170,846 research outputs found

    Neurokinin 1 receptor expression in the rat retina

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    Tachykinin (TK) peptides influence neuronal activity in the inner retina of mammals. The aim of this investigation was to determine the cellular localization of the neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1), whose preferred ligand is the TK peptide substance P (SP), in the rat retina. These studies used a polyclonal antiserum directed to the C-terminus of rat NK1. The majority of NK1-immunoreactive (IR) cells were located in the proximal inner nuclear layer (INL), and very rarely they were found in the distal INL. Some small and large NK1-IR somata were present in the ganglion cell layer. NK1-IR processes were densely distributed across the inner plexiform layer (IPL) with a maximum density over lamina 2 of the IPL. Immunoreactive processes also crossed the INL and ramified in the outer plexiform layer where they formed a sparse meshwork. NK1-IR processes were rarely observed in the optic nerve fiber layer. Double-label immunofluorescence studies with different histochemical markers for bipolar cells indicated that NK1 immunoreactivity was not present in bipolar cells. Together, these observations indicate that NK1 immunoreactivity is predominantly expressed by amacrine, displaced amacrine, interplexiform, and some ganglion cells. Doublelabel immunofluorescence experiments were also performed to characterize NK1-containing amacrine cells. Sixty-one percent of the g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-IR cells, 71% of the large tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-IR cells, and 100% of the small TH-IR cells contained NK1 immunoreactivity. In addition, most (91%) of the NK1-IR cells had GABA immunoreactivity. In contrast, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-, TK-, choline acetyltransferase-, and parvalbumin- IR amacrine cells did not express NK1 immunoreactivity. Overall, the present findings suggest that SP acts directly upon several cell populations, including GABA-containing amacrine cells and ganglion cells, to influence visual information processing in the inner retina

    Developmental expression of neurokinin-1 and neurokinin-3 receptors in the rat retina

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    Tachykinin (TK) peptides act on retinal neurons through neurokinin (NK) receptors. We examined the expression of neurokinin-1 (NK1; the substance P receptor), NK3 [the neurokinin B (NKB) receptor], and TK peptides in developing rat retinas. NK1 immunolabeling was found in newborn retinas in rare amacrine cells and in putative ganglion cells. At postnatal day 2 (PND 2), NK1 immunostaining was reduced greatly among ganglion cells, and it appeared in many amacrine cells and in fibers in the inner plexiform layer (IPL), with the highest density in laminae 1, 3, and 5. A similar pattern was found at PND 7. At PND 12, interplexiform NK1-immunoreactive (-IR) cells were detected, and NK1-IR fibers in the IPL were concentrated in lamina 2, similar to what was seen in adults. NK3 was expressed mainly by OFF-cone bipolar cells, and the developmental pattern of NK3 was compared with that of cone bipolar cells that were labeled with antibodies to recoverin. Immature recoverin-IR cone bipolar cells were seen at PND 2. NK3 immunolabeling was detected first in the outer plexiform layer and in sparse bipolar cell somata at PND 10, when recoverin-IR cone bipolar cells are nearly mature. By PND 15, both the NK3 immunostaining pattern and the recoverin immunostaining pattern were similar to the patterns seen in adults. TK immunoreactivity was present at PND 0 in amacrine cells and displaced amacrine cells. By PND 10, the morphologic maturation of TK-IR cells was complete. These findings indicate that, in early postnatal retinas, substance P may act on NK1 receptors, whereas NKB/NK3 interactions are unlikely, suggesting that there are different levels of importance for different TK peptides in the developing retina

    Postnatal development of parvalbumin-immunoreactive amacrine cells in the rabbit retina

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    In the adult rabbit, rat and cat retina, parvalbumin PV. immunoreactivity is primarily localized to a population of narrow-field, bistratified amacrine cells, the AII amacrine cells–major interneurons of the rod pathway. This investigation examines the postnatal development of PV immunoreactivity in order to better understand the ontogeny of the AII amacrine cell population and the formation of the rod pathway. Rabbit retinas at various postnatal ages were processed for immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal antibody directed to PV and analyzed morphometrically. On the day of birth, PV immunoreactive cell bodies are numerous in the proximal inner nuclear layer INL. in all retinal regions. These cells have a primary process directed towards the inner plexiform layer IPL.. At postnatal day PND. 2, a few faint immunoreactive processes are observed in the IPL. At PND 4, well-stained processes are observed to ramify mainly in the proximal IPL. At PND 6, strongly immunoreactive processes are present in both the distal and proximal IPL, and at PND 10 they form a continuous, dense plexus in both levels of the IPL. By PND 10, the morphology of PV immunoreactive cells is similar to PV immunoreactive cells in adult retinas. The density of PV immunoreactive cells in the proximal INL increases from PND 2 to PND 5, then it gradually decreases to adult values, while the total number of PV immunoreactive cell bodies increases until PND 10. PV immunoreactive amacrine cells at PND 2, as in the adult, are nonrandomly distributed across the retinal surface. These studies show that PV immunoreactive amacrine cells have a developmental profile that is similar to several other amacrine cell types. This includes the elaboration of processes in the IPL during the first postnatal week and a mature appearance towards the end of the second week of life, about the time of eye opening. These observations indicate that the AII amacrine cell may participate in the processing of visual information at eye opening

    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

    Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply

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    Ophthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219. Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes. Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E. SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. Abstract PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes. DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia. METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively). CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK. Comment in Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    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

    A Multi-Language Comparison of Influences on Author Verification using Character N-Grams

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    We create a new multi-language corpus for author verification based on Wikipedia talkpages, and evaluate the influence that differences in topic and time have on character n-gram author profiles. Topic alignment between two texts is found to increase author verification precision, and an authors writing style is found to change over time, but not more significantly after 3 years than after 1 year.Information ArchitectureWISElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc

    A 0.12mm<sup>2</sup> Wien-Bridge Temperature Sensor with 0.1°C (3σ) Inaccuracy from -40°C to 180°C

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    Resistor-based temperature sensors can achieve much higher resolution and energy efficiency than conventional BJT-based sensors [1], but they typically occupy more area (&gt; 0.25 mm 2 ) and have lower operating temperatures (le 125 {circ} {C}) [2]-[4]. This work describes a 0.12mm 2 resistor-based sensor that uses a Wien-bridge (WB) filter to achieve 0.1 {circ} {C} (3 sigma) inaccuracy from - 40 {circ} {C} to 180 {circ} {C}. Compared to a state-of-the-art WB sensor [4], it occupies 6 × less area and achieves comparable relative accuracy over a 76% wider operating range. Session 10.3 Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Electronic InstrumentationMicroelectronic

    Authorship of the Anonymous Account of Captain Cook's Last Voyage

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    "We reach the conclusion that the author of the Journal was John Rickman, who sailed as second lieutenant of the Discovery and returned as second lieutenant of the Resolution…

    A ±25A Versatile Shunt-Based Current Sensor with 10kHz Bandwidth and ±0.25% Gain Error from -40°C to 85°C Using 2-Current Calibration

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    Accurate current sensing is critical in many industrial applications, such as battery management and motor control. Precise shunt-based current sensors have been reported with gain errors of less than 1% over the industrial temperature range (-40°C to 85°C) [1]–[4]. However, since they are intended for coulomb counting, their bandwidth is limited to a few tens of Hz, making them unsuitable for battery impedance or motor-current sensing. This paper presents a current sensor with a wide (10kHz) bandwidth and a tunable temperature compensation scheme (TCS), which allows it to be flexibly used with different types of shunts while maintaining high accuracy. A low-cost room-temperature calibration scheme is proposed to optimize gain flatness over temperature by exploiting the shunt's self-heating at large currents. Over the industrial temperature range and a ±25A current range, it achieves state-of-the-art gain error (±0.25%) with both low-cost PCB and stable metal-alloy shunts.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Electronic InstrumentationMicroelectronic
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