1,721,645 research outputs found
Valutazione del profilo di espressione genica in pazienti psoriasici in terapia con Etanercept
No full textT cell responses in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
No full textAccording to the current view the histological features of psoriasis arise as a consequence of the interplay between T cells, dendritic cells and keratinocytes giving rise to a self-perpetuating loop that amplifies and sustains inflammation in lesional skin. In particular, myeloid dendritic cell secretion of IL-23 and IL-12 activates IL-17-producing T cells, Th22 and Th1 cells, leading to the production of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-17, IFN-γ, TNF and IL-22. These cytokines mediate effects on keratinocytes thus establishing the inflammatory loop.Unlike psoriasis the immunopathogenic features of psoriatic arthritis are poorly characterized and there is a gap in the knowledge of the pathogenic link between inflammatory T cell responses arising in the skin and the development of joint inflammation.Here we review the knowledge accumulated over the years from the early evidence of autoreactive CD8 T cells that was studied mainly in the years 1990s and 2000s to the recent findings of the role of Th17, Tc17 cells and γδ T cells in psoriatic disease pathogenesis. The review will also focus on common and distinguishing features of T cell responses in psoriatic plaques and in synovial fluid of patients with psoriatic arthritis.The integration of this information could help to distinguish the role played by T cells in the initiation phase of the disease from the role of T cells as downstream effectors sustaining inflammation in psoriatic plaques and potentially leading to disease manifestation in distant joints
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
Melanocortin peptides inhibit urate crystal-induced activation of phagocytic cells
Full text linkIntroduction The melanocortin peptides have marked antiinflammatory
potential, primarily through inhibition of
proinflammatory cytokine production and action on phagocytic
cell functions. Gout is an acute form of arthritis caused by the
deposition of urate crystals, in which phagocytic cells and
cytokines play a major pathogenic role. We examined whether
alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and its
synthetic derivative (CKPV)2 influence urate crystal-induced
monocyte (Mo) activation and neutrophil responses in vitro.
Methods Purified Mos were stimulated with monosodium urate
(MSU) crystals in the presence or absence of melanocortin
peptides. The supernatants were tested for their ability to induce
neutrophil activation in terms of chemotaxis, production of
reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs), and membrane
expression of CD11b, Toll-like receptor-2 (TLR2) and TLR4. The
proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-8, and tumor
necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and caspase-1 were determined
in the cell-free supernatants. In parallel experiments, purified
neutrophils were preincubated overnight with or without
melanocortin peptides before the functional assays.
Results The supernatants from MSU crystal-stimulated Mos
exerted chemoattractant and priming activity on neutrophils,
estimated as ROI production and CD11b membrane
expression. The supernatants of Mos stimulated with MSU in the
presence of melanocortin peptides had less chemoattractant
activity for neutrophils and less ability to prime neutrophils for
CD11b membrane expression and oxidative burst. MSU crystalstimulated
Mos produced significant levels of IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α,
and caspase-1. The concentrations of proinflammatory
cytokines, but not of caspase-1, were reduced in the
supernatants from Mos stimulated by MSU crystals in the
presence of melanocortin peptides. Overnight incubation of
neutrophils with the peptides significantly inhibited their ability to
migrate toward chemotactic supernatants and their capacity to
be primed in terms of ROI production.
Conclusions α-MSH and (CKPV)2 have a dual effect on MSU
crystal-induced inflammation, inhibiting the Mos' ability to
produce neutrophil chemoattractants and activating
compounds and preventing the neutrophil responses to these
proinflammatory substances. These findings reinforce previous
observations on the potential role of α-MSH and related
peptides as a new class of drugs for treatment of inflammatory
arthritis
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
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