1,721,096 research outputs found
Trecentosessantasei casi di endocardite infettiva osservati nel periodo 2003-2015 presso l'A.O.- polo universitario L. Sacco di Milano
Full text linkThree hundred and sixty-six cases of infectious endocarditis observed
in the period 2003 - 2015 at the L.Sacco hospital, Milan
Background/Aim: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a disease characterized by high morbidity and mortality. The epidemiology of this infection has changed dramatically in the last four decades, especially in industrialized countries. We sought to provide a contemporary picture of the presentation, etiology and in-hospital outcome of IE observed in a single centre.
Patients and Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 366 episodes of definite or probable IE in 325 patients admitted to the “L.Sacco” Hospital in Milan, Italy, from January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2015. Statistical analyzes were performed using Wilcoxon nonparametric test for continuous variable, while for discrete variables Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were applied. The multivariate regression analyzes were conducted taking into account the correlation between the observations of the dependent variable, correlation due to the fact that there are disclosures relating to the same subject. The analysis was made by applying the method of generalized estimating equation (GEE).
Results: The overall incidence of IE was found to be 1.43 in 1000 hospitalized with a significant increase in the period from 2003 to 2015 (p = 0.002). The cohort has a median age of 62 (interquartile range, 45-74) years, with 2/3 (68%) of male patients and 60% was observed a native valve IE. Patients came to clinical attention after a median latency of onset of symptoms of 14 (5-32) days, with a few of the classic clinical signs of the disease. The analysis of factors predisposing the EI showed in 19% of cases, an active drug abuse, in 40% the infection of a prosthetic valve or pacemaker, 18% a previous episode of EI, 25% a recent healthcare exposure (invasive procedures, bearers of central venous catheters, hemodialysis) and in 5% a chronic rheumatic disease.The pathogens most frequently isolated was Staphylococcus aureus (30%) followed by Streptococcus spp (26%) and Enterococcus spp (18%). In 20% of cases, no etiologic agent was identified. Fungal endocarditis were 7 (2%) identified by blood culture and culture of explanted valve. The aortic valve (38%) and the mitral valve (32%) were the most affected valves. The following complications were frequent: stroke (20%), systemic embolization (26%), heart failure (33%), intracardiac abscess (9%). Surgical treatment was applied in the half (51%) of cases and hospital mortality was high (19%). From the comparison between the two periods (2003-2010 vs. 2011-2015) the following characteristics were significantly increased in the second period: the median age (56 vs. 69 years, p <0.0001), healthcare associated cases (20% vs 36%, p = 0.003), IE by Enterococcus spp (16% vs 24%, p = 0.03) and S. aureus (29% vs 39%, p = 0.03). The cases of IE in drug abusers are significantly decreased (22% vs 8%, P = 0.0003). The mortality rate has remained unchanged. Healthcare associated IE (p = 0.04) and the onset of complications (p <0.0001) were significantly associated with mortality, while the cardiac surgery has proved protective (p = 0.005).
Conclusions: In line with what has been described in the literature also in our center IE is confirmed to be an acute disease with a significantly increased incidence, which predominantly affects elderly male with often unrecognized degenerative valve disease or heart valve prostheses. Staphylococcus aureus is the most frequently isolated germ associated with increased risk of complications. IE caused by Enterococcus spp have significantly increased. Despite advances in diagnosis and therapy in recent decades, the in-hospital mortality remains unchanged
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
Hiv-Related Lymphoprolipherative Diseases In The Era Of Combination Antiretroviral Therapy
No full textHIV-positive patients have a 60- to 200-fold increased incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) because of their impaired cellular immunity. Some NHL are considered acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) defining conditions. Diffuse large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBC) and Burkitt lymphoma (BL) are the most commonly observed, whereas primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), Central Nervous System Lymphomas (PCNSL), plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) and classic Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are far less frequent. Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) is an aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder highly prevalent in HIV-positive patients and strongly associated with HHV-8 virus infection. In the preCombination Antiretroviral Therapy (CART) era, patients with HIV-associated lymphoma had poor outcomes with median survivals of 5 to 6 months. By improving the immunological status, CARTs extended the therapeutic options for HIV positive patients with lymphomas, allowing them to tolerate standard chemotherapies regimen with similar outcomes to those of general population. The combination of CARTs and chemotherapy/immuno-chemotherapy treatment has resulted in a remarkable prolongation of survival among HIV-infected patients with lymphomas. In this short communication we briefly review the problems linked with the treatment of lymphoproliferative diseases in the HIV patients. Combination antiretroviral therapy (CARTs) not only reduces HIV replication and restores the immunological status improving immune function of the HIV-related lymphomas patients but allows patients to deal with standard doses of chemotherapies. The association of CARTs and chemotherapy allowed to obtain better results in terms of overall survival and complete responses. In the setting of HIV-associated lymphomas many issues remain open and their treatment is complicated by the patient's immunocompromised status and the need to treat HIV concurrently
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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