1,720,963 research outputs found
Innate immunity and the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes
No full textType 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease caused by the immune-mediated destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells occurring in genetically predisposed individuals, with consequent hyperglycemia and serious chronic complications. Studies in man and in experimental animal models have shown that both innate and adaptive immune responses participate to disease pathogenesis, possibly reflecting the multifactorial pathogenetic nature of this autoimmune disorder, with the likely involvement of environmental factors occurring at least in a subset of individuals. As a consequence, components of both innate and adaptive immune response should be considered as potential targets of therapeutic strategies for disease prevention and cure. Here we review the contribution of innate immune response to type 1 diabetes, with a particular emphasis to Toll-like receptors (TLR) and NK cells
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
Viral Infections and diabetes
No full textType 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a multi-factorial autoimmune disease determined by the interaction of genetic, environmental and immunologic factors. One of the environmental risk factors identified by a series of independent studies is represented by viral infection, with strong evidence showing that viruses can indeed infect pancreatic beta cells with consequent effects ranging from functional damage to cell death. In this chapter we review the data obtained both in man and in experimental animal models in support of the potential participation of viral infections to Type 1 diabetes pathogenesis, with a particular emphasis on virus-triggered islet inflammation, beta-cell dysfunction and autoimmunity
Increased expression of microRNA miR-326 in type 1 diabetic patients with ongoing islet autoimmunity
No full textBACKGROUND:
The current paradigm that microRNAs represent a new layer of gene regulation has generated much interest in this field. MicroRNAs have emerged as important regulatory factors involved in the developmental processes and in the regulation of insulin secretion and signalling. Furthermore, recent studies revealed an altered microRNA profiling in lymphocytes of patients with autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, in which a hyperexpression of miR-326 was reported. Here, we analysed the expression levels of miR-326 in peripheral blood lymphocytes from type 1 diabetic (T1D) patients in relationship with ongoing islet autoimmunity.
METHODS:
Peripheral blood lymphocytes were obtained from 19 T1D patients; 4/19 patients were positive for both glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and islet cell antigen 512 autoantibodies; 10/19 were single GAD or IA-2 Ab positive and 5/19 were GAD antibodies and IA-2 antibodies (IA-2A) negative. Quantitative analysis of miR-326 was performed using specific stem-loop primers followed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. All values were normalized to endogenous control U6.
RESULTS:
miR-326 resulted increased in Ab-positive versus Ab-negative T1D subjects. Its expression levels were 2.05±0.38-fold increased in peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients expressing both GADA and IA-2A and 2.93±0.46-fold increased in single Ab-positive versus Ab-negative individuals (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, we have shown that miR-326 is expressed at higher levels in T1D subjects with ongoing islet autoimmunity, similar to what has been observed in multiple sclerosis, in which levels of this microRNA were highly correlated with disease severity. Interestingly, an online search of miR-326 predicted targets revealed vitamin D receptor and Erythroblastosis virus E26 oncogene homologue 1, two molecules highly involved in immune regulation
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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