1,720,956 research outputs found
Effects of eslicarbazepine acetate on lipid profile and sodium levels in patients with epilepsy
No full textPurpose Several studies have demonstrated that treatment with enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs is associated with increased serum lipid levels. Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) is a novel antiepileptic drug specifically designed with the objective to identify carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine analogues with favorable pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profiles. The present study aimed to assess the changes in lipid profile and sodium levels in patients with epilepsy taking ESL as adjunctive therapy. Method This report describes a retrospective cohort study of 36 adult patients with epilepsy, taking ESL as an add-on treatment. The laboratory values assessed prior and after (range 6–18 months) ESL treatment were sodium levels, total cholesterol (TC), low (LDL) and high (HDL) density lipoproteins and triglycerides. Results TC and LDL values were significantly decreased already after at least six months of therapy with ESL (191.3 ± 29.6 vs 179.7 ± 29.2 mg/dl, p < 0.0001 and 114.58 ± 22.7 vs 103.11 ± 19.46 mg/dl, p < 0.0001 respectively). HDL values before and during ESL treatment were significantly increased (57.5± 9.1 vs 63.9 ± 8.3 mg/dl; p < 0.0001). No statistically significant changes have been found in triglycerides and sodium values. Conclusions Add-on therapy with ESL, in contrast to the negative effects observed with traditional older carboxamides, positively affects lipid metabolism profile in patients with epilepsy over an average follow-up of 11 months. Further research is needed to confirm the obtained results with a focus on a comprehensive assessment of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved. © 2017 British Epilepsy Associatio
Cortical silent period duration in medication overuse headache changes according to the drug overused
No full textBackground Episodic migraineurs recorded interictally have shortened
cortical silent period (SP), as a result of reduced activation of
GABAB-ergic circuits in the motor cortex. In episodic migraine
cortical activation fluctuates depending on the migraine cycle,
whereas in chronic daily headache due to medication overuse (MOH)
it seems locked in a pre-ictal state, it is of interest thus to study the
cortical SP in patients with MOH.
Material and methods We recorded the transcranial magnetic
stimulation (TMS) induced SP in perioral muscle in 36 MOH patients,
12 migraine without aura patients studied interictally (MO), and 13
controls. MOH patients were sub-grouped in patients who overused
triptans (n = 9), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
(n = 12), and combination of both (n = 15) drugs. We delivered high
intensity magnetic stimuli through a figure-of-eight coil over the hotspot
for the perioral muscles, while subjects maximally activated
target muscles, and recorded the electromyographic responses with
surface electrodes placed bilaterally.
Results MO patients had shorter SP than controls (p = 0.021).
Despite as a whole group patients with MOH had normal SP duration
(p = 0.314), the subgroup of triptan overusers had significantly
shorter SP than controls (p = 0.005) and NSAIDs overusers
(p = 0.119) or both medications combined (p = 0.847). Monthly
tablets intake, but not disease history, correlated positively with SP
duration (r = 0.476, p = 0.003) in the whole group of MOH.
Discussion In patients with MOH the activation of motor cortical
inhibitory interneurons is greater than in episodic migraneurs studied
interictally, and it is similar to that observed in controls. SP normalisation
takes place in the MOH subgroup who overuse NSAIDs, whereas SP
duration remains short in patients who overuse triptans alone. This
finding confirms that in chronic migraineurs the overuse of NSAIDs or
triptans changes the cortical physiology distinctly, and it shows that such
distinctive effect is also exerted on cortical inhibitory circuits
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
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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