1,720,997 research outputs found
One-step scalable fluorescent microgel bioassay for the ultrasensitive detection of endogenous viral miR-US4-5p
No full textHuman cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection is the leading cause of birth defects in newborns and death in immunosuppressed people. Traditional techniques require time-consuming and costly analyses, and sometimes result in false positive results; thus, a rapid and accurate detection for hCMV infection is necessary. Recently, hcmv-miR-US4-5p was selected as the biomarker for cytomegalovirus diagnosis and follow-up. Herein, we propose a bioassay based on microgels endowed with optical fluorescent oligonucleotide probes for the detection of circulating endogenous hcmv-microRNAs. In particular, a double strand probe, based on the fluorescence recovery after target capture, was conjugated on microgels and the probe density was opportunely optimised. Then, the microgels were directly mixed with the sample. The fluorescence read-out was measured as a function of target concentration at a fixed number of microgels per tube. As a bead-based assay, the performances of optical detection in terms of dynamic working range and limit of detection could be finely tuned by tuning the number of microgels per tube. The limit of detection of the assay could be tuned in the range from 39.1 fM to 156 aM by changing the microgel concentration from 50 μg mL-1 to 0.5 μg mL-1, respectively. The assay results specific for the selected target were stable over a one-year time span and they were not affected by the presence of human serum. Therefore, this bioassay based on microgels might represent a flexible platform that should be able to predict, identify and follow-up several diseases by monitoring freely circulating oligonucleotides in body fluids
Cell mechanosensory recognizes ligand compliance at biomaterial interface
No full textCells activate signalling through ligand-receptor bonds by sensing the mechanical properties of the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). Ligands, indeed, have to withstand the pulling force elicited by cell receptors through focal adhesions (FAs). On this basis, we developed functional ligands to be simply adsorbed on surfaces and constituted by a two-domain peptide: one derived from ECM proteins and available to receptors to offer biochemical cues, and another adsorbed on material to withstand the tension upon receptor engagement. Tuneable compliance of the anchoring domain of the peptide ligand was verified by single peptide analysis through molecular dynamics and adsorption measurements. We showed that the highest adsorbed peptides combined with integrin cell-binding motifs allow for the cell recognition and polarization with larger mature FA areas. On the contrary, the lowest adsorbed sequences did not provide mechanical resistance to the integrin pulling action, leading to more rounded cells with smaller FA areas. This evidence demonstrates that cell mechanosensory can discriminate ligands on surfaces and should be considered as a criterion in ligand design for material bioactivation
Fiano, Greco and Falanghina grape cultivars differentiation by volatiles fingerprinting, a case study
Full text linkThe biomolecular characterization of edible products is gaining an increasing importance in food chemistry. The characteristic aroma or bouquet of a wine is the result of complex interactions of volatile molecules and odor receptors. Its characterization is the subject of many different studies, aimed at the development of new methods to be used for the discovery of frauds and for the typization of Protected Designation of Origin (P.D.O.) or Protected Geographic Indication (P.G.I.) wines.
We previously outlined the proteomic profile of three cultivars of Vitis vinifera from South Italy (Campania) used for white wine production (Fiano, Greco and Falanghina) during the ripening. In this work, we present a mass spectrometry based study aimed at obtaining the profile of volatiles on the same samples using solid phase micro extraction coupled to gas chromatography.
We demonstrated that some of the main constituents of aroma (namely terpenes, alcohols, aldehydes, etc.) were characteristic of certain grapes and absent in others
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
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
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