1,721,062 research outputs found
Fosfomycin vs. quinolone-based antibiotic prophylaxis for transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy of the prostate: a systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textBACKGROUND: Infection-related complications secondary to quinolone resistance have been on the rise following transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy of the prostate (TRUSBP). The aim of this review was to compare the efficacy of fosfomycin with quinolone-based antibiotic prophylaxis for TRUSBP.METHODS: A systematic review in line with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) and Cochrane guidelines was conducted. All studies comparing fosfomycin vs. non-fosfomycin antimicrobial prophylaxis for TRUSBP were considered. The main outcomes were number of urinary tract infections (UTIs) (overall, afebrile, febrile, and urosepsis) and fluoroqinolone resistance. Secondary outcomes were positive urine and blood cultures, and adverse effects of drugs.RESULTS: Five studies comparing fosfomycin and non-fosfomycin antimicrobials were included in the review. In all, 1447 and 1665 patients were included in the fosfomycin and non-fosfomycin cohorts, respectively. The systematic review report significantly lower UTIs in the fosfomycin cohort (M-H, Fixed, 95% CI), 0.20 (0.13, 0.30), p < 0.00001. Urine cultures from patients given fosfomycin showed significantly lower resistance rates (M-H, Fixed, 95% CI) 0.27 (0.15, 0.50), p < 0.0001. The adverse effect profile between the two cohorts were similar (M-H, Fixed, 95% CI) 1.13 (0.51, 2.50), p = 0.33. On Grade Pro evaluation, overall UTI, afebrile UTI, febrile UTI, and urosepsis were rates as moderate, low, very low, and moderate quality evidence, respectively. Positive blood and urine culture were rated as moderate and very low-quality evidence, respectively. Fluoroquinolone resistance was rated as low-quality evidence. Adverse effects was rated as very low-quality evidence.CONCLUSIONS: This review suggests that fosfomycin has significantly lower septic complications with an equivalent side effect profile in comparison with quinolone-based prophylaxis regimen for TRUSBP. There is an urgent need for appropriate antibiotic stewardship and it is paramount that studies with robust methodology are developed to establish the role of fosfomycin over existing antibiotic regimens for TRUSBP.</p
Detection rates of recurrent prostate cancer: Gallium (Ga)-labelled prostate-specific membrane antigen choline PET/CT scans. A systematic review
Full text linkBackground: The aim of this work was to assess the use of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-labelled radiotracers in detecting the recurrence of prostate cancer. PSMA is thought to have higher detection rates when utilized in positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans, particularly at lower prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, compared with choline-based scans. Methods: A systematic review was conducted comparing choline and PSMA PET/CT scans in patients with recurrent prostate cancer following an initial curative attempt. The primary outcomes were overall detection rates, detection rates at low PSA thresholds, difference in detection rates and exclusive detection rates on a per-person analysis. Secondary outcome measures were total number of lesions, exclusive detection by each scan on a per-lesion basis and adverse side effects. Results: Overall detection rates were 79.8% for PSMA and 66.7% for choline. There was a statistically significant difference in detection rates favouring PSMA [OR (M–H, random, 95% confidence interval (CI)) 2.27 (1.06, 4.85), p = 0.04]. Direct comparison was limited to PSA < 2 ng/ml in two studies, with no statistically significant difference in detection rates between the scans [OR (M–H, random, 95% CI) 2.37 (0.61, 9.17) p = 0.21]. The difference in detection on the per-patient analysis was significantly higher in the PSMA scans ( p < 0.00001). All three studies reported higher lymph node, bone metastasis and locoregional recurrence rates in PSMA. Conclusions: PSMA PET/CT has a better performance compared with choline PET/CT in detecting recurrent disease both on per-patient and per-lesion analysis and should be the imaging modality of choice while deciding on salvage and nonsystematic metastasis-directed therapy strategies
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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