1,721,038 research outputs found
Editorial: Immune Response to Biofilms
Full text linkBiofilms are one of the most widely distributed and successful form of microbial life and are associated to a significant amount of human infections (1). They typically contain aggregates of microorganisms adhering to a substrate and embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances. Importantly, biofilm-associated microorganisms exhibit an altered phenotype with respect to growth rate and gene transcription that provide them with unique characteristics as compared to their planktonic counterparts (2). These include the ability to resist antimicrobial treatments and host immune responses rendering biofilm-associated infections one of the major threats of the modern medicine. Despite the recognized clinical importance of biofilms, the vast majority of studies of the immune response against pathogens focuses on microorganisms in the planktonic state whereas the immune response against infectious biofilms has been far less investigated. There is evidence that the host immune response is only partially beneficial in clearing biofilm-associated infections if not even harmful by accelerating collateral tissue damage, as is seen in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm-associated lung infections in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients (3). Therefore, it is critical to understand the complex interactions that establish between biofilms and the immune system as this may help in identifying new targets and strategies of immune intervention against biofilm-associated infections. We hope that this Research Topic may contribute to this purpose by collecting a number of papers (9 articles from 60 authors), exploring different aspects of the immune response to microbial biofilms
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
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
Lung-Directed Bacteriotherapy in Cystic Fibrosis: Could It Be an Option?
Full text linkDue to the alarming spread of bacterial resistance to conventional drugs, the sole use of antibiotics to fight lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) is not resolutive, and novel strategies to replace or complement the use of antibiotics are highly desirable. Among these strategies, the use of probiotics is emerging as a particularly attractive approach. Probiotic administration via the oral route has demonstrated an ability to improve lung function and to reduce infection and exacerbation rates in CF patients through mechanisms mainly attributable to the gut–lung axis. Nevertheless, some studies reported no beneficial effect of probiotic intake suggesting that there is margin for improvement of such innovative intervention in CF. The present review aims to address the rationale behind probiotic use in CF and discuss the hypothesis that nasal/aerosol administration of appropriate probiotic strains may help to exert a direct beneficial effect on the respiratory tract, increasing the effectiveness of probiotic interventions in CF patients
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
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