86,601 research outputs found
Role of actin cytoskeleton during mammalian sperm acrosomal exocytosis
No full textMammalian sperm require to undergo an exocytotic process called acrosomal exocytosis in order to be able to fuse with the oocyte. This ability is acquired during the course of sperm capacitation. This review is focused on one aspect related to this acquisition: the role of the actin cytoskeleton. Evidence from different laboratories indicates that actin polymerization occurs during capacitation, and the detection of several actin-related proteins suggests that the cytoskeleton is involved in important sperm functions. In other mammalian cells, the cortical actin network acts as a dominant negative clamp which blocks constitutive exocytosis but, at the same time, is necessary to prepare the cell to undergo regulated exocytosis. Thus, F-actin stabilizes structures generated by exocytosis and supports the physiological progression of this process. Is this also the case in mammalian sperm? This review summarizes what is currently known about actin and its related proteins in the male gamete, with particular emphasis on their role in acrosomal exocytosis.Fil: Romarowski, Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Luque, Guillermina Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: la Spina, Florenza Antonella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Krapf, Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Buffone, Mariano Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentin
Incidence of Surgical Site Infections: Our Experience
No full textISE.334
Incidence of Surgical Site Infections: Our Experience
L. Izzo. M. Caputo, P. Meloni, A. Bolognese, P. Di Cello, P. Izzo, R. Buffone, I. D'Angeli, F. Bisogno, D. Pietrasanta. Policlinic Umberto I - University Hospital, Rome, Italy
Background: The aim of this study is to determine surgical wound infection (SWI) rates in surgical patients using the National nosocomial Infections Surveillance system (NNIS), to monitor current surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis, and to identify possible modifiable risk factors for SWI.
Materials and Methods: Main criteria for hospital wards inclusion were: more than 20 surgical procedures per week, and use amoxycillin/clavulanate (Augmentin) among prophylactic options. Each patient operated from December 1st 2005 to July 31th 2006 was surveyed for 30 days after surgery. SWI cumulative incidence rates and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated.
Results: During the study period, 2068 surgical procedures were performed in 2050 patients. A total of 147 SWI were diagnosed in 142 patients: 82 (57.7"/o) were at superficial incision, 31 (21 .8%) were 81 deep incision and 42 (29.6%) were at organ-space site. Incidence cl SWI every 100 operations was 6.4%. About 86.5% of the operated patients received antimicrobial prophylaxis, mainly with amoxicillin clavulanate (Augmentin) (28.3%) or with imipenem/cilastatin (Tienam) (11.4%). Pre-operative hospital stay> or== 48 h, diabetes, obesity, and HIV/AIDS infection were statistically significantly associated with increased risk of SWI.
Conclusions: The SWI rates found are comparable with European studies and can be a benchmark for national incidence data and for inter- and intra-hospital SWI rate comparisons
Foot Posture Index Does Not Correlate with Dynamic Foot Assessment Performed via Baropodometric Examination: A Cross-Sectional Study
No full textBackground. Clinicians employ foot morphology assessment to evaluate the functionality of the method and anticipate possible injuries. This study aims to correlate static foot posture and the dynamic barefoot evaluation in a sample of healthy adult participants. Methods. The foot posture was evaluated using the Foot Posture Index-6 (FPI-6) and the dynamics were evaluated through baropodometric examination. Two operators independently assessed the participants’ foot posture through FPI-6, and then a dynamic evaluation was performed by asking them to walk 8 times across a platform. One hundred participants (mean age: 32.15 ± 7.49) were enrolled. Results. The inter-rater agreement between the two assessors was found to be excellent. The majority of the feet belonged to the 0 < FPI < 4 class (32%), followed by the 4 < FPI < 8 (31%) and the FPI > 8 ranges (19.5%). Our “area of contact” analysis showed a significant poor correlation between FPI and total foot, midfoot, and the second metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) (−0.3 < r < 0). Regarding “force” parameters, the analysis showed a poor correlation between the midfoot, hallux, and the second toe (−0.2 < r < 2); finally the “pressure” analysis showed a poor correlation between FPI, the fourth MTPJ, and the second toe (−0.2 < rs < 0.3) and a moderate correlation between the hallux (r = 0.374) and the fifth MTPJ (r = 0.427). Conclusions. This study emphasizes the constrained correlation between static foot posture observation and dynamic barefoot examination
A Critical Appraisal of Reporting in Randomized Controlled Trials Investigating Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: A Meta-Research Study
No full textBackground/ObjectivesIn osteopathy, it becomes necessary to produce high-quality evidence to demonstrate its effectiveness. The aim of this meta-research study is to assess the reporting quality of RCTs published in the osteopathic field. Methods: The protocol was preliminarily registered on the "Open Science Framework (OSF)" website. For reporting, we considered the PRISMA 2020 checklist. We included all the RCTs, published between 2011 and 2023, investigating the effectiveness of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) in any possible condition. The search process was conducted on four major biomedical databases including PubMed, Central, Scopus and Embase. A data extraction form was implemented to collect all relevant information. The completeness of reporting was calculated as the percentage of adherence to the CONSORT checklist; the Cochrane ROB 2 tool was considered to assess the risk of bias (RoB) in the following five major domains: randomization (D1), interventions (D2), missing data (D3), outcome measurement (D4), selective reporting (D5). Results: A total of 131 studies were included and the overall adherence was 57%, with the worst section being "other information" (42%). Studies with a lower RoB showed higher adherence to the CONSORT. The "results" section presented the highest differences as follows: D1 (-36.7%), D2 (-27.2%), D3 (-21.5%) and D5 (-25.5%). Significant correlations were also found between the preliminary protocol registration, higher journal quartile, publication in hybrid journals and the completeness of reporting (beta: 19.22, CI: 14.45-24.00, p < 0.001; beta: 5.41; CI: 2.80-8.02, p <= 0.001; beta: 5.64, CI: 1.06-10.23, p = 0.016, respectively). Conclusions: The adherence to the CONSORT checklist in osteopathic RCTs is lacking. An association was found between a lower completeness of reporting and a higher RoB, a good journal ranking, publication in hybrid journals and a prospective protocol registration. Journals and authors should adopt all the strategies to adhere to reporting guidelines to guarantee generalization of the results arising from RCTs
Variations on the Author
No full text“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
[Newspaper Clipping: Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin #1]
No full textNewspaper article titled "Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin." The article states that author Richard J. Whalen concluded "that there is circumstantial evidence to support the theory of a second assassin in the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.
Also By The Same Author: AKTiveAuthor, a Citation Graph Approach to Name Disambiguation
No full textThe desire for definitive data and the semantic web drive for inference over heterogeneous data sources requires co-reference resolution to be performed on those data. In particular, name disambiguation is required to allow accurate publication lists, citation counts and impact measures to be determined. This paper describes a graph-based approach to author disambiguation on large-scale citation networks. Using self-citation, co-authorship and document source analyses, AKTiveAuthor clusters papers, achieving precision of 0.997 and recall of 0.818 over a test group of eight surname clusters
John F. Kennedy telegram to Roosevelt
No full textJersey Homesteads (later the Borough of Roosevelt) was established in the 1930s as an agro-industrial cooperative community. It was established specifically for urban Jewish garment workers, many of whom had emigrated from Europe. President John F. Kennedy sent a telegram to the citizens of Roosevelt, New Jersey, apologizing for not being able to attend the memorial dedication in honor of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (Jersey Homesteads became Roosevelt in 1945 in honor of the president.) President Kennedy expressed his gratitude to the people of Roosevelt for constructing the memorial, and commented that it will serve as a constant reminder of Roosevelt's good works
Serial measurements of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 in the immediate postnatal period: Reference intervals and analysis of maternal and perinatal confounders
No full textBackground: There is a wide range of reported sensitivities and specificities for C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the detection of early-onset neonatal infection. This prompted us to assess reference intervals for CRP and IL-6 during the 48-h period immediately after birth and to identify maternal and perinatal factors that may affect them. Methods: CRP and IL-6 values were prospectively obtained for 148 healthy babies (113 term, 35 near-term) at birth and at 24 and 48 h of life, and from their mothers at delivery. Results: Upper reference limits for CRP at each neonatal age were established. At birth, CRP was significantly lower than at 24 and 48 h of life. Rupture of membranes greater than or equal to 18 h, perinatal distress, and gestational hypertension significantly affected the neonatal CRP dynamics, but at specific ages. There was no correlation between CRP concentrations in mothers and their offspring at birth. The IL-6 values observed in the delivering mothers and in their babies at all three neonatal ages were negatively associated with gestational age. In the immediate postnatal period, IL-6 dynamics for term babies were significantly different from those for near-term babies. Maternal IL-6 concentrations correlated with babies' IL-6 concentrations only for term deliveries. Apgar score had a significant effect on babies' IL-6 values at birth. Conclusions: The patterns of CRP and IL-6 responses in the healthy neonate should be taken into account to optimize their use in the diagnosis of early-onset neonatal sepsis
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