1,354,736 research outputs found
Does a hospital admission in old age denote the beginning of life with a compromised health-related quality of life? A longitudinal study of men and women aged 65 years and above participating in the Stockholm Public Health Cohort
No full textThe objective of this study was to analyse how hospitalisation after the age of 60 affected individuals' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The main hypothesis was that a hospital admission in old age can be seen as a proxy of ill health and possibly as a health divider, separating life into a healthy and an unhealthy part. The extent to which this is true depends on which disease individuals face and how functional ability and HRQoL are affected
Neuronal and endocrine cells' susceptibility to physiologic and toxic stimuli : a study on the effects of steroid hormones
No full textThe propensity of a cell to die can be influenced by a number of factors, including hormones, which affect the intracellular and extracellular milieu. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of hormones on cell fate in the nervous system and in the pituitary, with special reference to glucocorticoid and gonadal hormones. An interdisciplinary approach was taken combining in vitro and in vivo experimental models, and applying methods stretching from single cell to behavioral analysis.To test the effects of the selected hormones on neuronal cell susceptibility, cerebellar granule cells were used as an experimental model. Cells were challenged with toxicants inducing cell death via different mechanisms. A toxic stimuli used triggered apoptotic cell death, as shown by the typical morphological alterations and DNA fragmentation patterns. However, only the microtubule disrupting agent colchicine activated caspases, a family of proteases that plays a crucial role in apoptosis.The neuroprotective properties of gonadal hormones and synthetic estrogen-like compounds, such as J811, were tested on neuronal cells exposed to the apoptosis-inducing agents. Both androgens and the estrogen-like compound J811 protected from oxidative stress. While the protective effects of androgens were receptor-mediated and involved an upregulation of antioxidant enzyme-activity, the estrogen-like compound exerted its protective action via the phenolic A-ring, which confers part of the radical scavenging properties.The effects of prenatal exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids on the vulnerability of neuronal cells to stimuli inducing cell death were also investigated. The results indicated that prenatal exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids in utero induces long lasting changes in neurons, including altered mitochondrial function and decreased antioxidant enzyme activity, that render cells more sensitive to oxidative stress. Since oxidative stress is known to be involved in a variety of neuropathological conditions including aging-related disorders, prenatal exposure to excess of glucocorticoids may be a risk factor that increases cell vulnerability to insults occurring later in life.Using an in vivo model, possible sex-related differences in the susceptibility to prenatal exposure to the neurotoxic metal methylmercury were investigated. The results show that prenatal exposure to methylmercury changes dopamine-modulated motor activity in male but not in female rats. Several mechanisms may be behind the observed gender-related difference, including a sexual dimorphism in the expression of cellular defense systems.The pituitary remodeling which occurs after cessation of lactation was investigated, since it can provide greater insight into pituitary tumor formation. The results showed that apoptosis is the type of death responsible for lactotroph cell-deletion as was further confirmed by the induction of the pro-apoptotic gene Bax with a concomitant decrease in Bcl-2.Altogether, the results suggest that by elucidating beneficial and detrimental hormonal effects on cell survival preventive and therapeutic strategies may be developed.List of scientific papersI. Gorman AM, Daré E, Ahlbom E, Götz M, Momoi T, Ceccatelli S (2000). "Activation of different cell death pathways is associated with apoptotic morphology in cerebellar granule cells" Neurotox Res (Submitted)II. Götz ME, Ahlbom E, Zhivotovsky B, Blum-Degen D, Oettel M, Römer W, Riederer P, Orrenius S, Ceccatelli S (1999). "Radical scavenging compound J 811 inhibits hydrogen peroxide-induced death of cerebellar granule cells" J Neurosci Res 56(4): 420-426 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/99270574III. Ahlbom E, Grandison L, Bonfoco E, Zhivotovsky B, Ceccatelli S (1999). "Androgen treatment of neonatal rats decreases susceptibility of cerebellar granule neurons to oxidative stress in vitro" Eur J Neurosci 11(4): 1285-1291 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/99203356IV. Ahlbom E, Prins G, Ceccatellli S (2000). "Testosterone protects cerebellar granule cells from oxidative stress-induced cell death through a receptor mediated mechanism" Brain Res (Submitted)V. Ahlbom E, Gogvadze V, Celsi G, Cecdatelli S (2000). "Prenatal exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids increases cerebellar granule cells´susceptibiblity to oxidative stressinduced cell death" J Clin Invest (Submitted)VI. Rossi AD, Ahlbom E, Ögren SO, Nicotera P, Ceccatelli S (1997). "Prenatal exposure to methylmercury alters locomotor activity of male but not female rats" Exp Brain Res 117(3): 428-436 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/98099548VII. Gimenez-Llort L, Ahlbom E, Daré E, Vahter M, Ögren SO, Ceccatelli S (2000). "Prenatal exposure to methylmercury changes dopamine-modulated motor activity during early ontogeny: age and gender-dependent effects" Environ Toxicol Pharmacol (In Print)VIII. Ahlbom E, Grandison L, Zhivotovsky B, Ceccatelli S (1998). "Termination of lactation induces apoptosis and alters the expression of the Bcl-2 family members in the rat anterior pituitary" Endocrinology 139(5): 2465-2471 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/98224530</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
No full text“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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe 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
An autobiographical history of Ethno Sweden: a testimonial about its origins, underlying ideology and initial goals
No full textEthno is a multicultural summer camp for young musicians interested in traditional, folk and world music which began in Sweden in 1990 and continues today, having spread over 15 countries in the last decade. It is characterized by its peer-to-peer learning approach whereby young people teach each other the music from their countries and cultures. This article reconstructs part of the history of Ethno Sweden through an autobiographical report written by its founder, Magnus Bäckström, about the origin, ideology, strategies, and organization of the event. Interviews with the current organizer, Peter Ahlbom, complement this report detailing the organization of the event after Magnus’ departure, the process of its affiliation to the non-governmental organization Jeunesses Musicales International, and its expansion to other countries. Information is given about how the organization of Ethno Sweden went from the Falun Folkmusic Festival to Rikskonserter (Concerts Sweden) and then to Folkmusikens Hus in Rätvik.Ethno é um acampamento de verão multicultural para jovens músicos interessados em música tradicional, folclórica e mundial que começou na Suécia em 1990 e continua até hoje, tendo se espalhado por 15 países na última década. Caracteriza-se por sua abordagem de aprendizagem ponto a ponto, na qual os jovens ensinam uns aos outros a música de seus países e culturas. Este artigo reconstrói parte da história da Ethno Suécia por meio de um relatório autobiográfico escrito por seu fundador, Magnus Bäckström, sua origem, ideologia, estratégias e organização do evento. Entrevistas com o atual organizador, Peter Ahlbom, complementam este relatório detalhando a organização do evento após a saída de Magnus, o processo de afiliação à organização não governamental Jeunesses Musicales International e sua expansão para outros países. São fornecidas informações sobre como a organização da Ethno Suécia foi do Festival Folkmusic da cidade de Falun para Rikskonserter (Concertos na Suécia) depois para Folkmusikens Hus, na cidade de Rätvik
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
