1,720,957 research outputs found
Exploiting GDNF as a potential target for neuroprotective therapy in neurodegenerative diseases
No full textDevelopment of a novel gene therapy-based approach to drive a localized and sustained release of the neurotrophic factor GDNF to treat two different diseases associated with neurodegeneration: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE).Sviluppo di un nuovo approccio basato sulla terapia genica per promuovere il rilascio localizzato e prolungato del fattore neuroftrofico GDNF al fine di trattare due diverse malattie caratterizzate da neurodegenerazione: il Morbo di Parkinson e l’Epilessia del Lobo Temporale
Exploring the diversity of biological processes regulated by glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, a pleiotropic molecule with therapeutic potential
Get PDFGlial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent trophic factor essential for neuronal survival and function. Encoded by the GDNF gene, its mature protein arises from specific post-translational modifications and is secreted through distinct isoform-dependent pathways. Once released, GDNF binds to its receptors, GFRα1 and RET, activating downstream signaling cascades that regulate cell growth, differentiation, and survival. In the central nervous system, GDNF exerts protective effects on dopaminergic neurons—highlighted in Parkinson’s disease research—and shows promise for modulating schizophrenia, depression, and addiction. Beyond dopaminergic pathways, GDNF influences synaptic plasticity in hippocampal neurons and supports GABAergic function. Glial cells also produce and respond to GDNF: astrocyte-derived GDNF can promote neuroprotection but also modulate microglial state and neuroinflammation. Other cell sources, such as pericytes and endothelial cells, contribute to GDNF levels, impacting blood-brain and blood-nerve barrier permeability. Peripherally, GDNF is critical for sympathetic and parasympathetic neuron development, somatic sensory neuron maintenance, and motor neuron reinnervation at the neuromuscular junction. Finally, GDNF has been recently implicated in tumour biology, underscoring its multifaceted role at the interface between beneficial and detrimental effects. Clinically, its therapeutic potential is being explored in different diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders and epilepsy. In this review, we will explore various aspects of GDNF biology and then focus our attention to the physiological mechanisms of GDNF-regulated processes in the central and peripheral nervous system, concluding with a brief perspective related to its therapeutic potential for central nervous system disorders. A deeper knowledge of the mechanisms regulating GDNF secretion and signaling, particularly the cellular source and the specificity of the GDNF-engaged intracellular signaling pathways, could be helpful to develop more precise therapeutic strategies for different CNS diseases
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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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