1,720,965 research outputs found
ANEMIA OF INFLAMMATION: INVESTIGATION ON HEPCIDIN IN ACUTELY ILL PATIENTS AND THEIR CLINICAL OUTCOME
Full text linkThe anaemia of inflammation is a normochromic, normocytic anaemia, associated with abnormal iron utilization, erythropoietin hyporesponsiveness, and decreased
red blood cells (RBC) survival. It is a very common problem in hospitalized patients for acute inflammatory diseases and develops within few days from the onset of illness.
Hepcidin is an interleukin-6 induced hormone previously identified as an
antimicrobial peptide. Now it is recognized as the master regulator of iron homeostasis in mammals allowing iron adaptation according to the body iron needs and as the key modulator of inflammation-associated anaemia. Hepcidin is found in the circulation, it is secreted mainly by hepatocytes and to a lesser extent by macrophages, T-lymphocytes and adipocytes.
In 60 acutely ill patients (95% affected by infections), the degree of inflammation, indicated by IL-6 and C-RP levels, is associated with elevated concentrations of hepcidin, low iron serum levels, high transferrin saturation and very high ferritin
serum levels. Moreover, persistently increased levels of hepcidin-25 on T1 and on T6 are associated with a decrease in haemoglobin during hospitalization. Patients (N=26) anaemic on T1 were still anaemic after one week. Erythropoiesis was still
blunted in these patients, despite higher erythropoietin serum levels than notanaemic patients. The high levels of GDF-15 and hepcidin could have a role in the ineffective erythropoiesis.
We observed that acute ill patients (N=31) admitted with normal haemoglobin
levels develop anaemia after the first week of hospitalization. Analysing hepcidin levels of this subset of patients, we found that a cut-off level of hepcidin concentration of 23 nM/L was able to predict anaemia occurrence after one week with 100% of sensitivity and 90% of specificity.
The inflammatory cytokines pattern and its consequence on hepcidin and iron
observed in vivo in this study resembles the one described in experimental models of endotoxemia showed by Kemna et al. and by Theurl et al. Also hepcidin serum levels, haemoglobin and iron parameters are very similar to the ones found by van
Eijk et al. in their investigation in septic patients admitted to intensive care units.
As described in previous studies, we also demonstrated expression of hepcidin
mRNA in circulating monocytes of these acutely ill patients. We found that the
higher was the inflammation on admission, the higher was hepcidin mRNA
expression in circulating monocytes after one week. Moreover we found negative correlation between mRNA levels of monocytes-derived hepcidin and serum ferritin, especially after one week of inflammation persistence. Analysis of interleukin-6 functional receptor (CD126 and gp130) on circulating monocytes showed a negative correlation with monocytes-derived hepcidin mRNA, and positive correlation with serum ferritin levels.
These insights in anaemia of inflammation molecular mechanisms will help clinicians to better identify anaemia causes and adequately restore haemoglobin concentration with target therapies, reducing health-care requirements and healthcare costs, in-hospital stay and, finally, ameliorate health of patients
Assessment of prognostic scores for 30-day mortality prediction in hospitalised patients with health care associated pneumonia (HCAP)
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Impact of pneumonia on the emergence of Clostridium difficile infection : a monocentric study
No full textPneumonia and Clostridium difficile infection : hospital acquired infection in a non -ICU department
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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
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