1,722,304 research outputs found
Genomic and functional study on the Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus, in Italy
Full text linkIn few decades Aedes albopictus has spread from its' native range in south-east-Asia all over the world. In Europe this mosquito species has been described in Albania and Italy first and has nowadays expanded to all Mediterranean and east-European countries. Aedes albopictus is also a known vector of Dengue (DENV) and Chikungunya (CHKV) and has been responsible for two CHKV epidemics in Italy, becoming thus an increasing public health concern. Despite this, little knowledge is available on the effectiveness of insecticides commonly used to control adult populations of this species as well as on invasion history of European populations. We here present first evidence of resistance to pyrethroids in Aedes albopictus populations from Italy, which raises alarm on the effectiveness of these control measures in the future. Moreover, we complement this evidence with genomic analysis of 9 Ae. albopictus populations collected across Italy, as well as 1 population from Greece and 1 from Albania, showing occurrence of multiple invasions initiated from large propagules and followed by genetic drift and admixture among different source populations, which created a complex genomic pattern with generally low levels of differentiation and weak signatures of isolation by distance among populations
A study of the triggering mechanisms for deep convection in the Tropics using a Mesoscale Model: Hector events during SCOUT-O(3) and TWP-ICE campaigns. (3.10)
No full textOne of the purposes of SCOUT-O(3) (Stratosphere-Climate Links with emphasis on the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere) campaign was to improve our understanding of the interaction between convection and the tropical tropopause layer. Within the framework of SCOUT-O(3) project a study on Hector events has been carried out. Hector is a deep convective cell developing on Tiwi Islands during the pre-monsoon period and break monsoon period. In this study two Hector events are investigated: 30 November 2005 a multicells event occurred during SCOUT-O(3) campaign, and a single cell developed on 6 February 2006 during the TWP-ICE (Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment) campaign. The first event was characterized by two cells: the first cell downdraft triggering the second cell. The second Hector event was characterized by a cell triggered by the interaction of a previous convective cell and the south breeze front. The dynamics and thermodynamics of both events have been analyzed using the mesoscale model MM5V3 (Fifth-Generation Mesoscale Model Version 3). A few preliminary experiments have been performed to the aim of tuning the MM5 for the tropics; to this purpose two parameters are considered as the mass flux in the convective scheme and the condensation nuclei in the microphysical parameterization. Satellite and Radar images are used together with MM5V3 results to investigate the triggering mechanisms of the two Hector events. The MM5 results for the Hector event of Nov 30, 2005 shows a slightly lower Hector first cell, whereas the second one is very well reproduced, suggesting a stronger triggering acting in this second case. Moreover, the structure and the precipitation produced are in good agreement with the observation. For Feb 6, 2006 MM5 shows a shortcoming in the timing of maximum development of Hector (I h earlier), but the structure and the precipitation are in good agreement with the observations. Finally, numerical experiments are performed to the aim of investigating the triggering factor for the two Hector events, which allows for assessing type A for the first cell of November 30, 2005 and type B for the second cell of November 30, 2005 and February 6, 2006 event. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
La componente fungina in popolamenti di boschi con Quercus rubra L. dominante nel Monte di Portofino (Liguria).
No full textSelective serotonin reuptak inhibitor exposure during early pregnancy and the risk of fetal major malformations: Focus on paroxetine.
No full textObjective. To analyze all studies reporting primary data on the rate of phetal malformations after early in utero exposure to paroxetine, investigated either specifically or jointly with other antidepressant medications. Data sources. Medical literature was identified through searches of Medline-PubMed, Toxnet, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Search terms were pregnancy, antidepressants, SSRIs, paroxetine, and fetal malformations. Additional studies were identified from the reference lists of published articles. Data selection. Twenty-five articles reporting primary data on the rate of fetal structural malformations following exposure to paroxetine or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as a group during the first trimester of pregnancy were electronically or manually selected. Data synthesis. Studies on the teratogenic risk of paroxetine show a high degree of heterogeneity. Morehover, research studies performed with the same methodology and thus showing the same level of evidence report conflicting results. Conclusions. Given the inconsistency of the findings and limitations of the methodology of the published studies, the teratogenic potential of paroxetine that has been reported in some studies remains unproven. This relevant safety question is likely to remain unanswered until large, prospective studies are conducted. Such studies should be designed to include a control group of untreated mothers with similar psychiatric diagnosis so as to differentiate effects of drug exposure from impact of underlying mental disorder on the fetus. Moreover, further experimental studies are warranted to definitively assess clinical consequences of the impact on fetal development related to physiologic effects of prenatal paroxetine exposure on different maternal and fetal parameters
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
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