1,721,025 research outputs found
How to promote health in indoor living and working spaces: quali-quantitative analysis to evaluate the indoor air quality through users’ perception and low-cost sensors
No full textIt is well-known that humans spend most of their time in indoor spaces: what it is sometimes underestimated; however, is how much the space in which someone is can affect their abilities, feelings and even their mental and physical health. A team developed a methodology to allow the collection of useful data and giving rise to management strategies for guaranteeing healthy spaces, in terms of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). In particular, the methodology is based on a quali-quantitative analysis of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) supported by a questionnaire on users’ perception and well-being, based on a scoping review, and low-cost sensors for IAQ monitoring air contaminants (carbon dioxide, temperature, relative humidity, volatile organic compounds, etc.). In particular, for the quantitative analysis, the team adopted a method that considers the location of the sensors in different typology of settings with various solar exposures, ventilation systems, human occupancy, type of activity, etc. with the scope of testing the trends in different seasons. As well as the qualitative data collect several information about the users’ perceived comfort and the symptoms (headache, fatigue, etc.) during their stay. The data analysis highlights how the different users’ perceptions affect the conditions of the environmental units, in particular in crowded rooms (4-6 people). Adequate lifestyles, such as door and window-openings, regular air-changes, etc. can highly affect the performances and the productivity, as well as the quality of the spaces. In that sense the use of low-cost sensors with light signals can be helpful as strategy for informing the user of the state of the air and any actions to be implemented. In conclusion, starting from the methodology, the team gives rise to a decalogue of strategies and good habits that permits -through the support of low-cost sensors - to inform the users on how to guarantee healthy living and working spaces
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
Natural compounds as FAAH inhibitors: preliminary screening and potential developments
No full textnon previst
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
Abstract P6-12-10: Bone seeking matrix metalloproteinase-2 inhibitors prevent bone metastatic breast cancer growth
No full textBone metastasis is a common event during breast cancer progression. The resultant lesions are painful and currently, despite medical advances, are incurable. The progression of bone metastatic breast cancer is critically dependent on interactions with the surrounding microenvironment. Therefore, identifying the underpinning molecular mechanisms is vital for the development of new therapies.
Rationale: Gene expression analysis and validation in human and murine specimens of bone metastases revealed that matrix metalloproteinases, such as MMP-2, are highly expressed in the bone metastatic microenvironment and significantly associated with aggressive breast cancer and poorer overall survival. In bone, tumor or host derived MMP-2 contributes to breast cancer growth and does so by processing substrates including type I collagen and transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) latency proteins. These data provide strong rationale for the application of MMP-2 inhibitors to treat the disease. However, in vivo, MMP-2 is systemically expressed. Therefore, to overcome potential toxicities noted with previous broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors (MMPIs), we used highly selective bisphosphonic based MMP-2 inhibitors (BMMPIs) that allowed for specific bone targeting.
Methods: We utilized a novel chemical approach to synthesize bone seeking MMP inhibitors (BMMPIs) on a bisphosphonic backbone, with specificity for MMP-2 in the nanomolar range (IC50=140 nM).
Results: In vitro, we tested the effect of BMMPIs at varying doses (1nM-100μM) on the viability of the major cellular components of the cancer-bone microenvironment, namely breast cancer cells, (PyMT, 4T1, MDA-MB-231, MCF-7), osteoblasts (MC3T3) and osteoclasts (primary monocytes and RAW 264.7). In vivo, we demonstrated using two bone metastatic models (PyMT-R221A-Luc and 4T1-Luc) that BMMPI treatment significantly reduced tumor growth and tumor associated bone destruction. Additionally, BMMPIs are superior in promoting tumor apoptosis compared to the standard of care bisphosphonate, zoledronate. MMP activity was also lower in the BMMPI treated groups (using tumor burden to normalize values). μCT/Xray/Histomorphometry analysis also illustrated the significant beneficial effects of the BMMPIs in reducing the size of osteolytic lesions (up to 80% by μCT; p<0.05). We demonstrated MMP-2 selective inhibition in the bone microenvironment using specific and broad spectrum MMP probes. Further, compared to zoledronate, BMMPI treated mice had significantly lower levels of TGFβ signaling and MMP generated type I collagen carboxy-terminal (ICTP) fragments. Taken together, our data show the feasibility of selective inhibition of MMPs in the bone metastatic breast cancer microenvironment.
Conclusions. MMP-2 specific inhibition was achieved in the bone microenvironment. BMMPIs significantly inhibit breast cancer growth in bone, they are able to induce breast cancer cell apoptosis and prevent cancer induced bone destruction. Given that bisphosphonates are well tolerated in the clinical setting, we predict that BMMPIs could be translated to the clinical setting for the treatment and eradication of bone metastatic breast cancer
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe 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
- …
