1,720,959 research outputs found

    Expression of c-fos, p53 and PCNA in the unstable atherosclerotic carotid plaque

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    Background: The process by which a fibrofatty plaque evolves into a fibrotic lesion or into an unstable, lipid-rich plaque is poorly understood. In this study our aim is to deepen the knowledge of the cellular proliferation mechanisms that characterize the initial phases of destabilization of the unstable carotid plaque. Methods: 32 specimens from carotid endarterectomies were employed to assess by immunohistochemical methods, either in stable (n=10) or unstable (n=22) atherosclerotic plaques, the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), the proto-oncogene c-fos, and the oncoprotein p53. Results: 18/32 atherosclerotic plaques (all unstable), showed c-fos immunopositivity (P<0.0001). Ten lesions, three stable and seven unstable, were PCNA+, while 13 cases were positive for p53 (three stable and 10 unstable plaques). When comparing symptomatic vs. asymptomatic patients, the most striking finding was the coincidence between c-fos, PCNA and p53 protein positivity observed only in unstable plaques of seven out of eight patients, all with previous episodes of stroke or transient ischemic attacks. On the other hand, none of the above mentioned positivity was detected in the 24 asymptomatic patients (P<0.0001). Conclusions: These findings indicate an important role of these biomarkers in vascular biology. A series of molecular pathways of disease development and progression common both to atherosclerosis and cancer, support that the world’s two most common diseases are more closely aligned than previously believed

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Risk factors for varicose disease before and during pregnancy

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    Risk factors for varicose disease before and during pregnancy have been analyzed by use of data from a survey on venous disease in pregnancy conducted in 611 women (mean age thirty years, range fifteen to forty-seven) who consecutively delivered at the Obstetric-Gynecologic Clinic ''L. Mangiagalli'' of Milan between January and April, 1989. In total, 137 women (22%) reported varicose disease before the index pregnancy. The relative risk (RR) of varicose disease before the index pregnancy increased with age, being, as compared with women aged twenty-nine years or less, 1.6 in those aged thirty to thirty-four and 4.1 in those aged thirty-five years or more (chi2(1) trend 29.28, p < 0.001). Compared with nulliparae, women reporting a full-term pregnancy before the index pregnancy had an RR of venous disease of 1.2, and the risk increased to 3.8 in women reporting two or more births (chi2(1), trend 25.28, p < 0.001). A family history of varicose disease was associated with an RR of venous disease of 6.2 (95% confidence interval, CI, from 4.1 to 9.6). No relationship emerged between varicose disease and overweight. Of the 474 women who did not report venous disease before the index pregnancy, 132 (28%) developed venous disease during the index pregnancy. The risk of developing venous disease in pregnancy increased with age, being, as compared with women aged twenty-four years or less, 4.0 in those aged thirty-five years or more, and the trend in risk was statistically Significant (chi2(1) trend 16.25, p < 0.001). To be secondiparae or more was associated with an increased risk of developing venous disease in pregnancy. Compared with primiparae, the estimated RR was 2.0 (95% CI 1.3 to 2.9) in women reported to have given birth to one child or more. Women who developed venous disease in pregnancy reported more frequently a family history of varicose disease than those who did not; the RR estimate was 5.8, (95% CI from 3.8 to 8.9)

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
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