1,720,966 research outputs found
An investigation into the effects of short-chain fatty acids on primary and transformed urothelial cells in relation to their potential as an intravesical agent in the neobladder
No full textColocystoplasty has an important role in bladder reconstructive surgery. However it can be affected by chronic inflammation and excessive mucous production which may lead to urinary tract infectioh, stone formation and occasionally malignant.transformation. We postulate that changes in the colonic segment within the augmentation are affected by a condition known as diversion colitis, which is found in bowel segnients diverted away from the faecal stream. The aetiology ofthis condition is a luminal deficiency ofshort chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are produced by bacterial fermentation ofdietary fibre and include butyrate, propionate and acetate. Studies have shown that they are the colonocytes' preferred energy substrate and have an important role in colonic mucosal health andprevention of malignant transformation. The purpose ofthis study was to investigate the effect ofSCFAs on the bladder which is an .important consideration when contemplating intravesical therapy in colocystoplasty. Using monolayer cell cultures ofboth primary urothelial cells and urothelial cancer cell lines the effects of SCFAs were inves~igated. The MIT (3-[4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; thiazolyl blue) cytotoxicity assay was employed to study cell growth. Fluorescence microscopy with acridine orange and flow cytometry were used to study apoptosis and the cell cycle. It was found that all three SCFAs inhibit cell growth, induce apoptosis and induce cell cycle arrest. Butyrate had the' most potent effect in vitro followed by propionate and then acetate. To assess the significance ofthese results in vivo, intravesical instillation of SCFAs was performed in a rodent model which demonstrated no significant adverse effects both histologically and on urothelial cell turnover.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
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
Technical and imaging outcomes from the UK registry of prostate artery embolization (UK-ROPE) study: Focusing on predictors of clinical success
No full textINTRODUCTION: The UK Registry of Prostate Artery Embolization (UK-ROPE) was a prospective, multicentre study comparing PAE against surgical therapies for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). A wealth of data was collected supplementary to the main study outcomes which provide a snapshot of UK PAE practice. We aimed to interpret these data in the hope of providing insight into factors which affect clinical outcome and radiation dose.METHODS: 216 patients (mean age 66, mean IPSS 21.3) undergoing PAE at 20 British centres from July 2014 to January 2016 were prospectively followed up to 12 months with retrospective analysis of the data. Technical outcome was evaluated based on procedural and fluoroscopy times, skin dose and dose area product (DAP). Clinical outcome was evaluated through collection of Qmax, IPSS reduction and prostate volume reduction. Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to assess the significance of various patients and procedural factors on clinical outcome and patient dose.RESULTS: Significant predictors of technical outcome which affected patient skin dose included severity of CTA-detected atheroma (p < 0.001), the practitioner (p < 0.001) and use of protective coil embolization (p = 0.019). Predictors of clinical outcome included initial prostate size (dichotomized into groups > 80 ml and = <80 ml, d = 1, p = 0.0138), embolic agent (spherical particles < 300 nm performed best, p = 0.01) and number of arteries embolized (IPSS reduction of 32.9% in unilateral PAE versus 54.4% for bilateral PAE, p = 0.026).CONCLUSION: We have identified several important factors which are associated with improved clinical outcome and increased patient dose which we hope will facilitate optimal patient selection and encourage improved embolization technique.</p
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
- …
