1,720,957 research outputs found
Subnormal prolactin responsiveness to thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) in women with primary empty sella syndrome.
No full textBasal prolactin (PRL) levels and PRL responsiveness to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) were studied in 10 women with primary empty sella (PES) syndrome (mean age 38.2 yr). Hyperprolactinemia (34 to 72 ng/ml) was found in 5 patients (hyperprolactinemic PES, H-PES), whereas 5 patients showed normal (9.5 to 19 ng/ml) PRL levels (normoprolactinemic PES, N-PES). The results were compared with those obtained in 10 healthy women (mean age 32.8 yr, PRL = 7 to 15 ng/ml) and in 8 women with a PRL-secreting pituitary microadenoma (MA) (mean age 37.5 yr, PRL = 39 to 85 ng/ml). The mean basal levels of PRL were significantly higher in patients with H-PES (50.8 +/- 13.2 ng/ml) or MA (64.0 +/- 18.3 ng/ml) than in the control group (10.9 +/- 2.6 ng/ml, p less than 0.02) and in the patients with N-PES (13.9 +/- 3.7 ng/ml, p less than 0.02). In contrast, the relative maximum response (RMR) of PRL to TRH (peak PRL/basal PRL) was significantly lower in the patients with PES (both H-PES and N-PES) or MA (1.4 +/- 0.4, 2.3 +/- 0.7 and 1.2 +/- 0.2, respectively) than in the control subjects (3.6 +/- 1.1; p less than 0.02, less than 0.05 and less than 0.02, respectively). Our results show that the pituitary responsiveness to the acute stimulation with TRH is significantly decreased both in patients with a PRL-secreting pituitary MA and in those with PES. Therefore, the clinical value of the TRH test in distinguishing the PES syndromes from prolactinomas seems to be questionable
Metabolic alterations, aggressive hormone-naïve prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease: A complex relationship
Full text linkBackground: Epidemiological studies suggest a possible relationship between metabolic alterations, cardiovascular disease and aggressive prostate cancer, however, no clear consensus has been reached. Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze the recent literature and summarize our experience on the association between metabolic disorders, aggressive hormone-naïve prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease. Method: We identified relevant papers by searching in electronic databases such as Scopus, Life Science Journals, and Index Medicus/Medline. Moreover, we showed our experience on the reciprocal relationship between metabolic alterations and aggressive prostate cancer, without the influence of hormone therapy, as well the role of coronary and carotid vasculopathy in advanced prostate carcinoma. Results: Prostate cancer cells have an altered metabolic homeostatic control linked to an increased aggressivity and cancer mortality. The absence of discrimination of risk factors as obesity, systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and inaccurate selection of vascular diseases as coronary and carotid damage at initial diagnosis of prostate cancer could explain the opposite results in the literature. Systemic inflammation and oxidative stress associated with metabolic alterations and cardiovascular disease can also contribute to prostate cancer progression and increased tumor aggressivity. Conclusions: Metabolic alterations and cardiovascular disease influence aggressive and metastatic prostate cancer. Therefore, a careful evaluation of obesity, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, systemic arterial hypertension, together with a careful evaluation of cardiovascular status, in particular coronary and carotid vascular disease, should be carried out after an initial diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma
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
The Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition as a Possible Therapeutic Target in Fibrotic Disorders
No full textFibrosis is a chronic and progressive disorder characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix, which leads to scarring and loss of function of the affected organ or tissue. Indeed, the fibrotic process affects a variety of organs and tissues, with specific molecular background. However, two common hallmarks are shared: the crucial role of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and the involvement of the inflammation process, that is essential for initiating the fibrotic degeneration. TGF-β in particular but also other cytokines regulate the most common molecular mechanism at the basis of fibrosis, the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). EMT has been extensively studied, but not yet fully explored as a possible therapeutic target for fibrosis. A deeper understanding of the crosstalk between fibrosis and EMT may represent an opportunity for the development of a broadly effective anti-fibrotic therapy. Here we report the evidences of the relationship between EMT and multi-organ fibrosis, and the possible therapeutic approaches that may be developed by exploiting this relationship
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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