1,720,987 research outputs found

    Exploring sex-specific hematological changes and their impact on quality of life in patients with prolactinoma

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    Context: Despite prolactin ́s (PRL) role in stimulating hematopoiesis, anemia is commonly observed in men with macroprolactinomas. However, hematological changes in men with microprolactinomas and women with prolactinomas remain unexplored, and the impact of erythropoietic alterations on quality of life (QoL) is still unclear. Objective: To explore sex-related changes in red blood cell (RBC) parameters and their potential impact on QoL at initial diagnosis of prolactinoma and after normalization of PRL under dopamine agonists. Design: Retrospective, monocentric study involving 205 patients with prolactinoma (127 women, 62%). The SF-36 QoL questionnaire was administered to 57 women and 34 men. Results: In women, no significant changes in RBC parameters were observed at diagnosis or after PRL normalization, regardless the adenoma size. Conversely, men with microprolactinoma showed a significant increase in hematocrit (HCT) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels after PRL normalization (median HCT 42.3 vs.44.0%; Hb 14.5 vs. 15.1 g/dL; both p < 0.005). Men with macroprolactinoma exhibited similar improvements (HCT 40.2 vs. 43.9%; Hb 14.0 vs. 15.1 g/dL; both p < 0.0001). In men, hypogonadism was observed in 73% of patients at baseline, and in 11% after PRL normalization. In male patients where SF-36 was administered at diagnosis and after PRL normalization, energy improvement was observed (median 50 vs. 60, p < 0.05). While changes in Hb and HCT were not significantly impacting the QoL of women and men, persistence of hypogonadism after PRL normalization, negatively impacted all the QoL scores of men. Conclusion: Patients with prolactinoma show sex-dependent changes in RBC parameters. Unlike women, men exhibit decreased HCT and Hb levels irrespective of adenoma size. Of note, the failure to recover from hypogonadism significantly affected the QoL of men

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    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

    Variations on the Author

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    “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

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    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
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