1,720,967 research outputs found
First report of Cercopithifilaria spp. in dogs from Eastern Europe with an overview of their geographic distribution in Europe.
No full textDogs in Europe may be parasitized by a variety of species of filarioids. While some species have been studied for decades, others have been only recently reported, and their range of distribution is still unknown. The present study was aimed to investigate the occurrence of Cercopithifilaria spp., whose microfilariae reside in the dermis and are transmitted by Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. ticks, in a dog population from Romania and to present the current knowledge of their distribution in Europe. Sampling was performed in a rural locality from Danube Delta region of Romania, location chosen due to the presence of the only known vector for these species. Skin samples were collected from 39 dogs. The samples were tested for the presence of Cercopithifilaria spp. by PCR methods. One animal (2.56 %) was positive, and the amplified sequence showed a 100 % similarity to Cercopithifilaria bainae. This study reports C. bainae for the first time in Eastern Europe, extending the known range of the genus in Europe
Seasonal dynamics of Rhipicephalus rossicus attacking domestic dogs from the steppic region of southeastern Romania
No full textBackground: Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve is one of the most interesting regions in Europe from an epidemiological
point of view due to its great biodiversity, local climatic conditions and various types of habitats. Moreover, there is no
data regarding the ectoparasite communities of dogs from this area. In this frame, the aims of our study were to establish
the tick communities parasitizing dogs and to provide new data regarding seasonal dynamics of a neglected tick species,
Rhipicephalus rossicus.
Methods: A survey was carried out in order to gather information regarding tick species attaching to domestic dogs
from a steppic region of southeastern Romania and to establish their seasonal dynamics. The research was conducted
from 1 December 2012 to 30 November 2013, on 8 dogs from Iazurile, a locality from the west-central part of the
Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. In total, 384 examinations were made, each dog being checked for tick infestation
4 times per month, for one year.
Results: The 893 ticks found belonged to six species: R. rossicus (95.6%), Dermacentor reticulatus (3.2%), Ixodes ricinus
(0.5%), Hyalomma marginatum (0.3%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) (0.2%) and Ixodes crenulatus (0.1%). From
the 91 positive examinations, R. rossicus was found in 80 (87.9%). Single species infestation occurred in 84 examinations.
In 7 out of 91 positive examinations mixed infestation were found. No ticks were found in December, January and
September.
Conclusions: For R. rossicus, high frequency and intensity were observed in May, June and July. The activity peaks for
D. reticulatus were in spring and autumn. Our results highlight that within the range of R. sanguineus s.l., the most
common dog tick worldwide, selected dog populations may be predominantly infested by closely related species,
like in our case, R. rossicus
Prevalence and molecular identification of Cryptosporidium isolates from pet lizards and snakes in Italy.
No full textIn order to acquire prevalence and genetic data on Cryptosporidium infections in captive lizards and snakes kept as pets, a survey was conducted on 150 individual reptiles from southern Italy. Fecal samples were preserved in 5% formalin and analyzed using a commercial immunofluorescence assay (IFA) for the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts. IFA revealed the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in nine of the 150 samples examined (6.0%), precisely in 6/125 snakes (4.8%) and in 3/25 lizards (12.0%); all fecal samples tested negative for the presence of Giardia cysts. Molecular characterization based on nested PCR amplification and sequencing of the SSU-rRNA gene, revealed the presence of Cryptosporidium serpentis in three samples from snakes (Boa constrictor constrictor, Elapheguttata guttata guttata and Python molurus)
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
Copromicroscopic and molecular assays for the detection of cancer-causing parasitic nematode Spirocerca lupi
No full textSpirocerca lupi (Nematoda, Spirurida) is a life-threatening parasitic nematode of dogs that is presently emerging in several countries. Nonetheless, canine spirocercosis is neglected and underestimated, mainly due to diagnostic limitations inherent to clinico-pathologic, diagnostic imaging and laboratory methodologies. Given the significant benefit of improved diagnosis, the present work evaluated the reliability of a recently described copromicroscopic approach, the FLOTAC technique, as well as a PCR-based assay with that of traditional coproscopic techniques to diagnose S. lupi infection. Ninety-four faecal field samples were collected from two endemic areas (i.e. 29 and 65 from Kenya and Israel, respectively) and processed using different coproscopic examination techniques. In particular, set I (Kenyan samples) comprised the modified flotation with Sheather's sugar solution and merthiolate-iodine-formalin technique, while set II (Israeli samples) comprised a flotation technique with zinc sulphate solution, a modified sugar flotation procedure and the FLOTAC method. All samples were also subjected to a semi-nested PCR protocol specific for a region internal to the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene of S. lupi. The coproscopic examinations showed low sensitivity and high variability, demonstrating the unreliability of the conventional methods for detecting S. lupi eggs. Nonetheless, the FLOTAC technique scored the highest number of positives and significantly higher number of S. lupi eggs per microscopic field compared to the other coproscopic methods. Additionally, of the coproscopically negative samples, 9 (45%) Kenyan and 21 (38.2%) Israeli samples scored molecularly positive using the PCR-based approach. The potential implications and perspectives for canine spirocercosis of these coproscopic and molecular diagnostic methodologies evaluated herein are discussed
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
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