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- Author or Editor: José Gomes x
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Abstract
For many years, the ISI Web of Knowledge from Thomson Reuters was the sole publication and citation database covering all areas of science thus becoming an invaluable tool in bibliometric analysis. In 2004, Elsevier introduced Scopus and this is rapidly becoming a good alternative. Several attempts have been made at comparing these two instruments from the point of view of journal coverage for research or for bibliometric assessment of research output. This paper attempts to answer the question that all researchers ask, i.e., what is to be gained by searching both databases? Or, if you are forced to opt for one of them, which should you prefer? To answer this question, a detailed paper by paper study is presented of the coverage achieved by ISI Web of Science and by Scopus of the output of a typical university. After considering the set of Portuguese universities, the detailed analysis is made for two of them for 2006, the two being chosen for their comprehensiveness typical of most European universities. The general conclusion is that about 2/3 of the documents referenced in any of the two databases may be found in both databases while a fringe of 1/3 are only referenced in one or the other. The citation impact of the documents in the core present in both databases is higher, but the impact of the fringe that are present only in one of the databases should not be disregarded as some high impact documents may be found among them.
Abstract
The present work reports an experimental thermochemical study supported by state of the art calculations of two heterocyclic compounds containing oxygen in the ring: xanthone and tetrahydro-γ-pyrone. The standard (pº = 0.1 MPa) molar enthalpies of formation in the condensed phase, at T = 298.15 K, were derived from the measurements of the standard molar energies of combustion in oxygen atmosphere, using a static bomb calorimeter. The standard molar enthalpies of sublimation or vaporization, at T = 298.15 K, of the title compounds were obtained from Calvet microcalorimetry measurements. These values were used to derive the standard enthalpies of formation of the compounds in the gas-phase at the same temperature, which were compared with estimated data from G3(MP2)//B3LYP computations.
Abstract
This paper presents the journal relative impact (JRI), an indicator for scientific evaluation of journals. The JRI considers in its calculation the different culture of citations presented by the Web of Science subject categories. The JRI is calculated considering a variable citation window. This citation window is defined taking into account the time required by each subject category for the maturation of citations. The type of document considered in each subject category depends on its outputs in relation to the citations. The scientific performance of each journal in relation to each subject category that it belongs to is considered allowing the comparison of the scientific performance of journals from different fields. The results obtained show that the JRI can be used for the assessment of the scientific performance of a given journal and that the SJR and SNIP should be used to complement the information provided by the JRI. The JRI presents good features as stability over time and predictability.
Abstract
The assessment of individual researchers using bibliometric indicators is more complex than that of a region, country or university. For large scientific bodies, averages over a large number of researchers and their outputs is generally believed to give indication of the quality of the research work. For an individual, the detailed peer evaluation of his research outputs is required and, even this, may fail in the short term to make a final, long term assessment of the relevance and originality of the work. Scientometrics assessment at individual level is not an easy task not only due to the smaller number of publications that are being evaluated, but other factors can influence significantly the bibliometric indicators applied. Citation practices vary widely among disciplines and sub disciplines and this may justify the lack of good bibliometric indicators at individual level. The main goal of this study was to develop an indicator that considers in its calculation some of the aspects that we must take into account on the assessment of scientific performance at individual level. The indicator developed, the h nf index, considers the different cultures of citation of each field and the number of authors per publication. The results showed that the h nf index can be used on the assessment of scientific performance of individual researchers and for following the performance of a researcher.
Abstract
This study used TG, DSC, and SDS-PAGE techniques to study protein isolates (PIs) in the powder form obtained from lupin seeds flour Lupinus albus. Different methods of preparing PIs were tested, resulting in final products that were different only in relation to the yield and protein content. The results of the protein analysis by SDS-PAGE showed that the same protein fractions were present in the lupin seeds and in the obtained PIs. This result shows that the process of extraction was not damaging to the composition of the original protein. On the other hand, the results of the thermal analysis (DSC and TG–DTG curves) obtained for the different PIs, led to the detection of changes in the protein conformation through the ΔH values, which in general decreased with increasing values of pH and ionic strength in the experimental conditions of extraction.
Abstract
The simvastatin (SV) is nowadays produced semi-synthetically from lovastatin. It’s one of the statins most commonly used to treat several forms of hypercholesterolemia. This study aimed to apply the thermal characterization of the SV raw material using thermoanalytical techniques and its degradation products by Pyrolysis coupled to Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS). It was studied three samples of SV (SVA, SVB, and SVC). The results showed thermal behavior differences of the samples during the melting process transition and the activation energies (E a) of the thermal decomposition, which were correlated to the thermal stability of them. The first decomposition step of Pyr-GC/MS showed two new compounds of m/z 284 and 207, in proportions dependents according to the pyrolysis temperature.
Extracellular deoxyribonucleases (DNases) contribute to the spread of pathogenic bacteria through the evasion from host innate immunity. Our main objective was to evaluate the production of extracellular DNases by human and bovine Streptococcus agalactiae clinical strains and perform a correlation of genetic lineages and DNase activity with capsular type, genetic determinants, clinical origin (colonization and infection), and host (human or bovine). DNase activity was evaluated by qualitative and quantitative assays for a collection of 406 human (n = 285) and bovine (n = 121) strains. All (121/121) bovine were isolated from mastitis and revealed to be DNase (+), indicating a putative pathogenic role in this clinical scenario. From the human S. agalactiae strains, 86% (245/285) showed DNase activity, among which all strains belonging to capsular types, namely, Ia, Ib, III-2, and IV. All CC17 strains (n = 58) and 56/96 (58.3%) of the CC19 displayed DNase activity. DNase (−) strains belonged to the CC19 group. However, the subcharacterization of CC19 S. agalactiae strains through multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), antibiotic resistance, mobile elements, and surface proteins did not provide any distinction among DNase producers and non-producers.
The production of DNases by all human CC17 strains, about two-fifths of human CC19, and all bovine strains, suggest an important contribution of DNases to hypervirulence.
Abstract
This work studied the thermal characterization of the pentoxifylline raw material through thermoanalytical techniques (TG, DSC, DSC-photovisual) and analysis of degradation products by Pyr-GC/MS. The picture obtained with DSC-photovisual showed the total vaporization of pentoxifylline at 230.0 °C. The TG dynamical curve presented only one step for the loss of mass evidencing to be a kinetic process of zero order reaction. The pyrograms obtained for pentoxifylline sample in the solid state and solution in the temperatures of 250.0, 300.0, and 400.0 °C, showed only one peak identifying the pentoxifylline.
HSP90B1 is a gene that codifies heat shock protein 108 (HSP108) that belongs to a group of proteins induced under stress situation, and it has close relation with the nervous system, especially in the retina. Toxoplasma gondii causes ocular toxoplasmosis that has been associated with a late manifestation of the congenital toxoplasmosis although experimental models show that morphological alterations are already present during embryological development. Here, we used 18 eyes of Gallus domesticus embryos in 7th and 20th embryonic days to establish a model of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis, experimentally infected in its fifth day correlating with HSP90B1 gene expression. Embryos’ eyes were histologically evaluated, and gene expression was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Our data showed parasite present in the choroid, unusual migration of retinal pigment epithelium, and chorioretinal scars, and a tendency to a lower expression of the HSP90B1 gene upon experimental infection. This is a promising model to better understand T. gondii etiopathogeny.
