1,721,479 research outputs found
Dalla teoria generale di sistemi alla teoria dell'attaccamento. Percorsi e modelli della psicoterapia relazionale-sistemica
No full textIs outcome of older people with acute myeloid leukemia improving with new therapeutic approaches and stem cell transplantation?
No full textIntroduction: The clinical outcome of older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is still poor, especially for those who are unfit to treatments aimed at altering the natural course of the disease. Hypomethylating agents (HMA) offer an important therapeutic opportunity to a consistent number of patients, but long-term results are largely unsatisfactory. Area covered: Recently, a number of new agents have been registered for AML, some of which selectively available for older patient population, with promising results in terms of response rate and survival. Furthermore, the upper age limit for allogeneic stem cell transplantation is constantly increasing, so that this procedure is offered and actually given to an increasing number of older patients with AML. A literature review was conducted of the PubMed database for articles published in English as well as for abstracts from most important and recent hematology meetings on AML in older patients. Expert opinion: Appropriate selection among different options on the basis of clinical fitness and molecular findings at diagnosis as well as at relapse would result in improvement of therapeutic results, sparing unnecessary toxicity and optimizing health systems resources
Dimensional treatment of aggression, impulsivity, and activation: A study on psychiatric inpatients
No full textIntroduction. Most psychotropic drugs are effective for several mental disorders, rather than for specific diagnoses. The dimensional approach to psychiatric nosology can explain the non-specificity of drug action, and it could usefully integrate the traditional categorical approach and may help optimize personalised psychiatric treatment. This study aimed at examining the use of antiepileptic drugs, particularly valproate, for the treatment of prominent aggression, impulsivity, and activation, within the conceptual framework of a “dimensional pharmacotherapy” strategy. Methods. This observational, naturalistic study included 846 adult psychiatric inpatients. Within 48 hours from admission and then again at discharge, each patient was administered the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the SVARAD scale for rapid dimensional assessment. Results. We found a statistically significant association between the prescription of an antiepileptic drug (valproate in the vast majority of cases) and the presence of high levels of aggression, impulsivity, and activation. In patients with high levels of these psychopathological dimensions, the prescription of an antiepileptic drug was significantly associated with a greater decrease in BPRS total score from admission to discharge. This finding remained significant after the exclusion of patients experiencing a manic or mixed episode. Conclusions. Although methodological limitations dictate caution in interpreting our results, these preliminary findings suggest that a “dimensional pharmacotherapy” strategy (i.e., selecting drugs based on neurobiological action rather than categorical diagnosis) for the treatment of aggression, impulsivity and activation is commonly used in daily practice and may lead to greater clinical improvement, in the absence of severe adverse effects
Genes and environment in attachment
No full textIn the last two decades, there has been increasing research interest in disentangling the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to individual differences in attachment, and in identifying the genes involved in shaping attachment. Twin studies suggest that as attachment changes during the course of development, genetic factors may play a progressively more important role, while shared environmental effects might decrease. However, most of this literature is limited by low power, measurement issues, and cross-sectional design. The findings of molecular genetic studies are, overall, inconclusive. The literature on main genetic effects and gene-by-environment interactions on attachment is filled with inconsistent and unreplicated findings. Also, most studies are underpowered. Challenges for future research are to identify the unshared environmental mechanisms involved in shaping attachment, and to better elucidate the genes involved and their interaction with the environment. Some pioneer studies suggested that the incorporation of epigenetic processes into G × E interaction models might represent a promising future way for investigating the complex, dynamic interplay between genes, environment, and attachment
Quality assessment of cord blood units selected for unrelated transplantation: a transplant center perspective
No full textCord blood units (CBUs) are increasingly being used for unrelated allogeneic stem cell transplantation and their selection is mainly done according to pre-freezing cell dose and HLA donor/recipient compatibility. The main practical advantage of cord blood transplant (CBT) is represented by an easy and quick CBU procurement, due to the possibility of long-term storage of fully HLA typed CBUs assessed for cell dose and infectious contamination. The main disadvantage consists in a limited cell dose, with the consequent risk of graft failure or engraftment delay. In order to warrant the safety and the efficiency of CBUs selected for clinical use, transplant physicians may check CBU characteristics by requiring quality assessments (QAs) to the cord blood bank (CBB), to be performed on segments attached to and cryopreserved with the bags. However, there is a wide variability concerning CBU-QA with regard to the pre-transplant "release tests", mainly due to limited availability of segments attached to the CBU and of maternal samples and to difficult communication between Transplant Centres (TCs) and CBBs. The aim of this article is to describe a TC perspective during CBU selection for unrelated transplant, in order to identify an appropriate QA scheme and define the timing when the results need to be acquired. By analyzing the available data, this article describes a model of TC-QA policy able to guide the clinician from CBU selection through the infusion, with the ultimate aim of improving the transplant clinical outcome
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
Is there still a role for autologous stem cell transplantation for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia?
Full text linkAfter intensive induction chemotherapy and complete remission achievement, patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are candidates to receive either high-dose cytarabine-based regimens, or autologous (ASCT) or allogeneic (allo-SCT) hematopoietic stem cell transplantations as consolidation treatment. Pretreatment risk classification represents a determinant key of type and intensity of post-remission therapy. Current evidence indicates that allo-SCT represents the treatment of choice for high and intermediate risk patients if clinically eligible, and its use is favored by increasing availability of unrelated or haploidentical donors. On the contrary, the adoption of ASCT is progressively declining, although numerous studies indicate that in favorable risk AML the relapse rate is lower after ASCT than chemotherapy. In addition, the burden of supportive therapy and hospitalization favors ASCT. In this review, we summarize current indications (if any) to ASCT on the basis of molecular genetics at diagnosis and minimal residual disease evaluation after induction/consolidation phase. Finally, we critically discuss the role of ASCT in older patients with AML and acute promyelocytic leukemia
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
- …
