1,720,997 research outputs found
The Use of Microbial Modifying Therapies to Prevent Psoriasis Exacerbation and Associated Cardiovascular Comorbidity
Full text link: Psoriasis has emerged as a systemic disease characterized by skin and joint manifestations as well as systemic inflammation and cardiovascular comorbidities. Many progresses have been made in the comprehension of the immunological mechanisms involved in the exacerbation of psoriatic plaques, and initial studies have investigated the mechanisms that lead to extracutaneous disease manifestations, including endothelial disfunction and cardiovascular disease. In the past decade, the involvement of gut dysbiosis in the development of pathologies with inflammatory and autoimmune basis has clearly emerged. More recently, a major role for the skin microbiota in establishing the immunological tolerance in early life and as a source of antigens leading to cross-reactive responses towards self-antigens in adult life has also been evidenced. Gut microbiota can indeed be involved in shaping the immune and inflammatory response at systemic level and in fueling inflammation in the cutaneous and vascular compartments. Here, we summarized the microbiota-mediated mechanisms that, in the skin and gut, may promote and modulate local or systemic inflammation involved in psoriatic disease and endothelial dysfunction. We also analyze the emerging strategies for correcting dysbiosis or modulating skin and gut microbiota composition to integrate systemically existing pharmacological therapies for psoriatic disease. The possibility of merging systemic treatment and tailored microbial modifying therapies could increase the efficacy of the current treatments and potentially lower the effect on patient's life quality
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
Role of Natural Compounds in Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Linked to Cardiometabolic Disorders: From Biochemical Aspects to Clinical Evidences
No full textThe most cost-effective preventive approach still remains diet and physical activity, also in people without a history of cardiovascular disease. However, lifestyle programs are often difficult to follow for long periods of time, and changes in dietary habits and physical activity sometimes are not enough to reduce risk parameters, such as hypercholesterolemia. In this context, an everyday approach utilizing dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, phytochemicals, and functional foods could improve blood lipid profile in humans and protect cells from oxidative stress and from damage related to inflammatory conditions. Since the prevention of cardiometabolic disorders is a fundamental strategy to decrease hospitalization and the health apparatus costs, a nutraceutical treatment could be, at least in part, a possible weapon to use. In this context, the scientific community has to adequately define the tolerability and safety of dietary supplements, either nutraceuticals or botanicals, as well as understand the precise mechanisms of actions and the risk/benefit ratio related to their assumption.
This special issue offers a selected and articulated overview of the examined topics. It contains seven papers, and the details were listed as follows:
J.-F. Feng et al. explored the therapeutic mechanism of Dioscorea nipponica (DN), a medicinal plant used to treat myocardial ischemia (MI), identifying the metabolites generated by intestinal microflora from DN and their cardioprotective efficacy. Results demonstrated that diosgenin, the main metabolite produced by rat intestinal microflora from DN, protects the myocardium against ischemic insult through increasing enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant levels in vivo and by decreasing oxidative stress damage.
J. Tian et al. reviewed the use of herbal medicines for diabetes treatment, to prevent cardiovascular complications. Molecules and signal transduction pathways were critically analyzed, and specific effects of several compounds were highlighted.
Novel pharmacological targets have been investigated by Z. Wang et al. Original data indicated that TRPA1 might be an alternative pharmacological target to mitigate the detrimental cardiac effects induced by doxorubicin. Using an animal model, they demonstrated that blockage of TRPA1 can prevent cardiomyocyte apoptosis, reducing inflammation and oxidative and ER stress.
J. Tian et al. showed that Ginkgo biloba leaf extract (GBE) significantly attenuated cardiomyocyte apoptosis, collagen deposition, and inflammation in diabetic mice via inhibition of the p-JNK, CHOP, and caspase-12 pathways, as well as decreasing the serum levels of the proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α). Blood glucose and lipid profiles were also regulated. These results suggested that GBE might be beneficial in the treatment of diabetic myocardial injury.
K.-H. Cho et al. studied policosanol with in vitro, in vivo (in female subjects), and ex vivo experiments to provide more substantial and concrete data on blood pressure-lowering effect. They showed that consumption of policosanol for 8 weeks in healthy female subjects lowered blood pressure and CETP activity via elevation of HDL/apoA-I contents and enhancement of HDL functionalities, including cholesterol efflux and insulin secretion, thus contributing to the prevention of aging-related diseases, hypertension, and stroke.
V. Valli et al. evaluated the changes in the expression of adipogenic markers (C/EBPα, PPARγ variant 1 and variant 2, and GLUT4) in 3T3-L1 murine preadipocytes at four stages of the differentiation process and compared the effectiveness of sulforaphane, genistein, and docosahexaenoic acid in reducing lipid accumulation and modulating C/EBPα, PPARγ1, PPARγ2, and GLUT4 mRNA expression in mature adipocytes, showing that all bioactive compounds suppress adipocyte differentiation. Since obesity is characterized by excess body fat accumulation due to an increase in size and number of differentiated mature adipocytes, these results confirmed that several natural food constituents could be used as important agents in preventing or treating obesity.
N. Calabriso et al. exploited the role of hydroxytyrosol (HT), a well-known olive oil antioxidant on mitochondrial oxidative stress in phorbol myristate acetate- (PMA-) challenged endothelial cells. They observed that HT blunts endothelial dysfunction and pathological angiogenesis by ameliorating mitochondrial function, thus suggesting HT as a potential mitochondria-targeting antioxidant in the inflamed endothelium. The guest editors hope that the information provided in this special issue is useful and offers a scientific profile of the effects of some dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, and phytochemicals on cardiovascular diseases linked to oxidative stress and inflammation.
Finally, we would like to thank the authors for an excellent contribution of their research works, and we also very warmly acknowledged the reviewers for an excellent contribution of their valuable review results
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
The use of nutraceuticals to counteract atherosclerosis: The role of the Notch pathway
Full text linkDespite the currently available pharmacotherapies, today, thirty percent of worldwide deaths are due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), whose primary cause is atherosclerosis, an inflammatory disorder characterized by the buildup of lipid deposits on the inside of arteries. Multiple cellular signaling pathways have been shown to be involved in the processes underlying atherosclerosis, and evidence has been accumulating for the crucial role of Notch receptors in regulating the functions of the diverse cell types involved in atherosclerosis onset and progression. Several classes of nutraceuticals have potential benefits for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis and CVDs, some of which could in part be due to their ability to modulate the Notch pathway. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge on the role of Notch in vascular health and its modulation by nutraceuticals for the prevention of atherosclerosis and/or treatment of related CVDs
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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