International scientific research on venture capital: a bibliometric and mapping analysis from the period 1978–2020

The aim of this study is to explore the relevance of scientific production on venture capital using bibliometric and mapping tools.We performed a search in Scopus, involving any document published between 1978 and 2020. We used bibliometric indicators to explore documents production, dispersion, distribution, time of duplication, and annual growth, as Price’s law of scientific literature growth, Lotka’s law, the transient index, and the Bradford model. We also calculated the participation index of the different countries and institutions. Finally, we explored the co-occurrence and thematic networks for the most frequently used terms in venture capital research through bibliometric mapping.A total of 1,230 original articles were collected from the timeframe 1978–2020. The model confirms that Price’s law is not fulfilled. Scientific production was better adjusted to linear growth (r = 0.9290) than exponential (r = 0.9161). Literature on venture capital research has increased its growth in the last 43 years at a rate of 7.9% per year, with a production that doubles its size every 9.1 years. The transience index was 79.91%, which indicates that most of the scientific production is due to a lot of authors with a small number of publications on the research topic. Bradford´s law shows that the scientific production in this area is widely distributed in multiple journals, and Lotka’s law indicates that the author’s distribution is heavily concentrated on small producers. The United States of America (USA) and the University of Pennsylvania present the highest production, contributing 31.22% and 1.63% of the total production of research on venture capital.The venture capital task has undergone a linear growth, with a very high rate of transience, which indicates the presence of numerous authors who sporadically publish on this topic. No evidence of a saturation point was observed in the scientific production analyzed, which makes it possible to conclude that the research in venture capital will continue to be in demand by the scientific community.The aim of this study is to explore the relevance of scientific production on venture capital using bibliometric and mapping tools.We performed a search in Scopus, involving any document published between 1978 and 2020. We used bibliometric indicators to explore documents production, dispersion, distribution, time of duplication, and annual growth, as Price’s law of scientific literature growth, Lotka’s law, the transient index, and the Bradford model. We also calculated the participation index of the different countries and institutions. Finally, we explored the co-occurrence and thematic networks for the most frequently used terms in venture capital research through bibliometric mapping.A total of 1,230 original articles were collected from the timeframe 1978–2020. The model confirms that Price’s law is not fulfilled. Scientific production was better adjusted to linear growth (r = 0.9290) than exponential (r = 0.9161). Literature on venture capital research has increased its growth in the last 43 years at a rate of 7.9% per year, with a production that doubles its size every 9.1 years. The transience index was 79.91%, which indicates that most of the scientific production is due to a lot of authors with a small number of publications on the research topic. Bradford´s law shows that the scientific production in this area is widely distributed in multiple journals, and Lotka’s law indicates that the author’s distribution is heavily concentrated on small producers. The United States of America (USA) and the University of Pennsylvania present the highest production, contributing 31.22% and 1.63% of the total production of research on venture capital.The venture capital task has undergone a linear growth, with a very high rate of transience, which indicates the presence of numerous authors who sporadically publish on this topic. No evidence of a saturation point was observed in the scientific production analyzed, which makes it possible to conclude that the research in venture capital will continue to be in demand by the scientific community

La esclerosis lateral amiotrófica (ELA) desde la Atención Primaria. Epidemiología y características clínico-asistenciales

La ELA es una enfermedad poco frecuente en atención primaria (AP), representa un desafío para el médico de familia especialmente en atención domiciliaria. Objetivo Conocer la incidencia y prevalencia de la ELA en un área de gestión de AP, las características clínicas y la utilización de recursos sanitarios. Diseño Estudio observacional. Emplazamiento Dirección de AP Costa de Ponent, Región Sanitaria Metropolitana Sur, Barcelona, Cataluña, España. Participantes Pacientes con ELA ≥18 años diagnosticados hasta el 01/03/2017. Mediciones principales Edad, sexo, características: forma de inicio (espinal, bulbar, otras), intervalo entre inicio de síntomas y diagnóstico, portadores gastrostomía percutánea, ventilación no invasiva o invasiva. Identificación en AP como paciente crónico complejo o con necesidades paliativas. Inclusión en programas de atención domiciliaria (PAD). Modelo de atención hospitalario. Resultados Ochenta y un pacientes, edad media 65,6 años (±11,7), varones 49,4%. Forma de inicio: espinal 69%, bulbar 21%, otras 4%. Intervalo entre inicio de síntomas y diagnóstico 12 meses. Identificados como paciente crónico complejo o con necesidades paliativas 13,6%, incluidos en PAD 29 pacientes (35,8%). Atendidos en modelo hospitalario integral 79 pacientes (97,5%). Prevalencia 6,1/100.000 habitantes en 2017. Incidencia anual entre 1,2 casos/100.000 habitantes/año en 2012 y 3,5 casos/100.000 habitantes/año en 2016. Conclusiones Utilizar gastrostomía percutánea en la ELA favorece la identificación como paciente crónico complejo o con necesidades paliativas e inclusión en PAD. Utilizar ventilación no invasiva favorece la inclusión en PAD. Los datos de incidencia y prevalencia de ELA son superiores a los descritos previamente en la misma área. Es necesaria la identificación precoz de estos pacientes en los modelos de atención a la cronicidad en equipos de AP

An evaluation of the SENTiFIT 270 analyser for quantitation of faecal haemoglobin in the investigation of patients with suspected colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: An evaluation of SENTiFIT® 270 (Sentinel Diagnostics, Italy; Sysmex, Spain) analyser for the quantitation of faecal haemoglobin (f-Hb) was performed. METHODS: The analytical imprecision, linearity, carry over and f-Hb stability were determined. Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy was performed on 487 patients. RESULTS: Within-run and between-run imprecision ranged 1.7%-5.1% and 3.8%-6.2%, respectively. Linearity studies revealed a mean recovery of 101.1% (standard deviation, 6.7%) for all dilutions. No carry over was detected below 7650 μg Hb/g faeces. Decay of f-Hb in refrigerated samples ranged 0.2%-0.5% per day. f-Hb in patients with advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACRN) (colorectal cancer [CRC] plus advanced adenoma [AA]) were significantly higher than from those with a normal colonoscopy. Sensitivity for ACRN at f-Hb cutoffs from 10 to 60 μg Hb/g faeces ranged from 28.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.7%-37.2%) to 46.5% (95% CI, 38.1%-55%), the specificity ranged from 85% (95% CI, 82.3%-87.3%) to 93.2% (95% CI, 91.2%-94.8%), positive predictive values for detecting CRC and AA ranged from 11.6% (95% CI, 7.6%-17.2%) to 20.6% (95% CI, 13.3%-30.3%) and from 34.7% (95% CI, 28.1%-42%) to 42.3% (95% CI, 32.4%-52.7%), respectively, and the negative predictive value for ACRN ranged from 90.2% (95% CI, 87.9%-92.2%) to 88.4% (95% CI, 86%-90.4%). Using two samples per patient sensitivity increased with a slight decrease in specificity. CONCLUSIONS: The analytical and clinical performances of SENTiFIT assay demonstrate a specific and accurate test for detecting ACRN in symptomatic patients and those undergoing surveillance. KEYWORDS: adenoma; analyser evaluation; colorectal cancer; faecal haemoglobin; faecal immunochemical tes

Clinical utility of one versus two faecal immunochemical test samples in the detection of advanced colorectal neoplasia in symptomatic patients

The utility of faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) in assessment of symptomatic patients with lower gastrointestinal symptoms has not been well explored. The aims of this study were to evaluate the diagnostic yield for advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACRN) in symptomatic patients using the first of two FIT samples (FIT/1) and the higher concentration of two FIT samples (FIT/max). METHODS: Samples from two consecutive bowel motions from 208 symptomatic patients who required colonoscopy were analysed using the HM-JACKarc analyser (Kyowa Medex Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). Patients were categorised into two groups: patients with any ACRN and individuals with other diagnoses or normal colonoscopy. RESULTS: Colonoscopy detected ACRN in 29 patients. In these patients, FIT/1 and FIT/max were significantly higher than in patients with low-risk adenoma (p=0.006 and p=0.024), other findings (p=0.002 and p=0.002) and normal colonoscopy (p<0.001 and p<0.001). The areas under the curves (AUC) of FIT/1 and FIT/max were 0.71 and 0.69, respectively. Undetectable FIT/1 rules out 96.6% of ACRN and the specificity was 10.6%. Increasing the FIT/1 cut-off to 10 μg Hb/g faeces, sensitivity and specificity were 34.5% and 87.2%, respectively. Similar results were obtained using FIT/max with 20 μg Hb/g faeces cut-off, providing a sensitivity and specificity of 34.5% and 85.6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Undetectable FIT is a good strategy to rule-out ACRN in symptomatic patients. The diagnostic yield of collecting two samples for FIT can be achieved with one sample, but a lower faecal haemoglobin concentrations (f-Hb) cut-off is required

Therapeutic effects of telomerase in mice with pulmonary fibrosis induced by damage to the lungs and short telomeres

Pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal lung disease characterized by fibrotic foci and inflammatory infiltrates. Short telomeres can impair tissue regeneration and are found both in hereditary and sporadic cases. We show here that telomerase expression using AAV9 vectors shows therapeutic effects in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis owing to a low-dose bleomycin insult and short telomeres. AAV9 preferentially targets regenerative alveolar type II cells (ATII). AAV9-Tert-treated mice show improved lung function and lower inflammation and fibrosis at 1-3 weeks after viral treatment, and improvement or disappearance of the fibrosis at 8 weeks after treatment. AAV9-Tert treatment leads to longer telomeres and increased proliferation of ATII cells, as well as lower DNA damage, apoptosis, and senescence. Transcriptome analysis of ATII cells confirms downregulation of fibrosis and inflammation pathways. We provide a proof-of-principle that telomerase activation may represent an effective treatment for pulmonary fibrosis provoked or associated with short telomeres.We are indebted to D Megias for microscopy analysis, to J Mun˜ oz and F Garcı´a for hydroxiproline analysis as well as to CNIO Histopathological Unit. The research was funded by project SAF2013- 45111-R of Societal Changes Programme of the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness (MINECO) co-financed through the European Fund of Regional Development (FEDER), Fundacio´n Botı´n and Banco Santander (Santander Universities Global Division) and Roche Extending the Innova- tion Network Program (EIN) Academia Partnering Programme.S

Impact of Early Non-Invasive Ventilation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Background and objective: Forced vital capacity (FVC) less than 50% of predicted is one of the main parameters used for Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) initiation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Recent studies suggest that higher values of FVC could be considered as a threshold. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether early use of NIV improves the prognosis of ALS patients compared with standard initiation. Methods: This is a randomized, parallel, multicenter, open-label, controlled clinical trial, with recruitment at the ALS outpatient multidisciplinary units of six Spanish hospitals. Patients were included when their FVC reached the 75% threshold and were randomized by computer, stratifying by center in an allocation ratio of 1:1 to Early NIV (FVC below 75%) or Standard NIV (FVC below 50%) initiation. The primary outcome was time to death or tracheostomy. Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01641965. Results: Between May 2012 and June 2014, 42 patients were randomized to two groups, 20 to Early NIV and 22 to Standard NIV initiation. We found differences in survival in favor of the intervention group: an incidence of mortality (2.68 [1.87-5.50] vs. 3.33 [1.34-4.80] person-months) and a median survival (25.2 vs. 19.4 months), although without reaching statistical significance (p = 0.267). Conclusions: This trial did not reach the primary endpoint of survival; nevertheless, it is the first Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to demonstrate the benefits of early NIV in slowing the decline of respiratory muscle strength and reducing adverse events. Although not all the results reached statistical significance, all the analyzed data favor early NIV. In addition, this study demonstrates good tolerance and compliance with early NIV without quality of sleep impairment. These data reinforce the early respiratory evaluation of ALS patients and NIV initiation with an FVC of around 75%

Integrative epigenomics in Sjögren´s syndrome reveals novel pathways and a strong interaction between the HLA, autoantibodies and the interferon signature

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and damage of exocrine salivary and lacrimal glands. The etiology of SS is complex with environmental triggers and genetic factors involved. By conducting an integrated multi-omics study, we confirmed a vast coordinated hypomethylation and overexpression effects in IFN-related genes, what is known as the IFN signature. Stratified and conditional analyses suggest a strong interaction between SS-associated HLA genetic variation and the presence of Anti-Ro/SSA autoantibodies in driving the IFN epigenetic signature and determining SS. We report a novel epigenetic signature characterized by increased DNA methylation levels in a large number of genes enriched in pathways such as collagen metabolism and extracellular matrix organization. We identified potential new genetic variants associated with SS that might mediate their risk by altering DNA methylation or gene expression patterns, as well as disease-interacting genetic variants that exhibit regulatory function only in the SS population. Our study sheds new light on the interaction between genetics, autoantibody profiles, DNA methylation and gene expression in SS, and contributes to elucidate the genetic architecture of gene regulation in an autoimmune population

Personal and Emotional Factors of Nursing Professionals Related to Coping with End-of-Life Care: A Cross-Sectional Study

The death of a patient can be a traumatic event, causing emotional and psychological distress in professional nurses and potentially hampering the quality of their care. Optimal selfperceived coping with death involves valuing these difficult situations as challenges and actively coping with work-related stress during the care of the dying patient. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess Spanish nurses’ self-perceived competence with patient death and investigate its relationship with their personality traits, anxiety and fear of death. A cross-sectional study based on a web-based survey was conducted. A sample of 534 Spanish nurses provided socio-demographic information and answered validated questionnaires. Most participants perceived their coping with death as optimal. Men and nurses older than 31 years coped better with death. Professionals with an optimal self-perception showed significantly lower scores on all personality dimensions evaluated, while a higher level of the anxiety trait predicted worse coping. Although with medium explanatory power, psychoticism, anxiety, and fear of death were the main predictors of the development of optimal coping with death among Spanish nurses. These characteristics together with information from the work environment and evidence-based practice could help to develop better routines and contexts of care for nurses working in end-of-life care