def get_nested_value(d, key):
    """Return a dictionary item given a dictionary `d` and a flattened key from `get_column_names`.

    Example:

        d = {
            'a': {
                'b': 2,
                'c': 3,
                },
        }
        key = 'a.b'

        will return: 2

    """
    if '.' not in key:
        if key not in d:
            return None
        return d[key]
    base_key, sub_key = key.split('.', 1)
    if base_key not in d:
        return None
    sub_dict = d[base_key]
    return get_nested_value(sub_dict, sub_key)