1,720,986 research outputs found

    Multicenter analysis of body mass index, lung function, and Sputum microbiology in primary ciliary dyskinesia

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    Methods: We determined BMI and spirometry in 158 PCD children and adolescents from London, UK(n = 75), Naples, Italy (n = 23) and Copenhagen, Denmark (n = 60) at first presentation and during follow-up. Annual BMI and spirometry were prospectively collected and analyzed over blocks of 2, 4, and 6 consecutive years. Sputum pathogens were recorded. Results: Age at first spirometry was 8.7 years (range, 4.2-17.4). Mean Zscores of first measured BMI, FEV1, FVC, and FEF25-75were 0.01, -1.37, -0.84, and -1.68, respectively. First spirometry was not more frequently impaired in patients referred at age ≥6 years than in those referred at preschool age (P=0.13). There were no differences in slopes for BMI, FEV1, FVC, or FEF25-75over any time block. H. influenzae was the most common pathogen, isolated at least once in 65% of patients. P. aeruginosawas found in 58 subjects (37%) of whom 8 (5%) were chronically infected. Neither pathogens was associated with spirometry changes. Conclusions: Preschool referral to a PCD center was not associated with better spirometryorBMI. PCD children and adolescents receiving centralized care show steady BMI and spirometry during medium term follow-up. There was a high prevalence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, but the evolution of spirometry or BMI was not affected by this microorganism in medium term. Despite our longitudinal analysis showed no differences between the three centers, the assessment of spirometry and BMI over time represents a quality improvement tool. Future studies are needed to highlight the role of spirometry and BMI in long term PCD management and identify subgroups of patients with a higher riskof early lung failure or nutritional problems. Background: No studies longitudinally, simultaneously assessed body mass index (BMI) and spirometry in primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)

    Nasal nitric oxide measurement in children for the diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia: European Respiratory Society technical standard.

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    Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) is extremely low in most people with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and its measurement is an important contributor to making the diagnosis. Existing guidelines and technical standards focus on nNO measurements in older, cooperative children using chemiluminescent analysers. However, measurements of nNO in pre-school children (2-5 years) may facilitate early diagnosis, and electrochemical rather than chemiluminescence analysers are widely used. Pre-schoolers often need different methods to be employed when measuring nNO. Hence a European Respiratory Society Task Force has developed this technical standard as the first step towards standardising sampling, analysis, and reporting of nNO measured as part of the diagnostic testing for PCD in all age groups including preschool-age children. Furthermore, we considered both chemiluminescence and electrochemical analysers that are in use worldwide. There was paucity of quality evidence for electrochemical analysers and sampling methods used in young children, and this manuscript proposes future research priorities to allow updates of this technical standard

    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

    Variations on the Author

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    “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

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    We 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

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    We 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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We 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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