1,722,101 research outputs found
Monitoring biological functions of cultured tissues using microdialysis
No full textContinuous monitoring during tissue culture is important for the success of engineered tissue development. It is also challenging due to lack of suitable established monitoring techniques. In this study, microdialysis, a sampling technique for measuring the unbound solute concentrations in the tissues and organs of the living body, was adopted to monitor functional tissue growth in a bioreactor with explanted bovine caudal intervertebral discs (IVD) as the test tissue. Apart from cell metabolic activities, cell and tissue biological functions were investigated for the development of microdialysis for monitoring purposes. Methodologies of microdialysis with large pore size membrane probes for sampling macromolecular bio-functional markers were established. The effects of pumping methods, including 'push', 'pull' or 'push-and-pull', and the effect of the resulting transmembrane pressure on the fluid balance, and the relative recovery of small molecules and of macromolecules (proteins) were experimentally studied. The validity of the internal reference in-situ calibration was examined in detail. It was concluded that a push-and-pull system was the only effective method to eliminate fluid loss or gain. The relative recovery of small solutes was hardly affected by the applied pumping methods; however the relative recovery of macromolecules was significantly influenced by them. The in situ calibration technique using Phenol Red can provide reliable results for small molecules including glucose and lactic acid. Using lOkDa and 70kDa fluorescent dextrans as the internal standard for in situ calibration of large molecules of similar size, it was found that the pull pump system did not work well but that the push-and-pull pumping method did work well. A novel bioreactor system for in vitro IVD culture with static load and microdialysis monitoring was developed. Explanted IVDs were cultured under three different loads for up to 7 days. A single microdialysis probe with 3000 kDa membrane was inserted into each of the IVDs at a defined location. The in situ calibration technique was proved valid in the experiments and membrane fouling was not significant. The tissue metabolism and extracellular matrix turnover during 7 day culture were continuously monitored to investigate the effect of different loads. Microdialysis proved to be a feasible and efficient method for multi-parameter monitoring of tissue culture. Substantial effort was directed towards the identification of functional macromolecular markers in conjunction with microdialysis sampling. Amongst several proteins sampled, chitinase-3-like protein 1 (CHI3L1), a major soluble protein secreted by cultured IVD cells in alginate beads and by cultured IVD explants was identified following its successful isolation. Then it was established as a suitable functional marker. The effect of physico-chemical and mechanical stimuli (e.g. osmolarity, pH, oxygen tension and mechanical load) on secretion of CHI3L1 by cultured IVD cells and chondrocytes in alginate beads and by cultured IVD explant were investigated. CHI3L1 release was sensitive to physico-chemical stimulation. The production of CHI3L1 was directly correlated with the cell metabolism and this could be readily monitored with microdialysis
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
Diminished expression of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase 2 during hepatocarcinogenesis
No full textEnhanced Performance of All-Solid-State Li Metal Battery Based on Polyether Electrolytes with LiNO3 Additive
No full textLithium metal is one of the most promising anode candidates for high-energy-density rechargeable batteries. However, uncontrolled lithium dendrites and other safety issues limit their practical applications. In this work, solid polymer electrolytes based on ethylene oxide and propylene oxide random copolymer (P(EO/PO)) and lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) with lithium nitrate (LiNO3) electrolyte additive are prepared. The LiNO3 is expected to form stable and adequate solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer to regulate the lithium deposition and limit lithium dendrites during cycles. As the results, it is cleared that the addition of LiNO3 to P(EO/PO)-LiFSI-based electrolyte effectively reduces the lithium/electrolyte interface resistance, decreases the polarization voltage during charging and discharging, and improves the cycle stability
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
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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