1,720,966 research outputs found
COVID-19 in the North American Prison System and the Public Health Response to the Epidemic
Get PDFWith a sharp increase in the number of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases worldwide, one of the hardest hit institutions are high-density prison systems. Incarcerated individuals are at a disproportionate disadvantage of contracting COVID-19 due to their previous medical history of underlying conditions, the densely packed quarters they reside in, as well as increased contact with correctional staff who frequently go in and out of prisons. This calls for public health efforts to ensure that there are guidelines in place in order to manage COVID-19 in the prison systems in a structured manner, and to reduce mortality related to the disease among prisoners. The current public health response has been to follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as push towards decarceration of those individuals who are least likely to re-offend. Finally, with continued vaccination rollouts, researchers encourage priority vaccination of both prison staff and prisoners in order to control the COVID-19 outbreaks
Stellenwert der Foramen magnum Stenose bei PatientInnen mit Achondroplasie – eine retrospektive Datenanalyse
No full textHintergrund: Die Achondroplasie zählt zu den häufigsten Skelettdysplasien und beruht auf eine gestörte enchondrale Ossifikation der Knochen mit daraus resultierenden vielen möglichen gesundheitlichen Konsequenzen. Eine häufig beobachtete Folgeerscheinung der Ossifikationsstörung ist die Stenose am Foramen magnum. Insbesondere im Kindesalter kommt ihr und der von ihr ausgehenden Kompression des zervikalen Rückenmarks ein wichtiger Stellenwert zu. Neurologische Morbidität sowie erhöhte Mortalitätsraten wurden mit der Foramen magnum Stenose in Zusammenhang gebracht, weshalb ein operativer Eingriff bei bestimmten Patienten erforderlich ist. Es existieren bereits Studien, die anhand ihrer
Patientengruppen verschiedene Indikationen für eine Foramen magnum Dekompression diskutieren, allerdings konnte bislang kein allgemein gültiger Konsensus erreicht werden.
Methodik: Ziel dieser Arbeit war es die Indikationsstellung bei operierten Patienten mit Achondroplasie zu erheben. Zusätzlich wurden operierte Patienten hinsichtlich ihrer neurologischen Funktion und Entwicklung mit jenen verglichen, die keiner Operation unterzogen wurden. Das Sekundärziel bestand darin die Hintergründe zur Foramen magnum Stenose darzustellen und mögliche assoziierte neurologische, HNO-, orthopädische und respiratorische Komplikationen anzuführen. Das Studiendesign ist retrospektiv. Wir haben neurologische, radiologische und polysomnographische Befunde aus der elektronischen Datenbank der Kinderklinik analysiert. Inkludiert wurden Patienten, die an der Abteilung mit
diagnostizierter Achondroplasie betreut wurden. Das Exklusionskriterium ergab sich auch einer anderen zugrundeliegenden Skelettdysplasie.
Resultate: Insgesamt wurden 12 Patienten in diese Studie inkludiert. 11/12 Patienten zeigten eine regelrechte neurologische Entwicklung, ohne Entwicklungsverzögerungen zum Zeitpunkt der letzten Kontrolluntersuchung. 33,3% der Patienten wurden einem neurochirurgisch-dekompressiven Eingriff unterzogen. Unsere Daten zeigen, dass die Indikationsstellung insbesondere anhand radiologischer Befunde gestellt wurde.
Schlussfolgerung: Bei unauffällig klinischer Entwicklung von Patienten mit Achondroplasie kann trotzdem eine Intervention am Foramen magnum notwendig werden, wenn radiologische Befunde Hinweise für eine Myelopathie ergeben. Um Komplikationen vorzubeugen sind eine fortlaufende interdisziplinäre Betreuung und zeitgerechte Therapie der Patienten notwendig.Background: Achondroplasia is the most common skeletal dysplasia and is caused due to a mutation in the FGFR3-gene, which results in a disordered abnormal enchondral ossification. This disease might be associated with multiple health complications, the most frequent being the foramen magnum stenosis. This complication and the possible compression of the cervical myelon is a reason of concern, especially in childhood, as it is associated with a high mortality rate and severe neurological complications. In this case, surgery becomes a necessity. Many studies discussing the indication for a foramen magnum decompression have been published, however no consensus on the management of the foramen magnum stenosis exists to date.
Methods: The aim of this thesis was to determine the indication for decompression performed in our patients. Furthermore, we compared neurological and developmental findings in patients who underwent decompression to patients to those who did not need surgery. We investigated associated neurological, orthopedic, respiratory and ENT complications and highlighted important findings about the foramen magnum stenosis. This study had a retrospective study design. Data about patient history and treatment, including neurological history, polysomnographic, as well as radiological findings, were collected from an electronic health record system.
Results: 12 patients were included in this study. 11/12 patients showed no developmental delay or abnormal neurological findings or diseases at the time of the last physical examination, while one presented with hyperreflexia in the lower limbs. The foramen magnum decompression rate in this study was found to be 33,3%; in most cases, the indication for surgery was based on abnormal MRI findings.
Conclusions: Foramen magnum decompression might be necessary despite normal neurological development if radiological findings are suggestive for cervical myelopathy. Continuous interdisciplinary care and regular follow-up are needed for these patients, in order to prevent severe complications.eingereicht von Simran BhullarDiplomarbeit Medizinische Universität Wien 202
The effect of continuous treatment with 5α androstane-3α, 17-β diol (3α-diol) on protein markers in the triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Get PDFAge-related decrease in the levels of testosterone has been associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Supplementation with testosterone and dihydrotestosterone has been shown to improve AD-related neuropathology. Recently, their metabolite 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol (3α-diol) has also shown to improve cognitive dysfunction in rodent models, and attenuate dysregulated extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation associated with β amyloid neurotoxicity in vitro. The role of continuous treatment with 3α-diol in an AD-animal model remains largely understudied. This thesis investigated the effect of continuous 3α-diol treatment on ERK and its phosphatase DUSP6, on protein markers associated with AD, and on astroglial and microglial markers in 6- and 9-month 3xTg-AD and wild-type male and female mice. No direct treatment effect of 3α-diol was seen, although multiple significant interactions were reported for certain markers. For the first time, the results present in the thesis provide evidence of the impact of 3α-diol supplementation on molecular markers associated with AD
The rise of electronic cigarettes: A brief look at their cardiovascular effects and what makes them so popular
Get PDFElectronic cigarettes (ECs) have quickly gained popularity among adolescents and adults, and have begun to replace conventional cigarettes as a source of nicotine. Although little is known about the impact of the exposure of chemical constituents of ECs, two major constituents, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin have been implicated as formaldehyde-releasing agents. The wide variety of EC flavours appeal to users of all ages with reports showing a positive correlation between EC use and sweet flavorings. In addition, although marketing strategies advertise ECs as tools to facilitate smoking cessation, the evidence supporting this role is weak. In terms of its effect on users with pre-existing cardiovascular diseases, the data is conflicting regarding whether ECs have an impact on cardiovascular function. Although it is obvious that their safety and efficacy needs to be better understood, it is nonetheless essential to review what the research conducted so far has shown
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
- …
