1,720,970 research outputs found
MicroRNA regulation of enteric nervous system development and disease
No full textThe enteric nervous system (ENS), an elaborate network of neurons and glia woven through the gastrointestinal tract, is integral for digestive physiology and broader human health. Commensurate with its importance, ENS dysfunction is linked to a range of debilitating gastrointestinal disorders. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), with their pleiotropic roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation, serve as key developmental effectors within the ENS. Herein, we review the regulatory dynamics of miRNAs in ENS ontogeny, showcasing specific miRNAs implicated in both congenital and acquired enteric neuropathies, such as Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR), achalasia, intestinal neuronal dysplasia (IND), chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO), and slow transit constipation (STC). By delineating miRNA-mediated mechanisms in these diseases, we underscore their importance for ENS homeostasis and highlight their potential as therapeutic targets.This work was supported by grants from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO: G036320N, W001620N), the Dutch Research Council (NWO VIDI: 016.196.367), and the Special Research Fund (BOF) of UHasselt (BOF22KP17). W.B. acknowledges additional funding from the Francqui Foundation. S.G.W. was supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI, R01EY032532). J.V. was supported by a fellowship from FWO (1193925N) and additional BOF funding from UHasselt (BOF24DOC49). Figures were created using BioRender.com
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
The enteric nervous system in gastrointestinal disease etiology
Full text linkA highly conserved but convoluted network of neurons and glial cells, the enteric nervous system (ENS), is positioned along the wall of the gut to coordinate digestive processes and gastrointestinal homeostasis. Because ENS components are in charge of the autonomous regulation of gut function, it is inevitable that their dysfunction is central to the pathophysiology and symptom generation of gastrointestinal disease. While for neurodevelopmental disorders such as Hirschsprung, ENS pathogenesis appears to be clear-cut, the role for impaired ENS activity in the etiology of other gastrointestinal disorders is less established and is often deemed secondary to other insults like intestinal inflammation. However, mounting experimental evidence in recent years indicates that gastrointestinal homeostasis hinges on multifaceted connections between the ENS, and other cellular networks such as the intestinal epithelium, the immune system, and the intestinal microbiome. Derangement of these interactions could underlie gastrointestinal disease onset and elicit variable degrees of abnormal gut function, pinpointing, perhaps unexpectedly, the ENS as a diligent participant in idiopathic but also in inflammatory and cancerous diseases of the gut. In this review, we discuss the latest evidence on the role of the ENS in the pathogenesis of enteric neuropathies, disorders of gut-brain interaction, inflammatory bowel diseases, and colorectal cancer
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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe 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
Full text linkWe 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
Enteric Glia Display Regional and Phenotype-specific MicroRNA Signatures
No full textBackground: Enteric glia constitute a heterogeneous and highly plastic population of peripheral neuroglia distributed throughout the gastrointestinal tract. The molecular intricacies coupled to enteric glia plasticity are incompletely understood, however, increasing evidence has delineated that microRNA post-transcriptional regulation provides a layer of precise spatial and temporal control that is critical for 'tuning' cellular dynamics. To date, specific microRNA profiles have not been assigned to enteric glia, and the role of microRNAs in controlling enteric glia function during gastrointestinal homeostasis and disease is unknown. Methods: To identify the microRNA landscape of enteric glia at homeostasis, we performed comprehensive microRNA profiling in enteric glia from the small intestine and colon of naïve adult mice. Employing fluorescence-activated cell sorting with an enteric glial reporter mouse model, enteric glia and non-glial cells were isolated from naïve Sox10-CreERT2;nuclGFP adult mice and subjected to small RNA sequencing (RNAseq). To discern whether microRNAs are linked with enteric glial plasticity during gastrointestinal disease, small RNAseq was performed in enteric glia isolated from Heligmosomoides polygyrus-infected adult mice (Progatzky et al., 2021). MicroRNA candidates were validated in human and murine gut samples, and in an in vitro 'reactive' enteric glia model, using qPCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization (miRNAscope). Results: Principal component analysis (PCA) of the microRNA transcriptional landscape of enteric glia and non-glial cells, at homeostasis, revealed that enteric glia and non-glial cells from the small intestine and colon clustered disparately on a microRNA transcriptional level. At homeostasis, normalised microRNA expression levels from small RNAseq detected 39 and 18 significantly, differentially expressed microRNAs in enteric glia, in the small intestine and colon, respectively, with miR-21-5p and miR-9-5p being two of the most enriched microRNAs. PCA of enteric glia exposed to the Heligmosomoides polygyrus challenge showed that 'reactive' and steady-state enteric glia differed on a microRNA transcriptional level. A total of 17 microRNAs were upregulated and 33 microRNAs were downregulated in 'reactive' enteric glia relative to steady state, including miR-21-5p. Conclusion: We present the first microRNA expression atlas of enteric glia during homeostasis and gastrointestinal disease. Enteric glial cells of both the small intestine and colon exhibit unique transcriptional profiles during steady state and 'reactive' phenotypes, alluding to a pivotal role of specific microRNAs in instructing and facilitating enteric glia plasticity
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe 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
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