1,720,957 research outputs found
The Epigenetic effects of Metals: how the action of mercury goes beyond them.
No full textEpigenetic is the study of modification of the genes leading to the control and regulation of their expression without the involvement of mutagenic events. Epigenetic modifications include DNA methylation, histone modification, RNA regulation, DNA repair, miRNAs-controlled transcription, RNA stability, alternative RNA splicing, protein degradation, gene copy number, and transposon activation; all these processes contribute to the control of gene expression. Primary human keratinocytes (HK), provided by the "Istituto Zooprofilattico di Brescia", were cultured in Epilife Medium supplemented with Keratinocytes supplement, Penicillin and Streptomycin (Sigma). Cells were plated at a density of 1 x 106 in Petri dishes, incubated in a humidified atmosphere of 95% air and 5% CO2 at 37°C and used when 95% confluent. Cells were treated with Mercury Chloride at 10 nM final concentration for 24 hours. In our studies we found that Mercury (HgCl2) was able to inhibit at sub-cytotoxic nanomolar concentrations the gap junction-mediated intercellular communication (GJIC) in cultured Human Keratinocytes determining also reduction of pro-inflammatory interleukins release [3,4]. Furthermore we demonstrated that the Mercury-induced alterations of GJIC were mediated by increased cellular ROS production and reversed by all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) or Lycopene. To note all the Mercury-induced events did not result from any mutagenic effect strengthening the notion that epigenetics is a complex, reversible and multi-faceted/level phenomen
Assessment of Stress Salivary Markers, Perceived Stress, and ShiftWork in a Cohort of Fishermen: A PreliminaryWork
Full text linkDue to work-related stress, today, work itself represents a daily challenge that must be
faced in many occupations. While, in the past, the scientific community has focused on the helping
professions, since, an increasing number of professions have since been investigated. Therefore,
different approaches exist in order to assess this disorder, representing a scientific field wherein
biological and psychological dimensions both need to be evaluated. In this paper, we consider
three biological salivary markers: interleukin 1 beta (IL-1), cortisol, and melatonin. The choice
derives from recent contributions to the literature in which the interplay between these markers
has been verified. Briefly, such interplay could explain how the central nervous, endocrine, and
immune systems communicate with each other, supporting a holistic concept of person. In 30 marine
fishermen from the Apulia region of Italy, perceived stress was measured using the Professional Stress
Scale (PSS) and sleep disturbances were assessed through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).
Salivary markers were collected at 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Those subjects reporting sleep disturbance
and having altered scores in two PSS subclasses, home–work conflict and self-esteem, presented
inverted salivary melatonin and cortisol nictemeral rhythms (with regard to melatonin levels at 8:00
a.m., those workers reporting values higher than the median showed 64.1% versus 48.6% home–work
conflict with respect to cortisol levels, subjects having an inverted circadian rhythm showed 69.9%
versus 52.5% home–work conflict, and these values resulted 47.7% versus 25.3% when the self-esteem
was considered). As regards melatonin, PSQI score is statistically different in the two groups of
subjects as identified by median melatonin at 8:00 a.m.; specifically, the subjects who had mean values
higher than the median shared higher PSQI scores (10.8 versus 9.8). The same subjects reported more
frequent home-work conflict and more sleep disorders. We found a negative correlation between
IL-1 at 8:00 a.m. and Cortdiff (the difference between cortisol at 8:00 a.m.-cortisol at 2:00 p.m.),
and that high IL-1 at 8:00 a.m. was associated with low Cortdiff. Based on our results we would
like to propose this approach in health surveillance, in order to prevent mental and/or physical
disorders, however our study is surely preliminary. The interesting perspectives and hypotheses
cited in this paper, in which the roles of IL-1 and norepinephrine appear central and important,
could remain hypothetical if not supported by more robust observation in order to produce, truly,
new knowledge. In the future we will deepen this study with a larger sample, and if these results
will be confirmed, this approach could allow preventing, not only mental and physical disorders, but
also immuno-mediated diseases, and, perhaps, cancer
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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
