1,720,983 research outputs found
[Assessment of treatment quality by hierarchical models in the Italian dialysis and transplantation registry]
No full textGiven the operative difficulties and expenses inherent in a clinical audit, we explored whether the Italian Dialysis and Transplantation Registry (RIDT) might offer a valid alternative for quality analysis about two aspects of renal replacement therapy: how widespread is the practice of peritoneal dialysis, and how often is a temporary catheter used as first vascular access for dialysis. We analyzed the data of all patients recorded in the RIDT in 2007 with regard to the type of first treatment, age, gender and primary kidney disease. For peritoneal dialysis we compared all Italian regions having scattered data. With regard to the types of vascular access and the comorbidities at the start of treatment, we evaluated patients from Veneto only. The performance of regions and centers were evaluated using a random-effects multilevel logistic model. Only 65% of Italian regions were available in RIDT; 13.8% of patients began RRT with peritoneal dialysis, with only 3 regions exceeding 20%. Differences among regions were due more to differences in patient characteristics than to between center differences in treatment strategies. Data on vascular access were available for 83% of the patients. Almost 40% began RRT with a temporary catheter; in 12 of 22 centers this was less than 35%. Also in this case, differences were due to patient characteristics. Incomplete data limit the strength of the interpretation of our study results. At any rate, differences among regions or centers seem due more to patient characteristics than to treatment strategies
From the Mailing List of the Italian Society of Nephrology: use of isolation rooms for HBV-positive patients in dialysis[PART TWO]
No full textIn the course of recent months, on the mailing list of the Italian Society of Nephrology (ML-SIN), a message asking for opinions on preventative measures for HBsAg patients has stimulated an extensive debate, in particular on the use of separate dialysis rooms. The discussion evidenced significant differences in the procedures adopted, not only between dialysis units, but also in regional health systems' directives. This emphasizes the necessity in dealing carefully with this problem, taking into account the scientific evidence of the infectious risk and epidemiological profile of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in dialysis patients. Moreover, potential solutions must be considered in terms of their effective cost benefit ratio. To complete the previous article, which examined the question from the viewpoint of an expert nephrologist, this issue of the review dedicated to the ML-SIN reports the opinion of an infectious diseases specialist, identified for its scientific contribution to this specific discussion
Dalla Mailing-List soci SIN (ML-SIN). La sclerosi peritoneale: terapia e prevenzione [From the Mailing List SIN: Therapy and prevention of peritoneal sclerosis]
No full textRecently, in the Mailing List of the Italian Society of Nephrology (ML-SIN), a message asking for opinions on the diagnosis and treatment of peritoneal sclerosis gave rise to an extensive debate on this interesting clinical topic. The discussion evidenced significant differences both in the reported onset of clinical manifestations, emphasizing the difficulty in obtaining a definite early diagnosis, and in therapy approaches. Occasionally, this is limited to medical treatment, but surgery, although burdened with elevated complexity and high mortality rates due to post-operative complications, is usually advocated for intestinal obstruction. This is the second issue reserved for the review of the ML-SIN concerning this topic, following that dedicated to definition, etiology, pathology and clinical characteristics. In this section, two expert colleagues complete the analysis of the different aspects of peritoneal sclerosis, discussing the therapy and the prevention of this serious complication of peritoneal dialysis
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
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
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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