1,720,961 research outputs found
Expression of functional mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) in human T lymphocytes
Get PDFAldosterone plays a key role in controlling blood pressure (BP) values by maintaining body salt, water, and fluid homeostasis. Excess aldosterone production is associated with arterial hypertension, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, partly via generation of an inflammatory state followed by fibrotic changes in the organs that are target of hypertension. Aldosterone exerts genomic effects that are known to involve activation of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). Other aldosterone effects, including those usually defined as 'rapid' or 'non genomic', involve additional receptors as the G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER). To date, the receptor(s) implicated in the inflammatory action of aldosterone in cells of the innate and adaptive immunity are unknown. Considering the potential role of T-lymphocytes in adaptive immunity in arterial hypertension and related hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD), we herein investigated and quantified the expression of the MR and GPER in human CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. Results provided compelling evidence for the presence at the mRNA and protein level and suggest a functional role of these receptors in the two T-lymphocyte subtypes, thus indicating that they can represent a potential target for modulation of steroid hormone-induced inflammation and ensuing HMOD
Case report: Breaking CNS immuno-privilege: TNFα-inhibitor triggers aseptic meningitis in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis
Get PDFBlood-brain barrier dysfunction might be driven by peripheral inflammation. TNF alpha inhibitors (TNF-alpha i) are occasionally associated with a wide spectrum of neurological immuno-mediated disorders. However, patients with systemic autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), might be prone to develop further organ-specific, including central nervous system (CNS), autoimmunity. Here we report the case of a patient, affected by RA and treated with etanercept, who suddenly developed focal neurological symptoms. Cerebrospinal fluid, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET)/MRI findings are reported and support the diagnosis of TNF-alpha i -associated aseptic meningitis
Shaping Rare Granulomatous Diseases in the Lab: How New Models Are Changing the Game
Get PDF: In vitro models serve as valuable tools for understanding the complex cellular and molecular interactions involved in granuloma formation, providing a controlled environment to explore the underlying mechanisms of their development and function. Various models have been developed to replicate granulomatous diseases, even though they may lack the sophistication needed to fully capture the variability present in clinical spectra and environmental influences. Traditional cultures of PBMCs have been widely used to generate granuloma models, enabling the study of aggregation responses to various stimuli. However, growing cells on a two-dimensional (2D) plastic surface as a monolayer can lead to altered cellular responses and the modulation of signaling pathways, which may not accurately represent in vivo conditions. In response to these limitations, the past decade has seen significant advancements in the development of three-dimensional (3D) in vitro models, which more effectively mimic in vivo conditions and provide better insights into cell-cell and cell-microenvironment interactions. Meanwhile, the use of in vivo animal models in biomedical research must adhere to the principle of the three Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) while ensuring that the models faithfully replicate human-specific processes. This review summarizes and compares the main models developed to investigate granulomas, focusing on their contribution to advancing our understanding of granuloma biology. We also discuss the strengths and limitations of each model, offering insights into their biological relevance and practical applications
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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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