1,720,985 research outputs found

    Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in multiple sclerosis : A comparison between onset and definite cases

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    Patients affected with multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently suffer from vestibular disorders due to vestibulospinal involvement. The vestibulospinal reflexes in these subjects can be well investigated through vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs). Evoked by the acoustic stimulation of the saccular macula and mediated by the vestibulocollic reflex pathway, they are recorded using surface electromyographic electrodes from the ipsilateral sternocleidomastoid muscle tonically contracted. Abnormal findings (e.g., absence of response, prolonged latencies) disclose a lesion anywhere in the pathway. We examined VEMPs in 19 patients with definite MS (5 men, 14 women; age range, 31-59 years; mean age, 45 years) and compared them to VEMPs in 10 subjects with onset MS (2 men, 8 women; age range, 24-35 years; mean age, 29 years). VEMPs in definite MS subjects were abnormal in 14, absent (on the left side only) in 1, and normal in the remaining 4. In patients with onset MS, VEMPs were abnormal in 6. These results suggest that latencies of vestibulospinal reflexes can be remarkably delayed in MS at different stages of disease, whereas vestibulospinal involvement is more frequent in definite cases. To date, no study has yet investigated different VEMPs involvement at different stages of MS

    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

    Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in multiple sclerosis : clinical and imaging correlations

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    Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently report symptoms related to vestibular disorders in the course of their disease. At present, the fundamental tests assessing vestibulospinal involvement are posturography and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs). While posturography cannot be performed in every subject requiring minimal stance control, VEMPs do not require any specific skill on the part of the subjects and they may be investigated in all patients able to sit. VEMPs were recorded for 40 patients (17 men, 23 women; mean age 38 years, range 17-71 years) fulfilling diagnostic criteria of clinically defined MS, by means of rarefaction clicks, recording modulation of sterno-cleido-mastoideus tonic contraction saccule-mediated modulation. VEMPs were found to be abnormal in 28 of 40 patients. In 18 of the cases the VEMPs were asymmetric, i.e., had a prolonged latency on one side. In six cases latency was increased on both sides (mean delay 4.1 ms). In four subjects VEMPs were absent on one side. Concordance with clinical findings of presence/absence of brainstem involvement was found in 55% and with MRI findings in 65% of the cases. Abnormal VEMPs indicated brainstem dysfunction in four patients (10%) with normal MRI and no specific clinical signs

    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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