Sample records for aaas science journalism

  1. AAAS: Politics. . . and Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Science News, 1978

    1978-01-01

    Reviews topics discussed during the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting held in Washington, D.C. Topics included: the equal rights amendment, laetrile, nuclear radiation hazards, sociobiology, and various science topics. (SL)

  2. AAAS Communicating Science Program: Reflections on Evaluation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Braha, J.

    2015-12-01

    The AAAS Center for Public Engagement (Center) with science builds capacity for scientists to engage public audiences by fostering collaboration among natural or physical scientists, communication researchers, and public engagement practitioners. The recently launched Leshner Leadership Institute empowers cohorts of mid-career scientists to lead public engagement by supporting their networks of scientists, researchers, and practitioners. The Center works closely with social scientists whose research addresses science communication and public engagement with science to ensure that the Communicating Science training program builds on empirical evidence to inform best practices. Researchers ( Besley, Dudo, & Storkdieck 2015) have helped Center staff and an external evaluator develop pan instrument that measures progress towards goals that are suggested by the researcher, including internal efficacy (increasing scientists' communication skills and confidence in their ability to engage with the public) and external efficacy (scientists' confidence in engagement methods). Evaluation results from one year of the Communicating Science program suggest that the model of training yields positive results that support scientists in the area that should lead to greater engagement. This talk will explore the model for training, which provides a context for strategic communication, as well as the practical factors, such as time, access to public engagement practitioners, and technical skill, that seems to contribute to increased willingness to engage with public audiences. The evaluation program results suggest willingness by training participants to engage directly or to take preliminary steps towards engagement. In the evaluation results, 38% of trained scientists reported time as a barrier to engagement; 35% reported concern that engagement would distract from their work as a barrier. AAAS works to improve practitioner-researcher-scientist networks to overcome such barriers.

  3. NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Backman, D. E.; Harman, P. K.; Clark, C.

    2016-12-01

    NASA's Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) is a three-part professional development (PD) program for high school physics and astronomy teachers. The AAA experience consists of: (1) blended-learning professional development composed of webinars, asynchronous content learning, and a series of hands-on workshops (2) a STEM immersion experience at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center's B703 science research aircraft facility in Palmdale, California, and (3) ongoing participation in the AAA community of practice (CoP) connecting participants with astrophysics and planetary science Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The SETI Institute (SI) is partnering with school districts in Santa Clara and Los Angeles Counties during the AAA program's "incubation" period, calendar years 2016 through 2018. AAAs will be selected by the school districts based on criteria developed during spring 2016 focus group meetings led by the program's external evaluator, WestEd.. Teachers with 3+ years teaching experience who are assigned to teach at least 2 sections in any combination of the high school courses Physics (non-AP), Physics of the Universe (California integrated model), Astronomy, or Earth & Space Sciences are eligible. Partner districts will select at least 48 eligible applicants with SI oversight. WestEd will randomly assign selected AAAs to group A or group B. Group A will complete PD in January - June of 2017 and then participate in SOFIA science flights during fall 2017 (SOFIA Cycle 5). Group B will act as a control during the 2017-18 school year. Group B will then complete PD in January - June of 2018 and participate in SOFIA science flights in fall 2018 (Cycle 6). Under the current plan, opportunities for additional districts to seek AAA partnerships with SI will be offered in 2018 or 2019. A nominal two-week AAA curriculum component will be developed by SI for classroom delivery that will be aligned with selected California Draft Science Framework Disciplinary Core Ideas

  4. NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) Professional Development and NASA Connections

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Backman, D. E.; Clark, C.; Harman, P. K.

    2017-12-01

    NASA's Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) program is a three-part professional development (PD) experience for high school physics, astronomy, and earth science teachers. AAA PD consists of: (1) blended learning via webinars, asynchronous content learning, and in-person workshops, (2) a STEM immersion experience at NASA Armstrong's B703 science research aircraft facility in Palmdale, California, and (3) ongoing opportunities for connection with NASA astrophysics and planetary science Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). AAA implementation in 2016-18 involves partnerships between the SETI Institute and seven school districts in northern and southern California. AAAs in the current cohort were selected by the school districts based on criteria developed by AAA program staff working with WestEd evaluation consultants. The selected teachers were then randomly assigned by WestEd to a Group A or B to support controlled testing of student learning. Group A completed their PD during January - August 2017, then participated in NASA SOFIA science flights during fall 2017. Group B will act as a control during the 2017-18 school year, then will complete their professional development and SOFIA flights during 2018. A two-week AAA electromagnetic spectrum and multi-wavelength astronomy curriculum aligned with the Science Framework for California Public Schools and Next Generation Science Standards was developed by program staff for classroom delivery. The curriculum (as well as the AAA's pre-flight PD) capitalizes on NASA content by using "science snapshot" case studies regarding astronomy research conducted by SOFIA. AAAs also interact with NASA SMEs during flight weeks and will translate that interaction into classroom content. The AAA program will make controlled measurements of student gains in standards-based learning plus changes in student attitudes towards STEM, and observe & record the AAAs' implementation of curricular changes. Funded by NASA: NNX16AC51

  5. Evaluating Science Information with Thinking Routines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grady, Cynthia

    2010-01-01

    "Science Books & Films," the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), reviews books for young readers in the sciences to identify winners of these categories: Children's Science Picture Book, Middle Grades Science Book, and Young Adult Science Book. At each age level five finalists are selected for the annual…

  6. The Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) Program and NASA Astrophysics Connections

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Backman, Dana Edward; Clark, Coral; Harman, Pamela

    2018-01-01

    The NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) program is a three-part professional development (PD) experience for high school physics, astronomy, and earth science teachers. AAA PD consists of: (1) blended learning via webinars, asynchronous content delivery, and in-person workshops, (2) a STEM immersion experience at NASA Armstrong’s B703 science research aircraft facility in Palmdale, California, including interactions with NASA astrophysics & planetary science Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) during science flights on SOFIA, and (3) continuing post-flight opportunities for teacher & student connections with SMEs.

  7. Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Official journal of Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences (JAMS), focusing on mineralogical and petrological sciences and their related fields. Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences (JMPS) is the successor journal to both “Journal of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology” and “Mineralogical Journal”. Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences (JMPS) is indexed in the ISI database (Thomson Reuters), the Science Citation Index-Expanded, Current Contents/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences, and ISI Alerting Services.

  8. Risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) among male and female relatives of AAA patients.

    PubMed

    van de Luijtgaarden, Koen M; Rouwet, Ellen V; Hoeks, Sanne E; Stolker, Robert J; Verhagen, Hence Jm; Majoor-Krakauer, Danielle

    2017-04-01

    Sex affects the presentation, treatment, and outcomes of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Although AAAs are less prevalent in women, at least in the general population, women with an AAA have a poorer prognosis in comparison to men. Sex differences in the genetic predisposition for aneurysm disease remain to be established. In this study we investigated the familial risk of AAA for women compared to men. All living AAA patients included in a 2004-2012 prospective database were invited to the multidisciplinary vascular/genetics outpatient clinic between 2009 and 2012 for assessment of family history using detailed questionnaires. AAA risk for male and female relatives was calculated separately and stratified by sex of the AAA patients. Families of 568 AAA patients were investigated and 22.5% of the patients had at least one affected relative. Female relatives had a 2.8-fold and male relatives had a 1.7-fold higher risk than the estimated sex-specific population risk. Relatives of female AAA patients had a higher aneurysm risk than relatives of male patients (9.0 vs 5.9%, p = 0.022), corresponding to 5.5- and 2.0-fold increases in aneurysm risk in the female and male relatives, respectively. The risk for aortic aneurysm in relatives of AAA patients is higher than expected from population risk. The excess risk is highest for the female relatives of AAA patients and for the relatives of female AAA patients. These findings endorse targeted AAA family screening for female and male relatives of all AAA patients.

  9. American Association for the Advancement of Science

    MedlinePlus

    ... KavliAwards_teaser(21).jpg 2017 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award Winners Named Full Story ... to Reject Tax Changes That Hit Graduate Students News_111517_AmishGenes_teaser.jpg Study of Amish Suggests Mutation Linked to Longer Life ...

  10. What's science? Where's science? Science journalism in German print media.

    PubMed

    Summ, Annika; Volpers, Anna-Maria

    2016-10-01

    This article examines the current state of science coverage in German print media. It deals with the following questions: (1) how the main characteristics of science journalism can be described, (2) whether there is a difference between various scientific fields, and (3) how different definitions of science journalism lead to differing findings. Two forms of science coverage were analyzed in a standardized, two-part content analysis of German newspapers (N = 1730 and N = 1640). The results show a significant difference between a narrow and a broad definition of science journalism. In the classic understanding, science journalism is prompted by scientific events and is rather noncritical. Science coverage in a broad sense is defined by a wider range of journalistic styles, driven by non-scientific events, and with a focus on the statements of scientific experts. Furthermore, the study describes the specific role of the humanities and social sciences in German science coverage. © The Author(s) 2015.

  11. RIS4E Science Journalism Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whelley, N.; Bleacher, L.; Jones, A. P.; Bass, E.; Bleacher, J. E.; Firstman, R.; Glotch, T. D.; Young, K.

    2017-12-01

    NASA's Remote, In-Situ, and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration (RIS4E) team addresses the goals of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute via four themes, one of which focuses on evaluating the role of handheld and portable field instruments for human exploration. The RIS4E Science Journalism Program highlights science in an innovative way: by instructing journalism students in the basics of science reporting and then embedding them with scientists in the field. This education program is powerful because it is deeply integrated within a science program, strongly supported by the science team and institutional partners, and offers an immersive growth experience for learners, exposing them to cutting edge NASA research and field technology. This program is preparing the next generation of science journalists to report on complex science accurately and effectively. The RIS4E Science Journalism Program consists of two components: a semester-long science journalism course and a reporting trip in the field. First, students participate in the RIS4E Science Journalism Practicum offered by the Stony Brook University School of Journalism. Throughout the semester, students learn about RIS4E science from interactions with the RIS4E science team, through classroom visits, one-on-one interviews, and tours of laboratories. At the conclusion of the course, several students, along with a professor and a teaching assistant, join the RIS4E team during the field season. The journalism students observe the entire multi-day field campaign, from set-up, to data collection and analysis, and investigation of questions that arise as a result of field discoveries. They watch the scientists formulate and test hypotheses in real time. The field component for the 2017 RIS4E Science Journalism Program took journalism students to the Potrillo Volcanic Field in New Mexico for a 10-day field campaign. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive. They gained experience

  12. Science and journalism: friend or foe?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mosoia, Cătălin

    2011-06-01

    A journalist's view on science and journalism. The presentation is based on personal experience gained over the past few years as editor of the minute of science broadcasted at Radio Europa FM, Bucharest, Romania, and as editor and writer for the Romanian electronic science newspaper Ziarul stiintelor. Is it possible to have science with or without journalism? Who is waiting for whom, science or journalism? Is astronomy more attractive to the public than other disciplines? Can it be used as a growing factor for the public understanding of science?

  13. AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship Program: Building Communication Skills in Young Scientists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pasco, S.

    2006-12-01

    The AAAS Mass Media Science &Engineering Fellowship program has succeeded in training scientists to become more effective communicators for more than 30 years. The program places advanced science, engineering and mathematics students at media sites to work as science reporters for ten weeks each summer. AAAS places between 15 to 20 students a year at newspapers, magazines and radio stations. Our goal is to create better science communicators who understand their role in fostering the public's understanding of science. Fellows leave the program with a greater awareness of how to communicate complex issues by making the connection as to why people should be interested in certain developments, and more specifically, how they will impact their communities. 2004 AGU Fellow Rei Ueyama put her lessons learned to good use during her Fellowship at the Sacramento Bee. "In a regional paper like The Bee, a (story) also had to have a local touch. I needed to show why people in Sacramento (or California) should bother to read the story. One example is the story I wrote about seeding the ocean with iron particles to fight global warming. Since ocean fertilization is a global issue, I had to clearly specify the reason why The Bee and not The New York Times was running the story. The local angle I chose was to point out that the core group of scientists involved in this study was from Monterey Bay, Calif." Many alumni tell us the program has been an integral force in shaping the course of their career. Similarly, sites often report that having a scientist on staff is an invaluable resource that allows them to cover additional science stories as well as report some technical stories in more depth. The American Geophysical Union has sponsored a Mass Media Fellow since 1997. Sponsorship allows affiliate program partners to establish connections with young professionals in their field. They are then also able to take advantage of the communication skills resident in their alumni base

  14. Roles of conserved arginines in ATP-binding domains of AAA+ chaperone ClpB from Thermus thermophilus.

    PubMed

    Yamasaki, Takashi; Nakazaki, Yosuke; Yoshida, Masasuke; Watanabe, Yo-hei

    2011-07-01

    ClpB, a member of the expanded superfamily of ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities (AAA+), forms a ring-shaped hexamer and cooperates with the DnaK chaperone system to reactivate aggregated proteins in an ATP-dependent manner. The ClpB protomer consists of an N-terminal domain, an AAA+ module (AAA-1), a middle domain, and a second AAA+ module (AAA-2). Each AAA+ module contains highly conserved WalkerA and WalkerB motifs, and two arginines (AAA-1) or one arginine (AAA-2). Here, we investigated the roles of these arginines (Arg322, Arg323, and Arg747) of ClpB from Thermus thermophilus in the ATPase cycle and chaperone function by alanine substitution. These mutations did not affect nucleotide binding, but did inhibit the hydrolysis of the bound ATP and slow the threading of the denatured protein through the central pore of the T. thermophilus ClpB ring, which severely impaired the chaperone functions. Previously, it was demonstrated that ATP binding to the AAA-1 module induced motion of the middle domain and stabilized the ClpB hexamer. However, the arginine mutations of the AAA-1 module destabilized the ClpB hexamer, even though ATP-induced motion of the middle domain was not affected. These results indicated that the three arginines are crucial for ATP hydrolysis and chaperone activity, but not for ATP binding. In addition, the two arginines in AAA-1 and the ATP-induced motion of the middle domain independently contribute to the stabilization of the hexamer. © 2011 The Authors Journal compilation © 2011 FEBS.

  15. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

    MedlinePlus

    ... of Top Deadly Mistakes Made by Teen Drivers -- AAA AAA: Road debris causes avoidable crashes, deaths Save the ... and 500 deaths! Foundation News Stay Tuned New AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety website coming Fall 2017 ...

  16. AAA-ATPases in Protein Degradation

    PubMed Central

    Yedidi, Ravikiran S.; Wendler, Petra; Enenkel, Cordula

    2017-01-01

    Proteolytic machineries containing multisubunit protease complexes and AAA-ATPases play a key role in protein quality control and the regulation of protein homeostasis. In these protein degradation machineries, the proteolytically active sites are formed by either threonines or serines which are buried inside interior cavities of cylinder-shaped complexes. In eukaryotic cells, the proteasome is the most prominent protease complex harboring AAA-ATPases. To degrade protein substrates, the gates of the axial entry ports of the protease need to be open. Gate opening is accomplished by AAA-ATPases, which form a hexameric ring flanking the entry ports of the protease. Protein substrates with unstructured domains can loop into the entry ports without the assistance of AAA-ATPases. However, folded proteins require the action of AAA-ATPases to unveil an unstructured terminus or domain. Cycles of ATP binding/hydrolysis fuel the unfolding of protein substrates which are gripped by loops lining up the central pore of the AAA-ATPase ring. The AAA-ATPases pull on the unfolded polypeptide chain for translocation into the proteolytic cavity of the protease. Conformational changes within the AAA-ATPase ring and the adjacent protease chamber create a peristaltic movement for substrate degradation. The review focuses on new technologies toward the understanding of the function and structure of AAA-ATPases to achieve substrate recognition, unfolding and translocation into proteasomes in yeast and mammalian cells and into proteasome-equivalent proteases in bacteria and archaea. PMID:28676851

  17. AAA-ATPases in Protein Degradation.

    PubMed

    Yedidi, Ravikiran S; Wendler, Petra; Enenkel, Cordula

    2017-01-01

    Proteolytic machineries containing multisubunit protease complexes and AAA-ATPases play a key role in protein quality control and the regulation of protein homeostasis. In these protein degradation machineries, the proteolytically active sites are formed by either threonines or serines which are buried inside interior cavities of cylinder-shaped complexes. In eukaryotic cells, the proteasome is the most prominent protease complex harboring AAA-ATPases. To degrade protein substrates, the gates of the axial entry ports of the protease need to be open. Gate opening is accomplished by AAA-ATPases, which form a hexameric ring flanking the entry ports of the protease. Protein substrates with unstructured domains can loop into the entry ports without the assistance of AAA-ATPases. However, folded proteins require the action of AAA-ATPases to unveil an unstructured terminus or domain. Cycles of ATP binding/hydrolysis fuel the unfolding of protein substrates which are gripped by loops lining up the central pore of the AAA-ATPase ring. The AAA-ATPases pull on the unfolded polypeptide chain for translocation into the proteolytic cavity of the protease. Conformational changes within the AAA-ATPase ring and the adjacent protease chamber create a peristaltic movement for substrate degradation. The review focuses on new technologies toward the understanding of the function and structure of AAA-ATPases to achieve substrate recognition, unfolding and translocation into proteasomes in yeast and mammalian cells and into proteasome-equivalent proteases in bacteria and archaea.

  18. The Art of Reviewing Science Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shepardson, Daniel P.; Britsch, Susan Jane

    2004-01-01

    Science journals are wonderful tools. They offer a glimpse into children's science understandings, and they are both diagnostic and pedagogically informative to teachers. Examining and reflecting on children's journal work lets teachers embed assessment in curriculum and instruction; however, effectively analyzing children's journal writing and…

  19. Analysis of a Typical Chinese High School Biology Textbook Using the AAAS Textbook Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liang, Ye; Cobern, William W.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate a typical Chinese high school biology textbook using the textbook standards of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The data were composed of three chapters selected from the textbook. Each chapter was analyzed and rated using the AAAS textbook standards. Pearson correlations…

  20. LMIP/AAA: Local Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) Protocol for Mobile IP

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chenait, Manel

    Mobile IP represents a simple and scalable global mobility solution. However, it inhibits various vulnerabilities to malicious attacks and, therefore, requires the integration of appropriate security services. In this paper, we discuss two authentication schemes suggested for Mobile IP: standard authentication and Mobile IP/AAA authentication. In order to provide Mobile IP roaming services including identity verication, we propose an improvement to Mobile/AAA authentication scheme by applying a local politic key management in each domain, hence we reduce hando latency by avoiding the involvement of AAA infrastructure during mobile node roaming.

  1. Abstracts in Journal of Animal Science

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Journal of Animal Science (JAS) is the leading international journal for animal science research. The American Society of Animal Science publishes JAS to support its mission, “To discover, disseminate, and apply knowledge for sustainable use of animals for food and other human needs.” Thus, JAS cont...

  2. Science, Society, and Social Networking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    White, K. S.; Lohwater, T.

    2009-12-01

    The increased use of social networking is changing the way that scientific societies interact with their members and others. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) uses a variety of online networks to engage its members and the broader scientific community. AAAS members and non-members can interact with AAAS staff and each other on AAAS sites on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, as well as blogs and forums on the AAAS website (www.aaas.org). These tools allow scientists to more readily become engaged in policy by providing information on current science policy topics as well as methods of involvement. For example, members and the public can comment on policy-relevant stories from Science magazine’s ScienceInsider blog, download a weekly policy podcast, receive a weekly email update of policy issues affecting the scientific community, or watch a congressional hearing from their computer. AAAS resource websites and outreach programs, including Communicating Science (www.aaas.org/communicatingscience), Working with Congress (www.aaas.org/spp/cstc/) and Science Careers (http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org) also provide tools for scientists to become more personally engaged in communicating their findings and involved in the policy process.

  3. Reinvigorating Science Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bricker, Patricia

    2007-01-01

    Science-themed books are wonderful tools for emphasizing the importance of observation and journaling. They can also be used to effectively promote literacy skills in science. This article shares a selection of nature books and the ways teachers and students used them to engage in the process of scientific inquiry. (Contains 3 figures and 10…

  4. Statins: the holy grail of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) growth attenuation? A systematic review of the literature.

    PubMed

    Dunne, Jonathan A; Bailey, Marc A; Griffin, Kathryn J; Sohrabi, Soroush; Coughlin, Patrick A; Scott, D Julian A

    2014-01-01

    In the era of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening, pharmacotherapies to attenuate AAA growth are sought. HMG Co-A reductase inhibitors (statins) have pleiotropic actions independent of their lipid lowering effects and have been suggested as potential treatment for small AAAs. We systematically review the clinical evidence for this effect. Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (1950-2011) were searched for studies reporting data on the role of statin therapy on AAA growth rate. No language restrictions were placed on the search. References of retrieved articles and pertinent journals were hand searched. Included studies were reviewed by 2 independent observers. The search retrieved 164 papers, 100 were irrelevant based on their title, 47 were reviews and 1 was a letter. 8 studies were excluded based on review of their abstract leaving 8 for inclusion in the study. Eight observational clinical studies with a total of 4,466 patients were reviewed. Four studies demonstrated reduced AAA expansion in statin users while 4 studies failed to demonstrate this effect. The method of determining AAA growth rates varied significantly between the studies and the ability of many studies to control for misclassification bias was poor. The claim that statins attenuate AAA growth remains questionable. Further prospective studies with stringent identification and verification of statin usage and a standardised method of estimating AAA growth rates are required. Statin type and dose also merit consideration.

  5. Using Science Journals to Encourage All Students to Write

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fingon, Joan C.; Fingon, Shallon D.

    2008-01-01

    It seems that everyone is using science journals or notebooks lately. As middle school science teachers, the authors use science journals as a tool to enhance students' knowledge and understanding of content and reinforce students' writing skills. Here they share how they use science journals to motivate students to write about science in middle…

  6. Multifunctional Mitochondrial AAA Proteases

    PubMed Central

    Glynn, Steven E.

    2017-01-01

    Mitochondria perform numerous functions necessary for the survival of eukaryotic cells. These activities are coordinated by a diverse complement of proteins encoded in both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes that must be properly organized and maintained. Misregulation of mitochondrial proteostasis impairs organellar function and can result in the development of severe human diseases. ATP-driven AAA+ proteins play crucial roles in preserving mitochondrial activity by removing and remodeling protein molecules in accordance with the needs of the cell. Two mitochondrial AAA proteases, i-AAA and m-AAA, are anchored to either face of the mitochondrial inner membrane, where they engage and process an array of substrates to impact protein biogenesis, quality control, and the regulation of key metabolic pathways. The functionality of these proteases is extended through multiple substrate-dependent modes of action, including complete degradation, partial processing, or dislocation from the membrane without proteolysis. This review discusses recent advances made toward elucidating the mechanisms of substrate recognition, handling, and degradation that allow these versatile proteases to control diverse activities in this multifunctional organelle. PMID:28589125

  7. Multifunctional Mitochondrial AAA Proteases.

    PubMed

    Glynn, Steven E

    2017-01-01

    Mitochondria perform numerous functions necessary for the survival of eukaryotic cells. These activities are coordinated by a diverse complement of proteins encoded in both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes that must be properly organized and maintained. Misregulation of mitochondrial proteostasis impairs organellar function and can result in the development of severe human diseases. ATP-driven AAA+ proteins play crucial roles in preserving mitochondrial activity by removing and remodeling protein molecules in accordance with the needs of the cell. Two mitochondrial AAA proteases, i-AAA and m-AAA, are anchored to either face of the mitochondrial inner membrane, where they engage and process an array of substrates to impact protein biogenesis, quality control, and the regulation of key metabolic pathways. The functionality of these proteases is extended through multiple substrate-dependent modes of action, including complete degradation, partial processing, or dislocation from the membrane without proteolysis. This review discusses recent advances made toward elucidating the mechanisms of substrate recognition, handling, and degradation that allow these versatile proteases to control diverse activities in this multifunctional organelle.

  8. Adapting Practices of Science Journalism to Foster Science Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polman, Joseph L.; Newman, Alan; Saul, Ellen Wendy; Farrar, Cathy

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, the authors describe how the practices of expert science journalists enable them to act as "competent outsiders" to science. We assert that selected science journalism practices can be used to design reform-based science instruction; these practices not only foster science literacy that is useful in daily life, but also…

  9. Source diversity among journals cited in Science Times.

    PubMed

    Kiernan, Vincent

    2016-02-01

    A content analysis of The New York Times' Science Times section from 1998 to 2012 found evidence of increased source diversity in use of scientific journals as news sources. Science Times increased the frequency at which it cited journals, the number of different journals that it cited, and the number of disciplines represented by cited journals. The results suggest that online availability of a wide array of scientific journals has changed sourcing behaviors. © The Author(s) 2014.

  10. Abdominal aorta aneurysm (AAA): Is there a role for prevention and therapy using antioxidants?

    PubMed

    Pincemail, Joël; Defraigne, Jean-Olivier; Courtois, Audrey; Albert, Adelin; Cheramy-Bien, Jean-Paul; Sakalihasan, Natzi

    2017-09-18

    Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a degenerative disease that cause mortality in people aged > 65 years. Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress seems to play a pivotal role in AAA pathogenesis. Several sources of ROS have been identified in aortic tissues using experimental models: inflammation, increased activity of NAD(P)H or NOX, over-expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), uncoupled endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), platelets activation and iron release from hemoglobin. Reducing oxidative stress by antioxidants has been shown to be a potential strategy for limiting AAA development. Human studies confirmed that oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction are well associated with AAA development. Unfortunately, there is currently no evidence showing that strategies using low molecular weight antioxidants (vitamins C and E, β-carotene) as target for ROS is effective to reduce human AAA progression. However, recent epidemiological data have highlighted the positive role of a diet enriched in fruits which contain high amounts of antioxidant polyphenols. By their ability to restore endothelial function but also their capacity to stimulate enzymatic antioxidants trough activation of the Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway, polyphenols can represent a promising treatment target for reducing human AAA progression. Clinical studies are therefore urgently necessary to confirm such a suggestion. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  11. NASA Astrophysics E/PO Impact: NASA SOFIA AAA Program Evaluation Results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harman, Pamela; Backman, Dana E.; Clark, Coral; Inverness Research Sofia Aaa Evaluation Team, Wested Sofia Aaa Evaluation Team

    2015-01-01

    SOFIA is an airborne observatory, studying the universe at infrared wavelengths, capable of making observations that are impossible for even the largest and highest ground-based telescopes. SOFIA also inspires the development of new scientific instrumentation and fosters the education of young scientists and engineers.SOFIA is an 80% - 20% partnership of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), consisting of an extensively modified Boeing 747SP aircraft carrying a reflecting telescope with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters (100 inches). The SOFIA aircraft is based at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Building 703, in Palmdale, California. The Science Program and Outreach Offices are located at NASA Ames Research center. SOFIA is a program in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Astrophysics Division.Data will be collected to study many different kinds of astronomical objects and phenomena, including star cycles, solar system formation, identification of complex molecules in space, our solar system, galactic dust, nebulae and ecosystems.Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA) Program:The SOFIA Education and Communications program exploits the unique attributes of airborne astronomy to contribute to national goals for the reform of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and to elevate public scientific and technical literacy.The AAA effort is a professional development program aspiring to improve teaching, inspire students, and inform the community. To date, 55 educators from 21 states; Cycles 0, 1 and 2; have completed their astronomy professional development and their SOFIA science flight experience. Evaluation has confirmed the program's positive impact on the teacher participants, on their students, and in their communities. The inspirational experience has positively impacted their practice and career trajectory. AAAs have incorporated content knowledge and specific components of their experience into their curricula, and have given

  12. Pathophysiology of AAA: heredity vs environment.

    PubMed

    Björck, Martin; Wanhainen, Anders

    2013-01-01

    Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has a complex pathophysiology, in which both environmental and genetic factors play important roles, the most important being smoking. The recently reported falling prevalence rates of AAA in northern Europe and Australia/New Zeeland are largely explained by healthier smoking habits. Dietary factors and obesity, in particular abdominal obesity, are also of importance. A family history of AAA among first-degree relatives is present in approximately 13% of incident cases. The probability that a monozygotic twin of a person with an AAA has the disease is 24%, 71 times higher than that for a monozygotic twin of a person without AAA. Approximately 1000 SNPs in 100 candidate genes have been studied, and three genome-wide association studies were published, identifying different diverse weak associations. An example of interaction between environmental and genetic factors is the effect of cholesterol, where genetic and dietary factors affect levels of both HDL and LDL. True epigenetic studies have not yet been published. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Adipocytes and abdominal aortic aneurysm: Putative potential role of adipocytes in the process of AAA development.

    PubMed

    Kugo, Hirona; Moriyama, Tatsuya; Zaima, Nobuhiro

    2018-01-15

    Background Adipose tissue plays a role in the storage of excess energy as triglycerides (TGs). Excess fat accumulation causes various metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. It has been reported that ectopic fat deposition and excess TG accumulation in non-adipose tissue might be important predictors of cardiometabolic and vascular risk. For example, ectopic fat in perivascular tissue promotes atherosclerotic plaque formation in the arterial wall. Objective Recently, it has been reported that ectopic fat (adipocyte) in the vascular wall of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is present in both human and experimental animal models. The pathological significance of adipocytes in the AAA wall has not been fully understood. In this review, we summarized the functions of adipocytes and discussed potential new drugs that target vascular adipocytes for AAA treatment. Result Previous studies suggest that adipocytes in vascular wall play an important role in the development of AAA. Conclusion Adipocytes in the vascular wall could be novel targets for the development of AAA therapeutic drugs. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  14. Stan Bull, Long-Time NREL Leader, Named AAAS Fellow | News | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    , Named AAAS Fellow January 11, 2011 Stanley R. Bull, former associate director for Science and Technology emeritus researcher. He was cited for "distinguished leadership in creating new programs, development partner with existing energy companies, including the fossil-fuel industry, and to "provide our

  15. Modern Publishing Approach of Journal of Astronomy & Earth Sciences Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slater, Timothy F.

    2015-01-01

    Filling a needed scholarly publishing avenue for astronomy education researchers and earth science education researchers, the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Sciences Education - JAESE published its first volume and issue in 2014. The Journal of Astronomy & Earth Sciences Education - JAESE is a scholarly, peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original discipline-based education research and evaluation, with an emphasis of significant scientific results derived from ethical observations and systematic experimentation in science education and evaluation. International in scope, JAESE aims to publish the highest quality and timely articles from discipline-based education research that advance understanding of astronomy and earth sciences education and are likely to have a significant impact on the discipline or on policy. Articles are solicited describing both (i) systematic science education research and (ii) evaluated teaching innovations across the broadly defined Earth & space sciences education, including the disciplines of astronomy, climate education, energy resource science, environmental science, geology, geography, agriculture, meteorology, planetary sciences, and oceanography education. The publishing model adopted for this new journal is open-access and articles appear online in GoogleScholar, ERIC, and are searchable in catalogs of 440,000 libraries that index online journals of its type. Rather than paid for by library subscriptions or by society membership dues, the annual budget is covered by page-charges paid by individual authors, their institutions, grants or donors: This approach is common in scientific journals, but is relatively uncommon in education journals. Authors retain their own copyright. The journal is owned by the Clute Institute of Denver, which owns and operates 17 scholarly journals and currently edited by former American Astronomical Society Education Officer Tim Slater, who is an endowed professor at the University of Wyoming and

  16. Clinical implementation of AXB from AAA for breast: Plan quality and subvolume analysis.

    PubMed

    Guebert, Alexandra; Conroy, Leigh; Weppler, Sarah; Alghamdi, Majed; Conway, Jessica; Harper, Lindsay; Phan, Tien; Olivotto, Ivo A; Smith, Wendy L; Quirk, Sarah

    2018-05-01

    Two dose calculation algorithms are available in Varian Eclipse software: Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) and Acuros External Beam (AXB). Many Varian Eclipse-based centers have access to AXB; however, a thorough understanding of how it will affect plan characteristics and, subsequently, clinical practice is necessary prior to implementation. We characterized the difference in breast plan quality between AXB and AAA for dissemination to clinicians during implementation. Locoregional irradiation plans were created with AAA for 30 breast cancer patients with a prescription dose of 50 Gy to the breast and 45 Gy to the regional node, in 25 fractions. The internal mammary chain (IMC CTV ) nodes were covered by 80% of the breast dose. AXB, both dose-to-water and dose-to-medium reporting, was used to recalculate plans while maintaining constant monitor units. Target coverage and organ-at-risk doses were compared between the two algorithms using dose-volume parameters. An analysis to assess location-specific changes was performed by dividing the breast into nine subvolumes in the superior-inferior and left-right directions. There were minimal differences found between the AXB and AAA calculated plans. The median difference between AXB and AAA for breast CTV V 95% , was <2.5%. For IMC CTV , the median differences V 95% , and V 80% were <5% and 0%, respectively; indicating IMC CTV coverage only decreased when marginally covered. Mean superficial dose increased by a median of 3.2 Gy. In the subvolume analysis, the medial subvolumes were "hotter" when recalculated with AXB and the lateral subvolumes "cooler" with AXB; however, all differences were within 2 Gy. We observed minimal difference in magnitude and spatial distribution of dose when comparing the two algorithms. The largest observable differences occurred in superficial dose regions. Therefore, clinical implementation of AXB from AAA for breast radiotherapy is not expected to result in changes in clinical

  17. Genetic analysis of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    St. Jean, P.L.; Hart, B.K.; Zhang, X.C.

    1994-09-01

    The association between AAA and gender, smoking (SM), hypertension (HTN) and inguinal herniation (IH) was examined in 141 AAA probands and 139 of their 1st degree relatives with aortic exam (36 affected, 103 unaffected). There was no significant difference between age at diagnosis of affecteds and age at exam of unaffecteds. Of 181 males, 142 had AAA; of 99 females, 35 had AAA. Using log-linear modeling AAA was significantly associated at the 5% level with gender, SM and HTN but not IH. The association of AAA with SM and HTN held when males and females were analyzed separately. HTN wasmore » -1.5 times more common in both affected males and females, while SM was 1.5 and 2 times more common in affected males and females, respectively. Tests of association and linkage analyses were performed with relevant candidate genes: 3 COL3A1 polymorphisms (C/T, ALA/THR, AvaII), 2 ELN polymorphisms (SER/GLY, (CA)n), FBN1(TAAA)n, 2 APOB polymorphisms (Xbal,Ins/Del), CLB4B (CA)n, PI and markers D1S243 (CA)n, HPR (CA)n and MFD23(CA)n. The loci were genotyped in > 100 AAA probands and > 95 normal controls. No statistically significant evidence of association at the 5% level was obtained for any of the loci using chi-square test of association. 28 families with 2 or more affecteds were analyzed using the affected pedigree member method (APM) and lod-score analyses. There was no evidence for linkage with any loci using APM. Lod-score analysis under an autosomal recessive model resulted in excluding linkage (lod score < -2) of all loci to AAA at {theta}=0.0. Under an autosomal dominant model, linkage was excluded at {theta}=0.0 to ELN, APOB, CLG4B, D1S243, HPR and MFD23. The various genes previously proposed in AAA pathogenesis are neither associated nor casually related in our study population.« less

  18. How Multidisciplinary Are the Multidisciplinary Journals Science and Nature?

    PubMed

    Solomon, Gregg E A; Carley, Stephen; Porter, Alan L

    2016-01-01

    Interest in cross-disciplinary research knowledge interchange runs high. Review processes at funding agencies, such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, consider plans to disseminate research across disciplinary bounds. Publication in the leading multidisciplinary journals, Nature and Science, may signify the epitome of successful interdisciplinary integration of research knowledge and cross-disciplinary dissemination of findings. But how interdisciplinary are they? The journals are multidisciplinary, but do the individual articles themselves draw upon multiple fields of knowledge and does their influence span disciplines? This research compares articles in three fields (Cell Biology, Physical Chemistry, and Cognitive Science) published in a leading disciplinary journal in each field to those published in Nature and Science. We find comparable degrees of interdisciplinary integration and only modest differences in cross-disciplinary diffusion. That said, though the rate of out-of-field diffusion might be comparable, the sheer reach of Nature and Science, indicated by their potent Journal Impact Factors, means that the diffusion of knowledge therein can far exceed that of leading disciplinary journals in some fields (such as Physical Chemistry and Cognitive Science in our samples).

  19. Journal rankings by citation analysis in health sciences librarianship.

    PubMed Central

    Fang, M L

    1989-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify objectively a hierarchical ranking of journals for health sciences librarians with faculty status. Such a guideline can indicate a journal's value for promotion and tenure consideration. Lists of recent research articles (1982-1986) in health sciences librarianship, and articles written by health sciences librarians, were compiled by searching Social SCISEARCH and MEDLINE. The journals publishing those articles are presented. Results show BMLA as the most prominent journal in the field. Therefore, citations from articles in BMLA from 1982 to 1986 were chosen as a sample for citation analysis. Citation analysis was employed to identify the most frequently cited journals. Some characteristics of the citations in BMLA are also discussed. The ranking of journals based on citation frequency, as a result, was identified. PMID:2655785

  20. AAAS Science Film Catalog.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seltz-Petrash, Ann, Ed.; Wolff, Kathryn, Ed.

    Currently available American 16mm films in the areas of pure science, applied science and technology, and science and society are identified and listed. Included are films that are available from commercial, government, university, and industry producers. The first section of the catalog lists in Dewey Decimal order films intended for junior high…

  1. How Multidisciplinary Are the Multidisciplinary Journals Science and Nature?

    PubMed Central

    Solomon, Gregg E. A.; Carley, Stephen; Porter, Alan L.

    2016-01-01

    Interest in cross-disciplinary research knowledge interchange runs high. Review processes at funding agencies, such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, consider plans to disseminate research across disciplinary bounds. Publication in the leading multidisciplinary journals, Nature and Science, may signify the epitome of successful interdisciplinary integration of research knowledge and cross-disciplinary dissemination of findings. But how interdisciplinary are they? The journals are multidisciplinary, but do the individual articles themselves draw upon multiple fields of knowledge and does their influence span disciplines? This research compares articles in three fields (Cell Biology, Physical Chemistry, and Cognitive Science) published in a leading disciplinary journal in each field to those published in Nature and Science. We find comparable degrees of interdisciplinary integration and only modest differences in cross-disciplinary diffusion. That said, though the rate of out-of-field diffusion might be comparable, the sheer reach of Nature and Science, indicated by their potent Journal Impact Factors, means that the diffusion of knowledge therein can far exceed that of leading disciplinary journals in some fields (such as Physical Chemistry and Cognitive Science in our samples). PMID:27043924

  2. Structural Elements Regulating AAA+ Protein Quality Control Machines.

    PubMed

    Chang, Chiung-Wen; Lee, Sukyeong; Tsai, Francis T F

    2017-01-01

    Members of the ATPases Associated with various cellular Activities (AAA+) superfamily participate in essential and diverse cellular pathways in all kingdoms of life by harnessing the energy of ATP binding and hydrolysis to drive their biological functions. Although most AAA+ proteins share a ring-shaped architecture, AAA+ proteins have evolved distinct structural elements that are fine-tuned to their specific functions. A central question in the field is how ATP binding and hydrolysis are coupled to substrate translocation through the central channel of ring-forming AAA+ proteins. In this mini-review, we will discuss structural elements present in AAA+ proteins involved in protein quality control, drawing similarities to their known role in substrate interaction by AAA+ proteins involved in DNA translocation. Elements to be discussed include the pore loop-1, the Inter-Subunit Signaling (ISS) motif, and the Pre-Sensor I insert (PS-I) motif. Lastly, we will summarize our current understanding on the inter-relationship of those structural elements and propose a model how ATP binding and hydrolysis might be coupled to polypeptide translocation in protein quality control machines.

  3. Biosecurity policies at international life science journals.

    PubMed

    van Aken, Jan; Hunger, Iris

    2009-03-01

    The prospect of bioterrorism has raised concerns about the potential abuse of scientific information for malign purposes and the pressure on scientific publishers to prevent the publication of "recipes" for weapons of mass destruction. Here we present the results of a survey of 28 major life science journals--20 English-language international journals and 3 Chinese and 5 Russian journals--with regard to their biosecurity policies and procedures. The survey addressed the extent to which life science journals have implemented biosecurity procedures in recent years, how authors and reviewers are advised about these procedures and the underlying concerns, and what the practical experiences have been. Few of the English-language publishers and none of the Russian and Chinese publishers surveyed implement formal biosecurity policies or inform their authors and reviewers about potentially sensitive issues in this area.

  4. The High Cost of Science Journals: A Case Study and Discussion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rose-Wiles, Lisa M.

    2011-01-01

    Like many libraries, Seton Hall University Libraries has suffered budget cuts that forced a reduction in serial subscriptions. As science librarian, I report on my efforts to streamline subscriptions and to address the question "Why are science journals so expensive?" Our science journals are significantly more expensive than journals in…

  5. Support Science by Publishing in Scientific Society Journals.

    PubMed

    Schloss, Patrick D; Johnston, Mark; Casadevall, Arturo

    2017-09-26

    Scientific societies provide numerous services to the scientific enterprise, including convening meetings, publishing journals, developing scientific programs, advocating for science, promoting education, providing cohesion and direction for the discipline, and more. For most scientific societies, publishing provides revenues that support these important activities. In recent decades, the proportion of papers on microbiology published in scientific society journals has declined. This is largely due to two competing pressures: authors' drive to publish in "glam journals"-those with high journal impact factors-and the availability of "mega journals," which offer speedy publication of articles regardless of their potential impact. The decline in submissions to scientific society journals and the lack of enthusiasm on the part of many scientists to publish in them should be matters of serious concern to all scientists because they impact the service that scientific societies can provide to their members and to science. Copyright © 2017 Schloss et al.

  6. Perils and positives of science journalism in Australia.

    PubMed

    McKinnon, Merryn; Howes, Johanna; Leach, Andrew; Prokop, Natasha

    2017-03-01

    Scientists, science communicators and science journalists interact to deliver science news to the public. Yet the value of interactions between the groups in delivering high-quality science stories is poorly understood within Australia. A recent study in New Zealand on the perspectives of the three groups on the challenges facing science journalism is replicated here in the context of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. While all three groups perceived the quality of science journalism as generally high, the limitations of non-specialists and public relation materials were causes for concern. The results indicate that science communicators are considered to play a valuable role as facilitators of information flow to journalists and support for scientists. Future studies on the influence and implications of interactions between these three groups are required.

  7. Protein quality control in organelles - AAA/FtsH story.

    PubMed

    Janska, Hanna; Kwasniak, Malgorzata; Szczepanowska, Joanna

    2013-02-01

    This review focuses on organellar AAA/FtsH proteases, whose proteolytic and chaperone-like activity is a crucial component of the protein quality control systems of mitochondrial and chloroplast membranes. We compare the AAA/FtsH proteases from yeast, mammals and plants. The nature of the complexes formed by AAA/FtsH proteases and the current view on their involvement in degradation of non-native organellar proteins or assembly of membrane complexes are discussed. Additional functions of AAA proteases not directly connected with protein quality control found in yeast and mammals but not yet in plants are also described shortly. Following an overview of the molecular functions of the AAA/FtsH proteases we discuss physiological consequences of their inactivation in yeast, mammals and plants. The molecular basis of phenotypes associated with inactivation of the AAA/FtsH proteases is not fully understood yet, with the notable exception of those observed in m-AAA protease-deficient yeast cells, which are caused by impaired maturation of mitochondrial ribosomal protein. Finally, examples of cytosolic events affecting protein quality control in mitochondria and chloroplasts are given. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein Import and Quality Control in Mitochondria and Plastids. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Updates on AAA screening and surveillance

    PubMed

    Theivendran, Mayo; Chuen, Jason

    2018-05-01

    Screening and diagnostic surveillance of latent conditions have a profound impact on public healthcare expenditure and clinical outcomes. Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) remains one of the hallmark pathologies in vascular surgery and an area of intense research interest. This article is the second of two that will outline current areas of controversy and research in AAA disease in order to support a more detailed understanding of issues in managing patients with this condition, and inform the development of Australasian clinical guidelines and health policy. Screening and surveillance of AAA should be evidence-based and follow clinical guidelines; however, advances in treatment technology and epidemiological data have influenced results. Goals of care and cost‑effectiveness should play central parts in screening and surveillance strategies.

  9. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences: A Step Forward towards an International Journal

    PubMed Central

    Ghazli, Nur Farahin; Che Annual, Norfatiha; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

    2015-01-01

    In 1986, the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) began as the small and newly established journal Diagnosa, established by the Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Medicine. After 28 years in the publishing industry, we have received the honor of a listing as a local journal in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) created by Thomson Reuters (TR) to spotlight emerging high-quality scientific publications. The editorial team of MJMS looks forward to the next step in the march of progress toward the status of an international journal. PMID:28223878

  10. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences: A Step Forward towards an International Journal.

    PubMed

    Ghazli, Nur Farahin; Che Annual, Norfatiha; Abdullah, Jafri Malin

    2015-11-01

    In 1986, the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) began as the small and newly established journal Diagnosa, established by the Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Medicine. After 28 years in the publishing industry, we have received the honor of a listing as a local journal in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) created by Thomson Reuters (TR) to spotlight emerging high-quality scientific publications. The editorial team of MJMS looks forward to the next step in the march of progress toward the status of an international journal.

  11. SOFIA Technology: The NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA) Experience and Online Resources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clark, C.; Harman, P. K.; Backman, D. E.

    2016-12-01

    SOFIA, an 80/20 partnership of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), consists of a modified Boeing 747SP carrying a reflecting telescope with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters. SOFIA is the largest airborne observatory in the world, capable of observations impossible for even the largest and highest ground-based telescopes. The SOFIA Program Office is at NASA ARC, Moffett Field, CA; the aircraft is based in Palmdale, CA. During its planned 20-year lifetime, SOFIA will foster development of new scientific instrumentation and inspire the education of young scientists and engineers. Astrophysicists are awarded time on SOFIA to study many kinds of astronomical objects and phenomena. Among the most interesting are: Star birth, evolution, and death Formation of new planetary systems Chemistry of complex molecules in space Planet and exoplanet atmospheres Galactic gas & dust "ecosystems" Environments around supermassive black holes SOFIA currently has eight instruments, five US-made and three German. The instruments — cameras, spectrometers, and a photometer,— operate at near-, mid- and far-infrared wavelengths, each spectral range being best suited to studying particular celestial phenomena. NASA's Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors' (AAAs) experience includes a STEM immersion component. AAAs are onboard during two overnight SOFIA flights that provide insight into the acquisition of scientific data as well as the interfaces between the telescope, instrument, & aircraft. AAAs monitor system performance and view observation targets from their dedicated workstation during flights. Future opportunities for school district partnerships leading to selection of future AAA cohorts will be offered in 2018-19. AAAs may access public archive data via the SOFIA Data Cycle System (DCS) https://dcs.sofia.usra.edu/. Additional SOFIA science and other resources are available at: www.sofia.usra.edu, including lessons that use photovoltaic circuits, and other technology for the

  12. Comparison of Journal Citation Reports and Scopus Impact Factors for Ecology and Environmental Sciences Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gray, Edward; Hodkinson, Sarah Z.

    2008-01-01

    Impact factors for journals listed under the subject categories "ecology" and "environmental sciences" in the Journal Citation Reports database were calculated using citation data from the Scopus database. The journals were then ranked by their Scopus impact factor and compared to the ranked lists of the same journals derived from Journal…

  13. International Journal of Molecular Science 2017 Best Paper Award.

    PubMed

    2017-11-02

    The Editors of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences have established the Best Paper Award to recognize the most outstanding articles published in the areas of molecular biology, molecular physics and chemistry that have been published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. The prizes have been awarded annually since 2012 [...].

  14. Authorship and sampling practice in selected biomechanics and sports science journals.

    PubMed

    Knudson, Duane V

    2011-06-01

    In some biomedical sciences, changes in patterns of collaboration and authorship have complicated the assignment of credit and responsibility for research. It is unclear if this problem of "promiscuous coauthorship" or "hyperauthorship" (defined as six or more authors) is also apparent in the applied research disciplines within sport and exercise science. This study documented the authorship and sampling of patterns of original research reports in three applied biomechanics (Clinical Biomechanics, Journal of Applied Biomechanics, and Sports Biomechanics) and five similar subdisciplinary journals within sport and exercise science (International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, Journal of Teaching Physical Education, Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Sciences, and Motor Control). Original research reports from the 2009 volumes of these biomechanics and sport and exercise journals were reviewed. Single authorship of papers was rare (2.6%) in these journals, with the mean number of authors ranging from 2.7 to 4.5. Sample sizes and the ratio of sample to authors varied widely, and these variables tended not to be associated with number of authors. Original research reports published in these journals in 2009 tended to be published by small teams of collaborators, so currently there may be few problems with promiscuous coauthorship in these subdisciplines of sport and exercise science.

  15. m-AAA and i-AAA complexes coordinate to regulate OMA1, the stress-activated supervisor of mitochondrial dynamics.

    PubMed

    Consolato, Francesco; Maltecca, Francesca; Tulli, Susanna; Sambri, Irene; Casari, Giorgio

    2018-04-09

    The proteolytic processing of dynamin-like GTPase OPA1, mediated by the activity of both YME1L1 [intermembrane (i)-AAA protease complex] and OMA1, is a crucial step in the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics. OMA1 is a zinc metallopeptidase of the inner mitochondrial membrane that undergoes pre-activating proteolytic and auto-proteolytic cleavage after mitochondrial import. Here, we identify AFG3L2 [matrix (m) - AAA complex] as the major protease mediating this event, which acts by maturing the 60 kDa pre-pro-OMA1 to the 40 kDa pro-OMA1 form by severing the N-terminal portion without recognizing a specific consensus sequence. Therefore, m - AAA and i - AAA complexes coordinately regulate OMA1 processing and turnover, and consequently control which OPA1 isoforms are present, thus adding new information on the molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial dynamics and neurodegenerative diseases affected by these phenomena.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  16. A structural analysis of the AAA+ domains in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytoplasmic dynein

    PubMed Central

    Gleave, Emma S.; Schmidt, Helgo; Carter, Andrew P.

    2014-01-01

    Dyneins are large protein complexes that act as microtubule based molecular motors. The dynein heavy chain contains a motor domain which is a member of the AAA+ protein family (ATPases Associated with diverse cellular Activities). Proteins of the AAA+ family show a diverse range of functionalities, but share a related core AAA+ domain, which often assembles into hexameric rings. Dynein is unusual because it has all six AAA+ domains linked together, in one long polypeptide. The dynein motor domain generates movement by coupling ATP driven conformational changes in the AAA+ ring to the swing of a motile element called the linker. Dynein binds to its microtubule track via a long antiparallel coiled-coil stalk that emanates from the AAA+ ring. Recently the first high resolution structures of the dynein motor domain were published. Here we provide a detailed structural analysis of the six AAA+ domains using our Saccharomycescerevisiae crystal structure. We describe how structural similarities in the dynein AAA+ domains suggest they share a common evolutionary origin. We analyse how the different AAA+ domains have diverged from each other. We discuss how this is related to the function of dynein as a motor protein and how the AAA+ domains of dynein compare to those of other AAA+ proteins. PMID:24680784

  17. Prestigious Science Journals Struggle to Reach Even Average Reliability

    PubMed Central

    Brembs, Björn

    2018-01-01

    In which journal a scientist publishes is considered one of the most crucial factors determining their career. The underlying common assumption is that only the best scientists manage to publish in a highly selective tier of the most prestigious journals. However, data from several lines of evidence suggest that the methodological quality of scientific experiments does not increase with increasing rank of the journal. On the contrary, an accumulating body of evidence suggests the inverse: methodological quality and, consequently, reliability of published research works in several fields may be decreasing with increasing journal rank. The data supporting these conclusions circumvent confounding factors such as increased readership and scrutiny for these journals, focusing instead on quantifiable indicators of methodological soundness in the published literature, relying on, in part, semi-automated data extraction from often thousands of publications at a time. With the accumulating evidence over the last decade grew the realization that the very existence of scholarly journals, due to their inherent hierarchy, constitutes one of the major threats to publicly funded science: hiring, promoting and funding scientists who publish unreliable science eventually erodes public trust in science. PMID:29515380

  18. The Use of Journal Clubs in Science Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tallman, Karen A.; Feldman, Allan

    2016-01-01

    This qualitative study explored how in a 7-month-long journal club pre- and inservice science teachers engaged with education research literature relevant to their practice to reduce the theory-practice gap. In the journal club they had the opportunity to critique and analyze peer-reviewed science education articles in the context of their…

  19. Promoting Inquiry through Science Reflective Journal Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Towndrow, Phillip Alexander; Ling, Tan Aik; Venthan, A. M.

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this research paper is to detail how reflective journal writing can be used to facilitate science students' curiosity and engagement in laboratory work. This study advocates reflective journal writing as an instructional tool and a student-created learning resource that can serve additional formative assessment purposes. The…

  20. A structural analysis of the AAA+ domains in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytoplasmic dynein.

    PubMed

    Gleave, Emma S; Schmidt, Helgo; Carter, Andrew P

    2014-06-01

    Dyneins are large protein complexes that act as microtubule based molecular motors. The dynein heavy chain contains a motor domain which is a member of the AAA+ protein family (ATPases Associated with diverse cellular Activities). Proteins of the AAA+ family show a diverse range of functionalities, but share a related core AAA+ domain, which often assembles into hexameric rings. Dynein is unusual because it has all six AAA+ domains linked together, in one long polypeptide. The dynein motor domain generates movement by coupling ATP driven conformational changes in the AAA+ ring to the swing of a motile element called the linker. Dynein binds to its microtubule track via a long antiparallel coiled-coil stalk that emanates from the AAA+ ring. Recently the first high resolution structures of the dynein motor domain were published. Here we provide a detailed structural analysis of the six AAA+ domains using our Saccharomycescerevisiae crystal structure. We describe how structural similarities in the dynein AAA+ domains suggest they share a common evolutionary origin. We analyse how the different AAA+ domains have diverged from each other. We discuss how this is related to the function of dynein as a motor protein and how the AAA+ domains of dynein compare to those of other AAA+ proteins. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Support Science by Publishing in Scientific Society Journals

    PubMed Central

    Johnston, Mark

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Scientific societies provide numerous services to the scientific enterprise, including convening meetings, publishing journals, developing scientific programs, advocating for science, promoting education, providing cohesion and direction for the discipline, and more. For most scientific societies, publishing provides revenues that support these important activities. In recent decades, the proportion of papers on microbiology published in scientific society journals has declined. This is largely due to two competing pressures: authors’ drive to publish in “glam journals”—those with high journal impact factors—and the availability of “mega journals,” which offer speedy publication of articles regardless of their potential impact. The decline in submissions to scientific society journals and the lack of enthusiasm on the part of many scientists to publish in them should be matters of serious concern to all scientists because they impact the service that scientific societies can provide to their members and to science. PMID:28951482

  2. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences: A bibliometric assessment 2001-2010

    PubMed Central

    Baladi, Zameer Hussain; Umedani, Loung V.

    2017-01-01

    Objective: The aim of this study was to measure the growth of scientific research, authors’ productivity, affiliation with the institute and geographic locations published in the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences during the period of 2001 – 2010. Methods: This numerical analysis was conducted during mid-August 2016 to mid-October, 2016. The data for the study was downloaded from websites of e-journal of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences (PJMS) and Pak Medi-Net Com. Results: A total number of 1199 articled were covered by PJMS in 10 volumes and 40 issues with contribution of 3798 (3%) authors during 2001 – 2010. The average number of papers per issue is 30%. A gender wise contribution of males was higher 3050 (80%) than the females 748 (20%). A majority of articles were multi-authored 1052 (87%) as opposed to single author contribution 147 (13%). All 1199 articles were covered under four major disciplines i.e Basic medical sciences, medicine & allied, surgery & allied and radiological sciences and 39 sub-specialties according to medical subject headings (MeSH). It observed that 467 (39%) articles were published in Pakistan and 732 (61%) articles produced by other 32 countries. The Karachi city of Pakistan has produced 199 (16%) articles as highest as its national level and followed by Tehran (Iran) 77 (6%) as followed internationally. Conclusion: This study reveals that the participation of 32 countries in the PJMS publications proves it to be an internationally circulated journal to support research with the constant approach of publishing articles to each volume in basic medical sciences, biomedical, clinical and public health sciences. Abbreviations: DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals IMEMR: Index Medicus Eastern Mediterranean Region HEC: Higher Education Commission (Pakistan) PJMS: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences MeSH: Medical Subject Headings PMDC: Pakistan Medical & Dental Council SCIE: Science Citation Index Expanded PMID:28811801

  3. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences: A bibliometric assessment 2001-2010.

    PubMed

    Baladi, Zameer Hussain; Umedani, Loung V

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to measure the growth of scientific research, authors' productivity, affiliation with the institute and geographic locations published in the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences during the period of 2001 - 2010. This numerical analysis was conducted during mid-August 2016 to mid-October, 2016. The data for the study was downloaded from websites of e-journal of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences (PJMS) and Pak Medi-Net Com. A total number of 1199 articled were covered by PJMS in 10 volumes and 40 issues with contribution of 3798 (3%) authors during 2001 - 2010. The average number of papers per issue is 30%. A gender wise contribution of males was higher 3050 (80%) than the females 748 (20%). A majority of articles were multi-authored 1052 (87%) as opposed to single author contribution 147 (13%). All 1199 articles were covered under four major disciplines i.e Basic medical sciences, medicine & allied, surgery & allied and radiological sciences and 39 sub-specialties according to medical subject headings (MeSH). It observed that 467 (39%) articles were published in Pakistan and 732 (61%) articles produced by other 32 countries. The Karachi city of Pakistan has produced 199 (16%) articles as highest as its national level and followed by Tehran (Iran) 77 (6%) as followed internationally. This study reveals that the participation of 32 countries in the PJMS publications proves it to be an internationally circulated journal to support research with the constant approach of publishing articles to each volume in basic medical sciences, biomedical, clinical and public health sciences. Abbreviations: DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals IMEMR: Index Medicus Eastern Mediterranean Region HEC: Higher Education Commission (Pakistan) PJMS: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences MeSH: Medical Subject Headings PMDC: Pakistan Medical & Dental Council SCIE: Science Citation Index Expanded.

  4. ScienceCentral: open access full-text archive of scientific journals based on Journal Article Tag Suite regardless of their languages

    PubMed Central

    Huh, Sun

    2013-01-01

    ScienceCentral, a free or open access, full-text archive of scientific journal literature at the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, was under test in September 2013. Since it is a Journal Article Tag Suite-based full text database, extensible markup language files of all languages can be presented, according to Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit encoding. It is comparable to PubMed Central: however, there are two distinct differences. First, its scope comprises all science fields; second, it accepts all language journals. Launching ScienceCentral is the first step for free access or open access academic scientific journals of all languages to leap to the world, including scientific journals from Croatia. PMID:24266292

  5. ScienceCentral: open access full-text archive of scientific journals based on Journal Article Tag Suite regardless of their languages.

    PubMed

    Huh, Sun

    2013-01-01

    ScienceCentral, a free or open access, full-text archive of scientific journal literature at the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, was under test in September 2013. Since it is a Journal Article Tag Suite-based full text database, extensible markup language files of all languages can be presented, according to Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit encoding. It is comparable to PubMed Central: however, there are two distinct differences. First, its scope comprises all science fields; second, it accepts all language journals. Launching ScienceCentral is the first step for free access or open access academic scientific journals of all languages to leap to the world, including scientific journals from Croatia.

  6. Prior Radiological Investigations in 65-Year-Old Men Screened for AAA.

    PubMed

    Meecham, Lewis; Summerour, Virginia; Hobbs, Simon; Newman, Jeremy; Wall, Michael L

    2018-05-01

    The National Health Service abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programme (NAAASP) is now fully operational. Those who have previously been formally investigated for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) are excluded; however, many patients undergo radiological investigation of the abdomen for other reasons. Such practices may find incidental AAA which may be eroding the performance of the NAAASP. We investigated the rates of preinvestigation before invitation to screening in our local AAA screening programme. Electronic patient records were retrospectively reviewed for all patients called between March 2013 and February 2016 in 1 local AAA screening programme. Their records were interrogated to identify any abdominal imaging within 5 years of their invitation to screening. Two thousand six hundred thirty-eight men were invited for screening; of these, 563 (21.3%) had been "prescreened". Median time between prescreening and screening was 19 months (0-60 months). Ultrasound abdomen was the most prevalent at 248 (44.0%). Two thousand two hundred forty-three (85.0%) men attended screening, and 6 (0.27%) were excluded for known AAA. Prevalence of AAA was 1.8% (n = 41). Of these, 15 (36.6%) had prior investigation with 6 (40.0%) having AAA diagnosed. Therefore, 9 (22.0%) had potential missed AAA on "prescreening" (mean diameter 35 mm [30-45], mean time lapse between investigation and screening 21.1 months [1-49]). Incidence of missed aneurysm in the "prescreened" cohort was 1.6% (9/563). Large numbers of men invited for AAA screening have undergone preinvestigation of their abdominal aorta, with 60% of the present AAA being missed. Reliance on incidental detection of AAA would leave many patients undiagnosed in the community-at risk of future rupture. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Publishing in the Refereed International Journal of Astronomy & Earth Sciences Education JAESE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slater, Timothy F.

    2015-08-01

    Filling a needed scholarly publishing avenue for astronomy education researchers and earth science education researchers, the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Sciences Education- JAESE was first published in 2014. JAESE is a scholarly, peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original discipline-based education research and evaluation, with an emphasis of significant scientific results derived from ethical observations and systematic experimentation in science education and evaluation. International in scope, JAESE aims to publish the highest quality and timely articles from discipline-based education research that advance understanding of astronomy and earth sciences education and are likely to have a significant impact on the discipline or on policy. Articles are solicited describing both (i) systematic science education research and (ii) evaluated teaching innovations across the broadly defined Earth & space sciences education, including the disciplines of astronomy, climate education, energy resource science, environmental science, geology, geography, agriculture, meteorology, planetary sciences, and oceanography education. The publishing model adopted for this new journal is open-access and articles appear online in GoogleScholar, ERIC, EBSCO, ProQuest, and NASA SAO/ADS and are searchable in catalogs of 440,000 libraries that index online journals of its type. Rather than paid for by library subscriptions or by society membership dues, the annual budget is covered by page-charges paid by individual authors, their institutions, grants or donors: This approach is common in scientific journals, but is relatively uncommon in education journals. Authors retain their own copyright. The journal is owned by the Clute Institute in the United States, which owns and operates 17 scholarly journals and currently edited by former American Astronomical Society Education Officer Tim Slater, who is an endowed professor at the University of Wyoming and a Senior Scientist at the

  8. Fundamental Characteristics of AAA+ Protein Family Structure and Function

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    Many complex cellular events depend on multiprotein complexes known as molecular machines to efficiently couple the energy derived from adenosine triphosphate hydrolysis to the generation of mechanical force. Members of the AAA+ ATPase superfamily (ATPases Associated with various cellular Activities) are critical components of many molecular machines. AAA+ proteins are defined by conserved modules that precisely position the active site elements of two adjacent subunits to catalyze ATP hydrolysis. In many cases, AAA+ proteins form a ring structure that translocates a polymeric substrate through the central channel using specialized loops that project into the central channel. We discuss the major features of AAA+ protein structure and function with an emphasis on pivotal aspects elucidated with archaeal proteins. PMID:27703410

  9. Fundamental Characteristics of AAA+ Protein Family Structure and Function.

    PubMed

    Miller, Justin M; Enemark, Eric J

    2016-01-01

    Many complex cellular events depend on multiprotein complexes known as molecular machines to efficiently couple the energy derived from adenosine triphosphate hydrolysis to the generation of mechanical force. Members of the AAA+ ATPase superfamily (ATPases Associated with various cellular Activities) are critical components of many molecular machines. AAA+ proteins are defined by conserved modules that precisely position the active site elements of two adjacent subunits to catalyze ATP hydrolysis. In many cases, AAA+ proteins form a ring structure that translocates a polymeric substrate through the central channel using specialized loops that project into the central channel. We discuss the major features of AAA+ protein structure and function with an emphasis on pivotal aspects elucidated with archaeal proteins.

  10. AAA-DDD triple hydrogen bond complexes.

    PubMed

    Blight, Barry A; Camara-Campos, Amaya; Djurdjevic, Smilja; Kaller, Martin; Leigh, David A; McMillan, Fiona M; McNab, Hamish; Slawin, Alexandra M Z

    2009-10-07

    Experiment and theory both suggest that the AAA-DDD pattern of hydrogen bond acceptors (A) and donors (D) is the arrangement of three contiguous hydrogen bonding centers that results in the strongest association between two species. Murray and Zimmerman prepared the first example of such a system (complex 3*2) and determined the lower limit of its association constant (K(a)) in CDCl(3) to be 10(5) M(-1) by (1)H NMR spectroscopy (Murray, T. J. and Zimmerman, S. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 4010-4011). The first cationic AAA-DDD pair (3*4(+)) was described by Bell and Anslyn (Bell, D. A. and Anslyn, E. A. Tetrahedron 1995, 51, 7161-7172), with a K(a) > 5 x 10(5) M(-1) in CH(2)Cl(2) as determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. We were recently able to quantify the strength of a neutral AAA-DDD arrangement using a more chemically stable AAA-DDD system, 6*2, which has an association constant of 2 x 10(7) M(-1) in CH(2)Cl(2) (Djurdjevic, S., Leigh, D. A., McNab, H., Parsons, S., Teobaldi, G. and Zerbetto, F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 476-477). Here we report on further AA(A) and DDD partners, together with the first precise measurement of the association constant of a cationic AAA-DDD species. Complex 6*10(+)[B(3,5-(CF(3))(2)C(6)H(3))(4)(-)] has a K(a) = 3 x 10(10) M(-1) at RT in CH(2)Cl(2), by far the most strongly bound triple hydrogen bonded system measured to date. The X-ray crystal structure of 6*10(+) with a BPh(4)(-) counteranion shows a planar array of three short (NH...N distances 1.95-2.15 A), parallel (but staggered rather than strictly linear; N-H...N angles 165.4-168.8 degrees), primary hydrogen bonds. These are apparently reinforced, as theory predicts, by close electrostatic interactions (NH-*-N distances 2.78-3.29 A) between each proton and the acceptor atoms of the adjacent primary hydrogen bonds.

  11. Assessing heterogeneity in oligomeric AAA+ machines.

    PubMed

    Sysoeva, Tatyana A

    2017-03-01

    ATPases Associated with various cellular Activities (AAA+ ATPases) are molecular motors that use the energy of ATP binding and hydrolysis to remodel their target macromolecules. The majority of these ATPases form ring-shaped hexamers in which the active sites are located at the interfaces between neighboring subunits. Structural changes initiate in an active site and propagate to distant motor parts that interface and reshape the target macromolecules, thereby performing mechanical work. During the functioning cycle, the AAA+ motor transits through multiple distinct states. Ring architecture and placement of the catalytic sites at the intersubunit interfaces allow for a unique level of coordination among subunits of the motor. This in turn results in conformational differences among subunits and overall asymmetry of the motor ring as it functions. To date, a large amount of structural information has been gathered for different AAA+ motors, but even for the most characterized of them only a few structural states are known and the full mechanistic cycle cannot be yet reconstructed. Therefore, the first part of this work will provide a broad overview of what arrangements of AAA+ subunits have been structurally observed focusing on diversity of ATPase oligomeric ensembles and heterogeneity within the ensembles. The second part of this review will concentrate on methods that assess structural and functional heterogeneity among subunits of AAA+ motors, thus bringing us closer to understanding the mechanism of these fascinating molecular motors.

  12. Biomarkers for AAA: Encouraging steps but clinical relevance still to be delivered.

    PubMed

    Htun, Nay Min; Peter, Karlheinz

    2014-10-01

    Potential biomarkers have been investigated using proteomic studies in a variety of diseases. Some biomarkers have central roles in both diagnosis and monitoring of various disorders in clinical medicine, such as troponins, brain natriuretic peptide, and C-reactive protein. Although several biomarkers have been suggested in human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), reliable markers have been lacking. In this issue, Moxon et al. [Proteomics Clin Appl. 2014, 8, 762-772] undertook a broad and systematic proteomic approach toward identification of biomarkers in a commonly used AAA mouse model (AAA created by angiotensin-II infusion). In this mouse model, apolipoprotein C1 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 were identified as novel biomarkers of stable AAA. This finding represents an important step forward, toward a clinically relevant role of biomarkers in AAA. This also encourages for further studies toward the identification of biomarkers (or their combinations) that can predict AAA progression and rupture, which would represent a major progress in AAA management and would establish an AAA biomarker as a much anticipated clinical tool. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. Electron cryomicroscopy structure of a membrane-anchored mitochondrial AAA protease.

    PubMed

    Lee, Sukyeong; Augustin, Steffen; Tatsuta, Takashi; Gerdes, Florian; Langer, Thomas; Tsai, Francis T F

    2011-02-11

    FtsH-related AAA proteases are conserved membrane-anchored, ATP-dependent molecular machines, which mediate the processing and turnover of soluble and membrane-embedded proteins in eubacteria, mitochondria, and chloroplasts. Homo- and hetero-oligomeric proteolytic complexes exist, which are composed of homologous subunits harboring an ATPase domain of the AAA family and an H41 metallopeptidase domain. Mutations in subunits of mitochondrial m-AAA proteases have been associated with different neurodegenerative disorders in human, raising questions on the functional differences between homo- and hetero-oligomeric AAA proteases. Here, we have analyzed the hetero-oligomeric yeast m-AAA protease composed of homologous Yta10 and Yta12 subunits. We combined genetic and structural approaches to define the molecular determinants for oligomer assembly and to assess functional similarities between Yta10 and Yta12. We demonstrate that replacement of only two amino acid residues within the metallopeptidase domain of Yta12 allows its assembly into homo-oligomeric complexes. To provide a molecular explanation, we determined the 12 Å resolution structure of the intact yeast m-AAA protease with its transmembrane domains by electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) and atomic structure fitting. The full-length m-AAA protease has a bipartite structure and is a hexamer in solution. We found that residues in Yta12, which facilitate homo-oligomerization when mutated, are located at the interface between neighboring protomers in the hexamer ring. Notably, the transmembrane and intermembrane space domains are separated from the main body, creating a passage on the matrix side, which is wide enough to accommodate unfolded but not folded polypeptides. These results suggest a mechanism regarding how proteins are recognized and degraded by m-AAA proteases.

  14. A review of electronic journal acquisition, management, and use in health sciences libraries.

    PubMed

    Burrows, Suzetta

    2006-01-01

    The paper describes patterns of electronic journal usage in health sciences libraries during the past decade. The paper presents a case study, documenting the pattern of acquisition, management, and usage at the Louis Calder Memorial Library of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Health sciences journals were early to offer electronic alternatives to print. As a result, health sciences libraries, their patrons, and the public at large were early to embrace the new versions and continue to embrace the significant changes in scholarly communication they enable. Although the patterns of electronic journals among health sciences libraries and other special and academic libraries have similarities, they also have differences. Broad studies of electronic journals in non-health sciences libraries have been published, but a retrospective review of electronic journals in health sciences libraries has not.

  15. A review of electronic journal acquisition, management, and use in health sciences libraries

    PubMed Central

    Burrows, Suzetta

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: The paper describes patterns of electronic journal usage in health sciences libraries during the past decade. Method: The paper presents a case study, documenting the pattern of acquisition, management, and usage at the Louis Calder Memorial Library of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Results: Health sciences journals were early to offer electronic alternatives to print. As a result, health sciences libraries, their patrons, and the public at large were early to embrace the new versions and continue to embrace the significant changes in scholarly communication they enable. Although the patterns of electronic journals among health sciences libraries and other special and academic libraries have similarities, they also have differences. Broad studies of electronic journals in non–health sciences libraries have been published, but a retrospective review of electronic journals in health sciences libraries has not. PMID:16404472

  16. m-AAA proteases, mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and neurodegeneration

    PubMed Central

    Patron, Maria; Sprenger, Hans-Georg; Langer, Thomas

    2018-01-01

    The function of mitochondria depends on ubiquitously expressed and evolutionary conserved m-AAA proteases in the inner membrane. These ATP-dependent peptidases form hexameric complexes built up of homologous subunits. AFG3L2 subunits assemble either into homo-oligomeric isoenzymes or with SPG7 (paraplegin) subunits into hetero-oligomeric proteolytic complexes. Mutations in AFG3L2 are associated with dominant spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA28) characterized by the loss of Purkinje cells, whereas mutations in SPG7 cause a recessive form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP7) with motor neurons of the cortico-spinal tract being predominantly affected. Pleiotropic functions have been assigned to m-AAA proteases, which act as quality control and regulatory enzymes in mitochondria. Loss of m-AAA proteases affects mitochondrial protein synthesis and respiration and leads to mitochondrial fragmentation and deficiencies in the axonal transport of mitochondria. Moreover m-AAA proteases regulate the assembly of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex. Impaired degradation of the MCU subunit EMRE in AFG3L2-deficient mitochondria results in the formation of deregulated MCU complexes, increased mitochondrial calcium uptake and increased vulnerability of neurons for calcium-induced cell death. A reduction of calcium influx into the cytosol of Purkinje cells rescues ataxia in an AFG3L2-deficient mouse model. In this review, we discuss the relationship between the m-AAA protease and mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and its relevance for neurodegeneration and describe a novel mouse model lacking MCU specifically in Purkinje cells. Our results pledge for a novel view on m-AAA proteases that integrates their pleiotropic functions in mitochondria to explain the pathogenesis of associated neurodegenerative disorders. PMID:29451229

  17. m-AAA proteases, mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and neurodegeneration.

    PubMed

    Patron, Maria; Sprenger, Hans-Georg; Langer, Thomas

    2018-03-01

    The function of mitochondria depends on ubiquitously expressed and evolutionary conserved m-AAA proteases in the inner membrane. These ATP-dependent peptidases form hexameric complexes built up of homologous subunits. AFG3L2 subunits assemble either into homo-oligomeric isoenzymes or with SPG7 (paraplegin) subunits into hetero-oligomeric proteolytic complexes. Mutations in AFG3L2 are associated with dominant spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA28) characterized by the loss of Purkinje cells, whereas mutations in SPG7 cause a recessive form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP7) with motor neurons of the cortico-spinal tract being predominantly affected. Pleiotropic functions have been assigned to m-AAA proteases, which act as quality control and regulatory enzymes in mitochondria. Loss of m-AAA proteases affects mitochondrial protein synthesis and respiration and leads to mitochondrial fragmentation and deficiencies in the axonal transport of mitochondria. Moreover m-AAA proteases regulate the assembly of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex. Impaired degradation of the MCU subunit EMRE in AFG3L2-deficient mitochondria results in the formation of deregulated MCU complexes, increased mitochondrial calcium uptake and increased vulnerability of neurons for calcium-induced cell death. A reduction of calcium influx into the cytosol of Purkinje cells rescues ataxia in an AFG3L2-deficient mouse model. In this review, we discuss the relationship between the m-AAA protease and mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and its relevance for neurodegeneration and describe a novel mouse model lacking MCU specifically in Purkinje cells. Our results pledge for a novel view on m-AAA proteases that integrates their pleiotropic functions in mitochondria to explain the pathogenesis of associated neurodegenerative disorders.

  18. Mitochondrial AAA proteases--towards a molecular understanding of membrane-bound proteolytic machines.

    PubMed

    Gerdes, Florian; Tatsuta, Takashi; Langer, Thomas

    2012-01-01

    Mitochondrial AAA proteases play an important role in the maintenance of mitochondrial proteostasis. They regulate and promote biogenesis of mitochondrial proteins by acting as processing enzymes and ensuring the selective turnover of misfolded proteins. Impairment of AAA proteases causes pleiotropic defects in various organisms including neurodegeneration in humans. AAA proteases comprise ring-like hexameric complexes in the mitochondrial inner membrane and are functionally conserved from yeast to man, but variations are evident in the subunit composition of orthologous enzymes. Recent structural and biochemical studies revealed how AAA proteases degrade their substrates in an ATP dependent manner. Intersubunit coordination of the ATP hydrolysis leads to an ordered ATP hydrolysis within the AAA ring, which ensures efficient substrate dislocation from the membrane and translocation to the proteolytic chamber. In this review, we summarize recent findings on the molecular mechanisms underlying the versatile functions of mitochondrial AAA proteases and their relevance to those of the other AAA+ machines. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. U.S. Institutional Research Productivity in Major Science Education Research Journals: Top 30 for 2000's

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barrow, Lloyd H.; Tang, Nai-en

    2013-01-01

    VonAalst (2010) used Google Scholar to identify the top four science education research journals: "Journal of Research in Science Teaching," "Science Education," "International Journal of Science Education," and "Journal of Science Teacher Education." U.S. institutional productivity for 2000-2009 for the…

  20. Meiotic Clade AAA ATPases: Protein Polymer Disassembly Machines.

    PubMed

    Monroe, Nicole; Hill, Christopher P

    2016-05-08

    Meiotic clade AAA ATPases (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities), which were initially grouped on the basis of phylogenetic classification of their AAA ATPase cassette, include four relatively well characterized family members, Vps4, spastin, katanin and fidgetin. These enzymes all function to disassemble specific polymeric protein structures, with Vps4 disassembling the ESCRT-III polymers that are central to the many membrane-remodeling activities of the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport) pathway and spastin, katanin p60 and fidgetin affecting multiple aspects of cellular dynamics by severing microtubules. They share a common domain architecture that features an N-terminal MIT (microtubule interacting and trafficking) domain followed by a single AAA ATPase cassette. Meiotic clade AAA ATPases function as hexamers that can cycle between the active assembly and inactive monomers/dimers in a regulated process, and they appear to disassemble their polymeric substrates by translocating subunits through the central pore of their hexameric ring. Recent studies with Vps4 have shown that nucleotide-induced asymmetry is a requirement for substrate binding to the pore loops and that recruitment to the protein lattice via MIT domains also relieves autoinhibition and primes the AAA ATPase cassettes for substrate binding. The most striking, unifying feature of meiotic clade AAA ATPases may be their MIT domain, which is a module that is found in a wide variety of proteins that localize to ESCRT-III polymers. Spastin also displays an adjacent microtubule binding sequence, and the presence of both ESCRT-III and microtubule binding elements may underlie the recent findings that the ESCRT-III disassembly function of Vps4 and the microtubule-severing function of spastin, as well as potentially katanin and fidgetin, are highly coordinated. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Prospective Science Teachers' Attitudes and Views of Using Journal Writing in the "Methods of Teaching Science" Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ambusaidi, Abdullah

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of prospective science teachers at Sultan Qaboos University towards and their views about using journal writing in the Methods of Teaching Science course. Twenty-six prospective science teachers were asked to write about each topic in the course in their journal to show their understanding of…

  2. Advanced, Analytic, Automated (AAA) Measurement of Engagement During Learning

    PubMed Central

    D’Mello, Sidney; Dieterle, Ed; Duckworth, Angela

    2017-01-01

    It is generally acknowledged that engagement plays a critical role in learning. Unfortunately, the study of engagement has been stymied by a lack of valid and efficient measures. We introduce the advanced, analytic, and automated (AAA) approach to measure engagement at fine-grained temporal resolutions. The AAA measurement approach is grounded in embodied theories of cognition and affect, which advocate a close coupling between thought and action. It uses machine-learned computational models to automatically infer mental states associated with engagement (e.g., interest, flow) from machine-readable behavioral and physiological signals (e.g., facial expressions, eye tracking, click-stream data) and from aspects of the environmental context. We present15 case studies that illustrate the potential of the AAA approach for measuring engagement in digital learning environments. We discuss strengths and weaknesses of the AAA approach, concluding that it has significant promise to catalyze engagement research. PMID:29038607

  3. Advanced, Analytic, Automated (AAA) Measurement of Engagement During Learning.

    PubMed

    D'Mello, Sidney; Dieterle, Ed; Duckworth, Angela

    2017-01-01

    It is generally acknowledged that engagement plays a critical role in learning. Unfortunately, the study of engagement has been stymied by a lack of valid and efficient measures. We introduce the advanced, analytic, and automated (AAA) approach to measure engagement at fine-grained temporal resolutions. The AAA measurement approach is grounded in embodied theories of cognition and affect, which advocate a close coupling between thought and action. It uses machine-learned computational models to automatically infer mental states associated with engagement (e.g., interest, flow) from machine-readable behavioral and physiological signals (e.g., facial expressions, eye tracking, click-stream data) and from aspects of the environmental context. We present15 case studies that illustrate the potential of the AAA approach for measuring engagement in digital learning environments. We discuss strengths and weaknesses of the AAA approach, concluding that it has significant promise to catalyze engagement research.

  4. Library and Information Science Journal Prestige as Assessed by Library and Information Science Faculty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Manzari, Laura

    2013-01-01

    This prestige study surveyed full-time faculty of American Library Association (ALA)-accredited programs in library and information studies regarding library and information science (LIS) journals. Faculty were asked to rate a list of eighty-nine LIS journals on a scale from 1 to 5 based on each journal's importance to their research and teaching.…

  5. The Weekend Effect in AAA Repair.

    PubMed

    O'Donnell, Thomas F X; Li, Chun; Swerdlow, Nicholas J; Liang, Patric; Pothof, Alexander B; Patel, Virendra I; Giles, Kristina A; Malas, Mahmoud B; Schermerhorn, Marc L

    2018-04-18

    Conflicting reports exist regarding whether patients undergoing surgery on the weekend or later in the week experience worse outcomes. We identified patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair in the Vascular Quality Initiative between 2009 and 2017 [n = 38,498; 30,537 endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and 7961 open repair]. We utilized mixed effects logistic regression to compare adjusted rates of perioperative mortality based on the day of repair. Tuesday was the most common day for elective repair (22%), Friday for symptomatic repairs (20%), and ruptured aneurysms were evenly distributed. Patients with ruptured aneurysms experienced similar adjusted mortality whether they underwent repair during the week or on weekends. Transfers of ruptured AAA were more common over the weekend. However, patients transferred on the weekend experienced higher adjusted mortality than those transferred during the week (28% vs 21%, P = 0.02), despite the fact that during the week, transferred patients actually experienced lower adjusted mortality than patients treated at the index hospital (21% vs 31%, P < 0.01). Among symptomatic patients, adjusted mortality was higher for those undergoing repair over the weekend than those whose surgeries were delayed until a weekday (7.9% vs 3.1%, P = 0.02). Adjusted mortality in elective cases did not vary across the days of the week. Results were consistent between open and EVAR patients. We found no evidence of a weekend effect for ruptured or symptomatic AAA repair. However, patients with ruptured AAA transferred on the weekend experienced higher mortality than those transferred during the week, suggesting a need for improvement in weekend transfer processes.

  6. The Mitochondrial m-AAA Protease Prevents Demyelination and Hair Greying.

    PubMed

    Wang, Shuaiyu; Jacquemyn, Julie; Murru, Sara; Martinelli, Paola; Barth, Esther; Langer, Thomas; Niessen, Carien M; Rugarli, Elena I

    2016-12-01

    The m-AAA protease preserves proteostasis of the inner mitochondrial membrane. It ensures a functional respiratory chain, by controlling the turnover of respiratory complex subunits and allowing mitochondrial translation, but other functions in mitochondria are conceivable. Mutations in genes encoding subunits of the m-AAA protease have been linked to various neurodegenerative diseases in humans, such as hereditary spastic paraplegia and spinocerebellar ataxia. While essential functions of the m-AAA protease for neuronal survival have been established, its role in adult glial cells remains enigmatic. Here, we show that deletion of the highly expressed subunit AFG3L2 in mature mouse oligodendrocytes provokes early-on mitochondrial fragmentation and swelling, as previously shown in neurons, but causes only late-onset motor defects and myelin abnormalities. In contrast, total ablation of the m-AAA protease, by deleting both Afg3l2 and its paralogue Afg3l1, triggers progressive motor dysfunction and demyelination, owing to rapid oligodendrocyte cell death. Surprisingly, the mice showed premature hair greying, caused by progressive loss of melanoblasts that share a common developmental origin with Schwann cells and are targeted in our experiments. Thus, while both neurons and glial cells are dependant on the m-AAA protease for survival in vivo, complete ablation of the complex is necessary to trigger death of oligodendrocytes, hinting to cell-autonomous thresholds of vulnerability to m-AAA protease deficiency.

  7. [When simple meets false: challenges to science journalism].

    PubMed

    Haaf, Günter

    2012-01-01

    Science journalists working for public media are caught between the two poles of factual correctness ("Thou shalt not harm") and entertaining presentation ("Thou shalt not bore"). Writing about (in most cases) complex topics they need to stand their ground against the mass media, the consumption of which is--in contrast to science and technology media--inherently voluntary. Within the general framework of the mass media, science journalism has emerged from a "late department" to become an important, but by no means leading part of the press arena. The trend is moving away from interpreting towards critically accompanying science. Due to the strong support to high-quality science journalism that major foundations provided during the past thirty years, the numbers of better trained scientific journalists operating in Germany have considerably increased, but so have the requirements: higher levels of work stress and a higher demand for real-time information, particularly from online media, the risk of economic and other organisations taking control over information by intensifying their public relations campaigns. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  8. APC-PCI complex levels for screening of AAA in patients with peripheral atherosclerosis.

    PubMed

    Zarrouk, Moncef; Keshavarz, Kave; Lindblad, Bengt; Gottsäter, Anders

    2013-11-01

    To evaluate the use of activated protein C-protein C inhibitor (APC-PCI) complex levels for detection of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in patients with peripheral atherosclerotic disease (PAD). APC-PCI levels and aortic diameter evaluated in 511 PAD patients without previously known AAA followed-up concerning survival for 4.8(0.5) years. AAA was found in 13% of patients. Aortic diameter correlated (r = 0.138; p = 0.002) with APC-PCI levels which were higher (0.40[0.45] vs. 0.30[0.49] μg/l; p = 0.004) in patients with AAA. This difference persisted in multivariate analysis (p = 0.029). A threshold value of APC-PCI ≥0.15 μg/L showed a specificity of 11%, a sensitivity of 97% and a negative predictive value of 96% for an AAA diagnosis. APC-PCI levels were higher in patients with AAA, and showed high sensitivity but low specificity for the diagnosis and can therefore not be considered as a screening tool in PAD patients. An AAA prevalence of 13% in patients with PAD indicates a need for AAA screening within this population.

  9. Inhibition of early AAA formation by aortic intraluminal pentagalloyl glucose (PGG) infusion in a novel porcine AAA model.

    PubMed

    Kloster, Brian O; Lund, Lars; Lindholt, Jes S

    2016-05-01

    The vast majority of abdominal aortic aneurysms found in screening programs are small, and as no effective treatment exits, many will expand until surgery is indicated. Therefore, it remains intriguing to develop a safe and low cost treatment of these small aneurysms, that is able to prevent or delay their expansion. In this study, we investigated whether intraluminal delivered pentagalloyl glucose (PGG) can impair the early AAA development in a porcine model. The infrarenal aorta was exposed in thirty pigs. Twenty underwent an elastase based AAA inducing procedure and ten of these received an additional intraluminal PGG infusion. The final 10 were sham operated and served as controls. All pigs who only had an elastase infusion developed macroscopically expanding AAAs. In pigs treated with an additional PGG infusion the growth rate of the AP-diameter rapidly returned to physiological values as seen in the control group. In the elastase group, histology revealed more or less complete resolution of the elastic lamellae in the media while they were more abundant, coherent and structurally organized in the PGG group. The control group displayed normal physiological growth and histology. In our model, intraluminal delivered PGG is able to penetrate the aortic wall from the inside and impair the early AAA development by stabilizing the elastic lamellae and preserving their integrity. The principle holds a high clinical potential if it can be translated to human conditions, since it, if so, potentially could represent a new drug for stabilizing small abdominal aneurysms.

  10. McArthur removes AAA clamps and ducts inside the CHeCS Rack during Expedition 12

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2005-12-09

    ISS012-E-10817 (9 December 2005) --- Astronaut William S. (Bill) McArthur Jr., Expedition 12 commander and NASA space station science officer, opens the back panel of the Crew Health Care System (CHeCS) rack and removes the Avionics Air Assembly (AAA) air ducts during in-flight maintenance (IFM) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

  11. Characterization of the modular design of the autolysin/adhesin Aaa from Staphylococcus aureus.

    PubMed

    Hirschhausen, Nina; Schlesier, Tim; Peters, Georg; Heilmann, Christine

    2012-01-01

    Staphylococcus aureus is a frequent cause of serious and life-threatening infections, such as endocarditis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia, and sepsis. Its adherence to various host structures is crucial for the establishment of diseases. Adherence may be mediated by a variety of adhesins, among them the autolysin/adhesins Atl and Aaa. Aaa is composed of three N-terminal repeated sequences homologous to a lysin motif (LysM) that can confer cell wall attachment and a C-terminally located cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase (CHAP) domain having bacteriolytic activity in many proteins. Here, we show by surface plasmon resonance that the LysM domain binds to fibrinogen, fibronectin, and vitronectin respresenting a novel adhesive function for this domain. Moreover, we demonstrated that the CHAP domain not only mediates the bacteriolytic activity, but also adherence to fibrinogen, fibronectin, and vitronectin, thus demonstrating for the first time an adhesive function for this domain. Adherence of an S. aureus aaa mutant and the complemented aaa mutant is slightly decreased and increased, respectively, to vitronectin, but not to fibrinogen and fibronectin, which might at least in part result from an increased expression of atl in the aaa mutant. Furthermore, an S. aureus atl mutant that showed enhanced adherence to fibrinogen, fibronectin, and endothelial cells also demonstrated increased aaa expression and production of Aaa. Thus, the redundant functions of Aaa and Atl might at least in part be interchangeable. Lastly, RT-PCR and zymographic analysis revealed that aaa is negatively regulated by the global virulence gene regulators agr and SarA. We identified novel functions for two widely distributed protein domains, LysM and CHAP, i.e. the adherence to the extracellular matrix proteins fibrinogen, fibronectin, and vitronectin. The adhesive properties of Aaa might promote S. aureus colonization of host extracellular matrix and tissue, suggesting a role for

  12. High-intensity interval exercise training before abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (HIT-AAA): protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial.

    PubMed

    Tew, Garry A; Weston, Matthew; Kothmann, Elke; Batterham, Alan M; Gray, Joanne; Kerr, Karen; Martin, Denis; Nawaz, Shah; Yates, David; Danjoux, Gerard

    2014-01-10

    In patients with large abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), open surgical or endovascular aneurysm repair procedures are often used to minimise the risk of aneurysm-related rupture and death; however, aneurysm repair itself carries a high risk. Low cardiopulmonary fitness is associated with an increased risk of early post-operative complications and death following elective AAA repair. Therefore, fitness should be enhanced before aneurysm repair. High-intensity interval exercise training (HIT) is a potent, time-efficient strategy for enhancing cardiopulmonary fitness. Here, we describe a feasibility study for a definitive trial of a pre-operative HIT intervention to improve post-operative outcomes in patients undergoing elective AAA repair. A minimum of 50 patients awaiting elective repair of a 5.5-7.0 cm infrarenal AAA will be allocated by minimisation to HIT or usual care control in a 1:1 ratio. The patients allocated to HIT will complete three hospital-based exercise sessions per week, for 4 weeks. Each session will include 2 or 4 min of high-intensity stationary cycling followed by the same duration of easy cycling or passive recovery, repeated until a total of 16 min of high-intensity exercise is accumulated. Outcomes to be assessed before randomisation and 24-48 h before aneurysm repair include cardiopulmonary fitness, maximum AAA diameter and health-related quality of life. In the post-operative period, we will record destination (ward or critical care unit), organ-specific morbidity, mortality and the durations of critical care and hospital stay. Twelve weeks after the discharge, participants will be interviewed to reassess quality of life and determine post-discharge healthcare utilisation. The costs associated with the exercise intervention and healthcare utilisation will be calculated. Ethics approval was secured through Sunderland Research Ethics Committee. The findings of the trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, and national and

  13. AAA (2010) CAPD clinical practice guidelines: need for an update.

    PubMed

    DeBonis, David A

    2017-09-01

    Review and critique of the clinical value of the AAA CAPD guidance document in light of criteria for credible and useful guidance documents, as discussed by Field and Lohr. A qualitative review of the of the AAA CAPD guidelines using a framework by Field and Lohr to assess their relative value in supporting the assessment and management of CAPD referrals. Relevant literature available through electronic search tools and published texts were used along with the AAA CAPD guidance document and the chapter by Field and Lohr. The AAA document does not meet many of the key requirements discussed by Field and Lohr. It does not reflect the current literature, fails to help clinicians understand for whom auditory processing testing and intervention would be most useful, includes contradictory suggestions which reduce clarity and appears to avoid conclusions that might cast the CAPD construct in a negative light. It also does not include input from diverse affected groups. All of these reduce the document's credibility. The AAA CAPD guidance document will need to be updated and re-conceptualised in order to provide meaningful guidance for clinicians.

  14. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences Striving towards Visibility

    PubMed Central

    GHAZLI, Nur Farahin; ABDULLAH, Jafri Malin

    2013-01-01

    The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences has in its 25 years “Silver Jubilee” achieved another milestone of being visible to the biomedical community when it was accepted in PubMed. The journal aim to increase its readership so as to increase impact in the biomedical field amongst its Asian readers despite having a high rejection rate. This was done to maintain quality of the manuscripts published over the years. PubMed listing should enable more manuscripts to be cited as its the leading biomedical journal for the Asian community. PMID:24043990

  15. Advanced, Analytic, Automated (AAA) Measurement of Engagement during Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    D'Mello, Sidney; Dieterle, Ed; Duckworth, Angela

    2017-01-01

    It is generally acknowledged that engagement plays a critical role in learning. Unfortunately, the study of engagement has been stymied by a lack of valid and efficient measures. We introduce the advanced, analytic, and automated (AAA) approach to measure engagement at fine-grained temporal resolutions. The AAA measurement approach is grounded in…

  16. Molecularly Defined Nanostructures Based on a Novel AAA-DDD Triple Hydrogen-Bonding Motif.

    PubMed

    Papmeyer, Marcus; Vuilleumier, Clément A; Pavan, Giovanni M; Zhurov, Konstantin O; Severin, Kay

    2016-01-26

    A facile and flexible method for the synthesis of a new AAA-DDD triple hydrogen-bonding motif is described. Polytopic supramolecular building blocks with precisely oriented AAA and DDD groups are thus accessible in few steps. These building blocks were used for the assembly of large macrocycles featuring four AAA-DDD interactions and a macrobicyclic complex with a total of six AAA-DDD interactions. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Research Methods and Techniques in Spanish Library and Information Science Journals (2012-2014)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferran-Ferrer, Núria; Guallar, Javier; Abadal, Ernest; Server, Adan

    2017-01-01

    Introduction. This study examines the research methods and techniques used in Spanish journals of library and information science, the topics addressed by papers in these journals and their authorship affiliation. Method. The researchers selected 580 papers published in the top seven Spanish LIS journals indexed in Web of Science and Scopus and…

  18. The m-AAA Protease Associated with Neurodegeneration Limits MCU Activity in Mitochondria.

    PubMed

    König, Tim; Tröder, Simon E; Bakka, Kavya; Korwitz, Anne; Richter-Dennerlein, Ricarda; Lampe, Philipp A; Patron, Maria; Mühlmeister, Mareike; Guerrero-Castillo, Sergio; Brandt, Ulrich; Decker, Thorsten; Lauria, Ines; Paggio, Angela; Rizzuto, Rosario; Rugarli, Elena I; De Stefani, Diego; Langer, Thomas

    2016-10-06

    Mutations in subunits of mitochondrial m-AAA proteases in the inner membrane cause neurodegeneration in spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA28) and hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP7). m-AAA proteases preserve mitochondrial proteostasis, mitochondrial morphology, and efficient OXPHOS activity, but the cause for neuronal loss in disease is unknown. We have determined the neuronal interactome of m-AAA proteases in mice and identified a complex with C2ORF47 (termed MAIP1), which counteracts cell death by regulating the assembly of the mitochondrial Ca 2+ uniporter MCU. While MAIP1 assists biogenesis of the MCU subunit EMRE, the m-AAA protease degrades non-assembled EMRE and ensures efficient assembly of gatekeeper subunits with MCU. Loss of the m-AAA protease results in accumulation of constitutively active MCU-EMRE channels lacking gatekeeper subunits in neuronal mitochondria and facilitates mitochondrial Ca 2+ overload, mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening, and neuronal death. Together, our results explain neuronal loss in m-AAA protease deficiency by deregulated mitochondrial Ca 2+ homeostasis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. An AAA-DDD triply hydrogen-bonded complex easily accessible for supramolecular polymers.

    PubMed

    Han, Yi-Fei; Chen, Wen-Qiang; Wang, Hong-Bo; Yuan, Ying-Xue; Wu, Na-Na; Song, Xiang-Zhi; Yang, Lan

    2014-12-15

    For a complementary hydrogen-bonded complex, when every hydrogen-bond acceptor is on one side and every hydrogen-bond donor is on the other, all secondary interactions are attractive and the complex is highly stable. AAA-DDD (A=acceptor, D=donor) is considered to be the most stable among triply hydrogen-bonded sequences. The easily synthesized and further derivatized AAA-DDD system is very desirable for hydrogen-bonded functional materials. In this case, AAA and DDD, starting from 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, were synthesized with the Hantzsch pyridine synthesis and Friedländer annulation reaction. The association constant determined by fluorescence titration in chloroform at room temperature is 2.09×10(7)  M(-1) . The AAA and DDD components are not coplanar, but form a V shape in the solid state. Supramolecular polymers based on AAA-DDD triply hydrogen bonded have also been developed. This work may make AAA-DDD triply hydrogen-bonded sequences easily accessible for stimuli-responsive materials. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Japanese representation in leading general medicine and basic science journals: a comparison of two decades.

    PubMed

    Fukui, Tsuguya; Takahashi, Osamu; Rahman, Mahbubur

    2013-11-01

    During 1991-2000, Japan contribution to the top general medicine journals was very small although the contribution to the top basic science journals was sizeable. However, it has not been examined whether the contribution to the top general medicine and basic science journals has changed during the last decade (2001-2010). The objective of this study was to compare Japan representation in high-impact general medicine and basic science journals between the years 1991-2000 and 2001-2010. We used PubMed database to examine the frequency of articles originated from Japan and published in 7 high-impact general medicine and 6 high-impact basic science journals. Several Boolean operators were used to connect name of the journal, year of publication and corresponding authors' affiliation in Japan. Compared to the 1991-2000 decade, Japan contribution to the top general medicine journals did not increase over the 2001-2010 period (0.66% vs. 0.74%, P = 0.255). However, compared to the same period, its contribution to the top basic science journals increased during 2001-2010 (2.51% vs. 3.60%, P < 0.001). Japan representation in basic science journals showed an upward trend over the 1991-2000 period (P < 0.001) but remained flat during 2001-2010 (P = 0.177). In contrast, the trend of Japan representation in general medicine journals remained flat both during 1991-2000 (P = 0.273) and 2001-2010 (P = 0.073). Overall, Japan contribution to the top general medicine journals has remained small and unchanged over the last two decades. However, top basic science journals had higher Japan representation during 2001-2010 compared to 1991-2000.

  1. Characterization of the Modular Design of the Autolysin/Adhesin Aaa from Staphylococcus Aureus

    PubMed Central

    Hirschhausen, Nina; Schlesier, Tim; Peters, Georg; Heilmann, Christine

    2012-01-01

    Background Staphylococcus aureus is a frequent cause of serious and life-threatening infections, such as endocarditis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia, and sepsis. Its adherence to various host structures is crucial for the establishment of diseases. Adherence may be mediated by a variety of adhesins, among them the autolysin/adhesins Atl and Aaa. Aaa is composed of three N-terminal repeated sequences homologous to a lysin motif (LysM) that can confer cell wall attachment and a C-terminally located cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase (CHAP) domain having bacteriolytic activity in many proteins. Methodology/Principal Findings Here, we show by surface plasmon resonance that the LysM domain binds to fibrinogen, fibronectin, and vitronectin respresenting a novel adhesive function for this domain. Moreover, we demonstrated that the CHAP domain not only mediates the bacteriolytic activity, but also adherence to fibrinogen, fibronectin, and vitronectin, thus demonstrating for the first time an adhesive function for this domain. Adherence of an S. aureus aaa mutant and the complemented aaa mutant is slightly decreased and increased, respectively, to vitronectin, but not to fibrinogen and fibronectin, which might at least in part result from an increased expression of atl in the aaa mutant. Furthermore, an S. aureus atl mutant that showed enhanced adherence to fibrinogen, fibronectin, and endothelial cells also demonstrated increased aaa expression and production of Aaa. Thus, the redundant functions of Aaa and Atl might at least in part be interchangeable. Lastly, RT-PCR and zymographic analysis revealed that aaa is negatively regulated by the global virulence gene regulators agr and SarA. Conclusions/Significance We identified novel functions for two widely distributed protein domains, LysM and CHAP, i.e. the adherence to the extracellular matrix proteins fibrinogen, fibronectin, and vitronectin. The adhesive properties of Aaa might promote S. aureus

  2. Role of AAA(+)-proteins in peroxisome biogenesis and function.

    PubMed

    Grimm, Immanuel; Erdmann, Ralf; Girzalsky, Wolfgang

    2016-05-01

    Mutations in the PEX1 gene, which encodes a protein required for peroxisome biogenesis, are the most common cause of the Zellweger spectrum diseases. The recognition that Pex1p shares a conserved ATP-binding domain with p97 and NSF led to the discovery of the extended family of AAA+-type ATPases. So far, four AAA+-type ATPases are related to peroxisome function. Pex6p functions together with Pex1p in peroxisome biogenesis, ATAD1/Msp1p plays a role in membrane protein targeting and a member of the Lon-family of proteases is associated with peroxisomal quality control. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the AAA+-proteins involved in peroxisome biogenesis and function.

  3. Stylistic analysis of headlines in science journalism: A case study of New Scientist.

    PubMed

    Molek-Kozakowska, Katarzyna

    2017-11-01

    This article explores science journalism in the context of the media competition for readers' attention. It offers a qualitative stylistic perspective on how popular journalism colonizes science communication. It examines a sample of 400 headlines collected over the period of 15 months from the ranking of five 'most-read' articles on the website of the international magazine New Scientist. Dominant lexical properties of the sample are first identified through frequency and keyness survey and then analysed qualitatively from the perspective of the stylistic projection of newsworthiness. The analysis illustrates various degrees of stylistic 'hybridity' in online popularization of scientific research. Stylistic patterns that celebrate, domesticate or personalize science coverage (characteristic of popular journalism) are intertwined with devices that foreground tentativeness, precision and informativeness (characteristic of science communication). The article reflects on the implications of including various proportions of academic and popular styles in science journalism.

  4. A small field for fertile science: the low visibility of reproductive science in high impact journals.

    PubMed

    Duncan, Francesca E; Derman, Benjamin; Woodruff, Teresa K

    2014-05-01

    Our success as a field and as individuals in reproductive science and medicine relies on our ability to produce high quality work that has broad visibility and impact. A common metric for assessing such success is the quantity of publications that are published in journals with high impact factors. It is unclear, however, how frequently work related to reproductive science and medicine actually appears in what are considered the highest impact journals. To address this gap in knowledge, we first determined how the field of reproductive biology in general compared to other research areas in terms of composite journal impact factor. Second, using a targeted search approach in the PubMed database, we examined the relationship between a journal's impact factor and the number of reproductive research articles published per journal issue. We found that compared to other major scientific disciplines, our field lacks journals with impact factors above 4. In addition, primary original research articles on reproduction-irrespective of male or female search terms-do not appear often in high impact journals. Instead, there is an increased percentage of secondary reproductive literature in high impact journals compared to topic-specific journals of lower impact. There are likely several explanations for why reproductive science and medicine has low visibility, including the field's small relative size, its lack of a specific disease and associated strong advocacy, and its surrounding social, ethical, and political unease. Nevertheless, there are concrete actions we can take to minimize the role of impact factor in our evaluation while simultaneously increasing influence through global awareness of the importance and need for reproductive research.

  5. Popular Science Journalism: Facilitating Learning through Peer Review and Communication of Science News

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tuten, Holly; Temesvari, Lesly

    2013-01-01

    In a multisemester Popular Science Journalism course that met for 2 hours once a week at Clemson University, students produced science news articles for the university newspaper by using primary literature, the internet, and interviews with researchers. Short lectures were given on topic choice, story development, literature surveys, common…

  6. A methodology for developing anisotropic AAA phantoms via additive manufacturing.

    PubMed

    Ruiz de Galarreta, Sergio; Antón, Raúl; Cazón, Aitor; Finol, Ender A

    2017-05-24

    An Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is a permanent focal dilatation of the abdominal aorta at least 1.5 times its normal diameter. The criterion of maximum diameter is still used in clinical practice, although numerical studies have demonstrated the importance of biomechanical factors for rupture risk assessment. AAA phantoms could be used for experimental validation of the numerical studies and for pre-intervention testing of endovascular grafts. We have applied multi-material 3D printing technology to manufacture idealized AAA phantoms with anisotropic mechanical behavior. Different composites were fabricated and the phantom specimens were characterized by biaxial tensile tests while using a constitutive model to fit the experimental data. One composite was chosen to manufacture the phantom based on having the same mechanical properties as those reported in the literature for human AAA tissue; the strain energy and anisotropic index were compared to make this choice. The materials for the matrix and fibers of the selected composite are, respectively, the digital materials FLX9940 and FLX9960 developed by Stratasys. The fiber proportion for the composite is equal to 0.15. The differences between the composite behavior and the AAA tissue are small, with a small difference in the strain energy (0.4%) and a maximum difference of 12.4% in the peak Green strain ratio. This work represents a step forward in the application of 3D printing technology for the manufacturing of AAA phantoms with anisotropic mechanical behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Loss of Drosophila i-AAA protease, dYME1L, causes abnormal mitochondria and apoptotic degeneration.

    PubMed

    Qi, Y; Liu, H; Daniels, M P; Zhang, G; Xu, H

    2016-02-01

    Mitochondrial AAA (ATPases Associated with diverse cellular Activities) proteases i-AAA (intermembrane space-AAA) and m-AAA (matrix-AAA) are closely related and have major roles in inner membrane protein homeostasis. Mutations of m-AAA proteases are associated with neuromuscular disorders in humans. However, the role of i-AAA in metazoans is poorly understood. We generated a deletion affecting Drosophila i-AAA, dYME1L (dYME1L(del)). Mutant flies exhibited premature aging, progressive locomotor deficiency and neurodegeneration that resemble some key features of m-AAA diseases. dYME1L(del) flies displayed elevated mitochondrial unfolded protein stress and irregular cristae. Aged dYME1L(del) flies had reduced complex I (NADH/ubiquinone oxidoreductase) activity, increased level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), severely disorganized mitochondrial membranes and increased apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibiting apoptosis by targeting dOmi (Drosophila Htra2/Omi) or DIAP1, or reducing ROS accumulation suppressed retinal degeneration. Our results suggest that i-AAA is essential for removing unfolded proteins and maintaining mitochondrial membrane architecture. Loss of i-AAA leads to the accumulation of oxidative damage and progressive deterioration of membrane integrity, which might contribute to apoptosis upon the release of proapoptotic molecules such as dOmi. Containing ROS level could be a potential strategy to manage mitochondrial AAA protease deficiency.

  8. Junk science for sale Sham journals proliferating online.

    PubMed

    Klyce, Walter; Feller, Edward

    2017-07-05

    A new danger threatens the integrity of scholarly publishing: predatory journals. Internet-only, "open-access" publishing is a valid way for researchers to reach the public without a paywall separating them. But, of thousands of open-access scientific journals today, as many as twenty-five percent are believed to be fake, existing only to make money by charging authors high processing fees. In sham journals, peer review is cursory or absent: as many as eighty to ninety percent of submitted manuscripts are accepted, many within days, without any editorial comment. Predatory journalism can be remarkably good at mimicking reputable publishers. Sham journals use names and logos that closely resemble those of legitimate journals, intentionally confusing site visitors. Untrustworthy publications have not received the widespread, damning publicity they deserve. If junk science is not confronted and eliminated, it will continue to tarnish and undermine ethical, open-access scholarly publishing. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-07.asp].

  9. Citation analysis in journal rankings: medical informatics in the library and information science literature.

    PubMed Central

    Vishwanatham, R

    1998-01-01

    Medical informatics is an interdisciplinary field. Medical informatics articles will be found in the literature of various disciplines including library and information science publications. The purpose of this study was to provide an objectively ranked list of journals that publish medical informatics articles relevant to library and information science. Library Literature, Library and Information Science Abstracts, and Social Science Citation Index were used to identify articles published on the topic of medical informatics and to identify a ranked list of journals. This study also used citation analysis to identify the most frequently cited journals relevant to library and information science. PMID:9803294

  10. Multi-Centre Study on Cardiovascular Risk Management on Patients Undergoing AAA Surveillance.

    PubMed

    Saratzis, A; Dattani, N; Brown, A; Shalhoub, J; Bosanquet, D; Sidloff, D; Stather, P

    2017-07-01

    The risk of cardiovascular events and death in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is high. Screening has been introduced to reduce AAA related mortality; however, after AAA diagnosis, cardiovascular modification may be as important to patient outcomes as surveillance. The aim of this study was to assess cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with small AAA. Institutional approval was granted for The Vascular and Endovascular Research Network (VERN) to retrospectively collect data pertaining to cardiovascular risk reduction from four tertiary vascular units in England. Patients with small AAA (January 2013-December 2015) were included. Demographic details, postcode, current medications, and smoking status were recorded using a bespoke electronic database and analysed. In a secondary analysis VERN contacted all AAA screening units in England and Wales to assess their current protocols relating to CV protection. In total, 1053 patients were included (mean age 74 ± 9 years, all men). Of these, 745 patients (70.8%) had been prescribed an antiplatelet agent and 787 (74.7%) a statin. Overall, only 666 patients (63.2%) were prescribed both a statin and antiplatelet. Two hundred and sixty eight patients (32.1%) were current smokers and the proportion of patients who continued to smoke decreased with age. Overall, only 401 patients (48.1%) were prescribed a statin, antiplatelet, and had stopped smoking. In the secondary analysis 38 AAA screening units (84% national coverage) replied. Thirty-one units (82%) suggest changes to the patient's prescription; however, none monitor compliance with these recommendations or assess whether the general practitioner has been made aware of the AAA diagnosis or prescription advice. Many patients with small AAA are not prescribed an antiplatelet/statin, and still smoke cigarettes, and therefore remain at high risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. National guidance to ensure this high risk group of patients is

  11. Excess success for psychology articles in the journal science.

    PubMed

    Francis, Gregory; Tanzman, Jay; Matthews, William J

    2014-01-01

    This article describes a systematic analysis of the relationship between empirical data and theoretical conclusions for a set of experimental psychology articles published in the journal Science between 2005-2012. When the success rate of a set of empirical studies is much higher than would be expected relative to the experiments' reported effects and sample sizes, it suggests that null findings have been suppressed, that the experiments or analyses were inappropriate, or that the theory does not properly follow from the data. The analyses herein indicate such excess success for 83% (15 out of 18) of the articles in Science that report four or more studies and contain sufficient information for the analysis. This result suggests a systematic pattern of excess success among psychology articles in the journal Science.

  12. Excess Success for Psychology Articles in the Journal Science

    PubMed Central

    Francis, Gregory; Tanzman, Jay; Matthews, William J.

    2014-01-01

    This article describes a systematic analysis of the relationship between empirical data and theoretical conclusions for a set of experimental psychology articles published in the journal Science between 2005–2012. When the success rate of a set of empirical studies is much higher than would be expected relative to the experiments' reported effects and sample sizes, it suggests that null findings have been suppressed, that the experiments or analyses were inappropriate, or that the theory does not properly follow from the data. The analyses herein indicate such excess success for 83% (15 out of 18) of the articles in Science that report four or more studies and contain sufficient information for the analysis. This result suggests a systematic pattern of excess success among psychology articles in the journal Science. PMID:25474317

  13. Journal article overlap among Index Medicus, Science Citation Index, Biological Abstracts, and Chemical Abstracts.

    PubMed Central

    Poyer, R K

    1984-01-01

    Journal article overlap is defined as the same journal article being indexed by two or more services. Using journal references from seventy dissertations written in the preclinical sciences, the extent of journal article overlap among Index Medicus, Science Citation Index, Biological Abstracts, and Chemical Abstracts was examined. Of the 7,969 journal references cited, 92% were indexed by at least two of these services; 591 articles were covered by only one of the services, and 55 articles were not indexed. A discussion of the advantages and costs of journal article overlap is presented. PMID:6388693

  14. Combination of endovascular graft exclusion and drug therapy in AAA with hypertension or hyperglycemia.

    PubMed

    Wang, Dile; Qu, Bihui; He, Tao

    2017-08-01

    The objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of combination of endovascular graft exclusion and drugs for hypertension/hyperglycemia for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We analyzed 156 patients with AAA. Eighty-four patients were hypertensive and 72 were hyperglycemic. After endovascular graft exclusion, hypertensive patients were divided into four groups and treated with cyclopenthiazide, reserpine, propranolol, and placebo respectively. Hyperglycemic patients were divided into three groups and treated with metformin, insulin, and placebo respectively. Body temperature and peripheral blood leukocytes were measured at day 1, 2, 7, and 14 after endovascular graft exclusion. Size of AAAs, blood pressure, and blood sugar were measured again after 1 year. In hypertensive patients, the size of AAAs reduced after endovascular graft exclusion, while the combined treatments with cyclopenthiazide, reserpine, or propranolol helped to reduce blood pressure (blood pressure decrease <10 mmHg (18/21), <10 mmHg (12/21), <10 mmHg (8/21), and <10 mmHg (10/21) in the control group, cyclopenthiazide group, reserpine group, and propranolol group, respectively. AAA size decreased in the control group (P<0.001) and in the other three groups (P<0.0001). Similar results were obtained in hyperglycemic patients. The size of AAAs reduced after endovascular graft exclusion. Combined treatment with Metformin and Insulin reduced blood sugar (control, blood sugar >7.8 mmol/L (22/24), AAA size (P<0.001); metformin, blood sugar >7.8 mmol/L (14/24), AAA size (P<0.0001); insulin, blood sugar >7.8 mmol/L (11/24), AAA size (P<0.0001). Combination of endovascular graft exclusion with medicine is more effective than the former treatment alone for AAA therapy.

  15. Examination of the impact of animal and dairy science journals based on traditional and newly developed bibliometric indices.

    PubMed

    Malesios, C; Abas, Z

    2012-12-01

    Using traditional bibliometric indices such as the well-known journal impact factor (IFAC), as well as other more recently developed measures like the (journal) h-index and modifications, we assessed the impact of most prolific scientific journals in the field of animal and dairy science. To achieve this end, we performed a detailed investigation on the evaluation of journals quality, using a total of 50 journals selected from the category of "Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science" included in the Thomson Reuters' (formerly Institute of Scientific Information, ISI) Web of Science. Our analysis showed that among the top journals in the field are the Journal of Dairy Research, the Journal of Dairy Science, and the Journal of Animal Science. In particular, the Journal of Animal Science, the most productive and frequently cited journal, has shown rapid development, especially in recent years. The majority of the top-tier, highly cited articles are those associated with the description of statistical methodology and the standard chemical analytical methodologies.

  16. How to Take over a Journal without Trying: "Annals of Science", 1974

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grattan-Guinness, I.

    2010-01-01

    The author became an editor of the senior British journal "Annals of Science" in 1974, under rather strange circumstances and with no prior warning. In this article, the author describes the circumstances and their background. As the history of science developed and broadened in the 1960s the journal seemed never to reject anything; the…

  17. Neuroscience and Brain Science Special Issue begins in the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences

    PubMed Central

    ABDULLAH, Jafri Malin

    2014-01-01

    The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences and the Orient Neuron Nexus have amalgated to publish a yearly special issue based on neuro- and brain sciences. This will hopefully improve the quality of peer-reviewed manuscripts in the field of fundamental, applied, and clinical neuroscience and brain science from Asian countries. One focus of the Universiti Sains Malaysia is to strengthen neuroscience and brain science, especially in the field of neuroinformatics. PMID:25941457

  18. Health sciences libraries’ subscriptions to journals: expectations of general practice departments and collection-based analysis

    PubMed Central

    Barreau, David; Bouton, Céline; Renard, Vincent; Fournier, Jean-Pascal

    2018-01-01

    Objective The aims of this study were to (i) assess the expectations of general practice departments regarding health sciences libraries’ subscriptions to journals and (ii) describe the current general practice journal collections of health sciences libraries. Methods A cross-sectional survey was distributed electronically to the thirty-five university general practice departments in France. General practice departments were asked to list ten journals to which they expected access via the subscriptions of their health sciences libraries. A ranked reference list of journals was then developed. Access to these journals was assessed through a survey sent to all health sciences libraries in France. Adequacy ratios (access/need) were calculated for each journal. Results All general practice departments completed the survey. The total reference list included 44 journals. This list was heterogeneous in terms of indexation/impact factor, language of publication, and scope (e.g., patient care, research, or medical education). Among the first 10 journals listed, La Revue Prescrire (96.6%), La Revue du Praticien–Médecine Générale (90.9%), the British Medical Journal (85.0%), Pédagogie Médicale (70.0%), Exercer (69.7%), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (62.5%) had the highest adequacy ratios, whereas Family Practice (4.2%), the British Journal of General Practice (16.7%), Médecine (29.4%), and the European Journal of General Practice (33.3%) had the lowest adequacy ratios. Conclusions General practice departments have heterogeneous expectations in terms of health sciences libraries’ subscriptions to journals. It is important for librarians to understand the heterogeneity of these expectations, as well as local priorities, so that journal access meets users’ needs. PMID:29632446

  19. Readily functionalized AAA-DDD triply hydrogen-bonded motifs.

    PubMed

    Tong, Feng; Linares-Mendez, Iamnica J; Han, Yi-Fei; Wisner, James A; Wang, Hong-Bo

    2018-04-25

    Herein we present a new, readily functionalized AAA-DDD hydrogen bond array. A novel AAA monomeric unit (3a-b) was obtained from a two-step synthetic procedure starting with 2-aminonicotinaldehyde via microwave radiation (overall yield of 52-66%). 1H NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy confirmed the complexation event with a calculated association constant of 1.57 × 107 M-1. Likewise, the usefulness of this triple hydrogen bond motif in supramolecular polymerization was demonstrated through viscosity measurements in a crosslinked supramolecular alternating copolymer.

  20. Impact factor and other indices to assess science, scientists and scientific journals.

    PubMed

    Satyanarayana, K

    2010-01-01

    This paper traces the evolution of measures and parameters for the evaluation of science and scientific journals from the first attempts during the early part of the last century to the development of the most popular, current and widely used metrics viz., citations, impact factor (IF) etc. The identification of measures of evaluation in science and scientific reporting paralled the post-war increase in funding in the United States of America. Biomedical and medical sciences continue to garner a major share, estimated to be almost two-thirds of total research and development funding of over US$ 350 billion. There has been a concomitant growth in the publications in learned journals. About 1.4 million papers are published every year in an estimated 20,000 journals. In India there are an estimated 100 journals in medical sciences. With a steady increase of about 10% every year, the competition for grants, awards, rewards etc., is fierce. This unrelenting increase in number of scientists and the resultant competition, the limitation of peer review was felt. A search was on for new quantifiable measures for informed decision making for funding, awards, rewards, etc. Now virtually all major decisions all over the world are based on some data linked to publications and/or citations. The concept of citations as tool for 'evaluating' science was first proposed by Eugene Garfield in 1955. The availability of Science Citation Index (SCI), Journal Citation Reports (JCR), Web of Science etc. and the relative ease with which they could be used (and abused) has spawned an entirely new area bibliometrics/scientometrics. As only a limited number of journals could be included in the Thomson Reuters (TR) databases (currently numbering about 10500), analyses based on such a limited dataset (also selected in a non-transparent way by the TR) has been widely and severely criticized by both the developed and developing countries. Yet, studies have shown that citation-based data and

  1. Gender Representation on Journal Editorial Boards in the Mathematical Sciences.

    PubMed

    Topaz, Chad M; Sen, Shilad

    2016-01-01

    We study gender representation on the editorial boards of 435 journals in the mathematical sciences. Women are known to comprise approximately 15% of tenure-stream faculty positions in doctoral-granting mathematical sciences departments in the United States. Compared to this group, we find that 8.9% of the 13067 editorships in our study are held by women. We describe group variations within the editorships by identifying specific journals, subfields, publishers, and countries that significantly exceed or fall short of this average. To enable our study, we develop a semi-automated method for inferring gender that has an estimated accuracy of 97.5%. Our findings provide the first measure of gender distribution on editorial boards in the mathematical sciences, offer insights that suggest future studies in the mathematical sciences, and introduce new methods that enable large-scale studies of gender distribution in other fields.

  2. Croatian Medical Journal citation score in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar.

    PubMed

    Sember, Marijan; Utrobicić, Ana; Petrak, Jelka

    2010-04-01

    To analyze the 2007 citation count of articles published by the Croatian Medical Journal in 2005-2006 based on data from the Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Web of Science and Scopus were searched for the articles published in 2005-2006. As all articles returned by Scopus were included in Web of Science, the latter list was the sample for further analysis. Total citation counts for each article on the list were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The overlap and unique citations were compared and analyzed. Proportions were compared using chi(2)-test. Google Scholar returned the greatest proportion of articles with citations (45%), followed by Scopus (42%), and Web of Science (38%). Almost a half (49%) of articles had no citations and 11% had an equal number of identical citations in all 3 databases. The greatest overlap was found between Web of Science and Scopus (54%), followed by Scopus and Google Scholar (51%), and Web of Science and Google Scholar (44%). The greatest number of unique citations was found by Google Scholar (n=86). The majority of these citations (64%) came from journals, followed by books and PhD theses. Approximately 55% of all citing documents were full-text resources in open access. The language of citing documents was mostly English, but as many as 25 citing documents (29%) were in Chinese. Google Scholar shares a total of 42% citations returned by two others, more influential, bibliographic resources. The list of unique citations in Google Scholar is predominantly journal based, but these journals are mainly of local character. Citations received by internationally recognized medical journals are crucial for increasing the visibility of small medical journals but Google Scholar may serve as an alternative bibliometric tool for an orientational citation insight.

  3. Croatian Medical Journal Citation Score in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar

    PubMed Central

    Šember, Marijan; Utrobičić, Ana; Petrak, Jelka

    2010-01-01

    Aim To analyze the 2007 citation count of articles published by the Croatian Medical Journal in 2005-2006 based on data from the Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Methods Web of Science and Scopus were searched for the articles published in 2005-2006. As all articles returned by Scopus were included in Web of Science, the latter list was the sample for further analysis. Total citation counts for each article on the list were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The overlap and unique citations were compared and analyzed. Proportions were compared using χ2-test. Results Google Scholar returned the greatest proportion of articles with citations (45%), followed by Scopus (42%), and Web of Science (38%). Almost a half (49%) of articles had no citations and 11% had an equal number of identical citations in all 3 databases. The greatest overlap was found between Web of Science and Scopus (54%), followed by Scopus and Google Scholar (51%), and Web of Science and Google Scholar (44%). The greatest number of unique citations was found by Google Scholar (n = 86). The majority of these citations (64%) came from journals, followed by books and PhD theses. Approximately 55% of all citing documents were full-text resources in open access. The language of citing documents was mostly English, but as many as 25 citing documents (29%) were in Chinese. Conclusion Google Scholar shares a total of 42% citations returned by two others, more influential, bibliographic resources. The list of unique citations in Google Scholar is predominantly journal based, but these journals are mainly of local character. Citations received by internationally recognized medical journals are crucial for increasing the visibility of small medical journals but Google Scholar may serve as an alternative bibliometric tool for an orientational citation insight. PMID:20401951

  4. Practicing Science: The Investigative Approach in College Science Teaching. An NSTA Press Journals Collection.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cusick, Judy, Ed.

    This document presents a collection of articles selected from the Journal of College Science Teaching. The selected articles represent how college science teaching should be practiced and include modifications in classrooms and laboratories to allow for the development of inquiry skills. Articles include: (1) "What Should Students Learn about the…

  5. The peroxisomal AAA ATPase complex prevents pexophagy and development of peroxisome biogenesis disorders

    PubMed Central

    Law, Kelsey B.; Bronte-Tinkew, Dana; Di Pietro, Erminia; Snowden, Ann; Jones, Richard O.; Moser, Ann; Brumell, John H.; Braverman, Nancy

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Peroxisome biogenesis disorders (PBDs) are metabolic disorders caused by the loss of peroxisomes. The majority of PBDs result from mutation in one of 3 genes that encode for the peroxisomal AAA ATPase complex (AAA-complex) required for cycling PEX5 for peroxisomal matrix protein import. Mutations in these genes are thought to result in a defect in peroxisome assembly by preventing the import of matrix proteins. However, we show here that loss of the AAA-complex does not prevent matrix protein import, but instead causes an upregulation of peroxisome degradation by macroautophagy, or pexophagy. The loss of AAA-complex function in cells results in the accumulation of ubiquitinated PEX5 on the peroxisomal membrane that signals pexophagy. Inhibiting autophagy by genetic or pharmacological approaches rescues peroxisome number, protein import and function. Our findings suggest that the peroxisomal AAA-complex is required for peroxisome quality control, whereas its absence results in the selective degradation of the peroxisome. Thus the loss of peroxisomes in PBD patients with mutations in their peroxisomal AAA-complex is a result of increased pexophagy. Our study also provides a framework for the development of novel therapeutic treatments for PBDs. PMID:28521612

  6. The peroxisomal AAA ATPase complex prevents pexophagy and development of peroxisome biogenesis disorders.

    PubMed

    Law, Kelsey B; Bronte-Tinkew, Dana; Di Pietro, Erminia; Snowden, Ann; Jones, Richard O; Moser, Ann; Brumell, John H; Braverman, Nancy; Kim, Peter K

    2017-05-04

    Peroxisome biogenesis disorders (PBDs) are metabolic disorders caused by the loss of peroxisomes. The majority of PBDs result from mutation in one of 3 genes that encode for the peroxisomal AAA ATPase complex (AAA-complex) required for cycling PEX5 for peroxisomal matrix protein import. Mutations in these genes are thought to result in a defect in peroxisome assembly by preventing the import of matrix proteins. However, we show here that loss of the AAA-complex does not prevent matrix protein import, but instead causes an upregulation of peroxisome degradation by macroautophagy, or pexophagy. The loss of AAA-complex function in cells results in the accumulation of ubiquitinated PEX5 on the peroxisomal membrane that signals pexophagy. Inhibiting autophagy by genetic or pharmacological approaches rescues peroxisome number, protein import and function. Our findings suggest that the peroxisomal AAA-complex is required for peroxisome quality control, whereas its absence results in the selective degradation of the peroxisome. Thus the loss of peroxisomes in PBD patients with mutations in their peroxisomal AAA-complex is a result of increased pexophagy. Our study also provides a framework for the development of novel therapeutic treatments for PBDs.

  7. Regionalization of Emergent Vascular Surgery for Patients With Ruptured AAA Improves Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Warner, Courtney J; Roddy, Sean P; Chang, Benjamin B; Kreienberg, Paul B; Sternbach, Yaron; Taggert, John B; Ozsvath, Kathleen J; Stain, Steven C; Darling, R Clement

    2016-09-01

    Safe and efficient endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (r-AAA) requires advanced infrastructure and surgical expertise not available at all US hospitals. The objective was to assess the impact of regionalizing r-AAA care to centers equipped for both open surgical repair (r-OSR) and EVAR (r-EVAR) by vascular surgeons. A retrospective review of all patients with r-AAA undergoing open or endovascular repair in a 12-hospital region. Patient demographics, transfer status, type of repair, and intraoperative variables were recorded. Outcomes included perioperative morbidity and mortality. Four hundred fifty-one patients with r-AAA were treated from 2002 to 2015. Three hundred twenty-one patients (71%) presented initially to community hospitals (CHs) and 130 (29%) presented to the tertiary medical center (MC). Of the 321 patients presenting to CH, 133 (41%) were treated locally (131 OSR; 2 EVAR) and 188 (59%) were transferred to the MC. In total, 318 patients were treated at the MC (122 OSR; 196 EVAR). At the MC, r-EVAR was associated with a lower mortality rate than r-OSR (20% vs 37%, P = 0.001). Transfer did not influence r-EVAR mortality (20% in r-EVAR presenting to MC vs 20% in r-EVAR transferred, P > 0.2). Overall, r-AAA mortality at the MC was 20% lower than CH (27% vs 46%, P < 0.001). Regionalization of r-AAA repair to centers equipped for both r-EVAR and r-OSR decreased mortality by approximately 20%. Transfer did not impact the mortality of r-EVAR at the tertiary center. Care of r-AAA in the US should be centralized to centers equipped with available technology and vascular surgeons.

  8. On the Impact of Intraluminal Thrombus Mechanical Behavior in AAA Passive Mechanics.

    PubMed

    Riveros, Fabián; Martufi, Giampaolo; Gasser, T Christian; Rodriguez-Matas, Jose F

    2015-09-01

    Intraluminal thrombus (ILT) is a pseudo-tissue that develops from coagulated blood, and is found in most abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) of clinically relevant size. A number of studies have suggested that ILT mechanical characteristics may be related to AAA risk of rupture, even though there is still great controversy in this regard. ILT is isotropic and inhomogeneous and may appear as a soft (single-layered) or stiff (multilayered fibrotic) tissue. This paper aims to investigate how ILT constitution and topology influence the magnitude and location of peak wall stress (PWS). In total 21 patient-specific AAAs (diameter 4.2-5.4 cm) were reconstructed from computer tomography images and biomechanically analyzed using state-of-the-art modeling assumptions. Results indicated that PWS correlated stronger with ILT volume (ρ = 0.44, p = 0.05) and minimum thickness of ILT layer (ρ = 0.73, p = 0.001) than with maximum AAA diameter (ρ = 0.05, p = 0.82). On average PWS was 20% (SD 12%) higher for FE models that used soft instead of stiff ILT models (p < 0.001). PWS location strongly correlated with sites of minimum ILT thickness in the section of maximum AAA diameter and was independent from ILT stiffness. In addition, ILT heterogeneity, i.e., the spatial composition of soft and stiff thrombus tissue, can considerably influence stress in the AAA wall. The present study is limited to identification of influential biomechanical factors, and how its findings translate to an AAA rupture risk assessment remains to be explored by clinical studies.

  9. Gender Representation on Journal Editorial Boards in the Mathematical Sciences

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    We study gender representation on the editorial boards of 435 journals in the mathematical sciences. Women are known to comprise approximately 15% of tenure-stream faculty positions in doctoral-granting mathematical sciences departments in the United States. Compared to this group, we find that 8.9% of the 13067 editorships in our study are held by women. We describe group variations within the editorships by identifying specific journals, subfields, publishers, and countries that significantly exceed or fall short of this average. To enable our study, we develop a semi-automated method for inferring gender that has an estimated accuracy of 97.5%. Our findings provide the first measure of gender distribution on editorial boards in the mathematical sciences, offer insights that suggest future studies in the mathematical sciences, and introduce new methods that enable large-scale studies of gender distribution in other fields. PMID:27536970

  10. Identifying patients with AAA with the highest risk following endovascular repair.

    PubMed

    Cadili, Ali; Turnbull, Robert; Hervas-Malo, Marilou; Ghosh, Sunita; Chyczij, Harold

    2012-08-01

    It has been demonstrated that endovascular repair of arterial disease results in reduced perioperative morbidity and mortality compared to open surgical repair. The rates of complications and need for reinterventions, however, have been found to be higher than that in open repair. The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of endograft complications and mortality in patients undergoing endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair; specifically, our aim was to identify a subset of patients with AAA whose risk of periprocedure mortality was so high that they should not be offered endovascular repair. We undertook a prospective review of patients with AAA receiving endovascular therapy at a single institution. Collected variables included age, gender, date of procedure, indication for procedure, size of aneurysm (where applicable), type of endograft used, presence of rupture, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, major medical comorbidities, type of anesthesia (general, epidural, or local), length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and length of hospital stay. These factors were correlated with the study outcomes (overall mortality, graft complications, morbidity, and reintervention) using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. A total of 199 patients underwent endovascular AAA repair during the study period. The ICU stay, again, was significantly correlated with the primary outcomes (death and graft complications). In addition, length of hospital stay greater than 3 days, also emerged as a statistically significant predictor of graft complications in this subgroup (P = .024). Survival analysis for patients with AAA revealed that age over 85 years and ICU stay were predictive of decreased survival. Statistical analysis for other subgroups of patients (inflammatory AAA or dissection) was not performed due to the small numbers in these subgroups. Patients with AAA greater than 85 years of age are at a greater risk of mortality

  11. Journal Quality in the Asian Region: Results of a Pilot Study for the IFLA Round Table of Library and Information Science Journals.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gorman, G. E.; Calvert, Philip J.

    This paper reports on a pilot project in Asia sponsored by the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and institutions) Round Table of Library and Information Science Journals that had the following objectives: to identify the most commonly accepted criteria for evaluating LIS (Library and Information Science) journals; to evaluate…

  12. The Use of Journal Clubs in Science Teacher Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tallman, Karen A.; Feldman, Allan

    2016-04-01

    This qualitative study explored how in a 7-month-long journal club pre- and inservice science teachers engaged with education research literature relevant to their practice to reduce the theory-practice gap. In the journal club they had the opportunity to critique and analyze peer-reviewed science education articles in the context of their classroom practice. Data sources included audio recordings of the meetings; semi-structured pre- and post-interviews of the teachers; focus groups; and artifacts (e.g., journal articles, reflective paper, email exchanges, and researcher's field notes). Data were analyzed using the techniques of grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss in Basics of qualitative research, 3rd ed. Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2008). In addition we used some preconceived categories that we created from existing literature on journal clubs and communities of practice (Newswander & Borrego in European Journal of Engineering Education 34(6): 561-571, 2009; Wenger in Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998) and from our previous research (Tallman & Feldman, 2012). We found that the journal club incorporated the three characteristics of a community of practice (Wenger in Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998) into its functioning (mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire). The teachers mutually engaged around the joint enterprise of reading, critiquing, and understanding the research studies with the goal of improving practice. The teachers also asked each other analytical questions, which became a shared repertoire of the journal club. They reflected on their practice by presenting, reading, and discussing the articles, which helped them to determine whether and how the findings from the articles could be incorporated into their teaching practice. In doing so, they learned the skills needed to critique the research literature in

  13. Assessment of the accuracy of AortaScan for detection of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

    PubMed

    Abbas, A; Smith, A; Cecelja, M; Waltham, M

    2012-02-01

    AortaScan AMI 9700 is a portable 3D ultrasound device that automatically measures the maximum diameter of the abdominal aorta without the need for a trained sonographer. It is designed to rapidly diagnose or exclude an AAA and may have particular use in screening programs. Our objective was to determine its accuracy to detect AAA. Subjects from our AAA screening and surveillance programs were examined. The aorta was scanned using the AortaScan and computed tomography (CT). Ninety-one subjects underwent imaging (44 AAA on conventional ultrasound surveillance and 47 controls). The largest measurement obtained by AortaScan was compared against the CT-aortic measurement. The mean aortic diameter was 2.8 cm. The CT scan confirmed the diagnosis of AAA in 43 subjects. There was one false positive measurement on conventional ultrasound. AortaScan missed the diagnosis of AAA in eight subjects. There were thirteen false positive measurements. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 81%, 72%, 72% and 81% respectively. A device to detect AAA without the need for a trained operator would have potential in a community-based screening programme. The AortaScan, however, lacks adequate sensitivity and significant technical improvement is necessary before it could be considered a replacement for trained screening personnel. Copyright © 2011 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Journals Supporting Terrorism Research: Identification and Investigation into Their Impact on the Social Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bullis, Daryl R.; Irving, Richard D.

    2013-01-01

    A citation analysis of two preeminent terrorism journals ("Terrorism and Political Violence" and "Studies in Conflict and Terrorism") was used to identify 37 additional social science journals of significant importance to terrorism research. Citation data extracted from the "Web of Science" database was used to…

  15. Assessing the Impact Participation in Science Journalism Activities Has on Scientific Literacy among High School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farrar, Cathy

    2012-01-01

    As part of the National Science Foundation Science Literacy through Science Journalism (SciJourn) research and development initiative (http://www.scijourn.org; Polman, Saul, Newman, and Farrar, 2008) a quasi-experimental design was used to investigate what impact incorporating science journalism activities had on students' scientific literacy.…

  16. Meat science from 1976: A history of the journal.

    PubMed

    Ledward, D A; Hopkins, D L

    2017-10-01

    The journal Meat Science was first published in 1976/77 and it initially comprised 4 issues per year. The first issue contained 4 papers and the first volume (4 issues) contained 27 articles, a mixture of papers and research notes. Its growth/popularity increased, and it has continued to thrive and in 2016 of the 1010 papers processed 292 were accepted. Over 90% of the papers published in the first volume were concerned with muscle biochemistry/meat properties. During the last years of the 20th century, meat products and their properties became a far larger proportion of the submissions as did those concerned with nutrition and safety. More recently there has been a resurgence of papers concerned with meat quality. Over the last 40years, the journal has reported on the major developments in meat science research and this paper will discuss both the history of the journal, and aspects of meat research as reflected in its publications. Possible future research trends are also discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Examining the Effects of Science Manipulatives on Achievement, Attitudes, and Journal Writing of Elementary Science Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frederick, Lynda R.; Shaw, Edward L., Jr.

    This study examined several aspects of elementary science students' achievement, attitudes, and journal writing in conjunction with an Alabama Hands-on Activity Science Program (HASP) grant utilizing the Full Option Science System (FOSS) kit. The sample of 56 fourth grade students in two classes was administered a 15-item pretest and post-test.…

  18. Trends in the Use of Supplementary Materials in Environmental Science Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kenyon, Jeremy; Sprague, Nancy R.

    2014-01-01

    Our research examined the use of supplementary materials in six environmental science disciplines: atmospheric sciences, biology, fisheries, forestry, geology, and plant sciences. Ten key journals were selected from each of these disciplines and the number of supplementary materials, such as data files or videos, in each issue was noted over a…

  19. Breaking into the International Arena: Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences publishing Report 2013

    PubMed Central

    GHAZLI, Nur Farahin; ABDULLAH, Jafri Malin

    2014-01-01

    The most recent Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS)–MyCite report has shown that it has achieved a level becoming of a leading national medical science journal. This editorial reports on submission and acceptance rates of MJMS throughout the year 2013 and their geographical contributors. Our rejection rate of 29.76% with a 21.95% withdrawal rate because of poor quality of content and data as well as plagiarism indicates the seriousness of this journal to maintain the integrity and quality of it’s scientific data. PMID:25246830

  20. An Interpretation of the "Science--A Process Approach" Objectives in Terms of Existing Psychological Theory and Experimentation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cole, Henry P.

    This paper examines the sequence and hierarchy of objectives in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) "Science--A Process Approach" curriculum. The work of Piaget, Bruner forms a framework from which the learning objectives and tasks in the AAAS science curriculum are examined. The points of correspondence…

  1. Dosimetric comparison of peripheral NSCLC SBRT using Acuros XB and AAA calculation algorithms.

    PubMed

    Ong, Chloe C H; Ang, Khong Wei; Soh, Roger C X; Tin, Kah Ming; Yap, Jerome H H; Lee, James C L; Bragg, Christopher M

    2017-01-01

    There is a concern for dose calculation in highly heterogenous environments such as the thorax region. This study compares the quality of treatment plans of peripheral non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using 2 calculation algorithms, namely, Eclipse Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) and Acuros External Beam (AXB), for 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) data from 20 anonymized patients were studied using Varian Eclipse planning system, AXB, and AAA version 10.0.28. A 3DCRT plan and a VMAT plan were generated using AAA and AXB with constant plan parameters for each patient. The prescription and dose constraints were benchmarked against Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0915 protocol. Planning parameters of the plan were compared statistically using Mann-Whitney U tests. Results showed that 3DCRT and VMAT plans have a lower target coverage up to 8% when calculated using AXB as compared with AAA. The conformity index (CI) for AXB plans was 4.7% lower than AAA plans, but was closer to unity, which indicated better target conformity. AXB produced plans with global maximum doses which were, on average, 2% hotter than AAA plans. Both 3DCRT and VMAT plans were able to achieve D95%. VMAT plans were shown to be more conformal (CI = 1.01) and were at least 3.2% and 1.5% lower in terms of PTV maximum and mean dose, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference for doses received by organs at risk (OARs) regardless of calculation algorithms and treatment techniques. In general, the difference in tissue modeling for AXB and AAA algorithm is responsible for the dose distribution between the AXB and the AAA algorithms. The AXB VMAT plans could be used to benefit patients receiving peripheral NSCLC SBRT. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights

  2. AAA+ Machines of Protein Destruction in Mycobacteria.

    PubMed

    Alhuwaider, Adnan Ali H; Dougan, David A

    2017-01-01

    The bacterial cytosol is a complex mixture of macromolecules (proteins, DNA, and RNA), which collectively are responsible for an enormous array of cellular tasks. Proteins are central to most, if not all, of these tasks and as such their maintenance (commonly referred to as protein homeostasis or proteostasis) is vital for cell survival during normal and stressful conditions. The two key aspects of protein homeostasis are, (i) the correct folding and assembly of proteins (coupled with their delivery to the correct cellular location) and (ii) the timely removal of unwanted or damaged proteins from the cell, which are performed by molecular chaperones and proteases, respectively. A major class of proteins that contribute to both of these tasks are the AAA+ (ATPases associated with a variety of cellular activities) protein superfamily. Although much is known about the structure of these machines and how they function in the model Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli , we are only just beginning to discover the molecular details of these machines and how they function in mycobacteria. Here we review the different AAA+ machines, that contribute to proteostasis in mycobacteria. Primarily we will focus on the recent advances in the structure and function of AAA+ proteases, the substrates they recognize and the cellular pathways they control. Finally, we will discuss the recent developments related to these machines as novel drug targets.

  3. The international face of sports science through the window of the Journal of Sports Sciences--with a special reference to kinanthropometry.

    PubMed

    Reilly, Thomas

    2008-02-15

    The history of the Journal of Sports Sciences is traced from the antecedents of its initiation to the current time. The developments of the sports sciences at large are reflected in the content of the journal. Its links with the international agenda are described, and related to landmark publications. Special attention is given to the relationships with international bodies, the International Society for Advancement of Kinanthropometry and the World Commission of Science and Sports. The expansion of sport and exercise sciences, both nationally and internationally, was reflected in the increased frequency of publication of the journal. Key areas in the kinanthropometric content are identified and placed in context. The review culminates in the highlighting of likely areas for future research.

  4. Functional Diversity of AAA+ Protease Complexes in Bacillus subtilis

    PubMed Central

    Elsholz, Alexander K. W.; Birk, Marlene S.; Charpentier, Emmanuelle; Turgay, Kürşad

    2017-01-01

    Here, we review the diverse roles and functions of AAA+ protease complexes in protein homeostasis, control of stress response and cellular development pathways by regulatory and general proteolysis in the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis. We discuss in detail the intricate involvement of AAA+ protein complexes in controlling sporulation, the heat shock response and the role of adaptor proteins in these processes. The investigation of these protein complexes and their adaptor proteins has revealed their relevance for Gram-positive pathogens and their potential as targets for new antibiotics. PMID:28748186

  5. Functional Diversity of AAA+ Protease Complexes in Bacillus subtilis.

    PubMed

    Elsholz, Alexander K W; Birk, Marlene S; Charpentier, Emmanuelle; Turgay, Kürşad

    2017-01-01

    Here, we review the diverse roles and functions of AAA+ protease complexes in protein homeostasis, control of stress response and cellular development pathways by regulatory and general proteolysis in the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis . We discuss in detail the intricate involvement of AAA+ protein complexes in controlling sporulation, the heat shock response and the role of adaptor proteins in these processes. The investigation of these protein complexes and their adaptor proteins has revealed their relevance for Gram-positive pathogens and their potential as targets for new antibiotics.

  6. Structural basis for the ATP-independent proteolytic activity of LonB proteases and reclassification of their AAA+ modules.

    PubMed

    An, Young Jun; Na, Jung-Hyun; Kim, Myung-Il; Cha, Sun-Shin

    2015-10-01

    Lon proteases degrade defective or denature proteins as well as some folded proteins for the control of cellular protein quality. There are two types of Lon proteases, LonA and LonB. Each consists of two functional components: a protease component and an ATPase associated with various cellular activities (AAA+ module). Here, we report the 2.03 -resolution crystal structure of the isolated AAA+ module (iAAA+ module) of LonB from Thermococcus onnurineus NA1 (TonLonB). The iAAA+ module, having no bound nucleotide, adopts a conformation virtually identical to the ADP-bound conformation of AAA+ modules in the hexameric structure of TonLonB; this provides insights into the ATP-independent proteolytic activity observed in a LonB protease. Structural comparison of AAA+ modules between LonA and LonB revealed that the AAA+ modules of Lon proteases are separated into two distinct clades depending on their structural features. The AAA+ module of LonB belongs to the -H2 & Ins1 insert clade (HINS clade)- defined for the first time in this study, while the AAA+ module of LonA is a member of the HCLR clade.

  7. The AAA protein spastin possesses two levels of basal ATPase activity.

    PubMed

    Fan, Xiangyu; Lin, Zhijie; Fan, Guanghui; Lu, Jing; Hou, Yongfei; Habai, Gulijiazi; Sun, Linyue; Yu, Pengpeng; Shen, Yuequan; Wen, Maorong; Wang, Chunguang

    2018-05-01

    The AAA ATPase spastin is a microtubule-severing enzyme that plays important roles in various cellular events including axon regeneration. Herein, we found that the basal ATPase activity of spastin is negatively regulated by spastin concentration. By determining a spastin crystal structure, we demonstrate the necessity of intersubunit interactions between spastin AAA domains. Neutralization of the positive charges in the microtubule-binding domain (MTBD) of spastin dramatically decreases the ATPase activity at low concentration, although the ATP-hydrolyzing potential is not affected. These results demonstrate that, in addition to the AAA domain, the MTBD region of spastin is also involved in regulating ATPase activity, making interactions between spastin protomers more complicated than expected. © 2018 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

  8. A conserved inter-domain communication mechanism regulates the ATPase activity of the AAA-protein Drg1.

    PubMed

    Prattes, Michael; Loibl, Mathias; Zisser, Gertrude; Luschnig, Daniel; Kappel, Lisa; Rössler, Ingrid; Grassegger, Manuela; Hromic, Altijana; Krieger, Elmar; Gruber, Karl; Pertschy, Brigitte; Bergler, Helmut

    2017-03-17

    AAA-ATPases fulfil essential roles in different cellular pathways and often act in form of hexameric complexes. Interaction with pathway-specific substrate and adaptor proteins recruits them to their targets and modulates their catalytic activity. This substrate dependent regulation of ATP hydrolysis in the AAA-domains is mediated by a non-catalytic N-terminal domain. The exact mechanisms that transmit the signal from the N-domain and coordinate the individual AAA-domains in the hexameric complex are still the topic of intensive research. Here, we present the characterization of a novel mutant variant of the eukaryotic AAA-ATPase Drg1 that shows dysregulation of ATPase activity and altered interaction with Rlp24, its substrate in ribosome biogenesis. This defective regulation is the consequence of amino acid exchanges at the interface between the regulatory N-domain and the adjacent D1 AAA-domain. The effects caused by these mutations strongly resemble those of pathological mutations of the AAA-ATPase p97 which cause the hereditary proteinopathy IBMPFD (inclusion body myopathy associated with Paget's disease of the bone and frontotemporal dementia). Our results therefore suggest well conserved mechanisms of regulation between structurally, but not functionally related members of the AAA-family.

  9. Is the medical world ready for electronic journals?

    PubMed

    Huth, E J

    1992-07-01

    New technologies offer new ways to deliver scholarly information, perhaps advantageously compared with paper journals, which have been an accustomed mode of scholarly communication for 300 years. Paper journals offer conveniences in handling and reading, and the economic constraints on their length tend to ensure that this constraint is important. Electronic journals are not yet as easy to use. But paper journals are economically cost effective and these space constraints prevent their publishing information not important to most readers but important to some. Electronic journals offer new advantages for readers, including the capacity to carry more and longer papers, linkages between related documents, and hypertext functions. The editors of The Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials welcome comments on its features and content; these should be sent to Dr. María L. Lebrón, Managing Editor, CCT, AAAS, 1333 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 USA, FAX 202-842-2868.

  10. Factors Affecting Construction of Science Discourse in the Context of an Extracurricular Science and Technology Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Webb, Horace P.

    2009-01-01

    Doing and learning science are social activities that require certain language, activities, and values. Both constitute what Gee (2005) calls Discourses. The language of learning science varies with the learning context (Lemke, 2001,1990). "Science for All Americans" (AAAS, 1990) and "Inquiry and the National Science Education…

  11. Core Journals in Library and Information Science: Developing a Methodology for Ranking LIS Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nixon, Judith M.

    2014-01-01

    In the library science field, there is no professionally accepted tiered list of journals in the United States to guide librarians, as there is in other academic disciplines. This situation creates a challenge for both new and experienced librarians who wish to make a serious contribution to librarianship by publishing articles. This article…

  12. Science Learning for ALL: Celebrating Cultural Diversity. An NSTA Press Journals Collection.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Jessica, Ed.

    This publication includes 17 of the best articles from recent additions of The Science Teacher, the National Science Teachers Association's (NSTA) journal for secondary educators. The articles are written by science educators who offer ideas and strategies for bringing multicultural education into the classroom and providing opportunities for all…

  13. Constructing Core Journal Lists: Mixing Science and Alchemy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corby, Katherine

    2003-01-01

    Via an overview of core journal studies, emphasizing the social sciences and education, this review looks for best practices in both motivation and methodology. Selection decisions receive particular focus. Lack of correlation between methods is indicative of the complexity of the topic and the need for judgment in design and use. (Author)

  14. Implementation science: a reappraisal of our journal mission and scope.

    PubMed

    Foy, Robbie; Sales, Anne; Wensing, Michel; Aarons, Gregory A; Flottorp, Signe; Kent, Bridie; Michie, Susan; O'Connor, Denise; Rogers, Anne; Sevdalis, Nick; Straus, Sharon; Wilson, Paul

    2015-04-17

    The implementation of research findings into healthcare practice has become increasingly recognised as a major priority for researchers, service providers, research funders and policymakers over the past decade. Nine years after its establishment, Implementation Science, an international online open access journal, currently publishes over 150 articles each year. This is fewer than 30% of those submitted for publication. The majority of manuscript rejections occur at the point of initial editorial screening, frequently because we judge them to fall outside of journal scope. There are a number of common reasons as to why manuscripts are rejected on grounds of scope. Furthermore, as the field of implementation research has evolved and our journal submissions have risen, we have, out of necessity, had to become more selective in what we publish. We have also expanded our scope, particularly around patient-mediated and population health interventions, and will monitor the impact of such changes. We hope this editorial on our evolving priorities and common reasons for rejection without peer review will help authors to better judge the relevance of their papers to Implementation Science.

  15. Exploring the Nature of High School Student Engagement with Science and Technology as an Outcome of Participation in Science Journalism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hope, Jennifer Michelle Gauble

    2012-01-01

    In a mixed-methods study of high school student participants in the National Science Foundation-funded Science Literacy through Science Journalism (SciJourn) project, the new Youth Engagement with Science & Technology (YEST) Survey and classroom case studies were used to determine program impact on participant engagement with science and…

  16. British Journal of Biomedical Science in 2015: what have we learned?

    PubMed

    Blann, Andrew; Nation, Brian

    2016-01-01

    In 2015, the British Journal of Biomedical Science published 47 reports on topics relating to the various disciplines within biomedical science. Of these, the majority were in infection science (15 in microbiology and two in virology) and blood science (seven in biochemistry, four in haematology, three in immunology and one in transplantation), with a smaller number in cellular sciences (four reports) and with one review across disciplines. The present report will summarise key aspects of these publications that are of greatest relevance to laboratory scientists.

  17. [Nutritional Sciences' Journals in Ibero Latin American countries in the XXIst Century].

    PubMed

    Culebras, J M

    2012-11-01

    The presence of nutrition as an independent matter in the educational programs of the Spanish Faculties of Medicine has been scanty until the end of the XXth century. We have witnessed an important development of the specific opportunities for the nutritional sciences in terms of quality and quantity in the XXIst century. Only one Ibero Latin American journal, Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición (ALAN, ISSN 0004-0622), was present in the Journal Citation Reports, Science Edition among the 51 journals under the heading of Nutrition & Dietetics. Three more ibero latin American journals have been incorporated to JCR in the XXIst century, Nutrición Hospitalaria (Nutr Hosp, ISSN 0212-1611) in 2006, Revista de Nutricao (Rev Nutr, ISSN 1415-5273) and Revista Española de Nutrición Comunitaria (Rev Esp Nutr Comunit, ISSN 1135-3074) in 2007. The four journals are having a growing importance in other electronic platforms, rendering an important service to the scientific society, not only in their environment, but also in the rest of the world. Although English language dominates scientific communications, the critical mass of already existing journals in Spanish and the area of influence of this language is a good stimulus for continuing its utilization.

  18. Selective Intra-procedural AAA sac Embolization During EVAR Reduces the Rate of Type II Endoleak.

    PubMed

    Mascoli, C; Freyrie, A; Gargiulo, M; Gallitto, E; Pini, R; Faggioli, G; Serra, C; De Molo, C; Stella, A

    2016-05-01

    The pre-treatment presence of at least six efferent patent vessels (EPV) from the AAA sac and/or AAA thrombus volume ratio (VR%) <40% are considered to be positive predictive factors for persistent type II endoleak (ELIIp). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sac embolization during EVAR in patients with pre-operative morphological risk factors (p-MRF) for ELIIp. Patients undergoing EVAR and intra-procedural AAA sac embolization (Group A, 2012-2013) were retrospectively selected and compared with a control group of patients with the same p-MRF, who underwent EVAR without intra-procedural sac embolization (Group B, 2008-2010). The presence of ELIIp was evaluated by duplex ultrasound at 0 and 6 months, and by contrast enhanced ultrasound at 12 months. The association between AAA diameter, age, COPD, smoking, anticoagulant therapy, and AAA sac embolization with ELIIp was evaluated using multiple logistic regression. The primary endpoint was the effectiveness of the intra-procedural AAA sac embolization for ELIIp prevention. Secondary endpoints were AAA sac evolution and freedom from ELIIp and embolization related re-interventions at 6-12 months. Seventy patients were analyzed: 26 Group A and 44 Group B; the groups were homogeneous for clinical/morphological characteristics. In Group A the median number of coils positioned in AAA sac was 4.1 (IQR 1). There were no complications related to the embolization procedures. A significantly lower number of ELIIp was detected in Group A than in Group B (8/26 vs. 33/44, respectively, p < .001) at discharge, and this was confirmed at 6-12 months (7/26 vs. 30/44 respectively, p = .001, and 5/25 vs. 32/44, respectively, p < .001). On multivariate analysis, intra-procedural AAA sac embolization was the only factor independently associated with freedom from ELIIp at 6 (OR 0.196, 95% CI 0.06-0.63; p = .007) and 12 months (OR 0.098, 95% CI 0.02-0.35; p < .001). No differences in median AAA sac

  19. Structure of Lmaj006129AAA, a hypothetical protein from Leishmania major

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Arakaki, Tracy; Le Trong, Isolde; Structural Genomics of Pathogenic Protozoa

    2006-03-01

    The crystal structure of a conserved hypothetical protein from L. major, Pfam sequence family PF04543, structural genomics target ID Lmaj006129AAA, has been determined at a resolution of 1.6 Å. The gene product of structural genomics target Lmaj006129 from Leishmania major codes for a 164-residue protein of unknown function. When SeMet expression of the full-length gene product failed, several truncation variants were created with the aid of Ginzu, a domain-prediction method. 11 truncations were selected for expression, purification and crystallization based upon secondary-structure elements and disorder. The structure of one of these variants, Lmaj006129AAH, was solved by multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD)more » using ELVES, an automatic protein crystal structure-determination system. This model was then successfully used as a molecular-replacement probe for the parent full-length target, Lmaj006129AAA. The final structure of Lmaj006129AAA was refined to an R value of 0.185 (R{sub free} = 0.229) at 1.60 Å resolution. Structure and sequence comparisons based on Lmaj006129AAA suggest that proteins belonging to Pfam sequence families PF04543 and PF01878 may share a common ligand-binding motif.« less

  20. Improved Resident Adherence to AAA Screening Guidelines via an Electronic Reminder.

    PubMed

    Sypert, David; Van Dyke, Kenneth; Dhillon, Namrata; Elliott, John O; Jordan, Kim

    The 2014 United States Preventive Services Task Force systematic review found abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening decreased related mortality by close to half. Despite the simplicity of screening, research suggests poor adherence to the recommended AAA screening guidelines. Using the quality improvement plan-study-do-act cycle, we retrospectively established poor adherence to AAA screening and poor documentation of smoking history in our resident clinic. An electronic reminder was prospectively implemented into our electronic medical record (EMR) with the goal of improving screening rates. After 1 year, a retrospective chart review was conducted. Comparisons of the pre- and post-electronic reminder intervention data were made using chi-square tests and odds ratios (OR). The purposeful AAA screening rate improved 27.8% during the intervention, 40.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 28.6-52.0%) versus 12.5% (95% CI: 3.1-21.9%), p = .002, suggesting patients were more likely to be screened as a result of the electronic reminder, OR = 4.73 (95% CI: 1.77-12.65). This improvement translates to a large effect size, Cohen's d = 0.86 (95% CI: 0.31-1.40). Electronic reminders are a simple EMR addition that can provide evidence-based education while improving adherence rates with preventive health screening measures.

  1. Petit receives Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism: Response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petit, Charles W.

    2012-01-01

    Charles W. Petit, a veteran science writer, received the 2011 Robert C. Cowan Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 7 December 2011 in San Francisco, Calif. Petit covered earthquakes for the San Francisco Chronicle during the 1980s and 1990s and has recently served as "head tracker" for the Knight Science Journalism Tracker, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-based daily blog that compiles and critiques science reporting worldwide. Petit was previously honored by AGU in 2003 when he received the David Perlman Award for an article about a new finding in oceanography. The Cowan Award, named for a former science editor of the Christian Science Monitor, is given no more than every 2 years and recognizes a journalist who has made "significant, lasting, and consistent contributions to accurate reporting or writing" on the Earth and space sciences for the general public.

  2. Petit receives Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism: Citation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rademacher, Horst

    2012-01-01

    Charles W. Petit, a veteran science writer, received the 2011 Robert C. Cowan Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 7 December 2011 in San Francisco, Calif. Petit covered earthquakes for the San Francisco Chronicle during the 1980s and 1990s and has recently served as "head tracker" for the Knight Science Journalism Tracker, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-based daily blog that compiles and critiques science reporting worldwide. Petit was previously honored by AGU in 2003 when he received the David Perlman Award for an article about a new finding in oceanography. The Cowan Award, named for a former science editor of the Christian Science Monitor, is given no more than every 2 years and recognizes a journalist who has made "significant, lasting, and consistent contributions to accurate reporting or writing" on the Earth and space sciences for the general public.

  3. Persistent type II endoleak after EVAR: the predictive value of the AAA thrombus volume.

    PubMed

    Gallitto, Enrico; Gargiulo, Mauro; Mascoli, Chiara; Freyrie, Antonio; DE Matteis, Massimo; Serra, Carla; Bianchini Massoni, Claudio; Faggioli, Gianluca; Stella, Andrea

    2018-02-01

    Persistent type II endoleaks (ELIIp, ≥6 months) after an endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) can be associated with adverse outcomes. The aims of this study are the evaluation of the incidence of ELIIp, their preoperative morphological predictive features (PMF) and the post-EVAR abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) evolution in the presence of ELIIp. Patients underwent EVAR between 2008 and 2010 were prospectively collected. Cases with ELIIp (group A: AG) were identified. A control group without ELIIp (group B: BG), homogeneous for clinical characteristics, follow-up timing and methods (CTA and/or CEUS at 6.12 months and yearly thereafter) was retrospectively selected. The PMF evaluated by computed-tomography-angiography (CTA) were: AAA-diameter, number and diameter of AAA efferent patent vessels (EPV), AAA-total volume (TV), AAA-thrombus volume (THV) and TV/THV rate (%VR). Volumes were calculated by the dedicated vessels analysis software. AG and BG were compared. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the incidence of ELIIp. Secondary endpoints were to analyze the relation between PMF and ELIIp and to assess the post-EVAR AAA-evolution in the presence of ELIIp. Between 2008 and 2010, 200 patients underwent EVAR to treat AAA electively. An ELIIp was detected in 35cases (17.5%) (AG). Twenty-seven patients (13.5%) were included in BG. An overall of 62 patients (GA+GB) were analyzed. The mean pre-operative AAA diameter and EPV were 58±11.6 mm and 5.5±1.8 mm, respectively. The mean TV and THV were 187±111.5 cc and 82±75 cc, respectively. The median %VR was 42.3%. ELIIp was correlated to EPV≥6 (χ2, p=.015) and %VR <40% (logistic regression, P=0.032). The mean follow-up was 22±9 months. Seven (20%) ELIIp spontaneously sealed and 6 (17%) required reinterventions (2 conversions to OR). There were not PMF associated to ELIIp evolution and AAA growth post-EVAR. ELIIp is a not rare complication and it could require re-interventions. Our data suggest that VEP≥6 or %VT<40

  4. In response to an open invitation for comments on AAAS project 2061's Benchmark books on science. Part 1: documentation of serious errors in cell biology.

    PubMed

    Ling, Gilbert

    2006-01-01

    Project 2061 was founded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to improve secondary school science education. An in-depth study of ten 9 to 12th grade biology textbooks led to the verdict that none conveyed "Big Ideas" that would give coherence and meaning to the profusion of lavishly illustrated isolated details. However, neither the Project report itself nor the Benchmark books put out earlier by the Project carries what deserves the designation of "Big Ideas." Worse, in the two earliest-published Benchmark books, the basic unit of all life forms--the living cell--is described as a soup enclosed by a cell membrane, that determines what can enter or leave the cell. This is astonishing since extensive experimental evidence has unequivocally disproved this idea 60 years ago. A "new" version of the membrane theory brought in to replace the discredited (sieve) version is the pump model--currently taught as established truth in all high-school and college biology textbooks--was also unequivocally disproved 40 years ago. This comment is written partly in response to Bechmark's gracious open invitation for ideas to improve the books and through them, to improve US secondary school science education.

  5. Trends of Papers Published from 2006 TO 2010 IN Journals Nature and Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Sang-Chul; Kim, Seung-Lee; Kyeong, Jae-Mann; Lee, Jae-Woo; Lim, Wang-Gi; Jeon, Sung-Hyun

    2012-06-01

    We present an analysis of the papers published in the journals Nature and Science in the years from 2006 to 2010. During this period, a total of 7788 papers were published in the two journals. This includes 544 astronomy papers that comprise 7.0% of the papers in `all' research fields and 18.9% of those in the fields of `physical sciences'. The sub-fields of research of the astronomy papers are distributed, in descending order of number of papers, in Solar System, stellar astronomy, galaxies and the universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and exoplanets. The observational facilities used for the studies are mainly ground-based telescopes (31.1%), spacecrafts (27.0%), and space telescopes (22.8%), while 16.0% of papers did not use any noticeable facilities and 1.7% used other facilities. Korean scientists have published 86 papers (33 in Nature and 53 in Science), which is 1.10% of all the papers (N=7788) in the two journals. The share of papers by Korean astronomers among the scientific papers by Koreans is 8.14%, slightly higher than the contribution of astronomy papers (7.0%) in both journals.

  6. Research Trends in Science Education from 2008 to 2012: A Systematic Content Analysis of Publications in Selected Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Tzu-Chiang; Lin, Tzung-Jin; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the third study of research trends in science education. In this review, a total of 990 papers published in the "International Journal of Science Education," the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching," and "Science Education" from 2008 to 2012 were analyzed. The results indicate that in the…

  7. Ready! Aim! Fire! targeting the right medical science journal.

    PubMed

    Hardman, Timothy C; Serginson, James M

    2017-09-01

    Inadvertently submitting a paper to a journal that is unlikely to publish it is a waste of resources and ultimately delays dissemination of one's research. A high proportion of manuscripts are rejected by their author's first-choice journal. The aim of the present work was to review guidance provided within the literature for journal selection that might minimize the chance of manuscript rejection. We also consider papers that encompass more than one main medical science and describe the selection process that we used with a paper that was published in Cardiovascular Endocrinology . A database search (Embase, PubMed and Medworm) was performed for all articles published in the scientific literature providing guidance on journal selection. Articles were identified that either had journal selection as their principal topic or included journal selection as part of a broader discussion of publishing. The relative performance of four free-to-use, web-based applications that claim to provide guidance on journal selection was compared. The searches identified 286 hits, of which 249 were in English. Of these papers, 16 discussed journal selection and a further 10 articles were identified from citations within the original 16 articles. Only one article described a comprehensive model for submission decision-making. Identification of appropriate candidate journals by various web-based applications was erratic, with the Jane database providing the most robust suggestions. Our work suggests that little attention has been focused in the scientific literature on the mechanisms that authors use to select a journal for their work. Nevertheless, scientists for the most part seem to have a good sense of where their papers are most likely to be accepted. Beyond ensuring that a manuscript fulfils all the target journal's requirements, the literature suggests that it is important to have an objective view of the scientific contribution or 'value' of your work.

  8. "Political co-authorships" in medical science journals.

    PubMed

    Johal, Jaspreet; Loukas, Marios; Oskouian, Rod J; Tubbs, R Shane

    2017-09-01

    The issue of co-author relationships on medical sciences journal publications has become more pronounced as advances in technology have enabled collaboration across countries and institutions to occur much more efficiently. These relationships often have underlying political motivations and outcomes, including career advancement, attempting to increase prestige of a project, and maintaining research grants. Some authors may be listed as senior or honorary authors despite offering little or no contribution to the original research project. This may be done in an effort to enhance the gravitas of a research project, and attain publication in a highly regarded medical journal. The current review covers the topic of political co-authorship and germane literature and lists strategies to combat this phenomenon. Such co-authorship practices corrupt the integrity of the research process as they attempt to bypass the safeguard that medical journals and institutions have put in place to prevent fraud and falsification. A number of strategies have been proposed to combat the practice of co-authorship, but it may ultimately be an unavoidable feature of contemporary medical research publishing that is difficult to police. Clin. Anat. 30:831-834, 2017. © 2017Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. [Digitizing Human and Social Sciences Journals. Recent History and Perspectives].

    PubMed

    Parisot, Thomas

    2015-06-01

    Recent years have seen the emergence and the gradual rise of French journals digital offers in the fields of human and social sciences. In this article, we will both reconsider the conditions of occurrence of these services and discuss the evolution of their environment. Through the example of several emerging initiatives in the field of scientific publishing, in a context marked by continuity but also rupture, we will try to glimpse the role journals could play in the new digital world being created.

  10. Research Trends in Science Education from 2003 to 2007: A Content Analysis of Publications in Selected Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Min-Hsien; Wu, Ying-Tien; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2009-01-01

    The present study was a follow-up to Tsai and Wen's (2005) earlier research, in which 802 articles published in the "International Journal of Science Education," "Science Education," and the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching" from 1998 to 2002 were analysed in terms of author's nationality, research type, and research topic. In the present…

  11. Prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in a population undergoing computed tomography colonography in Canterbury, New Zealand.

    PubMed

    Khashram, M; Jones, G T; Roake, J A

    2015-08-01

    There is compelling level 1 evidence in support of screening men for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) to reduce AAA mortality. However, New Zealand (NZ) lacks data on AAA prevalence, and national screening has not been implemented. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of AAA in a population undergoing a computed tomography colonography (CTC) for gastrointestinal symptoms. This was an observational study; all consecutive CTCs performed in three regions of the South Island of NZ over a 4 year period were reviewed. Data on abdominal and thoracic aorta diameters ≥30 mm, and iliac and femoral aneurysms ≥20 mm were recorded. Previous aortic surgical grafts or endovascular stents were also documented. Demographics, survival, and AAA related outcomes were collected and used for analysis. Included were 4,893 scans on 4,644 patients (1,933 men [41.6%], 2,711 women [58.4%]) with a median age of 69.3 years (range 17.0-97.0 years). There were 309 scans on 289 patients (75.4% men) who had either an aneurysm or a previous aortic graft with a median age of 79.6 years (range 57.0-96.0 years). Of these, 223 had a native AAA ≥30 mm. The prevalence of AAA rose with age from 1.3% in men aged 55-64 years, to 9.1% in 65-74 year olds, 16.8% in 75-84 year olds, and 22.0% in ≥85 year olds. The corresponding figures in women were 0.4%, 2%, 3.9%, and 6.2%, respectively. In this observational study, the prevalence of AAA was high and warrants further evaluation. The results acquired help to define a population that may benefit from a national AAA screening programme. Copyright © 2015 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Peak AAA fatty acid homolog contaminants present in the dietary supplement l-Tryptophan associated with the onset of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome.

    PubMed

    Klarskov, Klaus; Gagnon, Hugo; Racine, Mathieu; Boudreault, Pierre-Luc; Normandin, Chad; Marsault, Eric; Gleich, Gerald J; Naylor, Stephen

    2018-05-22

    The eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) outbreak that occurred in the USA and elsewhere in 1989 was caused by the ingestion of Showa Denko K.K. (SD) L-tryptophan (L-Trp). "Six compounds" detected in the L-Trp were reported as case-associated contaminants. Recently the final and most statistically significant contaminant, "Peak AAA" was structurally characterized. The "compound" was actually shown to be two structural isomers resulting from condensation reactions of L-Trp with fatty acids derived from the bacterial cell membrane. They were identified as the indole C-2 anteiso (AAA 1 -343) and linear (AAA 2 -343) aliphatic chain isomers. Based on those findings, we utilized a combination of on-line HPLC-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS), as well as both precursor and product ion tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to facilitate identification of a homologous family of condensation products related to AAA 1 -343 and AAA 2 -343. We structurally characterized eight new AAA 1 -XXX/AAA 2 -XXX contaminants, where XXX represents the integer molecular ions of all the related homologs, differing by aliphatic chain length and isomer configuration. The contaminants were derived from the following fatty acids of the bacterial cell membrane, 5-methylheptanoic acid (anteiso-C8:0) for AAA 1 -315; n-octanoic acid (n-C8:0) for AAA 2 -315; 6-methyloctanoic acid (anteiso-C9:0) for AAA 1 -329; n-nonanoic acid (n-C9:0) for AAA 2 -329; 10-methyldodecanoic acid (anteiso-C13:0) for AAA 1 -385; n-tridecanoic acid (n-C13:0) for AAA 2 -385; 11-methyltridecanoic acid (anteiso-C14:0) for AAA 1 -399; and n-tetradecanoic acid (n-C14:0) for AAA 2 -399. The concentration levels for these contaminants were estimated to be 0.1-7.9 μg / 500 mg of an individual SD L-Trp tablet or capsule The structural similarity of these homologs to case-related contaminants of Spanish Toxic Oil Syndrome (TOS) is discussed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Multibands tunneling in AAA-stacked trilayer graphene

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Redouani, Ilham; Jellal, Ahmed; Bahaoui, Abdelhadi; Bahlouli, Hocine

    2018-04-01

    We study the electronic transport through np and npn junctions for AAA-stacked trilayer graphene. Two kinds of gates are considered where the first is a single gate and the second is a double gate. After obtaining the solutions for the energy spectrum, we use the transfer matrix method to determine the three transmission probabilities for each individual cone τ = 0 , ± 1 . We show that the quasiparticles in AAA-stacked trilayer graphene are not only chiral but also labeled by an additional cone index τ. The obtained bands are composed of three Dirac cones that depend on the chirality indexes. We show that there is perfect transmission for normal or near normal incidence, which is a manifestation of the Klein tunneling effect. We analyze also the corresponding total conductance, which is defined as the sum of the conductance channels in each individual cone. Our results are numerically discussed and compared with those obtained for ABA- and ABC-stacked trilayer graphene.

  14. SU-E-T-538: Evaluation of IMRT Dose Calculation Based on Pencil-Beam and AAA Algorithms.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Y; Duan, J; Popple, R; Brezovich, I

    2012-06-01

    To evaluate the accuracy of dose calculation for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) based on Pencil Beam (PB) and Analytical Anisotropic Algorithm (AAA) computation algorithms. IMRT plans of twelve patients with different treatment sites, including head/neck, lung and pelvis, were investigated. For each patient, dose calculation with PB and AAA algorithms using dose grid sizes of 0.5 mm, 0.25 mm, and 0.125 mm, were compared with composite-beam ion chamber and film measurements in patient specific QA. Discrepancies between the calculation and the measurement were evaluated by percentage error for ion chamber dose and γ〉l failure rate in gamma analysis (3%/3mm) for film dosimetry. For 9 patients, ion chamber dose calculated with AAA-algorithms is closer to ion chamber measurement than that calculated with PB algorithm with grid size of 2.5 mm, though all calculated ion chamber doses are within 3% of the measurements. For head/neck patients and other patients with large treatment volumes, γ〉l failure rate is significantly reduced (within 5%) with AAA-based treatment planning compared to generally more than 10% with PB-based treatment planning (grid size=2.5 mm). For lung and brain cancer patients with medium and small treatment volumes, γ〉l failure rates are typically within 5% for both AAA and PB-based treatment planning (grid size=2.5 mm). For both PB and AAA-based treatment planning, improvements of dose calculation accuracy with finer dose grids were observed in film dosimetry of 11 patients and in ion chamber measurements for 3 patients. AAA-based treatment planning provides more accurate dose calculation for head/neck patients and other patients with large treatment volumes. Compared with film dosimetry, a γ〉l failure rate within 5% can be achieved for AAA-based treatment planning. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  15. Journal of Teaching in Marriage and Family: Innovations in Family Science Education. Archival Print Edition, 2001.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gentry, Deborah, Ed.

    2002-01-01

    This document comprises the archival print edition of the first volume of a quarterly electronic journal providing a forum for information on leading-edge teaching innovations and research findings in the field of family science. The foci of the journal are the family science curriculum, instruction issues, evaluation and assessment, and…

  16. Structural Insights into the Allosteric Operation of the Lon AAA+ Protease.

    PubMed

    Lin, Chien-Chu; Su, Shih-Chieh; Su, Ming-Yuan; Liang, Pi-Hui; Feng, Chia-Cheng; Wu, Shih-Hsiung; Chang, Chung-I

    2016-05-03

    The Lon AAA+ protease (LonA) is an evolutionarily conserved protease that couples the ATPase cycle into motion to drive substrate translocation and degradation. A hallmark feature shared by AAA+ proteases is the stimulation of ATPase activity by substrates. Here we report the structure of LonA bound to three ADPs, revealing the first AAA+ protease assembly where the six protomers are arranged alternately in nucleotide-free and bound states. Nucleotide binding induces large coordinated movements of conserved pore loops from two pairs of three non-adjacent protomers and shuttling of the proteolytic groove between the ATPase site and a previously unknown Arg paddle. Structural and biochemical evidence supports the roles of the substrate-bound proteolytic groove in allosteric stimulation of ATPase activity and the conserved Arg paddle in driving substrate degradation. Altogether, this work provides a molecular framework for understanding how ATP-dependent chemomechanical movements drive allosteric processes for substrate degradation in a major protein-destruction machine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Information sources in biomedical science and medical journalism: methodological approaches and assessment.

    PubMed

    Miranda, Giovanna F; Vercellesi, Luisa; Bruno, Flavia

    2004-09-01

    Throughout the world the public is showing increasing interest in medical and scientific subjects and journalists largely spread this information, with an important impact on knowledge and health. Clearly, therefore, the relationship between the journalist and his sources is delicate: freedom and independence of information depend on the independence and truthfulness of the sources. The new "precision journalism" holds that scientific methods should be applied to journalism, so authoritative sources are a common need for journalists and scientists. We therefore compared the individual classifications and methods of assessing of sources in biomedical science and medical journalism to try to extrapolate scientific methods of evaluation to journalism. In journalism and science terms used to classify sources of information show some similarities, but their meanings are different. In science primary and secondary classes of information, for instance, refer to the levels of processing, but in journalism to the official nature of the source itself. Scientists and journalists must both always consult as many sources as possible and check their authoritativeness, reliability, completeness, up-to-dateness and balance. In journalism, however, there are some important differences and limits: too many sources can sometimes diminish the quality of the information. The sources serve a first filter between the event and the journalist, who is not providing the reader with the fact, but with its projection. Journalists have time constraints and lack the objective criteria for searching, the specific background knowledge, and the expertise to fully assess sources. To assist in understanding the wealth of sources of information in journalism, we have prepared a checklist of items and questions. There are at least four fundamental points that a good journalist, like any scientist, should know: how to find the latest information (the sources), how to assess it (the quality and

  18. A pull-back algorithm to determine the unloaded vascular geometry in anisotropic hyperelastic AAA passive mechanics.

    PubMed

    Riveros, Fabián; Chandra, Santanu; Finol, Ender A; Gasser, T Christian; Rodriguez, Jose F

    2013-04-01

    Biomechanical studies on abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) seek to provide for better decision criteria to undergo surgical intervention for AAA repair. More accurate results can be obtained by using appropriate material models for the tissues along with accurate geometric models and more realistic boundary conditions for the lesion. However, patient-specific AAA models are generated from gated medical images in which the artery is under pressure. Therefore, identification of the AAA zero pressure geometry would allow for a more realistic estimate of the aneurysmal wall mechanics. This study proposes a novel iterative algorithm to find the zero pressure geometry of patient-specific AAA models. The methodology allows considering the anisotropic hyperelastic behavior of the aortic wall, its thickness and accounts for the presence of the intraluminal thrombus. Results on 12 patient-specific AAA geometric models indicate that the procedure is computational tractable and efficient, and preserves the global volume of the model. In addition, a comparison of the peak wall stress computed with the zero pressure and CT-based geometries during systole indicates that computations using CT-based geometric models underestimate the peak wall stress by 59 ± 64 and 47 ± 64 kPa for the isotropic and anisotropic material models of the arterial wall, respectively.

  19. Science Outreach through Art: A Journal Article Cover Gallery

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCullough, Ian

    2015-01-01

    Research faculty journal covers were used to create a gallery in the Science & Technology branch library at the University of Akron. The selection, presentation, and promotion process is shared along with copyright considerations and a review of galleries used for library outreach. The event and display was a great success attracting faculty…

  20. Rubisco Activases: AAA+ Chaperones Adapted to Enzyme Repair

    PubMed Central

    Bhat, Javaid Y.; Thieulin-Pardo, Gabriel; Hartl, F. Ulrich; Hayer-Hartl, Manajit

    2017-01-01

    Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), the key enzyme of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle of photosynthesis, requires conformational repair by Rubisco activase for efficient function. Rubisco mediates the fixation of atmospheric CO2 by catalyzing the carboxylation of the five-carbon sugar ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP). It is a remarkably inefficient enzyme, and efforts to increase crop yields by bioengineering Rubisco remain unsuccessful. This is due in part to the complex cellular machinery required for Rubisco biogenesis and metabolic maintenance. To function, Rubisco must undergo an activation process that involves carboxylation of an active site lysine by a non-substrate CO2 molecule and binding of a Mg2+ ion. Premature binding of the substrate RuBP results in an inactive enzyme. Moreover, Rubisco can also be inhibited by a range of sugar phosphates, some of which are “misfire” products of its multistep catalytic reaction. The release of the inhibitory sugar molecule is mediated by the AAA+ protein Rubisco activase (Rca), which couples hydrolysis of ATP to the structural remodeling of Rubisco. Rca enzymes are found in the vast majority of photosynthetic organisms, from bacteria to higher plants. They share a canonical AAA+ domain architecture and form six-membered ring complexes but are diverse in sequence and mechanism, suggesting their convergent evolution. In this review, we discuss recent advances in understanding the structure and function of this important group of client-specific AAA+ proteins. PMID:28443288

  1. Rubisco Activases: AAA+ Chaperones Adapted to Enzyme Repair.

    PubMed

    Bhat, Javaid Y; Thieulin-Pardo, Gabriel; Hartl, F Ulrich; Hayer-Hartl, Manajit

    2017-01-01

    Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), the key enzyme of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle of photosynthesis, requires conformational repair by Rubisco activase for efficient function. Rubisco mediates the fixation of atmospheric CO 2 by catalyzing the carboxylation of the five-carbon sugar ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP). It is a remarkably inefficient enzyme, and efforts to increase crop yields by bioengineering Rubisco remain unsuccessful. This is due in part to the complex cellular machinery required for Rubisco biogenesis and metabolic maintenance. To function, Rubisco must undergo an activation process that involves carboxylation of an active site lysine by a non-substrate CO 2 molecule and binding of a Mg 2+ ion. Premature binding of the substrate RuBP results in an inactive enzyme. Moreover, Rubisco can also be inhibited by a range of sugar phosphates, some of which are "misfire" products of its multistep catalytic reaction. The release of the inhibitory sugar molecule is mediated by the AAA+ protein Rubisco activase (Rca), which couples hydrolysis of ATP to the structural remodeling of Rubisco. Rca enzymes are found in the vast majority of photosynthetic organisms, from bacteria to higher plants. They share a canonical AAA+ domain architecture and form six-membered ring complexes but are diverse in sequence and mechanism, suggesting their convergent evolution. In this review, we discuss recent advances in understanding the structure and function of this important group of client-specific AAA+ proteins.

  2. Determining the influence of calcification on the failure properties of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) tissue.

    PubMed

    O'Leary, Siobhan A; Mulvihill, John J; Barrett, Hilary E; Kavanagh, Eamon G; Walsh, Michael T; McGloughlin, Tim M; Doyle, Barry J

    2015-02-01

    Varying degrees of calcification are present in most abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). However, their impact on AAA failure properties and AAA rupture risk is unclear. The aim of this work is evaluate and compare the failure properties of partially calcified and predominantly fibrous AAA tissue and investigate the potential reasons for failure. Uniaxial mechanical testing was performed on AAA samples harvested from 31 patients undergoing open surgical repair. Individual tensile samples were divided into two groups: fibrous (n=31) and partially calcified (n=38). The presence of calcification was confirmed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A total of 69 mechanical tests were performed and the failure stretch (λf), failure stress (σf) and failure tension (Tf) were recorded for each test. Following mechanical testing, the failure sites of a subset of both tissue types were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to investigate the potential reasons for failure. It has been shown that the failure properties of partially calcified tissue are significantly reduced compared to fibrous tissue and SEM and EDS results suggest that the junction between a calcification deposit and the fibrous matrix is highly susceptible to failure. This study implicates the presence of calcification as a key player in AAA rupture risk and provides further motivation for the development of non-invasive methods of measuring calcification. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Inequality in societies, academic institutions and science journals: Gini and k-indices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghosh, Asim; Chattopadhyay, Nachiketa; Chakrabarti, Bikas K.

    2014-09-01

    Social inequality is traditionally measured by the Gini-index (g). The g-index takes values from 0 to 1 where g=0 represents complete equality and g=1 represents complete inequality. Most of the estimates of the income or wealth data indicate the g value to be widely dispersed across the countries of the world: g values typically range from 0.30 to 0.65 at a particular time (year). We estimated similarly the Gini-index for the citations earned by the yearly publications of various academic institutions and the science journals. The ISI web of science data suggests remarkably strong inequality and universality (g=0.70±0.07) across all the universities and institutions of the world, while for the journals we find g=0.65±0.15 for any typical year. We define a new inequality measure, namely the k-index, saying that the cumulative income or citations of (1-k) fraction of people or papers exceed those earned by the fraction (k) of the people or publications respectively. We find, while the k-index value for income ranges from 0.60 to 0.75 for income distributions across the world, it has a value around 0.75±0.05 for different universities and institutions across the world and around 0.77±0.10 for the science journals. Apart from above indices, we also analyze the same institution and journal citation data by measuring Pietra index and median index.

  4. National dosimetric audit network finds discrepancies in AAA lung inhomogeneity corrections.

    PubMed

    Dunn, Leon; Lehmann, Joerg; Lye, Jessica; Kenny, John; Kron, Tomas; Alves, Andrew; Cole, Andrew; Zifodya, Jackson; Williams, Ivan

    2015-07-01

    This work presents the Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service's (ACDS) findings of an investigation of systematic discrepancies between treatment planning system (TPS) calculated and measured audit doses. Specifically, a comparison between the Anisotropic Analytic Algorithm (AAA) and other common dose-calculation algorithms in regions downstream (≥2cm) from low-density material in anthropomorphic and slab phantom geometries is presented. Two measurement setups involving rectilinear slab-phantoms (ACDS Level II audit) and anthropomorphic geometries (ACDS Level III audit) were used in conjunction with ion chamber (planar 2D array and Farmer-type) measurements. Measured doses were compared to calculated doses for a variety of cases, with and without the presence of inhomogeneities and beam-modifiers in 71 audits. Results demonstrate a systematic AAA underdose with an average discrepancy of 2.9 ± 1.2% when the AAA algorithm is implemented in regions distal from lung-tissue interfaces, when lateral beams are used with anthropomorphic phantoms. This systemic discrepancy was found for all Level III audits of facilities using the AAA algorithm. This discrepancy is not seen when identical measurements are compared for other common dose-calculation algorithms (average discrepancy -0.4 ± 1.7%), including the Acuros XB algorithm also available with the Eclipse TPS. For slab phantom geometries (Level II audits), with similar measurement points downstream from inhomogeneities this discrepancy is also not seen. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Twenty-five years of sport performance research in the Journal of Sports Sciences.

    PubMed

    Nevill, Alan; Atkinson, Greg; Hughes, Mike

    2008-02-15

    In this historical review covering the past 25 years, we reflect on the content of manuscripts relevant to the Sport Performance section of the Journal of Sports Sciences. Due to the wide diversity of sport performance research, the remit of the Sport Performance section has been broad and includes mathematical and statistical evaluation of competitive sports performances, match- and notation-analysis, talent identification, training and selection or team organization. In addition, due to the academic interests of its section editors, they adopted a quality-assurance role for the Sport Performance section, invariably communicated through key editorials that subsequently shaped the editorial policy of the Journal. Key high-impact manuscripts are discussed, providing readers with some insight into what might lead an article to become a citation "classic". Finally, landmark articles in the areas of "science and football" and "notation analysis" are highlighted, providing further insight into how such articles have contributed to the development of sport performance research in general and the Journal of Sports Sciences in particular.

  6. High-ranked social science journal articles can be identified from early citation information.

    PubMed

    Stern, David I

    2014-01-01

    Do citations accumulate too slowly in the social sciences to be used to assess the quality of recent articles? I investigate whether this is the case using citation data for all articles in economics and political science published in 2006 and indexed in the Web of Science. I find that citations in the first two years after publication explain more than half of the variation in cumulative citations received over a longer period. Journal impact factors improve the correlation between the predicted and actual future ranks of journal articles when using citation data from 2006 alone but the effect declines sharply thereafter. Finally, more than half of the papers in the top 20% in 2012 were already in the top 20% in the year of publication (2006).

  7. Dental sciences related articles data published in a Basic Medical Sciences Journal from Iran.

    PubMed

    Shamim, Thorakkal

    2018-04-01

    This data aimed to audit the dental sciences related articles published in Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences (IJBMS) from 2007 to 2015 over a 9 year period performed using web-based search. The data were analyzed for topic of dental sciences, type of article, international collaborations, source of funding, number of authors and authorship trends. Out of the total 18 data related to dental sciences, original articles (12), review articles (4) and short communications (2) contribute the major share. Regarding the relationship with dental sciences, the maximum number of data were related to oral pathology and microbiology (16) followed by oral medicine and radiology (7) and periodontics (7). Among the data related to dental sciences, oral cancer (3) and gingival and periodontal diseases (3) followed by dental plaque and caries (2) and orthodontic tooth movement (2) form the major attraction of the contributors. The largest numbers of data related to dental sciences were received from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad (4) and Tehran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran (2).The present data were compared with previous bibliometric studies done related to dental sciences (Shamim et al., 2017a, 2017b).

  8. Teaching and Assessing the Nature of Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clough, Michael P.

    2011-01-01

    Understanding the nature of science (NOS)--what science is and how it works, the assumptions that underlie scientific knowledge, how scientists function as a social group, and how society impacts and reacts to science--is prominent in science education reform documents (Rutherford and Ahlgren 1990; AAAS 1993; McComas and Olson 1998; NRC 1996; AAAS…

  9. Factors in Science Journal Cancellation Projects: The Roles of Faculty Consultations and Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williamson, Jeanine; Fernandez, Peter; Dixon, Lana

    2014-01-01

    The economic downturn of 2007-08 forced many academic libraries in the United States to cancel journals. We surveyed life sciences librarians from ARL libraries to find out about their experiences with journal cancellations during 2008-12. Overall, we discovered that two factors were essential in decision-making: faculty consultations and data.…

  10. If We Teach Them, They Can Learn: Young Students Views of Nature of Science during an Informal Science Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Quigley, Cassie; Pongsanon, Khemmawadee; Akerson, Valarie L.

    2011-01-01

    There have been substantial reform efforts in science education to improve students' understandings of science and its processes and provide continual support for students becoming scientifically literate (AAAS, "Benchmarks for science literacy," Oxford University Press, New York, 1993; NRC, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996; NSTA,…

  11. Teaching Teachers: Bringing First-Rate Science to the Elementary Classroom. An NSTA Press Journals Collection.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Betty, Ed.

    This document presents a collection of papers published in the "Teaching Teachers" column in the elementary-level journal, "Science and Children." Contents include: (1) "Science is Part of the Big Picture: Teachers Become Science Learners" (Anita Greenwood); (2) "Reaching the Reluctant Science Teacher: Learning How To Teach Inquiry-Based Science"…

  12. Increased AAA-TOB3 correlates with lymph node metastasis and advanced stage of lung adenocarcinoma.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yanfeng; Bu, Lina; Li, Wei; Wu, Wei; Wang, Shengyu; Diao, Xin; Zhou, Jing; Chen, Guoan; Yang, Shuanying

    2017-07-24

    This study was to investigate the differential mitochondrial protein expressions in human lung adenocarcinoma and provide preliminary data for further exploration of the carcinogenic mechanism. Total proteins of A549 and 16HBE mitochondria were extracted through 2D polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The differential mitochondria proteins were identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and were further confirmed by Western blot, immunoelectron microscopy and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in A549 cells as well as lung adenocarcinoma tissues. A total of 41 differentially expressed protein spots were found in A549 mitochondria. Of them, 15 proteins were highly expressed and 26 proteins were lowly expressed in the mitochondria of A549 (by more than 1.5 times). Among the 15 more highly expressed proteins, AAA-TOB3 (by more than 3 times) was highly expressed in the mitochondria of A549 compared with the 16HBE, by LC-MS/MS identification. High electron density and clear circular colloidal gold-marked AAA-TOB3 particles were observed in the A549 cells via immunoelectron microscopy. Besides, AAA-TOB3 was confirmed to be elevated in lung adenocarcinoma by Western blot and IHC. Moreover, increased AAA-TOB3 correlated with lymph node metastasis and advanced stage of lung adenocarcinoma (p<0.05). AAA-TOB3 was highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma, and the up-regulation of AAA-TOB3 correlated with lymph node metastasis and advanced stage of lung adenocarcinoma, which suggested that it could serve as a potential molecular marker for lung adenocarcinoma.

  13. Engineering Silicone Rubbers for In vitro Studies: Creating AAA Models and ILT Analogues with Physiological Properties

    PubMed Central

    Corbett, T.J.; Doyle, B.J.; Callanan, A.; Walsh, M.T.; McGloughlin, T.M

    2010-01-01

    Background In vitro studies of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) have been widely reported. Frequently mock artery models with intraluminal thrombus (ILT) analogues are used to mimic the AAA in vivo. While the models used may be physiological, their properties are frequently either not reported or investigated. Method of Approach This study is concerned with the testing and characterisation of previously used vessel analogue materials and the development of new materials for the manufacture of AAA models. These materials were used in conjunction with a previously validated injection moulding technique to manufacture AAA models of ideal geometry. To determine the model properties (stiffness (β) and compliance) the diameter change of each AAA model was investigated under incrementally increasing internal pressures and compared to published in vivo studies to determine if the models behaved physiologically. A FEA study was implemented to determine if the pressure – diameter change behaviour of the models could be predicted numerically. ILT analogues were also manufactured and characterised. Ideal models were manufactured with ILT analogue internal to the aneurysm region and the effect of the ILT analogue on the model compliance and stiffness was investigated. Results The wall materials had similar properties to aortic tissue at physiological pressures (Einit 2.22MPa and 1.57MPa (aortic tissue: 1.8MPa)). ILT analogues had similar Young’s modulus to the medial layer of ILT (0.24 and 0.33MPa (ILT: 0.28MPa)). All models had aneurysm sac compliance in the physiological range (2.62 – 8.01×10-4/mmHg (AAA in vivo: 1.8 – 9.4×10-4/mmHg)). The necks of our AAA models had similar stiffness to healthy aortas (20.44 – 29.83 (healthy aortas in vivo: 17.5±5.5)). Good agreement was seen between the diameter changes due to pressurisation in the experimental and FEA wall models with a maximum error of 7.3% at 120mmHg. It was also determined that the inclusion of ILT analogue

  14. Inclusion of policies on ethical standards in animal experiments in biomedical science journals.

    PubMed

    Rands, Sean A

    2011-11-01

    Most published biomedical research involving animal models is evaluated carefully to ensure that appropriate ethical standards are met. In the current study, 500 journals randomly selected from MedLine were assessed for whether they presented animal research. Of the 138 journals that did, the instructions to authors of 85 (61.6%) included a requirement for author assurance of adherence to ethical standards during experiments involving animals. In comparison to a wider range of biologic journals, biomedical science journals were more likely to have some sort of ethical policy concerning the reporting and presentation of animal experiments.

  15. Ready! Aim! Fire! targeting the right medical science journal

    PubMed Central

    Serginson, James M.

    2017-01-01

    Objective Inadvertently submitting a paper to a journal that is unlikely to publish it is a waste of resources and ultimately delays dissemination of one’s research. A high proportion of manuscripts are rejected by their author’s first-choice journal. The aim of the present work was to review guidance provided within the literature for journal selection that might minimize the chance of manuscript rejection. We also consider papers that encompass more than one main medical science and describe the selection process that we used with a paper that was published in Cardiovascular Endocrinology. Methods A database search (Embase, PubMed and Medworm) was performed for all articles published in the scientific literature providing guidance on journal selection. Articles were identified that either had journal selection as their principal topic or included journal selection as part of a broader discussion of publishing. The relative performance of four free-to-use, web-based applications that claim to provide guidance on journal selection was compared. Results The searches identified 286 hits, of which 249 were in English. Of these papers, 16 discussed journal selection and a further 10 articles were identified from citations within the original 16 articles. Only one article described a comprehensive model for submission decision-making. Identification of appropriate candidate journals by various web-based applications was erratic, with the Jane database providing the most robust suggestions. Conclusion Our work suggests that little attention has been focused in the scientific literature on the mechanisms that authors use to select a journal for their work. Nevertheless, scientists for the most part seem to have a good sense of where their papers are most likely to be accepted. Beyond ensuring that a manuscript fulfils all the target journal’s requirements, the literature suggests that it is important to have an objective view of the scientific contribution or

  16. Bibliometric Indicators of Russian Journals by JCR-Science Edition, 1995-2010

    PubMed Central

    Libkind, A.N.; Markusova, V.A.; Mindeli, L.E.

    2013-01-01

    A representative empirical bibliometric analysis of Russian journals included in the Journal Citation Reports-Science Edition (JCR-SE) for the time period 1995–2010 was conducted at the macro level (excluding the subject categories). It was found that the growth in the number of articles covered by JCR (a 1.8-fold increase compared to 1995) is ahead of the growth rates of Russian publications (1.2-fold increase). Hence, the share of Russian articles covered by JCR-SE was down from 2.5% in 1995 to 1.7% in 2010. It was determined that the number of articles published in an average Russian journal reduced by 20% as compared to the number of articles in an average journal of the full data set. These facts could partly shed light on the question why Russian research performance is staggering (approximately 30,000 articles per year), although the coverage of Russian journals has expanded to 150 titles. Over the past 15 years, a twofold increase in the impact factor of the Russian journals has been observed, which is higher than that for the full data set of journals (a 1.4-fold increase). Measures to improve the quality of Russian journals are proposed. PMID:24303198

  17. Bibliometric Indicators of Russian Journals by JCR-Science Edition, 1995-2010.

    PubMed

    Libkind, A N; Markusova, V A; Mindeli, L E

    2013-07-01

    A representative empirical bibliometric analysis of Russian journals included in the Journal Citation Reports-Science Edition (JCR-SE) for the time period 1995-2010 was conducted at the macro level (excluding the subject categories). It was found that the growth in the number of articles covered by JCR (a 1.8-fold increase compared to 1995) is ahead of the growth rates of Russian publications (1.2-fold increase). Hence, the share of Russian articles covered by JCR-SE was down from 2.5% in 1995 to 1.7% in 2010. It was determined that the number of articles published in an average Russian journal reduced by 20% as compared to the number of articles in an average journal of the full data set. These facts could partly shed light on the question why Russian research performance is staggering (approximately 30,000 articles per year), although the coverage of Russian journals has expanded to 150 titles. Over the past 15 years, a twofold increase in the impact factor of the Russian journals has been observed, which is higher than that for the full data set of journals (a 1.4-fold increase). Measures to improve the quality of Russian journals are proposed.

  18. Introducing AAA-MS, a rapid and sensitive method for amino acid analysis using isotope dilution and high-resolution mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Louwagie, Mathilde; Kieffer-Jaquinod, Sylvie; Dupierris, Véronique; Couté, Yohann; Bruley, Christophe; Garin, Jérôme; Dupuis, Alain; Jaquinod, Michel; Brun, Virginie

    2012-07-06

    Accurate quantification of pure peptides and proteins is essential for biotechnology, clinical chemistry, proteomics, and systems biology. The reference method to quantify peptides and proteins is amino acid analysis (AAA). This consists of an acidic hydrolysis followed by chromatographic separation and spectrophotometric detection of amino acids. Although widely used, this method displays some limitations, in particular the need for large amounts of starting material. Driven by the need to quantify isotope-dilution standards used for absolute quantitative proteomics, particularly stable isotope-labeled (SIL) peptides and PSAQ proteins, we developed a new AAA assay (AAA-MS). This method requires neither derivatization nor chromatographic separation of amino acids. It is based on rapid microwave-assisted acidic hydrolysis followed by high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis of amino acids. Quantification is performed by comparing MS signals from labeled amino acids (SIL peptide- and PSAQ-derived) with those of unlabeled amino acids originating from co-hydrolyzed NIST standard reference materials. For both SIL peptides and PSAQ standards, AAA-MS quantification results were consistent with classical AAA measurements. Compared to AAA assay, AAA-MS was much faster and was 100-fold more sensitive for peptide and protein quantification. Finally, thanks to the development of a labeled protein standard, we also extended AAA-MS analysis to the quantification of unlabeled proteins.

  19. High-Ranked Social Science Journal Articles Can Be Identified from Early Citation Information

    PubMed Central

    Stern, David I.

    2014-01-01

    Do citations accumulate too slowly in the social sciences to be used to assess the quality of recent articles? I investigate whether this is the case using citation data for all articles in economics and political science published in 2006 and indexed in the Web of Science. I find that citations in the first two years after publication explain more than half of the variation in cumulative citations received over a longer period. Journal impact factors improve the correlation between the predicted and actual future ranks of journal articles when using citation data from 2006 alone but the effect declines sharply thereafter. Finally, more than half of the papers in the top 20% in 2012 were already in the top 20% in the year of publication (2006). PMID:25390035

  20. Crème de la crème in forensic science and legal medicine. The most highly cited articles, authors and journals 1981-2003.

    PubMed

    Jones, Alan Wayne

    2005-03-01

    The importance and prestige of a scientific journal is increasingly being judged by the number of times the articles it publishes are cited or referenced in articles published in other scientific journals. Citation counting is also used to assess the merits of individual scientists when academic promotion and tenure are decided. With the help of Thomson, Institute for Scientific Information (Thomson ISI) a citation database was created for six leading forensic science and legal medicine journals. This database was used to determine the most highly cited articles, authors, journals and the most prolific authors of articles in the forensic sciences. The forensic science and legal medicine journals evaluated were: Journal of Forensic Sciences (JFS), Forensic Science International (FSI), International Journal of Legal Medicine (IJLM), Medicine, Science and the Law (MSL), American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology (AJFMP), and Science and Justice (S&J). The resulting forensics database contained 14,210 papers published between 1981 and 2003. This in-depth bibliometric analysis has identified the creme de la creme in forensic science and legal medicine in a quantitative and objective way by citation analysis with focus on articles, authors and journals.

  1. Molecular insights into the m-AAA protease-mediated dislocation of transmembrane helices in the mitochondrial inner membrane.

    PubMed

    Lee, Seoeun; Lee, Hunsang; Yoo, Suji; Kim, Hyun

    2017-12-08

    Protein complexes involved in respiration, ATP synthesis, and protein import reside in the mitochondrial inner membrane; thus, proper regulation of these proteins is essential for cell viability. The m -AAA protease, a conserved hetero-hexameric AAA (ATPase associated with diverse cellular activities) protease, composed of the Yta10 and Yta12 proteins, regulates mitochondrial proteostasis by mediating protein maturation and degradation. It also recognizes and mediates the dislocation of membrane-embedded substrates, including foreign transmembrane (TM) segments, but the molecular mechanism involved in these processes remains elusive. This study investigated the role of the TM domains in the m -AAA protease by systematic replacement of one TM domain at a time in yeast. Our data indicated that replacement of the Yta10 TM2 domain abolishes membrane dislocation for only a subset of substrates, whereas replacement of the Yta12 TM2 domain impairs membrane dislocation for all tested substrates, suggesting different roles of the TM domains in each m -AAA protease subunit. Furthermore, m -AAA protease-mediated membrane dislocation was impaired in the presence of a large downstream hydrophilic moiety in a membrane substrate. This finding suggested that the m -AAA protease cannot dislocate large hydrophilic domains across the membrane, indicating that the membrane dislocation probably occurs in a lipid environment. In summary, this study highlights previously underappreciated biological roles of TM domains of the m -AAA proteases in mediating the recognition and dislocation of membrane-embedded substrates. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  2. SU-F-T-609: Impact of Dosimetric Variation for Prescription Dose Using Analytical Anisotropic Algorithm (AAA) in Lung SBRT

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kawai, D; Takahashi, R; Kamima, T

    Purpose: Actual irradiated prescription dose to patients cannot be verified. Thus, independent dose verification and second treatment planning system are used as the secondary check. AAA dose calculation engine has contributed to lung SBRT. We conducted a multi-institutional study to assess variation of prescription dose for lung SBRT when using AAA in reference to using Acuros XB and Clarkson algorithm. Methods: Six institutes in Japan participated in this study. All SBRT treatments were planed using AAA in Eclipse and Adaptive Convolve (AC) in Pinnacle3. All of the institutes used a same independent dose verification software program (Simple MU Analysis: SMU,more » Triangle Product, Ishikawa, Japan), which implemented a Clarkson-based dose calculation algorithm using CT image dataset. A retrospective analysis for lung SBRT plans (73 patients) was performed to compute the confidence limit (CL, Average±2SD) in dose between the AAA and the SMU. In one of the institutes, a additional analysis was conducted to evaluate the variations between the AAA and the Acuros XB (AXB). Results: The CL for SMU shows larger systematic and random errors of 8.7±9.9 % for AAA than the errors of 5.7±4.2 % for AC. The variations of AAA correlated with the mean CT values in the voxels of PTV (a correlation coefficient : −0.7) . The comparison of AXB vs. AAA shows smaller systematic and random errors of −0.7±1.7%. The correlation between dose variations for AXB and the mean CT values in PTV was weak (0.4). However, there were several plans with more than 2% deviation of AAPM TG114 (Maximum: −3.3 %). Conclusion: In comparison for AC, prescription dose calculated by AAA may be more variable in lung SBRT patient. Even AXB comparison shows unexpected variation. Care should be taken for the use of AAA in lung SBRT. This research is partially supported by Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)« less

  3. Increased galectin-3 levels are associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm progression and inhibition of galectin-3 decreases elastase-induced AAA development.

    PubMed

    Fernandez-García, Carlos-Ernesto; Tarin, Carlos; Roldan-Montero, Raquel; Martinez-Lopez, Diego; Torres-Fonseca, Monica; Lindhot, Jes S; Vega de Ceniga, Melina; Egido, Jesus; Lopez-Andres, Natalia; Blanco-Colio, Luis-Miguel; Martín-Ventura, Jose-Luis

    2017-11-15

    Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) evolution is unpredictable and no specific treatment exists for AAA, except surgery to prevent aortic rupture. Galectin-3 has been previously associated with CVD, but its potential role in AAA has not been addressed. Galectin-3 levels were increased in the plasma of AAA patients ( n =225) compared with the control group ( n =100). In addition, galectin-3 concentrations were associated with the need for surgical repair, independently of potential confounding factors. Galectin-3 mRNA and protein expression were increased in human AAA samples compared with healthy aortas. Experimental AAA in mice was induced via aortic elastase perfusion. Mice were treated intravenously with the galectin-3 inhibitor modified citrus pectin (MCP, 10 mg/kg, every other day) or saline. Similar to humans, galectin-3 serum and aortic mRNA levels were also increased in elastase-induced AAA mice compared with control mice. Mice treated with MCP showed decreased aortic dilation, as well as elastin degradation, vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) loss, and macrophage content at day 14 postelastase perfusion compared with control mice. The underlying mechanism(s) of the protective effect of MCP was associated with a decrease in galectin-3 and cytokine (mainly CCL5) mRNA and protein expression. Interestingly, galectin-3 induced CCL5 expression by a mechanism involving STAT3 activation in VSMC. Accordingly, MCP treatment decreased STAT3 phosphorylation in elastase-induced AAA. In conclusion, increased galectin-3 levels are associated with AAA progression, while galectin-3 inhibition decreased experimental AAA development. Our data suggest the potential role of galectin-3 as a therapeutic target in AAA. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

  4. Prevalence of previously undiagnosed abdominal aortic aneurysms in the area of Como: the ComoCuore "looking for AAA" ultrasonography screening.

    PubMed

    Corrado, Giovanni; Durante, Alessandro; Genchi, Vincenzo; Trabattoni, Loris; Beretta, Sandro; Rovelli, Enza; Foglia-Manzillo, Giovanni; Ferrari, Giovanni

    2016-08-01

    The prognosis for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture is poor. Long-term follow-up of population-based randomized trials has demonstrated that ultrasound (US) screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) measuring 3 cm or greater decreases AAA-related mortality rates and is cost-effective. We though to prospectively perform during a 26-month period a limited US examination of the infrarenal aorta in volunteers of both gender aged 60-85 years without history of AAA living in the area of Como, Italy. From September 2010 to November 2013 ComoCuore, a no-profit nongovernmental association, enrolled 1555 people (aged 68.8 ± 6.8 years; 48.6 % males). Clinical data and a US imaging of the aorta were collected for each participant. AAA was found in 22 volunteers (1.4 %) mainly males (2.5 % in males vs. 0.4 % in females p = 0.005). Overall, the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was higher in patients with vs. without AAA (mean 2.9 ± 3.0 vs. 1.4 ± 1.0 respectively, p < 0.0001). Independent predictors of AAA on multivariate analysis were age (OR 1.14, 1.06-1.22; p < 0.0001), male gender (OR 8.23, 1.79-37.91; p = 0.007), and both current (OR 4.98, 1.57-15.79; p = 0.007) and previous smoking (OR 2.76, 1.12-8.94; p = 0.03). Our study confirms the feasibility of one time US screening for AAA in a large cohort of asymptomatic people. Independent predictors of AAA were male sex, older age and a history of smoking. Accordingly to recent data the prevalence of AAA seems to be declining, maybe due to a reduction of smoking in Italy.

  5. HTTP as a Data Access Protocol: Trials with XrootD in CMS’s AAA Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Balcas, J.; Bockelman, B. P.; Kcira, D.; Newman, H.; Vlimant, J.; Hendricks, T. W.; CMS Collaboration

    2017-10-01

    The main goal of the project to demonstrate the ability of using HTTP data federations in a manner analogous to the existing AAA infrastructure of the CMS experiment. An initial testbed at Caltech has been built and changes in the CMS software (CMSSW) are being implemented in order to improve HTTP support. The testbed consists of a set of machines at the Caltech Tier2 that improve the support infrastructure for data federations at CMS. As a first step, we are building systems that produce and ingest network data transfers up to 80 Gbps. In collaboration with AAA, HTTP support is enabled at the US redirector and the Caltech testbed. A plugin for CMSSW is being developed for HTTP access based on the DaviX software. It will replace the present fork/exec or curl for HTTP access. In addition, extensions to the XRootD HTTP implementation are being developed to add functionality to it, such as client-based monitoring identifiers. In the future, patches will be developed to better integrate HTTP-over-XRootD with the Open Science Grid (OSG) distribution. First results of the transfer tests using HTTP are presented in this paper together with details about the initial setup.

  6. Science Education Resource Assistant for Science Teachers. [CD- ROM].

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education, Columbus, OH.

    This CD-ROM provides a collection of Internet resources as well as K-16 related science materials and is divided into two sections. "Online Resources" includes information on the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), National Standards, AAAS Project 2061 Resources, U.S. Department of Education, Third International Mathematics…

  7. Best Practices in Civic Education: Lessons from the "Journal of Political Science Education"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bennion, Elizabeth A.; Laughlin, Xander E.

    2018-01-01

    The "Journal of Political Science Education (JPSE)" provides over a decade of research on political science pedagogy, featuring empirical research documenting best practices in the field. This article provides an overview of "JPSE"-published research on the topics of civic education and engagement. It summarizes the number and…

  8. Can a Spanish science education journal become international? the case of Enseñanza de las Ciencias

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Espinet, Mariona; Izquierdo, Mercè; Garcia-Pujol, Clara

    2015-12-01

    In this paper we discuss the case of the science education research journal Enseñanza de las Ciencias (EC) around the issue of its internationalization and the consequences this process has had and is still having on the use and preservation of different languages and more specifically the Castilian (Spanish) language. We first frame the concept of globalization and internationalization, and identify three important dimensions involved in the process of internationalization of EC such as language use, actors involved and resources available. Secondly, we address the historical evolution of EC along three phases of internationalization. In each phase we discuss the tensions experienced in relevant internationalization dimensions focusing particularly on the use of languages. We conclude by advocating a plurilingual and multicultural model for a science education research journal as an alternative to the hegemony of international English written journals. In doing so we want to continue the conversation on the role that local and national science education research journals have in promoting science education around the world.

  9. SU-F-T-413: Calculation Accuracy of AAA and Acuros Using Cerrobend Blocks for TBI at 400cm

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lamichhane, N; Studenski, M

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: It is essential to assess the lung dose during TBI to reduce toxicity. Here we characterize the accuracy of the AAA and Acuros algorithms when using cerrobend lung shielding blocks at an extended distance for TBI. Methods: We positioned a 30×30×30 cm3 solid water slab phantom at 400 cm SSD and measured PDDs (Exradin A12 and PTW parallel plate ion chambers). A 2 cm thick, 10×10 cm2 cerrobend block was hung 2 cm in front of the phantom. This geometry was reproduced in the planning system for both AAA and Acuros. In AAA, the mass density of the cerrobendmore » block was forced to 9.38 g/cm3 and in Acuros it was forced to 8.0 g/cm3 (limited to selecting stainless steel). Three different relative electron densities (RED) were tested for each algorithm; 4.97, 6.97, and 8.97. Results: PDDs from both Acuros and AAA underestimated the delivered dose. AAA calculated that depth dose was higher for RED of 4.97 as compared to 6.97 and 8.97 but still lower than measured. There was no change in the percent depth dose with changing relative electron densities for Acuros. Conclusion: Care should be taken before using AAA or Acuros with cerrobend blocks as the planning system underestimates dose. Acuros limits the ability to modify RED when compared to AAA.« less

  10. SciJourn is magic: construction of a science journalism community of practice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nicholas, Celeste R.

    2017-06-01

    This article is the first to describe the discoursal construction of an adolescent community of practice (CoP) in a non-school setting. CoPs can provide optimal learning environments. The adolescent community centered around science journalism and positioned itself dichotomously in relationship to school literacy practices. The analysis focuses on recordings from a panel-style research interview from an early implementation of the Science Literacy Through Science Journalism (SciJourn) project. Researchers trained high school students participating in a youth development program to write science news articles. Students engaged in the authentic practices of professional science journalists, received feedback from a professional editor, and submitted articles for publication. I used a fine-grained critical discourse analysis of genre, discourse, and style to analyze student responses about differences between writing in SciJourn and in school. Students described themselves as agentic in SciJourn and passive in school, using an academic writing discourse of deficit to describe schooling experiences. They affiliated with and defined a SciJourn CoP, constructing positive journalistic identities therein. Educators are encouraged to develop similar CoPs. The discursive features presented may be used to monitor the development of communities of practice in a variety of settings.

  11. Enhancing AstroInformatics and Science Discovery from Data in Journal Articles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazzarella, Joseph

    2011-05-01

    Traditional methods of publishing scientific data and metadata in journal articles are in need of major upgrades to reach the full potential of astronomical databases and astroinformatics techniques to facilitate semi-automated, and eventually autonomous, methods of science discovery. I will review a growing collaboration involving the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), the Astrophysics Data System (ADS), the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO), the AAS Journals and IOP, and the Data Conservancy that is aimed toward transforming the methodology used to publish, capture and link data associated with astrophysics journal articles. We are planning a web-based workflow to assist astronomers during the publication of journal articles. The primary goals are to facilitate the application of structure and standards to (meta)data, reduce errors, remove ambiguities in the identification of astrophysical objects and regions of sky, capture and preserve the images and spectral data files used to make plots, and accelerate the ingestion of the data into relevant repositories, search engines and integration services. The outcome of this community wide effort will address a recent public policy mandate to publish scientific data in open formats to allow reproducibility of results and to facilitate new discoveries. Equally important, this work has the potential to usher in a new wave of science discovery based on seamless connectivity between data relationships that are continuously growing in size and complexity, and increasingly sophisticated data visualization and analysis applications.

  12. Structural Insights into the Unusually Strong ATPase Activity of the AAA Domain of the Caenorhabditis elegans Fidgetin-like 1 (FIGL-1) Protein*

    PubMed Central

    Peng, Wentao; Lin, Zhijie; Li, Weirong; Lu, Jing; Shen, Yuequan; Wang, Chunguang

    2013-01-01

    The FIGL-1 (fidgetin like-1) protein is a homolog of fidgetin, a protein whose mutation leads to multiple developmental defects. The FIGL-1 protein contains an AAA (ATPase associated with various activities) domain and belongs to the AAA superfamily. However, the biological functions and developmental implications of this protein remain unknown. Here, we show that the AAA domain of the Caenorhabditis elegans FIGL-1 protein (CeFIGL-1-AAA), in clear contrast to homologous AAA domains, has an unusually high ATPase activity and forms a hexamer in solution. By determining the crystal structure of CeFIGL-1-AAA, we found that the loop linking helices α9 and α10 folds into the short helix α9a, which has an acidic surface and interacts with a positively charged surface of the neighboring subunit. Disruption of this charge interaction by mutagenesis diminishes both the ATPase activity and oligomerization capacity of the protein. Interestingly, the acidic residues in helix α9a of CeFIGL-1-AAA are not conserved in other homologous AAA domains that have relatively low ATPase activities. These results demonstrate that the sequence of CeFIGL-1-AAA has adapted to establish an intersubunit charge interaction, which contributes to its strong oligomerization and ATPase activity. These unique properties of CeFIGL-1-AAA distinguish it from other homologous proteins, suggesting that CeFIGL-1 may have a distinct biological function. PMID:23979136

  13. Structural insights into the unusually strong ATPase activity of the AAA domain of the Caenorhabditis elegans fidgetin-like 1 (FIGL-1) protein.

    PubMed

    Peng, Wentao; Lin, Zhijie; Li, Weirong; Lu, Jing; Shen, Yuequan; Wang, Chunguang

    2013-10-11

    The FIGL-1 (fidgetin like-1) protein is a homolog of fidgetin, a protein whose mutation leads to multiple developmental defects. The FIGL-1 protein contains an AAA (ATPase associated with various activities) domain and belongs to the AAA superfamily. However, the biological functions and developmental implications of this protein remain unknown. Here, we show that the AAA domain of the Caenorhabditis elegans FIGL-1 protein (CeFIGL-1-AAA), in clear contrast to homologous AAA domains, has an unusually high ATPase activity and forms a hexamer in solution. By determining the crystal structure of CeFIGL-1-AAA, we found that the loop linking helices α9 and α10 folds into the short helix α9a, which has an acidic surface and interacts with a positively charged surface of the neighboring subunit. Disruption of this charge interaction by mutagenesis diminishes both the ATPase activity and oligomerization capacity of the protein. Interestingly, the acidic residues in helix α9a of CeFIGL-1-AAA are not conserved in other homologous AAA domains that have relatively low ATPase activities. These results demonstrate that the sequence of CeFIGL-1-AAA has adapted to establish an intersubunit charge interaction, which contributes to its strong oligomerization and ATPase activity. These unique properties of CeFIGL-1-AAA distinguish it from other homologous proteins, suggesting that CeFIGL-1 may have a distinct biological function.

  14. Do Women Publish Fewer Journal Articles than Men? Sex Differences in Publication Productivity in the Social Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bird, Karen Schucan

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines whether women and men publish journal articles at a level comparable with their representation within the social sciences. The paper also explores sex differences in patterns of single authorship and co-authorship. To do so, demographic data of the UK social sciences is compared with a sample of UK-authored journal articles.…

  15. Crystal Structure and Biochemical Characterization of a Mycobacterium smegmatis AAA-Type Nucleoside Triphosphatase Phosphohydrolase (Msm0858).

    PubMed

    Unciuleac, Mihaela-Carmen; Smith, Paul C; Shuman, Stewart

    2016-05-15

    AAA proteins (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to drive conformational changes in diverse macromolecular targets. Here, we report the biochemical characterization and 2.5-Å crystal structure of a Mycobacterium smegmatis AAA protein Msm0858, the ortholog of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv0435c. Msm0858 is a magnesium-dependent ATPase and is active with all nucleoside triphosphates (NTPs) and deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) as substrates. The Msm0858 structure comprises (i) an N-terminal domain (amino acids [aa] 17 to 201) composed of two β-barrel modules and (ii) two AAA domains, D1 (aa 212 to 473) and D2 (aa 476 to 744), each of which has ADP in the active site. Msm0858-ADP is a monomer in solution and in crystallized form. Msm0858 domains are structurally homologous to the corresponding modules of mammalian p97. However, the position of the N-domain modules relative to the AAA domains in the Msm0858-ADP tertiary structure is different and would impede the formation of a p97-like hexameric quaternary structure. Mutational analysis of the A-box and B-box motifs indicated that the D1 and D2 AAA domains are both capable of ATP hydrolysis. Simultaneous mutations of the D1 and D2 active-site motifs were required to abolish ATPase activity. ATPase activity was effaced by mutation of the putative D2 arginine finger, suggesting that Msm0858 might oligomerize during the ATPase reaction cycle. A truncated variant Msm0858 (aa 212 to 745) that lacks the N domain was characterized as a catalytically active homodimer. Recent studies have underscored the importance of AAA proteins (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) in the physiology of mycobacteria. This study reports the ATPase activity and crystal structure of a previously uncharacterized mycobacterial AAA protein, Msm0858. Msm0858 consists of an N-terminal β-barrel domain and two AAA domains, each with ADP bound in the active site. Msm0858 is a

  16. Citation Analysis of The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine from KoMCI, Web of Science, and Scopus

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine (KJIM) is the international journal published in English by the Korean Association of Internal Medicine. To understand the position of the journal in three different databases, the citation indicators were elucidated. From databases such as Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI), Web of Science, and Scopus, citation indicators such as the impact factor, SCImago journal rank (SJR), or Hirsch Index were calculated according to the year and the results were drawn. The KJIM 2010 impact factor increased to 0.623 in Web of Science. That of year 2009 in KoMCI was a 0.149. The 2009 SJR in Scopus was 0.073, with a ranking of 27/72 (37.5%) in the category of internal medicine and 414/1,618 (25.6%) in the category of medicine, miscellaneous. The Hirsch Index from KoMCI, Web of Science and Scopus were 5, 14, and 16, respectively. The KJIM is now cited more by international researchers than Korean researchers, indicating that the content of the journal is now valued at the international level. PMID:21437155

  17. Citation analysis of The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine from KoMCI, Web of Science, and Scopus.

    PubMed

    Huh, Sun

    2011-03-01

    The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine (KJIM) is the international journal published in English by the Korean Association of Internal Medicine. To understand the position of the journal in three different databases, the citation indicators were elucidated. From databases such as Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI), Web of Science, and Scopus, citation indicators such as the impact factor, SCImago journal rank (SJR), or Hirsch Index were calculated according to the year and the results were drawn. The KJIM 2010 impact factor increased to 0.623 in Web of Science. That of year 2009 in KoMCI was a 0.149. The 2009 SJR in Scopus was 0.073, with a ranking of 27/72 (37.5%) in the category of internal medicine and 414/1,618 (25.6%) in the category of medicine, miscellaneous. The Hirsch Index from KoMCI, Web of Science and Scopus were 5, 14, and 16, respectively. The KJIM is now cited more by international researchers than Korean researchers, indicating that the content of the journal is now valued at the international level.

  18. Electronic journals: Their use by teachers/researchers of engineering and social sciences

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Martins, Fernanda, E-mail: mmartins@letras.up.pt; Machado, Diana, E-mail: mmartins@letras.up.pt; Fernandes, Alberto, E-mail: mmartins@letras.up.pt

    Libraries must attend the needs of their different users. Academics are usually a particular kind of users with specific needs. Universities are environments where scientific communication is essential and where electronic format of journals is becoming more and more frequently used. This way it becomes increasingly important to understand how academics from different scientific areas use the available electronic resources. The aim of this study is to better understand the existing differences among the users of electronic journals in Engineering and Social Sciences. The research undertaken was mainly focused on the study of the use of electronic journals by teachers/researchersmore » from the Faculties of Engineering and of Arts from the University of Porto, Portugal. In this study an international survey was used in order to characterize the levels of use and access of electronic journals by these communities. The ways of seeking and using scientific information, namely in terms frequency of access, the number of articles consulted, the use of databases and the preference of publishing in electronic journals were analyzed. A set of comparisons were established and results indicate an extensive use of the electronic format, regardless the faculty. However, some differences emerge when it comes to details. Such is the case of the usage rate of reference management software which is considerably more used by Engineering academics than Social Science ones. Generally, electronic journals meeting the information needs of its users and are increasingly used as a preferred means of research. Though, some particular differences in the use of them have emerged, when comparing academics from these two faculties.« less

  19. The two faces of hydrogen-bond strength on triple AAA-DDD arrays.

    PubMed

    Lopez, Alfredo Henrique Duarte; Caramori, Giovanni Finoto; Coimbra, Daniel Fernando; Parreira, Renato Luis Tame; da Silva, Éder Henrique

    2013-12-02

    Systems that are connected through multiple hydrogen bonds are the cornerstone of molecular recognition processes in biology, and they are increasingly being employed in supramolecular chemistry, specifically in molecular self-assembly processes. For this reason, the effects of different substituents (NO2, CN, F, Cl, Br, OCH3 and NH2) on the electronic structure, and consequently on the magnitude of hydrogen bonds in triple AAA-DDD arrays (A=acceptor, D=donor) were evaluated in the light of topological [electron localization function (ELF) and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM)], energetic [Su-Li energy-decomposition analysis (EDA) and natural bond orbital analysis (NBO)], and geometrical analysis. The results based on local H-bond descriptors (geometries, QTAIM, ELF, and NBO) indicate that substitutions with electron-withdrawing groups on the AAA module tend to strengthen, whereas electron-donating substituents tend to weaken the covalent character of the AAA-DDD intermolecular H-bonds, and also indicate that the magnitude of the effect is dependent on the position of substitution. In contrast, Su-Li EDA results show an opposite behavior when compared to local H-bond descriptors, indicating that electron-donating substituents tend to increase the magnitude of H-bonds in AAA-DDD arrays, and thus suggesting that the use of local H-bond descriptors describes the nature of H bonds only partially, not providing enough insight about the strength of such H bonds. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology. Volume 1.2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dixit, R. K.

    2009-01-01

    Articles in this issue of "Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology" include: (1) Input Data Processing Techniques in Intrusion Detection Systems--Short Review (Suhair H. Amer and John A. Hamilton, Jr.); (2) Semantic Annotation of Stock Photography for CBIR Using MPEG-7 standards (R. Balasubramani and V. Kannan); (3) An Experimental Study…

  1. Effects of doping and bias voltage on the screening in AAA-stacked trilayer graphene

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mohammadi, Yawar; Moradian, Rostam; Shirzadi Tabar, Farzad

    2014-09-01

    We calculate the static polarization of AAA-stacked trilayer graphene (TLG) and study its screening properties within the random phase approximation (RPA) in all undoped, doped and biased regimes. We find that the static polarization of undoped AAA-stacked TLG is a combination of the doped and undoped single-layer graphene static polarization. This leads to an enhancement of the dielectric background constant along a Thomas-Fermi screening with the Thomas-Fermi wave vector which is independent of carrier concentrations and a 1/r3 power law decay for the long-distance behavior of the screened Coulomb potential. We show that effects of a bias voltage can be taken into account by a renormalization of the interlayer hopping energy to a new bias-voltage-dependent value, indicating screening properties of AAA-stacked TLG can be tuned electrically. We also find that screening properties of doped AAA-stacked TLG, when μ exceeds √{2}γ, are similar to that of doped SLG only depending on doping. While for μ<√{2}γ, its screening properties are combination of SLG and AA-stacked bilayer graphene screening properties and they are determined by doping and the interlayer hopping energy.

  2. Asymmetric processing of a substrate protein in sequential allosteric cycles of AAA+ nanomachines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kravats, Andrea N.; Tonddast-Navaei, Sam; Bucher, Ryan J.; Stan, George

    2013-09-01

    Essential protein quality control includes mechanisms of substrate protein (SP) unfolding and translocation performed by powerful ring-shaped AAA+ (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) nanomachines. These SP remodeling actions are effected by mechanical forces imparted by AAA+ loops that protrude into the central channel. Sequential intra-ring allosteric motions, which underlie repetitive SP-loop interactions, have been proposed to comprise clockwise (CW), counterclockwise (CCW), or random (R) conformational transitions of individual AAA+ subunits. To probe the effect of these allosteric mechanisms on unfoldase and translocase functions, we perform Langevin dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained model of an all-alpha SP processed by the single-ring ClpY ATPase or by the double-ring p97 ATPase. We find that, in all three allosteric mechanisms, the SP undergoes conformational transitions along a common set of pathways, which reveals that the active work provided by the ClpY machine involves single loop-SP interactions. Nevertheless, the rates and yields of SP unfolding and translocation are controlled by mechanism-dependent loop-SP binding events, as illustrated by faster timescales of SP processing in CW allostery compared with CCW and R allostery. The distinct efficacy of allosteric mechanisms is due to the asymmetric collaboration of adjacent subunits, which involves CW-biased structural motions of AAA+ loops and results in CW-compatible torque applied onto the SP. Additional simulations of mutant ClpY rings, which render a subset of subunits catalytically-defective or reduce their SP binding affinity, reveal that subunit-based conformational transitions play the major role in SP remodeling. Based on these results we predict that the minimally functional AAA+ ring includes three active subunits, only two of which are adjacent.

  3. Science Journals in the Garden: Developing the Skill of Observation in Elementary Age Students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kelly, Karinsa Michelle

    The ability to make and record scientific observations is critical in order for students to engage in successful inquiry, and provides a sturdy foundation for children to develop higher order cognitive processes. Nevertheless, observation is taken for granted in the elementary classroom. This study explores how linking school garden experience with the use of science journals can support this skill. Students participated in a month-long unit in which they practiced their observation skills in the garden and recorded those observations in a science journal. Students' observational skills were assessed using pre- and post-assessments, student journals, and student interviews using three criteria: Accuracy, Detail, and Quantitative Data. Statistically significant improvements were found in the categories of Detail and Quantitative Data. Scores did improve in the category of Accuracy, but it was not found to be a statistically significant improvement.

  4. Core Journal Networks and Cocitation Maps in the Marine Sciences: Tools for Information Management in Interdisciplinary Research.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCain, Katherine W.

    1992-01-01

    Demonstrates the interrelationship between two traditionally separate literatures, i.e., marine biology and physical oceanography, and develops a joint core journal list. The use of journal intercitation data from "Journal Citation Reports" for "Science Citation Index" and from SCISEARCH on DIALOG to create a cocitation map is…

  5. Science Books & Films, Volume XIV, Number 1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finch, Shari, Ed.

    This document presents a continuation of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) review of science films and books. Each book or film review includes: grade level, the level of recommendation from "Highly recommended" to "Not recommended," bibliographic data, and ordering information. A special section is…

  6. Dosimetric comparison of Acuros XB, AAA, and XVMC in stereotactic body radiotherapy for lung cancer.

    PubMed

    Tsuruta, Yusuke; Nakata, Manabu; Nakamura, Mitsuhiro; Matsuo, Yukinori; Higashimura, Kyoji; Monzen, Hajime; Mizowaki, Takashi; Hiraoka, Masahiro

    2014-08-01

    To compare the dosimetric performance of Acuros XB (AXB), anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA), and x-ray voxel Monte Carlo (XVMC) in heterogeneous phantoms and lung stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) plans. Water- and lung-equivalent phantoms were combined to evaluate the percentage depth dose and dose profile. The radiation treatment machine Novalis (BrainLab AG, Feldkirchen, Germany) with an x-ray beam energy of 6 MV was used to calculate the doses in the composite phantom at a source-to-surface distance of 100 cm with a gantry angle of 0°. Subsequently, the clinical lung SBRT plans for the 26 consecutive patients were transferred from the iPlan (ver. 4.1; BrainLab AG) to the Eclipse treatment planning systems (ver. 11.0.3; Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA). The doses were then recalculated with AXB and AAA while maintaining the XVMC-calculated monitor units and beam arrangement. Then the dose-volumetric data obtained using the three different radiation dose calculation algorithms were compared. The results from AXB and XVMC agreed with measurements within ± 3.0% for the lung-equivalent phantom with a 6 × 6 cm(2) field size, whereas AAA values were higher than measurements in the heterogeneous zone and near the boundary, with the greatest difference being 4.1%. AXB and XVMC agreed well with measurements in terms of the profile shape at the boundary of the heterogeneous zone. For the lung SBRT plans, AXB yielded lower values than XVMC in terms of the maximum doses of ITV and PTV; however, the differences were within ± 3.0%. In addition to the dose-volumetric data, the dose distribution analysis showed that AXB yielded dose distribution calculations that were closer to those with XVMC than did AAA. Means ± standard deviation of the computation time was 221.6 ± 53.1 s (range, 124-358 s), 66.1 ± 16.0 s (range, 42-94 s), and 6.7 ± 1.1 s (range, 5-9 s) for XVMC, AXB, and AAA, respectively. In the phantom evaluations, AXB and XVMC agreed better with

  7. Structure determination of disease associated peak AAA from l-Tryptophan implicated in the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome.

    PubMed

    Klarskov, Klaus; Gagnon, Hugo; Boudreault, Pierre-Luc; Normandin, Chad; Plancq, Baptiste; Marsault, Eric; Gleich, Gerald J; Naylor, Stephen

    2018-01-05

    The eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) outbreak of 1989 that occurred in the USA and elsewhere was caused by the ingestion of l-Tryptophan (L-Trp) solely manufactured by the Japanese company Showa Denko K.K. (SD). Six compounds present in the SD L-Trp were reported to be case-associated contaminants. However, "one" of these compounds, Peak AAA has remained structurally uncharacterized, despite the fact that it was described as "the only statistically significant (p=0.0014) contaminant". Here, we employ on-line microcapillary-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to determine that Peak AAA is in fact two structurally related isomers. Peak AAA 1 and Peak AAA 2 differed in LC retention times, and were determined by accurate mass-LC-MS to both have a protonated molecular ion (MH +) of mass 343.239Da (Da), corresponding to a molecular formula of C 21 H 30 N 2 O 2, and possessing eight degrees of unsaturation (DoU) for the non-protonated molecule. By comparing the LC-MS and LC-MS-MS retention times and spectra with authentic synthetic standards, Peak AAA 1 was identified as the intermolecular condensation product of L-Trp with anteiso 7-methylnonanoic acid, to afford (S)-2-amino-3-(2-((S,E)-7-methylnon-1-en-1-yl)-1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic acid. Peak AAA 2 was determined to be a condensation product of L-Trp with decanoic acid, which produced (S)-2-amino-3-(2-((E)-dec-1-en-1-yl)-1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic acid. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Structural dynamics of the MecA-ClpC complex: a type II AAA+ protein unfolding machine.

    PubMed

    Liu, Jing; Mei, Ziqing; Li, Ningning; Qi, Yutao; Xu, Yanji; Shi, Yigong; Wang, Feng; Lei, Jianlin; Gao, Ning

    2013-06-14

    The MecA-ClpC complex is a bacterial type II AAA(+) molecular machine responsible for regulated unfolding of substrates, such as transcription factors ComK and ComS, and targeting them to ClpP for degradation. The six subunits of the MecA-ClpC complex form a closed barrel-like structure, featured with three stacked rings and a hollow passage, where substrates are threaded and translocated through successive pores. Although the general concepts of how polypeptides are unfolded and translocated by internal pore loops of AAA(+) proteins have long been conceived, the detailed mechanistic model remains elusive. With cryoelectron microscopy, we captured four different structures of the MecA-ClpC complexes. These complexes differ in the nucleotide binding states of the two AAA(+) rings and therefore might presumably reflect distinctive, representative snapshots from a dynamic unfolding cycle of this hexameric complex. Structural analysis reveals that nucleotide binding and hydrolysis modulate the hexameric complex in a number of ways, including the opening of the N-terminal ring, the axial and radial positions of pore loops, the compactness of the C-terminal ring, as well as the relative rotation between the two nucleotide-binding domain rings. More importantly, our structural and biochemical data indicate there is an active allosteric communication between the two AAA(+) rings and suggest that concerted actions of the two AAA(+) rings are required for the efficiency of the substrate unfolding and translocation. These findings provide important mechanistic insights into the dynamic cycle of the MecA-ClpC unfoldase and especially lay a foundation toward the complete understanding of the structural dynamics of the general type II AAA(+) hexamers.

  9. Structure and evolution of N-domains in AAA metalloproteases.

    PubMed

    Scharfenberg, Franka; Serek-Heuberger, Justyna; Coles, Murray; Hartmann, Marcus D; Habeck, Michael; Martin, Jörg; Lupas, Andrei N; Alva, Vikram

    2015-02-27

    Metalloproteases of the AAA (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) family play a crucial role in protein quality control within the cytoplasmic membrane of bacteria and the inner membrane of eukaryotic organelles. These membrane-anchored hexameric enzymes are composed of an N-terminal domain with one or two transmembrane helices, a central AAA ATPase module, and a C-terminal Zn(2+)-dependent protease. While the latter two domains have been well studied, so far, little is known about the N-terminal regions. Here, in an extensive bioinformatic and structural analysis, we identified three major, non-homologous groups of N-domains in AAA metalloproteases. By far, the largest one is the FtsH-like group of bacteria and eukaryotic organelles. The other two groups are specific to Yme1: one found in plants, fungi, and basal metazoans and the other one found exclusively in animals. Using NMR and crystallography, we determined the subunit structure and hexameric assembly of Escherichia coli FtsH-N, exhibiting an unusual α+β fold, and the conserved part of fungal Yme1-N from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, revealing a tetratricopeptide repeat fold. Our bioinformatic analysis showed that, uniquely among these proteins, the N-domain of Yme1 from the cnidarian Hydra vulgaris contains both the tetratricopeptide repeat region seen in basal metazoans and a region of homology to the N-domains of animals. Thus, it is a modern-day representative of an intermediate in the evolution of animal Yme1 from basal eukaryotic precursors. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  10. Structure and Function of p97 and Pex1/6 Type II AAA+ Complexes.

    PubMed

    Saffert, Paul; Enenkel, Cordula; Wendler, Petra

    2017-01-01

    Protein complexes of the Type II AAA+ (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities) family are typically hexamers of 80-150 kDa protomers that harbor two AAA+ ATPase domains. They form double ring assemblies flanked by associated domains, which can be N-terminal, intercalated or C-terminal to the ATPase domains. Most prominent members of this family include NSF (N-ethyl-maleimide sensitive factor), p97/VCP (valosin-containing protein), the Pex1/Pex6 complex and Hsp104 in eukaryotes and ClpB in bacteria. Tremendous efforts have been undertaken to understand the conformational dynamics of protein remodeling type II AAA+ complexes. A uniform mode of action has not been derived from these works. This review focuses on p97/VCP and the Pex1/6 complex, which both structurally remodel ubiquitinated substrate proteins. P97/VCP plays a role in many processes, including ER- associated protein degradation, and the Pex1/Pex6 complex dislocates and recycles the transport receptor Pex5 from the peroxisomal membrane during peroxisomal protein import. We give an introduction into existing knowledge about the biochemical and cellular activities of the complexes before discussing structural information. We particularly emphasize recent electron microscopy structures of the two AAA+ complexes and summarize their structural differences.

  11. SMYD2 promoter DNA methylation is associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and SMYD2 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells.

    PubMed

    Toghill, Bradley J; Saratzis, Athanasios; Freeman, Peter J; Sylvius, Nicolas; Bown, Matthew J

    2018-01-01

    Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a deadly cardiovascular disease characterised by the gradual, irreversible dilation of the abdominal aorta. AAA is a complex genetic disease but little is known about the role of epigenetics. Our objective was to determine if global DNA methylation and CpG-specific methylation at known AAA risk loci is associated with AAA, and the functional effects of methylation changes. We assessed global methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cell DNA from 92 individuals with AAA and 93 controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, identifying hyper-methylation in those with large AAA and a positive linear association with AAA diameter ( P  < 0.0001, R 2  = 0.3175).We then determined CpG methylation status of regulatory regions in genes located at AAA risk loci identified in genome-wide association studies, using bisulphite next-generation sequencing (NGS) in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) taken from aortic tissues of 44 individuals (24 AAAs and 20 controls). In IL6R , 2 CpGs were hyper-methylated ( P  = 0.0145); in ERG , 13 CpGs were hyper-methylated ( P  = 0.0005); in SERPINB9 , 6 CpGs were hypo-methylated ( P  = 0.0037) and 1 CpG was hyper-methylated ( P  = 0.0098); and in SMYD2 , 4 CpGs were hypo-methylated ( P  = 0.0012).RT-qPCR was performed for each differentially methylated gene on mRNA from the same VSMCs and compared with methylation. This analysis revealed downregulation of SMYD2 and SERPINB9 in AAA, and a direct linear relationship between SMYD2 promoter methylation and SMYD2 expression ( P  = 0.038). Furthermore, downregulation of SMYD2 at the site of aneurysm in the aortic wall was further corroborated in 6 of the same samples used for methylation and gene expression analysis with immunohistochemistry. This study is the first to assess DNA methylation in VSMCs from individuals with AAA using NGS, and provides further evidence there is an epigenetic basis to AAA. Our study shows that

  12. Scientometric Analysis of the Journals of the Academy of Medical Sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    PubMed

    Masic, Izet; Begic, Edin; Zunic, Lejla

    2016-02-01

    Currently in Bosnia and Herzegovina there are 25 journals in the field of biomedicine, 6 of them are indexed in Medline/PubMed base (Medical Archives, Materia Socio-Medica, Acta Informatica Medica, Acta Medica Academica, Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences (BJBMS) and Medical Glasnik), and one (BJBMS) is indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)/Web of Science base. The aim of this study was to show the scope of work of the journals that were published by Academy of Medical Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Medical Archives, Materia Socio-Medica and Acta Informatica Medica. The research presents a meta-analysis of three journals, or their issues, during the calendar year 2015 (retrospective and descriptive character). During 2015 calendar year a total of 286 articles were published (in Medical Archives 104 (36.3%), in Materia Socio-Medica 99 (34.6%), and in Acta Informatica Medica 83 (29%)). Original articles are present in the highest number in all three journals (in Medical Archives 80.7%, in Materia Socio Medica 77.7%, and in Acta Informatica Medica 68.6%). In Medical Archives, 90.3% of the articles were related to the field of clinical medicine. In Materia Socio-Medica, the domain of clinical medicine and public health was the most represented. Preclinical areas are most frequent in Acta Informatica Medica. The period of 50-60 days for a decision on the admission of article is most common in all three journals, with trend of shortening of that period. Articles came from 19 countries, mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, then from Iran, Kosovo, Saudi Arabia and Greece. In Medical Archives original articles in the field of clinical medicine (usually internal and surgical disciplines) are most often present, and that is the case in last four years. The number of articles in Materia Socio-Medica and Acta Informatica Medica is growing from year to year. In Materia Socio-Medica there is a trend of growth of articles in the field of public health

  13. The Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA): A Diagnostic Method

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baron-Cohen, Simon; Wheelwright, Sally; Robinson, Janine; Woodbury-Smith, Marc

    2005-01-01

    At the present time there are a large number of adults who have "suspected" Asperger syndrome (AS). In this paper we describe a new instrument, the Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA), developed in our clinic for adults with AS. The need for a new instrument relevant to the diagnosis of AS in adulthood arises because existing instruments are designed…

  14. Effect of bibliographical classification on the impact factor of science- and engineering-based journals.

    PubMed

    Foo, Jong Yong Abdiel

    2009-01-01

    The simplest and widely used assessment of academic research and researchers is the journal impact factor (JIF). However, the JIF may exhibit patterns that are skewed towards journals that publish high number of non-research items and short turnover research. Moreover, there are concerns as the JIF is often used as a comparison for journals from different disciplines. In this study, the JIF computation of eight top ranked journals from four different subject categories was analyzed. The analysis reveals that most of the published items (>65%) in the science disciplines were nonresearch items while fewer such items (<22%) were observed in engineering-based journals. The single regression analysis confirmed that there is correlation (R(2) > or = .99) in the number of published items or citations received over the two-year period used in the JIF calculation amongst the eight selected journals. A weighted factor computation is introduced to compensate for the smaller journals and journals that publish longer turnover research. It is hoped that the approach can provide a comprehensive assessment of the quality of a journal regardless of the disciplinary field.

  15. Characterization of the binding specificity of Anguilla anguilla agglutinin (AAA) in comparison to Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I).

    PubMed

    Baldus, S E; Thiele, J; Park, Y O; Hanisch, F G; Bara, J; Fischer, R

    1996-08-01

    Using immunochemical and immunohistochemical methods, the binding site of Anguilla anguilla agglutinin (AAA) was characterized and compared with the related fucose-specific lectin from Ulex europaeus (UEA-I). In solid-phase enzyme-linked immunoassays, the two lectins recognized Fuc alpha 1-2Gal beta-HSA. AAA additionally cross-reacted with neoglycolipids bearing lacto-N-fucopentaose (LNFP) I [H type 1] and II [Le(a)] and lactodifucotetraose (LDFT) as glycan moieties. UEA-I, on the other hand, bound to a LDFT-derived neoglycolipid but not to the other neoglycolipids tested. Binding of AAA to gastric mucin was competitively neutralized by Le(a)-specific monoclonal antibodies. UEA-I binding, on the other hand, was reduced after co-incubation with H type 2- and Le(y)-specific monoclonal antibodies. According to our results, AAA reacts with fucosylated type 1 chain antigens, whereas UEA-I binds only to the alpha 1-2-fucosylated LDFT-derived neoglycolipid. In immunohistochemical studies, the reactivity of AAA and UEA-I in normal pyloric mucosa from individuals with known Lewis and secretor status was analysed. AAA showed a broad reaction in the superficial pyloric mucosa from secretors and non-secretors, but AAA reactivity was more pronounced in Le(a+b-) individuals. On the other hand, UEA-I stained the superficial pyloric mucosa only from secretor individuals. A staining of deep mucous glands by the lectins was found in all specimens. Both reacted with most human carcinomas of different origin. Slight differences in their binding pattern were observed and may be explained by the different fine-specificities of the lectins.

  16. Political Science Journals in Comparative Perspective: Evaluating Scholarly Journals in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garand, James C.; Giles, Micheal W.; Blais, Andre; McLean, Iain

    2009-01-01

    In this article we report the results from a new survey of political scientists regarding their evaluations of journals in the political science discipline. Unlike previous research that has focused on data from the United States, we conducted an Internet survey of political scientists in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. We…

  17. Family Members of Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms are at Increased Risk for Aneurysms: Analysis of 618 Probands and their Families from the Liège AAA Family Study

    PubMed Central

    Sakalihasan, Natzi; Defraigne, Jean-Olivier; Kerstenne, Marie-Ange; Cheramy-Bien, Jean-Paul; Smelser, Diane T.; Tromp, Gerard; Kuivaniemi, Helena

    2014-01-01

    Background The objectives were to answer the following questions using a well-characterized population in Liège, Belgium: 1) what percentage of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients have a positive family history for AAA, 2) what is the prevalence of AAAs among relatives of AAA patients; and 3) do familial and sporadic AAA cases differ in clinical characteristics. Methods and Results Unrelated AAA patients diagnosed at the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, University Hospital of Liège, Belgium, between 1999 and 2012 were invited to the study. A detailed family history was obtained in interviews and recorded using Progeny software. In the initial interview 62 (10%) of the 618 AAA patients reported a positive family history for AAA. We divided the 618 patients into two study groups: Group I: 296 AAA patients (268; 91% males) were followed up with computerized tomography combined with positron emission tomography, and Group II: 322 AAA patients (295; 92% males) whose families were invited to ultrasonography screening. Ultrasonography screening identified 24 new AAAs among 186 relatives (≥ 50 years) of 144 families yielding a prevalence of 13%. The highest prevalence (25%) was found among brothers. By combining the number of AAAs found by ultrasonography screening with those diagnosed previously the observed lifetime prevalence of AAA was estimated to be 32% in brothers. The familial AAA cases were more likely to have a ruptured AAA than the sporadic cases (8% vs. 2.4%; P<0.0001). Conclusions The findings confirm previously found high prevalence of AAA among brothers, support genetic contribution to AAA pathogenesis and provide rationale for targeted screening of relatives of AAA patients. PMID:24365082

  18. Student Interactives--A new Tool for Exploring Science.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, C.

    2005-05-01

    Science NetLinks (SNL), a national program that provides online teacher resources created by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), has proven to be a leader among educational resource providers in bringing free, high-quality, grade-appropriate materials to the national teaching community in a format that facilitates classroom integration. Now in its ninth year on the Web, Science NetLinks is part of the MarcoPolo Consortium of Web sites and associated state-based training initiatives that help teachers integrate Internet content into the classroom. SNL is a national presence in the K-12 science education community serving over 700,000 teachers each year, who visit the site at least three times a month. SNL features: High-quality, innovative, original lesson plans aligned to Project 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Original Internet-based interactives and learning challenges, Reviewed Web resources and demonstrations, Award winning, 60-second audio news features (Science Updates). Science NetLinks has an expansive and growing library of this educational material, aligned and sortable by grade band or benchmark. The program currently offers over 500 lessons, covering 72% of the Benchmarks for Science Literacy content areas in grades K-12. Over the past several years, there has been a strong movement to create online resources that support earth and space science education. Funding for various online educational materials has been available from many sources and has produced a variety of useful products for the education community. Teachers, through the Internet, potentially have access to thousands of activities, lessons and multimedia interactive applications for use in the classroom. But, with so many resources available, it is increasingly more difficult for educators to locate quality resources that are aligned to standards and learning goals. To ensure that the education community utilizes the resources, the material must conform

  19. Who Publishes in Top-Tier Library Science Journals? An Analysis by Faculty Status and Tenure

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Galbraith, Quinn; Smart, Elizabeth; Smith, Sara D.; Reed, Megan

    2014-01-01

    This study analyzes the status and background of authors publishing in high-impact library science journals. Twenty-three high-impact journals were selected in this study by both quantitative and qualitative measures, while the analysis of author background focuses on whether the author holds a faculty status position with a tenure track. This…

  20. Research Trends in Science Education from 2008 to 2012: A systematic content analysis of publications in selected journals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Tzu-Chiang; Lin, Tzung-Jin; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2014-05-01

    This paper presents the third study of research trends in science education. In this review, a total of 990 papers published in the International Journal of Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Science Education from 2008 to 2012 were analyzed. The results indicate that in the recent five years (2008-2012), the top three research topics in the published papers were those regarding the context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning. The changes in the most popular research topics in the past 15 years also evidentially indicate shifts in the journals' preferences and researchers' interest. For example, in 2003-2007, context of students' learning replaced students' conceptual learning, which was the most published research topic from 1998 to 2002. The research topic of students' learning contexts continued to rank the first in 2008-2012. Moreover, there was an increasing trend of research papers regarding science teaching from 1998 to 2012. The analysis of highly cited papers revealed that research topics such as argumentation, inquiry-based learning, and scientific modeling were recently highlighted by science educators. In recent 15 years, productive researchers' publications also focused on the topics about context of students' learning, science teaching, and students' conceptual learning.

  1. Family members of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms are at increased risk for aneurysms: analysis of 618 probands and their families from the Liège AAA Family Study.

    PubMed

    Sakalihasan, Natzi; Defraigne, Jean-Olivier; Kerstenne, Marie-Ange; Cheramy-Bien, Jean-Paul; Smelser, Diane T; Tromp, Gerard; Kuivaniemi, Helena

    2014-05-01

    The objectives were to answer the following questions with the help of a well-characterized population in Liège, Belgium: 1) what percentage of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) have a positive family history for AAA? 2) what is the prevalence of AAAs among relatives of patients with AAA? and 3) do familial and sporadic AAA cases differ in clinical characteristics? Patients with unrelated AAA diagnosed at the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, University Hospital of Liège, Belgium, between 1999 and 2012 were invited to the study. A detailed family history was obtained in interviews and recorded using Progeny software. We divided the 618 patients into 2 study groups: group I, 296 patients with AAA (268; 91% men) were followed up with computerized tomography combined with positron emission tomography; and group II, 322 patients with AAA (295; 92% men) whose families were invited to ultrasonographic screening. In the initial interview, 62 (10%) of the 618 patients with AAA reported a positive family history for AAA. Ultrasonographic screening identified 24 new AAAs among 186 relatives (≥50 years) of 144 families yielding a prevalence of 13%. The highest prevalence (25%) was found among brothers. By combining the number of AAAs found by ultrasonographic screening with those diagnosed previously the observed lifetime prevalence of AAA was estimated to be 32% in brothers. The familial AAA cases were more likely to have a ruptured AAA than the sporadic cases (8% vs. 2.4%; P < 0.0001). The findings confirm previously found high prevalence of AAA among brothers, support genetic contribution to AAA pathogenesis, and provide rationale for targeted screening of relatives of patients with AAA. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. English Engagement Markers: A Comparison of Humanities and Science Journal Articles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sahragard, Rahman; Yazdanpanahi, Solmaz

    2017-01-01

    Engagement markers (hereafter, EMs) are crucial interpersonal devices to interact with readers through texts. However, little is known about the differences of EMs use in Humanities and Science journal research articles (hereafter, RAs), as well as the changes in markers use over the passage of time. The present study provides a quantitative and…

  3. Substituent effects in double-helical hydrogen-bonded AAA-DDD complexes.

    PubMed

    Wang, Hong-Bo; Mudraboyina, Bhanu P; Wisner, James A

    2012-01-27

    Two series of DDD and AAA hydrogen-bond arrays were synthesized that form triply-hydrogen-bonded double-helical complexes when combined in CDCl(3) solution. Derivatization of the DDD arrays with electron-withdrawing groups increases the complex association constants by up to a factor of 30 in those arrays examined. Derivatization of the AAA arrays with electron donating substituents reveals a similar magnitude effect on the complex stabilities. The effect of substitution on both types of arrays are modeled quite satisfactorily (R(2) > 0.96 in all cases) as free energy relationships with respect to the sums of their Hammett substituent constants. In all, the complex stabilities can be manipulated over more than three orders of magnitude (>20 kJ mol(-1)) using this type of modification. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. The 2010 Rankings of Chemical Education and Science Education Journals by Faculty Engaged in Chemical Education Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Towns, Marcy H.; Kraft, Adam

    2012-01-01

    Faculty active in chemical education research from around the world ranked 22 journals publishing research in chemical education and science education. The results of this survey can be used to supplement impact factors that are often used to compare the quality of journals in a field. Knowing which journals those in the field rank as top tier is…

  5. Great Explorations: Discovering Science in the Library.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sosa, Maria, Ed.; And Others

    The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Library Institute was a project that brought together 28 school and public librarians from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to discuss science, mathematics, and technology. education reform and what can be done to bring it about. This book discusses the project in 12 chapters:…

  6. Inflammatory cell phenotypes in AAAs: their role and potential as targets for therapy.

    PubMed

    Dale, Matthew A; Ruhlman, Melissa K; Baxter, B Timothy

    2015-08-01

    Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are characterized by chronic inflammatory cell infiltration. AAA is typically an asymptomatic disease and caused ≈15 000 deaths annually in the United States. Previous studies have examined both human and murine aortic tissue for the presence of various inflammatory cell types. Studies show that in both human and experimental AAAs, prominent inflammatory cell infiltration, such as CD4(+) T cells and macrophages, occurs in the damaged aortic wall. These cells have the ability to undergo phenotypic modulation based on microenvironmental cues, potentially influencing disease progression. Proinflammatory CD4(+) T cells and classically activated macrophages dominate the landscape of aortic infiltrates. The skew to proinflammatory phenotypes alters disease progression and plays a role in causing chronic inflammation. The local cytokine production and presence of inflammatory mediators, such as extracellular matrix breakdown products, influence the uneven balance of the inflammatory infiltrate phenotypes. Understanding and developing new strategies that target the proinflammatory phenotype could provide useful therapeutic targets for a disease with no current pharmacological intervention. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

  7. Where to find nutritional science journals on the World Wide Web.

    PubMed

    Brown, C M

    1997-08-01

    The World Wide Web (WWW) is a burgeoning information resource that can be utilized for current awareness and assistance in manuscript preparation and submission. The ever changing and expanding nature of the WWW allows it to provide up to the minute information, but this inherent changeability often makes information access difficult. To assist nutrition scientists in locating useful information about nutritional science journals on the WWW, this article critically reviews and describes the WWW sites for seventeen highly ranked nutrition and dietetics journals. Included in each annotation are the site's title, web address or Universal Resource Locator (URL), journal ranking and site authorship. Also listed is whether or not the site makes available the guidelines for authors, tables of contents, abstracts, online ordering, as well as information about the editorial board. This critical survey illustrates that the information on the web, regardless of its authority, is not of equal quality.

  8. 26 CFR 1.1368-2 - Accumulated adjustments account (AAA).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Small Business Corporations and Their Shareholders § 1.1368-2... earnings and profits or previously taxed income pursuant to an election made under section 1368(e)(3) and... AAA for redemptions and distributions in the year of a redemption. (c) Distribution of money and loss...

  9. 26 CFR 1.1368-2 - Accumulated adjustments account (AAA).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Small Business Corporations and Their Shareholders § 1.1368-2... earnings and profits or previously taxed income pursuant to an election made under section 1368(e)(3) and... AAA for redemptions and distributions in the year of a redemption. (c) Distribution of money and loss...

  10. 26 CFR 1.1368-2 - Accumulated adjustments account (AAA).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Small Business Corporations and Their Shareholders § 1.1368-2... earnings and profits or previously taxed income pursuant to an election made under section 1368(e)(3) and... AAA for redemptions and distributions in the year of a redemption. (c) Distribution of money and loss...

  11. 26 CFR 1.1368-2 - Accumulated adjustments account (AAA).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Small Business Corporations and Their Shareholders § 1.1368-2 Accumulated... earnings and profits or previously taxed income pursuant to an election made under section 1368(e)(3) and... AAA for redemptions and distributions in the year of a redemption. (c) Distribution of money and loss...

  12. 26 CFR 1.1368-2 - Accumulated adjustments account (AAA).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Small Business Corporations and Their Shareholders § 1.1368-2... earnings and profits or previously taxed income pursuant to an election made under section 1368(e)(3) and... AAA for redemptions and distributions in the year of a redemption. (c) Distribution of money and loss...

  13. Interlibrary loan in U.S. health sciences libraries: journal article use.

    PubMed Central

    Lacroix, E M

    1994-01-01

    Health sciences libraries in the United States use the National Library of Medicine (NLM) DOCLINE system to request more than two million items annually through interlibrary loan (ILL). Ninety-seven percent of all ILL requests are for journal articles. In this study, NLM analyzed four million ILL requests entered into the DOCLINE system during two twelve-month periods ending September 30, 1992. The requests were analyzed at both the journal title level and article level. Data for the two years were found to be remarkably similar. Results showed that a large number of journals are required to fill ILL requests and that there is a relatively low number of repeat requests for most journal articles. Seventy-six percent of journal articles analyzed were requested only once, and fewer than 1% were requested more than ten times. About 39% of journals used to fill ILL requests were indexed in MEDLINE at some time, while 84% of the articles supplied were indexed in MEDLINE. Ninety-two percent of articles supplied were from English-language journals. Sixty-seven percent of articles were published in the most recent five years, and 85% in the most recent ten years. The 100 most frequently requested articles for each of the two years were examined to determine characteristics such as language, where they were indexed, and the subject matter. This study has provided valuable information for planning of NLM's interlibrary document delivery services and also should have significance for libraries and other organizations involved in document delivery. Images PMID:7841903

  14. Quality of publication ethics in the instructions to the authors of Iranian journals of medical sciences.

    PubMed

    Salamat, Fatemeh; Sobhani, Abdol-Rasoul; Mallaei, Mahin

    2013-03-01

    Providing a perfect instruction to authors can prevent most potential publication ethics errors. This study was conducted to determine the quality of ethical considerations in the instructions to the authors of Iranian research scientific journals of medical sciences (accredited by the Commission for Accreditation and Improvement of Iranian Medical Journals) in October 2011. Checklist items (n=15) were extracted from the national manual of ethics in medical research publications, and the validity of the manual of ethics was assessed. All the accredited Iranian journals of medical sciences (n=198) were entered into the study. The instructions to the authors of 160 accredited Iranian journals were available online and were reviewed. The ANOVA and Kendall Correlation coefficient were performed to analyze the results. A total of 76 (47.5%) of the 160 journals were in English and 84 (52.5%) were in Farsi. The most frequently mentioned items related to publication ethics comprised "commitment not to send manuscripts to other journals and re-publish manuscripts" (85%, 83.8%), "aim and scope" of the journal (81.9%), "principles of medical ethics in the use of human samples" (74.4%), and "review process" (74.4%). On the other hand, the items of "principles of advertising" (1.2%), "authorship criteria" (15%), and "integrity in publication of clinical trial results" (30.6%) were the least frequently mentioned ones. Based on the study findings, the quality of publication ethics, as instructed to the authors, can improve the quality of the journals.

  15. Scientometric Analysis of the Journals of the Academy of Medical Sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina

    PubMed Central

    Masic, Izet; Begic, Edin; Zunic, Lejla

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Currently in Bosnia and Herzegovina there are 25 journals in the field of biomedicine, 6 of them are indexed in Medline/PubMed base (Medical Archives, Materia Socio-Medica, Acta Informatica Medica, Acta Medica Academica, Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences (BJBMS) and Medical Glasnik), and one (BJBMS) is indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)/Web of Science base. Aim: The aim of this study was to show the scope of work of the journals that were published by Academy of Medical Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Medical Archives, Materia Socio-Medica and Acta Informatica Medica. Material and Methods: The research presents a meta-analysis of three journals, or their issues, during the calendar year 2015 (retrospective and descriptive character). Results: During 2015 calendar year a total of 286 articles were published (in Medical Archives 104 (36.3%), in Materia Socio-Medica 99 (34.6%), and in Acta Informatica Medica 83 (29%)). Original articles are present in the highest number in all three journals (in Medical Archives 80.7%, in Materia Socio Medica 77.7%, and in Acta Informatica Medica 68.6%). In Medical Archives, 90.3% of the articles were related to the field of clinical medicine. In Materia Socio-Medica, the domain of clinical medicine and public health was the most represented. Preclinical areas are most frequent in Acta Informatica Medica. The period of 50-60 days for a decision on the admission of article is most common in all three journals, with trend of shortening of that period. Articles came from 19 countries, mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, then from Iran, Kosovo, Saudi Arabia and Greece. Conclusion: In Medical Archives original articles in the field of clinical medicine (usually internal and surgical disciplines) are most often present, and that is the case in last four years. The number of articles in Materia Socio-Medica and Acta Informatica Medica is growing from year to year. In Materia Socio-Medica there is a

  16. AAAS: Automated Affirmative Action System. General Description, Phase 1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Institute for Services to Education, Inc., Washington, DC. TACTICS Management Information Systems Directorate.

    This document describes phase 1 of the Automated Affirmative Action System (AAAS) of the Tuskegee Institute, which was designed to organize an inventory of any patterns of job classification and assignment identifiable by sex or minority group; any job classification or organizational unit where women and minorities are not employed or are…

  17. An analysis of science conceptual knowledge in journals of students with disabilities and normally achieving students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grigg, Gail S.

    Science education reforms of the last two decades have focused on raising the bar for ALL students which includes students with mild to moderate disabilities. Formative assessment can be used to assess the progress of these students to inquire, understand scientific concepts, reason scientifically, make decisions, and communicate effectively in science. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of science journals as a formative assessment in a guided inquiry unit of study for students with learning disabilities. Two normally achieving students (NA) and five students with learning disabilities (SLD) participated in a study of mammals that utilized journals to record the development of student knowledge through the course of study. Students were interviewed after the lessons were complete using the same prompts required in the journals. Themes were developed from the student writings and their verbal discourse using Grounded Theory. Journals and verbal discourse were rated following the themes of Knowledge Telling (KT) and Knowledge Transformation (KTR). Concept maps were developed for the Pre and Post test lessons (written and verbal discourses) by the raters in an attempt to further explain the knowledge that the students conveyed. The results of this study suggest that SLD are able to demonstrate knowledge about mammals better through verbal discourse than written discourse. While the NA students wrote more and used more technical discourse than did their SLD peers, the conceptual understanding of the topic by the SLD was no less inclusive than their NA peers when accessed verbally. The journals demonstrated limited conceptual growth for the SLD. Further, while lexical density is important to the development of knowledge in science, this study suggests the "conceptual density" may be another important indicator to examine.

  18. The effects of blogs versus dialogue journals on open-response writing scores and attitudes of grade eight science students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Erickson, Diane K.

    Today's students have grown up surrounded by technology. They use cell phones, word processors, and the Internet with ease, talking with peers in their community and around the world through e-mails, chatrooms, instant messaging, online discussions, and weblogs ("blogs"). In the midst of this technological explosion, adolescents face a growing need for strong literacy skills in all subject areas for achievement in school and on mandated state and national high stakes tests. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of blogs as a tool for improving open-response writing in the secondary science classroom in comparison to the use of handwritten dialogue journals. The study used a mixed-method approach, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data from 94 students in four eighth-grade science classes. Two classes participated in online class blogs where they posted ideas about science and responded to the ideas of other classmates. Two classes participated in handwritten dialogue journals, writing ideas about science and exchanging journals to respond to the ideas of classmates. The study explored these research questions: Does the use of blogs, as compared to the use of handwritten dialogue journals, improve the open-response writing scores of eighth grade science students? How do students describe their experience using blogs to study science as compared to students using handwritten dialogue journals? and How do motivation, self-efficacy, and community manifest themselves in students who use blogs as compared to students who use handwritten dialogue journals? The quantitative aspect of the study used data from pre- and post-tests and from a Likert-scale post-survey. The pre- and post-writing on open-response science questions were scored using the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) open-response scoring rubric. The study found no statistically significant difference in the writing scores between the blog group and the dialogue journal

  19. A Longitudinal Study of Implementing Reality Pedagogy in an Urban Science Classroom: Effects, Challenges, and Recommendations for Science Teaching and Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Borges, Sheila Ivelisse

    2016-01-01

    Statistics indicate that students who reside in "forgotten places" do not engage in science-related careers. This is problematic because we are not tapping into diverse talent that could very well make scientific strides and because there is a moral obligation for equity as discussed in "Science for all" (AAAS, 1989). Research…

  20. Scientists' and science writers' experiences reporting genetic discoveries: toward an ethic of trust in science journalism.

    PubMed

    Geller, Gail; Bernhardt, Barbara A; Gardner, Mary; Rodgers, Joann; Holtzman, Neil A

    2005-03-01

    To describe the relationship between scientists and science writers and their experiences with media reporting of genetic discoveries. This study included individual interviews with 15 scientists who specialize in genetics and 22 science writers who have covered their stories and a qualitative analysis of the data. Scientists and science writers place an equally high priority on accuracy of media reports. They agree on what makes genetics stories newsworthy and the particular challenges in reporting genetic discoveries (i.e., poor public understanding of genetics, the association of genetics with eugenics, and the lack of immediately apparent applications of genetic discoveries to human health). The relationship between scientists and bona fide science writers is largely positive. Scientists tend to trust, respect, and be receptive to science writers. Both scientists and science writers acknowledge that trust is an essential component of a good interview. Science writers report a fair degree of autonomy with respect to the relationship they have with their editors. To the degree that trust facilitates the access that science writers have to scientists, as well as higher quality interviews between scientists and science writers, trust might also contribute to higher quality media reporting. Therefore, scientists and science writers have an ethical obligation to foster trusting relationships with each other. Future research should systematically explore ways to cultivate such relationships and assess their impact on the quality of science journalism.

  1. Endothelial MMP-9 drives the inflammatory response in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

    PubMed

    Ramella, Martina; Boccafoschi, Francesca; Bellofatto, Kevin; Md, Antonia Follenzi; Fusaro, Luca; Boldorini, Renzo; Casella, Francesco; Porta, Carla; Settembrini, Piergiorgio; Cannas, Mario

    2017-01-01

    Progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is typified by chronic inflammation and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation of the aortic wall. Vascular inflammation involves complex interactions among inflammatory cells, endothelial cells (ECs), vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs), and ECM. Although vascular endothelium and medial neoangiogenesis play a key role in AAA, the molecular mechanisms underlying their involvement are only partially understood. In AAA biopsies, we found increased MMP-9, IL-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), which correlated with massive medial neo-angiogenesis (C4d positive staining). In this study, we developed an in vitro model in order to characterize the role of endothelial matrix metalloproteinase-9 (e-MMP-9) as a potential trigger of medial disruption and in the inflammatory response bridging between ECs and vSMC. Lentiviral-mediated silencing of e-MMP-9 through RNA interference inhibited TNF-alpha-mediated activation of NF-κB in EA.hy926 human endothelial cells. In addition, EA.hy926 cells void of MMP-9 failed to migrate in a 3D matrix. Moreover, silenced EA.hy926 affected vSMC behavior in terms of matrix remodeling. In fact, also MMP-9 in vSMC resulted inhibited when endothelial MMP-9 was suppressed.

  2. Relationship between Citation Frequency and Journal Cost: A Comparison between Pure and Applied Science Disciplines.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schoch, Natalie

    1994-01-01

    Compares citation data collected from publications of faculty in a pure science discipline and applied science disciplines to factors such as journal costs and publisher type. Based on a serials cancellation project at the University of Maryland, College Park, the relationship between citation frequency and cost is also discussed. (Author/LRW)

  3. Hepatorenal revascularization enables EVAR repair on a patient with AAA and an ectopic right renal artery.

    PubMed

    Lazaris, A M; Moulakakis, K; Mantas, G; Poulou, K; Alexiou, E; Vasdekis, S; Geroulakos, G

    2018-06-07

    The last thirty years the endovascular repair (EVAR) has become the standard method of treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Nevertheless, the method has limitations based mainly on the anatomic characteristics of the specific aneurysm. In these cases a combination of endovascular and open techniques can be used. We describe a case of a patient with an infrarenal AAA and an ectopic right renal artery emerging from within the aneurysm sac. The patient was treated with a combination of endovascular and open techniques. In particular, he underwent a hepatorenal revascularization followed by a standard EVAR procedure, with a successful final outcome. For the treatment of AAA disease, the combination of open and endovascular procedures can overcome difficulties where a standard EVAR cannot be an option. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Obesity is not an independent risk factor for adverse perioperative and long-term clinical outcomes following open AAA repair or EVAR.

    PubMed

    Park, Brian; Dargon, Phong; Binette, Christopher; Babic, Bruna; Thomas, Tina; Divinagracia, Thomas; Dahn, Michael S; Menzoian, James O

    2011-10-01

    Moderate (body mass index [BMI] ≥30) and morbid obesity (BMI ≥35) is increasing at an alarming rate in vascular surgery patients. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of obesity on perioperative and long-term clinical outcomes following open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair or endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). This review includes patients that underwent open AAA repair (n = 403) or EVAR (n = 223) from 1999 to 2009. Specific patient characteristics such as comorbid diseases, medications, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. Specific perioperative outcomes such as length of stay, myocardial infarctions, and mortality were reviewed. In addition, long-term outcomes such as rates of reintervention, permanent renal dysfunction, and mortality beyond 30 days were also assessed. The incidence of obesity in open AAA patients was 25.3% (documented incidence 1.5%) and for EVAR was 24.6% (documented incidence 4%). Moderate and morbid obesity was associated with longer intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for both open AAA or EVAR patients (P < .05). However, no significant differences in perioperative outcomes in terms of overall length of stay, myocardial infarction, acute renal failure, wound infections, or mortality were noted between obese and nonobese patients underoing open AAA repair or EVAR (P > .05). Similarly, moderate and morbid obesity was not associated with significant differences in rates of reintervention, permanent renal dysfunction, and mortality beyond 30 days for patients undergoing open AAA repair or EVAR (P > .05). The results of this study indicate that moderate and morbid obesity are not independently associated with adverse perioperative and long-term clinical outcomes for patients undergoing open AAA repair or EVAR. Therefore, either open AAA repair or EVAR can be accomplished safely in moderately obese and morbidly obese patients.

  5. An Innovative Course Featuring Action Research Integrated with Unifying Science Themes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Otto, Charlotte A.; Luera, Gail R.; Everett, Susan A.

    2009-01-01

    In this article, we describe an innovative capstone course for preservice K-8 teachers integrating action research and a unifying theme in science (AAAS in Science for all Americans. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989; NRC in National science education standards. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996). The goals of the capstone course…

  6. Women in Science Fellowships

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wendel, JoAnna

    2014-04-01

    The L'Oréal For Women in Science program is calling for women postdoctoral scientists to submit applications for the L'Oréal USA Women in Science Fellowship. Five women scientists in a variety of fields, including life and physical/material sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics, will receive grants of up to $60,000 each. Since the program began in 1998, more than 2000 women scientists worldwide have been awarded fellowships. Application materials are available at https://lorealfwis.aaas.org/login/indexA.cfm; the deadline to apply is 19 May 2014.

  7. SciJourn Is Magic: Construction of a Science Journalism Community of Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nicholas, Celeste R.

    2017-01-01

    This article is the first to describe the discoursal construction of an adolescent community of practice (CoP) in a non-school setting. CoPs can provide optimal learning environments. The adolescent community centered around science journalism and positioned itself dichotomously in relationship to school literacy practices. The analysis focuses on…

  8. Mechanism of Enzyme Repair by the AAA+ Chaperone Rubisco Activase.

    PubMed

    Bhat, Javaid Y; Miličić, Goran; Thieulin-Pardo, Gabriel; Bracher, Andreas; Maxwell, Andrew; Ciniawsky, Susanne; Mueller-Cajar, Oliver; Engen, John R; Hartl, F Ulrich; Wendler, Petra; Hayer-Hartl, Manajit

    2017-09-07

    How AAA+ chaperones conformationally remodel specific target proteins in an ATP-dependent manner is not well understood. Here, we investigated the mechanism of the AAA+ protein Rubisco activase (Rca) in metabolic repair of the photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco, a complex of eight large (RbcL) and eight small (RbcS) subunits containing eight catalytic sites. Rubisco is prone to inhibition by tight-binding sugar phosphates, whose removal is catalyzed by Rca. We engineered a stable Rca hexamer ring and analyzed its functional interaction with Rubisco. Hydrogen/deuterium exchange and chemical crosslinking showed that Rca structurally destabilizes elements of the Rubisco active site with remarkable selectivity. Cryo-electron microscopy revealed that Rca docks onto Rubisco over one active site at a time, positioning the C-terminal strand of RbcL, which stabilizes the catalytic center, for access to the Rca hexamer pore. The pulling force of Rca is fine-tuned to avoid global destabilization and allow for precise enzyme repair. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Identification of a Degradation Signal Sequence within Substrates of the Mitochondrial i-AAA Protease.

    PubMed

    Rampello, Anthony J; Glynn, Steven E

    2017-03-24

    The i-AAA protease is a component of the mitochondrial quality control machinery that regulates respiration, mitochondrial dynamics, and protein import. The protease is required to select specific substrates for degradation from among the diverse complement of proteins present in mitochondria, yet the rules that govern this selection are unclear. Here, we reconstruct the yeast i-AAA protease, Yme1p, to examine the in vitro degradation of two intermembrane space chaperone subunits, Tim9 and Tim10. Yme1p degrades Tim10 more rapidly than Tim9 despite high sequence and structural similarity, and loss of Tim10 is accelerated by the disruption of conserved disulfide bonds within the substrate. An unstructured N-terminal region of Tim10 is necessary and sufficient to target the substrate to the protease through recognition of a short phenylalanine-rich motif, and the presence of similar motifs in other small Tim proteins predicts robust degradation by the protease. Together, these results identify the first specific degron sequence within a native i-AAA protease substrate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Improved knowledge gain and retention for third-year medical students during surgical journal club using basic science review: A pilot study.

    PubMed

    Williams, Austin D; Mann, Barry D

    2017-02-01

    As they enter the clinical years, medical students face large adjustments in the acquisition of medical knowledge. We hypothesized that basic science review related to the topic of journal club papers would increase the educational benefit for third-year medical students. Students were randomized either to participation in a review session about basic science related to the journal club paper, or to no review. After one day, and after three months, students were given a 10-question quiz encompassing the basic science and the clinical implications of the paper. Twenty-six of 50 students were randomized to basic science review. These students scored better on both sections of the quiz one day after journal club, but only on basic science questions after three months. Students who participated in basic science review had better knowledge gain and retention. Educational activities building upon foundational knowledge improves learning on clinical rotations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Role of mitochondrial processing peptidase and AAA proteases in processing of the yeast acetohydroxyacid synthase precursor.

    PubMed

    Dasari, Suvarna; Kölling, Ralf

    2016-07-01

    We studied presequence processing of the mitochondrial-matrix targeted acetohydroxyacid synthase (Ilv2). C-terminal 3HA-tagging altered the cleavage pattern from a single step to sequential two-step cleavage, giving rise to two Ilv2-3HA forms (A and B). Both cleavage events were dependent on the mitochondrial processing peptidase (MPP). We present evidence for the involvement of three AAA ATPases, m- and i-AAA proteases, and Mcx1, in Ilv2-3HA processing. Both, precursor to A-form and A-form to B-form cleavage were strongly affected in a ∆yme1 mutant. These defects could be suppressed by overexpression of MPP, suggesting that MPP activity is limiting in the ∆yme1 mutant. Our data suggest that for some substrates AAA ATPases could play an active role in the translocation of matrix-targeted proteins.

  12. A special issue of the Journal of Forestry - Wilderness science and its role in wilderness stewardship

    Treesearch

    Susan F. Fox

    2016-01-01

    This special issue of the Journal of Forestry provides an overview of America’s National Wilderness Preservation System and highlights the important role that science serves in informing wilderness stewardship. The lead authors of the articles in this volume selected the Journal because it is highly respected and widely circulated among foresters and federal...

  13. Mixing It Up: Integrated, Interdisciplinary, Intriguing Science in the Elementary Classroom. An NSTA Press Journals Collection.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Science Teachers Association, Arlington, VA.

    This compendium of articles from "Science and Children", the elementary school journal of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), aims to help teachers build connections in their students' minds. The articles describe lessons and units that are interdisciplinary, both integrated and interdisciplinary, or thematic. Each article is…

  14. Science Education Journals as Hosts of Environmental Education Research: Perspectives and Trends in the 21st Century

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Korfiatis, Konstantinos

    2016-01-01

    Scholarly journals are not passive receptors of scientific information. On the contrary, they, within the process of filtrating the kind of research that will finally been published, contextualize a scientific field. In the present review I examine the Environmental Education related articles published in science education journals between the…

  15. Species distribution models and impact factor growth in environmental journals: methodological fashion or the attraction of global change science.

    PubMed

    Brotons, Lluís

    2014-01-01

    In this work, I evaluate the impact of species distribution models (SDMs) on the current status of environmental and ecological journals by asking the question to which degree development of SDMs in the literature is related to recent changes in the impact factors of ecological journals. The hypothesis evaluated states that research fronts are likely to attract research attention and potentially drive citation patterns, with journals concentrating papers related to the research front receiving more attention and benefiting from faster increases in their impact on the ecological literature. My results indicate a positive relationship between the number of SDM related articles published in a journal and its impact factor (IF) growth during the period 2000-09. However, the percentage of SDM related papers in a journal was strongly and positively associated with the percentage of papers on climate change and statistical issues. The results support the hypothesis that global change science has been critical in the development of SDMs and that interest in climate change research in particular, rather than the usage of SDM per se, appears as an important factor behind journal IF increases in ecology and environmental sciences. Finally, our results on SDM application in global change science support the view that scientific interest rather than methodological fashion appears to be the major driver of research attraction in the scientific literature.

  16. Analysis of the Development of Academic Writing in the "FJNSc" ("Finnish Journal of Nursing Science")

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vanhanen-Nuutinen, Liisa; Janhonen, Sirpa; Tuomi, Jouni

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to analyze the genre of the reviewed scientific articles published in the "FJNSc" ("Finnish Journal of Nursing Science") during its history. The aim was to bring a critical approach to writing in nursing science and to discuss the dominant conventions of scientific writing in nursing. A total of 27…

  17. A Non-Competitive Inhibitor of VCP/p97 and VPS4 Reveals Conserved Allosteric Circuits in Type I and II AAA ATPases.

    PubMed

    Pöhler, Robert; Krahn, Jan H; van den Boom, Johannes; Dobrynin, Grzegorz; Kaschani, Farnusch; Eggenweiler, Hans-Michael; Zenke, Frank T; Kaiser, Markus; Meyer, Hemmo

    2018-02-05

    AAA ATPases have pivotal functions in diverse cellular processes essential for survival and proliferation. Revealing strategies for chemical inhibition of this class of enzymes is therefore of great interest for the development of novel chemotherapies or chemical tools. Here, we characterize the compound MSC1094308 as a reversible, allosteric inhibitor of the type II AAA ATPase human ubiquitin-directed unfoldase (VCP)/p97 and the type I AAA ATPase VPS4B. Subsequent proteomic, genetic and biochemical studies indicate that MSC1094308 binds to a previously characterized drugable hotspot of p97, thereby inhibiting the D2 ATPase activity. Our results furthermore indicate that a similar allosteric site exists in VPS4B, suggesting conserved allosteric circuits and drugable sites in both type I and II AAA ATPases. Our results may thus guide future chemical tool and drug discovery efforts for the biomedically relevant AAA ATPases. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. From science to popularization, and back--the science and journalism of the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari.

    PubMed

    Van Dijck, Maarten

    2008-09-01

    Sociologists and historians of science, such as Richard Whitley and Stephen Hilgartner, identified a culturally dominant discourse of science popularization in the broader society. In this dominant view, a clear distinction is maintained between scientific knowledge and popularized knowledge. Popularization of science is seen as the process of transmitting real science to a lay public. This discourse on science popularization was criticized by Whitley and Hilgartner as an inadequate simplification. Yet, the battered traditional model of popularization remains remarkably resistant to these theoretical attacks. In this paper I will argue, based on research of the output of the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912), and more specifically, his opinion on the role of government in economic life, that the boundary between science and popularization in political economy is not clear and that the status of scientists fluctuates over time and in different contexts. It is therefore impossible for historians or economists to distinguish science from popularization based on the essential characteristics or intrinsic quality of the work. De Molinari's ideas are followed through the different media of science and journalism. Although de Molinari himself differentiated between his scientific and "popular" work, the boundary between science and popularization proves to be highly permeable, in both directions.

  19. [Incidence and risk factors of ischemic colitis after AAA repair in our cohort of patients from 2005 through 2009].

    PubMed

    Biros, E; Staffa, R

    2011-12-01

    Using retrospective analysis, we sought to investigate the incidence, risk factors and therapeutic outcomes of ischemic colitis in patients after surgical and endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). The complete inpatient and outpatient medical records of all patients undergoing surgical or endovascular AAA repair in our Department from January 2005 to December 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. We selected all patients who had developed an acute or chronic form of postoperative large or small bowel ischemia. We carried out data analysis and focused on determining the incidence and risk factors of this complication and the outcomes of its treatment. Two hundred and seven AAA repairs were performed in the 2nd Department of Surgery of St. Anne's University Hospital in Brno and the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University in Brno during the studied period. This number includes endovascular AAA repairs (13 patients; 6.3%) as well as one robot-assisted operation, and also the whole clinical spectrum of AAA manifestations, from non-symptomatic forms to ruptured aneurysm forms. The rest of the patients underwent open operation. Bowel ischemia developed in a total of 11 patients (5.3 %), who all underwent open AAA repair. Six of these patients presented with non-ruptured AAA and the remaining 5 with ruptured AAA. In 3 patients, bowel ischemia was diagnosed with a delay of several months from the original revascularization operation in the clinical form of postischemic stricture of the large bowel (2 patients) or postischemic colitis (1 patient). 8 patients were diagnosed with acute ischemic colitis affecting an isolated segment of the small bowel in one patient, extended segments of the large bowel (descending colon + sigmoid colon + rectum) in 2 patients, and typically the descending and sigmoid colon in 5 patients. None of the three patients with late manifestation of ischemic colitis died. Of the 8 patients with acute presentation, resection of the

  20. Science Standards: Making Them Work for You. Grades 3 and 4. Facilitor's Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Famellette, Judy

    This facilitator's guide, and the videotape it accompanies, is designed to demonstrate ways in which the new visions of science education for the 21st century might be translated into classroom practice. The National Research Council's (NRC) National Science Education Standards, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Benchmarks…

  1. SU-E-T-122: Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) Vs. Acuros XB (AXB) in Stereotactic Treatment Planning

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mynampati, D; Scripes, P Godoy; Kuo, H

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To evaluate dosimetric differences between superposition beam model (AAA) and determinant photon transport solver (AXB) in lung SBRT and Cranial SRS dose computations. Methods: Ten Cranial SRS and ten Lung SBRT plans using Varian, AAA -11.0 were re-planned using Acuros -XB-11.0 with fixed MU. 6MV photon Beam model with HD120-MLC used for dose calculations. Four non-coplanar conformal arcs used to deliver 21Gy or 18Gy to SRS targets (0.4 to 6.2cc). 54Gy (3Fractions) or 50Gy (5Fractions) was planned for SBRT targets (7.3 to 13.9cc) using two VAMT non-coplanar arcs. Plan comparison parameters were dose to 1% PTV volume (D1), dosemore » to 99% PTV volume( D99), Target mean (Dmean), Conformity index (ratio of prescription isodose volume to PTV), Homogeneity Index [ (D2%-D98%)/Dmean] and R50 (ratio of 50% of prescription isodose volume to PTV). OAR parameters were Brain volume receiving 12Gy dose (V12Gy) and maximum dose (D0.03) to Brainstem for SRS. For lung SBRT, maximum dose to Heart and Cord, Mean lung dose (MLD) and volume of lung receiving 20Gy (V20Gy) were computed. PTV parameters compared by percentage difference between AXB and AAA parameters. OAR parameters and HI compared by absolute difference between two calculations. For analysis, paired t-test performed over the parameters. Results: Compared to AAA, AXB SRS plans have on average 3.2% lower D99, 6.5% lower CI and 3cc less Brain-V12. However, AXB SBRT plans have higher D1, R50 and Dmean by 3.15%, 1.63% and 2.5%. For SRS and SBRT, AXB plans have average HI 2 % and 4.4% higher than AAA plans. In both techniques, all other parameters vary within 1% or 1Gy. In both sets only two parameters have P>0.05. Conclusion: Even though t-test results signify difference between AXB and AAA plans, dose differences in dose estimations by both algorithms are clinically insignificant.« less

  2. Research and trends in science education from 1998 to 2002: a content analysis of publication in selected journals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsai, Chin-Chung; Wen, Meichun Lydia

    2005-01-01

    This study conducted a series of content analyses of the articles published by International Journal of Science Education, Science Education, and Journal of Research in Science Teaching from 1998 to 2002. A total of 802 research papers were analyzed in terms of the authors' nationality, research types and topics. It was found that researchers in four major English-speaking countries, including the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada, contributed to a majority of the publications, but the researchers from other non-English countries may have, to a certain extent, gradually played a valuable role on the published work. This probably implies that science education research may have progressively become an important field recognized by the international academic community. This study also found that most of the published articles were categorized as empirical studies, while position, theoretical and review papers were rarely presented in the journals. Although the research topic of students' conceptions and conceptual change was the most frequently investigated one in these five years, a declining trend was observed when analyzed by year. Moreover, in 1998-2002, the research topics related to student learning contexts, and social, cultural and gender issues were also received relatively more attention among science educators.

  3. Principal Approaches to Understanding Occupation and Occupational Science Found in the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (2001-2012).

    PubMed

    Morrison, Rodolfo; Gómez, Silvia; Henny, Enrique; Tapia, María Jesús; Rueda, Laura

    2017-01-01

    The progression of occupational science in Chile is documented in the main scientific publication of the field, the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (RChTO). Identify approaches to understanding and applying occupation and occupational science as elucidated in the RChTO. A systematic qualitative review of the journal (2001-2012) identified articles elucidating an approach to understanding and application operationally defined as references to specific authors, theories, models/paradigms, definitions, and other fields that support approaches to O/OS. The study identified two main approaches. The first considers occupation/occupational science from a practical perspective or as a means to explain human behavior; the second considers occupation/occupational science as an object of study. Each approach is further divided into categories. This study provides a novel perspective on regional use of occupational science concepts. These findings contribute to our understanding of this science in context and to recognition of the cultural relevance of these scientific concepts.

  4. Journalism and science: how to erode the idea of knowledge.

    PubMed

    Meyer, Gitte

    2006-01-01

    This paper discusses aspects of the relationship between the scientific community and the public at large. Inspired by the European public debate on genetically modified crops and food, ethical challenges to the scientific community are highlighted. This is done by a discussion of changes that are likely to occur to journalistic attitudes--mirroring changing attitudes in the wider society--towards science and scientific researchers. Two journalistic conventions--those of science transmission and of investigative journalism--are presented and discussed in relation to the present drive towards commercialization within the world of science: how are journalists from these different schools of thought likely to respond to the trend of commercialization? Likely journalistic reactions could, while maintaining the authority of the scientific method, be expected to undermine public trust in scientists. In the long term, this may lead to an erosion of the idea of knowledge as something that cannot simply be reduced to the outcome of negotiation between stakeholders. It is argued that science is likely to be depicted as a fallen angel. This may be countered, it is posited, by science turning human, by recognizing its membership of society, and by recognizing that such membership entails more than just commercial relations. To rethink its relationship with the public at large--and, in particular, to rethink the ideal of disinterested science--is an ethical challenge facing the scientific community.

  5. From Excessive Journal Self-Cites to Citation Stacking: Analysis of Journal Self-Citation Kinetics in Search for Journals, Which Boost Their Scientometric Indicators.

    PubMed

    Heneberg, Petr

    2016-01-01

    Bibliometric indicators increasingly affect careers, funding, and reputation of individuals, their institutions and journals themselves. In contrast to author self-citations, little is known about kinetics of journal self-citations. Here we hypothesized that they may show a generalizable pattern within particular research fields or across multiple fields. We thus analyzed self-cites to 60 journals from three research fields (multidisciplinary sciences, parasitology, and information science). We also hypothesized that the kinetics of journal self-citations and citations received from other journals of the same publisher may differ from foreign citations. We analyzed the journals published the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Nature Publishing Group, and Editura Academiei Române. We found that although the kinetics of journal self-cites is generally faster compared to foreign cites, it shows some field-specific characteristics. Particularly in information science journals, the initial increase in a share of journal self-citations during post-publication year 0 was completely absent. Self-promoting journal self-citations of top-tier journals have rather indirect but negligible direct effects on bibliometric indicators, affecting just the immediacy index and marginally increasing the impact factor itself as long as the affected journals are well established in their fields. In contrast, other forms of journal self-citations and citation stacking may severely affect the impact factor, or other citation-based indices. We identified here a network consisting of three Romanian physics journals Proceedings of the Romanian Academy, Series A, Romanian Journal of Physics, and Romanian Reports in Physics, which displayed low to moderate ratio of journal self-citations, but which multiplied recently their impact factors, and were mutually responsible for 55.9%, 64.7% and 63.3% of citations within the impact factor calculation window to the three journals

  6. From Excessive Journal Self-Cites to Citation Stacking: Analysis of Journal Self-Citation Kinetics in Search for Journals, Which Boost Their Scientometric Indicators

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    Bibliometric indicators increasingly affect careers, funding, and reputation of individuals, their institutions and journals themselves. In contrast to author self-citations, little is known about kinetics of journal self-citations. Here we hypothesized that they may show a generalizable pattern within particular research fields or across multiple fields. We thus analyzed self-cites to 60 journals from three research fields (multidisciplinary sciences, parasitology, and information science). We also hypothesized that the kinetics of journal self-citations and citations received from other journals of the same publisher may differ from foreign citations. We analyzed the journals published the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Nature Publishing Group, and Editura Academiei Române. We found that although the kinetics of journal self-cites is generally faster compared to foreign cites, it shows some field-specific characteristics. Particularly in information science journals, the initial increase in a share of journal self-citations during post-publication year 0 was completely absent. Self-promoting journal self-citations of top-tier journals have rather indirect but negligible direct effects on bibliometric indicators, affecting just the immediacy index and marginally increasing the impact factor itself as long as the affected journals are well established in their fields. In contrast, other forms of journal self-citations and citation stacking may severely affect the impact factor, or other citation-based indices. We identified here a network consisting of three Romanian physics journals Proceedings of the Romanian Academy, Series A, Romanian Journal of Physics, and Romanian Reports in Physics, which displayed low to moderate ratio of journal self-citations, but which multiplied recently their impact factors, and were mutually responsible for 55.9%, 64.7% and 63.3% of citations within the impact factor calculation window to the three journals

  7. Coordinated gripping of substrate by subunits of a AAA+ proteolytic machine

    PubMed Central

    Iosefson, Ohad; Nager, Andrew R.; Baker, Tania A.; Sauer, Robert T.

    2014-01-01

    Hexameric AAA+ unfoldases of ATP-dependent proteases and protein-remodeling machines use conserved loops that line the axial pore to apply force to substrates during the mechanical processes of protein unfolding and translocation. Whether loops from multiple subunits act independently or coordinately in these processes is a critical aspect of mechanism but is currently unknown for any AAA+ machine. By studying covalently linked hexamers of the E. coli ClpX unfoldase bearing different numbers and configurations of wild-type and mutant pore loops, we show that loops function synergistically, with the number of wild-type loops required for efficient degradation depending upon the stability of the protein substrate. Our results support a mechanism in which a power stroke initiated in one subunit of the ClpX hexamer results in the concurrent movement of all six pore loops, which coordinately grip and apply force to the substrate. PMID:25599533

  8. From AAA to Acuros XB-clinical implications of selecting either Acuros XB dose-to-water or dose-to-medium.

    PubMed

    Zifodya, Jackson M; Challens, Cameron H C; Hsieh, Wen-Long

    2016-06-01

    When implementing Acuros XB (AXB) as a substitute for anisotropic analytic algorithm (AAA) in the Eclipse Treatment Planning System, one is faced with a dilemma of reporting either dose to medium, AXB-Dm or dose to water, AXB-Dw. To assist with decision making on selecting either AXB-Dm or AXB-Dw for dose reporting, a retrospective study of treated patients for head & neck (H&N), prostate, breast and lung is presented. Ten patients, previously treated using AAA plans, were selected for each site and re-planned with AXB-Dm and AXB-Dw. Re-planning was done with fixed monitor units (MU) as well as non-fixed MUs. Dose volume histograms (DVH) of targets and organs at risk (OAR), were analyzed in conjunction with ICRU-83 recommended dose reporting metrics. Additionally, comparisons of plan homogeneity indices (HI) and MUs were done to further highlight the differences between the algorithms. Results showed that, on average AAA overestimated dose to the target volume and OARs by less than 2.0 %. Comparisons between AXB-Dw and AXB-Dm, for all sites, also showed overall dose differences to be small (<1.5 %). However, in non-water biological media, dose differences between AXB-Dw and AXB-Dm, as large as 4.6 % were observed. AXB-Dw also tended to have unexpectedly high 3D maximum dose values (>135 % of prescription dose) for target volumes with high density materials. Homogeneity indices showed that AAA planning and optimization templates would need to be adjusted only for the H&N and Lung sites. MU comparison showed insignificant differences between AXB-Dw relative to AAA and between AXB-Dw relative to AXB-Dm. However AXB-Dm MUs relative to AAA, showed an average difference of about 1.3 % signifying an underdosage by AAA. In conclusion, when dose is reported as AXB-Dw, the effect that high density structures in the PTV has on the dose distribution should be carefully considered. As the results show overall small dose differences between the algorithms, when

  9. SU-E-T-516: Dosimetric Validation of AcurosXB Algorithm in Comparison with AAA & CCC Algorithms for VMAT Technique.

    PubMed

    Kathirvel, M; Subramanian, V Sai; Arun, G; Thirumalaiswamy, S; Ramalingam, K; Kumar, S Ashok; Jagadeesh, K

    2012-06-01

    To dosimetrically validate AcurosXB algorithm for Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) in comparison with standard clinical Anisotropic Analytic Algorithm(AAA) and Collapsed Cone Convolution(CCC) dose calculation algorithms. AcurosXB dose calculation algorithm is available with Varian Eclipse treatment planning system (V10). It uses grid-based Boltzmann equation solver to predict dose precisely in lesser time. This study was made to realize algorithms ability to predict dose accurately as its delivery for which five clinical cases each of Brain, Head&Neck, Thoracic, Pelvic and SBRT were taken. Verification plans were created on multicube phantom with iMatrixx-2D detector array and then dose prediction was done with AcurosXB, AAA & CCC (COMPASS System) algorithm and the same were delivered onto CLINAC-iX treatment machine. Delivered dose was captured in iMatrixx plane for all 25 plans. Measured dose was taken as reference to quantify the agreement between AcurosXB calculation algorithm against previously validated AAA and CCC algorithm. Gamma evaluation was performed with clinical criteria distance-to-agreement 3&2mm and dose difference 3&2% in omnipro-I'MRT software. Plans were evaluated in terms of correlation coefficient, quantitative area gamma and average gamma. Study shows good agreement between mean correlation 0.9979±0.0012, 0.9984±0.0009 & 0.9979±0.0011 for AAA, CCC & Acuros respectively. Mean area gamma for criteria 3mm/3% was found to be 98.80±1.04, 98.14±2.31, 98.08±2.01 and 2mm/2% was found to be 93.94±3.83, 87.17±10.54 & 92.36±5.46 for AAA, CCC & Acuros respectively. Mean average gamma for 3mm/3% was 0.26±0.07, 0.42±0.08, 0.28±0.09 and 2mm/2% was found to be 0.39±0.10, 0.64±0.11, 0.42±0.13 for AAA, CCC & Acuros respectively. This study demonstrated that the AcurosXB algorithm had a good agreement with the AAA & CCC in terms of dose prediction. In conclusion AcurosXB algorithm provides a valid, accurate and speedy alternative to AAA

  10. Analysis of the cooperative ATPase cycle of the AAA+ chaperone ClpB from Thermus thermophilus by using ordered heterohexamers with an alternating subunit arrangement.

    PubMed

    Yamasaki, Takashi; Oohata, Yukiko; Nakamura, Toshiki; Watanabe, Yo-hei

    2015-04-10

    The ClpB/Hsp104 chaperone solubilizes and reactivates protein aggregates in cooperation with DnaK/Hsp70 and its cofactors. The ClpB/Hsp104 protomer has two AAA+ modules, AAA-1 and AAA-2, and forms a homohexamer. In the hexamer, these modules form a two-tiered ring in which each tier consists of homotypic AAA+ modules. By ATP binding and its hydrolysis at these AAA+ modules, ClpB/Hsp104 exerts the mechanical power required for protein disaggregation. Although ATPase cycle of this chaperone has been studied by several groups, an integrated understanding of this cycle has not been obtained because of the complexity of the mechanism and differences between species. To improve our understanding of the ATPase cycle, we prepared many ordered heterohexamers of ClpB from Thermus thermophilus, in which two subunits having different mutations were cross-linked to each other and arranged alternately and measured their nucleotide binding, ATP hydrolysis, and disaggregation abilities. The results indicated that the ATPase cycle of ClpB proceeded as follows: (i) the 12 AAA+ modules randomly bound ATP, (ii) the binding of four or more ATP to one AAA+ ring was sensed by a conserved Arg residue and converted another AAA+ ring into the ATPase-active form, and (iii) ATP hydrolysis occurred cooperatively in each ring. We also found that cooperative ATP hydrolysis in at least one ring was needed for the disaggregation activity of ClpB. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  11. Deviation of the typical AAA substrate-threading pore prevents fatal protein degradation in yeast Cdc48.

    PubMed

    Esaki, Masatoshi; Islam, Md Tanvir; Tani, Naoki; Ogura, Teru

    2017-07-14

    Yeast Cdc48 is a well-conserved, essential chaperone of ATPases associated with diverse cellular activity (AAA) proteins, which recognizes substrate proteins and modulates their conformations to carry out many cellular processes. However, the fundamental mechanisms underlying the diverse pivotal roles of Cdc48 remain unknown. Almost all AAA proteins form a ring-shaped structure with a conserved aromatic amino acid residue that is essential for proper function. The threading mechanism hypothesis suggests that this residue guides the intrusion of substrate proteins into a narrow pore of the AAA ring, thereby becoming unfolded. By contrast, the aromatic residue in one of the two AAA rings of Cdc48 has been eliminated through evolution. Here, we show that artificial retrieval of this aromatic residue in Cdc48 is lethal, and essential features to support the threading mechanism are required to exhibit the lethal phenotype. In particular, genetic and biochemical analyses of the Cdc48 lethal mutant strongly suggested that when in complex with the 20S proteasome, essential proteins are abnormally forced to thread through the Cdc48 pore to become degraded, which was not detected in wild-type Cdc48. Thus, the widely applicable threading model is less effective for wild-type Cdc48; rather, Cdc48 might function predominantly through an as-yet-undetermined mechanism.

  12. The Publishing of Library and Information Science Journals in Southeast Asia--An Overview.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yeow-fei, Jaffe Yee

    This paper presents an overview of the present state of the publishing activities of library and information science journals in Southeast Asia, focusing on format, circulation/readership, quality, and editorial focus. It also highlights some of the important titles from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam,…

  13. The Antiaircraft Journal. Volume 94, Number 6, November-December 1951

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1951-12-01

    authorized by the Visiting Forces Act. Getting their heads together, the Yanks and Tommies have discovered each other to be pretty regular fellows...Francis A., to 3Sth AAA Brig, Ft Meade, Md. McDaniel, Otto L., to Hq Fourth Army, Ft Sam Houston, Tex. Pape, Robin B., to SOth AAA Gp, Ft Totten , NY...to 71 Sth AAA Gun Bn, Ft Totten , NJ. Kee, Pat M., to 209th AAA Gp, Indiantown Gap, Pa. Kennaman, Jack R., to SOlst AAA Gun Bn, North Richland, Wash

  14. The Antiaircraft Journal. Volume 95, Number 2, March-April 1952

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1952-04-01

    Command, Yoko- hama. Breuning, E. G., Far East Command, Yoko- hama Cacchiotti, Ralph R., 31st AAA Brig., Ft Lewis, Wash. Colbert , Edward F., 197th AAA Gp...Wilbur B., 47th AAA Brig., Cp Stew- art, Ga. Frick, Edwin J., 336th AAA Gun Bn, Cp Ed- wards. Mass. Gildon, Milo E., USA Alaska, Fort Richard- son

  15. Positioning Open Access Journals in a LIS Journal Ranking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xia, Jingfeng

    2012-01-01

    This research uses the h-index to rank the quality of library and information science journals between 2004 and 2008. Selected open access (OA) journals are included in the ranking to assess current OA development in support of scholarly communication. It is found that OA journals have gained momentum supporting high-quality research and…

  16. Science | AAAS

    Science.gov Websites

    be caused by haywire immune system eating brain connections CRISPR Stopping CRISPR's genome-editing scissors from snipping out of control CRISPR patent hearing produces no clear winner, only 'soft signals ' Did a Swedish researcher eat the first CRISPR meal ever served? Top articles in Careers dollars in a

  17. m-AAA Complexes Are Not Crucial for the Survival of Arabidopsis Under Optimal Growth Conditions Despite Their Importance for Mitochondrial Translation.

    PubMed

    Kolodziejczak, Marta; Skibior-Blaszczyk, Renata; Janska, Hanna

    2018-05-01

    For optimal mitochondrial activity, the mitochondrial proteome must be properly maintained or altered in response to developmental and environmental stimuli. Based on studies of yeast and humans, one of the key players in this control are m-AAA proteases, mitochondrial inner membrane-bound ATP-dependent metalloenzymes. This study focuses on the importance of m-AAA proteases in plant mitochondria, providing their first experimentally proven physiological substrate. We found that the Arabidopsis m- AAA complexes composed of AtFTSH3 and/or AtFTSH10 are involved in the proteolytic maturation of ribosomal subunit L32. Consequently, in the double Arabidopsis ftsh3/10 mutant, mitoribosome biogenesis, mitochondrial translation and functionality of OXPHOS (oxidative phosphorylation) complexes are impaired. However, in contrast to their mammalian or yeast counterparts, plant m-AAA complexes are not critical for the survival of Arabidopsis under optimal conditions; ftsh3/10 plants are only slightly smaller in size at the early developmental stage compared with plants containing m-AAA complexes. Our data suggest that a lack of significant visible morphological alterations under optimal growth conditions involves mechanisms which rely on existing functional redundancy and induced functional compensation in Arabidopsis mitochondria.

  18. Impact factor of Korean Journal of Pediatrics on Korean Medical Citation Index and Science Citation Index of Web of Science

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Sun Hee; Han, Man Yong; Rha, Yeong Ho; Lee, Young Jin

    2011-01-01

    Purpose The total number of times a paper is cited, also known as the impact factor (IF) of a medical journal, is widely implied in evaluating the quality of a research paper. We evaluated the citation index data as an IF of Korean J Pediatr in Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI) and JCI of Web of Science. Methods We calculated the IF of Korean J Pediatr at KoMCI supervised by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. And we estimated the IF of Korean J Pediatr by the JCI of Web of Science although it was never officially reported. Results The IF of Korean J Pediatr on KoMCI has increased from 0.100 in the year 2000, to 0.205 in 2008, and 0.326 in 2009. Although the IF of Korean J Pediatr was 0.006 in 2005, 0.018 in 2006, 0.028 in 2008, 0.066 in 2009, and 0.018 in 2010 according to the JCI of Web of Science, the number of citations are steadily increasing. Conclusion Understanding and realizing the current status will be a stepping stone for further improvement. The next objective of the Korean J Pediatr is to become registered in the SCI or SCIE. Increasing the IF according to the JCI of Web of Science is crucial in order to achieve this goal. PMID:21738548

  19. Impact factor of Korean Journal of Pediatrics on Korean Medical Citation Index and Science Citation Index of Web of Science.

    PubMed

    Bae, Chong Woo; Choi, Sun Hee; Han, Man Yong; Rha, Yeong Ho; Lee, Young Jin

    2011-04-01

    The total number of times a paper is cited, also known as the impact factor (IF) of a medical journal, is widely implied in evaluating the quality of a research paper. We evaluated the citation index data as an IF of Korean J Pediatr in Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI) and JCI of Web of Science. We calculated the IF of Korean J Pediatr at KoMCI supervised by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. And we estimated the IF of Korean J Pediatr by the JCI of Web of Science although it was never officially reported. The IF of Korean J Pediatr on KoMCI has increased from 0.100 in the year 2000, to 0.205 in 2008, and 0.326 in 2009. Although the IF of Korean J Pediatr was 0.006 in 2005, 0.018 in 2006, 0.028 in 2008, 0.066 in 2009, and 0.018 in 2010 according to the JCI of Web of Science, the number of citations are steadily increasing. Understanding and realizing the current status will be a stepping stone for further improvement. The next objective of the Korean J Pediatr is to become registered in the SCI or SCIE. Increasing the IF according to the JCI of Web of Science is crucial in order to achieve this goal.

  20. THE EVOLUTION OF THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED ORAL SCIENCE: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

    PubMed Central

    Ferraz, Valéria Cristina Trindade; Amadei, José Roberto Plácido; Santos, Carlos Ferreira

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to make a brief diagnosis of the evolution of the Journal of Applied Oral Science (JAOS) between 2005 and 2007, by reviewing quantitative and qualitative aspects of the articles published in the JAOS within this period. All articles published in the JAOS in the time span established for this survey were analyzed retrospectively and a discussion was undertaken on the data referring to the main bibliometric indexes of production, authorship, bibliographic sources of the published articles, and the most frequently cited scientific journals in the main dental research fields. A total of 247 papers authored and coauthored by 1,139 contributors were reviewed, most of them being original research articles. The number of authors per article was 4.61 on the average. Regarding the geographic distribution, the authors represented almost all of the Brazilian States. Most published articles belonged to the following dental research fields: Endodontics, Restorative Dentistry, Dental Materials and Prosthodontics. The ranking of the most frequently cited scientific journals included the most reputable publications in these dental research fields. In conclusion, between 2005 and 2007, the JAOS either maintained or improved considerably its bibliometric indexes. The analysis of the data retrieved in this study allowed evaluating the journal's current management strategies, and identifying important issues that will help outlining the future directions for the internationalization of this journal. PMID:19082402

  1. Engaging Students in Modeling as an Epistemic Practice of Science: An Introduction to the Special Issue of the "Journal of Science Education and Technology"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell, Todd; Oh, Phil Seok

    2015-01-01

    This article provides an introduction for the special issue of the "Journal of Science Education and Technology" focused on science teaching and learning with models. The article provides initial framing for questions that guided the special issue. Additionally, based on our careful review of each of these articles, some discussion of…

  2. The plant i-AAA protease controls the turnover of an essential mitochondrial protein import component.

    PubMed

    Opalińska, Magdalena; Parys, Katarzyna; Murcha, Monika W; Jańska, Hanna

    2018-01-29

    Mitochondria are multifunctional organelles that play a central role in energy metabolism. Owing to the life-essential functions of these organelles, mitochondrial content, quality and dynamics are tightly controlled. Across the species, highly conserved ATP-dependent proteases prevent malfunction of mitochondria through versatile activities. This study focuses on a molecular function of the plant mitochondrial inner membrane-embedded AAA protease (denoted i -AAA) FTSH4, providing its first bona fide substrate. Here, we report that the abundance of the Tim17-2 protein, an essential component of the TIM17:23 translocase (Tim17-2 together with Tim50 and Tim23), is directly controlled by the proteolytic activity of FTSH4. Plants that are lacking functional FTSH4 protease are characterized by significantly enhanced capacity of preprotein import through the TIM17:23-dependent pathway. Taken together, with the observation that FTSH4 prevents accumulation of Tim17-2, our data point towards the role of this i -AAA protease in the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis in plants. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  3. Assessment of resistomycin, as an anticancer compound isolated and characterized from Streptomyces aurantiacus AAA5.

    PubMed

    Vijayabharathi, Rajendran; Bruheim, Per; Andreassen, Trygve; Raja, Duraisamy Senthil; Devi, Palanisamy Bruntha; Sathyabama, Sathyaseelan; Priyadarisini, Venkatesan Brindha

    2011-12-01

    A new actinomycete strain, isolated from humus soils in the Western Ghats, was found to be an efficient pigment producer. The strain, designated AAA5, was identified as a putative Streptomyces aurantiacus strain based on cultural properties, morphology, carbon source utilization, and analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. The strain produced a reddish-brown pigmented compound during the secondary metabolites phase. A yellow compound was derived from the extracted pigment and was identified as the quinone-related antibiotic resistomycin based on ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses. The AAA5 strain was found to produce large quantities of resistomycin (52.5 mg/L). It showed potent cytotoxic activity against cell lines viz. HepG2 (hepatic carcinoma) and HeLa (cervical carcinoma) in vitro, with growth inhibition (GI(50)) of 0.006 and 0.005 μg/ml, respectively. The strain also exhibited broad antimicrobial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, AAA5 may have great potential as an industrial resistomycin-producing strain.

  4. The Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Statistically Corrected Operative Risk Evaluation (AAA SCORE) for predicting mortality after open and endovascular interventions.

    PubMed

    Ambler, Graeme K; Gohel, Manjit S; Mitchell, David C; Loftus, Ian M; Boyle, Jonathan R

    2015-01-01

    Accurate adjustment of surgical outcome data for risk is vital in an era of surgeon-level reporting. Current risk prediction models for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair are suboptimal. We aimed to develop a reliable risk model for in-hospital mortality after intervention for AAA, using rigorous contemporary statistical techniques to handle missing data. Using data collected during a 15-month period in the United Kingdom National Vascular Database, we applied multiple imputation methodology together with stepwise model selection to generate preoperative and perioperative models of in-hospital mortality after AAA repair, using two thirds of the available data. Model performance was then assessed on the remaining third of the data by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and compared with existing risk prediction models. Model calibration was assessed by Hosmer-Lemeshow analysis. A total of 8088 AAA repair operations were recorded in the National Vascular Database during the study period, of which 5870 (72.6%) were elective procedures. Both preoperative and perioperative models showed excellent discrimination, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of .89 and .92, respectively. This was significantly better than any of the existing models (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for best comparator model, .84 and .88; P < .001 and P = .001, respectively). Discrimination remained excellent when only elective procedures were considered. There was no evidence of miscalibration by Hosmer-Lemeshow analysis. We have developed accurate models to assess risk of in-hospital mortality after AAA repair. These models were carefully developed with rigorous statistical methodology and significantly outperform existing methods for both elective cases and overall AAA mortality. These models will be invaluable for both preoperative patient counseling and accurate risk adjustment of published outcome data. Copyright © 2015 Society

  5. How Far Has the International Neurourology Journal Progressed Since Its Transformation Into an English Language Journal?

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Purpose The publisher of the International Neurourology Journal changed the text to English in 2010 to promote the journal as an international publication. Four years later, what has happened to this journal? This paper will use citation indicators to describe the degree of internationalization. Methods Citation indicators such as impact factors, total citations from Web of Science, Science Journal Rankings (SJR), cites per documents (2 years), and Hirsch indexes (h-indexes) from Web of Science, digital object identifier (DOI)/CrossRef, ScimagoJR, or Scopus were calculated. In addition, the native countries of the authors and researchers citing the journal in Web of Science were analyzed. Results Impact factors in 2012 and 2013 were 0.645 and 0.857, respectively. Total citations in 2011, 2012, and 2013 from Web of Science were 15, 51, and 99, respectively, and the SJRs in 2011 and 2012 were 0.220 and 0.390, respectively. The h-indexes from DOI/CrossRef, Scopus, and Web of Science were 7, 8, and 6, respectively. Out of 153 unsolicited published papers, 27 (17.6%) were from outside of Korea. The researchers citing the journal in Web of Science and Scopus were primarily from the United States, Korea, China, the United Kingdom, and France. Funding agencies supported 39 of 101 original articles (38.6%). Conclusions After changing the text to the English language, the citation indicators show that the International Neurourology Journal has been elevated to an international journal. Although the nationality of authors varies from year to year, the increase in the number of manuscripts from international authors is obvious. PMID:24729921

  6. Library and Information Science Research Areas: A Content Analysis of Articles from the Top 10 Journals 2007-8

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aharony, Noa

    2012-01-01

    The current study seeks to describe and analyze journal research publications in the top 10 Library and Information Science journals from 2007-8. The paper presents a statistical descriptive analysis of authorship patterns (geographical distribution and affiliation) and keywords. Furthermore, it displays a thorough content analysis of keywords and…

  7. Teaching Science through a Systems Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Llewellyn, Douglas; Johnson, Scott

    2008-01-01

    Based on the recommendation of the AAAS and the NRC, middle level science is the rightful introduction for a systems approach, including the study of its parts, subsystems, interconnections, and interrelationships. Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" provides an excellent opportunity to combine ecological consequences within a systems approach (Sweeney 2001).…

  8. Discrepancies among Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed coverage of funding information in medical journal articles.

    PubMed

    Kokol, Peter; Vošner, Helena Blažun

    2018-01-01

    The overall aim of the present study was to compare the coverage of existing research funding information for articles indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. The numbers of articles with funding information published in 2015 were identified in the three selected databases and compared using bibliometric analysis of a sample of twenty-eight prestigious medical journals. Frequency analysis of the number of articles with funding information showed statistically significant differences between Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. The largest proportion of articles with funding information was found in Web of Science (29.0%), followed by PubMed (14.6%) and Scopus (7.7%). The results show that coverage of funding information differs significantly among Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases in a sample of the same medical journals. Moreover, we found that, currently, funding data in PubMed is more difficult to obtain and analyze compared with that in the other two databases.

  9. Turkish Publications in Science Citation Index and Citation Index-Expanded Indexed Journals in the Field of Anaesthesiology: A Bibliographic Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Özbilgin, Şule; Hancı, Volkan

    2017-01-01

    Objective Our study aimed to assess Turkish publications in Science Citation Index (SCI) and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) indexed journals in the field of ‘anaesthesiology’. Methods Journals related to ‘anaesthesiology’ in the Science Citation Index-Expanded database of ‘Thomson Reuter Web of Science’ were searched. The search engine of Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science (WoS) was used in the advanced mode by typing ‘IS=ISSN number’ to identify publications in the journal. By typing ‘IS=ISSN number AND CU=Turkey’, Turkish papers on anaesthesiology were found. If Turkish and non-Turkish authors had collaborated, the article was included in the search when the corresponding author had provided a Turkey-based address. The catalogue information and statistics were used to determine Turkish publications as the percentage of total publications and the annual mean number of Turkish publications. In WoS, ‘SU=anesthesiology’ was used to determine the number, country, year and topic distributions of publications from 1975 to date and within the last 10 years. The citation numbers and h-indices were determined based on the country for publications within the last 10 years. Results From 1975 to the early 2000s Turkey was 20th in the list of countries with highest number of publications on anaesthesiology, however in the last 10 years Turkey moved up to 18th place. Its mean citation number has been 4.64, and it remains the 2nd lowest country pertaining to citations among the 22 countries with the most number of publications. According to the percentage of publications in the field of anaesthesiology, the journals with highest rate of Turkish publications were Revista Brasileira de Anestesiologia, European Journal of Anaesthesiology and Journal of Anesthesia. Conclusion In the field of anaesthesiology, the highest number of articles from Turkey was published in Revista Brasileira de Anestesiologia, European Journal of

  10. Editor's Choice - Prolonged ICU Length of Stay after AAA Repair: Analysis of Time Trends and Long-term Outcome.

    PubMed

    Gavali, H; Mani, K; Tegler, G; Kawati, R; Covaciu, L; Wanhainen, A

    2017-08-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency and outcome of prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS) after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair in the endovascular era. All patients operated on for AAA between 1999 and 2013 at Uppsala University hospital were identified. Data were retrieved from the Swedish Vascular registry, the Swedish Intensive Care registry, the National Population registry, and case records. Prolonged ICU LOS was defined as ≥ 48 h during the primary hospital stay. Patients surviving ≥ 48 h after AAA surgery were included in the analysis. A total of 725 patients were identified, of whom 707 (97.5%) survived ≥ 48 h; 563 (79.6%) underwent intact AAA repair and 144 (20.4%) ruptured AAA repair. A total of 548 patients (77.5%) required < 48 h of intensive care, 115 (16.3%) 2-6 days and 44 (6.2%) ≥ 7 days. The rate of prolonged ICU LOS declined considerably over time, from 41.4% of all AAA repairs in 1999 to 7.3% in 2013 (p < .001) whereas the use of endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) increased from 6.9% in 1999 to 78.0% in 2013 (p < .001). The 30 day survival rate was 98.2% for those with < 48 h ICU stay versus 93.0% for 2-6 days versus 81.8% for ≥ 7 days (p < .001); the corresponding 90 day survival was 97.1% versus 86.1% versus 63.6% (p < .001) respectively. For patients surviving 90 days after repair, there was no difference in long-term survival between the groups. During the period of progressively increasing use of EVAR, a simultaneous significant reduction in frequency of prolonged ICU LOS occurred. Although prolonged ICU LOS was associated with a high short-term mortality, long-term outcome among those surviving the initial 90 days was less affected. Copyright © 2017 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. The Effect of Reflective Science Journal Writing on Students' Self-Regulated Learning Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Rawahi, Nawar M.; Al-Balushi, Sulaiman M.

    2015-01-01

    The current study investigates the effectiveness of grade-ten students' reflective science journal writing on their self-regulated learning strategies. We used a pre-post control group quasi-experimental design. The sample consisted of 62 tenth-grade students (15 years old) in Oman, comprising 32 students in the experimental group and 30 students…

  12. Principal Approaches to Understanding Occupation and Occupational Science Found in the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (2001–2012)

    PubMed Central

    Gómez, Silvia; Tapia, María Jesús; Rueda, Laura

    2017-01-01

    Background The progression of occupational science in Chile is documented in the main scientific publication of the field, the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (RChTO). Objective Identify approaches to understanding and applying occupation and occupational science as elucidated in the RChTO. Methodology A systematic qualitative review of the journal (2001–2012) identified articles elucidating an approach to understanding and application operationally defined as references to specific authors, theories, models/paradigms, definitions, and other fields that support approaches to O/OS. Results The study identified two main approaches. The first considers occupation/occupational science from a practical perspective or as a means to explain human behavior; the second considers occupation/occupational science as an object of study. Each approach is further divided into categories. Conclusion This study provides a novel perspective on regional use of occupational science concepts. These findings contribute to our understanding of this science in context and to recognition of the cultural relevance of these scientific concepts. PMID:29097971

  13. Integrating Social Sciences and Intelligence

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-01-01

    considered controversial. The American Anthropological Association has demonstrated disdain for HTTs stating that the Army program violates the AAA...demonstrated the great need for socio-cultural understanding. Human Terrain Teams are aiding brigades and regiments in Iraq and Afghanistan and...Champion 1 Integrating Social Sciences and Intelligence By 2LT Lindsey Champion Army leaders recognize the importance of socio

  14. Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center (DDEAMC) Staff Preferences: Electronic Journals versus Print Journals

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2003-04-01

    Access Cost Benefit Analysis. Journal of Academic Librarianship , 22(2), 105-9. Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations...Electronic Journal Use in an Academic Health Science Library. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship , 00(0), 1-7. Retrieved September 23, 2002

  15. Connor receives David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-News: Response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Connor, Steve

    2012-01-01

    Steve Connor, science editor of the Independent newspaper of London, received the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-News at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 7 December 2011 in San Francisco, Calif. Connor was honored for his article "Expect more extreme winters thanks to global warming, say scientists," published 24 December 2010 in theIndependent. The article covers a computer modeling study that found that losses in sea ice north of Scandinavia and Russia caused by global warming could paradoxically cause harsh, cold winters in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The Perlman award is for work published with a deadline pressure of 1 week or less.

  16. Connor receives David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-News: Citation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duff, Oliver

    2012-01-01

    Steve Connor, science editor of the Independent newspaper of London, received the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-News at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 7 December 2011 in San Francisco, Calif. Connor was honored for his article "Expect more extreme winters thanks to global warming, say scientists," published 24 December 2010 in theIndependent. The article covers a computer modeling study that found that losses in sea ice north of Scandinavia and Russia caused by global warming could paradoxically cause harsh, cold winters in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The Perlman award is for work published with a deadline pressure of 1 week or less.

  17. The bicentennial volume of the British Journal of Psychiatry: the winding pathway of mental science.

    PubMed

    Tyrer, Peter; Craddock, Nick

    2012-01-01

    The Asylum Journal, first published in 1853, is now, as the British Journal of Psychiatry, in its 200th volume. It has changed greatly in its breadth and scope, but its core values and concerns--professional respect, removal of stigma, delivery of care, understanding of pathology, and informed treatment--have remained at its heart throughout. We predict some changes for the future, but not dramatic ones, and conclude that the impinging advances of science will elucidate and refine, but not remove, the need for a journal that is proud to represent psychiatry or, in the words of John Bucknill, its first editor, 'to render prominent its characteristics and to stamp it as a specialty'.

  18. The challenges of science journalism: The perspectives of scientists, science communication advisors and journalists from New Zealand.

    PubMed

    Ashwell, Douglas James

    2016-04-01

    The news media play an important role in informing the public about scientific and technological developments. Some argue that restructuring and downsizing result in journalists coming under increased pressure to produce copy, leading them to use more public relations material to meet their deadlines. This article explores science journalism in the highly commercialised media market of New Zealand. Using semi-structured interviews with scientists, science communication advisors and journalists, the study finds communication advisors and scientists believe most media outlets, excluding public service media, report science poorly. Furthermore, restructuring and staff cuts have placed the journalists interviewed under increasing pressure. While smaller newspapers appear to be printing press releases verbatim, metropolitan newspaper journalists still exercise control over their use of such material. The results suggest these journalists will continue to resist increasing their use of public relations material for some time to come. © The Author(s) 2014.

  19. Assessing the impact participation in science journalism activities has on scientific literacy among high school students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Farrar, Cathy

    As part of the National Science Foundation Science Literacy through Science Journalism (SciJourn) research and development initiative (http://www.scijourn.org ; Polman, Saul, Newman, and Farrar, 2008) a quasi-experimental design was used to investigate what impact incorporating science journalism activities had on students' scientific literacy. Over the course of a school year students participated in a variety of activities culminating in the production of science news articles for Scijourner, a regional print and online high school science news magazine. Participating teachers and SciJourn team members collaboratively developed activities focused on five aspects of scientific literacy: placing information into context, recognizing relevance, evaluating factual accuracy, use of multiple credible sources and information seeking processes. This study details the development process for the Scientific Literacy Assessment (SLA) including validity and reliability studies, evaluates student scientific literacy using the SLA, examines student SLA responses to provide a description of high school students' scientific literacy, and outlines implications of the findings in relation to the National Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (2012) and classroom science teaching practices. Scientifically literate adults acting as experts in the assessment development phase informed the creation of a scoring guide that was used to analyze student responses. Experts tended to draw on both their understanding of science concepts and life experiences to formulate answers; paying close attention to scientific factual inaccuracies, sources of information, how new information fit into their view of science and society as well as targeted strategies for information seeking. Novices (i.e., students), in contrast, tended to ignore factual inaccuracies, showed little understanding about source credibility and suggested

  20. Implications of Web of Science journal impact factor for scientific output evaluation in 16 institutions and investigators' opinion.

    PubMed

    Wáng, Yì-Xiáng J; Arora, Richa; Choi, Yongdoo; Chung, Hsiao-Wen; Egorov, Vyacheslav I; Frahm, Jens; Kudo, Hiroyuki; Kuyumcu, Suleyman; Laurent, Sophie; Loffroy, Romaric; Maurea, Simone; Morcos, Sameh K; Ni, Yicheng; Oei, Edwin H G; Sabarudin, Akmal; Yu, Xin

    2014-12-01

    Journal based metrics is known not to be ideal for the measurement of the quality of individual researcher's scientific output. In the current report 16 contributors from Hong Kong SAR, India, Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Belgium, France, Italy, UK, The Netherlands, Malaysia, and USA are invited. The following six questions were asked: (I) is Web of Sciences journal impact factor (IF) and Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) citation the main academic output performance evaluation tool in your institution? and your country? (II) How does Google citation count in your institution? and your country? (III) If paper is published in a non-SCI journal but it is included in PubMed and searchable by Google scholar, how it is valued when compared with a paper published in a journal with an IF? (IV) Do you value to publish a piece of your work in a non-SCI journal as much as a paper published in a journal with an IF? (V) What is your personal view on the metric measurement of scientific output? (VI) Overall, do you think Web of Sciences journal IF is beneficial, or actually it is doing more harm? The results show that IF and ISI citation is heavily affecting the academic life in most of the institutions. Google citation and evaluation, while is being used and convenient and speedy, has not gain wide 'official' recognition as a tool for scientific output evaluation.

  1. The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences in Its 18th Year: A Look at the Journal’s Growth

    PubMed Central

    Abdul Latiff, Dahlia; Irfan, Mohamad; Jafri Malin, Abdullah

    2012-01-01

    As a small—although growing—journal based in Malaysia, the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) has faced several challenges in the past, such as promoting our journal as well as making sure our article bank does not go empty. However, we strive to improve ourselves by taking all means necessary to increase the quantity and, most importantly, quality of our publications, as well as to increase our journal’s visibility and citability. This editorial will focus on MJMS statistics throughout 2011—where MJMS turned 18—as well as future plans for our journal. PMID:22973132

  2. [Influence of journals indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI) on Chinese medical journals based on the data of published articles by Chinese authors from 2000 - 2009].

    PubMed

    Fu, Xiao-Xia; Li, Gui-Cun

    2011-04-01

    This study was designed to investigate the influence of journals indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI) on Chinese medical journals. Articles on medicine written by Chinese and the journals that published these articles from 2000 to 2009 were searched using Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) database, and the status and variation tendency of the impact factors (IF) of these journals were analyzed. Data of articles on medicine included Chinese Scientific and Technical Paper and Citations Data (CSTPCD) from 2000 to 2008 were searched (the data of 2009 have not been released). The included articles and the time-dependent changing profile were studied. These outcomes were evaluated as the fixed base relative or link relative when compared with the data of 2000 or those of last year, respectively. Geometric mean was used when mean increase was calculated and IF distribution was described with median. Totally 3774 articles from China were published by journals indexed by SCI-E in 2000, and the number of articles published by Chinese authors increased every year. In 2008, 16 714 articles were indexed by SCI-E, 442.87% higher than those of 2000. The increment was 161.54% higher than that of articles published in the journals indexed by CSTPCD (281.33%) during the same period. From 2000 to 2009, the geometric mean of increase in the number of published articles from China in journals indexed by SCI-E was 20.87% but it was 18.21% in CSTPCD. From 2000 to 2009, the median of IF of SCI-E indexed journals that published Chinese medical articles was 1.866, 2.073, 2.390, 2.702, 2.409, 2.496, 2.380, 2.218, 2.280 and 2.331, respectively, and they did not increase or even decreased. The number of the articles indexed by SCI-E increased year by year, much faster than that of CSTPCD. However, it does not necessarily mean the increase in impact.

  3. Regulatory coiled-coil domains promote head-to-head assemblies of AAA+ chaperones essential for tunable activity control.

    PubMed

    Carroni, Marta; Franke, Kamila B; Maurer, Michael; Jäger, Jasmin; Hantke, Ingo; Gloge, Felix; Linder, Daniela; Gremer, Sebastian; Turgay, Kürşad; Bukau, Bernd; Mogk, Axel

    2017-11-22

    Ring-forming AAA+ chaperones exert ATP-fueled substrate unfolding by threading through a central pore. This activity is potentially harmful requiring mechanisms for tight repression and substrate-specific activation. The AAA+ chaperone ClpC with the peptidase ClpP forms a bacterial protease essential to virulence and stress resistance. The adaptor MecA activates ClpC by targeting substrates and stimulating ClpC ATPase activity. We show how ClpC is repressed in its ground state by determining ClpC cryo-EM structures with and without MecA. ClpC forms large two-helical assemblies that associate via head-to-head contacts between coiled-coil middle domains (MDs). MecA converts this resting state to an active planar ring structure by binding to MD interaction sites. Loss of ClpC repression in MD mutants causes constitutive activation and severe cellular toxicity. These findings unravel an unexpected regulatory concept executed by coiled-coil MDs to tightly control AAA+ chaperone activity.

  4. Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology. Volume 9, Issue 5 (Ver. 2.0)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dixit, R. K.

    2010-01-01

    This is a special issue published in version 1.0 of "Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology." Articles in this issue include: (1) [Theta] Scheme (Orthogonal Milstein Scheme), a Better Numerical Approximation for Multi-dimensional SDEs (Klaus Schmitz Abe); (2) Input Data Processing Techniques in Intrusion Detection…

  5. Fan filter cleaning on the CHeCS AAA in the US Lab

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-05-05

    ISS019-E-013710 (5 May 2009) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 19/20 flight engineer, cleans a fan filter on the Crew Health Care System Avionics Air Assembly (CHeCS AAA) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

  6. China takes microgravity work to new heights | Science | AAAS

    Science.gov Websites

    China takes microgravity work to new heights By Dennis Normile Apr. 5, 2016 , 2:00 PM China's space :10.1126/science.aaf9876 Dennis Normile More from News illustration of GOES-17 Cooling failure threatens

  7. Bridging the divide between science and journalism.

    PubMed

    Van Eperen, Laura; Marincola, Francesco M; Strohm, Jennifer

    2010-03-10

    There are countless reasons nearly every scientist should learn how to communicate effectively with the media, including increased understanding of critical research findings to attract or sustain funding and build new professional partnerships that will further propel forward research. But where do scientists begin? Bridging the Divide between Science and Journalism offers practical tips for any scientist looking to work with the media.Given the traditional and internet-based sources for medical research and healthcare-related news now available, it is imperative that scientists know how to communicate their latest findings through the appropriate channels. The credible media channels are managed by working journalists, so learning how to package vast, technical research in a form that is appetizing and "bite-sized" in order to get their attention, is an art. Reducing years of research into a headline can be extremely difficult and certainly doesn't come naturally to every scientist, so this article provides suggestions on how to work with the media to communicate your findings.

  8. SFM-FDTD analysis of triangular-lattice AAA structure: Parametric study of the TEM mode

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamidi, M.; Chemrouk, C.; Belkhir, A.; Kebci, Z.; Ndao, A.; Lamrous, O.; Baida, F. I.

    2014-05-01

    This theoretical work reports a parametric study of enhanced transmission through annular aperture array (AAA) structure arranged in a triangular lattice. The effect of the incidence angle in addition to the inner and outer radii values on the evolution of the transmission spectra is carried out. To this end, a 3D Finite-Difference Time-Domain code based on the Split Field Method (SFM) is used to calculate the spectral response of the structure for any angle of incidence. In order to work through an orthogonal unit cell which presents the advantage to reduce time and space of computation, special periodic boundary conditions are implemented. This study provides a new modeling of AAA structures useful for producing tunable ultra-compact devices.

  9. Biomedical science journals in the Arab world.

    PubMed

    Tadmouri, Ghazi O

    2004-10-01

    Medieval Arab scientists established the basis of medical practice and gave important attention to the publication of scientific results. At present, modern scientific publishing in the Arab world is in its developmental stage. Arab biomedical journals are less than 300, most of which are published in Egypt, Lebanon, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Yet, many of these journals do not have on-line access or are indexed in major bibliographic databases. The majority of indexed journals, however, do not have a stable presence in the popular PubMed database and their indexes are discontinued since 2001. The exposure of Arab biomedical journals in international indices undoubtedly plays an important role in improving the scientific quality of these journals. The successful examples discussed in this review encourage us to call for the formation of a consortium of Arab biomedical journal publishers to assist in redressing the balance of the region from biomedical data consumption to data production.

  10. Physiology Should Be Taught as Science Is Practiced: An Inquiry-Based Activity to Investigate the "Alkaline Tide"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lujan, Heidi L.; DiCarlo, Stephen E.

    2015-01-01

    The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) strongly recommends that "science be taught as science is practiced." This means that the teaching approach must be consistent with the nature of scientific inquiry. In this article, the authors describe how they added scientific inquiry to a large lecture-based physiology…

  11. Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume VI, 2006

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Faletra, P.; Schuetz, A.; Cherkerzian, D.

    Students who conducted research at DOE National Laboratories during 2005 were invited to include their research abstracts, and for a select few, their completed research papers in this Journal. This Journal is direct evidence of students collaborating with their mentors. Fields in which these students worked include: Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Engineering; Environmental Science; General Sciences; Materials Sciences; Medical and Health Sciences; Nuclear Sciences; Physics; and Science Policy.

  12. Moyamoya disease-associated protein mysterin/RNF213 is a novel AAA+ ATPase, which dynamically changes its oligomeric state

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morito, Daisuke; Nishikawa, Kouki; Hoseki, Jun; Kitamura, Akira; Kotani, Yuri; Kiso, Kazumi; Kinjo, Masataka; Fujiyoshi, Yoshinori; Nagata, Kazuhiro

    2014-03-01

    Moyamoya disease is an idiopathic human cerebrovascular disorder that is characterized by progressive stenosis and abnormal collateral vessels. We recently identified mysterin/RNF213 as its first susceptibility gene, which encodes a 591-kDa protein containing enzymatically active P-loop ATPase and ubiquitin ligase domains and is involved in proper vascular development in zebrafish. Here we demonstrate that mysterin further contains two tandem AAA+ ATPase modules and forms huge ring-shaped oligomeric complex. AAA+ ATPases are known to generally mediate various biophysical and mechanical processes with the characteristic ring-shaped structure. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and biochemical evaluation suggested that mysterin dynamically changes its oligomeric forms through ATP/ADP binding and hydrolysis cycles. Thus, the moyamoya disease-associated gene product is a unique protein that functions as ubiquitin ligase and AAA+ ATPase, which possibly contributes to vascular development through mechanical processes in the cell.

  13. Moyamoya disease-associated protein mysterin/RNF213 is a novel AAA+ ATPase, which dynamically changes its oligomeric state

    PubMed Central

    Morito, Daisuke; Nishikawa, Kouki; Hoseki, Jun; Kitamura, Akira; Kotani, Yuri; Kiso, Kazumi; Kinjo, Masataka; Fujiyoshi, Yoshinori; Nagata, Kazuhiro

    2014-01-01

    Moyamoya disease is an idiopathic human cerebrovascular disorder that is characterized by progressive stenosis and abnormal collateral vessels. We recently identified mysterin/RNF213 as its first susceptibility gene, which encodes a 591-kDa protein containing enzymatically active P-loop ATPase and ubiquitin ligase domains and is involved in proper vascular development in zebrafish. Here we demonstrate that mysterin further contains two tandem AAA+ ATPase modules and forms huge ring-shaped oligomeric complex. AAA+ ATPases are known to generally mediate various biophysical and mechanical processes with the characteristic ring-shaped structure. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and biochemical evaluation suggested that mysterin dynamically changes its oligomeric forms through ATP/ADP binding and hydrolysis cycles. Thus, the moyamoya disease-associated gene product is a unique protein that functions as ubiquitin ligase and AAA+ ATPase, which possibly contributes to vascular development through mechanical processes in the cell. PMID:24658080

  14. Science Education Resource Assistant for Researchers. [CD-ROM].

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education, Columbus, OH.

    This CD-ROM provides a collection of Internet resources as well as K-16 related science materials and is divided into two sections. "Online Resources" includes information on the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), National Standards, AAAS Project 2061 Resources, U.S. Department of Education, Third International Mathematics…

  15. Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in pharmacological sciences in Middle East.

    PubMed

    Meo, S A; Usmani, A M; Vohra, M S; Bukhari, I A

    2013-10-01

    Research in pharmacological science is vital to support the health needs of human beings. Measuring the research output provides information that forms the basis of strategic decisions. This study aimed to investigate the impact of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), spending on Research and Development (R&D), number of universities and scientific journals on research documents (papers), citable documents, citations per document and H-index in pharmacological science among Middle East countries. All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. The information regarding GDP, spending on R&D, total number of universities and indexed scientific journals were collected. We recorded the total number of research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in pharmacological science during the period 1996-2011. The main sources for information were World Bank, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters) and SCI-mago/Scopus. The mean per capita GDP of all the Middle East countries is 18125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D 0.63±0.28% of GDP in US$, number of universities 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journal are 8.25±3.93. The number of research documents published in pharmacological science among the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 is 1344.44±499.34; citable documents 1286.37±476.34; citations per document 7.62± 0.84; and H-index is 30.68±6.32. There was a positive correlation between spending on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.56, p = 0.02), H-Index (r = 0.56, p = 0.02); number of universities and research documents (r = 0.72, p = 0.002), citable documents (r = 0.72, p = 0.001); ISI indexed journals and research documents (r = 0.88, p = 0.0001), citable documents (r = 0.88, p = 0.0001), H-Index (r = 0.67, p = 0.004). However, there was no correlation between the GDP per capita and research outcome in pharmacological science. There is a positive association between spending on R&D, number of

  16. A 100-Year Review: Animal welfare in the Journal of Dairy Science-The first 100 years.

    PubMed

    von Keyserlingk, Marina A G; Weary, Daniel M

    2017-12-01

    This paper outlines the history and development of research in the area of animal welfare as reflected in the 100 yr that the Journal of Dairy Science has been published. The first paper using the term "animal welfare" was published in 1983; since then (to May 2017), 244 papers that reflect growing interest regarding how farm animals are cared for have been published. Much of the scientific work to date has focused on issues related to cow health, such as lameness, and methodologically many papers use behavioral measures. In addition to this science-based research, the journal has taken on the role of publishing work of social scientists that addresses the role of the human factors relating to animal welfare, including research on citizen, consumer, and farmer attitudes toward welfare issues. We call for further research focused on societal perspectives and for new biological research focused on developing issues, such as cow-calf separation and pasture access. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Integrating K-W-L Prompts into Science Journal Writing: Can Simple Question Scaffolding Increase Student Content Knowledge?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wagner, Brandon Joel

    Writing-to-learn strategies have been administered in the past to enrich student learning. The purpose of this study was to see if K-W-L prompts in science journal writing could benefit student content knowledge within biology. Two high school biology classes were provided with learning journals. The journals given to the students during the treatment unit were provided with K-W-L question prompts to guide student learning while during the comparison unit students were given an open ended writing assignment. Pre and posttests were administered to determine student-learning gains. Student motivations and opinions of the treatment were collected through student interviews. The combined results were used to determine to what extent could K-W-L prompts in science journal writing influence comprehension of content knowledge. This study found there to be no difference in student learning gains when utilizing the K-W-L literacy strategy versus another free-writing activity. When scored, student K-W-Ls total scores did correlate to student success on unit tests. This opens up the potential for K-W-Ls to serve as an adequate tool for formative assessment. Here the K-W-L could be expanded to enrich student question asking, potentially aid students learning English, and potentially be used by students without teacher scaffolding.

  18. Authorship policies of scientific journals.

    PubMed

    Resnik, David B; Tyler, Ana M; Black, Jennifer R; Kissling, Grace

    2016-03-01

    We analysed the authorship policies of a random sample of 600 journals from the Journal Citation Reports database. 62.5% of the journals we sampled had an authorship policy. Having an authorship policy was positively associated with impact factor. Journals from the biomedical sciences and social sciences/humanities were more likely to have an authorship policy than journals from the physical sciences, engineering or mathematical sciences. Among journals with a policy, the most frequent type of policy was guidance on criteria for authorship (99.7%); followed by guidance on acknowledgments (97.3%); requiring that authors make substantial contributions to the research (94.7%); requiring that authors be accountable for the research as a whole (84.8%); guidance on changes in authorship (77.9%); requiring that authors give final approval to the manuscript (77.6%); requiring that authors draft or critically revise the manuscript (71.7%); providing guidance on corporate authorship (58.9%); prohibiting gift, guest or ghost authorship (31.7%); requiring authors to describe their contributions (5.3%); limiting the number of authors for some types of articles (4.0%) and requiring authors to be accountable for their part in the research (1.1%). None of the policies addressed equal contribution statements. Journals that do not have authorship policies should consider adopting or developing ones. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  19. How far has The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine advanced in terms of journal metrics?

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine has already been valued as an international journal, according to a citation analysis in 2011. Now, 2 years later, I would like to confirm how much the Journal has advanced from the point of view of journal metrics by looking at the impact factor, cites per document (2 years), SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), and the Hirsch index. These were obtained from a variety of databases, such as the Korean Medical Citation Index, KoreaMed Synapse, Web of Science, JCR Web, and SCImago Journal & Country Rank. The manually calculated 2012 impact factor was 1.252 in the Web of Science, with a ranking of 70/151 (46.4%) in the category of general and internal medicine. Cites per documents (2 years) for 2012 was 1.619, with a ranking of 267/1,588 (16.8%) in the category of medicine (miscellaneous). The 2012 SJR was 0.464, with a ranking of 348/1,588 (21.9%) in the category of medicine (miscellaneous). The Hirsch index from KoreaMed Synapse, Web of Science, and SCImago Journal & Country Rank were 12, 15, and 19, respectively. In comparison with data from 2010, the values of all the journal metrics increased consistently. These results reflect favorably on the increased competency of editors and authors of The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine. PMID:24307835

  20. How far has The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine advanced in terms of journal metrics?

    PubMed

    Huh, Sun

    2013-11-01

    The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine has already been valued as an international journal, according to a citation analysis in 2011. Now, 2 years later, I would like to confirm how much the Journal has advanced from the point of view of journal metrics by looking at the impact factor, cites per document (2 years), SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), and the Hirsch index. These were obtained from a variety of databases, such as the Korean Medical Citation Index, KoreaMed Synapse, Web of Science, JCR Web, and SCImago Journal & Country Rank. The manually calculated 2012 impact factor was 1.252 in the Web of Science, with a ranking of 70/151 (46.4%) in the category of general and internal medicine. Cites per documents (2 years) for 2012 was 1.619, with a ranking of 267/1,588 (16.8%) in the category of medicine (miscellaneous). The 2012 SJR was 0.464, with a ranking of 348/1,588 (21.9%) in the category of medicine (miscellaneous). The Hirsch index from KoreaMed Synapse, Web of Science, and SCImago Journal & Country Rank were 12, 15, and 19, respectively. In comparison with data from 2010, the values of all the journal metrics increased consistently. These results reflect favorably on the increased competency of editors and authors of The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine.

  1. 1995 AAAS annual meeting and science innovation exposition: Unity in diversity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Strauss, M.S.; Heasley, C.

    1995-12-31

    Abstracts are presented from the 161st National Meeting of the American Association for the advancement of Science. Topics include environmental technologies, genetics, physical science research, information management, nuclear weapon issues, and education. Individual topics have been processed separately for the United States Department of Energy databases.

  2. The 100 Most Cited Turkish Papers in the Otorhinolaryngology Journals of Web of Science.

    PubMed

    Erdağ, Taner Kemal; Kurtoğlu, Gökhan

    2015-09-01

    The aim of the study was to analyze the 100 most cited publications with Turkish origin in the Web of Science Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) journals. The Web of Science database was searched in terms of citations for publications originating from Turkey in ORL journals since 1983. After the identification of the 100 most cited articles, analysis was performed for the first author, institution, city, publication type, subject related to subspecialty, and journals having the most cited articles. Moreover, the number of ORL publications and citations of countries was determined in descending order using the same database. A total of 3948 ORL articles with Turkish origin was identified. The number of citations was 181 for the first and 28 for the last in the 100 most cited articles. As there was more than one article with 28 citations, 101 articles were analyzed. The number of the articles was 76, 22, and 3 for the university, education/research, and state hospitals, respectively. Hacettepe University, Ankara Numune Hospital, and Gazi University were the three leading institutions having the most cited articles, and Ankara was the first city. While 98 of 101 articles were original research, the number of case reports and review articles were 2 and 1, respectively. Thirty-five articles were related to otology, 23 to pediatric ORL, 20 to rhinology and head and neck surgery, and 3 to facial plastic surgery. Laryngoscope, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology were the leading 3 journals with the most cited articles coming from Turkey. The evaluation of countries revealed that Turkey was among the first 10 countries in terms of number of ORL articles but fell behind for the number of citations. This bibliometric study is the first one regarding the contribution of Turkish authors and institutions to ORL literature. Similar studies might be periodically repeated to determine national development in the field of ORL and

  3. Comparison of Journal Self-Citation Rates between Some Chinese and Non-Chinese International Journals

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Zu-Guo; Gao, Feng; Zhang, Chun-Ting

    2012-01-01

    Background The past 3 decades have witnessed a boost in science development in China; in parallel, more and more Chinese scientific journals are indexed by the Journal Citation Reports issued by Thomson Reuters (SCI). Evaluation of the performance of these Chinese SCI journals is necessary and helpful to improve their quality. This study aimed to evaluate these journals by calculating various journal self-citation rates, which are important parameters influencing a journal impact factor. Methodology/Principal Findings We defined three journal self-citation rates, and studied these rates for 99 Chinese scientific journals, almost exhausting all Chinese SCI journals currently available. Likewise, we selected 99 non-Chinese international (abbreviated as ‘world’) journals, with each being in the same JCR subject category and having similar impact factors as their Chinese counterparts. Generally, Chinese journals tended to be higher in all the three self-citation rates than world journal counterparts. Particularly, a few Chinese scientific journals had much higher self-citation rates. Conclusions/Significance Our results show that generally Chinese scientific journals have higher self-citation rates than those of world journals. Consequently, Chinese scientific journals tend to have lower visibility and are more isolated in the relevant fields. Considering the fact that sciences are rapidly developing in China and so are Chinese scientific journals, we expect that the differences of journal self-citation rates between Chinese and world scientific journals will gradually disappear in the future. Some suggestions to solve the problems are presented. PMID:23173041

  4. History society launches journal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richman, Barbara T.

    A fledgling international organization plans to launch, in the next few months, a journal devoted to the study of the history of the earth sciences. The journal, to be published by the History of Earth Sciences Society (HESS), will be edited by Gerald M. Friedman ot the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.HESS will promote interest and scholarship in the history of the earth sciences by publishing the semiannual journal, by organizing meetings about the history of earth sciences, and by supporting the efforts of other associations displaying similar interests, according to the society's draft constitution. An organizational meeting to ratify the constitution and to elect officers will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in October. The interim officers and the proposed slate for 1983 include David B. Kitts (University of Oklahoma, Norman), president; Albert V. Carrozi (University of Illinois, Urbana), president-elect; and Ellis L. Yochelson (U.S. Geological Survey, National Museum of Natural History), secretary.

  5. Biomedical journals in Republic of Macedonia: the current state.

    PubMed

    Polenakovic, Momir; Danevska, Lenche

    2014-01-01

    Several biomedical journals in the Republic of Macedonia have succeeded in maintaining regular publication over the years, but only a few have a long-standing tradition. In this paper we present the basic characteristics of 18 biomedical journals that have been published without a break in the Republic of Macedonia. Of these, more details are given for 14 journals, a particular emphasis being on the journal Prilozi/Contributions of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Section of Medical Sciences as one of the journals with a long-term publishing tradition and one of the journals included in the Medline/PubMed database. A brief or broad description is given for the following journals: Macedonian Medical Review, Acta Morphologica, Physioacta, MJMS-Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, International Medical Journal Medicus, Archives of Public Health, Epilepsy, Macedonian Orthopaedics and Traumatology Journal, BANTAO Journal, Macedonian Dental Review, Macedonian Pharmaceutical Bulletin, Macedonian Veterinary Review, Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Balkan Journal of Medical Genetics, Contributions of the Macedonian Scientific Society of Bitola, Vox Medici, Social Medicine: Professional Journal for Public Health, and Prilozi/Contributions of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Journals from Macedonia should aim to be published regularly, should comply with the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals, and with the recommendations of reliable organizations working in the field of publishing and research. These are the key prerequisites which Macedonian journals have to accomplish in order to be included in renowned international bibliographic databases. Thus the results of biomedical science from the Republic of Macedonia will be presented to the international scientific arena.

  6. Investing Wisely: Citation Rankings as a Measure of Quality in Library and Information Science Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Via, Barbara J.; Schmidle, Deborah J.

    2007-01-01

    The library and information science field is currently confronted with difficult decisions about how best to allocate acquisition expenditures among increasingly expensive journals. This article measures the return-on-investment of serial expenditures through the use of citation analysis, which is a widely used approach to ascertaining journal…

  7. Newsletter on Science, Technology & Human Values, Number 22.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shelanski, Vivien B., Ed.

    This publication contains many news items such as meeting and conference descriptions and dates, proposed and current legislative action, publication descriptions, and topical articles. The items all pertain to the impact on humanity of science and technology. In this issue, news items include NSF, NEH, and AAAS meeting and seminar notices,…

  8. Citation Analysis of the Korean Journal of Urology From Web of Science, Scopus, Korean Medical Citation Index, KoreaMed Synapse, and Google Scholar.

    PubMed

    Huh, Sun

    2013-04-01

    The Korean Journal of Urology began to be published exclusively in English in 2010 and is indexed in PubMed Central/PubMed. This study analyzed a variety of citation indicators of the Korean Journal of Urology before and after 2010 to clarify the present position of the journal among the urology category journals. The impact factor, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), impact index, Z-impact factor (ZIF, impact factor excluding self-citation), and Hirsch Index (H-index) were referenced or calculated from Web of Science, Scopus, SCImago Journal & Country Ranking, Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI), KoreaMed Synapse, and Google Scholar. Both the impact factor and the total citations rose rapidly beginning in 2011. The 2012 impact factor corresponded to the upper 84.9% in the nephrology-urology category, whereas the 2011 SJR was in the upper 58.5%. The ZIF in KoMCI was one fifth of the impact factor because there are only two other urology journals in KoMCI. Up to 2009, more than half of the citations in the Web of Science were from Korean researchers, but from 2010 to 2012, more than 85% of the citations were from international researchers. The H-indexes from Web of Science, Scopus, KoMCI, KoreaMed Synapse, and Google Scholar were 8, 10, 12, 9, and 18, respectively. The strategy of the language change in 2010 was successful from the perspective of citation indicators. The values of the citation indicators will continue to increase rapidly and consistently as the research achievement of authors of the Korean Journal of Urology increases.

  9. Promotion of the Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation to the international level based on journal metrics.

    PubMed

    Huh, Sun

    2016-12-01

    The aim of this study was to use journal metrics to confirm that the Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation has been promoted to the international level after changing its language to English-only in April 2013. Journal metrics, including the number of articles per year, countries of authors, countries of the editorial board members, impact factor, total citations, and the Hirsch index, were counted or calculated based on the journal homepage and the Web of Science Core Collection in December 2016. The number of citable articles was 52, 62, 59, and 74 in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. All authors were from Korea in 2013 and 2014, but the authors were from 11 countries in 2015 and from 16 countries in 2016. The editorial board members are currently from 11 countries. The impact factor without self-citations for 2015 was 0.912, corresponding to a Journal Citation Reports ranking of 32.9% out of 82 journals in the category of sport sciences. The total citations increased from 1 in 2013 to 130 in 2016. This journal was cited in 208 other source journals in the Web of Science. The citing authors were from 47 countries. The Hirsch index was 7, and review articles were the most frequently cited articles. The above results show a rapid development to the international level over 4 years. The introduction of digital technology to journals to improve their accessibility across multiple platforms is recommended.

  10. OGLE16aaa - a signature of a hungry supermassive black hole

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wyrzykowski, Łukasz; Zieliński, M.; Kostrzewa-Rutkowska, Z.; Hamanowicz, A.; Jonker, P. G.; Arcavi, I.; Guillochon, J.; Brown, P. J.; Kozłowski, S.; Udalski, A.; Szymański, M. K.; Soszyński, I.; Poleski, R.; Pietrukowicz, P.; Skowron, J.; Mróz, P.; Ulaczyk, K.; Pawlak, M.; Rybicki, K. A.; Greiner, J.; Krühler, T.; Bolmer, J.; Smartt, S. J.; Maguire, K.; Smith, K.

    2017-02-01

    We present the discovery and first three months of follow-up observations of a currently on-going unusual transient detected by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-IV) survey, located in the centre of a galaxy at redshift z = 0.1655. The long rise to absolute magnitude of -20.5 mag, slow decline, very broad He and H spectral features make OGLE16aaa similar to other optical/UV tidal disruption events (TDEs). Weak narrow emission lines in the spectrum and archival photometric observations suggest the host galaxy is a weak-line active galactic nucleus, which has been accreting at higher rate in the past. OGLE16aaa, along with SDSS J0748, seems to form a sub-class of TDEs by weakly or recently active supermassive black holes (SMBHs). This class might bridge the TDEs by quiescent SMBHs and flares observed as `changing-look quasars', if we interpret the latter as TDEs. If this picture is true, the previously applied requirement for identifying a flare as a TDE that it had to come from an inactive nucleus, could be leading to observational bias in TDE selection, thus affecting TDE-rate estimations.

  11. Examining the Effects of Reflective Journals on Pre-Service Science Teachers' General Chemistry Laboratory Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cengiz, Canan; Karatas, Faik Özgür

    2015-01-01

    The general chemistry laboratory is an appropriate place for learning chemistry well. It is also effective for stimulating higher-order thinking skills, including reflective thinking, a skill that is crucial for science teaching as well as learning. This study aims to examine the effects of feedback-supported reflective journal-keeping activities…

  12. Antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of isoprenylated coumarin mammea A/AA isolated from Mammea africana.

    PubMed

    Canning, Corene; Sun, Shi; Ji, Xiangming; Gupta, Smiti; Zhou, Kequan

    2013-05-02

    The stem bark of Mammea africana is widely distributed in tropical Africa and commonly used in traditional medicine. This study aims to identify the active compound in Mammea africana and to evaluate its antimicrobial and antiproliferative activity. Methanol extract from the bark of the Mammea africana was separated by liquid-liquid extraction, followed by open column chromatography. A principal antimicrobial compound was purified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and its structure was elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). The antibacterial activity of the purified compound was determined using the broth microdilution method against 7 common pathogenic bacteria. The compound was also evaluated for cytotoxicity by cell proliferation assay (MTS) using the mouse embryonic fibroblast cell line NIH 3T3 and the non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549. The purified active compound was determined to be mammea A/AA and was found to be highly active against Campylobacter jejuni (MIC=0.5 μg/ml), Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC=0.25 μg/ml), and Clostridium difficile (MIC=0.25 μg/ml). The compound exhibited significant antiproliferative activities against both NIH 3T3 and A549 cell lines. Mammea A/AA isolated from Mammea africana exerts specific inhibitory activity against Campylobacter jejuni, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Campylobacter difficile. Mammea A/AA was also found to exhibit significant cytotoxicity against both cancer and normal cell lines. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Bridging the Divide between Science and Journalism

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    There are countless reasons nearly every scientist should learn how to communicate effectively with the media, including increased understanding of critical research findings to attract or sustain funding and build new professional partnerships that will further propel forward research. But where do scientists begin? Bridging the Divide between Science and Journalism offers practical tips for any scientist looking to work with the media. Given the traditional and internet-based sources for medical research and healthcare-related news now available, it is imperative that scientists know how to communicate their latest findings through the appropriate channels. The credible media channels are managed by working journalists, so learning how to package vast, technical research in a form that is appetizing and "bite-sized" in order to get their attention, is an art. Reducing years of research into a headline can be extremely difficult and certainly doesn't come naturally to every scientist, so this article provides suggestions on how to work with the media to communicate your findings. PMID:20219123

  14. Renewing a Scientific Society: The American Association for the Advancement of Science from World War II to 1970.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wolfle, Dael

    This book recounts the many challenges and successes achieved by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from World War II to 1970. Included are: (1) the development of the National Science Foundation; (2) Cold War concerns about the loyalty and freedom of scientists; (3) efforts to develop an effective science curriculum…

  15. Developing science policy capacity at the state government level: Planning a science and technology policy fellowship program for Colorado and beyond

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Druckenmiller, M. L.

    2017-12-01

    There is growing recognition of the potential to advance science policy capacity within state legislatures, where there is most often a shortage of professional backgrounds in the natural sciences, technology, engineering, and medicine. Developing such capacity at the state level should be considered a vital component of any comprehensive national scale strategy to strengthen science informed governance. Toward this goal, the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado Boulder is leading a strategic planning process for a Science and Technology Policy Fellowship Program within the Colorado state legislature and executive branch agencies. The intended program will place PhD-level scientists and engineers in one-year placements with decision-makers to provide an in-house resource for targeted policy-relevant research. Fellows will learn the intricacies of the state policymaking process, be exposed to opportunities for science to inform decisions, and develop a deeper understanding of key science and technology topics in Colorado, including water resources, wildfire management, and energy. The program's ultimate goals are to help foster a decision-making arena informed by evidence-based information, to develop new leaders adept at bridging science and policymaking realms, and to foster governance that champions the role of science in society. Parallel to efforts in Colorado, groups from nine other states are preparing similar plans, providing opportunities to share approaches across states and to set the stage for increased science and technology input to state legislative agendas nationwide. Importantly, highly successful and sustainable models exist; the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has implemented a federally based fellowship program for over 43 years and the California Council for Science and Technology (CCST) has directed a fellowship program for their state's legislature since 2009. AAAS and CCST

  16. Patient and Aneurysm Characteristics Predicting Prolonged Length of Stay After Elective Open AAA Repair in the Endovascular Era.

    PubMed

    Casillas-Berumen, Sergio; Rojas-Miguez, Florencia A; Farber, Alik; Komshian, Sevan; Kalish, Jeffrey A; Rybin, Denis; Doros, Gheorghe; Siracuse, Jeffrey J

    2018-01-01

    Open aortic aneurysm repair (AAA) repair can be resource intensive and associated with a prolonged length of stay (LOS). We sought to examine patient and aneurysm predictors of prolonged LOS to better identify those at risk in the preoperative setting. Patient data were obtained from the targeted AAA American College of Surgery National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database from 2012 to 2014 of patients undergoing open AAA repair. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine predictors of prolonged postoperative LOS defined as greater than 10 days (75th percentile). There were 1172 open AAA repairs identified. The majority (54%) of patients were older than 70 years and male (74%). Surgical approach was transperitoneal (70.9%) and retroperitoneal (29.1%). Aneurysms were 51.4% infrarenal, 33% juxtarenal, 5.7% pararenal, 7.4% suprarenal, and 2.5% type IV thoracoabdominal. Mean and median LOS were 9.1 ± 7.4 and 7 (0-72) days, respectively. Independently associated with extended LOS factors were visceral revascularization (odds ratio [OR]: 5.32, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.77-10.22, P < .001), type IV thoracoabdominal extent (OR: 3.09, 95% CI: 1.01-9.46, P = .048), suprarenal extent (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.07-3.34, P = .029) and juxtarenal (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.01-2.02, P = .004), non-Caucasian race (OR: 2.80, 95% CI: 1.77-4.41, P < .001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.20-2.59, P = .004), not-from-home admission (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.13-3.24), and age greater than 70 (OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.08-2.05, P = .014). We identified patient and aneurysm characteristics independently associated with protracted LOS following open AAA repair. Prospective identification of high-risk patients may allow physicians and hospitals to engage in multidisciplinary collaborations preoperatively to try to improve LOS in this resource-intensive population.

  17. Exploring science and mathematics teaching experiences in Thailand using reflective journals of an internship program between Vietnamese and Thai students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pruekpramool, Chaninan; Kanyaprasith, Kamonwan; Phonphok, Nason; Diem, Huynh Thi Thuy

    2018-01-01

    An internship program between Vietnamese student teachers from Cantho University and Thai graduate students from Srinakharinwirot University has occurred in June 2016. There were six Vietnamese student teachers and four Thai graduate students participated in this program with the help of science teachers from two schools in Sa Kaeo and Chachoengsao Provinces of Thailand. To explore Vietnamese and Thai students' life experiences and their perceptions in science and Mathematics teaching, reflective journals were used to record their progress as team teaching in primary and lower secondary classrooms in the form of the online format via social media in English language. The data were collected from 54 reflective journals from their eight days experiences at the schools. The data were analyzed qualitatively using Van Manen's level of reflectivity which composed of three levels; 1) Technical Rationality (TR), 2) Practical Action (PA) and 3) Critical Reflection (CR). The results explicitly revealed that the three levels of reflectivity have appeared in the reflective journals. Besides, Vietnamese and Thai students have learned more from each other and can exchange their educational experiences and culture. Certainly, this was the first time for them to teach science and mathematics in English to Thai students. Moreover, they have shared their impressions toward schools, teachers and also students in the schools in their reflective journal as well.

  18. A follow-up power analysis of the statistical tests used in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Woolley, Thomas W.; Dawson, George O.

    It has been two decades since the first power analysis of a psychological journal and 10 years since the Journal of Research in Science Teaching made its contribution to this debate. One purpose of this article is to investigate what power-related changes, if any, have occurred in science education research over the past decade as a result of the earlier survey. In addition, previous recommendations are expanded and expounded upon within the context of more recent work in this area. The absence of any consistent mode of presenting statistical results, as well as little change with regard to power-related issues are reported. Guidelines for reporting the minimal amount of information demanded for clear and independent evaluation of research results by readers are also proposed.

  19. Gerald L. Epstein, PhD: director, center for science, technology, and security policy, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Interview by Madeline Drexler.

    PubMed

    Epstein, Gerald L

    2009-12-01

    Over his entire career, Gerald Epstein has toiled at the nexus of science, technology, and security. From 2003 to 2009, he was Senior Fellow for Science and Security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Homeland Security Program, where he worked on reducing biological weapons threats, improving national preparedness, and easing potential tensions between the scientific research and national security communities. Epstein came to CSIS from the Institute for Defense Analyses. From 1996 to 2001, he served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. And from 1983 to 1989, and again from 1991 until its demise in 1995, Epstein worked at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he directed a study on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, alongside research on other global security topics. A recognized expert in biological risk reduction, Epstein was actually trained as a physicist, having received SB degrees in physics and electrical engineering from MIT, and a PhD in physics from the University of California at Berkeley. How, then, did he come to study the evolving threat from bioterrorism? "What compelled me about bioterrorism was that it was a stellar example of a topic that would lead to a train wreck between the scientific community and the security community unless they figured out how to work together," he said. "The distance between a laboratory and a very large consequence event is a lot shorter in biology than in any other field. I got into bioterrorism to help make sure that the security community doesn't get so scared of the science that it shuts it down, and that the science community isn't so oblivious of security concerns that it pays no attention to them." Epstein spoke on November 6, 2009, with contributing writer Madeline Drexler, author of Emerging Epidemics: The Menace of New Infections (Penguin, 2009), an updated version of an earlier volume. Drexler holds a visiting appointment at the

  20. Citation Analysis of the Korean Journal of Urology From Web of Science, Scopus, Korean Medical Citation Index, KoreaMed Synapse, and Google Scholar

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    The Korean Journal of Urology began to be published exclusively in English in 2010 and is indexed in PubMed Central/PubMed. This study analyzed a variety of citation indicators of the Korean Journal of Urology before and after 2010 to clarify the present position of the journal among the urology category journals. The impact factor, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), impact index, Z-impact factor (ZIF, impact factor excluding self-citation), and Hirsch Index (H-index) were referenced or calculated from Web of Science, Scopus, SCImago Journal & Country Ranking, Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI), KoreaMed Synapse, and Google Scholar. Both the impact factor and the total citations rose rapidly beginning in 2011. The 2012 impact factor corresponded to the upper 84.9% in the nephrology-urology category, whereas the 2011 SJR was in the upper 58.5%. The ZIF in KoMCI was one fifth of the impact factor because there are only two other urology journals in KoMCI. Up to 2009, more than half of the citations in the Web of Science were from Korean researchers, but from 2010 to 2012, more than 85% of the citations were from international researchers. The H-indexes from Web of Science, Scopus, KoMCI, KoreaMed Synapse, and Google Scholar were 8, 10, 12, 9, and 18, respectively. The strategy of the language change in 2010 was successful from the perspective of citation indicators. The values of the citation indicators will continue to increase rapidly and consistently as the research achievement of authors of the Korean Journal of Urology increases. PMID:23614057

  1. AAA and AXB algorithms for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma using IMRT and RapidArc techniques.

    PubMed

    Kamaleldin, Maha; Elsherbini, Nader A; Elshemey, Wael M

    2017-09-27

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA) and 2 reporting systems (AXB-D m and AXB-D w ) of Acuros XB algorithm (AXB) on clinical plans of nasopharyngeal patients using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and RapidArc (RA) techniques. Six plans of different algorithm-technique combinations are performed for 10 patients to calculate dose-volume histogram (DVH) physical parameters for planning target volumes (PTVs) and organs at risk (OARs). The number of monitor units (MUs) and calculation time are also determined. Good coverage is reported for all algorithm-technique combination plans without exceeding the tolerance for OARs. Regardless of the algorithm, RA plans persistently reported higher D 2% values for PTV-70. All IMRT plans reported higher number of MUs (especially with AXB) than did RA plans. AAA-IMRT produced the minimum calculation time of all plans. Major differences between the investigated algorithm-technique combinations are reported only for the number of MUs and calculation time parameters. In terms of these 2 parameters, it is recommended to employ AXB in calculating RA plans and AAA in calculating IMRT plans to achieve minimum calculation times at reduced number of MUs. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Medical Dosimetrists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Retractions by Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences due to Scientific Misconduct.

    PubMed

    Jawaid, Shaukat Ali; Jawaid, Masood

    2016-08-01

    Under pressure to publish, academicians and research scientists are increasingly indulging in scientific misconduct leading to retraction of such papers when identified. Other reasons of retraction include scientific error and problems related to ethics. Four published manuscripts (three from Turkey and one from Pakistan) had to be retracted from Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences from January 2014 to July 2015 due to scientific misconduct. There is a need to search for effective measures which could help reduce the number of retractions and prevent scientific literature from being further polluted, which seems to be increasing every year.

  3. Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal 50th anniversary editorial board commentary: anatomy, basic sciences, and genetics--then and now.

    PubMed

    Mooney, Mark P; Cooper, Gregory M; Marazita, Mary L

    2014-05-01

    To celebrate the 50th year of the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal we look back to where we started in 1964 and where we are now, and we speculate about directions for the future in a "Then and Now" editorial series. This editorial examines changing trends and perspectives in anatomical, basic science, and genetic studies published in this 50-year interval. In volume 1 there were 45 total papers, seven (16%) of which were peer-reviewed basic science and genetic articles published: four in anatomy, three in craniofacial biology, and none in genetics. In contrast, in volume 50, of 113 articles there were 47 (42%) peer-reviewed basic science and genetic articles published: 30 in anatomy, five in craniofacial biology, and 12 in genetics. Topical analysis of published manuscripts then and now reveal that similar topics in anatomy and craniofacial biology are still being researched today (e.g., phenotypic variability, optimal timing of surgery, presurgical orthopedics, bone grafting); whereas, most of the more recent papers use advanced technology to address old questions. In contrast, genetic publications have clearly increased in frequency during the last 50 years, which parallels advances in the field during this time. However, all of us have noticed that the more "cutting-edge" papers in these areas are not being submitted for publication to the journal, but instead to discipline-specific journals. Concerted efforts are therefore indicated to attract and publish these cutting-edge papers in order to keep the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal in the forefront of orofacial cleft and craniofacial anomaly research and to provide a valuable service to American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association members.

  4. Editorial policies and good practices in editing the journal 'International Medical Journal--Medicus'.

    PubMed

    Pollozhani, Aziz

    2014-01-01

    Ten years ago the Association of Albanian Physicians in Macedonia undertook the very brave step of publishing a scientific medical journal, Medicus, as a platform for publishing biomedical research papers. Medical journal MEDICUS is an international peer-review journal of biomedical science. The first issue was published in 2004, starting with publishing two issues per year. From 2013, the journal delivered three issues per year, namely in January, May and September. Editor-in-Chief of the journal is Prof. Dr. Aziz Pollozhani. This year marks the tenth anniversary since publication of the first issue of Medicus, a fact that makes us proud and happy. The journal has its own official website (www.imjm.mk), where papers can be submitted and published in electronic form. In addition, the journal also comes out in print form to be distributed mainly in the region. Taking into account the specific socio-cultural characteristics of the region, the journal attempts to promote research activities in the region, while seeking to serve as an educational tool to promote scientific work in such a setting. As a result, Medicus accepts manuscripts for publication in English, Albanian and Macedonian, with a mandatory abstract in English for all papers. The journal Medicus represents a solid platform of biomedical sciences that will serve to advance scientific research and promote professional achievements in medicine.

  5. Clinical implications in the use of the PBC algorithm versus the AAA by comparison of different NTCP models/parameters

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Purpose Retrospective analysis of 3D clinical treatment plans to investigate qualitative, possible, clinical consequences of the use of PBC versus AAA. Methods The 3D dose distributions of 80 treatment plans at four different tumour sites, produced using PBC algorithm, were recalculated using AAA and the same number of monitor units provided by PBC and clinically delivered to each patient; the consequences of the difference on the dose-effect relations for normal tissue injury were studied by comparing different NTCP model/parameters extracted from a review of published studies. In this study the AAA dose calculation is considered as benchmark data. The paired Student t-test was used for statistical comparison of all results obtained from the use of the two algorithms. Results In the prostate plans, the AAA predicted lower NTCP value (NTCPAAA) for the risk of late rectal bleeding for each of the seven combinations of NTCP parameters, the maximum mean decrease was 2.2%. In the head-and-neck treatments, each combination of parameters used for the risk of xerostemia from irradiation of the parotid glands involved lower NTCPAAA, that varied from 12.8% (sd=3.0%) to 57.5% (sd=4.0%), while when the PBC algorithm was used the NTCPPBC’s ranging was from 15.2% (sd=2.7%) to 63.8% (sd=3.8%), according the combination of parameters used; the differences were statistically significant. Also NTCPAAA regarding the risk of radiation pneumonitis in the lung treatments was found to be lower than NTCPPBC for each of the eight sets of NTCP parameters; the maximum mean decrease was 4.5%. A mean increase of 4.3% was found when the NTCPAAA was calculated by the parameters evaluated from dose distribution calculated by a convolution-superposition (CS) algorithm. A markedly different pattern was observed for the risk relating to the development of pneumonitis following breast treatments: the AAA predicted higher NTCP value. The mean NTCPAAA varied from 0.2% (sd = 0.1%) to 2.1% (sd = 0

  6. Clinical implications in the use of the PBC algorithm versus the AAA by comparison of different NTCP models/parameters.

    PubMed

    Bufacchi, Antonella; Nardiello, Barbara; Capparella, Roberto; Begnozzi, Luisa

    2013-07-04

    Retrospective analysis of 3D clinical treatment plans to investigate qualitative, possible, clinical consequences of the use of PBC versus AAA. The 3D dose distributions of 80 treatment plans at four different tumour sites, produced using PBC algorithm, were recalculated using AAA and the same number of monitor units provided by PBC and clinically delivered to each patient; the consequences of the difference on the dose-effect relations for normal tissue injury were studied by comparing different NTCP model/parameters extracted from a review of published studies. In this study the AAA dose calculation is considered as benchmark data. The paired Student t-test was used for statistical comparison of all results obtained from the use of the two algorithms. In the prostate plans, the AAA predicted lower NTCP value (NTCPAAA) for the risk of late rectal bleeding for each of the seven combinations of NTCP parameters, the maximum mean decrease was 2.2%. In the head-and-neck treatments, each combination of parameters used for the risk of xerostemia from irradiation of the parotid glands involved lower NTCPAAA, that varied from 12.8% (sd=3.0%) to 57.5% (sd=4.0%), while when the PBC algorithm was used the NTCPPBC's ranging was from 15.2% (sd=2.7%) to 63.8% (sd=3.8%), according the combination of parameters used; the differences were statistically significant. Also NTCPAAA regarding the risk of radiation pneumonitis in the lung treatments was found to be lower than NTCPPBC for each of the eight sets of NTCP parameters; the maximum mean decrease was 4.5%. A mean increase of 4.3% was found when the NTCPAAA was calculated by the parameters evaluated from dose distribution calculated by a convolution-superposition (CS) algorithm. A markedly different pattern was observed for the risk relating to the development of pneumonitis following breast treatments: the AAA predicted higher NTCP value. The mean NTCPAAA varied from 0.2% (sd = 0.1%) to 2.1% (sd = 0.3%), while the mean NTCPPBC

  7. To iron or to do science: A storied life of a Latina from scientist to science teacher

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hoy, Sarida P.

    Reform initiatives such as Science for All Americans (AAA, 1989) and National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) argue for making science accessible to all children regardless of age, sex, cultural and/or ethic background, and disabilities. One of the most popular and prevailing phrases highlighting science education reform in the last decade has been science for all. In terms of making science accessible to all, science educators argue that one role of science teachers ought to be to embrace students' experiences outside of the science classroom by becoming aware and inclusive of the cultural resources that student's households contain. Moll, Gonzalez and Amanti (1992) termed these cultural resources as funds of knowledge which refer to culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household well being. This study examined the career transition of a former Latina scientist from a research scientist to a high school science teacher. Her lived experiences that influenced her career transition were examined using interpretive biography through a feminist theory lens. The following question guided the study: How have the lived experiences of the participant as engaged through cultural, historical, and social interactions influenced a transition in career from a research scientist to a classroom teacher? A former Latina scientist and her family participated in this study to facilitate the documentation, narration, and interpretation of her career transition. The researcher immersed herself in the field for five months and data collection included in-depth interviews with the participant and her family. In addition, the researcher kept a reflexive journal. Data were analyzed using socio-cultural thematic approach to identify snapshots and to develop emergent themes. Data analysis revealed that the participant's cultural socialization conflicted with the Eurocentric/Androcentric culture of science found in both the university and research

  8. On the Origin and Meaning of Bibliometric Indicators: Journals in the Social Sciences, 1886-1985.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pierce, Sydney J.

    1992-01-01

    This study examined the use of footnotes and visuals in 8,634 research articles published in core journals in sociology, political science, and economics between 1886 and 1985. It was found that use of footnotes and visuals within a discipline vary over time and that agreement on presentational standards increases as the discipline matures. (61…

  9. A Quantitative Analysis of the Mass Media Coverage of Genomics Medicine in China: A Call for Science Journalism in the Developing World

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, Feifei; Chen, Yan; Ge, Siqi; Yu, Xinwei; Shao, Shuang; Black, Michael; Wang, Youxin; Zhang, Jie; Wang, Wei

    2014-01-01

    Abstract Science journalism is a previously neglected but rapidly growing area of scholarship in postgenomics medicine and socio-technical studies of knowledge-based innovations. Science journalism can help evaluate the quantity and quality of information flux between traditional scientific expert communities and the broader public, for example, in personalized medicine education. Newspapers can play a crucial role in science and health communication, and more importantly, in framing public engagement. However, research on the role of newspaper coverage of genomics-related articles has not been readily available in resource-limited settings. As genomics is rapidly expanding worldwide, this gap in newspaper reportage in China is therefore an important issue. In order to bridge this gap, we investigated the coverage of genomics medicine in eight major Chinese national newspapers, using the China Core Newspapers Full-text Database (CCND) and articles in scientific journals in PubMed from 2000 to 2011. Coverage of genomics medicine in these eight official government Chinese newspapers has remained low, with only 12 articles published per newspaper per year between 2000 and 2011. Between 2000 and 2011, over a 40-fold difference was observed in the number of genomics medicine-related articles in PubMed, as compared to that in newspapers. The numbers of genomics-related articles among the eight major newspapers from 2000 to 2011 were significantly different (p=0.001). Commentary/mini reviews and articles about gene therapy for specific diseases were most frequently published in 2006 and 2011. In parallel, we observed that “cancer gene therapy,” “new susceptibility gene locus,” and “gene technology revolution” were the top three thematic strands addressed in the newspapers, even though their volume remained low. This study reports on the under-representation of newspaper coverage of genomics medicine in China, despite the vast growth of scientific articles in

  10. A quantitative analysis of the mass media coverage of genomics medicine in China: a call for science journalism in the developing world.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Feifei; Chen, Yan; Ge, Siqi; Yu, Xinwei; Shao, Shuang; Black, Michael; Wang, Youxin; Zhang, Jie; Song, Manshu; Wang, Wei

    2014-04-01

    Science journalism is a previously neglected but rapidly growing area of scholarship in postgenomics medicine and socio-technical studies of knowledge-based innovations. Science journalism can help evaluate the quantity and quality of information flux between traditional scientific expert communities and the broader public, for example, in personalized medicine education. Newspapers can play a crucial role in science and health communication, and more importantly, in framing public engagement. However, research on the role of newspaper coverage of genomics-related articles has not been readily available in resource-limited settings. As genomics is rapidly expanding worldwide, this gap in newspaper reportage in China is therefore an important issue. In order to bridge this gap, we investigated the coverage of genomics medicine in eight major Chinese national newspapers, using the China Core Newspapers Full-text Database (CCND) and articles in scientific journals in PubMed from 2000 to 2011. Coverage of genomics medicine in these eight official government Chinese newspapers has remained low, with only 12 articles published per newspaper per year between 2000 and 2011. Between 2000 and 2011, over a 40-fold difference was observed in the number of genomics medicine-related articles in PubMed, as compared to that in newspapers. The numbers of genomics-related articles among the eight major newspapers from 2000 to 2011 were significantly different (p=0.001). Commentary/mini reviews and articles about gene therapy for specific diseases were most frequently published in 2006 and 2011. In parallel, we observed that "cancer gene therapy," "new susceptibility gene locus," and "gene technology revolution" were the top three thematic strands addressed in the newspapers, even though their volume remained low. This study reports on the under-representation of newspaper coverage of genomics medicine in China, despite the vast growth of scientific articles in journals in this

  11. Science Journalism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polman, Joseph; Newman, Alan; Farrar, Cathy; Saul, E. Wendy

    2012-01-01

    Much of the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996), aside from the inquiry and teaching sections, focus on content. The authors' call is instead to build standards that focus on what students need to be scientifically literate in 10 or 15 years. Although a basic understanding of important scientific concepts and an understanding of how…

  12. A Quantitative Methodology for Determining the Critical Benchmarks for Project 2061 Strand Maps

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuhn, G.

    2008-01-01

    The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) was tasked with identifying the key science concepts for science literacy in K-12 students in America (AAAS, 1990, 1993). The AAAS Atlas of Science Literacy (2001) has organized roughly half of these science concepts or benchmarks into fifty flow charts. Each flow chart or strand map…

  13. Professional Journals as a Source of PCK for Teaching Nature of Science: An Examination of Articles Published in The Science Teacher (TST) (an NSTA Journal), 1995-2010

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aydın, Sevgi; Demirdöğen, Betül; Muslu, Nilay; Hanuscin, Deborah L.

    2013-10-01

    A number of science education policy documents recommend that students develop an understanding of the enterprise of science and the nature of science (NOS). Despite this emphasis, there is still a gap between policy and practice. Teacher professional literature provides one potential venue for bridging this gap, by providing “activities that work” (Appleton in elementary science teacher education: International perspectives on contemporary issues and practice. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 2006) that can scaffold teachers’ developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching NOS. We analyzed articles published in the NSTA journal The Science Teacher (1995-2010) in terms of the degree to which they provide appropriate model activities and specific information that can support the development of teachers’ PCK for teaching NOS. Our analysis revealed a diversity of NOS aspects addressed by the authors and a wide range of variation in the percent of articles focused on each aspect. Additionally, we found that few articles provided robust information related to all the component knowledge bases of PCK for NOS. In particular, within the extant practitioner literature, there are few models for teaching the aspects of NOS, such as the function and nature of scientific theory. Furthermore, though articles provided information relevant to informing teachers’ knowledge of instructional strategies for NOS, relevant information to inform teachers’ knowledge of assessment in this regard was lacking. We provide recommendations for ways in which the practitioner literature may support teachers’ teaching of NOS through more robust attention to the types of knowledge research indicates are needed in order to teaching NOS effectively.

  14. Morphological State as a Predictor for Reintervention and Mortality After EVAR for AAA

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ohrlander, Tomas; Dencker, Magnus; Acosta, Stefan, E-mail: stefan.acosta@telia.com

    2012-10-15

    Purpose: This study was designed to assess aorto-iliac morphological characteristics in relation to reintervention and all-cause long-term mortality in patients undergoing standard EVAR for infrarenal AAA. Methods: Patients treated with EVAR (Zenith{sup Registered-Sign} Stentgrafts, Cook) between May 1998 and February 2006 were prospectively enrolled in a computerized database where comorbidities and preoperative aneurysm morphology were entered. Reinterventions and mortality were checked until December 1, 2010. Median follow-up time was 68 months. Results: A total of 304 patients were included, of which 86% were men. Median age was 74 years. The reintervention rate was 23.4% (71/304). A greater diameter of themore » common iliac artery (p = 0.037; hazard ratio (HR) 1.037 [1.002-1.073]) was an independent factor for an increased number of reinterventions. The 30-day mortality rate was 3.0% (9/304). Aneurysm-related deaths due to AAA occurred in 4.9% (15/304). Five patients died due to a concomitant ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm. The mortality until end of follow-up was 54.3% (165/304). The proportion of deaths caused by vascular diseases was 61.6%. The severity of angulation of the iliac arteries (p = 0.014; HR 1.018 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.004-1.033]) and anemia (p = 0.044; HR 2.79 [95% CI 1.029-7.556]) remained as independent factors associated with all-cause long-term mortality. The crude reintervention-free survival rate at 1, 3, and 5 years was 84.5%, 64.8%, and 51.6%, respectively. Conclusions: The initial aorto-iliac morphological state in patients scheduled for standard EVAR for AAA seems to be strongly related to the need for reinterventions and long-term mortality.« less

  15. [An analysis of Spanish biomedical journals by the impact factor].

    PubMed

    Baños, J E; Casanovas, L; Guardiola, E; Bosch, F

    1992-06-13

    One of the most frequently used parameters for evaluating scientific publications is that of impact factor (IF) published in the Science Citation Index-Journal Citation Reports (SCI-JCR) which evaluates the number of citations a journal receives on behalf of other journals. The present study analyzed the Spanish biomedical journals included in the SCI-JCR by the IF. The IF were obtained from the SCI-JCR (1980-89). The journals were evaluated by the IF and the weighted impact factor (WIF) calculated according to WIF = (IF/MIF) x 100 in which MIF = maximum IF of the considered area. Nine Spanish biomedical journals were included in the SCI-JCR, four being basic sciences (Histology and Histopathology, Inmunología, Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Revista Española de Fisiología) and five clinical journals (Allergologia et Immunopathologia, Medicina Clínica, Nefrología, Revista Española de las Enfermedades del Aparato Digestivo, Revista Clínica Española). Their IF were much lower than the most important journals in each area with the mean (+/- standard deviation) being 0.21 +/- 0.22 (range 0.016-0.627). The mean WIF was 2.88 +/- 4.07 (0.16-12.82). The journals of basic sciences had higher IF and WIF than the clinical journals (p less than 0.05). Only the four journals of basic sciences were included in the SCI. Four journals, those of basic sciences, are preferentially or exclusively published in English and other five are published in Spanish. The differences in IF among these groups were not significant (p = 0.06) while those of WIF were significant (p less than 0.05). The number of Spanish biomedical journals in the SCI-JCR has risen from 1 in 1980 to 9 in 1989 with IF which have evolved variably. In mind of impact factor, the contribution of Spanish journals is low, with that of biomedical sciences being higher than that of clinical journals. Language and inclusion in the Science Citation Index may explain, at least in part

  16. Comparisons of citations in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar for articles published in general medical journals.

    PubMed

    Kulkarni, Abhaya V; Aziz, Brittany; Shams, Iffat; Busse, Jason W

    2009-09-09

    Until recently, Web of Science was the only database available to track citation counts for published articles. Other databases are now available, but their relative performance has not been established. To compare the citation count profiles of articles published in general medical journals among the citation databases of Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Cohort study of 328 articles published in JAMA, Lancet, or the New England Journal of Medicine between October 1, 1999, and March 31, 2000. Total citation counts for each article up to June 2008 were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Article characteristics were analyzed in linear regression models to determine interaction with the databases. Number of citations received by an article since publication and article characteristics associated with citation in databases. Google Scholar and Scopus retrieved more citations per article with a median of 160 (interquartile range [IQR], 83 to 324) and 149 (IQR, 78 to 289), respectively, than Web of Science (median, 122; IQR, 66 to 241) (P < .001 for both comparisons). Compared with Web of Science, Scopus retrieved more citations from non-English-language sources (median, 10.2% vs 4.1%) and reviews (30.8% vs 18.2%), and fewer citations from articles (57.2% vs 70.5%), editorials (2.1% vs 5.9%), and letters (0.8% vs 2.6%) (all P < .001). On a log(10)-transformed scale, fewer citations were found in Google Scholar to articles with declared industry funding (nonstandardized regression coefficient, -0.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.15 to -0.03), reporting a study of a drug or medical device (-0.05; 95% CI, -0.11 to 0.01), or with group authorship (-0.29; 95% CI, -0.35 to -0.23). In multivariable analysis, group authorship was the only characteristic that differed among the databases; Google Scholar had significantly fewer citations to group-authored articles (-0.30; 95% CI, -0.36 to -0.23) compared with Web of Science. Web of Science

  17. The Structure of Medical Informatics Journal Literature

    PubMed Central

    Morris, Theodore A.; McCain, Katherine W.

    1998-01-01

    Abstract Objective: Medical informatics is an emergent interdisciplinary field described as drawing upon and contributing to both the health sciences and information sciences. The authors elucidate the disciplinary nature and internal structure of the field. Design: To better understand the field's disciplinary nature, the authors examine the intercitation relationships of its journal literature. To determine its internal structure, they examined its journal cocitation patterns. Measurements: The authors used data from the Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) to perform intercitation studies among productive journal titles, and software routines from SPSS to perform multivariate data analyses on cocitation data for proposed core journals. Results: Intercitation network analysis suggests that a core literature exists, one mark of a separate discipline. Multivariate analyses of cocitation data suggest that major focus areas within the field include biomedical engineering, biomedical computing, decision support, and education. The interpretable dimensions of multidimensional scaling maps differed for the SCI and SSCI data sets. Strong links to information science literature were not found. Conclusion: The authors saw indications of a core literature and of several major research fronts. The field appears to be viewed differently by authors writing in journals indexed by SCI from those writing in journals indexed by SSCI, with more emphasis placed on computers and engineering versus decision making by the former and more emphasis on theory versus application (clinical practice) by the latter. PMID:9760393

  18. 50 Years of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts 1967-2017 and 48 Years of Publishing the Journal Prilozi (Contributions) of MASA.

    PubMed

    Polenakovic, Momir; Pop-Jordanova, Nada; Gucev, Zoran

    2017-12-01

    Papers on medical subjects have been published since the first issue of the journal Prilozi in 1969, totalling a number of of 957 (nine hundred and fifty seven) papers have been published in Prilozi. Two hundred and twenty nine cover subjects on natural sciences and mathematics, and 728 (seven hundred and twenty eight) subjects on medical sciences. So far, 2017 No. XXXVIII-2, 622 (six hundred and twenty two) papers published in Prilozi are in Pubmed. Prilozi is published three times a year and it is covered by the following services: Baidu Scholar, Case, Celdes, CNKI Scholar (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), CNPIEC, DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), EBSCO (relevant databases), EBSCO Discovery Service, Elsevier - SCOPUS, Google Scholar, J-Gate, JournalTOCs, KESLI-NDSL (Korean National Discovery for Science Leaders), Naviga (Softweco), Primo Central (ExLibris), Publons, PubMed, ReadCube, ResearchGate, SCImago (SJR), Summon (Serials Solutions/ProQuest), TDNet, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory/ulrichsweb WanFang Data, WorldCat (OCLC).

  19. Structural Basis of ATP Hydrolysis and Intersubunit Signaling in the AAA+ ATPase p97.

    PubMed

    Hänzelmann, Petra; Schindelin, Hermann

    2016-01-05

    p97 belongs to the superfamily of AAA+ ATPases and is characterized by a tandem AAA module, an N-terminal domain involved in substrate and cofactor interactions, and a functionally important unstructured C-terminal tail. The ATPase activity is controlled by an intradomain communication within the same protomer and an interdomain communication between neighboring protomers. Here, we present for the first time crystal structures in which the physiologically relevant p97 hexamer constitutes the content of the asymmetric unit, namely in the apo state without nucleotide in either the D1 or D2 module and in the pre-activated state with ATPγS bound to both modules. The structures provide new mechanistic insights into the interdomain communication mediated by conformational changes of the C terminus as well as an intersubunit signaling network, which couples the nucleotide state to the conformation of the central putative substrate binding pore. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Structural basis of protein translocation by the Vps4-Vta1 AAA ATPase

    PubMed Central

    Monroe, Nicole; Han, Han; Shen, Peter S; Sundquist, Wesley I; Hill, Christopher P

    2017-01-01

    Many important cellular membrane fission reactions are driven by ESCRT pathways, which culminate in disassembly of ESCRT-III polymers by the AAA ATPase Vps4. We report a 4.3 Å resolution cryo-EM structure of the active Vps4 hexamer with its cofactor Vta1, ADP·BeFx, and an ESCRT-III substrate peptide. Four Vps4 subunits form a helix whose interfaces are consistent with ATP binding, is stabilized by Vta1, and binds the substrate peptide. The fifth subunit approximately continues this helix but appears to be dissociating. The final Vps4 subunit completes a notched-washer configuration as if transitioning between the ends of the helix. We propose that ATP binding propagates growth at one end of the helix while hydrolysis promotes disassembly at the other end, so that Vps4 ‘walks’ along ESCRT-III until it encounters the ordered N-terminal domain to destabilize the ESCRT-III lattice. This model may be generally applicable to other protein-translocating AAA ATPases. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24487.001 PMID:28379137

  1. Inflammatory cell phenotypes in AAAs; their role and potential as targets for therapy

    PubMed Central

    Dale, Matthew A; Ruhlman, Melissa K.; Baxter, B. Timothy

    2015-01-01

    Abdominal aortic aneurysms are characterized by chronic inflammatory cell infiltration. AAA is typically an asymptomatic disease and caused approximately 15,000 deaths annually in the U.S. Previous studies have examined both human and murine aortic tissue for the presence of various inflammatory cell types. Studies show that in both human and experimental AAAs, prominent inflammatory cell infiltration, such as CD4+ T cells and macrophages, occurs in the damaged aortic wall. These cells have the ability to undergo phenotypic modulation based on microenvironmental cues, potentially influencing disease progression. Pro-inflammatory CD4+ T cells and classically activated macrophages dominate the landscape of aortic infiltrates. The skew to pro-inflammatory phenotypes alters disease progression and plays a role in causing chronic inflammation. The local cytokine production and presence of inflammatory mediators, such as extracellular matrix breakdown products, influence the uneven balance of the inflammatory infiltrate phenotypes. Understanding and developing new strategies that target the pro-inflammatory phenotype could provide useful therapeutic targets for a disease with no current pharmacological intervention. PMID:26044582

  2. Journals of Discovery

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Livingston, Cathy

    2005-01-01

    In this article, the author shares her experiences with science journaling, and finds it a valuable resource in discovering how well students have grasped the concepts of each lesson. The journal has also been a valuable tool in helping students to evaluate themselves, and write their comments on their own strengths and "weaknesses" or areas of…

  3. Quality Australian Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haddow, Gaby

    2008-01-01

    A pilot study was undertaken to test the journal diffusion factor (JDF) as an alternative to journal impact factors (JIFs) for ranking journals. Bibliometric research methods were applied to rank Australian architecture, communications and education journals by the JDF; this was with the total number of citations they attract in ISI indexed…

  4. Point Mutations in the Stem Region and the Fourth AAA Domain of Cytoplasmic Dynein Heavy Chain Partially Suppress the Phenotype of NUDF/LIS1 Loss in Aspergillus nidulans

    PubMed Central

    Zhuang, Lei; Zhang, Jun; Xiang, Xin

    2007-01-01

    Cytoplasmic dynein performs multiple cellular tasks but its regulation remains unclear. The dynein heavy chain has a N-terminal stem that binds to other subunits and a C-terminal motor unit that contains six AAA (ATPase associated with cellular activities) domains and a microtubule-binding site located between AAA4 and AAA5. In Aspergillus nidulans, NUDF (a LIS1 homolog) functions in the dynein pathway, and two nudF6 partial suppressors were mapped to the nudA dynein heavy chain locus. Here we identified these two mutations. The nudAL1098F mutation resides in the stem region, and nudAR3086C is in the end of AAA4. These mutations partially suppress the phenotype of nudF deletion but do not suppress the phenotype exhibited by mutants of dynein intermediate chain and Arp1. Surprisingly, the stronger ΔnudF suppressor, nudAR3086C, causes an obvious decrease in the basal level of dynein's ATPase activity and an increase in dynein's distribution along microtubules. Thus, suppression of the ΔnudF phenotype may result from mechanisms other than simply the enhancement of dynein's ATPase activity. The fact that a mutation in the end of AAA4 negatively regulates dynein's ATPase activity but partially compensates for NUDF loss indicates the importance of the AAA4 domain in dynein regulation in vivo. PMID:17237507

  5. "Our Zoo to You": The Link between Zoo Animals in the Classroom and Science and Literacy Concepts in First-Grade Journal Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Kathleen; Trainin, Guy; Laughridge, Virginia; Brooks, David; Wickless, Mimi

    2011-01-01

    This study examined first-grade students' journal writing to determine how placing live zoo animals in classrooms for science education links to students' emergent and early writing. Students were asked to write journal entries during the daily language arts period. Although no direct instruction in informational text writing was offered, teachers…

  6. Atmospheric Sciences. Test Edition. AAAS Study Guides on Contemporary Problems, No. 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schaefer, Vincent J.; Mohnen, Volker A.

    This is one of several study guides on contemporary problems produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science with support of the National Science Foundation. This study guide includes the following sections: (1) Solar Radiation and Its Interaction with the Earth's Atmosphere System; (2) The Water Cycle; (3) Fundamentals of Air…

  7. PspF-binding domain PspA1-144 and the PspA·F complex: New insights into the coiled-coil-dependent regulation of AAA+ proteins.

    PubMed

    Osadnik, Hendrik; Schöpfel, Michael; Heidrich, Eyleen; Mehner, Denise; Lilie, Hauke; Parthier, Christoph; Risselada, H Jelger; Grubmüller, Helmut; Stubbs, Milton T; Brüser, Thomas

    2015-11-01

    Phage shock protein A (PspA) belongs to the highy conserved PspA/IM30 family and is a key component of the stress inducible Psp system in Escherichia coli. One of its central roles is the regulatory interaction with the transcriptional activator of this system, the σ(54) enhancer-binding protein PspF, a member of the AAA+ protein family. The PspA/F regulatory system has been intensively studied and serves as a paradigm for AAA+ enzyme regulation by trans-acting factors. However, the molecular mechanism of how exactly PspA controls the activity of PspF and hence σ(54) -dependent expression of the psp genes is still unclear. To approach this question, we identified the minimal PspF-interacting domain of PspA, solved its structure, determined its affinity to PspF and the dissociation kinetics, identified residues that are potentially important for PspF regulation and analyzed effects of their mutation on PspF in vivo and in vitro. Our data indicate that several characteristics of AAA+ regulation in the PspA·F complex resemble those of the AAA+ unfoldase ClpB, with both proteins being regulated by a structurally highly conserved coiled-coil domain. The convergent evolution of both regulatory domains points to a general mechanism to control AAA+ activity for divergent physiologic tasks via coiled-coil domains. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Stephen Hall Receives 2012 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-Features: Citation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pearson, Helen

    2013-01-01

    Stephen Hall, a freelance science writer and science-communication teacher, received the Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-Features at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 5 December 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Hall was honored for the article "At Fault?" published 15 September 2011 in Nature. The article examines the legal, personal, and political repercussions from a 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy for seismologists who had attempted to convey seismic risk assessments to the public. The 6.3 magnitude quake devastated the medieval town and caused more than 300 deaths. Six scientists and one government official were subsequently convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison for inadequately assessing and mischaracterizing the risks to city residents, despite the inexact nature of seismic risk assessment. The Sullivan award is for work published with a deadline pressure of more than 1 week.

  9. Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery's Evolution into an International Journal Based on Journal Metrics.

    PubMed

    Huh, Sun

    2016-06-01

    This article is aimed at providing evidence of increased international recognition of Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery (CiOS) based on journal metrics. Since 7 years have passed since its launch in 2009, it is time to reflect on the journal's efforts to be recognized as a top-notch journal. The following journal metrics were analyzed from the journal's homepage and Web of Science Core Collection database: number of citable and noncitable articles; number of original articles supported by grants; editorial board members' countries; authors' countries; citing authors' countries; source titles of citing articles; impact factor; total citations; comparison of impact factor with 3 Science Citation Index Expanded journals; and Hirsch index (H-index). Of the total 392 articles, 378 were citable articles (96.4%). Of the total 282 original articles, 52 (18.4%) were supported by research grants. The editorial board members were from 13 countries. Authors were from 20 countries. The number of countries of citing authors was 66. The number of source titles of citing articles was more than 100. The total citations of CiOS have increased from 0 in 2009 to 374 in 2015. The impact factors without self-citations of CiOS were the greatest among 4 Asian journals in 2013 and 2014. The 2015 impact factor was calculated as 0.79 in January 2016. The H-index was 13. CiOS can be considered to have reached the level of top-notch journal in the orthopedic field based on journal metrics. The inclusion of the journal in PubMed Central appears to have increased international relevance of the journal.

  10. The Journal of Earth System Science Education: Peer Review for Digital Earth and Digital Library Content

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, D.; Ruzek, M.; Weatherley, J.

    2001-05-01

    The Journal of Earth System Science Education is a new interdisciplinary electronic journal aiming to foster the study of the Earth as a system and promote the development and exchange of interdisciplinary learning resources for formal and informal education. JESSE will serve educators and students by publishing and providing ready electronic access to Earth system and global change science learning resources for the classroom and will provide authors and creators with professional recognition through publication in a peer reviewed journal. JESSE resources foster a world perspective by emphasizing interdisciplinary studies and bridging disciplines in the context of the Earth system. The Journal will publish a wide ranging variety of electronic content, with minimal constraints on format, targeting undergraduate educators and students as the principal readership, expanding to a middle and high school audience as the journal matures. JESSE aims for rapid review and turn-around of resources to be published, with a goal of 12 weeks from submission to publication for resources requiring few changes. Initial publication will be on a quarterly basis until a flow of resource submissions is established to warrant continuous electronic publication. JESSE employs an open peer review process in which authors and reviewers discuss directly the acceptability of a resource for publication using a software tool called the Digital Document Discourse Environment. Reviewer comments and attribution will be available with the resource upon acceptance for publication. JESSE will also implement a moderated peer commentary capability where readers can comment on the use of a resource or make suggestions. In the development phase, JESSE will also conduct a parallel anonymous review of content to validate and ensure credibility of the open review approach. Copyright of materials submitted remains with the author, granting JESSE the non-exclusive right to maintain a copy of the resource

  11. Comparison of Acuros (AXB) and Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) for dose calculation in treatment of oesophageal cancer: effects on modelling tumour control probability.

    PubMed

    Padmanaban, Sriram; Warren, Samantha; Walsh, Anthony; Partridge, Mike; Hawkins, Maria A

    2014-12-23

    To investigate systematic changes in dose arising when treatment plans optimised using the Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) are recalculated using Acuros XB (AXB) in patients treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) for locally advanced oesophageal cancers. We have compared treatment plans created using AAA with those recalculated using AXB. Although the Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) is currently more widely used in clinical routine, Acuros XB (AXB) has been shown to more accurately calculate the dose distribution, particularly in heterogeneous regions. Studies to predict clinical outcome should be based on modelling the dose delivered to the patient as accurately as possible. CT datasets from ten patients were selected for this retrospective study. VMAT (Volumetric modulated arc therapy) plans with 2 arcs, collimator rotation ± 5-10° and dose prescription 50 Gy / 25 fractions were created using Varian Eclipse (v10.0). The initial dose calculation was performed with AAA, and AXB plans were created by re-calculating the dose distribution using the same number of monitor units (MU) and multileaf collimator (MLC) files as the original plan. The difference in calculated dose to organs at risk (OAR) was compared using dose-volume histogram (DVH) statistics and p values were calculated using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The potential clinical effect of dosimetric differences in the gross tumour volume (GTV) was evaluated using three different TCP models from the literature. PTV Median dose was apparently 0.9 Gy lower (range: 0.5 Gy - 1.3 Gy; p < 0.05) for VMAT AAA plans re-calculated with AXB and GTV mean dose was reduced by on average 1.0 Gy (0.3 Gy -1.5 Gy; p < 0.05). An apparent difference in TCP of between 1.2% and 3.1% was found depending on the choice of TCP model. OAR mean dose was lower in the AXB recalculated plan than the AAA plan (on average, dose reduction: lung 1.7%, heart 2.4%). Similar trends were seen for CRT plans

  12. Medical journals--in the news and for the wrong reasons.

    PubMed

    Pai, Sanjay A

    2014-01-01

    2013 has been a landmark year, in fact, a bad year for biomedical journals. Medical journals and their editors have been respected for long, as they are the harbingers of change and of progress in scientific thought. Science expects transparency from the agents through which scientists publish their latest research findings and this expectation is usually fulfilled. Recent developments have, however, thrown into doubt the integrity of some science journals, their editors, and by extension, the entire field of biomedical and science publishing. These developments involve wide-ranging issues--the impact factor, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the birth, existence and rise of predatory journals.

  13. Scopus: A system for the evaluation of scientific journals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guz, A. N.; Rushchitsky, J. J.

    2009-04-01

    The paper discusses the evaluation of scientific journals based on the Scopus database, information tools, and criteria. The SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) as the main criterion used by Scopus to evaluate scientific journals is considered. The Scopus and ISI systems are compared using information on the journal Prikladnaya Mekhanika ( International Applied Mechanics), a number of world-known journals on mechanics, and some journals on natural sciences issued by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Some comments and proposals are formulated. This paper may be considered as a follow up on papers published in Prikladnaya Mekhanika ( International Applied Mechanics) in 2005-2009

  14. Does Doing Scientific Research in High School Correlate with Students Staying in Science? A Half-Century Retrospective Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roberts, Lesley F.; Wassersug, Richard J.

    2009-01-01

    The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has declared in an advertising campaign that "you can't start young enough" in science. However, there is no long-term data evaluating the effect of early exposure to original scientific research on producing career scientists. To address this issue, we examined a hands-on summer…

  15. Preferences of AAA/AAG codon recognition by modified nucleosides, τm5s2U34 and t6A37 present in tRNALys.

    PubMed

    Sonawane, Kailas D; Kamble, Asmita S; Fandilolu, Prayagraj M

    2017-12-27

    Deficiency of 5-taurinomethyl-2-thiouridine, τm 5 s 2 U at the 34th 'wobble' position in tRNA Lys causes MERRF (Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers), a neuromuscular disease. This modified nucleoside of mt tRNA Lys , recognizes AAA/AAG codons during protein biosynthesis process. Its preference to identify cognate codons has not been studied at the atomic level. Hence, multiple MD simulations of various molecular models of anticodon stem loop (ASL) of mt tRNA Lys in presence and absence of τm 5 s 2 U 34 and N 6 -threonylcarbamoyl adenosine (t 6 A 37 ) along with AAA and AAG codons have been accomplished. Additional four MD simulations of multiple ASL mt tRNA Lys models in the context of ribosomal A-site residues have also been performed to investigate the role of A-site in recognition of AAA/AAG codons. MD simulation results show that, ASL models in presence of τm 5 s 2 U 34 and t 6 A 37 with codons AAA/AAG are more stable than the ASL lacking these modified bases. MD trajectories suggest that τm 5 s 2 U recognizes the codons initially by 'wobble' hydrogen bonding interactions, and then tRNA Lys might leave the explicit codon by a novel 'single' hydrogen bonding interaction in order to run the protein biosynthesis process smoothly. We propose this model as the 'Foot-Step Model' for codon recognition, in which the single hydrogen bond plays a crucial role. MD simulation results suggest that, tRNA Lys with τm 5 s 2 U and t 6 A recognizes AAA codon more preferably than AAG. Thus, these results reveal the consequences of τm 5 s 2 U and t 6 A in recognition of AAA/AAG codons in mitochondrial disease, MERRF.

  16. A Journal-Level Analysis of Progress in Transplantation.

    PubMed

    Feeley, Thomas; Lee, Seyoung; Moon, Shin-Il

    2018-03-01

    Citations to articles published in academic journals represent a proxy for influence in bibliometrics. To measure the journal impact factor for Progress in Transplantation over time and to also identify related journals indexed in transplantation and surgery. Data from Journal Citation Reports (ISI web of science) were used to rank Progress in Transplantation compared to peer journals using journal impact and journal relatedness measures. Social network analysis was used to measure relationships between pairs of journals in Progress in Transplantation's relatedness network. Journal impact factor and journal relatedness. Data from 2010 through 2015 indicate the average journal article in PIT was cited 0.87 times (standard deviation [SD] = 0.12) and this estimate was stable over time. Progress in Transplantation most often cited American Journal of Transplantation, Transplantation, American Journal of Kidney Diseases, and Liver Transplantation. In terms of cited data, the journal was most often referenced by Clinical Transplantation, Transplant International, and Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation. The journal is listed both in surgery and transplantation categories of Journal Citation Reports and its impact factors over time fare better with surgery journals than with transplant journals. Network data using betweenness centrality indicate Progress in Transplantation links transplantation-focused journals and journals indexed in health sciences categories.

  17. Conceptualizing In-service Secondary School Science Teachers' Knowledge Base for Promoting Understanding about the Science of Global Climate Change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bhattacharya, Devarati

    Efforts to adapt and mitigate the effects of global climate change (GCC) have been ongoing for the past two decades and have become a major global concern. However, research and practice for promoting climate literacy and understanding about GCC have only recently become a national priority. The National Research Council (NRC), has recently emphasized upon the importance of developing learners' capacity of reasoning, their argumentation skills and understanding of GCC (Framework for K-12 Science Education, National Research Council, 2012). This framework focuses on fostering conceptual clarity about GCC to promote innovation, resilience, and readiness in students as a response towards the threat of a changing environment. Previous research about teacher understanding of GCC describes that in spite of the prevalent frameworks like the AAAS Science Literacy Atlas (AAAS, 2007) and the Essential Principles for Climate Literacy (United States Global Climate Research Program, 2009; Bardsley, 2007), most learners are challenged in understanding the science of GCC (Michail et al., 2007) and misinformed perceptions about basic climate science content and the role of human activities in changing climate remain persistent (Reibich and Gautier, 2006). Our teacher participants had a rather simplistic knowledge structure. While aware of climate change, teacher participants lacked in depth understanding of how change in climate can impact various ecosystems on the Earth. Furthermore, they felt overwhelmed with the extensive amount of information needed to comprehend the complexity in GCC. Hence, extensive efforts not only focused on assessing conceptual understanding of GCC but also for teaching complex science topics like GCC are essential. This dissertation explains concept mapping, and the photo elicitation method for assessing teachers' understanding of GCC and the use of metacognitive scaffolding in instruction of GCC for developing competence of learners in this complex

  18. Mine or Theirs, Where Do Users Go? A Comparison of E-Journal Usage at the OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center Platform versus the Elsevier ScienceDirect Platform

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swanson, Juleah

    2015-01-01

    This research provides librarians with a model for assessing and predicting which platforms patrons will use to access the same content, specifically comparing usage at the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) Electronic Journal Center (EJC) and at Elsevier's ScienceDirect from 2007 to 2013. Findings show that in the earlier years, the…

  19. The Effects of Research-Based Curriculum Materials and Curriculum-Based Professional Development on High School Science Achievement: Results of a Cluster-Randomized Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Joseph; Kowalski, Susan; Getty, Stephen; Wilson, Christopher; Carlson, Janet

    2013-01-01

    Effective instructional materials can be valuable interventions to improve student interest and achievement in science (National Research Council [NRC], 2007); yet, analyses indicate that many science instructional materials and curricula are fragmented, lack coherence, and are not carefully articulated through a sequence of grade levels (AAAS,…

  20. An overview and analysis of journal operations, journal publication patterns, and journal impact in school psychology and related fields.

    PubMed

    Floyd, Randy G; Cooley, Kathryn M; Arnett, James E; Fagan, Thomas K; Mercer, Sterett H; Hingle, Christine

    2011-12-01

    This article describes the results of three studies designed to understand better the journal operations, publishing practices, and impact of school psychology journals in recent years. The first study presents the results of a survey focusing on journal operations and peer-review practices that was completed by 61 journal editors of school psychology and aligned journals. The second study presents the results of review and classification of all articles appearing in one volume year for nine school psychology journals (i.e., The California School Psychologist, Canadian Journal of School Psychology, Journal of Applied School Psychology, Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Forum, School Psychology International, School Psychology Quarterly, and School Psychology Review). The third study employed multilevel modeling to investigate differences in the longitudinal trends of impact factor data for five school psychology journals listed in the Web of Science (i.e., Journal of School Psychology, Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology International, School Psychology Quarterly, and School Psychology Review). The article addresses implications for authors, editors, and journal editorial teams as well as the status and impact of school psychology journals. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. NGSS, disposability, and the ambivalence of science in/under neoliberalism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weinstein, Matthew

    2017-12-01

    This paper explores the ambivalence of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its Framework towards neoliberal governance. The paper examines the ways that the NGSS serves as a mechanism within neoliberal governance: in its production of disposable populations through testing and through the infusion of engineering throughout the NGSS to resolve social problems through technical fixes. However, the NGSS, like earlier standards, is reactionary to forces diminishing the power of institutional science (e.g., the AAAS) including neoliberal prioritizing market value over evidence. The NGSS explicitly takes on neoliberal junk science such as the anti-global-warming Heartland Institute.

  2. Status and Evolution of the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Science Education's First Year

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slater, Timothy F.

    2016-01-01

    The Journal of Astronomy & Earth Science Education (JAESE.org) is a recently created, peer-reviewed journal designed to serve the discipline-based astronomy, planetary, and geo-sciences education research community. JAESE's first issue was published on December 31, 2014 and has published two volumes and three issues since that time, encompassing 15 peer-reviewed articles. By far, the median article topic has been focused on planetarium education research, while there has only been one article on solid Earth geosciences education research. Although there is not yet an even distribution of topics across the field, there is a relatively even distribution among author demographics. Authors include a range of both junior and senior members of the field. There have been slightly female authors than male authors. Submissions are distributed to two or three reviewers with authors' names redacted from the manuscript. The average time to complete the first round of peer-review reviewers is 6.2-weeks. There have been too few manuscripts to reliably publish a "percentage acceptance rate." Finally, the majority of recently completed astronomy education research doctoral dissertations have been published in JAESE. Taken together, JAESE's guiding Editorial Advisory Board judges this to be a successful first year. In a purposeful effort to make JAESE authors' scholarly works as widely accessible as possible, JAESE adopted an open-access business model. JAESE articles are available to read free-of-charge over the Internet, delivered as PDFs. To date, the most common way articles are downloaded by readers is through Google Scholar. Instead of charging readers and libraries recurring subscription fees, JAESE charges authors a nominal submission fee and a small open-access fee, averaging about $500 USD. These charges are similar to the traditional page charges typically charged to authors or their institutions by scientific journals, making JAESE an attractive publishing venue for

  3. SU-F-T-600: Influence of Acuros XB and AAA Dose Calculation Algorithms On Plan Quality Metrics and Normal Lung Doses in Lung SBRT

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yaparpalvi, R; Mynampati, D; Kuo, H

    Purpose: To study the influence of superposition-beam model (AAA) and determinant-photon transport-solver (Acuros XB) dose calculation algorithms on the treatment plan quality metrics and on normal lung dose in Lung SBRT. Methods: Treatment plans of 10 Lung SBRT patients were randomly selected. Patients were prescribed to a total dose of 50-54Gy in 3–5 fractions (10?5 or 18?3). Doses were optimized accomplished with 6-MV using 2-arcs (VMAT). Doses were calculated using AAA algorithm with heterogeneity correction. For each plan, plan quality metrics in the categories- coverage, homogeneity, conformity and gradient were quantified. Repeat dosimetry for these AAA treatment plans was performedmore » using AXB algorithm with heterogeneity correction for same beam and MU parameters. Plan quality metrics were again evaluated and compared with AAA plan metrics. For normal lung dose, V{sub 20} and V{sub 5} to (Total lung- GTV) were evaluated. Results: The results are summarized in Supplemental Table 1. PTV volume was mean 11.4 (±3.3) cm{sup 3}. Comparing RTOG 0813 protocol criteria for conformality, AXB plans yielded on average, similar PITV ratio (individual PITV ratio differences varied from −9 to +15%), reduced target coverage (−1.6%) and increased R50% (+2.6%). Comparing normal lung doses, the lung V{sub 20} (+3.1%) and V{sub 5} (+1.5%) were slightly higher for AXB plans compared to AAA plans. High-dose spillage ((V105%PD - PTV)/ PTV) was slightly lower for AXB plans but the % low dose spillage (D2cm) was similar between the two calculation algorithms. Conclusion: AAA algorithm overestimates lung target dose. Routinely adapting to AXB for dose calculations in Lung SBRT planning may improve dose calculation accuracy, as AXB based calculations have been shown to be closer to Monte Carlo based dose predictions in accuracy and with relatively faster computational time. For clinical practice, revisiting dose-fractionation in Lung SBRT to correct for dose

  4. The relationship between journal use in a medical library and citation use.

    PubMed Central

    Tsay, M Y

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between library journal use and journal citation use in the medical sciences. The six-month journal use study was conducted in the Library of the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei. The data on citation frequency and impact factors were obtained from Journal Citation Reports, 1993 microfiche edition. The study explored the use, citation, and impact factor data, especially for heavily used, highly cited, or high-impact-factor journals. The correlations between frequency of use and citation frequency and between frequency of use and impact factor were determined by using the Spearman rank and Pearson correlation tests. The same comparisons were also made within four subject categories: clinical medicine journals, life science journals, hybrid journals publishing both clinical medicine and life science papers, and journals that publish neither clinical medicine nor life science articles. The results of the study showed that there is a significant correlation between frequency of use and citation frequency, and between frequency of use and impact factor for all titles. There is also a significant correlation between frequency of use and citation frequency and between frequency of use and impact factor for journals that publish either clinical medicine or life science articles, or both. However, the correlation is not significant for other journals. PMID:9549010

  5. Brazilian Science between National and Foreign Journals: Methodology for Analyzing the Production and Impact in Emerging Scientific Communities.

    PubMed

    Strehl, Letícia; Calabró, Luciana; Souza, Diogo Onofre; Amaral, Lívio

    2016-01-01

    In recent decades, we have observed an intensification of science, technology and innovation activities in Brazil. The increase in production of scientific papers indexed in international databases, however, has not been accompanied by an equivalent increase in the impact of publications. This paper presents a methodology for analyzing production and the impact of certain research areas in Brazil related to two aspects: the origin of the journals (national or foreign) and international collaboration. These two variables were selected for being of particular importance in understanding the context of scientific production and communication in countries with emerging economies. The sample consisted of papers written by Brazilian researchers in 19 subfields of knowledge published from 2002 to 2011, totaling 85,082 papers. To calculate the impact, we adopted a normalized indicator called the relative subfield citedness (Rw) using a window of 5 years to obtain measurements evaluated in 2 different years: 2007 and 2012. The data on papers and citations were collected from the Web of Science database. From the results, we note that most of the subfields have presented, from one quinquennium to another, improved performance in the world production rankings. Regarding publication in national and foreign journals, we observed a trend in the distribution maintenance of production of the subfields based on the origin of the journal. Specifically, for impact, we identified a lower Rw pattern for Brazilian papers when they were published in national journals in all subfields. When Brazilian products are published in foreign journals, we observed a higher impact for those papers, even surpassing the average global impact in some subfields. For international collaboration, we analyzed the percentage of participation of foreign researchers and the connection between collaboration and the impact of papers, especially emphasizing the distinction of hyperauthorship papers in terms of

  6. Brazilian Science between National and Foreign Journals: Methodology for Analyzing the Production and Impact in Emerging Scientific Communities

    PubMed Central

    Calabró, Luciana; Souza, Diogo Onofre; Amaral, Lívio

    2016-01-01

    In recent decades, we have observed an intensification of science, technology and innovation activities in Brazil. The increase in production of scientific papers indexed in international databases, however, has not been accompanied by an equivalent increase in the impact of publications. This paper presents a methodology for analyzing production and the impact of certain research areas in Brazil related to two aspects: the origin of the journals (national or foreign) and international collaboration. These two variables were selected for being of particular importance in understanding the context of scientific production and communication in countries with emerging economies. The sample consisted of papers written by Brazilian researchers in 19 subfields of knowledge published from 2002 to 2011, totaling 85,082 papers. To calculate the impact, we adopted a normalized indicator called the relative subfield citedness (Rw) using a window of 5 years to obtain measurements evaluated in 2 different years: 2007 and 2012. The data on papers and citations were collected from the Web of Science database. From the results, we note that most of the subfields have presented, from one quinquennium to another, improved performance in the world production rankings. Regarding publication in national and foreign journals, we observed a trend in the distribution maintenance of production of the subfields based on the origin of the journal. Specifically, for impact, we identified a lower Rw pattern for Brazilian papers when they were published in national journals in all subfields. When Brazilian products are published in foreign journals, we observed a higher impact for those papers, even surpassing the average global impact in some subfields. For international collaboration, we analyzed the percentage of participation of foreign researchers and the connection between collaboration and the impact of papers, especially emphasizing the distinction of hyperauthorship papers in terms of

  7. TRIP13 is a protein-remodeling AAA+ ATPase that catalyzes MAD2 conformation switching

    DOE PAGES

    Ye, Qiaozhen; Rosenberg, Scott C.; Moeller, Arne; ...

    2015-04-28

    The AAA+ family ATPase TRIP13 is a key regulator of meiotic recombination and the spindle assembly checkpoint, acting on signaling proteins of the conserved HORMA domain family. Here we present the structure of the Caenorhabditis elegans TRIP13 ortholog PCH-2, revealing a new family of AAA+ ATPase protein remodelers. PCH-2 possesses a substrate-recognition domain related to those of the protein remodelers NSF and p97, while its overall hexameric architecture and likely structural mechanism bear close similarities to the bacterial protein unfoldase ClpX. We find that TRIP13, aided by the adapter protein p31(comet), converts the HORMA-family spindle checkpoint protein MAD2 from amore » signaling-active ‘closed’ conformer to an inactive ‘open’ conformer. We propose that TRIP13 and p31(comet) collaborate to inactivate the spindle assembly checkpoint through MAD2 conformational conversion and disassembly of mitotic checkpoint complexes. A parallel HORMA protein disassembly activity likely underlies TRIP13's critical regulatory functions in meiotic chromosome structure and recombination.« less

  8. Can a Spanish Science Education Journal Become International? The Case of "Enseñanza De Las Ciencias"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Espinet, Mariona; Izquierdo, Mercè; Garcia-Pujol, Clara

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we discuss the case of the science education research journal "Enseñanza de las Ciencias" ("EC") around the issue of its internationalization and the consequences this process has had and is still having on the use and preservation of different languages and more specifically the Castilian (Spanish) language. We…

  9. Impact of GDP, spending on R&D, the number of universities and scientific journals on research publications in environmental sciences in the Middle East.

    PubMed

    Meo, Sultan Ayoub; Al Masri, Abeer A; Usmani, Adnan Mahmood; Halepoto, Dost Muhammad

    2013-10-01

    This study aimed to assess the impact of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), spending on Research and Development (R&D), the number of universities and scientific journals on the published research documents, citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries. All the 16 Middle East countries were included in the study. Information regarding the GDP, spending on R&D, the total number of universities and indexed journals was collected. Total number of research documents (papers), citable documents, citations per document and H-index in environmental sciences during the period 1996-2011 was recorded. The study used the World Bank, SCI-mago/Scopus, Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters) as the main sources of information. The mean GDP per capita of all the Middle East countries amounted to 18 125.49±5386.28 US$, spending on R&D was 0.63±0.28 US$, the number of universities equaled 36.56±11.33 and mean ISI indexed journals amounted to 8.25±3.93. The mean number of research documents published in environmental sciences in the Middle East countries during the period 1996-2011 was 2202.12±883.98; citable documents: 2156.87±865.09; citations per document: 8.74±0.73; and the H-index: 35.37±6.17. There was a positive correlation between the money spent on R&D and citations per documents (r = 0.6, p = 0.01), H-Index (r = 0.6, p = 0.01); the number of universities and a total of research documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006), citable documents (r = 0.65, p = 0.006), H-Index (r = 0.50, p = 0.04), as well as ISI indexed journals and total research documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001), citable documents (r = 0.94, p = 0.0001), H-Index (r = 0.73, p = 0.001). The Middle East countries which spend more on R&D and which have a large number of universities and ISI indexed journals are likely to produce more significant volume of research papers in the field of environmental science.

  10. The Status of Cognitive Psychology Journals: An Impact Factor Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Togia, Aspasia

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the impact factor of cognitive psychology journals indexed in the Science and Social Sciences edition of "Journal Citation Reports" ("JCR") database over a period of 10 consecutive years. Cognitive psychology journals were indexed in 11 different subject categories of the database. Their mean impact factor…

  11. U.S. Presidential Candidate camps debate sciences issues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Showstack, Randy

    2000-10-01

    While budget surpluses, social security, and tax cut proposals have been major focuses during the U.S. presidential campaign between Texas Governor George W Bush and Vice President Al Gore, the candidates also have staked out a number of important issues related to Earth sciences and the environment. Two recent debates between representatives of the Bush and Gore camps have helped to clarify these positions. The Washington Science Policy Alliance presented a candidates forum on science and technology policy on October 5 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in Washington, D.C. On September 26, the non-profit National Environmental Policy Institute (NEPI) held a debate on presidential politics and the environment at the National Press Club, also in Washington, D.C.

  12. Science Anxiety and Gender in Students Taking General Education Science Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Udo, M. K.; Ramsey, G. P.; Mallow, J. V.

    2004-01-01

    Earlier studies [Mallow, J. V. (1994). Gender-related science anxiety: A first binational study. "Journal of Science Education and Technology" 3: 227-238; Udo, M. K., Ramsey, G. P., Reynolds-Alpert, S., and Mallow, J. V. (2001). Does physics teaching affect gender-based science anxiety? "Journal of Science Education and Technology" 10: 237-247] of…

  13. Support of Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers in the Sciences and Engineering: Impact of Related Policies and Practices. Workshop Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnhill, Robert E.; Stanzione, Dan

    2004-01-01

    On June 17-18th, 2004, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) sponsored a workshop at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to discuss emerging issues, research, and current practices related to financial…

  14. Assessing Journal Quality in Mathematics Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nivens, Ryan Andrew; Otten, Samuel

    2017-01-01

    In this Research Commentary, we describe 3 journal metrics--the Web of Science's Impact Factor, Scopus's SCImago Journal Rank, and Google Scholar Metrics' h5-index--and compile the rankings (if they exist) for 69 mathematics education journals. We then discuss 2 paths that the mathematics education community should consider with regard to these…

  15. The major-effect quantitative trait locus CsARN6.1 encodes an AAA ATPase domain-containing protein that is associated with waterlogging stress tolerance by promoting adventitious root formation.

    PubMed

    Xu, Xuewen; Ji, Jing; Xu, Qiang; Qi, Xiaohua; Weng, Yiqun; Chen, Xuehao

    2018-03-01

    In plants, the formation of hypocotyl-derived adventitious roots (ARs) is an important morphological acclimation to waterlogging stress; however, its genetic basis remains fragmentary. Here, through combined use of bulked segregant analysis-based whole-genome sequencing, SNP haplotyping and fine genetic mapping, we identified a candidate gene for a major-effect QTL, ARN6.1, that was responsible for waterlogging tolerance due to increased AR formation in the cucumber line Zaoer-N. Through multiple lines of evidence, we show that CsARN6.1 is the most possible candidate for ARN6.1 which encodes an AAA ATPase. The increased formation of ARs under waterlogging in Zaoer-N could be attributed to a non-synonymous SNP in the coiled-coil domain region of this gene. CsARN6.1 increases the number of ARs via its ATPase activity. Ectopic expression of CsARN6.1 in Arabidopsis resulted in better rooting ability and lateral root development in transgenic plants. Transgenic cucumber expressing the CsARN6.1 Asp allele from Zaoer-N exhibited a significant increase in number of ARs compared with the wild type expressing the allele from Pepino under waterlogging conditions. Taken together, these data support that the AAA ATPase gene CsARN6.1 has an important role in increasing cucumber AR formation and waterlogging tolerance. © 2018 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Circulating Vascular Basement Membrane Fragments are Associated with the Diameter of the Abdominal Aorta and Their Expression Pattern is Altered in AAA Tissue.

    PubMed

    Holsti, Mari; Wanhainen, Anders; Lundin, Christina; Björck, Martin; Tegler, Gustaf; Svensson, Johan; Sund, Malin

    2018-04-12

    Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is characterised by enhanced proteolytic activity, and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling in the vascular wall. Type IV and XVIII collagen/endostatin are structural proteins in vascular basement membrane (VBM), a specialised ECM structure. Here the association between plasma levels of these collagens with the aortic diameter and expansion rate is studied, and their expression in aortic tissue characterised. This was a retrospective population based cohort study. Type IV and XVIII collagen/endostatin were analysed in plasma by ELISA assay in 615 men, divided into three groups based on the aortic diameter: 1) normal aorta ≤ 25 mm, 2) sub-aneurysmal aorta (SAA) 26-29 mm, and 3) AAA ≥ 30 mm. Follow up data were available for 159 men. The association between collagen levels and aortic diameter at baseline, and with the expansion rate at follow up were analysed in ordinal logistic regression and linear regression models, controlling for common confounding factors. Tissue expression of the collagens was analysed in normal aorta (n = 6) and AAA (n = 6) by immunofluorescence. Plasma levels of type XVIII collagen/endostatin (136 ng/mL [SD 29] in individuals with a normal aorta diameter, 154 ng/ml [SD 45] in SAA, and 162 ng/ml [SD 46] in AAA; p = .001) and type IV collagen (105 ng/mL [SD 42] normal aorta, 124 ng/ml [SD 46] SAA, and 127 ng/ml [SD 47] AAA; p = .037) were associated with a larger aortic diameter. A significant association was found between the baseline levels of type XVIII/endostatin and the aortic expansion rate (p = .035), but in the multivariable model, only the initial aortic diameter remained significantly associated with expansion (p = .005). Altered expression patterns of both collagens were observed in AAA tissue. Plasma levels of circulating type IV and XVIII collagen/endostatin increase with AAA diameter. The expression pattern of VBM proteins is altered in the aneurysm wall. Copyright

  17. NASA Wavelength: A Full Spectrum of NASA Resources for Earth and Space Science Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, D. A.; Schwerin, T. G.; Peticolas, L. M.; Porcello, D.; Kansa, E.; Shipp, S. S.; Bartolone, L.

    2013-12-01

    The NASA Science Education and Public Outreach Forums have developed a digital library--NASAWavelength.org--that enables easy discovery and retrieval of thousands of resources from the NASA Earth and space science education portfolio. The system has been developed based on best practices in the architecture and design of web-based information systems. The design style and philosophy emphasize simple, reusable data and services that facilitate the free flow of data across systems. The primary audiences for NASA Wavelength are STEM educators (K-12, higher education and informal education) as well as scientists, education and public outreach professionals who work with K-12, higher education, and informal education. A NASA Wavelength strandmap service features the 19 AAAS strandmaps that are most relevant to NASA science; the service also generates all of the 103 AAAS strandmaps with content from the Wavelength collection. These maps graphically and interactively provide connections between concepts as well as illustrate how concepts build upon one another across grade levels. New features have been developed for this site based on user feedback, including list-building so that users can create and share individual collections within Wavelength. We will also discuss potential methods for integrating the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into the search and discovery tools on NASA Wavelength.

  18. Morphological Differences in the Aorto-iliac Segment in AAA Patients of Caucasian and Asian Origin.

    PubMed

    Banzic, I; Lu, Q; Zhang, L; Stepak, H; Davidovic, L; Oszkinis, G; Mladenovic, A; Markovic, M; Rancic, Z; Jing, Z; Brankovic, M

    2016-06-01

    The objective was to quantify aorto-iliac morphology differences between AAA patients of Caucasian and Asian origin. Additionally, the impact of patient demographic characteristics was assessed, which could influence the morphological differences. This international multicentre study included two tertiary referral institutions from Europe and one from China. CT scans with 3D reconstruction of 296 patients with infrarenal AAA >5 cm were analysed. Eighteen measurements were recorded from each CT scan and compared between Caucasian and Asian patients. Caucasian patients had longer common iliac arteries (right: 65.0 vs. 33.1 mm, p < .001 left: 65.0 vs. 35.2 mm, p < .001), longer aneurysm neck (33.0 vs. 28.4 mm, p < .001), greater aneurysm to aortic axis angle (153.0° vs. 142.2°, p < .001), and longer combined aorto-iliac length (195.7 vs. 189.2 mm, p < .001). However, Asian patients had a longer infrarenal abdominal aorta (152.0 vs. 130.0 mm, p < .001), longer AAA (126.2 vs. 93.0 mm), and greater linear distance from renal artery to aorto-iliac bifurcation (143.6 vs. 116.0 mm, p < .001). Caucasian patients had a larger inner common iliac artery diameter (right: 16.0 vs. 14.9 mm, p < .001, left: 16.0 vs. 15.2 mm, p < .001), larger inner exernal iliac artery diameter (right: 9.0 vs. 7.5 mm, p < .001 left: 9.0 vs. 7.7 mm, p < .001), and larger inner common femoral artery diameter (right: 10.0 vs. 5.9 mm, p < .001 left: 10.0 vs. 6.1 mm, p < .001). No difference was observed in AAA transverse diameter (62.0 vs. 63.1 mm, p = .492). The results showed that aorto-iliac anatomy in Caucasians differs significantly from Asians, particularly in the length of the common iliac arteries and infrarenal abdominal aorta, and in the transverse diameter of the common, external iliac, and common femoral arteries. Therefore, the exact criteria for stent graft design are dependent on the racial origin of the patient. Copyright © 2015 European

  19. Update on inflation of journal prices: Brandon/Hill list journals and the scientific, technical, and medical publishing market.

    PubMed

    Schlimgen, Joan B; Kronenfeld, Michael R

    2004-07-01

    The original study of journal prices, using the "Brandon/ Hill Selected List of Books and Journals for the Small Medical Library," was first published in 1980 and periodically updated. This research continues to measure price increases for these titles for the periods 1996 to 1999 and 1999 to 2002. The 111 journal titles that have appeared in each published list from 1967 to 2001 were included in the study. Institutional subscription price data were gathered for each journal for the years 1996, 1999, and 2002 and were compared to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the same years. The average journal price continues to rise significantly and is independent of the CPI. The study found that prices have jumped 51.9% from 1996 to 1999 and 32% from 1999 to 2002, which is consistent with nearly every recent journal price study. The unprecedented rise in journal prices negatively affects the purchasing power of medical libraries. This paper examines the economic and technological pressures on the science, technology, and medical journals market that contribute to high prices and identifies a number of initiatives in the biological and health sciences that utilize alternative models for disseminating scientific research.

  20. Support for chemistry symposia at the 2011 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, February 17-21 2011

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Charles Casey

    2011-08-20

    This proposal supported Chemistry Symposia at the 2011 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Meeting in Washington, DC February 17-21, 2011. The Chemistry Section of AAAS presented an unusually strong set of symposia for the 2011 AAAS meeting to help celebrate the 2011 International Year of Chemistry. The AAAS meeting provided an unusual opportunity to convey the excitement and importance of chemistry to a very broad audience and allowed access to a large contingent of the scientific press. Excellent suggestions for symposia were received from AAAS Chemistry Fellows and from the chairs of the American Chemical Society Technicalmore » Divisions. The AAAS Chemistry executive committee selected topics that would have wide appeal to scientists, the public, and the press for formal proposals of symposia. The symposia proposals were peer reviewed by AAAS. The Chemistry Section made a strong case to the program selection committee for approval of the chemistry symposia and 6 were approved for the 2011 annual meeting. The titles of the approved symposia were: (1) Powering the Planet: Generation of Clean Fuels from Sunlight and Water, (2) Biological Role and Consequences of Intrinsic Protein Disorder, (3) Chemically Speaking: How Organisms Talk to Each Other, (4) Molecular Self-Assembly and Artificial Molecular Machines, (5) Frontiers in Organic Materials for Information Processing, Energy and Sensors, and (6) Celebrating Marie Curie's 100th Anniversary of Her Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Chemistry Section of AAAS is provided with funds to support only 1-2 symposia a year. Because of the much greater number of symposia approved in conjunction with observance of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, additional support was sought from DOE to help support the 30 invited speakers and 8 symposia moderators/organizers. Support for the symposia provided the opportunity to highlight the excitement of current chemical research, to educate the public about

  1. [Fourcroy and pharmaceutical journals].

    PubMed

    Bonnemain, Bruno

    2011-04-01

    Cadet de Gassicourt wrote a brief Eloge of Fourcroy in January 1810 as he died in December of 1809. Fourcroy had a major role concerning the new ideas on the place of pharmacy at the beginning of the 19th century. Fourcroy has had a key influence for the start of several pharmaceutical journals that wanted to emphasize the link between the new chemistry and pharmacy. None of these journals created with him will survive and one has to wait for 1909 to see the creation, without Fourcroy, of a new pharmaceutical journal, the "Journal de Pharmacie" that will become "Journal de Pharmacie et des Sciences accessoires", then "Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie", before taking the name of"Annales Pharmaceutiques Françaises", the present official journal of the French Academy of Pharmacy. In spite of the essential role of Fourcroy at the start of pharmaceutical journals, Cadet did not even mention it in his Eloge of 1810.

  2. Open Access Journal Policies: A Systematic Analysis of Radiology Journals.

    PubMed

    Narayan, Anand; Lobner, Katie; Fritz, Jan

    2018-02-01

    The open access movement has pushed for greater access to scientific knowledge by expanding access to scientific journal articles. There is limited information about the extent to which open access policies have been adopted by radiology journals. We performed a systematic analysis to ascertain the proportion of radiology journals with open access options. A search was performed with the assistance of a clinical informationist. Full and mixed English-language diagnostic and interventional radiology Web of Science journals (impact factors > 1.0) were included. Nuclear medicine, radiation oncology, physics, and solicitation-only journals were excluded. Primary outcome was open access option (yes or no) with additional outcomes including presence or absence of embargo, complete or partial copyright transfer, publication fees, and self-archiving policies. Secondary outcomes included journal citations, journal impact factors, immediacy, Eigenfactor, and article influence scores. Independent double readings were performed with differences resolved by consensus, supplemented by contacting editorial staff at each journal. In all, 125 journals were identified; review yielded 49 journals (39%, mean impact factor of 2.61). Thirty-six of the journals had open access options (73.4%), and four journals were exclusively open access (8.2%). Twelve-month embargoes were most commonly cited (90.6%) with 28.6% of journals stating that they did not require a complete transfer of copyright. Prices for open access options ranged from $750 to $4,000 (median $3,000). No statistically significant differences were found in journal impact measures comparing journals with open access options to journals without open access options. Diagnostic and interventional radiology journals have widely adopted open access options with a few radiology journals being exclusively open access. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Bias and other limitations affect measures of journals in integrative and complementary medicine

    PubMed Central

    Fan, Ka-wai

    2015-01-01

    Publishing articles in a prestigious journal is a golden rule for university professors and researchers nowadays. Impact factor, journal rank, and citation count, included in Science Citation Index managed by Thomson Reuters Web of Science, are the most important indicators for evaluating the quality of academic journals. By listing the journals encompassed in the “Integrative and Complementary Medicine” category of Science Citation Index from 2003 to 2013, this paper examines the publication trends of journals in the category. The examination includes number, country of origin, ranking, and languages of journals. Moreover, newly listed or removed journals in the category, journal publishers, and open access strategies are examined. It is concluded that the role of journal publisher should not be undermined in the “Integrative and Complementary Medicine” category. PMID:26213508

  4. Ethical Issues and the Life Sciences. Test Edition. AAAS Study Guides on Contemporary Problems.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kieffer, George H.

    This is one of several study guides on contemporary problems produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science with support of the National Science Foundation. This study guide on Ethical Issues and the Life Sciences includes the following sections: (1) Introduction; (2) The Search for an Ethic; (3) Biomedical Issues including…

  5. Vision science literature of Nepal in the database "Web of Science".

    PubMed

    Risal, S; Prasad, H N

    2012-01-01

    Vision Science is considered to be a quite developed discipline in Nepal, with much research currently in progress. Though the results of these endeavors are published in scientific journals, formal citation analyses have not been performed on works contributed by Nepalese vision scientists. To study Nepal's contribution to vision science literature in the database "Web of Science". The primary data source of this paper was Web of Science, a citation database of Thomas Reuters. All bibliometric analyses were performed with the help of Web of Science analysis service. In the current database of vision science literature, Nepalese authors contributed 112 publications to Web of Science, 95 of which were original articles. Pokharel GP had the highest number of citations among contributing authors of Nepal. Hennig A contributed the highest number of article as a first author. The Nepal Eye Hospital contributed the highest number of articles as an institution to the field of Vision Science. Currently, only two journals from Nepal including Journal of Nepal Medical Association (JAMA) are indexed in the Web of Science database (Sieving, 2012). To evaluate the total productivity of vision science literature from Nepal, total publication counts from national journals and articles indexed in other databases such as PubMed and Scopus must also be considered. © NEPjOPH.

  6. Current status of biomedical book reviewing. I. Key biomedical reviewing journals with quantitative significance.

    PubMed

    Chen, C C; Wright, A M

    1974-04-01

    This is the first part of a comprehensive, quantitative study of biomedical book reviewing. The data base of the total project was built from statistics taken from all 1970 issues of biomedical journals held in the Science Library of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Of 285 so-called "life sciences" journals held by that library, fifty-four English journals (excluding Science and Nature) were found to contain bona fide book reviews (as contrasted with mere author-title lists) and were therefore selected for close study. The statistical results reveal that there were 3,347 reviews of 2,067 biomedical books in these fifty-four selected journals in 1970. Part I of the study identifies key biomedical reviewing journals of quantitative significance. The top ten journals, British Medical Journal, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Internal Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, Quarterly Review of Biology, Bioscience, Canadian Medical Association Journal,(*) and American Journal of the Medical Sciences, accounted for 63.03% of the total number of reviews in 1970.

  7. A corpus and a concordancer of academic journal articles.

    PubMed

    Kwary, Deny A

    2018-02-01

    This data article presents a corpus (i.e. a selection of a big number of words in an electronic form) and a concordancer (i.e. a tool to show the word in its context of use) of academic journal articles. As the title suggests, the data were collected from research articles published in academic journals. The corpus contains 5,686,428 words selected from 895 journal articles published by Elsevier in 2011-2015. The corpus is classified into four subject areas: Health sciences, Life sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences, following the classifications of Scopus, which is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. To ease the access and utilization of the corpus, a program to produce the key word in context (KWIC) and word frequency was created and placed on the website: corpus.kwary.net. The corpus is a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, and translators working on academic English.

  8. A comparison of journal coverage in Psychological Abstracts and the primary health sciences indexes: implications for cooperative serials acquisition and retention.

    PubMed Central

    Sekerak, R J

    1986-01-01

    An overlap study was performed to identify important psychology journals that are also of interest to biomedical scientists and health care practitioners. The journal lists of Index Medicus, Hospital Literature Index, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and International Nursing Index were compared with the journal list of Psychological Abstracts. A total of 357 Psychological Abstracts titles were also in one or more of the health sciences indexes. A core list of forty-five titles covered by all of the indexes is presented in the Appendix. Results of the study are discussed vis-à-vis cooperative serials acquisition and retention efforts. PMID:3742117

  9. Evaluation of the dose calculation accuracy for small fields defined by jaw or MLC for AAA and Acuros XB algorithms.

    PubMed

    Fogliata, Antonella; Lobefalo, Francesca; Reggiori, Giacomo; Stravato, Antonella; Tomatis, Stefano; Scorsetti, Marta; Cozzi, Luca

    2016-10-01

    Small field measurements are challenging, due to the physical characteristics coming from the lack of charged particle equilibrium, the partial occlusion of the finite radiation source, and to the detector response. These characteristics can be modeled in the dose calculations in the treatment planning systems. Aim of the present work is to evaluate the MU calculation accuracy for small fields, defined by jaw or MLC, for anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA) and Acuros XB algorithms, relative to output measurements on the beam central axis. Single point output factor measurement was acquired with a PTW microDiamond detector for 6 MV, 6 and 10 MV unflattened beams generated by a Varian TrueBeam STx equipped with high definition-MLC. Fields defined by jaw or MLC apertures were set; jaw-defined: 0.6 × 0.6, 0.8 × 0.8, 1 × 1, 2 × 2, 3 × 3, 4 × 4, 5 × 5, and 10 × 10 cm 2 ; MLC-defined: 0.5 × 0.5 cm 2 to the maximum field defined by the jaw, with 0.5 cm stepping, and jaws set to: 2 × 2, 3 × 3, 4 × 4, 5 × 5, and 10 × 10 cm 2 . MU calculation was obtained with 1 mm grid in a virtual water phantom for the same fields, for AAA and Acuros algorithms implemented in the Varian eclipse treatment planning system (version 13.6). Configuration parameters as the effective spot size (ESS) and the dosimetric leaf gap (DLG) were varied to find the best parameter setting. Differences between calculated and measured doses were analyzed. Agreement better than 0.5% was found for field sizes equal to or larger than 2 × 2 cm 2 for both algorithms. A dose overestimation was present for smaller jaw-defined fields, with the best agreement, averaged over all the energies, of 1.6% and 4.6% for a 1 × 1 cm 2 field calculated by AAA and Acuros, respectively, for a configuration with ESS = 1 mm for both X and Y directions for AAA, and ESS = 1.5 and 0 mm for X and Y directions for Acuros. Conversely, a calculated dose underestimation was found for small MLC-defined fields, with the

  10. The Intellectual Structure of Research on Educational Technology in Science Education (ETiSE): A Co-citation Network Analysis of Publications in Selected Journals (2008-2013)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Kai-Yu; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2016-01-01

    The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the intellectual structure of the research on educational technology in science education (ETiSE) within the most recent years (2008-2013). Based on the criteria for educational technology research and the citation threshold for educational co-citation analysis, a total of 137 relevant ETiSE papers were identified from the International Journal of Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, and the Journal of Science Education and Technology. Then, a series of methodologies were performed to analyze all 137 source documents, including document co-citation analysis, social network analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. As a result, 454 co-citation ties were obtained and then graphically visualized with an undirected network, presenting a global structure of the current ETiSE research network. In addition, four major underlying intellectual subfields within the main component of the ETiSE network were extracted and named as: (1) technology-enhanced science inquiry, (2) simulation and visualization for understanding, (3) technology-enhanced chemistry learning, and (4) game-based science learning. The most influential co-citation pairs and cross-boundary phenomena were then analyzed and visualized in a co-citation network. This is the very first attempt to illuminate the core ideas underlying ETiSE research by integrating the co-citation method, factor analysis, and the networking visualization technique. The findings of this study provide a platform for scholarly discussion of the dissemination and research trends within the current ETiSE literature.

  11. Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC): Evaluating Scholary Journals Based on Citation Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Mehrad, Jaffar; Arastoopoor, Sholeh

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: Citation analysis is currently one of the most widely used metrics for analyzing the scientific contribution in different fields. The Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) aims at promoting technical cooperation among Muslim scientists and their respected centers based on these theories. It also facilitates the accessibility of knowledge and research contribution among them. This paper aims at revealing some of the outmost features of ISC databases, in order to give a fairly clear view of what it is and what are its products. The paper consists of three major parts. After an introduction about the Islamic World Science Citation Center, the paper deals with major tools and products of ISC. In the third part ISCs’ journal Submission system is presented as an automatic means, by which users can upload journals’ papers into the respected databases. Conclusion: Some complementary remarks have been made regarding the current state of ISC and its future plans. PMID:23322953

  12. Mechanism of the AAA+ ATPases pontin and reptin in the biogenesis of H/ACA RNPs.

    PubMed

    Machado-Pinilla, Rosario; Liger, Dominique; Leulliot, Nicolas; Meier, U Thomas

    2012-10-01

    The AAA+ ATPases pontin and reptin function in a staggering array of cellular processes including chromatin remodeling, transcriptional regulation, DNA damage repair, and assembly of macromolecular complexes, such as RNA polymerase II and small nucleolar (sno) RNPs. However, the molecular mechanism for all of these AAA+ ATPase associated activities is unknown. Here we document that, during the biogenesis of H/ACA RNPs (including telomerase), the assembly factor SHQ1 holds the pseudouridine synthase NAP57/dyskerin in a viselike grip, and that pontin and reptin (as components of the R2TP complex) are required to pry NAP57 from SHQ1. Significantly, the NAP57 domain captured by SHQ1 harbors most mutations underlying X-linked dyskeratosis congenita (X-DC) implicating the interface between the two proteins as a target of this bone marrow failure syndrome. Homing in on the essential first steps of H/ACA RNP biogenesis, our findings provide the first insight into the mechanism of action of pontin and reptin in the assembly of macromolecular complexes.

  13. Mechanism of the AAA+ ATPases pontin and reptin in the biogenesis of H/ACA RNPs

    PubMed Central

    Machado-Pinilla, Rosario; Liger, Dominique; Leulliot, Nicolas; Meier, U. Thomas

    2012-01-01

    The AAA+ ATPases pontin and reptin function in a staggering array of cellular processes including chromatin remodeling, transcriptional regulation, DNA damage repair, and assembly of macromolecular complexes, such as RNA polymerase II and small nucleolar (sno) RNPs. However, the molecular mechanism for all of these AAA+ ATPase associated activities is unknown. Here we document that, during the biogenesis of H/ACA RNPs (including telomerase), the assembly factor SHQ1 holds the pseudouridine synthase NAP57/dyskerin in a viselike grip, and that pontin and reptin (as components of the R2TP complex) are required to pry NAP57 from SHQ1. Significantly, the NAP57 domain captured by SHQ1 harbors most mutations underlying X-linked dyskeratosis congenita (X-DC) implicating the interface between the two proteins as a target of this bone marrow failure syndrome. Homing in on the essential first steps of H/ACA RNP biogenesis, our findings provide the first insight into the mechanism of action of pontin and reptin in the assembly of macromolecular complexes. PMID:22923768

  14. Update on inflation of journal prices: Brandon/Hill list journals and the scientific, technical, and medical publishing market*

    PubMed Central

    Schlimgen, Joan B.; Kronenfeld, Michael R.

    2004-01-01

    Objective: The original study of journal prices, using the “Brandon/ Hill Selected List of Books and Journals for the Small Medical Library,” was first published in 1980 and periodically updated. This research continues to measure price increases for these titles for the periods 1996 to 1999 and 1999 to 2002. Methodology: The 111 journal titles that have appeared in each published list from 1967 to 2001 were included in the study. Institutional subscription price data were gathered for each journal for the years 1996, 1999, and 2002 and were compared to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the same years. Results: The average journal price continues to rise significantly and is independent of the CPI. The study found that prices have jumped 51.9% from 1996 to 1999 and 32% from 1999 to 2002, which is consistent with nearly every recent journal price study. Conclusion: The unprecedented rise in journal prices negatively affects the purchasing power of medical libraries. This paper examines the economic and technological pressures on the science, technology, and medical journals market that contribute to high prices and identifies a number of initiatives in the biological and health sciences that utilize alternative models for disseminating scientific research. PMID:15243636

  15. Nanomechanical and thermophoretic analyses of the nucleotide-dependent interactions between the AAA + subunits of magnesium chelatase

    DOE PAGES

    Adams, Nathan B. P.; Vasilev, Cvetelin; Brindley, Amanda A.; ...

    2016-04-30

    In chlorophyll biosynthesis, the magnesium chelatase enzyme complex catalyzes the insertion of a Mg 2+ ion into protoporphyrin IX. Prior to this event, two of the three subunits, the AAA + proteins ChlI and ChlD, form a ChlID–MgATP complex. We used microscale thermophoresis to directly determine dissociation constants for the I-D subunits from Synechocystis, and to show that the formation of a ChlID–MgADP complex, mediated by the arginine finger and the sensor II domain on ChlD, is necessary for the assembly of the catalytically active ChlHID–MgATP complex. The N-terminal AAA + domain of ChlD is essential for complex formation, butmore » some stability is preserved in the absence of the C-terminal integrin domain of ChlD, particularly if the intervening polyproline linker region is retained. Single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) was used to determine the factors that stabilize formation of the ChlID–MgADP complex at the single molecule level; ChlD was attached to an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe in two different orientations, and the ChlI subunits were tethered to a silica surface; the probability of subunits interacting more than doubled in the presence of MgADP, and we show that the N-terminal AAA + domain of ChlD mediates this process, in agreement with the microscale thermophoresis data. Analysis of the unbinding data revealed a most probable interaction force of around 109 pN for formation of single ChlID–MgADP complexes. Finally, these experiments provide a quantitative basis for understanding the assembly and function of the Mg chelatase complex.« less

  16. The Matthew effect in environmental science publication: A bibliometric analysis of chemical substances in journal articles

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background While environmental research addresses scientific questions of possible societal relevance, it is unclear to what degree research focuses on environmental chemicals in need of documentation for risk assessment purposes. Methods In a bibliometric analysis, we used SciFinder to extract Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) numbers for chemicals addressed by publications in the 78 major environmental science journals during 2000-2009. The Web of Science was used to conduct title searches to determine long-term trends for prominent substances and substances considered in need of research attention. Results The 119,636 journal articles found had 760,056 CAS number links during 2000-2009. The top-20 environmental chemicals consisted of metals, (chlorinated) biphenyls, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, and ethanol and contributed 12% toward the total number of links- Each of the top-20 substances was covered by 2,000-10,000 articles during the decade. The numbers for the 10-year period were similar to the total numbers of pre-2000 articles on the same chemicals. However, substances considered a high priority from a regulatory viewpoint, due to lack of documentation, showed very low publication rates. The persistence in the scientific literature of the top-20 chemicals was only weakly related to their publication in journals with a high impact factor, but some substances achieved high citation rates. Conclusions The persistence of some environmental chemicals in the scientific literature may be due to a 'Matthew' principle of maintaining prominence for the very reason of having been well researched. Such bias detracts from the societal needs for documentation on less well known environmental hazards, and it may also impact negatively on the potentials for innovation and discovery in research. PMID:22074398

  17. The Matthew effect in environmental science publication: a bibliometric analysis of chemical substances in journal articles.

    PubMed

    Grandjean, Philippe; Eriksen, Mette L; Ellegaard, Ole; Wallin, Johan A

    2011-11-10

    While environmental research addresses scientific questions of possible societal relevance, it is unclear to what degree research focuses on environmental chemicals in need of documentation for risk assessment purposes. In a bibliometric analysis, we used SciFinder to extract Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) numbers for chemicals addressed by publications in the 78 major environmental science journals during 2000-2009. The Web of Science was used to conduct title searches to determine long-term trends for prominent substances and substances considered in need of research attention. The 119,636 journal articles found had 760,056 CAS number links during 2000-2009. The top-20 environmental chemicals consisted of metals, (chlorinated) biphenyls, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, and ethanol and contributed 12% toward the total number of links- Each of the top-20 substances was covered by 2,000-10,000 articles during the decade. The numbers for the 10-year period were similar to the total numbers of pre-2000 articles on the same chemicals. However, substances considered a high priority from a regulatory viewpoint, due to lack of documentation, showed very low publication rates. The persistence in the scientific literature of the top-20 chemicals was only weakly related to their publication in journals with a high impact factor, but some substances achieved high citation rates. The persistence of some environmental chemicals in the scientific literature may be due to a 'Matthew' principle of maintaining prominence for the very reason of having been well researched. Such bias detracts from the societal needs for documentation on less well known environmental hazards, and it may also impact negatively on the potentials for innovation and discovery in research.

  18. Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume VIII, 2008

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stiner, K. S.; Graham, S.; Khan, M.

    Th e Journal of Undergraduate Research (JUR) provides undergraduate interns the opportunity to publish their scientific innovation and to share their passion for education and research with fellow students and scientists. Fields in which these students worked include: Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Engineering; Environmental Science; General Sciences; Materials Sciences; Medical and Health Sciences; Nuclear Sciences; Physics; Science Policy; and Waste Management.

  19. Student-Athlete Perceptions of a Summer Pre-Enrollment Experience at an NCAA Division I-AAA Institution

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dalgety, Michael Franklin

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to examine student-athlete perceptions of the role of summer pre-enrollment in their adjustment and transition to college. The study focused on student-athletes who received athletically-related financial aid at a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-AAA institution. The…

  20. Rankings and Trends in Citation Patterns of Communication Journals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levine, Timothy R.

    2010-01-01

    Journal citations are increasingly used as indicators of the impact of scholarly work. Because many communication journals are not included in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), SSCI impact factors are potentially misleading for communication journals. The current paper reports a citation analysis of 30 communication journals based on…

  1. China Report, Science and Technology.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-05-08

    RECTANGULAR TANK UNDER LOW-GRAVITY CONDITIONS Beijing QINGHUA DAXUE XUEBAO (ZIRAN KEXUE BAN) [JOURNAL OF TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY (NATURAL SCIENCE)] in...1077 48 APPLIED SCIENCES of NEW WEIGHTED TECHNIQUE IN HEURISTIC SEARCH Beijing QINGHUA DAXUE XUEBAO (ZIRAN KEXUE BAN) [JOURNAL OF TSINGHUA...WITH ECCENTRIC CRACK Beijing QINGHUA DAXUE XUEBAO (ZIRAN KEXUE BAN) [JOURNAL OF TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY (NATURAL SCIENCE)] in Chinese Vol 26 No 3, Jun

  2. Evaluating Academic Journals without Impact Factors for Collection Management Decisions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dilevko, Juris; Atkinson, Esther

    2002-01-01

    Discussion of evaluating academic journals for collection management decisions focuses on a methodological framework for evaluating journals not ranked by impact factors in Journal Citation Reports. Compares nonranked journals with ranked journals and then applies this framework to a case study in the field of medical science. (LRW)

  3. There was less self-critique among basic than in clinical science articles in three rheumatology journals.

    PubMed

    Yazici, Hasan; Gogus, Feride; Esen, Fehim; Yazici, Yusuf

    2014-06-01

    There is concern that self-critique with authors acknowledging limitations of their work is not given due importance in scientific articles. We had the impression that this was more true for articles in basic compared with clinical science. We thus surveyed for the presence of self-critique in the discussion sections of the original articles in three rheumatology journals with attention to differences between the basic and the clinical science articles. The discussion sections of the original articles in January, May, and September 2012 issues of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis and Rheumatism, and Rheumatology (Oxford) were surveyed (n = 223) after classifying each article as mainly related to clinical or basic science. The discussion sections were electronically scanned by two observers for the presence of the root word "limit" or its derivatives who also read each discussion section for the presence of any limitations otherwise voiced. A limitation discussion in any form was present in only 19 (20.2%) or 29 (30.1%) of 94 basic science vs. 95 (73.6%) or 107 (82.3%) of 129 clinical science articles (P < 0.0001 for either observer). Self-critique, especially lacking in basic science articles, should be given due attention. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. The Antiaircraft Journal. Volume 92, Number 3, May-June 1949

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1949-06-01

    Ft. Sill, Okla. Daley, Edward J., to 4051st STU Det Arty Sch, Ft. Sill, Okla. Dalton, Joseph R., to Marianas- Bonins Comd, Guam. Darden, Harry 1., to...AAA and GM Br, Ft. Bliss, Tex. Edwards, Dave W., to 4052d ASU AAA and GM Cen, Ft. Bliss, Tex. Eiler, Donald 1., to US Army Caribbean, Quarry Heights

  5. The Moral Education of Journal Editors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Krimsky, Sheldon

    2010-01-01

    Refereed journals in science and medicine are the gatekeepers and repositories of knowledge in their respective fields. Research reported in peer-reviewed journals builds professional careers, determines which drugs and medical devices are licensed, influences what medical treatments become standards of care, and establishes the veracity of…

  6. Measures of health sciences journal use: a comparison of vendor, link-resolver, and local citation statistics.

    PubMed

    De Groote, Sandra L; Blecic, Deborah D; Martin, Kristin

    2013-04-01

    Libraries require efficient and reliable methods to assess journal use. Vendors provide complete counts of articles retrieved from their platforms. However, if a journal is available on multiple platforms, several sets of statistics must be merged. Link-resolver reports merge data from all platforms into one report but only record partial use because users can access library subscriptions from other paths. Citation data are limited to publication use. Vendor, link-resolver, and local citation data were examined to determine correlation. Because link-resolver statistics are easy to obtain, the study library especially wanted to know if they correlate highly with the other measures. Vendor, link-resolver, and local citation statistics for the study institution were gathered for health sciences journals. Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients were calculated. There was a high positive correlation between all three data sets, with vendor data commonly showing the highest use. However, a small percentage of titles showed anomalous results. Link-resolver data correlate well with vendor and citation data, but due to anomalies, low link-resolver data would best be used to suggest titles for further evaluation using vendor data. Citation data may not be needed as it correlates highly with other measures.

  7. Characteristics of Open Access Journals in Six Subject Areas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walters, William H.; Linvill, Anne C.

    2011-01-01

    We examine the characteristics of 663 Open Access (OA) journals in biology, computer science, economics, history, medicine, and psychology, then compare the OA journals with impact factors to comparable subscription journals. There is great variation in the size of OA journals; the largest publishes more than 2,700 articles per year, but half…

  8. Identifying economics' place amongst academic disciplines: a science or a social science?

    PubMed

    Hudson, John

    2017-01-01

    Different academic disciplines exhibit different styles, including styles in journal titles. Using data from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) in the UK we are able to identify the stylistic trends of different disciplines using 155,552 journal titles across all disciplines. Cluster analysis is then used to group the different disciplines together. The resulting identification fits the social sciences, the sciences and the arts and humanities reasonably well. Economics overall, fits best with philosophy, but the linkage is weak. When we divided economics into papers published in theory, econometrics and the remaining journals, the first two link with mathematics and computer science, particularly econometrics, and thence the sciences. The rest of economics then links with business and thence the social sciences.

  9. LIS Journals in the Knowledge Age.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Breen, Eileen

    This paper examines EMERALD LIS and how it facilitates the use of information contained in LIS (library and information science) journals for improvements and progress. EMERALD LIS is a full-text database of journals in information management, library technology, library and information service management, and collection management/development.…

  10. The I domain of the AAA+ HslUV protease coordinates substrate binding, ATP hydrolysis, and protein degradation

    PubMed Central

    Sundar, Shankar; Baker, Tania A; Sauer, Robert T

    2012-01-01

    In the AAA+ HslUV protease, substrates are bound and unfolded by a ring hexamer of HslU, before translocation through an axial pore and into the HslV degradation chamber. Here, we show that the N-terminal residues of an Arc substrate initially bind in the HslU axial pore, with key contacts mediated by a pore loop that is highly conserved in all AAA+ unfoldases. Disordered loops from the six intermediate domains of the HslU hexamer project into a funnel-shaped cavity above the pore and are positioned to contact protein substrates. Mutations in these I-domain loops increase KM and decrease Vmax for degradation, increase the mobility of bound substrates, and prevent substrate stimulation of ATP hydrolysis. HslU-ΔI has negligible ATPase activity. Thus, the I domain plays an active role in coordinating substrate binding, ATP hydrolysis, and protein degradation by the HslUV proteolytic machine. PMID:22102327

  11. Teaching the Anatomy of a Scientific Journal Article

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schinske, Jeffrey N.; Clayman, Karen; Busch, Allison K.; Tanner, Kimberly D.

    2008-01-01

    To promote inquiry-based learning, the authors integrate the anatomy of a scientific journal article into their secondary science curriculum. In this article, they present three classroom activities used to teach students about the function and format of scientific journal articles. The first focuses on journal article figures, the second on…

  12. Experimental verification of the Acuros XB and AAA dose calculation adjacent to heterogeneous media for IMRT and RapidArc of nasopharygeal carcinoma.

    PubMed

    Kan, Monica W K; Leung, Lucullus H T; So, Ronald W K; Yu, Peter K N

    2013-03-01

    To compare the doses calculated by the Acuros XB (AXB) algorithm and analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA) with experimentally measured data adjacent to and within heterogeneous medium using intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and RapidArc(®) (RA) volumetric arc therapy plans for nasopharygeal carcinoma (NPC). Two-dimensional dose distribution immediately adjacent to both air and bone inserts of a rectangular tissue equivalent phantom irradiated using IMRT and RA plans for NPC cases were measured with GafChromic(®) EBT3 films. Doses near and within the nasopharygeal (NP) region of an anthropomorphic phantom containing heterogeneous medium were also measured with thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) and EBT3 films. The measured data were then compared with the data calculated by AAA and AXB. For AXB, dose calculations were performed using both dose-to-medium (AXB_Dm) and dose-to-water (AXB_Dw) options. Furthermore, target dose differences between AAA and AXB were analyzed for the corresponding real patients. The comparison of real patient plans was performed by stratifying the targets into components of different densities, including tissue, bone, and air. For the verification of planar dose distribution adjacent to air and bone using the rectangular phantom, the percentages of pixels that passed the gamma analysis with the ± 3%/3mm criteria were 98.7%, 99.5%, and 97.7% on the axial plane for AAA, AXB_Dm, and AXB_Dw, respectively, averaged over all IMRT and RA plans, while they were 97.6%, 98.2%, and 97.7%, respectively, on the coronal plane. For the verification of planar dose distribution within the NP region of the anthropomorphic phantom, the percentages of pixels that passed the gamma analysis with the ± 3%/3mm criteria were 95.1%, 91.3%, and 99.0% for AAA, AXB_Dm, and AXB_Dw, respectively, averaged over all IMRT and RA plans. Within the NP region where air and bone were present, the film measurements represented the dose close to unit density water

  13. Histopathological analysis of cellular localization of cathepsins in abdominal aortic aneurysm wall.

    PubMed

    Lohoefer, Fabian; Reeps, Christian; Lipp, Christina; Rudelius, Martina; Zimmermann, Alexander; Ockert, Stefan; Eckstein, Hans-Henning; Pelisek, Jaroslav

    2012-08-01

    An important feature of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the destruction of vessel wall, especially elastin and collagen. Besides matrix metalloproteinases, cathepsins are the most potent elastolytic enzymes. The expression of cathepsins with known elastolytic and collagenolytic activities in the individual cells within AAA has not yet been determined. The vessel wall of 32 AAA patients and 10 organ donors was analysed by immunohistochemistry for expression of cathepsins B, D, K, L and S, and cystatin C in all cells localized within AAA. Luminal endothelial cells (ECs) of AAA were positive for cathepsin D and partially for cathepsins B, K and S. Endothelial cells of the neovessels and smooth muscle cells in the media were positive for all cathepsins tested, especially for cathepsin B. In the inflammatory infiltrate all cathepsins were expressed in the following pattern: B > D = S > K = L. Macrophages showed the highest staining intensity for all cathepsins. Furthermore, weak overall expression of cystatin C was observed in all the cells localized in the AAA with the exception of the ECs. There is markedly increased expression of the various cathepsins within the AAA wall compared to healthy aorta. Our data are broadly consistent with a role for cathepsins in AAA; and demonstrate expression of cathepsins D, B and S in phagocytic cells in the inflammatory infiltrate; and also may reveal a role for cathepsin B in lymphocytes. © 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Experimental Pathology © 2012 International Journal of Experimental Pathology.

  14. Unfolding the mechanism of the AAA+ unfoldase VAT by a combined cryo-EM, solution NMR study.

    PubMed

    Huang, Rui; Ripstein, Zev A; Augustyniak, Rafal; Lazniewski, Michal; Ginalski, Krzysztof; Kay, Lewis E; Rubinstein, John L

    2016-07-19

    The AAA+ (ATPases associated with a variety of cellular activities) enzymes play critical roles in a variety of homeostatic processes in all kingdoms of life. Valosin-containing protein-like ATPase of Thermoplasma acidophilum (VAT), the archaeal homolog of the ubiquitous AAA+ protein Cdc48/p97, functions in concert with the 20S proteasome by unfolding substrates and passing them on for degradation. Here, we present electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) maps showing that VAT undergoes large conformational rearrangements during its ATP hydrolysis cycle that differ dramatically from the conformational states observed for Cdc48/p97. We validate key features of the model with biochemical and solution methyl-transverse relaxation optimized spectroscopY (TROSY) NMR experiments and suggest a mechanism for coupling the energy of nucleotide hydrolysis to substrate unfolding. These findings illustrate the unique complementarity between cryo-EM and solution NMR for studies of molecular machines, showing that the structural properties of VAT, as well as the population distributions of conformers, are similar in the frozen specimens used for cryo-EM and in the solution phase where NMR spectra are recorded.

  15. An AAA Motor-Driven Mechanical Switch in Rpn11 Controls Deubiquitination at the 26S Proteasome.

    PubMed

    Worden, Evan J; Dong, Ken C; Martin, Andreas

    2017-09-07

    Poly-ubiquitin chains direct protein substrates to the 26S proteasome, where they are removed by the deubiquitinase Rpn11 during ATP-dependent substrate degradation. Rapid deubiquitination is required for efficient degradation but must be restricted to committed substrates that are engaged with the ATPase motor to prevent premature ubiquitin chain removal and substrate escape. Here we reveal the ubiquitin-bound structure of Rpn11 from S. cerevisiae and the mechanisms for mechanochemical coupling of substrate degradation and deubiquitination. Ubiquitin binding induces a conformational switch of Rpn11's Insert-1 loop from an inactive closed state to an active β hairpin. This switch is rate-limiting for deubiquitination and strongly accelerated by mechanical substrate translocation into the AAA+ motor. Deubiquitination by Rpn11 and ubiquitin unfolding by the ATPases are in direct competition. The AAA+ motor-driven acceleration of Rpn11 is therefore important to ensure that poly-ubiquitin chains are removed only from committed substrates and fast enough to prevent their co-degradation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Citations and the h index of soil researchers and journals in the Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar.

    PubMed

    Minasny, Budiman; Hartemink, Alfred E; McBratney, Alex; Jang, Ho-Jun

    2013-01-01

    Citation metrics and h indices differ using different bibliometric databases. We compiled the number of publications, number of citations, h index and year since the first publication from 340 soil researchers from all over the world. On average, Google Scholar has the highest h index, number of publications and citations per researcher, and the Web of Science the lowest. The number of papers in Google Scholar is on average 2.3 times higher and the number of citations is 1.9 times higher compared to the data in the Web of Science. Scopus metrics are slightly higher than that of the Web of Science. The h index in Google Scholar is on average 1.4 times larger than Web of Science, and the h index in Scopus is on average 1.1 times larger than Web of Science. Over time, the metrics increase in all three databases but fastest in Google Scholar. The h index of an individual soil scientist is about 0.7 times the number of years since his/her first publication. There is a large difference between the number of citations, number of publications and the h index using the three databases. From this analysis it can be concluded that the choice of the database affects widely-used citation and evaluation metrics but that bibliometric transfer functions exist to relate the metrics from these three databases. We also investigated the relationship between journal's impact factor and Google Scholar's h5-index. The h5-index is a better measure of a journal's citation than the 2 or 5 year window impact factor.

  17. The INNOVATION Trial: four-year safety and effectiveness of the INCRAFT® AAA Stent-Graft System for endovascular repair.

    PubMed

    Pratesi, Giovanni; Pratesi, Carlo; Chiesa, Roberto; Coppi, Gioacchino; Scheinert, Dierk; Brunkwall, Jan S; van der Meulen, Stefaan; Torsello, Giovanni

    2017-10-01

    This paper reports the 4-year safety and effectiveness of the INCRAFT® AAA Stent-Graft System (Cordis Corp., Milpitas, CA, USA), an ultra-low-profile device for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms. The INNOVATION Trial is the prospective, first-in-human, multicenter trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the INCRAFT® System. Patients underwent annual clinical and computed tomography angiography examination as part of the study protocol. The INCRAFT® AAA Stent-Graft System is a customizable tri-modular design, with an ultra-low profile (14-Fr) delivery system. Patient were treated under approved protocol, the prescribed clinical and imaging follow-up at annually through 5 years. Results analyzed and adjudicated by a clinical events committee, independent core laboratory, and a data safety and monitoring board. This manuscript reports results through 4 years of follow-up. A total of 60 patients were enrolled in the trial, all of whom were successfully treated. Follow-up rates at 1 and 4 years were 93% (56/60) and 85% (51/60), respectively. All-cause mortality at 4 years was 17.6% and no death was AAA-, device-, or procedure-related. The secondary reintervention rate at 1 year was 4.6%, primarily the result of stent thrombosis. In total, 10 patients required 13 post-procedure interventions within 4-years of follow-up (2 to repair a type I endoleak, 4 to repair a type II endoleak, 1 for stent thrombosis, 1 for renal stenosis, 1 for aneurysm enlargement, 2 for limb migration and 2 for prosthesis stenosis or occlusion). There were 4 cases (10%) of aneurysm enlargement reported at the 4 year follow-up. At 4 years, 38 out of 39 patients were free from type I and III endoleaks. There were no proximal type I or type III endoleaks at 4-year follow-up. Core laboratory evaluation of the postoperative imaging studies indicated absence of endograft migration while a single fracture was demonstrated without any clinical sequelae. The INCRAFT® AAA Stent

  18. [German language psychiatry journals in Germany - a quantitative analysis].

    PubMed

    Heidenreich, Uta; Baethge, Christopher

    2012-01-01

    Although English is medicine's lingua franca, practising physicians in Germany express the need for articles in German. This study aimed at surveying the number and characteristics of German-language psychiatric journals in Germany. Journals were identified by the standard handbook "Fachmedien Gesundheit" as well as by an online and library search, and divided into specialty journals and general psychiatry journals. Volume 2009 of all general psychiatry journals was analyzed regarding form and content. In 2009 74 journals addressed psychiatrists, albeit many not exclusively. Ten were general psychiatry journals publishing 391 review articles and 97 original papers. They differed with regard to focus (science, education, health politics) and formal characteristics, such as circulation (500-30  000), share of academia-affiliated authors (39-93 %), female first-authors (13-44 %), COI statements (0-98 % of articles), and international visibility. While much of German psychiatric science appears in English, there are still a substantial number of original articles published in German, and there is a diverse psychiatric journal scene in Germany. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  19. Trends of Science Education Research: An Automatic Content Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chang, Yueh-Hsia; Chang, Chun-Yen; Tseng, Yuen-Hsien

    2010-01-01

    This study used scientometric methods to conduct an automatic content analysis on the development trends of science education research from the published articles in the four journals of "International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Research in Science Education, and Science Education" from 1990 to 2007. The…

  20. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (80th, Chicago, Illinois, July 30-August 2, 1997): Science Communication.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

    The Science Communication section of the Proceedings contains the following seven papers: "Getting an Advance Look: Controversies over Embargoes in Science Journalism" (Vincent Kiernan); "Perceptions of Newspaper Bias in a Local Environmental Controversy" (Katherine A. McComas; Clifford W. Scherer; Cynthia Heffelfinger);…

  1. A dosimetric evaluation of the Eclipse AAA algorithm and Millennium 120 MLC for cranial intensity-modulated radiosurgery

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Calvo Ortega, Juan Francisco, E-mail: jfcdrr@yahoo.es; Moragues, Sandra; Pozo, Miquel

    2014-07-01

    The aim of this study is to assess the accuracy of a convolution-based algorithm (anisotropic analytical algorithm [AAA]) implemented in the Eclipse planning system for intensity-modulated radiosurgery (IMRS) planning of small cranial targets by using a 5-mm leaf-width multileaf collimator (MLC). Overall, 24 patient-based IMRS plans for cranial lesions of variable size (0.3 to 15.1 cc) were planned (Eclipse, AAA, version 10.0.28) using fixed field-based IMRS produced by a Varian linear accelerator equipped with a 120 MLC (5-mm width on central leaves). Plan accuracy was evaluated according to phantom-based measurements performed with radiochromic film (EBT2, ISP, Wayne, NJ). Film 2Dmore » dose distributions were performed with the FilmQA Pro software (version 2011, Ashland, OH) by using the triple-channel dosimetry method. Comparison between computed and measured 2D dose distributions was performed using the gamma method (3%/1 mm). Performance of the MLC was checked by inspection of the DynaLog files created by the linear accelerator during the delivery of each dynamic field. The absolute difference between the calculated and measured isocenter doses for all the IMRS plans was 2.5% ± 2.1%. The gamma evaluation method resulted in high average passing rates of 98.9% ± 1.4% (red channel) and 98.9% ± 1.5% (blue and green channels). DynaLog file analysis revealed a maximum root mean square error of 0.46 mm. According to our results, we conclude that the Eclipse/AAA algorithm provides accurate cranial IMRS dose distributions that may be accurately delivered by a Varian linac equipped with a Millennium 120 MLC.« less

  2. Mini-Journals: Incorporating Inquiry, Quantitative Skills and Writing into Homework Assignments for Geochemistry and Planetary Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whittington, A. G.; Speck, A.; Witzig, S.

    2011-12-01

    As part of an NSF-funded project, "CUES: Connecting Undergraduates to the Enterprise of Science," new inquiry-based homework materials were developed for two upper-level classes at the University of Missouri: Geochemistry (required for Geology majors, fulfills the computing requirement by having 50% of the grade come from five spreadsheet-based homework assignments), and Solar System Science (open to seniors and graduate students, co-taught and cross-listed between Geology and Physics & Astronomy). Inquiry involves activities where the learner engages in scientifically oriented questions, gives priority to evidence in responding to questions, formulates explanations from evidence, connects explanations to scientific knowledge, and communicates and justifies explanations. We engage students in inquiry-based learning by presenting homework exercises as "mini-journal" articles that follow the format of a scientific journal article, including a title, authors, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion and citations to peer-reviewed literature. The mini-journal provides a scaffold and serves as a springboard for students to develop and carry out their own follow-up investigation. They then present their findings in the form of their own mini-journal. Mini-journals replace traditional homework problem sets with a format that more directly reflects and encourages scientific practice. Students are engaged in inquiry-based homework which encompass doing, thinking, and communicating, while the mini-journal allows the instructor to contain lines of inquiry within the limits posed by available resources. In the examples we present, research is conducted via spreadsheet modeling, where the students develop their own spreadsheets. Example assignments from Geochemistry include "Trace Element Partitioning During Mantle Melting and MORB Crystallization" and "Isotopic Investigations of Crustal Evolution in the Midcontinent US". The key differences between the old and new

  3. Criteria for Evaluating Journals in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and the Life Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bracke, Marianne S.; Weiner, Sharon A.; Nixon, Judith M.; Deatherage, Scott

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this paper was to identify existing criteria that may be considered in evaluating journals in the scholarship of teaching and learning in agriculture, natural resources, and the life sciences. This can assist faculty authors and evaluators of promotion and tenure cases to explain indicators of the quality of the publications. The…

  4. Pushing Traditional Publishing Boundaries in the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Science Education JAESE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slater, T. F.

    2017-12-01

    Responding to the community's need for an archival journal to document program evaluation and educational impact of programs and innovations, the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Science Education (JAESE.org) is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal designed to serve the discipline-based astronomy, planetary, and geosciences education research community. JAESE's first issue was published on December 31, 2014 and has published four volumes and seven issues since that time. By far, the median article topic has been focused on planetarium education research, while there have only been a few articles on conventional solid-Earth geosciences education research. Although there is not yet an even distribution of topics across the field, there is a relatively even distribution among author demographics. Authors include a range of both junior and senior members of the field. There have been significantly more female authors than male authors. Submissions are distributed as blind-copies to two or three peer reviewers with authors' names and identifying information redacted from the manuscript. The average time to complete the first round of peer-review reviewers is 6.2-weeks. There have been too few manuscripts to reliably publish a "percentage acceptance rate." Taken together, JAESE's guiding Editorial Advisory Board judges this to be a successful first few years. In a purposeful effort to make JAESE authors' scholarly works as widely accessible as possible, JAESE adopted an open-access business model. JAESE articles are available to read free-of-charge over the Internet, delivered as PDFs. To date, the most common way articles are downloaded by readers is through Google Scholar. Instead of charging readers and libraries recurring subscription fees, JAESE charges authors a nominal submission fee and a small open-access fee, averaging about $700 USD. These charges are far lower than the traditional page charges and gold-package open-access fees typically charged to authors or their

  5. Substrate delivery by the AAA+ ClpX and ClpC1 unfoldases activates the mycobacterial ClpP1P2 peptidase

    PubMed Central

    Schmitz, Karl R.; Sauer, Robert T.

    2014-01-01

    Summary Mycobacterial Clp-family proteases function via collaboration of the heteromeric ClpP1P2 peptidase with a AAA+ partner, ClpX or ClpC1. These enzymes are essential for M. tuberculosis viability and are validated antibacterial drug targets, but the requirements for assembly and regulation of functional proteolytic complexes are poorly understood. Here, we report the reconstitution of protein degradation by mycobacterial Clp proteases in vitro and describe novel features of these enzymes that distinguish them from orthologs in other bacteria. Both ClpX and ClpC1 catalyze ATP-dependent unfolding and degradation of native protein substrates in conjunction with ClpP1P2, but neither mediates protein degradation with just ClpP1 or ClpP2. ClpP1P2 alone has negligible peptidase activity, but is strongly stimulated by translocation of protein substrates into ClpP1P2 by either AAA+ partner. Interestingly, our results support a model in which both binding of a AAA+ partner and protein-substrate delivery are required to stabilize active ClpP1P2. Our model has implications for therapeutically targeting ClpP1P2 in dormant M. tuberculosis, and our reconstituted systems should facilitate identification of novel Clp protease inhibitors and activators. PMID:24976069

  6. Electronic Journal Publishers: A Reference Librarian's Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huber, Charles F.

    2000-01-01

    Discusses problems that the lack of standardization in electronic journal publishing creates for reference or bibliographic instruction librarians and describes a study that examined science, technology, and medicine journals publishers' Web sites, focusing on those features most relevant to end users. (Author/LRW)

  7. Strong Showing for AGU Journals in 2009 Impact Factors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cook, Bill

    2010-06-01

    AGU publishes great science, which is recognized in several ways. One of the most widely recognized is from Thomson Reuters, which provides the Journal Citation Report (JCR) each year as a component of the Web of Science®. JCR reports on several measures of journal usage, including a journal's Eigenfactor score, its Article Influence score, its Impact Factor, and its rank within a cohort of similar journals. According to the 2009 statistics released last week, AGU again has outperformed its larger competitors. For the twelfth time, two different AGU titles hold the top rank in their categories, and AGU titles hold the second spot in two other categories and third in two more.

  8. The Impact of Transformational Leadership, Experiential Learning, and Reflective Journaling on the Conservation Ethic of Tertiary-Level Non-Science Majors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reynolds, Bradley Robert

    2013-01-01

    The impact of transformational leadership, experiential learning, and reflective journaling on the conservation ethic of non-science majors in a general education survey course was investigated. The main research questions were: (1) Is the Conservation of Biodiversity professor a transformational leader? (2) Is there a difference in the…

  9. What kind of a life for a scientific journal?

    PubMed

    Perbal, Bernard

    2015-09-01

    In June 2015, Thomson Reuters informed our publisher Springer that the Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling, the official journal of the International CCN Society, « had been selected for coverage in Thomson Reuter's products and services. Beginning with V. 1 (1) 2007, this publication would be indexed and abstracted in Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch), Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Biological Abstracts and BIOSIS Previews ». In this fall editorial I briefly revisit a few milestones of the JCCS life since it was first created in 1988, with the deep and genuine willingness to help in the dissemination, in the highly competitive world of publishing, of the best quality science regarding the roles of CCN proteins in signaling.

  10. The science experience: The relationship between an inquiry-based science program and student outcomes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poderoso, Charie

    Science education reforms in U.S. schools emphasize the importance of students' construction of knowledge through inquiry. Organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Research Council (NRC), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have demonstrated a commitment to searching for solutions and renewed efforts to improve science education. One suggestion for science education reform in U.S. schools was a transition from traditional didactic, textbook-based to inquiry-based instructional programs. While inquiry has shown evidence for improved student learning in science, what is needed is empirical evidence of those inquiry-based practices that affect student outcomes in a local context. This study explores the relationship between instructional programs and curricular changes affecting student outcomes in the Santa Ana Unified District (SAUSD): It provides evidence related to achievement and attitudes. SAUSD employs two approaches to teaching in the middle school science classrooms: traditional and inquiry-based approaches. The Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) program is an inquiry-based science program that utilizes resources for implementation of the University of California Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP) to support inquiry-based teaching and learning. Findings in this study provide empirical support related to outcomes of seventh-grade students, N = 328, in the LASER and traditional science programs in SAUSD.

  11. Journalism Education in Brazil: Developments and Neglected Issues

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moreira, Sonia Virgínia; Lago, Cláudia

    2017-01-01

    Journalism education started in Brazil in 1947. Today, it comes under the field of Social Communication, along with Advertising, Public Relations, Film, and Radio & TV. For almost 40 years, from 1970 to 2009, a journalism diploma was mandatory to work in a newsroom. As part of the field of Applied Social Sciences, journalism remains popular…

  12. Reflections on 25 Years of Journal Editorship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matthews, Michael R.

    2015-01-01

    These reflections range over some distinctive features of the journal "Science & Education," they acknowledge in a limited way the many individuals who over the past 25 years have contributed to the success and reputation of the journal, they chart the beginnings of the journal, and they dwell on a few central concerns--clear writing…

  13. Morphology-related limitations of EVAR applicability in the treatment of AAA in West-Central Poland.

    PubMed

    Dzieciuchowicz, Łukasz; Tomczak, Jolanta; Strauss, Ewa; Oszkinis, Grzegorz

    2018-05-14

    To analyze the current applicability of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in patients with an infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAAs) with indication for elective treatment in West-Central Poland. Computed tomography angiograms of 100 consecutive patients with infrarenal AAA deemed to require treatment were analyzed with an OsiriX DICOM viewer in 3D-MPR mode. Proximal neck diameter, length, angulation, shape, the presence of thrombus and calcification, distal neck diameter, and morphology of the iliac arteries were determined. Three sets of morphological criteria were established. The optimal criteria consisted of a non-conical proximal neck without moderate or severe calcification or thrombus, with a diameter of 18-28 mm, length of ≥15 mm, and β angulation of <60%; a distal neck with a diameter of ≥20 mm; a landing zone in the common iliac arteries with a length of ≥ 10 mm and diameter of ≤ 20 mm; and external iliac arteries with diameters of ≥7 mm. The suboptimal criteria included proximal neck diameters of 18-32 mm, neck lengths ≥10 mm, infrarenal neck angulations of up to 75˚, and common iliac artery diameters of up to 25 mm. Finally, the extended suboptimal criteria included proximal neck diameters of 16-34 mm and infrarenal neck angulations ≤90˚, without limits in the maximal diameter of the common iliac arteries. The median maximum aneurysm diameter was 61 mm. The optimal, suboptimal, and extended suboptimal criteria were met by 23%, 32%, and 53% of patients, respectively. The most common deviations were wide, conical, and angulated proximal necks and aneurysmal iliac arteries. The majority of patients with AAA deemed to be candidates for elective repair do not meet the most favorable criteria for EVAR. Availability of better endovascular solutions for conical, angulated, and wide necks and aneurysmal iliac arteries would likely expand EVAR applicability. Open repair remains a valid option. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights

  14. Factors Affecting Journal Quality Indicator in Scopus (SCImago Journal Rank) in Obstetrics and Gynecology Journals: a Longitudinal Study (1999-2013).

    PubMed

    Jamali, Jamshid; Salehi-Marzijarani, Mohammad; Ayatollahi, Seyyed Mohammad Taghi

    2014-12-01

    Awareness of the latest scientific research and publishing articles in top journals is one of the major concerns of health researchers. In this study, we first introduced top journals of obstetrics and gynecology field based on their Impact Factor (IF), Eigenfactor Score (ES) and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator indexed in Scopus databases and then the scientometric features of longitudinal changes of SJR in this field were presented. In our analytical and bibiliometric study, we included all the journals of obstetrics and gynecology field which were indexed by Scopus from 1999 to 2013. The scientometric features in Scopus were derived from SCImago Institute and IF and ES were obtained from Journal Citation Report through the Institute for Scientific Information. Generalized Estimating Equation was used to assess the scientometric features affecting SJR. From 256 journals reviewed, 54.2% and 41.8% were indexed in the Pubmed and the Web of Sciences, respectively. Human Reproduction Update based on the IF (5.924±2.542) and SJR (2.682±1.185), and American Journal of obstetrics and gynecology based on the ES (0.05685±0.00633) obtained the first rank among the other journals. Time, Index in Pubmed, H_index, Citable per Document, Cites per Document, and IF affected changes of SJR in the period of study. Our study showed a significant association between SJR and scientometric features in obstetrics and gynecology journals. According to this relationship, SJR may be an appropriate index for assessing journal quality.

  15. Neophilia Ranking of Scientific Journals.

    PubMed

    Packalen, Mikko; Bhattacharya, Jay

    2017-01-01

    The ranking of scientific journals is important because of the signal it sends to scientists about what is considered most vital for scientific progress. Existing ranking systems focus on measuring the influence of a scientific paper (citations)-these rankings do not reward journals for publishing innovative work that builds on new ideas. We propose an alternative ranking based on the proclivity of journals to publish papers that build on new ideas, and we implement this ranking via a text-based analysis of all published biomedical papers dating back to 1946. In addition, we compare our neophilia ranking to citation-based (impact factor) rankings; this comparison shows that the two ranking approaches are distinct. Prior theoretical work suggests an active role for our neophilia index in science policy. Absent an explicit incentive to pursue novel science, scientists underinvest in innovative work because of a coordination problem: for work on a new idea to flourish, many scientists must decide to adopt it in their work. Rankings that are based purely on influence thus do not provide sufficient incentives for publishing innovative work. By contrast, adoption of the neophilia index as part of journal-ranking procedures by funding agencies and university administrators would provide an explicit incentive for journals to publish innovative work and thus help solve the coordination problem by increasing scientists' incentives to pursue innovative work.

  16. Neophilia Ranking of Scientific Journals

    PubMed Central

    Packalen, Mikko; Bhattacharya, Jay

    2017-01-01

    The ranking of scientific journals is important because of the signal it sends to scientists about what is considered most vital for scientific progress. Existing ranking systems focus on measuring the influence of a scientific paper (citations)—these rankings do not reward journals for publishing innovative work that builds on new ideas. We propose an alternative ranking based on the proclivity of journals to publish papers that build on new ideas, and we implement this ranking via a text-based analysis of all published biomedical papers dating back to 1946. In addition, we compare our neophilia ranking to citation-based (impact factor) rankings; this comparison shows that the two ranking approaches are distinct. Prior theoretical work suggests an active role for our neophilia index in science policy. Absent an explicit incentive to pursue novel science, scientists underinvest in innovative work because of a coordination problem: for work on a new idea to flourish, many scientists must decide to adopt it in their work. Rankings that are based purely on influence thus do not provide sufficient incentives for publishing innovative work. By contrast, adoption of the neophilia index as part of journal-ranking procedures by funding agencies and university administrators would provide an explicit incentive for journals to publish innovative work and thus help solve the coordination problem by increasing scientists' incentives to pursue innovative work. PMID:28713181

  17. Selected list of books and journals in allied health sciences.

    PubMed Central

    Brandon, A N; Hill, D R

    1990-01-01

    This list of 453 books and 74 journals is intended as a selection guide to be used in a library supporting allied health educational programs or allied health personnel in either an academic or health care setting. Because of the impossibility of covering the large number and wide variety of allied health professions and occupations, the recommended publications are focused primarily on the twenty-six educational programs accredited by the Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation of the American Medical Association, plus physical therapy, dental allied health, medical secretarial, and nutrition programs. Books and journals are categorized by subject; the book list is followed by an author/editor index, and the subject list of journals by an alphabetical title listing. Items suggested for initial purchase (179 books and 29 journals) are indicated by asterisks. To purchase the entire collection of books and journals (1990 subscriptions) would require an expenditure of about $21,650. The cost of only the asterisked items totals $9,250. PMID:2393755

  18. Selected list of books and journals in allied health sciences.

    PubMed Central

    Brandon, A N; Hill, D R

    1988-01-01

    This list of 435 books and 76 journals is intended as a selection guide to be used in a library supporting allied health educational programs and/or health personnel in either an academic or health care setting. Because of the impossibility pf covering the large number and wide variety of allied health professions and occupations, the recommended publications are focused primarily on the twenty-six educational programs accredited by the Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation of the American Medical Association, plus physical therapy, dental allied health, nutrition, and medical secretarial programs. Books and journals are categorized by subject; the book list is followed by an author/editor index, and the subject list of journals by an alphabetical title listing. Items suggested for initial purchase (176 books and 29 journals) are indicated by asterisks. To purchase the entire collection of books and journals (1988 subscriptions) would require an expenditure of about $19,000. The cost of only the asterisked items totals $7,900. PMID:3066428

  19. The citation impact of hydrology journals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clark, Martyn P.; Hanson, R. Brooks

    2017-06-01

    We examine a suite of journal-level productivity and citation statistics for six leading hydrology journals in order to help authors understand the robustness and meaning of journal impact factors. The main results are (1) the probability distribution of citations is remarkably homogenous across hydrology journals; (2) hydrology papers tend to have a long-lasting impact, with a large fraction of papers cited after the 2 year window used to calculate the journal impact factor; and (3) journal impact factors are characterized by substantial year-to-year variability (especially for smaller journals), primarily because a small number of highly cited papers have a large influence on the journal impact factor. Consequently, the ranking of hydrology journals with respect to the journal impact factor in a given year does not have much information content. These results highlight problems in using citation data to evaluate hydrologic science. We hope that this analysis helps authors better understand journal-level citation statistics, and also helps improve research assessments in institutions and funding agencies.

  20. Putting the Social Sciences into Science Communication Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stocking, S. Holly

    Although the social sciences have become legitimate sources of science news, many journalism instructors of science communication do not believe the social sciences warrant special or required attention in their courses. This is unfortunate, for the social sciences are important enough and different enough to require both their inclusion and…

  1. Institutional Research Productivity in Science Education for the 1990s: Top 30 Rankings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barrow, Lloyd H.; Settlage, John; Germann, Paul J.

    2008-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify the major science education programs in the United States, where the science education researchers published their research. This research is the first study of the scholarly productivity of science education programs at domestic institutions of higher education. Each issue of the eight research journals ( Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Science Teacher Education, School Science and Mathematics, Journal of Computers in Math and Science Teaching, Journal of Science Education and Technology, and Journal of Elementary Science Education) published in the 1990s provided the author(s) and their institutional affiliation. The resultant ranking of raw and weighted counts for the top 30 science educations programs shows variation in journals where research was published. Overall, regardless whether the total number of publications (raw) or weighted rating there was 90% agreement among top 10 and 70% agreement among the bottom 10. Potential explanations for variations and uses for rankings are discussed.

  2. Measures of health sciences journal use: a comparison of vendor, link-resolver, and local citation statistics*

    PubMed Central

    De Groote, Sandra L.; Blecic, Deborah D.; Martin, Kristin

    2013-01-01

    Objective: Libraries require efficient and reliable methods to assess journal use. Vendors provide complete counts of articles retrieved from their platforms. However, if a journal is available on multiple platforms, several sets of statistics must be merged. Link-resolver reports merge data from all platforms into one report but only record partial use because users can access library subscriptions from other paths. Citation data are limited to publication use. Vendor, link-resolver, and local citation data were examined to determine correlation. Because link-resolver statistics are easy to obtain, the study library especially wanted to know if they correlate highly with the other measures. Methods: Vendor, link-resolver, and local citation statistics for the study institution were gathered for health sciences journals. Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients were calculated. Results: There was a high positive correlation between all three data sets, with vendor data commonly showing the highest use. However, a small percentage of titles showed anomalous results. Discussion and Conclusions: Link-resolver data correlate well with vendor and citation data, but due to anomalies, low link-resolver data would best be used to suggest titles for further evaluation using vendor data. Citation data may not be needed as it correlates highly with other measures. PMID:23646026

  3. A Bibliometric Analysis of Communication Journals from 2002 to 2005

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feeley, Thomas Hugh

    2008-01-01

    Journal impact ratings are often used by authors, promotion/hiring committees, and grant review teams as a proxy for scholarship quality. Journal citation data (2002-2005) from Social Sciences Citation Index were used to rank journals in the field of communication. A journal relatedness algorithm was applied to ascertain the 19 semantically…

  4. A technique to identify core journals for neurosurgery using citation scatter analysis and the Bradford distribution across neurosurgery journals.

    PubMed

    Madhugiri, Venkatesh S; Ambekar, Sudheer; Strom, Shane F; Nanda, Anil

    2013-11-01

    The volume of scientific literature doubles approximately every 7 years. The coverage of this literature provided by online compendia is variable and incomplete. It would hence be useful to identify "core" journals in any field and validate whether the h index and impact factor truly identify the core journals in every subject. The core journals in every medical specialty would be those that provide a current and comprehensive coverage of the science in that specialty. Identifying these journals would make it possible for individual physicians to keep abreast of research and clinical progress. The top 10 neurosurgical journals (on the basis of impact factor and h index) were selected. A database of all articles cited in the reference lists of papers published in issues of these journals published in the first quarter of 2012 was generated. The journals were ranked based on the number of papers cited from each. This citation rank list was compared with the h index and impact factor rank lists. The rank list was also examined to see if the concept of core journals could be validated for neurosurgical literature using Bradford's law. A total of 22,850 papers spread across 2522 journals were cited in neurosurgical literature over 3 months. Although the top 10 journals were the same, irrespective of ranking criterion (h index, impact factor, citation ranking), the 3 rank lists were not congruent. The top 25% of cited articles obeyed the Bradford distribution; beyond this, there was a zone of increased scatter. Six core journals were identified for neurosurgery. The core journals for neurosurgery were identified to be Journal of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Spine, Acta Neurochirurgica, Stroke, and Journal of Neurotrauma. A list of core journals could similarly be generated for every subject. This would facilitate a focused reading to keep abreast of current knowledge. Collated across specialties, these journals could depict the current status of medical science.

  5. Responses and Clarifications Regarding Science and Worldviews

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gauch, Hugh G.

    2009-06-01

    This article responds to the other 10 papers in this thematic issue on science and worldviews and it clarifies some of the points in my lead article. The Bayesian framework provides helpful structure for worldview inquiries by recognizing and integrating both public and personal evidence. Drawing upon the other 10 papers, six kinds of potential evidence or considerations are identified: the problem of evil, evolution, miracles and prayer, the Anthropic Principle, religious experience, and natural theology. The thesis is defended that considerations informing worldview convictions include public evidence from the sciences and the humanities and personal evidence from individual experience. Additional topics addressed briefly include scientific realism, the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, science’s presuppositions, the relationship between natural science and natural theology, the nature of religious faith, and the importance of philosophy in science education. Seven questions are posed for which further leadership from the AAAS and NAS would benefit the scientific community.

  6. Conversations about Science Education: A Retrospective of Science Education Research in "CJSTME"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pegg, Jerine; Wiseman, Dawn; Brown, Carol

    2015-01-01

    This review focuses on science education contributions to the "Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education" (CJSMTE) from January 2001 through December 2014. Through a combination of content and citation analysis, we examine the journal as a location for conversations around specific themes and broader ideas related…

  7. Serving Students, Science, or Society? The Secondary School Physics Curriculum in the United States, 1930-65.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Donahue, David M.

    1993-01-01

    Reviews the reform of secondary school physics in the United States from the 1930s through the mid-1960s. Describes the impact of progressive education, World War II, and the post-Sputnik reforms. Points out differences between past reform efforts and the current Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). (CFR)

  8. Writing intelligible English prose for biomedical journals.

    PubMed

    Ludbrook, John

    2007-01-01

    1. I present a combination of semi-objective and subjective evidence that the quality of English prose in biomedical scientific writing is deteriorating. 2. I consider seven possible strategies for reversing this apparent trend. These refer to a greater emphasis on good writing by students in schools and by university students, consulting books on science writing, one-on-one mentoring, using 'scientific' measures to reveal lexical poverty, making use of freelance science editors and encouraging the editors of biomedical journals to pay more attention to the problem. 3. I conclude that a fruitful, long-term, strategy would be to encourage more biomedical scientists to embark on a career in science editing. This strategy requires a complementary initiative on the part of biomedical research institutions and universities to employ qualified science editors. 4. An immediately realisable strategy is to encourage postgraduate students in the biomedical sciences to undertake the service courses provided by many universities on writing English prose in general and scientific prose in particular. This strategy would require that heads of departments and supervisors urge their postgraduate students to attend such courses. 5. Two major publishers of biomedical journals, Blackwell Publications and Elsevier Science, now provide lists of commercial editing services on their web sites. I strongly recommend that authors intending to submit manuscripts to their journals (including Blackwell's Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology) make use of these services. This recommendation applies especially to those for whom English is a second language.

  9. [Business, politics, science, and visa versa: an institutional history of Brazilian medical journalism between 1827 and 1843].

    PubMed

    Ferreira, Luiz Otávio

    2004-01-01

    This analysis of Brazil's first medical newspapers - Propagador das Ciências Médicas (1827-28); Semanário de Saúde Pública (1831-33); Diário de Saúde (1835-36); Revista Médica Fluminense (1835-41); Revista Médica Brasileira (1841-43) - shows how Rio de Janeiro's socio-cultural context made it possible for this type of publication to emerge within the city's dynamic, troubled environment of the 1820s and 30s. I argue that the distinguishing feature of Brazil's early medical journalism was a symbiosis between business (local publishing houses' commercial interests), politics (struggles for political hegemony during the consolidation of the Imperial State), and science (the movement to institutionalize medicine and affirm it as a science).

  10. Defining criteria for good environmental journalism and testing their applicability: An environmental news review as a first step to more evidence based environmental science reporting.

    PubMed

    Rögener, Wiebke; Wormer, Holger

    2017-05-01

    While the quality of environmental science journalism has been the subject of much debate, a widely accepted benchmark to assess the quality of coverage of environmental topics is missing so far. Therefore, we have developed a set of defined criteria of environmental reporting. This instrument and its applicability are tested in a newly established monitoring project for the assessment of pieces on environmental issues, which refer to scientific sources and therefore can be regarded as a special field of science journalism. The quality is assessed in a kind of journalistic peer review. We describe the systematic development of criteria, which might also be a model procedure for other fields of science reporting. Furthermore, we present results from the monitoring of 50 environmental reports in German media. According to these preliminary data, the lack of context and the deficient elucidation of the evidence pose major problems in environmental reporting.

  11. Core List of Astronomy and Physics Journals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bryson, Liz; Fortner, Diane; Yorks, Pamela

    This is a list of highly-used and highly-cited physics and astronomy journals. "Use" is measured largely on paper-journal counts from selective academic research-level libraries. Citation count titles are drawn from Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) data. Recognition is given to entrepreneurial electronic-only or new-style electronic journals. Selective news, magazine, and general science journals are omitted. The compilers welcome questions, suggestions for additions, or other advice. Comments may be sent c/o Diane Fortner, Physics Library, University of California, Berkeley. Dfortner@library.berkeley.edu

  12. Factors Affecting Journal Quality Indicator in Scopus (SCImago Journal Rank) in Obstetrics and Gynecology Journals: a Longitudinal Study (1999-2013)

    PubMed Central

    Jamali, Jamshid; Salehi-Marzijarani, Mohammad; Ayatollahi, Seyyed Mohammad Taghi

    2014-01-01

    Introduction: Awareness of the latest scientific research and publishing articles in top journals is one of the major concerns of health researchers. In this study, we first introduced top journals of obstetrics and gynecology field based on their Impact Factor (IF), Eigenfactor Score (ES) and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator indexed in Scopus databases and then the scientometric features of longitudinal changes of SJR in this field were presented. Method and material: In our analytical and bibiliometric study, we included all the journals of obstetrics and gynecology field which were indexed by Scopus from 1999 to 2013. The scientometric features in Scopus were derived from SCImago Institute and IF and ES were obtained from Journal Citation Report through the Institute for Scientific Information. Generalized Estimating Equation was used to assess the scientometric features affecting SJR. Result: From 256 journals reviewed, 54.2% and 41.8% were indexed in the Pubmed and the Web of Sciences, respectively. Human Reproduction Update based on the IF (5.924±2.542) and SJR (2.682±1.185), and American Journal of obstetrics and gynecology based on the ES (0.05685±0.00633) obtained the first rank among the other journals. Time, Index in Pubmed, H_index, Citable per Document, Cites per Document, and IF affected changes of SJR in the period of study. Discussion: Our study showed a significant association between SJR and scientometric features in obstetrics and gynecology journals. According to this relationship, SJR may be an appropriate index for assessing journal quality. PMID:25684846

  13. Midterm outcomes of the Zenith Renu AAA Ancillary Graft.

    PubMed

    Jim, Jeffrey; Rubin, Brian G; Geraghty, Patrick J; Money, Samuel R; Sanchez, Luis A

    2011-08-01

    The Zenith Renu abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) Ancillary Graft (Cook Medical Inc, Bloomington, Ind) provides active proximal fixation for treatment of pre-existing endografts with failed or failing proximal fixation or seal. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the midterm outcomes of treatment with this device. From September 2005 to November 2006, a prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter, postmarket registry was utilized to collect physician experiences from 151 cases (89 converters and 62 main body extensions) at 95 institutions. Preoperative indications and procedural and postimplantation outcomes were collected and analyzed. Technical success and clinical success were determined as defined by the Society of Vascular Surgery reporting standards. Patients were predominantly male (87%) with a mean age of 77 years. The interval between the original endograft implantation to Renu treatment was 43.4 ± 18.7 months. The indications for treatment were endoleak (n = 111), migration (n = 136), or both (n = 94). Technical success was 98.0% with two cases of intraoperative conversion and one case of persistent type IA endoleak. The median follow-up for the cohort was 45.0 months (range, 0-56 months; interquartile range, 25.0 months). Overall, 32 cases had treatment failures that included at least one of the following: death (n = 5), type I/III endoleak (n = 18), graft infection (n = 1), thrombosis (n = 1), aneurysm enlargement >5 mm (n = 9), rupture (n = 4), conversion (n = 9, with 7 after 30 days), and migration (n = 1). Overall, the clinical success for the entire cohort during the follow-up period was 78.8% (119/151). The postmarket registry data confirm that the Zenith Renu AAA Ancillary Graft can be used to treat endovascular repairs that failed due to proximal attachment failures. The salvage treatment with the Renu device had high technical success rate and resulted in clinical success in a majority of patients (78.8%). While failed endovascular repairs can

  14. Current Status of Biomedical Book Reviewing: Part I. Key Biomedical Reviewing Journals with Quantitative Significance

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Ching-Chih; Wright, Arthuree M.

    1974-01-01

    This is the first part of a comprehensive, quantitative study of biomedical book reviewing. The data base of the total project was built from statistics taken from all 1970 issues of biomedical journals held in the Science Library of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Of 285 so-called “life sciences” journals held by that library, fifty-four English journals (excluding Science and Nature) were found to contain bona fide book reviews (as contrasted with mere author-title lists) and were therefore selected for close study. The statistical results reveal that there were 3,347 reviews of 2,067 biomedical books in these fifty-four selected journals in 1970. Part I of the study identifies key biomedical reviewing journals of quantitative significance. The top ten journals, British Medical Journal, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Internal Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, Quarterly Review of Biology, Bioscience, Canadian Medical Association Journal,* and American Journal of the Medical Sciences, accounted for 63.03% of the total number of reviews in 1970. PMID:4826479

  15. Unfolding the mechanism of the AAA+ unfoldase VAT by a combined cryo-EM, solution NMR study

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Rui; Ripstein, Zev A.; Augustyniak, Rafal; Lazniewski, Michal; Ginalski, Krzysztof; Kay, Lewis E.; Rubinstein, John L.

    2016-01-01

    The AAA+ (ATPases associated with a variety of cellular activities) enzymes play critical roles in a variety of homeostatic processes in all kingdoms of life. Valosin-containing protein-like ATPase of Thermoplasma acidophilum (VAT), the archaeal homolog of the ubiquitous AAA+ protein Cdc48/p97, functions in concert with the 20S proteasome by unfolding substrates and passing them on for degradation. Here, we present electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) maps showing that VAT undergoes large conformational rearrangements during its ATP hydrolysis cycle that differ dramatically from the conformational states observed for Cdc48/p97. We validate key features of the model with biochemical and solution methyl-transverse relaxation optimized spectroscopY (TROSY) NMR experiments and suggest a mechanism for coupling the energy of nucleotide hydrolysis to substrate unfolding. These findings illustrate the unique complementarity between cryo-EM and solution NMR for studies of molecular machines, showing that the structural properties of VAT, as well as the population distributions of conformers, are similar in the frozen specimens used for cryo-EM and in the solution phase where NMR spectra are recorded. PMID:27402735

  16. Influential Kinesiology Journals: The View from Outside the Field

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knudson, Duane V.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to document the top journals classified in the area of kinesiology in three bibliometric databases and the associations between the main bibliometric indicators reported through them. The Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports was searched for journals indexed (n = 85) in the sport sciences category for 2011.…

  17. The divided communities of shared concerns: mapping the intellectual structure of e-Health research in social science journals.

    PubMed

    Jiang, L Crystal; Wang, Zhen-Zhen; Peng, Tai-Quan; Zhu, Jonathan J H

    2015-01-01

    Social scientific approach has become an important approach in e-Health studies over the past decade. However, there has been little systematical examination of what aspects of e-Health social scientists have studied and how relevant and informative knowledge has been produced and diffused by this line of inquiry. This study performed a systematic review of the body of e-Health literature in mainstream social science journals over the past decade by testing the applicability of a 5A categorization (i.e., access, availability, appropriateness, acceptability, and applicability), proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as a framework for understanding social scientific research in e-Health. This study used a quantitative, bottom-up approach to review the e-Health literature in social sciences published from 2000 to 2009. A total of 3005 e-Health studies identified from two social sciences databases (i.e., Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index) were analyzed with text topic modeling and structural analysis of co-word network, co-citation network, and scientific food web. There have been dramatic increases in the scale of e-Health studies in social sciences over the past decade in terms of the numbers of publications, journal outlets and participating disciplines. The results empirically confirm the presence of the 5A clusters in e-Health research, with the cluster of applicability as the dominant research area and the cluster of availability as the major knowledge producer for other clusters. The network analysis also reveals that the five distinctive clusters share much more in common in research concerns than what e-Health scholars appear to recognize. It is time to explicate and, more importantly, tap into the shared concerns cutting across the seemingly divided scholarly communities. In particular, more synergy exercises are needed to promote adherence of the field. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All

  18. Special Editorial: Open science and the Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry - next steps?

    PubMed

    Asarnow, Joan; Bloch, Michael H; Brandeis, Daniel; Alexandra Burt, S; Fearon, Pasco; Fombonne, Eric; Green, Jonathan; Gregory, Alice; Gunnar, Megan; Halperin, Jeff M; Hollis, Chris; Jaffee, Sara; Klump, Kelly; Landau, Sabine; Lesch, Klaus-Peter; Oldehinkel, A J Tineke; Peterson, Bradley; Ramchandani, Paul; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund; Stringaris, Argyris; Zeanah, Charles H

    2018-07-01

    The JCPP works at the cutting edge of clinical science to publish ground-breaking research across the full range of topics in the field of child psychology and psychiatry. As JCPP editors, who are also active researchers in our own right, we are conscious of the threat posed to our field by what has come to be known as the reproducibility crisis - the fact that many published findings, initially trumpeted as important developments in the field, cannot be replicated and are therefore likely to be spurious (Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 2017, 21). The JCPP is conscious of its responsibility to play its part in addressing this issue as best it can. The roots of the problem are complex and its causes multifaceted. As one part of its response, the JCPP embraces the principles of open science and encourage preregistration of study protocols. Furthermore, we are working towards implementing new systems to promote preregistration with the hope of increasing scientific transparency and accountability and reducing the risks of selective reporting and posthoc rationalisation of findings (Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 59, 2018, 1). © 2018 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

  19. The Puerto Rico Journal of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (1925-1950): From a Health Department Bulletin to a UPR School of Tropical Medicine Scientific Journal.

    PubMed

    Mayo-Santana, Raúl

    2016-12-01

    This essay presents a history of the scientific journal of the University of Puerto Rico, School of Tropical Medicine (STM) under the auspices of Columbia University: The Puerto Rico Journal of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. This is the third article in a historical series about the STM, and includes supporting information relevant to the forthcoming articles on the school's scientific endeavors. This article is conceived as a history from the perspective of the literature of journal genre in the field of tropical medicine. The STM scientific journal, precursor of the Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal, had five main stages. First (1925-1927), originated as an official bulletin of the Health Department (Porto Rico Health Review). Second (1927-1929), became a project of mutual collaboration between the Health Department and the STM, and the publication's title reflected the fields of public health and tropical medicine. Third (1929-1932), acquired a scientific focus as it changed to a quarterly science publication. Fourth (1932-1942), became a fully bilingual journal and acquired its definitive name. Fifth (1942-1950), the final phase in which the first Puerto Rican Director became the principal editor until the Journal's dissolution. The analysis of authorship and the content analysis of the topics of diseases, public health and basic sciences, clarify the history of tropical medicine during the first half of the 20th century in Puerto Rico. The article highlights major symbolic events that delve into the understanding of a collaborative exemplar of the modernity of medical science.

  20. The Disconnect Between Journalism and Science and its Role in Public Misunderstanding of Important Scientific Issues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yulsman, T.

    2006-12-01

    Research shows that Americans' knowledge of science is sorely inaccurate. U.S. adults get most of their knowledge from the popular media, so it has been claimed that problems with media coverage of science are to blame. But this is a simplistic analysis. At their roots, scientific and journalistic modes of inquiry actually share two important normative standards: empiricism and skepticism. On the other hand, news and new scientific knowledge are two very different things. News gathering is guided in large measure by criteria that help journalists decide what is worth covering, as well as by standards of fairness and balance. The overarching goal is to report on things considered newsworthy in a neutral manner. In science, the goal is to ruthlessly discard incorrect ideas to get at the truth about nature. This talk will examine the "good" -- the normative standards that journalists and scientists share, as well as the "bad" -- how the significant disconnects between science and journalism may be contributing to a lack of public understanding of critical scientific issues such as climate change. Among the questions that will be addressed: How do journalists decide what is news? How does science fare when these newsworthiness standards are applied to it? How does the journalistic standard of balance result in inaccurate reporting on climate change? And how might we improve the situation by enhancing communication between scientists and journalist?