Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis in proximal humeral fractures: one-year results of a prospective multicenter study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this multicentric study was to evaluate results of minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) for proximal humeral fractures in terms of postoperative shoulder function, radiological outcome and number of complications. METHODS: A consecutive series of 76 patients with proximal humeral fractures were treated with locking plate using a minimally invasive antero-lateral approach in two orthopaedic departments. Functional results with Constant score and radiographic evaluation were available for 74 patients at one-year follow up. RESULTS: The patients achieved a mean Constant score of 71 (range 28-100). Each functional result was evaluated also for both centres without significant differences. Significant statistical differences were only found for younger patients with better results (p < 0.05). Twenty patients (27%) developed complications. Subacromial impingement occurred in 16.2% of cases for varus malreduction (6.7%) and for too proximal plate positioning (9.5%). Primary screws perforation (2.7%), secondary perforation due to cut-out (1.4%), avascular necrosis (AVN) of humeral head (1.4%), partial resorption of greater tuberosity (2.7%), secondary dislocation of the greater tuberosity (2.7%) and stiffness (2.7%) were the other complications observed. CONCLUSIONS: The MIPO technique for proximal humeral fractures was safe and reproducible for most common patterns of fracture. Major complication rate was apparently low due to a soft tissue sparing, deltoid muscle and circumflex vessels, with easy access of the bar area to correct positioning of the plate.

Social media analytics system for action inspection on social networks.

Social networks are increasingly used for discussing all kinds of topics, including those related to politics, serving as a virtual arena. Consequently, analysing online conversations, for example, to predict election outcomes, is becoming a popular and challenging research area. On social networking sites, citizens express themselves spontaneously regarding political topics, often driven by specific events in social life. Real-time analysis of social media can provide valuable feedback and insights to both politicians and news agencies. In this paper, we discuss the design and implementation of a system for tracking and analysing social media. The SocMINT system provides an easy-to-use, visual dashboard to monitor the discussion on specific topics, to capture trends in communities and, by iteratively applying multidimensional data analysis and filtering, to deeply analyse posts and influencers. SocMINT aggregates data from multiple social sources and performs sentiment analysis on textual, visual and mixed content via a specifically designed neural network architecture. The system was applied in a real context by administrative staff of a political party to effectively analyse candidates' political communication on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and the related online community reactions and discussion. In the paper, we report on this real-world case study, showing how the system meaningfully captures trends in public opinion, comparing the main KPIs provided by SocMINT with the outcomes of traditional polls.