32 research outputs found
Aflatoxin B1 binding to sorbents in bovine ruminal fluid
No full textA recent approach to the problem of contamination of agricultural products by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is to add non-nutritionally adsorbents to animal diets in order to sequester ingested aflatoxins.
We conducted in vitro experiments to develop a rapid and cheap model using ruminal fluid to assess the ability of sorbent materials to bind AFB1. Seven sorbents (hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, clinoptilolite, zeolite, two types of bentonite, sepiolite and PHIL 75), commonly added to bovine diet, were incubated in water and ruminal fluid in the presence of AFB1.
Hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, sepiolite and one of the bentonites bound 100% of the AFB1 in the presence of both ruminal fluid and water; clinoptilolite bound about 80% of AFB1 in both liquids; whereas the affinities for the mycotoxin of zeolite (50%) and the other sample of bentonite (60%) in water seem to be increased by about 40% in ruminal fluid incubations.
PHIL 75 had the poorest binding ability: about 30% in water and 45% in ruminal fluid.
In view of the differences in toxin binding in water and ruminal fluid, it is preferable to use the ruminal fluid model for the in vitro pre-screening of sorbent materials potentially useful as adjuvants to ruminant feeds
Prescription habits and drugs accessibility for the treatment of non-tuberculous mycobacteria infections in Italy: a multicentric survey from the IRENE study group
No full textPurposeNon-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) account for high clinical burden, and treatment can be challenging. Moreover, accessibility of NTM medications varies across centers. These challenges may lead to unplanned therapeutic changes, discontinuations, potentially affecting patient outcomes. Aim of this survey was to evaluate the accessibility of NTM-targeting drugs in Italy (with a particular focus on clofazimine) in centers associated with the IRENE Registry, a collaborative network of healthcare professionals.MethodsA cross-sectional, internet-based, questionnaire-survey on the use and availability of clofazimineand other NTM-targeting drugs was sent to 88 principal investigators of the IRENE network in Italyin 2020. The questionnaires were designed with closed-ended and open-ended questions and distributed using the SurveyMonkey (R) platform.ResultsThe surveys underscore the more frequent involvement of pulmonologists (42%) and infectious disease specialists (34%) in NTM treating strategies. Respondents were distributed across 18 out of20 Italian regions, with a significant concentration in the north, encompassing university hospitalsand outpatient clinics. Molecular testing is available in 40% of the involved centers, while phenotypic in 30% of the centers. Centers have a multidisciplinary team and an appointed pharmacy service for NTM drugs distribution in 10 and 75% of the cases, respectively. Substantial variability was observed in drug availability and accessibility, drug regimen composition, and drug dosage, particularly for medications like clofazimine.ConclusionsThis study shows the high heterogeneity of anti-NTM drug availability in Italy and prompts toward a harmonization in antibiotic prescription and access; it also emphasizes the challenges in determining the optimal therapeutic strategies for treating NTM-infections
Forms and Functions of Author Keywords in Theses and Dissertations at the UNESP Institutional Repository (Brazil)
No full textThis research aimed to prepare guidelines for authors by investigating forms and functions of keywords assigned by authors in theses and dissertations defended in 2023 in the Graduate Program in Information Science at Unesp. The exploratory and descriptive study utilized a sample collected in the Unesp Institutional Repository. A corpus of 31 theses and 14 dissertations submitted to the Unesp Institutional Repository comprised a total of 183 keywords in Portuguese without duplicates and an average of 4.7 keywords, considering 213 keywords with duplicates. The analysis results initially identified that the Repository has a tutorial on using the Unesp Thesaurus to control vocabulary and that the authors use natural language to assign keywords. The findings reveal that, out of the 183 keywords, 89 (48%) are exclusive, singular and specific to the area of Information Science, candidates for descriptors in the Unesp Thesaurus. The other 94 keywords (51.3%) have 40 (21.3%) exact descriptors, and the other 54 (29.5%) present forms and functions that serve as examples for inclusion in the tutorial instructions. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that the percentage of 21% overlap between keywords and descriptors reveals that the Unesp Thesaurus was consulted by the authors when filling out keyword metadata and that the low number of exact descriptors and exclusive keywords indicate that they need to be included as new terms. It is recommended, therefore, to define an Indexing Policy that considers the need for hybrid coexistence between natural language and vocabulary control.Cette recherche visait à préparer des lignes directrices pour les auteurs en étudiant les formes et les fonctions des mots-clés attribués par les auteurs dans les thèses et mémoires soutenus en 2023 dans le programme d'études supérieures en sciences de l'information de l'Unesp. L'étude, à la fois exploratoire et descriptive, a utilisé un échantillon collecté dans le référentiel institutionnel de l'Unesp. Un corpus de 31 thèses et 14 mémoires soumis au Dépôt institutionnel de l'Unesp a été composé avec un total de 183 mots-clés en portugais sans doublons, et une moyenne de 4,7 mots-clés en considérant un total de 213 mots-clés avec doublons. Les résultats de l'analyse ont initialement identifié que le référentiel dispose d'un didacticiel avec des instructions sur la façon d'utiliser le thésaurus de l'Unesp pour contrôler le vocabulaire et que les auteurs utilisent le langage naturel pour attribuer des mots-clés. Les résultats révèlent que, sur les 183 mots-clés, 89 (48%) sont exclusifs, singuliers et spécifiques au domaine des sciences de l'information, candidats aux descripteurs du Thésaurus de l'Unesp. Les 94 autres mots-clés (51,3 %) ont 40 (21,3 %) descripteurs exacts, et les 54 autres (29,5 %) présentent des formes et des fonctions qui servent d'exemples à inclure dans les instructions du didacticiel. Sur la base des résultats obtenus, on conclut que le pourcentage de chevauchement de 21% entre mots-clés et descripteurs révèle que le Thésaurus de l'Unesp a été consulté par les auteurs lors du remplissage des métadonnées des mots-clés et que le faible nombre de descripteurs exacts et de mots-clés exclusifs indiquent qu'ils ont besoin à inclure comme nouveaux termes. Il est donc recommandé de définir une politique d'indexation qui prenne en compte la nécessité d'une coexistence hybride entre le langage naturel et le contrôle du vocabulaire
Análise das funções de palavras-chaves atribuídas por autores em publicações científicas de eventos e periódicos
No full textIntroduction: The author, with your prior knowledge of the subject of your article, can be considered a domain expert indexer when assigns keywords from your domain expert language that represent meaningful content in journal, event, and repository submission systems. Objective: The study on the indexing of the scientific author as an indexer had the objective of investigating the functions attributed to keywords in scientific publications from events and journals in two areas of knowledge, Information Science and Education. Methodology: Exploratory research was carried out with papers from the ENANCIB (Information Science) and ANPED (Education) events and articles from Qualis A1 and A2 journals in the Scielo Information Science and Education collection. Annotation method of functions of keywords was applied and category determination according to the context of the abstract and title. Results/Conclusion: The most frequent keywords are represented by the functions “Research topic” and “Research object” and the least frequent ones represented by the functions “Data”, “Research area”, “Others” and “Research method”. Conclusion: It is concluded that the two main functions are “Research object” and “Research topic”.Introdução: O autor, com seu conhecimento prévio sobre o assunto de seu artigo, pode ser considerado um indexador especialista de domínio quando atribui palavras-chaves de sua linguagem de domínio especializado que representam o conteúdo significativo em sistemas de submissão de periódicos, eventos e repositórios. Objetivo: O estudo sobre a indexação do autor científico como indexador teve objetivo de investigação sobre funções atribuídas às palavras-chaves em publicações científicas de eventos e periódicos de duas áreas de conhecimento, Ciência da Informação e Educação. Metodologia: Realizou-se pesquisa exploratória com trabalhos dos eventos ENANCIB (Ciência da Informação) e Reunião Nacional da ANPED (Educação) e com artigos de periódicos Qualis A1 e A2 da coleção SciELO de Ciência da Informação e de Educação. Foi aplicado método de anotação de funções das palavras-chaves e determinação da categoria, conforme contexto do resumo e do título. Resultados/Conclusão: As palavras-chaves mais frequentes são representadas pelas funções “Tópico de pesquisa” e “Objeto de pesquisa”, enquanto as menos frequentes, representadas pelas funções “Dados”, “Área de pesquisa”, “Outros” e “Método de pesquisa”. Conclusão: Conclui-se que as duas principais funções são “Objeto de pesquisa” e “Tópico de pesquisa”
Real-life evaluation of clinical outcomes in patients undergoing treatment for non-tuberculous mycobacteria lung disease: A ten-year cohort study
No full textOutcome recognition is a crucial step in the management of non-tuberculous mycobacteria lung disease (NTM-LD). In order to explore NTM-LD outcomes in a real-life setting, an observational, retrospective study enrolling consecutive adults who received treatment for NTM-LD in Milan, Italy, from 2007 to 2017 was conducted. Among 170 patients (68.2% females; median age: 68 years), NTM-LD was mainly due to M. avium complex (MAC) (71.2%), M. kansasii (9.4%) and M. xenopi (7.1%). Along a median follow-up of 31 months, adverse events occurred in 37.6% of the patients. Treatment outcomes of the entire study population included an unsuccessful outcome in 35.3% of the patients, including treatment halted in 13.5%, recurrence in 11.2%, re-infection in 5.3%, treatment failure in 4.1% and relapse in 1.2%. The main reason for treatment halted was drug intolerance. No differences were detected between patients with MAC-LD vs. those with other NTM-LD in terms of unsuccessful outcome in general (35.5% vs. 34.7%). A significantly higher prevalence of patients who underwent treatment halted was found in patients with NTM-LD other than MAC in comparison to patients with MAC-LD (22.4% vs. 9.9%, p = 0.030). One third of adults undergoing treatment for a NTM-LD experiences an unsuccessful outcome with adverse events and treatment discontinuation being major challenges in patients' management
Guidelines on assigning the subjects of theses and dissertations in repositories
No full textThis study aims to investigate how Brazilian institutional repositories guide subject representation in the self-archiving of their information resources. As a method, an exploratory and qualitative study was carried out with the application of an electronic exploratory analysis of repositories and an analysis of transcripts of thesis and dissertation authors’ Individual Verbal Protocols during self-archiving. The analysis of the results in the Brazilian university repository sample shows that 10 have a self-archiving policy and five include guidance to the author on subject representation and metadata quality. The transcription analysis of the authors’ Individual Verbal Protocols reveals that all authors consider keywords important for content representation. The investigation concludes that the self-archiving process is fundamental for the dissemination of scientific information and wide access to the community.Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita FilhoUniversidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filh
Políticas de indexação na América Latina
No full textThe indexing policy must not be considered as a list of procedures to be followed, but a philosophy that reflects the interests and aims of the information unit. This takes us to think about indexing from the managerial and strategic point of view in the context of information unities, as it happens in the input and output of the information system. A basic indexing policy should consider the indexing methodologies, the use of controlled vocabularies and lists of authorities (identifiers, author names, place names, etc.), as well as assessment mechanisms. With the purpose of developing a study on the policy of the Latin American indexing in National Libraries and National Archives, as well as of some information systems, it was carried out an exploratory and descriptive diagnosis that consisted of two parts: the functioning and the procedures of indexing in the perspective of management and of the indexer, and the evaluation of information access and retrieval by the user. In order to obtain a representative range of Latin America, the most important countries of South America and Central America and Caribbean were selected in two blocks. With the data analysis collected up to now, it was possible to observe that the results show the inexistence of indexing policies in the twenty-four visited institutions.La política de indización no debe ser vista como una lista de procedimientos a seguir, sino como una filosofía que refleje los intereses y objetivos de una unidad de información. Eso nos lleva a pensar sobre la indización desde el punto de vista gerencial y estratégico en el contexto de unidades de información. Una política de indización básica debería contemplar la forma de realizar la indización, los vocabularios controlados y de listas de autoridades (identificadores, nombres de personas, nombres de lugares, etc.) manejados, así como los mecanismos de revisión y evaluación de la indización. Con el objetivo de llevar a cabo un estudio sobre las políticas de indización latinoamericana en Bibliotecas Nacionales y Archivos Nacionales, así como de algunos sistemas de información, se realizó un diagnóstico exploratorio y descriptivo compuesto de una investigación teórica y otra práctica a través del funcionamiento y los procedimientos de indización desde la perspectiva de la gerencia y del indizador, y la evaluación de acceso y la recuperación de la información por el usuario. Para obtener una cobertura representativa de América Latina, en primer lugar, fueron seleccionados los países más importantes de la región y, posteriormente, se realizaron las visitas presenciales desde octubre de 2008 hasta junio de 2009. En los datos hasta ahora recopilados, se observa una clara inexistencia de políticas de indización en las veinticuatro instituciones visitadas
Doing things with questions. Interpreting in asylum settings
No full textThe interpreter has the demanding task of “not creating a contradiction” by employing an identical concept in a different context. The classifications of the asylum applicant encounter the institutionally determined limits. Reliable verification of the applicant’s credibility is, however, dependent on knowledge of his/her local context and demands additional questioning. In this process, a denial of interlingual and intralingual complexity may be a source of invisible injustice (Spotti 2019:87-88). Both interpreting and interpretation is thus an inseparable part of the process in which police officers, decision-makers and judges, paraphrasing John L. Austin and John Searle, “do things with questions”. The author applies this interpretive framework to data from ethnographic research, which was conducted in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2017-19, on interpreting for asylum applicants in the institutional settings. She elucidates the diversity of the standpoints - of refugees, court and ad hoc interpreters, representatives of the foreign police and of the migration office, as well as legal representatives from civic associations, referencing to relevant findings in linguistic and legal anthropology. In this article Helena Tužinská proposes that: (1) the discrepancies in the reports are conditioned by the context of interpreting, (2) participants “do things with questions”, and (3) inter-cultural interpretation can be a speech act
Doing things with questions. Interpreting in asylum settings
No full textThe interpreter has the demanding task of “not creating a contradiction” by employing an identical concept in a different context. The classifications of the asylum applicant encounter the institutionally determined limits. Reliable verification of the applicant’s credibility is, however, dependent on knowledge of his/her local context and demands additional questioning. In this process, a denial of interlingual and intralingual complexity may be a source of invisible injustice (Spotti 2019:87-88). Both interpreting and interpretation is thus an inseparable part of the process in which police officers, decision-makers and judges, paraphrasing John L. Austin and John Searle, “do things with questions”. The author applies this interpretive framework to data from ethnographic research, which was conducted in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2017-19, on interpreting for asylum applicants in the institutional settings. She elucidates the diversity of the standpoints - of refugees, court and ad hoc interpreters, representatives of the foreign police and of the migration office, as well as legal representatives from civic associations, referencing to relevant findings in linguistic and legal anthropology. In this article Helena Tužinská proposes that: (1) the discrepancies in the reports are conditioned by the context of interpreting, (2) participants “do things with questions”, and (3) inter-cultural interpretation can be a speech act
A utilização de linguagens de indexação por bibliotecas universitárias: Revisão bibliográfica
No full textThe studies on indexing languages in university libraries are analyzed to verify similarities and differences, methods, propositions, contributions and recommendations, through the systematic mapping of literature in the databases BRAPCI, LISA, WoS and Scopus, in the period 2002-2022. The variables that can affect the indexing process are: use of controlled and inappropriate vocabulary from other areas of knowledge; attribution of indexing by the author; the professional indexer; lack of indexing policy and languages and the consonance between them; lack of method in the construction of the indexing language; unavailability of the indexing language by libraries to users; lack of an indexing manual; understanding of the professionals who perform the mediation of the indexing language and its complexity. These variables showed how the indexing process can be affected, involving aspects of the indexer, the system, the elaborated guidelines and how the indexing language construction occurs. We concluded that each study analyzed presented, at least in some aspects, similarities and differences between each other, methods, propositions, contributions and recommendations. Using only the indexing policy guidelines and the manual is not enough to solve all the problems involving the indexing process, it is necessary to perform a combination of multifactors, which are: the indexer, the quality of the indexing language in its construction, the instrument used, the systems and the context of the university library.Se analizan los estudios sobre lenguajes de indización en las bibliotecas universitarias para verificar las similitudes y diferencias, los métodos, las propuestas, las contribuciones y las recomendaciones, a través del mapeo sistemático de la literatura en las bases BRAPCI, LISTA, WoS y Scopus entre 2002 y 2022. Las variables que pueden afectar el proceso de indización son: uso de vocabulario controlado e inapropiado de otras áreas del conocimiento; atribución de la indización por parte del autor; el profesional indizador; falta de política de indización y lenguajes y la consonancia entre ellos; falta de método en la construcción del lenguaje de indización; indisponibilidad del lenguaje de indización por parte de las bibliotecas para los usuarios; falta de un manual de indización; comprensión de los profesionales que realizan la mediación del lenguaje de indización y su complejidad. Cada estudio analizado presenta, al menos en algunos aspectos, similitudes y diferencias entre sí, en métodos, propuestas, contribuciones y recomendaciones. Utilizar solamente las directrices de la política de indización y el manual no es suficiente para resolver todos los problemas que involucran el proceso de indización, es necesario realizar una combinación de multifactores: el indizador, la calidad del lenguaje de indización en su construcción, el instrumento utilizado, los sistemas y el contexto de la biblioteca universitaria.A função da biblioteca universitária consiste no armazenamento, organização e acesso à informação e sua necessidade está em sistematizar processos e condutas de indexação para a recuperação da informação. A linguagem de indexação é instrumento importante da política de indexação porque, além do controle de vocabulário, exerce influência direta na indexação e recuperação da informação pelas variáveis de especificidade e exaustividade. Com a proposição de investigar como a literatura publicada aborda as linguagens de indexação em bibliotecas universitárias, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar estudos sobre linguagens de indexação em bibliotecas universitárias para verificar semelhanças e diferenças, métodos, proposições, contribuições e recomendações, mediante pesquisa bibliográfica nas bases de dados em Ciência da Informação (BRAPCI); Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações (BDTD); Library & Information Science Abstracts (LISA); Web of Science (WoS) e Scopus, no período entre 2007 e 2020. Os resultados obtidos a partir das buscas mostraram falhas de consistência entre os termos utilizados na busca e os trabalhos recuperados quando não utilizada aspas como estratégia de buscas, além de excesso ou um número muito reduzido de trabalhos recuperados. Os resultados obtidos, a partir da análise, mostraram que cada estudo elencou variável que pode afetar o processo de indexação como: uso de vocabulário controlado inadequado e de outras áreas do conhecimento; atribuição da indexação pelo autor; o indexador profissional; falta de política e linguagens de indexação e consonância entre elas; falta de método na construção da linguagem da indexação; não disponibilização da linguagem de indexação pelas bibliotecas para usuários; falta de manual de indexação; compreensão dos profissionais que realizam a mediação da linguagem de indexação e a sua complexidade. Essas variáveis mostraram como o processo de indexação pode ser afetado, envolvendo aspectos do indexador, do sistema, das diretrizes elaboradas e de como ocorre a construção das linguagens de indexação. Conclui-se que cada estudo analisado apresentou, em algum aspecto, pelo menos, semelhanças e diferenças entre si, métodos, proposições, contribuições e recomendações. Utilizar somente as diretrizes da política e manual de indexação não é o suficiente para sanar todos os problemas envolvendo o processo de indexação, é necessário realizar combinação de multifatores, que são: o indexador, a qualidade da linguagem de indexação na sua construção, o instrumento utilizado, sistemas e o contexto da biblioteca universitária inserida. A linguagem de indexação atua nos sistemas de informação, orientando o indexador sobre quais os melhores termos para a representação de um assunto, da mesma maneira em que auxilia os usuários na elaboração de estratégias de buscas por informações no sistema
