1,721,063 research outputs found
Predominant polarity and hippocampal subfield volumes in Bipolar disorders
No full textObjectives Predominant polarity (PP) is a proposed course specifier for bipolar disorders (BD) based on patient lifetime mood episodes. Hippocampal subfield volumetric changes have been proposed as a neurobiological marker for BD and could be influenced by mood episodes. Our study aimed to test the hypothesis that patients with BD differ in hippocampal subfield volumes according to their PP. Methods We assessed 172 outpatients, diagnosed with BD according to DSM-IV-TR criteria, and 150 healthy control (HC) participants. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging was performed on all subjects and volumes of all hippocampal subfields were measured using FreeSurfer. Results Patients with depressive PP (BD-DP) and with uncertain PP (BD-UP) but not with manic/hypomanic PP (BD-MP) showed a global reduction on all hippocampal subfield volumes with respect to HCs. When directly compared, BD-DP presented with smaller bilateral presubiculum/subiculum volumes than BD-MP. Conclusions Results support the potential utility of PP not only as a clinical but also as a neurobiological specifier of BD
Amygdala structure and function in paediatric bipolar disorder and high-risk youth: A systematic review of magnetic resonance imaging findings
No full textObjective: Converging evidence from structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies points to amygdala alteration as crucial in the development of paediatric bipolar disorder (pBP). The high number of recent studies prompted us to comprehensively evaluate findings. We aimed to systematically review structural and functional MRI studies investigating the amygdala in patients with pBP and in youth at high-risk (HR) for developing pBP. Methods: We searched PubMed from any time to 25 September 2020 using: ‘amygdala AND (MRI OR magnetic resonance imaging) AND bipolar AND (pediatr* OR child OR children OR childhood OR adolescent OR adolescents OR adolescence OR young OR familial OR at-risk OR sibling* OR offspring OR high risk)’. In this review, we adhered to the PRISMA statement. Results: Amygdala hyperactivity to emotional stimuli is the most commonly reported finding in youth with pBP and HR compared to healthy peers (HC), whereas findings from structural MRI studies are inconsistent. Conclusions: Hyperactivation of the amygdala might be an endophenotype of pBP
Type of cycle, temperament and childhood trauma are associated with lithium response in patients with bipolar disorders
Full text linkBackground: Lithium stands as the gold standard in treating bipolar disorders (BD). Despite numerous clinical factors being associated with a favorable response to lithium, comprehensive studies examining the collective influence of clinical variables alongside psychopathological dimensions are lacking. Our study aims to enhance comprehension of lithium response in individuals with BD by integrating clinical variables with psychopathological traits and early adverse events. Methods: We assessed 201 patients with BD for clinical characteristics, childhood trauma, temperament traits, impulsivity, and aggression. Lithium response was evaluated using the gold standard Alda scale, and predictors of lithium response were estimated through a multivariate model. Results: On the total sample, 61 (30.3%) patients were lithium responders according to the Alda scale. Comparatively, lithium responders, in contrast to non-responders, demonstrated a higher prevalence of the mania-depression-interval (MDI) cycle, a more frequent diagnosis of BD type I, and reported an earlier age of onset. They also exhibited less lifetime substance abuse, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, while scoring higher on hyperthymic and irritable temperament scales. In multivariate analyses, only the MDI cycle (OR,3.47; 95%CI,1.61–7.50) hyperthymic (OR,1.20; 95%CI,1.02–1.41) and irritable temperament (OR,1.28; 95%CI,1.08–1.52) persisted as significant predictors of a positive response to lithium treatment, while emotional (OR,0.87; 95%CI,0.76–0.98) and physical abuse (OR,0.83; 95%CI,0.70–0.98) were predictors of non-response. Conclusions: In evaluating lithium response in BD, our study highlights the importance of considering clinical variables alongside temperament and childhood adversities. The assessment of hyperthymic and irritable temperament, emotional and physical abuse together with the type of cycle is of particular importance. Furthermore, our findings underscore the significance of systematically assessing the type of cycle in patients with BD through the use of life charts
Neurocognitive Correlates of Cerebellar Volumetric Alterations in Youth with Pediatric Bipolar Spectrum Disorders and Bipolar Offspring
No full textBackground: Emerging evidence points towards the involvement of the cerebellum in the processing of emotions and pathophysiology of mood disorders. However, cerebellar and related cognitive alterations in youth with pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) and those at high risk to develop the disorder, such as bipolar offspring (BD-OFF) are not clearly defined. Objective: To investigate cerebellar gray and white matter volumes, cognition, and their relationship in youth with PBD and BD-OFF. Methods: Thirty youth (7 to 17 years, inclusive) with PBD, 30 BD-OFF and 40 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. Study participants underwent a computer-based cognitive battery assessing affective processing, executive function, attention, psychomotor speed, and learning. Three-tesla MRI scan was performed to assess cerebellar white and gray matter volumes. Cerebellar segmentation was performed with FreeSurfer. Statistical analyses include between-group differences in cognitive domains, cerebel-lar gray, and white matter volumes. Relationships between cerebellar volumes and cognitive domains were examined. Results: Youth with PBD showed greater cerebellar gray matter volumes than both BD-OFF and HC, whereas no differences were present between BD-OFF and HC. Both youth with PBD and BD-OFF showed altered processing of negative emotions and a bias towards positive emotions. In youth with PBD and BD-OFF, greater impairment in the processing of emotions correlated with greater cerebellar gray matter volumes. Conclusion: The present findings corroborate hypotheses on cerebellar involvement in the processing of emotions and the pathophysiology of PBD. The presence of cerebellar dysfunction in BD-OFF is unclear
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
[3 different methods for evaluating Streptococcus mutans in the saliva].
No full textThree different methods for detection and count of Streptococcus mutans in saliva have been compared with a microbiological method in order to estimate their efficacy and practicality. The study has been carried out on fifty children of six-eleven years old. The first method (stamp method) derives from that of Kohler and Bratthall, improved on the sampling, without saliva stimulation and, hence, more rapid. Furthermore, using a tongue depressor with a shovel-like extremity, we can either restrict the area where the grown colonies must be counted, avoiding any mistake, and stamp the spatula in the centre of the plate, not in the border, as the original method described, pressing it with the same force in every part, so that almost all the saliva collected can be plated on the Streptococcus mutans selective medium. As stated by this method, a tongue depressor is pressed first on the subject's tongue, then on a plate containing the medium. After incubation, the Streptococcus mutans colonies are counted on the plate's area limited by the stamp of the extremity of the spatula. According to Emilson we can also discriminate Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus colonies. The second method is a "strip mutans test" (Dentocult): saliva is stimulated making the subject chew a piece of paraffin and then it is collected passing a plastic spatula for ten times on the child's tongue. The spatula is introduced into a tube containing a liquid medium selective for Streptococcus mutans and then incubated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS
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
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