1,720,976 research outputs found
Commentary: Fish and the thyroid: A Janus Bifrons relationship caused by pollutants and the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Full text linkWe read with interest the paper published in the journal by Benvenga S, et al. about the complex interplay between thyroid disorders and the intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), whose main dietary source is represented by fish.
In their review, Benvenga et al. put a specific warning on the potential heavy metal content in fish and the risks deriving from its consumption, suggesting that there would be the place for the use of nutraceuticals containing omega-3 PUFAs to prevent or contrast autoimmune thyroiditis, overcoming the risk of contaminants in fish. Although pharmacological supplementation would be sometimes useful, also limiting dietary consumption to fishes containing low levels of pollutants and including fish within the framework of a healthy diet represent a good choice
MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: L-Thyroxine replacement therapy in the frail elderly: a challenge in clinical practice.
No full textThe number of elderly people, mostly aged over 85 years (the 'oldest old'), is increasing worldwide. As a consequence, accompanying morbidity and disability have been increasing, and frailty, defined as an age-related condition of decline of physiological reserves and vulnerability, represents an emerging problem. Caring for older frail people may represent a challenge, since the elderly differ significantly from younger adults in terms of comorbidity, polypharmacy, pharmacokinetics and greater vulnerability to adverse drug reactions. Specific criteria of therapeutic appropriateness and modified goals of care are needed in such patients, also in endocrine care settings. Indeed, thyroid dysfunctions are among the most common conditions in older, multimorbid populations. The prevalence of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism is as high as 20% and thyroid hormone prescription is common in the elderly, with a trend toward levothyroxine treatment of more marginal degrees of hypothyroidism. In addition, older patients have the highest rate of overtreatment during replacement therapy and are more susceptible to developing adverse effects from thyroid hormone excess. Recently, results of a multicentric randomized controlled trial, the TRUST-IEMO collaboration trial, added further insights to the debated question of whether and when levothyroxine treatment is required and if it is beneficial in the elderly. With this in mind, we revised the relevant literature on the impact of thyroid dysfunction and replacement therapy among older people, with the aim to better define indications, benefits and risks of l-T4 replacement therapy in the frail elderly
Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders: The Mediterranean Diet as a Protective Choice.
Full text linkAutoimmune thyroid diseases are on the rise worldwide, and such a rapid increase is mainly driven by environmental factors related to changed lifestyles in “modern” societies. In this context, diet seems to play a crucial role. An unhealthy high-energy diet, rich in animal fat and proteins, salt and refined sugars (the so-called “Western diet”) negatively influences the risk of autoimmunity by altering the immune balance and the gut microbiota composition, enhancing oxidative stress and promoting inflammation. In contrast, the Mediterranean diet represents a unique model of healthy eating, characterized by a high intake of food from vegetable sources, a low consumption of saturated fats in favor of unsaturated fats (mainly, olive oil), a moderate consumption of fish (typically, the small oily fishes) and dairy products, as well as a moderate consumption of wine at meals, and a low intake of meat. Thanks to its nutritional components, the Mediterranean Diet positively influences immune system function, gut microbiota composition, and redox homeostasis, exerting anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. The present review was aimed at exploring the existing knowledge on the correlations between dietary habits and thyroid autoimmunity, to evaluate the role of the Mediterranean diet as a protective model
The Influence of Food Regimes on Oxidative Stress: A Permutation-Based Approach Using the NPC Test
Full text link(1) Background: This paper aims to assess the existence of significant differences between two dietary regimes (omnivorous vs. semi-vegetarian) with reference to some oxidative stress markers (SOD, GPx, TRxR, GR, AGEs, and AOPPs) using non-parametric combination methodology based on a permutation test. (2) Methods: At the endocrinology unit of Messina University Hospital, two hundred subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their dietary habits. None were under any pharmacological treatment. Using the NPC test, all comparisons were performed stratifying patients according to gender, age (≤40 or >40 years), BMI (normal weight vs. overweight), physical activity (sedentary vs. active lifestyle), TSH, FT4 levels in quartiles, and diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. We evaluated differences in oxidative stress parameters in relation to two examined dietary regimes (omnivorous vs. semi-vegetarian). (3) Results: The antioxidant parameters GPx and TRxR were significantly lower in subjects with an omnivorous diet than in semi-vegetarians, particularly in females, both age groups, subjects with normal weight, those not affected by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and both the sedentary and active lifestyle groups. Finally, the AGE and AOPP markers were significantly lower in semi-vegetarians. (4) Conclusion: Thanks to the NPC methodology, we can state that dietary patterns exert a significant influence on some oxidative stress parameters
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
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