116 research outputs found
A heuristic approach to author name disambiguation in bibliometrics databases for large-scale research assessments
No full textNational exercises for the evaluation of research activity by universities are becoming regular practice in ever more countries. These exercises have mainly been conducted through the application of peer-review methods. Bibliometrics has not been able to offer a valid large-scale alternative because of almost overwhelming difficulties in identifying the true author of each publication.We will address this problem by presenting a heuristic approach to author name disambiguation in bibliometric datasets for large-scale research assessments. The application proposed concerns the Italian university system, comprising 80 universities and a research staff of over 60,000 scientists. The key advantage of the proposed approach is the ease of implementation. The algorithms are of practical application and have considerably better scalability and expandability properties than state-of-the-art unsupervised approaches. Moreover, the performance in terms of precision and recall, which can be further improved, seems thoroughly adequate for the typical needs of large-scale bibliometric research assessments
Superiumentarius (Suet. Claud. 2,2). L’imperatore Claudio autore di epigrammi?
No full textAccording to Suet., Claud. 2, 2 in a "libellus" Claudius complained about his master who had been a "superiumentarius". This ironic hyperbole, which refers to the brutal use of whip, seems an allusion to Horace's "plagosus Orbilius", and so suggests the possibility that Claudius'words were part of an epigram. Starting from some recognizable jambic sequences, the author of this article attempts to reconstruct it
Intraoperative Neuromonitoring, Nerves at Risk and Staged Thyroidectomy, our Experience on 377 Consecutive Cases
No full textPURPOSE: The aim of this study was firstly to report the experience of intermittent intraoperative neuromonitoring (I-IONM) and evaluate the impact of loss of signal (LOS) in staged thyroidectomy management. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent total thyroidectomy, performed by a single surgeon in two years. All patients have been subjected to I-IONM. In case of intraoperative loss of signal (LOS), planned total thyroidectomy was always aborted. Six-month follow-up was performed. Postoperative dysphonia was evaluated with VHI-10 score in 3 time settings T1, during hospital stay, T2 after 30 days, T3 after 6 months. Dysphonia has been compared to IONM results to evaluate sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: 377 patients were included. Incidence of dysphonia was calculated based on the number of nerves at risk (NAR). We evaluated a total of 724 NAR. LOS encountered were 43 cases (5.9% of total NAR), of these 14 were LOS 1 while 29 were LOS 2. 27 patients (3.7% of NAR) presented early post-operative dysphonia with VHI-10 score > 13 (T1), among these 16 had presented LOS at IONM (true positives) while11 had no LOS (false negatives). In T2 and T3 we reported a decrease in true positive cases increasing false positives. Sensitivity at T3 reached 85.7% while specificity and odds ratio were respectively 94.8% and 110. CONCLUSIONS: Given the high sensitivity and specificity, IONM should be considered a useful tool for thyroid surgery and its use should be suggested for patients undergoing planned total thyroidectomy. Its right application may cancel the risk of bilateral paralysis. (www.actabiomedica.it
Conservative management of complicated colonic diverticulitis: long-term results
No full textBACKGROUND: The management of recurrent diverticulitis after
initial non-operative treatment remains controversial.
Recurrences after medical treatment have been described up to
36\% but only 3 to 5\% develop complicated disease. AIM: To
investigate the effectiveness of conservative treatment during a
prolonged follow-up after first episode of complicated
diverticulitis. METHODS: This retrospective single-center study
describes the conservative management and outcomes of 207 with
complicated acute colonic diverticulitis treated at Parma
University Hospital from 1 January 2012 until 31 December 2019.
The follow-up was performed until December 2020. Diverticulitis
severity was staged according to WSES CT driven classification
for acute diverticulitis. RESULTS: We enrolled 207 patients (118
males, 89 females). The mean age was 59 14.5 years. CT
scan of the abdomen was always performed. Almost all patients
were treated with bowel rest and antibiotics (98.5\%).
Percutaneous drainage of abscessed diverticulitis was performed
12 times (5.7\%). Average follow-up was 48 28.8 months. 79
patients had new episodes of diverticulitis (38.1\%) and 23
patients had high severity new episodes (11.1\%). 11 patients
underwent surgery (7.7\%). Lower CT-Stages showed a higher
recurrence rate (P = 0.002). Grade III diverticulitis showed a
lower recurrence rate (P = 0.007). Patients with chronic NSAID
use showed a higher incidence of high severity new episodes (P =
0.039). No recurrence rate differences were noted among patients
with or without home therapy (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:
Non-operative treatment is an effective and safe option in
selected patients with complicated diverticulitis. The
recurrence's severity is generally lower than the previous
episodes and this can justify the conservative management
Augmentation of mouse natural killer (NK) activity by GM-1/P, a processed form of monosialoganglioside GM-1.
No full textWe describe the immunodulatory activity of GM-1/P a processed form of GM-1 (monosialoganglioside) extracted from ox brain, purified and physically modified. We examined the effect of in vivo and in vitro treatment of GM-1/P on natural (NK) activity and its ability to induce the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in the mouse. In vivo treatment with GM-1/P (1 mg/Kg, i.v., day-1) resulted in a marked increase and in a change of distribution of NK activity, which was associated with lower density Percoll fractions. Marked increase was already observed at 18 hrs and then declined by day 4. In vitro treatment with GM-1/P (2ug/ml) enhanced NK activity of B6 spleen cells, already after 6 hours of incubation, remaining at plateau levels within 18 hours. A role of IL-2 in this enhancement was suggested by the ability of an anti-IL-2 rabbit antiserum to abolish in vitro increased cytotoxicity. The presence of IL-2 in the supernatants of splenocytes from GM-1/P (lmg/Kg, i.v., ,day-1) treated mice stimulated with Con A or Con A plus TPA for 48 hrs was evaluated by proliferation of an IL-2 dependent CTLL cell line. GM-1/P by itself was unable to stimulate IL-2 production; however it markedly increased IL-2 production induced by Con A or Con A plus TPA
Enhancement of lymphocyte proliferation and IL-2 receptor expression by a processed form (GM-1/P) of monosialoganglioside GM-1.
No full textIn this study we investigated the ability of GM-1/P, a calcium mediated processed form of monosialoganglioside GM-1, of in vivo augmenting mouse T and B-lymphocyte blastogenesis induced by mitogens. We have also determined its effect on IL-2 responsiveness by analyzing the induction of the expression of IL-2 receptor (IL-2r) on mouse spleen cells. Lymphocyte blastogenesis was evaluated by 3H-TdR incorporation of spleen cells from untreated or GM-1/P (1mg/kg, i.v., day-1) treated mice cultured in the presence of T (PHA, ConA) B (LPS) cell specific mitogens. The stimulatory effects appeared to be due to a direct action on T and B lymphocytes, since proliferative response was not abolished by removal of macrophages. Splenocytes from GM-1/P treated mice showed increased proliferation in response to various concentrations of HrIL-2; moreover under these conditions an increased generation of LAK activity was found. A direct evidence for enhanced expression of IL-2r was obtained by immunofluorescence and FACS analysis using a monoclonal antibody (PC.61) directed against the p55 subunit of murine IL-2r. 29% PC.61+ cells were found in IL-2 cultures from treated spleen cells
State of the Art of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer: A Comprehensive Systematic Review
No full textImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed the therapeutic landscape for several malignancies, but their efficacy in unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains uncertain. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ICIs in this context, focusing on overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and toxicity. A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and Scopus identified 34 eligible studies, including randomized controlled trials and observational cohorts. Quantitative synthesis involved 21 studies comprising 937 patients, with additional qualitative analyses on biomarker-driven subgroups and early-phase trials. The median OS across studies was 8.65 months, while the median PFS was 2.55 months. The ORR and DCR were 16.2% and 50.3%, respectively, with grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events occurring in 22% of patients. Promising outcomes were observed in MSI-H/dMMR populations, although these represented only 1–2% of cases. Combination strategies with chemotherapy demonstrated synergistic potential but lacked definitive evidence due to heterogeneity and the absence of phase III trials. ICIs showed a manageable toxicity profile, highlighting their feasibility in selected patients. Future research should focus on overcoming tumor microenvironment barriers and identifying biomarkers to optimize responsiveness and expand the applicability of ICIs in pancreatic cancer
Corrigendum: Plasma polymers as targets for laser-driven proton-boron fusion
No full textA Corrigendum on Plasma polymers as targets for laser-driven proton-boron fusion by Tosca M, Molloy D, McNamee A, Pleskunov P, Protsak M, Biliak K, Nikitin D, Kousal J, Krtouš Z, Hanyková L, Hanuš J, Biederman H, Foster T, Nersisyan G, Martin P, Ho C, Macková A, Mikšová R, Borghesi M, Kar S, Istokskaia V, Levy Y, Picciotto A, Giuffrida L, Margarone D and Choukourov A (2023). Front. Phys. 11:1227140. doi: 10.3389/fphy.2023.1227140In the published article, there was an error in Affiliations 6, 7, and 8.Author Valeriia Istokskaia should be affiliated with “2, 7” instead of “2, 6”.Author Yoann Levy should be affiliated with “8” instead of “7”.The authors apologize for these errors and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated
Neurochemical changes in the striatum of dyskinetic rats after administration of the cannabinoid agonist WIN55,212-2
No full textChronic use of levodopa, the most effective treatment for Parkinson's disease, causes abnormal involuntary movements named dyskinesias, which are linked to maladaptive changes in plasticity and disturbances of dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission in the basal ganglia. Dyskinesias can be modeled in rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions by repeated administration of low doses of levodopa (6 mg/kg, s.c.). Previous studies from our lab showed that sub-chronic treatment with the cannabinoid agonist WIN55,212-2 attenuates levodopa-induced dyskinesias at doses that do not interfere with physiological motor function. To investigate the neurochemical changes underlying WIN55,212-2 anti-dyskinetic effects, we used in vivo microdialysis to monitor extracellular dopamine and glutamate in the dorsal striatum of both the hemispheres of freely moving 6-hydroxydopamine-treated, SHAM-operated and intact rats receiving levodopa acutely or chronically (11 days), and studied how sub-chronic WIN55,212-2 (1 injection x 3 days, 20 min before levodopa) affected these neurochemical outputs. Our data indicate that: (1) the 6-hydroxydopamine lesion decreases dopamine turnover in the denervated striatum; (2) levodopa injection reduces extracellular glutamate in the side ipsilateral to the lesion of dyskinetic rats; (3) sub-chronic WIN55,212-2 prevents levodopa-induced glutamate volume transmission unbalances across the two hemispheres; and (4) levodopa-induced dyskinesias are inversely correlated with glutamate levels in the denervated striatum. These data indicate that the anti-dyskinetic properties of WIN55,212-2 are accompanied by changes of dopamine and glutamate outputs in the two brain hemispheres of 6-hydroxydopamine-treated rats
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