1,720,955 research outputs found
Fighting COVID-19: A Study to Compare Viable Treatment Options across Different Medical Systems
Full text linkDuring COVID-19, while many drugs from conventional medicine (CM) were falling short, those from Ayurveda, Siddha, Herbal Medicine, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) showed promising potential. The published recovery-aimed clinical studies on medicines from above-mentioned systems were retrieved. For CM, meta-analyses of studies using ICMR-protocol drugs, viz. hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, favipiravir, ivermectin & remdesivir were searched. For other systems, preferably active-controlled, stand-alone studies, were considered. Their general characteristics, efficacy and safety outcomes were documented. The outcomes were evaluated on basis of a methodology inspired from ‘WHO-Minimal common outcome measure set for COVID-19 clinical research’. The CM drugs were utilized either in multiple combinations or independently. Most studied combination was HCQ and azithromycin. HCQ efficacy was studied in biggest sample. These drugs did not exhibit significant efficacy for early clinical recovery and viral clearance. The adverse event (AE) incidences were also prominent. Barring TCM, studies using Ayurveda regime Tab. Immunofree and Cap. Regimmune and CVO+C, were done in only symptomatic patients. The efficacy of Tab. Immunofree- Cap. Regimmune regime was better than conventional care including azithromycin and favipiravir. The AE incidences in these studies were minimal. Medicines from alternative systems except CM exhibited better efficacy and safety in all outcome measures
Relation of spice consumption with COVID-19 first wave statistics (infection, recovery and mortality) across India
Full text linkBackground & Objectives: The recovery and mortality statistics for COVID-19 first wave considerably differed in different states & Union territories (UT) of India. Spices are an essential part of Indian cuisine. Apart from adding flavors and colors to the food, their importance is traditionally known in disease prevention and cure. Thus, present study was carried out to assess relation of spice consumption with COVID-19 first wave statistics in India. Methods: The spice consumption data of ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, chili, tamarind and ‘other spices’ were retrieved from ‘Household Consumption of Various Goods and Services in India’ from 68th round (2011-12) of survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). The first wave data for individual states and UTs were retrieved as total number of cases, number of cured/discharged/migrated cases and total number of deaths, in a cumulative normalized form. The correlation of these was analyzed. Results and Conclusions: Spices were consumed across India with a varied range. The highest consumed spice was ginger. The highest consumption of ‘Other spices’ were observed in Lakshadweep (149 gm/30 days), which incidentally reported zero cases. Tamarind had positive correlation (r = 0.4724) with total number of cases and recovered/migrated/cured cases (r = 0.4948). Cumin consumption exhibited weak positive correlation (r = 0.5011) with total deaths per million population. However, most of these correlations were statistically insignificant. These findings can help to predict preventive/ mitigating or curative usage of these spices. The unspecified and under-explored ‘Other spices’ category showed promising correlation
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
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
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Development and Evaluation of Ready-to-Cook Premix of Modified Ashtaguna Manda- An Ayurvedic Nutraceutical Appetizer
Full text linkThe science of life, Ayurveda touches upon all aspects of our living, including diet and nutrition. The Ayurvedic ‘Pathya Kalpana’ offers various recipes with usage guidance. There have been efforts to present some of these recipes in a contemporary form. Hereby we present a unique diet formulation ‘Ashtaguna Manda’ in a modified, yet classically rooted form. This was the pioneer effort in such modification as a ready-to-cook premix of Ashtaguna Manda. This study indicated that slight technology modification in conventional method yielded comparable outcomes in terms of physico-chemical characteristics as well as sensory evaluation. More such Ayurvedic diet recipes can be sought from Ayurveda treasure in future in a similar manner. The Ayurveda offers numerous tasty and health promoting diet recipes. The current era requires another aspect, i.e., ease of preparation. In the present work, we modified a traditional Ayurveda recipe, viz., Ashtaguna Manda and converted it in a ready-to-cook premix form. Care was taken to preserve principles of Ayurveda while creating a consumer-friendly product. The reconstituted product was also compared with the conventionally prepared one through analytical and sensory evaluation. It was observed that the premix as well as reconstituted modified Ashtaguna Manda was comparable to the conventionally prepared. Additionally, there was enhanced shelf life, ease of usage and good acceptability by end users. This study provides a lead towards incorporating many such treasured Ayurveda-based diet recipes to preserve health and manage diseases
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