1,721,042 research outputs found
Role of transcription factors in the pathogenesis of asthma and COPD
No full textInflammation is a central feature of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite recent advances in the knowledge of the pathogenesis of asthma and COPD, much more research on the molecular mechanisms of asthma and COPD are needed to aid the logical development of new therapies for these common and important diseases, particularly in COPD where no effective treatments currently exist. In the future the role of the activation/repression of different transcription factors and the genetic regulation of their expression in asthma and COPD may be an increasingly important aspect of research, as this may be one of the critical mechanisms regulating the expression of different clinical phenotypes and their responsiveness to therapy, particularly to anti-inflammatory drugs
Ruolo delle infezioni virali nelle riacutizzazioni asmatiche.
No full textIt is widely recognised that viral infections are the most frequent causes of asthma exacerbations both in children and in adults, being rhinovirus the most frequent identified virus. Despite optimised therapy, as suggested by International Guidelines, asthma exacerbations still occur Several data documents that rhinovirus is able to infect and replicate at lower airway epithelial level and is able to induce features of asthma including eosinophilic airway inflammation and to increase bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Furthermore, a recent study documented that asthmatic patients have an increased susceptibility of lower respiratory airways to rhinovirus infections that leads to increased lower respiratory tract symptoms compared to normal subjects. Further studies are needed to elucidate the complex immunological mechanisms that lead to asthma exacerbation after respiratory tract viral infection. Increasing the knowledge of these mechanisms will indeed offer new pharmacological targets t..
FN3K expression in COPD: a potential comorbidity factor for cardiovascular disease (vol 7, e000714, 2020)
No full textCorrection: FN3K expression in COPD: a potential comorbidity factor for cardiovascular disease - January 01, 2021
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
FN3K expression in COPD: a potential comorbidity factor for cardiovascular disease
Amr Alderawi1, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9807-327XGaetano Caramori2, Emma H Baker3, Andrew William Hitchings4, Irfan Rahman5, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3470-3233Christos Rossios6, Ian Adcock6, Paolo Casolari7, Alberto Papi7, Victor E Ortega8, Jeffrey L Curtis9, Simon Dunmore1 and Paul Kirkham1,6
Correspondence to Professor Paul Kirkham; [email protected]
Abstract
Introduction Cigarette smoking and oxidative stress are common risk factors for the multi-morbidities associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Elevated levels of advanced glycation endproducts (AGE) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) comorbidity and mortality. The enzyme fructosamine-3-kinase (FN3K) reduces this risk by lowering AGE levels.
Methods The distribution and expression of FN3K protein in lung tissues from stable COPD and control subjects, as well as an animal model of COPD, was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Serum FN3K protein and AGE levels were assessed by ELISA in patients with COPD exacerbations receiving metformin. Genetic variants within the FN3K and FN3K-RP genes were evaluated for associations with cardiorespiratory function in the Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD Study cohort.
Results This pilot study demonstrates that FN3K expression in the blood and human lung epithelium is distributed at either high or low levels irrespective of disease status. The percentage of lung epithelial cells expressing FN3K was higher in control smokers with normal lung function, but this induction was not observed in COPD patients nor in a smoking model of COPD. The top five nominal FN3K polymorphisms with possible association to decreased cardiorespiratory function (p<0.008–0.02), all failed to reach the threshold (p<0.0028) to be considered highly significant following multi-comparison analysis. Metformin enhanced systemic levels of FN3K in COPD subjects independent of their high-expression or low-expression status.
Discussion The data highlight that low and high FN3K expressors exist within our study cohort and metformin induces FN3K levels, highlighting a potential mechanism to reduce the risk of CVD comorbidity and mortality
Role of viral infections in asthma exacerbations
No full textIt is widely recognised that viral infections are the most frequent causes of asthma exacerbations both in children and in adults, being rhinovirus the most frequent identified virus. Despite optimised therapy, as suggested by International Guidelines, asthma exacerbations still occur Several data documents that rhinovirus is able to infect and replicate at lower airway epithelial level and is able to induce features of asthma including eosinophilic airway inflammation and to increase bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Furthermore, a recent study documented that asthmatic patients have an increased susceptibility of lower respiratory airways to rhinovirus infections that leads to increased lower respiratory tract symptoms compared to normal subjects. Further studies are needed to elucidate the complex immunological mechanisms that lead to asthma exacerbation after respiratory tract viral infection. Increasing the knowledge of these mechanisms will indeed offer new pharmacological targets to treat and prevent to asthma exacerbations
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
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