1,721,141 research outputs found
Multiple Sclerosis
Get PDFMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). The lesions of MS were first depicted in 1835. In 1940, pathological similarities were noted between experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and acute cases of MS. These similarities gave rise to the theory that MS is an autoimmune disease, a theory further supported by the similarities between MS and chronic relapsing EAE
An Introduction to Neuroimmunology
Get PDFClassically the brain has been regarded as an "immunologically privileged" site, because alien tissue grafts transplanted there survive longer than similar grafts in other sites. The relative hospitality of the brain to foreign tissue has been attributed to a lack of lymphatic drainage, the presence of the blood-brain barrier, the lack of constitutive expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, and the possible presence of chemical substances that might inhibit lymphocyte traffic. However, recent studies indicate that, in general, immune responses proceed in the nervous system in a similar manner to that in other organs. Yet the nervous system still has a number of attributes that influence local immune responses and that may be relevant to the pathogenesis of autoimmune neurological disease
The Stiff-Man Syndrome
Get PDFThe stiff-man syndrome is a rare disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) characterised by progressive fluctuating rigidity and painful spasms of the body musculature. It was first described in 1956 by Moersch and Woltman, although they observed the first case of this condition much earlier, in 1924. Ironically, they nicknamed the disorder "stiff-man syndrome" to "associate it with a memorable and descriptive term that could not be taken by anyone to be final". Recently, evidence has accumulated that the stiff-man syndrome is an autoimmune disease directed against neurones secreting the inhibitory transmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)(Solimena et al,, 1990). The sydrome usually develops spontaneously and often occurs in association with other autoimmune diseases, particuarly type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. However, it may also occur as a paraneoplastic syndrome complicating remote malignancy
Paraneoplastic Neurological Disorders
Get PDFParaneoplastic neurological disorders are disorders of the nervous system that occur as a remote effect of malignant neoplasms and that are not due to infiltration of the nervous system by neoplastic tissue. These disorders have been described in association with a wide variety of neoplasms, with the lung, ovary and breast being common sites of origin. There is increasing evidence that paraneoplastic neurological disorders are due to an autoimmune attack on specific regions of the nervous system triggered by the aberrant expression of neuronal antigens by the neoplasm (Posner, 1992). Many regions of the nervous system can be involved, either in isolation or in combination, and this involvement determines the clinical features
Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
Get PDFExperimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) is the prototype for cell-mediated autoimmune disease in general, and is the best animal model of human CNS inflammatory demyelinating disease. It has three forms, which vary in clinical course and neuropathology: acute EAE, hyperacute EAE and chronic relapsing EAE. Acute EAE and hyperacute EAE are monophasic diseases which resemble the human diseases, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and acute haemhorrhagic leukoencephalitis, respectively. Chronic relapsing EAE has a chronic relapsing course and resmebles the human disease multiple sclerosis
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
- …
