1,720,960 research outputs found
A nutraceutical combination improves insulin sensitivity in patients with metabolic syndrome
No full textTo test the efficacy of a proprietary nutraceutical combination in reducing insulin resistance associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS)
Immediate versus delayed integrated point-of-care-ultrasonography to manage acute dyspnea in the emergency department
Full text linkBackground: Dyspnea is one of the most frequent complaints in the Emergency Department. Thoracic ultrasound should help to differentiate cardiogenic from non-cardiogenic causes of dyspnea. We evaluated whether the diagnostic accuracy can be improved by adding a point-of-care-ultrasonography (POC-US) to routine exams and if an early use of this technique produces any advantage. Methods: One hundred sixty-eight patients were enrolled and randomized in two groups: Group 1 received an immediate POC-US in addition to routine laboratory and instrumental tests; group 2 received an ultrasound scan within 1 h from the admission to the Emergency Department. The concordance between initial and final diagnosis and the percentage of wrong diagnosis in the two groups were evaluated. Mortality, days of hospitalization in Emergency Medicine department and transfers to other wards were compared. Sensitivity and specificity of the routine protocol and the one including ultrasonography for the diagnosis of the causes of dyspnea were also analyzed. Results: Eighty-eight patients were randomized in group 1 and 80 in group 2. The concordance rate between initial and final diagnoses was significantly different (0.94 in group 1 vs. 0.22 in group 2, p < 0.005). The percentage of wrong initial diagnosis was 5% in group 1 and 50% in group 2 (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Adding POC-US to routine exams improves the diagnostic accuracy of dyspnea and reduces errors in the Emergency Department
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
Lung ultrasound for diagnosis of pneumonia in emergency department
No full textLung ultrasound (LUS) in the emergency department (ED) has shown a significant role in the diagnostic workup of pulmonary edema, pneumothorax and pleural effusions. The aim of this study is to assess the reliability of LUS for the diagnosis of acute pneumonia compared to chest X-ray (CXR) study. The study was conducted from September 2013 to March 2015. 107 patients were admitted to the ED with a clinical appearance of pneumonia. All the patients underwent a CXR study, read by a radiologist, and an LUS, performed by a trained ED physician on duty. Among the 105 patients, 68 were given a final diagnosis of pneumonia. We found a sensitivity of 0.985 and a specificity of 0.649 for LUS, and a sensitivity of 0.735 and specificity of 0.595 for CXR. The positive predictive value for LUS was 0.838 against 0.7 for CXR. The negative predictive value of LUS was 0.960 versus 0.550 for CXR. This study has shown sensitivity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of LUS compared to the CXR study for the diagnosis of acute pneumonia. These results suggest the use of bedside thoracic US first-line diagnostic tool in patients with suspected pneumonia
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
Endothelial function of conduit arteries in patients with ulcerative colitis and metabolic syndrome.
No full textAlthough ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by chronic inflammation and elevated circulating plasma levels of C reactive protein and TNF-alpha, well recognized cardiovascular risk factors, several studies have suggested that patients with UC do not bear an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, recent reports have shown that UC is associated with increased intima-media thickness and impaired endothelial function. On the other hand, endothelial dysfunction is strictly related to premature atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases in different populations. In addition, metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with impairment of endothelial function in the general population, while the impact of MS on endothelial function in UC patients is unknown. Aim of this study was firstly to clarify, in a large group of patients, whether endothelial function of conduit arteries is affected by UC. Secondly, to investigate whether MS in patients with UC has an impact on the endothelial function. Among the patients with UC, twenty-three were also affected by MS, whereas twenty-two patients with MS were present in the control group. FMD was similar in patients with UC and controls (11.8±0.9% and 12.2±0.8, respectively, p=NS). While the presence of MS in the control group was associated with impairment of endothelial function (13.6±0.8% in healthy controls and 10.2±0.6 in patients with MS, p=0.003), patients with MS and UC did not show any worsening of their endothelial function (11.4±1.0% in patients with UC and SM and 12.1±1.3 in patients with UC without MS; p=0.35). NMD was similar in all the groups
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
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