1,720,957 research outputs found
The effects of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on physical fitness and morbidity in rectal cancer surgery patients
No full textCardiopulmonary exercise testing for the prediction of morbidity risk after rectal cancer surgery
No full textEffect of prehabilitation on objectively measured physical fitness after neoadjuvant treatment in preoperative rectal cancer patients: a blinded interventional pilot study
No full textBackground: patients requiring surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer often additionally undergo neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT), of which the effects on physical fitness are unknown. The aim of this feasibility and pilot study was to investigate the effects of NACRT and a 6 week structured responsive exercise training programme (SRETP) on oxygen uptake [Formula: see text] at lactate threshold ([Formula: see text]) in such patients.Methods: we prospectively studied 39 consecutive subjects (27 males) with T3-4/N+ resection margin threatened rectal cancer who completed standardized NACRT. Subjects underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing at baseline (pre-NACRT), at week 0 (post-NACRT), and week 6 (post-SRETP). Twenty-two subjects undertook a 6 week SRETP on a training bike (three sessions per week) between week 0 and week 6 (exercise group). These were compared with 17 contemporaneous non-randomized subjects (control group). Changes in [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text] over time and between the groups were compared using a compound symmetry covariance linear mixed model.Results: of 39 recruited subjects, 22 out of 22 (exercise) and 13 out of 17 (control) completed the study. There were differences between the exercise and control groups at baseline [age, ASA score physical status, World Health Organisation performance status, and Colorectal Physiologic and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (CR-POSSUM) predicted mortality]. In all subjects, [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text] significantly reduced between baseline and week 0 [-1.9 ml kg-1 min-1; 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.3, -2.6; P<0.0001]. In the exercise group, [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text] significantly improved between week 0 and week 6 (+2.1 ml kg-1 min-1; 95% CI +1.3, +2.9; P<0.0001), whereas the control group values were unchanged (-0.7 ml kg-1 min-1; 95% CI -1.66, +0.37; P=0.204).Conclusions: NACRT before rectal cancer surgery reduces physical fitness. A structured exercise intervention is feasible post-NACRT and returns fitness to baseline levels within 6 week
Cardiopulmonary exercise variables are associated with postoperative morbidity after major colonic surgery: a prospective blinded observational study
No full textBACKGROUND: Postoperative complications are associated with reduced fitness. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has been used in risk stratification. We investigated the relationship between preoperative CPET and in-hospital morbidity in major colonic surgery.METHODS: We prospectively studied 198 patients undergoing major colonic surgery (excluding neoadjuvant cancer therapy), performing preoperative CPET (reported blind to clinical state), and recording morbidity (assessed blind to CPET), postoperative outcome, and length of stay.RESULTS: Of 198 patients, 62 were excluded: 11 had emergency surgery, 25 had no surgery, 23 had incomplete data, and three were unable to perform CPET. One hundred and thirty-six (89 males, 47 females) were available for analysis. The median age was 71 [inter-quartile range (IQR) 62-77] yr. Sixty-five patients (48%) had a complication at day 5 after operation. Measurements significantly lower in patients with complications than those without were O2 uptake () at estimated lactate threshold () [median 9.9 (IQR 8.3-12.7) vs 11.2 (9.5-14.2) ml kg-1 min-1, P<0.01], at peak [15.2 (12.6-18.1) vs 17.2 (13.7-22.5) ml kg-1 min-1, P=0.01], and ventilatory equivalent for CO2 (/) at [31.3 (28.0-34.8) vs 33.9 (30.0-39.1), P<0.01]. A final multivariable logistic regression model contained at {one-point change odds ratio (OR) 0.77 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66-0.89], P<0.0005; two-point change OR 0.61 (0.46-0.81) and gender [OR 4.42 (1.78-9.88), P=0.001]}, and was reasonably able to discriminate those with and without complications (AUC 0.71, CI 0.62-0.80, 68% sensitivity, 65% specificity).CONCLUSIONS: CPET variables are associated with postoperative morbidity. A multivariable model with at and gender discriminates those with complications after colonic surgery.<br/
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
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