1,720,968 research outputs found
Isolated rectal cancer surgery: a 2007-2014 population study based on a large administrative database
No full textRectal resection is technically one of the most demanding laparoscopic procedures, requiring additional training and expertise of both surgeons and institutions. The literature has shown that laparoscopic procedures can be appropriate for the treatment of rectal cancer (RC), in terms of safety, outcome and efficiency, but results may not always be directly transferable to the general population. This study aimed to investigate the use of laparoscopic rectal cancer resections in a north-eastern Italian region (the Veneto) and to see how the characteristics of patients and hospitals are associated with the use of laparoscopy. This was a retrospective cohort study based on administrative data collected from 2007 to 2014 in the Veneto region (north-east Italy). In the period considered (2007-2014), 4953 rectal resections were performed for RC in Veneto hospitals, accounting for 35% of the total 14,243 surgical procedures involving the rectum, and resulting in 76,739 days in hospital [mean length of stay-post-operative (MLOS) 15.5 ± 11.1 days]. Patients were a mean 67.9 ± 11.7 years old (68 ± 12.7 for women, 67.9 ± 11 for men), while the subgroup of patients undergoing laparoscopic procedures was on average 2 years younger (66.5 ± 11.8 vs 68.8 ± 11.5; p < 0.05). The four main findings of this study are: (1) the increasing rates of laparoscopic procedures for RC resection at all the hospitals in our geographical area, rising up to 52% in 2014. This is probably related to not only to availability of better equipment but surely to a growing expertise of surgeons; (2) the esteem of proportion of laparoscopically treated RC; (3) the significant difference between the laparoscopic and open surgical approach in terms of mean length of hospital stay after RC resection, making the laparoscopic approach cost-effective generally speaking; and (4) the disparities in hospitals' use of laparoscopy by patients' age group: Laparoscopic surgery is safe also in the elderly population but it is not so widely offers in Veneto Region hospitals, and it's probably due to the lack of experience about this approach in frail/old patients
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
Colon Cancer Surgery: A Retrospective Study Based on a Large Administrative Database
No full textINTRODUCTION:
Laparoscopic colectomy (LC) for colon cancer is considered as safe and effective as open colectomy. It has many benefits in terms of postoperative pain, length of hospital stay, and esthetic results. There is evidence in the United States of a positive trend in the proportion of oncologic patients undergoing LC. Our aim is to confirm this trend in Europe and identify factors associated with a greater use of LC.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
A retrospective cohort study based on hospital discharge records (HDR) collected from 2008 to 2013 in a north-eastern Italian region (Veneto). The sample included all HDR with colon cancer as their principal or secondary diagnosis, treated with partial or total colectomy. To establish the overall regional trend of LC, we standardized cases by age, referring to the number of procedures performed by age group in 2010. We calculated the annual percent change from the slope of the regression model over a given time interval.
RESULTS:
Out of 14,085 colectomies, 29% were completed laparoscopically. The age-adjusted rates of LC by year ranged from 23.8% (2008) to 36.0% (2013). The mean annual increase in the LC rate was 2.4% overall (P<0.001). Factors associated with a higher proportion of LC were younger age (39% LC in patients below 65 y vs. 25% in those above 65 y), public hospitals (odds ratio: 1.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.51-1.94; P<0.05) and elective admissions (odds ratio: 4.19; 95% confidence interval, 3.76-4.67; P<0.05).
DISCUSSION:
Although the proportion of LC is growing, there are factors that influence the likelihood of this procedure being conducted. Future efforts to extend the use of LC to all eligible patients and avoid disparities should target both surgeons and patients, promoting the development and dissemination of appropriate guideline
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
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
- …
