1,720,958 research outputs found
Eleutherococcus senticosus reduces cardiovascular stress response in healthy subjects: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial
No full textThe number of studies devoted to the scientific evaluation of phytotherapy is rapidly increasing since Western patients seem more oriented towards so-called ́alternative medicine ́. Bearing such arguments in mind we decided to address attention to Eleutherococcus senticosus, a root of the Ginseng family known for thousands of years in China as a remedy for psychological distress. Forty-five paid, healthy volunteers (20 males, 25 females) were recruited. Entry criteria were. good health, age 18-30 years, student and a Symptoms Rating Test score <10. At screening evaluation subjects were randomized to receive orally either placebo (PI group) or Eleutherococcus senticosus (Es group) for 30 days, in a double-blind design. Subjects were submitted to a stressful cognitive task, the Stroop Colour-Word test (Stroop CW), both before and after treatment. Stroop CW increased heart rate (HR) and systolic BP in every subject. In females there was a greater response than in males in terms of both systolic and diastolic BP. For both genders, the HR response to Stroop CW was reduced by Es treatment while no changes were found after Pl. In females, systolic BP was also reduced in Es group while it remained unchanged in PI group. This study demonstrated that treatment with Eleutherococcus senticosus is able to reduce cardiovascular responses to stress in healthy young volunteers, while placebo was ineffective. Eleutherococcus senticosus is confirmed to be helpful for stress adaptation. Copyrigh
Cognitive-behavioral treatment decreases cardiovascular and neuroendocrine reaction to stress in women waiting for assisted reproduction
No full textA higher cardiovascular vulnerability to stress is associated with a lower pregnancy rate during in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) program. The present study was carried out to assess whether cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) program attenuates autonomic and neuroendocrine response to a stressful task in infertile women waiting for IVF-ET. Forty-five consecutive couples referred to our Department for assisted reproduction were enrolled. Mean duration of infertility was 3.1 years. Two-thirds of them already failed an IVF-ET attempt. Once included in the waiting list women were administered the Stroop colorword (CW). Systolic BP, heart rate (HR) and plasma cortisol were serially measured. Subjects showing a positive HR reaction were selected to receive CBT (12 group sessions over 16 weeks) while the remnants just waited, for the same period of time (observation group). After 17-19 weeks subjects were re-submitted to the Stroop CW. The HR response to Stroop CW was significantly reduced by CBT while it remained unchanged in the observation group. Similarly, systolic BP response was reduced after CBT whereas an increase occurred in the observation group. After CBT, a significant decrease in the reaction of plasma cortisol to Stroop CW took place whereas no changes were observed in the other subjects. The present findings indicate that CBT is useful for decreasing the level of distress in patients submitted to IVF-ET treatment
Stress-response in male partners of women submitted to in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.
No full textIn a previous work, we have reported the relationship between women and the outcome of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). The goal of the present work is to evaluate the association between vulnerability to stress and treatment outcome in male partners of couples submitted to IVF-ET.The day of semen collection at the Assisted Reproduction Unit of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Modena, 45 subjects were submitted to Stroop Color Word Conflict, a task measuring the ability to cope with a cognitive stressor, involving the attentional and sympathoadrenal system. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as heart rate (HR), were measured at baseline, during the test and 10 min after the end of testing. The evidence of pregnancy (betahCG >250 mIU/ml 12 days after ET) is the main outcome measure; the couples were classed in either a 'success' or a 'failure' group.Thirteen couples became pregnant. Pregnancy progressed until term in 6 cases, while 7 cases showed only a preclinical evidence of pregnancy. Age, education, causes and duration of infertility were similar in the success and failure groups. No difference was found in the number and motility of spermatozoa both at baseline and after capacitation (a technique improving sperm motility). Moreover, the success group showed a higher number of both fertilized oocytes and embryos transferred compared with the failure group. The area under the curve of the cardiovascular parameters was calculated. The failure group showed a higher value for HR (50.6 +/- 36.7 of percent total change) than the success group (31.8 +/- 16.9; p = 0.006).The cardiovascular response to stress is a good correlate of success in infertile males submitted to the IVF-ET program
Effect of long-term local or systemic hormone replacement therapy on post-menopausal mood disturbances. Influences of socio-economic and personality factors.
No full textTo clarify the effect exerted by hormone replacement therapy (HRT) versus socio-economic and personality factors in improving postmenopausal mood disorders.The effect of the 1-year administration of systemic hormone replacement therapy (HRT; n = 22) or a vaginal cream of estriol (n = 14) versus no treatment (n = 26) was evaluated on mood states of anxiety, depression, somatization and inadequacy, as evaluated by the symptom rating test (SRT) scale. Results were correlated with the woman socio-economic status, and her capability to cope with daytime distresses, as evaluated by the Coping Style questionnaire.A spontaneous decline of all SRT scores, except that of inadequacy, was observed in the group with no treatment. In comparison HRT induced a greater improvement of only the SRT score of inadequacy (P < 0.01) and to a lesser extent of anxiety (P < 0.06). Similarly, vaginal estriol induced a greater decline of the SRT score of inadequacy (P < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that modifications of the total SRT score and the SRT score of anxiety were related mainly to socio-economic factors, while those of the SRT score of depression were related only to the coping style of the woman. The decline of somatization was related only to time since the menopause while, the reduction of the SRT score of inadequacy was only the consequence of therapy, either systemic or local.In a 1-year period improvement of post-menopausal psychological discomfort, is spontaneous and independent of therapy. Only symptoms of inadequacy are improved by the hormonal therapy. Likely, the perceived menopausal 'losses' make the woman to feel inadequate and the use of sex-related hormones is capable to improve this feeling
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe 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
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