1,720,955 research outputs found
Studio di modelli in vitro e in vivo di patologia oculare in risposta a stimolo neurotrofico: identificazione di nuovi biomarcatori e bersagli terapeutici
No full textThe retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a key cell layer in the eye, plays an important role in
retinal health. Dysfunction of the RPE is linked not only to age-related macular degeneration
(AMD) but also to glaucoma, a major cause of blindness. RPE dysfunction contributes to
the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which is central to glaucoma-related
vision loss. Oxidative stress and inflammation in RPE and Müller cells exacerbate glaucoma,
and dysfunction of RPE can also disrupt the blood-retinal barrier, leading to the
accumulation of toxic substances. Currently, neither biomarkers nor effective therapy are
available for the disease. Nerve growth factor (NGF) has shown potential as a
neuroprotective agent, but mechanisms of action remain unclear. In this study, after
generating a differentiated RPE cell model from ARPE-19, which confirmed the expression
of specific RPE markers (e.g. RPE65, CRALBP, MITF, RDH10), an in vitro model of
glaucoma was set by using an original device able to induce pressure increase (HP) on
cultured cells. The above-mentioned human RPE and rat Müller cells were used for
experimental procedures. Several of the most important proteins involved in oxidative stress
(e.g. DJ-1, NRF2, HO-1, CAT, SOD-1) and inflammatory (IL-6, IL-1beta) responses were
analyzed in HP condition, in the presence or absence of NGF. At the same way, expression
levels of three microRNAs (miR-34a-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-146a-5p) were evaluated, and a
direct target of miR-34a-5p (SIRT-1) was considered as well. Interestingly, results
highlighted the suitability of the model for the study of glaucoma, evidencing, on one hand,
expected and coherent levels of expression of the considered markers, and, on the other, the
putative role of NGF as neuroprotective factor able to revert conditions caused by HP. Such
effects were evidenced in terms of both oxidative stress/inflammation-related proteins’ and
microRNAs’ expression levels in response to specific experimental conditions.
In conclusion, the study provided interesting results and opens further analyses on preclinical
models to assess the potential use of NGF for glaucoma treatment and validate candidate
miRNAs here described as novel biomarkers/therapeutic targets.
The industrial partner of the project, included in the PhD PON R&I program, was Dompé
S.p.A
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
Role of Circulating microRNAs in Liver Disease and HCC: Focus on miR-122
Get PDFmiR-122 is the most abundant microRNA (miRNA) in the liver; it regulates several genes mainly involved in cell metabolism and inflammation. Host factors, diet, metabolic disorders and viral infection promote the development of liver diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The downregulation of miR-122 in tissue is a common feature of the progression of liver injury. In addition, the release of miR-122 in the bloodstream seems to be very promising for the early diagnosis of both viral and non-viral liver disease. Although controversial data are available on the role of circulating miR-122 as a single biomarker, high diagnostic accuracy has been observed using miR-122 in combination with other circulating miRNAs and/or proteins. This review is focused on comprehensively summarizing the most recent literature on the potential role of circulating miR-122, and related molecules, as biomarker(s) of metabolic liver diseases, hepatitis and HCC
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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