130,998 research outputs found
Assesment of human testicular function by radioimmunoassay of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in saliva
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D-dimer as an indicator of prognosis in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a systematic review
No full textBackground: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) stimulates pro-thrombotic
changes. This, combined with its tropism for endothelium and lung structures, may explain its association with
thrombotic events, reduction of pulmonary gas exchange, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and a
composite end-point (intensive care unit, invasive ventilation, death). This study aims to highlight the
correlation between elevated D-dimer (an indirect thrombosis marker) and the increased rate of poor prognosisassociated
conditions, and to introduce D-dimer-labelled anticoagulant administration as a potentially useful
tool to prevent complications and positively influence coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) course.
Methods: An online database search (PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane) was
performed between 13 March and 10 April 2020. The most relevant keywords were “D-dimer”, “SARS-CoV-2”,
“COVID-19”, “thrombosis” and “ARDS”. Selection was independently conducted by three reviewers. References
and previews of accepted articles were evaluated. Data inclusion/extraction inaccuracy was limited by the work
of three reviewers. Selection bias reduction was addressed by thoughtfully designing the search protocol. Quality
assessment was performed with the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. The systematic review protocol was not registered
because we anticipated the very limited available evidence on the topic and due to the urgency of the study.
Results: 16 studies were evaluated. Good-quality criteria were reached in 13 out of 16 studies. D-dimer was
increased and significantly higher in COVID-19 patients compared with healthy controls, in COVID-19 patients
with severe disease or a composite end-point compared with non-severe disease, in ARDS compared with non-
ARDS patients and in deceased ARDS patients compared with ARDS patients who survived (all p<0.001).
COVID-19 patients treated with anticoagulants demonstrated lower mortality compared with those not treated
(p=0.017).
Conclusions: Correlations exist between COVID-19 infection, severe elevation of D-dimer levels, and increase in
the rate of complications and composite end-point. The appropriateness of early and continuous D-dimer
monitoring and labelled anticoagulation as management tools for COVID-19 disease deserves accurate
investigation, to prevent complications and reduce interventions
Let's work together - community development work and (primary) preventive occupational therapy with pediatric clientele in Germany
No full textLuisi D, Arhelger A, Zillhardt C. Let's work together - Gemeinwesenorientierte (primär-)präventive Ergotherapie mit pädiatrischer Klientel in Deutschland. Ergoscience. 2015;10(1):3-12
Community participation and empowerment in primary health care in Emilia-Romagna: A document analysis study
No full textLuisi D, Hämel K. Community participation and empowerment in primary health care in Emilia-Romagna: A document analysis study. Health Policy. 2021;125(2):177-184
Evaluation of left ventricular systolic function during atrial fibrillation: Is it reliable?
No full textFor adequate treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) clinicians need information on left ventricular (LV) systolic function. This is generally evaluated using echocardiography to calculate LV ejection fraction (LV-EF) or global longitudinal strain (GLS), which can detect early systolic abnormalities when LV-EF is still normal. In using both LV-EF and GLS the key point is that measures should be reliable and reproducible, regardless of cardiac rhythm. Unfortunately, many clinicians question the reliability of the echocardiographic measures during AF because of several reasons. First, AF patients are often excluded in echocardiographic studies, thus data for the validity of systolic function indices during AF are limited [ 1 ]. Second, the prognostic value of cardiac function parameters may be affected by AF [ 2 ]. Third, methods to improve assessment of LV function during AF are rarely applied in echocardiographic practice because they are generally cumbersome and time-consuming, and many echocardiographers just rely on eye-ball evaluations. Thus, assessment of cardiac function in patients with AF is problematic
What can local Alzheimer Associations in Germany and Italy learn from each other? – A qualitative analysis of engagement fields, similarities and differences
No full textLuisi D, Hämel K. What can local Alzheimer Associations in Germany and Italy learn from each other? – A qualitative analysis of engagement fields, similarities and differences. In: Abstract Book of the 27th Alzheimer Europe Conference. Vol PO2.7. 2017
Participation and community health: Discussing current issues from Italy
No full textLuisi D, Hämel K. Participation and community health: Discussing current issues from Italy. In: Programme Book of the Crete Conference of the European Forum for Primary Care Conference. Vulnerability and Compassion: The role of primary care in Europe. 2018: 33
MeSH term explosion and author rank improve expert recommendations
No full textInformation overload is an often-cited phenomenon that reduces the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of scientists. One challenge for scientists is to find appropriate collaborators in their research. The literature describes various solutions to the problem of expertise location, but most current approaches do not appear to be very suitable for expert recommendations in biomedical research. In this study, we present the development and initial evaluation of a vector space model-based algorithm to calculate researcher similarity using four inputs: 1) MeSH terms of publications; 2) MeSH terms and author rank; 3) exploded MeSH terms; and 4) exploded MeSH terms and author rank. We developed and evaluated the algorithm using a data set of 17,525 authors and their 22,542 papers. On average, our algorithms correctly predicted 2.5 of the top 5/10 coauthors of individual scientists. Exploded MeSH and author rank outperformed all other algorithms in accuracy, followed closely by MeSH and author rank. Our results show that the accuracy of MeSH term-based matching can be enhanced with other metadata such as author rank
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