1,720,997 research outputs found
Investigation of the potential anxiolytic effects of essential oils derived from two sacred plants of tantric buddhism: Rhododendron anthopogon d.don and Juniperus indica Bertol
No full textBackground: In the Southern Tibet region, the Nepalese and Indian Himalayas many plants rich in aromatic resins are burned by populations who follow Tantric Buddhism, for both daily sacred activities and religious ceremonies. The main plant material used are branches of Juniperus indica Bertol. (Cupressaceae) and Rhododendron anthopogon D.Don (Ericaceae). The harvesting of these species, considered as sacred, is an ancient custom linked to folk medicine and the production of incense for religious practices or to purify the domestic environment as their essential oils (EOs) promote tranquility. We present here a study which, starting from a survey of the ethnobotanical uses of these two species, describes the traditional methods of collection and distillation in Nepal. Furthermore, we show the phytochemical profile of the two EOs and their biological activity on Central Nervous System (CNS), specifically their effectiveness in anti-acetylcholinesterase and anti-butyrylcholinesterase tests. Methods: We recorded the methods of collection and distillation as recounted in an open interview (with an informed consent) with the local lama, whose family, for centuries, has been responsible for a household gompa and the rituals associated with it. The locally distilled EOs from the two species were phytochemically characterized by GC and GC-MS. Essential oils and their main constituents were then tested for their possible in vitro effects on the Central Nervous System, by assessing their activity on anti-acetylcholinesterase and anti-butyrylcholinesterase activities. Results: The phytochemical profiles showed α-terpinene (38.21%) and α-pinene (10.73%) as main constituents in J. indica, and α-pinene (23.10%) and β-pinene (11.42%) in R. anthopogon. The anti-acetylcholinesterase and anti-butyrylcholinesterase assays showed that both EOs have a moderate inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. Conclusions: Ethnobotanical data collected confirm the high ritual value of J. indica and R. anthopogon in the Indian Himalaya for both Tantric religious ceremonies and in the daily activity. The data obtained on the chemical composition of the EOs distilled on-site from these species and on their inhibitory activity on important enzymes of the CNS can validate, at least in part, the traditional use linked to their anxiolytic properties. The possible application of these EOs in the aromatherapy market, respecting traditional and eco-sustainable methods of collection and distillation, can represent a further source of income for local populations
Foeniculum vulgare Miller bracts, revalorization of a local food waste
No full text: This research aims at the valorization of fennel by-products from the Campania region (Southern Italy). A phytochemical characterization of the hydroalcoholic extracts (HEs) and of the essential oils (EOs) from edible and non-edible parts (waste) of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. was carried out using HRESIMS and GC-MS. The analysis led to the identification in the extracts of flavonoids, phenolic acid derivatives, amino acids and fatty acids and essential amino acids and the presence of trans-anethole and limonene as main components of the EOs. Their antioxidant activity was investigated by DPPH e ABTS assays, showing moderate antioxidant activity for the HEs and no activity for the EOs. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by disk diffusion method against some common bacterial food contaminants: Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., Staphylococcus aureus. The EOs resulted active on almost all bacterial strains while HEs were found inactive. This study demonstrated that the waste obtained from fennel harvesting should t be considered as a valuable and reusable product
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
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