1,721,026 research outputs found
Congenital hemiplegia and epilepsy: a retrospective clinical study of 78 patients
No full textThe AA studied the electroclinical features and epileptic manifestations in 78 patients wiyh congenital hemiplegia
Increased Apparent Oral Clearance of Valproic Acid during Intake of Combined Contraceptive Steroids in Women with Epilepsy
No full textPURPOSE: To determine potential changes in total and unbound serum valproic acid (VPA) concentrations at steady-state during a cycle of intake of combined hormonal contraceptive (HC) steroids.
METHODS: Blood samples were collected from nine women stabilized on VPA monotherapy on two separate randomized occasions: (i) at the end of the 4- to 7-day HC-free interval, and (ii) on the last day of the HC intake period. Trough concentrations of VPA in serum and serum ultrafiltrates were determined by fluorescence polarization immunoassay.
RESULTS: In all women, total and unbound VPA concentrations were higher during the HC-free interval than during HC intake (means +/- SD: 425 +/- 184 vs. 350 +/- 145 micromol/L, respectively, for total VPA, p = 0.002, and 55 +/- 37 vs. 39 +/- 25 micromol/L, respectively, for unbound VPA, p = 0.005). Compared with the HC-free interval, HC intake was associated with a mean 21.5% increase in VPA total apparent oral clearance (from 8.0 +/- 5.2 to 9.7 +/- 6.4 ml/h/kg, p = 0.01) and a 45.2 % increase in VPA unbound apparent oral clearance (from 79 +/- 81 to 115 +/- 121 ml/h/kg, p = 0.029).
CONCLUSIONS: The apparent oral clearance of total and unbound VPA increases during the HC intake period compared with the HC-free interval, probably due to induction of glucuronosyltransferase by ethinylestradiol. The magnitude of the change varies across individuals, being potentially clinically relevant in some cases. Serum VPA concentrations should be monitored when adding or discontinuing HC steroids, and possibly during the on-off intervals of a HC cycle
Sustained attention task-related changes of functional connectivity in children with ADHD
No full textElectroencephalography (EEG) has been widely used for the search of robust biomarkers to characterize neurodevelopmental disorders, such as AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Besides the classical spectral measures, brain functional connectivity is emerging in
the last years and ADHD has been associated with brain network abnormalities with respect to normally developing children. Such a finding has been obtained and reproduced mainly during resting-state periods, thus the changing network patterns during cognitive task are still unexplored. In this study, we used the imaginary part of the coherence (ImCoh) connectivity measure and graph analysis approach on EEG to explore the functional connectivity changes during a Conners’ “not-X” continuous performance test (CPT) in a group of ADHD and healthy children. The changes in the network properties were assessed with respect to a baseline period. Results supported the role of theta and beta rhythms in attention and focus while suggesting a less efficient network integration in ADHD children
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
Reflex epileptic seizures: The Videoteque Commission of the Italian League Against Epilepsy (LICE)
No full textCircadian phase typing in idiopathic generalized epilepsy: Dim light melatonin onset and patterns of melatonin secretion—Semicurve findings in adult patients
No full textObjective/background It has been debated in the literature whether patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) have a distinctive, evening-oriented chronotype. The few questionnaire-based studies that are available in the literature have conflicting results. The aim of our study was to define chronotype in patients with IGE by determining dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). Patients/methods Twenty adults diagnosed with IGE (grand mal on awakening [GM] in 7 cases and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy in 13 cases) were investigated by means of a face-to-face semistructured sleep interview, Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, and a melatonin salivary test with DLMO determination. Eighteen healthy subjects (HC) and 28 patients affected with cryptogenic focal epilepsy (FE) served as controls. Results The mean MEQ score was significantly lower in patients with IGE than that in patients with FE (49.1 ± 5.9 versus 56.1 ± 8.7 P < 0.01) but not significantly lower than that in HC (49.1 ± 5.9 versus 49.3 ± 8.6). Midsleep on free days corrected for sleep duration did not differ significantly between the three subject groups (04:59 ± 01:21 h, 04:37 ± 01:17 h, 04:29 ± 00:52 h). The mean DLMO time in patients with IGE (22:13 ± 01:34 h) occurred 49 min later than that in HC (21.24 ± 1 h), and the melatonin surge within the 30-minute time interval after DLMO in patients with IGE was significantly lower than that in HC (1.51 ± 2.7 versus 3.8 ± 3.6 pg/mL P = 0.045). Conclusions Subjective measures of chronotype do not indicate a definite evening-oriented chronotype in patients with IGE. However, the data concerning endogenous melatonin secretion indicate that patients with IGE tend to have a late circadian phase. Further studies are warranted in order to better define the late pattern of endogenous melatonin secretion in patients with IGE and to ascertain the role of this pattern in influencing behavioral chronotype in these subjects
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