1,720,976 research outputs found
The Leaky Gut and Human Diseases: "Can't Fill the Cup if You Don't Plug the Holes First"
No full textBackground: The gut barrier is a sophisticated and dynamic system that forms the frontline defense between the external environment and the body's internal milieu and includes various structural and functional components engaged not only in digestion and nutrient absorption but also in immune regulation and overall health maintenance. Summary: When one or more components of the intestinal barrier lose their structure and escape their function, this may result in a leaky gut. Mounting evidence emphasizes the crucial role of the gut microbiome in preserving the integrity of the gut barrier and provides insights into the pathophysiological implications of conditions related to leaky gut in humans. Assessment of intestinal permeability has evolved from invasive techniques to noninvasive biomarkers, but challenges remain in achieving consensus about the best testing methods and their accuracy. Research on the modulation of gut permeability is just starting, and although no medical guidelines for the treatment of leaky gut syndrome are available, several treatment strategies are under investigation with promising results. Key messages: This review discusses the composition of the intestinal barrier, the pathophysiology of the leaky gut and its implications on human health, the measurement of intestinal permeability, and the therapeutic strategies to restore gut barrier integrity
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
Gut--liver axis: the impact of gut microbiota on non alcoholic fatty liver disease
No full textAIM:
To examine the impact of gut microbiota on non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) pathogenesis.
DATA SYNTHESIS:
Emerging evidence suggests a strong interaction between gut microbiota and liver. Receiving approximately 70% of its blood supply from the intestine, the liver represents the first line of defence against gut-derived antigens. Intestinal bacteria play a key role in the maintenance of gut-liver axis health. Disturbances in the homeostasis between bacteria- and host-derived signals at the epithelial level lead to a break in intestinal barrier function and may foster "bacterial translocation", defined as the migration of bacteria or bacterial products from the intestinal lumen to mesenteric lymph nodes or other extraintestinal organs and sites. While the full repertoire of gut-derived microbial products that reach the liver in health and disease has yet to be explored, the levels of bacterial lipopolysaccharide, a component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, are increased in the portal and/or systemic circulation in several types of chronic liver diseases. Derangement of the gut flora, particularly small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, occurs in a large percentage (20-75%) of patients with chronic liver disease. In addition, evidence implicating the gut-liver axis in the pathogenesis of metabolic liver disorders has accumulated over the past ten years.
CONCLUSIONS:
Complex metabolic diseases are the product of multiple perturbations under the influence of triggering factors such as gut microbiota and diet, thus, modulation of the gut microbiota may represent a new way to treat or prevent NAFLD
Vitamin B12 supplementation improves rates ofsustained viral response in patients chronicallyinfected with hepatitis C virus
No full textBackground In vitro, vitamin B12 acts as a natural
inhibitor of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication.
Objective To assess the effect of vitamin B12 on
virological response in patients with chronic HCV
hepatitis naı ̈ve to antiviral therapy.
Methods Ninety-four patients with chronic HCV
hepatitis were randomly assigned to receive pegylated
interferon a plus ribavirin (standard-of-care; SOC) or SOC
plus vitamin B12 (SOC+B12). Viral responsednamely,
undetectable serum HCV-RNA, was evaluated 4 weeks
after starting treatment (rapid viral response), 12 weeks
after starting treatment (complete early viral response)
and 24 or 48 weeks after starting treatment (end-oftreatment
viral response) and 24 weeks after completing
treatment (sustained viral response (SVR)). Genotyping
for the interleukin (IL)-28B polymorphism was performed
a posteriori in a subset (42/64) of HCV genotype
1 carriers.
Results Overall, rapid viral response did not differ
between the two groups, whereas the rates of complete
early viral response (p1⁄40.03), end-of-treatment viral
response (p1⁄40.03) and SVR (p1⁄40.001) were
significantly higher in SOC+B12 patients than in SOC
patients. In SOC+B12 patients, the SVR rate was also
significantly higher in carriers of a difficult-to-treat
genotype (p1⁄40.002) and in patients with a high baseline
viral load (p1⁄40.002). Distribution of genotype IL-28B did
not differ between the two groups. At multivariate
analysis, only easy-to-treat HCV genotypes (OR1⁄49.00;
95% CI 2.5 to 37.5; p1⁄40.001) and vitamin B12
supplementation (OR1⁄46.9; 95% CI 2.0 to 23.6;
p1⁄40.002) were independently associated with SVR.
Conclusion Vitamin B12 supplementation significantly
improves SVR rates in HCV-infected patients naı ̈ve to
antiviral therapy
Ultrasonography-Based Management of Sclerosing Mesenteritis: From Diagnosis to Follow-Up
No full text: Sclerosing mesenteritis (SM) is an idiopathic disorder affecting mesentery, characterized by fat necrosis, chronic inflammation and fibrosis. The clinical presentation varies from asymptomatic cases to acute abdomen. The diagnosis is suggested by imaging but can be definitely established only by biopsies. In this paper, we discuss ultrasonography-based management of SM
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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