1,720,983 research outputs found
The incidence of thromboembolic events among 8860 patients with thalassemia major and intermedia in the Mediterranean area and Iran
No full textCoagulation and splenectomy: an overview
No full textVenous thromboembolic events, such as pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, and portal vein thrombosis, have been observed in adult thalassemia patients, mainly in β-thalassemia intermedia. The clinical findings are consistent with the observation of several alterations that indicate a state of activation of the hemostatic mechanisms in thalassemias. These alterations have usually been related to high platelet counts due to splenectomy and/or liver dysfunction. In a retrospective study of a large cohort of adults with thalassemia, we found a larger prevalence of venous thromboembolic events in transfusion-independent patients with thalassemia intermedia (29%) than in regularly transfused patients with thalassemia major (2%); moreover, the higher prevalence occurred particularly in splenectomized thalassemia intermedia patients. More recently, a multicenter study involving 56 tertiary referral centers in 7 countries was planned to assess the magnitude of thrombotic risk in thalassemia patients. The total number of patients who had thrombotic events was 146 (1.65%) out of 8860, with a prevalence of 0.9% in thalassemia major and 4% in thalassemia intermedia. The highest prevalence was confirmed in splenectomized patients. The observation that thrombotic events are more frequent in β-thalassemia patients who are not receiving regular transfusions (thalassemia intermedia or thalassemia major patients in less developed countries with limited transfusion resources) or in thalassemic patients who have undergone splenectomy strongly supports the procoagulant activity of circulating damaged red blood cells
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
Autonomic dysfunction and SIADH as first signs of Guillain-Barre syndrome
Get PDFA 68-year-old woman was admitted to our Internal Medicine Unit for severe hyponatremia and new onset resistant hypertension for two weeks. She also complained of nausea, weakness and paresthesia of the limbs in the previous 4 days. Several diagnostic tests were performed (blood, hormonal and urinary tests, echocardiography, ECG, renal arteries Doppler-US, total body CT scan), showing only severe hyponatremia, mild hypokalemia and mild hypochloremia. Hypertension was treated with isosorbide and doxazosin, whereas in the suspect of a Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone Secretion (SIADH), hyponatremia was treated with hypertonic saline solution with progressive normalization of serum sodium levels. Despite improvement in the presenting symptoms, after 10 days the neurological scenario worsened, with persistence of weakness and onset of areflexia of lower limbs, constipation and urinary retention. Therefore, the patient was evaluated by a neurologist who, hypothesizing a Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), required an EMG, which confirmed this clinical suspect. Intravenous immunoglobulins were immediately started and administered for 5 days, with partial improvement of weakness and areflexia. The patient was then transferred to a rehabilitation institute for the recovery path.
We report a rare form of GBS where hypertension and SIADH, not frequent clinical features of this acute inflammatory polyneuropathy, preceded the neurological manifestation. In fact, the delay in the manifestation of the neurological pattern made harder and delayed the diagnosis. However, it is important to stress that a high clinical suspicious should rise in presence of multi-resistant hypertension with, even mild, neurological symptoms and electrolytes disturbances
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
Prevalence of thromboembolic events among 8,860 patients with thalassaemia major and intermedia in the Mediterranean area and Iran
No full textBeta-thalassaemia is a congenital haemolytic anaemia characterized by partial (intermedia, TI) or complete (major, TM) deficiency in the production of (beta)-globin chains. The primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of thromboembolic events in patients with (beta)-thalassaemia. To achieve this, a multiple-choice questionnaire was sent to 56 tertiary referral centres in eight countries (Lebanon, Italy, Israel, Greece, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran), requesting specific information on patients who had experienced a thromboembolic event. The study demonstrated that thromboembolic events occurred in a clinically relevant proportion (1.65%) of 8,860 thalassaemia patients (TI - 24.7% orTM - 75.3%) from the Mediterranean and Iran. Thromboembolism occurred 4.38 times more frequently in TI thanTM (p<0.001),with more venous events occurring in TI and more arterial events occurring in TM. Thrombosis in thalassaemia was also more common in females, splenectomized patients and those with profound anaemia (haemoglobin <9 g/dl). Due to the increased risk of thromboembolic events, the rationale for splenectomy should perhaps be re-assessed and the role of transfusion therapy for the prophylaxis of thrombosis, among other complications, be evaluated prospectively. (copyright) 2006 Schattauer GmbH, Stuttgart
Molecular basis of B-thalassaemia in Italy
No full textThe β-thalassaemias are a heterogeneous group of inherited disorders of haemoglobin synthesis, all characterized by the absence (β°) or reduced output (b+ or b++) of the β chains of haemoglobin. Over 200 different mutations have been identified in the β-globin gene of patients with β-thalassaemia, whose relative frequency is different in various countries. With the exception of a few deletions, the bulk of them consist of point mutations or the loss of one or two bases, wich interferes with gene function either at the transcriptional, translational or post-translational levels. The aim of this study was to identify the frequency of β-thalassaemia mutations in Italy by molecular analysis of 1.207 β-thalassaemic alleles. Twenty-one different mutations have been identified. Three of them accounted for over 70% of the β-thalassaemia alleles identified in this population sample (codon 39, IVS1-6, IVS1-110). Thirty-six different genotypes among thalassaemia intermedia and 18 among thalassaemia major have been recorded, being some genotypes restricted to thalassaemia intermedia including homozygosity for IVS1-6 T → C and compound heterozygosity for a promoter mutation (-87 C→G ) or -101 C→T)
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
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