1,720,966 research outputs found
Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: An Italian Single-Center Study
No full textHypovitaminosis D is a vitamin deficiency that has been increasing in developed countries; it was also suggested as an emerging risk factor for developing of atherosclerosis and acute myocardial infarction. The primary source of vitamin D is its cutaneous synthesis under exposure to sunlight. It has been suggested that 30 min of sun exposure twice weekly leads to sufficient vitamin D synthesis. The residents of Trieste (Italy) are well-known for their high exposure to sunlight in all seasons. We aimed to investigate the vitamin D status in subjects with acute myocardial infarction living in this area
Usefulness of atrial function for risk stratification in asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis
No full textAim: We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of left atrial (LA) mechanics and stiffness over global left
ventricular (LV) longitudinal strain (GLS) for risk stratification in severe aortic stenosis (AS).
Methods: Froma cohort of 89 prospective asymptomatic patients with severe AS and normal LV ejection
fraction, 82 (32 men, mean age 73 10 years) truly asymptomatic patients, scheduled after a negative
exercise echocardiogram, were enrolled. Forty age- and gender-matched prospective, asymptomatic subjects
served as controls. Predefined end points were the occurrence of symptoms (dyspnea, angina, syncope), and
death during follow-up.
Results: At study entry, patients had: impaired LV GLS (p = 0.001), reduced LA reservoir (p < 0.001), high
LA stiffness (p < 0.001), and increased valvulo-arterial impedance (p < 0.001) compared to controls.
During follow-up [16 14.9 months (ranging from 1 month to 4.2 years)], 53 patients (64.6%) reached one
of the endpoints. Patients with events showed lower LV GLS (p > 0.001), lower LA reservoir (p < 0.001), and
greater LA stiffness (p < 0.001) than those asymptomatic. On univariate Cox regression analysis, LV GLS
(p < 0.001), LA reservoir (p < 0.001), and LA stiffness (p = 0.004) were strong predictors of adverse events.
Kaplan–Meier curves showed that event-free survival was significantly higher in patients with a LV GLS
16.8% [p < 0.001; area under the curve (AUC) = 0.922; sensitivity = 86%, specificity = 80%], a LA reservoir
19.8% (p = 0.001; AUC = 0.860, sensitivity = 71%, specificity = 84%), and a LA stiffness <0.78 (p < 0.001; AUC
0.819, sensitivity 70%, specificity 89%). On multivariate analysis, only LV GLS remained significantly
associated with patients’ prognosis (hazard ratio = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.11–2.01, p = 0.008).
Conclusions: In asymptomatic patients with severe AS, an efficient cardiovascular system is based on an
effective atrial-ventricular interplay. LA function assessment is useful for early identification of risk in
these patients. LV GLS however was confirmed to be the best predictor of patients’ outcome.
2015 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
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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