1,720,963 research outputs found
Cognitive impairment and the relation with disease measures in midly disabled patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis: baselin results from the cognitive impairment in Multiple Sclerosis (COGIMUS) study
No full textEffects of immunomodulancy treatment wit subcutaneous interferon beta-1a oncocognitive decline in mildly disabled patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
No full textQuality of life, depression and fatigue in mildly disabled patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis receiving subcutaneous interferon beta-1a: 3-year results from the COGIMUS (COGnitive Impairment in MUltiple Sclerosis) study
No full textBackground: The precise relationships among quality of life, depression, fatigue and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) are complex and poorly understood.
Objective: To assess the effects of subcutaneous interferon beta-1a on quality of life, depression and fatigue over 3 years in the COGIMUS study, and to examine the relationship between these outcomes and baseline cognitive status.
Methods: COGIMUS was an observational 3-year trial assessing cognitive function in 459 patients with relapsing-remitting MS treated with subcutaneous interferon beta-1a.
Results: In total, 331 patients completed the study (168 received interferon beta-1a, 44 mu g subcutaneously three times weekly, and 163 received interferon beta-1a, 22 mg subcutaneously three times weekly). Mean MS Quality of Life-54 (MSQoL-54) composite scores did not change over time. There were no significant differences between groups in MSQoL-54 composite scores when patients were grouped by treatment dose and baseline cognitive status. Mean (standard deviation) Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score decreased from 6.8 (4.9) at baseline to 5.8 (5.9) at year 3. Mean total Fatigue Impact Scale scores were low (<30) at all time points.
Conclusion: Quality of life, depression and fatigue remained largely stable over 3 years; no effects of treatment dose or baseline cognitive status were found
Subcutaneous interferon beta-1a has a positive effect on cognitive performance in mildly disabled patients with relapsing- remitting multiple sclerosis: 2-year results from the COGIMUS study
No full textThe effect of interferon (IFN) beta-1a (44 and 22 mg subcutaneously [sc] three times
weekly [tiw]) on cognition in mildly disabled patients with relapsing–remitting multiple
sclerosis (McDonald criteria; Expanded Disability Status Scale 4.0) was assessed by validated
neuropsychological testing at baseline and at regular intervals for up to 2 years in this ongoing
open-label, 3-year study. Year-2 data were available for 356 patients (22 mg, n1⁄4175; 44 mg,
n1⁄4181). The proportion of patients with impaired cognitive function was stable during the
study: 21.4% at baseline and 21.6% at 2 years. At 2 years, the proportion of patients with 3
impaired cognitive tests was significantly lower in the 44 mg treatment group (17.0%)
compared with the 22 mg group (26.5%; p1⁄40.034), although there was already a trend
towards a higher proportion of patients with cognitive impairment in the 22 mg group at
baseline. Factors associated with impairment in three cognitive tests after 2 years were
age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00–1.09), verbal intelligence
quotient (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.92–0.98), and having three impaired cognitive tests at baseline
(OR: 11.60; 95% CI: 5.94–22.64). These interim results show that IFN beta-1a sc tiw may have
beneficial effects on cognitive function as early as 2 years after treatment initiation, but the
final 3-year data of the study are required to confirm these results
Subcutaneous Interferon β-1a May Protect against Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: 5-Year Follow-up of the COGIMUS Study
Full text linkTo assess the effects of subcutaneous (sc) interferon (IFN) -1a on cognition over 5 years in mildly disabled patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).Patients aged 18–50 years with RRMS (Expanded Disability Status Scale score ≤4.0) who had completed the 3-year COGIMUS study underwent standardized magnetic resonance imaging, neurological examination, and neuropsychological testing at years 4 and 5. Predictors of cognitive impairment at year 5 were identified using multivariate analysis.Of 331 patients who completed the 3-year COGIMUS study, 265 participated in the 2-year extension study, 201 of whom (75.8%; sc IFN β-1a three times weekly: 44 µg, n = 108; 22 µg, n = 93) completed 5 years' follow-up. The proportion of patients with cognitive impairment in the study population overall remained stable between baseline (18.0%) and year 5 (22.6%). The proportion of patients with cognitive impairment also remained stable in both treatment groups between baseline and year 5, and between year 3 and year 5. However, a significantly higher proportion of men than women had cognitive impairment at year 5 (26.5% vs 14.4%, p = 0.046). Treatment with the 22 versus 44 µg dose was predictive of cognitive impairment at year 5 (hazard ratio 0.68; 95% confidence interval 0.48–0.97).This study suggests that sc IFN β-1a dose-dependently stabilizes or delays cognitive impairment over a 5-year period in most patients with mild RRMS. Women seem to be more protected against developing cognitive impairment, which may indicate greater response to therapy or the inherently better prognosis associated with female sex in MS
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
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