1,720,954 research outputs found
The interleukin-10 polymorphism g.3936 G>A is uncoupled with bovine tuberculosis susceptibility in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)
Mycobacterium bovis (Mb), the causing agent of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), is an intracellular
pathogen highly adapted to the host condition. In cattle, several studies regarding the influence of
host genetic makeup, have highlighted the influence of polymorphisms on progression and/or
resistance to bTB. For this reason, we decided to investigate the role of a pleiotropic immune
mediator, named interleukin-10 (IL-10) on susceptibility to bTB in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).
IL-10 is secreted by several kind of cells belonging to the innate immune response and is expressed
during TB infection. It is involved in phagosome maturation and in the regulation of pro14
inflammatory cytokine induction as well. These two aspects indicate that IL-10 gene play a critical
role in susceptibility and pathogenesis of bTB. To test our hypothesis, we extracted the DNA from
blood samples of 184 buffaloes (59 case and 125 controls) reared in 5 herds located in Campania
region (South Italy). A 300bp region spanning the exon 5 of the IL-10 gene (NW_005783511) in 10
cases and 10 controls chosen randomly was amplified and sequenced. Sequence comparisons
showed a transversion g.3936G>A responsible of the substitution p.Arg152Lys in the primary
protein sequence. To test the possibility that g.3936G>A polymorphism is a bTB associated marker
we genotyped all samples by mean of AS-PC
Identification of a novel polymorphism in the 3’untraslated region of the interferon gamma gene as potential marker associate with bovine tuberculosis in water buffalo
Interferon gamma (IFNG) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine produced by
different cells of the innate and adaptive immune system. It plays a critical
role orchestrating the immune response towards many pathogens including
virus and intracellular bacteria. Mycobacterium bovis, the causing agent of
bovine tuberculosis (bTB), is an intracellular bacteria that is phagocytized
by alveolar macrophages and stimulates production and secretion of IFNG.
It has been demonstrated that polymorphisms in the Ifng gene affect the
outcome of TB. For this reason, in this study we want to analyze the
genetic variability in the Ifng gene and how the susceptibility to bovine
tuberculosis in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is influenced.
To test our hypothesis, we have collected 184 blood samples from 5
different water buffalo herds in the Campania region (South Italy).
Samples were first divided in cases (59 subjects) and controls (125
subjects) according to a previous study. We sequenced a fragment of 690
bp spanning the exon 4 of Ifng gene (NW_005783995.1) in 20 samples
chosen randomly. Alignment analysis show a nucleotide transversion at the
position g.4667G>A in the 3’ untraslated region (3’UTR). To verify if the
g.4667G>A could have any potential regulatory effect on IFNG expression,
we interrogated a software for prediction of microRNA (miR) binding site
(http://www.targetscan.org/vert_71/). MicroRNA (miR) are short noncoding
RNA that influence the gene expression targeting a seed sequence
mostly located the 3’UTR of a specific gene. Thus, we found that our
polymorphism belong to 5’ GGTTTTATCTCAGGGGCCAACTAGG 3’ that
includes the seed sequence of miR-125b (seed sequence is underlined and
the polymorphism g.4667G>A is highlighted in bold).
This preliminary finding is a good starting point for extending the analysis
of g.4667G>A to all 184 samples to verify if the polymorphism is
associated with resistance to bovine tuberculosis in water buffalo.
Moreover, functional in vitro studies will be performed to evaluate if the
binding of miR-125b is influenced by the g.4667G>A in water buffalo
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
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
“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
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
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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