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IGF1 and IGFBP3 in constitutional delay in growth and puberty with transient GH deficiency
[Somatotropin function in term and premature newborns during the first month of life]
Neonatal somatotropic function is characterized by a discrepancy between elevated growth hormone (GH) levels and low IGF I levels. This study aimed at explaining this discrepancy, particularly to examining if it could result from low GH bioactivity. Serum concentrations of bioactive GH (bio GH), GH measured by radioimmunoassay (riGH), GH binding protein (GHBP), IGF I and IGF binding proteins (IGFBP) were determined in 27 premature and term newborns during the first month of life. At day 4, riGH and bio GH concentrations were elevated in both premature and term newborns as compared with normal prepubertal children; GHBP and IGF I levels were low, with a positive correlation with gestational age (P < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between GHBP and IGF I levels. IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 levels were elevated and negatively correlated with gestational age (P < 0.005). IGFBP-3 levels were within the range of prepubertal children values and positively correlated with gestational age (P < 0.005). During the first month, riGH and bio GH levels decreased in all infants, while IGFI levels increased in premature infants only, and GHBP levels in term infants only. The elevated levels of bio GH during the first days of life appear to be related to the low levels of IGF I due to a reduced number or function of GH receptors. In premature infants the decrease in GH levels observed afterwards appears to be secondary to the increase in IGF I levels. In term infants, in the absence of increase in IGFI levels other(s) factor(s) seem(s) to be involved
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Relationship between the morphological evaluation of the pituitary and the growth hormone (GH) response to GH-releasing hormone Plus arginine in children and adults with congenital hypopituitarism.
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) of childhood onset: reassessment of GH status and evaluation of the predictive criteria for permanent GHD in young adults.
Growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) of childhood onset: reassessment of GH status and evaluation of the predictive criteria for permanent GHD in young adults.
GH secretion was reevaluated after completion of GH treatment at a mean age of 19.2 +/- 3.2 yr in 35 young adults with childhood-onset GH deficiency (GHD). The patients were subdivided into 4 groups according to their first pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings: group I, 11 patients with isolated GHD (IGHD) and normal pituitary volume (280 +/- 59.4 mm3); group II, 7 patients with IGHD and small pituitary gland (163.1 +/- 24.4 mm3; P = 0.0009 vs. group I); group III, 13 patients (5 with IGHD and 8 with multiple pituitary hormone deficiency) with congenital hypothalamic-pituitary abnormalities such as pituitary hypoplasia (95.8 +/- 39.3 mm3; P < 0.00001 vs. group I and P = 0.003 vs. group II), pituitary stalk agenesis, and posterior pituitary ectopia; and group IV, 4 patients with multiple pituitary hormone deficiency secondary to craniopharyngioma. Pituitary MRI and GH secretory status were reevaluated after GH withdrawal using arginine, insulin induced-hypoglycemia, and sequential arginine-insulin tests. Serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were determined at the time of retesting and 6, 12, and 24 months after discontinuation of treatment in the patients with permanent GHD and after 6 months in those with normal GH responses to stimulation. The patients in groups I and II showed a normal response to stimulation after completion of GH treatment regardless of pituitary size, whereas all patients in groups III and IV still had a GH response of less than 3 microg/L to any of the tests. Pituitary volume normalized in 6 of 7 patients in group II, whereas in all patients in group III MRI studies confirmed the initial findings. Mean IGF-I and IGFBP-3 concentrations at the time of retesting were significantly higher in groups I and II than in groups III and IV. In patients of groups III and IV, mean IGF-I was significantly decreased after 6 and 12 months, whereas IGFBP-3 was significantly decreased 12 months after treatment withdrawal. Our results confirm that a high proportion of children with IGHD and normal or small pituitary show normalization of GH secretion at the completion of GH treatment, whereas GHD is permanent in all patients with pituitary hypoplasia, pituitary stalk agenesis, and posterior pituitary ectopia. IGF-I and IGFBP-3 determinations shortly after GH withdrawal had limited value in the diagnosis of GHD of childhood onset associated with congenital hypothalamic-pituitary abnormalities, but became accurate after 6-12 months. We suggest that patients with GHD and congenital hypothalamic-pituitary abnormalities do not require further investigation of GH secretion, whereas patients with IGHD and normal or small pituitary gland should be retested well before the attainment of adult height
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