1,720,955 research outputs found

    Defective SERCA1protein causing bovine Pseudomyotonia and human Brody disease: from pathogenic mechanism to a novel therapeutic approach

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    Cattle congenital pseudomyotonia (PMT) is an inherited recessive autosomal muscular disorder due to missense mutations in ATP2A1 gene, encoding SERCA1 protein (Sarco-endo-plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase, isoform1) [1]. SERCA1 is responsible for transporting Ca2+ from cytosol back into the lumen of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) playing a crucial role in muscle relaxation. Bovine PMT has been described in the Chianina and Romagnola italian breeds. Even though clinical symptoms were homogeneous, PMT has been found genetically heterogeneous. All PMT Chianina animals were homozygous for a single point mutation leading to an Arg164His (R164H) substitution, while most of PMT Romagnola cases were compound heterozygous, carrying a mutation identical to that of Chianina breed, in addition to two point mutations leading to Gly211Val and Gly286Val (G211V/G286V) substitutions [2]. In spite of this heterogeneity of SERCA1 gene mutations, a striking selective reduction of SERCA1 protein has been described in SR membranes isolated from bovine muscles of different PMT-affected cattle breeds. Recently we have clarified the pathogenic mechanism underlying Chianina PMT: the R164H SERCA1 mutation generates a protein functionally active but corrupted in proper folding that was ubiquitinated and prematurely degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system [3]. The relevance of cattle PMT is based on phenotypic and genotypic similarities with human Brody myopathy, a “rare” genetic muscular disorder. Clinical symptoms genetic and biochemical findings, clearly demonstrated that cattle PMT is the true animal model of Brody disease. This is not surprising since, in the last years, the counterparts of human pathologies have been found in many domestic mammalian species. Using the heterologous cellular model HEK293 overexpressing SERCA1 mutants, we have deeply investigated SERCA1 mutations found in Romagnola breed. G211V and G286V mutations were introduced separately or together into bovine SERCA1 cDNA. Using both immunofluorescence and western blot analyses we have found that only the G211V mutation is responsible for the PTM phenotype of Romagnola and the treatment with proteasome inhibitor rescues the expression level of G211V mutated SERCA1 at ER membranes in HEK293 cell model. At present, neither specific therapy nor mouse model for Brody myopathy exists. Our findings opened new perspectives for a therapy of this rare disease. To this aim, in the same cell model we have tested small molecules known as “CFTR correctors” specifically developed for rescuing type II Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR) mutants, causing Cystic Fibrosis. We have observed, by western blot analysis, that treatments with these compounds induce an increase of SERCA1 mutant content. So, a possible pharmacological therapy could be hypothesized for the specific population of Brody patients in which, as in bovine PMT, ATP2A1 mutations impair SERCA1 protein folding causing its rapid degradation. [1] Sacchetto et al. A defective SERCA1 protein is responsible for congenital pseudomyotonia in Chianina cattle, Am J Pathol ,174:565-573, 2009. [2] Murgiano, Sacchetto et al. Pseudomyotonia in Romagnola cattle caused by novel ATP2A1 mutations, BMC Vet. Res, 8:186. 2012. [3] Bianchini et al. Inhibition of ubiquitin proteasome system rescues the defective sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA1) protein causing Chianina cattle pseudomyotonia, J Biol Chem. 289:33073-33082, 2014

    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

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We 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

    Author Index

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    koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist

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    We 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 Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902

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    In Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
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