1,721,038 research outputs found

    Prognostic Significance of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Overexpression and Chromosome 7 Polysomy in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

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    Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common histological subtype of renal cell carcinoma. In patients with ccRCC several prognostic markers have been suggested, enclosing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression and chromosome 7 polysomy (C7p). Cancer cells addicted to EGFR bear activated mutations in the EGFR gene, and these mutations are useful in predicting susceptibility of ccRCC to EGFR inhibitors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of EGFR overexpression and C7p. Patients and methods: Archival specimens, coupled with clinical and survival data of 34 patients (20 men, 14 women, median age 58, range 42–79 years) who had undergone radical nephrectomy for ccRCC were analyzed. Immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) specimens were sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue. EGFR expression was detected as membranous and cytoplasmic staining of neoplastic cells > 1%, and a ratio between gene/centromeric signals of more than two was considered to indicate gene amplification. Mean number of centromeric signals per nucleus was also scored to evaluate C7p. The log-rank test was used to examine the relationship between gender, EGFR overexpression, C7p and survival. Kaplan-Meyer analysis was performed to compare parameters with survival. Results: The age did not differ significantly (p = 0.79) between men and women. Overall, the median survival was 46 months (range 5-150 months). C7p was observed in 21 (61.8%) cases. The log-rank test showed a significantly (p = 0.01) shorter survival among men in respect of women. We did not find any relationship between survival and membranous (p = 0.32) or cytoplasmic (p = 0.51) EGFR overexpression, while C7p significantly (p = 0.02) correlated with survival. Similarly, no correlation was found (Cox’s regression) between EGFR overexpression and survival (R = 0.41, p = 0.21), while the relationship with gender (R = 0.87, p < 0.01) was confirmed. Conclusions: In our preliminary study, women with ccRCC had an overall better survival than men. EGFR was not a useful predictor of outcome, while C7p may have a prognostic significance

    Utility of post mortem computed tomography in clivus fracture diagnosis. Case illustration and literature review

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    Clivus fractures are usually associated with head blunt trauma due to traffic accident and falls. A 23–year-old man died immediately after a smash-up while he was stopping on his motorcycle. Post-mortem Computed tomography (PMCT), performed before autopsy, revealed a complex basilar skull base fractures associated with brainstem and cranio-vertebral junction injuries, improving the diagnostic performance of conventional autopsy. Imaging data were re-assessable and PMCT offers the possibility to perform multiplanar and volume rendered reconstructions, increasing forensic medicine knowledge related to traumatic injuries

    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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