1,721,264 research outputs found
Treatment of psoriasis with efalizumab in patients with hepatitis C virus infection: report of five cases
No full textBackground: Concomitant hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) needs caution when selecting systemic treatments in psoriasis patients as some agents confer a risk of liver toxicity and/or are immunosuppressant. Phototherapy may provide a therapeutic choice but it is not always a practical option. Limited evidence supports the use of cyclosporine or TNF-alpha blockers. No data are available concerning the safety of efalizumab in patients with HCV infection. Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics and evolution of 5 adult patients with severe chronic plaque psoriasis and concomitant HCV infection who were treated with efalizumab. Method: A retrospective clinical case report. Results: Five adult patients with severe chronic plaque psoriasis and concomitant HCV infection were treated successfully using efalizumab with no increased viral replication and progression of liver disease for a follow-up of 8-20 months. Conclusion: Although further confirmation is needed, this report provides preliminary evidence to support also a cautious use of efalizumab in patients with HCV infection. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base
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
Real-world use of dimethyl fumarate in patients with plaque psoriasis: a Delphi-based expert consensus
Full text linkdimethyl fumarate (DMF) was recently approved by the european medicines agency for systemic treatment of moderate -to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. appropriate management of DMF treatment is required to achieve optimal clinical benefits. 7 dermatology experts gathered online for 3 meetings to identify consensus on the use of DMF in patient selection, drug dosage/titration, side effects management, and follow-up, with the aim to provide guidance on the use of DMF for psoriasis in clini-cal dermatological practice based on literature data and expert opinion. 20 statements were discussed and voted on using a facil-itator-mediated modified delphi methodology. strong consensus was reached for all statements (agreement level of 100%). DMF treatment is characterized by dosage flexibility, sustained efficacy, high rates of drug survival, and low potential for drug-drug inter-actions. it can be used in a broad range of patients, including the elderly or those with comorbidities. side effects (mainly gastroin-testinal disorders, flushing, and lymphopenia) are frequently reported but are generally mild and transient and can be mini-mized by dosage adjustments and a slow titration schedule. hematologic monitoring throughout the treatment course is required to reduce the risk of lymphopenia. this consensus docu-ment provides clinical dermatologists with answers on the optimal use of DMF to treat psoriasis
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