1,720,981 research outputs found

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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

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    We 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

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    We 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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We 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

    Nanoparticles based on quaternary ammonium chitosan-methyl-β-cyclodextrin conjugate for the neuropeptide dalargin delivery to the central nervous system: An in vitro study

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    Peptide oral administration is a hard goal to reach, especially if the brain is the target site. The purpose of the present study was to set up a vehicle apt to promote oral absorption of the neuropeptide dalargin (DAL), allowing it to cross the intestinal mucosal barrier, resist enzymatic degradation, and transport drugs to the brain after crossing the blood–brain barrier. Therefore, a chitosan quaternary ammonium derivative was synthesized and conjugated with methyl-β-cyclodextrin to prepare DAL-medicated nanoparticles (DAL-NP). DAL-NP particle size was 227.7 nm, zeta potential +8.60 mV, encapsulation efficiency 89%. DAL-NP protected DAL from degradation by chymotrypsin or pancreatin and tripled DAL degradation time compared to non-encapsulated DAL. Use of DAL-NP was safe for either Caco-2 or bEnd.3 cells, with the latter selected as a blood–brain barrier model. DAL-NP could also cross either the Caco-2 or bEnd.3 monolayer by the transepithelial route. The results suggest a potential DAL-NP ability to transport to the brain a DAL dose fraction administered orally, although in vivo experiments will be needed to confirm the present data obtained in vitro

    Macroporous Bioglass®-derived scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration

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    Since it was introduced at the end of the '60s, the 45S5 Bioglass (R) has played a fundamental role among the materials for orthopedic applications because of its ability to build a stable bond with the surrounding bone. The recent development of bone tissue engineering has led the interest of many scientists in the design of Bioglass (R)-based scaffolds, i.e. porous systems able to drive and foster the bone tissue regrowth. Among the available techniques to realize scaffolds, the polymer burning out method, which employs organic particles as pore generating agents in a ceramic matrix, combines versatility and low cost. In spite of the advantages of the polymer burning out method, this technique has been rarely applied to 45S5 Bioglass (R) and a systematic feasibility study has not been carried out on this issue yet. In order to fill this gap, in the present contribution the polymer burning out method was employed to design macroporous scaffolds based on 45S5 Bioglass (R). Different amounts of organic phase were used to obtain samples with different porosity. The samples were characterized from a microstructural point of view, in order to evaluate the pore morphology, dimension and degree of interconnectivity. Such findings proved that a proper setting of the processing parameters made it possible to achieve very high porosity values, among the best ones obtained in the literature with the same technique, together with an appreciable mechanical behaviour, according to compression tests. Finally, the scaffolds bioactivity was assessed by means of in vitro tests in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. Moreover, in the view of a potential application for bone tissue engineering, a preliminary biological evaluation of the obtained scaffolds to sustain cell proliferation was carried ou

    Quaternary ammonium chitosans: The importance of the positive fixed charge of the drug delivery systems

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    As a natural polysaccharide, chitosan has good biocompatibility, biodegradability and biosecurity. The hydroxyl and amino groups present in its structure make it an extremely versatile and chemically modifiable material. In recent years, various synthetic strategies have been used to modify chitosan, mainly to solve the problem of its insolubility in neutral physiological fluids. Thus, derivatives with negative or positive fixed charge were synthesized and used to prepare innovative drug delivery systems. Positively charged conjugates showed improved properties compared to unmodified chitosan. In this review the main quaternary ammonium derivatives of chitosan will be considered, their preparation and their applications will be described to evaluate the impact of the positive fixed charge on the improvement of the properties of the drug delivery systems based on these polymers. Furthermore, the performances of the proposed systems resulting from in vitro and ex vivo experiments will be taken into consideration, with particular attention to cytotoxicity of systems, and their ability to promote drug absorption
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