Immunocytochemical and electrophysiological characterization of GABA receptors in the frog and turtle retina

AbstractThe expression of GABA receptors (GABARs) was studied in frog and turtle retinae. Using immunocytochemical methods, GABAARs and GABACRs were preferentially localized to the inner plexiform layer (IPL). Label in the IPL was punctate indicating a synaptic clustering of GABARs. Distinct, but weaker label was also present in the outer plexiform layer. GABAAR and GABACR mediated effects were studied by recording electroretinograms (ERGs) and by the application of specific antagonists. Bicuculline, the GABAAR antagonist, produced a significant increase of the ERG. Picrotoxin, when co-applied with saturating doses of bicuculline, caused a further increase of the ERG due to blocking of GABACRs. The putative GABACR antagonist Imidazole-4-acidic acid (I4AA) failed to antagonize GABACR mediated inhibition and, in contrast, appeared rather as an agonist of GABARs

Narratives As Zones Of Dialogic Constructions: A Bakhtinian Approach To Data In Qualitative Research

Narratives have become increasingly important in the field of applied linguistics, as recent publications have illustrated, yet narrative analysis could still be considered undertheorized. This article outlines a specific, dialogical approach to the narrative analysis of data in qualitative research. Building on Bakhtin\u27s notion of dialogue, it claims that personal narratives are uniquely positioned to capture the interplay between humans\u27 individual and autobiographic experiences on the one hand, and larger, socio-cultural discourses on the other. Narrators can actively construct relations with others and reposition themselves on the planes of both textual and visual media. The article illuminates that through strategies such as double-voicing, narratives function as a tool for repositioning, resistance, and agency. © 2013 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC