1,721,152 research outputs found
Feasibility of reporting results of large randomised controlled trials to participants: experience from the Fluoxetine Or Control Under Supervision (FOCUS) trial
No full textObjectives: informing research participants of the results of studies in which they took part is viewed as an ethical imperative. However, there is little guidance in the literature about how to do this. The Fluoxetine Or Control Under Supervision trial randomised 3127 patients with a recent acute stroke to 6 months of fluoxetine or placebo and was published in the Lancet on 5 December 2018. The trial team decided to inform the participants of the results at exactly the same time as the Lancet publication, and also whether they had been allocated fluoxetine or placebo. In this report, we describe how we informed participants of the results.Design: in the 6-month and 12-month follow-up questionnaires, we invited participants to provide an email address if they wished to be informed of the results of the trial. We re-opened our trial telephone helpline between 5 December 2018 and 31 March 2019.Setting: UK stroke services.Participants: 3127 participants were randomised. 2847 returned 6-month follow-up forms and 2703 returned 12-month follow-up forms; the remaining participants had died (380), withdrawn consent or did not respond.Results: of those returning follow-up questionnaires, a total of 1845 email addresses were provided and a further 50 people requested results to be sent by post. Results were sent to all email and postal addresses provided; 309 emails were returned unrecognised. Seventeen people replied, of whom three called the helpline and the rest responded by email.Conclusion: it is feasible to disseminate results of large trials to research participants, though only around 60% of those randomised wanted to receive the results. The system we developed was efficient and required very little resource, and could be replicated by trialists in the future.</div
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
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
Developing an intervention to increase physical activity in people with schizophrenia
Full text linkBACKGROUND:
People with schizophrenia die approximately 15-20 years earlier than those in the general population, largely due to poor physical health and related cardiovascular disease (CVD). Many of the risk factors for CVD are positively modifiable with regular physical activity (PA), but few people with schizophrenia engage in the recommended levels of PA and we do not yet know the best way to encourage the uptake and maintenance of regular PA in this patient group.
METHOD:
Drawing on the MRC guidelines for the development of interventions to improve health, a behavioural change intervention was developed to increase PA in people with schizophrenia. A narrative review was conducted to summarise potential barriers and facilitators to PA in people with schizophrenia in the relevant literature, which were categorised according to an ecological model encompassing the multiple levels of influence on PA. Then ten people with schizophrenia were interviewed in a qualitative study to further explore this topic, using the TDF as a framework for analysis. A12-week intervention to increase PA was then developed, based on previous work in stroke, current relevant research and informed by the findings of the narrative review and qualitative study. This intervention was then trialled to assess feasibility and acceptability.
RESULTS:
The intervention proved to be feasible and acceptable to participants with schizophrenia who live in the community. Of the 20 people enrolled, 18 (90%) completed the full 12 weeks. Reasons for dropout were work commitments and illness. Of the 18 who completed the intervention, 16 (89%) increased their weekly step count, 10 (56%) experienced weight loss, 12 (67%) took up an additional health promotion opportunity, and 13 (72%) initiated another form of PA in addition to walking. Informal feedback from staff confirmed the need for such a service and indicated that, if it was to be implemented into mental health services, it would be a popular and useful resource.
CONCLUSIONS: In the future, the intervention will be further developed based on participant feedback gathered at the end of the study. Then an RCT will be conducted with data collected at long-term follow-up to formerly assess the intervention’s efficacy to improving PA behaviour and other physical and mental health outcomes in community-dwelling people with schizophrenia
Physical fitness training for people with stroke
Full text linkINTRODUCTION: Impaired physical fitness may contribute to functional
limitations and disability after stroke. Physical fitness (including cardiorespiratory
fitness and muscle strength/power) can be improved by appropriate fitness training;
this is of benefit to healthy people and patient groups but whether it is of benefit for
people after stroke is unclear. The aim of this thesis was to determine whether
physical fitness training is beneficial after stroke.
OBJECTIVES: (1) Develop a rationale for fitness training by determining whether
physical fitness after stroke is a) impaired, and b) associated with functional
limitations and disability. (2) Develop and evaluate randomized controlled trial
(RCT) evidence by a) determining the feasibility of a definitive RCT, and b)
evaluating the benefits of fitness training after stroke.
METHODS: (1) Systematic review of observational data and multiple linear
regression of exploratory RCT baseline data determined the nature of fitness
impairments and any associations with functional limitation and disability. (2)
Systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs established the effects of fitness
training on disability, death and dependence. An exploratory RCT (‘STARTER’)
compared the effects of a fitness training programme (cardiorespiratory plus strength
training 3 days/week for 12 weeks) with an attention control (relaxation) on fitness,
function, disability, mood and quality of life in 66 ambulatory people with stroke.
RESULTS: (1) Systematic review of observational data showed cardiorespiratory
fitness (peak oxygen uptake and economy of walking) and muscle strength were low
after stroke; the impairments predicted functional limitation but links to disability
were unclear. STARTER baseline data showed little impairment in economy of
walking but lower limb extensor power was impaired (42-54% of values expected in
healthy age and gender matched people) and this predicted functional limitation and
disability. (2) The systematic review identified 12 RCTs (n=289) in 2003, and 24
RCTs (n=1147) when updated in 2007. The systematic reviews showed death was
uncommon, and effects on dependence and disability were unclear. However training
did improve fitness and cardiorespiratory training during rehabilitation improved
ambulation. Most benefits resulted from task-related training. The STARTER fitness
training intervention was feasible, with good attendance (>90%) and good
compliance with intervention content (94-99%). At the end of the fitness training
intervention there were small improvements in some cardiorespiratory fitness,
physical function and quality of life outcomes compared with the control group, but
these differences had diminished four months later.
CONCLUSIONS: (1) Cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and power are
impaired after stroke, so there is scope to increase fitness, and there are plausible
benefits. (2) Physical fitness training after stroke is feasible, it improves fitness and
has some functional benefits, in particular for walking ability. Effects on disability,
death and dependence are not known. Further research is required to determine the
timing, mode, duration, frequency and intensity of fitness training for optimum
benefits, and investigate how benefits can be retained in the long-term
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
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