1,721,054 research outputs found
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
Treatment of childhood acute lymphoblstic leukemia after the first relapse: curative strategies
No full textTreatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia after the first relapse: curative strategies.
No full textTreatment of recurrent childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been controversial in the last decade. Conventional intensive chemotherapy (CHEMO) can cure up to 30% of children who have relapsed after ALL: similar results have been obtained with autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT), but allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (AlloBMT) seems to be the best therapeutic option. In this review the authors point out the contribution of current strategy in the setting of children with ALL who experience a first relapse and should be offered optimal treatment in order to obtain the best disease-free survival (DFS). The principal objective of this issue is to reach a possible consensus on the more controversial points regarding factors considered strong predictors of the outcome of the relapsed patients, second-line chemotherapy, optimal timing and type of transplantation. Data published in the literature over the last decade concerning early and late relapse in childhood ALL suggest that improvements in cure rates may be achieved by intensification of the relapse treatment both with chemotherapy and with different types of transplantation. An accurate search for Medline data has been performed in order to understand the risk-benefit ratio of aggressive therapy adopted in this setting. Modern first-line treatment protocols for childhood ALL have contributed to curing an ever larger number of patients but this strategy could be responsible for creating a more resistant leukemic clone at the time of systemic or extramedullary relapse. This hypothesis emerges from a number of single or multicenter experiences; thus clinical and biological features in relapsed patients are being studied carefully in order to understand which risk-directed second-line therapy should be best adopted. The BFM group classified ALL relapses as "very early", "early", or "late" according to the time from diagnosis to first relapse (i.e. 18 and < 30 or more than 30 months) and has shown that about 2/3 of the small fraction of children with late extramedullary relapses or late non T-marrow relapses or early combined non T-relapses can be rescued by chemotherapy; in contrast ALL early relapses or T-immunophenotype ALL relapses can be rescue only by AlloBMT. Since 1990 the AIEOP group adopted BFM-like first-line treatment and experienced similar situations for relapsed patients so that, even in absence of a real common relapse protocol, they went in the same direction as the BFM group as far as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) procedures and decision were concerned. A recent AIEOP study on the destiny of 192 consecutive patients with ALL in 2nd complete remission and not having an HLA suitable sibling donor is presented in this issue. The value of different HSCT procedures is addressed and the protection against a new relapse seems to be real, although, of course, the risk-benefit ratio should always be evaluated. Very few prospective studies on the treatment of childhood ALL relapse have been set up in the last decade because of many difficulties regarding common second-line therapies, some reluctance versus HSCT in consideration of the transplant-related mortality and the so-called late effects. Additional modifications of allogeneic family and unrelated donor HSCT strategies and the promising results both of cord HSCT and auto-grafting methods including in vitro purging or post-transplant immunotherapy, are making transplantation procedures for ALL relapsed patients more appropriate and increasing confidence in their use. The possibility of performing common prospective international studies should be encouraged over the next years in order to elucidate an area of great research as is that of the treatment of childhood ALL relapse
THE ROLE OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS IN SEVERE LIVER DAMAGE OCCURRING EARLY IN THE COURSE OF ACUTE LEUKEMIA IN CHILDREN
No full textHEPATITIS C VIRUS SERUM MARKERS AND LIVER DISEASE IN CHILDREN WITH LEUKEMIA DURING AND AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY
No full textThe pattern of hepatitis C virus (HCV) serum markers and liver disease was investigated in 11 leukemic children showing anti-HCV reactivity at least once during long-term observation to define the role of HCV infection and the behavior of HCV serologic markers in this patient cohort. Antibodies to HCV by first- and second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by second-generation (four antigens) recombinant immunoblotting assay (RIBA) and HCV-RNA by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were serially examined in serum. Liver disease was defined according to transaminase levels. Seven of 11 patients were found HCV-RNA positive during chemotherapy and after blood transfusion, 3 of 11 became viremic during follow-up, and 1 of 11 was always HCV-RNA negative. Seroconversion to anti-HCV positivity by second-generation ELISA occurred in all the HCV-RNA positive children either during or after chemotherapy. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were elevated in all the HCV-RNA positive patients during antileukemic treatment and normalized in seven of them after therapy withdrawal, despite persisting viremia. These results indicate that HCV-RNA testing by polymerase chain reaction is required to correctly identify HCV infection in patients with leukemia while on chemotherapy. Viremia did not correlate with ALT levels and anti-HCV patterns
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
Evidence of non-A, non-B hepatitis in children with acute leukemia and chronic liver disease.
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