1,721,003 research outputs found

    Bullous Pemphigoid and Neurologic Diseases: Toward a Specific Serologic Profile?

    No full text
    BACKGROUND: The association of bullous pemphigoid (BP) and neurologic disease (ND) has been proven. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the presence of specific markers for the association between BP and ND. METHOD: A total of 47 patients with PB, at the onset of the disease, were retrospectively recruited from January 2015 to October 2017 in a single center (Dermatology Unit, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy). RESULTS: We have found an association between BP, ND and specific serologic profile characterized by higher levels of anti-BP180 and anti-BP230 (t(45)=2.319, p=0.025 and t(45)= 2.486, p=0.017, respectively), as compared to BP patients without ND. Furthermore, the univariate analysis revealed a significant association between ND and anti-BP230 positivity (P= 0.043). In detail, we observed a 4-time increased risk to have ND in BP patients showing anti-BP230 positivity. CONCLUSION: BP230 (BPAG1) is a member of the plakine family that links hemidemosomes to keratin filaments, being expressed at neuronal level. Thus, we hypothesized that alterations induced in ND could lead to the impairment of the "immune privilege", thus provoking the exposition of BP230 neuronal isoform

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Full text link
    The 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

    Anti-brain autoantibodies in the serum of schizophrenic patients: a case-control study.

    Full text link
    Schizophrenia is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder with a multifactorial pathogenesis where autoimmune factors may play a significant role. The aim of this study was to verify the presence of anti-brain autoantibodies in the serum of schizophrenic patients compared to healthy controls. Autoantibodies against brain were detected by the immunofluorescence method, utilizing sections of rat hippocampus and hypothalamus and of monkey cerebellum. Three different fluorescence patterns were observed, staining the nucleus-cytoplasm of neurons, the neuroendothelial of blood vessel and the neurofilaments. Search for other organ-specific and non organ-specific autoantibodies was performed in all sera by indirect immunofluorescence method, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and chemiluminescence immunoassay. Results showed a significant association between schizophrenia and anti-brain autoantibodies against the neuroendothelium of blood vessel in hypothalamus, hippocampus and cerebellum; a significant nuclear and cytoplasmic staining of neurons was assessed only for the hippocampus. No other significant association was found, except between schizophrenia and anti-nuclear autoantibodies on HEp-2 cells. In conclusion, these results support the hypothesis of a significant association between schizophrenia and circulating anti-brain autoantibodies, suggesting a diffuse reactivity against the neuroendothelium of blood vessel and highlighting a nuclear and cytoplasmic staining of the neurons of hippocampus

    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

    ELISA detection of anti-desmoglein 1 and anti-desmoglein 3 and indirect immunofluorescence in oral pemphigus: A retrospective study

    No full text
    Objective: The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of autoantibodies to desmoglein 1 and desmoglein 3 detected by ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence in the diagnosis of oral pemphigus and to correlate the antibody titres with the severity of the disease. Materials and Methods: We report a retrospective cohort study of 22 patients with oral pemphigus and 64 controls from a single tertiary centre. Data about histopathological examination, direct immunofluorescence, indirect immunofluorescence and ELISA were analysed. Global validation of ELISA and IIF both alone and combined was established by calculating sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and both positive predictive value and negative predictive value. The relationship between Oral Disease Severity Score values and ELISA titres was analysed using Pearson's coefficient. Results: The best diagnostic performance was observed for anti-desmoglein 3 ELISA. The sensitivity was 75% and specificity 100% and positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 92.5% and accuracy 93.9%. The level of agreement with histopathology + direct immunofluorescence was substantial (k =.758). Anti-desmoglein 3 titres showed a significant correlation with Oral Disease Severity Score (p <.05). Conclusions: Serological tests are commonly employed during clinical practice as adjunctive tools. Anti-desmoglein 3 ELISA should be considered as a first-instance diagnostic test for oral pemphigus early detection

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

    Full text link
    We 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
    corecore