1,720,982 research outputs found
Behavior and infectious disease dynamics: applications using pandemic social contacts, Varicella-zoster virus transmission modeling with cost-effectiveness analysis, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus seasonality
No full textOriginally, this dissertation had two main objectives. First, to formulate a mathematical
model and integrate social contact behavior to explore the impact of CP and
HZ vaccination programs in Belgium and further perform cost-effectiveness analyses
of these vaccination programs. Second, to formulate mathematical models to explore
how different social contact behavior between chronically ill individuals and healthy
individuals (i.e., “individuals without chronic illnesses”) influences the dynamics of
infectious diseases in a given population. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in December
2019 has hugely impacted the initial objectives of this dissertation and consequently
the content thereof. Due to the significant health and economic challenges posed
by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was highly relevant to adapt the second objective
and shift focus to SARS-CoV-2 related research. In addition, a third objective on
understanding drivers of RSV seasonal epidemics was agreed upon.
The dissertation consists of four parts; each of the first three parts focuses on a different
infectious disease spread through close contacts and employs a different methodology,
while part four is devoted to a general discussion. Each part focuses on addressing
different epidemiological aspects for the considered close-contact infection,
and as such, require a different methodology based on the research question(s) under
consideration. Nevertheless, jointly, they all contribute to the overarching aim of the
dissertation, which is to characterize and understand the transmission dynamics of
infectious diseases spread via close contacts using social contact behavior. This is
essential to provide insights that can guide public health decision-making regarding
effective prevention and control measures
Behavior and infectious disease dynamics: applications using pandemic social contacts, Varicella-zoster virus transmission modeling with cost-effectiveness analysis, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus seasonality
No full textOriginally, this dissertation had two main objectives. First, to formulate a mathematical
model and integrate social contact behavior to explore the impact of CP and
HZ vaccination programs in Belgium and further perform cost-effectiveness analyses
of these vaccination programs. Second, to formulate mathematical models to explore
how different social contact behavior between chronically ill individuals and healthy
individuals (i.e., “individuals without chronic illnesses”) influences the dynamics of
infectious diseases in a given population. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in December
2019 has hugely impacted the initial objectives of this dissertation and consequently
the content thereof. Due to the significant health and economic challenges posed
by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was highly relevant to adapt the second objective
and shift focus to SARS-CoV-2 related research. In addition, a third objective on
understanding drivers of RSV seasonal epidemics was agreed upon.
The dissertation consists of four parts; each of the first three parts focuses on a different
infectious disease spread through close contacts and employs a different methodology,
while part four is devoted to a general discussion. Each part focuses on addressing
different epidemiological aspects for the considered close-contact infection,
and as such, require a different methodology based on the research question(s) under
consideration. Nevertheless, jointly, they all contribute to the overarching aim of the
dissertation, which is to characterize and understand the transmission dynamics of
infectious diseases spread via close contacts using social contact behavior. This is
essential to provide insights that can guide public health decision-making regarding
effective prevention and control measures
Replication Data for: Drivers of respiratory syncytial virus seasonal epidemics in children under 5 years in Kilifi, coastal Kenya
No full textThis is a replication dataset for the manuscript titled: "Drivers of respiratory syncytial virus seasonal epidemics in children under 5 years in Kilifi, coastal Kenya." </p
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
Drivers of respiratory syncytial virus seasonal epidemics in children under 5 years in Kilifi, coastal Kenya
No full textRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes significant childhood morbidity and mortality in the developing world. The determinants of RSV seasonality are of importance in designing interventions. They are poorly understood in tropical and subtropical regions in low-and middle-income countries. Our study utilized long-term surveillance data on cases of RSV associated with severe or very severe pneumonia in children aged 1 day to 59 months admitted to the Kilifi County Hospital. A generalized additive model was used to investigate the association between RSV admissions and meteorological variables (maximum temperature, rainfall , absolute humidity); weekly number of births within the catchment population; and school term dates. Furthermore, a time-series-susceptible-infected-recovered (TSIR) model was used to reconstruct an empirical transmission rate which was used as a dependent variable in linear regression and generalized additive models with meteorological variables and school term dates. Maximum temperature, absolute humidity, and weekly number of births were significantly associated with RSV activity in the generalized additive model. Results from the TSIR model indicated that maximum temperature and absolute humidity were significant factors. Rainfall and school term did not yield significant relationships. Our study indicates that meteorological parameters and weekly number of births potentially play a role in the RSV seasonality in this region. More research is required to explore the underlying mechanisms underpinning the observed relationships
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
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