1,721,007 research outputs found
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells: From Therapeutic Option to Therapeutic Target
Get PDFAs our understanding of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) has evolved, they have come to be recognized as an integral part of the tumor tissue, and the exploitability of their intrinsic features in the field of oncology has reached a standstill. Currently, there are 1621 registered clinical trials (clinicaltrials.gov) on “mesenchymal cells”, and yet none of them are exploring or explored unmodified MSC as a therapeutic option for cancer. Indeed, the therapeutic potential of these cells in oncology relies on their ability to migrate towards sites of injury and inflammation and function as delivery systems for the local release of therapeutics [1], recently reported as also occurring via exosomes [2].
Since the first characterization of these cells in healthy bone marrow (BM) by Friedenstein, MSC have been described in various tissues of healthy and diseased bodies, performing a plethora of functions mostly aimed towards the governance of tissue homeostasis.
When considering pathological conditions and cancer, in particular, evidence suggests that the ability of local or recruited MSC to maintain a steady state is compromised, and the cells become integrated into the newly formed organ at the expense of its healthy counterpart. Cancer-associated MSC (CA-MSC) have been shown to promote multi-organ metastasis and to govern tumor immune surveillance [3]. Furthermore, BM-derived cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promote angiogenesis in breast cancer [4] and exhibit a unique inflammatory profile depending on the location. Indeed, several studies have highlighted that the microenvironment can reprogram stromal cells and inflammatory cytokines released in the tumor microenvironment (TME), ultimately boosting the immune-suppressive properties of MSC and favoring tumor growth [5,6].
This Special Issue, entitled “Role of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) in Cancer Progression and Cancer Therapy”, aims to further explore the fate of MSC within malignancies, encompassing the crosstalk between the stroma and the tumor as well as that between the different stromal components.
A crucial phase of cancer progression is the ability of the tumor to communicate with its surroundings. To this end, Aasebø and colleagues dissected the bidirectional communication between MSC and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells [7]. The authors performed a proteomic analysis of AML cells isolated from 40 patients and evaluated how healthy MSC influence the proteomic pattern of cancer cells. The results showed that, overall, patient heterogeneity was maintained upon challenge with MSC; nevertheless, the authors observed a reduction in patient heterogeneity for a minority of proteins, including extracellular matrix molecules, proteases (i.e., protein modifiers) and soluble adhesion molecules, thus highlighting possible targetable pathways. In line with this study, Fallati and colleagues reviewed the ability of MSC to orchestrate a leukemia-supportive microenvironment [8]. The authors detailed the capacity of the cells to contribute to the different stages of cancer and provided an overview of the potential mechanisms of action. They described the possible contribution of MSC to leukemogenesis and the cells’ ability to generate a leukemia-permissive environment by acting directly on tumor cells and indirectly via the microenvironment. Lastly, the authors reviewed the mechanisms of chemoprotection that involve MSC and are based upon a bi-directional exchange of soluble factors (metabolites, amino acids, etc.), extracellular vesicles (EVs) and nanotube-based connections. The emergence of chemoresistance is, indeed, a major clinical problem for tumors in cases where chemotherapy remains the frontline treatment. Železnik Ramuta and colleagues reviewed 42 studies published between 2001 and 2022 evaluating the role of MSC in chemoresistance [9]. The results highlighted the existence of various mechanisms involved in this specific function of MSC, most of them affecting signaling pathways related to apoptosis and proliferation. Sentek and colleagues illustrated the relevance of the niche to interactions between endogenous lung-resident mesenchymal stem cells (LRMSC) and tumor cells [10]. They described peculiar features of “cancer-educated” LR-MSCs and discussed their potential to differentiate into CAFs and pericytes and, ultimately, favor tumor progression. Papait and colleagues acknowledged the role of CAFs in cancer development, addressing the main open questions regarding these controversial cells [11]. They clarified different aspects related to phenotype identification and subtype specification and discussed some of the most advanced technologies involved in the process. Finally, they reviewed pre-clinical and clinical attempts to target CAFs in various types of cancer. As cancer progression is also defined by stroma-to-stroma interactions, Çakır and colleagues investigated the capacity of melanoma-associated fibroblasts (MAFs) to modulate macrophage functions [12]. The authors observed that the MAFs were able to shape the functional phenotype of macrophages and elicit IL-10 secretory production in these cells via both the cyclo-oxygenase pathway and IDO, thus regulating tumor immunity.
With their innate features having been unraveled, more questions will be raised concerning the safety and translational relevance of MSC in cancer. This Special Issue highlights the need for a deeper understanding of the fundamental processes that regulate MSC biology in health and disease to develop a clinically relevant therapeutic strategy that takes into consideration the recipient’s environment as a bi-directional type of communication
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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