1,721,017 research outputs found
Characterization of new loops establishing between human malignant mesothelioma (MM) and monocytes/macrophages and evidences about their possible pathological implications
Full text linkIl mesotelioma maligno (MM) è un tumore che si genera sulle membrane sierose dell’organismo. E’ considerato un tumore ad altissima mortalità, ed i più di cento trials clinici in corso e l’atteso incremento di più di 150 volte nella sua incidenza entro il 2050 dovrebbero fornire un’idea del problema che il MM rappresenta oggi. Inoltre, sebbene vi siano ancora incertezza circa i meccanismi carcinogenetici che portano allo sviluppo di tale neoplasia, sono al momento disponibili differenti prove circa la sua attività immunomodulatoria.
Nonostante ciò, comunque, non si ha ancora la conoscenza circa i molti meccanismi molecolari che sottendono all’interazione tra MM e cellule immunitarie che appartengono al lineage monocito/macrofagico. Tali cellule, infatti, hanno probabilmente un ruolo chiave nella patogenesi del MM, e la loro presenza nei foci neoplastici di MM rappresenta molto probabilmente un fattore prognostico negativo.
Sulla base di tali considerazioni, lo scopo della mia ricerca era di valutare le interazioni tra cellule immuni e MM, al fine di evidenziare le relazioni gerarchiche che portavano sia alla deregolazione monocito/macrofagica che all’innesco delle attività pro-tumorali da parte di tali cellule.
In un tale contesto, sono state impiegate sia co-colture che mezzi condizionati al fine di permettere l’instaurarsi di interazioni fra MM e cellule immuni, ed i dati acquisiti mostrano differenti meccanismi attraverso i quali s’instaura la deriva fisiopatologica del fenotipo e della funzione monocito/macrofagico verso quelle che sono chiaramente attività di supporto alla crescita ed all’invasività tumorale.Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a tumor arising on body serousal membranes. It is regarded to as a highly fatal neoplasm, and more than a hundred clinical trials on the run and an expected 150-fold increase in peak incidence within the year 2050 should give an idea of the problem MM represents. Plus, although issues are still pending about the carcinogenic mechanisms leading to the development of such a neoplasm, evidences have been accumulated for its significant immunomodulatory activity.
Despite this fact, however, many molecular mechanisms are still lacking to explain the interactions between mesothelioma and cells belonging to the monocyte/macrophage lineage. These cells, in fact, are likely to play a crucial role in mesothelioma pathogenesis, and their accumulation in mesothelioma foci is very likely to represent a negative prognostic factor.
Basing on these considerations, the aim of my research was to focus on the crosstalk between immune cells and malignant mesothelioma in order to enlighten hierarchical relationships driving both monocyte/macrophage deregulation and the establishment of tumor-supporting activities in immune cells.
In this context, co-cultures and conditioned media have been used to allow interactions between malignant and immune cells, and data have been collected demonstrating different mechanisms determining tumor-induced physiopathological skewing of human monocytes and macrophages phenotypes and functions which clearly support active tumor growth and invasiveness
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
Endomorphin-1 inhibits the activation and the development of a hyporesponsive-like phenotype in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated THP-1 monocytes
No full textEndomorphin-1 (EM-1) is an endogenous opioid peptide selectively binding to It opioid receptors (MORs). Besides its analgesic effects on the central nervous system (CNS), it has been recently reported that EM-1 can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and diffuse into the blood, behaving as an analgesic/anti-inflammatory molecule on peripheral tissues, thus leading to the hypothesis that it could represent a soluble modulator of immune cell functions. Interestingly, nothing is known about its possible effects on monocytes, the main circulating cell-type involved in those systemic responses, such as fever and septic states, involving the release of high amounts of pyrogenic inflammatory factors. The aim of this work is to evaluate possible EM-1effects on lipopolisaccharide (LPS)-stimulated THP-1 monocytes in terms of the production of inflammatory mediators and the instauration of a hyporesponsive-like phenotype which is a main feature of systemic inflammatory responses, and on the development of peripheral monocytes to DC. Our data demonstrate for the first time that EM-1 is able to inhibit both LPS-stimulated monocyte activation, in terms of arachidonic acid, PGE(2), RO1 and NO2 production and instauration of a hyporesponsive phenotype without any macroscopic effect on DC development. These data support the hypothesis that EM-1 could be involved in modulating monocyte functions during systemic inflammatory reactions, also providing new evidence for its eventual clinical application in endotoxic states
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
- …
