1,721,534 research outputs found
Studying Glutamatergic Gliotransmission as a Functional Model to Assess Physio-Pathological Conditions and Receptor Cross-Talk
No full textSUMMARY
This thesis is divided into two parts; in the first part, we characterized the effect of acute stress on the astrocytic glutamate release in the prefrontal cortex of rat brain. In the second part, we evaluate the interaction of the Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) with both Adenosine receptor A2A and Dopamine D2 receptors in the brain striatum of male rats.
First Part:
Stress is known to disturb the physiological homeostasis of the body (McEwen et al., 2000). The number of studies demonstrated that stress leads to damage the prefrontal cortex the brain and results in the modulation in the secretion of various neurotransmitters (Karats Oreos and McEwen, 2011, Sousa and Almeida, 2012). Stress was recognized as a predominant risk factor for many diseases, together with cardiovascular, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric diseases. Among the latter, stress interacts with the variable genetic background of vulnerability in the pathogenesis of mood anxiety disorder (Laura et al., 2010). It may be acute or chronic, can involve neuropsychiatric components such as stress, depression, mood, and anxiety (Laura et al., 207) and produces many behavioral and neurochemical changes, as determined in human (De Kloet et al., 2005, Kim & Diamond 2002). Studies in the literature truly indicated that acute stress have an effect on glutamatergic neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex, inducing changes in glutamate release, receptor and glutamate clearance and metabolism (Popoli et al., 2012: Licznerski and Duman 3013). The effects of acute footshock stress on glutamate release and transmission were still unknown. In this study, we investigated the release of glutamate from astrocytes. The analyses have been performed in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) at different time intervals straight away after 40 min of stress and 6 and 24 hours after stress start, to monitor the early and delayed effects of acute stress on glutamate release. After the acute stress, animals were subjected to sucrose test to distinguish vulnerable and resilient rats.
Second Part:
There has been a growing interest in the investigation of the role of astrocytes in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases and their complex neuron-astrocytes network function. The receptor–receptor interactions (RRI) can have an important function in the signalling transduction pathways. A previous well established study evaluate the interactions between the G-protein coupled receptors of adenosine A2A receptors (A2A) and dopamine D2 receptors (D2) in several experimental models (Ferré et al., 2008), while it’s barely investigated in astrocytes. Growing evidence shows that adult striatal astrocytes largely express both D2 and A2A receptors (Cervetto et at., 2017). Moreover, the presence of A2A-D2 heteroreceptor complexes has led to a new perspective of molecular mechanisms involved in Parkinson’s disease (PD), providing novel drug targets. Therefore in the present study, we investigate the physical and functional interactions of A2A and D2 with another G protein-coupled receptors i.e. OXTR in astrocytes processes from adult rat striatum. We also evaluate the effect of this interaction on the astrocytic glutamate release in rat striatum
Board gender diversity and dividend policy in Australian listed firms: the effect of ownership concentration
No full textWe examine the association between board gender diversity and corporate dividend payout. Our results suggest that although board gender diversity impacts positively on dividend payments, this is only conspicuous in widely held firms. However, when ownership concentration is high, board gender diversity reduces dividend payments. We demonstrate that women directors have the greatest impact on dividend payments when there are three or more women on the board. Our results indicate that the financial crisis period was associated with high dividend payments; however, women directors restrained the payment of dividends during the crisis period. These results suggest that board gender diversity may be an effective CG mechanism for alleviating principal-agent conflicts but not principal-principal agency conflicts. Our results are robust to endogeneity, as well as alternative proxies and estimation techniques
Aspidorhinus Eichwald 1841
No full textSubgenus Aspidorhinus Eichwald, 1841 Type species: Eremias velox (Pallas, 1771)Published as part of Masroor, Rafaqat, Khan, Muazzam Ali, Nadeem, Muhammad Sajid, Amir, Shabir Ali, Khisroon, Muhammad & Jablonski, Daniel, 2022, Appearances often deceive in racerunners: integrative approach reveals two new species of Eremias (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Pakistan, pp. 55-87 in Zootaxa 5175 (1) on page 58, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5175.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/700322
FIGURE 8 in Appearances often deceive in racerunners: integrative approach reveals two new species of Eremias (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Pakistan
No full textFIGURE 8. Two rare species of the subgenus Aspidorhinus (Eremias) from desert and semi-desert areas of Central Asia (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan) for which genetic data are missing so far: the holotype of E. afghanistanica from Afghanistan (ZFMK-H 13320) and the holotype of E. regeli from Uzbekistan (ZISP 6115).Published as part of Masroor, Rafaqat, Khan, Muazzam Ali, Nadeem, Muhammad Sajid, Amir, Shabir Ali, Khisroon, Muhammad & Jablonski, Daniel, 2022, Appearances often deceive in racerunners: integrative approach reveals two new species of Eremias (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Pakistan, pp. 55-87 in Zootaxa 5175 (1) on page 77, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5175.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/700322
If You Can Measure It, You Can Manage It: A Case of Intellectual Capital
No full textDespite the great importance attributed to intellectual capital (IC) in the past two decades or so, its measurement
and management have remained elusive, mainly because of inappropriate prior models of IC measurement.
The purpose of this study is, therefore, to make adjustments to an existing model, the Value Added Intellectual
Coefficient (VAIC), and to present an adjusted-VAIC model to measure IC. We tested our new model on data
from 10 emerging and developed world markets and obtained more consistent results than prior studies. Our
results indicate a significant positive relationship between IC and its components (human, innovation and
physical capitals) and firm performance. Therefore, the adjusted-VAIC model can be used with confidence to
measure IC.Our study has important implications for both academia and industry concerning the measurement
of IC
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
FIGURE 7 in Appearances often deceive in racerunners: integrative approach reveals two new species of Eremias (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Pakistan
No full textFIGURE 7. (A) The type locality of Eremias rafiqi sp. nov. near Tanishpa village, Torghar Mountains, Killa Saifullah district, Balochistan; (B) Eremias rafiqi sp. nov. from Kunder, Torghar Mountains, Killa Saifullah district, Balochistan; (C) The paratype of E. rafiqi sp. nov. (PMNH 4056) from under, Torghar Mountains, Killa Saifullah district, Balochistan; (D) The type locality of Eremias killasaifullahi sp. nov. near Kunder, Torghar Mountains, Killa Saifullah district, Balochistan; (E) The holotype of E. killasaifullahi sp. nov. (PMNH 3613) from Kunder, Torghar Mountains, Killa Saifullah district, Balochistan; (F) Eremias killasaifullahi sp. nov. from Tanishpa.Published as part of Masroor, Rafaqat, Khan, Muazzam Ali, Nadeem, Muhammad Sajid, Amir, Shabir Ali, Khisroon, Muhammad & Jablonski, Daniel, 2022, Appearances often deceive in racerunners: integrative approach reveals two new species of Eremias (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Pakistan, pp. 55-87 in Zootaxa 5175 (1) on page 76, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5175.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/700322
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
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