1,720,965 research outputs found
Emergency contraception. a survey of 1773 women
No full textOBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to retrieve data on the characteristics and profile of women attending an emergency service (ES) to receive a prescription (mandatory until May 2015) for emergency contraception (EC). METHODS: In a retrospective study the following data were collected for all women requesting EC between January 2014 and June 2015: demographic characteristics, time between unprotected sexual intercourse (USI) and arrival at the ES, time between the last menstrual period and the USI, and type of EC prescribed. In a prospective study starting January 2015, a questionnaire was administered requesting the following information: reasons for requiring EC, previous EC use, source of knowledge about EC, prior contraception and age at first intercourse.
RESULTS: During the whole study period, 1773 women requested EC: their mean age was 26.0 years; 78.5% were Italian; 91.5% were unmarried; 55.2% were still studying and 51.9% had high school education; 61.2% reached the ES within 12 h of the USI; and 42.4% had a USI during days 9-16 of their menstrual cycle. Levonorgestrel was prescribed in 81.4% of women and ulipristal acetate in 17.7%. In the prospective part of the study (382 women), the majority (57.9%) requested EC for condom rupture; 49.5% reported previous use of EC; and 41.6% received information on the subject through friends. The vast majority (83.8%) reported prior use of contraception; in 25.4% the reason for not using it was the absence of a relationship. CONCLUSION: An exact profile of women requesting EC can help women in their choice of permanent contraception, and help clinicians in counselling women on appropriate contraception
Pharmacodynamics of combined estrogen-progestin oral contraceptives: 1. effects on metabolism
No full textIntroduction: The risk-benefit profile of any pharmacologic agent must be evaluated against risks connected with the events to be avoided. This is especially true in the case of hormonal contraception, not intended to combat a disease. Over the six decades during which their use has progressively expanded, the risk-benefit profile of combined oral contraceptives (COC) has substantially changed, with new combinations, dosages and mode of administration appearing on the market. Area covered: In a series of articles, recent information on the complex issue of COC risks and benefits will be reviewed in the hope of providing an updated picture. The present article reviews metabolic changes occurring during use of modern combinations of estrogens (ethinyl estradiol, estradiol, estradiol valerate and estetrol) and new progestins (desogestrel, gestodene, dienogest, drospirenone, nomegestrol acetate), often compared to classic compounds, such as levonorgestrel. Three categories of metabolic effects in healthy women are detailed: on carbohydrates, lipid and bone mineral content. Expert commentary: Overall, the picture is reassuring: the new generations of progestins are basically devoid of androgenic, estrogenic or glucocorticoid related side-effects. This should result in an improved safety profile, although past history teaches us that that large comparative and surveillance studies are required before firm conclusions can be drawn. At any rate, available evidence indicates that metabolic effects of third and fourth generation progestins, especially when they are combined with natural estrogens, are minimal and, if used in healthy women, should not cause concer
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
Mechanism of action of ulipristal acetate for emergency contraception: a systematic review
Full text linkSUMMARYUlipristal acetate (UPA) is now recommended as first choice hormonal Emergency Contraception (EC), due to its higher efficacy and similar safety compared to Levonogestrel - EC. Even though all trials demonstrated that the first mechanism of action is inhibition of ovulation, some authors still postulate that a post fertilization effect is also possible, raising the alert on medication and fostering the ethical debate.A Medline database search was performed in order to find recent articles related to UPA’s effects on ovulation, on fallopian tube and on endometrium. We also analyzed the effects on sperm function and pregnancy. All studies conclude that UPA is effective in inhibition of ovulation even when administered shortly before LH peak. The effects on fallopian tube are unclear: according to some authors UPA inhibits ciliar beat through an agonistic effect on progesterone receptors, according to others it antagonizes the progesterone-induced ciliar beat decrease. Concerning the action on endometrium and on embryo implantation most of the studies concluded that low dose UPA used for EC has no significant effect on the decrease of endometrial thickness and on embryo’s attachment, but these results are still matter of debate. Finally recent evidence suggests that UPA modulates human sperm functions while it has no effect on established pregnancy. To date the majority of the evidence concur in excluding a post-fertilization effect of UPA, even though more studies are needed to clarify its mechanism of action
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
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