1,720,983 research outputs found
Dual modulation of inward rectifier potassium currents in olfactory neuronal cells by promiscuous G protein coupling of the oxytocin receptor
No full textOxytocin receptor is a seven transmembrane receptor widely expressed in the CNS that triggers G(i) or G(q) protein-mediated signaling cascades leading to the regulation of a variety of neuroendocrine and cognitive functions. We decided to investigate whether and how the promiscuous receptor/G protein coupling affects neuronal excitability. As an experimental model, we used the immortalized gonadotropin-releasing hormone-positive GN11 cell line displaying the features of immature, migrating olfactory neurons. Using RT-PCR analysis, we detected the presence of oxytocin receptors whose stimulation by oxytocin led to the accumulation of inositol phosphates and to the inhibition of cell proliferation, and the expression of several inward rectifier (IR) K+ channel subtypes. Moreover, electrophysiological and pharmacological inspections using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings evidenced that in GN11 cells, IR channel subtypes are responsive to oxytocin. In particular, we found that: (i) peptide activation of receptor either inhibited or stimulated IR conductances, and (ii) IR current inhibition was mediated by a pertussis toxin-resistant G protein presumably of the G(q/11) subtype, and by phospholipase C, whereas IR current activation was achieved via receptor coupling to a pertussis toxin-sensitive G(i/o) protein. The findings suggest that neuronal excitability might be tuned by a single peptide receptor that mediates opposing effects on distinct K+ channels through the promiscuous coupling to different G proteins
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
Unaltered oxytocin and vasopressin plasma levels in patients with schizophrenia after a 4-month daily treatment with intranasal oxytocin
No full textThe neuropeptide Oxytocin (OXT) has been proposed as a treatment for a number of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by impaired social behavior, including schizophrenia. Although several studies reported chronic administration of OXT to be safe and tolerable, its effect on the circulating levels of OXT itself and of the related neuropeptide Arg-vasopressin (AVP) had not been assessed yet. Here, in a within-subjects crossover, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, we have assayed the plasma levels of OXT and AVP in 31 patients with schizophrenia treated daily for four months with 40 IU intranasal OXT or placebo. Our data indicate a baseline OXT concentration of 1.62 (SD 0.68) pg/mL, as determined by radioimmunoassay, that did not display any significant variation after chronic treatment with OXT or placebo. Similarly, the mean baseline AVP value of 2.40 (SD 1.26) pg/mL remained unchanged. In this study was also assessed cardiovascular and body fluids indicators (osmolality, plasma sodium concentration and systolic blood pressure), as well as a parameter for food intake (body mass index), that all remained stable. By reporting that a daily treatment with 40 IU intranasal OXT or placebo for 4 months does not impact on OXT and AVP plasma levels nor on cardiovascular, body fluids and food intake parameters, this study represents an important step towards developing OXT as a safe treatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
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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