1,721,042 research outputs found
Comparison of the potency of different brands of serenoa repens extract on 5alpha-reductase types I and II in prostatic co-cultured epithelial and fibroblast cells
No full textBackground: Serenoa repens extract is the phytotherapeutic agent most frequently used for the treatment of the urological symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia. There are many extracts in the market and each manufacturer uses different extraction processes; for this reason, it's possible that one product is not equivalent to another. The aim of this study was to compare the activity of different extracts of Serenoa repens marketed in Italy. Methods: The following extracts were tested on 10 day co-cultured epithelial and fibroblast cells by a 5alpha-reductase activity assay: Permixon(R), Saba(R), Serpens(R), Idiprost(R), Prostamev(R), Profluss(R) and Prostil(R). In order to assess the variability in Serenoa repens products, 2 different batches for each brand were evaluated. Results and Conclusions: All extracts tested, albeit variably, are able to inhibit both isoforms of 5alpha-reductase. However, the potency of the extracts appears to be very different, as well as the potencies of 2 different batches of the same extract. This is probably due to qualitative and quantitative differences in the active ingredients. So, the product of each company must be tested to evaluate the clinical efficacy and bioactivity
integrin linked kinase (ILK) is a prognostic factor in human gliomas implicated in tumor resistance to therapy
No full textIn vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic activity of clofoctol
No full textThe aim of the study was to examine the in vitro susceptibility of clinical isolates of respiratory pathogens to clofoctol compared with amoxicillin and erythromycin, and to characterize the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) relationships of clofoctol using a murine pneumonia infection model. Strains clinically isolated from patients between 2005 and 2009 were used to examine susceptibility: penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and Haemophilus influenzae. The in vitro activity of clofoctol against clinical isolates has essentially remained unchanged over recent years. The MIC50 and MIC90 of clofoctol against penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae are lower than that of amoxicillin and erythromycin. The area under curve/minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC/MIC) ratio is the PK/PD parameter that best correlates with in vivo clofoctol efficacy; the value of AUC/MIC required to achieve the maximum effect in this study was 75.5
2-[125I]iodomelatonin binding sites in the bovine hippocampus are not sensitive to guanine nucleotides
No full textThe discrete distribution and pharmacological characteristics of melatonin binding sites in the bovine hippocampus were determined. Autoradiography revealed the presence of melatonin binding sites in the stratum lacunosum-molecularis of the hippocampus (CA1), stratum molecularis of the subiculum and in the enthorhinal cortex. Analysis of the kinetic parameters demonstrated that the binding was stable and reversible, represented by a single class high affinity binding sites (Kd 40 pM, Bmax = 3.9 fmol/mg protein). However, 2-iodomelatonin and 2-bromomelatonin inhibited 2-[125I]iodomelatonin binding in a biphasic manner. The presence of 4 mM CaCl2 did not cause changes in the affinity constant values. Finally, experiments performed with GTP gamma S revealed that binding affinity was not decreased even with high concentrations of the nucleotide. These findings show that 2-[125I]iodomelatonin binding sites in the bovine parahippocampal-hippocampal region possess some binding features not common to melatonin receptors described so far; moreover they seem not to be linked to a regulatory G-protein
Comparison of the potency of 10 different brands of Serenoa repens extracts
No full textBACKGROUND:
The extract of Serenoa repens is the phytopharmaceutical product most often used for the treatment of urological symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Several extracts are commercially available but extraction processes vary between manufacturers and thus not all these products are equivalent in terms of active ingredient content and composition of preparations.
AIM:
As there is a paucity of comparative studies, we compared the activity of different extracts of Serenoa repens widely available on the world market.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Beltrax Uno, Permicaps, Permixon, Prostadyn, Prostagutt, Prostamen, Prostamol Uno, ProstaX, Urocaps and Urogutt were assayed for 5-alpha-reductase activity on 10 day fibroblasts and epithelial cells cocultures. Human fibroblast growth factor (hFGF)-induced-proliferation inhibition was also assayed.
RESULTS:
As to extract activity, differences were observed between the tested extracts, but all were able to inhibit 5-a-reductase types I and II isoenzymes (5alphaR-I and 5alphaR-II) as well as fibroblast proliferation.
CONCLUSIONS:
Extract potency differs between products and so does proliferation inhibition potency. Quantitative and qualitative variations in the active ingredient are likely to account for these differences
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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