1,720,957 research outputs found
Effective pain reduction of non-pharmacological interventions for procedural pain during repetitive immunizations of children born pre-term
No full textPsychological distress is common during pregnancy but the field
of perinatal-psychology and related research as well as health
services have focused their attention essentially on the post-partunl
period.
New data suggest that stress and psychopathology during pregnancy
may be associated with significant risks for the mother and
the baby and may lead to detrimental effects for both. Maternal
psychopathology is related to reduced quality of life, higher rate
of risk behaviors, postpartunl psychopathology, and to a decline
in the quality of dyadic relationship. Antenatal stress and psychological
disease and their underlying neuroendocrine changes
are associated with poor pregnancy and birth outcomes. Maternal
stress and psychopathology together with fetal vulnerability and
other ~ediating factors, such as pharmachological treatment, may
determme long-term consequences by altering developmental processes,
affecting the structural development of certain brain areas
circuits, and systems, as well as brain functioning. '
~fter h~ving studied a sample obtained from the general population,
thIS study focused on a selected and high risk sample
of women diagnosed with psychopathology and recruited from a
center specialized in Women's lifecycle mood disorders (psicheDonna
Center-Milan).
General aim: The general aim of this study was threefold:
- to study different manifestations ofpsychological illness as well
as to detect risk and protective factors in this selected sample
of pregnant and postpartunl women
- to analyze the characteristics of these women in order to
understand the mechanisms underlying the interaction between
protective and risk factors which may predict the course of psychopathological
manifestations across pregnancy and beyond.
- to analyze, in follow-up, the choice and efficacy of pharmacological
and-or psychotherapy treatment of these women.
Methods: A sample of91 pregnant and postpartunl women was
enrolled from the Center. Women were subjected to a test battery
in order to evaluate:
- ~ndex ofpregnancy specific-related anxiety (PRAQ-R, Huizink)
- mdex of State Anxiety and of Trait Anxiety, as defined by
Spielberger (STAI-Y, Spielberger)
- ananmestic data and risk and protection factors (scale constructed
ad hoc and PDPI, Tatano Beck) - index of depressionlpostpartunl
depression (EPDS, Cox).
Conclusions and Considerations: Differences were found
between ~is sample and the one from the general population,
not only m test scores but overall in the role played by risk
and protection factors. The presence of pregnancy-related specific
anxiety (detected by PRAQ-R) was found more in the general population: a working hypothesis as to the underlying cause was
developed.
Women recruited from the Center are characterized by a peculiar
configuration of risk and protection factors, where a previous
history of psychopathology seems to play a prominent role in
defining the sample.
This type of evidence indicates a possible new key point
with respect to intervention and prevention, that is, the previous
history of psychopathology. Consequently we need to consider the
necessity of different approaches in the use of screening tools, and
in the development of preventive measures and healing programs,
and tailor all activities and interventions to the patient in order to
be effective. This has lead to new evidence-based perspectives for
intervention
Repetitive acute pain in infants born preterm: an age-specific nonpharmacological approach
No full textPurpose of the study: to examine the age-related
effectiveness of simple non-pharmacological interventions
in reducing procedural pain in ex-preterm infants during
a series of repetitive immunizations.
Background: Infant pain is of critical interest, especially
with respect to premature infants often exposed to
protracted pain and recurring painful procedures. Despite
the accumulating evidence that preterm neonates are
highly sensitive to pain and that neonatal procedural pain
is harmful and may lead to changes in neural development,
treatment for painful procedures is limited. Children
born preterm routinely undergo a series of monthly
immunizations in order to prevent upper respiratory
infections. These painful immunizations impact on an
infant that experienced a mean of 14 stressful and painful
procedures a day, during the period of hospitalization,
which may have lasted for months. Given this, special
attention is required to the development and use of age
appropriate approaches that reduce the impact of painful
procedures and to improve the treatment of repetitive pain
in this particular group of vulnerable neonates.
Methods: A Single Case Experimental Desing was
used. 37 Italian children born pre-term were assigned to
four non-pharmacological interventions (1: 25% sucrose
solution in combination with oral stimulation by a pacifier;
2: visual–auditory distraction; 3: play interaction and
4: blowing soap bubbles). Reflecting the maturational level
of the infants, considering age corrected for gestational
age, each infant received the first intervention at his first
immunization (out of five) and whenever no pain relieve
was obtained, the next immunization was performed
with the second intervention. Assessment of video-taped
behaviour and crying, time to first cry, time to stop cry and
total time required for the immunization procedure were
used as outcome measures and assess by six independent
observers.
Results and Conclusions: following the maturation of
the infant, visual-auditory distraction (using the more complex capacity of visual auditory integration), play
interaction and blowing soap bubbles (using the capacity
to participate in interactive play) all proved to be effective
in delaying distress, reducing the facial display of pain and
especially in reducing the time necessary to calm and console
the infant. In addition, negative hospital experiences,
length of stay together with gestational age and weight at
birth should be considered important factors that influence
the initial reaction to the first immunization. Sucrose in
the presence of a pacifier significantly reduced pain and
distress up to an age of 60 weeks corrected for gestational
age. Furthermore these factors may underlie the extended
efficacy of oral sucrose combined with a pacifier by altering
the responsiveness of the immature nervous system
to adverse events. This observation extends the effects of
sucrose plus pacifier much beyond the period in which
they are effective in term neonates. Finally, adjusting the
method of non-pharmacological intervention according to
age and maturational level will not only lead to the highest
efficacy of pain management but will also lead to a reduction
in stress as well as in time spend for the medical staff
Psychopathology during pregnancy and postpartum: characterization of a selected high risk Italian sample
No full textPsychological distress is common during pregnancy but the field
of perinatal-psychology and related research as well as health
services have focused their attention essentially on the post-partunl
period.
New data suggest that stress and psychopathology during pregnancy
may be associated with significant risks for the mother and
the baby and may lead to detrimental effects for both. Maternal
psychopathology is related to reduced quality of life, higher rate
of risk behaviors, postpartunl psychopathology, and to a decline
in the quality of dyadic relationship. Antenatal stress and psychological
disease and their underlying neuroendocrine changes
are associated with poor pregnancy and birth outcomes. Maternal
stress and psychopathology together with fetal vulnerability and
other ~ediating factors, such as pharmachological treatment, may
determme long-term consequences by altering developmental processes,
affecting the structural development of certain brain areas
circuits, and systems, as well as brain functioning. '
~fter h~ving studied a sample obtained from the general population,
thIS study focused on a selected and high risk sample
of women diagnosed with psychopathology and recruited from a
center specialized in Women's lifecycle mood disorders (psicheDonna
Center-Milan).
General aim: The general aim of this study was threefold:
- to study different manifestations ofpsychological illness as well
as to detect risk and protective factors in this selected sample
of pregnant and postpartunl women
- to analyze the characteristics of these women in order to
understand the mechanisms underlying the interaction between
protective and risk factors which may predict the course of psychopathological
manifestations across pregnancy and beyond.
- to analyze, in follow-up, the choice and efficacy of pharmacological
and-or psychotherapy treatment of these women.
Methods: A sample of91 pregnant and postpartunl women was
enrolled from the Center. Women were subjected to a test battery
in order to evaluate:
- ~ndex ofpregnancy specific-related anxiety (PRAQ-R, Huizink)
- mdex of State Anxiety and of Trait Anxiety, as defined by
Spielberger (STAI-Y, Spielberger)
- ananmestic data and risk and protection factors (scale constructed
ad hoc and PDPI, Tatano Beck) - index of depressionlpostpartunl
depression (EPDS, Cox).
Conclusions and Considerations: Differences were found
between ~is sample and the one from the general population,
not only m test scores but overall in the role played by risk
and protection factors. The presence of pregnancy-related specific
anxiety (detected by PRAQ-R) was found more in the general population: a working hypothesis as to the underlying cause was
developed.
Women recruited from the Center are characterized by a peculiar
configuration of risk and protection factors, where a previous
history of psychopathology seems to play a prominent role in
defining the sample.
This type of evidence indicates a possible new key point
with respect to intervention and prevention, that is, the previous
history of psychopathology. Consequently we need to consider the
necessity of different approaches in the use of screening tools, and
in the development of preventive measures and healing programs,
and tailor all activities and interventions to the patient in order to
be effective. This has lead to new evidence-based perspectives for
intervention
Perinatal psychopathology: characterisation of a selected italian women sample
No full textPsychopathology during pregnancy and postpartum period is a clinical-medical affair, as well as a social
one.
For many woman, pregnancy and postpartum may constitute a trigger, moreover if a woman is, or have
been in her life, already affected by a manifest psychopathology or an asymptomatic one.
Primary-preventive approach should be considered in preconception planning with all women in
childbearing age who have or are at risk for psychopathology and psychiatric illness. For them, preventive
and healing standardized and evidence-based programs are needed, in particular with respect of
pharmacological treatment in a so critical period; even if is not proved that any specific psychotropic drug
is completely safe, due to the fact that all psychotropic medication cross the placenta barrier, there are
guidelines to follow. It's as well important to highlight that even if lots have to be studied, evidence
suggests that untreated depression, rather than treatment with antidepressant during pregnancy, results
in adverse outcomes.
Resources, resilence, copying abilities assessment, risk and protective factors evaluation, together with
pharmacological treatment costs-benefits balance, are the first steps for a personalized and effective
healing program.
from a study on a high risk and selected sample recruited from PsicheDonna Center-Milan-Italy
(Macedonio-Melloni, Fatebenefratelli Hospital) will be discussed.
This center is specialized in women's lifecycle mood disorders; the characterization of this peculiar
sample will be presented, with respect to: - diagnosis -risk and protective factors configuration -
assessment tools - pharmacological treatment planning - clinical healing activities adopted - intervention
and preventive model developed
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
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