130,370 research outputs found
MeSH term explosion and author rank improve expert recommendations
No full textInformation overload is an often-cited phenomenon that reduces the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of scientists. One challenge for scientists is to find appropriate collaborators in their research. The literature describes various solutions to the problem of expertise location, but most current approaches do not appear to be very suitable for expert recommendations in biomedical research. In this study, we present the development and initial evaluation of a vector space model-based algorithm to calculate researcher similarity using four inputs: 1) MeSH terms of publications; 2) MeSH terms and author rank; 3) exploded MeSH terms; and 4) exploded MeSH terms and author rank. We developed and evaluated the algorithm using a data set of 17,525 authors and their 22,542 papers. On average, our algorithms correctly predicted 2.5 of the top 5/10 coauthors of individual scientists. Exploded MeSH and author rank outperformed all other algorithms in accuracy, followed closely by MeSH and author rank. Our results show that the accuracy of MeSH term-based matching can be enhanced with other metadata such as author rank
The role of live fish trade in the translocation of parasites: the case of Cystidicola farionis in farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
No full textCystidicola farionis is a nematode of the swim bladder that parasitizes Salmonidae and Osmeridae families, with a range of diffusion in Europe, Asia, and North America. During a fish health monitoring performed in July 2017 in a trout farm located in northwest Italy, a prevalence of 70% for C. farionis was recorded in rainbow trout from a unique tank. In order to clarify the first occurrence of this parasite in northwest Italy, a total of 180 specimens were analysed in different seasons to obtain prevalence, mean intensity, and mean abundance of infestation. Moreover, amphipods were also sampled during each fish sampling campaign. Only fish sampled in August 2017 were positive for C. farionis, since fish were then sold and replaced with a new batch. All isolated nematodes were identified by morphological criteria as subadults (L4), but not sexually matured. All examined amphipods (genus Gammarus) resulted negative for the presence of the parasite. The most probable explanation of this report was due to the movement of a single fish batch from northeast Italy, previously described as an endemic area for this parasite. The absence of the parasite in the amphipods and consequently in other fish batches from other tanks are due to the lifetime cycle of the parasite that had no time to infect new hosts
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
Draft genome sequence of rhodococcus qingshengii strain PN_19, isolated from a moribund individual of pinna nobilis in Sardinia, Italy
No full textDuring an epidemiological survey that aimed to discover the causes for the mass mortality of Pinna nobilis, a strain of Rhodococcus was found in a moribund individual. Here, we report its 7,037,134-bp draft genome sequence, which, after the annotation and genome survey, was identified as belonging to Rhodococcus qingshengii PN_19
"Closing the R&D Gap, Evaluating the Sources of R&D Spending"
No full textBoth spending and tax policies have been implemented in the United States with the goal of stimulating private sector research and development (R&D). Karier questions whether current R&D policy, especially the research and experimentation tax credit, can contribute to closing the gap between nondefense expenditures on R&D in the United States and such expenditures in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. He also explores possible changes to our current R&D policy to make it more effective.
Monitoraggio sanitario in popolazioni remote di Barbus balcanicus in Friuli-Venezia Giulia
No full textIl barbo balcanico, Barbus balcanicus, ha un ampio areale di distribuzione nell'Europa centro orientale. In Italia, la specie è presente nel bacino del fiume Isonzo che costituisce il limite nord occidentale del suo areale di distribuzione. La specie è betonica e gregaria: infatti, solitamente forma piccoli branchi che si spostano in prossimità del fondo. Alla luce della confusione generale della sistematica e tassonomia di questa specie e, vista la somiglianza con il barbo canino, nell'ambito di uno studio mirato alla conoscenza della biologia ed ecologia di questa specie è stato eseguito un monitoraggio sanitario delle popolazioni presenti in due corsi d’acqua appartenenti al bacino dell’Isonzo: torrente Barbucina e rio Piuma. Il campionamento, effettuato mediante elettrostorditore, ha previsto il prelievo di 30 esemplari nel periodo estivo - primaverile del 2017 e del 2018. Gli esemplari sono stati stoccati in contenitori di plastica e successivamente soppressi mediante un'overdose di MS-222. L’esame colturale è stato condotto direttamente dal rene: servendosi di un’ansa sterile da batteriologia è stato effettuato il prelievo; la semina è avvenuta per striscio su terreni di primo isolamento (Agar sangue e Tryptic Soy Agar). Le piastre ottenute sono state incubate a 22 ± 2°C per un massimo di 72 ore, trascorse le quali, se non si osservava crescita, l’esame veniva considerato negativo. In caso di crescita batterica, le colonie erano sottoposte alla colorazione di Gram e al test dell’ossidasi. La successiva identificazione biochimica è stata condotta tramite le gallerie API (bioMérieux). In tutti i soggetti non sono state evidenziate anomalie, segni clinici o alterazioni patologiche, anche se in numerosi soggetti è stata evidenziata
la presenza di microrganismi appartenenti al genere Aeromonas (A. hydrophila e A. sobria). È noto che tali microrganismi, ubiquitari negli ambienti acquatici, possano comportarsi in situazioni particolari da patogeni opportunisti causando patologie secondarie (ad esempio setticemie o ulcerazioni cutanee) e mortalità nei pesci. L’interpretazione degli isolamenti effettuati è da intendersi come una conseguenza alla diffusione post mortem della flora batterica comunemente presente sul tegumento e nell'apparato digerente del pesce oppure, ad abbassamento delle difese immunitarie degli stessi, con conseguente sopravvento di questi opportunisti negli organi interni come il rene. Questi tipi di monitoraggi pertanto, risultano estremamente importanti e dovrebbero essere estesi in più punti della rete fluviale e lacustre del nostro paese, in modo da conoscere le reali situazioni sanitarie delle varie popolazioni ittiche e valutare gli eventuali possibili rischi di introduzione o di trasmissione di patologie che possono veicolare
Relationship between the prevalence of Dibothriocephalus latus(Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) and the load of Escherichia coli: New findings in a neglected fish-borne parasitic zoonosis
No full textThe sub-Alpine lakes of Switzerland, Italy and France have long been reported as an endemic area of diphyllobothriosis, a parasitic zoonosis aused by Dibothriocephalus latus. With this study, we explored the hypothesis for a relationship between the prevalence of D. latus in Perca fluviatilis and the Escherichia coli load in lake water. To do this, we identified eleven sampling sites in three areas (north, centre and south) of Lake Iseo (north Italy) to determine E. coli load and the prevalence of D. latus in P. fluviatilis. Prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI) of D. latus infestation ranged from 0% (95% CI: 0.71–0.0) in Sarnico (southern area) to 20% (95% CI: 33.0–11.2) in Pisogne (northern area). There were significant differences in prevalence be-tween the sites (χ2= 31.12; p- value= .0006) and in E. coli load (Kruskal–Wallis test; p- value= .0005). There was decreasing gradient of E. coli load and prevalence of D. latus infestation from north to south. A significant positive correlation (r= .881; p- value= .003) was found between E. coli load and prevalence of D. latus. Also, linear regression showed a significant relationship between E. coli load and prevalence of infestation (R2= .775). Our findings offer an explanation for the link between E. coliload in water and D. latus prevalence. The potential factors in this link are the ef-ficiency of the local wastewater treatment plant, the bathymetric profile of the lake and the life cycle of D. latus, which is mainly affected by light and water temperature.KEYWORDSItaly, Lake Iseo, Perca fluviatilis, prevalence of infestation, wastewater treatment plant, the bathymetric profile of the lake and the life cycle of D. latus, which is mainly affected by light and water temperature
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe 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
Scholarly Communication and Publishing Lunch and Learn Talk #11: The ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund
No full textAt the May 2014 talk, you will learn about the ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund--what it is, why we do it, how it works, and how the program is going so far
- …
