1,721,015 research outputs found
“Population-based study on symptomatic characterization of uncomplicated colon diverticular Disease: A preliminary report from diverticular disease Italian group”
No full textBackground and aim: Patients with uncomplicated diverticular disease (DD) of the colon frequently present unspecific abdominal symptoms. The impact of upper and lower gastrointestinal symptoms in this subset is poorly documented, as well as the overlap with irritable bowel syn- drome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia (FD). Our aims are to estimate the prevalence of upper and lower gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with DD and to evaluate the comorbidity with IBS and FD. Material and methods: 625 patients, with x-ray and/or endoscopic diagnosis of colonic diverticulosis, were consecutively recruited from 17 gastroenterological Italian centres. From this population, we have preliminary analyzed a sample of 74 patients (30 m; 47-76 years), selected after a consultation for abdominal pain (50%), defecation disorders (21%) or previous diagnosis (29%). Symptoms like recurrent abdominal pain < 24 hours, painful episodes > 24 hours, bloating and alterations of defecation were collected. Dyspeptic symptoms and IBS Rome III criteria were also evaluated. A quality of life assessment was made by SF-36 health questionnaire. Results: Sigmoid diverticula were present in 100% of patients; the localization at descending, transverse and right colon was 71, 18 and 15% respectively. Recurrent short-lived abdominal pain ( < 24h) and bloating were present in 78% of patients, while 21% reported prolonged painful episodes ( > 24h). 46 patients (62%) meet the IBS Rome III criteria, classified as constipation and diarrhoea-predominant-IBS in 32 and 30% of cases respectively. Dyspeptic symptoms were present in 47 patients (64%) and the most prevalent were fullness (44%) and belching (50%). In 40 patients (54%) we found an overlap between IBS and dyspepsia. All patients had low rates of mental component scores on SF-36 scales. Conclusions: This preliminary analysis showed that patients with DD prevalently present abdominal pain, bloating and bowel habits disor- ders. IBS and dyspepsia are often present in these patients. As mental component impairment is typically recorded in IBS and dyspepsia, our findings confirm that functional disorders are in some measure involved in symptoms complaining of DD. The whole analysis on the 625 patients recruited will be performed to define the clinical profile of diverticular diseas
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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
Effect of proinfiammtory stimuli on cellular activation and nitric oxide production in human primary enteroglial cells.
No full textAbstracts / Digestive and Liver Disease 41S (2009), S1–S167
S23
to treated CD and normal biopsies. Flow cytometry analysis of T-LPL
confirmed that IL-17A is over-produced in CD mucosa, and that both
CD4+ and CD8+ cells were major sources of IL-17A (Table). Of
the IL-17-producing cells, more than 50% co-expressed IFN-gamma.
Blockade of IL-21 activity reduced IL-17A expression in cultures of
both untreated CD and PT-stimulated treated CD biopsies.
Conclusions:
Data indicate that IL-17A expression is up-regulated in
CD mucosa, and that IL-21 contributes to sustain IL-17 production.
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C. Small bowel diseases 1. Celiac disease
OC.05.6
EFFECT OF PROINFLAMMATORY STIMULI ON CELLULAR
ACTIVATION AND NITRIC OXIDE PRODUCTION IN HUMAN
PRIMARY ENTEROGLIAL CELLS
C. Cirillo
∗
, G. Sarnelli, A. Mango, I. Esposito, S. Masone, G. Aprea,
R. Cuomo
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Napoli
Background and aim:
Enteric glial cells (EGC) are involved in intesti-
nal inflammation. In humans, there are no in vitro models to study the
relationships between EGC and inflammation.
Aim: To set up a new method to isolate and purify a primary cul-
ture of human EGC and to study EGC activation and responses’ to
proinflammatory stimuli.
Material and methods:
Myenteric plexus preparations were isolated
from human ileum of 15 patients undergoing surgery for colon car-
cinoma and enzimatically dissociated. Ganglia were plated and cell
cultures were grown to subconfluence. After 21 days, EGC were
purified of contaminating cells by incubation with the anti-Thy-1.1 ab-
coated magnetic beads and separation using a Dynal Magnet
®
.Mixed
EGC cultures and purified EGC cell line were immunocytochemi-
cally characterized with anti-S100B, anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein
(GFAP) and anti-alpha-smooth muscle actin antibodies to identify EGC
and fibroblasts, respectively. To study the effects of inflammatory
stimuli on EGC activation, cells were incubated with lipopolysaccha-
ride (LPS, 1
μ
g/mL), Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-
α
, 5ng/ml),
interferon-gamma (IFN-
γ
, 100U/mL) for 32 h alone or in combination.
A double labeling immunofluorescence using antibodies to S100B or
GFAP was performed to identify EGC expressing c-fos in the nucleus,
as a marker of cells activation. S100B mRNA, protein expression and
secretion, iNOS expression and NO production were assessed.
Results:
In mixed EGC cultures, immunocytochemically analysis dis-
played that 40% of cultured cells were EGC (S100B and GFAP
positives), 50% were fibroblasts and neurons were virtually absent. In
contrast, in purified EGC cell line, the presence of contaminating cells
was significantly reduced by treatments with Dynabeads
®
and the ma-
jority of the cells were anti-GFAP and anti-S100B positives. Incubation
with LPS and IFN-
γ
alone, or in combination with TNF-
α
, resulted
in a consistent EGC’s activation (c-fos positive nuclei in S100B/GFAP
positive cells), and significantly increased S100B expression, which
was able to stimulate iNOS protein expression and NO production.
Conclusions:
We described for the first time a new method to isolate
and purify EGC from human intestine. Proinflammatory cytokines di-
rectly activate this cell population and stimulate NO production through
the EGC-derived S100B protei
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