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    The rapid and direct determination of ATPase activity by ion exchange chromatography and the application to the activity of heat shock protein-90

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    Adenosine nucleotides are involved as substrates or co-factors in several biochemical reactions, catalyzed by enzymes, which modulate energy production, signal transduction and cell proliferation. We here report the development and optimization of an ion exchange liquid chromatography (LC) method for the determination of ATP, ADP and AMP. This method is specifically aimed at the determination of the ATP-ase activity of human heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), a molecular chaperone that has emerged as target enzyme in cancer therapy. Separation of the three nucleotides was achieved in a 15-min run by using a disk shaped monolithic ethylene diamine stationary phase of small dimensions (2mmx6mm i.d.), under a three-solvent gradient elution mode and UV detection at 256nm. The described direct LC method resulted highly specific as a consequence of the baseline separation of the three adenosine nucleotides and could be applied to the determination of the enzymatic activity of ADP/ATP generating or consuming enzymes (such as kinases). Furthermore, comparison of the LOD and LOQ values of the LC method with those obtained with the malachite green assay, which is one of the most used indirect screening methodologies for ATP-ase activity, showed that the LC method has a similar range of application without presenting the drawbacks related to contamination by inorganic phosphate ions and glycerol, which are present in Hsp90 commercial samples

    Chiroptical properties and conformational flexibility of fenoterol and analogues: a combined experimental and theoretical study

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    Fenoterol is a selective β 2 -adrenergic receptor (AR) agonist used in the treatment of asthma, which is under scrutiny as possible drug against congestive heart failure. Fenoterol is currently used as a racemic mixture of the (R,R′)- and (S,S′)-enantiomers, whose stereochemistry was previously determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) analysis through the application of a semi-empirical sector rule. [1] Recently, a series of fenoterol derivatives has been synthesized and tested: [2-3] their absolute configuration was determined by chemical correlation with synthetic precursors, but no further stereochemical characterization has been carried out. In addition, stereoselectivity in the binding to β 2 - AR has been demonstrated, with (R,R′)- and (R,S′)-fenoterol displaying higher affinity compared to (S,R′)- and (S,S′)-fenoterol, and a tridimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship model (3D- QSAR) based on comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) has been developed to rationalize the binding of fenoterol derivatives to β 2 -AR. [2-3] The relationship between chiroptical properties and absolute stereochemistry of fenoterol and its derivatives has been investigated [4] by experimental ECD analysis and quantum chemical (QC) calculations using time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). [5-6] The stereoisomers of three compounds have been considered: fenoterol (1), (4′′-methoxy-1′′-naphthyl)fenoterol (2), and (4′′-methoxy- 1′-desmethyl)fenoterol (3). Due to the high conformational flexibility of the investigated structures and the consequent large pool of equilibrium conformers, DFT geometry optimizations were carried out using the resolution of identity (RI) approximation and the B97D functional with empirical dispersion corrections; [7] TD-DFT calculations were then performed using the PBE0 functional. The accuracy of this protocol in reproducing the experimental ECD spectra of fenoterol derivatives will be evaluated. [1] F. Beigi, C. Bertucci, W. Zhu, K. Chakir, I.W. Wainer, R.P. Xiao, D.R. Abernethy, Chirality, 2006, 18, 822-827. [2] K. Jóźwiak, K. Chakir, M.J. Tanga, I. Berzetei-Gurske, L. Jimenez, J.A. Kozocas, A. Woo, W. Zhu, R.P. Xiao, D.R. Abernethy, I.W. Wainer, J. Med. Chem., 2007, 50, 2903-2915. [3] K. Jóźwiak, A.Y.H. Woo, M.J. Tanga, L. Toll, L. Jimenez, J.A. Kozocas, A. Plazinska, R.P. Xiao, I.W. Wainer, Bioorg. Med. Chem., 2010, 18, 728-736. [4] ISCRA project IsC08_SCCFPM (ID: HP10CU0YHL) granted by CINECA, Bologna, Italy. [5] J. Autschbach, Chirality, 2009, 21, E116-E152. [6] L. Goerigk, H. Kruse, S. Grimme, in: N. Berova, P.L. Polavarapu, K. Nakanishi, R.W. Woody (Eds.), Comprehensive chrioptical spectroscopy, vol. 1, 2011, Hoboken: Wiley & Sons, pp. 643-673. [7] S. Grimme, WIREs Comput. Mol. Sci., 2011, 1, 211-228

    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
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