1,720,963 research outputs found
Association between specific plasma ceramides and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes
No full textAIM: Emerging evidence suggests that specific plasma ceramides are involved in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other inflammation-associated diseases. However, only scanty information is currently available on the association between distinct plasma ceramides (those associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality) and plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a group at high risk of developing CVD and other chronic inflammation-related conditions. METHODS: Previously, six high-risk plasma ceramide species [Cer(d18:1/16:0), Cer(d18:1/18:0), Cer(d18:1/20:0), Cer(d18:1/22:0), Cer(d18:1/24:0), Cer(d18:1/24:1)] were identified in 92 postmenopausal women with T2DM attending a diabetes outpatients service over a 3-month period. Plasma ceramide levels were measured using targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay. RESULTS: Plasma hs-CRP levels were positively associated with all measured ceramides on univariable linear regression analyses, but only plasma Cer(d18:1/16:0) (standard β coefficient: 0.27, P = 0.015), Cer(d18:1/22:0) (standard β coefficient: 0.25, P = 0.032) and Cer(d18:1/24:1) (standard β coefficient: 0.30, P = 0.007) remained significantly associated with increased plasma hs-CRP levels after adjusting for age, adiposity measures, diabetes duration, HbA1c, insulin resistance, smoking, hypertension, plasma LDL cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate, preexisting ischaemic heart disease and use of lipid-lowering, antihypertensive, antiplatelet or hypoglycaemic drugs. CONCLUSION: In postmenopausal women with T2DM, elevated levels of specific plasma ceramides are associated with higher plasma hs-CRP levels independent of established cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes-related variables and other potential confounding factors
STEATOEPATITE NON ALCOLICA E FIBROSI EPATICA IN UNA CASISTICA DI PAZIENTI OBESI SOTTOPOSTI A CHIRURGIA BARIATRICA
Full text linkObiettivi dello studio: Valutare la prevalenza di epatopatia steatosica non alcolica (NAFLD) ed in particolare di steatoepatite non alcolica (NASH) e fibrosi epatica in pazienti con obesità grave, che sono candidati ad intervento di chirurgia bariatrica. E’ stato inoltre valutato l’andamento delle transaminasi plasmatiche, adiponectina e di alcuni scores non invasivi di fibrosi epatica avanzata dopo 6 e 12 mesi dall’intervento chirurgico.Popolazione e Metodi: Abbiamo studiato un campione di 28 pazienti affetti da obesità grave (75% donne, età mediana 41 anni, BMI mediano 45 kg/m2), che sono stati sottoposti ad intervento in elezione di sleeve gastrectomy (19 pazienti) o bypass gastrico (9 pazienti). In tutti i pazienti sono stati eseguiti accertamenti metabolici (incluso 2-h clamp euglicemico iperinsulinemico) al baseline ed è stata eseguita una biopsia epatica durante l’intervento chirurgico. Nessuno di questi pazienti aveva un eccessivo consumo di alcoolici né una precedente storia di cirrosi e/o altre epatopatie croniche note.Risultati: Dei 28 pazienti inclusi nello studio, 16 (57%) hanno soddisfatto i criteri istologici per una diagnosi di NASH, mentre i restanti 12 (43%) pazienti non avevano NASH al baseline. Di questi 12 pazienti privi di NASH alla biopsia, 8 pazienti avevano steatosi macrovescicolare di grado lieve o severo (NAFL), mentre solo 4 pazienti (pari al 14.3% del campione totale) erano esenti da NAFLD alla biopsia epatica. Per quanto riguarda il grado di fibrosi epatica, 4 pazienti (14.3%) non avevano fibrosi (stadio F0), 14 (50%) pazienti avevano fibrosi moderata (F2) e 10 (35.7%) avevano “bridging fibrosis” (F3). Nessuno dei pazienti aveva cirrosi epatica precedentemente misconosciuta (F4). Quando i pazienti venivano suddivisi sulla base della presenza/assenza di NASH e/o della severità di fibrosi epatica (F3 vs. F0-2), i due gruppi di pazienti erano comparabili per età, sesso e le principali variabili biochimiche esaminate, incluso transaminasi, APRI index, FIB-4 score e sensibilità insulinica (M-clamp). L’intervento chirurgico induceva, sia dopo 6 che 12 mesi, un marcato calo ponderale ed una significativa riduzione dei livelli circolanti di adiponectina in entrambi i gruppi. Al contrario, i valori di transaminasi e gli scores non invasivi di fibrosi epatica avanzata non hanno mostrato alcuna significativa variazione dopo 6 e 12 mesi dall’intervento chirurgico in nessuno dei gruppi di pazienti considerati (NASH vs. no-NASH e F3 vs. F0-2).Conclusioni: Nei nostri pazienti con obesità grave, candidati a chururgia bariatrica, la NAFLD è una patologia assai comune (essendo presente in circa 85% del campione) ed è già presente anche nelle sue forme istologiche più severe (NASH nel 57% dei casi e fibrosi avanzata nel 35.7% dei casi), pur rimanendo queste forme spesso clinicamente silenti (o pauci-sintomatiche) e senza accompagnarsi a significative alterazioni delle transaminasi circolanti e degli scores non-invasivi di fibrosi avanzata. Questi dati suggeriscono la necessità di una diagnosi precoce e tempestiva delle forme più severe della NAFLD (che sono quelle associate ad un maggior rischio di progressione verso la cirrosi e l’epatocarcinoma) in tutti i soggetti obesi che vengono sottoposti a chirurgia bariatrica (da eseguirsi almeno in fase intra-operatoria)
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
Evolocumab and lipoprotein apheresis combination therapy may have synergic effects to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: A case report
Full text linkA 49 years old woman (weight 68 kg, BMI 27.3 kg/m2 ) with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) and multiple statin intolerance with muscle aches and creatine kinase elevation, presented at the Outpatient Lipid Clinic of Verona University Hospital in May 2015. Hypercholesterolemia was firstly diagnosed during adolescence, followed in adulthood by a diagnosis of Cogan's syndrome, a rheumatologic disorder characterized by corneal and inner ear inflammation. No xanthomas, corneal arcus, or vascular bruits were detectable at physical examination. Screening for macrovascular complications did not reveal relevant damages. Ongoing medical therapy included salicylic acid, methylprednisolone, methotrexate, and protonic-pump inhibitor. In the absence of specific lipid-lowering therapy, plasma lipid levels at first visit were: total-cholesterol = 522 mg/dL, LDL-cholesterol = 434 mg/dL, HDL-cholesterol = 84 mg/dL, triglycerides = 120 mg/dL, Lp(a) = 13 mg/dL. On December 2015, evolocumab 140 mg sc every 2 weeks was initiated. After a 24-week treatment, the LDL-cholesterol levels decreased by an average of 21.2% to 342 ± 22 mg/dL (mean ± SD). On May 2016, LDL-apheresis (H.E.L.P.system) was started as add-on therapy. Compared to the average levels obtained during the evolocumab monotherapy period, the LDL-cholesterol was reduced by 49.4%, thus reaching an inter-apheresis level (mean ± SD) of 173 ± 37 mg/dL. This report suggests that a combination therapy with evolocumab and lipoprotein-apheresis may have synergic effects on circulating lipid levels. Its relevance as a highly effective treatment option for hyperlipidemia in HeFH patients warrants further investigation in larger datasets
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