1,721,031 research outputs found
Nuovi approcci molecolari nello studio della fisiopatologia del diabete gestazionale
Full text linkAbstract research study 1
Cross-talk between foetal membranes and visceral adipose tissue involves HMGB1-RAGE and VIP-VPAC2 pathways in human gestational diabetes mellitus
Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as glucose intolerance that is first diagnosed during pregnancy. Foetal membranes (FMs) and maternal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) secrete various molecules that are relevant players in the pathogenesis of GDM.
Aim: This pilot study aimed to comparatively evaluate the expression of high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) and its receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and its receptors (VPAC1, VPAC2) in FMs and VAT in GDM and in healthy pregnant women.
Patients and Methods: FMs, omental VAT explants, and serum samples were obtained from twelve patients with GDM and twelve pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) at delivery. The expression of HMGB1, RAGE and VIP, VPAC1 and VPAC2 was detected by Western Blotting in explants; circulating levels and in vitro release of HMGB1 and VIP were measured by ELISA tests.
Results: HMGB1 tissue expression was higher in FMs obtained from GDM patients (p=0.02) than in FMs from NGT women. VPAC2 (p=0.03) and RAGE (p=0.03) tissue expressions were significantly increased in VAT from GDM patients compared to NGT. Only FMs of NGT released detectable levels of HMGB1, which was not observed in samples obtained from GDM. VAT of GDM released lower levels of VIP (p=0.05) than NGT samples.
Conclusions: This study suggests that a fine tuned regulation exists between FMs and VAT throughout pregnancy to maintain immune metabolic homeostasis. In GDM a balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators has been observed. Further studies are needed to establish their exact role on foetal and maternal outcomes in GDM.
Abstract research study 2
MicroRNA expression profile in circulating exosomes and plasma of patients with GDM and healthy pregnant women
Introduction: MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs, playing critical roles in modulating gene expression. The deregulation of microRNAs has been observed in GDM, highlighting their crucial involvement both in the pathogenic mechanisms of this condition and in the development of its complications. Circulating microRNAs can be packaged into exosomes, and exosome signalling has emerged as a novel mechanism of cell-to-cell communication. Through exosomes, microRNAs are delivered in distant target cells and are able to affect gene expression.
Aim: The aim of this study was to explore microRNA expression in circulating exosomes and in plasma obtained from patients with GDM and healthy control subjects in the third trimester of gestation, to potentially elucidate some relevant aspects of GDM pathophysiology and individuate novel potential candidate biomarkers for GDM.
Patients and Methods: A profiling cohort of plasma samples collected from GDM (n=3, age: 34.7 ± 4.9 years; BMI 27.0 ± 3.7 Kg/m2) and NGT women (n=3, age: 34.3 ± 3.1 years; BMI 26.4 ± 1.1 Kg/m2) was recruited. In addition, a profiling cohort of healthy non-pregnant age- and BMI-matched women (NP, n=5) was used as negative control. The microRNA patterns of expression in exosomes and plasma have been assessed with the innovative technology NanoString nCounter microRNA expression (NanoString Technologies inc., Seattle, WA, USA). Target gene identification and bioinformatics analysis of the differentially expressed microRNAs have been performed with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA, QIAGEN Redwood City, USA).
Results: A specific set of microRNAs resulted to be differentially expressed in exosomes and plasma from GDM patients compared to NGT. Specifically, five exosomal microRNAs were significantly upregulated, while 23 were downregulated in GDM compared to NGT. As for plasma, 4 microRNA were upregulated, while 9 were downregulated in GDM compared to NGT. In addition, two microRNAs, miR-196a-5p and miR-652, resulted to be significantly downregulated in GDM compared both to NGT and NP in exosomes and plasma, respectively, suggesting that their deregulation might hallmark GDM pregnancy. In bioinformatics analysis the major predicted target genes and biological processes of the deregulated microRNAs were associated with insulin resistance, abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism, consistently linked to GDM pathophysiology.
Conclusions: GDM might markedly alter microRNA profile in exosomes and plasma, conceivably mirroring the metabolic alterations described in GDM pregnancy. In light of this, exploring circulating microRNA expression might help unravel the molecular events leading to the metabolic alterations observed in GDM
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
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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