1,721,353 research outputs found
Treatable traits in COPD patients.
There is no justification for a therapeutic nihilism in clinical practice because current management (pharmacological and non-pharmacological) of the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) according to treatable traits is effective in decreasing their respiratory symptoms, increasing their exercise tolerance and capacity, improving their quality of life, preventing (and treating) many of their exacerbations and decreasing their mortality
Poxviridae Pneumonia
: Poxviridae family includes several viruses that infecting humans usually causes skin lesions only, but in some cases their clinical course is complicated by viral pneumonia (with or without bacterial superinfections). Historically variola virus has been the poxviridae most frequently associated with the development of pneumonia with many large outbreaks worldwide before its eradication in 1980. It is still considered a biological threat for its potential in biological warfare and bioterrorism. Smallpox pneumonia can be severe with the onset of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. Vaccinia virus, used for vaccination against smallpox exceptionally, in immunocompromised patients, can induce generalized (with also lung involvement) severe disease after vaccination. MPXV virus occasionally can cause pneumonia particularly in immunocompromised patients. The pathophysiology of poxviridae pneumonia is still an area of active research; however, in animal models these viruses can cause both direct damage to the lower airways epithelium and a hyperinflammatory syndrome, like a cytokine storm. Multiple mechanisms of immune evasion have also been described. The treatment of poxviridae pneumonia is mainly based on careful supportive care. Despite the absence of randomized clinical trials in patients with poxviridae pneumonia there are antiviral drugs, such as tecovirimat, cidofovir and brincidofovir, FDA-approved for use in smallpox and also available under an expanded access protocol for treatment of MPXV. There are 2 (replication-deficient modified vaccinia Ankara and replication-competent vaccinia virus) smallpox vaccines FDA-approved with the first one also approved for prevention of MPXV in adults that are at high risk of infection
NK1.1 cells and CD8 T cells mediate the antitumor activity of Cl-IB-MECA in a mouse melanoma model.
Cl-IB-MECA, synthetic A(3) adenosine receptor agonist, is a potential anticancer agent. In this study, we have examined the effect of Cl-IB-MECA in a mouse melanoma model. Cl-IB-MECA significantly inhibited tumor growth in immune-competent mice. Notably, the number of tumor-infiltrating NK1.1(+) cells and CD8(+) T cells was significantly increased in Cl-IB-MECA-treated mice. This effect was correlated with high levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interferon γ in melanoma tissue. Depletion of either CD8(+) T cells or NK1.1(+) cells completely abrogated the antitumor effect of Cl-IB-MECA. Accordingly, Cl-IB-MECA did not affect tumor growth in nude mice. In addition, we also found that the number of mature and active conventional dendritic cells at the tumor site was increased after Cl-IB-MECA administration. Moreover, Cl-IB-MECA significantly increased TNF-α and IL-12p40 release from splenic CD11c(+) cells. In conclusion, our study provides novel insights into the mechanism by which Cl-IB-MECA leads to an effective antitumor response that involves the activation of natural killer cells and CD8(+) T cells and further highlights its therapeutic potential
Fluticasone furoate and vilanterol for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Introduction: Current national and international guidelines for the management of patients with stable
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) recommend the use of inhaled long-acting
bronchodilators, inhaled glucocorticoids and their combinations for maintenance treatment of moderate
to severe stable COPD.
Areas covered: The role of fluticasone furoate (FF) and vilanterol (VI) once daily combination therapy
for the regular treatment of patients with stable COPD is discussed in this review.
Expert commentary: The regular treatment of moderate to severe stable COPD with once daily FF/VI
combination therapy is effective, as seen in in several large placebo-controlled clinical trials involving
many thousands of patients. FF/VI improved lung function, decreased respiratory symptoms and
deceased the number of COPD exacerbations, including COPD-related hospitalizations. FF/VI
combination therapy has also been approved for this indication in most countries. The use of this
combination therapy may significantly decrease the economic costs for some National Health Services
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
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
“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
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
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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