1,720,961 research outputs found
Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and adaptogenic actity of Asparagus acutifolius extract
No full textAlthough many species of Asparagus have been studied scientifically and shoots are used in the
diet of Sardinians, there is very little literature available on the medicinal uses of Asparagus
acutifolius Linn. The acetone-ethanol (1:1) extract was screened for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
and adaptogenic activities. The extract showed good anti-oxidant activity in DPPH, hydroxyl
radical, and nitric oxide radical assays. The extract also exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in the
carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and adaptogenic activity in the milk induced leucocytosis
assay in rats. The results of the present study suggest need to investigate other pharmacological
activities of Asparagus acutifolius
Inhibition of histamine mediated responses by Mirabilis jalapa: confirming traditional claims made about antiallergic and antiasthmatic activity
No full textThe roots of Mirabilis jalapa are used traditionally in allergic skin disorders and
asthma. The effect of an ethanol : acetone (1 : 1) extract of the roots of M. jalapa
was studied for antihistaminic activity using a guinea pig tracheal chain
preparation and clonidine-induced mast cell granulation in mice. Its antiallergic
activity was evaluated using milk-induced eosinophilia and albumin-induced paw
oedema in mice. The extract (0.5mL of 100 mgmL1) inhibited histamineinduced
guinea pig tracheal chain contractions non-competitively. The extract
(100 or 200 mgkg1 i.p.) inhibited milk-induced eosinophilia, albumin-induced
paw oedema and protected mast cells against clonidine-induced granulation. The
study justified the folkloric use of M. jalapa in the treatment of allergic diseases
and asthma
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
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
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
Antioxidant, Analagesic and Antiinflammatory Activity of Aerial Parts of Rubia peregrina
No full textEffect of ethanolic extract of Rubia peregrina L. (Rubiaceae) on monoamine-mediated behaviour
No full textIn the traditional system of medicine in Sardinia, Rubia peregrina (RP) is reported as an aphrodisiac herb. Since aphrodisiacs may also have dopaminergic activity, and there can be a reciprocal relationship between dopaminergic and serotonergic functions in the central nervous system, the aim here was to study the effect of the ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of R. peregrina on monoamine-mediated behaviour. The RP (100 and 200mgkg -1 intraperitoneally) significantly inhibited haloperidol (1mgkg -1 i.p.) induced catalepsy in mice (p<0.01, dopamine-mediated response) lithium sulphate induced head twitches in rats (serotonin-mediated response) and was without effect on clonidine-induced hypothermia in rats (noradrenaline-mediated response). The study concludes that R. peregrina improves the dopaminergic function, diminishes the serotonin-mediated function and is devoid of any effect on the noradrenergic function. The study suggests that we should carry out further experiments to investigate the psychopharmacological profile of R. peregrina
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