1,721,073 research outputs found
Macroinvertebrate diversity and conservation status of Mediterranean ponds in Italy: water permanence and mesohabitat influence
Full text link1. In Italy small water bodies, especially temporary ones, have been little studied. As a consequence, their conservation value as a biodiversity resource is often overlooked despite Mediterranean temporary waters being listed as a priority habitat in the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). 2. A monitoring programme was designed to determine which factors influence pond species richness, and to analyse the variation in macroinvertebrate community structure within and among ponds. Three main contrasting mesohabitats (macrophyte beds, littoral sediments and central sediments) were defined within 21 ponds (8 permanent and 13 temporary) along the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy near Rome, from which invertebrate macrofauna was collected in March, May and June 2002. 3. The main environmental factors influencing the number of species in ponds were hydroperiod length, depth, Surface area, dissolved oxygen concentration and macrophyte species richness. Temporary ponds contained a smaller number of taxa than permanent ponds, but both types of ponds supported similar numbers of rare and threatened species. The total number of species, and in particular Coleoptera, Odonata, and Hemiptera, was higher in macrophyte beds than in both littoral and central sediments. 4. Multivariate analysis (non-metric multidimensional scaling) showed that the overall variation in assemblage composition was greater between temporary and permanent ponds than all-long mesohabitats, suggesting that environmental variables, such as hydroperiod, have a stronger effect oil macroinvertebrate communities than substratum type. 5. In terms of species of conservation interest, this study suggests that both pond types and all mesohabitats should be considered in order to obtain a correct evaluation of pond conservation value. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Prevalenza dei disturbi d’ansia in pazienti con sindrome di Tourette e disturbo da tic
No full textAIM:
Tourette syndrome (TS) is characterized by a wide phenotypic polymorphism and this heterogeneity is due partly to the association with several neuropsychiatry disorders. These comorbidities are showed in the 90% of TS cases. The aim of this transversal study is to analyze the presence and prevalence of different psychopathological conditions that could be expressed with tic disorder (TD) and specifically in TS.
METHODS:
We examined a sample of 102 patients, between 7 and 17.6 years old, with a diagnosis DSM-IV-TR of TD, using the self-report SAFA.
RESULTS:
Different correlations between these comorbidities and clinical variables are also analyzed. Our data underlined most of all a prevalence of anxiety disorders in the 31.4% of our patients with TD, of depression in the 27.44%, and of somatization symptoms in the 22.54%.
DISCUSSION:
Anxiety disorders seem to be linked with the variables of patients'age, duration of disease, gender, pharmacological treatment and presence of comorbidity for obsessive-compulsion disorder (OCD).
CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggests the important prevalence of non-OCD anxiety disorders in TD patients and shows they have a central role in their psychopathological profile. However, the basilar question if these disorders are primary or secondary to the TD is still to be clarify
Self-, parent-, and teacher-reported behavioral symptoms in youngsters with Tourette syndrome: A case-control study
No full text[No abstract available
Developmental profile and diagnoses in children presenting with motor stereotypies
Full text linkIntroduction: Motor stereotypies represent a typical example of the difficulty in distinguishing non-clinical behaviors (physiological and transient) from symptoms or among different disorders (“primary stereotypies”, associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities, genetic syndromes, sensory impairment). Aim of this study was to get an accurate analysis on the relationship between stereotypies and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Methods: We studied 23 children (3 girls) aged 36 to 95 months, who requested a consultation due to the persistence or the increase severity of motor stereotypies. None of patients had a previous diagnosis of ASD. The assessment included the Motor Severity Stereotypy Scale (MSSS), the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R), the Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM), the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 1 1⁄2 -5 or 4-18 (CBCL), the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule- Second edition (ADOS 2).
Results: All patients were showing motor stereotypies for periods of time varying from 6 to 77 months. The MSSS showed each child had a limited number of stereotypies; their frequency and intensity were mild; the interference of stereotypies was variable; the impairment in the daily life was mild. The RBS-R scores resulted positive for the subscale of “Stereotypic behaviors” in all children; moreover, several children presented other repetitive behaviors, mainly “Ritualistic behavior” and “Sameness behavior”.
All patients showed a normal cognitive level. The CBCL evidenced behavioral problems in 22% of the children: Internalizing problems, Attention and Withdrawn were the main complaints. On the SRS, all but one of the tested patients obtained clinical scores in the clinical range at least in one area. On the ADOS 2, four patients obtained scores indicating a moderate level of ASD symptoms, four had a mild level and fifteen showed no or minimal signs of ASD.
Discussion: Motor stereotypies in children with normal cognitive level represent a challenging diagnostic issue for which a finely tailored assessment is mandatory in order to define a precise developmental profile. Notably, a careful and cautious use of standardized tests is warranted to avoid misdiagnosis. Furthermore, it is hard to consider motor stereotypies, even the primary ones, exclusively as a movement disorder
Event-related brain potentials in elderly dippers and nondippers with recently diagnosed hypertension
No full textSeveral studies have shown a relationship between pressure (BP) and cognitive function. Yet very few studies have addressed circadian BP patterns in this context, perhaps due to poor availability of suitable methods to detect slight changes in the cognitive state. Today, brain event-related potentials (ERPs) allow us to detect subclinical changes in cognitive function. We enrolled 30 elderly patients with recently diagnosed hypertension (<2 years) that had never been treated: 18 dippers and 12 nondippers. Patients underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Careful assessment of their cognitive state was carried out using the mini mental state examination (MMSE), and the recording of P300 and N2 ERPs. No significant differences between the two groups were found. MMSE scores in dippers and nondippers were similar (29.5±0.71 vs. 29.3±1.07, respectively; p=0.611), as were P300 latency values (377.78±33.28 vs. 364.67±35.12 in the central (Cz) position, p=0.310; 379.22±32.94 vs. 365.25± 35.07 in the occipital (Pz) position, p=0.277) and N2 wave latency values (253.83±24.9 vs. 249.17±24.47 in the Cz position, p=0.617; 251.56±25.86 vs. 246.58±25.46 in the Pz position, p=0.608 . These data show no association between the nondipping pattern and lower cognitive function in elderly subjects with recent hypertension
Urinary neopterin and phenylalanine loading test as tools for the biochemical diagnosis of segawa disease.
No full textBackground. The diagnosis of autosomal dominant GTP-cyclohydrolase deficiency relies on the examination of the GCH1 gene and/or pterins and neurotransmitters in CSF. The aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic value, if any, of pterins in urine and blood phenylalanine (Phe) and tyrosine (Tyr) under oral Phe loading test. Methods. We report on two new pedigrees with four symptomatic and four asymptomatic carriers whose pattern of urinary pterins and blood Phe/Tyr ratio under oral Phe loading pointed to GTP-cyclohydrolase deficiency. The study was then extended to 3 further patients and 90 controls. The diagnostic specificity and sensitivity of these metabolic markers were analysed by backwards logistic analysis. Results. Two genetic alterations segregated alternatively in Family 1 (c.631-632 del AT and c.671A > G), while exon 1 deletion was transmitted along three generations in Family 2. Neopterin and biopterin concentrations in urine clustered differently in controls under and over the age of 15. Therefore patients and controls were sub grouped according to this age. Neopterin was significantly reduced in GCH1 mutated subjects younger than 15, and both neopterin and biopterin in those older than 15. Moreover, the Phe/Tyr ratios at the second and third hour were both significantly higher in patients than in controls. Backwards logistic regression demonstrated the high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of combined values of neopterin concentration and Phe/Tyr ratio at the second hour. Conclusions. Pterins in urine and Phe loading test are non-invasive and reliable tools for the biochemical diagnosis of GTP-cyclohydrolase deficiency
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
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