1,721,100 research outputs found
Antiviral Activity of the Combination of Interferon and Ribavirin Against Chikungunya Virus: Are the Results Conclusive?
No full textThe evaluation of the antiviral activity performed to support the development of an “investigational” product should include an assay directed against a broad range of clinical and laboratory viral isolates, including different clades, subtypes, or genotypes. To this regard, we found that the envelope surface glycoprotein E1 (A226V) adaptive mutation, which improved the fitness of CHIKV for a secondary vector, Aedes albopictus (facilitating its spread during the outbreaks in the Indian Ocean area, in India and in north-eastern Italy), can significantly affect the sensitivity of CHIKV to the antiviral action of different type I IFN preparations. In particular, CHIKV strain (East Central South African [ECSA]) with the A226V mutation was more sensitive to IFNs in the Vero cell line compared to the viral strain without A226V. Second, the assessment of antiviral activity to support the development of an “investigational” product requires to test at least the effect of an increasing multiplicity of infection (MOI) and, whenever possible, the antiviral activity in different cellular lines, giving priority to human cells (which are more likely to reflect in vivo condition). In this context, we found that the antiviral activity of IFNs against CHIKV strains significantly decreased by increasing the MOI. Furthermore, the authors estimated the antiviral activity of IFNα2a against CHIKV in Vero cells only. In relation to that, we found that the antiviral activity of IFNα, IFNβ, and IFNω against both strains of CHIKV is different in Hep-2, a human cell line, compared to that recorded in Vero cells
Effectiveness of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection, symptomatic disease, and hospitalization: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Full text linkBackground This meta-analysis aims to assess the effectiveness of the current Sars-Cov2 vaccine regimens against Omicron infection. A secondary endpoint aims to investigate the waning effectiveness of primary vaccination against symptomatic infection and related hospitalization. Research design and methods The systematic review started on 1 December 2021 and was concluded on 1 March 2022. Random-effects frequentist meta-analyses and multiple meta-regressions were performed. Results In total, 15 studies are included in the quantitative synthesis. According to the meta-analysis results, the overall risk of Sars-Cov2 infection in vaccinated individuals is on average 31 center dot 5% lower than the infection risk in unvaccinated while vaccinated with one booster dose have a 70 center dot 4% risk reduction of Omicron infection compared to unvaccinated. In particular, one booster dose significantly decreases by 69% the risk of symptomatic Omicron infection with respect to unvaccinated. Six months after the primary vaccination, the average risk reduction declines to 22% against symptomatic infection and to 55% against hospitalization. Conclusions Primary vaccination does not provide sufficient protection against symptomatic Omicron infection. Although the effectiveness of the primary vaccination against hospitalization due to Omicron remains significantly above 50% after 3 months, it dramatically fades after 6 months
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
An Outbreak of Q fever in a prison in Italy
Full text linkWe observed an outbreak of Q fever in a prison population. Overall, 65 of the 600 prison inmates
developed the disease. The location of the prison cells had no apparent effect on the risk of
infection. The outbreak was probably due to exposure to dust contaminated by a passing flock of
sheep, which at the time of the outbreak was engaged in lambing. These findings highlight the
possible emergence of Q fever in settings and populations not normally thought of as being at
risk of exposure to the infection
Adult vaccination as the cornerstone of successful ageing: the case of herpes zoster vaccination. A European Interdisciplinary Council on Ageing (EICA) expert focus group
No full textHerpes zoster (HZ) is a painful cutaneous rash with vesicular lesions, lasting up to 3 weeks, and caused by reactivation of the latent varicella zoster virus (VZV). It may be associated with complications, the most feared being post-herpetic neuralgia. Effective vaccines are available to prevent HZ, but uptake remains low. We report here the conclusions of an expert focus group convened by the European Interdisciplinary Council on Ageing (EICA). The group discussed how existing recommendations regarding HZ vaccination could be better implemented, and how compliance and coverage with HZ vaccination could be enhanced. This report proposes strategies to increase awareness of HZ and its vaccine, enhance vaccine uptake, and educate regarding the role of prevention, including immunization, as a means to age well. A key strategy that could rapidly and easily be implemented at low cost is co-administration of HZ vaccine with other vaccines scheduled in the target age group. The scientific evidence surrounding the safety and efficacy of co-administration is discussed. Other strategies, such as active calls, publicity campaigns and national vaccine registries are also outlined. There is a compelling need for a full consensus document that carries weight across all the healthcare professions involved in vaccination, to issue simple and basic recommendations for all healthcare providers
Does counseling increase sustained benefit of HAART among prison inmates after release to the community?
No full textThe lack of sustained effectiveness of
HAART after release to the community of
HIV-infected inmates treated in prison
was well demonstrated by Springer et al. in a recent article. This disappointing
result occurred even though all of the patients
scheduled for release were referred
for transitional case management services
to a community-based organization and
were provided with a 2-week supply of
medications, a medical appointment with
an HIV care provider, emergency housing
and food, and assistance with other identified
unmet needs
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
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