177,020 research outputs found
Elevated cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light levels in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A possible marker of disease severity and progression
No full textBackground: To date there are no biomarkers with proven reliability as a measure of disease burden in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The aim of our study is to assess the neurofilament light chain (NFL) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples as a measure of disease activity and progression in ALS. Methods: Thirty-seven consecutive patients with ALS, 25 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and 21 with other neurodegenerative diseases were evaluated. CSF NFL levels were assayed by two-site solid-phase sandwich ELISA. In patients with ALS, neurological status was assessed by the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-r) and the Medical Research Council scale, and the progression of the disease was evaluated using the 'diagnostic delay' and the 'progression rate'. Results: Cerebrospinal fluid NFL levels were higher in ALS cases than in controls (P < 0.0001). Using receiver operating curve analysis, an optimal NFL cut-off of 1981 ng/l discriminated between patients with ALS and neurological controls, with a sensitivity of 78.4% and specificity of 72.5%. Multivariate logistic regression confirmed the association between CSF NFL levels and the presence of ALS (age and sex adjusted odds ratio for ALS 8.9; 95% CI 3.1-25.8; P < 0.0001). In ALS, CSF NFL negatively correlated with the diagnostic delay (P < 0.0001) and the ALSFRS-r (P = 0.014) and positively with the progression rate (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: High CSF NFL levels were found in patients with ALS, reflecting the burden of neurodegeneration. The significant relation between CSF NFL levels and disease progression suggests that NFL may be a useful marker of disease activity and progression in ALS. © 2012 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2012 EFNS
Serum and CSF anti-GM1 antibodies in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
No full textHigh titers of antibodies directed against gangliosides, especially GM1, are found in the serum of patients with a variety of polyneuropathies, including those of the inflammatory type. We assayed anti-GM1 IgG and IgM levels in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 23 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and 10 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) to investigate whether this immune response may also be localized within the intrathecal compartment and correlate with clinical parameters such as time interval since disease onset, disability score, preceding infectious episodes, and GM1 therapy. When compared to the control group, anti-GM1 IgG was increased in the serum of 39% of GBS and 10% of CIDP patients, whereas anti-GM1 IgM was elevated in 17% of GBS and none of the CIDP patients. In both patient groups, however, anti-GM1 antibody levels were more frequently elevated in CSF than paired sera: they belonged to the IgG class in 48% of GBS and 50% of CIDP patients, and to the IgM class in 48% of GBS and 55% of CIDP patients. In the GBS group, anti-GM1 IgM serum levels inversely correlated with time elapsed between sample collection and onset of disease (P < 0.05), whereas serum anti-GM1 IgG levels positively correlated with the loss of functional ability (P < 0.005). Increased anti-GM1 antibodies in GBS serum were not associated with clinical or serological evidence of infectious antecedents nor with previous GM1 treatment
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe 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
Elevated cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light levels in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a possible marker of disease severity and progression.
No full textBACKGROUND: To date there are no biomarkers with proven reliability as a measure of disease burden in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The aim of our study is to assess the neurofilament light chain (NFL) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples as a measure of disease activity and progression in ALS.
METHODS: Thirty-seven consecutive patients with ALS, 25 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and 21 with other neurodegenerative diseases were evaluated. CSF NFL levels were assayed by two-site solid-phase sandwich ELISA. In patients with ALS, neurological status was assessed by the revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-r) and the Medical Research Council scale, and the progression of the disease was evaluated using the 'diagnostic delay' and the 'progression rate'.
RESULTS: Cerebrospinal fluid NFL levels were higher in ALS cases than in controls (P < 0.0001). Using receiver operating curve analysis, an optimal NFL cut-off of 1981 ng/l discriminated between patients with ALS and neurological controls, with a sensitivity of 78.4% and specificity of 72.5%. Multivariate logistic regression confirmed the association between CSF NFL levels and the presence of ALS (age and sex adjusted odds ratio for ALS 8.9; 95% CI 3.1-25.8; P < 0.0001). In ALS, CSF NFL negatively correlated with the diagnostic delay (P < 0.0001) and the ALSFRS-r (P = 0.014) and positively with the progression rate (P < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: High CSF NFL levels were found in patients with ALS, reflecting the burden of neurodegeneration. The significant relation between CSF NFL levels and disease progression suggests that NFL may be a useful marker of disease activity and progression in ALS
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
No full textBoth spending and tax policies have been implemented in the United States with the goal of stimulating private sector research and development (R&D). Karier questions whether current R&D policy, especially the research and experimentation tax credit, can contribute to closing the gap between nondefense expenditures on R&D in the United States and such expenditures in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. He also explores possible changes to our current R&D policy to make it more effective.
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
Livelli sierici di farmaci anticonvulsivanti in pazienti con epilessia non controllata: risultati preliminari
No full text
[Serum levels of anticonvulsants in patients with uncontrolled epilepsy. Preliminary results]
No full textLetter from R. R. Zellick, Assistant Trust Officer, Anglo California National Bank of San Francisco, to Joseph R. Goodman, October 2, 1942
No full textLetter from R. R. Zellick, Assistant Trust Officer at The Anglo California National Bank of San Francisco, to Joseph R. Goodman, regarding property owned by Dave Tatsuno. Zellick mentions a dispute between current tenants and Tatsuno, and that Tatsuno has asked Goodman to help locate trustworthy tenants.Personal correspondence, organizational records, government documents, publications, and other papers created or collected by Joseph R. Goodman documenting the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, as well as organized resistance to incarceration. Included in the collection are records of the Japanese Young Men's Christian Association and the Japanese American Citizens' League in San Francisco, including papers of the Japanese YMCA's executive secretary Lincoln Kanai; Sakai family papers; Goodman's correspondence to and from Japanese American incarcerees, organizations opposing forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans, the War Relocation Authority, and others; publications, photographs, and ephemera from the Topaz Relocation Center, where Goodman taught high school; War Relocation Authority records and publications; and newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and reports about forced removal and incarceration created by various government, religious, and civic organizations, in California and nationwide
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