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    Expression of rag2 and V(D)J Recombinase Activity are Reduced in Aged Mice as a Result of Changes in the Bone Marrow Microenvironment: a Dissertation

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    Both humans and mice display an age-related decline in immunity. Reduced generation of mature B cells may be a contributing factor due to reduced entry of mature B cells with novel B cell receptors and specificity for pathogens into the mature B cell pool. In aged mice the numbers of B cell precursors within the bone marrow are diminished; there is a severe reduction in numbers of pre-B cells and an increase in numbers of re-circulated mature B cells. Other defects in developing B cells include reduced expression of rag1 and rag2 when measured in total bone marrow precursor populations. In the pro-B cell stage of development rag expression is essential to the process of V(D)J recombination and the generation of pre-B cells. It was not known prior to this work if rag levels were lower in pro-B cells. In Chapter 2 I show that rag2 expression is reduced in pro-B cells of aged mice. The reduction in rag2 expression is correlated with a loss of V(D)J recombinase activity in pro-B cells and reduced numbers of pre-B cells. This suggests that in aged mice the reduction in rag2 expression is sufficient to result in reduced V(D)J recombinase activity and reduced generation of pre-B cells, thus contributing to fewer pre-B cells in aged mice. Furthermore, I have shown that the loss of rag2expression and recombinase activity in pro-B cells are the result of age-associated defects in the bone marrow-microenvironment as opposed to cell-intrinsic defects in developing precursors. In Chapter 3 of this thesis I examine genetic influences on age-related defects in murine B cell development and correlations between bone marrow B cell subsets and peripheral T cell subsets. It was known that longevity and age-related defects in T cell subsets are influenced by genetic differences between strains of inbred mice. The impact of genetic polymorphisms on age-related defects in B cell development had not been previously assessed. Nor was it known if these defects were correlated with age-related changes in peripheral T cell subsets. Here I present evidence that B cell subsets in the bone marrow are influenced by genetic polymorphisms between mice strains. Genetic polymorphisms on Chromosomes 15 and 19 were found to influence the frequency of re-circulated and pre-B cells in the bone marrow of aged mice. Frequencies of bone marrow B cell subsets were compared with peripheral T cell subsets. Interestingly, an association between the frequency of pre-B cells was not observed with either re-circulated B cells in the bone marrow nor peripheral T cell subsets. However the frequency of pre-B cells was inversely correlated with the frequency of B220intIgM+cells, a subset that was found to correlate with more advanced age-related T cell defects. In addition, frequencies of re-circulated B cells in the bone marrow were found to be associated with less advanced age-related defects in peripheral T cell subsets. These observations indicate that defects in B cell development, including reduced rag2 expression and V(D)J recombinase activity, are the result of changes in the aged murine bone marrow microenvironment. In addition, a genetic polymorphism located on Chromosome 19 influences the frequency of pre-B cells in aged mice. Furthermore the frequencies of B cell precursors in aged mice are not correlated with peripheral T cell subsets, but are correlated with frequencies of B220intIgM+ cells in the bone marrow. These observations advance our understanding of age-related defects in murine B cell development and may lead to identification of genes that influence B cell development in aged mice and humans as well as to help devise therapeutics aimed at restoring humoral immunity in aged individuals.Immunology and Microbiolog

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    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

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    “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

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    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

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    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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    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 Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902

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    In Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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