1,721,027 research outputs found
Immunology of sarcoidosis: old companions, new relationships
Full text linkPURPOSE OF REVIEW: The immune determinants of granuloma formation and disease progression in sarcoidosis have not been completely disclosed, and the role of both innate and the adaptive immunity is still under investigation. RECENT FINDINGS: M2 macrophage polarization, previously thought to be a specific feature of a progressing and fibrosing disease, has been related to the initial steps of granuloma formation both in animal and in-vitro models. The dysregulation of specific metabolic pathways and autophagy has been associated with disease activity and progression. T cells have been reported to be strongly influenced by a macrophage-driven microenvironment and more dangerous when acquiring hybrid phenotypes (e.g. Th17.1) or even becoming anergic, leading to disease chronicization. Locally released serum amyloid A was suggested to induce a more pro-inflammatory Th17 transcription program. The possible role of in-situ humoral immunity and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells has also been highlighted. SUMMARY: Evidence points at microenvironment and cell functional features rather than cell polarization or differentiation as determinants of pathogenesis. In terms of therapeutic implications, future advances will rely on molecular disease profiling, aiming at personalized and combined therapeutic approaches
Health-related quality of life in common variable immunodeficiency Italian patients switched to remote assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic
Full text linkBackground: A rapidly expanding pandemic of the new coronavirus has become the focus of global scientific attention. Data are lacking on the impact of the pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on health-related quality of life among patients affected by primary antibody deficiencies (PADs). Objective: To identify factors impacting the health-related-quality of life (HRQOL) among Italian patients affected by PADs switched to remote assistance at the time of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Methods: The quality of life was surveyed in 158 patients with PADs by the Common Variable Immune Deficiency Quality of Life questionnaire, a disease-specific tool, and by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, a generic tool to assess the risk of anxiety/depression. Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, we shifted all patients with PADs to home therapy, and activated remote visits. Questionnaires were sent by email 4 weeks later. Common Variable Immune Deficiency Quality of Life questionnaire and 12-item General Health Questionnaire data scores were compared with the same set of data from a survey done in 2017. Results: Of 210 patients, 158 (75%) agreed to participate. The quality of life was worse in the group of patients who were at risk of anxiety/depression at the study time. HRQOL was similar in patients forced to shift from hospital-based to home-based immunoglobulin treatment and in patients who continued their usual home-based replacement. The risk of anxiety/depression is associated with pandemia caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and with patients' fragility, and not with related clinical conditions associated with common variable immune deficiencies. Anxiety about running out of medications is a major new issue. Conclusions: The coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic impacted HRQOL and the risk of anxiety/depression of patients with PADs. The remote assistance program was a useful possibility to limit personal contacts without influencing the HRQOL
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
Olfactory Function Is Impaired in Patients with Mastocytosis
No full textBackground: Mastocytosis is a clinically heterogeneous disorder associated with abnormal mast cell accumulation in different organs. No data are available as regards the assessment of olfactory function and its association with mastocytosis. Objective: The aim of the study was first to investigate odor threshold, discrimination, and identification in patients with mastocytosis compared with age-matched healthy controls (HC), and furthermore, to correlate olfactory function with the other clinical symptoms of mastocytosis. Methods: Eighty-one participants were enrolled: 41 patients with mastocytosis (23 males and 18 females; mean age, 47.95 years; standard deviation [SD], 14.7 years) were compared with 40 HC (23 males and 17 females; mean age, 47.88 years; SD, 14.6 years). Olfactory function among participants was evaluated using the “Sniffin’ Sticks” test for odor detection threshold (OT), odor discrimination (OD), and odor identification (OI). Results: Patients with systemic mastocytosis showed a significant decrease in the total olfactory function (Threshold-Discrimination-Identification [TDI] score), OT, OD, and OI compared with HC. A significant negative correlation was observed only between TDI score and serum tryptase concentration (μg/L). No correlation was observed between disease duration versus OT, OD, OI, and TDI score. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the olfactory function is impaired in patients compared with HC; a significant negative correlation was found between TDI score and the level of serum tryptase. Olfactory dysfunction in mastocytosis may be considered among the clinical manifestations contributing to the burden of this disease
Subcutaneous ig replacement therapy in primary and secondary hypogammaglobulinemia: A retrospective single centre study of 203 patients
No full textAre neutrophil-, eosinophil-, and basophil-to-lymphocyte ratios useful markers for pinpointing patients at higher risk of recurrent sinonasal polyps?
No full textPurpose. Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), their recurrence rate remains significant. There is a need for promptly-obtainable, inexpensive, minimally-invasive prognostic parameters to enable rhinologists to identify patients at higher risk of recurrent CRSwNP. The prognostic role of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and eosinophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (ELR), previously discussed as potential markers of inflammation, has already been investigated in CRSwNP.
The aim of the present study was to test the prognostic value of the NLR and ELR, and also of the basophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (BLR) (given the emerging role of basophils in CRSwNP) in a large series of CRSwNP.
Materials and Methods. The study concerned 240 patients who underwent FESS for CRSwNP from 2009 to 2014 and had a postoperative follow-up longer than 12 months. We considered patients with recurrences as those with endoscopic evidence of at least grade I polyposis.
Results. In our series, the mean NLR, ELR and BLR were significantly higher in patients whose disease recurred than in those remaining recurrence-free (p=0.03, p=0.0001, and p=0.0002, respectively), but the discriminatory power of the NLR, ELR, or BLR in terms of disease recurrence was unacceptable (AUCs = 0.600, 0.678, and 0.662, respectively).
Conclusions. The heterogeneous prognostic role of NLR, ELR and BLR identified in the clinically and pathologically different sub-cohorts of CRSwNP considered supports the hypothesis that CRSwNPs with a similar clinical picture may differ considerably in terms of the biological and pathogenic mechanisms of polyp formation and growth
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