1,720,978 research outputs found
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
N-terminal fatty acids of NEFmut are required for the CD8+ t-cell immunogenicity of in vivo engineered extracellular vesicles
No full textWe recently described a cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocyte (CTL) vaccine platform based on the intramuscular (i.m.) injection of DNA eukaryotic vectors expressing antigens of interest fused at the C-terminus of HIV-1 Nefmut, i.e., a functionally defective mutant that is incorporated at quite high levels into exosomes/extracellular vesicles (EVs). This system has been proven to elicit strong CTL immunity against a plethora of both viral and tumor antigens, as well as inhibit both transplantable and orthotopic tumors in mice. However, a number of open issues remain regarding the underlying mechanism. Here we provide evidence that hindering the uploading into EVs of Nefmut-derived products by removing the Nefmut N-terminal fatty acids leads to a dramatic reduction of the downstream antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell activation after i.m. injection of DNA vectors in mice. This result formally demonstrates that the generation of engineered EVs is part of the mechanism underlying the in vivo induced CD8+ T-cell immunogenicity. Gaining new insights on the EV-based vaccine platform can be relevant in view of its possible translation into the clinic to counteract both chronic and acute infections as well as tumors
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
Tumor cells endowed with professional antigen-presenting cell functions prime PBLs to generate antitumor CTLs
No full textAbstract: Intrinsic genetic instability of tumor cells leads to continuous production of mutated proteins referred to as tumor-specific neoantigens. Generally, they are recognized as nonself products by the host immune system. However, an effective adaptive response clearing neoantigen-expressing cells is lost in tumor diseases. Most advanced therapeutic strategies aim at inducing neoantigen-specific immune activation through personalized approaches. They include tumor cell exome sequencing, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, synthesis, and injection of peptides/RNA with adjuvants. Here, we propose an innovative method to induce a CD8+ T cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL) immune response against tumor neoantigens bypassing the steps needed in current therapeutic strategies of personalized vaccination. We assumed that tumor cells can be the most efficient and precise factory of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-associated, tumor neoantigen-derived peptides. Hence, endowing tumor cells with professional antigen-presenting functions would prime CD8+ T lymphocytes towards a response against nonself tumor antigens. To explore this possibility, both adenocarcinoma and melanoma human cells were engineered to express both CD80 and CD86 costimulatory molecules. HLA-matched lymphocytes were then primed through cocultivation with the engineered tumor cells. The generation of tumor-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes was tested through the combined analysis of cell activation markers, formation of immunologic synapses, generation of tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes, and cytotoxic activity. Our data consistently indicate that tumor cells endowed with professional antigen-presenting functions can generate an effective tumor-specific CTL immune response. This finding may open avenues towards the development of innovative antitumor immunotherapies. Key messages: We established a novel method to induce antitumor CTLs without a need to identify TAAs and/or tumor neoantigens.This strategy relies on transducing tumor cells with a retroviral vector expressing both CD80 and CD86.In this way, tumor cells prime naïve CD8+ T lymphocytes in a way that CTLs killing the same tumor cells are generated.These findings open the way towards preclinical assays in the perspective to introduce this antitumor immunotherapy strategy in clinic
Extracellular vesicle-mediated intercellular communication in HIV-1 infection and its role in the reservoir maintenance
No full textHIV-1 infection is efficiently controlled by combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART). However, despite preventing disease progression, cART does not eradicate virus infection which persists in a latent form for an individual's lifetime. The latent reservoir comprises memory CD4+ T lymphocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells; however, for the most part, the reservoir is generated by virus entry into activated CD4+ T lymphocytes committed to return to a resting state, even though resting CD4+ T lymphocytes can be latently infected as well. The HIV-1 reservoir is not recognized by the immune system, is quite stable, and has the potential to re-seed systemic viremia upon cART interruption. Viral rebound can occur even after a long period of cART interruption. This event is most likely a consequence of the extended half-life of the HIV-1 reservoir, the maintenance of which is not clearly understood. Several recent studies have identified extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a driving force contributing to HIV-1 reservoir preservation. In this review, we discuss recent findings in the field of EV/HIV-1 interplay, and then propose a mechanism through which EVs may contribute to HIV-1 persistence despite cART. Understanding the basis of the HIV-1 reservoir maintenance continues to be a matter of great relevance in view of the limitations of current strategies aimed at HIV-1 eradication
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
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