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    Cloning of two glutamate dehydrogenase cDNAs from Asparagus officinalis: sequence analysis and evolutionary implications

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    Two different amplification products, termed c1 and c2, showing a high similarity to glutamate dehydrogenase sequences from plants, were obtained from Asparagus officinalis using two degenerated primers and RT–PCR (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction). The genes corresponding to these cDNA clones were designated aspGDHA and aspGDHB. Screening of a cDNA library resulted in the isolation of cDNA clones for aspGDHB only. Analysis of the deduced amino acid (aa) sequence from the full-length cDNA suggests that the gene product contains all regions associated with metabolic function of NAD glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD–GDH). A first phylogenetic analysis including only GDHs from plants suggested that the two GDH genes of A. officinalis arose by an ancient duplication event, pre-dating the divergence of monocots and dicots. Codon usage analysis showed a bias towards A/T ending codons. This tendency is likely due to the biased nucleotide composition of the asparagus genome, rather than to the translational selection for specific codons. Using principal coordinate analysis, the evolutionary relatedness of plant GDHs with homologous sequences from a large spectrum of organisms was investigated. The results showed a closer affinity of plant GDHs to GDHs of thermophilic archaebacterial and eubacterial species, when compared to those of unicellular eukaryotic fungi. Sequence analysis at specific amino acid signatures, known to affect the thermal stability of GDH, and assays of enzyme activity at non-physiological temperatures, showed a greater adaptation to heat stress conditions for the asparagus and tobacco enzymes compared with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae enzyme

    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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