1,720,956 research outputs found
Datasets for 'Generation of functional hepatocyte 3D discoids in an acoustofluidic bioreactor'
Full text linkThis dataset supports the publication: 'Generation of functional hepatocyte 3D discoids in an acoustofluidic bioreactor' By: Khedr, Mogib; Messaoudi, Walid, Mohamed; Jonnalagadda, Umesh; Abdelmotelb, Ahmed; Glynne-Jones, Peter; Hill, Martyn; Khakoo, Salim I; Abu Hilal, Mohammad. In: Biomicrofluidics</span
Pro-inflammatory actions of human mast cell tryptase: immunopharmacological studies into the role of protease activated receptor 2
No full textPro-inflammatory actions of the exodomain shed from Protease Activated Receptor 2 (PAR-2)
No full textRationale:Activation of PAR-2 by proteases has been implicated as a key mechanism in allergic and other inflammatory conditions. Proteolytic cleavage can lead to exposure of a tethered ligand whose binding to the receptor stimulates cell signalling, and the release from PAR-2 of an exodomain fragment (PAR-2E). Potential functions of PAR-2E have been little studied.Methods:PAR-2E was synthesised and its stability investigated in human biological fluids, cell supernatants and with selected proteases. The ability of PAR-2E to stimulate calcium flux in cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells was examined using a fluorescence based microplate procedure, and altered RNA expression by whole genome microarray analysis and quantitative PCR (qPCR) for selected genes. Adhesion molecule expression was investigated by flow cytometry. In parallel studies, nucleated cells were enumerated and levels of matrix metalloproteases (MMP) determined by gelatin zymography in peritoneal lavage fluid from C57BL/6 mice injected intraperitoneally with PAR-2E.Results:PAR-2E was highly susceptible to degradation by proteases, but its addition to cells resulted in calcium flux, and increased expression of genes for various adhesion molecules (including ICAM1, EPCAM and ITGAL), and cytokines (TNFAIP3 and IL1B). PAR-2E-induced upregulation of ICAM1, VCAM-1, EPCAM and ITGAL was observed on flow cytometry. Injection of PAR-2E into mice was associated with eosinophilia and raised levels of MMP2 in peritoneal lavage fluid.Conclusions:PAR-2E may act as a stimulus for increased expression of adhesion molecules, cytokine release and eosinophilia, and deserves consideration as a mediator of inflammation following PAR-2 activation
Generation of functional hepatocyte 3D discoids in an acoustofluidic bioreactor
No full textUltrasonic standing wave systems have previously been used for the generation of 3D constructs for a range of cell types. In the present study, we cultured cells from the human hepatoma Huh7 cell line in a Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) field and studied their viability, their functions and their response to the anti-cancer drug, 5 Fluorouracil (5FU). We found that cells grown in the acoustofluidic bioreactor (AFB) expressed no reduction in viability up to 6 h of exposure compared to those cultured in a conventional 2D system. In addition, constructs created in the AFB and subsequently cultured outside of it had improved functionality including higher albumin and urea production than 2D or pellet cultures. The viability of Huh7 cells grown in the ultrasound field to 5FU anti-cancer drug was comparable to that of cells cultured in the 2D system, showing rapid diffusion into the aggregate core. We have shown that AFB formed 3D cell constructs have improved functionality over conventional 2D monolayer and could be a promising model for anti-cancer drug testing
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
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