1,720,972 research outputs found
Seroprevalence of Brucellosis among Children in the Middle Anatolia Region of Turkey
No full textKuscu, Ferit/0000-0001-5662-8305; Gokce, Mehmet/0000-0002-2370-548XBrucellosis is an important public-health problem in Turkey. Children may constitute 20 to 30% of all brucellosis cases in the world, especially in the endemic regions. Data on the seroprevalence of brucellosis in childhood are very limited. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of brucellosis among a child population. One thousand one hundred and ten subjects were included in the study. Blood samples were collected and tested with Rose Bengal (RB) and standard tube agglutination test (SAT). RB test results were positive for 6 patients, and SAT was negative for all patients. Our findings suggest that seroprevalence of brucellosis is decreasing in Middle Anatolia due to a new cattle vaccination and eradication programme which was initiated in 2009
Identification of Cryptococcus antigen in human immunodeficiency virus‐positive Turkish patients by using the Dynamiker® lateral flow assay
No full textCryptococcus neoformans causes life‐threatening meningoencephalitis, particularly in
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐positive individuals with low CD4 levels (<100
cells/μL). Although the burden of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis (CM) in Turkey
is low (0.13 cases per 100 000 persons), asymptomatic individuals at risk of cryptococcosis
should be screened for antigenemia to prevent the disease and/or promote
early CM diagnosis. A lateral flow assay (LFA) is used to detect Cryptococcus antigen
(CrAg) in cerebrospinal fluid and serum. We determined Cryptococcus antigenemia
prevalence in serum samples of HIV‐positive and HIV‐negative adult patients by using
Dynamiker® CrAg‐LFA, a point‐of‐care dipstick test. Patients’ demographic data,
CD4 count, HIV‐RNA levels and anti‐retroviral therapy status were recorded. CrAg
was detected in 28 (11%) of 254 HIV‐positive patients screened but not in 100 HIVnegative
control individuals; a significant difference was observed in the CrAg‐LFA
positivity rate between HIV‐positive and HIV‐negative groups (x2 = 11.970; P < .05).
In CrAg‐positive patients, the median CD4 level was 666 cells/μL (115‐1344 cells/
μL), with a median viral load of 23 copies/mL (0‐3.69 × 106 copies/mL). In HIV‐positive
CrAg‐negative patients, the median CD4 level was 633 cells/μL (31‐2953 cells/
μL) and the median viral load was 12 copies/mL (0‐1.95 × 106 copies/mL; P > .05).
Results indicate that HIV‐positive patients with both low (<200 cells/μL) and high
(>200 cells/μL) CD4 counts should be screened for asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia.
HIV‐associated asymptomatic cryptococcosis is not uncommon in Turkey,
which warrants systematic screening. Updated strategies for CM prevention among
HIV‐positive patients should be used even in non‐endemic countries.This study was funded by the Research Fund of Çukurova University (project no. TTU‐2018‐10976)
Risk Factors for Colistin-Associated Acute Kidney Injury: A Multicenter Study from Turkey
Full text linkYaman, Ferda/0000-0001-6847-1720; Kuscu, Ferit/0000-0001-5662-8305The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and risk factors due to colistin use in patients infected with multidrug-resistant pathogens. This multicenter, retrospective, observational study was conducted in Turkey, at 5 different research and university hospitals. Cox regression analyses were performed, to determine independent predictors of AKI. From April 2012 to July 2014, a total of 216 patients aged between 18-94 years, treated with colistimethate sodium (CMS) were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 60.3 +/- 20.1 years. The overall incidence of AKI was 34.3% (74/216) at any time during treatment. Concomitant use of loop diuretics, baseline creatinine level, and CMS dosage were independently associated with AKI. According to our results, patients with higher baseline creatinine levels, or patients who had to use concomitant loop diuretics may need to be monitored more closely, and dose adjustment should be done promptly. More comprehensive studies are, however, still needed to evaluate the efficacy of low-dose colistin since higher doses tend to increase the risk of AKI
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
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