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    Effects of 2′-fucosyllactose-based encapsulation on probiotic properties in streptococcus thermophilus

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    Streptococcus thermophilus is widely used in dairy fermentation as a starter culture for yogurt and cheese production. Many strains are endowed with potential probiotic properties; however, since they might not survive in adequate amounts after transit through the human gastrointestinal tract, it is advisable to improve cell survivability during this passage. The present study evaluates the use of 2′-fucosyllactose, a prebiotic molecule from human milk, compared with other known molecules, such as gelatin and inulin, to form alginate-based microcapsules to fulfill these requirements. Such microcapsules, obtained by the extrusion technique, were evaluated in terms of encapsulation efficiency, storage stability, gastrointestinal condition resistance, and cell release kinetics. Results reveal that microcapsules made using 2′-fucosyllactose and those with inulin resulted in the most efficient structure to protect S. thermophilus strain TH982 under simulated gastrointestinal conditions (less than 0.45 log CFU/g decrease for both agents). In addition, a prompt and abundant release of encapsulated cells was detected after only 30 min from microcapsules made with sodium alginate plus 2′-fucosyllactose in simulated gastrointestinal fluid (more than 90% of the cells). These encouraging results represent the first report on the effects of 2′-fucosyllactose used as a co-encapsulating agent

    Safety, functionality and genomic assessment of Pediococcus acidilactici strains isolated from traditional Persian fermented products with potential probiotic properties and hypocholesterolemic effect

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    Pediococcus acidilactici has a good reputation for its technological properties, particularly in the production of fermented sausages and has also been considered as a potential probiotic species. Since in recent years there is an increasing demand for probiotics of non-dairy origin, assessing bacterial species from non-dairy environments could be pretty advantageous. In this study, different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from a traditional Persian food (Kashk Zard), and strains discrimination was carried out by RAPD-PCR. Subsequently, some strains were identified to the species level and evaluated for their safety and functionality as probiotics, including properties such as antimicrobial activity, resistance to simulated human gastrointestinal conditions, and cholesterol-lowering effects. The genome of P. acidilactici strain IRZ12B was sequenced and the in silico analysis revealed that this strain possesses interesting probiotic properties, such as cholesterol-lowering capability and antimicrobial activitiy. Furthermore, genome analysis confirmed the absence of transmissible antibiotic resistance genes, plasmids, and virulence factors inside the genome. The results reported in this study make P. acidilactici IRZ12B a promising potential probiotic strain to be considered for the production of novel non-dairy-based functional food

    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
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