757 research outputs found
Disruption of brainstem monoaminergic fibre tracts in multiple sclerosis as a putative mechanism for cognitive fatigue:a fixel-based analysis
No full textIn multiple sclerosis (MS), monoaminergic systems are altered as a result of both inflammation-dependent reduced synthesis and direct structural damage. Aberrant monoaminergic neurotransmission is increasingly considered a major contributor to fatigue pathophysiology. In this study, we aimed to compare the integrity of the monoaminergic white matter fibre tracts projecting from brainstem nuclei in a group of patients with MS (n = 68) and healthy controls (n = 34), and to investigate its association with fatigue. Fibre tracts integrity was assessed with the novel fixel-based analysis that simultaneously estimates axonal density, by means of 'fibre density', and white matter atrophy, by means of fibre 'cross section'. We focused on ventral tegmental area, locus coeruleus, and raphe nuclei as the main source of dopaminergic, noradrenergic, and serotoninergic fibres within the brainstem, respectively. Fourteen tracts of interest projecting from these brainstem nuclei were reconstructed using diffusion tractography, and compared by means of the product of fibre-density and cross-section (FDC). Finally, correlations of monoaminergic axonal damage with the modified fatigue impact scale scores were evaluated in MS. Fixel-based analysis revealed significant axonal damage - as measured by FDC reduction - within selective monoaminergic fibre-tracts projecting from brainstem nuclei in MS patients, in comparison to healthy controls; particularly within the dopaminergic-mesolimbic pathway, the noradrenergic-projections to prefrontal cortex, and serotoninergic-projections to cerebellum. Moreover, we observed significant correlations between severity of cognitive fatigue and axonal damage within the mesocorticolimbic tracts projecting from ventral tegmental area, as well as within the locus coeruleus projections to prefrontal cortex, suggesting a potential contribution of dopaminergic and noradrenergic pathways to central fatigue in MS. Our findings support the hypothesis that axonal damage along monoaminergic pathways contributes to the reduction/dysfunction of monoamines in MS and add new information on the mechanisms by which monoaminergic systems contribute to MS pathogenesis and fatigue. This supports the need for further research into monoamines as therapeutic targets aiming to combat and alleviate fatigue in MS.© 2021 T. Carandini, M. Mancini, I. Bogdan, C. Rae, A. Barritt, A. Sethi, N. Harrison, W. Rashid, E. Scarpini, D. Galimberti, M. Bozzali, M. Cercignani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ </p
Open Access to Peer-Reviewed Research through Author/Institution Self-Archiving: Maximizing Research Impact by Maximizing Online Access
No full textAll refereed journals will soon be available online; most of them already are. This means that anyone will be able to access them from any networked desk-top. The literature will all be interconnected by citation, author, and keyword/subject links, allowing for unheard-of power and ease of access and navigability. Successive drafts of pre-refereeing preprints will be linked to the official refereed draft, as well as to any subsequent corrections, revisions, updates, comments, responses, and underlying empirical databases, all enhancing the self-correctiveness, interactivity and productivity of scholarly and scientific research and communication in remarkable new ways. New scientometric indicators of digital impact are also emerging <http://opcit.eprints.org> to chart the online course of knowledge. But there is still one last frontier to cross before science reaches the optimal and the inevitable: Just as there is no longer any need for research or researchers to be constrained by the access-blocking restrictions of paper distribution, there is no longer any need to be constrained by the impact-blocking financial fire-walls of Subscription/Site-License/Pay-Per-View (S/L/P) tolls for this give-away literature. Its author/researchers have always donated their research reports for free (and its referee/researchers have refereed for free), with the sole goal of maximizing their impact on subsequent research (by accessing the eyes and minds of fellow-researchers, present and future) and hence on society. Generic (OAi-compliant) software is now available free so that institutions can immediately create Eprint Archives in which their authors can self-archive all their refereed papers for free for all forever <http://www.eprints.org/>. These interoperable Open Archives <http://www.openarchives.org> will then be harvested into global, jointly searchable "virtual archives" (e.g., <http://arc.cs.odu.edu/>). "Scholarly Skywriting" in this PostGutenberg Galaxy will be dramatically (and measurably) more interactive and productive, spawning its own new digital metrics of productivity and impact, allowing for an online "embryology of knowledge.
Gestão Estratégica da Imagem e da Identidade Organizacional em Instituições de Ensino Superior
No full textEsta pesquisa se propõe a verificar a existência de congruência entre a identidade organizacional e a imagem projetada, percebida pelos públicos relevantes internos, de uma Instituição privada de Ensino Superior de um Estado brasileiro. A pesquisa apóia-se em um estudo de caso de natureza qualitativa e interpretativa por permitir a visão dos atores sobre a realidade organizacional e a sua correspondente imagem institucional. A partir da análise dos conteúdos expressos nas entrevistas individuais e semi-estruturadas realizadas com o público interno definido previamente, foi possível identificar respostas individualizadas e formas diferentes e subjetivas de perceberem a identidade e a imagem da instituição pesquisada. Percebe-se que, muitas vezes, as estratégias de projeção da imagem têm um efeito negativo sobre determinados atores organizacionais por não encontrar congruência com a identidade institucional. Este fato pode estar relacionado à busca incessante das universidades privadas por alunos, em função da competitividade crescente na área de ensino superior
Identification of Type 1 Diabetes-Associated DNA Methylation Variable Positions That Precede Disease Diagnosis
No full textMonozygotic (MZ) twin pair discordance for childhood-onset Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is similar to 50%, implicating roles for genetic and non-genetic factors in the aetiology of this complex autoimmune disease. Although significant progress has been made in elucidating the genetics of T1D in recent years, the non-genetic component has remained poorly defined. We hypothesized that epigenetic variation could underlie some of the non-genetic component of T1D aetiology and, thus, performed an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) for this disease. We generated genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of purified CD14(+) monocytes (an immune effector cell type relevant to T1D pathogenesis) from 15 T1D-discordant MZ twin pairs. This identified 132 different CpG sites at which the direction of the intra-MZ pair DNA methylation difference significantly correlated with the diabetic state, i.e. T1D-associated methylation variable positions (T1D-MVPs). We confirmed these T1D-MVPs display statistically significant intra-MZ pair DNA methylation differences in the expected direction in an independent set of T1D-discordant MZ pairs (P = 0.035). Then, to establish the temporal origins of the T1D-MVPs, we generated two further genome-wide datasets and established that, when compared with controls, T1D-MVPs are enriched in singletons both before (P = 0.001) and at (P = 0.015) disease diagnosis, and also in singletons positive for diabetes-associated autoantibodies but disease-free even after 12 years follow-up (P = 0.0023). Combined, these results suggest that T1D-MVPs arise very early in the etiological process that leads to overt T1D. Our EWAS of T1D represents an important contribution toward understanding the etiological role of epigenetic variation in type 1 diabetes, and it is also the first systematic analysis of the temporal origins of disease-associated epigenetic variation for any human complex disease
O papel da controladoria no suporte ao processo de geração de informações voltadas ao controle e gestão operacional em empresa prestadora de serviços de hemodinâmica: Bibiani Borges Dias ; orientadora, Ilse Maria Beuren
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção.O objetivo do presente estudo consiste em verificar como a controladoria pode dar suporte ao processo de geração de informações voltadas ao controle operacional em uma empresa da área de saúde. A metodologia utilizada quanto ao problema foi a qualitativa, utilizando o estudo de caso para analisar o sistema de informação, as políticas para elaboração do planejamento, os tipos de controles operacionais e indicadores de desempenho para avaliação e acompanhamento das operações de um centro de cardiologia e radiologia intervencionista inserido em um hospital da grande Goiânia. Os dados foram obtidos através de entrevistas realizadas com a gerente administrativa. O trabalho inicia-se com revisão da literatura sobre conceitos de gestão, sistema organizacional, etapas do processo de gestão, enfatizando o planejamento, o controle, e o sistema de informações contábeis e gerenciais. Na seqüência, mostra a origem, a importância, o papel e a influência da controladoria no planejamento e no controle operacional, e a sua responsabilidade pelo sistema de informações gerenciais. Em seguida, apresenta uma proposta de um modelo de controladoria com base na fundamentação teórica e no levantamento e análise das operações e dos controles existentes no Centro de Cardiologia e Radiologia Intervencionista. Conclui propondo algumas recomendações e sugestões quanto aos custos e o faturamento do Centro de Cardiologia e Radiologia Intervencionista
Taking stock of open access : progress and issues
No full textPurpose - Aims at providing a broad overview of some of the issues emerging from the growth in open access publishing, with specific reference to the use of repositories and open access journals. Design/methodology/approach - A paper largely based on specific experience with institutional repositories and the internationally run E-library and information science (LIS) archive. Findings - The open access initiative is dramatically transforming the process of scholarly communication bringing great benefits to the academic world with an, as yet, uncertain outcome for commercial publishers. Practical implications - Outlines the benefits of the open access movement with reference to repositories and open access journals to authors and readers alike and gives some food for thought on potential barriers to the complete permeation of the open access model, such as copyright restrictions and version control issues. Some illustrative examples of country-specific initiatives and the international E-LIS venture are given. Originality/value - An attempt to introduce general theories and practical implications of the open access movement to those largely unfamiliar with the movement
The bioavailability of 90MX cranberry powder and quercetin when administered to horses
No full textThe subject of this thesis was to investigate the bioavailability of a commercially available cranberry powder (90MX) from Ocean Spray® and quercetin when administered to horses. The hypothesis states that flavonols from a commercially available 90MX cranberry powder and quercetin would both be bioavailable to the horse. Bioavailability was determined by the appearance and identification of flavonols in horse plasma, urine, and/or muscle after dosing via nasogastric tube. For the first study, three healthy unfit Standardbred mares were used in a random cross-over design. They received either 200 g of 90MX powder in 2 L of water (low dose = LD), 400 g of 90MX powder dissolved in 2 L of water (high dose = HD), or 2 L of water (control = CON). For the second study, the same three mares were given 6 g of quercetin in 2 L of water. Blood, urine, and muscle samples were collected pre-dosing and at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24 h post-dosing. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the samples showed trace amounts of flavonols in some plasma samples, but overall there were no quantitatively significant increase flavonols found in horse urine or plasma. HPLC analysis of the muscle samples did show an increase in quercetin (Q), Q-3 arabinopyranoside (Q-3-AP), M-3 galactoside (M-3-G), Q-3 rhamnoside (Q-3-R), Q-3 arabinofuranoside (Q-3-AF), and Q-3 galactoside (Q-3-G). Peak quantities of each flavonol (µg/g) in horse muscle were Q (1.96; 5.33), Q-3-AP (0.24; 0.05), M-3-G (0.80; 0.37), Q-3-R (0.55; 0.24). Q-3-AF (0.12; 0.07), Q-3-G (2.45; 1.22) for the LD and HD, respectively. In study two, there was no quantitatively measureable quercetin in plasma, urine, or muscle samples. These data show for the first time the uptake of an ingested flavonol compound (cranberry juice) into horse muscle. This lays the foundation for further investigation into the effects of flavonols on horse muscle which has been physiologically stressed by exercise or other variables.M.S.Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-51)
URI Disambiguation in the Context of Linked Data
No full textThe Linked Data initiative has given rise to an increasing number of RDF datasets, many of which are freely accessible online. These resources often arise as a result of database exports; however sufficient consideration may not be given to the unseen implications caused when they are used in the wider context of the Semantic Web. This paper investigates two popular resources, DBLP and DBpedia, and discusses whether the issues regarding identity management and co-reference resolution have been suitably addressed. We find that a large percentage of authors in DBLP have been conflated, and that disambiguation pages have been incorrectly linked using owl:sameAs within DBpedia. Systems for dealing with these issues are presented, and directions are given for future research
O perfil dos trabalhos acadêmicos de conclusão do curso de Ciências Contábeis da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina no período de 2001 a 2005
No full textTCC (Graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Socioeconômico. Curso de Ciências ContábeisA sociedade, inserida em um cenário de mudanças cada vez mais rápidas e com a facilidade do intercâmbio de informações, passou a exigir com mais vigor a indissociabilidade entre o ensino, pesquisa e extensão, que é o tripé fundamental não só para a existência, mas para a própria manutenção e progresso da universidade. Neste contexto, a pesquisa científica está inserida também no processo de conclusão de curso de graduação e, conseqüentemente, na instituição de ensino. Sendo assim, o objetivo do presente trabalho consiste em evidenciar o perfil dos trabalhos acadêmicos (TCCs) de final de curso de Ciências Contábeis da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), considerando-se o período de 2001 a 2005. Para tanto, foram identificadas as áreas temáticas pesquisadas nos TCCs correlacionadas com professor orientador das mesmas. Além disso, constatou-se a metodologia de pesquisa adotada e examinou-se o tipo de material pesquisado utilizado nas referências das monografias. Por último, verificou-se a geração de trabalhos científicos em cooperação com os alunos de graduação por meio do Currículo Lattes do professor. O estudo caracteriza-se como descritivo, os procedimentos adotados na coleta dos dados são bibliográfico e documental e a abordagem do problema é qualitativa e quantitativa. Na pesquisa será utilizada a técnica de análise de conteúdo. O perfil dos trabalhos acadêmicos de final de curso de Ciências Contábeis da UFSC no período analisado caracteriza-se por ser fortemente de natureza exploratória, bibliográfica, concentrado em áreas tradicionais da ciência contábil, coincidindo com área de orientação da maioria dos docentes, alicerçado em estudos de caso, com predominância da abordagem qualitativa. A pesquisa bibliográfica, largamente utilizada, respalda-se basicamente em livros, com ínfimo destaque para teses e dissertações. Há indícios de que a relação científica entre orientador/aluno encerra-se com a apresentação da monografia perante a banca examinadora
The Drivers of Citations in Management Science Journals
No full textThe number of citations is becoming an increasingly popular index for measuring the impact of a scholar’s research or the quality of an academic department. One obvious question is: what are the factors that influence the number of citations that a paper receives? This study investigates the number of citations received by papers published in six well-known management science journals. It considers factors that relate to the author(s), the article itself, and the journal. The results show that the strongest factor is the journal itself; but other factors are also significant including the length of the paper, the number of references, the status of the first author’s institution, and the type of paper, especially if it is a review. Overall, this study provides some insights into the determinants of a paper’s impact that may be helpful for particular stakeholders to make important decisions
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