1,720,984 research outputs found
[Hyperphosphatemia in dialysis: which binder?]
No full textSeveral studies have evidenced the association between high serum phosphorus concentrations and adverse events especially in patients on dialysis. Recent K-DIGO guidelines suggest lowering elevated phosphate levels toward the normal range. This goal should be achieved by combining dietary counseling, optimizing dialysis procedures and prescribing phosphate binders. Despite the availability of several binders, the "ideal" phosphate binder that combines high efficacy, low pills burden, minimal side effects and low cost is still not available. In clinical practice it is crucial to reach a high patient's compliance to therapy. The pill burden is the most relevant factor contributing to low compliance. This is the case of phosphate binder therapy that represents almost 50% of total pills prescribed to patients on dialysis. It has been evidenced an association between pills of phosphate binder and poor control of phosphorus and PTH. In recent years sucroferric oxyhydroxide is available as a new phosphate binder. Its peculiarity is an high phosphate binding capability that requires prescription of low number of pills per day. This characteristic has been confirmed by several randomized controlled trials. These trials have also evidenced that sucroferric oxyhydroxide may cause some gastrointestinal side effects. There is an ongoing study to confirm in "the real world" the incidence of side effects reported by controlled trials
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
Treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in hemodialysis patients: a comparison between two Italian centers to evaluate real-world guideline implementation
No full textBackground: Even though calcimimetics and active vitamin D are frequently used, studies using data from dialysis Registries have shown a progressive increase in parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels in the dialysis population over the last 20 years. In the relatively small sample of Italian patients included in the DOPPS phase 5 (n = 449), elevated or suppressed PTH levels were observed in 14% and 34% of patients, respectively. The aim of this study was to assess mineral metabolism parameters and treatment strategies in the hemodialysis population of two Centers in Northern Italy. Methods: We included all chronic hemodialysis patients treated between September and October 2023 at the Dialysis Centers of Cremona (n = 177) and Brescia (n = 315). Both Dialysis Units followed the KDIGO guidelines. However, differences in treatment strategies were noted. Patients in Brescia were systematically prescribed 25-OH vitamin D, while in Cremona, if 1-25 vitamin D was prescribed, 25-OH vitamin D was discontinued. In the Brescia Center, all patients used a 1.50 mmol/l calcium dialysate concentration, while in Cremona patients with hypercalcemia or suppressed PTH levels were prescribed a 1.25 mmol/l calcium dialysate concentration. Mineral metabolism parameters were evaluated and compared to KDIGO recommendations in both settings. Results: In the hemodialysis population considered, the prevalence of high (> 600 pg/ml) or suppressed (< 150 pg/ml) PTH levels was, 8.1% and 24%, respectively. Patients treated at the Brescia Center had significantly lower serum calcium and phosphate levels as compared to patients treated in Cremona. However, serum PTH and 25-vitamin D levels were higher in Brescia. In Brescia, native vitamin D was prescribed more frequently than in Cremona (81.9% vs 5.1%, p < 0.001). In Cremona, both active vitamin D and calcimimetics were prescribed more frequently than in Brescia (respectively, 62.1% and 50.9% vs 39.7% and 27.2%, p < 0.001). The prevalence of hypercalcemia (Brescia: 1.6%, Cremona: 1.7%), hypocalcemia (Brescia: 19%, Cremona: 16%), hyperphosphatemia (Brescia: 35%, Cremona: 40%), and elevated PTH levels (Brescia: 7.6%, Cremona: 9.0%) did not differ significantly. Suppressed PTH levels were more frequent in patients treated in Cremona (35% vs 20%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our study found, in the two clinical settings of the study, a lower prevalence of patients with elevated or suppressed PTH levels compared to the Italian patients included in DOPPS. Despite different treatment strategies, the prevalence of elevated PTH levels was similar in the two Centers. This suggests that different therapeutic strategies may be equally effective in controlling secondary hyperparathyroidism
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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