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    Presynaptic release-regulating metabotropic glutamate receptors: An update

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    Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors represent the largest family of glutamate receptors in mammals and act as fine tuners of the chemical transmission in central nervous system (CNS). In the last decade, results concerning the expression and the subcellular localization of mGlu receptors further clarified their role in physio-pathological conditions. Concomitantly, their pharmacological characterization largely improved thanks to the identification of new compounds (chemical ligands and antibodies recognizing epitopic sequences of the receptor proteins) that allowed to decipher the protein compositions of the naive receptors. mGlu receptors are expressed at the presynaptic site of chemical synapses. Here, they modulate intraterminal enzymatic pathways controlling the migration and the fusion of vesicles to synaptic membranes as well as the phosphorylation of colocalized receptors. Both the control of transmitter exocytosis and the phosphorylation of colocalized receptors elicited by mGlu receptors are relevant events that dictate the plasticity of nerve terminals, and account for the main role of presynaptic mGlu receptors as modulators of neuronal signalling. The role of the presynaptic mGlu receptors in the CNS has been the matter of several studies and this review aims at briefly summarizing the recent observations obtained with isolated nerve endings (we refer to as synaptosomes). We focus on the pharmacological characterization of these receptors and on their receptor-receptor interaction / oligo-dimerization in nerve endings that could be relevant to the development of new therapeutic approaches for the cure of central pathologies

    Acute Low Dose of Trazodone Recovers Glutamate Release Efficiency and mGlu2/3 Autoreceptor Impairments in the Spinal Cord of Rats Suffering From Chronic Sciatic Ligation

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    We investigated whether chronic sciatic ligation modifies the glutamate release in spinal cord nerve endings (synaptosomes) as well as the expression and the function of presynaptic release-regulating mGlu2/3 autoreceptors and 5-HT2A heteroreceptors in these particles. Synaptosomes were from the spinal cord of animals suffering from the sciatic ligation that developed on day 6 post-surgery a significant decrease of the force inducing paw-withdrawal in the lesioned paw. The exocytosis of glutamate (quantified as release of preloaded [3H]D-aspartate, [3H]D-Asp) elicited by a mild depolarizing stimulus (15 mM KCl) was significantly increased in synaptosomes from injured rats when compared to controls (uninjured rats). The mGlu2/3 agonist LY379268 (1000 pM) significantly inhibited the 15 mM KCl-evoked [3H]D-Asp overflow from control synaptosomes, but not in terminals isolated from injured animals. Differently, a low concentration (10 nM) of (±) DOI, unable to modify the 15 mM KCl-evoked [3H]D-Asp overflow in control spinal cord synaptosomes, significantly reduced the glutamate exocytosis in nerve endings isolated from the injured rats. Acute oral trazodone (TZD, 0.3 mg/kg on day 7 post-surgery) efficiently recovered glutamate exocytosis as well as the efficiency of LY379268 in inhibiting this event in spinal cord synaptosomes from injured animals. The sciatic ligation significantly reduced the expression of mGlu2/3, but not of 5-HT2A, receptor proteins in spinal cord synaptosomal lysates. Acute TZD recovered this parameter. Our results support the use of 5-HT2A antagonists for restoring altered spinal cord glutamate plasticity in rats suffering from sciatic ligation

    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
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