1,720,958 research outputs found
BIOKIS: A Model Payload for MultidisciplinaryExperiments in Microgravity
No full textIn this paper we report about the BIOKIS
payload: a multidisciplinary set of experiments and
measurements in the fields of Biology (4) and Dosimetry
(3) performed in microgravity. BIOKIS took advantage of the last STS-134 Endeavour mission and
engineering state of the art in Space Life Science. The
BIOKIS payload is compact, efficient, and capable to
host experiments with different samples and science disciplines. Moreover, the time overlap of biological experiments and dosimetry measurements will produce more insightful information
Intra- and inter-specific variability in the genus Helianthus as assessed by IRAP markers
No full textNANOPARTICLES BASED COUNTERMEASURES FOR TREATMENT OF MICROGRAVITY INDUCED OSTEOPOROSIS (NATO)
No full textMG significantly modifies the metabolism of bone leading to site-specific alterations in remodeling of the bone tissue. A decrement in bone formation and an increase in bone resorption determine a significant loss of bone mass causing bone fragility and therefore a greater risk of fractures. The proposed project, that has been selected to fly on the space mission of Cristofoletti in 2015, is focused on the development of the countermeasures to be taken in order to reduce the process of bone demineralization, while promoting a greater deposition of bone matrix. In particular, the innovative aspect of the proposed study concerns the production and the physical-chemical characterization of nanoparticles of hydroxyapatite (nHAP) enriched with Strontium (Sr) and the evaluation of their biological effectiveness on osteoblasts and osteoclasts maturation in the condition of simulated MG and during space flight. The application of nanotechnology and the analysis of gene expression by RNAseq on both cell types incubated in MG would be revealing in this research field. In a future scenario where the astronauts can take appropriate doses of nHAP enriched with Sr, on Earth we may envision: i) reduction of problems related to bone demineralization during the flight and as a result of long stay on the space station; ii) reduction of social costs and improvement of the quality of life of those working in the space; iii) technological transfer to industries for the production and quality assessment of nanoparticles, promoting market competitiveness; and iv) patents applications
Molecular and cellular characterization of space flight effects on microvascular endothelial cell function – preparatory work for the SFEF project
No full textExposure to microgravity during space flight (SF) of variable length induces suffering of the endothelium (the cells lining all blood vessels), mostly responsible for health problems found in astronauts and animals returning from space. Of interest to pre-nosological medicine, the effects of microgravity on astronauts are strikingly similar to the consequences of sedentary life, senescence and degenerative diseases on Earth, although SF effects are accelerated and reversible. Thus, microgravity is a significant novel model for better understanding of common pathologies. A comprehensive cell and molecular biology study is needed in order to explain pathophysiological findings after SFs. This project will study the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on endothelial cells (ECs) cultured on the International Space Station through analysis of 1) cell transcriptome, 2) DNA methylome, 3) DNA damage and cell senescence, 4) variations in cell cycle and cell morphology. This project has been selected by the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency and is presently in preparation. The ground study presented here was performed to determine the biological and engineering requirements that will allow us to retrieve suitable samples after culturing, fixing and storing ECs in space. We expect to identify molecular pathways activated by space microgravity in microvascular ECs, which may shed light on pathogenic molecular mechanisms responsible for endothelial suffering shared by astronauts and individuals affected with aging, degenerative and sedentary life-associated pathologies on Earth
Genetic variability in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and in the Helianthus genus as assessed by retrotransposon-based molecular markers.
No full text
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
- …
