1,720,991 research outputs found
Ethnopharmacological survey and phytochemical investigation of Maasai traditional medicinal plants from north-eastern Tanzania
Full text linkIn this study, an ethnopharmacological survey was conducted in Arusha and Manyara regions of north-eastern Tanzania. The objective of the survey was a detailed investigation and documentation of commonly used Maasai medicinal plants in the area. A total of 65 consented traditional medicinal practitioners (TMPs) were interviewed. Information was collected by using a semi structured questionnaire interview. Four commonly used medicinal plants were investigated, namely Myrica salicifolia (Myricaceae), Pappea capensis (Sapindaceae), Flacourtia indica (Salicaceae) and Vangueria apiculata (Rubiaceae). Documentation on plant parts used, drug preparation, traditional medicinal uses, drug administration and overdose management was achieved. A number of diseases were reported to be cured by the four plants. The most mentioned diseases to be treated by M. salicifolia were gonorrhoea (81%) and running nose (73%). P. capensis was mainly used for the enhancement of libido (89%) and to treat blood loss (72%). F. indica was applied to treat fever (92%), malaria (90%) and jaundice (87%). The most mentioned applications for V. apiculata were eye infection (73%) and diarrhoea (66%). Moreover, all four plants were reported to cure further disorders and diseases like joints pain, back pain, gouts, diarrhoea, stomach upset, etc. Furthermore, the survey revealed that barks and roots were the most utilized plant parts. Drug administration was observed not to be uniform, in terms of concentration, time and dose.
Phytochemical investigation of a crude methanolic extract of M. salicifolia bark was performed following its documented ethnopharmacological survey data. The phytochemical investigation resulted in isolation of 31 compounds belonging to different compounds classes: 8 proanthocyanidins, 1 ellagitannin, 17 cyclic diarylheptanoids, 3 methylated ellagic acid glycosides and 2 further compounds. 10 of the isolated compounds from M. salicifolia were identified to be completely new, not described in the literature yet. Additionally, the existence of a new class of compounds to the genus Myrica was also discovered, the so called methylated ellagic acid glycosides (MEAG). It was further noticed that the methanolic extract of M. salicifolia contained mainly proanthocyanidins and cyclic diarylheptanoids in large quantity compared to other compound classes. Moreover, taxonomic relationship of M. salifolia to other reported Myrica species was demonstrated by the compounds isolated from M. salicifolia. Some of the compounds were also reported from other Myrica species, for example myricanol (11) and myricanone (12). These two compounds are found in almost every Myrica species which has been phytochemically investigated.
Finally, the objective of the work was accomplished to a great extent, however further investigations are recommended for the future.
Due to time constraints, the isolated compounds were not investigated for their pharmacological activities. However, existing literature data on in-vitro and/or in-vivo biological activity of the mentioned classes of compounds isolated from other plants species and also from Myrica provide a preliminary indication of a healing potential of this plant.
To provide scientific confirmation of the healing potential of M. salicifolia bark, prospective in-vitro and/or in-vivo pharmacological investigations of the isolated compounds should be conducted by using assays which adhere to the diseases claimed to be treated by M. salicifolia bark.
Also further phytochemical investigation of M. salicifolia bark should be conducted to achieve the complete phytochemical composition of the bark. The future phytochemical investigation should focus on the non-polar extracts (dichloromethane and ethylacetate extracts) which could not be investigated in this research work. But also the polar extracts (methanol 100% and methanol 50% extract) should be further processed. In the methanolic fraction are still a great number of compounds not isolated as they were found in very small amounts. In addition, there are further compounds that would have a good yield, but due to time limitations they were not isolated yet.
Moreover, phytochemical and pharmacological investigations of the remaining three medicinal plants F. indica, P. capensis and V. apiculata should be performed in the same way as for M. salicifolia.
Lastly, dissemination of the results is essential and should be done to increase awareness of the four medicinal plants. This should be done in Arusha and Manyara regions, where the ethnopharmacological survey was conducted, but also in all other parts of Tanzania. Moreover, results dissemination should be done in different languages in such a way that every Tanzanian would understand and be in position to utilize the knowledge whenever in need
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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