1,721,037 research outputs found

    Efficacy and tolerability of different brands of intravenous immunoglobulin in the maintenance treatment of chronic immune mediated neuropathies

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    High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is effective in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN). Not all brands of IVIg are however licensed for these neuropathies. We reviewed six patients with CIDP and seven with MMN treated with maintenance therapy with IVIg from 2009 to 2013. In all patients, we measured the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Overall Neuropathy Limitation Scale (ONLS) scores before each infusion, registered the monthly dose and brand of IVIg, and recorded adverse events. Patients were treated for 25–60 months (mean 49 months) alternating different brands of IVIg including IgVena, Gammagard, Kiovig, and Flebogamma. Minor and transient side effects were equally observed with each brand. No difference in the MRC or ONLS scores was observed in relation to the brand of IVIg used. Chronic maintenance treatment with IVIg in patients with MMN and CIDP was not associated with a different tolerability or efficacy despite the use of different brands of IVIg

    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

    Determination of dichloroanilines in human urine by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry : validation protocol and establishment of Reference Values in a population group living in central Italy

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    3,4- and 3,5-Dichloroanilines (DCAs) are common markers of some non-persistent pesticides, e.g. linuron, diuron, vinclozolin, and iprodione. The general population may be exposed to these DCAs and/or their precursors mainly through diet. Since adverse effects on human health, such as endocrine disruption, have been reported, biological monitoring is essential for exposure assessment both of occupationally exposed subjects and of the general population. A highly sensitive and selective gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method has been developed for the determination of 3,4- and 3,5-DCAs in urine using 4-chloro-2-methylaniline as an internal standard. The selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode was employed for quantitation of the analytes. The sample treatment procedure is simple and fast and no derivatization is required. The overall method was validated including uncertainty measurement. The limit of detection (LOD) and the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) were determined to be 0.005 and 0.010 microg/L for both analytes. The method was then applied to the establishment of reference values for a population group living in a rural area of central Italy (Novafeltria, Marche). A total of 151 out of 153 samples were found to be positive for 3,5-DCA, and 81.7% were positive for 3,4-DCA. For this group, 3,4-DCA levels ranged from 0.01 to 6.19 microg/L, while 3,5-DCA urinary concentrations were between 0.02 and 6.71 microg/L

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We 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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