1,721,003 research outputs found
Analysis of visual cortical function and circuits in a mouse model of Rett- Syndrome
No full textRett Syndrome (RTT), a neurodevelopmental disorder, is caused by de novo mutation of MECP2 gene on X- chromosome and it is characterized by regression during the first few years of life. Specifically in the mouse visual cortex, evidence has shown that lack of Mecp2 disrupts development of inhibitory interneuron systems, leading to compromised balance of inhibitory and excitatory cortical neuronal function.
In my thesis, I worked on Mecp2-heterozygous females, which are considered a closer model of the human condition. I performed visual evoked potential (VEP) in adult Mecp2 Het that exhibited either mild or severe RTT-like symptoms, according to the 12-point RTT phenotypic score (Guy et al., 2001). Mecp2 Het mice displayed a significant decrease in the amplitude of VEP response in comparison with their wild-type (WT) littermates. Interestingly, such defect was already present in Mecp2 Het mice with mild symptomatology and worsened with the disorder progression. Moreover, VEP response to high spatial frequencies was lost, resulting in a shift down in the spatial frequency (SF) tuning curve and significantly lower spatial resolution.
I then tested whether administration of low dosage of NMDAR antagonist, ketamine (8mg/kg, ip) for six weeks (two weeks on/two weeks off) was sufficient to ameliorate the visual function in Mecp2 Het mice. I found an increase in the VEP amplitude in comparison with the Het treated with vehicle. In addition, we observed this increase in the response to all stimuli resulting in an amelioration of the visual acuity. Finally I characterized the inhibitory/excitatory imbalance in visual cortex using immunohistochemistry., finding an increase in the thalamic excitatory markers that precedes the full onset of the regression. Together our results indicate that visual processing is impaired across Mecp2 mouse models and provide further evidence that targeting NMDAR function is a feasible and an effective therapeutic treatment for Rett Syndrome
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
Role of neurotrophins in the development and plasticity of the visual system: experiments on dark rearing
No full textVariations 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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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