54 research outputs found
Authors, authorship order, the moving finger writes
No full textThere has been a phenomenal increase in the number of research papers with multiple authors. Increasing academic pressures and halo around individuals with prolific publications have made many aspirants to claim authorship. Increasing number of authors has brought its own issues of author credits, disputes, rivalry, and a degree of unwelcome scramble for credit sharing. Many unresolved issues about authorship and various guidelines and admonitions are more often infringed than adhered to. The position of the first and last author seem to be well recognized in medical and dental journals, but the fate of middle authors is left to guessing and often of inconsequential importance. Most of these issues, as well as fraud, misconduct in medical research publications, have been discussed amply but too of no avail. It is comforting to know that except for small shouts and whispers, dental research has been relatively free from scams and frauds. The complacency, however, needs to be tempered with constant vigil against fraud, falsification and fabrication of research reports. Honest authorship, vigilant editors, robust peer review, and a discerning readership are the sine qua non for a good research paper. Academic institutions and selection committees should be concentrating on the quality of research papers and not enamored of their number
Efficacy of modified minimally invasive surgical technique in the treatment of human intrabony defects with or without use of rhPDGF-BB gel - a randomized controlled trial
No full textRadically Reimagining Our Systems
No full textThe author recommends ways organizations can do the difficult and sustained work it requires to realize equity in the Richmond Region: recognize that our systems perpetuate disparity; develop cross-sector solutions; drive change with data; partner with the people.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/richmondracialequityessays_essays/1021/thumbnail.jp
Helping Voice Shoppers Make Purchase Decisions
No full textOnline shoppers have a lot of information at their disposal when making a purchase decision. They can look at images of the product, read reviews, make comparisons with other products, do research online, read expert reviews, and more. Voice shopping (purchasing items via a Voice assistant such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant) is different. Voice introduces novel challenges as the communication channel is limited in terms of the amount of information people can and are willing to absorb. Because of this, the system should choose the single most effective nugget of information to help the customer, and present the information succinctly. In this paper we report on a within-subject user study (N = 24), in which we employed three template-based methods that use information from customer reviews, product attributes and search relevance signals to generate helpful supporting information. Our results suggest that: (1) supporting information from customer reviews significantly improves participants perception of system effectiveness (helping them make good decisions); (2) supporting information based on search relevance signals improves user perception of system transparency (providing insight into how the system works). We discuss the implications of our findings for providing supporting information for customers shopping by Voice.Web Information System
Synthesis of novel cytotoxic tetracyclic acridone derivatives and study of their molecular docking, ADMET, QSAR, bioactivity and protein binding properties
No full textAcridone based synthetic and natural products with inherent anticancer activity advancing the research and generating a large number of structurally diversified compounds. In this sequence we have designed, synthesized a series of tetracyclic acridones with amide framework viz., 3-(alkyloyl/ aryloyl/ heteroaryloyl/ heteroaryl)-2,3-dihydropyrazino[3,2,1-de]acridin-7(1H)-ones and screened for their in vitro anti-cancer activity. The in vitro study revealed that compounds with cyclopropyl-acetyl, benzoyl, p-hydroxybenzoyl, p-(trifluoromethyl)benzoyl, p-fluorobenzoyl, m-fluorobenzoyl, picolinoyl, 6-methylpicolinoyl and 3-nicotinoyl groups are active against HT29, MDAMB231 and HEK293T cancer cell lines. The molecular docking studies performed for them against 4N5Y, HT29 and 2VWD revealed the potential ligand–protein binding interactions among the neutral aminoacid of the enzymes and carbonyl groups of the title compounds with a binding energy ranging from − 8.1394 to − 6.9915 kcal/mol. In addition, the BSA protein binding assay performed for them has confirmed their interaction with target proteins through strong binding to BSA macromolecule. The additional studies like ADMET, QSAR, bioactivity scores, drug properties and toxicity risks ascertained them as newer drug candidates. This study had added a new collection of piperazino fused acridone derivatives to the existing array of other nitrogen heterocyclic fused acridone derivatives as anticancer agents. © 2020, The Author(s).The authors thank GVK Biosciences Pvt. Ltd., Nacharam, Hyderabad, India for sponsoring chemicals and analytical data. Authors Dr. Avula Vijaya Kumar Reddy and Prof. Dr. Grigory V. Zyryanov thank Ural Federal University for support and acknowledge the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation, Moscow, Russian Federation (RSF Grant No.: 18-13-00365). The corresponding author Dr. Visweswara Rao Pasupuleti thank Universiti Malaysia Sabah for the financial support
Pilot project to investigate over-wintering of free-living gastrointestinal nematode larvae of sheep in Ontario, Canada
No full textThis study investigated the overwintering survival and infectivity of free-living gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) stages on pasture. The presence of GIN larvae was assessed on 3 sheep farms in Ontario with a reported history of clinical haemonchosis, by collecting monthly pasture samples over the winter months of 2009/2010. The infectivity of GIN larvae on spring pastures was evaluated using 16 tracer lambs. Air and soil temperature and moisture were recorded hourly. Free-living stages of Trichostrongylus spp. and Nematodirus spp. were isolated from herbage samples. Gastrointestinal nematodes were recovered from all tracer lambs on all farms; Teladorsagia sp. was the predominant species. Very low levels of Haemonchus contortus were recovered from 1 animal on 1 farm. The results suggest that Haemonchus larvae do not survive well on pasture, while Teladorsagia sp., Trichostrongylus spp. and Nematodirus spp. are able to overwinter on pasture in Ontario and are still infective for sheep in the spring
Efficacy of targeted anthelmintic treatment for suppression of the peri-parturient egg rise in ewes and impact on 50-day lamb weights
No full textThis study was conducted to determine whether targeted anthelmintic treatment of peri-parturient ewes lambing in the winter, spring and/or autumn would suppress the peri-parturient egg rise (PPER) and improve 50-day lamb weights. Three farms in Ontario, Canada, that practiced out-of-season lambing were enrolled in 2010 and sampled for three consecutive lambing seasons (winter, spring and autumn). For each lambing season, all farms were visited three times. On the first visit, all ewes due to lamb that season were randomly allocated to treatment with ivermectin, fenbendazole or levamisole at the recommended dosage, or left untreated. Among these treated ewes, 40–60 animals (10–15 ewes per treatment group) were randomly selected for fecal sampling during the 3 sampling visits and processed individually to measure gastro-intestinal nematode (GIN) fecal egg counts (FECs). Ewe and lamb productivity data, including approximate 50-day lamb weights, were collected for all ewes lambing in each season, where available. A Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test was performed on all three farms to determine the ivermectin, fenbendazole and levamisole resistance status. Both farms A and B had fenbendazole resistance, while farm C had ivermectin and fenbendazole resistance; levamisole was effective on all three farms. The effect of targeted treatment on the subsequent PPER depended on the farm, possibly a partial surrogate variable for the different anthelmintic resistance levels on each farm, lambing season and sampling time-point. On farm A, during the winter and autumn lambing seasons, ivermectin and levamisole were more effective at reducing the FECs, compared to fenbendazole. In contrast, during the spring lambing season, treatment of ewes with ivermectin, fenbendazole or levamisole had no effect on the FECs. On farm B, all anthelmintic treatments were associated with a reduction in the FECs during the spring lambing season, while no reduction was observed during the winter and autumn lambing seasons. On farm C, the FECs decreased in ewes treated with levamisole in both the winter and spring lambing seasons, while ivermectin only reduced the FECs in ewes treated in the winter lambing season. Litter size was positively associated with FECs. Anthelmintic treatment was not associated with approximate 50-day lamb weights, although the power to detect significant difference was lower than anticipated due to only having relevant weight data from farm A. These results suggest that the efficacy of targeted treatment for the suppression of the PPER depends on the anthelmintics’ efficacy and time of treatment in relation to the grazing period
A longitudinal study on the effect of lambing season on the periparturient egg rise in Ontario sheep flocks
No full textThe epidemiology of the periparturient egg rise (PPER) of gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) in sheep remains unclear, and may be influenced by the lambing season. This longitudinal study was performed to determine the effect of out-of-season lambing on the PPER in ewes in Ontario, and whether total plasma protein (TPP) and packed cell volume (PCV) were associated with the PPER. Six farms that practiced out-of-season lambing were enrolled, and sampled for three consecutive lambing seasons (winter, spring and autumn). For each lambing season, all farms were visited five times. On the first visit for each lambing season, 15–20 pregnant ewes and 15–20 non-pregnant/early gestation ewes were randomly selected. At each visit, fecal samples were collected from all selected animals and processed individually to measure GIN fecal egg counts (FECs). Blood samples were collected on three visits in each lambing period and processed to measure TPP and PCV. The ewes were classified into one of five production stages (maintenance [i.e. not pregnant], early or late gestation [<120d and ≥120d, respectively], and early or late lactation [<40d and ≥40d, respectively]) based on information collected during farm visits. Linear mixed models were developed for the TPP, PCV and logarithmic-transformed FEC (lnFEC). During the winter and spring lambing season, the FECs increased gradually over the gestation period and peaked during lactation, with these increases being larger in ewes with a low PCV (three-way interaction in the final model). In the autumn lambing season, the FECs started off higher in early gestation, and increased rapidly to peak in late gestation, particularly for animals with low PCV levels. In the TPP model, PCV and lnFEC were positively associated with TPP. During both autumn and winter lambing seasons, the TPP decreased from maintenance throughout gestation and early lactation, followed by an increase in late lactation, except for when there were high FECs. During the spring lambing season, TPP peaked at early gestation, and then decreased in late gestation, to increase more gradually over lactation. In the PCV model, PCV increased with TPP and decreased exponentially with increases in lnFEC. The PPER occurred during all three lambing seasons, and its magnitude and distribution varied with the lambing season, suggesting that the PPER in ewes depends on both environmental and animal physiological factors, an important consideration when implementing preventive parasite control strategies on sheep farms that practice out-of-season lambing
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