1,720,995 research outputs found
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
Improved assessment of mass drug administration and health district management performance to eliminate lymphatic filariasis
Full text linkLymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination as a public health problem requires the interruption of transmission by administration of preventive mass drug administration (MDA) to the eligible population living in endemic districts. Suboptimal MDA coverage leads to persistent parasite transmission with consequential infection, disease and disability, and the need for continuing MDA rounds, requiring considerable investment. Routine coverage reports must be verified in each MDA implementation unit (IU) due to incorrect denominators and numerators used to calculate coverage estimates with administrative data. IU are usually the health districts. Coverage is verified so IU teams can evaluate their outreach and take appropriate action to improve performance. Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have conducted MDA campaigns for LF since 2009 and 2014, respectively. To verify district reports and assess the declared achievement using administrative data of the minimum 80% coverage of eligible people (or 65% of the total population), both countries conducted rapid probability surveys using Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS)(n = 1102) in 2015 and 2016 in 58 IU in 49 districts. The surveys identified IU with suboptimal coverage, reasons residents did not take the medication, place where the medication was received, information sources, and knowledge about diseases prevented by the MDA. LQAS identified four inadequately covered IU triggering district team performance reviews with provincial and national teams and district retreatment. Provincial estimates using probability samples (weighted by populations sizes) were 10 and 17 percentage points lower than reported coverage in DRC and Mozambique. The surveys identified: absence from home during annual MDA rounds as the main reason for low performance and provided valuable information about pre-campaign and campaign activities resulting in improved strategies and continued progress towards elimination of LF and co-endemic Neglected Tropical Diseases.</div
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
A novel cystatin derived from Trichinella spiralis suppresses macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses
No full textTrichinella spiralis can modulate host immune responses to retain a suitable environment for its long-term survival. Incidentally, the parasite elicits regulatory effects through immuno-modulatory molecule release, which can suppress host inflammation and may be used for the treatment of unrelated inflammatory diseases in someday. Here we identified and characterized a novel T. spiralis cystatin (TsCstN), which inhibits inflammation mediated by LPS-treated macrophages.Proteins contained in the excretory–secretory (ES) product of muscle-stage T. spiralis (ES-L1) were fractionated, and each was treated with mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (mBMDMs) before LPS stimulation. The fractions that exhib-ited high immunomodulatory property by decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines or increas-ing anti-inflammatory cytokines were identified by mass spectrometry. Incidentally, the conserved hypothetical protein (Tsp_04814) was selected for further characterization as it presented the most significant MS score. An annotation of Tsp_04814 using protein structural homology comparison suggested that it has high structural similarity to human cystatin E/M (TM score 0.690). The recombinant T. spiralis novel cystatin (rTsCstN) was expressed in Escherichia coli at a molecular weight of approximately 13 kDa. Mouse anti-rTsCstN poly-clonal antibody (pAb) could detect native TsCstN in crude worm antigens (CWA) and ES-L1 and be predominantly localized in the stichosome and subcuticular cells. rTsCstN inhibited cysteine proteases in vitro, especially cathepsin L, at an optimal pH of 6. Besides, rTsCstN could be internalized into mBMDMs, which were mostly distributed in the cytoplasm and lysosome both before and after LPS stimulation. To evaluate the rTsCstN immunomodula-tory properties on mBMDMs, rTsCstN was incubated with mBMDM before LPS stimulation; this demonstrated that rTsCstN suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokine production and MHC class II expression.T. spiralis L1-derived TsCstN was characterized as a novel cysteine protease inhibitor. The protein elicits an anti-inflammatory property by suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines and interfering with the antigen presentation process through deple-tion of MHC class II expression
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
Characterization of the immune system-drug interactions during anti-filarial treatment in the <em>Litomosoides sigmodontis</em> mouse model
Full text linkFilarial nematodes can cause debilitating diseases such as lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. Both diseases are included in the list of neglected tropical diseases as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and targeted for elimination. There are currently no approved drugs available that can effectively clear the adult worms (= macrofilaricide) in a timely manner. Potential macrofilaricidal compounds that are in development include both directly acting drugs such as the benzimidazole oxfendazole (OXF) as well as indirectly acting drugs like corallopyronin A (CorA). OXF is currently under preparation for phase 2 clinical trials in filariasis patients while CorA is under preparation for phase 1 clinical trials.
This thesis aimed to investigate the immune system’s role during treatment with OXF, flubendazole (FBZ) and CorA, and explore the potential to boost the treatment efficacy via stimulation of the immune system (combination therapy) in a rodent model system. Wild type (WT) BALB/c, eosinophil-deficient ΔdblGata1, IL-4r/IL-5-/-, antibody-deficient µMT and B cell, T cell, and ILC-deficient Rag2/IL-2rγ-/- mice were infected with the rodent filaria Litomosoides sigmodontis and treated with OXF, FBZ and CorA starting at 35 days post infection (dpi). In the second part, WT mice were treated for a reduced duration with a combination of OXF and IL-4, IL-5, or IL-33.
A 5 day-treatment of WT mice reduced the median adult worm burden by up to 94% (OXF, administered orally) and 100% (FBZ, administered subcutaneously) compared to vehicle controls. In contrast, treatment efficacy was lower in all immunodeficient strains with a reduction of up to 90% (OXF) and 75% (FBZ) for ΔdblGata1, 50% and 92% for IL-4r/IL-5-/-, 64% and 78% for µMT or 0% for Rag2/IL-2rγ-/- . The effect of OXF on microfilaremia and embryogenesis displayed a similar pattern, while FBZ’s ability to prevent microfilaremia was independent of the host’s immune status. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis revealed strain- and treatment-specific immunological changes. Treatment with CorA did not result in the clearance of adult worms in either WT or immunodeficient mice and the depletion of Wolbachia was unaffected by the lack of eosinophils, IL-4 receptor or IL-5
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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