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Reciprocal neuron-astrocyte signaling in epileptic seizure generation and propagation
Full text linkThe idea that astrocytes – the main population of glial cells in the brain – are active
partners of neurons in many aspects of brain functions represented a Copernican
Revolution in neurobiology. Astrocytes, which were for many years considered just
like the cement (from Greek glia i.e. glue) that keeps neuronal cells together, have
now been moved from the periphery to the centre of the universe of information
processing in the brain providing a radically different point of observation in the study
of brain physiology. This new view of brain activity turns around the discovery of a
bidirectional communication between neurons and astrocytes, a process called
gliotransmission. Astrocytes respond to neurotransmitters and through a Ca2+
dependent mechanism release neuroactive substances that induce functional
changes in neurons. In spite of the resistances opposed against the desertion of the
neuronal dogma, a large amount of evidence collected during the last three decades
contributed to reshape the concept of synaptic communication, considering astrocytes
- together with the pre- and post- synaptic membranes - a fundamental element of
the tripartite synapse. In other words, astrocytes participate transversally to
information processing in the brain by modulating both synaptic transmission and
different forms of plasticity.
This new consciousness of astrocytes as active elements in brain physiology,
naturally suggests that these glial cell can potentially be involved in the development
of brain disorders. Indeed many studies revealed that dysfunctions in astrocyteneuron
signaling can be directly involved in many pathologies including Alzheimer’s
disease, Parkinson disease, amyotropic lateral sclerosis and epilepsy.
The main goal in my thesis was to understand how the release of gliotrasnmitters by
astrocytes, in particular glutamate, may influence two distinct phases of epileptic
activity: the generation and the propagation of a focal seizure.L'idea che gli astrociti - la popalazione di cellule gliali più importante del cervello - sono partner attivi dei neuroni in molte delle funzioni del sistema nervoso, ha rappresentato una Rivoluzione Copernicana nello studio della neurobiologia. Per molti anni considerati alla stregua di un cemento (dal greco glia, colla) con l'unica funzione di tenere insieme i neuroni, gli astrociti sono riconosciuti oggi rivestire un ruolo centrale nel processamento dell'informazione. Questa nuova visione del funzionamento cerebrale si fonda sulla scoperta di una comunicazione bidirezionale tra neuroni ed astrociti, processo chiamato gliotrasmmissione. Gli astrociti rispondono ai neurotrasmettitori, ed attraverso un meccanismo calcio dipendente, possono a loro volta rilasciare sostante neuroattive che possono indurre cambiamente funzionali nei neuroni. Nonostante le resistenze opposte all'abbandono del dogma neurocentrico, una grande quantità di dati sperimentali raccolti negli ultimi trentanni ha contribuito a rimodellare il concetto di comunicazione sinaptica, considerando gli astociti, insieme ai terminali pre- e post- sinaptici, un elemento fondamentale della sinapsi tripartita. In altre parole, gli astrociti partecipano transversalmente al processamento dell'informazione nel cervello modulando sia la trasmissione sinaptica che differenti forme di plasticità. Questa nuova coscenza degli astrociti come elementi attivi nella fisiologia del cervello, suggerisce che essi possano essere coinvolti anche nelle patologie neurologiche. Molti studi hanno infatti rivelato che malfunzionamenti nella comunicazione tra neuroni ed astrociti sono direttamente legati a patologie quali il morbo di Alzheimer, il morbo di Parkinson, la sclerosi laterale amiotrofica e l'epilessia.
L'obiettivo principale di questa tesi è stato capire come il rilascio di gliotrasmettitori, in particolare il glutammato, possa influenzare la generazione e la propagazione della scarica epilettica
Fast spiking interneuron control of seizure propagation in a cortical slice model of focal epilepsy
No full textIn different animal models of focal epilepsy, seizure-like ictal discharge propagation is transiently opposed by feedforward inhibition. The specific cellular source of this signal and the mechanism by which inhibition ultimately becomes ineffective are, however, undefined. We used a brain slice model to study how focal ictal discharges that were repetitively evoked from the same site, and at precise times, propagate across the cortex. We used Ca(2+) imaging and simultaneous single/dual cell recordings from pyramidal neurons (PyNs) and different classes of interneurons in rodents, including G42 and GIN transgenic mice expressing the green fluorescence protein in parvalbumin (Pv)-fast spiking (FS) and somatostatin (Som) interneurons, respectively. We found that these two classes of interneurons fired intensively shortly after ictal discharge generation at the focus. The inhibitory barrages that were recorded in PyNs occurred in coincidence with Pv-FS, but not with Som interneuron burst discharges. Furthermore, the strength of inhibitory barrages increased or decreased in parallel with increased or decreased firing in Pv-FS interneurons but not in Som interneurons. A firing impairment of Pv-FS interneurons caused by a membrane depolarization was found to precede ictal discharge onset in neighbouring pyramidal neurons. This event may account for the collapse of local inhibition that allows spatially defined clusters of PyNs to be recruited into propagating ictal discharges. Our study demonstrates that Pv-FS interneurons are a major source of the inhibitory barrages that oppose ictal discharge propagation and raises the possibility that targeting Pv-FS interneurons represents a new therapeutic strategy to prevent the generalization of human focal seizures
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe 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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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