1,720,997 research outputs found
Allergic diseases in the elderly
Full text linkRecent increases in allergic diseases are thought to be caused by better hygiene, Westernized diets, air pollution, climate change, and other factors that influence host microbiota, a key player in the induction and maintenance of immunoregulatory circuits and tolerance. The increase of allergic diseases in the elderly is also related to additional factors, such as various comorbidities that may interfere with the development and the type of allergic reactions. Immunosenescence plays a central role in these reactions, altering microbiota responses and triggering inflammageing. In addition, in the elderly, there is a shift from Th1 to Th2 immunity, thus favoring allergic responses. A better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for immunosenescence and its effects on allergic inflammation will most certainly lead to improved therapies
Review and Case Study: Aggressive and Self-Injurious Behaviors in a Woman Who Received a Diagnosis of Autism in Adulthood
No full textAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by socio-communication impairments and repetitive behaviors or restricted interests. Autistic people with milder symptoms may receive a formal diagnosis only in adulthood. Autism can be accompanied by psychiatric comorbidities as well as self-injurious behaviors, aggressiveness, or irritability, which may hide different underlying causes. To date, only two antipsychotics (i.e., risperidone and aripiprazole) have been approved for the treatment of irritability in children and adolescents with autism by the Food and Drug Administration. However, the clinical management of problem behaviors can be arduous, especially in autistic adults. In this chapter, we present the case of a 30-year-old woman who referred to our psychiatric service for difficulties in socio-communication, emotional dysregulation, and aggressive behaviors. After a specialized diagnostic assessment, a diagnosis of ASD with co-occurrent unspecified mood disorder was performed, and an appropriate treatment was initiated
Psychosocial treatments for relapse prevention in schizophrenia: study protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised evidence.
Full text linkINTRODUCTION
There is evidence that different psychosocial interventions could reduce the risk of relapse in schizophrenia, but a comprehensive evidence based on their relative efficacy is lacking. We will conduct a network meta-analysis (NMA), integrating direct and indirect comparisons from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to rank psychosocial treatments for relapse prevention in schizophrenia according to their efficacy, acceptability and tolerability.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS
We will include all RCTs comparing a psychosocial treatment aimed at preventing relapse in patients with schizophrenia with another psychosocial intervention or with a no treatment condition (waiting list, treatment as usual). We will include studies on adult patients with schizophrenia, excluding specific subpopulations (eg, acutely ill patients). Primary outcome will be the number of patients experiencing a relapse. Secondary outcomes will be acceptability (dropout), change in overall, positive, negative and depressive symptoms, quality of life, adherence, functioning and adverse events. Published and unpublished studies will be sought through database searches, trial registries and websites. Study selection and data extraction will be conducted by at least two independent reviewers. We will conduct random-effects NMA to synthesise all evidence for each outcome and obtain a comprehensive ranking of all treatments. NMA will be conducted in R within a frequentist framework. The risk of bias in studies will be evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and the credibility of the evidence will be evaluated using Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis (CINeMA). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses will be conducted to assess the robustness of the findings.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION
No ethical issues are foreseen. Results from this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences.
PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42019147884
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
Reflective functioning and dissociative experiences: A comparison study between adolescents at “high-risk” of psychosis and healthy controls
No full textBackground Despite the established contribution to psychological well-being in young subjects, the investigation of reflective functioning and dissociative experiences in help-seekers adolescents still appears an unmet need. Objective The study aimed to assess reflective functioning and dissociative symptoms in help-seekers adolescents, and compare them to gender-matched healthy controls. Methods The Reflecting Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ) was used to investigate mentalizing; the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale (A-DES) was used to explore dissociative symptoms. Results The study involved 102 adolescents (mean age 18.06 ± 1.78 years), split into “help-seekers” (N= 51; mean age 19 ± 1.98 years) and healthy controls (N= 51; mean age 17.12 ± 0.84). “Help-seekers” adolescents showed lower RFQ-certainty scores (mean 3.39 ± 2.47), compared to healthy controls (mean 6.73 ± 5.01). Furthermore, “help-seekers” adolescents reported higher scores on RFQ-uncertainty (mean 7.73 ± 4.38), compared to healthy controls (mean 5.14 ± 4.17), which indicates a greater lack of knowledge about mental states (hypomentalizing). Eventually, “help-seekers” adolescents showed significantly worse dissociative symptoms (A-DES total mean score 3.49 ± 2.04), compared to healthy controls (A-DES total mean score 2.06 ± 1.43). Conclusion The importance of an assessment in early adolescence denotes a topic of increasing concern, in order to identify failures in reflective functioning and the onset of dissociative experiences among help-seekers adolescents, toward the implementation of tailored psychological interventions
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