177,387 research outputs found
Natural diversity in phenolic components and antioxidant properties of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) accessions, grown under the same conditions
Full text linkOregano (Origanum vulgare L.) is a rich source of biologically active components such as phenolic compounds. Here, seven pot grown O. vulgare accessions belonging to three subspecies (subsp. virens, subsp. vulgare and subsp. gracile) were investigated for their content in sixteen bioactive phenolic compounds as well as their antioxidant capacities (DPPH• and FRAP tests), total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) in order to identify the most suitable ones on an industrial level. HPLC analyses showed that rosmarinic acid (659.6–1646.9 mg/100 g DW) was by far the most abundant constituent, followed by luteolin (46.5–345.4 mg/100 g DW), chicoric acid (36.3–212.5 mg/100 g DW), coumarin (65.7–193.9 mg/100 g DW) and quercetin (10.6–106.1 mg/100 g DW), with variability in concentration depending on the accession and subspecies. The highest level of rosmarinic acid and TPC was obtained from Ardabil accession (subsp. virens). There was a significant and positive correlation between rosmarinic acid and antioxidant activity (r = 0.46). TFC significantly correlated to TPC (r = 0.57) as well as to chicoric acid (r = 0.73). Cluster (CA) and principal component (PCA) analyses classified the investigated accessions in three different groups. Such natural variabilities in phenolics provide the possibility of using elite plants for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries and domestication of highly antioxidative accessions of oregano
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
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
Full text linkBoth spending and tax policies have been implemented in the United States with the goal of stimulating private sector research and development (R&D). Karier questions whether current R&D policy, especially the research and experimentation tax credit, can contribute to closing the gap between nondefense expenditures on R&D in the United States and such expenditures in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. He also explores possible changes to our current R&D policy to make it more effective.
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
Letter from R. R. Zellick, Assistant Trust Officer, Anglo California National Bank of San Francisco, to Joseph R. Goodman, October 2, 1942
No full textLetter from R. R. Zellick, Assistant Trust Officer at The Anglo California National Bank of San Francisco, to Joseph R. Goodman, regarding property owned by Dave Tatsuno. Zellick mentions a dispute between current tenants and Tatsuno, and that Tatsuno has asked Goodman to help locate trustworthy tenants.Personal correspondence, organizational records, government documents, publications, and other papers created or collected by Joseph R. Goodman documenting the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, as well as organized resistance to incarceration. Included in the collection are records of the Japanese Young Men's Christian Association and the Japanese American Citizens' League in San Francisco, including papers of the Japanese YMCA's executive secretary Lincoln Kanai; Sakai family papers; Goodman's correspondence to and from Japanese American incarcerees, organizations opposing forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans, the War Relocation Authority, and others; publications, photographs, and ephemera from the Topaz Relocation Center, where Goodman taught high school; War Relocation Authority records and publications; and newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and reports about forced removal and incarceration created by various government, religious, and civic organizations, in California and nationwide
Sound localization in audio-based games for visually impaired children
No full textThis thesis describes the design of a sound localization algorithm in audio-based games for visually impaired children. An algorithm was developed to allow real-time audio playback and manipulation, using overlapping audio blocks multiplied by a window function. The audio signal was played through headphones. Multiple sound localization cues are evaluated. Based on these cues, two basic sound localization algorithms are implemented. The first uses only binaural cues. The second expands this with spectral cues by using the head-related impulse response (HRIR). The HRIR was taken from a database, interpolated to obtain optimal resolution and truncated to minimize memory usage. Both localization algorithms work well for lateral localization, but front-back confusions using the HRIR are still common. The signal received from a sound source changes with the distance to the sound source. Both the distance attenuation and propagation delay are implemented. As an alternative means of resolving front-back ambiguities, the use of a head tracker was investigated. Experiments with a webcam based head tracker show that a head tracker is a powerful tool to resolve front- back confusions. However, the latency of webcam based head trackers is too high to be of practical use.Microelectronics & Computer EngineeringElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
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
Liftings for noncomplete probability spaces
No full textThe current state of knowledge concerning liftings for noncomplete probability spaces is discussed. This is a somewhat expanded version of the author's talk given at the 1991 Summer Conference on General Topology and Applications in Honor of Mary Ellen Rudin and Her Work.PT: S; CR: BURKE MR, IN PRESS P AM MATH S BURKE MR, 1991, ISRAEL J MATH, V73, P33 BURKE MR, 1992, ISRAEL J MATH, V79, P289 CARLSON T, THEOREM LIFTING CHRISTENSEN JPR, 1974, TOPOLOGY BOREL STRUC FREMLIN DH, 1989, HDB BOOLEAN ALGEBRAS, P877 INOESCUTULCEA A, 1966, 5TH P BERK S MATH ST, V2 IONESCUTULCEA A, 1967, CONTRIBUTIONS PROB 1, P63 IONESCUTULCEA A, 1969, TOPICS THEORY LIFTIN JECH TJ, 1978, SET THEORY JOHNSON RA, 1980, P AM MATH SOC, V80, P234 JUST W, IN PRESS T AM MATH S KUPKA J, 1983, INDIANA U MATH J, V32, P717 LOSERT V, 1983, LNM, V1080, P95 MAHARAM D, 1958, P AM MATH SOC, V9, P987 SHELAH S, 1983, ISRAEL J MATH, V45, P90 TALAGRAND M, 1982, P AM MATH SOC, V84, P379 VONNEUMANN J, 1931, CRELLES J MATH, V165, P109; NR: 18; TC: 0; J9: ANN N Y ACAD SCI; PG: 4; GA: BZ86BSource type: Electronic(1
Characterization and modulation of immunoregulatory molecules in neuroinflammation
No full textMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Several lines of evidence suggest that MS is an immune-mediated disorder characterized by active and inactive phases, where changes in disease activity are reflected by changes in the expression patterns of immunoregulatory molecules.T cell immunoglobulin- and mucin-domain-containing molecules (TIMs) were recently described as associated with the regulation of cytokine differentiation. The in vitro expression of human TIM-1 and TIM-3 was examined using Th 1 and Th2 cell lines and real time RT-PCR. The ex vivo expression was determined in mononuclear cells derived from peripheral blood (PBMC) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF-MC) of persons with MS and noninflammatory controls. A differential expression of TIM-1 and TIM-3 was demonstrated by human Th2 and Th1/ThO cell lines, respectively, in vitro. The expression of TIM-3 correlated well ex vivo with the expression of inflammatory Th1 cytokines (IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha) in MS CSF-MC. Conversely, TIM-1 was increased in CSF-MC during the inactive, but not the clinically active, phase of MS.Interestingly, high TIM-1 was associated with low IFN-gamma expression, further supporting a role for TIMs in cytokine regulation in general and in MS in particular. Immune reactions in the CNS may not only mediate disease, but also convey neuroprotective effects. It is therefore conceivable that the expression of neurotrophic factors in immune cells may be of relevance for the relative protection of neurons during CNSinflammation. We examined the ex vivo expression of neurotrophin mRNAs in PBMC from persons with MS. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA was increased in MS compared with non-inflammatory controls. This is consistent with an active role of BDNF in MS, possibly as a compensatory, restorative and/or immunomodulatory mediator.The cytokine IFN-beta has the potential to alter the disease course of MS, by reducing the number of relapses and by slowing the progression of neurological disability. A potential mechanism via which IFNbeta may act is through an antagonistic effect on IFN-gamma, a key proinflammatory cytokine. Reduced levels of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were detected after 6 months of IFN-beta treatment, but not after 2 weeks of treatment. There was no evidence to support an associated shift from the production of Th1- to Th2-cytokines.Progressive muscular weakness, disabling fatigue and pain occurring decades after acute poliomyelitis clinically characterize the post-polio syndrome (PPS). Previously, increased numbers of CSF-MC expressing mRNA for inflammatory cytokines have been demonstrated in PPS. Here, immunomodulatory effects of intravenous immunoglobulin (Ivlg) in PPS were examined. The expression of TNF-alpha, IFNgamma, LL-10 and IL-4 mRNA was measured by real time RT-PCR in PBMC and CSF-MC of patients with PPS before, and 6-8 weeks after IvIg treatment. TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, and IL-10 CSF mRNA levels were elevated in samples from untreated patients with PPS compared to persons with other neurological diseases. Upon IvIg treatment, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha mRNA levels were dramatically reduced, while IL-10 remained unchanged. We conclude that CSF-MC expression of cytokines in PPS can be downmodulated with lvlg by treatment.In conclusion, key immunoregulatory molecules are possible to target in human neuroinflammation, for both therapeutic and etiopathological studies.List of scientific papersI. Khademi M, Illes Z, Gielen AW, Marta M, Takazawa N, Baecher-Allan C, Brundin L, Hannerz J, Martin C, Harris RA, Hafler DA, Kuchroo VK, Olsson T, Piehl F, Wallstrom E (2004). T Cell Ig- and mucin-domain-containing molecule-3 (TIM-3) and TIM-1 molecules are differentially expressed on human Th1 and Th2 cells and in cerebrospinal fluid-derived mononuclear cells in multiple sclerosis. J Immunol. 172(11): 7169-76. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15153541II. Gielen A, Khademi M, Muhallab S, Olsson T, Piehl F (2003). Increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in white blood cells of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients. Scand J Immunol. 57(5): 493-7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12753507III. Khademi M, Wallstrom E, Andersson M, Piehl F, Di Marco R, Olsson T (2000). Reduction of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines after 6 months of interferon beta-1a treatment of multiple sclerosis. J Neuroimmunol. 103(2): 202-10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10696916IV. Gonzalez H, Khademi M, Andersson M, Piehl F, Wallstrom E, Borg K, Olsson T (2004). Prior poliomyelitis-IVIg treatment reduces proinflammatory cytokine production. J Neuroimmunol. 150(1-2): 139-44. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15081258</p
Hansen, Lee (Lee R.). Union, non-union, and managerial pay plan state employees, 2008-2019
No full text1 online resource (2 pages)"July 1, 2021."Provides the number of union and non-union state employees in each of the last 14 years. Also provides the number of state employees paid under the state's managerial pay plan during each of those years. Updates OLR research report 2019-R-011
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