1,720,972 research outputs found
The impact of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte, platelet-to-lymphocyte and haemoglobin-to-platelet ratio on localised renal cell carcinoma oncologic outcomes|L'impact du rapport neutrophiles-lymphocytes, plaquettes-lymphocytes et hémoglobine-plaquettes sur les résultats oncologiques du carcinome rénal localisés
No full textIntroduction. - The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are established markers of systemic inflammation. Moreover, anemia is a known adverse prognostic factor and reduced haemoglobin to platelet ratio (HPR) seems associate to poor outcomes in urothelial cancer. Aim of the current study was to explore the prognostic value of NLR, HPR and PLR in patients harboring localized RCC.Materials and Methods 184 patients undergoing partial and radical nephrectomy for renal mass in a single hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Uni- and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to assess associations between various risk factors, including NLR, PLR and HPR and locally advanced disease (<= pT2 vs. >= pT3) and tumor grade. Kaplan Meier curves and Cox regressions were constructed to assess the association of NLR, PLR and HPR to recurrence free survival (RFS), cancer specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). To determine thresholds for variables, we considered the 75th percentile of our distribution of values, which was computed at 3.45 for NLR, 189 for PLR and 0.48 for HPR. A two-sided P < 0.05 defined statistical significance.Results. - Patients with an elevated NLR (> 3.45) were more likely to present with >= pT3 stage (p = 0.046). RFS was significantly different according to NLR value, with patients having an NLR > 3.45 experiencing significantly worst RFS (P = 0.019); similarly, an increased PLR was significantly associated to a reduced RFS (P = 0.012). Restricting the Cox regression to patients with locally advanced disease (>= pT3), NLR was even more associated to recurrence (HR 3.22; 95%CI: 1.06-9.81, P = 0.039). Patients exhibiting an NLR > 3.45 (p = 0.03) or a PLR> 189 (P = 0.005) did have a significantly worse CSS, while a HPR < 0.48 did not predict CSS (P = 0.12) on Kaplan Meier curves. Finally, an increased NLR (P = 0.047), increased PLR (P = 0.0006) and decreased HPR (P = 0.05) were all associated to a poor overall survival on univariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, only HPR remained significantly predictive of OS (HR 0.077; 95%CI: 0.02-0.37, P = 0.001).Conclusions. - In this single -center study analyzing non-metastatic RCC, an increased NLR was significantly associated to a reduced RFS, CSS and OS on univariate analyses and to RFS on multivariate analysis. Larger prospective studies are needed to validate our findings
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
Risk factor assessment in high-risk, bacillus Calmette–Guérin-treated, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer
Full text linkSerge Holz,* Simone Albisinni,* Jacques Gilsoul, Michel Pirson, Véronique Duthie, Thierry Quackels, Marc Vanden Bossche, Thierry Roumeguère Department of Urology, Erasme Hospital, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium *These authors contributed equally to this work Objective: To assess the risk factors associated with recurrence, progression and survival in high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients treated with bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) and validate the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and Spanish Urological Club for Oncological Treatment (CUETO) scores.Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed all BCG-treated NMIBC patients from 1998 to 2012. Multiple variables were tested as risk factors for recurrence-free survival and progression-free survival (PFS). Variables included age, sex, grade, stage, tumor size, number of tumors, carcinoma in situ (CIS), recurrence status, BCG strain used, smoking status, use of re-staging transurethral resection and use of single immediate postoperative instillation. We also tested the accuracy of EORTC and CUETO scores in predicting recurrence and progression.Results: Overall, 123 patients were analyzed. Median (interquartile range) follow-up was 49 months. The 5-year overall survival, cancer-specific survival, recurrence-free survival and PFS were 75.0%, 89.3%, 59.4% and 79.2%, respectively. On univariate analysis, multiple tumors (≥3), concomitant CIS and smoking influenced recurrence. Regarding progression, multiple tumors, concomitant CIS and Connaught strain (vs Tice) negatively influenced PFS on univariate and multivariate analyses were independent prognostic factors. CUETO scores were accurate, with a slight overestimation, while EORTC score was not predictive of recurrence or progression.Conclusion: In this study, CIS and tumor multiplicity were unfavorable predictors of recurrence and progression in patients with NMIBC receiving BCG. CUETO model was superior to EORTC risk tables in predicting recurrence and progression in our BCG-treated patient population. Nonetheless, both scores overestimated recurrence and progression rates. Prospective trials are needed to validate our findings. Keywords: BCG, bladder cancer, progression, recurrenc
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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