1,721,094 research outputs found

    Chatting Second Messengers: PIP3 and cAMP

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    3’-5’-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5 trisphosphate (PIP3) are pleiotropic second messengers generated in response to activation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) by a wide array of hormones and neurotransmitters. Although these small molecules engage distinct and seem-ingly unrelated downstream signal transducers, a growing body of evidence points to a strict cooperation of cAMP and PIP3 cascades in the control of cardiomyocyte functions. Dynamic macromolecular complexes of cAMP and PIP3 molecular switches assemble into spatially and temporally restricted microdomains. Deci-phering how this compartmentalization complexes form and affect the interactions between the two signaling systems is of crucial importance, since both pathways are severely deregulated in major cardiac diseases, such as heart failure. This chapter summarizes recently described mechanisms governing the bidirectional crosstalk between cAMP and PIP3 signaling pathways in the pathophysiological control of cardiovascular function. In particular, we will describe how membrane-located PIP3 affects both initiation and termination of cAMP signaling as well as the negative feedback loop whereby the small and diffusible intracellular messen-ger, cAMP, influences PIP3 productio

    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

    PI3K signaling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: mechanisms, targets, and therapy

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    Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive respiratory disorder characterized by irreversible chronic inflammation and airflow obstruction. It affects more than 64 million patients worldwide and it is predicted to become the third cause of death in the industrialized world by 2030. Current available therapies are not able to block disease progression and to reduce mortality, underlying the need of a better understanding of COPD pathophysiological mechanisms to identify new molecular therapeutic targets. Recent studies demonstrated that phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling is prominently activated in COPD and correlates with an increased susceptibility of patients to lung infections. PI3Ks have thus emerged as promising alternative drug targets for COPD and a wide array of pan-isoform and isoform-selective inhibitors have been tested in preclinical models and are currently being evaluated in clinical studies. Here, we summarize the recent knowledge on the involvement of PI3K enzymes in the pathophysiology of COPD, and we will discuss the most recent results arising from the preclinical as well as the clinical testing of PI3K inhibitors as novel therapeutics for COPD

    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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