1,720,989 research outputs found

    Endoscopic Management of Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis

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    This review aims to summarize the role of endoscopic therapy in the management and outcomes of recurrent acute pancreatitis (RAP). RAP is a clinical entity characterized by repeated episodes of acute pancreatitis in the setting of a normal gland or chronic pancreatitis (CP). The aetiology of RAP can be identified in about 70% of cases; for the remaining cases, the term “idiopathic” (IRAP) is used. However, advanced diagnostic techniques may reduce the percentage of IRAP to 10%. Recognized causes of RAP are gallstone disease, including microlithiasis and biliary sludge, sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD), pancreatic ductal abnormalities (either congenital or acquired) interfering with pancreatic juice or bile outflow, genetic mutations, and alcohol consumption. SOD, as a clinical entity, was recently revised in the Rome IV consensus, which only recognized type 1 dysfunction as a true pathological condition, while type 2 SOD was defined as a suspected functional biliary sphincter disorder requiring the documentation of elevated basal sphincter pressure to be considered a true clinical entity and type 3 was abandoned as a diagnosis and considered functional pain. Endoscopic therapy by retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has been proven effective when a mechanical obstruction is found and can be removed. If an obstruction is not documented, few treatment options are available to prevent the recurrence of pancreatitis and progression toward chronic disease. In gallstone disease, endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy (EBS) is effective when a dilated common bile duct or biliary sludge/microlithiasis is documented. In type 1 SOD, biliary or dual sphincterotomy is generally successful, while in type 2 SOD, endotherapy should be reserved for patients with documented sphincter dysfunction. However, in recent years, doubts have been expressed about the real efficacy of sphincterotomy in this setting. When sphincter dysfunction is not confirmed, endotherapy should be discouraged. In pancreas divisum (PD), minor papilla sphincterotomy is effective when there is a dilated dorsal duct, and the success rate is the highest in RAP patients. In the presence of obstructive conditions of the main pancreatic duct, pancreatic endotherapy is generally successful if RAP depends on intraductal hypertension. However, despite the efficacy of endotherapy, progression toward CP has been shown in some of these patients, mainly in the presence of PD, very likely depending on underlying genetic mutations. In patients with IRAP, the real utility of endotherapy still remains unclear; this is because several unknown factors may play a role in the disease, and data on outcomes are few, frequently contradictory or uncontrolled, and, in general, limited to a short period of time

    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

    Reliability of Kudo’s Glandular Pit Pattern in Predicting Colorectal Lesion Histology at Routine Colonoscopy with Digital Chromoendoscopy

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    Background. The large number of lesions detected via high-definition (HD) imaging during colonoscopy calls for the reliable real-time histological characterization of polyps, especially diminutive and small ones, to permit tailored management based on the neoplastic risk, such as a “resect-and-discard” or a “diagnose-and-leave” strategy for low-risk adenomas and hyperplastic polyps (HPs). The Kudo classification of glandular pit pattern is currently used for predicting polyp histology. Aim. The aim in this study was to assess whether Kudo’s glandular pit pattern, assessed via HD digital chromoendoscopy (i-Scan) without magnification and optical enhancement, reliably predicts polyp histology and differentiates neoplastic lesions (NLs) from non-neoplastic lesions (non-NLs) during routine colonoscopy. Methods. Consecutive colorectal lesions recorded in a database over 12 months, with Kudo’s glandular pit pattern classification, were retrospectively compared with histology. The diagnostic accuracy and negative predictive value (NPV) for adenomatous histology of Kudo’s pit patterns were assessed separately for diminutive (≤5 mm) and small (6–9 mm) polyps, accordingly to the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) Preservation and Incorporation of Valuable Endoscopic Innovations (PIVI), and in large (≥10 mm) lesions. Results. A total of 2230 lesions were recorded: 898 diminutive, 704 small, and 628 large. Kudo’s type II pit pattern was prevalent in diminutive polyps and recognized mostly in HPs (83.27%); it was also found in 38.8% of adenomas. In the right colon, Kudo’s type II pit pattern was prevalent in adenomas (70.04% vs. 20.74% in HPs); among the serrated lesions, it was evenly distributed between HPs and adenomas. Kudo’s type IIIL/IIIs/IV pit pattern was prevalent in NLs (61% vs. 8.37% of non-NLs) in diminutive polyps, evenly distributed between non-NLs and NLs in small polyps, and found only in NLs in large polyps. Kudo’s type Vi/Vn pit pattern correctly identified all but one adenocarcinoma. The NPV for adenomatous histology did not reach the recommended 90% PIVI threshold for differentiation between NLs and non-NLs in diminutive polyps showing Kudo’s type II pit pattern and in small polyps showing type IIIL/IIIs/IV pit pattern. Conclusions. Kudo’s pit pattern classification carried out with digital chromoendoscopy (i-Scan) during routine colonoscopy does not allow the reliable differentiation between non-NLs and NLs in diminutive and small polyps, so a “diagnose-and-leave” strategy for diminutive polyps may leave undetected adenomas, while a “resect-and-discard” strategy could miss lesions requiring closer follow-up

    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
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