1,721,011 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Analysis of cytokine levels in SARS-CoV-2 patients and efficacy of cytokine inhibitors
Get PDFThe “cytokine storm” is not an appropriate term in the setting of COVID-19. The objective of this study is to investigate the role, if any, that cytokines and the generally proposed “cytokine storm” paradigm play in SARS-CoV-2 and how it affects the overall course of disease and severity in patients suffering from the novel coronavirus that has spread throughout the world. The study will describe the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, its mechanism of action upon infecting a new host, the mechanism behind activation of the “cytokine storm”, and how the “cytokine storm” leads to an increased risk of mortality, which especially affects patients with pre-existing conditions. The literature review on the “cytokine storm” will be compared with a meta-analysis performed by the author of this thesis in which the weighted averages of cytokine levels in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients were calculated and recorded. Furthermore, the study intends to investigate and gain a deeper understanding of what impact, if any, cytokine inhibitors have on preventing the “cytokine storm” and reducing severity of cases and mortality due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In addition, the thesis will also address and expand on the social determinants of health, its relationship to susceptibility of becoming infected with a severe case of SARS-CoV-2, and the impact that these external factors have on pro-inflammatory pathways, which contribute to the socioeconomic and racial health disparities seen as the pandemic continues on in the U.S. Overall, the study aims to deepen and elucidate our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on a scientific and mechanistic level, and evaluate the efficacy of potential treatments (cytokine inhibitors) in successfully combating the grim prognosis of a severe infection
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe 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
Inhibition of phagocyte killing of bacteria via inhibitory IGG-FCR signaling
Get PDFSepsis is among the leading causes of death in health facilities worldwide. Even with adequate treatment, severe sepsis results in approximately 50% mortality, which indicates that the individual response to the infection is variable. (Moitra, Beal, Belikoff, & Remick, 2012)
In a previous paper published by the Remick laboratory it was determined that the presence of pre-existing, plasma IgG antibodies in mice prior to the onset of sepsis could be responsible for differences in their survival. A Plasma Enhanced Killing (PEK) assay was used to calculate the PEK capacity of plasma i.e. the ability of plasma to augment phagocytic killing of bacteria. PEK was calculated as PEK= (1/log (N)) X 100; where N= number of surviving bacteria; a higher PEK indicated better bacterial killing(Moitra et al., 2012). The prior study also determined that inhibitory IgG probably binds inhibitory Fc receptors on phagocytic cells to result in reduced killing of bacteria.
This published work used the value of the PEK to predict which mice would live and which mice would die when subjected to sepsis from cecal bacteria through the method of cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) to induce sepsis.
The goal of this study was to build on what was already found and go further to demonstrate the pathway of how the blocking of IgG occurs via the FcR in bacteria. In prior experiments by the Remick lab it was determined that the plasma from the in vitro plasma enhanced killing assay was related to the survival status of septic mice subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model of bacterial peritonitis. The PEK assay relies on the presence of pre-existing antibodies in the plasma augmenting the killing of bacterial cells by polymorphonuclear cells. A high PEK value mean the plasma had the capability to kill bacteria and the mice were more likely to survive compared to those with a lower PEK value who were more likely to die from sepsis.
Two sets of plasma were used, plasma collected with Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and plasma collected with heparin as anticoagulants. The data showed the likely presence of inhibitory IgG to be present more in the plasma sample collected with heparin than in those collected with EDTA
Utility of an ex vivo human whole blood assay for bacterial killing ability qualification
Get PDFInfectious diseases caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria are difficult to treat using traditional antibiotics and have emerged as a global public health problem (Bartlett, Gilbert, & Spellberg, 2013). An alternative strategy to bypass antibiotic resistance in bacteria is to enhance the host immune system (Hancock, & Sahl, 2006), especially innate immunity (Ajesh, & Sreejith, 2009), in order to combat bacterial infections. To verify the augmentation of innate immunity under certain stimuli, a quantifiable measurement of bacterial killing ability is needed. A new method of using heparinized human peripheral whole blood and mild heated blood samples from the same individuals as comparisons has been developed. This assay was used to quantify the bacterial killing ability of phagocytic cells by measuring the bacterial load after co-culturing with the Gram negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The assay shows that peripheral whole blood of healthy humans is capable of being activated ex vivo upon bacterial challenge and suppressing the bacterial load, while blood gently heated at 48oC for one hour failed to do so. The morphology of the phagocytic cells was examined microscopically. Phagocytosis of bacteria in neutrophils is observed in intact blood, and no such changes were found in heated blood. The level of inflammatory cytokine interleukin 8 (IL-8) was elevated in intact blood after bacteria inoculation, while in the heated blood the cytokine level stayed at baseline, indicating a persistence of leukocyte viability in whole blood and damaged leukocyte activity in gently heated blood. The data show that the human peripheral whole blood assay is suitable as a method for ex vivo bacterial killing quantification with the mildly heated blood sample from the same individual as a comparison. When kept at 37oC ex vivo, human whole blood can be activated upon bacterial challenge, produce inflammatory cytokines, reduce bacterial load, and phagocytes in the whole blood can successfully maintain their cell viability and capacity to phagocytose bacteria
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
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