1,721,014 research outputs found
Studio del coinvolgimento osseo e della mediazione del dolore in corso di Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type I
Full text linkObiettivo. Scopo della nostra indagine è stato di valutare il ruolo del tessuto osseo nella Complex Regional Pain Syndrome- type I (CRPS-I), tramite a) studio dell’impatto del trattamento con bisfosfonati in una casistica real-life di pazienti con CRPS-I, volto ad identificare eventuali predittori di risposta al trattamento; b) analisi esplorativa della concentrazione sierica di Sclerostina (SOST), Dickopff-1 (DKK-1) e Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in corso di tale sindrome. Metodi. Nella prima fase di studio sono stati valutati retrospettivamente i dati dei pazienti affetti da CRPS-I trattati con bisfosfonati endovenosi negli ultimi 5 anni. Sono state identificate le caratteristiche cliniche associate alla risposta al trattamento, definita in termini di riduzione del dolore e assenza dei criteri diagnostici della sindrome a distanza media di 40 giorni dal termine delle infusioni, tramite analisi univariata e multivariata (regressione logistica). Nella fase trasversale dello studio sono stati raccolti campioni di sangue refluo dall’arto affetto e dal controlaterale in pazienti affetti da CRPS-I di mano e in un gruppo di controlli sani, appaiati per età e sesso. È stato quindi effettuato un dosaggio della concentrazione sierica di SOST, DKK-1 e NGF tramite ELISA. I valori sono stati confrontati tra arto affetto e controlaterale e tra soggetti con CRPS-I e controlli sani. Risultati. Dei 194 pazienti inclusi nella fase retrospettiva dello studio, trattati con Clodronato, Pamidronato e Neridronato, 139 pazienti (71,6%) avevano risposto al trattamento. Una minore durata di malattia, la presenza di una forma “calda” di malattia e una frattura come evento predisponente risultavano significativamente associati ad una maggiore probabilità di risposta al trattamento, mentre il tipo di bisfosfonati non influenzava significativamente la risposta terapeutica. I risultati della fase trasversale su 17 pazienti affetti da CRPS-I hanno evidenziato una concentrazione di DKK-1 significativamente superiore su sangue refluo dall’arto affetto rispetto al controlaterale nei pazienti con CRPS-I, tuttavia non statisticamente differente da quella dei controlli sani. Al contrario si sono osservati valori sierici di SOST significativamente più elevati nei pazienti affetti da CRPS-I rispetto ai controlli sani, senza evidenziare una differenza significativa tra il lato affetto e il non affetto. Il dosaggio di NGF non ha invece identificato differenze tra il lato affetto e quello affetto, né rispetto ai controlli sani; tale mediatore è risultato tuttavia dosabile in un numero molto limitato di soggetti, limitando fortemente la potenza della valutazione statistica. Conclusioni. I risultati delle nostre osservazioni portano un ulteriore sostegno all’ipotesi di un coinvolgimento del tessuto osseo nella patogenesi della CRPS-I. La migliore risposta al trattamento con bisfosfonati in soggetti con precedente frattura suggerisce l’esistenza di un sottogruppo di pazienti in cui il ruolo del tessuto scheletrico risulti preponderante. Il riscontro di valori di DKK-1 più elevati su sangue refluo dall’arto affetto rispetto al controlaterale potrebbe indicare un’azione locale di tale regolatore del metabolismo osseo, mentre l’incremento della concentrazione di SOST non è di univoco significato, ma potrebbe essere implicato nella genesi dell’osteoporosi locale osservata nei soggetti affetti da CRPS-I. La valutazione dei livelli sierici di NGF non ha fornito risultati significativi per la limitata numerosità di soggetti in cui il mediatore è risultato dosabile: successivi studi, effettuati anche con differenti metodiche, potranno fornire ulteriori evidenze sul ruolo di questo mediatore del dolore nella CRPS-I.Objective. Aim of our study was to investigate the role of bone in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome- type I (CRPS-I), by a) analyzing the impact of the treatment with bisphosphonates in a real-life population of subjects with CRPS-I, with the aim to identify predictors of response to the treatment; b) exploring the serum concentration of Sclerostin (SOST), Dickopff-1 (DKK-1) and Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in CRPS-I. Methods. In the first phase of the study we retrospectively evaluated data of patients with CRPS-I treated with intravenous bisphosphonates in the previous 5 years. We identified clinical features associated with a response to the treatment, defined as a pain reduction and the absence of diagnostic criteria for CRPS-I at 40 days after the end of the treatment, by univariate and logistic regression analysis. In the cross-sectional phase we collected serum samples from the affected arm and the contralateral one in patients with CRPS-I and in age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Serum concentration of SOST, DKK-1 and NGF was assessed by ELISA kit and values were compared between the affected arm and the contralateral one and between subjects with CRPS-I and controls. Results. Among 194 subjects included in the retrospective phase of the study and treated with Clodronate, Pamidronate and Neridronate, 139 patients (71,6%) responded to the treatment. A shorter disease duration, a “warm” clinical phase and a fracture as predisposing event were significantly associated with higher odds of response to the treatment, while the type of bisphosphonates did not significantly affect the outcome. The results of the cross-sectional phase showed a significantly higher concentration of DKK-1 in serum from the affected site compared to the contralateral one, but we did not observe a significant difference from healthy controls. Conversely serum levels of SOST in patients with CRPS-I were significantly higher than in controls, but we did not find a significant difference between the affected site and the contralateral one. NGF was detectable only in a few patients, therefore a reliable statistical analysis on its concentration was not feasible. Conclusions. Our results further support the hypothesis of a role of bone in the pathogenesis of CRPS-I. A better response to the treatment with bisphosphonates in subjects with a previous fracture suggests that a subgroup of patients with a prevalent bone involvement may exist. The finding of a higher concentration of DKK-1 in serum from the affected arm compared to the contralateral one may point out a local effect of this regulator of bone metabolism in CRPS-I, while the systemic increase of SOST concentration could be implicated in the pathogenesis of bone loss observed in patients with CRPS-I. The evaluation of serum levels of NGF did not provide significant results due to the low proportion of subjects in which this mediator was detectable: further studies with different methodologies may allow to better understand the role of NGF in CRPS-I
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
Dispelling 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
Psoriatic disease: Update on traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs
No full textWe present an update on the effects of methotrexate (MTX), sulfasalazine (SSZ), leflunomide (LEF), and cyclosporine (CSA) in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) by reviewing data published from January 2010 to June 2014. The most relevant study on MTX, the Methotrexate In Psoriatic Arthritis (MIPA) trial, did not show a significant difference between this drug and placebo in improving peripheral synovitis. The trial, however, had several limitations. A cohort study on a small number of patients found that MTX does not inhibit radiographic progression. In a large observational study, 86% of LEF-treated patients met PsA Response Criteria (PsARC) at Week 24. No studies of sufficient relevance on SSZ were published in the examined time frame. In an open-label trial, CSA alone was compared to adalimumab (ADA) alone and to the combination ADA/CSA. The ADA arms showed a significantly higher response rate, but as many as 65% of CSA-treated patients were PsARC responders at Month 12. No relevant data on the effects of these 4 drugs on psoriatic enthesitis, dactylitis, or spondylitis have recently been published, and no new safety signals have been reported. Observational data from 2 registers suggest that concomitant MTX increases the retention rate of tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors. The studies published in the examined time frame confirm that MTX, SSZ, LEF, and CSA have moderate symptom-modifying effect on psoriatic synovitis, and probably little effect on the other manifestations of PsA
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
- …
