1,721,065 research outputs found
New therapies of liver diseases: Hepatic encephalopathy
Full text linkHepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a common complication of advanced liver disease which has profound implications in terms of the patients’ ability to fulfil their family and social roles, to drive and to provide for themselves. Recurrent and persistent HE is still a serious management challenge, translating into a significant burden for patients and their families, health services and society at large. The past few years have been characterized by significantly more attention towards HE and its implications; its definition has been refined and a small number of new drugs/alternative management strategies have become available, while others are underway. In this narrative review we summarize them in a pragmatic and hopefully useful fashion
Organ System Network Disruption Is Associated With Poor Prognosis in Patients With Chronic Liver Failure
Full text linkBackground: A healthy individual has a high degree of functional connectivity between organ systems, which can be represented graphically in a network map. Disruption of this system connectivity is associated with mortality in life-threatening acute illnesses, demonstrated by a network approach. However, this approach has not been applied to chronic multisystem diseases and may be more reliable than conventional individual organ prognostic scoring methods. Cirrhosis is a chronic disease of the liver with multisystem involvement. Development of an efficient model for prediction of mortality in cirrhosis requires a profound understanding of the pathophysiologic processes that lead to poor prognosis. In the present study, we use a network approach to evaluate the differences in organ system connectivity between survivors and non-survivors in a group of well-characterized patients with cirrhosis. Methods: 201 patients with cirrhosis originally referred to the Clinic five at the University Hospital of Padova, with 13 clinical variables available representing hepatic, metabolic, haematopoietic, immune, neural and renal organ systems were retrospectively enrolled and followed up for 3, 6, and 12 months. Software was designed to compute the correlation network maps of organ system interaction in survivors and non-survivors using analysis indices: A. Bonferroni corrected Pearson’s correlation coefficient and B. Mutual Information. Network structure was quantitatively evaluated using the measures of edges, average degree of connectivity and closeness, and qualitatively using clinical significance. Pair-matching was also implemented as a further step after initial general analysis to control for sample size and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD-Na) score between the groups. Results: There was a higher number of significant correlations in survivors, as indicated by both the analysis indices of Bonferroni corrected Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the Mutual Information analysis. The number of edges, average degree of connectivity and closeness were significantly higher in survivors compared to non-survivors group. Pair-matching for MELD-Na was also associated with increased connectivity in survivors compared to non-survivors over 3 and 6 months follow up. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the application of a network approach in evaluating functional connectivity of organ systems in liver cirrhosis, demonstrating a significant degree of network disruption in organ systems in non-survivors. Network analysis of organ systems may provide insight in developing novel prognostic models for organ allocation in patients with cirrhosis
Toward a Molecular Approach to Chronotype Assessment
No full textThe aim of the present study was to develop a Polygenic Score–based model for molecular chronotype assessment. Questionnaire-based phenotypical chronotype assessment was used as a reference. In total, 54 extremely morning/morning (MM/M; 35 females, 39.7 ± 3.8 years) and 44 extremely evening/evening (EE/E; 20 females, 27.3 ± 7.7 years) individuals donated a buccal DNA sample for genotyping by sequencing of the entire genetic variability of 19 target genes known to be involved in circadian rhythmicity and/or sleep duration. Targeted genotyping was performed using the single primer enrichment technology and a specifically designed panel of 5526 primers. Among 2868 high-quality polymorphisms, a cross-validation approach lead to the identification of 83 chronotype predictive variants, including previously known and also novel chronotype-associated polymorphisms. A large (35 single-nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]) and also a small (13 SNPs) panel were obtained, both with an estimated predictive validity of approximately 80%. Potential mechanistic hypotheses for the role of some of the newly identified variants in modulating chronotype are formulated. Once validated in independent populations encompassing the whole range of chronotypes, the identified panels might become useful within the setting of both circadian public health initiatives and precision medicine
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
Optimizing systemic therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: the key role of liver function
No full textThe number of effective systemic therapies for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rapidly increasing, and the advent of immunotherapy has changed the treatment paradigm for these patients, leading to significantly improved survival outcomes. However, many patients with HCC will continue to receive tyrosine kinase inhibitors, partly because of contraindications to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Currently, the best sequential first- and second-line systemic treatment remains elusive. Maintenance of optimal liver function is crucial, it is likely to impinge on temporary or permanent treatment discontinuation, and should also be considered when defining the treatment sequence. Hepatic decompensation, which does not always coincide with disease progression, is part of this complex dynamically evolving system, and must be promptly recognized and adequately managed to allow the patient to continue in the therapeutic course. The purpose of this review is to highlight and summarize the evidence on the efficacy and safety of systemic agents, with a focus on the impact of underlying cirrhosis, and to suggest new clinical outcomes for randomized controlled trials for advanced HCC to better assess the net health benefit in this specific setting
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
Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the management of patients with liver diseases: A national survey by the Italian association for the study of the Liver
No full textBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on national and regional health systems. The impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the quality of care for patients with liver disease is still unknown. Aims: The Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (AISF) conducted a survey to assess the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on hepatology units activities in Italy. Methods: A prospective web-based survey was proposed to all AISF active members. The survey was available online from April 8 2020, to May 3 2020, (lockdown phase in Italy). Results: 194 AISF members answered the questionnaire, most of whom were specialists in Gastroenterology (41%) or Internal Medicine (28%), and worked in Northern Italy (51%). 26% of hepatology wards had been converted into COVID-19 wards, and 33% had bed reductions. All hepatological activities, including the management of patients with decompensated liver disease, liver transplant and HCC had been significantly reduced/stopped. The number of physicians answering that their practices had not been modified ranged between 0.6% (for chronic hepatitis) to 47% (for the execution of paracentesis). The recorded answers were consistent among different regions, and did not show any north-south gradient Conclusion: COVID-19 outbreak significantly impacted on hepatological clinical activity. This survey can serve as a basis to compare the impact of future measures aimed at delivering an acceptable level of liver care during a national pandemic or crisis
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
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