1,720,957 research outputs found
Anticancer Effects of Lebanese Cannabis Oil Against in vivo and in vitro Models of Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Get PDFCannabis sativa L. has a long history of use in traditional medicine for various ailments as an analgesic, anticonvulsant, hypnotic, tranquilizer, and anti-inflammatory agent. Emerging evidence in preclinical studies has also demonstrated the anticancer effect of cannabinoids, which are the major components of the plant. Recent findings established the importance of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the maintenance of skin homeostasis. Hence, the current study aims to investigate the potential chemotherapeutic effects of Lebanese Cannabis sativa oil extract (COE) on in vivo and in vitro squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) models, and to determine its underlying mechanism of action. GCMS analysis of COE revealed the presence of two major cannabinoids, CBD (59.1%) and THC (20.2%). Cell proliferation assay (MTS) of COE-treated tumorigenic human epidermal keratinocytes (HaCaT-ras) showed a significant dose and time dependent cytotoxicity with IC50 of 19, 11 and 8 g/mL at 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively. Flow cytometry on COE-treated HaCaT cells demonstrated an induction of apoptotic cell death. Western blot analysis confirmed the involvement of apoptosis via both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways and implicated an additional alteration in autophagy. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection assay did not show a significant involvement of oxidative stress in the cytotoxicity of COE. The anti-tumor effect of COE was also evaluated using a DMBA/TPA skin carcinogenesis mouse model. Intraperitoneal treatment of mice with COE (10, 25 or 50 mg/kg; 9 weeks) showed a non-significant decrease in tumor volume with respect to control, without adverse effects on liver and kidney function. In conclusion, COE displayed a promising anticancer activity against SCC cells, by triggering apoptosis and causing alterations in autophagy. These findings highlight the need for additional studies to investigate the role of COE in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma.1 online resource (xvi, 72 leaves): ill. (some col.)Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-72
Infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus acidominimus
Get PDFPurpose
A case of infective endocarditis caused by Streptococcus acidominimus is reported.
Summary
An 81-year-old Caucasian man underwent an elective transcatheter aortic valve implantation due to his severe aortic valve stenosis. He presented to the hospital 3 weeks later with a 1-week history of fever (39ºC) that did not resolve following a 3-day course of azithromycin and a 5-day course of ciprofloxacin. Three sets of blood sample cultures were taken. Empirical antimicrobial treatment was initiated to target gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms and consisted of vancomycin 1 g intravenous (i.v.) every 12 hours and imipenem–cilastatin 500 mg i.v. every 6 hours. After 48 hours, the blood culture was positive for S. acidominimus. The strain was sensitive to ampicillin, cephalosporins, tetracycline, and vancomycin. It was resistant to penicillin, macrolides, trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, and fosfomycin. Transesophageal echocardiography showed a small mobile vegetation attached to the anterior mitral valve leaflet, along with mild mitral regurgitation. The patient was diagnosed with native mitral valve infective endocarditis, and imipenem–cilastatin was discontinued. The patient showed clinical and laboratory improvement during his 2-week hospitalization. A peripherally inserted central catheter was put in place, and the patient was discharged on i.v. vancomycin to complete a total of 6 weeks treatment, after which the infection resolved.
Conclusion
An 81-year-old man diagnosed with mitral valve endocarditis caused by S. acidominimus was successfully treated with vancomycin.PublishedN/
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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