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    The biophysical properties of beta2-V287L mutant neuronal nicotinic receptors linked to ADNFLE

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    The biophysical properties of beta2-V287L mutant neuronal nicotinic receptors linked to ADNFL

    Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy

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    Sleep has traditionally been recognized as a precipitating factor for some forms of epilepsy, although differential diagnosis between some seizure types and parasomnias may be difficult. Autosomal dominant frontal lobe epilepsy is characterized by nocturnal seizures with hyperkinetic automatisms and poorly organized stereotyped movements and has been associated with mutations of the alpha 4 and beta 2 subunits of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. We performed a clinical and molecular genetic study of a large pedigree segregating sleep-related epilepsy in which seizures are associated with fear sensation, tongue movements, and nocturnal wandering, closely resembling nightmares and sleep walking. We identified a new genetic locus for familial sleep-related focal epilepsy on chromosome 8p12.3-8q12.3. By sequencing the positional candidate neuronal cholinergic receptor alpha 2 subunit gene (CHRNA2), we detected a heterozygous missense mutation, I279N, in the first transmembrane domain that is crucial for receptor function. Whole-cell recordings of transiently transfected HEK293 cells expressing either the mutant or the wild-type receptor showed that the new CHRNA2 mutation markedly increases the receptor sensitivity to acetylcholine, therefore indicating that the nicotinic alpha 2 subunit alteration is the underlying cause. CHRNA2 is the third neuronal cholinergic receptor gene to be associated with familial sleep-related epilepsies. Compared with the CHRNA4 and CHRNB2 mutations reported elsewhere, CHRNA2 mutations cause a more complex and finalized ictal behavior

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    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

    Urinary uromodulin carries an intact ZP domain generated by a conserved C-terminal proteolytic cleavage

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    Uromodulin (or Tamm-Horsfall protein) is the most abundant protein in human urine under physiological conditions. Little is known about the molecular mechanism of uromodulin secretion. By extensive Mass Spectrometry analyses we mapped the C-termini of human and murine urinary proteins demonstrating that urinary uromodulin is generated by a conserved C-terminal proteolytic cleavage and retains its entire ZP domain. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

    Variations on the Author

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    “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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