1,721,480 research outputs found
Effects of blood pressure on cognitive performance in aging: a systematic review
Full text linkIntroduction: Cognitive functions play a crucial role in daily functioning. Unfortunately, some cognitive abilities decline in the process of healthy aging. An increasing body of evidence has highlighted the role of lifestyle habits and cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure, in increasing the risk of cognitive decline. Surprisingly, although hypertension is a modifiable risk factor for cerebrovascular damage, the role of hypertension on cognitive impairment development is not still clear. Several key questions remain unresolved, and there are many inconsistent results in studies considering this topic. This review is aimed to systematically analyze the results found by the studies that investigated whether high blood pressure, in both hypertensive and healthy people, is related to cognitive performance. Furthermore, it points to evaluate the role of age in this relationship. Method: The review process was conducted according to the PRISMA statement. Restrictions were made, selecting the studies in English and published in peer‐review journals, including at least one cognitive measure and blood pressure measurement. Studies that included participants with medical conditions, dementia, psychiatric disorders, strokes, and brain injury were excluded. Cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies were analyzed separately. Finally, blood pressure measured at young life (18–39 years), midlife (age 40–64 years), elderly (65–74 years), and old age (≥75 years) were considered. Results: The review allows 68 studies to be selected, which include 154,935 participants. The results provided evidence of an adverse effect of exposure to high blood pressure on cognitive performance. High blood pressure in midlife was linked with poorer cognitive functioning; this evidence was found in cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies. However, this association declines with increasing age and tends to become inconsistent. In older people, the relationship between blood pressure and cognitive performance is non‐linear, highlighting a beneficial effect of high blood pressure on cognition. Conclusions: Despite some limitations, this review showed that cardiovascular and neuro‐cognitive systems do not operate in isolation, but they are related. Blood pressure can be considered an early biomarker of cognitive impairment, and the necessity of early blood pressure measurement and control was underlined
3D geological modelling and groundwater management in the Campanian Plain (South Italy)
No full textThree-dimensional geological modelling is a key topic in hydrogeological studies and has significantly developed in last decade. Despite the constant improvement of knowledge and technologies in 3-D mapping, the predictive function of groundwater models is often constrained by the lack and dishomogeneity of competent existing data. The present paper points out an integrated approach, combining sedimentological, stratigraphical and hydrogeological analyses, to construct a better and more reliable groundwater flow model in complex geological areas, such as the coastal campanian plains. The sample area is a sector of Campanian Plain, located between the Sarno River Plain and the southwestern extremity of the low Solofrana River Valley, wide approximately 10 km2. The site is an area of intense exploitation of groundwater resources, because of many industrial and agricultural activities. The existing boreholes data, integrated with geomorphological and structural information, have been used to build and bind an hydrogeological block diagram. The subsurface model has been used to better define the complexity of this plane sector and to identify the most accurate boundary conditions for the flow model. The setting up of groundwater mathematical model has been calibrated using an iterative approach based on a try and error procedure. As a result the simulation of a specific pumping scenario follows a real observed state (recorded in July 2006) and shows the great control of anthropic activities on the groundwater flow conditions of plain aquifer systems. So an optimized approach to perform an integration between geological and hydrogeological issues is discussed with reference to a real case
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
Heart rate variability and cognitive function: A systematic review
No full textBackground: Autonomic dysfunctions may precede the development of cognitive impairment, but the connection between these dimensions is unclear. This systematic review aims to analyze the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive functions. Methods: The review process was conducted according to the PRISMA-Statement. Restrictions were made, selecting the studies in English and published in peer-review journals, including at least one cognitive measure and presenting the measurement of HRV. Studies that included participants with medical conditions, dementia, psychiatric disorders, strokes, and traumatic brain injury were excluded. Twenty studies were selected, with a total of 19,431 participants. The results were divided into different cognitive domains determined a priori: Global cognitive functioning, attention, processing speed, executive functions, memory, language and visuospatial skills. Results: Both increased sympathetic activity and decreased parasympathetic activity seem to be associated with a worse performance in the cognitive domains considered, in the absence of dementia and severe cardiovascular diseases or other medical and psychiatric diseases. Conclusion: The results highlight the influence of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in cognitive functioning. However, the marked interest facing toward a specific domain, i.e., the executive functions, and the relatively small number of the studies on this topic do not allow understanding better this relationship. Despite these limits, HRV could be considered a promising early biomarker of cognitive impairment in populations without dementia or stroke. This index should be evaluated within a preventative perspective to minimize the risk of developing cognitive impairment
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
La citologia in fase liquida su strato sottile nella diagnostica cito-istologica ed immunoistochimica dei versamenti pleurici
No full textDecision Making: a Theoretical Review
No full textDecision-making is a crucial skill that has a central role in everyday life and is necessary for adaptation to the environment and autonomy. It is the ability to choose between two or more options, and it has been studied through several theoretical approaches and by different disciplines. In this overview article, we contend a theoretical review regarding most theorizing and research on decision-making. Specifically, we focused on different levels of analyses, including different theoretical approaches and neuropsychological aspects. Moreover, common methodological measures adopted to study decision-making were reported. This theoretical review emphasizes multiple levels of analysis and aims to summarize evidence regarding this fundamental human process. Although several aspects of the field are reported, more features of decision-making process remain uncertain and need to be clarified. Further experimental studies are necessary for understanding this process better and for integrating and refining the existing theories
- …
