1,721,118 research outputs found
Hematologic passport for athletes competing in endurance sports: a feasibility study.
No full textBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Strategies based on the use of upper thresholds of hemoglobin or hematocrit to detect blood doping in endurance sports have essentially failed to deter this malpractice. With the aim of establishing a more effective strategy, we analyzed the biological variations of hematologic parameters in professional athletes and investigated the possibility of defining subject-specific reference ranges that could distinguish between physiologic and abnormal variability. DESIGN AND METHODS: Hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, reticulocyte count, serum ferritin and soluble transferrin receptor levels were sequentially evaluated in 923 professional football players. Using the analysis of variance we tested the effect of age, ethnicity, exercise modalities and training phases on hematologic parameters and then estimated components of variation. The significance of the difference between two measures was obtained from the distribution of the within-subject variance (the so-called reference change). Subject-specific reference ranges were centered around the individual mean value with dispersion based on the 95th percentile of the coefficient of variation distribution. RESULTS: A total of 2,506 hematologic determinations were made. Exercise modalities were found to have important effects on hematologic parameters. Hemoglobin and hematocrit values were higher at the beginning of the competition season, and then declined in well-trained athletes. Aerobic exercise was clearly associated with lower values, suggesting that marginally low hemoglobin and hematocrit values should physiologically be found in endurance sports. At least five determinations were required to define subject-specific reference ranges reliably. Considering athletes showing normal indices of red cell production (i.e., reticulocyte count and soluble transferrin receptor), the 95th percentile of the coefficient of variation distribution was lower than 5\% for both hemoglobin and hematocrit. Increases exceeding 10\% in these latter parameters should to be considered abnormal. Score systems capable of efficiently detecting non-physiologic increases in red cell production were developed. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Using proper sequential determinations of hematologic variables subject-specific reference ranges can be defined for hemoglobin and hematocrit. Thus, the hematologic passport is feasible and might be employed to exclude athletes with non-physiologic increases in hemoglobin and hematocrit from competitions. The hematologic passport should be used within a global strategy to deter blood doping
Type 1 diabetes among sardinian children is increasing: the Sardinian diabetes register for children aged 0-14 years (1989-1999)
No full textOBJECTIVE. The Sardinian type 1 diabetes register represented the basis to determine the most recent trends and the age distribution of type 1 diabetes incidence among Sardinians <15 years of age during 1989–1999. Part of the data (1989–1998) has been already published by the EURODIAB Group with a lower completeness of ascertainment (87%). The geographical distribution of type 1 diabetes risk was also investigated.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS. The new cases of type 1 diabetes in children aged 0–14 years in Sardinia were prospectively registered from 1989 to 1999 according to the EURODIAB ACE criteria. The completeness of ascertainment calculated applying the capture-recapture method was 91%. Standardized incidence rates and 95% CI were calculated assuming the Poisson distribution. Trend of type 1 diabetes incidence was analyzed using the Poisson regression model. Maps of the geographical distribution of type 1 diabetes risk for the whole time period and separately for 1989–1994 and 1995–1999 were produced applying a Bayesian method.
RESULTS. A total of 1,214 type 1 diabetic patients were registered yielding to an overall age- and sex-standardized incidence rate of 38.8/100,000 (95% CI 36.7– 41.1). There was a male excess with an overall male-to-female ratio of 1.4 (1.3–1.8). The increase of incidence during the 11 years analyzed was statistically significant (P= 0.002) with a yearly increasing rate of 2.8% (1.0–4.7). No evidence of an effect of age and sex on this trend has been found. The geographical distribution of type 1 diabetes relative risk (RR) showed that the highest risk areas are located in the southern and central-eastern part of the island and the lowest risk in the northeastern part, even if most of these differences were not statistically significant. This geographical distribution seemed to remain mainly the same between 1989–1994 and 1995–1999.
CONCLUSIONS. The homogeneity of diabetes risk and the increase of incidence over the age-groups in the Sardinian population stress the role of an environmental factor uniformly distributed among the genetically high-risk Sardinians
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
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia with del13q14 as the sole abnormality: dynamic prognostic estimate by interphase-FISH
No full textThis study analyzed 140 patients with isolated del13q14 on interphase FISH (I-FISH), to identify subsets with a different progression risk and to assess the acquisition of additional chromosomal abnormalities (clonal evolution) in treatment-naïve del13q14 patients. A monoallelic deletion (del13qx1) was detected in 123 cases (88%), a biallelic deletion (del13qx2) in eight and a mosaic of monoallelic and biallelic deletions (del13qx1/del13qx2) in nine. In 33% of cases, deletion encompassed the Rb1 locus The median percentage of abnormal nuclei was 50% (15%-96%), and it was higher in patients with a biallelic/mosaic pattern in comparison with patients with monoallelic deletion. Sixty two patients (44%) have been treated; 5-year treatment free survival rate was 56% and the median treatment free survival was 65 months. The baseline percentage of deleted nuclei, as a continuous variable, was related to progression (HR: 1.02; p = 0.001). According to deletion burden, three groups were identified: 64 cases (46%) had <50% deleted nuclei, 47 (33%) had 50-69% deleted nuclei, and 29 (21%) had ≥70% deleted nuclei. The 5-year untreated rate was 70.5% , 52.6% and 28.7% (p < 0.0001), respectively. In multivariate analysis using IGHV mutational status, presence of a nullisomic clone, CD38 expression and percentage of deleted nuclei as covariates, only IGHV mutational status and the percentage of deleted nuclei were independent risk factors for treatment. In 103 patients serially monitored by I-FISH before starting any treatment, we observed a significant increase in the proportion of del13q14 cells, and this increase affected the risk of subsequent treatment requirement (HR 2.54, p = 0.001). The appearance of a new clone was detected in 16 patients (15.5%) and chromosome 13 was involved in 14 of them. I-FISH monitoring proves worthwhile for a dynamic risk stratification and for planning clinical surveillance
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
Long-term outcome of ph-negative acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adults: a single centre experience.
No full textAppropriate 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
Bortezomib plus dexamethasone is highly effective in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients but responses are short-lived.
No full textObjectives Bortezomib has proven to be effective as single agent in myeloma patients. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of bortezomib in combination with dexamethasone in a cohort of MM relapsed/refractory patients treated in a single centre. Patients and Methods In this single center study 70 patients were treated with bortezomib alone (9) or in combination with dexamethasone (61). Results Forty-one patients (59%) achieved at least a partial response (PR), including 7% complete response (CR), 36% very good partial response (VGPR) reaching the best response within 4 cycles. The duration of response (DOR) was significantly longer for patients achieving CR/VGPR than for those achieving PR (7.3 versus 3.8 months, p=0.03). Likewise, time to progression (TTP), time to alternative treatment (TTAT), and treatment free interval (TFI) were significantly better for patients obtaining CR/VGPR (6.8, 9.4, 6.5 months respectively) as compared to PR (4.9, 6.3, 2 months respectively). The only dose-limiting toxicity was peripheral neuropathy (PN), which occurred in 38/70 patients (55%) and was of grade 3-4 in 12 (17%). PN led to a dose reduction or treatment discontinuation in 17 (24%) patients. Complete resolution or improvement of PN occurred in 29/38 (76%) after a median time of 100 days (range: 17-202). Conclusions Bortezomib in combination to dexamethasone is highly effective in relapsed/refractory MM producing an impressive rate of CR/VGPR, but responses are short-lived
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