1,721,033 research outputs found
Acute hepatitis A in Italy: incidence, risk factors and preventive measures
No full textThe incidence of, and risk factors for, acute hepatitis A (AHA) were assessed by using data collected from the Italian surveillance system of acute viral hepatitis (SEIEVA). To this end, a case-control study within a population-based surveillance for acute viral hepatitis was performed. AHA incidence has been estimated since 1991; the association with considered risk factors was analysed from 2001 to 2006 employing cases of acute hepatitis B (AHB) as controls. The incidence of AHA declined from 4 / 100 000 in 1991 to 1.4/100 000 in 2006, with a peak during 1996-1998 due to an outbreak in southern Italy. The incidence of AHA was highest among persons aged 15-24 years. The case-fatality rate was 2.9 / 10 000. Contact with individuals with AHA [adjusted OR (OR(adj)) = 3.8, 95% CI 2.7-5.5; population-attributable risk (PAR) = 7.5%], travelling to endemic areas (OR(adj) = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.6-3.8; PAR = 19.5%), ingestion of raw shellfish (OR(adj) = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.6-2.1; PAR = 26.6%), and cohabitation with day care children (OR(adj) = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.01-1.7; PAR = 2.3%) were the main important risk factors. In 2003, an outbreak, with high case-fatality rate occurred among intravenous drug users, in a central Italian town. A weak association was found for male homosexuality when acute hepatitis C cases were employed as controls (OR(adj) = 1.4 CI, 95% CI = 1.1-1.9). Hepatitis A virus infections are currently occurring more frequently in adults, in whom the disease is most severe. In conclusion, looking at the attributable risks, at present most of the AHA infections are due to shellfish consumption, travel to endemic areas and contact with patients with AHA. Vaccination of individuals at increased risk of infection, as well as persons with underling liver disease and those at increased risk of complications, combined with surveillance of shellfish retail outlets are efficient control measures
Evaluation of the compliance with the protocol for preventing perinatal hepatitis B infection in Italy
No full textOBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the compliance with the protocol for preventing perinatal hepatitis B infection in Italy, including HBsAg screening of pregnant women and immunization of newborns to infected mothers.
METHODS:
Women consecutively delivering, over 6 months in 2008-2009, in public and private hospitals of 13 Italian regions were recruited. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, HBsAg prenatal screening and newborns immunization were collected.
RESULTS:
17,260 pregnant women were enrolled. Of them 16,858 (97.7%) attended prenatal screening. Delivering in a public hospital and in hospitals located in South Italy were both independent predictors of non-adherence to HBsAg screening. Foreign pregnant women were also less likely to be screened. Overall, HBsAg prevalence was 0.86%; it was 0.4% for Italian women and 2.5% for foreign women. Differences in prevalence by country of origin and education were statistically significant. Of 138 newborns from HBsAg positive mothers 131 received passive/active immunization; 7 newborns received just vaccine.
CONCLUSION:
In this study compliance with the protocol for preventing perinatal hepatitis B was very good. Further efforts are needed to improve adherence to prenatal screening in public hospitals, in hospital located in southern Italy and among foreign women. HBV spread in Italy is progressively declining, also involving immigrant population
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
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
EFFECT OF FOLIC ACID AND VITAMIN C SUPPLEMENTATION ON FOLATE STATUS AND HOMOCYSTEINE LEVEL:A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL IN ITALIAN SMOKER-BLOOD DONORS
No full textBACKGROUND: This trial sought to examine the effects of high dosage of folic acid and vitamin C supplementation on red blood cell folate (RCF), serum folate (SF) and homocysteine (Hcy) levels in subjects who smoke more than 15 cigarettes per day.
METHODS: A prospective study of 100 Italian repeat blood donors was undertaken to measure RCF, SF and Hcy levels before and after 45 days of vitamin supplementation. All subjects were randomised into four groups: [A] folic acid (FA) 5 mg/day, [B] vitamin C 500 mg/day, [C] FA 5 mg/day plus vitamin C 500 mg/day [D] no supplementation.
RESULTS: Before supplementation the median RCF, SF and Hcy levels were similar in the four groups; 32 (40%) subjects had an RCF level below 340 nmol/l, 15 (18.8%) had an SF level below 6.8 nmol/l and 21 (26.3%) had an Hcy level above 16 micromol/l. After 45 days the median RCF and SF levels were significantly (P<0.01) increased in all supplemented subjects. The median Hcy level was significantly (P=0.008) reduced in subjects supplemented with FA and significantly (P=0.01) increased in those supplemented with vitamin C alone.
CONCLUSION: The supplementation with 5 FA mg/day is able to increase significantly both RCF and SF levels and reduce Hcy level in Italian smoker-blood donors
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