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    Coexistence of α1 and β adrenergic receptors in the liver of the frog Rana esculenta, the Toad Bufo bufo, the lizard Podarcis sicula campestris, and the turtle Pseudemys picta elegans

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    In mammals and birds the characteristics of α1 adrenergic receptors and their biological role in liver metabolism have been clearly described, although the predominance of receptor subtypes varies with species. In contrast, the actual presence of hepatic α1 adrenergic receptors in fish, amphibians, and reptiles has been questioned. Only recently has their existence been demonstrated in some fish species and also in the wood frog Rana sylvatica. The present study assessed the presence of α1 adrenergic binding sites on hepatic membranes of frogs, toads, lizards, and turtles using the specific α1 adrenergic receptor antagonist [3H]prazosin; for comparison, the binding of the specific β adrenergic receptor antagonist [3H]CGP-12177A was evaluated in the same preparations. α1 Adrenergic receptors are indeed present in the liver of the ectotherms examined. Specific binding is saturable, reversible, and linear as a function of tissue concentration. The binding data indicated the presence of two classes of binding sites displaying high and low affinities with K(d)s in the nanomolar and micromolar ranges, respectively. The present study provides the first evidence for the presence of α1 adrenergic receptors in the liver of toad, lizard, and turtle while confirming their existence in another species of frog, Rana esculenta

    Adenylyl cyclase activity and glucose release from the liver of the European eel, Anguilla anguilla

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    The properties of adenylyl cyclase (AC) in liver membranes of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and the involvement of cAMP in glucose release from isolated hepatocytes in response to catecholamines were studied. Basal enzyme activity seemed essentially unaffected by GTP, while a biphasic response to increasing nucleotide concentrations was obtained in the presence of epinephrine. Eel liver AC was dose-dependently stimulated by guanosine 5'- O-(3-thiotriphosphate) and inhibited by guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate). AC activity, intracellular cAMP levels, and glucose release from isolated hepatocytes were significantly enhanced by NaF, forskolin, epinephrine, and phenylephrine. The rise in cAMP production stimulated by catecholamines was counteracted by propranolol, but not by phentolamine. Catecholamine-induced glucose output was instead partially antagonized by both phentolamine and propranolol. Complete inhibition was obtained only by the simultaneous presence of the two adrenergic antagonists. Glucose release from the cells was induced by dibutyryl cAMP and by the calcium ionophore ionomycin. In summary, these data provide the first characterization of eel liver AC system and suggest a direct role for cAMP in the catecholamine-dependent glucose output. Furthermore, the involvement of calcium ions in this cellular response is hypothesized

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    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

    Variations on the Author

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    “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

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    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

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We 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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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