1,720,995 research outputs found
Assessment of the patient's perspective in the European Register for Multiple Sclerosis (EUReMS): study protocol of the PRO study
Assessment of the patient's perspective in the European Register for Multiple Sclerosis (EUReMS): study protocol of the PRO study
Validation of the German version of the multiple sclerosis work difficulties questionnaire (MSWDQ)
Comparison of employment among people with Multiple Sclerosis across Europe
BACKGROUND: People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) suffer from an increased risk of unemployment during the course of the disease. In recent years progress has been made in increasing the time until patients have to leave the workforce permanently. Such a retirement is often associated with MS but the driving factors including disability progression, support measures at the workplace, and societal aspects are not yet fully understood. METHODS: We consolidated data from four European MS databases from Germany, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, which were able to provide data on working status, disability progression and quality of life in accordance with the data harmonization framework of the EUReMS (European Registry in Multiple Sclerosis) project. RESULTS: Factors strongly associated with unemployment are disability progression, low quality of life and being close to the statutory retirement age. Overall, highest employment rate (77%) and lowest effects of gender and disease duration were found in Sweden. CONCLUSIONS: We found remarkable differences between the European registers and the countries studied, which may indicate inequalities at European level. Furthermore, our findings suggest that it is feasible and useful to combine data from different MS registers in Europe, albeit the data structures are heterogeneous
Development and validation of employment-specific assessment instruments in German MS patients
Managing neuropsychological impairment in multiple sclerosis - Controlled study on a standardized metacognitive intervention (MaTiMS).
OBJECTIVE
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system of potential autoimmune origin that is frequently associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits, as well as with fatigue, stress and psychosocial burden. In the present controlled multi-centre trial we investigated whether two specific neuropsychological interventions (1. metacognitive training (MaTiMS); 2. computerized working memory training (BrainStim) in combination with MaTiMS) applied as add-on therapies to real life standard rehabilitation lead to increased benefit in self-perceived cognitive deficits (the primary outcome) in MS patients compared to standard rehab.
METHODS
288 adult persons in three German rehab centers with a confirmed diagnosis of MS were sequentially allocated to one of the three intervention groups. 249 (87%) participants completed the post assessment and 187 (63%) the online survey after 12 months. Perceived cognitive deficits, mood, fatigue, coping, and activity were evaluated by self-reports and neuropsychological tests at baseline and 4 weeks postintervention. All self-reports were additionally administered digitally at three, six, and twelve months from baseline.
RESULTS
We could not show differential effects on the primary outcome between the intervention groups and the control group (p=.369, p=.934). Immediately after each intervention we could show beneficial time effects in all three groups on self-perceived cognitive deficits as well as on most of the other outcomes. The reported effects were however not sustained at 6 months follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings could not show an additional effect of specific cognitive training on cognitive deficit perception in MS. However, findings indicate that MS rehabilitation may improve patient reported outcomes in the short term. They also underline the need for concepts to maintain rehabilitation gains when patients return back home
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
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
“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
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