Neuromyelitis optica and pregnancy during therapeutic B cell depletion: infant exposure to anti-AQP4 antibody and prevention of rebound relapses with low-dose rituximab postpartum

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) predominantly affects women, some in childbearing age, and requires early therapeutic intervention to prevent disabling relapses. We report an anti-AQP4 antibody-seropositive patient who became pregnant seven months after low-dose (100 mg) rituximab application. Pregnancy showed no complications, and low-dose rituximab restarted two days after delivery resulted in neurological stability for 24 months. Remarkably, her otherwise healthy newborn presented with anti-AQP4 antibody and reduced B lymphocyte counts in umbilical cord blood, which normalized three months later. Confirming and extending previous reports, our case suggests that low-dose rituximab might be compatible with pregnancy and prevent rebound NMO disease activity postpartum

Prevalence and prognostic value of neurological affections in hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 based on objective assessments.

Neurological manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been frequently described. In this prospective study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients without a history of neurological conditions, we aimed to analyze their prevalence and prognostic value based on established, standardized and objective methods. Patients were investigated using a multimodal electrophysiological approach, accompanied by neuropsychological and neurological examinations. Prevalence rates of central (CNS) and peripheral (PNS) nervous system affections were calculated and the relationship between neurological affections and mortality was analyzed using Firth logistic regression models. 184 patients without a history of neurological diseases could be enrolled. High rates of PNS affections were observed (66% of 138 patients receiving electrophysiological PNS examination). CNS affections were less common but still highly prevalent (33% of 139 examined patients). 63% of patients who underwent neuropsychological testing (n = 155) presented cognitive impairment. Logistic regression models revealed pathology in somatosensory evoked potentials as an independent risk factor of mortality (Odds Ratio: 6.10 [1.01-65.13], p = 0.049). We conclude that hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 display high rates of PNS and CNS affection, which can be objectively assessed by electrophysiological examination. Electrophysiological assessment may have a prognostic value and could thus be helpful to identify patients at risk for deterioration

Proposal for a multilevel university cybermetric analysis model

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0868-5Universities’ online seats have gradually become complex systems of dynamic information where all their institutions and services are linked and potentially accessible. These online seats now constitute a central node around which universities construct and document their main activities and services. This information can be quantitative measured by cybermetric techniques in order to design university web rankings, taking the university as a global reference unit. However, previous research into web subunits shows that it is possible to carry out systemic web analyses, which open up the possibility of carrying out studies which address university diversity, necessary for both describing the university in greater detail and for establishing comparable ranking units. To address this issue, a multilevel university cybermetric analysis model is proposed, based on parts (core and satellite), levels (institutional and external) and sublevels (contour and internal), providing a deeper analysis of institutions. Finally the model is integrated into another which is independent of the technique used, and applied by analysing Harvard University as an example of use.Orduña Malea, E.; Ontalba Ruipérez, JA. (2013). Proposal for a multilevel university cybermetric analysis model. Scientometrics. 95(3):863-884. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0868-5S863884953Acosta Márquez, T., Igartua Perosanz, J.J. & Gómez Isla, J. (2009). Páginas web de las universidades españolas. Enred: revista digital de la Universidad de Salamanca, 5 [online; discontinued].Aguillo, I. F. (1998). Hacia un concepto documental de sede web. El Profesional de la Información, 7(1–2), 45–46.Aguillo, I. F. (2009). Measuring the institutions’ footprint in the web. 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Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55(14), 1216–1227.Buenadicha, M., Chamorro, A., Miranda, F. J., & González, O. R. (2001). A new web assessment index: Spanish Universities Analysis. Internet Research, 11(3), 226–234.Castells, M. (2001). La galaxia Internet. Barcelona: Plaza y Janés.Chu, H., He, S., & Thelwall, M. (2002). Library and Information Science Schools in Canada and USA: a Webometric perspective. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 43(2), 110–125.Crowston, K., & Williams, M. (2000). Reproduced and Emergent Genres of Communication on the World Wide Web. The Information Society: an International Journal, 16(3), 201–215.Goldfarb, A. (2006). The (teaching) role of universities in the diffusion of the Internet. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 24(2), 203–225.Ingwersen, P. (1998). The calculation of web impact factors. Journal of Documentation, 54(2), 236–243.Katz, R. N. (2008a). The tower and the cloud: Higher education in the age of cloud computing. USA: Educause.Katz, R. N. (2008b). The gathering cloud: is this the end of the middle. In R. N. Katz (Ed.), The tower and the cloud: Higher education in the age of cloud computing (p. 2008). USA: Educause.Li, X. (2005). National and international university departmental Web site interlinking: a webometric analysis. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Wolverhampton, UK: University of Wolverhampton.Li, X., Thelwall, M., Musgrove, P., & Wilkinson, D. (2003). The relationship between the links/Web Impact Factors of computer science departments in UK and their RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) ranking in 2001. Scientometrics, 57(2), 239–255.Middleton, I., McConnell, M., & Davidson, G. (1999). Presenting a model for the structure and content of a University World Wide Web site. Journal of Information Science, 25(3), 217–219.Orduña-Malea, E. (2012). Propuesta de un modelo de análisis redinformétrico multinivel para el estudio sistémico de las universidades españolas (2010). Valencia: Polytechnic University of Valencia.Ortega, J. L., & Aguillo, Isidro. F. (2007). La web académica española en el contexto del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior: estudio exploratorio. El profesional de la información, 16(5), 417–425.Pareja, V. M., Ortega, J. L., Prieto, J. A., Arroyo, N., & Aguillo, I. F. (2005). Desarrollo y aplicación del concepto de sede web como unidad documental de análisis en Cibermetría. Jornadas Españolas de Documentación, 9, 325–340.Saorín, T. (2012). Arquitectura de la dispersión: gestionar los riesgos cíclicos de fragmentación de las webs corporativas. Anuario ThinkEPI, 6, 281–287.Tang, R., & Thelwall, M. (2003). U.S. academic departmental Web-site interlinking: disciplinary differences. Library & Information Science Research, 25(4), 437–458.Tang, R., & Thelwall, M. (2004). 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Mapping recent information behavior research: an analysis of co-authorship and cocitation networks

There has been an increase in research published on information behavior in recent years, and this has been accompanied by an increase in its diversity and interaction with other fields, particularly information retrieval (HR). The aims of this study are to determine which researchers have contributed to producing the current body of knowledge on this subject, and to describe its intellectual basis. A bibliometric and network analysis was applied to authorship and co-authorship as well as citation and co-citation. According to these analyses, there is a small number of authors who can be considered to be the most productive and who publish regularly, and a large number of transient ones. Other findings reveal a marked predominance of theoretical works, some examples of qualitative methodology that originate in other areas of social science, and a high incidence of research focused on the user interaction with information retrieval systems and the information behavior of doctors

The Effectiveness of Family Constellation Therapy in Improving Mental Health:A Systematic ReviewPalabras clave(sic)(sic)(sic)

Family/systemic constellation therapy is a short-term group intervention aiming to help clients better understand and then change their conflictive experiences within a social system (e.g., family). The aim of the present systematic review was to synthetize the empirical evidence on the tolerability and effectiveness of this intervention in improving mental health. The PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Psyndex, PsycEXTRA, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, The Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and an intervention-specific organization's databases were searched for quantitative, prospective studies published in English, German, Spanish, French, Dutch or Hungarian up until April 2020. Out of 4,197 identified records, 67 were assessed for eligibility, with 12 studies fulfilling inclusion criteria (10 independent samples; altogether 568 participants). Outcome variables were diverse ranging from positive self-image through psychopathology to perceived quality of family relationships. Out of the 12 studies, nine showed statistically significant improvement postintervention. The studies showing no significant treatment benefit were of lower methodological quality. The random-effect meta-analysis-conducted on five studies in relation to general psychopathology-indicated a moderate effect (Hedges' g of 0.531, CI: 0.387-0.676). Authors of seven studies also investigated potential iatrogenic effects and four studies reported minor or moderate negative effects in a small proportion (5-8%) of participants that potentially could have been linked to the intervention. The data accumulated to date point into the direction that family constellation therapy is an effective intervention with significant mental health benefits in the general population; however, the quantity and overall quality of the evidence is low

Ontology-based end-user visual query formulation: Why, what, who, how, and which?

Value creation in an organisation is a time-sensitive and data-intensive process, yet it is often delayed and bounded by the reliance on IT experts extracting data for domain experts. Hence, there is a need for providing people who are not professional developers with the flexibility to pose relatively complex and ad hoc queries in an easy and intuitive way. In this respect, visual methods for query formulation undertake the challenge of making querying independent of users’ technical skills and the knowledge of the underlying textual query language and the structure of data. An ontology is more promising than the logical schema of the underlying data for guiding users in formulating queries, since it provides a richer vocabulary closer to the users’ understanding. However, on the one hand, today the most of world’s enterprise data reside in relational databases rather than triple stores, and on the other, visual query formulation has become more compelling due to ever-increasing data size and complexity—known as Big Data. This article presents and argues for ontology-based visual query formulation for end-users; discusses its feasibility in terms of ontology-based data access, which virtualises legacy relational databases as RDF, and the dimensions of Big Data; presents key conceptual aspects and dimensions, challenges, and requirements; and reviews, categorises, and discusses notable approaches and systems

FTY720 (fingolimod) modulates the severity of viral-induced encephalomyelitis and demyelination

BACKGROUND: FTY720 (fingolimod) is the first oral drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of patients with the relapsing-remitting form of the human demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis. Evidence suggests that the therapeutic benefit of FTY720 occurs by preventing the egress of lymphocytes from lymph nodes thereby inhibiting the infiltration of disease-causing lymphocytes into the central nervous system (CNS). We hypothesized that FTY720 treatment would affect lymphocyte migration to the CNS and influence disease severity in a mouse model of viral-induced neurologic disease. METHODS: Mice were infected intracranially with the neurotropic JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus. Infected animals were treated with increasing doses (1, 3 and 10 mg/kg) of FTY720 and morbidity and mortality recorded. Infiltration of inflammatory virus-specific T cells (tetramer staining) into the CNS of FTY720-treated mice was determined using flow cytometry. The effects of FTY720 treatment on virus-specific T cell proliferation, cytokine production and cytolytic activity were also determined. The severity of neuroinflammation and demyelination in FTY720-treated mice was examined by flow cytometry and histopathologically, respectively, in the spinal cords of the mice. RESULTS: Administration of FTY720 to JHMV-infected mice resulted in increased clinical disease severity and mortality. These results correlated with impaired ability to control viral replication (P < 0.05) within the CNS at days 7 and 14 post-infection, which was associated with diminished accumulation of virus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (P < 0.05) into the CNS. Reduced neuroinflammation in FTY720-treated mice correlated with increased retention of T lymphocytes within draining cervical lymph nodes (P < 0.05). Treatment with FTY720 did not affect virus-specific T cell proliferation, expression of IFN-γ, TNF-α or cytolytic activity. FTY720-treated mice exhibited a reduction in the severity of demyelination associated with dampened neuroinflammation. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that FTY720 mutes effective anti-viral immune responses through impacting migration and accumulation of virus-specific T cells within the CNS during acute viral-induced encephalomyelitis. FTY720 treatment reduces the severity of neuroinflammatory-mediated demyelination by restricting the access of disease-causing lymphocytes into the CNS but is not associated with viral recrudescence in this model