1,720,960 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
Inhaled loop diuretics as potential new anti-asthmatic drugs
No full textThe observation that changes in bronchial osmolarity can induce bronchoconstriction in asthma inspired the experimental studies which, unexpectedly, revealed that frusemide is an effective bronchoprotective agent against a variety of osmotic and non osmotic stimuli. Although the mechanism of this protective effect is not fully understood, studies in vivo and in vitro suggest that frusemide may inhibit the activation of different cell types induced by bronchoconstrictor stimuli. Other loop diuretics also exert bronchoprotective activity, but frusemide appears to be the more effective bronchoprotective agent of this family, regardless of their diuretic potency and lipid solubility. Despite the relatively large amount of experimental evidence, there is currently little information on the clinical effectiveness of frusemide in asthma and a long-term controlled study is currently in progress. The observations that treatment with a combination of inhaled acetylsalicylate and frusemide results in a markedly increased bronchoprotective effect compared to either drug alone, opens a new perspective in the possible clinical use of these drugs. Preliminary studies suggest that the association of these drugs is well tolerated and may result in a remarkable steroid sparing effect in patients with steroid dependent asthma, for whom a convenient alternative to long-term steroid therapy is not currently available
Potentiation of the antireactive, antiasthmatic effect of inhaled furosemide by inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate
No full textNonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs interfere with the diuretic activity of furosemide, implying that this effect is at least partially dependent on renal prostaglandin synthesis. To investigate whether prostaglandin production could also modulate the bronchial antireactive activity of this diuretic drug, we investigated the effect of inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate (162 mg) and of furosemide (18 mg), alone and in combination, on the bronchial obstructive response to ultrasonically nebulized water in asthmatic patients. The study was also prompted by the conflicting results obtained in previous studies of oral nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs. Fifteen asthmatic patients underwent bronchial challenge with a mist of ultrasonically nebulized distilled water at the same time of day on four occasions, 2-4 days apart, 15 min after premedication according to a double-blind, randomized protocol. After placebo, mean PD15 to water mist did not differ from a preliminary test (2.1 +/- 0.2 and 2.5 +/- 0.4 ml, M +/- SE, respectively). After lysine acetylsalicylate, mean PD15 rose to 5.0 +/- 0.7 ml (2.8 +/- 0.6 times higher than placebo); after furosemide, to 9.0 +/- 1.5 ml (4.4 +/- 0.9 times over placebo); and after the two drugs in combination, to 32.2 +/- 5.6 ml (16.3 +/- 3.0 times higher than placebo). Similar results were obtained with inhaled indomethacin, whereas sodium salicylate had no effect. These data indicate that the bronchial antireactive activity of inhaled furosemide is greatly enhanced by inhaled lysine acetylsalicylate through a mechanism which probably involves inhibition of the local synthesis of prostaglandins, and could have therapeutic implications
Attenuation of aspirin-induced bronchoconstriction by sodium cromoglycate and nedocromil sodium
No full textThe protective activity of nedocromil sodium and of sodium cromoglycate against aspirin-induced asthma has never been investigated in controlled studies. Because it has been reported that aspirin-induced platelet-mediated cytotoxic activity in vitro is inhibited after treatment in vivo with nedocromil but not with cromoglycate, we investigated whether these compounds also exhibit a different protective activity against aspirin-induced bronchoconstriction. Ten patients with aspirin-induced asthma underwent three bronchial challenges with a single dose of lysine acetylsalicylate (LASA) that caused a decrease in FEV1 of 25% or more in a preliminary dose-response test 30 min after inhalation of 4 mg nedocromil sodium, 10 mg sodium cromoglycate, or placebo. FEV1 and SRaw were recorded at intervals for 195 min. After placebo, LASA caused a maximal decrease in FEV1 of 42 ± 4% of baseline. After cromoglycate and nedocromil the maximal decrease in FEV1 was reduced to 20 ± 3% and 18 ± 4%, respectively (p < 0.01 versus placebo for both treatments), without significant differences between the two treatments. Similar results were observed with SRaw. We conclude that, at the recommended therapeutic doses, sodium cromoglycate and nedocromil sodium are equally effective in attenuating aspirin-induced bronchoconstriction and that it is unlikely that platelet activation participates in the pathogenesis of aspirin-induced asthma
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
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