1,720,953 research outputs found
Bioengineered collagen graft for urethral reconstruction in animal models / Ganes Vythilingam
Get PDFWith the increase incidence of hypospadias and urethral stricture, the need for a surgically
efficient and cost effective graft to reconstruct the urethra has become paramount,
especially in view of the complications arising from presently used technologies. Current
available surgical techniques require harvesting of grafts from autologous sites resulting
in complications. In addition, lack of tissue availability and added patient discomfort
further limits present surgical options. Cell based approaches have shown progress in this
area. However, these have been associated with high costs and regulatory hurdles. An
acellular graft using relatively inexpensive materials that has been previously approved
by regulatory bodies and possesses good regenerative potential is thus more likely to be
used in clinical practice. In this thesis we examined and reengineered four tubular
collagen grafts of different densities over a period of 3 years using initially rat tail
collagen and subsequently bovine collagen, which has been previously approved by FDA.
This effort has resulted in the development of a relatively easy to fabricate acellular
bovine collagen graft with the desired mechanical property that allows better surgical and
regenerative performance of damaged urethra. Grafts were analytical and empirical
mechanical tested prior to the in-vivo study. 2 cm of the urethra was resected in each of
the 65 (N=65) male New Zealand rabbits and replaced with the grafts. Rabbits were
evaluated at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 11 months using visual examination and contrast voiding cystourethrography. Biopsies of repaired sites from euthanized rabbits were then subjected to
histological examination and immunohistochemistry. The outcome of the four different
types of engineered acellular collagen grafts were compared. This multi-centric study
revealed from the contrast voiding cysto-urethrography that the initial produced acellular
collagen tube had a 40% failure rate as compared to the final version, with a 10% failure
iv
rate. The variation in density between the engineered four grafts appeared to influence
the functional outcome. It was noted on histology that urothelial cells favored higher
density grafts compared to smooth muscle cells. Smooth muscle cells preferred grafts
with less density. The adequate smooth muscle cells remodeling of the engineered graft
influenced by density modification of its matrix is a finding that has not been described
yet. Improved smooth muscle regeneration is an advantage, as the primary pathology in
urethral stricture is due to muscular fibrosis. Furthermore, spontaneous urothelial
coverage of the grafts and smooth muscle cell migration in the implanted graft could be
demonstrated by standard histology and immunohistochemistry. The final graft subjected
to X-Ray sterilization according to ISO-11137 standards, (N=4 rabbits), showed similar
graft function as compared to non-sterilized grafts. Preliminary results of a pilot dog study
with 3 animals implanted with a 4cm tubular graft also demonstrated the functional
potential of the engineered grafts in a clinically relevant length of urethral defect. The
final acellular graft developed may have the potential to be an off the shelf product; is
easy for the surgeon to work with, regenerative efficient and safe for urethroplast
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
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
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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