1,721,453 research outputs found
CardioMetabolic medicine, one more last step forward
No full textSince the concept of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was firstly formalized by Professor Reaven in 1988, insulin resistance was identified as the underlying common factor driving the associated cardiovascular (CV) risk. Ten years later the World Health Organization attempted to provide a comprehensive definition in order to identify and treat these high-risk individuals.1 Some argued that a mere factional clash would then drive the evolution of this definition, swinging between the will to promote or dilute the role of insulin resistance. On the contrary, such debate led to a critical revision of MetS paradigm and paved the way for the current knowledge on CardioMetabolic risk.2 Nevertheless, some shortcomings still undermine the effective consensus around this definition, so that even Reaven himself has come to wonder if MetS diagnosis is really necessary.
SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and lockdown in a Northern Italy hospital. Comparison with Scandinavian no-lockdown country
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PCSK9 and Inflammation: Their Role in Autoimmune Diseases, with a Focus on Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
No full textDespite a clear epidemiological link between autoimmune disease and cardiovascular (CV) risk exists, pathophysiological explanations are extremely complex and far from being elucidated. Dysregulation of metabolic pathways and chronic low-grade inflammation represent common pathways, but CV risk still remains underestimated in patients with autoimmune diseases. Among different candidate mediators, pro-protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is attracting growing attention, due to a combined effect on lipid metabolism and inflammatory response. Studies on PCSK9 inhibitors have established a clear benefit on CV outcome without an established effect on inflammation. Conversely, evidence from sepsis and HIV infection strongly supports a pro-inflammatory role of PCSK9. Still, the role of PCSK9 in autoimmune diseases is uncertain. So far, reported clinical findings are controversial and likely reflect the poor knowledge of PCSK9 activity on monocyte/macrophage migration and activation. The complex signaling network around PCSK9 synthesis and metabolism may also have a role, especially concerning the involvement of scavenger receptors, such as CD36. Such complexity in PCSK9 signaling seems particularly evident in autoimmune disease model. This would also potentially explain the observed independency between lipid profile and PCSK9 levels, the so-called “lipid paradox”. In this narrative review, we will summarize the current knowledge about the complex network of PCSK9 signaling. We will focus on upstream and downstream pathways with potential implication in autoimmune disease and potential effects of PCSK9 inhibiting strategies
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
Data management for coin finds and archaeological context in the Naples-Velia area
No full textI recenti scavi nelle aree archeologiche di Pompei e Velia hanno restituito un'enorme quantità di monete, attualmente in fase di studio da parte dei numismatici del Dipartimento di Scienze per i Beni Culturali dell'Università di Salemo.
L'articolazione dei contesti e dei materiali offre elementi per comprendere le dinamiche economiche delle due città, anche in relazione ad altre realtà locali: se il caso di Pompei riguarda una città priva di una propria moneta, Velia è caratterizzata da una zecca in attività fino alla fine del I a. C.
La ricerca, che parte dallo studio e dall'interpretazione delle specie monetali e dei loro contesti di rinvenimento, mette in luce quelle che sono le criticità della gestione di una grande quantità di dati e informazioni e della loro elaborazione.
A questo proposito, si è resa necessaria la gestione informatizzata dei dati, supportata anche dall'implementazione del sistema Numishare, attualmente in fase di sperimentazione. Lo scopo è quello di integrare i dati per l'interpretazione delle monete come reperti archeologici, sulla base delle informazioni relative alla natura e alle condizioni dei contesti. Questo approccio permette di raggiungere sia gli obiettivi della ricerca con la sistematizzazione della documentazione disponibile, l'interpretazione della natura dei ritrovamenti e delle caratteristiche della produzione e della circolazione delle monete, sia le esigenze di tutela. e valorizzazione, grazie all'accesso a documentazione non altrimenti disponibile e spesso sepolta nei depositi archeologici
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