1,720,962 research outputs found
Determinants of invasive vulvar cancer risk : an Italian case-control study
No full textRisk factors for vulvar cancer have been evaluated in a case-control study conducted between 1987 and 1990 in northern Italy on 73 women with histologically confirmed invasive vulvar cancer and 572 control subjects in hospital for acute nongynecological, nonneoplastic non-hormone-related conditions. The risk of vulvar cancer was inversely related to education level: with reference to women reporting less than 7 years of schooling, the relative risk estimates were 0.6 and 0.4, respectively, in those reporting 7 to 11 and 12 or more years of schooling (chi 2(1) trend = 4.91 P = 0.03). No relationship emerged between number of births and spontaneous or induced abortions. Parous women reporting late first birth tended to be at lower risk (relative risk = 0.5, 95% confidence interval 0.3 to 1.1 for or = 25 years at first birth), but there was no evidence of the risk to decrease with increasing age at first birth. The risk of vulvar cancer increased with body mass index, but the trend in risk was not significant after taking into account potential confounders in the multivariate analysis. No association emerged with indicators of sexual habits, menstrual history, and smoking. The risk of the disease was lower in women reporting Pap smears during their life and diminished with increasing number of cervical smears and decreasing recency of last Pap: compared to women reporting no Pap screening, it was 0.5 in those who reported one smear and 0.3 in those with two or more
Pregnancy at forty and over: a case-control study
No full textWe compared obstetric prognosis in 327 women > or = 40 years old (148 nulliparas, 279 multiparas) with 20-30-year-old matched controls who delivered at our department between 1988 and 1990. Gestational diabetes and chronic hypertension were the only more frequent antepartum complications in cases than controls (2.4% vs. 0.3% and 3.4% vs. 0.3%, respectively). There were more premature deliveries in cases than controls (19% vs. 8%) but no difference in postdate deliveries. Cesarean section was more frequent in cases than controls in both nulliparas (64% vs. 30%) and multiparas (43% vs. 12%). Incidence of abdominal delivery for acute obstetrical indications was not increased in older gravidas. Significant differences were observed in low birthweight (17% vs. 5%) and 5-min Apgar score < 7 (8% vs. 2%). Most of the abnormal Apgar scores were recorded after cesarean section; values for vaginally-delivered infants were comparable in older and younger women. Perinatal mortality was similar in the two groups
The value of cyst puncture in the differential diagnosis of benign ovarian tumours
No full textA prospective collection of serum samples and ovarian cyst fluid was used to assess the use of different tumour markers and cyst fluid cytology in combination with serum tumour markers for the differential diagnosis of benign ovarian cysts. A consecutive series of 108 women of median age 30 years (range 15-75) undergoing laparotomy or operative laparoscopy for presumedly benign ovarian cyst(s) were studied at a teaching hospital at the University of Milan, Italy. The main outcome measures were tumour markers CA 125, CA 19.9 and carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) in serum and ovarian cyst fluid, oestradiol and progesterone concentrations in cyst fluid, and cytology of the sediment. The studied cysts were endometriotic (55 subjects), dermoid (16), mucinous (12), serous (10) or of miscellaneous histotype (15, including four follicular and one luteal). Serum CA 125 concentrations were significantly higher in the endometrioma patients than in the other groups. The sensitivity of CA 125 in the differentiation of endometriomas from other adnexal tumours was 61.8% and the specificity 94.3%; combining CA 125 and CA 19.9 assays yielded a sensitivity of 83.6% and specificity of 62.3%. Cyst fluid tumour markers values were extremely scattered with ample overlap between different cyst types. Oestradiol and progesterone concentrations were similar in the histological subgroups. Cyst fluid cytology was non-specific. We concluded that the aspiration of fluid from presumedly benign ovarian cysts appears to contribute little to the differential diagnosis of various tumours. The use of combining serum CA 125 and CA 19.9 assays in the diagnosis of endometriomas needs further confirmation
Reliability of the visual diagnosis of ovarian endometriosis
No full textThe visual diagnosis of endometrioma at laparotomy in 245 women operated on for ovarian cysts demonstrated a sensitivity of 97%, specificity of 95%, positive and negative predictive value of 98% and 94%, respectively, and overall accuracy of 96%. Because the visual detection of endometriomas is remarkably accurate, ovarian biopsy, although desirable in some cases, would seem dispensable for a correct laparoscopic diagnosis and staging of the disease
Early detection of ectopic pregnancy : use of a sensitive urine pregnancy test and transvaginal ultrasonography
No full textWe performed a prospective study to evaluate the reliability of a rapid monoclonal antibody urine pregnancy test with a sensitivity limit of 20 mIU/mL combined with transvaginal ultrasonography in the early diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy in 116 women with subacute pelvic pain and a stable general condition. The diagnosis of tubal pregnancy was confirmed with laparoscopy in 100 of the 103 women with positive sensitive urine pregnancy tests and no intrauterine gestational sac at transvaginal ultrasonography. Laparoscopy revealed a hemorrhagic corpus luteum in four of the eight subjects with negative monoclonal antibody pregnancy tests and no intrauterine gestational sac, an ovarian cyst in three and a normal pelvis in one. Of the five women with a positive pregnancy test and an intrauterine gestational sac, two had a hemorrhagic corpus luteum, two a normal pelvis and one a tubal pregnancy at laparoscopy. The sensitivity of a monoclonal antibody urine pregnancy test and transvaginal ultrasonography combined for the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy was 99%, and the specificity was 80%, with positive and negative predictive values of 97% and 92%, respectively
Peritoneal endometriosis : morphologic appearance in women with chronic pelvic pain
No full textA prospective study analyzed the prevalence and severity of dysmenorrhea, intermenstrual pain and deep dyspareunia in relation to morphologic features of peritoneal disease in 73 consecutive women with endometriosis but no associated pelvic pathology, previous pelvic surgery or hormonal treatment. All underwent their first laparoscopy for chronic pelvic pain at the First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy, between 1986 and 1989. Gynecologic pain symptoms were evaluated with a verbal score and visual analog scale. Peritoneal lesions were classified as typical (black nodules, yellow-brown patches, stellate scars), atypical (clear vesicles, clear or red papules, red polypoid lesions) or mixed. When the three types of lesions were considered together, a statistically significant association was observed only with deep dyspareunia (P less than .01). Moreover, a significantly higher prevalence of deep dyspareunia was revealed in patients with typical versus atypical lesions (P less than .01) and in those with mixed versus atypical lesions (P less than .05). Fresh, papular, atypical lesions exposed to peritoneal fluid might cause functional pain, whereas "old," black nodules immersed in infiltrating scars might provoke mainly organic pain
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
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