5,271 research outputs found
Technological research in the EU is less efficient than the world average. EU research policy risks Europeans' future
We have studied the efficiency of research in the EU by a percentile-based
citation approach that analyzes the distribution of country papers among the
world papers. Going up in the citation scale, the frequency of papers from
efficient countries increases while the frequency from inefficient countries
decreases. In the percentile-based approach, this trend, which is permanent at
any citation level, is measured by the ep index that equals the Ptop 1%/Ptop
10% ratio. By using the ep index we demonstrate that EU research on
fast-evolving technological topics is less efficient than the world average and
that the EU is far from being able to compete with the most advanced countries.
The ep index also shows that the USA is well ahead of the EU in both fast- and
slow-evolving technologies, which suggests that the advantage of the USA over
the EU in innovation is due to low research efficiency in the EU. In accord
with some previous studies, our results show that the European Commission's
ongoing claims about the excellence of EU research are based on a wrong
diagnosis. The EU must focus its research policy on the improvement of its
inefficient research. Otherwise, the future of Europeans is at risk.Comment: 30 pages, 3 figures, 7 tables, in one single file. Version accepted
in Journal of Informetric
Common bibliometric approaches fail to assess correctly the number of important scientific advances for most countries and institutions
Although not explicitly declared, most research rankings of countries and
institutions are supposed to reveal their contribution to the advancement of
knowledge. However, such advances are based on very highly cited publications
with very low frequency, which can only very exceptionally be counted with
statistical reliability. Percentile indicators enable calculations of the
probability or frequency of such rare publications using counts of much more
frequent publications; the general rule is that rankings based on the number of
top 10% or 1% cited publications (Ptop 10%, Ptop 1%) will also be valid for the
rare publications that push the boundaries of knowledge. Japan and its
universities are exceptions, as their frequent Nobel Prizes contradicts their
low Ptop 10% and Ptop 1%. We explain that this occurs because, in single
research fields, the singularity of percentile indicators holds only for
research groups that are homogeneous in their aims and efficiency. Correct
calculations for ranking countries and institutions should add the results of
their homogeneous groups, instead of considering all publications as a single
set. Although based on Japan, our findings have a general character. Common
predictions of scientific advances based on Ptop 10% might be severalfold lower
than correct calculations.Comment: 30 pages, tables and figures embedded in a single pdf fil
Research assessment by percentile-based double rank analysis
In the double rank analysis of research publications, the local rank position
of a country or institution publication is expressed as a function of the world
rank position. Excluding some highly or lowly cited publications, the double
rank plot fits well with a power law, which can be explained because citations
for local and world publications follow lognormal distributions. We report here
that the distribution of the number of country or institution publications in
world percentiles is a double rank distribution that can be fitted to a power
law. Only the data points in high percentiles deviate from it when the local
and world parameters of the lognormal distributions are very different.
The likelihood of publishing very highly cited papers can be calculated from
the power law that can be fitted either to the upper tail of the citation
distribution or to the percentile-based double rank distribution. The great
advantage of the latter method is that it has universal application, because it
is based on all publications and not just on highly cited publications.
Furthermore, this method extends the application of the well-established
percentile approach to very low percentiles where breakthroughs are reported
but paper counts cannot be performed.Comment: A pdf file containing text, 9 figures and 4 tables. Accepted in
Journal of Informetric
Rank analysis of most cited publications, a new approach for research assessments
Citation metrics are the best tools for research assessments. However,
current metrics are misleading in research systems that pursue simultaneously
different goals, such as the advance of science and incremental innovations,
because their publications have different citation distributions. We estimate
the contribution to the progress of knowledge by studying only a limited number
of the most cited papers, which are dominated by publications pursuing this
progress. To field-normalize the metrics, we substitute the number of citations
by the rank position of papers from one country in the global list of papers.
Using synthetic series of lognormally distributed numbers, we developed the
Rk-index, which is calculated from the global ranks of the 10 highest numbers
in each series, and demonstrate its equivalence to the number of papers in top
percentiles, P top 0.1% and P top 0.01% . In real cases, the Rk-index is simple
and easy to calculate, and evaluates the contribution to the progress of
knowledge much better than commonly used metrics. Although further research is
needed, rank analysis of the most cited papers is a promising approach for
research evaluation. It is also demonstrated that, for this purpose, domestic
and collaborative papers should be studied independently.Comment: One PDF file, including figures and tables (31 pages
En defensa de Norman Borlaug
El artículo de Xavier Pastor, director de Greenpeace España, titulado "La ingeniería genética incrementará el hambre" y publicado en EL PAÍS el pasado 1 de noviembre, representa una agresión inadmisible a la persona y la obra de Norman Borlaug, quien es sin duda el agrónomo más insigne de este siglo. Este tipo de ataque personal -en el que se sustituye el argumento racional y el debate sosegado de problemas complejos por la manipulación de los hechos y la difamación, incluida la insinuación de criminalidad- debe ser rechazado por la sociedad.Pobre debe estar el arsenal de argumentos a favor de los objetivos ideológicos de su organización, cuando Xavier Pastor apela a medios tan inaceptables para defenderlos. Tal es el cúmulo de disparatadas acusaciones que contiene cada párrafo de su artículo que desistimos de abordar una clarificación sistemática de éste y nos limitaremos a hacer algunas consideraciones generales en defensa de Borlau
HAK transporters from Physcomitrella patens and Yarrowia lipolytica mediate sodium uptake
The widespread presence of Na+ specific uptake systems across plants and fungi is a controversial topic. In this study we identify two HAK genes, one in the moss Physcomitrella patens and the other in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, that encode Na+ specific transporters. Because HAK genes are numerous in plants and are duplicated in many fungi, our findings suggest that some HAK genes encode Na+ transporters and that Na+ might play physiological functions in plants and fungi more extensively than is currently thought
Age-dependent defective TGF-beta1 signaling in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting
Background: Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta 1) is a pleiotropic cytokine, which is deregulated in atherosclerosis; however the role of age in this process is unknown. We aimed to assess whether TGF-beta 1 signaling is affected by age. Methods: Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) were obtained from patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Levels of TGF-beta 1 were measured by ELISA in sera from 169 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The p27 expression was determined by Western blot from internal mammary arteries (IMA) obtained from CABG patients (n = 13). In VSMC from these patients undergoing abdominal surgery, secretion of TGF-beta 1 was determined by ELISA of cell-conditioned media. Results: In VSMC from aged patients we observed a lower TGF-beta 1 secretion, measured as TGF-beta 1 concentration in cell conditioned medium (p < 0.001). This effect was correlated to an age-dependent decrease of p27 expression in IMA from aged CABG patients. In a similar manner, there was an age-dependent decrease of serum TGF-beta 1 levels in CABG patients (p = 0.0195). Conclusions: VSMC from aged patients showed a higher degree of cellular senescence and it was associated to a lower TGF-beta 1 secretion and signaling.S
Ski Lesions Around the Knee: A Literature Review
Ski is a popular sports practiced worldwide although it is considered a high-risk sports with high incidence of injuries. A common place for injuries is the knee, with a wide range from knee sprains to complex ligamentous injuries to fractures. In this chapter, we made a search in PubMed using the words “knee” and “ski.” Later, we selected those articles according to the inclusion criteria. When reviewing the literature, we found that the most common place for a ski-related injury is the knee, with knee sprains and ACL lesions being the most common diagnosis in the latter years with a decreasing incidence of tibia fractures. We could also analyze the risk factors different authors have found, for professional athletes and for recreational skiers. In conclusion, the ACL lesion in the skier presents a high incidence, which suggests an effort should be made to prevent it
New compound sets identified from high throughput phenotypic screening against three kinetoplastid parasites:an open resource
Using whole-cell phenotypic assays, the GlaxoSmithKline high-throughput screening (HTS) diversity set of 1.8 million compounds was screened against the three kinetoplastids most relevant to human disease, i.e. Leishmania donovani, Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei. Secondary confirmatory and orthogonal intracellular anti-parasiticidal assays were conducted, and the potential for non-specific cytotoxicity determined. Hit compounds were chemically clustered and triaged for desirable physicochemical properties. The hypothetical biological target space covered by these diversity sets was investigated through bioinformatics methodologies. Consequently, three anti-kinetoplastid chemical boxes of ~200 compounds each were assembled. Functional analyses of these compounds suggest a wide array of potential modes of action against kinetoplastid kinases, proteases and cytochromes as well as potential host–pathogen targets. This is the first published parallel high throughput screening of a pharma compound collection against kinetoplastids. The compound sets are provided as an open resource for future lead discovery programs, and to address important research questions.The support and funding of Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation is gratefully acknowledgedPeer reviewe
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