Response dynamics of goldfish saccular fibers: effects of stimulus frequency and intensity on fibers with different tuning, sensitivity, and spontaneous activity

The effects of stimulus frequency and intensity on response patterns (PST histograms) to tone burst stimulation were examined in differently tuned saccular fibers of the goldfish. In addition, the sensitivity of these fibers to amplitude-modulated (AM) signals of different carrier frequencies was measured. The response patterns evoked by unmodulated signals were a complex function of tuning, spontaneous activity and sensitivity of the fiber, and the frequency and intensity of the signal. Frequency-dependent response patterns were found in low-frequency fibers with best frequencies (BF) below 200 Hz. Responses in these fibers ranged from tonic to phasic in nonspontaneous fibers and included more complex patterns in spontaneously active fibers, such as suppression of evoked activity below spontaneous levels. Midfrequency fibers (BF = 500-600 Hz) showed responses similar to those in low-frequency fibers, but with less dependence on frequency. In contrast, both high-frequency (BF = 800-1000 Hz) and wideband, untuned fibers showed frequency-invariant patterns of adaptation. High-frequency fibers were equally sensitive to AM signals at all frequencies tested. The sensitivity of low-frequency fibers to AM, however, increased as a function of carrier frequency and corresponded to the degree of adaptation in response to unmodulated tones. In general, the AM sensitivity of a fiber could be predicted more by its pattern of response to unmodulated signals than by its tuning characteristics.     

Microfabricated bioreactor chips for immobilised enzyme assays

A microfabricated device is reported that has been designed to permit the in situ packing of a section of channel with enzyme immobilised onto controlled pore glass (CPG). It is fabricated from glass and polydimethylsiloxane and to prevent dead volumes, has dedicated channels for packing the reactor. The device has the advantage of being simple in design, the flow through enzyme reactor channel being simply a widened section of the analyte channel. The system is suitable for both hydrodynamic and electro-osmotic pumping, and is designed such that when the packing is exhausted it can be repacked. Controlled pore glass provides a reproducible none swelling, high porosity medium onto which the enzyme could be immobilised. The large particle size meant that it was vital to optimise the immobilisation procedure in order to achieve acceptable enzyme activity. The microfabricated device was developed with two enzymes of different molecular masses; alkaline phosphatase and xanthine oxidase. The pore size of the CPG was found to be very important for xanthine oxidase, where the 697 Å pore size (120-200 mesh) CPG was found to give the highest activity (18-20% activity retained after immobilisation). The microfabricated device was used for the assay of p-nitrophenyl phosphate and hypoxanthine with spectrophotometric detection at 405 and 470 nm, respectively. The limits of detection were 5 and 8 μM, respectively.     

Characterization of lactosylated proteins of infant formula powders using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry

Infant formula powders were analyzed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) to assess the whey proteins quality, which may be altered by the heat treatment used during the processing conditions. Lactosylation was found to be the major chemical modification occurring in whey proteins. In parallel, a two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis was performed on the milk sample and the entire protein patterns were analyzed by nano-ESI-MS after cutting the different gel spots and in-gel trypsin digestion. A highly selective and specific tandem MS technique has been developed to characterize and localize up to ten lactosylation sites in beta-lactoglobulin (beta-Lg) and alpha(S2)-casein. alpha-Lactalbumin (alpha-La), with five lactosylated peptides, was found to be an interesting protein marker in the milk powder sample to detect chemical modification induced by the processing/storage conditions.     

Chromatographic method for diaminopimelic acid detection in calcareous rocks. Presence of a bacterial biomarker in stromatolites

The presence in the environment of diaminopimelic acid (DAP), a specific eubacterial marker, can be attributed to that of bacteria. We report a reliable and highly sensitive method for the quantification of DAP in calcareous rocks. It consists of acid hydrolysis of rock powder, purification of DAP by chromatography on Dowex 50W and Spherogel AA-NA+ columns, and quantitative analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography. Addition of tritiated DAP, the internal standard, allows one to follow the relevant fractions throughout the purification procedure and to determine their yield. The analytical step consists in pre-column derivatization with ortho-phthaldialdehyde of purified samples, and separation through a reversed-phase C18 column. Chemical controls, i.e., oxidation of samples to rule out the presence of co-eluting lanthionine and cystathionine, as well as mass spectrometry, confirm the presence of DAP in analyzed samples. Our method allows the separation of meso- from L- and/or D-stereoisomers of DAP, and reveals their presence in the examined rocks, two stromatolites of different age and geographic origin.     

Synthesis and structure of the calixarene-like phosph(III)azane macrocycle [{P(mu-N(t)Bu)}2{1,5-(NH)2C10H6}]3

The reaction of [ClP(mu-NtBu)]2 with 1,5-diamino-naphthalene [1,5-(NH2)2C10H6] in Et3N-thf gives the trimeric macrocycle [{P(mu-NtBu)}2{1,5-(NH)2C10H6}]3(1); the X-ray structure of the toluene solvate 1.3toluene reveals a cone-shaped (calixarene-like) arrangement in which toluene guest molecules are trapped within the cavity.     

对一个大单轴磁各向异性镍(Ⅱ)配合物中的磁跃迁的直接观察

最近Ruamps和同事发现三角双锥构型的Ni（Ⅱ）配合物[Ni（Me₆tren）Cl]ClO₄（1，Me₆tren=tris（2-（dimethylamino）ethyl）amine）具有大的单轴磁各向异性（J.Am.Chem.Soc.，2013，135：3017-3026）。他们利用HF-EPR研究获得横向零场分裂（ZFS）参数E=1.56（5）cm^-1但未能确定轴向零场分裂参数D。在本工作中，我们利用0~17.5 T和5 K的变磁场远红外光谱（FIRMS）来检测自旋基态S=1中的M_S=±1和M_S=0态之间的磁跃迁。在FIRMS中直接观察到Zeeman分裂态之间的跃迁，得出轴向ZFS参数D=-110.7（3）cm^-1。我们对1的晶体结构进行了Hirshfeld表面分析，揭示了1分子中的阳离子与阴离子之间以及分子之间的相互作用。     

Spectral baseline ripple in hot-electron bolometer mixers due to local oscillator phase and amplitude instabilities

High resolution millimetre and submillimetre wave astronomical spectrometers using hot-electron bolometer mixers as detectors often show marked standing wave patterns in the spectral baseline. LO phase noise contributes through two mechanisms: the phase noise side-bands may be converted to amplitude noise in the source because of the power-frequency characteristic of the source, or they can be converted to in-band amplitude noise through the action of the quasi-optical discriminator formed by the mixer, beam-splitter and telescope structure. The baseline ripple components due to each of these mechanisms have different characteristic periods, and under some circumstances can dominate the spectrometer baseline. The ripple levels estimated using the theory agree well with those observed in practice. It is shown that with careful design systematic effects due to this cause can be reduced to a negligible level.     

VSWR reduction for large millimeter-wave cassegrain radiotelescopes

Multiple reflections in large radiotelescopes used for astronomical spectroscopy cause characteristic modulations of the observed spectrum (baseline ripple). For a given mechanism, the magnitude of the effect depends primarily on the reflection coefficient, which for the most important paths is proportional to . Although ripple is thus generally negligible at mm-wavelengths, there are some instances where it may still be significant, and a recent experiment at the15 m James Clerk Maxwell Telescope was severely affected. We describe a technique which has proved effective in reducing the ripple to an acceptable level.The purpose of this research note is to draw this technique to the attention of the astronomical community. We calculate the reflection coefficient for a typical instrument and show that it can be greatly reduced over a very broad bandwidth by means of a tapered absorber in the centre of the secondary mirror. The graphical analysis of the tapered absorber also demonstrates that the scattering cones and circular absorbers widely used in radioastronomy donot in fact reduce the reflection coefficient significantly.