1,721,001 research outputs found
Validation of Case-finding Algorithms Derived from Health Administrative Data for Identifying Neonatal Bacterial Sepsis
No full textObjectives: The objectives of this thesis were to: 1) develop and validate a coding algorithm to identify true cases of neonatal bacterial sepsis, and 2) apply the algorithm to calculate incidence rates and estimate temporal trends of neonatal bacterial sepsis.
Methods: For Objective 1, the reference cohorts were assembled among neonates born in 2012-2017 using patient-level health care encounter data. Any neonates who met both the Diagnostic Criterion Ⅰ (microbiological confirmation) and Criterion Ⅱ (sepsis-related antibiotic administration) were included in the true-positive cohort. Potential coding algorithms were developed based on different combinations of ICD-10-CA codes on the hospitalization discharge abstract. For Objective 2, the coding algorithm with the most optimal characteristics was applied to provincial data to calculate incidence rates in Ontario during 2003-2017. Recent temporal trends were estimated by Poisson regression analysis.
Results: In Objective 1, since all true-positive cases identified were born at preterm gestation, the study population in Objective 2 was limited to preterm infants. The final coding algorithm selected had sensitivity of 75.3% (95% CI, 66.8%-83.7%), specificity of 98.2% (95% CI, 97.8%-98.6%) and PPV of 50.0% (95% CI, 42.1%-58.0%). Using this algorithm, the annual incidence declined over time from 50.2 (95% CI, 45.4-55.4) per 1000 preterm infants in 2003 to 27.5 (95% CI, 20.4-36.9) per 1000 preterm infants in 2017. The trend over time was statistically significant with P-value <0.0001. Significant variation in bacterial sepsis incidence rates was noted across infant sex and gestational age.
Conclusion: The coding algorithm developed in this study could not accurately identify neonates with bacterial sepsis from within health administrative database using the data available to us now. For the purpose of demonstrating the application of the algorithm, we carried out Objective 2; however, it is important to cautiously interpret the provincial rates given the the poor performance of the case-finding algorithm
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
An Investigation of the Association Between Newborn Screening Biomarkers and Total Serum Bilirubin Levels in Ontario Newborns
No full textThe performance of biomarker-based screening tests may be improved by the identification of circumstances associated with biomarker differences aside from presence or absence of screen-targeted disease. We conducted a systematic review and database analysis investigating the association between total serum bilirubin (TSB) near the time of newborn screening for rare disease (NBS) and concentrations of NBS biomarkers, with implications for false positive (FP) results. Sixteen studies were identified reporting associations and lack thereof between NBS biomarkers and hyperbilirubinemia, evidencing a relatively unexplored subject. We conducted a
cross-sectional analysis of NBS biomarkers and TSB using results from universal screening tests. Correlations revealed TSB level associated with most NBS biomarkers. Reassuringly, TSB was not significantly associated with FP risk for conditions with high FP rates such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, congenital hypothyroidism, or phenylketonuria in regression analyses. Ascertainment of NBS specificity in neonates with common transient conditions such as hyperbilirubinemia may be a viable approach to improve the accuracy of NBS tests
Examining the Impact of Environmental Factors on the Risk of Cerebral Palsy
No full textBackground: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that may be influenced by prenatal environmental exposures, such as air pollution (PM₂.₅), greenspaces, and active living environments (ALE).
Methods: Cohort data from health administrative databases in Ontario, Canada were linked to air pollution (PM₂.₅) components, PM₂.₅) mass, O₃, and NO₂), greenspace (normalized difference vegetation index and green view index), and active living environment data (park proximity and Can-ALE) based on six-digit residential postal codes.
Results: Exposure to PM₂.₅) component of sulfate (SO₄) during early gestation was associated with an increased risk of CP, while closer residential proximity to parks was linked to a decreased risk. No significant associations were observed for other pollutants or greenspace metrics.
Conclusions: Adverse and protective environmental influences were identified in relation to CP risk in this thesis. These findings highlight the need for further investigation on how specific environmental exposures during pregnancy may contribute to CP risk
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Association Between Prenatal Exposure to 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Vaccination and Infection During Pregnancy and Development of Immune-Related Child Health Outcomes
No full textBackground: Little is known about long-term pediatric health outcomes following influenza vaccination during pregnancy.
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the associations between prenatal exposure to maternal pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza vaccination and pH1N1 illness, with long-term immune-related pediatric health outcomes.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study used a province-wide birth registry from Ontario, individually linked with health administrative databases to ascertain study outcomes over five years of follow-up.
Results: We found a weak, but statistically significant, increased association between prenatal pH1N1 influenza vaccination and pediatric asthma, and an inverse association with gastrointestinal infections; otherwise, no other significant associations were observed. Conversely, significant increased associations were observed between pH1N1 influenza illness during pregnancy and all study outcomes.
Conclusions: The findings of this study support the safety of influenza vaccination during pregnancy; however more research in this area is required, particularly for seasonal influenza vaccine
Association of Newborn Screening Analytes with Type of Delivery Among Preterm and Term Births
No full textIntroduction: Several factors have been observed to influence the value of newborn screening analytes (NBS) and should be adjusted for in the interpretation of blood spot samples. The thesis aimed to examine the association of NBS with 1) mode of delivery among term infants and 2) clinical subtypes (i.e., spontaneous onset of labour) of birth among preterm infants.
Methods: A retrospective population-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine associations between NBS and mode of delivery among term infants and subtypes among preterm infants.
Results: 1) Metabolic profiles of infants born by planned cesarean delivery differ from those born by vaginal delivery following spontaneous onset of labour and 2) Metabolic profiles of preterm infants did not differ by clinical subtype.
Conclusions: Our findings conclude that mode of delivery is an important covariate to consider in future modelling studies, but the inclusion of preterm birth subtypes is less compelling
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe 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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