1,720,970 research outputs found
Preliminary study on the effect of broxaterol on bronchial hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic children: influence of allergen exposure.
No full textAbstract: Increased bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) has been reported in adult asthmatic patients after regular treatment with beta2-agonists. In this study we evaluated the effect of a 4-weeks treatment period with broxaterol, a new beta2-agonist, on BHR in asthmatic children living in two different environmental conditions. Two groups of patients', 24 domiciled at sea level, allergen exposed (group 1), and 24 resident at high altitude (Misurina, 1,756 m) in an allergen-free environment (group 2), have been tested. Children were randomly treated with broxaterol 400 mug q.i.d. or sodium chromoglycate 10 mg q.i.d. (as control treatment) by the metered dose inhaler for 4 weeks. Pulmonary function tests and methacholine challenge were performed at the beginning and at the end of the study. Throughout the study period a diary card was completed and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was measured three times daily. Forty-two of the patients admitted concluded the study. No significant change was observed in the methacholine PC20 throughout the study period regardless of the type of treatment and/or environment. The amplitude percentage mean of diurnal changes in PEFR during the study period showed no statistically significant differences between treatments or centres, or in the interaction of treatment with centre, time with treatment, time with centre, time with centre and treatment (p > 0.05). Therefore in this pilot study regular treatment with broxaterol for 4 weeks did not cause an increase in BHR in asthmatic children both in conditions of allergen exposure and in an environment free of offending allergens
Bronchial reactivity in asthmatic children at high and low altitude. Effect of budesonide
No full textInhaled steroids may control bronchial inflammation in asthmatics exposed to allergens. In this study we evaluated whether prophylactic budesonide would prevent relapse of asthma in children re-exposed to offending allergens at sea level, after a period of antigen avoidance at high altitude. Thirty children received either budesonide (200 micrograms b.i.d.) or placebo (double-blind). Following a 4-wk baseline period and 2 wk of treatment at high altitude, children were treated for 3 mo at sea level. Methacholine challenge and pulmonary function studies were performed before and after baseline period, after the 2 wk of treatment in the mountain environment, and at the end of treatment. ECP serum levels were evaluated after the baseline period and at the end of treatment. PEFR and symptoms were recorded in a diary card during the study. The increase in methacholine provocative dosage was greater, although not significant (p = 0.096), in the budesonide than in the placebo group after the treatment at high altitude and remained higher at the end of the treatment (p = 0.04). ECP levels increased in both the groups with no significant difference. Our results confirm that budesonide, in addition to its efficacy in treating pre-existent airway inflammation, is effective in preventing the increase of reactivity in asthmatic children re-exposed to allergens
Changes of specific IgE in serum and nasal secretions of allergic children during two months of antigen avoidance
No full textStudy on changes of specific IgE in serum and nasal secretions of allergic children during two months of antigen avoidanc
Effect of budesonide and placebo on bronchial reactivity in asthmatic children when re-exposed to allergen in their usual environment
No full textStudy on the effect of budesonide and placebo on bronchial reactivity in asthmatic children when re-exposed to allergen in their usual environmen
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
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