1,271 research outputs found

    Methods for selecting authors for co-citation studies : how to define a cutoff point

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    Trata da análise de cocitação de autores –ACA, mais especificamente apresenta uma proposta para definir a seleçãode autores. Objetivos: a) comparar dados de citação total, citação por documento citante e cocitação de autor com ele mesmo, para definir o indicador mais apropriado para a seleção; e b) propor uma forma para estabelecer um ponto de corte para a criação das matrizes. Dois conjuntos de dados, recuperados na Web of Science, foram utilizados: conjunto A, composto de 17.992 referências de 421 artigos, Conjunto B. composto de 5.771 referências de 151 artigos. Acitação por documento citante é mais apropriada para classificar os autores do que as citações totais e a cocitação do autor comele mesmo. Incluir autores cujas citações por documentos citantes somadas atingem aproximadamente 20% mostrou-se apropriado, mas autores citados uma única vez não devem fazer parte dos cálculos. Nos dados do Conjunto A, foram definidos 180 autores (20,6% da soma das citações)e 72 autores (20,1% da soma das citações), considerando as todas as posições de autoria das referências e as primeiras posições, respectivamente.Conclui-se pela validade da proposta por contextualizar os dados analisados diante do todo e considerar a melhor distribuição dos autores citados no corpus.The paper focuses on author co-citation analysis -ACA, particularly presenting a proposal to define the selection of authors. Objectives: a) to compare total citation, citation per citing document and author‟s co-citation with himself, to define the most appropriate indicator for inclusion of authors; and b) to propose a way to establish a cut-offpoint for creating of the matrices. Two data sets, retrieved from the Web of Science, were used: set A, composed of 17,992 references from 421 articles; Set B,composed of 5,771 references from 151 articles. The citation per citing document is more appropriate to classify authors than the total number of citations and author's co-citation with himself. To include authors whose citations by citing documents reach approximately 20% proved to be appropriate, but authors cited only once, which constitute absolute dispersion data, should not be included in the calculations. Regarding the data in Set A, 180 authors (20.6% of the sum of citations) and 72 authors (20.1% of the sum of citations) were defined, considering all the positions of the references and the first positions, respectively. It concludes by the validity of the proposal for contextualizing the data analyzed and considering the best distribution of cited authors mentioned in the corpus

    MiR-155 has a protective role in the development of non-alcoholic hepatosteatosis in mice

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    Hepatic steatosis is a global epidemic that is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. MicroRNAs (miRs) are regulators that can functionally integrate a range of metabolic and inflammatory pathways in liver. We aimed to investigate the functional role of miR-155 in hepatic steatosis. Male C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and miR-155−/− mice were fed either normal chow or high fat diet (HFD) for 6 months then lipid levels, metabolic and inflammatory parameters were assessed in livers and serum of the mice. Mice lacking endogenous miR-155 that were fed HFD for 6 months developed increased hepatic steatosis compared to WT controls. This was associated with increased liver weight and serum VLDL/LDL cholesterol and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels, as well as increased hepatic expression of genes involved in glucose regulation (Pck1, Cebpa), fatty acid uptake (Cd36) and lipid metabolism (Fasn, Fabp4, Lpl, Abcd2, Pla2g7). Using miRNA target prediction algorithms and the microarray transcriptomic profile of miR-155−/− livers, we identified and validated that Nr1h3 (LXRα) as a direct miR-155 target gene that is potentially responsible for the liver phenotype of miR-155−/− mice. Together these data indicate that miR-155 plays a pivotal role regulating lipid metabolism in liver and that its deregulation may lead to hepatic steatosis in patients with diabetes

    Genetic PTX3 deficiency and aspergillosis in stem-cell transplantation

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    BACKGROUND: The soluble pattern-recognition receptor known as long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) has a nonredundant role in antifungal immunity. The contribution of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in PTX3 to the development of invasive aspergillosis is unknown. METHODS: We screened an initial cohort of 268 patients undergoing hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) and their donors for PTX3 SNPs modifying the risk of invasive aspergillosis. The analysis was also performed in a multicenter study involving 107 patients with invasive aspergillosis and 223 matched controls. The functional consequences of PTX3 SNPs were investigated in vitro and in lung specimens from transplant recipients. RESULTS: Receipt of a transplant from a donor with a homozygous haplotype (h2/h2) in PTX3 was associated with an increased risk of infection, in both the discovery study (cumulative incidence, 37% vs. 15%; adjusted hazard ratio, 3.08; P=0.003) and the confirmation study (adjusted odds ratio, 2.78; P=0.03), as well as with defective expression of PTX3. Functionally, PTX3 deficiency in h2/h2 neutrophils, presumably due to messenger RNA instability, led to impaired phagocytosis and clearance of the fungus. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic deficiency of PTX3 affects the antifungal capacity of neutrophils and may contribute to the risk of invasive aspergillosis in patients treated (Funded by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and others) .with HSCT.Supported by grants from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) (to Dr. Carvalho); the German Ministry for Education and Science (03Z2JN21, to Dr. Kurzai); the European Commission (FP7-HEALTH-2009-260338, to Dr. Romani; FP7-HEALTH-2011-280873, to Dr. Mantovani), the European Research Council (ERC-2008-AdG-233417, to Dr. Mantovani; ERC-2011-AdG-293714, to Dr. Romani), Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (99629, to Dr. Mantovani); and Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal (SFRH/BPD/46292/2008, to Dr. Carvalho; SFRH/BD/65962/2009, to Dr. Cunha; and SFRH/BPD/70783/2010, to Dr. Almeida)

    Androgenic suppression combined with radiotherapy for the treatment of prostate adenocarcinoma: a systematic review

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Locally advanced prostate cancer is often associated with elevated recurrence rates. Despite the modest response observed, external-beam radiotherapy has been the preferred treatment for this condition. More recent evidence from randomised trials has demonstrated clinical benefit with the combined use of androgen suppression in such cases. The aim of this meta-analysis is to compare the combination of distinct hormone therapy modalities versus radiotherapy alone for overall survival, disease-free survival and toxicity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, Cochrane databases and ClinicalTrials.gov) were scanned for randomised clinical trials involving radiotherapy with or without androgen suppression in local prostate cancer. The search strategy included articles published until October 2011. The studies were examined and the data of interest were plotted for meta-analysis. Survival outcomes were reported as a hazard ratio with corresponding 95% confidence intervals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data from ten trials published from 1988 to 2011 were included, comprising 6555 patients. There was a statistically significant advantage to the use of androgen suppression, in terms of both overall survival and disease free survival, when compared to radiotherapy alone. The use of long-term goserelin (up to three years) was the strategy providing the higher magnitude of clinical benefit. In contrast to goserelin, there were no trials evaluating the use of other luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) analogues as monotherapy. Complete hormonal blockade was not shown to be superior to goserelin monotherapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on the findings of this systematic review, the evidence supports the use of androgen suppression with goserelin monotherapy as the standard treatment for patients with prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy, which are at high risk of recurrence or metastases.</p

    Nursing, nutrition, physical therapy and social work aspects of bone marrow transplantation

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    O sucesso do transplante de medula óssea (TMO) depende da ação entrosada de uma variedade de profissionais, além da equipe médica, para atender às múltiplas e complexas necessidades dos pacientes submetidos ao TMO. Nesta revisão, discute-se a atuação das equipes de enfermagem, nutrição, fisioterapia e assistência social na assistência desses pacientes. O papel dos profissionais de saúde mental (psicólogos e psiquiatras) foi tratado em um capítulo separado deste Simpósio.Success of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) depends upon the cooperative action of different professionals, besides the medical team, to attend complex and multiple needs of patients submitted to BMT. In this review we discuss the role of nursing, nutrition, physical therapy and social work teams in caring for those patients. The role of mental health professionals, psychologists and psychiatrists, was discussed in a separate chapter of this Symposium
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