Dörthe Brüggmann

Kongenitale Toxoplasmose und Toxoplasma gondii

ZusammenfassungEine Infektion mit Toxoplasma gondii verläuft bei immunkompetenten Menschen meist symptomlos, kann jedoch im Rahmen einer Schwangerschaft schwere Schädigungen beim Ungeborenen verursachen. Bei weniger als 10 % der betroffenen Neugeborenen manifestiert sich die kongenitale Toxoplasmose mit der klassischen Symptomtrias aus Hydrozephalus, Chorioretinitis und intrakraniellen Kalzifikationen. Die Mehrheit der Fälle zeigt keine oder unspezifische Symptome wie Krampfanfälle, Ikterus, Anämie oder Fieber. Aufgrund der meist uncharakteristischen mütterlichen Symptome wird eine frühe Diagnosestellung häufig erschwert. Die aktuell eingesetzten Medikamente Spiramycin, Pyrimethamin und Sulfadiazin stellen keine kurative Therapie dar, sind aber in der Lage, die Inzidenz der Erkrankung zu senken oder die Schädigung des Feten zu limitieren. Besonders wichtig ist die Aufklärung der Patientin zur Expositionsprophylaxe. Einfache Maßnahmen wie Händehygiene oder eine Vermeidung potenziell kontaminierter Lebensmittel reduzieren das Risiko einer mütterlichen Infektion auf ein Minimum.AbstractAn infection with Toxoplasma gondii mostly follows an asymptomatic course in immunocompetent individuals; however, when contracted in pregnancy or up to 6 months before, the parasite can cause serious sequelae in the unborn child. In less than 10 % of newborns, congenital toxoplasmosis is manifested as the classic triad of hydrocephalus, chorioretinitis and intracranial calcifications. In the majority of cases newborns show either no manifestations or unspecific findings, such as seizures, jaundice, anemia and fever. An early diagnosis in pregnancy is difficult as maternal symptoms are mostly unspecific. Drugs, such as spiramycin, pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine are currently the mainstay of therapy. They do not provide curative treatment but may decrease the incidence of the disease or limit the sequelae in the fetus. It is particularly important to educate patients about prophylaxis against exposure: simple measures, such as hand hygiene and avoiding potentially contaminated foods can help to reduce the risk of maternal infection to a minimum.

Ebola and Its Global Research Architecture—Need for an Improvement

The current Ebola outbreak poses a threat to individual and global public health. Although the disease has been of interest to the scientific community since 1976, an effective vaccination approach is still lacking. This fact questions past global public health strategies, which have not foreseen the possible impact of this infectious disease. To quantify the global research activity in this field, a scientometric investigation was conducted. We analyzed the research output of countries, individual institutions and their collaborative networks. The resulting research architecture indicated that American and European countries played a leading role regarding output activity, citations and multi- and bilateral cooperations. When related to population numbers, African countries, which usually do not dominate the global research in other medical fields, were among the most prolific nations. We conclude that the field of Ebola research is constantly progressing, and the research landscape is influenced by economical and infrastructural factors as well as historical relations between countries and outbreak events.

Caesarean Section—A Density-Equalizing Mapping Study to Depict Its Global Research Architecture

Caesarean section (CS) is a common surgical procedure. Although it has been performed in a modern context for about 100 years, there is no concise analysis of the international architecture of caesarean section research output available so far. Therefore, the present study characterizes the global pattern of the related publications by using the NewQIS (New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science) platform, which combines scientometric methods with density equalizing mapping algorithms. The Web of Science was used as a database. 12,608 publications were identified that originated from 131 countries. The leading nations concerning research activity, overall citations and country-specific h-Index were the USA and the United Kingdom. Relation of the research activity to epidemiologic data indicated that Scandinavian countries including Sweden and Finland were leading the field, whereas, in relation to economic data, countries such as Israel and Ireland led. Semi-qualitative indices such as country-specific citation rates ranked Sweden, Norway and Finland in the top positions. International caesarean section research output continues to grow annually in an era where caesarean section rates increased dramatically over the past decades. With regard to increasing employment of scientometric indicators in performance assessment, these findings should provide useful information for those tasked with the improvement of scientific achievements.

Global architecture of gestational diabetes research: density-equalizing mapping studies and gender analysis

ObjectiveGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with substantial morbidity for mothers and their offspring. While clinical and basic research activities on this important disease grow constantly, there is no concise analysis of global architecture of GDM research. Hence, it was the objective of this study to assess the global scientific performance chronologically, geographically and in relation to existing research networks and gender distribution of publishing authors.Study designOn the basis of the New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science (NewQIS) platform, scientometric methods were combined with modern visualizing techniques such as density equalizing mapping, and the Web of Science database was used to assess GDM-related entries from 1900 to 2012.ResultsTwelve thousand five hundred four GDM-related publications were identified and analyzed. The USA (4295 publications) and the UK (1354 publications) dominated the field concerning research activity, overall citations and country-specific Hirsch-Index, which quantified the impact of a country’s published research on the scientific community. Semi-qualitative indices such as country-specific citation rates ranked New Zealand and the UK at top positions. Annual collaborative publications increased steeply between the years 1990 and 2012 (71 to 1157 respectively). Subject category analysis pointed to a minor interest of public health issues in GDM research. Gender analysis in terms of publication authorship revealed a clear dominance of the male gender until 2005; then a trend towards gender equity started and the activity of female scientists grew visibly in many countries. The country-specific gender analysis revealed large differences, i.e. female scientists dominated the scientific output in the USA, whereas the majority of research was published by male authors in countries such as Japan.ConclusionThis study provides the first global sketch of GDM research architecture. While North-American and Western-European countries were dominating the GDM-related scientific landscape, a disparity exists in terms of research output between developed and low-resource countries. Since GDM is linked to considerable mortality and morbidity of mothers and their offspring and constitutes a tremendous burden for the healthcare systems in underserved countries, our findings emphasize the need to address disparities by fostering research endeavors, public health programs and collaborative efforts in these nations.

Polycystic ovary syndrome: analysis of the global research architecture using density equalizing mapping

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of female infertility worldwide. Although the related research output is constantly growing, no detailed global map of the scientific architecture has so far been created encompassing quantitative, qualitative, socioeconomic and gender aspects. We used the NewQIS platform to assess all PCOS-related publications indexed between 1900 and 2014 in the Web of Science, and applied density equalizing mapping projections, scientometric techniques and economic benchmarking procedures. A total of 6261 PCOS-specific publications and 703 international research collaborations were found. The USA was identified as the most active country in total and collaborative research activity. In the socioeconomic analysis, the USA was also ranked first (25.49 PCOS-related publications per gross domestic product [GDP]/capita), followed by the UK, Italy and Greece. When research activity was related to population size, Scandinavian countries and Greece were leading the field. For many highly productive countries, gender analysis revealed a high ratio of female scientists working on PCOS with the exception of Japan. In this study, we have created the first picture of global PCOS research, which largely differs from other gynaecologic conditions and indicates that most related research and collaborations originate from high-income countries.

Gendermetrics.NET: a novel software for analyzing the gender representation in scientific authoring

BackgroundImbalances in female career promotion are believed to be strong in the field of academic science. A primary parameter to analyze gender inequalities is the gender authoring in scientific publications. Since the presently available data on gender distribution is largely limited to underpowered studies, we here develop a new approach to analyze authors’ genders in large bibliometric databases.ResultsA SQL-Server based multiuser software suite was developed that serves as an integrative tool for analyzing bibliometric data with a special emphasis on gender and topographical analysis. The presented system allows seamless integration, inspection, modification, evaluation and visualization of bibliometric data. By providing an adaptive and almost fully automatic integration and analysis process, the inter-individual variability of analysis is kept at a low level. Depending on the scientific question, the system enables the user to perform a scientometric analysis including its visualization within a short period of time.ConclusionIn summary, a new software suite for analyzing gender representations in scientific articles was established. The system is suitable for the comparative analysis of scientific structures on the level of continents, countries, cities, city regions, institutions, research fields and journals.

World-wide architecture of osteoporosis research: density-equalizing mapping studies and gender analysis

Abstract Objective: While research activities on osteoporosis grow constantly, no concise description of the global research architecture exists. Hence, we aim to analyze and depict the world-wide scientific output on osteoporosis combining bibliometric tools, density-equalizing mapping projections and gender analysis. Method: Using the NewQIS platform, we analyzed all osteoporosis-related publications authored from 1900 to 2012 and indexed by the Web of Science. Bibliometric details were analyzed related to quantitative and semi-qualitative aspects. Results: The majority of 57 453 identified publications were original research articles. The USA and Western Europe dominated the field regarding cooperation activity, publication and citation performance. Asia, Africa and South America played a minimal role. Gender analysis revealed a dominance of male scientists in almost all countries except Brazil. Conclusion: Although the scientific performance on osteoporosis is increasing world-wide, a significant disparity in terms of research output was visible between developed and low-income countries. This finding is particularly concerning since epidemiologic evaluations of future osteoporosis prevalences predict enormous challenges for the health-care systems in low-resource countries. Hence, our study underscores the need to address these disparities by fostering future research endeavors in these nations with the aim to successfully prevent a growing global burden related to osteoporosis.

Primary Cilia Are Dysfunctional in Obese Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Summary Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) have crucial functions, but their roles in obesity are not well defined. We show here that ASCs from obese individuals have defective primary cilia, which are shortened and unable to properly respond to stimuli. Impaired cilia compromise ASC functionalities. Exposure to obesity-related hypoxia and cytokines shortens cilia of lean ASCs. Like obese ASCs, lean ASCs treated with interleukin-6 are deficient in the Hedgehog pathway, and their differentiation capability is associated with increased ciliary disassembly genes like AURKA. Interestingly, inhibition of Aurora A or its downstream target the histone deacetylase 6 rescues the cilium length and function of obese ASCs. This work highlights a mechanism whereby defective cilia render ASCs dysfunctional, resulting in diseased adipose tissue. Impaired cilia in ASCs may be a key event in the pathogenesis of obesity, and its correction might provide an alternative strategy for combating obesity and its associated diseases.

Pancreatic Cancer-Critical Examination of the Global Research Architecture and Recent Scientific Developments.

Objectives Despite decades of effort, the 5-year overall survival rate of pancreatic cancer (PC) remains at only approximately 5%. Until now, no detailed knowledge regarding the worldwide research architecture of PC has yet been established. Methods Hence, we conducted this scientometric analysis to quantify the global research activity in this field. The total research productivity was screened and research output of countries, categories, individual institutions, authors, and their collaborative networks were analyzed by the new quality and quantity indices in science platform. Results were visualized via state-of-the-art density equalizing mapping projections. Results The results indicated that Japan, Germany, and the United States played a leading role regarding output activity, multilateral, and bilateral cooperations. Within the past decades, the topic PC has developed into a scientific field covering many subject areas. Recently published studies predict that the scientific progress will be mainly depending on international cooperations; we can confirm that development by now. Conclusions We conclude that the field of PC is constantly progressing in which the influence of international cooperations on the scientific progress is of increasing importance. Nevertheless, research in the field of PC still needs to be strengthened to reduce morbidity and mortality in the future.

World-wide research architecture of vitamin D research: density-equalizing mapping studies and socio-economic analysis

BackgroundDespite the numerous associations of vitamin D with health and disease, vitamin D deficiency is still common from a global perspective. While basic research, clinical and preventive activities grow constantly in vitamin D research, there is no in-depth analysis of the related global scientific productivity available so far.MethodsDensity equalizing mapping procedures (DEMP) were combined with socioeconomic benchmarks using the NewQIS platform.ResultsA total of 25,992 vitamin D-related research articles were identified between 1900 to 2014 with a significant increase (r2 = .6541) from 1900 to 2014. Authors located in Northern America – especially in the USA – distributed the majority of global vitamin D research, followed by their Western European counterparts. DEMP-analysis illustrates that Africa and South America exhibit only minor scientific productivity. Among high-income group countries, Scandinavian nations such as Denmark or Finland (2147.9 and 1607.7 vitamin D articles per GDP in 1000 billion USD) were highly active with regard to socioeconomic figures.ConclusionNetworks dedicated to vitamin D research are present around the world. Overall, the Northern American and Western European nations occupy prominent positions. However, South American, African and Asian countries apart from Japan only play a minor role in the global research production related to vitamin D. Since vitamin D deficiency is currently increasing in the Americas, Europe and parts of the Middle East, research in these regions may need to be encouraged.