1,721,087 research outputs found
Comparison of DNA probe and cytogenetic methods for identifying field collected Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes.
No full textAbstract. A recently developed DNA probe method was compared with the standard
cytogenetic method for identifying the species of individual mosquitoes in the Anopheles
gambiae complex. The complex consists of 6 morphologically indistinguishable sibling
species that include the major African malaria vectors. Half-gravid, field collected mosquitoes
were split into 2 portions: the abdomen was preserved for ovarian nurse cell
cytotaxonomy and the head/thorax portion was desiccated forDNAextraction. Cytogenetic
examination ofthe Kenya specimens showed 88 An. gambiae and 108 An, arabiensis. The
Zimbabwe specimens consisted of6 An. gambiae and 55 An. quadriannulatits. All samples
of the 3 species were polymorphic for the major chromosomal inversions previously recorded
in field specimens from eastern and southern Africa, indicating that the collections
reflected natural levels ofintraspecific variation in the field populations sampled. Approximately
97% of the cytologically identified mosquitoes were also identified to species by
the DNA probe method, and in every case the DNA probe and cytogenetic methods of
species identification produced concordant results
Genetic population structure of Anopheles gambiae in Equatorial Guinea.
Full text linkBACKGROUND: Patterns of genetic structure among mosquito vector populations in islands have received particular attention as these are considered potentially suitable sites for experimental trials on transgenic-based malaria control strategies. In this study, levels of genetic differentiation have been estimated between populations of Anopheles gambiae s.s. from the islands of Bioko and Annobón, and from continental Equatorial Guinea (EG) and Gabon. METHODS: Genotyping of 11 microsatellite loci located in chromosome 3 was performed in three island samples (two in Bioko and one in Annobón) and three mainland samples (two in EG and one in Gabon). Four samples belonged to the M molecular form and two to the S-form. Microsatellite data was used to estimate genetic diversity parameters, perform demographic equilibrium tests and analyse population differentiation. RESULTS: High levels of genetic differentiation were found between the more geographically remote island of Annobón and the continent, contrasting with the shallow differentiation between Bioko island, closest to mainland, and continental localities. In Bioko, differentiation between M and S forms was higher than that observed between island and mainland samples of the same molecular form. CONCLUSION: The observed patterns of population structure seem to be governed by the presence of both physical (the ocean) and biological (the M-S form discontinuity) barriers to gene flow. The significant degree of genetic isolation between M and S forms detected by microsatellite loci located outside the "genomic islands" of speciation identified in A. gambiae s.s. further supports the hypothesis of on-going incipient speciation within this species. The implications of these findings regarding vector control strategies are discussed
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
Clarification of anomalies in the application of a 2La molecular karyotyping method for the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae
Full text linkBACKGROUND:Chromosomal inversions have been considered to be potentially important barriers to gene flow in many groups of animals through their effect on recombination suppression in heterokaryotypic individuals. Inversions can also enhance local adaptation in different groups of organisms and may often represent species-specific differences among closely related taxa. We conducted a study to characterize the 2La inversion karyotypes of An. gambiae sensu stricto mosquitoes sampled from the Kilombero Valley (Tanzania) using a newly designed PCR assay.RESULTS:We frequently encountered a (687 bp) fragment which was only present in the Kilombero Valley populations. Laboratory crossing between An. gambiae s.s. from Njage (Tanzania) and Kisumu (Western Kenya) populations resulted in F1 offspring carrying the observed fragment. Karyotype analysis did not indicate differences in 2La region chromosome morphology between individuals carrying the PCR fragments, the 207 bp fragment, or the 687 bp fragement.CONCLUSION:The observed insertion/deletion polymorphism within the region amplified by the 2La PCR diagnostic test may confound the interpretation of this assay and should be well considered in order to maintain an acceptable level of reliability in studies using this assay to describe the distribution and frequency of the 2La inversion among natural populations of An. gambiae s.
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
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