1,720,972 research outputs found

    TSOL18 vaccine of Taenia solium: development of monoclonal antibodies and field testing of the vaccine in Cameroon

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    Chapter 1 reviews the literature about the immunological aspects of taeniid cestode infections and the existing vaccines against Taenia solium cysticercosis in pigs. One of the most promising vaccines is TSOL18, a protein that has been identified in the oncosphere of Taenia solium and expressed as a recombinant molecule in E. coli. Repeated experimental trials have shown that this vaccine is able to protect up to 100 % of the immunised pigs against a challenge infection with T. solium. Antibodies raised by the vaccine are capable of killing the parasite in in vitro cultures and it is believed that antibody and complement mediated killing of invading parasites is the major protective immune mechanism induced by vaccination with TSOL18. The identification of the villages with a high risk of T. solium infection, which could subsequently be used in the vaccine trial, is reported in chapter 2. A survey was conducted in 150 households owning 1756 pigs in the rural areas of Mayo-Danay division in the far north region of Cameroon. A questionnaire survey was carried out to collect information on the pig farming system and to identify potential risk factors for T. solium cysticercosis infection in pigs. Blood samples were collected from 398 pigs with the aim of estimating the sero-prevalence of Taenia solium cysticercosis. The results showed that 90.7 % of the pigs were free roaming during the dry season and that 42.7 % of households keeping pigs in the rural areas had no latrine facility. Seventy six percent of the interviewed pig owners affirmed that the members of the household used open field defecation. ELISA for antigen and antibody detection showed an apparent prevalence of porcine cysticercosis of 24.6 % and 32.2 %, respectively. A Bayesian approach using the conditional dependence between the two diagnostic tests indicated that the true seroprevalence of cysticercosis in Mayo-Danay was 26.6 %. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that the lack of knowledge of the taeniasis-cysticercosis complex and the absence of a pig pen in the household were associated with pig cysticercosis

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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

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    We 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

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    We 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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We 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

    Biogeographical patterns of African trypanosomoses for improved planning and implementation of field interventions

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    Spatially-explicit information is essential for planning and implementing interventions against vector-borne diseases. This is also true for African trypanosomoses, a group of diseases of both humans and animals caused by protozoa of the Genus Trypanosoma, and transmitted by tsetse flies (Genus Glossina).<p>In this thesis the knowledge gaps and the requirements for an evidence-based decision making in the field of tsetse and trypanosomoses are identified, with a focus on georeferenced data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Datasets, tools and analyses are presented that aim to fill some of the identified knowledge gaps.<p>For the human form of the disease, also known as sleeping sickness, case detection and treatment are the mainstay of control, so that accurate knowledge of the geographic distribution of infections is paramount. In this study, an Atlas was developed that provides village-level information on the reported occurrence of sleeping sickness. The geodatabase underpinning the Atlas also includes the results of active screening activities, even when no cases were detected. The Atlas enables epidemiological maps to be generated at a range of scales, from local to global, thus providing evidence for strategic and technical decision making.<p>In the field of animal trypanosomosis control, also known as nagana, much emphasis has recently been placed on the vector. Accurate delineation of tsetse habitat appears as an essential component of ongoing and upcoming interventions against tsetse. The present study focused on land cover datasets and tsetse habitat. The suitability for tsetse of standardized land cover classes was explored at continental, regional and national level, using a combination of inductive and deductive approaches. The land cover classes most suitable for tsetse were identified and described, and tailored datasets were derived.<p>The suite of datasets, methodologies and tools presented in this thesis provides evidence for informed planning and implementation of interventions against African trypanosomoses at a range of spatial scales.Doctorat en Sciences agronomiques et ingénierie biologiqueinfo:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe
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