1,720,967 research outputs found
Detection and Characterization of Histamine-Producing Strains of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae Isolated from Mullets
Full text linkPhotobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (Pdd) is considered to be an emerging pathogen of marine fish and has also been implicated in cases of histamine food poisoning. In this study, eight strains isolated from mullets of the genera Mugil and Liza captured in the Ligurian Sea were characterized, and a method to detect histamine-producing Pdd from fish samples was developed. The histamine-producing potential of the strains was evaluated in culture media (TSB+) using a histamine biosensor. Subsequently, two strains were used to contaminate mackerel fillets (4 or 40 CFU/g), simulating a cross-contamination on the selling fish stalls. Sample homogenates were enriched in TSB+. The cultures were then inoculated on thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose agar (TCBS) and the dark green colonies were cultured on Niven agar. The violet isolates were characterized using specific biochemical and PCR based tests. All Pdd strains were histamine producers, yielding concentration varying from 167 and 8977 µg/mL in TSB+ cultures incubated at 30 °C for 24 h. Pdd colonies were detected from the inoculated mackerel samples and their histidine decarboxylase gene was amplified using species-specific primer pairs designed for this study. The results indicate that mullets can be source of Pdd and the fish retailers needs to evaluate the risk posed by cross-contamination on the selling fish stalls
Effects of Beeswax Coating on the Oxidative Stability of Long-Ripened Italian Salami
Full text linkBeeswax coating of foods put a barrier to oxygen, light, and vapour that can help to prevent oxidation of fat and pigments and water loss. The amounts of 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and water activity (Aw) were assessed in Italian salami coated with beeswax at 55 days of ripening and compared with controls at 5, 6, and 7 months of shelf life. The results were correlated with sensory quality. TBARS levels were below 0.8 mg kg−1 in the beeswax-coated salami until 6 months of aging (median 0.697, max 0.795) and significantly higher in the uncoated salami (median 1.176, max 1.227). A slight correlation between the amount of TBARS and Aw was observed in beeswax-coated salamis, whereas this effect was masked in controls by the large Aw variability observed at 7 months. Beeswax coating prevents case hardening and facilitated the peeling
Sanitisation of fresh-cut celery and radicchio by gas plasma treatments in water medium
Full text linkThe antimicrobial efficacy of dielectric barrier discharge atmospheric gas plasma (DBD) was tested against Listeria monocytogenes and shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli serogroups O157 and O26. Challenge tests were carried out with samples of cut celery and radicchio leaves inoculated with a mix of five strains of L. monocytogenes or the two strains of E. coli immersed in deionised water. The treatment efficacy was also assessed considering only the contaminated deionised water. For deionised inoculated water alone, a treatment time-dependent strong effect was observed and a pathogens reduction higher than 6LogCFU/mL was obtained after 40min of treatment. With the vegetables presence in the liquid medium, the efficacy appeared reduced and related to the treatment time, microorganism, substrate and storage duration (reduction up to 2.5 and 3.7LogCFU/cm2 for L. monocytogenes and E. coli, respectively). No significant changes were observed on celery visual attributes, soluble solids content and textural parameters. A significant decrease of the chroma colour parameter during storage was noted in treated radicchio samples respect to control ones
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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