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    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

    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

    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

    Author Index

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    DNA cleavage induced by photoexcited antimalarial drugs: A photophysical and photobiological study

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    The interactions and the photosensitizing activity of three antimalarial drugs quinine (Q), mefloquine (MQ) and quinacrine (QC) toward DNA was studied. Evidences obtained by absorption and emission spectroscopy and by linear dichroism measurements indicate that these derivatives bind the macromolecule with a high affinity (binding constants Ka approximately 10(5) M(-1)). The absorption characteristics of the drugs changed markedly by addition of DNA and their fluorescence was quenched with rate constants higher than that of diffusion. The geometry of binding involves predominantly the intercalation into the double helix. The DNA photocleavage properties of antimalarials was investigated using plasmid DNA as a model, at different [drug]/ [DNA] ratios. The results indicate that mainly MQ and Q are able to induce significant photodamage to DNA. In particular the marked effect of the former drug is evidenced after treatment of photosensitized DNA by two base excision repair enzymes, formamydo-pyrimidine glycosilase (Fpg) and Endonuclease III (Endo III). From a mechanistic point of view, experiments carried out in different experimental conditions indicate that these drugs photoinduce DNA damage through singlet oxygen and/or radical cation production. These findings are further supported by the determination of two photoproducts of 2'-deoxyguanosine, which are diagnostic for Type I and Type II pathways, namely 2,2-diamino(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)-4-amino-5(2H)-oxazolone and (R,S)4-hydroxy-8-oxo-4,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (4-OH-8-oxo-dGuo). Laser flash photolysis experiments carried out in the presence of DNA indicates that the excitation produces mainly the triplet state for Q and the triplet and radical cation for QC. Moreover the singlet and triplet states and radical cations of the drugs are quenched by 2'-deoxyguanosine monophosphate. The absorbances of these transients decrease with increasing DNA concentration

    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We 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

    Photosensitization of DNA strand breaks by three phenothiazine derivatives

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    The interaction and the photosensitizing activity of three phenothiazine derivatives, fluphenazine hydrochloride (FP), thioridazine hydrochloride (TR), and perphenazine (PP), toward DNA were studied. Evidences obtained from various spectroscopic studies such as fluorimetric and linear dichroism measurements indicate that these derivatives bind to the DNA at least in two ways: intercalation and external stacking on the DNA helix, depending on their relative concentrations. Irradiation of supercoiled plasmid DNA in the presence of these phenothiazines leads to single strand breaks. The DNA photocleavage appears to be due to externally bound molecules rather than to those intercalated. The highest photocleavage activity was observed with PP and TR whereas FP was less efficient. The efficiency of the photocleavage in aerated and deaerated solutions does not change thus indicating that an involvement of singlet oxygen can be excluded. Primer extension analysis of plasmid DNA irradiated in the presence of phenothiazines indicates that photocleavage of DNA occurs predominantly at Gua and Cyt residues. Laser flash experiments carried out in the presence of 2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate reveal an efficient electron transfer between the nucleotide and the radical cations produced by photoionization of the phenothiazines. In the presence of DNA, an electron transfer process takes place within the laser pulse from the lowest singlet state of phenothiazines to the DNA bases; the time-resolved measurements showed that the back-electron transfer is a negligible decay pathway for the charged species

    Photophysical and Photobiological Behavior of Antimalarial Drugs in Aqueous Solutions

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    This article describes the results of a combined photophysical and photobiological study aimed at understanding the phototoxicity mechanism of the antimalarial drugs quinine (Q), quinacrine (QC) and mefloquine (MQ). Photophysical experiments were carried out in aqueous solutions by stationary and time-resolved fluorimetry and by laser flash photolysis to obtain information on the various decay pathways of the excited states of the drugs and on transient species formed on irradiation. The results obtained showed that fluorescence and intersystem crossing account for all the adsorbed quanta for Q and MQ (quantum yield of about 0.1 and 0.9, respectively) and only for 24% in the case of QC, which has a negligible fluorescence quantum yield (0.001). Laser flash photolysis experiments evidenced, for QC and MQ, the occurrence of photoionization processes leading to the formation of the radical cations of the drugs. The effects of tryptophan and histidine on the excited states and transient species of the three drugs were also investigated. In parallel, the photoactivity of the antimalarial drugs was investigated under UV irradiation on various biological targets through a series of in vitro assays in the presence and in the absence of oxygen. Phototoxicity on 3T3 cultured fibroblasts and lipid photoperoxidation were observed for all the drugs. The photodamage produced by the drugs was also evaluated on proteins by measuring the photosensitized cross-linking of spectrin. The combined approaches were proven to be useful for understanding the mechanism of phototoxicity induced by the antimalarial drugs
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