1,720,956 research outputs found
Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in adolescent recreational athletes: Potential screening strategies
No full textBackgroundIntense physical exercise in athletes increases the risk to develop exercise-induced bronchocontriction (EIB). We aimed to study EIB prevalence and explore methods for effective EIB screening.MethodsThree hundred twenty-seven adolescent athletes (12-18 years) performing at least 12 h of sports a week were included. The evaluation consisted of spirometry, eucapnic voluntary hyperpnoea test (EVH) to evaluate for EIB, FeNO, skin prick testing, blood sampling (serum markers of epithelial damage and mast cell activation), and questionnaires (AQUA (c), ACT, ACQ, and exposure and symptom-related questions).ResultsOf all athletes, 22% tested positive for EIB (n = 72), 14% reported a previous asthma diagnosis and 40% were atopic. Eighty percent of EIB+ athletes did not use any inhalation therapy. EIB+ athletes were significantly younger, had decreased FEV1/FVC (%), and increased post-EVH-reversibility (%) post-salbutamol compared with EIB- athletes. Furthermore, EIB was significantly associated with previous asthma diagnosis and atopy. The best predictors for a positive EVH test were AQUA (c) score >= 6 (sensitivity of 78%, p = .0171) and wheezing during exercise (specificity of 82%, p = .0002). FeNO negatively and significantly correlated with maximal fall in FEV1 post-EVH test in atopic athletes (r = -.2735, p = .0056). Maximal fall in FEV1 was also associated with prior PM10 exposure (p = .036). Serum markers of epithelial damage were significantly associated with training type, training intensity, EIB severity, and prior air pollution exposure.ConclusionOur findings support the effectiveness of a systematic respiratory screening approach, including baseline questionnaires, lung function tests, and FeNO measurement, to improve EIB detection in adolescent athletes in whom respiratory response to EVH testing is associated with prior exposure to air pollution.Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Grant/Award Number: T001417N. This work was supported by an Applied Biomedical Research with a Primary Social finality project (TBM) grant from the Flemish government (Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, FWO), Belgium (T001417N). DMAB and LD are recipients of a senior researcher fellowship from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO)
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
Egg allergen-specific T-cell and cytokine responses in healthy and egg-allergic children naturally tolerating baked egg
No full textBackground: Type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells are critical players in maintaining peripheral tolerance, by producing high IL-10 levels in association with inducible T-cell co-stimulator (ICOS) expression. Whether these cells play a role in naturally acquired baked egg tolerance is unknown. Objectives: Evaluate frequencies of egg-responsive Tr1 and Th2 cells in egg-allergic children that naturally acquired baked egg tolerance (BET) versus non-egg-allergic (NEA) children. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 70 natural BET and 15 NEA children were stimulated for 7 days with ovalbumin and ovomucoid. By flowcytometry, egg-responsive Tr1 cells were identified by co-expression of CD49b and LAG3, and Th2 cells by expression of CD49b but absence of LAG3. Seven-day cultured supernatant was analyzed for Th1, Th2, Tr1, and Th17 cytokines by MSD. Results: Natural BET children had a higher percentage of egg-responsive Th2 cells vs. NEA children (6.75% vs. 10.35%, p = .006). No significant difference was found in frequencies of egg-responsive Tr1 cells between NEA and natural BET children (11.40% vs. 12.55%, p = .42), although Tr1-related IL-10 and IL-21 production was higher in BET children. Interestingly, egg-responsive Tr1 cells from NEA children expressed higher ICOS levels vs. natural BET children (97.90 vs. 88.20, p < .0001). Supernatant from natural BET children showed elevated levels of Th2 cytokines IL-5, IL-9 and IL-13 and Th17 cytokine IL-17A. Conclusion: Natural BET children maintain increased egg-specific Th2 responses, along with comparable proportions of egg-responsive Tr1 cells exhibiting higher IL-10 but lower ICOS expression in comparison with NEA children.This study is part of the TETI-II project, funded by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO)-TBM program (T001419N). D. Bullens and R. Schrijvers are, respectively, former and current recipients of a senior researcher fellowship from the FWO and a recent KU Leuven (BOF-FKO) mandate
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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