1,721,109 research outputs found
Antibiotic treatment of Crohn's disease:results of a multicentre double blind randomized placebo controlled trial with Rifamixin
No full text1. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2006 Apr 15;23(8):1117-25.
Antibiotic treatment of Crohn's disease: results of a multicentre, double blind,
randomized, placebo-controlled trial with rifaximin.
Prantera C, Lochs H, Campieri M, Scribano ML, Sturniolo GC, Castiglione F,
Cottone M.
Operative Unit of Gastroenterology, St Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, Rome, Italy.
[email protected]
BACKGROUND: Clinicians often employ antibiotics in Crohn's disease. Rifaximin is
active against bacteria frequently found in the intestinal mucosa of Crohn's
disease patients.
AIM: To evaluate the difference in efficacy between once and twice/daily oral
administration of rifaximin and placebo in the treatment of active Crohn's
disease.
METHODS: We enrolled 83 patients with mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease and
randomized to three treatments for 12 weeks: Group A (rifaximin 800 mg o.d. +
placebo), Group B (rifaximin 800 mg b.d.) and Group C (placebo b.d.).
RESULTS: Clinical remission was achieved by 52% of Group B, 32% (A) and 33% (C).
Clinical response was seen in 67% (B), 48% (A) and 41% (C), without reaching a
statistically significant difference. Treatment failures were: 4% (B), 12% (A)
and 33% (C), (P = 0.010). Remission and response rates of rifaximin 800 mg b.d.
were significantly higher than those of placebo and rifaximin 800 mg o.d. in
patients with elevated C reactive protein values (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Rifaximin 800 mg b.d. was superior to placebo in inducing clinical
remission of active Crohn's disease. Although this difference was not
statistically significant, the number of the failures in the placebo group was
significantly higher than those who received rifaximin 800 mg b.d.
PMID: 16611272 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
Attachment and mentalizing abilities in patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Full text linkBackground. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are associated with stress, poor quality of life, and attachment insecurity. Mentalization is the human ability to perceive and reason about feelings and psychological dispositions of one's self and others. The chronic disorders are believed to affect patients' mentalizing abilities and to determine a shift towards attachment insecurity in patients affected. In this study, the attachment dimensions and mentalization were assessed in IBD patients and healthy controls. Further knowledge about the interplay among IBD, mentalization, and attachment might shed more light into the psychopathological mechanisms leading to insecurity and vulnerability to stress in IBD. Methods. A group of 96 IBD patients and 102 healthy controls completed the attachment style questionnaire (ASQ), the reflective functioning questionnaire (RFQ), and the Eyes test, a performance-based measure of mentalization. Results. Compared to controls, IBD patients have shown more pronounced attachment anxiety and lower scores in the Eyes test. Disease activity was negatively correlated with the Eyes test scores. Conclusion. These findings have suggested a plausible impact of IBD on mentalization abilities and have provided new insights into the interplay between IBD, deficits in mentalization, and attachment insecurity. IBD patients are highly vulnerable to disease-related stress that may promote impairments in mentalization. Low mentalization might play a central role in the development of attachment insecurity and emotional disturbances in IBD. The present study's results might open new scenarios for psychodynamic approaches to the treatment of the emotional disturbances in IBD based on attachment and mentalization theory
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
Comparison of oral with rectal mesalazine in the treatment of ulcerative proctitis
No full textPURPOSE: The aim of our study was to compare the efficacy and safety of oral mesalazine with mesalazine suppositories in patients with active ulcerative proctitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A four-week, randomized, single- blind trial was performed in 58 patients with active, histologically confirmed ulcerative proctitis (≤ 15 cm) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral 800-mg mesalazine tablets taken three times per day (n = 29) compared with 400 mg of mesalazine suppositories administered three times per day (n = 29). Patients were evaluated at study entry and after two and four weeks. Efficacy evaluations included a disease activity index, which represents a score with four variables: stools frequency, rectal bleeding, mucosal appearance, and physician's assessment of disease severity. Histologic activity was also assessed at study entry and after two and four weeks in accordance with the criteria by Truelove and Richard. Safety assessment included clinical laboratory parameters and adverse event reports. RESULTS: There were no significant differences with regard to baseline comparisons of demographics and severity between the two treatment groups. Improvement in mean disease activity index score was significantly greater with suppositories compared with oral mesalazine, both at two-week and four-week visits (mean disease activity index scores at baseline, two, and four weeks: suppositories = 7.7, 2.59, and 1.48; tablets = 7.42, 5.72, and 3.48, respectively (P < 0.001)). The rate of histologic remission was significantly greater with suppositories compared with tablets both at two and four weeks (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in adverse events or clinical laboratory results between treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study indicate that treatment with mesalazine suppositories produces earlier and significantly better results than oral mesalazine in the treatment of active ulcerative proctitis
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