1,720,971 research outputs found
Nutritional status and oxidative stress in an elderly Sardinian population
No full textWeight loss and overweight/obesity – frequent
consequences of malnutrition – may impair functional status
and worsen concomitant morbidities in the elderly,
often through changes in oxidative balance. In order to
verify the relationships between these factors, a group of elderly people living on the island of Sardinia (Italy)
underwent health and nutritional status assessment and oxidative balance evaluation. The elderly subjects had significantly
higher d-ROMs test and body mass index (BMI) values than controls (d-ROMs 325.4 ± 66.3 vs. 295.4 ± 58.9 CARR U, p = 0.006; BMI 28.0 ± 4.6 vs. 21.7 ± 1.4 kg/m2, p < 0.0001). The risk of malnutrition in the elderly
subjects was evaluated with the Mini Nutritional
Assessment (MNA), which showed that 32 of the 111 elderly subjects (28.8%) were at risk of malnutrition, of
whom 11 (34%) were overweight and 10 (31.2%) obese. Oxidative stress was negatively and significantly correlated with nutritional status. Oxidative stress may precede malnutrition, even in the absence of weight loss. Routine evaluation of nutritional status and oxidative balance in
the elderly may help identify an early risk of malnutrition
so that treatment can be personalized
Oxidative Imbalance in HIV-1 Infected Patients Treated with Antiretroviral Therapy
Full text linkIt is generally accepted that oxidative stress is involved in HIV infection. However, the role in oxidative balance of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is still debated. In our study we assessed serum oxidant and antioxidant levels in an HIV-
1-infected population treated with HAART, and compared them with those of untreated HIV-1 patients and HIV-1-negative
subjects. The study included 116 HIV-1-infected patients (86 HAART-treated and 30 untreated), and 46 HIV-negative controls.
Serum oxidant levels were significantly higher in the HIV-1 treated group as compared to untreated and control groups. In addition, a decrease of serum total antioxidant status was observed in the HIV-1 treated group. To be noted is that patients who rigorously follow antiretroviral therapy (optimal HAART adherence) have significantly higher oxidative status than those who do not closely follow the therapy (poor HAART adherence). Analysis of variance revealed no significant further increase in oxidative status in HIV-1-infected patients taking antiretroviral and other drugs with the exception of psychiatric drugs (e.g. anxiolytics or antidepressants). Taken together, our results indicate that HAART may affect oxidative stress in HIV-1-infected patients and
suggest that antiretroviral therapy plays an important role in the synergy of HIV infection and oxidative stress
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
Prospective study of transfusion-associated hepatitis among thalassemic children following the introduction of anti-HCV donor screening: an interim report
No full text
Cognitive decline and depressive symptoms in late-life are associated with statin use: evidence from a population-based study of Sardinian old people living in their own home
No full textObjectives: This study was designed to provide further insights into the effects of dyslipidemia (Dys-y) and use of statins (St-y) on cognitive functions and mood in older people. Methods: Three hundred and twenty-nine subjects aged § 65 years were screened for cognitive dysfunction using mini mental state examination (MMSE). The geriatric depression scale (GDS) was used to detect depression. Interview questionnaires surveyed activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL), as well as other functional disabilities. The presence of neutral lipids (NLs) in cytoplasm of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was determined with the Oil red O (ORO) staining. Results: There was no significant difference in MMSE and GDS scores between normal (Dys-n) and Dys-y. However, when Dys-y subjects were divided into St-y and non-statin users (St-n), significant differences emerged in the scores of MMSE and GDS: St-y had lower MMSE and higher GDS than St-n. Multiple correspondence analysis and logistic regression provided further evidence that elderly St-y were much more likely to suffer of cognitive impairment and depression than St-n. Another interesting finding was that the intensity of NL-PBMCs measured by ORO staining was greater in subjects with altered MMSE compared with cognitively normal subjects. In addition St-y had higher ORO score than St-n. Discussion: This is an observational study and cannot, therefore, prove a causal relationship between St-y in the elderly and a higher cognitive decline, nevertheless it provides substantial indications that caution should be exercised in the provision of statins in elderly subjects to avoid accelerated memory loss. © W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2014
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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