The weight of author self-citations. A fractional approach to self-citation counting

The discussion about how to treat author self-citations driven by policy application and quality measurement intensified in the last years. The definition introduced by Snyder and Bonzi has — in lack of any reasonable alternative — been used in bibliometric practice for science policy purposes. This method, however, does not take into account the weight of self-citing authors among coauthors of both the cited and citing papers. The objective of the present paper is to quantify the weight of self-citations with respect to co-authorship. The analysis is conducted at two levels: at the macro level, namely, for fifteen subject fields and the most active forty countries, and at the meso level, for a set of selected research institutions.     

Fumonisin B1 contamination of maize and experimental acute fumonisin toxicosis in pigs

As part of the stress response, the 72 kDa heat shock protein (hsp72) is induced in neurons after ischemic and traumatic brain injury (TBI). To examine the stress response after TBI with secondary insult, we examined the regional and cellular expression of hsp72 mRNA and protein after controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury with secondary hypoxemia and mild hypotension in rats. Rats were killed at 6, 8, 24, 72, or 168 h after trauma. Naive and sham-operated rats were used as controls. Brains were removed, and in situ hybridization (n = 2/group), immunocytochemistry (n = 4/group), and Western blot analysis (n = 3 to 5/group) for hsp72 was performed. Hsp72 mRNA was expressed in neurons in the ipsilateral cortex, CA3 region of the hippocampus, hilus, and dentate gyrus at 6 h. Hsp72 mRNA was expressed primarily in the ipsilateral cortex, at 24 h, and by 72 h hsp72 mRNA expression returned to near basal levels. Hsp72 protein was seen in ipsilateral cortical neurons, hilar neurons, and neurons in the medial aspect of the CA3 region of the hippocampus (CA3-c) at 24 h. At 72 h, hsp72 immunoreactivity was reduced versus 24 h in these same regions, but it was increased versus baseline. Western blot analysis confirmed an increase in hsp72 protein in the ipsilateral cortex. The regional pattern of hsp72 mRNA induction in neurons was similar to the pattern of protein expression after CCI, with the exceptions that hsp72 mRNA, but not protein, was expressed in the dentate gyrus and the lateral aspect of the CA3 region of the hippocampus (CA3-a). The stress response, as detected by hsp72 expression, is induced in some neurons in some regions that are selectively vulnerable to delayed neuronal death in this model of TBI. The failure to translate some proteins including hsp72 may be associated with delayed neuronal death in certain hippocampal regions after TBI.     

Differential diagnosis and therapy in Adie's syndrome

In general, Adie's syndrome does not represent a serious diagnostic problem. In cases of cerebrospinal syphilis the Argyll-Robertson phenomenon or even absolute pupillary rigidity will be observed. Positive syphilis reactions will clarify these cases. The erroneous diagnosis of brain tumour may arise because of anisocoria. However, if pupillotonia can be ascertained by means of conjunctival instillation of drugs no further invasive diagnostics will be necessary. In some cases of Adie's syndrome concomitant emotional instability may be present. This dysautonomic reaction type of personality will hardly ever be confounded with the psychological disturbances encountered in brain tumours. Therapy is restricted to symptomatic measures. Pupillotonia can be influenced by strychnine and thymoxamine. Headache and facial neuralgia respond to the usual therapeutic schemes. Sweating disorder cannot be influenced. Neuropharmacological treatment may become necessary in periods of acute emotional disturbance.     

Improved author profiling through the use of citation classes

The method of Characteristic Scores and Scales (CSS), previously developed for application at the macro- and meso-level, has been applied to individual author statistics. In particular, two datasets have been used. Firstly, authors with Thomson Reuters Researcher-ID, independently of the field where authors are publishing and, secondly, authors who are active in the field of scientometrics, independently whether they are registered authors or not. The objective is to find a parameter-free solution for citation-impact assessment at this level of aggregation that is insensitive to possible outliers. As in the case of any statistics, the only limitation is the lower bound, which has been set to 10 for the present analysis. The results demonstrate the usefulness of the CSS method at this level while also pointing to some remarkable statistical properties.     

Comparing capture,usage and citation indicators: an altmetric analysis of journal papers in chemistry disciplines

Scientometrics - In this paper we extend the perspective of the scholarly impact from the traditional citations to other forms of scientific communication among scholars in the mirror of the PlumX...