1,720,957 research outputs found
Regular inhaled short acting beta2 agonists for the management of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textBACKGROUND:
Despite the lack of reversibility, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often report symptomatic improvement with inhaled short acting beta(2) agonist bronchodilators (ISABAs) in the management of both stable and acute exacerbations of COPD. A review of the literature was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of regular treatment with ISABAs compared with placebo in stable COPD.
METHODS:
A search for randomised controlled trials was carried out using the Cochrane Collaboration database of trials up to and including May 2002.
RESULTS:
Thirteen studies of 7 days to 8 weeks in duration on 237 patients aged 56-70 years with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) 60-70% predicted were included in the review. All studies used a crossover design with adequate washout periods and were of high methodological quality. ISABA was delivered either through a nebuliser or a pressurised metered dose inhaler. Spirometric tests performed at the end of the study and after the treatment (post-bronchodilator) showed a slight but significant increase in FEV(1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) compared with placebo. In addition, both morning and evening peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were significantly better during active treatment than during placebo. An improvement in the daily breathlessness score was observed with ISABA treatment. The risk of treatment failure was reduced by more than 50% with ISABA. Preference for ISABA was nine times higher than for placebo.
CONCLUSIONS:
Use of ISABA on a regular basis for at least 7 days in patients with stable COPD is associated with improvements in post-bronchodilator lung function and decreases in both breathlessness and treatment failure. This review has shown that regular administration of ISABAs is an effective and inexpensive treatment for the management of patients with stable COPD
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
Short-acting beta 2 agonists for stable COPD
No full textBACKGROUND: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is characterised by progressive airflow limitation that is at best partially reversible. Despite the lack of reversibility patients with stable often report symptomatic improvement with short-acting beta-2 bronchodilator medication. OBJECTIVES: To determine the clinical effectiveness and assess the adverse effects of regular treatment with short-acting beta-2 agonists bronchodilators in patients with stable COPD. SEARCH STRATEGY: A search was carried out using the Cochrane Airways Group database. In addition, reference lists of review articles and retrieved studies were searched for other potentially relevant citations. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials of at least one week in duration that compared treatment with inhaled short-acting beta-2 agonists delivered by metered dose inhaler or nebuliser with placebo in patients with stable COPD. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data extraction and study quality assessment were performed independently by two reviewers. Where further or missing data was required, authors of studies were contacted. The data were analysed using the Cochrane Review Manager 4.0.4. MAIN RESULTS: Thirteen studies were included. All used a cross-over design and were of high quality. Post-bronchilator spirometry performed at the end of the study period showed a significant increase in FEV1 compared to placebo; weighted mean difference (WMD) =0.14 L; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.04 to 0.25. This effect was only seen in studies in which the drug was delivered by metered dose inhaler. Post-bronchodilator morning and evening PEFR were significantly better during active treatment than during placebo; WMD=29.2 L/min; 95%CI 0.3 to 58.1 & WMD = 36.8 L/min; 95%CI: 2.6 to 70.9 respectively. A significant improvement in daily breathlessness score was observed during treatment with beta-2 agonist when compared to placebo; standardised mean difference (SMD) =1.33; 95%CI: 1.0 to 1.65. There was no improvement in exercise performance. The risk of dropping out of the study (ie treatment failure) when on treatment with placebo was almost twice that of patients on treatment with beta-2 agonists; Relative Risk =0.49; 95%CI 0.33-0.73). Patients preferred beta-2 agonist therapy more frequently than placebo; Odds Ratio = 9.04; 95%CI 4.6 to 17.61). No studies reported serious side effects during treatment with inhaled beta-agonists, but none were of sufficient size or length to allow any meaningful information on long-term occurrence of side effects. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Short-acting beta-2 agonists delivered by metered dose inhaler on a regular basis improve lung function. Breathlessness but not exercise performance are also improved. There are insufficient data to provide reliable information on long-term adverse effects. Use of these drugs as first line agents for symptomatic treatment of COPD is supported by this review
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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