1,720,975 research outputs found
Target specific systemic delivery of TGF-beta siRNA/(PEI-SS)-g-HA complex for the treatment of liver cirrhosis
No full textA target specific systemic delivery system of siRNA therapeutics was successfully developed using reducible polyethyleneimine grafted hyaluronic acid [(PEI-SS)-g-HA] conjugates. The PEI-SS was synthesized by Michael addition of low molecular weight PEI (MW = 2000) with cystaminebisacrylamide (CBA), and grafted to carboxyl groups of HA via amide bond formation after activation with 1-ethy1-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole monohydrate (HOBt). The confocal microscopic and fluorometric analyses confirmed the effective cellular uptake of siRNA/(PEI-SS)-g-HA complex by HA receptor mediated endocytosis. In vitro gene silencing efficiency was ca. 80% in the presence of 10 vol % serum and ca. 50% in the presence of 50 vol% serum in B16F1 melanoma cells and activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Furthermore, target specific systemic delivery of apolipoprotein B (ApoB) siRNA/(PEI-SS)-g-HA complex resulted in a drastically reduced ApoB mRNA level down to ca. 20% in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, TGF-beta siRNA/(PEI-SS)-g-HA complex showed a feasible therapeutic effect on liver cirrhosis with a significantly reduced nodule formation, collagen content, and HSC number. The siRNA/(PEI-SS)-g-HA complex can be exploited for the target specific systemic treatment of various liver diseases. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.X113738sciescopu
Diabetes Has Minimal Effect On High Gastrointestinal Symptom Burden in Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency Based On EPI/PEI-SS Scores
No full textBackground:
Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI or PEI) may be prevalent in as many as 3 of 10 people with diabetes, due to exocrine pancreatic function reduced as early as the time of diagnosis. EPI can be treated with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT), but the symptom burden of EPI remains high and improved screening and diagnosis methods are needed.
Methods:
An online survey (n=324) evaluated the gastrointestinal symptom experiences of people with (n=155) and without (n=169) EPI using a novel symptom tool, the Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency Symptom Score (EPI/PEI-SS). A large subgroup (n=120) of people with diabetes, with EPI (Type 1, n=14, Type 2, n=20) or without EPI (Type 1, n=78; Type 2; n=6) was characterized and compared to those without diabetes (n=204) in a sub-analysis of the larger EPI/PEI-SS study.
Results:
The symptom burden of EPI is similar, irrespective of diabetes. Like those without diabetes, people with type 1 diabetes had a statistically significant (p<0.001) higher mean score (range 0-225) with the EPI/PEI-SS (100.86, SD: 48.92) than did people with T1D without EPI (31.59, SD: 28.25), distinct from other GI conditions (p<0.001). Similar patterns occurred in those with T2D.
Conclusion:
High EPI/PEI-SS scores seem to distinguish between likely EPI and other GI conditions among people with diabetes, and it should be further studied as a possible screening method for EPI at a population level. It should also be evaluated as a tool to aid individuals with diabetes in tracking changes to EPI symptoms over time based on PERT titration
Bioreducible poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)–PLA–PEI-SS triblock copolymer micelles for co-delivery of DNA minicircles and Doxorubicin
No full textThe co-delivery of minicircle DNA (mcDNA) and small anti-cancer drugs via stimuli-sensitive nanocarriers is a promising approach for combinatorial cancer therapy. However, the simultaneous loading of drugs and DNA in nanosized delivery systems is remarkably challenging. In this study we describe the synthesis of triblock copolymer micelles based on poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)–poly(L-lactide) grafted with bioreducible polyethylenimine (PEOz–PLA-g–PEI-SS) for co-delivery of supercoiled (sc) mcDNA vectors and Doxorubicin (Dox). These amphiphilic carriers take advantage of non-fouling oxazolines to confer biological stability, of PLA to provide a hydrophobic core for drug encapsulation and of bioreducible PEI-SS to provide mcDNA complexation and an on-demand stimuli-responsive release. The obtained results show that mcDNA-loaded micelleplexes penetrate into in vitro tumor spheroid models with specific kinetics and exhibit a higher gene expression when compared to non-bioreducible nanocarriers. Moreover, in vivo bioluminescence imaging showed that gene expression is detected up to 8 days following mcDNA-micelles intratumoral administration. Furthermore, drug–gene co-delivery in PEOz–PLA-g–PEI-SS carriers was verified by successful encapsulation of both Dox and mcDNA with high efficacy. Moreover, dual-loaded micelleplexes presented significant uptake and a cytotoxic effect in 2D cultures of cancer cells. The co-delivery of mcDNA-Dox to B16F10-Luciferase tumor bearing mice resulted in a reduction in tumor volume and cancer cells viability. Overall, such findings indicate that bioreducible triblock micelles are efficient for focal delivery in vivo and have potential for future application in combinatorial DNA-drug therapy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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
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