1,720,955 research outputs found
Vision-related quality of life in patients receiving intravitreal ranibizumab injections in routine clinical practice: baseline data from the German OCEAN study
No full textBackground: Vision-related quality of life (vrQoL) is advancing more and more into the focus of interest in ophthalmological clinical research. However, to date only little information is available about vrQoL from large non-interventional studies in terms of "real-world evidence". The purpose of this investigation was to describe baseline VFQ-25 visual function scores, to evaluate whether they differ from previous phase III clinical trials, to determine which contributing factors (e.g. indication, age, gender) affect VFQ-25 scores and to identify its impact on driving. Methods: The non-interventional OCEAN study (Observation of treatment patterns with LuCEntis and real life ophthalmic monitoring, including optional OCT in Approved iNdications) is the largest ophthalmic study conducted in Germany, to evaluate the real world situation of patients treated with ranibizumab (NCT02194803). The NEI-VFQ-25 questionnaire was conducted at baseline, months 4, 12 and 24. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the baseline data. ANOVA was performed to evaluate the impact of various contributing factors on composite and selected subscale scores. Results: Overall, 4844 (84.1 %) of all 5760 OCEAN patients completed the VFQ-25 questionnaire at baseline. Thereof, 3414 treatment-naive patients were further analysed. Overall, the VFQ subscore general health was most affected by the ocular disease, followed by general vision. No major differences were detected in comparison to corresponding VFQ-25 scores of previous phase III clinical trials, except in DME patients, or with respect to possible contributing factors. A tendency towards a more decreased VFQ-25 composite score was observed for nAMD, for elderly patients >= 75 years of age, for female patients, for patients with low baseline visual acuity (VA; <50 letters) and for those with statutory health insurance. Indication, age, gender, baseline VA (all p <0.01) and the interaction of age and indication, as well as baseline VA and indication (p <0.01 each) had a significant impact on composite, general vision and distance vision scores (ANOVA). About 10 % of patients gave up driving due to eyesight issues. Conclusions: The knowledge of a patient's subjective disease burden is crucial to understanding anxieties and mental anguish. Additionally, the understanding of the impact of various contributing factors on the VFQ-25 scores and the extent to which they can be influenced help to optimize patient care. It demonstrates the need for medical and mental support by all medical staff, to encourage patients' compliance with a comprehensive anti-VEGF therapy, to increase BCVA and, consecutively, VFQ-25 scores.Novartis Pharma GmbH, German
The relevance of sphingolipid and purinergic receptors in the pathology and protection of atherosclerosis
No full textDie Atherosklerose ist eine Abfolge verschiedener inflammatorischer
Ereignisse. Eine entscheidende Rolle spielen dabei die Proliferation und
Migration glatter Gefäßmuskelzellen (VSMC), die im pathologischen Zustand in
die Mitose eintreten und aus der Media in die Intima wandern. Als Auslöser für
die Veränderung des Verhaltens der VSMC kommen neben Wachstumsfaktoren wie
PDGF oder VEGF auch Sphingolipide und Nukleotide in Frage. Die
Promotionsarbeit hatte daher das Ziel, die Rolle der Sphingolipid- und
Purinrezeptoren im Rahmen der Atherosklerose, und dabei insbesondere deren
Auswirkungen auf die Proliferation und Migration der VSMC, zu untersuchen.
Unter Einsatz der Sphingolipid-Rezeptoragonisten S1P, FTY720-P und AUY954
sowie selektiver Antagonisten, konnte eine S1P1 vermittelte Stimulation der
Proliferation und Migration von VSMC nachgewiesen werden. S1P2 zeigte dagegen
eine inhibierende Wirkung auf die Zellmigration. Die Aktivierung der
endothelialen NO-Synthase in Endothelzellen erfolgt über S1P1 und S1P3 sowie
unter Beteiligung der Proteinkinase Akt. Somit kommt den
Sphingolipidrezeptoren gleichfalls eine protektive Funktion im Gefäß zu. Der
Einfluss der Purinrezeptoren wurde speziell anhand des bislang noch wenig
charakterisierten Dinukleotids Up4A untersucht. Eine Stimulation der VSMC mit
dem Dinukleotid resultierte ebenfalls in einer gesteigerten Proliferations-
und Migrationsantwort der Zellen. Die Migration der VSMC zeigte eine direkte
Abhängigkeit von dem Matrixprotein Osteopontin, welches im Zuge der Up4A-
Stimulation vermehrt exprimiert und sekretiert wird. Sowohl für die VSMC-
Migration als auch für die Osteopontin-Expression konnte mit Hilfe
verschiedener Rezeptorantagonisten eine dominante Rolle des P2Y2-Rezeptors
nachgewiesen werden. An der intrazellulären Signalweiterleitung sind die
MEK1/ERK1/2-Kaskade sowie der Transkriptionsfaktor CREB beteiligt. Durch den
Nachweis einer direkten Phosphorylierung des PDGF-Rezeptors nach Up4A-
Stimulation im Western Blot sowie unter Einsatz der siRNATechnik, präsentiert
die Arbeit zudem Hinweise auf eine mögliche Cross-Kommunikationen zwischen dem
P2Y2-Purinorezeptor und der PDGF-Rezeptortyrosinkinase. Den untersuchten
Sphingolipid- und Purinrezeptoren kommen somit im Rahmen der Atherosklerose
sowohl pathologische als auch protektive Funktionen zu. Welche Eigenschaft
letztlich zum Tragen kommt ist u.a. abhängig vom Expressionsmuster der
jeweiligen Rezeptoren sowie von der Menge und Art des Agonisten.Atherosclerosis represents a subset of multiple inflammatory events. A crucial
part is assumed by the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle
cells (VSMC) which enter into mitosis in a pathological condition and migrate
from the media into the intima. This change of behavior is not only triggered
by growth factors like PDGF or VEGF but can also be provoked by sphingolipids
as well as nucleotides. Therefore this doctoral research study aimed to
investigate the role of sphingolipid and nucleotide receptors in
atherosclerosis with special regard to their impact on proliferation and
migration of VSMC. By using the sphingolipid receptor agonists S1P, FTY720-P
and AUY954 as well as selective antagonists a S1P1 mediated proliferation and
migration of VSMC could be shown. In contrast, S1P2 revealed an inhibitory
effect on cell migration. The activation of the endothelial nitric oxide
synthase in endothelial cells was mediated by S1P1 and S1P3 and associated
with Akt protein kinase. Thus, sphingolipid receptors display also protective
functions in the vascular system. The investigation of the purinoreceptors
focused on the dinucleotide Up4A which is only little characterized so far. A
stimulation of VSMC with this dinucleotide resulted in an increased
proliferation and migration response of these cells. The migration of VSMC
revealed a direct connection to the matrix protein osteopontin whose
expression and secretion is elevated after Up4A stimulation. By using several
receptor antagonists a dominant role of the P2Y2 receptor could be shown for
VSMC migration as well as osteopontin expression. The MEK1/ERK1/2 cascade and
the transcription factor CREB are activated in the intracellular signal
transmission. Furthermore, this research study provides evidence for a
potential cross-communication of the P2Y2 receptor and the PDGF receptor by
demonstrating a direct phosphorylation of the PDGF receptor after Up4A
stimulation by western blot and the use of siRNA technique. The investigated
sphingolipid and nucleotid receptors display pathologic as well as protective
functions in atherosclerosis. Which of these functions appear to have a more
prominent effect depends on the particular receptor patterns as well as the
amount and type of agonists
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
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