1,720,959 research outputs found
Behavioural phenotypic characterization of CD-1 mice lacking the neuropeptide S receptor
No full textNeuropeptide S (NPS) is the endogenous ligand of a previously orphan receptor now named NPSR. In the brain NPS regulates several biological functions including anxiety, arousal, locomotion, food intake, learning and memory, pain and drug abuse. Mice lacking the NPSR gene (NPSR(-/-)) represent an useful tool to investigate the neurobiology of the NPS/NPSR system. NPSR(-/-) mice have been generated in a 129S6/SvEv genetic background. In the present study we generated CD-1 congenic NPSR(+/+) and NPSR(-/-) mice and investigated their phenotype and sensitivity to NPS in various behavioural assays. The phenotype analysis revealed no locomotor differences between NPSR(+/+) and NPSR(-/-) mice. The behaviour of NPSR(+/+) and NPSR(-/-) mice in the righting reflex test was superimposable. No differences were recorded between the two genotypes in the elevated plus maze, open field and stress-induced hyperthermia tests, with the exception of rearing behaviour that was reduced in knockout animals. Moreover the behaviour of NPSR(+/+) and NPSR(-/-) mice in the forced swimming, novel object recognition and formalin assays was similar. The stimulatory effects of NPS in the locomotor activity test and its anxiolytic-like actions in the elevated plus maze and open field assays were evident in NPSR(+/+) but not NPSR(-/-) animals. In conclusion, the present study indicates that the NPS/NPSR system does not tonically control locomotion, sensitivity to diazepam, anxiety, depressive-like behaviours, memory and pain transmission in mice. Furthermore our results clearly show that the product of the NPSR gene represents the mandatory protein for all the NPS biological effects so far described
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
Dynamique des microvaisseaux cérébraux pendant la consolidation de la mémoire chez le rat en condition physiologique et en situation d’hypertension artérielle ou d’hypergravité
No full textWhile the cerebral microvasculature is known to adapt its activity according to the metabolic demand of surrounding neurons, the functional contribution of vascular networks to memory consolidation, the process by which memory traces acquire stability over time, remains elusive. By using an associative olfactory memory task in rats coupled to biochemical and imaging techniques, we investigated the dynamics of vascular changes during memory consolidation which requires a transitory interaction between the hippocampus and distributed cortical regions that ultimately support storage of enduring memories. We found that remote memory formation was associated, upon encoding, with a hypoxic signal that triggered transitory angiogenesis in specific cortical regions which support memory storage and retrieval only weeks later. Manipulating early cortical angiogenesis (ECA) by selectively blocking or stimulating the angiopoietin-2 signaling pathway impaired or improved remote memory retrieval, respectively. Enhancing ECA in spontaneously hypertensive rats, which exhibit reduced angiopoietin- 2 expression when cognitively challenged and are unable to properly stabilize and/or retrieve remotely acquired information, was efficient in rescuing the observed memory deficit, thus confirming the functional importance of ECA as a prerequisite for the formation of remote memories. Hypergravity, known to impair vascular functions, failed to alter the organization of recent and remote memory. Altogether, our findings identify ECA as a crucial neurobiological process underlying the formation and stabilization of remote memory. They highlight the importance of vascular plasticity in modulating cognitive functions and suggest that the early structural changes within vascular networks constitute a permissive mechanism for the regulation of neuronal plasticity within cortical networks which support the formation and storage of enduring memories.Les réseaux vasculaires cérébraux adaptent leur activité à la demande métabolique des neurones environnants, mais leur contribution fonctionnelle à la consolidation de la mémoire, processus par lequel les traces mnésiques se stabilisent dans le temps, reste inconnue. A l’aide d’un test de mémoire olfactif associatif couplé à des approches biochimiques et d’imagerie cérébrale chez le rat, nous avons étudié la dynamique des changements vasculaires au cours de la consolidation mnésique qui nécessite une interaction transitoire entre l'hippocampe et les régions corticales constituant les sites dépositaires des souvenirs. Nous montrons que la formation d’une mémoire durable est associée, dès l’encodage, à un signal hypoxique qui déclenche une angiogenèse transitoire dans des régions corticales spécifiques impliquées plus tard dans le stockage des souvenirs. Manipuler cette angiogenèse corticale précoce (ACP) par blocage ou stimulation spécifique de la voie de signalisation de l'angiopoïétine-2 perturbe, ou améliore, le rappel des informations anciennement acquises. Stimuler l’ACP chez un modèle de rats hypertendus présentant des déficits d’activation de la voie de l’angiopoïetine-2 et de formation de la mémoire pallie le déficit mnésique observé, confirmant l'importance fonctionnelle de l’ACP comme un prérequis à la formation des souvenirs. L'hypergravité, connue pour altérer les fonctions vasculaires, n’a pas modifié l'organisation de la mémoire. Nos résultats identifient l’ACP comme un processus neurobiologique crucial sous-tendant la formation et la stabilisation des souvenirs. Ils révèlent l'importance de la plasticité vasculaire dans la modulation des fonctions cognitives et suggèrent que les changements structurels précoces du réseau vasculaire cérébral constituent un mécanisme permissif pour la régulation de la plasticité neuronale au sein des réseaux corticaux impliqués dans la formation progressive et le stockage des souvenirs
Dynamics of the cerebral microvasculature during the course of memory consolidation in the rat : physiological and altered conditions induced by hypertension and hypergravity
No full textLes réseaux vasculaires cérébraux adaptent leur activité à la demande métabolique des neurones environnants, mais leur contribution fonctionnelle à la consolidation de la mémoire, processus par lequel les traces mnésiques se stabilisent dans le temps, reste inconnue. A l’aide d’un test de mémoire olfactif associatif couplé à des approches biochimiques et d’imagerie cérébrale chez le rat, nous avons étudié la dynamique des changements vasculaires au cours de la consolidation mnésique qui nécessite une interaction transitoire entre l'hippocampe et les régions corticales constituant les sites dépositaires des souvenirs. Nous montrons que la formation d’une mémoire durable est associée, dès l’encodage, à un signal hypoxique qui déclenche une angiogenèse transitoire dans des régions corticales spécifiques impliquées plus tard dans le stockage des souvenirs. Manipuler cette angiogenèse corticale précoce (ACP) par blocage ou stimulation spécifique de la voie de signalisation de l'angiopoïétine-2 perturbe, ou améliore, le rappel des informations anciennement acquises. Stimuler l’ACP chez un modèle de rats hypertendus présentant des déficits d’activation de la voie de l’angiopoïetine-2 et de formation de la mémoire pallie le déficit mnésique observé, confirmant l'importance fonctionnelle de l’ACP comme un prérequis à la formation des souvenirs. L'hypergravité, connue pour altérer les fonctions vasculaires, n’a pas modifié l'organisation de la mémoire. Nos résultats identifient l’ACP comme un processus neurobiologique crucial sous-tendant la formation et la stabilisation des souvenirs. Ils révèlent l'importance de la plasticité vasculaire dans la modulation des fonctions cognitives et suggèrent que les changements structurels précoces du réseau vasculaire cérébral constituent un mécanisme permissif pour la régulation de la plasticité neuronale au sein des réseaux corticaux impliqués dans la formation progressive et le stockage des souvenirs.While the cerebral microvasculature is known to adapt its activity according to the metabolic demand of surrounding neurons, the functional contribution of vascular networks to memory consolidation, the process by which memory traces acquire stability over time, remains elusive. By using an associative olfactory memory task in rats coupled to biochemical and imaging techniques, we investigated the dynamics of vascular changes during memory consolidation which requires a transitory interaction between the hippocampus and distributed cortical regions that ultimately support storage of enduring memories. We found that remote memory formation was associated, upon encoding, with a hypoxic signal that triggered transitory angiogenesis in specific cortical regions which support memory storage and retrieval only weeks later. Manipulating early cortical angiogenesis (ECA) by selectively blocking or stimulating the angiopoietin-2 signaling pathway impaired or improved remote memory retrieval, respectively. Enhancing ECA in spontaneously hypertensive rats, which exhibit reduced angiopoietin- 2 expression when cognitively challenged and are unable to properly stabilize and/or retrieve remotely acquired information, was efficient in rescuing the observed memory deficit, thus confirming the functional importance of ECA as a prerequisite for the formation of remote memories. Hypergravity, known to impair vascular functions, failed to alter the organization of recent and remote memory. Altogether, our findings identify ECA as a crucial neurobiological process underlying the formation and stabilization of remote memory. They highlight the importance of vascular plasticity in modulating cognitive functions and suggest that the early structural changes within vascular networks constitute a permissive mechanism for the regulation of neuronal plasticity within cortical networks which support the formation and storage of enduring memories
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
- …
