1,721,138 research outputs found
Identification of delivery models for the provision of genetic testing, policies governing the use of genomic applications and evaluation of genetic services: a multicentre study
Full text linkThe provision of genetic services, along with research in the fields of genomics and genetics, has evolved in recent years to meet the increasing demand of consumers interested in prediction of genomic diseases and various inherited traits (e.g. ability in sports, nutrigenomics, ancestry, etc.). Consumer demand and commercial interests have paved the way for the premature introduction, in the public and private healthcare sectors, of genetic tests with insufficient data on analytical and clinical validity, as well as clinical utility. There is also lack or insufficient evidence of cost-effectiveness of several genetic applications already introduced in clinical and public health practice. These concerns contribute to the lack of evidence on what constitutes an optimal genetic service delivery model, defined as the broad context within the Public Health Genomics framework in which genetic services are offered to individuals and families with or at risk of genetic disorders.
The aim of this dissertation is to identify existing genetic service delivery models, policies governing the use of genomic applications, and measures to evaluate genetic testing and related services in Europe and extra-European (Anglophone) countries (Canada, USA, Australia, or New Zealand). Two methodological approaches have been employed, a systematic review of the literature and a cross-sectional study addressing healthcare professionals with good knowledge and/or experience on the provision of BRCA1/2, Lynch syndrome, familial hypercholesterolemia, and inherited thrombophilia genetic testing, policies on genetic applications and evaluation of genetic services.
The identification and evaluation of existing genetic service delivery models are important steps towards the enhancement and standardization of genetic service provision. Current models of genetic services require the integration of genetics in all medical specialties, collaboration among different healthcare professionals, and redistribution of professional roles. Prior to implementation in clinical and public health practice, genetic tests should be evaluated based on available efficacy and cost-effectiveness data and offered to the citizens as right to benefit from innovative healthcare. The proper implementation of genomics application in mainstream medicine can be achieved through professional education, training, adequate funding, public policies, and public awareness of the field of genomic medicine
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
Oral contraceptives, human papillomavirus and cervical cancer
No full textOncogenic human papillomavirus is the key determinant of cervical cancer, but other risk factors interact with it to define individual risk. Among these, there is oral contraceptive (OC) use. A quantitative review of the link between OCs and cervical cancer was performed. Long-term (>5 year) current or recent OC use has been related to an about two-fold excess risk of cervical cancer. Such an excess risk, however, levels off after stopping use, and approaches unity 10 or more years after stopping. The public health implications of OC use for cervical cancer are limited. In any case, such implications are greater in middle-income and low-income countries, as well as in central and eastern Europe and Latin America, where cervical cancer screening and control remain inadequate
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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