1,721,177 research outputs found
The impact of chronic multimorbidity and disability on functioning and survival. A community-based, longitudinal study
No full textAbstract. Marengoni A, von Strauss E, Rizzuto D,
Winblad B, Fratiglioni L (Aging Research Center,
Gerontology Research Center and Karolinska Institutet,
Stockholm, Sweden, and University of Brescia
and Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy). The impact of
chronic multimorbidity and disability on functional
decline and survival in elderly persons. A communitybased,
longitudinal study. J Intern Med 2009;
265: 288–295.
Objective. We aimed to disentangle the effect of
chronic multimorbidity and disability on 3-year functional
decline and survival in the elderly.
Design. Prospective cohort study with a mean of follow-
up of 2.8 years.
Setting. Swedish elderly persons from the Kungsholmen
Project (1987–2000).
Subjects. A total of 1099 subjects, 77–100 years old,
living in the community and institutions.
Main outcome measurements. Medical diagnoses (based
on clinical examination, drug use, medical records
and blood tests), and functional assessment (according
to Katz Index) at baseline were investigated in relation
to functional decline and death occurring during
follow-up.
Results. At baseline, 12.1% of participants had disability,
and 52.3% were affected by multimorbidity. During
follow-up, 363 persons died and 85 worsened in
functioning. The number of chronic conditions incrementally
increased the risk of functional decline [hazard
ratio (HR) increased from 1.5 in subjects with one
disease to 6.2 in persons with 4+ diseases]. However,
this was not the case for mortality, as the HR of death
was the same for people with one disease as well as 4+
diseases (HR = 2.3). Baseline disability had the highest
impact on survival, independently of number of diseases
[HR = 8.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.8–
13.7 in subjects with one disease and HR = 7.7; 95%
CI = 4.7–12.6 in those with 2+ diseases].
Conclusions. In the elderly subjects, chronic disability
rather than multimorbidity emerged as the strongest
negative prognostic factor for functionality and
survival
Introduction to game-theory calculations
No full textAbstract. Game theory can be defined as the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent and rational decision makers (Myerson 1991). Game-theory concepts apply in economy, sociology, biology, and health care, and whenever the actions of several agents (individuals, groups, or any combination of these) are interdependent. We present a new command gamet to represent the extensive form (game tree) and the strategic form (payoff matrix) of a noncooperative game and to identify the solution of a nonzero and zero-sum game through dominant and dominated strategies, iterated elimination of dominated strategies, and Nash equilibrium in pure and fully mixed strategies. Further, gamet can identify the solution of a zero-sum game through maximin criterion and the solution of an extensive form game through backward induction
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
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