1,720,955 research outputs found
SLEEP REGULATION IN THE STOP-NULL MOUSE MODEL OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
No full textSleep disturbances are common in patients with schizophrenia. Mice lacking the cytoskeletal-associated protein Stable Tubule Only Polypeptide (STOP) display cognitive, behavioural and neurobiological deficits that mimic those seen in schizophrenia, but there is little evidence of sleep changes in these mice. To investigate their sleep patterns, electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram were recorded under a 12:12 light:dark cycle in adult male STOP-null (KO; n=7) and wild-type (WT; n=8) mice, during a 24 h baseline period, followed by 6 h of sleep deprivation, and a 24 h recovery period. In the baseline period, KO mice spent more time awake and less time in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and REM sleep compared to WT mice. Particularly in the dark phase, KO mice had more wake and NREM sleep episodes, and shorter NREM and REM sleep episodes relative to WT mice. Following sleep deprivation, during the first 12 h of recovery (i.e. dark phase), both groups showed similar increases in NREM and REM sleep amounts and NREM EEG delta power relative to corresponding baseline periods. These findings indicate that the STOP-null mice sleep less and their sleep is more fragmented compared to WT mice. These features are consistent with the sleep abnormalities found in individuals with schizophrenia
Individual difference characteristics and contextual factors affecting educational attainment
No full textThe studies in this dissertation examine cognitive and non-cognitive predictors of postsecondary educational attainment. While prior research has documented links between core cognitive abilities (e.g., processing speed, attention, fluid intelligence) and academic success, less is known about the mechanisms translating these abilities into outcomes. It also remains unclear how contextual disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students’ psychosocial and academic functioning.
The first study investigated the role of learning strategies, along with willingness to engage in effortful cognitive activity (Need for Cognition; NFC), as potential intermediaries between basic cognitive abilities and academic outcomes. Results showed that while standard cognitive measures did not directly predict academic performance, both NFC and model-based (goal-directed) learning strategies were significant positive predictors. Further analyses indicated that fluid intelligence and attention positively predicted NFC and model-based learning, suggesting that these abilities may facilitate the development of motivational and strategic traits that, in turn, promote academic success. These findings emphasize the importance of motivation and strategy use, even when direct associations with basic cognitive abilities are lacking.
The second study complements the first by examining the broader socio-environmental challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian university students, with a focus on understanding the impact of the pandemic on students’ mental health, social networks, SES, and educational attainment. Using longitudinal data collected before and during the pandemic, results revealed that while GPA slightly improved, psychosocial well-being deteriorated. Increases in substance use, smaller social networks, and reduced well-being were observed. Cross-sectional analyses further showed that greater substance use during the pandemic predicted poorer GPA, and students with pre-existing psychiatric conditions were particularly vulnerable to increased substance use. These findings suggest that students with mental health vulnerabilities may be disproportionately affected by crises, underscoring the need to address maladaptive coping to support academic success.
Together, these studies highlight both individual (e.g., cognition, motivation, learning strategies) and contextual influences (e.g., pandemic disruptions) as important predictors of academic attainment. By considering internal and external factors, this dissertation provides a more comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted determinants of educational success, informing both theory and practice for optimizing university student outcomes
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
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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