1,720,957 research outputs found
UTILITY OF A SELF ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRE AS A TOOL FOR SCREENING JOINT INVOLVEMENT UNDERWAY PSORIASIS
No full textBackground: The psoriatic arthropathy (AP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of skeletal muscle associated with psoriasis that can involve the synovium, cartilage, bone, tendons and entheses. The identification of individuals with AP can be difficult due to both the wide variability of the clinical manifestations, and the lack of bio-specific markers of the disease.
The dermatologist is not always able to recognize the clinical manifestations of this disease and therefore a multidisciplinary approach between the dermatologist and rheumatologist in this context is of considerable importance in order to make an early diagnosis and target treatment.
Methods: We have developed a questionnaire that can be self-administered to psoriasis patients to identify those who are more likely to be affected by rheumatology. There are 11 questions with the answers:, “no”, “I don't know”, “I don't understand”, that patients can compile themselves in the waiting room before their visit.
Results: 106 questionnaires were collected as part of the surgery “psoriasis” of the Dermatology Clinic of the Hospital. All patients who reported joint symptoms and who did not have a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis (49) were subsequently evaluated by the rheumatologist. The survey showed a diagnosis of AP in 7 cases and suspected AP in another 5 cases. Among the 7 patients with ascertained AP: 86% reported back pain, 71% reported the presence of ”sausage fingers” and another 71% reported waking up with joint or muscle pain which resolved after at least half an hour of movement.Conclusions: Having identified in a simple way arthropathic complications in a group of patients who were already followed for only psoriasis, the self-administered questionnaire is, therefore, a simple and economical tool to help identify patients affected by psoriasis to be sent to the rheumatologist to confirm the diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis
Effect of treatment with iloprost with or without bosentan on nailfold videocapillaroscopic alterations in patients with systemic sclerosis
No full textIntroduction: Vascular involvement plays a decisive role in systemic sclerosis (SSc) pathogenesis; it is responsible for some important clinical manifestations of the disease such as Raynaud’s phenomenon and digital ulcers (DU). Bosentan, a dual receptor endothelin antagonist, and iloprost, often in combination therapy, seems to be able to interfere with the scleroderma microangiopathy. Objectives: Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of bosentan and iloprost on scleroderma microangiopathy, analyzed by means of capillaroscopic skin ulcer risk index (CSURI), in SSc patients treated for the prevention of DU. Methods: Nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) was performed in 95 SSc patients, treated with iloprost alone (group 1) or combination therapy with iloprost and bosentan (group 2), at baseline and after one year. In all patients CSURI was calculated according to the formula “diameter × number of megacapillaries/(total number of capillaries)2”: in addition, total number of capillaries, giant capillaries, micro-hemorrhages, disorganization of the vascular array, and ramified capillaries were evaluated by means of a semiquantitative score. Results: After 12 months, we observed a reduction of the number of giant capillaries in both groups, while an increase of ramified capillaries was recorded only in group 2. CSURI improved slightly in group 2 without statistical significance; on the contrary, in group 1 a significant worsening was recorded (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: Our study confirms the effectiveness of bosentan, in combination with iloprost, in SSc microangiopathy observed to NVC. Moreover, the observed findings further support the role of CSURI in the evaluation and monitoring of SSc microangiopathy
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
Treatment with Rituximab in Systemic Sclerosis Patients: Our Experience in a Pilot Clinical Trial
No full textBackground Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an immune-mediated disorder characterized by abnormal fibrosis and diffuse microangiopathy with skin and internal organ involvement due to both T- and B-lymphocyte activation. The present study aimed to assess the efficacy of long-term treatment with rituximab (RTX), a chimeric monoclonal antibody that targets B-cell CD20. The rationale for the use of RTX in SSc is based on experimental data suggesting a key role for B cells in regulating the fibrotic process.
Objectives The present study aimed to assess the efficacy of long-term treatment with rituximab (RTX) in systemic sclerosis patients.
Methods Eleven SSc patients (M/F 3/8, mean age 43.2±10.5SD years, mean disease duration 3.6±6.2SD years) underwent to RTX cycle (weekly infusion of RTX 375 mg/m2 of body surface plus 100 mg methylprednisolone for 4 weeks); in 10/11 RTX was repeated every 6 months for a total of 2-6 cycles. Patients' clinical-serological evaluation, including HAQ assessment and visual analogical scale (VAS), was performed every six months.
Results At the end of the follow-up period (3.7±2.8 SD years) an improvement of the skin sclerosis involvement was constantly observed; in particular, patients with diffuse SSc cutaneous variant showed a significant decrease of modified Rodnan skin score (from 25±4.1 to 17.2±4.1; p<0.004). Similarly, the articular involvement, melanodermia, and calcinosis ameliorated if compared to baseline; these positive clinical variations were mirrored by a subjective recovery of patients' well being in all cases (HAQ, VAS). No significant variations were observed with regards to other SSc clinical manifestations; in particular, lung involvement remained stable or showed a moderate progression at the last patients' evaluation. Finally, in no cases significant side effects were observed.
Conclusions Our results indicate that treatment of SSc patients with RTX may be particularly effective for severe skin sclerosis, as suggested by other preliminary trials. The scarce efficacy of RTX on some disease manifestations may suggest the use of combined treatment, namely RTX with other antifibrotic/vasoactive drugs
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
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