GIS and spatial data analysis: Converging perspectives

We take as our starting point the state of geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial data analysis 50 years ago when regional science emerged as a new field of enquiry. In the late 1950s and 1960s advances in computing technology were making possible forms of automated cartography that in due course would lead to th

Post translational changes to α-synuclein control iron and dopamine trafficking : a concept for neuron vulnerability in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder, the aetiology of which remains elusive. The primary clinical feature of progressively impaired motor control is caused by a loss of midbrain substantia nigra dopamine neurons that have a high α-synuclein (α-syn) and iron content. α-Syn is a neuronal protein that is highly modified post-translationally and central to the Lewy body neuropathology of the disease. This review provides an overview of findings on the role post translational modifications to α-syn have in membrane binding and intracellular vesicle trafficking. Furthermore, we propose a concept in which acetylation and phosphorylation of α-syn modulate endocytic import of iron and vesicle transport of dopamine during normal physiology. Disregulated phosphorylation and oxidation of α-syn mediate iron and dopamine dependent oxidative stress through impaired cellular location and increase propensity for α-syn aggregation. The proposition highlights a connection between α-syn, iron and dopamine, three pathological components associated with disease progression in sporadic Parkinson's disease

Predicting expository text processing : causal content density as a critical expository text metric

202106 bcvcNot applicableSelf-fundedEarly release18 month

Slow Delayed Rectifier Potassium Current (IKs) and the Repolarization Reserve

The aim of this review is to present the properties of the slow component of the delayed rectifier potassium current (I-Ks) in the human ventricle. The review gives a detailed description of the physiology, molecular biology and pharmacology of the I-Ks current, including kinetic properties, genetic structures, agonists and antagonists. The authors also present the role of the I-Ks current in the human cardiac repolarization focusing on several pathophysiological situations, such as the LQT syndrome and the Torsade de Pointes arrhythmia