1,720,985 research outputs found
Prevenzione & Ricerca: l’esperienza dello “Studio Acido Folico” in Italia.
No full textIntroduzione. Finanziato dall’Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA), grazie ai bandi per
la ricerca indipendente, è stato attivato nel nostro Paese lo “Studio acido folico”
(www.folictrial.org), sperimentazione clinica che ha l’obiettivo di valutare se la
supplementazione periconcezionale con Acido Folico (AF) alla dose di 4 mg al giorno, in
confronto alla dose standard di 0,4 mg, riduca maggiormente l’insorgenza delle
malformazioni congenite nel loro insieme, oltre alla frequenza di comparsa di aborto
spontaneo, ritardo di crescita intrauterina, pre-eclampsia, prematurità e gemellarità. Tra gli
obiettivi del progetto vi è anche la diffusione del Counseling Preconcezionale (CP) nella
pratica clinica, rivolto alle donne/coppie in età fertile come strumento efficace a sostegno
della salute riproduttiva.
Metodi. Le donne in età fertile che programmano la gravidanza, sono invitate a prendere
contatto con i centri che offrono il CP, informano le donne sugli obiettivi dello studio e le
arruolano. La sperimentazione clinica, RCT in doppio cieco, prevede che le pazienti
eleggibili vengano randomizzate a 0,4 mg o 4 mg di AF e, successivamente al
concepimento, siano tenute in follow-up fino all’anno di vita del bambino.
Risultati. La conduzione del progetto di ricerca è strettamente legata alla promozione e
alla diffusione del CP. A partire dal 2010 sono state attivate una serie di iniziative con
l’obiettivo di sostenere questa buona pratica per la salute riproduttiva ed è stata sviluppata
un’attività in rete con altri progetti nazionali. Ad oggi, quasi 1.000 donne in età fertile
hanno eseguito il CP e circa 700 di esse sono state randomizzate.
Conclusioni. Questa esperienza, condotta in collaborazione con i colleghi olandesi,
rappresenta un’occasione unica in campo materno-infantile per diffondere un’attività che
cerca di coniugare lo sviluppo di progetti diretti alla popolazione, con l’obiettivo di
sostenere buone pratiche ancora oggi troppo trascurate e lo sforzo di dare una risposta a
domande di ricerca cruciali per la salute della popolazione. In merito al coinvolgimento
della popolazione generale in esperienze di questa natura, si segnala la necessità di mettere
a punto modelli e percorsi integrati dove comunicazione e informazione diventino parte
integrante dell’attività di ricerca
Acido folico e prevenzione delle malformazioni congenite. Randomized clinical trial in Veneto e metanalisi prospettica internazionale
No full textL’associazione tra deficit di folati e difetti congeniti ha evidenziato, negli ultimi vent’anni, quanto
l’assunzione di tale vitamina, durante lo sviluppo embrionale, possa prevenire le malformazioni
congenite, in particolare i difetti del tubo neurale. Lo “STUDIO ACIDO FOLICO” si propone di
promuovere il “counseling preconcezionale”, di verificare l’efficacia della supplementazione con
acido folico nel ridurre l’occorrenza delle malformazioni congenite e di realizzare una metanalisi
prospettica promuovendo studi simili a livello internazionale
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Full text link“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
Exogenous calcitonin protects against renal bone disease in rats with early renal failure.
No full textChronic renal failure was induced in four groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats by unilateral nephrectomy followed by removal of the outer poles and cautery of the remnant kidney. The four groups of animals received isocaloric diets with normal (groups 1 and 4) or low (groups 2 and 3) phosphate contents and variable amounts of calcium. In addition, rats in group 4 were given salmon calcitonin. After 90-160 days the 4 groups of rats had developed comparable levels of chronic renal failure. The serum phosphate values were significantly lower in rats on low phosphate intake than in those on normal phosphate diet. Bone histology was evaluated on tibiae, lumbar vertebrae and ribs. The rats kept on low phosphate diet (groups 2 and 3) had significantly lower frequency of osteomalacia and bone resorption than those fed a normal phosphate diet. Rats treated with calcitonin (group 4) had the lowest frequency of osteomalacia and virtually no association with bone resorption, despite normal phosphate intake. The serum levels of parathyroid hormone were not significantly different in rats in groups 1 and 4 as compared to controls. Serum 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol levels were significantly lower in group 1 than in controls and were significantly higher in group 4 than in group 1. These data show that calcitonin effectively prevents bone lesions in rats with early chronic renal failure
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe 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
Randomized clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of high dose folic acid to prevent the occurrence of congenital malformations: a further opportunity to promote preconceptional care.
No full textStrong evidence shows that a supplementation of folic acid (FA) during the periconceptional period reduces the risk of neural tube defects (NTD). Secondary analysis of the Hungarian randomized trial as well as some observational studies suggest that this supplementation can also reduce the risk of other congenital malformations (including congenital heart defects and perhaps Down Syndrome) as well as other adverse reproductive outcomes (including prematurity). Some observational studies suggest that, compared to the standard dose of 0.4 mg daily, the higher dose of FA (4.0 mg/day), recommended uniformly to prevent NTD recurrence, could also reduce further the risk of NTD occurrence and possibly reduce the risk for other birth defects. To evaluate this hypothesis, a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of FA vs. placebo is not feasible because of ethical considerations and the need for huge sample size. The present study evaluates the overall rate of CM (the primary outcome) and that of selected CM, miscarriage, recurrent abortion, pre-eclampsia, abruptio placentae, small-for-gestational age, preterm birth and twinning (the secondary outcomes) in a group of women intending to get pregnant
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
- …
