1,721,298 research outputs found
The transcription factor 7-like 2 gene and increased risk of type 2 diabetes: an update.
No full textPURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the most important type 2 diabetes gene to date, transcription factor 7 like-2. RECENT FINDINGS: An important step to find genetic causes of type 2 diabetes in 2006 was the identification of the fact that variants in the gene encoding transcription factor 7 like-2 reproducibly increase susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in almost all populations studied. This gene has since then emerged as the most important type 2 diabetes gene. Genetic variants in transcription factor 7 like-2 confer a strong risk of type 2 diabetes possibly mediated by altering expression of transcription factor 7 like-2 in pancreatic islets. Risk variants in the transcription factor 7 like-2 influence insulin secretions both in vitro and in vivo. The risk T allele of this single nucleotide polymorphism also seems to have effects on the enteroinsular axis and the relationship between the incretin hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide and its target hormones, glucagon and insulin. Given transcription factor 7 like-2s' central role in the Wnt signaling pathway, it would be important to define whether the variant is associated with increased or decreased Wnt signaling. SUMMARY: The fact that transcription factor 7 like-2 is by far the strongest type 2 diabetes susceptibility gene to date emphasizes the importance of exploring the potential of manipulating this pathway in future treatment of the disease
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
Genome-wide association study for type 2 diabetes: clinical applications.
No full textPURPOSE OF REVIEW: Dissecting the genetics of complex polygenic diseases in which environmental factors interact with genetic variants in the predisposition to the disease has not been a trivial task and success has been limited. The purpose of this review is to provide insights into recent advances in genetics of type 2 diabetes. RECENT FINDINGS: In the past year, together the consortia of several genome-wide association studies for type 2 diabetes have identified 19 common variants increasing susceptibility to disease. Most novel loci seem to influence the capacity of beta-cells to increase insulin secretion in response to increase in insulin resistance or body weight. Combined genetic information ultimately might aid in personalized prediction of disease risk; however, genetic tests cannot be offered yet to predict disease. The main reason is that the increased risk associated with each risk variant is small. We have only begun to explore the role of rare variants with stronger effects or copy number variations in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. SUMMARY: Rapid progress in the genetics of type 2 diabetes has significantly improved our understanding of disease pathogenesis and provided promising opportunities for drug discoveries over the coming years
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