1,721,003 research outputs found
Minor brain abnormalities in infants with congenital Cytomegalovirus infection
No full textBackground
The spectrum of neuroimaging abnormalities associated with congenital CMV infection (cCMV) include subependymal pseudocysts (SEPCs) and white matter abnormalities (WMAs). There are scant data about outcome and effectiveness of antiviral treatment in patients with cCMV and isolated SEPCs (ISEPCs) or isolated WMAs (IWMAs). The aims of this study were: 1) to assess prevalence and outcome of ISEPCS and IWMAs detected by MRI in term infants with cCMV infection; 2) to compare hearing and neurodevelopmental outcomes between patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic cCMV; to compare hearing and neurodevelopmental outcomes between treated and untreated patients with cCMV.
Methods
This was a retrospective study of term infants with cCMV born before February 2021 from three European children’s hospitals. MRI studies were performed on a 1.5 or 3 Tesla system. MRI scans were independently reviewed by two experts blinded to clinical data, and any discrepancy was resolved by consensus. Symptomatic cCMV was defined according to Kimberlin DW, et al (N Engl J Med. 2015;372(10):933-43). SEPCs were defined as cystic lesions located along or adjacent to the wall of the lateral ventricle(s). Patients were considered to have ISEPCs when these were the only abnormal MRI finding. WMAs were established in the presence of abnormally high signal intensity on T2- and low signal intensity within the white matter on T1-weighted MRI. WMAs were classified as multifocal or diffuse. Patients were considered to have isolated WMAs (IWMAs) when these were the only abnormal finding detected by MRI, or were associated solely with SEPCs. Antiviral treatment (ganciclovir or valganciclovir) was proposed according to the best evidence-based standard practice at time of birth. Moderate or severe disability was defined as one of the following: cerebral palsy; GMDS DQ, BSID-II MDI or PDI, Bayley-III composite cognitive or motor score, or overall IQ at WISC or WPPSI <-2 SD; epilepsy requiring antiseizure medication; severe sensori-neural hearing loss (SNHL) (>70 dB threshold and/or requiring cochlear implants); or visual impairment. Non-severe SNHL or a score between -1 and -2 SD on the GMDS DQ, BSID-II MDI or PDI, Bayley-III composite cognitive or motor scales, or overall IQ were classified as mild disabilities.
Results
Among the 89 included patients, SEPCs were identified in 52 (58.4%) infants. In 19/89 cases (21.3%), they were isolated (ISEPCs). No patients with ISEPCs had moderate/severe disability at a mean age of 52.3±21.6 months. All 13 asymptomatic patients with ISEPCs had normal outcome, whilst 2/6 (33.3%) symptomatic patients with ISEPCs had mild disability at follow-up (non-severe SNHL). Treated and untreated patients with ISEPCs had similar rates of mild disability (table 1).
WMAs were found in 36 (40.4%) infants. WMAs were associated with MRI abnormalities other than SEPCs in 16 (18.0%) infants, while in 20 (22.5%) infants they were isolated or associated solely with SEPCs (IWMAs). Mean follow-up duration was Among patients with IWMAs, 1/20 (5.0%) had a moderate/severe disability (severe SNHL) at last follow-up visit (mean age at last follow-up: 53.2 ± 24.0 months). Within the IWMA group, a trend towards a higher rate of disability was observed among patients with symptomatic cCMV (57.1%) compared to those with asymptomatic disease (15.4%), although not statistically significant. Treated and untreated patients with IWMAs had similar rates of disability (table 2).
Discussion
ISEPCs and IWMAs are common MRI findings among cCMV infants. Overall, patients with cCMV and ISEPCs carry a low risk of mild disability, regardless of antiviral treatment. Among patients with IWMAs, disability rates are higher, with no difference between treated and untreated subjects. Given the toxicity of the available antiviral agents and the absence of trials investigating the effectiveness of treatment in patients with cCMV and ISEPCs or IWMAs, these data may be helpful when facing the dilemma of treatment in these subgroups of infants with cCMV.
Untreated ISEPCs
(N = 11) Treated
ISEPCs
(N = 8) P
Symptomatic disease, n (%) 3/11 (27.3) 3/8 (37.5) 1
Outcome data
Age at follow-up, months, mean ± SD 49.9 ± 22.9 56.4 ± 22.9 0.55
Moderate or severe disability, n/total (%) 0/9 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Cerebral palsy, n/total (%) 0/9 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Moderate or severe cognitive or neurodevelopmental deficit, n/total (%) 0/9 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Epilepsy requiring antiseizure medication, n/total (%) 0/9 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Severe SNHL, n/total (%) 0/11 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Visual impairment, n/total (%) 0/9 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Death, n (%) 0/11 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Mild disability, n/total (%) 1/9 (11.1) 1/8 (12.5) 1
Non-severe SNHL without other moderate or severe disabilities, n/total (%) 1/11 (9.1) 1/8 (12.5) 1
Mild cognitive or neurodevelopmental deficit, n/total (%) 0/9 (0.0) 0/8 (0.0) -
Any disability, n/total (%) 1/9 (11.1) 1/8 (12.5) 1
Table 1. Hearing and neurodevelopmental outcomes of patients with ISEPCs according to antiviral treatment.
Untreated IWMAs
(N = 11) Treated
IWMAs
(N = 9) p
Symptomatic disease, n (%) 2/11 (18.2) 5/9 (44.4) 0.20
Outcome data
Age at follow-up, months, mean ± SD 58.6 ± 23.1 46.4 ± 23.0 0.40
Moderate or severe disability, n/total (%) 0/11 (0.0) 1/9 (11.1) 0.45
Cerebral palsy, n/total (%) 0/11 (0.0) 0/9 (0.0) -
Moderate or severe cognitive or neurodevelopmental deficit, n/total (%) 0/11 (0.0) 0/9 (0.0) -
Epilepsy requiring antiseizure
medication, n/total (%) 0/11 (0.0) 0/9 (0.0) -
Severe SNHL, n/total (%) 0/11 (0.0) 1/9 (11.1) 0.45
Visual impairment, n/total (%) 0/11 (0.0) 0/9 (0.0) -
Death, n (%) 0/11 (0.0) 0/9 (0.0) -
Mild disability, n/total (%) 3/11 (27.3) 2/9 (22.2) 1
Non-severe SNHL without other moderate or severe disabilities, n/total (%) 1/11 (9.1) 1/9 (11.1) 1
Mild cognitive or neurodevelopmental deficit, n/total (%) 2/11 (18.2) 1/9 (11.1) 1
Any disability, n/total (%) 3/11 (27.3) 3/9 (33.3) 1
Table 2. Hearing and neurodevelopmental outcomes of patients with IWMAs according to antiviral treatment
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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