1,720,994 research outputs found

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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

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    We 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

    Interleukin 6 activity in infants and children with bacterial meningitis. The Collaborative Study on Meningitis

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    : Concentrations of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of infants and children with bacterial meningitis were determined and correlations were sought with other indices of inflammation and with outcome. Forty-two patients ages 1 month to 15 years (mean, 2.5 years) were studied. IL-6 activity was detectable (greater than 50 units/ml) in 30 of 36 CSF samples collected at admission from patients with meningitis and in 1 of 23 controls with fever and normal CSF findings. Mean values were 36,000 units/ml (range, 151-156,000). IL-6 activity in CSF persisted during the first 5 days of illness. IL-6 concentrations at admission were not associated with clinical findings, CSF leukocyte, protein and glucose concentrations, serum C-reactive protein concentration and neurologic complications or sequelae. IL-6 was also detected in the serum of 3 of 14 patients with meningitis and in 0 of 7 controls with no infectious disease. The presence of IL-6 was not associated with bacteremia or with duration of fever before admission. The presence of IL-6 in the CSF of pediatric patients with bacterial meningitis is in accordance with available data on other cytokines and suggests their role as mediators of meningeal inflammation

    Plasma glutamic acid levels in premature newborn

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    : 24 premature, newborn infants were investigated for plasma glutamic acid (GA) levels before and after a normal milk feed, to ascertain if the ingestion of GA present in the milk could result in an increase of its plasma level. No increases were detected in plasma between 5 and 90 min after the feed. These results may be important in respect to the problem of the possible toxicity of monosodium glutamate (MSG) added to baby foods

    Mutations in the SPINK1 gene in idiopathic pancreatitis Italian patients

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    Idiopathic chronic and acute recurrent pancreatitis (IP) have been associated with mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. Mutations in the serine protease inhibitor Kazal 1 (SPINK1) have been described in some idiopathic chronic patients and it has been suggested that mutations in this gene could be responsible for a loss of trypsin inhibitor function. In this study, the 5′UTR region, and the four exons and exon-intron boundaries of the SPINK1 gene in 32 IP patients have been analyzed. Three IP patients (9.3%) and one control/100 carried the N34S mutation of the SPINK1 gene (Fisher's exact test, P=0.044) . No other mutation that could be associated with an altered function of the SPINK1 protein was observed. The N34S mutation was present in two patients who carried the CFTR-IVS8 5T variant and in one who carried the L997F variant in the CFTR gene. The association of SPINK1 with CFTR gene mutations in IP patients is statistically significant (3/32 IP cases and 0/100 control individuals carrying mutations in both genes; Fisher's exact test P=0.01)

    N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and NAG isoenzymes in children with upper and lower urinary tract infections

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    : The use of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) to diagnose the site of urinary tract infection was studied in pediatric patients. Differentiation between upper and lower tract infections (UTI) was based on clinical grounds and on elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and fever. NAG excretion expressed as nmol X h-1 X mg-1 of urinary creatinine was higher in children with upper UTI (mean +/- SE 906 +/- 236) than in those with lower UTI (145 +/- 23) or healthy children (151.6 +/- 10) (p less than 0.01 by Duncan's test). In children with upper UTI, NAG excretion fell in parallel with the remission due to antibiotic treatment. This however was not seen in children treated with aminoglycosides. A specific and significant elevation (p less than 0.01) of the B isoenzyme of NAG was documented in children with upper UTI but not in those with lower UTI (B form in upper UTI 49.2% +/- 3.9 versus 21.9 +/- 3.3 in lower UTI; healthy children 18.9 +/- 3.4). The percentage of B isoenzyme excreted was high in two children with upper UTI but was low total NAG urinary excretion, suggesting that the quantification of isoenzymes offers further specificity in diagnosis. We conclude that the measurement of NAG and its isoenzymes in children with UTI provides useful information in the diagnosis of the site of infection
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