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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
Work-related stress among Choma Kara counselling home-based care workers of AIDS patients
No full textInfections caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) constitute the greatest global public health challenge today, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which has been worst hit by the pandemic. This has created pressure on the capacity for health care institutions and health workers to respond effectively to the challenges imposed by the disease. Consequently, home-based care (HBC) of people suffering from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has emerged as another fundamental response to the AIDS pandemic. While extensive studies have been undertaken on stress in medical practice, not much is known about work-related stress among home-based care workers of AIDS patients.The aim of the study was to explore work-related stress among Choma Kara counselling home-based care workers of AIDS patients. A cross sectional study design was used. Simple random sampling was used to randomly select fourteen (14) zones from the existing thirty (30) zones. Personal interviews were conducted with one hundred and thirty-five (135) home-based caregivers. The self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to identify cases of stress. The cut-off point was set at 4. Additional information that was collected included socio-demographic information, home-based care tasks and coping mechanisms in home-based care for AIDS patients. Data was entered into, and analysed using, the statistical package for
social sciences (SPSS version 13). Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Chi-
square test and binary logistical regression to establish relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable. The level of statistical significance was set at the p=0.05 level. Cleaning the house and surrounding (81.5%); food preparation for, and feeding of, AIDS patients (48.9% and 43.0% respectively), drawing water and fetching firewood (48.1%), washing clothes and bed linen of AIDS patients (74.1%>), bathing and cleaning AIDS patients (78.5%), and health education (62.2%) were found to be the physical tasks conducted by caregivers. The psychosocial tasks performed were the counselling of AIDS patients (33.3%), counselling of families of AIDS patients (71.9%) and community members (18.5%), and the provision of spiritual and emotional support to AIDS patients and their families (75.6%). Hundred and twenty-three (123) caregivers (91.3%) were trained in home-based care, out of which forty-one (41) caregivers (33.3%) reported that the training was not adequate for them to effective perform their work. The prevalence of stress was found to be 35.6%. After adjusting for age and other socio-demographic characteristics, only stigma and discrimination of AIDS patients (OR, 4.38; 95% CI, 1.74-11.02); lack of/inadequate training in HBC (OR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.49-0.83); and short duration of practice as caregiver (OR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.05-6.00) were found to be independently associated with stress.
To cope with stress, caregivers simply accepted the situation and continued life as normal (98%), took a bath and or rest (58.0 %), spent time with friends and family members (49.0 %), and engaged in household activities (30.0%). The least coping mechanisms adopted were reading the bible (11%) and taking painkillers (12%). The study found high levels of stress among home-based caregivers. Stigma and discrimination of AIDS patients; lack of/inadequate training in HBC; and low duration of practice as caregiver were independently associated with stress. Accepting the situation and taking a bath and/or resting were found to be the major coping strategies. Interventions to address stress among home-based caregivers should mainly focus on addressing stigma and discrimination of AIDS patients; and providing caregivers with on-going training in order to strengthen and reinforce their skills. Kara counselling should consider providing monetary incentives to caregivers not only to motivate them but also to compensate them for the opportunity cost of foregoing their own income generation activities
Factors influencing uptake of HIV testing and non-initiation of and attrition from antiretroviral therapy care in Lusaka, Zambia
Full text linkThe Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) still remains a global public health burden with an estimated 34 million people living with HIV; 69% of these residing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although many countries have made steady progress in reducing HIV prevalence, not everyone knows his or her HIV status and not all HIV-infected individuals who need antiretroviral therapy (ART) care are receiving it. Against this background, the aim of this PhD thesis was to explore factors influencing uptake of HIV testing and non-initiation of and attrition from antiretroviral therapy care in Lusaka, Zambia. The PhD study was conducted in Lusaka’s Jack compound residential area and nearby communities. The surrounding communities were Chawama, Kuku, Misisi, Kuomboka, John Howard, Kamwala south and Lilayi. The study settings are predominantly low-income, high-density urban residential areas located about 10 km south of Lusaka city centre, the capital city of Zambia. To explore the barriers and facilitators of uptake of HIV testing, a synthesis of qualitative findings on factors influencing uptake of HIV testing in SSA was first undertaken using meta-ethnographic approach first put forward by Noblit and Hare (1988). 5,686 citations were identified out of which 56 were selected for full-text review and synthesised 42 papers from 13 countries. Malpass’ (2009) notion of first-, second-, and third-order constructs was used to identify and interpret the findings. In addition, qualitative research was undertaken in Zambia to explore why individuals who knew the HIV-positive status of their marital partners opted not to seek HIV testing, and how couple HIV testing was achieved in an antenatal clinic. To investigate reasons for non-uptake of antiretroviral treatment, in-depth interviews were conducted with people living with HIV (PLHIV) that had dropped out of treatment or opted not to initiate treatment, health care providers, traditional medicine providers, herbalists and faith healers. The fieldwork in Zambia was conducted between March 2010 and September 2011. Atlas ti was used to organise and manage the data and latent content analysis was used to analyse and interpret the data. The social ecological framework was used to guide data analysis of factors undermining patient uptake of and retention into ART care. The predominant factors enabling uptake of HIV testing are deterioration of physical health and/or death of sexual partner or child. The roll-out of various HIV testing initiatives such as ‘opt-out’ provider-initiated HIV testing and mobile HIV testing has improved uptake of HIV testing by being conveniently available and attenuating fear of HIV-related stigma and financial costs. However, ‘opt-out’ HIV testing was reportedly being coercively implemented. Other enabling factors are availability of treatment and guarantees of social network support linked to maintenance of social relationships and economic support regardless of outcome of HIV-test results. Major barriers to uptake of HIV testing comprise perceived low risk of HIV infection, perceived health workers’ inability to maintain confidentiality and fear of HIV-related stigma. While the increasingly wider availability of life-saving treatment in SSA is an incentive to test, the perceived psychological burden of living with HIV inhibits uptake of HIV testing. Other barriers are direct and indirect financial costs of accessing HIV testing, and gender inequality, which undermines women’s decision making autonomy about HIV testing. Despite differences across SSA, the findings suggest comparable factors influencing HIV testing. Factors undermining uptake of HIV treatment and retention in ART care are lack of self-efficacy, negative perceptions of medication, desire to avoid stigma and maintain social identity and relationships and fear of treatment-induced physical body changes, all modulated by feeling healthy. Social relationships generated and perpetuated these health and treatment beliefs. Long waiting times at ART clinics, concerns about long-term availability of treatment and taking strong medication amidst livelihood insecurity also dissuaded PLHIV from being on treatment. PLHIV opted for herbal remedies and faith healing as alternatives to ART, with the former being regarded as effective as ART while the latter contributed to restoring normalcy through the promise of being healed. A complex and dynamic interplay of personal, social, health system and structural-level factors coalesce to influence uptake of ART care. In conclusion, improving uptake of HIV testing requires addressing perception of low risk of HIV infection and perceived psychological burden of living with an incurable condition. Building confidence in the health system through improving delivery of health care and scaling up HIV testing strategies that attenuate social and economic costs could also contribute towards increasing uptake of HIV testing in SSA. HIV testing initiatives that target social relationships – couple and household HIV testing – also require promotion while being mindful of the fragility of these social relationships. Ensuring PLHIV uptake of ART care requires interventions at different levels, addressing in particular, people’s health and treatment beliefs, changing perceptions about effectiveness of herbal remedies and faith healing, improving ART delivery to attenuate social and economic costs and allaying concerns about future non-availability of treatment
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
Work-related stress among Choma Kara counselling home-based care workers of AIDS patients
No full textInfections caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) constitute the greatest global public health challenge today, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which has been worst hit by the pandemic. This has created pressure on the capacity for health care institutions and health workers to respond effectively to the challenges imposed by the disease. Consequently, home-based care (HBC) of people suffering from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has emerged as another fundamental response to the AIDS pandemic. While extensive studies have been undertaken on stress in medical practice, not much is known about work-related stress among home-based care workers of AIDS patients.The aim of the study was to explore work-related stress among Choma Kara counselling home-based care workers of AIDS patients. A cross sectional study design was used. Simple random sampling was used to randomly select fourteen (14) zones from the existing thirty (30) zones. Personal interviews were conducted with one hundred and thirty-five (135) home-based caregivers. The self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to identify cases of stress. The cut-off point was set at 4. Additional information that was collected included socio-demographic information, home-based care tasks and coping mechanisms in home-based care for AIDS patients. Data was entered into, and analysed using, the statistical package for
social sciences (SPSS version 13). Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Chi-
square test and binary logistical regression to establish relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable. The level of statistical significance was set at the p=0.05 level. Cleaning the house and surrounding (81.5%); food preparation for, and feeding of, AIDS patients (48.9% and 43.0% respectively), drawing water and fetching firewood (48.1%), washing clothes and bed linen of AIDS patients (74.1%>), bathing and cleaning AIDS patients (78.5%), and health education (62.2%) were found to be the physical tasks conducted by caregivers. The psychosocial tasks performed were the counselling of AIDS patients (33.3%), counselling of families of AIDS patients (71.9%) and community members (18.5%), and the provision of spiritual and emotional support to AIDS patients and their families (75.6%). Hundred and twenty-three (123) caregivers (91.3%) were trained in home-based care, out of which forty-one (41) caregivers (33.3%) reported that the training was not adequate for them to effective perform their work. The prevalence of stress was found to be 35.6%. After adjusting for age and other socio-demographic characteristics, only stigma and discrimination of AIDS patients (OR, 4.38; 95% CI, 1.74-11.02); lack of/inadequate training in HBC (OR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.49-0.83); and short duration of practice as caregiver (OR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.05-6.00) were found to be independently associated with stress.
To cope with stress, caregivers simply accepted the situation and continued life as normal (98%), took a bath and or rest (58.0 %), spent time with friends and family members (49.0 %), and engaged in household activities (30.0%). The least coping mechanisms adopted were reading the bible (11%) and taking painkillers (12%). The study found high levels of stress among home-based caregivers. Stigma and discrimination of AIDS patients; lack of/inadequate training in HBC; and low duration of practice as caregiver were independently associated with stress. Accepting the situation and taking a bath and/or resting were found to be the major coping strategies. Interventions to address stress among home-based caregivers should mainly focus on addressing stigma and discrimination of AIDS patients; and providing caregivers with on-going training in order to strengthen and reinforce their skills. Kara counselling should consider providing monetary incentives to caregivers not only to motivate them but also to compensate them for the opportunity cost of foregoing their own income generation activities
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
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