1,721,680 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
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
What does not kill you makes you stronger: Sense of coherence in adolescents and adults with congenital heart disease
No full textChronic disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, resulting in significant economic and human costs. Therefore, studies need to investigate the underlying mechanisms fostering a process of successful coping in patients with a chronic disease. Unraveling such mechanisms is crucial as they can identify potential targets and strategies for interventions improving health and well-being in patients. In this respect, a meaningful psychological concept is sense of coherence (SOC). SOC represents a person’s general outlook on life and is enhanced by a feeling of high comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The theory of SOC explains why some individuals successfully adapt to major or chronic stressors (e.g., a chronic disease), whereas others do not. Hence, one’s ability to cope with stressors depends largely on the strength of one’s SOC.
For this PhD project, congenital heart disease (CHD) was considered as a sample case to study the role of SOC in chronic disease. CHD means that there is a problem with the structure and function of the heart and/or large vessels that is present at birth. Because CHD is a prevalent and life-long condition, these patients’ health and well-being is a considerable public health issue. Hence, the overall aim of this PhD project was to gain insight into whether SOC strengthens patients with CHD by (1) examining the development of SOC in young patients with CHD; (2) by looking at the relationship between SOC and patient-reported outcomes (e.g., quality of life) in adolescents and adults with CHD; and (3) by investigating the generalizability of our findings to an international sample of adults with CHD.
First, we identified four different subgroups of SOC development, including patients with a Consistently High, an Intermediate Stable, an Intermediate Decreasing, and a Chronically Low SOC. Patients from the former two subgroups scored better in terms of quality of life, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and perceived health as compared to patients from the latter two subgroups. Subsequently, we conducted interviews with patients from the Consistently High and the Chronically Low subgroup to have a closer look at the role of resources and life events on SOC. This study showed that patients from both SOC-groups did not differ in terms of having experienced negative life events, but they did differ in terms of the availability and use of resources to deal with such events. For example, patients with a strong SOC appeared to have more knowledge about their disease and a broader social support network.
Second, in terms of the relationship between SOC and patient-reported outcomes, we learned that SOC is a unique factor in explaining the quality of life in adolescents with CHD. Furthermore, our analysis showed that the stronger patients’ SOC was, the less patients believed that stress affected their health. Conversely, the more patients believed that stress affected their health, the poorer their subjective health status was. Finally, SOC was found to predict changes in different domains of subjective health status over time in adolescents with CHD. These are very important findings because subjective health status is a powerful predictor of objective health outcomes. In sum, these studies confirmed the significant impact of SOC on patient-reported outcomes.
Third, we conducted an international study in 15 different countries across the world on patient-reported outcomes in adults with CHD, called APPROACH-IS. We found that quality of life in adults with CHD varied across countries and is related to patient characteristics (e.g., age) but not to country-specific characteristics (e.g., cultural dimensions), which indicates that similar interventions to improve quality of life may be designed for and implemented in different countries. In addition, we found that SOC in adults with CHD differs between countries and that SOC was positively associated to quality of life in all countries, confirming that SOC is a universally meaningful concept.
In conclusion, the results of this PhD project point to SOC as an important target for intervention programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of individuals with a chronic condition. More specifically, the relevance of designing interventions targeting SOC was confirmed because of its relationship with clinically meaningful patient-reported outcomes. Relatedly, we showed that SOC can serve as a pathway for identifying patients with CHD suffering from greater psychosocial struggles who may be in need of an intervention. Furthermore, the international study indicated that these findings are of importance to patients with CHD across the world. Finally, we discussed SOC-shaping factors from the patient’s perspective (e.g., social support) that can be relevant to address during intervention programs. Recommendations are made concerning the timing, content, and structure for interventions. Healthcare professionals, and nurses in particular, could fulfill the role of coach by encouraging, empowering, guiding, assisting, and supporting their patients in the recovery or adaptation process. Future studies should evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and examine the relationship between SOC and clinical outcomes, such as mortality.status: Publishe
Towards an interdisciplinary, nurse-coordinated atrial fibrillation expert programme
No full textAtrial fibrillation (AF) is a chronic condition that has reached epidemic proportions. AF is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, as it particularly leads to serious cardiovascular complications like ischemic stroke, systemic thromboembolism and heart failure. Moreover, AF is often associated with underlying diseases, implying specific treatment and making the management of AF complex. Two-third of the patients with AF experience symptoms. Some patients can be severely incapacitated by their symptoms and experience a negative impact on their quality of life. This all can lead to increased hospitalisations. AF, therefore, puts a major pressure on healthcare systems and places a significant economic burden on society. AF is likely to expand in an ageing population because AF increases with age. Hence, a continuously augmenting impact on the healthcare system is anticipated. In response to this, evidence-based guidelines were developed to facilitate clinicians in obtaining positive patient outcomes. Nonetheless, guideline adherence in practice is often poor, leading to a substantial gap between ‘evidence-based’ and ‘real-life’ care in clinical practice.
The recognition that care for patients with AF is complex, that symptom management and improving guideline adherence are important, is urging researchers, clinicians and healthcare administrators to develop and implement sustainable solutions for healthcare concerning AF patients. An interdisciplinary, nurse-coordinated AF expert programme is argued to be a promising approach for this chronic condition. Such a disease-management programme is a complex intervention and it should be developed and evaluated accordingly. Therefore, this PhD project is built-up around the first 3 phases of the MRC framework entailing the development, feasibility evaluation, and conceptualisation of prospective effectiveness evaluation of an interdisciplinary, nurse-coordinated AF expert programme.
First, the overall evidence base has been identified and a theoretical underpinning regarding the rationale for and content of interdisciplinary, nurse-coordinated AF expert programmes as a way to structure daily practice in AF management was provided. It was acknowledged that AF expert programmes must be built around 5 important cornerstones: comprehensive assessment; systematization of medical care; education; coordination of care; and evaluation of care plan execution. It was described how different disciplines could be structured around the patient, with a focus on patient-centred care. Moreover, a flowchart describing the main care process of the patients with AF from consultation request until follow-up of an AF expert programme was proposed.
Second, nurse-coordinated AF care should be provided to achieve clearly defined AF management-related outcomes, which are universally accepted. Nonetheless, no consensus existed on which outcomes should primarily be assessed. Therefore, we empirically derived a list of prioritized outcomes for AF disease management. Overall, 54 outcomes or key performance indicators (15 medical/clinical, 24 patient and 15 economical outcomes) were listed. They were rank-ordered according to their priority, as perceived by an international panel of experts. This list can form the basis of ‘benchmarks’ when assessing the effectiveness of AF disease management programmes or other interventions to improve AF management.
Third, an adequate management of AF patients requires accurate assessment of AF related symptoms experienced by patients. However, no standardized patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment of AF symptoms has been accepted as a gold standard. Therefore, a PRO to comprehensively assess symptom experience of patients with AF, the Leuven ARrythmia Questionnaire (LARQ), is developed and tested. The strength in its development was the use of a conceptual framework of symptom experience. In contrast to the other existing PROs, the LARQ is likely to be more useful in clinical practice as it provides a comprehensive assessment of prevalence of all relevant AF-related symptoms, and all components of symptom experience. It was demonstrated to be a valid and reliable tool for its purpose. Indeed, we have proven its ability to comprehensively assess symptom prevalence and all aspects of symptom experience, and its capacity to discriminate across 4 clinically different groups. Overall, 80.3 % of all patients with AF reported symptoms. Patients in the emergency department group reported significantly more symptoms and had the most profound symptom experience profile compared to the other groups. The least profound symptom profile was found in control persons. Despite an overall good correlation between the EHRA and LARQ scores, physicians systematically underestimated symptom prevalence. Moreover, the EHRA score provides no information on the specific symptoms that patients experience and it provides less information about frequency and duration of symptoms.
Fourth, AF expert programmes can focus on patients referred to the outpatient clinic and/or on hospitalised patients. In this respect, it is unknown what the prevalence of AF in an inpatient population is. Therefore, we determined the point prevalence and overall prevalence of AF in a tertiary care centre. This was the first ECG-based evaluation of nearly the whole inpatient population of a tertiary care centre on a single day. A remarkable high prevalence of AF (16.8%) has been found and AF appeared to be present in all hospital zones. Hence, AF should be a concern for clinicians and hospital administrators. Most of the patients with AF were at high risk for stroke. However, anticoagulation management was inappropriate in half of those. These observations distinctively demonstrate the need to establish structural support by an AF expert programme, to assist non-cardiac providers of the hospital in the accurate detection and appropriate management of AF. Interestingly, the results indicate that the scope of an AF expert programme for hospitalised patients should be targeted especially to AF patients in non-cardiac wards, as 87.5% of the undertreated high-risk patients were admitted to non-cardiac wards.
Finally, the results of these preparatory studies were used to outline the rationale, design and methods of a future study to prospectively evaluate the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary, nurse-coordinated AF expert programme for patients in primary care. We have chosen for a cluster randomised trial at general practice level. The intervention group under study will receive the intervention as described in Chapter 2. More specifically, the intervention will be based on the cornerstones described. This interdisciplinary AF expert programme will be nurse-coordinated and the flowchart developed will be used as a blueprint to guide the care process of the primary care patients from consultation request until follow-up. A crucial aspect in designing such a trial is the choice of outcomes and outcome measures. Therefore, the priority-ordered list developed in Chapter 3 was used to define primary and secondary outcomes. More specifically, 6 medical/ clinical, 14 patient and 5 economical outcomes, or 25 out of 54 prioritised outcomes were carefully chosen from the list. Finally, the LARQ developed in Chapter 4 will be used to assess symptom prevalence and symptom experience.
In conclusion, tackling the AF epidemic through the development of interdisciplinary AF expert programmes that implement guidelines into real care is urgently needed. Hence, with this PhD we have laid the foundations for a new generation of studies focussing on the potential benefits of AF-specific disease management programmes.status: Publishe
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