Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25928238›Full record

ArticleJournal of translational medicine2015

Hegemonic structure of basic, clinical and patented knowledge on Ebola research: a US army reductionist initiative.

David Fajardo-Ortiz, José Ortega-Sánchez-de-Tagle, Victor M Castaño

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

David Fajardo-OrtizGraduate program in Medical Sciences and Health, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico. davguifaj@yahoo.com.
José Ortega-Sánchez-de-TagleSAGARPA, Mexico City, Mexico. sistemaproductoavesjosdt@live.com.mx.
Victor M CastañoCentro de Fisica Aplicada y Tecnologia Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Queretaro, Mexico. meneses@unam.mx.
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México · MXSecretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food · MX

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEbola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola) is still a highly lethal infectious disease long affecting mainly neglected populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, this disease is now considered a potential worldwide threat. In this paper, we present an approach to understand how the basic, clinical and patent knowledge on Ebola is organized and intercommunicated and what leading factor could be shaping the evolution of the knowledge translation process for this disease. METHODOLOGY: A combination of citation network analysis; analysis of Medical heading Subject (MeSH) and Gene Ontology (GO) terms, and quantitative content analysis for patents and scientific literature, aimed to map the organization of Ebola research was carried out.

resultsWe found six putative research fronts (i.e. clusters of high interconnected papers). Three research fronts are basic research on Ebola virus structural proteins: glycoprotein, VP40 and VP35, respectively. There is a fourth research front of basic research papers on pathogenesis, which is the organizing hub of Ebola research. A fifth research front is pre-clinical research focused on vaccines and glycoproteins. Finally, a clinical-epidemiology research front related to the disease outbreaks was identified. The network structure of patent families shows that the dominant design is the use of Ebola virus proteins as targets of vaccines and other immunological treatments. Therefore, patents network organization resembles the organization of the scientific literature. Specifically, the knowledge on Ebola would flow from higher (clinical-epidemiology) to intermediated (cellular-tissular pathogenesis) to lower (molecular interactions) levels of organization.

conclusionOur results suggest a strong reductionist approach for Ebola research probably influenced by the lethality of the disease. On the other hand, the ownership profile of the patent families network and the main researches relationship with the United State Army suggest a strong involvement of this military institution in Ebola research.

Indexed as

Biomedical ResearchHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeMilitary PersonnelPatents as TopicEbolavirusGene OntologyHumansMedical Subject HeadingsModels, TheoreticalUnited States

Identifiers

PMID25928238
PMCPMC4427924
OpenAlexW1964040437

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.