1,721,091 research outputs found
Metareasoning as a tool for pattern recognition
No full textThe paper introduces the concepts of image interpretation by form feature and interpretation strategy as a fall out of observing human interpreters at work. It discusses the need for flexible control in an automatic interpreter, outlining an automatic interpretation process and the required meta (or reflective) mechanisms
Quantitative microsampling for bioanalytical applications related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Usefulness, benefits and pitfalls
No full textThe multiple pathological effects of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and its total novelty, mean that currently a lot of diagnostic and therapeutic tools, established and tentative alike, are needed to treat patients in a timely, effective way. In order to make these tools more reliable, faster and more feasible, biological fluid microsampling techniques could provide many advantages. In this review, the most important microsampling techniques are considered (dried matrix spots, volumetric absorptive microsampling, microfluidics and capillary microsampling, solid phase microextraction) and their respective advantages and disadvantages laid out. Moreover, currently available microsampling applications of interest for SARS-CoV-2 therapy are described, in order to make them as much widely known as possible, hopefully providing useful information to researchers and clinicians alike
Tumor-derived factors affecting immune cells
No full textTumor progression is accompanied by the production of a wide array of immunosuppressive factors by tumor and non-tumor cells forming the tumor microenvironment. These factors belonging to cytokines, growth factors, metabolites, glycan-binding proteins and glycoproteins are responsible for the establishment of immunosuppressive networks leading towards tumor promotion, invasion and metastasis. In pre-clinical tumor models, the inactivation of some of these suppressive networks reprograms the phenotypic and functional features of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, ultimately favoring effective anti-tumor immune responses. We will discuss factors and mechanisms identified in both mouse and human tumors, and the possibility to associate drugs inhibiting these mechanisms with new immunotherapy strategies already entered in the clinical practice
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
Threat or treat: Exposure assessment and risk characterisation of chemical contaminants in soft drinks and chocolate bars in various Polish population age groups
Full text linkIn the frame of the European Food Risk Assessment (EU-FORA) fellowship programme, two studies on chemical contaminants in food matrices were carried out in Warsaw, Poland, at the Department of Food Safety and Chemical Analysis, Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology. The first study addressed health concerns about the dietary exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) contamination due to consumption of soft drink by Polish population. BPA is an organic additive used in the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics and because of this it is used in the internal coating of cans and in plastic bottle production. Depending on several factors, BPA can migrate from these materials to the soft drink and so, it can be ingested by consumers causing hormonal and reproductive disorders. To estimate the Polish population exposure to BPA, several soft drinks belonging to different brands were purchased from a supermarket in the city of Warsaw and analysed. The result of the analysis highlight that mean BPA exposure in the Polish population exceeds the tolerable daily intake proposed by the EFSA scientific opinion, raising health concerns. On the other hand, the second study, focused on cadmium exposure due to chocolate consumption by Polish population, did not raise any health concern. Cadmium is a heavy metal that naturally occurs in its inorganic form in the environment and its presence in chocolate derives only from the cocoa beans and not from contamination during processing. Its accumulation in the human body can create several adverse effects, including renal dysfunction and failure. To estimate the Polish population exposure to cadmium, several chocolate bars were purchased from a supermarket in the city of Warsaw and analysed. The results of the analysis show that cadmium exposure in the Polish population does not exceed the tolerable weekly intake proposed by the EFSA scientific opinion
Plastic visual tools
No full textA plastic visual system is presented, based on a hierarchy of environments that users can define, refine and use. In each environment, experts build visual expressions specifying activities to be performed at a lower level. The mechanisms exploited to obtain these features are based on uncoupling the organisation of the interface from the definition of its actual components, objects managed by the applications from their views and views from the components of the interface which present them
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