1,721,068 research outputs found
Alopecia areata in a composite tissue (hand) allograft recipient following graft rejection.
No full textConcerns on clinical application of composite tissue allotransplantation
No full textComposite tissue allograft has become a clinical reality: hands, vascularized femoral diaphyses, abdominal walls, a larynx have all been transplanted throughout the world. Conventional immunosuppressive protocol has shown to be sufficient and effective. Rejection has been prevented in most cases and when it did occur it was successfully reversed. Skin has been confirmed as the principal target of acute and chronic rejection. There has been no mortality or early graft losses and, particularly in hand transplantation, the survival graft rate is 91% with a follow-up period ranging from 6 months to 61 months. The side effects of immunosuppression are limited and include primarily transient hyperglycemia, an increase in creatinine values and some opportunistic infections (i.e. cytomegalovirus infection). Nerve regeneration and cortical reorganization have been demonstrated in hand transplantation. Functional results have been encouraging particularly for hand and larynx transplantation. Appropriate indications and patient selection, based particularly on patient motivation and compliance, are essential requirements for composite tissue allograft success
Self-renewal capacity of human epidermal Langerhans cells: observations made on a composite tissue allograft
No full textEpidermal Langerhans cells (LC) are dendritic, antigen-presenting cells residing within mammalian epidermis and mucosal epithelia. When massively depleted, they are replaced by cells of bone-marrow origin. However, their renewal within normal skin under steady-state conditions is not precisely known. We observed that epidermal LC within a human hand allograft remain stable in the long term (10 years) and are not replaced by cells of recipient's origin; furthermore, we observed a Langerhans cell in mitosis within the epidermis 8 years postgraft. These results show that under almost physiological conditions, human LC renew in the epidermis by local mitoses of preexisting cells
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
Absence of c4d deposition in human composite tissue (hands and face) allograft biopsies: an immunoperoxidase study
No full textDeposition of the C4d complement degradation product has been shown to be a marker of antibody-mediated rejection of solid organ allografts, including kidney, heart, liver, and lung. We investigated whether C4d deposition also would be useful in monitoring rejection in human composite tissue allografts. A total of 60 mucocutaneous formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded and four frozen biopsy specimens from four patients with composite tissue allografts (three hands, one face) taken during a period of 7 days to 7 years after graft were immunostained for C4d by an immunoperoxidase and an immunofluorescence technique, respectively. C4d deposition was not found in any of the specimens studied, even though several of them showed pathological signs of rejection. No human leukocyte antigen alloantibodies were detected in any of the patients during the study period. These results suggest that humoral rejection occurs rarely, if at all, in the setting of human composite tissue allografts
Metabolic consequences of pancreatic systemic or portal venous drainage in simultaneous pancreas kidney transplantation
No full textAIMS:
The aim was to investigate pancreatic B-cell function and insulin sensitivity in simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) recipients with systemic or portal venous drained pancreas allograft using simple and easy tests.
METHODS:
The study included 44 patients with Type 1 diabetes and end-stage renal disease who had undergone SPK transplantation: 20 recipients received a pancreas allograft with systemic venous drainage (S-SPK) and 24 with portal venous drainage (P-SPK). We studied only recipients with functioning grafts, with normal serum glucose, HbA(1c) and serum creatinine values, on a stable drug regimen. The subjects were studied at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months after transplantation. Insulin sensitivity and B-cell function indices were derived from blood samples and oral glucose tolerance tests.
RESULTS:
All patients from both groups had normal fasting glucose, body mass index and HbA(1c) values by selection. The homeostatic model (HOMA) beta-cell index was significantly lower in P-SPK recipients at several points of the follow-up. HOMA-IR was significantly higher in S-SPK recipients at 6 and 24 months after transplantation and was positively correlated with fasting insulin values, but never exceeded 3.2. There was no significant difference in QUICKI index values between the two groups. Although all patients from both groups always had normal glucose tolerance, the area under the insulin curve was higher in the S-SPK group. Cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglycerides were higher in the P-SPK group.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results suggest sustained long-term endocrine function in both groups and show that portal venous drainage does not offer major metabolic advantages
Influence of allograft weight to recipient bodyweight ratio on outcome of cadaveric renal transplantation
No full textAIM:
One of the factors that may affect survival and function of kidney graft is its functional mass.
METHODS:
In a prospective study, we investigated the impact of the ratio between donor kidney weight in grams and recipient bodyweight in kilograms (DKW/RBW) on creatinine clearance, inulin clearance, and proteinuria: 154 kidneys from deceased donors were weighed and the mean kidney weight was 227 ± 59 g, the bodyweight of the recipients was 64 ± 19 kg.
RESULTS:
This study showed significant lower values of modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) in patients with DKW/RBW ratio 2.5 g/kg and between 2.5 and 4.5 g/kg compared with those with DKW/RBW ratio >4.5 g/kg as well as in patients with DKW/RBW ratio 4 g/kg; moreover a random coefficient model showed a different time evolution in creatinine clearance values in patients with DKW/RBW ≤ 3 g/kg when compared with patients with DKW/RBW ratio >4 g/kg. There were significant lower values of inulin clearance in patients with DKW/RBW ratio between 2.5 and 4.5 g/kg compared with those with DKW/RBW ratio >4.5 g/kg at 12 post-transplant months and a significantly greater occurrence and earlier appearance of proteinuria in the recipients with DKW/RBW ratio <2.5 g/kg. DKW/RBW ratio did not influence DGF incidence and graft survival. Donor and recipient gender, number of acute rejection episodes and donor age also significantly influenced MDRD values.
CONCLUSIONS:
Measurements of graft weight as well as donor kidney and recipient body matching should be recommended as influencing renal function
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