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    Different approaches to fine-needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid nodules affect the rate of benign, indeterminate and malignant cytology.

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    INTRODUCTION: FNAB is considered the most reliable, safe, and cost-effective screening test for the diagnostic evaluation of thyroid nodules (TN), with sensitivity and specificity reported >90%. On the other hand, FNAB has the inherent and accepted problem of indeterminate cytology, which is neither strictly benign nor clearly indicative of malignancy, and the inclusion or exclusion of this category in statistical analyses calculation may cause a wide variation of diagnostic accuracy of cytology (Lewis et al, Thyroid 19, 2009). As additional problem, different approaches to FNAB of TN might potentially influence the prevalence rates of all cytological classes. PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of different approaches to FNAB of TN on the distribution of cytological results, by comparing a large series of FNABs carried out in different institutions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: During a 2-year period (from January 2008 to December 2009) a total of 3070 consecutive thyroid nodules (2720 patients) were submitted to ultrasound (US)-guided FNAB, in one Endocrinology Unit and 3 Surgery Units of the same metropolitan area. All samples were evaluated by the same pathologist (M.L.L.) and classified as nondiagnostic (THY 1), benign (THY 2), indeterminate (THY 3), suspicious of malignancy (THY 4) or malignant (THY 5). FNABs in 2 of the above units were carried out by experienced physicians who also followed a selective approach according to the recent USA and European guidelines (group A, n= 2327). FNABs in the other 2 units were performed by less experienced operators, who followed an unselective approach, aspirating most of the nodules including those without suspicious clinical and/or US features (group B, n= 743). RESULTS: A total of 2528 samples were adequate for cytological diagnosis. A significant higher prevalence of THY 3 (511/2028, 25.2% vs 52/500, 10.4%, p<0.0001) and THY 4-5 (188/2028, 9.3% vs 11/500, 2%, p<0.0001) and a significant lower prevalence of THY 2 (1329/2028, 65.5% vs 438/500, 87.6%, p<0.0001) were found in Group A vs Group B nodules, respectively. Moreover, the prevalence of inadequate samples was significantly (p<0.0001) higher in group B (243/743, 32.8%) vs group A nodules (299/2327, 12.8%), confirming the lower experience of the operators using unselective approach. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that a selective FNAB approach to thyroid nodules based on clinical and US criteria, as advised by the current guidelines, allows the identification of a higher proportion of suspicious or malignant thyroid tumors. However, selective approach also provided higher rate of indeterminate cytology, which may affect the diagnostic accuracy of the FNAB, depending on the inclusion or exclusion of THY 3 nodules. This phenomenon may have important consequences in the clinical management of TN and may limits comparison of results among different centers

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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

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    We 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

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    We 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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We 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 Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902

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    In Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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