1,720,958 research outputs found
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s Disease: an MRI study
Full text linkThis research endeavor aimed at understanding the mechanisms behind the effectiveness of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) in addressing cognitive challenges in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. The study, conducted at the Neurology Department of Cologne University Hospital, involved mild to moderate AD patients undergoing CST. Utilizing MRI, our goal was to uncover neural transformations underlying cognitive benefits observed in CST participants, thus advancing understanding of CST's therapeutic potential.
Brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability to adapt and reorganize itself in response to experiences and injuries. This process allows for the formation of new neural connections, supporting the development of new skills and improving cognitive function. CST is designed to enhance brain plasticity and promote compensatory mechanisms in individuals with cognitive decline. Building on knowledge of neuroplasticity's role in CST and its manifestation as compensatory effects in brain imaging, our study established a framework to detect resting-state compensatory effects in healthy aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Using graph theory analysis of resting-state functional MRI data and volumetric analyses of structural MRI, we identified compensatory regions in the brain associated with cognitive performance. Our analysis revealed increased connectivity in certain brain regions despite atrophy, suggesting a compensatory mechanism to counter cognitive decline.
These findings align with existing models of compensation in aging and neurodegeneration. Specifically, we identified regions such as the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe showing successful compensation in MCI patients, with similarity to patterns observed in task-based compensational effect, suggesting that these regions may serve as targets for non-invasive stimulation techniques to enhance neuronal performance.
With evidence of brain plasticity-driven compensation in healthy aging and MCI, our study then focused on CST's capacity to mitigate cognitive decline in mild to moderate AD, using an eight-week CST program on patients with mild to moderate AD compared to a control group with no intervention. We evaluated changes in cognition, quality of life (QoL), and brain connectivity immediately after the intervention period and at a three-month follow-up. CST was found to significantly improve cognitive function, QoL, and neuropsychiatric measures in the intervention group compared to the control group.
Furthermore, our study examined the role of cognitive reserve in predicting response to CST, finding a significant correlation between improvement in cognition and years of education as a proxy measure for cognitive reserve. However, baseline total brain volume did not correlate with CST outcomes, suggesting that CST efficacy is not dependent on brain reserve in patients with mild to moderate AD.
Analysis of brain connectivity using functional MRI revealed enhanced connectivity between the hippocampus and memory-related regions, suggesting neuroplastic changes induced by CST. Additionally, increased connectivity in the parietal lobes is observed, consistent with compensatory mechanisms in healthy aging and prodromal AD.
Our results are suggestive of CST-induced neuronal activity, promoting compensatory neuroplasticity, particularly in regions associated with memory and self-representation. Autobiographical recall and narrative tasks incorporated into the CST program may contribute to memory enhancement and restoration of self-continuity.
Finally, we discussed the potential of Maintenance Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (MCST) as a longer-term intervention to maintain cognitive gains and prevent further decline in individuals with dementia. Overall, our findings highlight the effectiveness of CST in improving cognition, QoL, and brain connectivity in patients with mild to moderate AD, and provide further evidence for the broad recommendation of CST as a cost-effective non-pharmacological treatment approach for AD and emphasizes the need for its widespread accessibility in various settings, while underscoring the importance of further research to refine intervention strategies and understand underlying mechanisms
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Full text link“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
Full text linkWe 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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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