322,835 research outputs found
Seizures and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies: Two paradigmatic cases and a review of the literature
No full textBackground: Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies (Abs) have been associated with a het- erogeneous range of acquired CNS demyelinating disorders. More recently, increasing evidence correlates the presence of such Abs with seizures, occurring in concomitance with CNS demyelinating events, or even as isolated phenomena. In this scenario, the full clinical spectrum of MOG Ab-associated seizures and the con- tribution of such Abs to epileptogenesis are unclear. Methods: We report on two paradigmatic cases of MOG Ab-associated seizures, one showing isolated seizures, without evidence of encephalopathy or MRI changes, followed by a demyelinating event one month later, and the other presenting with seizures as the main manifestation of an acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) event. To better frame this topic, we performed a literature review, identifying 49 patients with MOG Ab- associated disorders presenting seizures at any stage of their disease, and analysed the clinico-therapeutic, brain MRI, cerebrospinal fluid, and EEG features. Results: MOG Ab-associated seizures occurred mostly during encephalitis, including: a) ?cortical encephalitis?, a clinically poorly defined syndrome characterised by gray matter lesions on brain MRI, with or without sub - cortical white matter involvement; b) ADEM; c) NMDAR encephalitis with demyelinating features. Seizures can also occur in isolation, often in clusters of focal motor seizures, in patients with normal brain MRI, heralding the more typical MOG Ab-associated demyelinating syndrome by days to months. Conclusion: Testing for MOG Abs should be considered in children with isolated and unexplained seizures, and in adults with suspected encephalitis and/or seizures. In these cases, MOG Abs detection is highly relevant for patients? clinical management
Diffusive author(s), cohesive author: Analysis of S/N (1994)
No full textThis study indicates the ways in which various aspects of the author(s) are brought forth in Dumb type’s performance art, the S/N production. Previous research has suggested a non-hierarchical organization of Dumb type and the absence of a “privileged author” in Dumb type’s collaborative work, S/N. However, the results that I have investigated from member’s interviews on the creative process of S/N along with my analysis of the recorded images of S/N, indicate a different aspect of the author(s). First, S/N was created through, so to speak, the collective ideas of the members of Dumb type. Further, S/N has at least nine quotations from previous performances, installations, and printed writings, besides the work-in-progress technique. Explicating one of the “author functions” as given by Michel Foucault, each text has plural subjects of the author. However, it has been revealed from members’ interviews that Teiji Furuhashi had a decision-making role in selecting the members’ ideas within the performance. Since then, S/N has had plural subjects of creation; however, Furuhashi is one of the subjects of creation along with the “privileged author.” S/N has plural authors (diffusive authors) yet at the same time, it has a “privileged author,” Teiji Furuhashi (cohesive author)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
Autoantibody Diagnostics in Neuroimmunology: Experience From the 2018 Italian Neuroimmunology Association External Quality Assessment Program
No full textBackground: Neuroimmunology has impressively expanded in the past decade. Novel assays, especially cell-based assays (CBAs) can detect conformational antibodies (Abs) recognizing antigens in their native conformation. Generally, the availability of in-house and of commercial tests has improved the diagnostics, but introduced demanding laboratory tasks. Hence, standardization and quality controls represent a key step to promote accuracy. We report on the results of the 2018 external quality assessment program (EQAP) organized by the Italian Neuroimmunology Association. Methods: EQAP regarded 10 schemes, including oligoclonal bands (OCBs), intracellular-neuronal (ICN)-Abs, neuronal-surface (NS)-Abs, aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-Abs, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-Abs, myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG)-Abs, ganglioside-Abs, acetylcholine-receptor (AChR)-Abs, and muscle-specific-kinase (MuSK)-Abs, and 34 laboratories. Assays were classified as tissue-based assays (TBAs), solid-phase assays (SPAs), liquid-phase assays (LPAs), and CBAs. Thirty-three samples were provided. Results: Three-quarter of the tests were commercial. Median accuracy for the laboratories was 75% (range 50–100). In 8/10 schemes, at least one sample provided discrepant results. Inter-laboratory “substantial agreement” was found in 6/10 schemes (AChR, MuSK, MAG, AQP4, MOG, and NS-Abs), whereas the worst agreements regarded OCBs and ganglioside-Abs. Both commercial and in-house assays performed better in experienced laboratories. Conclusions: Assays could be divided in (a) robust commercial tests with substantial inter-laboratory agreement (MAG-Abs; AChR- and MuSK-Abs); commercial/“in-house” tests with (b) partial inter-laboratory agreement (AQP4-Abs, MOG-Abs, NS-Abs, ICN-Abs), and (c) with large inter-laboratory disagreement (OCBs, ganglioside-Abs). This real-life snapshot of the neuroimmunology test performances highlights shortcomings attributable to technician-dependent performances, assay structural limitations, and errors in test interpretations
Anti-Collapsin Response Mediator Protein 5(CV2/CRMP5) and Anti-Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD) Antibodies-Mediated Encephalopathy Mimicking Atypical Parkinsonism
No full textBackground: Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNSs) are rare conditions characterized by immune-mediated pathogenesis, frequently associated with the presence of a neoplasm. Although a single antineuronal antibody mediates a specific syndrome, atypical manifestations mediated by the same antibody have been described. Methods: The aim of this study was to report on an atypical case of PNS with dual positivity for anti-GAD65 and anti-CRMP5/CV2 antibodies, simultaneously characterized by cognitive decline associated with progressive ataxia and parkinsonism. We also reviewed the current literature for published cases of PNSs with parkinsonism associated with anti-GAD65 and anti- CRMP5/CV2 antibodies. Results: A 68-year-old man with an insidious onset of bradykinesia, cognitive decline, and gait instability that began the year before our evaluation had been diagnosed with parkinsonian syndrome. Analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid showed lymphocytic pleocytosis, and a panel for PNS tested positive for anti-GAD65 and anti- CRMP5/CV2 antibodies. After investigation, a microcitoma was found in the lung. Conclusions: In light of our findings, we suggest considering PNS as an alternative diagnosis to parkinsonism-plus syndromes, in particular if bradykinetic syndrome is accompanied by other clinical manifestations including cognitive decline or ataxia in rapidly deteriorating patients. Earlier detection of PNS would lead to timelier identification of any occult tumors, therein promising improvement in the patient's prognosis
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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No full textCan archives of audiovisual TV interviews be used to make authors more visible to students, and thereby reduce the learning gap between native and non-native language speakers in college classes? We examined students in a college course who learned about one scholar's ideas through watching an audiovisual TV interview (i.e., visible author format) and about another scholar's ideas through reading a formal text description (i.e., invisible author format). For the invisible author, native language speakers scored significantly higher than the non-native language speakers on a corresponding exam question (i.e., a cognitive measure), generated more words on the exam question (i.e., a motivational measure), and mentioned the author's name more often in answering the exam question (i.e., an affective measure). For the visible author, the groups did not differ on any of these measures. These findings provide evidence for the idea that making the author visible through audiovisual TV interviews can eliminate the learning gap between native and non-native language speakers. 3 Universities around the world serve students who are non-native speakers of th
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