1,720,955 research outputs found
Do fish thrombocytes play an immunological role? Their cytoenzymatic profiles and function during an accidental piscine candidiasis in aquarium
Fish (F) thrombocytes (THRs) from healthy trouts were studied in terms of cytoenzyme expression. FTHRs were positive to acid periodic of shiff (PAS) and acid phosphatase (ac. phos.) without tartaric acid (-TA) stainings, as well to alkaline phosphatase. However, when compared with autologous macrophages (MOs), they were negative to naphthol cloroacetate esterase (AS-D), alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (Anae), peroxidase (perox) and control ac. phos. with tartaric acid (+TA) stainings, thus indicating a lack of typical lysosomial enzymes. This evidence supports the notion that FTHRs are not true digesting cells. Quite interestingly, trouts and human MOs were positive for PAS, AS-D, Anae, and perox stainings, thus confirming that cellular cytochemistries are maintained across evolution as their phagocytic functions. Additionally, blood films from trouts, accidentally infected with Candida albicans in aquarium, were morphologically analyzed. Actually, FTHRs interact with erythrocytes, potentiating the formation of rosettes around a central MO. Polymorph nuclear cells and lymphocytes are present in these cellular aggregates, thus suggesting that FTHRs may represent a link between innate and adaptive immunity
Antigenically-activated avian erythrocytes release cytokine-like factors: a conserved phylogenetic function discovered in fish
Fish erythrocytes (FE) are endowed with the ability to produce cytokine like factors when stimulated with Candida albicans (Ca). In order to evaluate whether similar activities are still conserved in bird erythrocytes (BE), a morphological, cytochemical and immunological evaluation was conducted on peripheral cells in chickens (Gallus gallus). BE form rosettes with monocytes (Mo)-macrophages (MØ), and Mo-MØ according to cytochemical analysis maintain phagocytic functions across the evolution. Finally, Ca-activated BE release in the supernatants cytokine like-factors which enhance Mo-MØ phagocytosis (interferon-γ like activity) and inhibit Mo-MØ migration in agarose (Migration inhibitory factor activity). In conclusion, bird erythrocytes, as non immune cells, are able to participate in the immune response contributing to the host defence
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The 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
Maturation of fish erythrocytes coincides with changes in their morphology, enhanced ability to interact with Candida albicans and release of cytokine-like factors active upon autologous macrophages
Erythrocytes from the rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri Richardson (Salmo g.R.) were classified into immature and mature populations, respectively, by measuring longitudinal diameters. More elongated fish erythrocytes (FE), classified as mature cells, were those interacting with Candida albicans (CA) in a higher frequency in terms of either binding to the fungus or its intracellular engulfment. At the same time, in the rosetting phenomenon more elongated mature FE surrounded macrophages (Mcircle divide) phagocytosing CA. Finally, FE activated by CA released in the supernatants cytokine-like factors able to modulate Mcircle divide functions. In particular, these active supernatants were analyzed for their capacity to inhibit Mcircle divide migration Macrophage Inhibition Factor (MIF) activity and enhance Mcircle divide phagocytosis. Both activities were detected in supernatants from CA stimulated FE but not in control supernatants. MIF activity could play a role in the accumulation of Mcircle divide in the context of functional rosettes, while the factor enhancing Mcircle divide phagocytosis could promote clearance of CA in a more efficacious way
Variations on the Author
“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
We 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
We 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
We 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
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