1,721,117 research outputs found
Prediction of heparin binding of mutated short sequences of rat thyroglobulin
No full textBackground: Binding of thyroglobulin (Tg) to heparin is involved in Tg transcytosis via megalin. Rat Tg (rTg) binds to heparin through an exposed carboxyl terminal region (RELPSRRLKRPLPVK, Arg2489-Lys2503) rich in positively charged residues. This region is not entirely conserved in human Tg (hTg) (Arg2489-Glu2503, REPPARALKRSLWVE), resulting in lower affinity binding. Here, we developed a score to predict to what extent secondary structure modifications affect the heparin-binding ability of rTg. Methods: We designed eight synthetic peptides, including one with the Arg2489-Lys2503 sequence of rTg (rTgP), one with the corresponding sequence of hTg (hTgP), and six “mutant” peptides, each carrying a point mutation obtained by replacing one amino acid residue of rTgP with the corresponding residue of hTgP. Heparin binding was assessed in solid-phase assays. The Bmax and the constants of dissociation (Kd) were calculated. Results: Using a no-fee online service, we obtained predictions of peptide secondary structures and developed a scoring system to estimate to what extent mutations are expected to modify rTg secondary structure. The score was designated as Probability of Secondary Structure Change (PSSC) and it significantly correlated with the BMax (R = 0.942, P < 0.001) and the Kds (R = − 0.744, P < 0.01) of heparin binding of hTgP and of the “mutant” peptides. Conclusions: The PSSC score allows predicting to what extent point mutations are likely to affect the heparin-binding ability of short sequences of proteins: in this case rTg, regardless of whether mutations affect charge of the sequence. The secondary structure of Tg is likely to play a role in heparin binding
Archivistica e Paleobiologia: due parametri per la ricostruzione del profilo storico e biologico del Principe Francesco Branciforte di Militello in Val di Catania
No full textSpecial Issue “Molecular Mechanism in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and Fibrosis”
No full text: The process known as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), fundamental for accurate development during embryogenesis, is involved in several pathological mechanisms, such as severe fibrosis and cancer [...]
Open innovation in the power & energy sector: Bringing together government policies, companies' interests, and academic essence
No full textThe Power and Energy (P & E) sector needs to respond to several challenges fostering investments in research and development. According to the Open Innovation (DI) paradigm, key stakeholders like utilities, vendors, laboratories, universities etc. should take advantage of external knowledge to improve their innovation performance. Several studies have demonstrated that firms adopting the DI paradigm are more likely to innovate. Despite the interest of P &E firms in enhancing their innovation capabilities, surprisingly few articles (usually case studies) described the implementation of the OI paradigm in P & E firms. This article fills the gap by identifying the key drivers that encourage a firm in the P & E sector to embrace the OI paradigm. The authors adopt a hybrid research approach collecting evidence from the literature and through a multiple case-study analysis involving seven British firms and universities operating in the P & E industry. As the drivers of OI have mutual influence, this article describes them with a fuzzy cognitive map. Finally, the authors identify appropriated policies to enhance the 01 adoption and, consequently, the sustainability of innovation in the P & E sector. A salient research agenda closes the paper
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
Multidimensional connected set detection in clustering based on nonparametric density estimation
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