1,720,990 research outputs found
Simple proxies of insulin resistance identify obese metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease subjects with advanced liver disease
No full textAims: Insulin resistance (IR) plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD), which can progress to liver fibrosis. We examined the relationship of different IR scores with markers of MAFLD severity in obese individuals. Materials and methods: In this retrospective observational study, 346 non-diabetic, overweight/obese individuals with newly diagnosed MAFLD (age 50.2 ± 13.3 years, 34% females, BMI 30.8 ± 4.4 kg/m2 ) underwent liver stiffness (LS) and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) measurements by Fibroscan® to assess liver fibrosis and steatosis. Biochemical data were collected to calculate surrogate markers of IR (Homoeostasis model assessment - insulin resistance index [HOMA-IR], triglyceride-glucose index, triglyceride by HDL ratio), liver fibrosis (Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases fibrosis score, fibrosis-4 score, Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index) and steatosis (fatty liver index, hepatic steatosis index). Results: All three IR scores were associated with CAP, while only HOMA-IR positively correlated with LS (r = 0.275, p < 0.0001), independent of age and sex, BMI, transaminases, and fibrosis markers. Insulin-resistant individuals (HOMA-IR >2.5, n = 165) had higher liver enzymes, CAP and LS, with a 4-fold increased risk of severe liver disease (LS >9.7 kPa, OR 4.42[1.95-10.01], p = 0.0002). Among HOMA-IR components, fasting plasma insulin (FPI) was independently associated with LS (r = 0.270, p < 0.0001). ROC AUC for HOMA-IR and FPI to predict severe liver disease were virtually identical (0.748 and 0.758, respectively). Conclusions: HOMA-IR is independently associated with non-invasive markers of MAFLD severity in overweight/obese individuals. This relationship is largely mediated by hyperinsulinemia, regardless of BMI. Measuring insulin levels in MAFLD individuals might be useful to identify those at risk of liver fibrosis
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
Nella fase HBeAg negativa dell’infezione cronica da virus dell’epatite B i livelli circolanti dell’antigene di superficie non sono influenzati dall’eterogeneità del gene “S” della quasispecie circolante
No full textL’epatite B è una delle più diffuse malattie infettive al mondo. Nonostante l’esistenza di una vaccinazione efficace, la cifra stimata di infetti di HBV è più di due miliardi di persone e, di queste, più di 350 milioni hanno un’infezione cronica (WHO, 2000), rappresentando un rilevante problema di salute pubblica mondiale. I motivi di tale entità di diffusione possono spiegarsi considerando le strategie di trasmissione efficaci (in particolare la trasmissione perinatale), il lungo periodo di incubazione e i meccanismi messi in atto dal virus nell’evadere la risposta immune dell’ospite.
L’infezione da HBV è tipicamente acquisita alla nascita o nella prima infanzia in Asia ed Africa, zone in cui HBV è endemico. Nei Paesi occidentali, invece, la trasmissione avviene maggiormente attraverso contatto sessuale e parenterale nella popolazione adulta.
Lo spettro delle manifestazioni cliniche dell’infezione da HBV è ampio, variando da quadri asintomatici a quello di epatite acuta, e di epatite cronica, potenzialmente causa di cirrosi epatica ed epatocarcinoma (HCC).
Obiettivo del presente studio è stato quello di caratterizzare, in una coorte di 260 portatori di infezione da HBV HBeAg negativa genotipo D, l’eterogeneità dell’intero gene S e valutarne la correlazione con i livelli sierici di HBsAg, in accordo al diverso profilo virologico e clinico.
Sono stati studiati, quindi, 260 pazienti con infezione cronica da HBV HBeAg negativa/antiHBe positiva genotipo D (età mediana 48 anni, min-max: 13-77 anni; 165 maschi e 95 femmine), osservati in maniera consecutiva presso l’U.O. di Epatologia dell’Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana dal 1998 al 2016.
Complessivamente, l’evidenza che i pazienti con quasispecie circolante mutata in Pre-S/S mantengano livelli di HBsAg simili a quelli dei soggetti senza mutazioni si può spiegare con l’elevata complessità dei processi che presiedono alla produzione dell’HBsAg e fa ipotizzare che nei pazienti con mutazioni in Pre-S/S in grado di ridurre la secrezione delle proteine di superficie, l’HBsAg circolante possa avere differenti origini genetiche.
La produzione di HBsAg, nei soggetti con presenza di una quasispecie “difettiva” dominante, potrebbe essere complementata da popolazioni wild-type minoritarie o derivare da sequenze integrate di HBV-DNA che codificano per la proteina HBsAg. In accordo con quest’ultima ipotesi, recenti studi hanno dimostrato come, nello scimpanzè HBeAg negativo, l’HBsAg circolante derivi principalmente dalla trascrizione di sequenze di HBV integrate
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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