102,015 research outputs found
Reduction of venous thromboembolic events in COVID-19 patients: Which role for IL-6 antagonists?
No full textNo abstract availabl
The claustrum of the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus (Montagu 1821)
No full textThe mammalian claustrum is involved in processing sensory information from the environment. The claustrum is reciprocally connected to the visual cortex and these projections, at least in carnivores, display a clear retinotopic distribution. The visual cortex of dolphins occupies a position strikingly different from that of land mammals. Whether the reshaping of the functional areas of the cortex of cetaceans involves also modifications of the claustral projections remains hitherto unanswered. The present topographic and immunohistochemical study is based on the brains of eight bottlenose dolphins and a wide array of antisera against: calcium-binding proteins (CBPs) parvalbumin (PV), calretinin (CR), and calbindin (CB); somatostatin (SOM); neuropeptide Y (NPY); and the potential claustral marker Gng2. Our observations confirmed the general topography of the mammalian claustrum also in the bottlenose dolphin, although (a) the reduction of the piriform lobe modifies the ventral relationships of the claustrum with the cortex, and (b) the rotation of the telencephalon along the transverse axis, accompanied by the reduction of the antero-posterior length of the brain, apparently moves the claustrum more rostrally. We observed a strong presence of CR-immunoreactive (-ir) neurons and fibers, a diffuse but weak expression of CB-ir elements and virtually no PV immunostaining. This latter finding agrees with studies that report that PV-ir elements are rare in the visual cortex of the same species. NPY- and somatostatin-containing neurons were evident, while the potential claustral markers Gng2 was not identified in the sections, but no explanation for its absence is currently available. Although no data are available on the projections to and from the claustrum in cetaceans, our results suggest that its neurochemical organization is compatible with the presence of noteworthy cortical inputs and outputs and a persistent role in the general processing of the relative information. © 2014 Cozzi, Roncon, Granato, Giurisato, Castagna, Peruffo, Panin, Ballarin, Montelli and Pirone
Metabolic syndrome and the risk of late onset Alzheimer's disease: An updated review and meta-analysis
No full textAims: This study aims to provide an updated systematic review and meta-analysis on the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and to analyze the contribution of each MetS component on AD onset. Data synthesis: The study was performed according to the PRISMA guideline. Data were obtained searching MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE for studies published between January 1, 2010 and July 30, 2020, evaluating the association between MetS and AD risk. A total of 255 articles were retrieved and 6 investigations (4 prospective and 2 retrospective) met the inclusion criteria. Overall, 9.788.021 patients with a mean follow-up of 4.5 years were analyzed. The pooled analysis revealed a slight increased risk of AD in MetS (hazard ratio, HR: 1.10, 95% and confidence interval, CI: 1.05–1.15). Egger's test indicated the absence of publication bias (t = 2.095 and p = 0.104). However, while analysis based on prospective studies failed to show a significant association between MetS and AD (HR: 0.80 and 95% CI: 0.61–1.05), analysis based on retrospective studies demonstrated a significant, slight increased risk (HR:1.11 and 95% CI: 1.08–1.66). With regard to MetS components, the risk was: arterial hypertension, HR: 1.05 (95% CI: 1.04–10.6); hyperglycemia/diabetes, HR: 1.19 (95% CI: 1.18–1.99); low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), HR: 1.07 (95% CI: 1.06–1.07); hypertriglyceridemia, HR: 1.06 (95% CI: 1.05–1.06); and abdominal obesity, HR: 0.84 (95% CI: 0.74–0.95). Conclusions: We found a significant association between MetS and AD, mainly driven by large retrospective studies. Our data also support the association of single MetS components with AD incidence, while increased waist circumference seems to have a “protective role” probably due to reverse causality
Dementia and the risk of death in elderly patients with COVID‐19 infection: Systematic review and meta‐analysis
No full textObjectives: The COVID-19 infection represents a global public health emergency worldwide. Several risk factors have been associated with a poor prognosis among COVID-19 patients. We aimed to perform a systemic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the mortality risk in elderly patients with dementia and COVID-19 infection. Methods: Literature search was based on Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, and Google Scholar to locate articles published between December 2019 and July 2020, presenting the number of survived versus deceased patients with dementia and COVID-19 infection. Results: A total of 233 articles were retrieved: 158 were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria, leaving 75 articles to assess for eligibility. After evaluation of the full-text articles, eight met the inclusion criteria and were thus included into the final analysis (6493 patients – mean age: 69.6 years). Among COVID-19 patients, the prevalence of dementia was higher in non-survivors compared with survivors (17.5% vs. 5.4%, p < 0.001). The pooled analysis performed using a random-effect model showed an increase in the risk of death in COVID-19 patients with dementia (odds ratio: 3.75; 95% confidence interval: 2.54–5.54, p < 0.0001, I2 = 49.5%). The Egger's regression test confirmed that there were not statistically evidences of publication bias (t = 0.059; p = 0.954). Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that patients with COVID-19 infection and dementia have a higher mortality risk in the short-term period compared with infected non-demented individuals. Due to their intrinsic frailty, dementia patients may require a more aggressive treatment and prompt isolation to improve their short-term outcome
Elevated Blood Homocysteine and Risk of Alzheimer’s Dementia: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Based on Prospective Studies
No full textObjective: To investigate whether high serum homocysteine (Hcy) levels is associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by performing a meta-analysis based on updated published data. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive research using Medline (Pubmed), Scopus, Web of Science and EMBASE databases to identify all prospective studies published any time to July 7, 2020 evaluating the association between elevated Hcy levels and AD risk. Results: From an initial screening of 269 published papers, 9 prospective investigations conducted on a total of 7474 subjects with mean follow-up of 9.5 years (range: 3.7–10) were included in the meta-analysis. Eight seventy-five of these subjects converted to AD. Hcy was significantly higher in these individuals (HRadjusted:1.48, 95% CI:1.23–1.76, I2=65.6%, p<0.0001) compared with who did not convert to AD. There was a significant publication bias (Egger’s test, t=6.39, p=0.0003) and this was overcome by the trim and fill method, which allowed to calculate a bias-corrected imputed risk estimate of HRadjusted:1.20, 95% CI:1.01–1.44, Q value=41.92. Conclusions: The present meta-analysis found that having higher Hcy increases the risk of AD in the elderly and this finding is consistent with the widely suggested role of this non-proteinogenic α-amino acid in AD neurodegeneration
Weekend effect and short-term mortality in patients with acute pulmonary embolism: systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textWe systematically reviewed the available literature and performed a meta-analysis of data from cohort studies to estimate the association between weekend admission and early mortality in patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Statistical heterogeneity between groups was measured using the Higgins I2 statistic. Data were pooled using a random-effects models with odds ratio (OR) and related 95% CI. Publication bias was evaluated both by the Egger's test and by visual examination of the corresponding funnel plot. Among the 12 studies reviewed, based on 1.782.385 patients with PE, the pooled analysis showed that patients admitted during the weekend had a higher risk of 30-day or in-hospital death than those admitted during weekdays (unadjusted OR: 1.17; 95% CI 1.13-1.20, P < 0.0001, I2 = 36.6%). A sub-analysis based on the adjusted OR derived from those studies performing a multivariate regression analysis confirmed yielded results (adjusted OR: 1.15, 95% CI 1.07-1.75, P < 0.0001, I2 = 0%). In conclusion, patients admitted during weekend for acute pulmonary embolism are characterized by an approximately 15% excess in the risk of early death, defined as either 30-day or in-hospital death
Prognostic role of metabolic syndrome in COVID-19 patients: A systematic review meta-analysis
No full textBackground: The prevalence and prognostic implications of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients infected by the SARS-CoV-2 remain unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and mortality risk in COVID-19 patients with MetS. Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed in abstracting data and assessing validity. We searched MEDLINE and Scopus to locate every article published up to 1 September 2021, reporting data on MetS among COVID-19 patients. The pooled prevalence of MetS was calculated using a random effects model and presented using the related 95% confidence interval (CI), while the mortality risk was estimated using the Mantel-Haenszel random effects models with odds ratio (OR) and related 95% CI. Statistical heterogeneity was measured using the Higgins I2 statistic. Results: Six studies, enrolling 209.569 COVID-19 patients [mean age 57.2 years, 114.188 males (54.4%)] met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. The pooled prevalence of dyslipidaemia was 20.5% of cases (95% CI: 6.7–47.8%, p = 0.03), with high heterogeneity (I2 = 98.9%). Pre-existing MetS was significantly associated with higher risk of short-term mortality (OR: 2.30, 95% CI: 1.52–3.45, p < 0.001), with high heterogeneity (I2 = 89.4%). Meta-regression showed a direct correlation with male gender (p = 0.03), hypertension (p < 0.001), DM (p = 0.01) and hyperlipidaemia (p = 0.04), but no effect when considering age (p = 0.75) and chronic pulmonary disease (p = 0.86) as moderators. Conclusions: MetS represents a major comorbidity in about 20% of COVID-19 patients and it is associated with a 230% increased risk of short-term mortality
Bibliographie Hilarion G. Petzold 1958 – 2009 mit Anhang als Einführung
No full textDieses Archiv enthält die Gesamtbibliographie der Werke des Autors nebst einiger Texte „Über H. G. Petzold“ im Schlussteil der Bibliographie sowie einen Anhang mit einer Einführung in die Architektur des Werkes in seinem wissenslogischen Aufbau als Ausarbeitung seines „Tree of Science Modells“ (2007).This archive contains the complete bibliography of the author and some texts about H. G. Petzold, moreover an epilogue with an introduction to the architecture of the works in its epistemological structure and composition and as an elaborations of Petzold’s „Tree of Science Modell (2007).https://www.fpi-publikation.de/polyloge/01-2009-petzold-h-g-gesamtbibliographie-h-g-petzold-1958-2009-updating-november2009/peerReviewedpublishedVersio
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe 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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