1,720,979 research outputs found
The pHERV-W Envelope Protein and the Clinical Forms of Multiple Sclerosis
No full textThe role of retroviral envelope proteins belonging to the Human Endogenous Retroviral family ‘W’ (HERV-W) as potential risk factors in multiple sclerosis (MS), has been establish. The transcripts of retroviral sequences that contain the envelope proteins from the HERV-W family, such as syncytin-1 and pHERV-W, were found in the MS patients. Studies have shown that the pathological variant of the HERV-W envelope (pHERV-W) is more strongly associated with MS compared to syncytin-1.
The first aim of this study was to evaluate the serological response to pHERV-W and syncytin-1-derived peptides in different clinical forms and inflammatory phases of MS, including remission, as well as progressive forms. In addition, the analysis included populations belonging to distinct geographic areas with different MS incidence rates and genome selective pressures. Subsequently, the incidence and the levels of humoral response against other viral factors already strongly associated with MS, as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Human Herpesvirus (HVV-6A/B) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV), were evaluated. Finally, the inflammatory response, through evaluation of cytokine production, was study in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of MS patients and healthy controls following antigenic stimulation with pHERV-W and syncytin-1-derived epitopes.
The results showed significantly higher humoral response levels of anti-pHERV-W than anti-syncytin-1 in MS patients in both relapsed and progressive forms compared with HC. Individuals with acute and progressive forms of MS exhibited higher levels of antibodies to other viral infections, such as EBV and HVV-6A/B. Finally, pHERV-W exposure significantly increased the cytokine production response compared with syncytin-1 in MS PBMCs, supporting the idea of pHERV-W-involvement to the development of MS neuroinflammation. A strongly correlation was also found between the proinflammatory cytokine production from pHERV-W and other viral antibody titers in MS patients. Based on the results, both EBV, HHV and CMV could act in the pathogenesis of MS by regulating the proinflammatory action of pHERV-W.
In conclusion, the evaluation of the pHERV-W envelope protein could be a useful pathogenic biomarker for monitoring the development and progression of central nervous system inflammation.The role of retroviral envelope proteins belonging to the Human Endogenous Retroviral family ‘W’ (HERV-W) as potential risk factors in multiple sclerosis (MS), has been establish. The transcripts of retroviral sequences that contain the envelope proteins from the HERV-W family, such as syncytin-1 and pHERV-W, were found in the MS patients. Studies have shown that the pathological variant of the HERV-W envelope (pHERV-W) is more strongly associated with MS compared to syncytin-1.
The first aim of this study was to evaluate the serological response to pHERV-W and syncytin-1-derived peptides in different clinical forms and inflammatory phases of MS, including remission, as well as progressive forms. In addition, the analysis included populations belonging to distinct geographic areas with different MS incidence rates and genome selective pressures. Subsequently, the incidence and the levels of humoral response against other viral factors already strongly associated with MS, as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Human Herpesvirus (HVV-6A/B) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV), were evaluated. Finally, the inflammatory response, through evaluation of cytokine production, was study in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of MS patients and healthy controls following antigenic stimulation with pHERV-W and syncytin-1-derived epitopes.
The results showed significantly higher humoral response levels of anti-pHERV-W than anti-syncytin-1 in MS patients in both relapsed and progressive forms compared with HC. Individuals with acute and progressive forms of MS exhibited higher levels of antibodies to other viral infections, such as EBV and HVV-6A/B. Finally, pHERV-W exposure significantly increased the cytokine production response compared with syncytin-1 in MS PBMCs, supporting the idea of pHERV-W-involvement to the development of MS neuroinflammation. A strongly correlation was also found between the proinflammatory cytokine production from pHERV-W and other viral antibody titers in MS patients. Based on the results, both EBV, HHV and CMV could act in the pathogenesis of MS by regulating the proinflammatory action of pHERV-W.
In conclusion, the evaluation of the pHERV-W envelope protein could be a useful pathogenic biomarker for monitoring the development and progression of central nervous system inflammation
Correlation between antibodies against the pathogenic pHERV-W envelope protein and the inflammatory phase of multiple sclerosis
No full text: The role of retroviral envelope proteins belonging to the Human Endogenous Retroviral family 'W' (HERV-W), specifically syncytin-1 and pathogenic HERV-W (pHERV-W), as potential risk factors in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been established. This study aimed to investigate the humoral response to syncytin-1 and pHERV-W-derived peptides in a group of relapsing remitting MS patients categorized as having acute or stable disease. Furthermore, an inhibition assay was conducted to assess the extent of cross-reactivity between the two epitopes. The findings revealed that MS patients in the acute phase exhibited a higher specific antibody response to the pHERV-W env epitope compared to syncytin-1. This suggests a potential pathogenic role for pHERV-W env during the inflammatory stages of central nervous system involvement, and these antibody responses could serve as useful biomarkers for monitoring the progression of the disease
GSTT1, GSTP1 and XPC genes are associated with longevity in an Italian cohort
No full textLongevity is a complex process controlled by environmental and genetic factors. We evaluated the association of seven drug metabolising and DNA-repair gene polymorphisms with longevity in an Italian cohort. A sample of 756 subjects aged 18-98 was genotyped for CYP1A1 (rs1048943, A>G), GSTM1 (rs 1183423000, presence/absence), GSTT1 (rs1601993659, presence/absence), GSTP1 (rs1695, A>G), XRCC1 (rs1799782, C>T), XRCC1 (rs25489, A>G) and XPC (rs2228001, A>C) gene polymorphisms. The association between the studied gene polymorphisms and longevity was evaluated by dividing the sample into three age groups: 18–50, 51–85, and 86–98. We observed a significant decrease in the frequency of the GSTT1 null, GSTP1 G and XPC C alleles in the oldest group with respect to the youngest one. We also obtained the same results when dividing the sample into 18–85 and 86–98 age groups. The general linear model analyses confirmed a significant decreasing trend with age of the above mentioned alleles. We hypothesised that these minor alleles, being important in the sensitivity against the development of different types of cancer, may reflect a reduced life-expectancy in carrier subjects and may explain their significantly lower frequency observed among subjects belonging to the oldest age group
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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