1,721,177 research outputs found

    Profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene expression during human macrophage infection: Upregulation of the alternative sigma factor G, a group of transcriptional regulators, and proteins with unknown function

    No full text
    Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the most prolific pathogens worldwide, and its virulence resides in its capacity to survive in human macrophages. In the present study, we analyzed the gene expression profile of M. tuberculosis H37Rv in macrophages and synthetic medium at the whole genome level. Out of 3875 spots tested, 970 genes passed the statistical significance filter (t scores >= +/- 2.5). A total of 22% of those assayed were found to be active genes (up- or downregulated), representing 5.5% of the whole MTB genome. Interestingly, 32.5% of the genes induced in our macrophage experiments are still classified as hypothetical proteins; 19.5% take part in the cell wall and processes (half of which are membrane proteins); 16% are involved in regulation and information pathways; and the PE family accounts for 3.6% of total induced genes. It is important to note that in the course of MTB replication in macrophages, we observed the upregulation of alternative sigma factor sigG and 13 MTB transcriptional regulators. The data for a selected group of upregulated genes were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. The global MTB transcriptome described in this study suggests an intracellular MTB actively sensing its environment; it repairs and synthesizes its cell wall and DNA, so as to either repair oxidative and nitrosative damage and/or to augment its copy number and evade host cell killing. As far as we know, this is the first study describing MTB expression profiles using whole genome macroarrays during primary human macrophage infection. (c) 2006 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Full text link
    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

    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 link
    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

    Full text link
    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

    No full text
    Nao informado

    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

    No full text
    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

    Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Extracts from Cassia alata, Eleusine indica, Eremomastax speciosa, Carica papaya and Polyscias fulva Medicinal Plants Collected in Cameroon

    Full text link
    Abstract Background: The vast majority of the population around the world has always used medicinal plants as first source of health care to fight infectious and non infectious diseases. Most of these medicinal plants may have scientific evidence to be considered in general practice. Objective: The aim of this work was to investigate the antioxidant capacities and anti-inflammatory activities of ethanol extracts of leaves of Cassia alata, Eleusine indica, Carica papaya, Eremomastax speciosa and the stem bark of Polyscias fulva, collected in Cameroon. Methods: Chemiluminescence was used to analyze the antioxidant activities of plant extracts against hydrogen peroxide or superoxide anion. Comet assays were used to analyze the protection against antioxidant-induced DNA damage induced in white blood cells after treating with hydrogen peroxide. Flow cytometry was used to measure cd T cells proliferation and anti-inflammatory activity of cd T cells and of immature dendritic cells (imDC) in the presence of different concentrations of plant extracts. Results: Ethanol extracts showed strong antioxidant properties against both hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion. Cassia alata showed the highest antioxidant activity. The effect of plant extracts on cd T cells and imDC was evidenced by the dose dependent reduction in TNF-a production in the presence of Cassia alata, Carica papaya, Eremomastax speciosa Eleusine indica, and Polyscias fulva. cd T cells proliferation was affected to the greatest extent by Polyscias fulva. Conclusion: These results clearly show the antioxidant capacity and anti-inflammatory activities of plant extracts collected in Cameroon. These properties of leaves and stem bark extracts may contribute to the value for these plants in traditional medicine and in general medical practice
    corecore