1,721,012 research outputs found
Endoscopy critics vs. endoscopy enthusiasts for primary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding
No full textEvolving consensus in portal hypertension report of the Baveno IV Consensus Workshop on methodology of diagnosis and therapy in portal hypertension
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Nadolol is superior to isosorbide mononitrate for the prevention of the first variceal bleeding in cirrhotic patients with ascites
No full textBACKGROUND/AIMS: beta-blockers effectively prevent first variceal bleeding (FVB) in cirrhotic patients. In patients with ascites, however, their use might be precluded by a high rate of contraindications and side effects. We compared the efficacy and applicability of nadolol and isosorbide-mononitrate (IsMn) in preventing FVB in a population of cirrhotic patients at high risk of variceal bleeding with ascites, who can be frequently intolerant to beta-blockers. METHODS: A total of 80 consecutive cirrhotic patients with ascites and esophageal varices (25% average risk of bleeding at 1 year) were considered, 28 were excluded due to contraindications and 52 were randomly assigned to receive nadolol (n=25) or IsMn (n=27). RESULTS: Frequency of contraindications was greater for beta-blockers than IsMn (35 versus 0%, P=0.001). During 21.3+/-11.6 months of follow-up, side effects forced six patients taking nadolol and four taking IsMn to stop treatment. Bleeding occurred in two patients taking nadolol and ten taking IsMn. The probability of bleeding was significantly lower in the nadolol group (P<0.05), whereas overall survival was similar (seven patients on IsMn and eight on nadolol died, P=0.3). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ascites IsMn is tolerated but ineffective while nadolol is effective but less tolerate
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
A girl with multiple sclerosis and severe hepatitis
No full textA 15-year-old girl presented with transverse myelitis. The brain and spinal MR imaging was compatible with the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Her past medical history was silent and she started intravenous high-dose methylprednisolone 1 g/day for 5 days with clinical improvement. After about 20 days of therapy she had an acute episode of generalized urticaria and angioedema treated with a bolus of methylprednisolone. Blood exams showed marked increase of transaminases (ALT up to 2844 U/L; 54×ULN) with normal GGT, hyperbilirubinemia (total 2.10 mg/dl, direct 0.60 mg/dl) and PT INR value of 1.5. Hepatotropic viruses serologies were not diagnostic, autoimmunity biomarkers were absent and Wilson disease was excluded. Ultrasound imaging reported diffuse parenchymal echogenicity. A liver biopsy showed lesions of acute hepatitis (portal tract inflammation with confluent lobular necrosis). These findings confirm the diagnosis of acute cytotoxic hepatitis induced by drugs (methylprednisolone). In the following days transaminases progressively improved (ALT 365 U/L; 6×ULN), returned to normal value within six-months, and persisted normal. High dose methylprednisolone is the first-line therapy for acute exacerbation of MS. Methylprednisolone-induced liver injury may occur in patients, mostly adults, treated for MS and can be severe and life threatening. It is probably related to a transient immune rebound with spontaneous normalization of liver function test after drug discontinuation. This condition is extremely rare in pediatrics with only one pediatric case reported in literature. The knowledge that high-dose methylprednisolone may induce liver injury is useful in order to close monitoring these patients and prevent acute liver failure
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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