Category Archives: Research evaluation

The Landscape of Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies (nAbs) for Treatment and Prevention of COVID-19

Research evaluation, S&T lit, , , ,

Abstract: After nearly 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, even though a vast body of knowledge and products (including vaccines and treatments) have been developed and disseminated, the virus is still evolving and new variants arising. Consequently, thousands of lives continue to be lost. Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (nAbs) are promising drugs that emerged to treat SARS-CoV-2. In the uncertainty of the current situation, there is the question of whether organizations should continue to invest in this technology. To help decision-making in scientifical and pharmaceutical organizations, it is of major importance to monitor the development of products and technologies. Therefore, the aim of this study is analyze the landscape of nAbs for COVID-19.

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Author(s): Aline de Almeida Oliveira, Diana Praia Borges Freire, Ana Rodrigues de Andrade, Amanda de Miranda Marques, Luciana da Silva Madeira, José Procópio Moreno Senna, Ivna Alana Freitas Brasileiro da Silveira, Beatriz de Castro Fialho

Organization(s): Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz

Source: Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation

Year: 2023

Evaluation of Sources and Methods of Pectin Extraction from Fruit and Vegetable Wastes: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR)

Research evaluation, S&T lit

Abstract:The potentially commercial sources of pectin are limited. Researchers have studied different extraction methods using a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to obtain pectins with better characteristics. The objective of this work was to identify the methods used in the extraction of pectin, the most used sources and the operation parameters that enable the achievement of higher yields and the final characteristics of the obtained product. These are based on bibliometric methods for exploring the structure of knowledge in this field for the last twelve years. To this end, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) using the SCOPUS database was carried out, which allowed identifying keywords and formulating search equations to find scientific articles on the topic in question. After selecting the articles, a detailed reading of these works was carried out, and the used extraction methods and the evaluated variables, yields and characteristics were analyzed. This article compares and discusses the effects of conventional and non-conventional pectin extraction techniques, which may provide valuable information on sources and alternatives for pectin extraction to ease decision-making in future research. The acid hydrolysis method remains the most widely used pectin extraction technique since it provides higher yields. It is followed by microwave-assisted extraction, ultrasonic extraction, and the enzymatic method, which have a greater capacity to deliver pectins with high methoxyl content. Finally, non-conventional methods such as radiofrequency, ohmic heating, and aqueous two-phase extraction are presented as promising techniques that offer pectins with a high degree of esterification in addition to good yields.

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Author(s): Carolina Sofía Salazar Ripoll, Gustavo Adolfo Hincapié-Llanos

Organization(s): Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana

Source: Food Bioscience

Year: 2023

Modifiable Contributing Factors to COVID-19: A Comprehensive Review

Research evaluation, S&T lit, , , , ,

Abstract: The devastating complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) result from an individual’s dysfunctional immune response following the initial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Multiple toxic stressors and behaviors contribute to underlying immune system dysfunction. SARS-CoV-2 exploits the dysfunctional immune system to trigger a chain of events ultimately leading to COVID-19.
The current study identifies eighty immune system dysfunction-enabling toxic stressors and behaviors (hereafter called modifiable contributing factors (CFs)) that also link directly to COVID-19. Each CF is assigned to one of the five categories in the CF taxonomy shown in Section 3.3.: Lifestyle (e.g., diet, substance abuse); Iatrogenic (e.g., drugs, surgery); Biotoxins (e.g., micro-organisms, mycotoxins); Occupational/Environmental (e.g., heavy metals, pesticides); Psychosocial/Socioeconomic (e.g., chronic stress, lower education).
The current study shows how each modifiable factor contributes to decreased immune system capability, increased inflammation and coagulation, and increased neural damage and neurodegeneration. It is unclear how real progress can be made in combatting COVID-19 and other similar diseases caused by viral variants without addressing and eliminating these modifiable CFs.

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Author(s): Ronald Neil Kostoff, Michael Brandon Briggs, Darja Kanduc, Saikat Dewanjee, Ramesh Kandimalla, Yehuda Shoenfeld, Alan L. Porter, Aristidis Tsatsakis

Organization(s):  Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)

Source: Food and Chemical Toxicology

Year: 2023

Recommendations from paediatric dentistry associations of the Americas on breastfeeding and sugar consumption and oral hygiene in infants for the prevention of dental caries: a bibliometric review

Research evaluation

The internet provides a plethora of information, including concerning health issues. The aim of this paper is to identify online recommendations of paediatric dentistry associations of the Americas (PDAAs) regarding breastfeeding practices, weaning, sugar introduction and initiating oral hygiene. Websites of PDAAs were access to record recommendations/questions (Q) relevant to early childhood that specifically covered issues about exclusive breastfeeding‐Q1, indications of artificial breastfeeding‐Q2, when and how should indicate weaning‐Q3 and Q4, respectively, association of breast milk and dental caries‐Q5, the period recommended for starting oral hygiene and how to go about introducing it‐Q6 and Q7, respectively, and guidance on the introduction of sugar‐Q8. Similarity/dissimilarity frequencies between the associations (Euclidean distances) were calculated. From 35 countries on the two American continents, 21 associations were affiliated with the International Association of Paediatric Dentistry and/or the Latin American Pediatric Dentistry Association, while eight did not have websites. Higher(p<0.05) dissimilarities for Q6(68.2%), Q7(72.7%) and Q8(62.1%) were observed. Results were similar for Q1 and Q5(p>0.05). No association mentioned Q3 or Q4 responses, while Q7 was the most frequently discussed issue. Not all of the investigated issues are mentioned on websites of PDAAs, potentially stymieing efforts by both the layperson and health professional to gather information.

https://doi.org/10.1111/ipd.12754

Author(s): Aline Gomes Silva Cerqueira, Marcela Baraúna Magno, Fernanda Barja‐Fidalgo, José Vicente Gomila, Lucianne Cople Maia, Andrea Fonseca‐Gonçalves
Organization(s): Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro State University, Polytechnic University of Valencia
Source: International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry
Year: 2020

Did the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake trigger a change in the conduct of research on seismic risk?

Research evaluation

This study aims to address how the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake influenced knowledge generation and diffusion compared to the research stemming from the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in the United States and the 1995 Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in Japan, for the three countries are exposed to high seismic risk. The findings show that (1) regarding research quantity, the influence of the Wenchuan Earthquake on disaster-related knowledge generation is just beginning compared with the gradual decreases in research on the other earthquakes; (2) regarding disciplinary development, the proportion of studies relating to the Wenchuan Earthquake in natural sciences and engineering technology is gradually decreasing, while the proportion of studies in medical science, social sciences and economics is increasing; (3) the quantity of earthquake-related studies is not solely related to the influence of a specific disaster but associated with the national financial support offered by the affected country. One reason why China experiences the high research output is that Chinese national finance strongly supports such research, similar to the United States and Japan. This phenomenon corresponds with the fact that the major research institutions in China are national institutions rather than universities. Finally, (4) interdisciplinary research on the Wenchuan Earthquake mainly involves interactions between natural sciences and engineering technology. Interactions between other disciplines need to be enhanced. Thus, this research argues that, although disaster knowledge generation and diffusion is imbalanced, the multidimensional nature of earthquakes has been recognized in the literature.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104628

Author(s): Qiang Zhang, Qibin Lu, Xuanting Ye, Shiling Xu, Leesa K. Lin, Qian Ye, An Zeng
Organization(s): Beijing Normal University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Institute of Technology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Source: Safety Science
Year: 2020

Who studies where? Boosting tropical conservation research where it is most needed (FULL-TEXT)

Research evaluation, ST&I policy

Despite the mounting threats that tropical ecosystems face, conservation in the tropics remains severely under‐researched relative to temperate systems. Efforts to address this knowledge gap have so far largely failed to analyze the relationship between an author’s choice of study site and that author’s country of origin. We examined factors that motivate both foreign and domestic scientists to conduct research in tropical countries, based on a sample of nearly 3000 tropical conservation research articles. Many barriers that have historically deterred foreign research effort appear to have been overcome, although US scientists still respond negatively to safety concerns and distance. The productivity of local scientists is affected by corruption and lack of institutional support. Both foreign and in‐country scientists are increasingly working in places with more listed threatened species, but many regions still lack adequate conservation research. Although foreign scientists could be attracted to less‐studied areas through targeted grants, the long‐term solution must be to train and employ more local scientists.

https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2146 for FULL-TEXT https://flore.unifi.it/retrieve/handle/2158/1185963/461923/Segovia_et_al-2020-Frontiers_in_Ecology_and_the_Environment.pdf

Author(s): Ana L. Reboredo Segovia, Donato Romano, Paul R. Armsworth
Organization(s): Boston University, University of Florence, University of Tennessee
Source: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Year: 2020

Institutional shaping of research priorities: A case study on avian influenza

Research evaluation, Research profiling, ST&I policy

Since outbreaks in 2003, avian influenza has received a considerable amount of funding and become a controversial science policy issue in various respects. Like in many other global and multidisciplinary societal problems fraught with high levels of uncertainty, a variety of perspectives have emerged over how to “tackle” avian influenza and public voices have expressed concern over how research funds are being allocated. In this article, we document if and how research agendas are being informed by public policy debates. We use qualitative and quantitative approaches to examine the relations between expectations of outcomes of public science and the existing research landscape. Interviews with a cross-section of stakeholders reveal a wide range of perspectives and values associated with the nature and objectives of existing research avenues. We find that the landscape of public avian influenza research is not directly driven by expectations of societal outcomes. Instead, it is shaped by three institutional drivers: pharmaceutical industry priorities, publishing and public research funding pressures, and the mandates of science-based policy or public health organizations. These insights suggest that, in research prioritization, funding agencies should embrace a broad perspective of research governance that explicitly considers underlying institutional drivers. Deliberative approaches in public priority setting might help to make agendas more plural and diverse and thus more responsive to the contested and uncertain nature of avian influenza research.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.07.005

Author(s): Matthew L.Wallace, Ismael Ràfols
Organization(s): Universitat Politècnica de València
Source: Research Policy
Year: 2018

South-south collaboration on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment research: when birds of a feather rarely flock together (full-text)

Network analysis, Research evaluation

South-south collaboration on health and development research is a critical mechanism for social and economic progress. It allows sharing and replicating experiences to find a “southern solution” to meet shared health challenges, such as access to adequate HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. This study aimed to generate evidence on the dynamics of south-south collaboration in HIV/AIDS research, which could ultimately inform stakeholders on the progress and nature of collaboration towards increased research capacities in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Method
Bibliometric and social network analysis methods were used to assess the 10-year (2006–2015) scientific contribution of LMIC, through the analysis of scientific publications on HIV/AIDS prevention and/or treatment. Five dimensions oriented the study: knowledge production, co-authorship analysis, research themes mapping, research types classification and funding sources.

Results
Publications involving LMIC have substantially increased overtime, despite small expression of south-south collaboration. Research themes mapping revealed that publication focus varied according to collaborating countries’ income categories, from diagnosis, opportunistic infections and laboratory-based research (LMIC single or LMIC-LMIC) to human behavior and healthcare, drug therapy and mother to child transmission (LMIC-HIC). The analysis of research types showed that south-south collaborations frequently targeted social sciences issues. Funding agencies acknowledged in south-south collaboration also showed diverse focus: LMIC-based funders tended to support basic biomedical research whereas international/HIC-based funders seem to cover predominantly social sciences-oriented research.

Conclusions
Although the global environment has fostered an increasing participation of LMIC in collaborative learning models, south-south collaboration on HIV/AIDS prevention and/or treatment research seemed to be lower than expected, stressing the need for strategies to foster these partnerships. The evidence presented in this study can be used to strengthen a knowledge platform to inform future policy, planning and funding decisions, contributing to the development of enhanced collaboration and a priority research agenda for LMICs.

For full-text see https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0341-1

Author(s): Bruna de Paula Fonseca e Fonseca, Priscila Costa Albuquerque, Ed Noyons, Fabio Zicker
Organization(s): Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz),  Leiden University
Source: Globalization and Health
Year: 2018

Effects of innovation management system standardization on firms: evidence from text mining annual reports

novel source, Research evaluation, ST&I policy

Using a management formula to standardize innovation management can be thought of as deeply contradictory, however, several successful firms in Spain have been certified under the pioneer innovation management standard UNE 166002. This paper analyzes the effects that standardization has in the attitudes and values as regard to innovation for a sample of firms by text-mining their corporate disclosures. Changes in the relevance of the concepts, co-word networks and emotion analysis have been employed to conclude that the effects of certification on the corporate behavior about innovation are coincident with the open innovation and transversalization concepts that UNE 166002 promotes.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2345-7

Author(s): Gaizka Garechana, Rosa Río-Belver, Iñaki Bildosola, Marisela Rodríguez Salvador
Organization(s): University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2017

Annual reports have been text-mined using the NLP tools provided by Vantage Point software to capture the concepts occurring in the vicinity of SI terms and the changes in concepts and their relationships, in addition to emotions, have been analyzed.

The Diffusion of Military Technology

Research evaluation, ST&I indicators

The impact of national defense research and development spending on overall innovation depends on the extent to which the knowledge and technologies generated by defense funding diffuse. This article uses an original data-set of patents assigned to defense-servicing organizations to investigate the diffusion of military technologies. Contrary to the predictions of the prevailing scholarship, I find no difference in the rate of diffusion between civilian and military technologies. Neither do military technologies assigned to government agencies diffuse at different rates than those assigned to firms. The overall technological experience of the patent assignee is found to be a positive predictor of the diffusion of military technologies. The effect of the prevailing intellectual property rights regime is ambivalent: when US patents are included in the sample, the effect of patent protection is positive, when the US is excluded, the effect is either non-significant or negative depending on the model specification that is utilized.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2017.1292203

Author(s): Jon Schmid
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Defence and Peace Economics
Year: 2017