1,720,967 research outputs found
Effects of modified wheat gluten aministration in patioents with celiac disease:results of a double-blindgluten-controlled clinical trial
No full textCulture of gastric biopsies in celiac disease and its relationship with gastritis and Helicobacter pylori infection
No full textBACKGROUND: Celiac disease (CD) is a gluten-related multisystemic disorder. Duodenal biopsy organ culture is a reliable supporting tool for CD diagnosis and can reveal specific immunological activation in many intestinal tracts.
AIM: we investigated the gastric gluten-dependent immunological activation in CD, compared to duodenum. Gastric cultural results were also compared with histology and HP findings.
METHODS: 18 patients with suspected CD and HP infection underwent EGD. Biopsies from duodenum (bulb and second portion) and gastric antrum were collected for histology and organ culture system.
RESULTS: all patients were diagnosed with CD and gastritis. Nine out of 18 (50%) patients were HP-positive. EMA and anti-tTG were positive in 18/18 (100%) cultures from duodenum, as well as in 17/18 (94.4%) gastric cultures. Anti-tTG were higher in duodenal cultures than in gastric ones (p <0.05). Anti-tTG in gastric cultures were similar in HP-positive and HP-negative patients. Nine out of 17 (53%) patients with positive EMA in gastric culture were HP-positive and 8/17 (47%) were HP-negative. No significant difference in EMA gastric culture results was observed between HP-positive and HP-negative patients.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data reveal an involvement also of stomach in CD. HP seems to not affect anti-tTG and EMA results in gastric cultures
Relationship between nickel allergic contact mucositis and nickel-rich diet in symptomatic women suffering from endometriosis
No full textBACKGROUND: Nickel (Ni) is a ubiquitous element in nature and the gastrointestinal tract is an important route of exposure for humans. Once ingested, alimentary Ni often results in the allergic contact mucositis (ACM). Ni ACM is an emerging gastrointestinal disorder involving a type IV delayed hypersensitivity reaction and has an estimated prevalence that exceeds 30% of the general population. The resulting Ni-induced low-grade inflammation may present with both IBS-like symptoms and extra-intestinal manifestations. Gastrointestinal symptoms are also present in many women with endometriosis and Ni allergic contact dermatitis has already been observed in these women. Therefore, intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms complained in endometriosis may depend on a Ni ACM. What is more, a low-Ni diet could suggestively improve symptoms.
AIM: We wanted to study the prevalence of Ni ACM in women with symptomatic endometriosis and focus on the effects of a low-Ni diet on gastrointestinal, extra-intestinal and gynecological symptoms in these patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We consecutively recruited 34 women of fertile age (range 23-47 years, mean age 35 years) with endometriosis, symptomatic for gastrointestinal disorders. Sixteen out of 34 patients completed the study. They underwent Ni oral mucosa patch test (omPT), low-Ni diet and questionnaire for intestinal, extra-intestinal and gynecological symptoms. Clinical evaluation was performed at baseline (T0) and after 3 months (T1).
RESULTS: Fourteen out 16 (87.5%) patients showed Ni omPT positive results, with Ni ACM diagnosis, whereas 2 out of 16 (12.5%) patients showed negative Ni omPT. After 3 months of low-Ni diet, all gastrointestinal, extra-intestinal and gynecological symptoms showed a statistically significant reduction (p <0.05) or a downward trend.
CONCLUSIONS: Given the resulting high prevalence of Ni sensitivity and the significant clinical benefit obtained from a low-Ni diet, Ni-rich foods may be triggers of gastrointestinal, extra-intestinal and gynecological symptoms complained by women with endometriosis
Simultaneous detection of IgA/IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase/deamidated gliadin peptides in serodiagnosis of celiac disease
No full textBackground: Celiac disease is a common autoimmune disorder that is diagnosed based on clinical case identification, serological screening, and duodenal histology. However, the existence of mild clinical forms, such as seronegative cases with patchy atrophy and potential celiac disease, can make it difficult to determine a definitive diagnosis. The seronegative patients with celiac disease can include those with discordant antibody results and false-negative results, due to unknown origins or selective IgA deficiency. Case presentation: We present two cases with discordant antibody results in order to evaluate if the simultaneous detection of specific antibodies can improve the serodiagnosis of celiac disease. In both patients, the simultaneous detection of IgA/IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase/deamidated gliadin peptides gave discordant positive results by the same antibodies assayed individually. Conclusion: Although further studies are needed to confirm and extend our findings, the simultaneous detection of specific antibodies seems to improve the serodiagnosis of celiac disease in patients with discordant antibody results
Extension of the celiac intestinal antibody (CIA) pattern through eight antibody assessments in fecal supernatants from patients with celiac disease
No full textBackground: Detection of anti-transglutaminase, anti-endomysium and anti-gliadin antibodies is commonly used to screen celiac disease patients. Besides that in serum, these antibodies are detectable in culture supernatants of oral, duodenal and colonic biopsy samples, saliva, gut lavage fluid samples, and fecal supernatants. Our aim was to extend the intestinal antibody pattern in fecal supernatants from patients with celiac disease.
Methods: The fecal supernatants obtained from 25 celiac disease patients and 12 healthy volunteers were used to determine IgA and IgG1 anti-endomysium by immunofluorescence analysis, IgA and IgG anti-transglutaminase, IgA and IgG anti-deamidated gliadin peptides, IgA/IgG anti-transglutaminase/deamidated gliadin peptides and IgA anti-actin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: IgA anti-endomysium were found in 11 of 25 (44.0%) celiac disease patients and in none of healthy volunteers (p=0.0066). The levels of IgA anti-transglutaminase, IgA anti-deamidated gliadin peptides, IgA/IgG anti-transglutaminase/deamidated gliadin peptides and IgA anti-actin determined in celiac disease patients were significantly higher (p=0.0005, p=0.0018, p=0.0061 and p=0.0477, respectively) than those measured in healthy volunteers. The ROC curve analysis showed a diagnostic significance in IgA anti-transglutaminase (AUC=0.862, p<0.0001), IgA anti-deamidated gliadin peptides (AUC=0.822, p<0.0001) and IgA/IgG anti-transglutaminase/deamidated gliadin peptides (AUC=0.783, p=0.0003) fecal tests.
Conclusions: Our data extend the intestinal antibody pattern detectable in fecal supernatants, thus increasing the knowledge in the humoral immunity of celiac disease. Further studies are needed to better evaluate the role of fecal antibody tests in identifying celiac disease patients
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
A life cycle assessment study on the stabilization/solidification treatment processes for contaminated marine sediments
Full text linkContaminated marine sediment management strategies involves in situ and ex situ options for preventing pollutants from re-entering the water column, thus becoming available to benthic organisms and subsequently entering aquatic food chains. These pollution abatement strategies can cause significant secondary environmental impacts which in some cases have been considered to be even higher than the primary ones. This study aims at identifying and quantifying through life cycle assessment (LCA) the environmental impacts of the application of Stabilization/Solidification (S/S) options for the remediation of contaminated marine sediments from the Mar Piccolo in Taranto (Southern Italy). The analysis considers all the stages involved in marine sediments processing (dredging, transport, storage, treatment, safe disposal of the treated sediments) but focuses on several S/S options (4 S/S mixes with cement and 4 mixes with lime). These S/S options were tested at lab scale with different results in immobilizing heavy metals and organic pollutants. The LCA suggests that the ex-situ treatment could contribute to improving the current situation and that the marine sediments S/S operation generates a complex environmental profile which is dominated by the treatment phase, which in turn shows that optimization of this stage could lower these impacts
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
- …
