1,721,101 research outputs found
Post-malnutrition weight gain is associated with changes to muscle and energy metabolism in adolescence: a cohort analysis
No full textBackground: treatment strategies for severe childhood malnutrition often encourage rapid weight gain and catch-up growth. However, the long-term metabolic consequences of such growth are unclear.Objectives: this study aimed to apply metabolomics to investigate how postmalnutrition weight gain (PMWG) in childhood relates to metabolic variation and physiological state in adolescence.Methods: in an exploratory cohort study, urine and plasma were collected from adolescents (n = 151) 15 y after hospitalization for childhood malnutrition in Blantyre, Malawi. Analyses included untargeted urinary 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and targeted plasma liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and myokine assay. PMWG was assessed using weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) at hospital discharge and 1-y follow-up from earlier studies. Adolescent physiology was measured, including muscle function [standing jump length (cm)]. Associations with PMWG were investigated using orthogonal projection to latent structures (OPLS) and regression models.Results: OPLS demonstrated that a greater increase in WAZ between discharge and 1-y postmalnutrition was associated with distinct plasma and urinary metabolic signatures in adolescence, especially among those with nonedematous malnutrition. This included higher fasting plasma sugars [β = 6.40 × 103 μM; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.99 × 103, 9.81 × 103], triglycerides, phosphatidylcholines, altered amino acids, and lower urinary muscle- and energy-related metabolites. Findings remained significant following adjustment (age, HIV, disability, sex, puberty, socioeconomic status, and minimum admission WAZ). In regression analyses, several of these metabolites positively associated with muscle outcomes, including creatinine (β = 13.5 cm; 95% CI: 7.87, 19.2) and β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (β = 12.9 cm; 95% CI: 6.97, 18.7) with jump length.Conclusions: individuals with greater PMWG exhibited lower muscle-related metabolites and altered energy metabolism in adolescence. It remains unclear whether this reflects inherent differences in how individuals gain weight, or whether early-life weight gain programs future metabolic states. Elucidating these mechanisms will inform interventions to ameliorate long-term health risks, an urgent priority following the growing double burden of malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries
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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe 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
Medium- and long-term outcomes after exposure to severe childhood malnutrition
Full text linkBackground:
Research on severe childhood malnutrition remains neglected despite its high mortality and
disease burden. Despite improved treatment which has allowed more to survive to
adulthood, it remains persistent and problematic. Most research focuses on the acute
presentation and little evidence is available on long-term outcomes, though recent studies
suggest associations with impaired cognition, behaviour, and higher cardiometabolic disease
risk.
Methods:
I conducted a systematic review of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, and PsychINFO, and
used synthesis without meta-analysis guidelines to compile studies investigating severe
childhood malnutrition in three outcome areas: neurodevelopment, cognition,
behaviour/mental health.
I followed up a cohort of severely malnourished children in Blantyre, Malawi 15 years after
treatment (median age: 17.1 years). I assessed anthropometry, body composition
(bioelectrical impedance analysis), strength (hand grip strength, standing long jump
distance), blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose tolerance, cognition (CANTAB assessment),
and behaviour & mental health (PHQ-9, GAD-7, Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire, Child
Behaviour Checklist (CBCL)). I compared these outcomes to siblings and adolescents from
the community (both without a history of severe malnutrition) using linear regression
models which adjusted for age, sex, disability, HIV, and socioeconomic status.
Findings:
Of previous studies identified, 6/9 found an association with impaired neurodevelopment,
7/7 with poorer school achievement, 8/11 with impaired cognition, and 5/7 with
behavioural problems. Interpretation of results was limited by many studies not accounting
for important confounders, and few investigating specific mental health conditions.
I recruited 168 ex-malnourished adolescents, 123 siblings, and 89 community adolescents.
Ex-malnourished adolescents had lower height-for-age z scores (HAZ) compared to both
siblings (HAZ adjusted difference -0.32 [95% CI -0.58, -0.05]) and community adolescents (-
0.21 [95% CI -0.52, 0.10]). Ex-malnourished adolescents’ (difference 0.33 95% CI [0.20,
0.46]) and siblings’ (0.32 95% CI [0.09, 0.55]) mean HAZ improved between late childhood
and adolescence, while community adolescents’ HAZ did not (0.01 95% CI [-0.24, 0.23]). I
found evidence of persistent grip strength deficits compared to community adolescents
(adjusted difference -2.0kg [95% CI -4.2, 0.3]) and higher CBCL internalising symptoms
compared to siblings (adjusted difference 2.8 [95% CI 0, 5.5]). There was little difference in
body composition, blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose tolerance, cognition, behaviour, and
other mental health measures between ex-malnourished adolescents and unexposed
groups.
Interpretation:
From the systematic review, I found strong evidence that severe childhood malnutrition
impairs neurodevelopment and school achievement, and moderate evidence it impairs
cognition and behaviour. There was little evidence however of these impairments in the
adolescent cohort.
Results from the cohort imply that growth and clinical catch-up of survivors into
adolescence is possible. Ex-malnourished adolescents had weaker grip strength compared
to community adolescents, though compared to siblings (despite deficits in childhood
compared to both). There was little difference in cardiometabolic disease risk measures, but
results are limited by participants’ still relatively young age, ‘healthy survivor’ bias, and loss
to follow-up.
Interventions should consider the needs of survivors beyond early childhood to maximize
outcomes. Policy must address associated adversities which likely impact long-term
outcomes; including comorbidities (particularly HIV in this setting), chronic malnutrition,
and home & school environments
Routine antibiotics given for uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition reduce mortality and improve nutritional recovery.
No full textDispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
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