1,721,067 research outputs found
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
Rationalizing patients : clinical decision support systems, patient decision aids and patient autonomy
No full textIn this thesis I address specific challenges regarding the operationalization of person-centred care (PCC). Person-centred care is health care in which every individual is treated as a person. It is widely accepted that health care should be person-centred in this sense. Different means to make health care more person-centred are currently being explored. I focus on two technologies that are meant to personalize health care: Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) and Patient Decision Aids (PDAs). CDSSs are meant to support health care providers to deliver health care tailored to their patients’ needs. They can do so by offering treatment recommendations, highlighting drug interactions, etc. PDAs, by contrast, are meant to support patients in making decisions about their care by presenting information, stimulating them to reflect on what is most important to them, etc.
The central research question is how to assess the impact of these technologies on person-centred care. For as these technologies influence which decisions patients make and ultimately which care they receive, the question needs to be raised whether their influence renders health care more or less person-centred. Given person-centred care’s strong commitment to the ethical principle of respect for patient autonomy, the focus of this thesis lies on how to assess the impact of CDSSs and PDAs on patient autonomy. I thereby make use of different theories of autonomy such as Pugh’s theory of rational autonomy, Beauchamp and Childress’ theory of patient autonomy and McLeod’s views on the relationship between self-trust and patient autonomy.
The thesis consists of three parts. In Part I the relationship between CDSSs and patient autonomy is investigated. The importance of differentiating between different aspects of patient autonomy is highlighted as CDSSs might affect these various aspects of patient autonomy differently. In order to answer the question how we can empirically assess the impact of the use of particular CDSSs on patient autonomy, I draw an analogy with how the impact of PDAs on patient autonomy is assessed empirically. To that end, I investigate in part II how several measures of decision quality used in effectiveness research on PDAs relate to patient autonomy. Both the relevance of what these measures of decision quality trace as well as how they trace it seems to be in tension with patient autonomy. In Part III I first explore the possibility to build mid-level theories in order to reduce these tensions. Thereafter I bind together different strands of the thesis in relation to Alexandrova’s Implicit Logic of validation.
Two general conclusions can be drawn. First, the normative disputes surrounding person-centred care permeate technical matters regarding the development, validation and use of measures of decision quality. Second, research regarding the normative aspects of measuring decision quality straddles the disciplinary boundaries between ethics and philosophy of science. Besides highlighting a topic that deserves more attention than it gets, then, this thesis highlights the need for collaborations between ethicists and philosophers of science to tackle tricky questions regarding the normative aspects of measuring decision quality in times of person-centred care
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
Disclosing incidental and secondary findings in clinical genomics : professional practice, patient experience and ethical reflection
No full textBackground and research objectives
Genetic testing is becoming a standard procedure in clinical care. Whereas previous methods of diagnostic testing were mainly focussed on disease-specific genes, current methods are often genome-wide. This implies that diagnostically unrelated findings may be unintentionally revealed (as incidental findings or IFs) and/or that they may be actively pursued as secondary findings (SFs). IFs and SFs can allow for preventive or therapeutic actions but they may also result in distress or harmful interventions. International advisory boards, professional organisations and patients have expressed different views on these potential findings.
The main objective of this dissertation is to examine practices and perspectives concerning the meaning and disclosure of IFs and SFs in a context of clinical testing in adults. This objective is realised by means of an empirical, qualitative research approach that captures both professional and patient voices and that covers both policy and ethical concerns. More specifically, this dissertation focusses on professional disclosure practices and policies in Belgian centres for medical genetics (CMGs) and on the meaning of potential IFs and SFs from a patient perspective.
Results
A focus group study with genetic professionals in Belgian CMGs indicated that the clinical significance of an IF is a major criterion for disclosure. This means that reported IFs should be pathogenic and actionable. However, these criteria are difficult to interpret unambiguously. Secondly, a diversified practice, based on clinical, practical and ethical arguments, concerning a patient opt-out of medically actionable IFs was revealed across Belgian CMGs. Finally, an interaction between particular patient characteristics and the significance of a specific IF can affect disclosure, which creates the need for deliberation and a tension between general guidelines and case-by-case decisions.
At value level, Belgian professionals frequently called upon respect for patient autonomy, non-maleficence and beneficence to support disclosure practices. With respect to medically actionable IFs, some professionals considered the value of patient autonomy as superseded by the professional duties of care and avoiding harm, which may result in a mandatory disclosure of these findings.
This missing opt-out possibility can be conceptualised as technological soft paternalism. Its arguments and consequences, including assumptions about patients’ genetic literacy, a normative rationality and beneficent outcomes, are critically questioned. The value of distributive justice is additionally included as an important factor concerning the scope of the debate on IFs and SFs.
Subsequently, this dissertation thoroughly examines the perspective of adults with an inherited retinal disease (IRD) on the meaning of IFs. An interview study showed that these patients assign a complex meaning to IFs that largely transcends clinical, result-centred components such as actionability or psychological consequences. Instead, also lived experiences of an IRD, patients’ family embedding and a family history of disease affect the interpretation of IFs. This nuanced meaning structure of IFs should be taken into account in the development of effective counselling procedures.
Given the nuanced interpretation of IFs and SFs, both genetic professionals and patients may experience uncertainty concerning the meaning and potential disclosure of IFs and SFs. However, the causes and consequences of these uncertainties diverge. Whereas professionals are more concerned about epistemic causes and scientific consequences of uncertainty, patients mainly focus on lived experiences and personal consequences of uncertainty. A rapprochement of these uncertainties may result in a conjointly constructed and case-specific meaning of IFs and SFs that can contribute to an efficient policy
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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