Identification of a cytokine network sustaining neutrophil and Th17 activation in untreated early rheumatoid arthritis

© 2010 Cascão et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by sustained synovitis. Recently, several studies have proposed neutrophils and Th17 cells as key players in the onset and perpetuation of this disease. The main goal of this work was to determine whether cytokines driving neutrophil and Th17 activation are dysregulated in very early rheumatoid arthritis patients with less than 6 weeks of disease duration and before treatment (VERA). Methods: Cytokines related to neutrophil and Th17 activation were quantified in the serum of VERA and established RA patients and compared with other very early arthritis (VEA) and healthy controls. Synovial fluid (SF) from RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients was also analyzed. Results: VERA patients had increased serum levels of cytokines promoting Th17 polarization (IL-1b and IL-6), as well as IL-8 and Th17-derived cytokines (IL-17A and IL-22) known to induce neutrophil-mediated inflammation. In established RA this pattern is more evident within the SF. Early treatment with methotrexate or corticosteroids led to clinical improvement but without an impact on the cytokine pattern. Conclusions: VERA patients already display increased levels of cytokines related with Th17 polarization and neutrophil recruitment and activation, a dysregulation also found in SF of established RA. 0 Thus, our data suggest that a cytokine-milieu favoring Th17 and neutrophil activity is an early event in RA pathogenesis.This work was supported by a grant from Sociedade Portuguesa de Reumatologia/Schering-Plough 2005. RAM and RC were funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) SFRH/BD/30247/2006 and SFRH/BD/40513/2007, respectively. MMS-C was funded by Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship PERG-2008-239422 and a EULAR Young Investigator Award

Innovation Practices in Emerging Economies: Do University Partnerships Matter?

Enterprises’ resources and capabilities determine their ability to achieve competitive advantage. In this regard, the key innovation challenges that enterprises face are liabilities associated with their age and size, and the entry barriers imposed on them. In this line, a growing number of enterprises are starting to implement innovation practices in which they employ both internal/external flows of knowledge in order to explore/exploit innovation in collaboration with commercial or scientific agents. Within this context, universities play a significant role providing fertile knowledge-intensive environments to support the exploration and exploitation of innovative and entrepreneurial ideas, especially in emerging economies, where governments have created subsidies to promote enterprise innovation through compulsory university partnerships. Based on these ideas, the purpose of this exploratory research is to provide a better understanding about the role of universities on enterprises’ innovation practices in emerging economies. More concretely, in the context of Mexico, we explored the enterprises’ motivations to collaborate with universities in terms of innovation purposes (exploration and exploitation) or alternatives to access to public funds (compulsory requirement of being involved in a university partnership). Using a sample of 10,167 Mexican enterprises in the 2012 Research and Technological Development Survey collected by the Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography, we tested a multinomial regression model. Our results provide insights about the relevant role of universities inside enterprises’ exploratory innovation practices, as well as, in the access of R&D research subsidies

O sentido da sexualidade de mulheres submetidas a histerectomia: uma contribuição da enfermagem para a integralidade da assistência ginecológica

A histerectomia é um procedimento cirúrgico irreversível, realizado por indicação médica, com a finalidade de restabelecer a saúde ou mesmo salvar a vida da mulher. Ser submetida a esta cirurgia acarreta modificações em seu cotidiano porque as recomendações pertinentes ao pós-operatório de histerectomia impõem implicações em seu mundo-vida. Este estudo de natureza qualitativa teve como objetivo analisar o sentido da sexualidade de mulheres após a histerectomia à luz do pensamento de Martin Heidegger. Foram depoentes 25 mulheres submetidas à retirada total do útero; a entrevista fenomenológica ocorreu num tempo variado, de 4 a 19 meses após o procedimento cirúrgico. A interpretação da estrutura de significação "a atividade sexual foi considerada" desvelou que na dinâmica assistencial, médica e de enfermagem, as rotineiras orientações de abstinência sexual determinadas pelo pós-operatório devem ser consideradas a partir da subjetividade da mulher que será/foi submetida à histerectomia.La histerectomia es un procedimiento quirúrgico irreversible realizado por indicación médica con la finalidad de restablecer la salud o mismo salvar la vida de la mujer. Ser sometida a esta cirurgía acarrea modificaciones en su cotidiano porque las recomendaciones para después de una operación de histerectomia imponen implicaciones en su mundo-vida. Este estudio de naturaleza cualitativa tuvo como objetivo analizar el sentido de la sexualidad de mujeres tras la histerectomia a la luz del pensamiento de Martin Heidegger. Fueron oídas 25 mujeres sometidas a la retirada total de útero siendo que la encuesta fenomenológica ocurrió en un tiempo entre cuatro y diecinueve meses tras el procedimiento quirúrgico. La interpretación de la estructura de la significación "la actividad sexual fue considerada" enseñó que en la dinámica asistencial médica y de enfermería, las orientaciones de rutina de abstinencia sexual determinada por el periodo que sigue a la operación deben ser consideradas a partir de la subjetividad de la mujer que será/fue sometida a histerectomiaHisterectomy is a irreversible surgical procedure carried through by medical indication with the purpose to reestablish the health or even to save the woman´s life. To be submitted to this surgery causes modifications at woman´s daily life because the pertinent recommendations to the Histerectomy post operative impose implications in her world-life. This qualitative study had as object to analyze the meaning of women's sexuality after Histerectomy, supported by Martin Heidegger´s thoughts. The informants were 25 women submitted to a total withdrawal of the uterus between nineteen to four months before the data collection. The interpretation of the meaning structure "sexual activity was considered", showed that in the medical and nursing assistential dynamics the routine orientations of sexual abstinence determined by the post operative must be considered from the subjectivity of the woman who will /was submitted to the Histerectomy