1,720,959 research outputs found
Skin structure of the slow worm lizard Anguis fragilis (Anguidae, Sauria, Reptilia) with emphasis on the epidermal micro‐ornamentation in relation to the animal movements
Full text linkSkin structure of the slow worm lizard Anguis fragilis (Anguidae, Sauria, Reptilia) with emphasis on the epidermal micro-ornamentation in relation to the animal movements (Acta Zoologica, Stockholm). The structure of the skin and superficial micro-ornamentation in the slow worm Anguis fragilis, a limbless lizard with a fossorial activity, was examined using histology, immunofluorescence, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The scales, with a triangular to trapezoidal shape, are very overlapped and interlocked to form a smooth surface and are reinforced by osteoderms. The epidermis shows a thin Oberhautchen layer merged with a thicker beta-layer that contains corneous beta-proteins. The SEM survey detects a smooth surface made of tile-like patterned Oberhautchen cells with irregular perimeters that form an interlocking surface. Disk-like sensory organs of 15-20 mu m diameter are observed only on the head scales, the first to sense the environment and contact the ground. Numerous Oberhautchen denticles, namely corneous thorns of about 0.2-0.3 mu m, adorn the caudally directed perimeter of Oberhautchen cells in the ventral scales of the trunk and tail. This microstructure may determine gripping and increased friction with the substrate during the lateral undulating and forward movements of the slow worm. TEM observations reveal sparse short serrated protrusions of Oberhautchen cells that are largely merged with the underlying beta-cells. Altogether, the scale surface of the slow worm efficiently suites this limbless lizard to its environment and lifestyle
Enhanced intestinal epithelial co-culture model with orbital mechanical stimulation: a proof-of-concept application in food nanotoxicology
Full text linkIntroduction: Current in vitro intestinal models lack the mechanical forces present in the physiological environment, limiting their reliability for nanotoxicology studies. Here, we developed an enhanced Caco-2/HT29-MTX-E12 co-culture model incorporating orbital mechanical stimulation to better replicate intestinal conditions and investigate nanoparticle interactions.
Methods: We established co-cultures under static and dynamic conditions, evaluating their development through multiple approaches including barrier integrity measurements, gene expression analysis, and confocal microscopy. We introduced novel quantitative analysis of dome formation as a differentiation marker and demonstrated the model application by investigating cellular responses to titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles in a digested food matrix.
Results: Dynamic conditions accelerated epithelial differentiation, achieving functional barrier properties by day 14 rather than day 21, with enhanced mucin production and more organized three-dimensional structure. Mechanical stimulation selectively promoted goblet cell differentiation without affecting general epithelial markers. The optimized model successfully detected concentration-dependent oxidative stress responses to TiO2 exposure, revealing cellular dysfunction preceding membrane damage.
Discussion: This improved co-culture system provides a better physiological platform for nanotoxicology studies. By incorporating mechanical forces, each cell type exhibits more representative behavior, creating a more realistic experimental setup. The model bridges the gap between simple monocultures and complex 3D systems, offering a practical approach for investigating nanoparticle-epithelium interactions in a food-relevant context
Scanning electron investigations of saccular otoliths of the european anchovy (Clupeiformes: Engraulidae) from Adriatic sea.
No full textThe morphology of the saccular otolith of European anchovy from Adriatic Sea was analyzed
ultrastructurally by SEM. About external crystalline arrangement, sulcus acusticus area presenting a
complex modification of the crystal growth orientation. About internal structure, both in frontal and
sagittal sections, etched with HCl 1%, the increments were well defined up to the area near the edge
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
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