262,159 research outputs found

    Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and c-reactive protein in acute inflammation: Meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy studies

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    Objectives: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in acute inflammation. Methods: PubMed and Scopus were searched and eligible articles were screened for methodologic quality using the Quality Assessment of the Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-Revised. Meta-analysis with calculation of pooled sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), and summary area under the curve (SAUC) was performed. Results: Twenty-nine studies were eligible. Se and Sp were 0.78 and 0.68 (SAUC = 0.80) for ESR in orthopedic infections and 0.79 and 0.70 (SAUC = 0.81) for CRP. For the diagnosis of other various inflammatory conditions, CRP had a superior diagnostic accuracy, with a Se of 0.86, Sp of 0.67, and SAUC of 0.86 compared with a Se of 0.77, Sp of 0.59, and SAUC of 0.75 for ESR. Heterogeneity among studies was elevated. Combined use of ESR and CRP yielded higher diagnostic accuracy. Conclusions: Despite observed heterogeneity among studies, ESR and CRP have a similar diagnostic accuracy in assessment of inflammation, especially in orthopedic conditions

    Analytical validation of the iSED automated analyzer for erythrocyte sedimentation rate

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    Introduction: iSED is an alternate automated analyzer for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) based on photometric rheology technology that estimates ESR by measuring rouleaux formation. The aim was to evaluate the analytical performance of the iSED analyzer and compare the results with the Westergren method and another alternate ESR analyzer, TEST1. Methods: Validation was performed at two study sites according to the recommendations by the International Council for Standardization in Haematology and included determination of intrarun precision and inter-run precision, bias, carryover, and method comparison, which was further assessed for samples with normal and low hematocrit, as well as per low, middle, and upper third of the analytical range. Results: Intrarun coefficients of variation (CVs) with commercial controls were 4.0% and 1.8%, while inter-run CVs 7.5% and 0.7%, for the normal and pathological range, respectively. Intrarun CVs obtained with patient samples were 19.9%, 9.9%, 10.3%, and 9.4%, the highest being for the lowest ESR value. Correlation coefficients for the comparison between iSED and Westergren were 0.862 (Site-1) and 0.916 (Site-2). While proportional difference with a positive bias was revealed at Site-1, comparison at Site-2 showed both constant and proportional difference and a negligible negative bias. Higher correlation was obtained for samples with low than normal hematocrit. Comparison between iSED and TEST1 yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.986, constant and proportional difference, and positive bias. Carryover was 3.2%. Conclusion: This study proved the analytical validity of the iSED analyzer, despite minor discrepancies to the Westergren method that can be attributed to methodological differences

    Automated measurement of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate: Method validation and comparison

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    Development of automated analyzers for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) has imposed the need for extensive validation prior to their implementation in routine practice, to ensure comparability with the reference Westergren method. The aim of our study was to perform the analytical validation of two automated ESR analyzers, the Ves-Matic Cube 200 and the TEST1. Validation was performed according to the recent International Council for Standardization in Hematology recommendations and included determination of intrarun and inter-run precision, assessment of sample carryover, hemolysis interference, sensitivity to fibrinogen, method comparison with the gold standard Westergren method and stability test. The highest intrarun imprecision was obtained for the low ESR range (33.5% for Ves-Matic Cube; 37.3% for TEST1) while inter-run coefficients of variation on three levels were much better for the TEST1 (0%, 2% and 1.2%) compared to the Ves-Matic Cube 200 on two levels (24.9% and 5.8%). Both Ves-Matic Cube 200 and TEST1 showed no statistically significant difference when compared with Westergren. Bland-Altman analysis yielded overall insignificant mean biases for all comparisons, but a wider dispersion of results and 95% limits of agreement for comparisons including the Ves-Matic Cube 200. Carryover was considered insignificant, while hemolysis had a negative effect on all assessed ESR methods. The highest sensitivity to fibrinogen was observed for the Ves-Matic Cube 200, followed by Westergren and the least sensitive was the TEST1. The obtained results proved the analytical validity of the TEST1 and the Ves-Matic Cube 200, and high comparability with the gold standard Westergren method, showing obvious improvements in standardization of ESR methods

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

    Protecting Animals 36: Author Witi Ihimaera

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    In this very special episode of Knowing Animals I am joined by beloved New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera. Witi has written many books featuring nonhuman animals. He offers us a non-colonial lens through which to think about the human/nonhuman relationship

    Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902

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    In Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries

    Author in Essay by I. A. Goncharov “Pepiniere”

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    Features of the embodiment of the author’s position in the essay by I. A. Goncharov “Pepiniere” are considered. The relevance of the study is due to the poorly studied poetics of this work. A review of the scientific literature on relevant topics is performed. Methodological and theoretical definitions are given. The scientific novelty of the article is in the fact that for the first time attention is paid to artistic techniques that allow to identify the author's position in the specified literary text. The author of the article grounds her opinion from the fact that, despite the dominance of the subjective point of view, other characters’ views stand out in the work. It is concluded in the study that the text of the work represents a biographical author and author-creator. It was established that the position of the author-creator is expressed through the title, epigraphs, which are quotes, as well as through different points of view, including the author-character, the author-narrator, the characters of the work. The author of the article dwells in detail on different ways of expressing the points of view of the author-character and the author-narrator. It is proved that the point of view of the author-character and the author-narrator can intersect, they are interchanged. The author's development of the term comic “point of view” is presented in the article

    Espai i identitat en l'obra de Jordi Pere Cerdà. Una geografia literària cerdaniana

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    L'obra de l'autor nord-català Jordi Pere Cerdà (1920-2011) teixeix una cartografia literària que abasta tota dimensió espacial -real, imaginada i ficcional. Les prospeccions que assagen els seus texts es fonen en el medi natural i rural, canten a l'amor, als veïns i als éssers fantàstics del folklore català, es comprometen amb els refugiats encarant-se a tota frontera i, també, a tot abisme interior i exterior que oprimesca l'ésser. El mapatge cognitiu i literari que crea Cerdà sobrepassa qualsevol obstacle per construir espais oberts i possibles, en comunió amb l'altre. Partint d'una aproximació teòrica geocrítica, aquest treball d'investigació aprofundeix en diverses nocions sobre l'espacialitat lligades a un context convuls, ple de transformacions a nivell socioeconòmic, polític, cultural i lingüístic, el qual determinarà la vida d'un autor i d'un territori transfronterer com el de la Cerdanya i la Catalunya del Nord. En definitiva, la rica experiència vital de Jordi Pere Cerdà ens permet reflexionar sobre les relacions que vulguem establir entre els individus i amb el nostre hàbitat natural i cultural, a fi d'esdevenir membres actius que participen de la transformació dels espais que configuren les nostres identitats.The work of the North Catalan author Jordi Pere Cerdà (1920-2011) weaves a literary cartography which reaches all spatial dimensions -real, imagined and fictional. The prospections proved by their texts merge with the natural and rural environment, sing to love, neighbours and the fantastic beings of the Catalan folklore. Such prospections also commit themselves with the refugees facing every frontier and, also, facing all interior and exterior abyss that oppresses the being. The cognitive and literary mapping created by Cerdà overcomes any obstacle to construct opened and possible spaces, in communion with the other. Based on the theoretical approach called geocriticism, this research study delves into various notions about spatiality linked to a convulsive context, full of transformations at a socioeconomic, political, cultural and linguistic level; these transformations will determine the life of an author and a cross-border territory such as Cerdagne and Northern Catalonia. In short, the rich experience of Jordi Pere Cerdà allows us to reflect on the relationships we want to establish between individuals, as well as between human groups and our natural and cultural habitat, in order to become active members that participate in the transformation of the spaces that make up our identities.Programa de Doctorat en Llengües Aplicades, Literatura i Traducci
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