1,721,053 research outputs found
HLA class II alleles and genetic predisposition to the antiphospholipid syndrome
No full textThe antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Its etiology is linked to genetic predisposition, which is accounted for, at least in part, by genes of major histocompatibility complex (HLA system). The association of APS with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles is a consequence of the association of aPL with HLA alleles. Some HLA alleles carry the risk to produce aPL, and this is independent of the clinical context. In fact, we find the same associations between HLA and aPL in primary APS and in APS secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The association of HLA-DR4, -DR7, -DRw53 and -DQB1*0302 with aCL that has been demonstrated in primary APS can also be found in SLE, a disease with a completely different pattern of HLA allele association (DR2, DR3, DRw52). In addition, the various aPL (anticardiolipin antibodies, lupus anticoagulant, anti-beta2GPI antibodies, antiphosphatidylserine/prothrombin antibodies) show similar HLA association, again independent of the clinical context (primary APS or SLE), and across various ethnic groups
Bazedoxifene: literature data and clinical evidence.
No full textA Multidisciplinary National Panel of Experts in the management of Menopause and Postmenopausal Osteoporosis was created to determine the specific positioning of Bazedoxifene acetate (BZA), a third-generation selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), in the field of available therapeutic options in prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.There are various therapeutic options in prevention and treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis, but nevertheless the problem of osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related fractures is not yet resolved today.In view of this unmet medical need, to have new treatments with efficacy and safety profile so good to therapeutically manage even larger groups of population is the conceptual basis to reduce the devastating impact of this disease on individual's morbidity and mortality, and on public health expense.The Panel has, moreover, pointed up the need to increase the awareness about the issue "osteopenia" as a risk factor for fracture to consider in daily clinical practice and the opportunity to evaluate fracture risk using an adequate algorithm (for example, FRAX®, deFRA®), which integrates the result obtained by densitometry (Bone Mineral Density, BMD) (1, 2) and clinical risk factors, in order to consider threshold values for pharmacological intervention.As for prevention and treatment and different groups of age in women's life, it is evident as in the group ranging in age 50 to 65 years the reference Specialist may be the Gynecologist, as the Woman's doctor, even if other Specialists could be interested (Endocrinologist, Rheumatologist, Internist, General Practitioner, or other Specialist who is seeing a patient with osteopenia/osteoporosis). The involved Specialist, necessarily, has to make preventative and/or therapeutic strategies for osteopenia/osteoporosis.After the publication of the study Women's Health Initiative (WHI) in 2002 (3), there was a decrease in applying Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) or Hormone Therapy (HT), that even if is prescribed for climacteric symptoms (hot flushes, night sweats, etc.) can prevent bone loss and reduce osteoporosis-related fracture risk. The lower use of HRT (HT) has increased and still increases the risk of developing, in postmenopausal women, osteopenia and osteoporosis, with increased fracture risk, as it is demonstrated by N.O.R.A. Study (National Osteoporosis Risk Assessment) published in 2004 (4).On the other hand, the different treatments available for osteoporosis therapy, significantly decrease the relative risk of osteoporosis, but the percentage of non-treated or under-treated patients remains high. Thus, it is still fundamental to have at disposal further treatments with proven efficacy in preventing and treating osteopenia and osteoporosis in everyday clinical practice
L'inibizione delle metalloproteasi quale possibile nuovo approccio per il trattamento delle malattie reumatiche
No full textObjective. Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), however different in pathophysiology, share the degradative process. In the aim to develop new drugs with selective inhibiting action towards the enzymes responsible for the extracellular matrix damage, scientific research is focused on two main branches: 1) development of new drugs with specific inhibiting action towards MMPs; 2) study of the pharmacologic profile of drugs, currently used during therapy of rheumatic diseases, in order to identify a possible inhibiting action towards the degradative enzymes. Methods. The interaction between Indomethacin or Meloxicam and collagenase activity from human synovial fluids was studied by using a fluorogenic substrate. Results. In experimental conditions Indomethacin did not show any activity against collagenase activity, when used at the therapeutical plasmatic or synovial fluid concentrations. On the other hand, Meloxicam caused a 53% reduction of collagenase activity. Conclusions. According to our studies, NSAIDs could downregulate the activity of enzymes responsible for the degradation of the extracellular matrix
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
- …
