1,720,982 research outputs found
Effects of Longterm Treatment with Bosentan and Iloprost on Nailfold Absolute Capillary Number, Fingertip Blood Perfusion, and Clinical Status in Systemic Sclerosis
No full textObjective. To quantify in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) the absolute nailfold capillary
number/mm (the absolute number of capillaries, observable in the first row, in 1 mm per field) and
fingertip blood perfusion (FBP) during longterm therapy with the endothelin receptor antagonist
bosentan (BOSE) and the synthetic analog of prostacyclin PGI2 iloprost (ILO) by multiple diagnostic
tools. Observed values were correlated with clinical outcomes.
Methods. Thirty patients with SSc already receiving intravenous ILO (80 μg/day) for 5 continuous
days (every 3 mos) were recruited in the clinic. Fifteen patients continued such treatment (ILO group),
while in 15 patients BOSE (125 mg twice/day) was added (ILO + BOSE group) because of the onset
of pulmonary arterial hypertension or digital ulcers (DU). The followup period was 4 years (T0–T4).
Every year the following were evaluated: absolute nailfold capillary number/mm by nailfold videocapillaroscopy,
FBP by laser Doppler flowmetry, DU incidence, DLCO, systolic pulmonary arterial
pressure (sPAP), renal arterial resistive index, and other biomarkers. From T2 to T4, laser speckled
contrast analysis was added. Nonparametric tests were used for statistical analysis.
Results. Limited to the ILO + BOSE group, absolute capillary number/mm and FBP showed a
progressive increase independently from other variables. In addition, during followup there was a
significant reduction (80%) in the incidence of new DU, whereas DLCO and sPAP did not worsen.
Conclusion. The study shows in patients with SSc with up to 4 years of combined therapy a
progressive significant recovery in structure and function of microvasculature linked to improved
clinical outcomes, independent of disease severity. (J Rheumatol First Release October 15 2016;
doi:10.3899/jrheum.160592
Advanced in naifold capillaroscopic analysis in systemic sclerosis
No full textSystemic sclerosis is an autoimmune connective tissue disease characterized by early and persistent microvascular impairment which leads to functional and organic manifestations, with progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Morphological and functional assessment of the peripheral microvasculature is a must, not only for diagnosis but also for the prognosis and therapeutical follow-up of systemic sclerosis patients, as reported in recent studies. Nailfold videocapillaroscopy is the validated technique for the study of scleroderma microangiopathy as it is able to detect peripheral microvascular morphology and both classify and score the capillary abnormalities into different microangiopathy patterns (‘Early’, ‘Active’ and ‘Late’). Indeed, the possibility to early diagnose and follow the microvascular changes and the safety of the technique have made nailfold videocapillaroscopy a mandatory tool for patient evaluation and included its assessment in the new systemic sclerosis classification criteria. Important links between nailfold videocapillaroscopy patterns and systemic sclerosis clinical manifestations have been describe
Progression of Organ Involvement in Systemic Sclerosis Patients with Persistent "Late" Nailfold Capillaroscopic Pattern of Microangiopathy: A Prospective Study
No full textThe CD21low B Cells Expanded in Common Variable Immunodeficiency do not Differentiate to Antibody Producing Cells After Stimulation of Toll-like Receptor 9 Because of a Reduced Proliferative Potential
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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
Long-term follow-up of nailfold videocapillaroscopic changes in dermatomyositis versus systemic sclerosis patients
No full textTo identify nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) changes in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) during a 3-year follow-up and to compare the NVC findings between DM and systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients at their first visit. Retrospective study of 24 DM and 24 SSc patients, matched for age and disease duration at first NVC. Capillaroscopic patterns/scores and clinical parameters had been yearly assessed. Nineteen out of 24 DM patients (79%) showed a NVC "scleroderma-like pattern." No statistically significant variation of all the capillaroscopic scores was observed during the 3-year follow-up. By comparing DM patients with or without anti-Jo-1 positivity, no statistically significant difference of the scores of the main capillary parameters was observed at baseline between the groups. Comparing at baseline DM with SSc patients, the giant capillary and microhemorrhage scores were significantly higher in SSc than those in DM patients (p = 0.04 and p = 0.05, respectively), while capillary density, ramification (abnormally shaped capillaries, expression of angiogenesis), and disorganization scores were higher in DM patients (p = 0.05, p = 0.002, p = 0.004, respectively). The absolute number of ramified capillaries was significantly higher in DM patients (p = 0.002), while the absolute capillary number was significantly higher in SSc patients (p = 0.05) at baseline. This pilot study demonstrates, for the first time, over long-term, that the capillaroscopic manifestations of DM persist in contrast to the progressive changes described in SSc patients, and the anti-Jo-1 positivity does not seem to modify the NVC pattern
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