1,720,991 research outputs found
Enabling data sharing and utilization for African population health data using OHDSI tools with an OMOP-common data model
Full text linkThe COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the use of AI and DS innovations in data collection and aggregation. Extensive data on many aspects of the COVID-19 has been collected and used to optimize public health response to the pandemic and to manage the recovery of patients in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is no standard mechanism for collecting, documenting and disseminating COVID-19 related data or metadata, which makes the use and reuse a challenge. INSPIRE utilizes the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) as the Common Data Model (CDM) implemented in the cloud as a Platform as a Service (PaaS) for COVID-19 data. The INSPIRE PaaS for COVID-19 data leverages the cloud gateway for both individual research organizations and for data networks. Individual research institutions may choose to use the PaaS to access the FAIR data management, data analysis and data sharing capabilities which come with the OMOP CDM. Network data hubs may be interested in harmonizing data across localities using the CDM conditioned by the data ownership and data sharing agreements available under OMOP's federated model. The INSPIRE platform for evaluation of COVID-19 Harmonized data (PEACH) harmonizes data from Kenya and Malawi. Data sharing platforms must remain trusted digital spaces that protect human rights and foster citizens' participation is vital in an era where information overload from the internet exists. The channel for sharing data between localities is included in the PaaS and is based on data sharing agreements provided by the data producer. This allows the data producers to retain control over how their data are used, which can be further protected through the use of the federated CDM. Federated regional OMOP-CDM are based on the PaaS instances and analysis workbenches in INSPIRE-PEACH with harmonized analysis powered by the AI technologies in OMOP. These AI technologies can be used to discover and evaluate pathways that COVID-19 cohorts take through public health interventions and treatments. By using both the data mapping and terminology mapping, we construct ETLs that populate the data and/or metadata elements of the CDM, making the hub both a central model and a distributed model
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
Epidemiology and burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections among school-aged Bulang children in Yunnan province, People's Republic of China
Full text linkBackground: The three most common soil-transmitted helminths are Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), Trichuris trichiura (whipworm), and Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus (hookworms). Collectively, they infect around 1 billion people and put approximately 5 billion people at risk of infection worldwide. Strongyloides stercoralis is a less common soil-transmitted helminth than the species mentioned above, but still significant from a public health perspective. The global prevalence of S. stercoralis is estimated to be 30-100 million. Populations most affected by these parasitic worms are often impoverished, living on less than US$ 2 per day, and have poor sanitation facilities and hygiene habits. Despite the low prevalence levels of soil-transmitted helminth infections observed on a national level in the People’s Republic of China (P.R. China), hotspots of these infections, particularly within ethnic minority groups residing in rural areas, still exist.
Single-species infections with the common soil-transmitted helminths can cause symptoms ranging from abdominal pain to anaemia, and impaired development of cognitive abilities. For S. stercoralis infections, symptoms such as severe abdominal pain and blood in the stool have been reported. Due to the chronic and subtle nature of most morbidities commonly associated with soil-transmitted helminthiasis, it is difficult to assess the true burden due to these infections.
Objectives: The goal guiding this Ph.D. project was to deepen the understanding of the epidemiology and burden of soil-transmitted helminthiasis among school-aged children from the Bulang ethnic minority group in P.R. China. The following objectives were pursued: (i) to evaluate the feasibility of deploying different tools for the assessment of physical fitness in soil-transmitted helminth-endemic settings; (ii) to monitor changes in physical fitness, strength and anthropometric measurements over a six-month period among treated children and their untreated peers; (iii) to predict and visualize the change in physical fitness of school-aged children due to soil-transmitted helminth infections over a 1-month period across P.R. China; (iv) to assess the efficacy of triple-dose albendazole and study soil-transmitted helminth re-infection patterns after deworming; and (v) to estimate the odds of re-infection with soil-transmitted helminths for different natural nutritional statuses and types of nutritional supplementation.
Methods: For the field studies, parasitological examination of stool samples was performed. The Kato-Katz technique was used to identify the eggs of A. lumbricoides, hookworm, T. trichiura and other helminths, while the Baermann technique was used to identify the larvae of S. stercoralis. In addition, each stool sample was visually inspected for Taenia spp. proglottids. Physical fitness was estimated with the 20-m shuttle run test and physical strength was assessed with the grip strength and standing broad jump tests. Anthropometric measurements, including body height and weight and sum of skinfolds, and haemoglobin level were also recorded. Physical fitness and strength scores, anthropometric measurements, and haemoglobin level were expressed as means, and compared among children of distinct soil-transmitted helminth infection status and intensity. For the prediction and visualization exercise, the change in physical fitness over 1 month across P.R. China was predicted over a smooth surface of soil-transmitted helminth risk. Maps, with lower and upper boundaries of the predicted values as well as population-adjusted estimates, were further created. Finally, for the systematic review, the odds of re-infection with soil-transmitted helminths for different natural nutritional statuses and types of nutritional supplementation were estimated and qualitative content analysis was conducted for all studies included in the review.
Results: In a cross-sectional survey, the maximum aerobic capacity in 1 min of exhaustive exercise (VO2 max estimate) of T. trichiura-infected children was 1.9 ml kg-1 min-1 lower than that of their non-infected counterparts (P=0.01). Until exhaustion, T. trichiura-infected children had completed six 20-m laps less (P<0.01). No significant association between anthropometric indicators and infection with any soil-transmitted helminth species could be established.
In a randomised controlled trial, which investigated the effects of triple-dose albendazole on physical fitness of school-aged children, baseline prevalences of T. trichiura, A. lumbricoides, hookworm, and S. stercoralis were 94.5%, 93.3%, 61.3%, and 3.1% respectively, with more than half harboring triple-species infections. During the course of the trial, rapid re-infection with A. lumbricoides was observed and low cure rate was achieved with T. trichiura infections. Children receiving triple-dose albendazole scored slightly higher values in physical fitness and strength scores, anthropometric measurements, and haemoglobin level than placebo recipients, but the difference lacked statistical significance. The increase in VO2 max estimate from baseline was 1.6 ml kg-1 min-1 (P=0.02) less and the increase in the number of 20-m laps completed from baseline was five 20-m laps (P=0.04) less for T. trichiura-infected children compared to their non-infected peers. In addition, children with low infection intensity of T. trichiura and hookworm had consistently more increase in the VO2 max estimate from baseline than their peers with high infection intensity of all soil-transmitted helminths (range: 1.9-2.1 ml kg-1 min-1; all P <0.05).
In the systematic review, multi-micronutrients seemed to have the clearest effect with regards to lowering re-infection rates and intensity of soil-transmitted helminths, whereas consumption of zinc or vitamin A alone might have a negative impact on these two outcomes measures. With regards to the natural nutrition status of the host, the general trend observed was that individuals with poor nutrition status suffered higher re-infection rates and intensities when compared to their well-nourished peers. Overall, only fifteen studies met our inclusion criteria and majority of them were of low quality.
Conclusions/significance: The negative associations observed between T. trichiura infections and physical fitness among school-aged Bulang children in Yunnan suggests that the current burden estimate of soil-transmitted helminth infections, in particular T. trichiura infections, might be underestimated and there are still subtle and hidden morbidities to be quantified. A paradigm shift is needed to further understand the burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections as the presence of co-infections and co-morbidities add layers of complexity to the task. Finally, the epidemiological findings on soil-transmitted helminthiasis from this thesis highlight that a national soil-transmitted helminth control programme is overdue and urgently needed as P.R. China further develops into a global powerhouse. With many of their rural communities starting to have their hands on the first rung of the development ladder, P.R. China seems to be in a good position to set a leading example on how to control and eliminate soil-transmitted helminthiasis, and possibly other neglected tropical diseases, for developing countries around the world
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
- …
