1,720,986 research outputs found
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
Assessing Safety Practices in Small Animal Veterinary Clinics
Full text linkThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2017-06Occupational hazards are an inherent risk present in all workplace settings. In the veterinary realm, these hazards are due in part to the human-animal interactions necessary to complete various job tasks. Previous work suggests that physical hazards, specifically animal-related injuries and needlestick and other sharps related injuries, are the most common injury types experienced by workers in the veterinary profession. Reducing the incidence of injury in this occupational group requires that one must first have a firm understanding of the worker, animal, and workplace environmental factors that precipitate injuries. One Health is an emerging framework that suggests the health of people, animals, and the environment are inextricably linked and thus must be assessed simultaneously in order to effectively address modern public health issues. In the animal care worker setting all three sectors of this paradigm are represented, in the workers, their animal patients, and the workplace environment, and thus application of a One Health approach is needed to understand fully the factors influencing injury incidence. Using this One Health approach, we have designed a mixed methods research study that assesses the factors that influence safety behaviors in the small animal clinical veterinary setting. A series of activities including a cross-sectional survey, focus group interviews and worker task observation were utilized to determine the human, animal, and environmental factors that influence physical injuries, more specifically animal-related injuries (ARIs) and needlestick/sharps injuries (NSIs) among members in the small animal veterinary workforce. Our study results suggest that human factors including interpersonal communication, altruism and self-efficacy as well as animal health and behavior, workplace safety culture and the presence or absence of other personnel and/or pet owners in the workplace setting can influence veterinary worker safety behavior. Task observation results captured evidence of veterinary workers participating in a number of activities that may predispose them to physical injury including recapping needles and moving and lifting animal patients, while in awkward positions. Overall, ARIs and NSIs were common among veterinary personnel with nearly 83% of participants indicating at least one ARI in their career and 65% of participants experiencing at least one NSI. Workplace safety culture was identified as an underlying factor influencing injury occurrence in both focus group interviews and the cross-sectional survey. Overarching themes from all activities suggest that improvements in workplace safety culture along with additional training in effective communication and animal behavior are needed to improve safety outcomes in this workforce. Thus, educational interventions that address these factors are needed to effectively eliminate barriers and leverage facilitators to safety practices with the ultimate goal of reducing the incidence of injury in this occupational group
A Comparative Analysis of Gut Microbiota on the Human-Macaque Interface in Northeast Thailand
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2018Traditional zoonotic disease research efforts centered on detection of high profile pathogens may miss opportunities to understand broader microbial transmission dynamics between humans, animals, and the environment. The Global Assessment of Zoonotic and Environmental Risks (GAZER) platform seeks to address this knowledge gap by examining overlaps of bacterial microbiome communities between humans, animals, and environments in settings where interaction with animals is high and potential for human health impacts of this contact are greater. This thesis presents data from Maha Sarakham, Thailand, where a growing population of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in the Kosumpee Forest Park interface with residents of the adjacent village. In particular, community members working in or near the park experience a high level of direct and indirect contact with macaques through feeding as well as aerosols of macaque feces during cleaning. Workers were surveyed to characterize tasks that contribute to exposure and other dietary or lifestyle factors that influence gut microbiome composition. We employed comparative microbiome analysis based on the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene from DNA extracts of stool samples to assess the degree of similarity between gut bacterial communities and potential for pathogen transmission between macaques and workers. Fecal samples were collected from humans (exposed, n=12; control, n=6) and macaques (exposed, n=8; control, n=4) using the OMNIgene.GUT kit and sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq platform. SourceTrackers was the primary tool to assess degree of microbial sharing between humans and macaques and revealed no significant difference in microbial sharing with macaques between exposed and control humans. Variance detected in PCoA visualizations of the unweighted UniFrac distance were tested using adonis and betadisper to investigate the potential role of the Anna Karenina principle (AKP). Exposed macaque samples exhibited significantly greater dispersion than controls (p<0.01). Human samples had homogenous dispersion but different spatial medians between groups (p<0.03), implying a shift in microbial composition. Alterations in gut microbiota of exposed macaques highlights the potential for increased susceptibility to other diseases. Task observations and surveys assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices among workers revealed opportunities to employ of protective measures or training to reduce exposure to occupational hazards. This information can also be used to mitigate negative aspects of contact between humans and macaques in order to optimize the health of both populations
A Study of Volatile Organic Compound Metabolites in Human and Canine Urine as a Biomarker and the Relationship to Proximity to Hydraulic Fracturing & Natural Gas Drilling Wells
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020Background: Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) as a process for natural gas extraction has potential to expose nearby residents to environmental hazards, but the extent of the hazard remains poorly understood. Some studies have suggested that animals can function as sentinels for human exposures. We evaluated urinary biomarkers of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of humans and their canine pets in households in southwestern Pennsylvania as a follow-up from a pilot study that had found an association between proximity to drilling well pads and reported health symptoms, including respiratory symptoms and dermal issues. Methods: Participants consented to a questionnaire survey and provided urine samples for one human and one dog (if present) for each household. This data set includes 109 human subjects and 34 dogs, using information on potential VOC exposures in the past 48 hours of sample collection. Covariates such as burning fuels, using gas-powered equipment, or smoking are some of the factors considered in performing multivariate stepwise regression models. We developed a Z-score Index as a normalizing tool to standardize the wide range of varying metabolite concentration levels analyzed from the urine samples. We also examined the 31 households that shared both a human and a dog subject using Pearson’s correlation method to better understand the relationship between metabolites, with the suggested hypothesis that animals are at a greater susceptibility given higher and more frequent contact to environmental mediums. The primary software used is in R programming for statistical analysis. Results: Our findings indicate that smoking has a significant effect on most metabolite levels in the study. Correlation matrices between dog and human metabolites did not show direct same-metabolite associations, but offered other possible correlations to similarly grouped metabolites of VOC compounds, such as the BTEX group (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylene). Additionally, our stepwise regression models generated significant exposures to VOCs that are greater contributors to metabolite concentration levels than our hypothesized distance from the nearest gas well. By stratifying each metabolite, we modeled all covariates to the metabolites and identified the most significant covariates to each species group. Certain metabolites are shown to have higher presence in the dogs than compared to the humans in this examination
A comparison of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli among humans and bovines in Washington State
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2018With antimicrobial resistance being one of the top global public health threats, integrated antimicrobial resistance surveillance systems are critical in gathering data, understanding resistance trends, creating stewardship plans and accurately quantifying resistance at national and local levels. We report on the Washington Integrated Surveillance for Antibiotic Resistance (WISAR) database that houses data from human and animal data from hospitals, laboratories, and clinics in Washington State, as well as human and animal data from the US National Antibiotic Resistance Monitoring System. This analysis used two datasets from the WISAR database to look at outpatient human antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) data for E. coli from October 2017 (n=1311) and bovine AST data for E. coli from 2002-2017 (n=253) in an attempt to analyze resistance trends between E. coli in humans and bovine in Washington state. A panel of 5 antibiotics were used for this analysis to allow conclusions and resitotypes to be developed. We found the odds of resistance between humans and bovine for individual antibiotics as well as developed resistotype plots to compare resistotypes between humans and bovine isolates. Using Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints, the data showed the odds of resistance for 3rd generation cephalosporins and aminoglycosides (OR: 2.90, p<0.001) to be greater for bovine than for humans. The odds of resistance to fluoroquinolones and trimethoprim sulfa were respectively 33% less (OR: 0.33, p<0.001) and 21% less (OR: 0.21, p<0.001) in bovines than for humans. We found the same statistically significant directionality of results using ECOFF breakpoints. This proof of concept analysis highlights the challenges in using local surveillance data and comparing human and animal strains for AMR as well as provides recommendations for moving forward with this type of data. Integrated antimicrobial susceptibility testing data creates an opportunity for a collaborative effort to discuss the next stages for local efforts in antimicrobial stewardship across human, animal, and environmental sectors as well as gaining an understanding of: 1) what conclusions can be made between data sets? 2) how valid are these conclusions? 3) what data is needed to make this type of comparison in resistance across sectors
3rd-Generation Cephalosporin Resistance in Retail Meat from the U.S. National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS).
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2017-06Non-typhoidal Salmonella is estimated to be the leading cause of death and hospitalization among foodborne pathogens in the United States. In 2012, the FDA implemented an Order of Prohibition that prohibited certain extra-label uses of third-generation cephalosporin antibiotics in major food-producing animals (FDA, 2012). The probability of resistance to ceftriaxone in Salmonella enterica isolates in retail meat from the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) was modeled as a function of time and location using a generalized additive mixed effects model. There was a statistically significant (p<0.01) association between ceftriaxone resistance and a fitted smooth function for time, and a decline in the probability of ceftriaxone resistance was observed following the 2012 Order of Prohibition. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis that the Order of Prohibition reduced selection pressure for extended-cephalosporin resistance in Salmonella enterica populations in food animals; however, the decline in resistance was largely attributable to changes in serovar prevalence over time. Subtype analyses of serovars Heidelberg and Typhimurium found a statistically significant (p<0.05) association between ceftriaxone resistance and a fitted smooth function for time for the Heidelberg serovar, where a decline in the probability of ceftriaxone resistance was observed following the 2012 Order of Prohibition, but the association between ceftriaxone resistance and time was not significant in serovar Typhimurium. Future analyses should examine genetic data available for later years of the NARMS retail meat dataset to examine whether genetic analysis is consistent with differences in genetic mechanisms of resistance by Salmonella serovar
Occupational Injuries of Aquaculture Workers in Washington State
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2017-06Background Little is known about the occupational health and safety risks of animal aquaculture workers. In 2015, the nonfatal occupational injury and illness incidence rate for aquaculture workers in the United States exceeded the national rate for all industries combined (13.6 and 3.3 injuries and illnesses, respectively, per 100 full-time employees), a trend echoed in Washington State (13.3 and 4.5 injuries and illnesses, respectively, per 100 full-time employees). Washington supports 12% of American aquaculture employment, the second highest aquaculture industry employer in the United States as of 2005. Objective The purpose of this study was to better characterize occupational injuries and illnesses facing aquaculture workers in Washington State from 2006-2014. Methods We extracted accepted workers’ compensation claims from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2014 from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries’ (L&I) State Fund (SF). Trends in employment, worker demographics (including age, gender, and body mass index (BMI)), claim rate, and injury characteristics were summarized for Washington State aquaculture risk classes. We analyzed accepted claims. Results During the nine-year study period, 1,180 of 1,285 (91.8%) claims were accepted, of which 344 (26.8%) were compensable and 836 (65.1%) were medical-aid only. Men filed 85.3% of claims, 62.8% of claimants were overweight or obese (BMI > 25), and 53.3% of claimants were between ages 25 and 44. Most commonly reported injury types included being struck by/against an object (35.6%) and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (26.3%). There was no statistically significant change in claim rates from 2006 to 2014 (p = 0.77), however, there was a statistically significant change in full-time equivalent (FTE) employment (p = 0.003) when analyzed by both risk classes combined. Conclusion Given the growth in aquaculture production nationally and internationally, our study suggests that the industry should devote greater attention to prevention of work-related injuries. Additionally, aquaculture workers in Washington may be experiencing higher occupational injury and illness rates than compared to other workers in the state, and our study highlights the need for local efforts. Enhanced occupational safety and health programs for this industry could help to reduce injuries and illnesses, as well as the cost of workers’ compensation claims. Employers should focus on interventions to protect workers from physical hazards in the workplace, especially those resulting in being struck by/against objects or WMSD injuries
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