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    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

    Infection control of Staphylococcus aureus : spa typing to elucidate transmission

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    Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal of the human flora, primarily colonizing the anterior nares and throat, but it may also cause infections ranging from mild skin and soft tissue infections to severe diseases such as endocarditis and septicemia. S. aureus is also a major nosocomial problem increasing with the worldwide dissemination of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). The main vector for bacterial cross-transmission in healthcare settings is the hands of healthcare workers (HCWs). No S. aureus was detected in the air in this thesis demonstrating that transmission through air is not important. Despite the fact that good compliance with hand hygiene is essential to prevent cross-transmission the compliance is generally less than 50 %. Gold standard to track bacterial transmission in healthcare settings has for long been pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), a method that is labor- intensive, lacks consensus protocol and relies on semi-subjective analysis. Molecular typing by sequencing of the hypervariable part of the S. aureus protein A gene (spa typing) has overcome these problems and has shown promising results in epidemiological investigations. The aims of this thesis were to study bacterial transmission with S. aureus colonization of newborn infants as a model and to evaluate spa typing as a molecular tool. Additionally, the influence of compliance with hygiene guidelines on S. aureus transmission was assessed. Analysis of 280 MRSA isolates by spa typing revealed excellent typeability and epidemiological concordance and satisfactory discriminatory power. Additionally, spa typing was considered superior to PFGE thanks to its accessibility, ease of use and rapidity. Also, spa typing results are registered in a global database, facilitating inter-laboratory comparison. The prevalence of S. aureus ranged from 41 % to 66 % in the populations studied and males had the highest colonization rate. Throat was the premier colonization site for adults and transmission from individuals colonized in the throat only was documented, suggesting that throat cultures should be included in S. aureus screening programs. The umbilicus was the premier colonization site for newborn infants. Incubating the swabs in enrichment broth prior to plating increased the prevalence of S. aureus positive samples by 46 %, resulting in prevalence ranging from 51 % to 70 % in the populations studied. Thus enrichment prior to plating is necessary to determine more truthful S. aureus colonization rates. There were no indications of an institutional flora, as the colonization rates, spa type distribution and antibiotic resistance prevalence were similar among parents and HCWs. Direct observations and self-reporting by HCWs were both validated as tools for monitoring compliance with hygiene guidelines. The compliance with hygiene guidelines was significantly higher following a 10-point hygiene intervention as compared to baseline. The compliance was also higher three years after the intervention in three of four participating departments. These data show that it is possible to markedly improve the compliance with hygiene guidelines, but to achieve a long-term effect, continuous and varied reminders seems necessary. Both at baseline and following the intervention almost 60 % of the colonized infants were colonized with an S. aureus of the same spa type as isolated from their own family. At baseline approximately 25 % of the colonized infants received their S. aureus from non-family individuals, indicating transmission directly or indirectly from HCWs. Despite the improvement in compliance with barrier precautions from 41 % at baseline to 86 % following the hygiene intervention, the transmission from non-family did not decrease. This indicates that other factors may have a prominent impact on bacterial transmission. One factor might be the quality of hand hygiene technique which therefore needs to be studied further. However, to ensure patient safety it is still recommended that all HCWs comply with hygiene guidelines at all time

    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

    Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902

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    In Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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