantire, da un lato, il massimo livello possibile di finanziamento pubblico per l’istruzione superiore, come forma di investimento per il superamento della crisi finanziaria e, da un altro lato, un accesso paritario a…

Evidence of bias in randomized clinical trials of hepatitis C interferon therapies

Introduction: Bias may occur in randomized clinical trials in favor of the new experimental treatment because of unblinded assessment of subjective endpoints or wish bias. Using results from published trials, we analyzed and compared the treatment effect of hepatitis C antiviral interferon therapies experimental or control. Methods: Meta-regression of trials enrolling naïve hepatitis C virus patients that underwent four therapies including interferon alone or plus ribavirin during past years. The outcome measure was the sustained response evaluated by transaminases and/or hepatitis C virus-RNA serum load. Data on the outcome across therapies were collected according to the assigned arm (exp…

Retreatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin of chronic hepatitis C non-responders to interferon plus ribavirin: A meta-analysis

Efficacy of retreatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin of non-responders to standard or pegylated IFN plus ribavirin has been assessed in various studies, but sustained virologic response (SVR) rates are variable and factors influencing efficacy and tolerability still remain incompletely defined. We aimed to focus on SVR rates and to identify factors influencing them in this meta-analysis.MEDLINE as well as a manual search were used. Studies were included if they were controlled or uncontrolled trials, if they had been published as full-length papers and if they included non-responders to standard or pegylated IFN and ribavirin therapy. Fourteen trials were included in t…

Student mobility in higher education: Sicilian outflow network and chain migrations

The most important student mobility (SM) flow in Italy is from the Southern to the Central-Northern regions, a phenomenon that has been magnified by an increasing number of outgoing students from Sicily over the last decade. In this paper, we rely upon micro-data of university enrollment and students' personal records for three cohorts of freshmen, in order to investigate preferential patterns of SM from Sicily toward universities in other regions. Our main goal is to reveal the existence of chain migrations, where students from a particular geographical area move towards a particular destination to follow other students that have previously moved. The paper provides aspects that are innova…

MRONJ in breast cancer patients under bone modifying agents for cancer treatment-induced bone loss (CTIBL): a multi-hospital-based case series

Abstract Background Cancer treatment-induced bone loss (CTIBL) is the most common adverse event experienced by patients affected by breast cancer (BC) patients, without bone metastases. Bone modifying agents (BMAs) therapy is prescribed for the prevention of CTIBL, but it exposes patients to the risk of MRONJ. Methods This multicentre hospital-based retrospective study included consecutive non-metastatic BC patients affected by MRONJ related to exposure to low-dose BMAs for CTIBL prevention. Patients’ data were retrospectively collected from the clinical charts of seven recruiting Italian centres. Results MRONJ lesions were found in fifteen females (mean age 67.5 years), mainly in the mandi…

Long term follow-up in an incident cohort of 583 pts with CD

Can the Students’ Career be Helpful in Predicting an Increase in Universities Income?

The students’ academic failure and the delay in obtaining their final degree are a significant issue for the Italian universities and their stakeholders. Based on indicators proposed by the Italian Ministry of University, the Italian universities are awarded a financial incentive if they reduce the students’ attrition and failure. In this paper we analyze the students’ careers performance using: (1) aggregate data; (2) individual data. The first compares the performances of the Italian universities using the measures and the indicators proposed by the Ministry. The second analyzes the students’ careers through an indicator based on credit earned by each student in seven academic years. The …

IANUS: Comparative analysis

Jointly with the application of IANUS model in the selected facilities, in WP4 Ambiente Italia has to produce an evaluation and comparison between different facilities and core indicators. The aim of this paper is to show collected data, computed indicators and comparison facilities throuh suggested indicator evaluation system.

Mortality in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma predicted by six scoring systems: None is the winner

A decade of trials of interferon-alpha for chronic hepatitis C. A meta-regression analysis

The most relevant randomized controlled trials of interferon-alpha (IFN) for naive patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) published in a decade, just before appearance of pegylated IFN trials in 2000, were included in this paper. Its purpose is to review the relationship between sustained biochemical response in active versus control group versus usual clinical variables as IFN regimens, cirrhosis, genotype and versus less frequently addressed variables as funding, methodological quality or location of principal author. Meta-analysis estimates of global treatment effect varied according to trial design: group 1=IFN versus placebo/no treatment, 32 RCTs, 2499 pts, OR 9.5 (6.3-14.2); group 2a…

Does taking additional Maths classes improve university performance?

Several recent studies in educational literature showed how students’ skills in maths affect their success at higher levels of education. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of taking additional maths class at high school on first-year performance of Italian university students. However, university performance and the choice of the high-school depend on several factors that make this evaluation challenging. Using information coming from three different sources, we carry out a multilevel propensity score procedure to estimate the average treatment effect between the applied sciences track and the traditional scientific one. After balancing for school- and student-level covariates…

Gender differences in career advancements in Italian universities over the last 20 years

This article deals with gender differences in Italian universities in the last 20 years in terms of career advancements. Data are taken from the MUR (Ministry of University and Research) archive. In Italy, career advancements are still much easier for men, even if the gender gap has slowly narrowed in the last decades. The novelty of this paper is the analysis through event-history analysis models on the time elapsed to receive a promotion (from assistant to associate professor and from associate to full professor). The event-history analysis applied to career advancements has revealed that women take, on average, about one and a half more years than men to advance, with some differences am…

Diagnostic and prognostic value of magnetic resonance imaging in the detection of tumor depth of invasion and bone invasion in patients with oral cavity cancer

To evaluate the accuracy of preoperative contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the assessment of radiological depth of invasion (rDOI) and bone invasion in patients with oral cavity cancer, and the prognostic value of preoperative rDOI.This retrospective study included patients with surgically resected oral cavity cancer and preoperative MRI acquired within four weeks before surgery. Two readers evaluated the MRI to assess the superficial and deep bone invasion, preoperative T stage, and measured the rDOI. The rDOI was compared to the histopathological DOI (pDOI), used as reference standard. Prognostic value of preoperative features for the disease-specific survival was eval…

How to transform a batch of simple indicators to make up a unique one?

In questo lavoro viene analizzato il processo di costruzione di un indicatore composto, in funzione di una batteria di indicatori semplici. Tale processo viene scomposto in due parti: la prima consiste nell’individuare delle funzioni che permettano di trasformare i dati grezzi (gli indicatori semplici) in dati omogenei, la seconda nell’individuare una funzione che sulla base dei primi produca una misura dell’indicatore composto. Vengono forniti, da un lato, degli strumenti matematici e statistici delle trasformazioni più usate nelle applicazioni (con particolare riguardo alle trasformazioni lineari) e, da un altro lato, diversi esempi di indicatori composti ottenuti tramite funzioni additiv…

Un Modello di Massima Copertura della Domanda per l’Allocazione Ottima delle Ciclostazioni di AMAT

AMAT Palermo S.p.A. is the public transport company of the municipality of Palermo. AMAT manages the bike sharing system and within a sustainable mobility project has involved the DSEAS and four secondary schools to the research project “GoToSchool”, a project whose main aim is to foster the use of the bike by the students in getting to the school.The project developed in two phases: the first phase was devoted to the estimate of the demand of bike sharing service from the students; the second phase was committed to the study of an optimal facility allocation problem in order to maximize the demand of bike sharing service arising from students.The optimization model can be easily customized…

Can the students' career performance be helpful in predicting an increase in universities income?

The students’ academic failure and the delay in obtaining their final degree are a significant issue for the Italian universities and their shareholders. Based on indicators proposed by the Italian Ministry of University, the Italian universities are awarded a financial incentive if they reduce the students’ attrition and failure. In this paper we analyze the students’ careers performance using: 1) aggregate data; 2) individual data. The first compares the performances of the Italian universities using the measures and the indicators proposed by the Ministry. The second analyzes the students’ careers through an indicator based on credit earned by each student in seven academic years. The pr…

Foreign Students in Italian Universities: A Statistical Analysis of the Last Decade

In recent years university students’ mobility has become increasingly important at a national level. It has been the subject of numerous studies on the South-Centre and South-North mobility flows of Italian students who choose university out of their residence region. The aim is twofold: to provide quantitative information on the university enrollment of the foreign students in the Italian universities (the size of the flows of foreign students enrolled at Italian universities, according to some socio-demographic characteristics); to measure the dropout rates and the time taken to obtain the degree comparing to the Italian students. Foreign students (FS) were classified into two groups: stu…

β-Thalassemia heterozygote state detrimentally affects health expectation.

Background: Thalassemia minor (Tm) individuals, are generally considered healthy. However, the prognosis of Tm individuals has not been extensively studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognosis of Tm versus controls without β-thalassemia carrier state. Methods: A total of 26,006 individuals seeking thalassemia screening at the AOOR Villa Sofia-V. Cervello, Palermo (Italy) were retrospectively studied. Logistic penalised regression model was used to estimate risk of potential complications and survival techniques were used to study mortality. Results: We identified a total of 4943 Tm and 21,063 controls. Tm was associated with significantly higher risks of hospitalisation for …

A meta-analysis of survival rates of untreated patients in randomized clinical trials of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Knowing the spontaneous outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is important for designing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of new therapeutic approaches; however, survival of patients in the absence of treatment is highly variable, and prognostic factors influencing outcomes are incompletely defined. The aims of this meta-analysis were to estimate the 1-year and 2-year survival rates of untreated HCC patients enrolled in RCTs of palliative treatments, and to identify prognostic factors. RCTs evaluating therapies for HCC with placebo or no-treatment arms were identified on MEDLINE through April 2009. Data were combined in a random effect model. Primary outcomes were 1-year and 2-year s…

Assessing covariate imbalance in meta-analysis studies.

The main goal of meta-analysis is to combine data across studies or data sets to obtain summary estimates. In this paper, the novelty is to propose a statistical tool to assess a possible covariate imbalance in baseline variables to investigate similarity of trials. We conducted the detection of the covariate imbalance, first, through some graphical comparison of the empirical cumulative distribution functions or ECDFs, which are built by putting together arms or trials according to some risk factor, and second, through some non-parametric tests such as the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and the Anderson–Darling tests. To overcome the huge presence of ties, we conducted the statistical tests on perturbe…

Analysis of Metabolic Parameters Coming from Basal and Interim PET in Hodgkin Lymphoma

Objective: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with F-18-Fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) emerged as a prognostic tool to predict treatment outcome in Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL). Moreover, a FDG-PET adapted strategy is currently assessed in clinical trial to minimize the toxic effect while maintaining the efficacy of treatment in HL. Purpose was to analyze the quantitative parameters to support the prognostic role of FDG-PET today based on the semi-quantitative Deauville 5-point Scale (D5-PS). Methods: This retrospective study included 53 patients diagnosed with advanced-stage HL between 2009 and 2014, enrolled in the PET response-adapted clinical trial HD 0607. FDG-PET was performed at baseline (PET0)…

Progression-Free Survival Early Assessment Is a Robust Surrogate Endpoint of Overall Survival in Immunotherapy Trials of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Radiology-based outcomes, such as progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR), are used as surrogate endpoints in oncology trials. We aimed to assess the surrogacy relationship of PFS with overall survival (OS) in clinical trials of systemic therapies targeting advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by novel meta-regression methods. Methods: A search of databases (PubMed, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Meeting Libraries, Clinicaltrials.gov) for trials of systemic therapies for advanced HCC reporting both OS and PFS was performed. Individual patient data were extracted from PFS and OS Kaplan&nd…

Antifungal agents for preventing fungal infections in non-neutropenic critically ill patients

Background Invasive fungal infections are important causes of morbidity and mortality among critically ill patients. Early institution of antifungal therapy is pivotal for mortality reduction. Starting a targeted antifungal therapy after culture positivity and fungi identification requires a long time. Therefore, alternative strategies (globally defined as 'untargeted antifungal treatments') for antifungal therapy institution in patients without proven microbiological evidence of fungal infections have been discussed by international guidelines. This review was originally published in 2006 and updated in 2016. This updated review provides additional evidence for the clinician dealing with s…

La mobilità degli studenti universitari nell'ultimo decennio in Italia

La mobilità degli studenti dal Sud e dalle Isole verso il Centro-Nord ha creato e crea ulteriori disuguaglianze e una perdita di capitale umano che non sembra rallentare negli ultimi anni. In questo quadro si colloca il nostro studio sulla mobilità universitaria, i cui effetti non sono limitati al sistema universitario nazionale, ma hanno implicazioni sociali ed economiche sull’intero Paese.

Dalla triennale alla magistrale: continua la “fuga dei cervelli” dal Mezzogiorno d'Italia

Guardando alla geografia della mobilità degli studenti meridionali negli anni accademici dal 2014/15 al 2017/18 nel passaggio dalla laurea triennale a quella magistrale, Massimo Attanasio, Marco Enea e Alessandro Albano rilevano che la fuga, già evidente nel passaggio dalle superiori all’università, continua anche in seguito: gli atenei del Mezzogiorno continuano a perdere iscritti potenziali a favore degli atenei del Centro-Nord.

Ma è proprio vero che l'attuale sistema fiscale fa pagare solo il Nord?

L'articolo mostra con semplici calcoli matematici che il le regioni del Centro Italia producono un gettito fiscale superiore rispetto a quelle del Nord.

INQUADRAMENTO SOCIO-ECONOMICO. IN "PRIMO RAPPORTO SULLO STATO DELL'AMBIENTE DELLA PROVINCIA DI CALTANISSETTA". PROVINCIA DI CALTANISSETTA

Quali atenei scelgono i diplomati del Mezzogiorno d’Italia?

La geografia della mobilità degli studenti meridionali nel passaggio dalle superiori all’università è qui analizzata nel periodo che va dal 2011/12 al 2016/17 (anni scolastici o accademici). I dati, analizzati da Massimo Attanasio, Marco Enea e Andrea Priulla mostrano una fuga allarmante, e persino crescente nel tempo, dal Mezzogiorno verso gli atenei del Centro- Nord.

L’aumento degli immatricolati nel Mezzogiorno d’Italia nell’anno accademico 2020-21: merito del Covid?