1,720,960 research outputs found
Examination of granule layer cell count, cell density, and single-pulse brdu incorporation in rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures with respect to culture medium, septotemporal position, and time in vitro
Adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus is assuming an increasingly important role in supporting hippocampal-dependent learning and the modulation of mood and anxiety. Moreover, injury to the developing postnatal dentate gyrus has profound effects on neurogenesis and hippocampal learning throughout life. Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures represent an attractive model for studying neurogenesis both in the early postnatal and adult hippocampus, as they retain much of their anatomical and functional circuitry in vitro. Ongoing neurogenesis has been recently demonstrated in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. However, cell proliferation, one of the critical components of neurogenesis, has yet to be characterized in this culture system. We examined single-pulse S-phase bromo-deoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling in the dentate granule layer with respect to the septotemporal position of origin of the slice culture, the medium the cultures were grown in, and the time the cultures were maintained in vitro up to 14 days, when they are believed to have matured to a near adult state. Using single 10-m sections through a culture as our reference volume, we report significant effects of septotemporal position on the number of granule layer cells and the number of cells in S-phase, as estimated by short-survival (2 hours) BrdU studies. We report a declining rate of BrdU incorporation, evidence of significant structural changes within the granule cell layer, and differences in cell death between culture media over the first 14 days in vitro. We report caution with the use of BrdU cell density and changes in cell number to indirectly estimate proliferation
bFGF and EGF modulate trauma-induced proliferation and neurogenesis in juvenile organotypic hippocampal slice cultures
Since postnatal and adult mammalian brains have been shown to retain an ability to generate neurons from endogenous stem cells throughout life, these cells could play a central role in regeneration after neuronal loss. Therefore, we studied cell proliferation, glio- and neurogenesis respectively after brain injury in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures using a focal trauma by transecting Schaffer collaterals in the cornu ammonis (CA) 2 region mechanically. After determination of cell death using propidium iodide, neuroregenerative processes were quantitatively analyzed by various immunohistochemical techniques at different time points post injury. As this endogenous insult-induced neurogenesis is rather inefficient, we investigated if it can be enhanced by application of exogenous growth factors.Exogenous basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) enhanced neurogenesis significantly in the dentate gyrus (DG) region. A neutralizing antibody against endogenous bFGF revealed a significant decrease of basal and trauma-induced proliferation. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) studies exhibited a downregulation of FGF messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) transcription after the antibody treatment. In contrast, epidermal growth factor (EGF) increased proliferation, but not neurogenesis. A combination of bFGF and EGF displayed an EGF-like effect on proliferation and no effect on neurogenesis. These results demonstrate, that in our model bFGF but not EGF sustains neurogenesis, whereas together the two growth factors permit an increased proliferation but not neurogenesis in organic hippocampal slice cultures
NPY mediates basal and seizure-induced proliferation in the subcallosal zone
Stem cell niches exist around the lateral ventricle and in the subgranular layer of the dentate gyrus, supporting adult neurogenesis. Recently, a third germinal layer, the subcallosal zone has been identified supporting the generation of oligodendrocytes in the adult brain. We have previously described a proliferative role for neuropeptide Yon precursors in the dentate gyrus, caudal subventricular zone and subcallosal zone under basal conditions and in the dentate gyrus after seizures. Here we sought to determine a role for neuropeptide Y in seizure-induced proliferation in the subcallosal niche. Using the chemoconvulsant kainate and neuropeptide Y-/- mice with controls, we show an effect of neuropeptide Y on basal proliferation and demonstrate a significant reduction in seizure-induced proliferation in the subcallosal zone
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
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
“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
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
NPY augments the proliferative effect of FGF2 and increases the expression of FGFR1 on nestin positive postnatal hippocampal precursor cells, via the Y1 receptor
We have shown that neuropeptide Y (NPY), a peptide neurotransmitter released by hippocampal interneurons, is proliferative for hippocampal neural stem progenitor cells (NSPCs) via the Y1 receptor. Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), released predominantly by astrocytes, is also a powerful mitogen for postnatal and adult NSPCs, via the FGFR1 receptor. Knockout studies show that NPY and FGF2 are individually necessary, but not sufficient, for seizure-induced neurogenesis, suggesting a possible interaction. Here we examined for interactions between NPY and FGF2 on NSPCs from the postnatal hippocampus and report that the combination of NPY and FGF2 significantly shortens the cell cycle time of nestin positive NSPCs, more than either factor alone. This augmentation of proliferation rate is NPY Y1 receptor mediated, and Y1 receptor activation increases both FGFR1 mRNA and protein in NSPC cultures. NSPCs immunostain for both Y1 and FGFR1 receptors and the interaction is specific for dentate NSPCs.This is the first report of a proliferative factor that augments the proliferative effect of FGF2 and is the first evidence of a positive proliferative interaction between a glial growth factor and a neuronal transmitter, identifying a novel neural activity driven mechanism for modulating the proliferation of hippocampal NSPCs
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
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
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