1,720,967 research outputs found
Novel negative pressure wound therapy with instillation and the management of diabetic foot infections
No full textPurpose of review The use of negative pressure wound therapy with instillation (NPWTi) in complex or difficult-to-treat acute and chronic wounds has expanded rapidly since the introduction of commercially available NPWTi systems. We summarize the evidence related to NPWTi and particularly focus on the application of this technology in diabetic foot ulcers, diabetic foot infections and postoperative diabetic wounds. Recent findings The benefits of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) are well documented in the treatment of complex acute and chronic wounds, including noninfected postoperative diabetic wounds and diabetic foot ulcers. Combining intermittent wound irrigation with NPWT may offer additional benefits compared to NPWT alone, including further reduction of wound bed bioburden, increased granulation tissue formation and provision of wound irrigation in a sealed environment, thus preventing potential cross-contamination events. Recently, available evidence suggests that adjunctive NPWTi may be superior to standard NPWT in the management of diabetic infections following surgical debridement and may promote granulation tissue formation in slow-to-heal wounds. Summary Available evidence relating to the utilization of NPWTi in diabetic foot infections is promising but limited in quality, being derived mostly from case series or small retrospective or prospective studies. In order to confirm or refute the potential benefits of NPWTi in this patient cohort, well designed randomized controlled studies are required that compare NPWTi to NPWT or standard wound care methodologies
Extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC): Disease, carriage and clones
Full text linkExtra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichiacoli (ExPEC) have a complex phylogeny, broad virulence factor (VF) armament and significant genomic plasticity, and are associated with a spectrum of host infective syndromes ranging from simple urinary tract infection to life-threatening bacteraemia. Their importance as pathogens has come to the fore in recent years, particularly in the context of the global emergence of hyper-virulent and antibiotic resistant strains. Despite this, the mechanisms underlying ExPEC transmission dynamics and clonal selection remain poorly understood. Large-scale epidemiological and clinical studies are urgently required to ascertain the mechanisms underlying these processes to enable the development of novel evidence-based preventative and therapeutic strategies. In the current review, we provide a concise summary of the methods utilised for ExPEC phylogenetic delineation before exploring in detail the associations between ExPEC VFs and site-specific disease. We then consider the role of ExPEC as an intestinal colonist and outline known associations between ExPEC clonal variation, specific disease syndromes and antibiotic resistance
Percutaneous breast implant herniation: a rare complication of miliary TB.
No full textWe describe the case of a 46-year-old female patient treated for disseminated tuberculosis (TB) infection involving the lungs, urinary tract and skin. Following initiation of antituberculous therapy, the patient's right breast implant eroded through the overlying skin and was seen to be herniating through the resulting defect. The breast implant was removed under local anaesthetic and histological analysis of the resected tissue demonstrated granuloma formation consistent with periprosthetic TB. Wound healing following implant removal was poor and future breast augmentation surgery was only considered following completion of 12 months anti-TB treatment. This case constitutes the first report in the literature of percutaneous breast implant herniation resulting from periprosthetic infection with TB. A high index of suspicion is required to ensure early detection and timely management of TB and, in cases where periprosthetic pus aspirate is sterile, mycobacterial infection must be actively excluded
Genetic susceptibility to meningococcal infection
No full textMeningococcal disease is caused by a limited range of clonal complexes of Neisseria meningitidis. The disease occurs in people who lack bactericidal antibodies to this pathogen, and therefore the patients are reliant on innate immunity or components of acquired immunity other than bactericidal antibodies. Gene variants that influence the function of innate and acquired immune response components have been associated with altered host susceptibility to meningococcal disease, and some genetic factors have also been associated with more severe disease. Identification of genetic factors associated with meningococcal disease will enhance our understanding of this rare but dangerous condition which causes death and serious morbidity in young, previously fit individuals. Genetic variations in the gene cluster encoding IL-1 and in key genes including TNF, SP-A2 and CFH have been associated with susceptibility to meningococcal disease. Understanding the mechanisms underlying genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease will permit the development of novel therapeutic measures for the treatment of Gram-negative sepsis. To enable the discovery of new mechanisms of the disease, future research will move away from small-scale association studies and instead include analysis of large patient cohorts with accurately linked clinical and demographic information
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
Hepatic Tract Plug-Embolisation After Biliary Stenting. Is It Worthwhile?
No full textPURPOSE: PTC and stenting procedures are associated with significant risks including life-threatening haemorrhage, sepsis, renal failure and high mortality rates. PTC tract closure methods are utilised to reduce haemorrhagic complications despite little evidence to support their use. The current study assesses the incidence of haemorrhagic complications following PTC and stenting procedures, both prior to and following the introduction of a dedicated expanding gelatin foam-targeted embolisation liver tract closure technique.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Haemorrhagic complications were retrospectively identified in patients undergoing PTC procedures both prior to (subgroup 1) and following (subgroup 2) the introduction of a dedicated targeted liver tract closure method between 9/11/2010 and 10/08/2012 in a single tertiary referral centre. Mean blood Hb decrease following PTC was established in subgroups 1 and 2. Kaplan-Meier life-table analysis was performed to compare survival outcomes between subgroups using the log-rank test.RESULTS: Haemorrhagic complications were significantly reduced following the introduction of the targeted PTC tract closure method [(12 vs. 3 % of subgroups 1 (n = 101) and 2 (n = 92), respectively (p = 0.027)]. Mean blood Hb decrease following PTC was 1.40 versus 0.68 g/dL in subgroups 1 and 2, respectively (p = 0.069). 30-day mortality was 14 and 12 % in subgroups 1 and 2, respectively. 50 % of the entire cohort had died by 174 days post-PTC.CONCLUSION: Introduction of liver tract embolisation significantly reduced haemorrhagic complications in our patient cohort. Utilisation of this method has the potential to reduce the morbidity and mortality burden associated with post-PTC haemorrhage by preventing bleeding from the liver access tract.</p
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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