1,720,971 research outputs found
Investigation of a short interspersed nuclear element polymorphic site in the porcine vertnin gene: allele frequencies and association study with meat quality, carcass and production traits in Italian Large White pigs
Full text linkA 291 bp short interspersed nuclear element (SINE) insertion in the porcine vertnin (VRTN) gene on porcine chromosome 7 was shown to affect vertebral number and several production traits: allele Q (with the insertion) increases vertebral number compared to the wild type allele (WT, without insertion). In this study we genotyped this polymorphism in eight pig breeds (Italian Large White, Italian Duroc, Italian Landrace, Cinta Senese, Mora Romagnola, Casertana, Apulo Calabrese, and Nero Siciliano) and in Italian wild boars to evaluate allele frequency distribution of the two alleles. Allele Q was the most frequent in Italian Landrace and Italian Duroc (0.738 and 0.545, respectively) whereas it was the less frequent in all other breeds and was absent in wild boars. Association study was carried out in two Italian Large White samples. These two groups of animals were constituted by performance tested pigs for which estimated breeding values (EBV) and random residuals (RR) for several traits (average daily gain, back fat thickness, feed:gain ratio, lean cuts and ham weight) were calculated: i) 270 pigs chosen without any criteria (random group), that were also measured for several meat quality traits; ii) 560 gilts with extreme and divergent EBV for back fat thickness. For these animals vertebral number was not available. Results of the association analyses indicated that allele Q was associated with a lower ham weight, confirming indirectly, the negative correlation reported by other studies between vertebral number and this trait. No other trait was associated with the analysed VRTN polymorphism
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
Next Generation Semiconductor Based-Sequencing of a Nutrigenetics Target Gene (GPR120) and Association with Growth Rate in Italian Large White Pigs
No full textThe GPR120 gene (also known as FFAR4 or O3FAR1) encodes for a functional omega-3 fatty acid receptor/sensor that mediates potent insulin sensitizing effects by repressing macrophage-induced tissue inflammation. For its functional role, GPR120 could be considered a potential target gene in animal nutrigenetics. In this work we resequenced the porcine GPR120 gene by high throughput Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing of amplified fragments obtained from 8 DNA pools derived, on the whole, from 153 pigs of different breeds/populations (two Italian Large White pools, Italian Duroc, Italian Landrace, Casertana, Pietrain, Meishan, and wild boars). Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), two synonymous substitutions and one in the putative 3 '-untranslated region (g.114765469C>T), were identified and their allele frequencies were estimated by sequencing reads count. The g.114765469C>T SNP was also genotyped by PCR-RFLP confirming estimated frequency in Italian Large White pools. Then, this SNP was analyzed in two Italian Large White cohorts using a selective genotyping approach based on extreme and divergent pigs for back fat thickness (BFT) estimated breeding value (EBV) and average daily gain (ADG) EBV. Significant differences of allele and genotype frequencies distribution was observed between the extreme ADG-EBV groups (P<0.001) whereas this marker was not associated with BFT-EBV
Study on genetic parameters of subcutaneous fatty acid composition in Italian Large White pig breed
No full textThe fat content and fatty acid composition of porcine meat and carcass influence nutritional value of meat and various techno- logical aspects of meat and carcass quality. Variation in lipid composition has an important effect on firmness of the fat in meat, especially the subcutaneous and intermuscular (carcass fats) but also the intramuscular (marbling) fat. Moreover, as a major source of energy and as structural components of mem- branes, fatty acids are essential for life. The aim of the study was to estimate genetic parameters for backfat fatty acid composition (FAC) and intramuscular fat content (IMF) of semimembranosus muscle in a sample of 949 Sib-tested Italian Large White pigs. Backfat tissue and semimembranosus muscle tissue samples were collected at slaughter and stored at -80°C. IMF content and backfat FAC were determined by gas chromatography and analy- sis of the fatty acid methyl esters. Heritability (h2) and genetic correlations between subcutaneous fatty acids composition and carcass and meat quality traits were estimated using the restrict- ed maximum likelihood methodology applied to a multiple-trait Animal Model. The model was: Yijklm = μ + sexi + dj + b1ak + animall + eijklm where Y = analysed traits; μ = general mean; sex = fixed effect of sex; d = fixed effect of slaugher day; b1 = regression coefficient of the fixed effect of age at slaughtering (ak); animal = random additive effect of each animal; eijklm = error of the model. Results showed that the estimate of h2 for FAC were of moderate magnitude. This study suggest that back- fat FAC is genetically correlated with carcass quality traits and the selection for carcass and meat quality traits produces a cor- related response on FAC of subcutaneous fat. The reduction in fat covering tissue is associated with an increase of lipid insatu- ration and a decrease in subcutaneous fat firmness that deter- mines technological problems in dry cured ham quality. Very low genetic correlations were found between IMF content and back- fat fatty acids. The results found suggest the possibility of genet- ic improvement of FAC of subcutaneous fat by a partial substitu- tion of saturated fatty acids with monounsaturated ones. This would not hinder the technological characteristics of hams for seasoning while improving its eating quality
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
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
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