1,720,967 research outputs found
Strong Cell-Mediated Immune Response to Human Cytomegalovirus Is Associated with Increased Risk of Fetal Infection in Primarily Infected Pregnant Women
No full textCytomegalovirus (CMV) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay but not cmv quantiferon assay is a novel biomarker to determine risk of congenital cmv infection in pregnant women
No full textOptimization of Interferon gamma ELISPOT assay to detect Human Cytomegalovirus specific T-cell responses in solid organ transplants
Full text linkTesting for cytomegalovirus in pregnancy
No full textCongenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection represents a relevant cause of deafness and neurological damage in newborns. Intrauterine CMV transmission might result after primary or nonprimary infections, though at different rates (30% versus 0.2%, respectively). At present, a prenatal diagnosis of CMV infection is based mainly on maternal serology, the detection of CMV-DNA in amniotic fluid and fetal blood, and ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Recent evidences suggest that congenital CMV infection may be an immune-mediated disease and that evaluation of humoral and especially T-cell immunities may improve the overall prenatal diagnosis. This review summarizes the most recent advancements in the diagnosis of maternal and prenatal CMV infections
Effects of TNF-Alpha Inhibitors on Circulating Th17 Cells in Patients Affected by Severe Psoriasis
No full textPsoriasis was previously considered to be mostly a Th1 cell-related disorder, but Th17 cell has recently emerged as an important player in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. The Th17 immune pathway is increased in psoriatic patients, both in peripheral circulation and in skin lesions, and positively correlates with the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index. Anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) agents, in addition to potent inhibition of TNF-α activity, are able to decrease IL-17 levels and Th17 cells in the skin and plasma of patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. We found a decrease in the median Th17 cell count in peripheral blood after 4 months' therapy with anti-TNF-α compared with baseline values, but the difference did not reach statistical significance, probably due to the small cohort size. Our data suggest that anti-TNF-α treatment for psoriasis is able to achieve a substantial Th17 cell count reduction in the peripheral blood of patients and that this decrease is significantly associated with an adequate response to biologic therapy, as previous studies in rheumatoid arthritis have shown
Human cytomegalovirus and Epstein–Barr virus infections occurring early after transplantation are risk factors for antibody-mediated rejection in heart transplant recipients
Full text linkBackgroundAntibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is a serious complication affecting the survival of patients receiving transplantation. Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are common viral infections that occur after transplantation, frequently emerging as viral reactivation in donor grafts or transplant recipients. The present study aimed to investigate the association between CMV and EBV infections and early-onset AMR. Materials and methodsThis study was conducted at the Heart Transplantation Center of Padova General Hospital and included a cohort of 47 heart transplant recipients (HTxs), including 24 HTxs diagnosed with AMR and 23 control HTxs with no episodes of AMR. Only early cases of CMV and/or EBV infections (1-90 days after transplantation) were considered. Fisher's exact test and logistic regression analysis were used to statistically analyze the correlation and association between AMR and CMV or EBV infection. ResultsWe observed a positive statistical association between CMV and EBV infections (two-sided Fisher's exact test, p = 0.0136) and between EBV infection and AMR (two-sided Fisher's exact test, p = 0.0034). Logistic regression analysis revealed a direct statistical association between CMV and EBV infections and AMR risk (p = 0.037 and 0.006 and odds ratio = 1.72 and 2.19, respectively). AMR occurrence was associated with increased viral loads of both CMV and EBV early after transplantation. DiscussionThese findings suggest the role of CMV and EBV infections as relevant risk factors for AMR in HTxs for the first time
Comparison of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot and CMV QuantiFERON cell-mediated immune assays in CMV-seropositive and -seronegative pregnant and nonpregnant women
No full textHuman cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a major cause of congenital infection leading to birth defects and sensorineural anomalies, including deafness. Recently, cell-mediated immunity (CMI) in pregnant women has been shown to correlate with congenital CMV transmission. In this study, two interferon gamma release assays (IGRA), the CMV enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) and CMV QuantiFERON assays, detecting CMV-specific CMI were compared. These assays were performed for 80 CMV-infected (57 primarily and 23 nonprimarily) pregnant women and 115 controls, including 89 healthy CMV-seropositive pregnant women without active CMV infection, 15 CMV-seronegative pregnant women, and 11 seropositive or seronegative nonpregnant women. Statistical tests, including frequency distribution analysis, nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis equality-of-populations rank test, Wilcoxon rank sum test for equality on unmatched data, and lowess smoothing local regression, were employed to determine statistical differences between groups and correlation between the assays. The CMV ELISPOT and CMV QuantiFERON assay data were not normally distributed and did not display equal variance. The CMV ELISPOT but not CMV QuantiFERON assay displayed significant higher values for primarily CMV-infected women than for the healthy seropositive pregnant and nonpregnant groups (P = 0.0057 and 0.0379, respectively) and those with nonprimary infections (P = 0.0104). The lowess local regression model comparing the assays on an individual basis showed a value bandwidth of 0.8. Both assays were highly accurate in discriminating CMV-seronegative pregnant women. The CMV ELISPOT assay was more effective than CMV-QuantiFERON in differentiating primary from the nonprimary infections. A substantial degree of variability exists between CMV ELISPOT and CMV QuantiFERON assay results for CMV-seropositive pregnant women
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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