1,720,954 research outputs found
Mitochondria Dysfunction Induces Synapse Loss via Microglia Activation in AD Mice Model
No full textAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic cognitive impairment disorder associated with synapse loss.
The synaptic sites are enriched in mitochondria to provide energy for synaptic transmission/
neurotransmission. During a pathological condition like AD, the synapse is actively engulfed by
reactive microglia. However, involvement of microglia in synaptic pruning due to mitochondrial
dysfunction is still unclear. Here we outline various parameters that define microglial reactivity in
AD mouse models. Overexpression of Oligomycin Sensitivity Conferring Protein (OSCP), an
important component of F1 Fo ATP synthase helps restore mitochondrial function and rescue
synapse loss. In addition, microglia in early AD brains engulf synapse in a complement dependent
manner. C1q, the initiating protein of classical complement pathway decreases on restoration of
mitochondrial function with OSCP overexpression. Together, these findings suggest that
mitochondrial dysfunction induce synapse loss via microglial activation in AD
Current Awareness and Tools Available for Stress-Induced IBS in Children
Full text linkIntroduction: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder that affects 13-38% of children (4-17 years) worldwide. Early life stresses like trauma, family pressure, abuse, and parenting factors may alter the HPA axis leading to GI sensitivity. IBS symptoms can impact an individual’s quality of life, affect school attendance, and can be emotionally and financially stressful for the caregivers. To date, there is no known cure for IBS. While antidepressants have shown some efficacy in treating moderate to severe IBS in adults, prescribing a universal antidepressant drug, especially to the pediatric population is challenging due to the variability in IBS symptoms, lack of available clinical data on antidepressant efficacy in children, and fear of adverse drug reactions. Parents/ caregivers are often unaware of the IBS triggers and may question a doctor’s recommendation on the use of antidepressants for pediatric IBS. Moreover, due to the lack of any specific diagnostic tests for IBS, doctors may prescribe diverse lab and imaging tests to rule out any organic disease before concluding an IBS diagnosis. Currently, there may be a gap of knowledge in diagnosing and treating pediatric IBS between medical professionals and caregivers’ understanding. The study aims to highlight the current awareness of IBS among caregivers worldwide and bridge the gap between challenges faced by medical professionals and caregivers during a child’s IBS management. By understanding the overlooked part of IBS treatment, a targeted approach can be used to guarantee the effects of antidepressant use that would provide comfort to the caregivers to adhere to a long-term treatment plan.
Methodology: A cross-sectional, observational study via online surveys was conducted worldwide with 12 medical experts and 69 parents/caregivers of children between 4-17 years of age to determine current awareness of IBS, challenges with IBS management, and opinions on using pharmacogenomic testing in antidepressant prescriptions for IBS in children. 8
Results: Forty-seven caregivers of children aged 4-17 years (24 males, 23 females) completed the survey. Ten out of 47 respondents had a confirmed diagnosis for their child’s IBS. Out of the remaining 37 respondents who have never been diagnosed with IBS, 22% reported two or more GI-related symptoms along with frequent complaints of abdominal pain. Statistically significant differences were found for anxiety issues (p=0.0027) and bloating/changing bowel habits (p=0.001) between IBS-positive and IBS-negative pediatric groups. One in 5 caregivers denied the antidepressant use due to its inefficacy while 67% of caregivers who utilized antidepressant treatment for their child’s IBS did not see any improvement in abdominal pain with the use of a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI). Rejection of antidepressant use by the caregiver and non-adherence to a long-term treatment plan were the main challenges faced by medical providers in prescribing antidepressants for pediatric IBS. Lastly, \u3e50% of parents and medical professionals were open to utilizing pharmacogenomic testing for a targeted therapy approach.
Discussion: Anxiety and changing bowel habits are present in IBS patients making the use of antidepressants as a part of the treatment regimen. However, due to a lack of awareness about the pathophysiology of IBS, caregivers are often reluctant to utilize this approach for their children. Moreover, there is not enough clinical evidence currently that can assure the caregiver about the safety and efficacy of the antidepressant for their child. Emotional stress and expectation of immediate relief by the caregiver during their child’s IBS episode may contribute to frequent doctor visits and non-adherence to a long-term treatment plan. Multiple doctor visits also engage the caregiver to invest in the treatment costs and time involved in the diagnosis of IBS. It is noted that antidepressants have worked differently for different individuals. Most parents caring for a child with IBS experienced either worsening symptoms or inefficacy of the drug. Drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) play a crucial role in drug efficacy and safety. SSRIs (Prozac®, 9 Zoloft™) are approved by the FDA for pediatric use but have shown no improvement in IBS flareups. However, off-label use of low-dose Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA) in pediatrics is challenging due to their narrow therapeutic index. By checking for any polymorphisms in the respective DMEs, adequate choice and dosage of antidepressants can be predicted to minimize any adverse drug reactions thereby comforting caregivers and medical providers.
Conclusion: Thus, there is an urgent need to bring a pharmacogenomic intervention that can aid in accurate stress-induced IBS management, faster relief, and better adherence to the treatment regimen
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
- …
