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Carotid artery intima-media thickness in children with primary dyslipidemia
No full textIntroduction. In subjects with primary dyslipidemia, arterial
functional and morphological changes are detectable even in
the first decade of age, thus suggesting that subclinical forms of
the atherosclerotic process begin since the childhood. Carotid
artery intimal-media thickness (cIMT), as measured by B-mode
ultrasound, is a widely accepted surrogate marker of carotid and
even coronary atherosclerosis, which can be assessed without
problems even in children. This pilot study sought to compare the
cIMT values of three small groups of dyslipidemic children: the
first affected by Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH; n=13), the
second by Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia (FCH; n=14) and
the third by Undefined Autosomal Dominant Hypercholesterolemia
(ADH; n=20), so defined for the lack of any clear characteristic
for FH or FCH.
Methods. cIMT was measured in the near and far wall of left and right common carotids (CC), bifurcations (Bif) and first proximal
centimeter of internal carotid arteries (ICA). Three scan angles
(anterior, lateral and posterior) were considered. The ultrasonic
variables selected for the statistical analyses were the mean (IMTmean)
and the maximum (IMTmax) value of cIMT detected in the
whole carotid tree. Statistical analysis were performed by SPSS
21.0 software.
Results. In the whole group (n=47; age 10.7±3.3 ys) the mean±SD
values of IMTmean and IMTmax were 0.65±0.06 mm and 0.79±
0.07 mm, respectively. IMTmean was significantly higher in FH
children than in FCH children (0.67±0.064 mm Vs. 0.63±0.033
mm; respectively. P=0.003). The IMTmax of children with FH
(0.82±0.079 mm) was significantly greater than that observed
in both FCH (0.78±0.062 mm; P=0.006) and Undefined ADH
(0.78±0.072 mm; P=0.017). No differences were observed in terms
of either IMTmean or IMTmax when FCH were compared with
Undefined ADH (both P>0.05).
Conclusions. These results confirm observations previously
reported showing that Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) predisposes
patients to premature atherosclerosis, with the process
which starts in early childhood
Evaluation of HDL functionality in pediatric patients with cholesteryl ester storage (CESD) disease
No full text
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
Role of hazelnut consumption on DNA damage and lipid-related markers in children with primary dyslipidemia
No full textDyslipidemia is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease development; it is closely associated with an increase in oxidative stress and a decrease in antioxidant defense mechanisms (Tangvarasittichai 2015; Vaziri 2014). Nuts are a rich source of bioactives such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, phytosterols and polyphenols (Chen & Blumberg 2008). These compounds could play an important role not only in the management of dyslipidemia, but also in the modulation of oxidative stress.
The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of hazelnut consumption on markers of oxidative stress, fatty acid composition of erythrocytes and serum lipids, in children with primary dyslipidemia.
Sixty children (11.5 ± 2.5 years) have participated in an 8-week controlled, parallel, dietary intervention study with hazelnuts (0.43 g/kg body weight per day). Subjects received dietary guidelines and were randomized in 3 groups: 1- hazelnuts with skin; 2- hazelnut without skin; 3- control (without hazelnuts).
Before and after intervention, blood samples were collected and used to evaluate the levels of formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG)-sensitive sites and H2O2-induced DNA damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (by comet assay), serum lipid profile (by automatic analyzer) and erythrocyte membrane phospholipids composition (by gas chromatography analysis).
Preliminary results in a subgroup (5 subjects receiving hazelnut with skin and 5 controls) show a reduction in the FPG-sensitive sites (from 13.8 ± 3.16% to 7.88 ± 2.98%) and H2O2-induced DNA damage (from 44.4 ± 3.1% to 35.7 ± 7.6%) following 8-week hazelnut consumption, while no effect seems to occur in the control group.
Hazelnut decreases serum LDL-C level (-11.2%; p= 0.01) and seems to affect erythrocyte membrane phospholipids composition compared to baseline, while no difference in triglycerides, total and HDL-C levels has been documented in the subgroup analyzed.
These preliminary results show a tendency towards a decrease in the levels of FPG-sensitive sites, H2O2-induced DNA damage and serum LDL-C after an 8-week hazelnut intervention. Data elaboration on the complete group of subjects will help understanding the effect of hazelnut consumption on lipid profile and markers of oxidative stress in children affected by primary dyslipidemia
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
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
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