1,721,029 research outputs found
Phenotypic Modulation and Neuroprotective Effects of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells : a Promising Tool for Cell Therapy
No full textOlfactory Ensheathing Cells (OECs), exhibiting phenotypic characteristics of both astrocytes and Schwann Cells, show peculiar plasticity. In vitro, OECs promote axonal growth, while in vivo they promote remyelination of damaged axons. We decided to further investigate OEC potential for regeneration and functional recovery of the damaged Central Nervous System (CNS). To study OEC antigen modulation, OECs prepared from postnatal mouse olfactory bulbs were grown in different culture conditions: standard or serum-free media with/without Growth Factors (GFs) and analyzed for different neural specific markers. OEC functional characterizations were also achieved. Resistance of OECs to the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) was analyzed by evaluating apoptosis and death. OEC neuroprotective properties were investigated by in vitro co-cultures or by addition of OEC conditioned medium to the neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells exposed to 6-OHDA. We observed: 1) modification of OEC morphology, reduced cell survival and marker expression in serum-free medium; 2) GF addition to serum-free medium condition influenced positively survival and restored basal marker expression; 3) no OEC apoptosis after a prolonged exposition to 6-OHDA; 4) a clear OEC neuroprotective tendency, albeit non statistically significant, on 6-OHDA treated SH-SY5Y cells. These peculiar properties of OECs might render them potential clinical agents able to support injured CNS
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
Analisys of bone marrow hematopoietic and mesenchymal precursors in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
No full textDifferentiation and expansion of endothelial cells from human bone marrow CD133(+) cells
No full textWe report a method of purifying, characterizing and expanding endothelial cells (ECs) derived from CD133+ bone marrow cells, a subset of CD34+ haematopoietic progenitors. Isolated using immunomagnetic sorting (mean purity 90 ± 5%), the CD133+ bone marrow cells were grown on fibronectin-coated flasks in M199 medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum (FBS), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and insulin growth factor (IGF-1). The CD133+ fraction contained 95 ± 4% CD34+ cells, 3 ± 2% cells expressing VEGF receptor (VEGFR-2/KDR), but did not express von Willebrand factor (VWF), VE-cadherin, P1H12 or TE-7. After 3 weeks of culture, the cells formed a monolayer with a typical EC morphology and expanded 11 ± 5 times. The cells were further purified using Ulex europaeus agglutinin-1 (UEA-1)-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and anti-FITC microbeads, and expanded with VEGF for a further 3 weeks. All of the cells were CD45- and CD14-, and expressed several endothelial markers (UEA-1, VWF, P1H12, CD105, E-selectin, VCAM-1 and VE-cadherin) and typical Weibel-Palade bodies. They had a high proliferative potential (up to a 2400-fold increase in cell number after 3 weeks of culture) and the capacity to modulate cell surface antigens upon stimulation with inflammatory cytokines. Purified ECs were also co-cultivated with CD34+ cells, in parallel with a purified fibroblastic cell monolayer. CD34+ cells (10 × 105) gave rise to 17 951 ± 2422 CFU-GM colonies when grown on endothelial cells, and to 12 928 ± 4415 CFU-GM colonies on fibroblast monolayers. The ECs also supported erythroid blast-forming unit (BFU-E) colonies better. These results suggest that bone marrow CD133+ progenitor cells can give rise to highly purified ECs, which have a high proliferative capacity, can be activated by inflammatory cytokines and are superior to fibroblasts in supporting haematopoiesis. Our data support the hypothesis that endothelial cell progenitors are present in adult bone marrow and may contribute to neo-angiogenesis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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
High Frequency of Tumor Suppressor Genes Promoter Hypermethylation in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes
No full text- …
