132,424 research outputs found
Maculabatis Haque & White & Cavanagh & Biswas & Hossain 2021
No full textGenus Maculabatis The new genus Maculabatis, as well as several new species, was recently assigned to a group of morphologically similar stingray species (Last et al. 2016c; Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 2016). The recently described Maculabatis bineeshi was recorded in Bangladesh for the first time in this study (Figure 3), with a total of 21 specimens recorded, both morphologically (Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 2016) and genetically. M. arabica (Figure 4) was genetically identified from one specimen and morphologically identified from another 18 specimens. In addition, seven specimens that were morphologically most consistent with M. macrura were examined. M. macrura has only recently been established as a valid species, and is morphologically very similar to M. gerrardi (Last et al. 2016a), with distinguishing characteristics poorly understood. Further genetic studies are therefore recommended to assign these specimens to the correct species.Published as part of Haque, Alifa Bintha, White, William T., Cavanagh, Rachel D., Biswas, Aparna Riti & Hossain, Nazia, 2021, New records of elasmobranchs in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh: further taxonomic research is essential, pp. 211-230 in Zootaxa 5027 (2) on page 217, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5027.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/544823
The future, new serotypes, new methods of diagnosis, and other methods of control
No full textThe paper reviews the new methods of diagnosis and control of Avian Pneumovirus infections in birds
MeSH term explosion and author rank improve expert recommendations
No full textInformation overload is an often-cited phenomenon that reduces the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of scientists. One challenge for scientists is to find appropriate collaborators in their research. The literature describes various solutions to the problem of expertise location, but most current approaches do not appear to be very suitable for expert recommendations in biomedical research. In this study, we present the development and initial evaluation of a vector space model-based algorithm to calculate researcher similarity using four inputs: 1) MeSH terms of publications; 2) MeSH terms and author rank; 3) exploded MeSH terms; and 4) exploded MeSH terms and author rank. We developed and evaluated the algorithm using a data set of 17,525 authors and their 22,542 papers. On average, our algorithms correctly predicted 2.5 of the top 5/10 coauthors of individual scientists. Exploded MeSH and author rank outperformed all other algorithms in accuracy, followed closely by MeSH and author rank. Our results show that the accuracy of MeSH term-based matching can be enhanced with other metadata such as author rank
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
Relaxin becomes upregulated during prostate cancer progression to androgen independence and is negatively regulated by androgens
No full textVanessa C. Thompson, Tanis G.W. Morris, Dawn R. Cochrane, John Cavanagh, Latif A. Wafa, Tatyana Hamilton, Shunyou Wang, Ladan Fazli, Martin E. Gleave, and Colleen C. Nelso
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
No full textBoth spending and tax policies have been implemented in the United States with the goal of stimulating private sector research and development (R&D). Karier questions whether current R&D policy, especially the research and experimentation tax credit, can contribute to closing the gap between nondefense expenditures on R&D in the United States and such expenditures in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. He also explores possible changes to our current R&D policy to make it more effective.
Parasite and host factors that drive heterogeneity in human malaria
No full textMalaria affects over half of the world’s population and causes half a million deaths
annually, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Four species of the apicomplexan
Plasmodium parasite (P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. vivax) are
responsible for malaria in Africa. Both parasite and host factors contribute to
heterogeneity in the risk of developing malaria, clinical manifestation of the disease as
well as the number of treatments required to clear parasites. The epidemiology of the
different species, and the role of exposure to mixed-species Plasmodium co-infections
in generating heterogeneity remains poorly studied. Being an obligate intracellular
parasite the blood-stage life cycle of the Plasmodium parasite takes place in the
erythrocytes of the human host. The surfaces of these erythrocytes are the medically
important ABO blood group antigens that have been reported to influence the
susceptibility or otherwise of an individual developing severe malaria. In this thesis I
have considered the contributions of the species of Plasmodium parasites and the ABO
blood group of the host in driving heterogeneity in human malaria.
The aims of this thesis were to determine:
(i) the seroepidemiology of the different Plasmodium species in two
mesoendemic African populations (Zimbabwe and Sudan);
(ii) to determine if heterogeneity in clinical presentations of malaria (history
of fever, body temperature and parasitaemia) and response to drug
treatment is related to exposure to single vs. mixed-Plasmodium species
infection;
(iii) the spatial and temporal dynamics of malaria prevalence and Plasmodium
species distribution in a mesoendemic village in eastern Sudan;
(iv) gene expression changes in 3D7 P. falciparum parasites as they infect
erythrocytes of different ABO blood group donors.
For aims (i to iii) I developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using antigens
derived from Plasmodium merozoite surface protein 1, also known as MSP-119, to
detect IgG antibodies to all four malaria parasite species in Zimbabwean and Sudanese
populations. In the Zimbabwean study, plasma samples from 100 individuals each
(aged 5-18 years) from three villages (Burma Valley, Mutoko and Chiredzi) were
screened for exposure to Plasmodium parasites. In Daraweesh, Sudan, plasma samples
from 333 individuals (aged 1-74 years) who had experienced a first malaria episode
between 1990 and 2000 were recruited into the study. For study aim (iv) I cultured a
single clone of 3D7 P. falciparum parasite using erythrocytes of individuals of
different ABO blood group types, harvested parasite RNA and sequenced it to
determine gene expression changes in the different hosts.
I showed that human IgG antibodies to MSP-119 antigens of the four Plasmodium
species are species-specific and do not cross-react. In both study populations almost
all antibody responses involved P. falciparum, and single-species responses were
almost exclusively directed against P. falciparum antigens. Mixed-species responses
accounted for more than a third of responses, and were associated with chloroquine
treatment failure, with significantly high proportion of individuals with mixed-species
infections requiring repeated treatment with chloroquine/sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine
for parasite clearance. This finding highlights the need for a sensitive method for
detecting mixed-species malaria infections to enable the assessment of the true
prevalence and magnitude of the disease burden caused by the non-falciparum species
in endemic populations. Drug treatment failures associated with mixed species
infections have significant impact on malaria morbidity and mortality. Treatment
failure or partial parasite clearance has the potential to allow dormant liver stages of
P. vivax and P. ovale to become a source of parasite reservoir for onward transmission.
Furthermore, untreated low-grade chronic infections caused by P. malariae have been
reported to cause systemic diseases many years after the primary infection. Spatial
analysis of malaria epidemiology showed that malaria parasite transmission in
Daraweesh was focal, and that infections are not randomly distributed in the village.
Two space-time clusters of significantly increased malaria risk were identified (1993-
1999, and 1998-1999) with marked variations between households, but little or no
variation in the species of Plasmodium over time. Similarly, multiple significant
clusters were identified for the parasite species; three for P. falciparum, two for P.
vivax and P. malariae, and one for P. ovale. These clusters had overlapping time
frames, with some of the species significantly infecting the same households. This
suggests that even in a small geographic area malaria transmission shows
heterogeneity, and that such data can provide useful information to guide malaria
control efforts. Finally, I demonstrated that 3D7 P. falciparum parasite growth was
similar in the erythrocytes of different blood group donors, and provide preliminary
data to show that the non-coding RNA gene, PF3D7_1370800, is differentially
expressed in blood group A donors relative to blood groups B and O donors. Further
research is needed to better understand the role of this gene in malaria pathology.
All together, these findings will aid malaria researchers and other stakeholders in
making informed choices about tools for diagnosing Plasmodium species, and control
programmes targeting eradication of malaria caused by all Plasmodium species, as is
the case of incorporating these findings into current malaria research in Sudan
When is the Kadowaki-Woods ratio universal?: Supplementary Material
No full textThe supplementary material contains details of the derivations.Sections:I. Scattering and the self-energy in arbitrary bandstructures systemsa. The Two-Band Caseb. The Spectral Density FunctionII. Interband scatteringa. Effects of significant interband scattering on the intraband self-energy componentsIII. Derivation of the conductivity formul
Second order project management
No full textIf you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got, and if it's not good enough, you need to do something else. As project complexity increases, so too does the need to do new things. The existing Project Management tools – examples being Earned Value Management, PRINCE2, Lifecycle Management, PMBOK® – are incredibly useful; but they were designed for linear project development in a stable, understood environment. We term them 'First Order'. Second Order Project Management (PM) goes beyond, addressing the issues of a complex, unstable, uncertain environment with all its associated difficulties. Second Order PM has to address four major issues: the conspiracy of optimism, inappropriate contracting models, the application of methods and tools capable of dealing with complexity, and the need for creative, inspirational, adhocratic leadership. These problems are compounded by the need to convince executive sponsors from different disciplines to invest in the necessary process improvement – this book is designed to help alleviate the frustration that every member of the profession has experienced when trying to gain such approval. Illustrated by interviews with an international group of very senior managers responsible for managing highly complex projects, Michael Cavanagh explains why there is nothing magical, or even complicated, about Second Order PM. The techniques discussed include aspects of System Thinking, Experiential Learning and its application, Ethics and Governance, Stakeholder Relationships, Appropriate Contracting Models, Outcome-driven Management and Leadership Behaviour, all recognised as increasingly necessary in direct proportion to the complexity of the project at hand. Series Editor: Professor Darren Dalcher
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