1,720,960 research outputs found
Atypical Findings of Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome in Early Infancy: A Diagnostic Challenge
Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by hematological abnormalities, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and skeletal dysplasia. We describe a 2-month-old girl with intrauterine and extrauterine growth restriction who presented with an isolated severe anemia requiring red blood cell transfusion, without gastrointestinal symptoms, history of infection, or congenital abnormalities. An abdominal ultrasound revealed a reduced pancreatic thickness and abnormal echogenicity without fat infiltration, further confirmed by MRI. Because of this peculiar pancreatic appearance, pancreatic function was investigated and revealed exocrine insufficiency. Genetic testing confirmed SDS diagnosis. The typical clinical, laboratory, and imaging features of SDS are often lacking in the first months of life, and this may delay diagnosis. In early infancy, low birth weight and lack of catch-up growth, isolated hematological abnormalities other than neutropenia and atypical pancreatic imaging may lead to SDS diagnosis even when the most common diagnostic criteria are not fulfilled
A combined X-ray and ultrasonographic detection of atypical pleural effusion unmasks a community-acquired necrotizing pneumonia
Occurrence of Albifimbria verrucaria in the Blood of a Female Child With Neuroblastoma
We report for the first time the occurrence of a filamentous fungus, Albifimbria verrucaria,
in the blood of a pediatric neuroblastoma patient. The Albifimbria genus comprises
common soil-inhabiting and saprophytic fungi and has been isolated as a plant pathogen
in Northern and Southern Italy. As a human pathogen, A. verrucaria has been implicated
in keratitis and can produce trichothecene toxins, which are weakly cytotoxic for
mammalian cell lines. A. verrucaria was isolated from blood during the follow-up of a
previous coagulase-negative Staphylococcus catheter-related infection. Lung nodules,
compatible with fungal infection, had been observed on a CT scan 6 months earlier;
they still persist. Possible routes of transmission were considered to be airborne,
catheter related, or transfusion dependent, as the patient had undergone platelet and
red blood cell transfusions during rescue chemotherapy. No filamentous fungi were
isolated from sputum or CVCs. In conclusion, we describe an unprecedented fungemia
caused by A. verrucaria and show how an unexpected pathogen may be acquired
from the environment by patients at high risk due to immunosuppression. The route of
transmission remains unknown
X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets: cases series and literature review with a focus on neurosurgical management
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The 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
Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach
Background: The thymus gland is a lymphoid organ normally located in the anterior mediastinum. Location abnormalities of the thymus, such as ectopic thymus or the superior herniation of a mediastinal thymus, could be responsible for the occurrence of cervical masses in pediatric patients, raising concerns among clinicians. The knowledge of these conditions is essential for a thorough differential diagnosis and for preventing unnecessary invasive procedures. Methods: Descriptive retrospective series of three patients with a cervical mass, that was later diagnosed as ectopic thymic tissue. Results: The thymus has a unique and distinctive ultrasound appearance that is the keystone to detecting thymic parenchyma in locations other than anterior mediastinum. In selected patients, an accurate ultrasound could be conclusive for the diagnosis, with no need for further and potentially risky procedures. Conclusions: This case series supports the use of ultrasound in both diagnosis and follow-up of thymus location abnormalities, advocating a minimal invasive and conservative approach
Variations on the Author
“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
We 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
We 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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