1,720,967 research outputs found
Olodaterol + tiotropium bromide for the treatment of COPD
No full textPatients suffering from COPD not controlled by a single bronchodilator should be given two bronchodilators with different mechanisms of action. Addition of a LABA to a LAMA induces a larger bronchodilation than that obtained with the LAMA as monotherapy and also improves many patient-reported outcomes. Since the clinical-functional sign regarding simultaneous use of tiotropium, which is still the dominant LAMA, and olodaterol was very strong, the combination of these two bronchodilators has been developed as FDC delivered via a single inhaler (Respimat) with the aim of simplifying the treatment regimen and improving patient adherence to treatment. The large TOviTO program of Phase III clinical trials that is involving more than 15,000 patients with different levels of COPD severity worldwide and includes several clinical studies is documenting the efficacy and safety of tiotropium/olodaterol FDC as maintenance therapy in patients with moderate to very severe COPD
Targeting systemic inflammation: novel therapies for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
No full text1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 inhibits CD40L-induced proinflammatoryand immunomodulatory activity in Human Monocytes
No full textCD40 ligand (CD40L) stimulation induces proinflammatory and immunomodulatory activity in monocytes.
Here, we report on the effects of the steroid hormone 1a,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D3) on
human blood monocytes that have been stimulated with the CD40L ligand. Co-treatment of CD40L-stimulated monocytes with 1,25D3 resulted in reduced production and secretion of tumor necrosis factor
(TNF)-a and interleukin (IL)-1b, as well as in reduced expression of the surface co-stimulatory molecules
CD80 and CD86. In addition, costimulation of CD4+ T lymphocytes by monocytes co-treated with CD40L
and 1,25D3 resulted in reduced cell proliferation and diminished interferon (IFN)-c but enhanced IL-10
production by CD4+ T cells. Finally, 1,25D3 interfered with the ability of CD40L to rescue monocytes from
apoptosis induced by serum withdrawal. These findings suggest that 1,25D3 may regulate the interaction
of monocytes with T cells or other cell types that express CD40L, thus influencing the outcome of the
immune or inflammatory response
1Alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 inhibits CD40L-induced pro-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity in human monocytes.
No full text
The Time Course of Pulmonary Function Tests in COPD Patients with Different Levels of Blood Eosinophils
Full text linkOnly very few studies have investigated the influence of eosinophils on the functional progression of COPD. We aimed at retrospectively analyzing the trend of pulmonary function tests over time in patients with COPD according to two baseline blood eosinophil cell count strata (<2% [EOS-] and ≥2% [EOS+]). We used the last 9-year data present in the database of our outpatient clinic and selected only those who had two blood counts that would guarantee the stability of the value of eosinophils and serial spirometry for 4 consecutive years. The analysis of the time course of the spirometric variables analysed showed differences in FEV1 and FVC decline between the subjects of the EOS- group and those of the EOS+ group. The integrated evaluation of our results suggests that the different level of blood eosinophils in the two groups may have influenced independently the time course of the pulmonary function tests and identify two subgroups of subjects with specific disease characteristics: the hyperinflator and the rapid decliner, respectively
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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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