1,721,109 research outputs found

    Network bursting by organotypic spinal slice cultures in the presence of bicuculline and/or strychnine is developmentally regulated.

    No full text
    Organotypic cocultures of dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord from embryonic rats provides direct access to spinal interneurons in a culture system in which the cytoarchitectural organization of the spinal cord slice is maintained. This preparation was used to investigate the possible induction of rhythmic behaviour at different times of development in vitro. Spontaneous rhythmic bursts induced by coapplication of strychnine (1 microM) and bicuculline (20 microM) were observed with patch-clamp recordings from ventral interneurons. Ventral horn interneurons consistently developed a very regular pattern of activity which was superimposed on a background of sustained synaptic activity. The pattern of the spontaneous bursting following application of strychnine and bicuculline showed a developmentally regulated difference in frequency between two distinct stages of in vitro development

    Opposite changes in synaptic activity of organotypic spinal cord cultures after chronic block of AMPA/kainate or glycine and GABAA receptors.

    No full text
    1. The well-developed cytoarchitecture of rat organotypic spinal cord culture makes it a suitable model to explore how persistent suppression of certain synaptic inputs might be compensated by increased synaptic efficacy (homeostatic plasticity). 2. Spontaneous or electrically evoked synaptic transmission of patch-clamped ventral horn interneurons was studied in control solution after blocking, for the second week in culture, AMPA/kainate receptors with CNQX or glycine and GABAA receptors with strychnine and bicuculline, or indiscriminately removing inputs with tetrodotoxin (TTX). 3. In untreated cells, spontaneous postsynaptic currents (PSCs) had fast (tau 10 ms) decay. A similar separation was observed when recording miniature currents (mPSCs). Slow decay PSCs were suppressed by strychnine plus bicuculline while fast decay events were eliminated by CNQX. 4. After chronic CNQX treatment the frequency of spontaneous, fast PSCs (of larger amplitude) or mPSCs was almost doubled with respect to control. These events were blocked by acutely applied CNQX, which unmasked slow PSCs. 5. After chronic TTX treatment neither the frequency nor the amplitude of spontaneous events was changed. 6. After chronic strychnine and bicuculline treatment the frequency and amplitude of all PSCs was decreased in most cells. mPSCs were also decreased in frequency. Spontaneous or electrically evoked currents acquired a larger component mediated by NMDA receptor activity. 7. The developing spinal network thus operated distinct homeostatic processes which led to strong enhancement in glutamatergic transmission after CNQX block or to broad downregulation of synaptic activity following chronic exposure to strychnine and bicuculline

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Full text link
    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

    Full text link
    “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
    corecore