1,720,959 research outputs found
An Italian nationwide survey on the evolution of autoantibody diagnostics in autoimmune rheumatic diseases
No full textObjective The advent of new technologies and the discovery of new antigenic targets of autoantibodies has led to significant changes in autoimmune diagnostics worldwide. To address the extent to which autoimmunology laboratories adhere to such innovation in testing and reporting practices, the Italian Society of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine launched a national survey to assess the current status of autoimmune diagnostics and to provide direction for further harmonisation. Methods A questionnaire covering topics related to the diagnosis of autoimmune systemic rheumatic diseases was distributed to 152 Italian autoimmunology laboratories. The 59 closed-answer questions were subdivided into four main sections: 1. the setting (university, hospital or private laboratory) and the number of tests carried out; 2. the technologies used and their level of automation; 3. the analytical phase (antibody tests and methods), including awareness of the International Consensus on ANA Patterns (ICAP) initiative; 4. reporting of results and clinician relations. Results A total of 121 laboratories (79.6%) responded to the survey (15% universities, 70 hospitals, and 15% private laboratories). Indirect immunofluorescence is used by 94.8% of respondents, chemiluminescence by 78.4%, fluoro-immuno-enzymatic assays by 67.5%, immunodot by 52.6%, line-immunoassay by 47.4%, addressable laser bead immunoassay by 10.3% and radioimmunological methods by 10.2%. The great majority of respondents implemented complete automation of the listed methodologies. 65% of participants state that they add an interpretative comment in the report. 45% of participants enjoy a collaborative relationship with clinicians; counselling activities are provided by almost half of participants. Conclusion Survey results indicated that almost all respondent laboratories have broadened their antibody panel and that high-throughput technologies have been widely introduced. Gaps identified by the survey include a still incomplete compliance with guidelines in antibody profiles (e.g. in antiphospholipid syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis and reporting of test results. Awareness of these differences provides insights that may further contribute to achieving harmonisation in autoimmune diagnostics
Understanding the Biological Significance of Anti-DFS70 Antibodies: Effect of Biologic Therapies on Their Occurrence in Inflammatory Arthritis
No full textImpact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Appropriateness of Diagnostic Pathways of Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases
Full text linkObjective: Early diagnosis of autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) is key to achieving effective treatment and improving prognosis. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to major changes in clinical practice on a global scale. We aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatological clinical practice and autoimmunity testing demands. Methods: Data regarding the first rheumatological visits and new diagnoses, together with the autoimmunity laboratory testing volumes related to the COVID-19 pandemic phase (January-December 2020), were collected from medical records and the laboratory information system of a regional reference hospital (Basilicata, Italy) and compared with those obtained during the corresponding period in 2019. Results: A significant decrease in the 2020 autoimmunity laboratory test volume was found when compared with the same period in 2019 (9912 vs 14,100; P < 0.05). A significant decrease in first rheumatological visits and diagnosis (1272 vs 2336; P < 0.05) was also observed. However, an equivalent or higher percentage of positive autoimmunity results from outpatient services was recorded during 2020 when compared to the prepandemic state. Of note, COVID-19-associated decline in new diagnoses affected mainly less severe diseases. In contrast, ARDs with systemic involvement were diagnosed at the same levels as in the prepandemic period. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected access to health services. However, our study highlighted that during the outbreak, greater appropriateness of the requests for laboratory tests and visits emerged, as shown by a greater percentage of positive test results and new diagnoses of more severe ARDs compared to the prepandemic period
Harmonization of ANA testing challenge: quantification strategy to accurately predict end-point titers avoiding serial dilution
No full textDespite the advantages of automated systems for antinuclear antibody (ANA) analysis, the prediction of end-point titers avoiding serial dilutions is still in progress. The aims of this study were to set a conversion table providing discriminant ranges of fluorescence signal intensity values (FI) corresponding to the end-point titers and validate this tool in a real-life laboratory setting. Eight hundred ninety-four serum samples were analyzed for ANA using Image Navigator System. In order to classify FI into non-overlapping groups corresponding to conventional end-point titers, statistical discriminant analysis was used. Validation study was performed calculating agreement and error rates between visual readings and conversion table of 1119 routine ANA positive samples. Setting of FI ranges corresponding to the end-point titers for different staining patterns was computed. For samples showing single pattern, the overall agreement between visual readings and conversion table was 98.4% for all titers ranging from 1:160 to 1:2560, of which 68.0% had the same titer and 30.4% were within ± one titer difference. Concordance rates according to ANA patterns were as follows: (1) nuclear 98.4%, of which 67.0% had the same titer and 31.4% ± one titer; (2) cytoplasmic 100%, of which 72.7% had the same titer and 27.3% than ± one titer; (3) mitotic 66.6%, of which 33.3% had more ± one titer. Our study developed a quantification method for autoantibodies titers assessment based on just one single sample dilution instead of traditional serial dilution approach, providing significant advantages in routine laboratory in terms of reduction in hand-on time and harmonization of results
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
Assessing vitamin D levels in an anti-DFS70 positive population: New insights emerging
No full textBackground: Anti-dense fine speckled 70 (DFS70) autoantibodies have more often been described in apparently healthy individuals than in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD). The aim of this study was to explore the link between anti-DFS70 autoantibodies and vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels in an Italian adult cohort. Methods: Serum samples from 34 (five males and 29 females) anti-DFS70 positive patients (index cases), 34 ANA-negative healthy controls, 34 ANA-positive anti-DFS70 negative SLE patients, both groups age- and gender-matched with the index cases, 23 ANA-positive anti-DFS70 negative healthy blood donors and six female SARD patients showing mixed DFS positive pattern were collected and tested for 25(OH)D levels. Relevant demographics and lifestyle practices, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, and use of medication were recorded for patients and healthy controls. Results: Mean serum levels of 25(OH)D were significantly higher in anti-DFS70 positive subjects (mean ± SD: 22.1 ± 9.8 ng/ml) than in ANA-negative healthy controls (mean ± SD: 17.3 ± 6.7 ng/ml; p = .03), ANA-positive healthy controls (mean ± SD: 15.2 ± 6.8 ng/ml; p = .01), SLE patients (16.6 ± 11.0 ng/ml; p = .01) and in patients with SARD (15.0 ± 5.6 ng/ml; p = .01). No statistically relevant differences in BMI, clinical, or demographic parameters were found. Conclusions: Our findings showed higher levels of vitamin D in anti-DFS70 positive subjects than in the controls, which is compatible with the hypothesis of the “benign” nature of anti-DFS70 antibodies
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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