1,720,955 research outputs found
A current assessment of the use of complementary medicine in German cancer patients - the CONKO 022 investigation
No full textIntroduction. Approximately 50 % of cancer patients use practices of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). However, some of these methods may interact with oncological medication. Despite the generally increasing use of CAM in recent years, its prevalence has been studied insufficiently among cancer patients in Germany. Thus, this study aims to assess the recent use of CAM among cancer patients, evaluate communication on CAM between patients and healthcare providers, and present an overview of the most frequently used practices. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a standardized questionnaire including 19 CAM methods as well as sociodemographic and clinical parameters. Also, aspects of communication and quality of life were assessed. Patients were surveyed between September 2022 and June 2023, involving various entities such as breast cancer, lymphoma, and gastrointestinal malignancies. Data analysis was conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test and one-factor ANOVA. Results. In total, 154 patients (65.5 % female) were included. 88.3 % of patients reported use of CAM practices either before receiving their oncological diagnosis or after or both. Out of all patients, 62.3 % of patients stated to have begun using at least one CAM practice post-diagnosis. 36.6 % of all patients reported to have received information on potential drug interactions by their attending physician, while 60.8 % informed their physician about their use of CAM. The most frequently used CAM methods were dietary supplements, massage therapy, and yoga. Overall, female patients reported use of CAM significantly more often than males. Conclusion. Use of CAM methods appears to be common in this sample of cancer patients. To mitigate risks associated with potential drug interactions, enhanced communication and education between patients and healthcare providers is essential. Integrating a standardized questionnaire on CAM methods into routine oncological care may improve patient safety and treatment outcomes
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
Chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy: diagnostic challenges and the potential of neurofilament as a biomarker for sensory disorders: the CONKO 023-ChemTox Trial
No full textAbstract Chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy (CIPN) is a prevalent side effect impairing patients’ quality of life, often manifesting as dysesthesia or pain in extremities. To minimize therapy-related side effects as well as to improve quality of life, modern approaches grow increasingly more relevant. We conducted a longitudinal, prospective study to examine patients with lymphoma, leukemia, or gastrointestinal malignancies receiving continuous and temporary treatment up to five times over a 12- to 24-month period, beginning prior to chemotherapy. Assessments included comprehensive questionnaires, clinical neurological and electroneurographic examinations and measurements of neurofilament light chain (NFL). One hundred eight patients were enrolled with fifty-six patients having undergone all examinations both before and after chemotherapy. Data showed a significant rise of the mean Total Neuropathy Score (TNSr) after chemotherapy. Results revealed that approximately 75% of patients experienced CIPN. Continuous chemotherapy was associated with a steady increase in TNSr. Older patients, often with pre-existing and underdiagnosed neuropathy, were more frequently and more severely affected. According to medical records, where diagnostics were primarily based on patients’ subjective information, even moderate cases were frequently underdiagnosed. A moderate correlation was observed between the increase in NfL and changes in TNSr ( r = 0.385, p = 0.004). Patients with cancer affecting the central nervous system (CNS) showed elevated baseline NFL levels. In contrast to non-responders, NFL decreased in patients who responded well to therapy. In conclusion, data underline the necessity of improved diagnostic accuracy of CIPN and support the potential of NFL as a biomarker for its detection. Further investigations should assess its potential in daily oncological routine. Trial registration number : EA2/167/21 (date of registration: 12.08.2021).Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002839Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin 50110000283
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
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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