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Proteomic (HLPC-ESI-MS) study of salivary peptides and proteins in patients with Sjögren's syndrome. before and after pilocarpine
Full text linkOBIETTIVI. Studiare l'effetto della Pilocarpina sulla composizione proteica salivare in soggetti
affetti da sindrome di Sjögren primitiva (pSS) e comparare il profilo proteico dei soggetti affetti da
pSS con soggetti sani di controllo e pazienti affetti da sindrome di Sjögren secondaria (sSS). E’
stata inoltre ricercata la presenza di immunopeptidi, come le defensine e le timosine, allo scopo di
descriverne l’eventuale presenza e l’abbondanza relativa nella saliva di soggetti affetti da SS e di
valutarne il possibile ruolo come biomarker di malattia e/o di infiammazione.
METODI. Sono stati analizzati campioni di saliva di 9 pazienti affetti da pSS, 9 sSS e 10 soggetti
sani mediante High Performance Liquid Chromatography e Mass Spectrometer-Electrospray
Ionization Source. In 6 pazienti con pSS sono stati raccolti campioni di saliva anche dopo 30, 60
minuti e 24 ore dall’assunzione di 5 mg di Pilocarpina.
RISULTATI. Nei campioni basali, più del 50% delle proteine salivari di origine ghiandolare
analizzate risultavano non rilevabili all’indagine spettrometrica o mostravano livelli
significativamente più bassi nei pazienti con pSS rispetto ai soggetti sani. I pazienti con sSS
mostravano un profilo di proteine salivari intermedio tra i pazienti con pSS ed i soggetti di
controllo. Circa un terzo delle proteine meno rappresentate nei pazienti con pSS al basale
risultavano rilevabili con frequenza simile ai controlli dopo 60 minuti dall’assunzione di
Pilocarpina. Tutte le proteine con livelli significativamente più bassi al basale rispetto ai controlli
raggiungevano livelli simili ai soggetti sani dopo 30 minuti dall’assunzione di Pilocarpina. La
migliore risposta al farmaco è stata osservata tra le proteine di origine parotidea. I pazienti con pSS
erano inoltre caratterizzati da alti livelli di α-defensina 1 e dalla presenza di β-defensina 2, peptidi di
origine neutrofilica ed epiteliale rispettivamente, con funzioni antimicrobiche. Mentre la β-timosina
4, peptide strutturale con proprietà antinfiammatorie e riparatrici, risultava rilevabile in quasi tutti i
soggetti sani e nei pazienti, la β-timosina 10, è stata riscontrata nella maggior parte dei pazienti con
pSS e in un terzo dei soggetti con sSS; non era invece evidenziabile in nessuno dei soggetti sani.
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CONCLUSIONI. Il nostro studio ha dimostrato come la Pilocarpina, farmaco secretagogo agonista
colinergico, che si riteneva aumentare solo la quota fluida della secrezione salivare, sia invece in
grado di ripristinare parzialmente i livelli ed il numero delle proteine salivari ridotte in corso di
sindrome di Sjögren. L’ α-defensina 1, la β-defensina 2 e la β-timosina 10 potrebbero essere
considerati biomarker di infiammazione orale nei pazienti con pSS.Saliva is a complex fluid composed of a variety of electrolytes, metabolites, nucleotides,
polynucleotides and proteins; it plays an important role in the maintenance of oral health (1). The
rate of salivary protein secretion is controlled mainly by noradrenalin that is released from the
sympathetic terminals and acts through the β-adrenergic receptors, while the rate of fluid and
electrolyte secretion is controlled by acetylcholine, released from the parasympathetic terminals and
acting through the muscarinic cholinergic receptors (2). A large number of systemic agents has been
proposed as secretagogues, but only a few have shown consistent salivary secretion enhancing
properties in well-designed trials. Among cholinergic agonists, pilocarpine is the most effective for
protein secretion in rat (3), having also a mild β-adrenergic stimulating properties, but a few data
have been reported in humans. Pilocarpine has been shown to improve symptoms of oral dryness
and to increase salivary output in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) (4), a chronic
autoimmune disorder of the exocrine glands with associated lymphocytic infiltrates and consequent
dryness of mouth and eyes (5). Saliva composition in pSS patients has been found to be different
from normal subjects (6). However the pattern of salivary gland proteins in patients with pSS is not
completely defined with regard to its composition, mainly in relation to low-molecular-weight
components as acidic and basic proline-rich proteins (PRPs), statherins and cystatins, as well as
defensins, which are immunopeptides of epithelial and neutrophilic origin, and thymosins, G-actinsequestering
peptides with immuno-regulatory properties. In particular there are no data concerning
the effects of pilocarpine on salivary protein profile in pSS patients. Moreover there are no studies
on the possible differences in salivary protein profile between pSS and Sjögren’s syndrome
associated to other rheumatic diseases (sSS)
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
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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