1,721,016 research outputs found
Social acceptance of sustainable energy technologies: the role of beliefs in driving acceptability and acceptance of mitigation and adaptation technologies
Full text linkThis dissertation explores the social-psychological foundations underlying the social acceptance of Sustainable Energy Technologies (SETs), i.e., crucial elements in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The research centers on an analysis of how beliefs about the technology to be adopted characteristics, the adoption contexts, the adopters themselves, and their interactions, influence the social acceptability and acceptance of these technologies. Positioning the research within the theoretical framework of normative influence, the study highlights how perceptions of major clusters of social-psychological factors, namely, necessity, moral obligation, social expectations, and emotional responses, intersect to drive acceptance. A multi-method series of studies combines meta-analyses, correlational methods, and experimental approaches to assess various SETs by integrating insights from strictly normative influence with socio-technical theories. By aligning technological advancement with these foundational beliefs, this dissertation provides theoretical understanding and practical strategies for embedding SETs in the public sphere as instruments of sustainable collective action, promoting collective aspirations and individual actionable pathways toward climate resilience
Positive allergological tests may turn negative with no further exposure to the specific allergen: a long-term, prospective, follow-up study in patients allergic to penicillin
No full textPreliminary literature reports suggest the possibility that, in an allergic patient, a previously positive allergological test may turn negative after a long period of time with no further exposure to the specific allergen. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate by which a previously positive skin test or RAST may turn negative in a group of patients allergic to penicillin if no further exposure to the specific allergen occurs. Sixty-three patients allergic to penicillin (48 with type I allergy and 15 with type IV allergy) were enrolled in a long-term, prospective, follow-up study, undergoing a successive complete allergological testing within 6 years of the first positive examination. During the follow-up period, skin tests progressively became negative in 28 (58.3%) type I allergic patients and in only one (6.7%) subject with type IV allergy. Similarly, the positive RAST turned negative in as many as 13 subjects (43.3% of cases). The cumulative skin test positivity (type I allergy) was significantly lower than that of patch tests (type IV allergy) (chi 2 = 10.4; d.f. = 1; p < 0.005, Logrank test). No significant difference in the progressive rate of decrease in skin test and RAST cumulative positivity was observed in the 30 patients showing both RAST and skin test positivity on entering the follow-up study. Our results provide strong evidence that a positive allergological test performed in a drug-allergic patient may become negative with time, in the absence of further exposure to the specific antigen. A negative allergological test cannot, therefore, rule out the immunological basis of a drug sensitivity. This is why we always suggest advising patients with a personal history of drug hypersensitivity against any further administration of the responsible drug, even in the presence of a completely negative allergological examination
Isolated First Branchial Cleft Anomalies of the External Auditory Canal
Full text linkPatient: Female, 82-year-old Final Diagnosis: First branchial arch malformative of the EAC Symptoms: Mixed moderate hypoacusia and recurrent otitis media Medication:— Clinical Procedure: Canaloplasty and Thiersch graft Specialty: Otolaryngology OBJECTIVE: Rare disease BACKGROUND: Branchial cleft anomalies are congenital aberrations of the first to fourth pharyngeal pouches. First branchial cleft anomalies are classified into 2 subtypes according to anatomical and histological features. Their diagnosis can be difficult and depends on radiological and histological findings. In contrast, the required treatment is surgical removal, owing to the high risk of infection or malignancy. This case report introduces a first branchial cleft anomaly in an older woman with exclusive involvement of the external auditory canal (EAC). CASE REPORT: This case report introduces a first branchial cleft anomaly in an 82-year-old woman with exclusive involvement of the EAC. She reported a history of mixed moderate hypoacusis and recurrent otitis media in the last year, without facial nerve involvement. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were performed to plan surgical treatment, which consisted of canaloplasty and Thiersch grafting. The histopathological examination on operative findings revealed a cystic lesion that was lined by cylindrical epithelium adjacent to the squamous cells, compatible with a diagnosis of first branchial arch malformative residues. CONCLUSIONS: This is the unique case of first branchial cleft anomalies reported in an adult patient that exclusively involved the EAC. The onset of the disease was atypical, and surgery with the total removal of the lesion was the only possible treatment. Histopathology results revealed cylindric epithelium not represented in the EAC, compatible with first branchial arch malformative residues. This rare condition is a potential diagnostic option that should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cysts of the EAC
Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy
No full textDecompensated liver cirrhosis is characterized by a peripheral vasodilation with a low-resistance hyperdynamic circulation. The sustained increase of cardiac work load associated with such a condition may result in an inconstant and often subclinical series of heart abnormalities, constituting a new clinical entity known as "cirrhotic cardiomyopathy". Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is variably associated with baseline increase in cardiac output, defective myocardial contractility and lowered systo-diastolic response to inotropic and chronotropic stimuli, down-regulated beta-adrenergic function, slight histo-morphological changes, and impaired electric "recovery" ability of ventricular myocardium. Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy is usually clinically latent or mild, likely because the peripheral vasodilation significantly reduces the left ventricle after-load, thus actually "auto-treating" the patient and masking any severe manifestation of heart failure. In cirrhotic patients, the presence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy may become unmasked and clinically evident by certain treatment interventions that increase the effective blood volume and cardiac pre-load, including surgical or transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunts, peritoneo-venous shunts (LeVeen) and orthotopic liver transplantation. Under these circumstances, an often transient overt congestive heart failure may develop, with increased cardiac output as well as right atrial, pulmonary artery and capillary wedge pressures
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
The Antecedents of Risk Perception of Natural Hazards: A Meta-Analysis
No full textTo ensure better preparedness and response to natural hazards, involving people is
crucial. Among the determinants of individuals’ actions to protect themselves, both before
and after a natural hazard, is risk perception (van Valkengoed & Steg, 2019). A
conspicuous number of studies investigated the antecedents of risk perception;
nevertheless, there are no quantitative summaries (i.e., meta-analysis) of the available
research. The aim of this contribution is twofold, namely, to estimate effect sizes of
different potential antecedents of risk perception and to investigate the effect of possible
moderators of such relationships. A query string was used on Scopus, Web of Science,
and PsycINFO, and a final number of 121 records (127 studies) was included based on
the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
guidelines. Results of the first aim showed that, among thirty-two predictors identified,
nineteen reported significant effect sizes. They can be organized into three clusters
(Bonaiuto & Ariccio, 2020): 1) factors related to the relationship individual-risk, 2) factors
related to the relationship individual-community, and 3) individual factors (i.e.,
sociodemographic and dispositional factors). The first cluster showed the highest number
of variables with strong effects. Overall, an effect of publication bias and study
heterogeneity was observed. Regarding moderators, the type of natural hazard
considered and the level of risk area of the sample proved to be relevant in some cases.
Existing research is scanty regarding some natural hazards (e.g., landslides, drought);
thus, future studies may consider studying risk perception antecedents in relation to these
understudied natural hazards. Policymakers should consider the three clusters of
antecedents. This represents a novel attempt to quantitatively summarize the available
literature on the topic of the determinants of risk perception, considering interdisciplinary
studies, including grey literature, and with no limits in terms of publication date
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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