1,720,977 research outputs found
A Questionnaire-based Survey of the Suspected Adverse Reactions Reporting Associated with Dietary and Herbal Supplements by Pharmacists and Patients in Albania
No full textBackground: Dietary and herbal supplements (DHS) have a widespread use in Albania, however, there is limited information on the reporting of their adverse effects by pharmacists and patients. This study aims to assess the reporting of suspected adverse reactions for dietary and herbal supplements by pharmacists and patients in Albania, as well as to evaluate the recurrence and occurrence of these reactions. Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was distributed online in Albania from January 2024 to March 2024 to patients and pharmacists with experience in direct patient care to evaluate their knowledge of the signaling of suspected adverse reactions of DHS. Results: A total of 113 pharmacists, and 159 patients in 9 and 12 different cities in Albania, respectively, consented to participate in the study. 69.91% of the pharmacists reported being informed about the necessity of reporting adverse effects associated with DHS during national conferences. However, only 8.85% have reported such effects to the responsible importers. Only 5.66% of patients have reported to their pharmacists about the adverse reactions of those products. Conclusions: The study highlights the need for improved education and training on reporting procedures for pharmacists and patients in Albania. By enhancing pharmacovigilance practices and promoting awareness among pharmacists and patients, we can lead toward a safer healthcare system in Albania. © 2025 by authors, all rights reserved
L'AUMENTO DEI LIVELLI PLASMATICI DI OMOCISTEINA PUÒ CONSIDERARSI COME FATTORE DI RISCHIO DI DANNO VASCOLARE NEL DIABETE DI TIPO 1?
No full textATP-sensitive Potassium Channel Subunits in Neuroinflammation: Novel Drug Targets in Neurodegenerative Disorders
No full textArachidonic acids and its metabolites modulate plenty of ligand-gated, voltage-depen-dent ion channels, and metabolically regulated potassium channels including ATP-sensitive potassium channels (KATP). KATP channels are hetero-multimeric complexes of sulfonylureas receptors (SUR1, SUR2A or SUR2B) and the pore-forming subunits (Kir6.1 and Kir6.2) likewise expressed in the pre-post synapsis of neurons and inflammatory cells, thereby affecting their proliferation and activity. KATP channels are involved in amyloid-β (Aβ)-induced pathology, therefore emerging as therapeutic targets against Alzheimer’s and related diseases. The modulation of these channels can represent an innovative strategy for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders; nevertheless, the currently available drugs are not selective for brain KATP channels and show contrasting effects. This phenomenon can be a consequence of the multiple physiological roles of the different vari-eties of KATP channels. Openings of cardiac and muscular KATP channel subunits, are protective against caspase-dependent atrophy in these tissues and some neurodegenerative disorders, whereas in some neuroinflammatory diseases, benefits can be obtained through the inhibition of neuronal KATP channel subunits. For example, glibenclamide exerts an anti-inflammatory effect in respira-tory, digestive, urological, and central nervous system (CNS) diseases, as well as in ischemia-reper-fusion injury associated with abnormal SUR1-Trpm4/TNF-α or SUR1-Trpm4/ Nos2/ROS signal-ing. Despite this strategy being promising, glibenclamide may have limited clinical efficacy due to its unselective blocking action of SUR2A/B subunits also expressed in cardiovascular apparatus with pro-arrhythmic effects and SUR1 expressed in pancreatic beta cells with hypoglycemic risk. Alternatively, neuronal selective dual modulators showing agonist/antagonist actions on KATP channels can be an option
Hyper-homocysteinemia is Not a Main Feature of Juvenile Uncomplicated Type 1 Diabetes
No full textTotal plasma homocysteine (tHcy) was measured by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) method in 28 patients (12 females and 16 males) at the onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), 4 females during diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) and 154 (68 females and 86 males) during follow-up. Serum folate, pyridoxal 5’ phosphate (PLP) and Vitamin B12 (Vit B12) were also measured. Plasma tHcy levels were not found significantly different in T1DM patients known to have diabetes (males 9.2 ± 7.7 and females 7.0 ± 2.8 μmol/l) and in those who were newly diagnosed (males 9.7 ± 4.8 and females 7.16 ± 2.8 μmol/l) than in healthy controls (males 8.7 ± 3.5 and females 7.8 ± 2.55 μmol/l). Only a significant difference for sex was observed in known diabetes (p = 0.0281). Serum folate, PLP and Vit B12 were normal (12.6 ± 3.6 ng/ml, 20.11 ± 0.8 ng/ml and 416.7 ± 41.9 pg/ml) in all T1DM patients. Age significantly correlated with plasma tHcy. Only in 4 patients, studied during DKA, plasma tHcy was significantly lower (2.76 ± 1.33 μmol/l, p < 0.001) than the healthy controls
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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