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- Camara-Costa, H., et al.
(author)
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Quality of survival and cognitive performance in children treated for medulloblastoma in the PNET 4 randomized controlled trial
- 2017
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In: Neuro-Oncology Practice. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2054-2577 .- 2054-2585. ; 4:3, s. 161-170
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background. The relationship between direct assessments of cognitive performance and questionnaires assessing quality of survival (QoS) is reported to be weak-to-nonexistent. Conversely, the associations between questionnaires evaluating distinct domains of QoS tend to be strong. This pattern remains understudied. Methods. In the HIT-SIOP PNET4 randomized controlled trial, cognitive assessments, including Full Scale, Verbal and Performance IQ, Working Memory, and Processing Speed, were undertaken in 137 survivors of standard-risk medulloblastoma from 4 European countries. QoS questionnaires, including self-reports and/or parent reports of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), the Health Utilities Index, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, were completed for 151 survivors. Correlations among direct cognitive assessments, QoS questionnaires, and clinical data were examined in participants with both assessments available (n = 86). Results. Correlations between direct measures of cognitive performance and QoS questionnaires were weak, except for moderate correlations between the BRIEF Metacognition Index (parent report) and working memory (r = .32) and between health status (self-report) and cognitive outcomes (r = .35-.44). Correlations among QoS questionnaires were moderate to strong both for parent and self-report (r = .39-.76). Principal Component Analysis demonstrated that questionnaires and cognitive assessments loaded on 2 separate factors. Conclusions. We hypothesize that the strong correlations among QoS questionnaires is partially attributable to the positive/negative polarity of all questions on the questionnaires, coupled with the relative absence of diseasespecific questions. These factors may be influenced by respondents' personality and emotional characteristics, unlike direct assessments of cognitive functioning, and should be taken into account in clinical trials.
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| 3. |
- Soltwedel, T., et al.
(author)
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Natural variability or anthropogenically-induced variation? Insights from 15 years of multidisciplinary observations at the arctic marine LTER site HAUSGARTEN
- 2016
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In: Ecological Indicators. - : Elsevier BV. - 1470-160X. ; 65, s. 89-102
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Time-series studies of arctic marine ecosystems are rare. This is not surprising since polar regions are largely only accessible by means of expensive modern infrastructure and instrumentation. In 1999, the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz-Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) established the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN crossing the Fram Strait at about 79°N. Multidisciplinary investigations covering all parts of the open-ocean ecosystem are carried out at a total of 21 permanent sampling sites in water depths ranging between 250 and 5500 m. From the outset, repeated sampling in the water column and at the deep seafloor during regular expeditions in summer months was complemented by continuous year-round sampling and sensing using autonomous instruments in anchored devices (i.e., moorings and free-falling systems). The central HAUSGARTEN station at 2500 m water depth in the eastern Fram Strait serves as an experimental area for unique biological in situ experiments at the seafloor, simulating various scenarios in changing environmental settings. Long-term ecological research at the HAUSGARTEN observatory revealed a number of interesting temporal trends in numerous biological variables from the pelagic system to the deep seafloor. Contrary to common intuition, the entire ecosystem responded exceptionally fast to environmental changes in the upper water column. Major variations were associated with a Warm-Water-Anomaly evident in surface waters in eastern parts of the Fram Strait between 2005 and 2008. However, even after 15 years of intense time-series work at HAUSGARTEN, we cannot yet predict with complete certainty whether these trends indicate lasting alterations due to anthropologically-induced global environmental changes of the system, or whether they reflect natural variability on multiyear time-scales, for example, in relation to decadal oscillatory atmospheric processes. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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