1,720,992 research outputs found
Il dolore e la medicina. Alla ricerca di senso e di cure
No full textRaccolta di saggi sul problema del dolore e del suo significato per la medicina visto da diverse prospettive: medica, filosofica e religiosa. Si insiste in particolare sulla necessità di una medicina che sappia considerare tutta la persona umana, anche nello stesso processo di diagnosi e cura delle malatie, tenendo nella dovuta considerazione l'influenza dei fattori psicologici e spirituali sulla genesi e il decorso delle malattie e sulla loro guarigione
Respiratory response of phagocytes: terminal NADPH oxidase and the mechanisms of its activation
No full textThe chemical composition, properties and activation mechanism of the
O2(-)-forming NADPH oxidase of phagocytes were investigated, using partially
purified enzyme preparations. Highly active NADPH oxidase was extracted as an
aggregate of high Mr from the membranes of neutrophils and macrophages. The
enzyme complex contained phospholipids and cytochrome b-245, very little FAD and
almost no quinones or NAD(P)H-dye reductase activity. The purification of a
polypeptide with a relative molecular mass of 31 500 strictly paralleled the
purification of NADPH oxidase, suggesting that this polypeptide is a component of
the enzyme. This protein was identified as cytochrome b -245 after dissociation
of the proteolipid complex and purification of the cytochrome moiety. The 31 500
Mr protein was phosphorylated in enzyme preparations from activated but not from
resting cells. The results indicate that: cytochrome b-245 is a major component
of NADPH oxidase; the involvement of NAD(P)H dye reductases in the O2(-)-forming
activity is questionable; the cytochrome b-245: FAD ratio in the enzyme complex
is much higher than that indicated in crude preparations; the Mr of pig
neutrophil cytochrome b-245 is 31 500; the activation of the O-2-forming system
involves a process of phosphorylation of cytochrome b-245
Homeopathy and placebo RID C-3728-2011
No full textThe foundation of homeopathic medicine is the 'Similia Principle', also known as the 'Principle of Similarity' or also as the 'Simile', which reflects the inversion of pharmacological effects in healthy subjects as compared with sick ones. This article describes the inversion of effects, a widespread medical phenomenon, through three possible mechanisms: non-linearity of dose-response relationship, different initial pathophysiological states of the organism, and pharmacodynamics of body response to the medicine. Based on the systemic networks which play an important role in response to stress, a unitary and general model is designed: homeopathic medicines could interact with sensitive (primed) regulation systems through complex information, which simulate the disorders of natural disease. Reorganization of regulation systems, through a coherent response to the medicine, could pave the way to the healing of the cellular, tissue and neuro-immuno-endocrine homeodynamics. Preliminary evidence is suggesting that even ultra-low doses and high-dilutions of drugs may incorporate structural or frequency information and interact with chaotic dynamics and physical-electromagnetic levels of regulation. From the clinical standpoint, the 'simile' can be regarded as a heuristic principle, according to which the detailed knowledge of pathogenic effects of drugs, associated with careful analysis of signs and symptoms of the ill subject, could assist in identifying homeopathic remedies with high grade of specificity for the individual case
Mechanism of production of toxic oxygen radicals by granulocytes and macrophages and their function in the inflammatory process
No full textThe paper deals with 1) the features of the respiratory burst (increase of the
respiration with production of O2 metabolites, O2-, H2O2, OH) of the inflammatory
cells; 2) the factors responsible for its activation; 3) the methods for its
measurement; 4) the molecular events which take place at the level of the plasma
membrane following the interaction between the stimuli and the cell surface (the
Ca++ changes, the modification of membrane potential, the activation of
phospholipid turnover) and the hypothesis of the activation of the protein kinase
C; 5) the nature of the NADPH oxidase whose activation is responsible for the
respiratory burst and the production of O2 metabolites; 6) the defensive, toxic,
proinflammatory and modulatory effects due to the reactivity of the oxygen
metabolites
Partial purification of the superoxide-generating system of macrophages. Possibleassociation of the NADPH oxidase activity with a low-potential (-247 mV)cytochrome b
No full textNADPH oxidase activity was solubilized by detergent treatment of subcellular
particles obtained from guinea-pig peritoneal macrophages stimulated with phorbol
myristate acetate. Gel filtration of the material containing the NADPH oxidase
activity gave two peaks of proteins, one of which eluted with the void and the
other with the included volume of an AcA 22 column. The material eluted in the
void volume contained more than 50% of the NADPH oxidase activity and less than
10% of the NAD(P)H cytochrome c reductase activity. A b-type cytochrome with
peaks of absorption at 558, 528 and 426 nm was also enriched in the fraction
which contained the NADPH oxidase activity. The distribution of flavoproteins as
revealed by the measurement of FAD was different from that of NADPH oxidase and
cytochrome b, and followed the elution profile of NADH cytochrome c reductase.
Studies in subcellular particles showed that the b cytochromes of mitochondria
and endoplasmic reticulum reduced by selective biochemical means accounted for
only a minor part of the total b-type cytochromes and that the new cytochrome b
previously described in neutrophils is the major chromophore also in macrophages.
Oxidation-reduction midpoint potential of the partially purified cytochrome b was
shown to be -247 mV. Association of cytochrome b with the NADPH oxidase activity
and its very low Em7.0 makes it a suitable candidate to be part of the
superoxide-generating system also in macrophages
Medicina ufficiale e terapie non convenzionali: dal conflitto all'integrazione?
No full textTentativo di valutazione delle medicine alternative dal punto di vista scientifico e metodologico, in base alle acquisizioni della scienza della complessità, in collaborazione con un gruppo di medici impegnati da anni in questo lavoro
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
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