1,721,038 research outputs found

    Psychopathology during pregnancy and postpartum: characterization of a selected high risk Italian sample

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    Psychological distress is common during pregnancy but the field of perinatal-psychology and related research as well as health services have focused their attention essentially on the post-partunl period. New data suggest that stress and psychopathology during pregnancy may be associated with significant risks for the mother and the baby and may lead to detrimental effects for both. Maternal psychopathology is related to reduced quality of life, higher rate of risk behaviors, postpartunl psychopathology, and to a decline in the quality of dyadic relationship. Antenatal stress and psychological disease and their underlying neuroendocrine changes are associated with poor pregnancy and birth outcomes. Maternal stress and psychopathology together with fetal vulnerability and other ~ediating factors, such as pharmachological treatment, may determme long-term consequences by altering developmental processes, affecting the structural development of certain brain areas circuits, and systems, as well as brain functioning. ' ~fter h~ving studied a sample obtained from the general population, thIS study focused on a selected and high risk sample of women diagnosed with psychopathology and recruited from a center specialized in Women's lifecycle mood disorders (psicheDonna Center-Milan). General aim: The general aim of this study was threefold: - to study different manifestations ofpsychological illness as well as to detect risk and protective factors in this selected sample of pregnant and postpartunl women - to analyze the characteristics of these women in order to understand the mechanisms underlying the interaction between protective and risk factors which may predict the course of psychopathological manifestations across pregnancy and beyond. - to analyze, in follow-up, the choice and efficacy of pharmacological and-or psychotherapy treatment of these women. Methods: A sample of91 pregnant and postpartunl women was enrolled from the Center. Women were subjected to a test battery in order to evaluate: - ~ndex ofpregnancy specific-related anxiety (PRAQ-R, Huizink) - mdex of State Anxiety and of Trait Anxiety, as defined by Spielberger (STAI-Y, Spielberger) - ananmestic data and risk and protection factors (scale constructed ad hoc and PDPI, Tatano Beck) - index of depressionlpostpartunl depression (EPDS, Cox). Conclusions and Considerations: Differences were found between ~is sample and the one from the general population, not only m test scores but overall in the role played by risk and protection factors. The presence of pregnancy-related specific anxiety (detected by PRAQ-R) was found more in the general population: a working hypothesis as to the underlying cause was developed. Women recruited from the Center are characterized by a peculiar configuration of risk and protection factors, where a previous history of psychopathology seems to play a prominent role in defining the sample. This type of evidence indicates a possible new key point with respect to intervention and prevention, that is, the previous history of psychopathology. Consequently we need to consider the necessity of different approaches in the use of screening tools, and in the development of preventive measures and healing programs, and tailor all activities and interventions to the patient in order to be effective. This has lead to new evidence-based perspectives for intervention

    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

    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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