1,720,981 research outputs found
Health-related quality of life in subjects with respiratory diseases: the GEIRD study
No full textIntroduzione: Secondo l’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità, nel mondo, 300 milioni di persone sono affette da asma, 210 milioni da Broncopneumopatia cronica ostruttiva (COPD), 400 da rinite allergica e 50 milioni da altre patologie respiratorie. È noto che la presenza di patologie croniche, determina affaticamento, sbalzi d’umore, depressione e ansia. La qualità della vita legata allo stato di salute (HRQL), misurata attraverso questionari standard, è diventata uno strumento fondamentale, sia negli studi osservazionali sia nei trial clinici, per la misura dello stato psico-fisico dei soggetti affetti da patologie croniche.
Obiettivi: l’obiettivo principale di questa tesi, è quello di valutare la relazione tra HRQL e le patologie respiratorie (COPD, asma, rinite, altre patologie respiratorie (ORC)); verranno inoltre valutati i fattori associati sia all’HRQL sia alle patologie respiratorie, quali il sesso, l’età, il BMI, le abitudini al fumo, l’educazione scolastica, le comorbidità non respiratorie e cardiache.
Metodi: nell’ambito del progetto GEIRD, uno studio ancora in corso, multicentrico, nested, multicaso-controllo, con l’obiettivo di valutare quale ruolo giochino fattori genetici e ambientali nell’insorgenza delle patologie respiratorie, sono stati arruolati 328 controlli, 78 casi di rinite non allergica e 131 casi di rinite allergica, 145 soggetti affetti da ORC, 224 asmatici correnti, 126 soggetti affetti da asma nel passato e 28 casi di COPD. L’HRQL è stato misurato attraverso il questionario SF-36 (versione 1.6), parte integrante del protocollo di studio ed è stato chiesto ad ogni soggetto partecipante all’indagine di compilarlo autonomamente. La relazione tra HRQL e le patologie respiratorie, è stata valutata tramite modelli di regressione quantilica. I punteggi della componente fisica (PCS) e mentale (MCS) sono stati considerati come outcomes (variabili dipendenti) mentre sesso, età, BMI, livello d’istruzione, abitudini al fumo, comorbidità non respiratorie e/o cardiache e le variabili di disegno sono state considerate come covariate (variabili indipendenti).
Risultati: In generale, tutti i soggetti affetti da patologie respiratorie, hanno ottenuto un punteggio PCS inferiore rispetto ai controlli, in particolare, i soggetti con ORC hanno totalizzato un punteggio mediano inferiore di 1.5 punti rispetto ai controlli (p=0.002), gli asmatici correnti di 1.6 punti (p<0.001) e i soggetti affetti da COPD di 5.5 punti inferiore (p<0.001). Come per la componente fisica, anche quella mentale è stata inferiore nei soggetti con asma corrente (-2.1, p<0.001), con ORC ((-3.5, p<0.001) e con COPD (-4.8, p<0.001).
Conclusioni: lo studio GEIRD è il primo ad aver analizzato l’HRQL effettuando un confronto diretto e simultaneo della qualità della vita in diverse patologie respiratorie. Molte indagini hanno valutato l’effetto dell’asma, la COPD, la rinite (allergica e non) e delle ORC, ma nessuno ha considerato tutte queste patologie simultaneamente. Per questa ragione, siamo stati in grado di valutare e misurare l’effetto di ogni singola patologia e le sue comorbidità respiratorie. Da questo lavoro emerge inoltre che i soggetti affetti da COPD, asma corrente e ORC hanno ottenuto il più basso punteggio PCS e MCS rispetto ai controlli. In particolare, i soggetti con COPD hanno totalizzato lo score peggiore, sia mentalmente che fisicamente. Gli asmatici correnti e i soggetti con ORC hanno punteggi mediani di salute psico-fisica simili.Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO 2007), worldwide 300 millions of people suffered from asthma, 210 millions from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), 400 from allergic rhinitis and more than 50 millions from other respiratory conditions. It has well been known that having chronic diseases causes significant fatigue and mood changes, depression and anxiety. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) measured by standard questionnaires has become an important measure of the well-being of those affected and it is used to evaluate the magnitude of the impact of disease both in the observational studies and clinical trials.
Aim: the main aim of this thesis is to study in depth the relationship between HRQL and respiratory diseases. We also explore association between HRQL and subjects’ characteristics like sex, age, BMI, smoking habits, education status, non-respiratory and cardiac comorbidities.
Methods: Controls (n=328) and cases of Non-Allergic Rhinitis (NAR, n=78), Allergic Rhinitis (AR, n=131), Other Respiratory Conditions (ORC, n=145), Current Asthma (CA, n=224), Past Asthma (PA, n=126) and COPD (n= 28) were recruited in the frame of the nested multi-case control GEIRD study, an ongoing Italian multicentre multicase-control survey aimed at investigating the role that genetic and environmental factors play on respiratory diseases. HRQL was measured using the generic version 1.6 of the SF-36 questionnaire, which was part of the GEIRD core protocol and was self-administered by all subjects. The Relationship between HRQL and respiratory diseases, was examined through quantile regression model with Physical Component Score (PCS) and Mental Component Score (MCS) as outcomes (dependent variables) and gender, age, BMI, education level, smoking habits, presence of at least one non-respiratory comorbidities, presence of at least one heart disease, study cohort and calendar period as covariates (independent variables).
Results: In general, all subjects suffering from respiratory diseases had PCS scores lower than controls, in particular in subjects who suffered from ORC, the median score was 1.5 points lower (p=0.002), in current asthmatics 1.6 (p<0.001) and COPD cases 5.5 lower (p<0.001). As for PCS, mental score was lower in current asthmatics (-2.1, p<0.001), ORC (-3.5, p<0.001), and COPD cases (-4.8, p<0.001).
Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study that analysed HRQL performing a direct and simultaneous comparison of quality of life in several respiratory disorders. Several surveys studied the effect of asthma, COPD, NAR, AR and ORC on HRQL, but none considered all these pathologies together. For this reason, we are able to measure and directly compare the effect of each single disorder and its respiratory comorbidities.
We found that subjects who suffered from COPD, current asthma and ORC had poorer HRQL than controls. In particular, people with COPD had the worst scores for both PCS and MCS. Asthmatics patients had similar PCS but higher MCS scores compared to ORC group
DNA and fatty acids oxidative stress in respiratory diseases: Preliminary results from the GEIRD study
No full textAmong the determinants of respiratory diseases, emphasis has recently been placed on oxidative stress, but its role on the occurrence of the respiratory diseases is only partially known. The aim of this study is to investigate the oxidative stress levels in people with respiratory diseases and controls.
8-OHdG, a DNA oxidation product, and 8-isoprostane, a lipid oxidation product, were measured in spot-urine samples collected in the frame of Genes Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases (GEIRD) study, a nested multi-case control survey. Controls and cases of COPD, current asthma, past asthma, non-allergic rhinitis, allergic rhinitis and other respiratory conditions (n= 239, 19, 122, 70, 58, 45 and 76 respectively) were analysed to test differences in levels of urinary creatinine-corrected 8-OHdG and 8-isoprostane, using quantile regression models adjusting for age, gender, smoking habits, BMI and other potential confounders.
Adjusted 8-OHdG median concentrations were significantly higher in allergic rhinitis (4.7ng/mg, 95%CI 3.8;5.6), current asthma (4.3ng/mg, 95%CI 3.7;4.9) and COPD cases (5.4ng/mg, 95%CI 3.8;7.1) than in controls (3.3ng/mg, 95%CI 2.8;3.8). 8-isoprostane median levels were higher, even if not significantly different, in subjects with respiratory diseases (range 0.57-0.69ng/mg) than in controls (0.51ng/mg).
While 8-isoprostane seems to be implied to a minor extent in respiratory illnesses, 8-OHdG has a significant association in COPD, asthma and allergic rhinitis
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
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