1,720,980 research outputs found
Inhibiting Extracellular Vesicle Trafficking as Antiviral Approach to Corona Virus Disease 2019 Infection
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Cannabidiol and positive effects on object recognition memory in an in vivo model of Fragile X Syndrome: Obligatory role of hippocampal GPR55 receptors
Full text linkCannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotomimetic constituent of Cannabis sativa, has been recently approved for epileptic syndromes often associated with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the putative efficacy and mechanism of action of CBD in patients suffering from ASD and related comorbidities remain debated, especially because of the complex pharmacology of CBD. We used pharmacological, immunohistochemical and biochemical approaches to investigate the effects and mechanisms of action of CBD in the recently validated Fmr1-Δexon 8 rat model of ASD, that is also a model of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), the leading monogenic cause of autism. CBD rescued the cognitive deficits displayed by juvenile Fmr1-Δexon 8 animals, without inducing tolerance after repeated administration. Blockade of CA1 hippocampal GPR55 receptors prevented the beneficial effect of both CBD and the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 in the short-term recognition memory deficits displayed by Fmr1-Δexon 8 rats. Thus, CBD may exert its beneficial effects through CA1 hippocampal GPR55 receptors. Docking analysis further confirmed that the mechanism of action of CBD might involve competition for brain fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) that deliver anandamide and related bioactive lipids to their catabolic enzyme FAAH. These findings demonstrate that CBD reduced cognitive deficits in a rat model of FXS and provide initial mechanistic insights into its therapeutic potential in neurodevelopmental disorders
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
Circulating Extracellular Vesicles in Alcoholic Liver Disease Affect Skeletal Muscle Homeostasis and Differentiation
Full text linkBackground: The mechanisms underlying muscle alteration associated to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are not fully understood and the physiopathologic mediators of the liver–muscle interplay remains elusive. We investigated the role of circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) in ALD as potential mediators of muscle atrophy. Methods: We established a mouse model of sarcopenia associated to ALD, by feeding mice with an alcoholic diet for 8 weeks. We investigated the effects of hepatic and circulating EVs isolated from these mice (EtOH mice; n = 7 females) on muscle cell cultures, comparing them with EVs from mice fed with a standard diet (CD mice; n = 6 females). Additionally, we examined the impact of circulating EVs from patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis (7 males and 2 females, mean age 55.4 years) on primary human muscle cells, comparing them with EVs from age-matched healthy subjects (6 males and 3 females). We analysed the miRNA profile of the EVs to identify potential mediators of ALD-associated sarcopenia. Results: We demonstrated that circulating EVs were internalized by muscle cells and that EVs from ALD mice and cirrhotic patients caused alteration in the myogenic program. Molecular analysis revealed that serum EVs from ALD mice reduced protein synthesis in C2C12 cells, decreasing levels of p-AKT/AKT (−54.6%; p < 0.05), p-mTOR/mTOR (−54.5%; p < 0.05) and p-GSK3(Ser9)/GSK3 (−30.63%). Similarly, hepatic EVs induced defects in muscle differentiation, with reduced levels of p-AKT/AKT (−39.1%; p < 0.05), p-mTOR/mTOR (−30.1%; p < 0.05) and p-GSK3(Ser9)/GSK3 (−40%). C2C12 cells treated with either serum or hepatic EtOH-EVs exhibited upregulated expression of muscle-specific atrophy markers Atrogin-1 (+61.2% and +189.5%, respectively; p < 0.05) and MuRF1 (+260.4% and +112.5%, respectively; p < 0.05), along with an increased LC3-II/-I ratio (+131.5% and +40.2%, respectively; p < 0.05), indicating enhanced autophagy. MiRNA analysis revealed that both circulating and hepatic EVs from ALD mice showed elevated expression of miR-21, miR-155, miR-223 and miR-122 (+230% and +292%, respectively; p < 0.01) suggesting their potential role in sarcopenia. Human muscle cells exposed to EVs from cirrhotic patients exhibited reduced protein synthesis and upregulated Atrogin-1 (+113%; p < 0.05) and MuRF1 (+86.3%; p < 0.05), indicating proteasome activation. Circulating EVs of alcoholic patients showed upregulation of the same miRNAs observed in EtOH mice, including the liver-specific miR-122 (+260%; p < 0.05) suggesting, also in human liver disease, a hepatic origin of circulating EVs. Conclusions: Our study highlights the critical role of ALD-derived circulating EVs in affecting muscle homeostasis and myogenic program, suggesting potential therapeutic targets for mitigating muscle loss in ALD
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
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
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