1,721,017 research outputs found
To halt disease progression rehabilitation in MS should start early: Commentary
No full textThe author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article
Motor evoked potentials for multiple sclerosis, a multiyear follow-up dataset
No full textMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Through the demyelinating and axonal pathology of MS, the signal conduction in the central nervous system is affected. Evoked potential measurements allow clinicians to monitor this process and can be used for decision support. We share a dataset that contains motor evoked potential (MEP) measurements, in which the brain is stimulated and the resulting signal is measured in the hands and feet. This results in time series of 100 milliseconds long. Typically, both hands and feet are measured in one hospital visit. The dataset contains 5586 visits of 963 patients, performed in day-to-day clinical care over a period of 6 years. The dataset consists of approximately 100,000 MEP. Clinical metadata such as the expanded disability status scale, sex, and age is also available. This dataset can be used to explore the role of evoked potentials in MS research and patient care. It may also be used as a benchmark for time series analysis and predictive modelling
A real-world single-centre analysis of the safety and efficacy of cladribine tablets for relapsing multiple sclerosis
No full textIntroduction: Damage of frontal cortico-subcortical networks contributes to fatigue and dual-task impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the mechanisms underlying these clinical deficits in progressive (P) MS still need to be fully explored. Objectives and Aims: In this study, we investigated the associations between structural and functional MRI abnormalities of frontal cortico-subcortical circuits and fatigue and dual-task performance in PMS. Methods: Brain structural and functional MRI scans, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) and dual-task performances were obtained from 57 PMS patients with impaired processing speed from 4 centers and 10 healthy controls (HC). The associations of thalamic, caudate nucleus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) atrophy, microstructural abnormalities of their connecting tracts and their resting state effective connectivity (RS EC) with fatigue, single-and dual-task performances were investigated. Results: Compared to HC, PMS patients had higher fatigue (p⩽0.027) and worse dual-task performance (p<0.001). Compared to non-fatigued (MFIS<38), PMS patients with fatigue (MFIS⩾38) had lower RS EC from left-caudate nucleus to left-DLPFC (p=0.007). In PMS, higher MFIS-physical and MFIS-psychosocial scores were predicted by lower RS EC from left-caudate nucleus to left-DLPFC (R 2 =0.112, p=0.027) and higher RS EC from right-thalamus to right-DLPFC (R 2 =0.102, p=0.046), respectively. Dual-task motor performances were predicted by lower RS EC from left-DLPFC to left-thalamus (R 2 ⩾0.137, p⩽0.032). Several structural MRI measures independently predicted dual-task correct response rates (R 2 =0.307, p⩽0.010) and dual-task cognitive cost (R 2 =0.188, p=0.002). Fatigue impact was not associated with single-and dual-task performances. Conclusions: Frontal cortico-subcortical structural and functional MRI abnormalities differently contribute to fatigue impact and single-and dual-task performance in PMS
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
A real-world single-centre analysis of the safety and efficacy of cladribine tablets for relapsing multiple sclerosis
No full textIntroduction: Damage of frontal cortico-subcortical networks contributes to fatigue and dual-task impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the mechanisms underlying these clinical deficits in progressive (P) MS still need to be fully explored. Objectives and Aims: In this study, we investigated the associations between structural and functional MRI abnormalities of frontal cortico-subcortical circuits and fatigue and dual-task performance in PMS. Methods: Brain structural and functional MRI scans, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) and dual-task performances were obtained from 57 PMS patients with impaired processing speed from 4 centers and 10 healthy controls (HC). The associations of thalamic, caudate nucleus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) atrophy, microstructural abnormalities of their connecting tracts and their resting state effective connectivity (RS EC) with fatigue, single-and dual-task performances were investigated. Results: Compared to HC, PMS patients had higher fatigue (p⩽0.027) and worse dual-task performance (p<0.001). Compared to non-fatigued (MFIS<38), PMS patients with fatigue (MFIS⩾38) had lower RS EC from left-caudate nucleus to left-DLPFC (p=0.007). In PMS, higher MFIS-physical and MFIS-psychosocial scores were predicted by lower RS EC from left-caudate nucleus to left-DLPFC (R 2 =0.112, p=0.027) and higher RS EC from right-thalamus to right-DLPFC (R 2 =0.102, p=0.046), respectively. Dual-task motor performances were predicted by lower RS EC from left-DLPFC to left-thalamus (R 2 ⩾0.137, p⩽0.032). Several structural MRI measures independently predicted dual-task correct response rates (R 2 =0.307, p⩽0.010) and dual-task cognitive cost (R 2 =0.188, p=0.002). Fatigue impact was not associated with single-and dual-task performances. Conclusions: Frontal cortico-subcortical structural and functional MRI abnormalities differently contribute to fatigue impact and single-and dual-task performance in PMS
Machine learning analysis of motor evoked potential time series to predict disability progression in multiple sclerosis
No full textBackground Evoked potentials (EPs) are a measure of the conductivity of the central nervous system. They are used to monitor disease progression of multiple sclerosis patients. Previous studies only extracted a few variables from the EPs, which are often further condensed into a single variable: the EP score. We perform a machine learning analysis of motor EP that uses the whole time series, instead of a few variables, to predict disability progression after two years. Obtaining realistic performance estimates of this task has been difficult because of small data set sizes. We recently extracted a dataset of EPs from the Rehabiliation & MS Center in Overpelt, Belgium. Our data set is large enough to obtain, for the first time, a performance estimate on an independent test set containing different patients. Methods We extracted a large number of time series features from the motor EPs with the highly comparative time series analysis software package. Mutual information with the target and the Boruta method are used to find features which contain information not included in the features studied in the literature. We use random forests (RF) and logistic regression (LR) classifiers to predict disability progression after two years. Statistical significance of the performance increase when adding extra features is checked. Results Including extra time series features in motor EPs leads to a statistically significant improvement compared to using only the known features, although the effect is limited in magnitude (Delta AUC = 0.02 for RF and Delta AUC = 0.05 for LR). RF with extra time series features obtains the best performance (AUC = 0.75 +/- 0.07 (mean and standard deviation)), which is good considering the limited number of biomarkers in the model. RF (a nonlinear classifier) outperforms LR (a linear classifier). Conclusions Using machine learning methods on EPs shows promising predictive performance. Using additional EP time series features beyond those already in use leads to a modest increase in performance. Larger datasets, preferably multi-center, are needed for further research. Given a large enough dataset, these models may be used to support clinicians in their decision making process regarding future treatment.Funding
TB is supported by the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO), project R4859. The computational resources and services used in this work were provided by the VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government - department EWI. This research received funding from the Flemish Government under the “Onderzoeksprogramma Artificiële Intelligentie (AI) Vlaanderen” programme. The funding bodies played no role in the design of the study, in writing the manuscript, nor in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data
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
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