1,720,963 research outputs found
Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in the pig industry of Yucatan, Mexico
Get PDFToxoplasmosis is a worldwide distributed parasitic disease caused by the zoonotic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii. Serological studies have estimated that more than 30% of the human population has been exposed to this protozoan. T. gondii is considered a leading cause of death attributed to foodborne illness. The consumption of infected pork meat is suggested to be an important source for human infection. However, the prevalence of T. gondii in pigs vary greatly between countries, the reasons for this heterogeneity has been addressed to the differences in climate distribution, environments, husbandry systems and fam management. The geographical location of this study is Yucatan, a state located in the south-east of Mexico. Yucatan is considered an endemic area of toxoplasmosis; the last National Seroepidemiological Health Survey (NSHS) revealed more than 70% of prevalence among the human population. Numerous studies suggested that the consumption of pork in this geographical area may be a major source of T. gondii. The aims of this study were to investigate the disease levels in the pig industry of Yucatan, assess an in-home ELISA widely used in this area (ELISA kit Human- GmbH, WB), study the risk factors associated with the disease in theses pig farms and evaluate the contamination with T. gondii in pork meat intended for human consumption. To do that, swine blood samples were collected through a cross-sectional age stratified opportunistic sampling of 12 farms across the state during the year 2014. Farm management and characteristics were obtained by interviewing farmers. In addition, meat and blood samples were collected from a local abattoir from 2013 to 2015. Anti - T. gondii IgG antibody levels were investigated with the well validated MAT (Modified Agglutination Test), with an ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) for use on pig serum (ID Screen ®, IDVet) and with the gold standard Dye test. The overall seroprevalence was 1.4% (95%CI: 0.6%-2.7%) among 632 pigs sampled. This seroprevalence increased with age (p < 0.05), reaching the 11.5% (95% CI: 2.5%-30%) in pigs older than 20 weeks. The seroprevalence was even higher, 17.8% (95% CI: 6%-37%), in slaughtered animals (n=34). In addition, T. gondii prevalence was investigated using a highly sensitive nested PCR protocol targeting the SAG1 gene. PCR diagnosis revealed the high frequency of 21.2% (CI: 18%-24.6%) of T. gondii DNA circulating in the blood of these pigs (n=632). Furthermore, MLST (Multi-Locus Sequence Typing) of four alleles (SAG1, SAG2, SAG3 and GRA6) allowed, for first time in Yucatan, genetic diversity to be assessed.Data revealed the presence of high genetic diversity among T. gondii strains of this geographical area with shared alleles to strains from both North and South/Central America origin. Moreover, a relatively high number of pigs presented multiple infections with different T. gondii strains suggesting high levels of T. gondii transmission on the intensive pig farms sampled. The frequency of T. gondii DNA was also investigated in pig tongues sampled at the abattoir of which 38.2% (95% CI: 22%-56.4%) were shown to harbour T. gondii DNA in their tissue. The viability of the parasite was also investigated in the tongues intended for human consumption and a total of 8.8% (95% CI: 1.8%-23%) were shown to have viable T. gondii using a mouse bioassay. However, the agreement between serology, PCR and mouse bioassay was low (k=0.12-0.29). Due to the risk of underestimating T. gondii infection by using solely one diagnostic method, a combination of indirect (serology) and direct methods (PCR or/and bioassay) is preferred for a robust diagnosis. This study was pioneering in using a serological test validated in pigs in the state of Yucatan and the data revealed a much lower prevalence than previously reported (95.8%-100%) in market age pigs (Ortega-Pacheco et al., 2013, Hernández- Cortazar et al., 2016a). Although a more optimistic view is obtained; due to the potential of T. gondii to lead to severe illness, measures to control the disease should still be taken. Furthermore, questionnaire results suggested the need for an improvement to the sanitary management of the pig farms of this geographical area not only to prevent T. gondii transmission but also that of other pathogens of zoonotic significance
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
- …
