169,774 research outputs found
Effective use of photodynamic therapy on the treatment of chronic leg ulcers: a pilot study
No full textDaylight methyl-aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy versus ingenol mebutate for the treatment of actinic keratoses : an intraindividual comparative analysis
No full textDaylight-photodynamic therapy (D-PDT) and ingenol mebutate (IM) are novel therapies directed to actinic keratoses (AK). The purpose of our study was to compare effectiveness, tolerability, cosmetic outcome and patient preference of D-PDT versus IM in the treatment of grade I and II AK. Twenty-seven patients with AK on the face or scalp were enrolled. Each patient received, in a 25 cm2 target area, D-PDT on right side and IM on left side. Overall 323 AK were treated. Both target areas achieved complete response in 40.47% of the cases and average AK clearance rate was similar for D-PDT and IM (p=0.74). In D-PDT areas mean grade II AK clearance rate was lower compared with that of grade I AK (p=0.015). In IM areas grade I and II AK average clearance rates were similar (p=0.28). At week 1 and month 1, mean local skin responses (LSR) score were higher in areas treated with IM. IM areas showed more severe pain and cosmetic sequelae. D-PDT had similar effectiveness to IM, even if IM demonstrated higher grade II AK clearance rate. Tolerability profile was superior for D-PDT in terms of LSR and pain. D-PDT was more cosmetically acceptable. Patients preferred D-PDT to IM in most cases
CD40 ligand expression in mycosis fungoides is restricted to the patch/plaque (epidermotropic) stages
No full textCD40 ligand (CD40L) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily. It may play an intricate role in the immune response by functional interaction with CD40 antigen expressed on the surface of B- cells, T-cells, monocytes, macrophages, antigen-presenting cells, endothelial cells and some epithelial cells. A possible role of CD40L in the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has been recently hypothesized; in fact, CD40L antigen can be constitutively expressed by the neoplastic CD4sup + T-cell of nodal NHL, thus possibly having a physiological role in these neoplasms. We studied the immunophenotypic and genotypic expression of CD40L antigen in different phases of mycosis fungoides - the prototype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma - in order to investigate the possible significance and role of this molecule in its pathomechanism. On frozen sections, CD40Lsup + T-cells were present in 9/10 specimens from patch/plaque stage mycosis fungoides. Their percentage (10-25%) and location (junctional and basal epidermal) were very similar to those of CD25sup + and Ki67sup + (proliferating) cells. In 5/5 specimens from tumor stage mycosis fungoides, no CD40L immunostaining was found. All patch/plaque stage mycosis fungoides (6/6 specimens) contained the mRNA transcript for CD40L. It was never detected in tumor stage mycosis fungoides (4/4 specimens). These findings suggest that in early mycosis fungoides, CD40Lsup + T-cells home into the skin by interaction with CD40sup + endothelial cells and into the epidermis by interaction with CD40sup + basal epidermal cells. The interaction between CD40Lsup + T-cells and CD40sup + Langerhans cells and the CD40/CD40L autocrine stimulus possibly triggers activation, growth and neoplastic enhancement of T-cells; up to the blastic transformation occurring at the tumor stage, when neoplastic T-cells loose their antigenic and functional features of mature T-cells and proliferate without any significant control
Sviluppo di rivestimenti a base di silani per la protezione di opere d’arte in bronzo patinato: parte 1
No full textLa conservazione del patrimonio artistico e culturale è di grande importanza per la salvaguardia dell’identità storica e culturale di una società. Le opere d'arte in bronzo sono una parte importante di questo patrimonio e la produzione di trattamenti protettivi efficaci a basso impatto ambientale è un tema centrale e ancora irrisolto. E’ da notare che la scelta di tali protettivi dipende dalla natura del substrato, ovvero dal tipo di bronzo da proteggere, ma anche dalla natura della patina superficiale effettivamente presente al momento della applicazione del rivestimento.
Per questo motivo, all'interno di un progetto M-ERA.NET denominato B-IMPACT, sono state prodotte due leghe di bronzo per colata in sabbia: una moderna in bronzo al silicio, che è stata patinata artificialmente con una soluzione acquosa di solfuro di potassio (K2S), come tradizionalmente svolto nel 19° secolo; un’altra, a base di bronzo quaternario Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb, è stata invecchiata artificialmente in laboratorio, con tecnica di dropping (gocciolamento di pioggia acida artificiale). Entrambi i substrati sono rappresentativi di monumenti esposti all'aperto. Su di essi sono stati sottoposti a prova diversi rivestimenti a base di silani, caratterizzati da gruppi funzionali amminici, tiolici, gruppi tetrasolfuro o lunghe catene alifatiche, i quali applicati dopo idrolisi acida reticolavano sulla superficie dei bronzi patinati, per condensazione di gruppi silanolici.
Dopo un breve periodo di indurimento a 50 °C, i campioni venivano esposti ad una soluzione di pioggia acida artificiale concentrata (ARX10) per 30 giorni, durante i quali la protettività dei film superficiali era valutata con tecnica di spettroscopia di impedenza elettrochimica e al termine dei quali si registravano curve di polarizzazione catodiche e anodiche.
Al termine delle immersioni di 30 giorni, il comportamento di campioni non polarizzati è stato anche indagato con osservazioni al microscopio elettronico, associato a microanalisi a dispersione di energia (SEM-EDS). Per confronto è stata anche valutata la protettività del rivestimento standard acrilico, contenente benzotriazolo, normalmente utilizzato dai restauratori
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe 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
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe 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
- …
