1,721,006 research outputs found
Characterisation of the novel quinoline RCD405: Relaxant effects on cholinergic and histaminergic tone in human bronchi and small airways
No full textBackground and Purpose: Increased contractility of human airway smooth muscle (hASM) is a hallmark of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Developing new classes of bronchodilators has proved to be challenging because of efficacy and safety concerns. Quinolines hold potential therapeutic applications for the treatment of respiratory disorders. Experimental Approach: Relaxant effects of the novel quinoline RCD405 were investigated on contractile responses of hASM to carbachol, histamine and electrical field stimulation (EFS). The role of the non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (NANC) system was assessed using the inducible NO synthase inhibitor aminoguanidine and the TRPV1 agonist capsaicin. Key Results: In medium bronchi, RCD405 elicited a maximum relaxant effect (Emax) of 92 ± 4% with a half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 45.71 μM for carbachol, and an Emax of 96 ± 1% with a EC50 of 12 μM for histamine. In small airways, RCD405 demonstrated significant relaxant responses, with an Emax of 54 ± 7% (EC50 17 μM) for carbachol and 90 ± 6% (EC50 20 μM) for histamine. RCD405 reduced contractility in response to EFS, with Emax values of 63 ± 10% at 25 Hz and 79 ± 9% at 50 Hz in medium bronchi. The NANC system did not affect the bronchorelaxation induced by RCD405. Conclusions and Implications: RCD405 showed significant potential as a novel bronchodilator drug for the treatment of asthma and COPD through its ability to induce relaxation of hASM. These findings suggest that further investigation of RCD405 is warranted as a possible novel treatment of chronic respiratory disorders
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
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
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
Transcriptome analysis in a rat model of L-dopa-induced dyskinesia
No full textWe have examined the pattern of striatal messenger RNA expression of over 8000 genes in a rat model of levodopa (L-DOPA)-induced dyskinesia and Parkinson disease (PD). 6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rats were treated with L-DOPA or physiological saline for 22 days and repeatedly tested for antiakinetic response to L-DOPA and the development of abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs). In a comparison of rats that developed a dyskinetic motor response to rats that did not, we found striking differences in gene expression patterns. In rats that developed dyskinesia, GABA neurons had an increased transcriptional activity, and genes involved in Ca2+ homeostasis, in Ca2+ -dependent signaling, and in structural and synaptic plasticity were upregulated. The gene expression patterns implied that the dyskinetic striatum had increased transcriptional, as well as synaptic activity, and decreased capacity for energy production. Some basic maintenance chores such as ribosome protein biosynthesis were downregulated, possibly a response to expended ATP levels
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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