1,720,987 research outputs found
Do mergers really increase output. evidence from english hospitals
Full text linkThe English hospital sector underwent a major restructuring program between 2000 and 2008 to centralize activity in fewer and larger hospitals. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effects of such consolidations on hospital outputs. As mergers occurred in a staggered way, treatment could start and end at every time and treatment duration varied over the years. As every time is a mix of hospital pre-treatment, treatment and post-treatment phases, the canonical difference-in-differences assumption of homogeneous policy effects is not only meaningless but also misleading, raising doubts about the appropriateness of the methods previously used in this literature and consequently the accuracy of its results. We instead adopt a new matching and difference-in-differences approach, the flexible conditional difference-in-differences approach, developed by Dettmann et al. in 2020, more appropriate for causal analysis of treatments characterized by varying start dates and varying treatment duration. Our results suggest that mergers downsize hospital activities, especially the most expensive ones. If the goal of hospital mergers is to gain efficiency by centralization of activity, our findings suggest this restructuring programme is not the most successful policy to pursue. Mergers reduce the scope for competition between hospitals and do not create any incentive for poorly performing hospitals
Preoperative simulation accuracy evaluation in orthognatic surgery
No full textThe aim of this study was to assess Dolphin software precision in combined surgical-orthodontic treatment simulation using teleradiographs, considering both hard and soft tissues. Twenty patients (9 males and 11 females, average surgical age 24,8y) who underwent orthodontic-surgical treatment within the past 3 years were selected, with pre- and post-operative teleradiographs and accurate surgical reports. Dolphin software simulated surgical movements for splint creation on preoperative teleradiographs, while the postoperative ones were taken at the debonding. Cephalometric analysis compared treatment simulation and final teleradiographs, calculating mean, standard deviation, skewness, median, and kurtosis for 14 measurements. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed to assess differences, with a significance level of p≤0.05. In hard tissues, the upper incisor showed significant proclination (+2.4°), while sagittal measurements showed minor non-significant deviations. Verticality assessments indicated a slight reduction (SN/Md -1.3°) and less than expected Mx/Md angle (-0.6°). Soft tissues generally exhibited non-significant variations, with notable changes in lower lip length (-1.9mm) and nasolabial angle (+6.9). Dolphin software simulations are accurate overall but can be influenced by various factors. Notable changes include upper incisor proclination and alterations in the chin, lower lip dimension, and nasolabial angle. Standard deviations emphasize critical evaluation due to interindividual variability.The aim of this study was to assess Dolphin software precision in combined surgical-orthodontic treatment simulation using teleradiographs, considering both hard and soft tissues. Twenty patients (9 males and 11 females, average surgical age 24,8y) who underwent orthodontic-surgical treatment within the past 3 years were selected, with pre-and post-operative teleradiographs and accurate surgical reports. Dolphin software simulated surgical movements for splint creation on preoperative teleradiographs, while the postoperative ones were taken at the debonding. Cephalometric analysis compared treatment simulation and final teleradiographs, calculating mean, standard deviation, skewness, median, and kurtosis for 14 measurements. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed to assess differences, with a significance level of p≤0.05. In hard tissues, the upper incisor showed significant proclination (+2.4°), while sagittal measurements showed minor non-significant deviations. Verticality assessmen..
Role of cell surface metalloprotease MT1-MMP in epithelial cell migration over laminin-5
No full textRole of cell surface metalloprotease MT1-MMP in epithelial cell migration over laminin-5
No full text
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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