1,720,988 research outputs found
Eosinophilic Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis: Dissecting the Pathophysiology
Get PDFEosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA) is a rare multisystemic disease classified both amongst hypereosinophilic disorders and ANCA-associated vasculitis. Vessel inflammation and eosinophilic proliferation are the hallmarks of the disease and main effectors of organ damage. Two distinct disease phenotypes have classically been described according to ANCA-status: the ANCA-negative subset with eosinophil-driven manifestation and the ANCA-positive one with vasculitic manifestations. An analogous dichotomization has also been backed by histological findings and a distinct genetic background. EGPA is typically consider a Th2-mediated disease and blood and tissue eosinophilia represent the cornerstone of diagnosis. Besides, ANCA are known for inducing endothelial injury and vascular inflammation by activating the circulating neutrophils. Thus, the pathogenesis of EGPA seems to be mediated by two coexisting mechanisms. However, the verbatim application of this strict dualism cannot always be translated into routine clinical practice. In the present review we describe the current knowledge on the eosinophilic and ANCA-mediated aspects of EGPA pathogenesis. Finally, we review the rationale of the currently proposed EGPA dichotomy and future research perspectives
At the Heart of Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis: into Cardiac and Vascular Involvement
No full textPurpose of Review To provide an overview of existing literature on pathogenetic and clinical aspects of cardiac and vascular involvement in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).Recent Findings In EGPA, cardiac and vascular involvement are more common than previously thought. However, no international recommendations on the topic are available yet. Herein, we summarize the existing evidence on the topic and propose a diagnostic approach for cardiac involvement in EGPA.Summary The prevalence of cardiovascular involvement in patients with EGPA varies greatly among published studies, ranging between 3.1-18.7% for occlusive arterial disease, 5.8-30% for venous thrombosis and 17-92% for heart involvement. Cardiac involvement in EGPA is associated with high mortality even though manifestations are heterogeneous. In principle, every anatomical structure of the heart can be involved, and EGPA-related heart disease may be completely asymptomatic at first. A careful diagnostic work-up for early detection and prompt treatment initiation is therefore required. While cardiac manifestations are more common in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-negative patients, arterial and venous thrombotic events are not linked to ANCA status but correlate closely with disease activity and accumulate at disease onset. Thrombotic events (mainly venous) are considerably more frequent in EGPA than in the general population contributing substantially to morbidity and highlighting the importance of developing specific prevention strategies for patients who are diagnosed with EGPA
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
POS1212 SARS-CoV-2 INFECTION AMONG PATIENTS WITH BEHÇET’S SYNDROME
No full textBackground: Studies on SARS-Cov-2 in Behçet’s syndrome (BS) patients are limited to two small case series from European centres.[1,2]
Objectives: We aimed to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among Italian BS patients referring to Careggi University Hospital (Florence, Italy) and to evaluate the possible association between BS disease activity and treatment and the risk of Sars-CoV-2 infection among patients with BS.
Methods: A survey was conducted among 335 subjects diagnosed with BS and followed at Careggi University Hospital. Moreover, we conducted a case-control study. Cases were described in term of SARS-CoV-2 manifestation and prognosis, changes in disease activity, and in pharmacological therapies. Sars-CoV-2 negative controls matched 1:3 by sex, age and disease duration ± 5 years were randomly selected.
Results: Out of 335 BS patients, 12 declared to have/have had SARS-CoV-2 infection (3.6%). Eight were females (median age of 40 years), with a median duration of BS disease of 6 years; five had active disease. Nine patients reported fever, 9 myalgia/arthralgia, 5 gastrointestinal symptoms, 5 anosmia/ageusia, 5 cough, 3 headache, 3 fatigue, 2 breathlessness, panic attacks and dizziness (one each). Before infection, patients were treated with corticosteroids, colchicine, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), traditional DMARDs [azathioprine (n patients = 4), methotrexate (n=1)], and biologics DMARDs [adalimumab (n=6), infliximab (n=2), secukinumab (n=1), and canakinumab (n=1)]. Therapy was suspended for a median time of 33 days in 9patients and resumed after a median time of 5 days from negativation. Regarding SARS-CoV-2 treatment, most patients started or increased corticosteroids, whereas heparin and antipyretic drugs were used in 4 and 5 patients, respectively. Cases were comparable to controls in terms of disease manifestations, activity, and immunomodulating therapy, with the only exception of corticosteroids, whose daily dose was significantly higher in cases (Table 1).
Conclusion: Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among Italian BS patients is 3.6%, similarly to the Italian general population (4.2%). Disease activity at time of infection was not associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Most patients interrupted biologic DMARDs. However, use of DMARDs, seemed not to be associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while higher doses of corticosteroids resulted to be more common among patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection as compared to controls. No patient required hospitalization or died. Our experience shows encouraging data about BS patients who do not appear be at greater risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection or complications than the general population.
References: [1]Espinosa et al. COVID-19 and Behçet’s disease: clinical case series. Ann Rheum Dis. 202
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