1,720,965 research outputs found
Ocular Surface Disease and Glaucoma: How to Evaluate Impact on Quality of Life.
No full textAbstract Purpose: To record signs and symptoms of ocular surface disease (OSD) in patients treated with Intra Ocular Pressure (IOP)-lowering medications; to evaluate relation between signs and symptoms; and to identify how to diagnose and follow OSD and its impact on the quality of life in such patients. Methods: A prospective observational study enrolled consecutive topically treated open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension patients: patients presenting systemic or ocular conditions that could interfere with ocular surface status were excluded. Enrolled patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination comprehensive of evaluation of tear film break-up time (TF-BUT) and fluorescein corneal staining (keratitis punctatae) and completed the Italian version of both the National Eye Institute-Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) 25 and the Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS) questionnaires. Results: 233 patients adhered to a study protocol. Punctatae keratitis was detected in 70 (30\%) eyes; abnormal TF-BUT in 67 (28.8\%) patients: 97 patients (42.1\%) presented an OSD. The abnormal values were gender-independent, keratitis was statistically related to age (P=0.01) and number of instillations/die (P=0.0007). TF-BUT was related to the IOP value (P<0.0001). The NEI ocular pain subscale was statistically related to TF-BUT (P=0.017); GSS was both related to TF-BUT and punctatae keratitis (P<0.00001). Conclusions: Many patients present an OSD related to therapy, and this affects their quality of life. The use of fixed combinations to reduce surface exposition and of benzalkonium chloride-free formulations should be encouraged to reduce and contain the onset or worsening of this secondary condition in glaucoma patients. The GSS has shown a good relation to signs and should be routinely used to evaluate the impact of OSD on the quality of life
Comparison of achromatic automated perimetry, short-wavelength automated perimetry and frequency doubling technology perimetry in the diagnosis of early glaucoma
Full text linkEarly glaucomatous damage is mainly due to a loss of large ganglion cells (M cells and/or larger P
cells). Frequency doubling technology (FDT) and short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP) are
recent kinds of automated perimetric tests considered able to isolate the function of M and the larger P
ganglion cells, respectively. In the early stages of glaucomatous optic nerve damage, achromatic
automated perimetry (AAP) can be normal, while FDT or SWAP can reveal early losses produced by
the disease. The aim of this study is to compare the sensitivity of AAP, SWAP, and FDT in the detection
of early visual field defects and to verify the involvement of M cells and/or larger P cells in early
glaucomatous damage. The authors selected a group of 22 glaucoma suspect patients with normal
AAP, and an intraocular pressure (IOP) between 22 and 27 mmHg and tested them with SWAP and
FDT. They observed that the defects detected by SWAP and FDT were more extensive than with AAP,
the defects detected by FDT were more severe than with SWAP and only one patient showed both
SWAP and FDT deficits. In conclusion, FDT and SWAP seem to be more sensitive than AAP in
detecting early glaucomatous visual field damage. Different patients present different aspects of Mand/
or P-cell loss, and M-cell damage is probably the most common. FDT can consequently be
considered a sensitive perimetric diagnostic test in early glaucoma diagnosis
Risk factors to develop ocular surface disease in treated glaucoma or ocular hypertension patients
No full textFrom dorzolamide 2%/timolol 0.5% to brinzolamide 1%/timolol 0.5% fixed combination: a 6-month, multicenter, open-label tolerability switch study
No full textPurpose: To assess ocular surface status and tolerability after switching glaucoma patients from dorzolamide/timolol to brinzolamide/timolol fixed combination (FC). Methods: Six-month, multicenter, open-label, prospective study that switched 72 patients from dorzolamide/timolol to brinzolamide/timolol FC. Intraocular pressure (IOP), tear film break-up-time (TF-BUT), fluorescein staining and Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS) questionnaire were recorded at baseline and after 6 months. Results: Median interquartile range (IQR) IOP was 16 (IQR 15 - 18) mmHg at baseline and 16 (15 - 17) mmHg and 6 months. TF-BUT significantly improved (p < 0.0001); the regression analysis found a negative association between TF-BUT changes and age at baseline and at month 6 (r = -0.32; p = 0.0082 and r = -0.31; p = 0.0085). Patients with no corneal fluorescein staining statistically increased after substitution (p = 0.04). Quality of life - as examined by the GSS symptoms (SYMP) score - statistically improved (p < 0.0001), revealing an association between GSS SYMP score and age [coefficient -0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.13 to -0.21, p = 0.0005), superficial keratitis (coefficient -8.26, 95% CI -15.73 to -0.80, p = 0.031) and TF-BUT (coefficient 4.94, 95% CI 1.71 to 8.17, p = 0.003). Conclusion: Brinzolamide/timolol FC is associated with reduced topical discomfort and improved signs of ocular surface disease. The good tolerability and comfort of this FC might contribute to good patient adherence
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
The Italian Version of the Glaucoma Symptom Scale Questionnaire: Translation, Validation, and Reliability.
No full textPURPOSE:: To validate the Italian version of the Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS) Questionnaire and its symptoms and function subscales. METHODS:: This transversal validation study enrolled nonhospitalized patients with glaucoma, and a reference sample of patients without eye diseases. Eligible participants had to be cognitively able to respond to a health status interview. The Italian self-administered versions of the 25-item National Eye Institute-Visual Function Questionnaire and the GSS Questionnaire were administered to all participants. Reliability and validity of the Italian translation of the GSS Questionnaire were tested using standard statistical methods for questionnaire validation. RESULTS:: Ninety-seven patients were enrolled. Cronbach α coefficient ranged from 0.72 to 0.92 across subscales and eyes. Test-retest stability was >85\% for each subscale and eye. The control group of participants had better scale scores across all dimensions of vision-targeted health-related quality of life captured by the GSS Questionnaire (P<0.05) and there were good correlations between responses GSS Questionnaire subscales and analogous domains of the 25-item National Eye Institute-Visual Function Questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS:: The Italian version of the GSS Questionnaire has good validity, discriminatory power, internal consistence and reliability, showing psychometric properties comparable with those of the English version, and can therefore be used in clinical research as a specific measure of vision-related quality of life in Italian-speaking patients with ocular hypertension or glaucoma
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