130,449 research outputs found
From old-style interactive datasets on the Euring domain to an onthology-driven open hypermedia
No full textThe Euring community collects an impressive body of data about marked animals to address queries connected directly with the biology of populations and individuals. Further knowledge is needed as well to specify and constrain the values of complex biological data stored in its national and sub-national federated databases
Long-term voluntary ethanol consumption induces impairment of the mechanical performance in the papillary muscle of Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats
No full texthe effects of chronic (26 weeks) ethanol consumption on cardiac muscle contractility in Sardinian alcohol-preferring drinkers (sP-D) and Sardinian alcohol-preferring naive (sP-N) rats were investigated. Experiments were carried out 1 week after ethanol administration ceased. Length-tension and force-frequency responses in left ventricular papillary muscles from both sP-D and sP-N rats were recorded in vitro. Papillary muscles were gradually stretched in steps of 5% of the reference (initial) length (L-r) from 100 to 130% L-r. In sP-D rats, length-tension relationships showed a significant reduction in active tension: at optimal length for maximum active tension (130% L-r), the developed force value (1.38 +/- 0.36 mN/mg, dry tissue) was 54% lower than that found in sP-N rats (3.16 +/- 0.6 mN/mg, dry tissue). In sP-D papillary muscles, a decrease in contractile behaviour was also observed in force-frequency responses (0.03-120 pulse/min), when compared with sP-N rats; developed force was found to be reduced by about 2.5 times. These results indicate that long-term ethanol consumption impairs the mechanical performance of sP papillary muscle, inducing a negative inotropic effect
Integrazione di impianti fotovoltaici con sistemi di accumulo ACAES per incrementare l’autoconsumo di energia dei piccoli centri urbani
No full textQuesto studio analizza le prestazioni di un impianto fotovoltaico (FV) integrato con un sistema di accumulo ad aria compressa adiabatico (ACAES), al fine di incrementare l’autoconsumo energetico di piccoli centri urbani. Come caso studio è stato considerato un centro abitato di circa 10000 abitanti e diverse soluzioni per il sistema integrato PV-ACAES. I risultati mostrano come il sistema integrato possa incrementare dal 47 % al 62 % la quota di autoconsumo energetico del centro urbano.This paper evaluates the performance of a photovoltaic (PV) power plant integrated with an Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage (ACAES) system, designed to increase the energy self-consumption rate of a small town. As case study, a small town of about 10000 inhabitants and different PV-ACAES power plants have been considered. The results demonstrate that the integrated system allows to increase from 47% to 62% the energy self-consumption rate of the town
Partial structure factors of amorphous Ni2Zr by anomalous X-ray scattering
No full textThe anomalous X-ray scattering technique has been employed to extract the partial structure factors for an amorphous Ni2Zr sample prepared by mechanical alloying. Four independent measurements were used to build a suitable system of equatuions where the differential structure factors were also introduced in order to reduce the ill-conditioning. A comparison of the short range atomic distribution with a rapidly quenched sample of similar composition investigated by different techniques is also reported
Generation and Characterization of an Influenza D Reporter Virus
No full textInfluenza D virus (IDV) can infect various livestock animals, such as cattle, swine, and small ruminants, and was shown to have zoonotic potential. Therefore, it is important to identify viral factors involved in the broad host tropism and identify potential antiviral compounds that can inhibit IDV infection. Recombinant reporter viruses provide powerful tools for studying viral infections and antiviral drug discovery. Here we present the generation of a fluorescent reporter IDV using our previously established reverse genetic system for IDV. The mNeonGreen (mNG) fluorescent reporter gene was incorporated into the IDV non-structural gene segment as a fusion protein with the viral NS1 or NS2 proteins, or as a separate protein flanked by two autoproteolytic cleavage sites. We demonstrate that only recombinant reporter viruses expressing mNG as an additional separate protein or as an N-terminal fusion protein with NS1 could be rescued, albeit attenuated, compared to the parental reverse genetic clone. Serial passaging experiments demonstrated that the mNG gene is stably integrated for up to three passages, after which internal deletions accumulate. We conducted a proof-of-principle antiviral screening with the established fluorescent reporter viruses and identified two compounds influencing IDV infection. These results demonstrate that the newly established recombinant IDV reporter virus can be applied for antiviral drug discovery and monitoring viral replication, adding a new molecular tool for investigating IDV
Short range structure of mechanically alloyed amorphous Ni2Zr investigated by anomalous X-ray scattering
No full textThe differential anomalous scattering technique has been used to study the local order in an amorphous Ni2Zr sample, prepared by mechanical alloying. The resulting structural parameters are compared with previous data obtained for a sample prepared by rapid quenching
Moult speed constrains the expression of a carotenoid-based sexual ornament
No full textWe investigated the effect of moult speed on the expression of a sexually selected, carotenoid-based feather ornament in the rock sparrow (Petronia petronia). We experimentally accelerated the moult speed of a group of birds by exposing them to a rapidly decreasing photoperiod and compared the area and the spectral characteristics of their ornaments with those of control birds. Birds with accelerated moulting rate showed a smaller yellow patch with lower yellow reflectance compared to their slow-moulting counterparts. Considering that the time available for moulting is usually constrained between the end of the breeding season and migration or wintering, carotenoid feather ornaments, whose expression is mediated by moult speed, may convey long term information about an individual's condition, potentially encompassing the previous breeding season. Furthermore, the observed trade-off between moult speed and ornament expression may represent a previously unrecognized selective advantage for early breeding birds
MeSH term explosion and author rank improve expert recommendations
No full textInformation overload is an often-cited phenomenon that reduces the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of scientists. One challenge for scientists is to find appropriate collaborators in their research. The literature describes various solutions to the problem of expertise location, but most current approaches do not appear to be very suitable for expert recommendations in biomedical research. In this study, we present the development and initial evaluation of a vector space model-based algorithm to calculate researcher similarity using four inputs: 1) MeSH terms of publications; 2) MeSH terms and author rank; 3) exploded MeSH terms; and 4) exploded MeSH terms and author rank. We developed and evaluated the algorithm using a data set of 17,525 authors and their 22,542 papers. On average, our algorithms correctly predicted 2.5 of the top 5/10 coauthors of individual scientists. Exploded MeSH and author rank outperformed all other algorithms in accuracy, followed closely by MeSH and author rank. Our results show that the accuracy of MeSH term-based matching can be enhanced with other metadata such as author rank
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
No full textBoth 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.
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