1,721,017 research outputs found
Predictors of flares in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Preventive therapeutic intervention based on serial anti-dsDNA antibodies assessment. Analysis of a monocentric cohort and literature review
No full textPatients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) may experience flare of disease activity. The aim of this study was to assess incidence, clinical features and predictors of flares, focusing on the relationship with serially assessed anti-double stranded DNA antibodies (anti-dsDNA) serum levels by Farr assay and pre-emptive therapeutic approaches of flares, through the analysis of a monocentric cohort of SLE patients and a literature review.Clinical and laboratory data of 120 out of 334 SLE patients, fulfilling inclusion criteria for enrolment and followed up between 1997 and 2012, were retrospectively collected. For the purposes of the study, a flare was defined as any new SLE manifestation or worsening of a pre-existing manifestation resulting in change of therapy. A review of the literature was performed searching for articles published between 1980 and 2015.Over a median (IQR) follow-up of 5.9 (3.0-8.9) years, 87 flares were recorded in 59 (49%) patients. The estimated incidence rate was 0.11 flare per patient-year, at the low-end of values reported in literature (0.19-1.76 patient-year). In our cohort, fluctuating anti-dsDNA serum levels were associated with flare development whereas precautionary change of therapy in presence of increased anti-dsDNA levels >. 50% was effective in preventing flares (p < 0.05). Results from literature review highlighted that increasing anti-dsDNA and precautionary change of therapy were predictive and pre-emptive of flares, respectively, in some studies but not in others. Differences in laboratory methods and patient selection, in terms of ethnicity, disease duration, and background therapy are likely to be crucial in determining discordant results
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
Comment on: Auto-antibodies to double-stranded DNA as biomarker in systemic lupus erythematosus: comparison of different assays during quiescent and active disease
Full text linkCurrent perspective on the role of the interleukin-23/interleukin-17 axis in inflammation and disease (chronic arthritis and psoriasis)
Full text linkTH17 is a lymphocyte subset, which is characterized by its polarization to secrete interleukin (IL)-17. IL-23 is the pivotal mediator responsible for TH17 differentiation and the IL-23/IL-17 axis has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of several immune mediated diseases, in particular chronic arthritis and skin psoriasis. This review will summarize the basic immunology and the new monoclonal antibodies, which antagonize this pathway allowing a new therapeutic approach
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