1,720,960 research outputs found

    Somatostatin- and neuropeptide Y-synthesizing neurones in the fascia dentata of humans with temporal lobe epilepsy

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    We used in situ hybridization techniques to study the distribution of neurones synthesizing somatostatin mRNA and neuropeptide Y mRNA in the hilar region of the hippocampal formation of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. In the dentate gyrus, somatostatin mRNA- and neuropeptide Y mRNA-synthesizing neurones were found to be exclusively located within the hilar region. Unlike animal models, no ectopic expression of either peptide was found in principal cells. The numbers of hilar interneurones expressing somatostatin mRNA and neuropeptide Y mRNA were compared with the degree of hilar cell loss determined by immunohistochemistry against neuronal nuclear antigen. The numbers of somatostatin and neuropeptide Y mRNA-synthesizing neurones varied considerably between patients, but both were found to be highly correlated to the total number of neuronal nuclear antigen-immunoreactive hilar neurones. These results suggest that loss of somatostatin and neuropeptide Y interneurones occurs in proportion to overall hilar cell loss, and therefore the hypothesis of a selective loss of these interneurones in temporal lobe epilepsy seems unlikely

    Neuroprotective role of monocarboxylate transport during glucose deprivation in slice cultures of rat hippocampus

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    The effects of energy substrate removal and metabolic pathway block have been examined on neuronal and glial survival in organotypic slice cultures of rat hippocampus. Slice cultures resisted 24 h of exogenous energy substrate deprivation. Application of 0.5 mM alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate (4-CIN) for 24 h resulted in specific damage to neuronal cell layers, which could be reversed by co-application of 5 mM lactate. Addition of 10 mM 2-deoxyglucose in the absence of exogenous energy supply produced widespread cell death throughout the slice. This was partly reversed by co-application of 5 mM lactate. These effects of metabolic blockade on cell survival were qualitatively similar to the effects on population spikes recorded in the CA1 cell layer following 60 min application of these agents. The data suggest that monocarboxylate trafficking from glia to neurons is an essential route for supply of energy substrates to neurons particularly when exogenous energy supply is restricted

    Neuroprotection by both NMDA and non-NMDA receptor antagonists in in vitro ischemia

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    We have investigated the relative contributions of oxygen and glucose deprivation to ischaemic neurodegeneration in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. Cultures prepared from 10-day-old rats were maintained in vitro for 14 days and then deprived of either oxygen (hypoxia), glucose (hypoglycaemia), or both oxygen and glucose (ischaemia). Hypoxia alone induced degeneration selectively in CA1 pyramidal cells and this was greatly potentiated if glucose was removed from the medium. We have also characterised the effects of both pre- and post-treatment using glutamate receptor antagonists and the sodium channel blocker tetrodotoxin (TTX). Neuronal death following either hypoxia or ischaemia was prevented by pre-incubation with CNQX, MK-801 or tetrodotoxin. MK-801 or CNQX also prevented death induced by either hypoxia or ischaemia if added immediately post-insult, however, post-insult addition of TTX prevented hypoxic but not ischaemic damage. Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures are sensitive to both NMDA and non-NMDA glutamate receptor blockade and thus represent a useful in vitro system for the study of ischaemic neurodegeneration paralleling results reported using in vivo models of ischaemia

    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

    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

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We 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

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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
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