1,720,961 research outputs found
Teaching tired T cells to fight HIV: time to test IL-15 for immunotherapy?
No full textThe current antiretroviral therapy has improved the clinical outcome of HIV-infected patients. However, the drug toxicity, the emergence of drug-resistant HIV variants and the incomplete reconstitution of immune responses underline the need for additional therapeutic strategies, such as cytokine-based therapy. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) has a central role in the immune response during HIV infection. Recently, defective production of IL-15 has been found in AIDS patients and it might account for the impairment of natural and adaptive immune responses against HIV. IL-15 is more potent than IL-2 and IL-7 in enhancing the function of HIV-specific CD8(+) T cells and it is a superior HIV vaccine molecular adjuvant. In this Opinion, we propose that IL-15 could be used for clinical intervention in HIV infection
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
Rhodococcus equi infection of monocytes/macrophages from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients and healthy individuals: evaluation of intracellular killing and nitric oxide production
No full textMonocytes/macrophages from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients had a defect in their ability to kill Rhodococcus equi in vitro, as compared with healthy HIV-seronegative individuals. Virulent and avirulent R. equi strains isolated from humans and horses showed no significant intracellular replicative differences within both HIV-positive and -negative monocytes/macrophages. Infection with R. equi induced the production of nitric oxide (NO) by monocytes/macrophages from healthy individuals, but not by cells from HIV-positive patients. The NO formation was significantly inhibited by L-N-G-monomethyl arginine and arginase. However, neither competitive inhibition of NO synthesis from L-arginine with L-NMMA nor depletion of arginine with arginase altered the killing activity of human monocytes/macrophages against R. equi, thus suggesting that L-arginine:NO pathway is not required for the intracellular antirhodococcal mechanisms of human monocytes/macrophages. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V
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
Changes in circulating levels of soluble cell adhesion molecules following highly active antiretroviral treatment of HIV-1-infected patients
No full textIncreased levels of soluble cell adhesion molecules (sCAM) have been reported in HIV-1 infection and may possibly contribute to altering the adhesion mechanisms of phagocytic cells. We evaluated the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on plasma levels of sl-selectin, sE-selectin, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), sICAM-3, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1). Study participants included 22 HIV-1-infected patients with a CD4(+) T-cell count/mu l below 500 who were started on a HAART regimen and followed up for 9 months. After the initiation of therapy, plasma sl-selectin concentrations progressively decreased to normal ranges in the majority of our patients (P < 0.001), while no changes in sE-selectin were found. In all patients sICAM-1 remained relatively constant at significantly elevated concentrations during the 9 months of therapy. A significant reduction in plasma concentrations of both sICAM-3 and sVCAM-1 was found; however, the levels of these sCAM were not normalized by HAART and remained significantly elevated throughout the study (P < 0.001). The reduced release of sL-selectin could improve the ability of phagocitic cells to migrate in response to chemotactic stimuli after starting HAART. On the other hand, the persistent elevation of sICAM-1, sICAM-3, and sVCAM-1 could reflect continuous HIV-1-mediated immune activation, despite adequate control of plasma HIV-1 replication by therapy. (C) 2000 Academic Press
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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