Globalisation of science in kilometres

The ongoing globalisation of science has undisputedly a major impact on how and where scientific research is being conducted nowadays. Yet, the big picture remains blurred. It is largely unknown where this process is heading, and at which rate. Which countries are leading or lagging? Many of its key features are difficult if not impossible to capture in measurements and comparative statistics. Our empirical study measures the extent and growth of scientific globalisation in terms of physical distances between co-authoring researchers. Our analysis, drawing on 21 million research publications across all countries and fields of science, reveals that contemporary science has globalised at a fairly steady rate during recent decades. The average collaboration distance per publication has increased from 334 kilometres in 1980 to 1553 in 2009. Despite significant differences in globalisation rates across countries and fields of science, we observe a pervasive process in motion, moving towards a truly interconnected global science system

Do University-Industry co-publication volumes correspond with university funding from business firms?

Trabajo presentado a la 19th Science and Technology Indicators Conference: "Context counts: Pathways to Master Big and Little Data" celebrada en leiden (Paises Bajos) del 3 al 9 de 2014.Analysts of university-industry interaction sometimes measure it through numbers of university-industry co-publications (UICs), because of their relative availability and international comparability. However, we do not know whether UICs correspond to a more direct measure of interaction: university funding from firms. We propose a conceptual model on four types of relationships between UICs and university funding from firms, emphasising the interactive nature of their relation. We test the model with UIC and income data from the Polytechnic University of Valencia at individual level: around 6-7% of researchers participating in projects with firms were authors of UICs published in 2008-2011; and around 27% of those UIC authors were participating in projects with firms during that period. Overall, we do not find evidence of any significant positive correlation between UIC output and university funding from the business sector in general. The one exception is a minority of authors who participate in business-funded projects, where we found a positive association of current UICs and business funding.Peer Reviewe

A interação universidade-empresa na indústria de petróleo brasileira: o caso da Petrobras

This paper examines research collaboration between the Brazilian state-controlled oil company, Petrobras, and universities from 1980 to 2014. Despite the importance of universityindustry research collaboration in Brazilian oil industry, there are few comprehensive and long-time spam studies on this topic. This paper helps to fill a gap in the academic literature by providing comparative historical data on research collaboration between Petrobras and Brazilian universities. Based on the co-authored publications by Petrobras we analyze changes in intensity of this collaboration and its geographical orientation, inter-organizational level and scientific knowledge base. Furthermore, we address the issue of whether changes in Brazilian R&D funding policy have affected trends in collaboration. Our findings show an increasing collaboration between Petrobras and Brazilian universities, resulting in an enlargement of the company’s network collaboration and reinforcing its knowledge base162325350CAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DO APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NIVEL SUPERIORCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOBEX 10715/14-2sem informaçãoEste artigo analisa a colaboração em pesquisa entre a empresa estatal petrolífera brasileira, Petrobras, e universidades no período de 1980 a 2014. Apesar da importância da interação universidade-empresa na indústria de petróleo brasileira, há poucos estudos temporalmente abrangentes sobre o tema. Este trabalho ajuda a preencher uma lacuna na literatura, provendo dados comparativos de longo prazo sobre a colaboração em pesquisa entre a Petrobras e universidades. Baseando-se nas publicações da Petrobras em coautoria com universidades, são analisadas as mudanças na intensidade e orientação geográfica da colaboração, no nível de relação interorganizacional e na base de conhecimentos da empresa. Além disso, o trabalho também aborda os efeitos da recente política de financiamento à pesquisa e desenvolvimento na interação. Os resultados mostram uma crescente interação entre a Petrobras e as universidades brasileiras, levando a um alargamento da rede de colaborações científicas da empresa e reforçando sua base de conhecimento

The Leiden Ranking 2011/2012: Data collection, indicators, and interpretation

The Leiden Ranking 2011/2012 is a ranking of universities based on bibliometric indicators of publication output, citation impact, and scientific collaboration. The ranking includes 500 major universities from 41 different countries. This paper provides an extensive discussion of the Leiden Ranking 2011/2012. The ranking is compared with other global university rankings, in particular the Academic Ranking of World Universities (commonly known as the Shanghai Ranking) and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Also, a detailed description is offered of the data collection methodology of the Leiden Ranking 2011/2012 and of the indicators used in the ranking. Various innovations in the Leiden Ranking 2011/2012 are presented. These innovations include (1) an indicator based on counting a university's highly cited publications, (2) indicators based on fractional rather than full counting of collaborative publications, (3) the possibility of excluding non-English language publications, and (4) the use of stability intervals. Finally, some comments are made on the interpretation of the ranking, and a number of limitations of the ranking are pointed out

Novel missense mutations in the glycine receptor β subunit gene (GLRB) in startle disease

Startle disease is a rare, potentially fatal neuromotor disorder characterized by exaggerated startle reflexes and hypertonia in response to sudden unexpected auditory, visual or tactile stimuli. Mutations in the GlyR alpha(1) subunit gene (GLRA1) are the major cause of this disorder, since remarkably few individuals with mutations in the GlyR beta subunit gene (GLRB) have been found to date. Systematic DNA sequencing of GLRB in individuals with hyperekplexia revealed new missense mutations in GLRB, resulting in M177R, L285R and W310C substitutions. The recessive mutation M177R results in the insertion of a positively-charged residue into a hydrophobic pocket in the extracellular domain, resulting in an increased EC50 and decreased maximal responses of alpha(1)beta GlyRs. The de novo mutation L285R results in the insertion of a positively-charged side chain into the pore-lining 9' position. Mutations at this site are known to destabilize the channel closed state and produce spontaneously active channels. Consistent with this, we identified a leak conductance associated with spontaneous GlyR activity in cells expressing alpha(1)beta(L285R) GlyRs. Peak currents were also reduced for alpha(1)beta(L285R) GlyRs although glycine sensitivity was normal. W310C was predicted to interfere with hydrophobic side-chain stacking between M1, M2 and M3. We found that W310C had no effect on glycine sensitivity, but reduced maximal currents in alpha(1)beta GlyRs in both homozygous (alpha(1)beta(W310C)) and heterozygous (alpha(1)beta beta(W310C)) stoichiometries. Since mild startle symptoms were reported in W310C carriers, this may represent an example of incomplete dominance in startle disease, providing a potential genetic explanation for the 'minor' form of hyperekplexia. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Rationale and design of the PRAETORIAN-COVID trial:A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial with valsartan for PRevention of Acute rEspiraTORy dIstress syndrome in hospitAlized patieNts with SARS-COV-2 Infection Disease

There is much debate on the use of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)–infected patients. Although it has been suggested that ARBs might lead to a higher susceptibility and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, experimental data suggest that ARBs may reduce acute lung injury via blocking angiotensin-II–mediated pulmonary permeability, inflammation, and fibrosis. However, despite these hypotheses, specific studies on ARBs in SARS-CoV-2 patients are lacking. Methods: The PRAETORIAN-COVID trial is a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled 1:1 randomized clinical trial in adult hospitalized SARS-CoV-2–infected patients (n = 651). The primary aim is to investigate the effect of the ARB valsartan compared to placebo on the composite end point of admission to an intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation, or death within 14 days of randomization. The active-treatment arm will receive valsartan in a dosage titrated to blood pressure up to a maximum of 160 mg bid, and the placebo arm will receive matching placebo. Treatment duration will be 14 days, or until the occurrence of the primary end point or until hospital discharge, if either of these occurs within 14 days. The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04335786, 2020). The PRAETORIAN-COVID trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled 1:1 randomized trial to assess the effect of valsartan compared to placebo on the occurrence of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2–infected patients. The results of this study might impact the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 patients globally