1,720,967 research outputs found
Effect of carnitine supplementation on lipid profile and anemia in children on chronic dialysis.
No full textPediatr Nephrol. 2007 May;22(5):727-33. Epub 2007 Feb 3.
Effect of carnitine supplementation on lipid profile and anemia in children on chronic dialysis.
Verrina E, Caruso U, Calevo MG, Emma F, Sorino P, De Palo T, Lavoratti G, Turrini Dertenois L, Cassanello M, Cerone R, Perfumo F; Italian Registry of Pediatric Chronic Dialysis.
Abstract
We prospectively evaluated the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on plasma free carnitine (FC) levels, serum lipid profile, and erythropoietin (rhEPO) requirement in 24 children treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD; n=16) or hemodialysis (HD; n=8). The study was divided into a 3-month observation period, and a 3-month treatment period during which patients received 20 mg/kg per day of L-carnitine given orally. Clinical, biochemical, and hematological data were collected every 3 months. FC levels were measured in plasma and peritoneal dialysate by tandem mass spectrometry. There were no statistically significant changes in lipid levels, hemoglobin, or rhEPO requirements during the course of the study. Fifteen patients (13 PD, 2 HD) had plasma FC levels measured before and after treatment; FC levels increased from 32.1 +/- 14.1 micromol/l to 80.9 +/- 38.7 micromol/l (P<0.001). In PD patients, dialysate FC losses increased from 106 +/- 78 micromol/day at baseline to 178 +/- 119 micromol/day after supplementation. Positive correlations between FC plasma levels and dialysate levels (R=0.507) or daily excretion (R=0.603) were found after treatment. In our case series, an oral dose of 20 mg/kg per day of L-carnitine restored FC levels and produced a positive carnitine balance with no significant effects on hematological parameters or lipid profile over a 3-month period. Prolonged treatment duration may be required to obtain significant results
SURVEY, ARCHAEOASTRONOMY AND COMMUNICATION: THE MAUSOLEUM OF GALLA PLACIDIA IN RAVENNA (ITALY)
No full textThe Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (built pre-450), is one of Ravenna"s UNESCO protected monuments, renowned worldwide for the extraordinary mosaic decorations that cover its internal surfaces. The famous starry vault profoundly engages and inspires the observer. Its accurate representation of the real sky has been analysed and described, as has its mystical and symbolic meaning in relation to the iconographic tradition of the time. Archaeoastronomical research was carried out on the building by Giuliano Romano, who measured its orientation. The azimuth value of 180.2° highlights a north-south bearing, unique among the other Byzantine buildings in Ravenna. This paper also examines other architectural elements beyond the orientation, with particular attention paid to the building"s small slit windows, investigating their possible archaeoastronomical significance. A functional 3D model was developed from the archaeoastronomical analysis data to display the original morphology of the building (the floor was about 140 cm lower due to subsidence), and astronomical phenomena, and to provide a multimedia way of communicating the scientific content produced. This final part of the contribution forms part of the trials conducted by the research group into interactive and noninteractive multimedia communication based on virtual models as an edutainment tool for the enjoyment of cultural sites and artefacts
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
Struttura e forma: le superfici voltate nelle scale aperte napoletane
No full textVaulted stairs in Neapolitan residential architecture in the 18th century, constitute a very interesting architectural system where each element contributes to the definition of an unique space, created on the close interrelation of shape and structure: the retaining structure generates the pattern and through its geometry gives sense to a composition where architectural and structural functions converge in a single design.
Vaulted spaces, marked by arches with different profile, inclined surfaces and horizontal planes, characterize a dynamic space determined by different views, obtained while rising to the top, and resulting by the intersection of formal and structural elements that materialize a balanced system of forces and masses, which is fruit of knowledge experienced and gained trough time.
The vaulted staircase is the focal point in the whole composition of Neapolitan residential architecture: is a filter space between public and private area, end of a visual perspective that from the outside leads through the entrance hall and until the courtyard. The staircase is a sort of double-sided volume, which underlines its weightlessness and transparency by multiple openings on its facades and determines an osmotic relationship between the spaces that apparently divides.
The large range of samples given in Naples led to a classification, according to the types of the plan, of the geometry and of the structure and studying the relations between each element into the whole composition in which individual arrangements confer attribute to quality to the space
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
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