1,721,258 research outputs found

    Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections among adolescents in a high-incidence area in Norway: genotypes, prevalence, early sexual behaviour and testing patterns – a cross-sectional study The Finnmark High School Study (FHSS)

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    Chlamydia trachomatis is the most commonly reported curable sexually transmitted infection in Western high-income countries and can cause severe female reproductive tract morbidity. Despite extensive control efforts, chlamydia rates have increased in most countries since the mid-1990s. Young persons and especially adolescent girls have the highest infection rates. In general, girls are tested far more frequently than boys. High-resolution genotyping provides detailed information on the molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of C. trachomatis. In this thesis, we investigated; i) C. trachomatis genotype distribution and genetic diversity using MLST (multilocus sequence typing) and ompA genotyping in Finnmark, a high-incidence area in Norway, ii) associations between early sexual behaviour and prevalent chlamydia infection, and iii) demographic and sexual behaviour factors associated with chlamydia testing in a high school based screening and previous clinic based testing, among girls and boys aged 15-20 years who participated in the Finnmark High School Study conducted from September to November 2009. We detected a large genetic diversity, multiple novel sequence types and alleles by MLST, and an atypical genovar distribution with predominance of G in a previously unmapped area. C. trachomatis genetic diversity in rural Finnmark and two other urban areas was similar. Chlamydia prevalence in sexually active girls was 7.3% and in boys 3.9%. Girls started their sexual career and were more sexually active at an earlier age and thus had a different risk profile from boys which may contribute to higher prevalence. Threefold more girls than boys reported previous clinic based testing which was associated with known chlamydia risk factors. School based screening reached 93% of participants and was associated with factors unknown to increase risk thus suggesting other motives. Half of infections were detected in those only tested at school. We confirmed the efficiency of school based screening to increase testing and detect hidden infections and we thus suggest this approach to be tried as a complement to other chlamydia control strategies in selected high-morbidity areas in Norway

    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

    Seasonal variation in incidence of acute myocardial infarction and cardiovascular disease risk factors in a subarctic population : the Tromsø Study

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    SAMMENDRAG Årstidsvariasjon med topp om vinteren i akutt hjerteinfarkt insidens og risikofaktorer for hjertekarsykdom er observert i studier verden over. Mange tidligere studier har metodiske begrensninger og få er utført i områder med kaldere klima. Hensikten med denne avhandlingen er å undersøke effekt av årstid og meteorologiske faktorer på insidens av førstegangs hjerteinfarkt samt årstidsvariasjon i risikofaktorer for hjertekarsykdom i en subarktisk befolkning med lang oppfølgingstid, ved bruk av adekvate metoder med validerte endepunkt og veldefinerte eksponeringsvariabler. Den befolkningsbaserte Tromsøundersøkelsen består av over 40,000 mennesker bosatt i et subarktisk klima i Nord-Norge. Studiedeltagerne har blitt undersøkt opp til ni ganger i seks repeterte helseundersøkelser i årene mellom 1974 og 2008, der det har blitt samlet inn informasjon om hjerteinfarkt og risikofaktorer. Avhandlingen består av tre studier. Den første studien er en analyse av årstidsvariasjon i insidens av fatale og ikke-fatale hjerteinfarkt. Den andre studien er en analyse av effekt av temperatur, vind, atmosfærisk trykk, fuktighet og snøfall på hjerteinfarktinsidens. Den tredje studien er en analyse av årstidsvariasjon i systolisk og diastolisk blodtrykk, hjertefrekvens, kroppsvekt, totalkolesterol, triglyserider, high density lipoprotein kolesterol, C-reaktivt protein og fibrinogen. Resultatene fra disse studiene viser at det er en årstidsvariasjon med økt risiko for førstegangs hjerteinfarkt i de mørkeste vintermånedene, men at denne er liten sammenlignet med økningen om vinteren sett i land med varmere klima. Effekten av værvariabler er generelt liten, men hos eldre er det økt risiko for førstegangs hjerteinfarkt ved kulde og etter store snøfall. Risikofaktorer for hjertekarsykdom har et årstidsmønster, men størrelsen på variasjonen gjennom året er liten og vil lite trolig kunne bidra til akutt hjertekarsykdom. Funnene viser at denne subarktiske befolkningen er lite påvirket av årstid og vær sammenlignet med befolkninger i varmere områder, antagelig på grunn av langtids adapsjon til et barskt klima, hovedsakelig via beskyttende atferd.

    Telemedicine in remote orthopaedic consultations: A randomised controlled trial

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    Decentralised services using outreach clinics or modern technology are methods to reduce the patient burden by reducing transport time and costs to the health care system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of planned remote orthopaedic consultations with the help of videoconferences. From 2007 to 2012, we performed a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with two parallel groups: video-assisted remote consultations at a regional medical centre (RMC) (intervention) versus standard consultation in the orthopaedic outpatient clinic at the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) ( control). The participants had been referred to or were scheduled for a consultation at the orthopaedic outpatient clinic. The orthopaedic surgeons evaluated each consultation they performed by completing a questionnaire, with five five-level questions, each measuring five categories of experience. The primary outcome was the sum score calculated from this questionnaire, which was evaluated by the non-inferiority of the intervention group. The study design was based on the intention to treat principle. The secondary outcomes were patient satisfaction and cost effectiveness. The sum score of the specialist evaluation was significantly lower (i.e. “better”) at UNN compared to the RMC but was within the non-inferiority margin. The orthopaedic surgeons involved evaluated 98% of the video-assisted consultations as “good” or “very good” and equal to a standard consultation. In the ancillary analyses concerning professional quality, no significant difference between the two groups was noted. We did not observe any significant difference in patient-reported health outcomes (EQ-5D; EQ VAS). In terms of patient satisfaction, a significantly higher proportion of patients preferred remote consultation as their next consultation. We found that telemedicine service in this setting is cost-effective from societal and health sector perspectives. The study demonstrated that video-assisted consultations for selected orthopaedic patients is preferred to standard consultation in terms of clinician reported quality, patient-reported health outcomes and cost-effectiveness

    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

    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

    Snusbruk i den sjette Tromsøundersøkelsen

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    Formål 1) Kartlegge snusbruk i Tromsø 6. 2) Studere assosiasjon mellom snusbruk og selekterte helsevariabler. Metode og materiale Oppgaven er en tverrsnittstudie der man ser på snusbruk i Tromsø 6. Vår studiepopulasjon er deltakerne i Tromsø 6, som svarte på spørsmålet om snusbruk på utdelt spørreskjema (Vedlegg. Spørreskjema Tromsø 6). Totalt utgjorde dette 12501 personer (96,3% av de oppmøtte). Vi benyttet variabler med relevans for hjerte-kar-sykdom, røyk- og alkoholvaner, fysisk aktivitet og andre biologiske variabler med betydning for livsstilspatologi. Analysene ble gjort i IBM SPSS Statistics, versjon 23.0. Karakteristika oppgis i gjennomsnitt (standardavvik) eller prosentandel (antall). Resultater I Tromsø 6 snuser n=709 (5,7%), mens n=11792 (94,3%) ikke snuser. Mannlige snusere har i gjennomsnitt høyere vekt, høyde og BMI, samt lavere kolesterol og LDL-verdier. HDL er forhøyet og s-triglyserid er den samme som hos mannlige ikke-snusere, men gruppene har ulike standardavvik. Kvinnelige snusere har i snitt et lavere nivå av kolesterol og LDL, de veier mindre og har lavere BMI, samt har høyere snittverdi av HDL og triglyserider enn kvinnelige ikke-snusere. Ikke alle funnene er signifikante. Det er en assosiasjon mellom snusbruk og høyere utdannelse, psykologiske problemer og et alkoholkonsum med hyppig frekvens og økt antall enheter per gang. Røykeanamnese med tidligere daglig bruk av røyk, økt antall sigaretter og år med røyking, gir også økt risiko for bruk av snus. Konklusjon For begge kjønn er prosentandelen som bruker snus høyest hos dem mellom 30 -39 år. Ved økende alder faller andelen. Våre funn indikerer en sammenheng mellom bruk av snus og psykologiske problemer. Personer med høyere utdannelse eller et økt alkoholkonsum snuser hyppigst. Tidligere dagligrøyking medførte økt risiko for snusbruk. Fysisk aktivitet, systolisk blodtrykk og rapportert hjerteinfarkt har ikke statistisk signifikant sammenheng med bruk av snus

    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
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