1,721,015 research outputs found
Editorial: Polyamines and longevity - role of polyamine in plant survival
Polyamines (PAs) are organic polycations involved in stress and developmental
processes in plants (Gentile et al., 2012; Gupta et al., 2013). PAs occur in cells and
tissues in free (non-conjugated) or conjugated forms by binding to various molecules,
including DNA and RNA, proteins, and membrane phospholipids, thus regulating various
molecular and cellular processes (Aloisi et al., 2017). In recent years, genetic and molecular
evidence points to PAs as essential metabolites required for tolerance to biotic and abiotic
stresses. As stress-protective compounds, PAs are involved in developmental processes
mediated by specific signaling pathways or in cross-regulation with other plant hormones
(Alcázar et al., 2010)
Accumulation and post-translational modifications of plant tubulins
The microtubular cytoskeleton of plant cells provides support for several functions (including the anchoring of proteins, assembly of the mitotic spindle, cytoplasmic streaming and construction of cell walls). Both a- and b-tubulins are encoded through multigene families that are differentially expressed in different organs and tissues. To increase the variability of expression, both protein subunits are subjected to post-translational modifications, which could contribute to the assembly of specific microtubule structures. This review aims to highlight the role of specific post-translational modifications of tubulin in plant cells. We initially describe the expression and accumulation of a- and b-tubulin isoforms in different plants and at different stages of plant development. Second, we discuss the different types of post-translational modifications that, by adding or removing specific functional groups, increase the isoform heterogeneity and functional variability of tubulin. Modifications are proposed to form a 'code' that can be read by proteins interacting with microtubules. Therefore, the subpopulations of microtubules may bind to different associated proteins (motor and non-motor), thus creating the physical support for various microtubule functions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The 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
“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
We 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
Molecular interaction fields in drug discovery: Recent advances and future perspectives
Drug discovery is a highly complex and costly process, and in recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has shifted from traditional to genomics- and proteomics-based drug research strategies. The identification of druggable target sites, promising hits, and high quality leads are crucial steps in the early stages of drug discovery projects. Pharmacokinetic (PK) and drug metabolism profiling to optimize bioavailability, clearance, and toxicity are increasingly important areas to prevent costly failures in preclinical and clinical studies. The integration of a wide variety of technologies and expertise in multidisciplinary research teams combining synergistic effects between experimental and computational approaches on the selection and optimization of bioactive compounds to pass these hurdles is now commonplace, although there remain challenging areas. Molecular interaction fields (MIFs) are widely used in a range of applications to support the discovery teams, characterizing molecules according to their favorable interaction sites and therefore enabling predictions to be made about how molecules might interact. The utility of MIF-based in silico approaches in drug design is extremely broad, including approaches to support experimental design in hit-finding, lead-optimization, physicochemical property prediction and PK modeling, drug metabolism prediction, and toxicity
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
We 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
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