1,720,961 research outputs found
EFFECTS OF LOW-GRADE SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION ON ENDOTHELIAL MICROPARTICLE LEVELS IN SUBJECTS AT INCREASED CARDIOVASCULAR RISK
No full textSystemic inflammation and imbalance between endothelial injury and repair in patients with psoriasis are associated with preclinical atherosclerosis.
No full textBACKGROUND:
Systemic inflammation and imbalance between endothelial injury and repair, the latter referred to as vascular incompetence, are associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk. Psoriasis, an inflammatory disease of the skin, has been associated with atherosclerosis. We investigated whether, in psoriasis, inflammation and vascular incompetence are associated with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) irrespective of metabolic syndrome and other established cardiovascular risk factors.
METHODS:
High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), the ratio between endothelial microparticles (EMPs) and progenitors (EPCs), a marker of vascular incompetence, and cIMT were measured in 84 patients with psoriasis and 90 healthy controls, balanced for age, gender and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome.
RESULTS:
Patients with psoriasis had higher hsCRP, EMP/EPC ratio and cIMT than controls. Patients with both psoriasis and metabolic syndrome had the highest hsCRP levels, psoriasis and metabolic syndrome being associated with a 3.1- and 2.6-fold increased risk of having high hsCRP levels, respectively. Logarithm transformed hsCRP and EMP/EPC ratio were predictors of high cIMT (odds ratio 3.8; 95% confidence interval 1.3-11.4; p = 0.02 and odds ratio 8.7; 95% confidence interval 2.7-27.5; p < 0.001, respectively) regardless of confounders. Patients with high hsCRP and EMP/EPC ratio had higher cIMT than those with none or at least one of risk variable.
CONCLUSIONS:
Patients with psoriasis have an increased burden of cardiovascular risk, including inflammation, vascular incompetence and early atherosclerosis. Increased hsCRP levels, possibly sustained by the inflammatory nature of psoriasis and metabolic syndrome, and vascular incompetence are associated with early carotid atherosclerosis, regardless of metabolic syndrome and other established cardiovascular risk factors
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score and preclinical vascular damage in morbidly obese patients
No full textBackground: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly related with enhanced morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease. In obese patients with both NAFLD and features of the metabolic syndrome, the cardiovascular risk is further increased.
Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between severity of liver fibrosis evaluated by NAFLD fibrosis score (NAFLD-FS), Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), other obesity-related markers and preclinical atherosclerosis in morbidly obese patients with previously diagnosed NAFLD.
Methods: Laboratory parameters, visceral fat area (VFA), flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), intima-media thickness (IMT), HOMA-IR and NAFLD-FS were determined in 196 morbidly obese patients.
Results: Patients with higher NAFLD-FS or HOMA-IR show higher left max-IMT and lower FMD (p<0.001). VFA and NAFLD-FS, but not HOMA-IR, were independent predictors of reduced FMD (respectively. beta-0.268, p = 0.001 and. beta-0.165, p = 0.039, p of the model < 0.001) and increased left max-IMT (respectively beta 0.165, p = 0.031 and beta 0.301, p < 0.001, p of the model < 0.001).
Conclusions: In morbidly obese patients, NAFLD-FS correlates with markers of early vascular damage. NAFLD-FS, easier to obtain than VFA, seems to be a better score than HOMA-IR to categorize such subjects who are potentially at risk of future cardiovascular events. (C) 2016 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Role of new adipokines in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in morbidly obese subjects
No full textRELAZIONE TRA NAFLD FIBROSIS SCORE E DANNO VASCOLARE PRECOCE IN PAZIENTI CON OBESITà D’ALTO GRADO
No full textIntroduzione. La steatosi epatica non alcolica (NAFLD, Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Desease) è definita dalla presenza di un ampio spettro di condizioni cliniche, che vanno dalla steatosi semplice alla steatoepatite non alcolica, in soggetti con anamnesi negativa per consumo di alcool. L’obesità è la condizione più frequentemente associata alla NAFLD: circa l’80% dei pazienti con obesità grave sono affetti da NAFLD con prevalenze particolarmente elevate delle
sue forme più severe. Studi recenti hanno evidenziato una correlazione positiva tra NAFLD ed aterosclerosi subclinica in pazienti affetti da diabete di tipo 2, individuando l’insulino-resistenza (IR) come base patogenetica comune.
L’obiettivo del nostro studio è stato quello di valutare, in pazienti affetti da obesità d’alto grado, l’eventuale associazione tra i principali markers di danno vascolare precoce (aumento dello spessore medio-intimale carotideo [IMT], riduzione della vasoattività flusso mediata [VFM]) e NAFLD Fibrosis Score (indicatore basato su parametri quali BMI, diabete, piastrine, AST, ALT, albumina e comunemente
impiegato per stimare la probabilità di sviluppare forme avanzate di NAFLD) in relazione all’entità di IR
On-treatment C-reactive protein and HDL cholesterol levels in patients at intermediate cardiovascular risk: impact on carotid intima-media thickness.
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Full text link“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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe 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
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