1,721,127 research outputs found

    Occurrence and molecular characterisation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in crustaceans commercialised in Venice area, Italy

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    Infections due to the pathogenic human vibrios, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio vulnificus, are mainly associated with consumption of raw or partially cooked bivalve molluscs. At present, little is known about the presence of Vibrio species in crustaceans and the risk of vibriosis associated with the consumption of these products. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and concentration of the main pathogenic Vibrio spp. in samples of crustaceans (n = 143) commonly eaten in Italy, taking into account the effects of different variables such as crustacean species, storage conditions and geographic origin. Subsequently, the potential pathogenicity of V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated from crustaceans (n = 88) was investigated, considering the classic virulence factors (tdh and trh genes) and four genes coding for relevant proteins of the type III secretion systems 2 (T3SS2 alpha and T3SS2 beta). In this study, the presence of V. cholerae and V. vulnificus was never detected, whereas 40 samples (28%) were positive for V. parahaemolyticus with an overall prevalence of 41% in refrigerated products and 8% in frozen products. The highest prevalence and average contamination levels were detected in Crangon crangon (prevalence 58% and median value 3400 MPN/g) and in products from the northern Adriatic Sea (35%), with the samples from the northern Venetian Lagoon reaching a median value of 1375 MPN/g. While genetic analysis confirmed absence of the tdh gene, three of the isolates contained the trh gene and, simultaneously, the T3SS2 beta genes. Moreover three possibly clonal tdh-negative/trh-negative isolates carried the T3SS2 alpha apparatus. The detection of both T3SS2 alpha and T3SS2 beta apparatuses in V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated from crustaceans emphasised the importance of considering new genetic markers associated with virulence besides the classical factors. Moreover this study represents the first report dealing with Vibrio spp. in crustaceans in Italy, and it may provide useful information for the development of sanitary surveillance plans to prevent the risk of vibriosis in seafood consumers

    NOROVIRUS MONITORING IN BIVALVE MOLLUSCS HARVERSTED AND COMMERCIALIZED IN SOUTHERN ITALY

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    Norovirus (NoV) is the main cause of human nonbacterial gastroenteritis throughout the world. NoVs are classified into five genogroups: GI, GII, GIII, GIV, and GV. NoVs from GI and GII are the most commonly reported NoVs associated with human infections, and raw or undercooked shellfish have been identified as the main potential infection vehicle. European Commission Regulation 2073/2005 defines only bacteriological parameters for use as safety criteria for shellfish because reference methods for detection of viruses are lacking. From July 2007 to April 2010, 163 shellfish samples were collected in southern Italy from harvesting areas, authorized or nonauthorized retailers, and a restaurant after an outbreak of human gastroenteritis. The shellfish were analyzed for the presence of NoVs from GI and GII using the one-step real-time reverse transcription PCR protocol. A total of 94 shellfish samples (57.7%) were positive for the presence of NoV, and GII was the most frequently identified genogroup

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    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

    Variations on the Author

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    “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

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    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

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    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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    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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