1,721,012 research outputs found
Lo stoccaggio della CO2 in formazioni geologiche profonde per la riduzione delle emissioni di gas serra
No full textIn questa nota si descrivono le tecniche di stoccaggio della CO2 per potere utilizzare in modo sostenibile, secondo Kyoto, i combuistibili fossili
Applicazione di sistemi di cattura della CO2 ad impianti di produzione energetica
No full textQuesta nota descrive la possibilità di implementare sistemi di cattura della CO2 per potere utilizzare in modo sostenibile l'uso dei combustibili fossili
Restricted cyclooxygenase-2 expression in the central nervous system following acute and delayed-type hypersensitivity responses to bacillus Calmette-Guerin
No full textThe expression of cyclooxygenase-2, a key enzyme in prostaglandin and thromboxane synthesis in inflammation, was studied immunohistochemically in in viva models of acute and chronic inflammatory responses in rat central nervous system. In the acute inflammatory response to intracranial injection of heat-killed bacillus Calmette-Guérin as well as in the immune-mediated, delayed-type hypersensitivity response to the same pathogen, cyclooxygenase-2 expression was restricted to major infiltrating haematogenous cell populations such as neutrophils and mononuclear phagocytes, while the expression of the enzyme by brain non-neuronal resident cells (astrocytes, microglia, perivascular cells) appeared to be limited to perivascular cells of the blood vessels in the vicinity of the lesion and in the surrounding area. On the basis of their morphology and location, these perivascular cells were identified as perivascular macrophages, but we could not rule out the possibility that some endothelial cells also expressed cyclooxygenase-2. The constitutive neuronal cyclooxygenase-2 was not affected by the ongoing inflammation. Interestingly, in spite of the extensive astrocyte and microglial reaction occurring over a broad area surrounding the inflammatory lesions, there was no obvious cyclooxygenase-2 staining in these cells. These data indicate that the up-regulation of cyclooxygenase-2 expression in acute and chronic, immune-mediated lesions in the brain parenchyma is remarkably restricted to the lesion site. Since cyclooxygenase metabolites can regulate important functions of resident as well as infiltrating cells, the increased synthesis of prostaglandins and thromboxanes, which is likely to occur as a consequence of the expression of cycloxygenase-2 at the lesion site, might represent an important component of the inflammatory processes within the brain
A few ethical issues in translational research for medicinal products discovery and development
No full textThe results obtained with basic research showing significant therapeutic promise are often not translated into clinical applications. The purpose of translational research is to favour the transition of basic research to application at the patient's bedside, and from here to routine clinical practice (without excluding the opposite pathway, in which the evidence generated by clinical practice helps to guide research). Although translational research can provide patients with valuable therapeutic resources, it is not risk-free. The most significant ethical issues in translational research on medicinal products derive from the risk of the intention to shorten the timeframes for the application of the results of the research making the scientific methods adopted and the regulatory requisites to be satisfied along the long path from the bench to the patient's bedside less rigorous. This is also relevant during pandemics when shortening the timeline from basic research to bedside is even more crucial. It is therefore necessary to establish defined and agreed requisites in order to guarantee the ethicality of translational research, by promoting the good of individuals and minimising the risks
In vivo expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in rat brain following intraparenchymal injection of bacterial endotoxin and inflammatory cytokines
No full textTo clarify the role played by prostaglandins in acute brain inflammation we studied the expression of the key enzyme in their formation, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), following microinjection of bacterial endotoxin (LPS), interleukin-1 (3 (IL-I[beta]), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-[alpha]), and interferon--[gamma] (IFN--[gamma]), in the rat dorsal hippocampus. In spite of the extensive astrocyte and microglial reaction, at 24 hours after LPS injection COX-2 immunoreactivity (COX-2-ir) was exclusively associated with infiltrating neutrophils and with perivascular cells of blood vessels in the area surrounding the injection site. Microinjection of IFN-7 did not alter COX-2-ir, whereas TNF-[alpha] or IL-I[beta] injection induced a moderate COX-2-ir in the perivascular cells of a few blood vessels close to the injection site, and in very few of the infiltrating neutrophils. When ILI[beta], but not TNF-[alpha] or INF--[gamma], was injected in combination with LPS, a strong COX-2-ir was associated with the perivascular cells of most blood vessels in the injected hemisphere and of several of those in the uninjected hemisphere. In addition, COX- 2-ir was detected in neutrophils and in several parenchymal cells surrounding the injection site. The parenchymal and perivascular COX-2-positive cells showed a microglia/macrophage-like morphology, as compared with the GSI-B4 isolectin and ED-1 staining, specific for macrophages. Since the constitutive neuronal COX-2 was not affected by any of the conditions studied, the macrophage-like cells found in the perivascular region and in the parenchyma may represent the main source of prostaglandins during focal inflammatory responses in the brain
Early-life sex-dependent vulnerability to oxidative stress: the natural twining model
No full textObjectives: Twins represent a unique natural model for studying fetal adaptation to a suboptimal supply of nutrients in utero, the most likely cause of reduced fetal growth, which has been associated with cardiovascular risk. The proposed developmental origin of cardiovascular diseases may offer new venues for investigating the molecular basis of the well-known gender disparity in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis and progression. Early sex differences in oxidative stress, a mechanism of injury associated with both reduced fetal growth and cardiovascular diseases, have been so far poorly investigated. Thus, we aimed at evaluating oxidative stress in newborn twins by measuring oxidative stress biomarkers in cord blood. Methods: Blood samples were collected from umbilical cord of 80 premature twins. The oxidative stress biomarker15-F-2t-isoprostane and the total antioxidant capacity (tAOC) were measured in cord plasma. Results: Males had higher levels of plasma 15-F-2t-isoprostane than females. 15-F-2t-isoprostane values remained greater in males than in females when considering like-sex or unlike sex pairs. No difference was found in tAOC levels. Conclusions: Our data suggest that sex-based differences in oxidant injury vulnerability occurring early in life could represent a biological mechanism contributing to gender disparity later in life
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
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