1,720,968 research outputs found
Desmopressin acetate in percutaneous ultrasound-guided kidney biopsy: a randomized controlled trial
Full text linkBleedingcomplications occur in one-third of percutaneous kidney biopsies and increase costs of the hospital stay. The aimofthestudywastoevaluatetheeffectofprebiopsyadministrationofdesmopressin acetate versus placebo in the incidence of postbiopsy bleeding complications
Randomized controlled clinical trial of corticosteroid plus ACE-inhibitors with long-term follow-up in proteinuric IgA nephropathy
Full text linkBackground. Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is
the most common cause of chronic renal failure among
primary glomerulonephritis patients. The best treatment
for IgAN remains poorly defined. We planned a longterm,
prospective, open-label, multicentre, centrally randomized
controlled trial to assess whether the combination
of prednisone and ramipril was more effective than ramipril alone in patients with proteinuric IgAN.
Methods. Ninety-seven biopsy-proven IgAN patients with
moderate histologic lesions, 24-h proteinuria ≥1.0 g and
estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 50 ml/min/
1.73 m2 were randomly allocated to receive a 6-month
course of oral prednisone plus ramipril (combination therapy
group) or ramipril alone (monotherapy group) for the
total duration of follow-up. The primary outcome was the
progression of renal disease defined as the combination of
doubling of baseline serum creatinine or end-stage kidney
disease (ESKD). The secondary outcomes were the rate of
renal function decline defined as the eGFR slope over time,
and the reduction of 24-h proteinuria.
Results. After a follow-up of up to 96 months, 13/49
(26.5%) patients in the monotherapy group reached the
primary outcome compared with 2/48 (4.2%) in the combination
therapy group. The Kaplan–Meier analysis showed
a significantly higher probability of not reaching the combined
outcome in the combination therapy group than in
the monotherapy group (85.2% versus 52.1%; log-rank test
P=0.003). In the multivariate analysis, baseline serum creatinine
and 24-h proteinuria were independent predictors
of the risk of primary outcome; treatment with prednisone
plus ramipril significantly reduced the risk of renal disease
progression (hazard ratio 0.13; 95% confidence interval
0.03–0.61; P = 0.01). The mean rate of eGFR decline was
higher in the monotherapy group than in the combination
therapy group (−6.17 ± 13.3 versus −0.56 ± 7.62 ml/min/
1.73 m2/year; P = 0.013). Moreover, the combined treatment
reduced 24-h proteinuria more than ramipril alone
during the first 2 years.
Conclusions. Our results suggest that the combination of
corticosteroids and ramiprilmay provide additional benefits
compared with ramipril alone in preventing the progression
of renal disease in proteinuric IgAN patients in the longterm
follow-up
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
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
Antimicrobial agents and catheter-related interventions to prevent peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis: Using evidence in the context of clinical practice
No full textBackground: Peritonitis still represents a common and major complication of peritoneal dialysis. The broader adoption of several strategies, including antimicrobial and catheter related interventions, has been advocated to prevent or reduce the risk of peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis. Methods: In this article we start with the presentation of a clinical case where concern exists about the strategies for preventing peritoneal dialysis peritonitis. We then look at the available evidence in the form of systematic reviews of randomized trials and individual randomized trials of interventions to prevent peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis. A summary of the evidence is provided and then put in context with the clinical case scenario. Results: Nineteen eligible trials (1949 patient s) of antimicrobial agents and 37 (2822 patients) of catheter related interventions to prevent peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis were identified. Nasal mupirocin compared with placebo significantly reduced the exit-site and tunnel infection rate(1 trial, 2716 patient months, RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.85) but not peritonitis rate (1 trial, 2716 patient months, RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.44 to 1.60). As for antimicrobial strategies,perioperative intravenous antibiotics compared with no treatment significantly reduced the risk of early peritonitis (4 trials,335 patients, RR 0.35, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.80) but not exit site and tunnel infection (3 trials, 114 patients, RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.02 to 4.81). As for catheter related strategies, Y-set and twin-bag systems were superior to conventional spike systems (7 trials, 485 patients, RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.77)and no other catheter-related intervention was demonstrated to prevent peritonitis in PD. Conclusions: Evidence exists to support the use of perioperative intravenous antibiotic prophylaxis at the time of catheter placement, the twin-bag and Y-set system, as well as prophylaxis with mupirocin in Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriers. Despite lack of evidence, several other agents are used and recommended in major international guidelines, which is reasonable but requires further investigation. © Wichtig Editore, 2006
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