1,720,993 research outputs found
viruses replication organelles
No full textPositive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses significantly reshape intracellular membranes to generate viral replication organelles that form a controlled niche in which nucleic acids, enzymes, and cofactors accumulate to assure an efficient replication of the viral genome. In recent years, advancements in electron microscopy (EM) techniques have enabled imaging of these viral factories in a near-native state providing significantly higher molecular details that have led to progress in our general understanding of virus biology. In this review, we describe the contribution of the cutting-edge EM approaches to the current knowledge of replication organelles biogenesis, structure, and functions
Comment on: LncRNA SBF2-AS1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis by regulating EMT and predicts unfavorable prognosis
No full textThe last worldwide evaluation on HCC impact and alarm refer to 20121
with dramatic information in
term of incidence rate and survival outcome. Despite the fact that more than 6 years are passed, the HCC
represents, still nowadays, one of the main oncological diseases in terms of incidence and negative survival
rate with worrying incidence also in many industrialized countries2
. Scientific evidence highlights how
antioxidant3
as well as nutraceutical agents4
can reduce the risk to develop the HCC, but it is not enough in
order to fight its progression and metastasis5
. Several mechanisms of action and markers were discovered
for the HCC6
, laying the foundations of the future innovative therapies and diagnosis approaches. In this
scenario, we read with great interest the article of Zhang et al7
. They evaluated and disseminated the role
of the LncRNA SBF2-AS1 in HCC patients. Starting from patients’ data, they focus on the LncRNA SBF2-
AS1 levels via bioinformatics and qPCR approaches. The data outcome correlates with the SBF2-AS1 up
regulation in HCC. Moreover, the authors investigated the clinical features and prognosis in HCC patients
in correlation with the SBF2-AS1 levels. Vein invasion and TNM stage, together with the low survival rate
strongly correlate with the high levels of LncRNA SBF2-AS1. On the other hands, the suppression of SBF2-
AS1 directly reduces the HCC proliferation and invasion acting on EMT pathway. The Zhang et al7
paper is
oriented towards the new frontiers of precision medicine passing by the patients stratification8
. The final
goal of last decade oncology research aims to provide the right therapy to the right patient9,10.
Concerning the fact the LncRNAs associated with HCC molecular mechanisms is grooving11, the LncRNA
SBF2-AS1 should be considered pivotal for as possible new diagnostic marker and therapy in HCC patient.
Indeed SBF2-AS1 could represent a new source as druggable target able for innovative HCC treatment.
Future studies12 should try to elucidate the potential interplay of mechanism in HCC initiation, progression
and fate among the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms
The intestinal biofilm of pseudomonas aeruginosa and staphylococcus aureus is inhibited by antimicrobial peptides HBD-2 and HBD-3
No full textBackground: The intestinal microbiota is a very active microbial community interacting with the host in maintaining homeostasis; it acts in cooperation with intestinal epithelial cells, which protect the host from the external environment by producing a diverse arsenal of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), including β-defensins-2 and 3 (HBD-2 and HBD-3), considered among the most studied in this category. However, there are some circumstances in which an alteration of this eubiotic state occurs, with the triggering of dysbiosis. In this condition, the microbiota loses its protective power, leading to the onset of opportunistic infections. In this scenario, the emergence of multi-drug resistant biofilms from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus is very frequent. Methods: We created a Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cell line stably transfected with the genes, encoding HBD-2 and HBD-3, in order to evaluate their ability to inhibit the intestinal biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Results: Both HBD-2 and HBD-3 showed anti-biofilm activity against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Conclusions: The exploitation of endogenous antimicrobial peptides as a new anti-biofilm therapy, in isolation or in combination with conventional antibiotics, can be an interesting prospect in the treatment of chronic and multi-drug resistant infections
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
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