1,721,581 research outputs found
Diatoms green nanotechnology for biosilica-based drug delivery systems
No full textDiatom microalgae are the most outstanding natural source of porous silica. The diatom cell is enclosed in a three-dimensional (3-D) ordered nanopatterned silica cell wall, called frustule. The unique properties of the diatom frustule, including high specific surface area, thermal stability, biocompatibility, and tailorable surface chemistry, make diatoms really promising for biomedical applications. Moreover, they are easy to cultivate in an artificial environment and there is a large availability of diatom frustules as fossil material (diatomite) in several areas of the world. For all these reasons, diatoms are an intriguing alternative to synthetic materials for the development of low-cost drug delivery systems. This review article focuses on the possible use of diatom-derived silica as drug carrier systems. The functionalization strategies of diatom micro/nanoparticles for improving their biophysical properties, such as cellular internalization and drug loading/release kinetics, are described. In addition, the realization of hybrid diatom-based devices with advanced properties for theranostics and targeted or augmented drug delivery applications is also discussed
Clinical Features in Patients With PANDAS/PANS and Therapeutic Approaches: A Retrospective Study
No full textObjective: The clinical characteristics of patients with PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection) and PANS (pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome) and the efficacy of antibiotic therapy with psychotherapy and antipsychotics were investigated to improve neurological symptoms as well as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 62 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PANDAS/PANS enrolled from May 14, 2013 to September 15, 2020 in the Neurology Childhood Division, Department of Pediatrics at Sapienza, Rome. Clinical manifestations, neurological and psychiatric, laboratory investigations, and familiar history were collected to evaluate the differences between the two groups. The effects of various therapeutic approaches were examined. Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed. Results: The mean age at onset of PANDAS/PANS symptoms was 6.2 ± 1.2 years. The most common diagnosis was PANDAS, followed by PANS. Neurological and psychiatric symptoms were mostly evident in both groups (>70% of the population), with no significant difference between them (P = 0.52 and P = 0.15, respectively). Irritability, aggressivity, and food restriction were more prevalent in children with PANS than in those with PANDAS (P = 0.024 and P = 0.0023, respectively). The levels of anti-streptolysin O and anti-DNAse B 10-fold higher in PANDAS than those in PANS (P < 0.0001). Antibiotics or psychotherapy were administered in most cases (90.3 and 53.2%, respectively), followed by antipsychotic treatments (24.2%). In the multivariate analysis, among the therapies used, psychotherapy significantly resulted in the most efficacious relief of OCD, reducing stress in patients and their parents (P = 0.042). Conclusion: Our findings confirm a clear clinical difference between the two groups, PANDAS and PANS, using different approaches. In fact, irritability, aggressivity, and food restriction were significantly more frequent in children with PANS and the levels of anti-streptolysin O and anti-DNAse B were higher in PANDAS. Another relevant finding is the efficacy of psychotherapy, especially for obsessive-compulsive disorder, and of antibiotic prophylaxis in managing acute neurological symptoms
Synthetic vs Natural: Diatoms Bioderived Porous Materials for the Next Generation of Healthcare Nanodevices
No full textNanostructured porous materials promise a next generation of innovative devices for healthcare and biomedical applications. The fabrication of such materials generally requires complex synthesis procedures, not always available in laboratories or sustainable in industries, and has adverse environmental impact. Nanosized porous materials can also be obtained from natural resources, which are an attractive alternative approach to man-made fabrication. Biogenic nanoporous silica from diatoms, and diatomaceous earths, constitutes largely available, low-cost reservoir of mesoporous nanodevices that can be engineered for theranostic applications, ranging from subcellular imaging to drug delivery. In this progress report, main experiences on nature-derived nanoparticles with healthcare and biomedical functionalities are reviewed and critically analyzed in search of a new collection of biocompatible porous nanomaterials
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
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
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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