Effect of channel block on the collective spiking activity of coupled stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley neurons

Toxins, such as tetraethylammonium (TEA) and tetrodotoxin (TTX), can make potassium or sodium ion channels poisoned, respectively, and hence reduce the number of working ion channels and lead to the diminishment of conductance. In this paper, we have studied by numerical simulations the effects of sodium and potassium ion channel poisoning on the collective spiking activity of an array of coupled stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) neurons. It is found for a given number of neurons sodium or potas- sium ion channel block can either enhance or reduce the collective spiking regularity, depending on the membrane patch size. For a given smaller or larger patch size, potassium and sodium ion channel block can reduce or enhance the collective spiking regularity, but they have different patch size ranges for the transformation. This result shows that sodium or potassium ion channel block might have dif- ferent effects on the collective spiking activity in coupled HH neurons from the effects for a single neuron, which represents the interplay among the diminishment of maximal conductance and the in- crease of channel noise strength due to the channel blocks, as well as the bi-directional coupling be- tween the neurons.     

Enhancement of spike coherence by the departure from Gaussian noise in a Hodgkin-Huxley neuron

Experimental study has shown that non-Gaussian noise exists in sensory systems like neurons. The departure from Gaussian behavior is a characteristic parameter of non-Gaussian noise. In this paper, we have numerically studied the effect of a particular kind of non-Gaussian colored noise (NGN), especially its departure q from Gaussian noise (q = 1), on the spiking activity in a deterministic Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) neuron driven by sub-threshold periodic stimulus. Simulation results show that the departure q can affect the spiking activity induced by noise intensity D. For smaller q values, the minimum in the variation coefficient (CV) as a function of noise intensity (D) becomes smaller, showing that D-induced stochastic resonance (SR) becomes strengthened. Meanwhile, depending on the value of D, q can either enhance or reduce the spiking regularity. Interestingly, CV changes non-monotonously with varying q and passes through a minimum at an intermediate q, representing the presence of “departure-induced SR”. This result shows that appropriate departures of the NGN can enhance the spike coherence in the HH neuron. Since the departure of the NGN determines the probability distribution and hence may denote the type of the noise, “departure-induced SR” shows that different types of noise can enhance the spike coherence, and hence may improve the timing precision of sub-threshold signal encoding in the HH neuron. Supported by the Science Foundation of Ludong University (L20072805)     

Multiple resonances with time delays in scale-free networks of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons subjected to non-Gaussian noise

The spiking behavior with varying time delay in scale-free networks of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons with non-Gaussian noise has been studied,and the effect of non-Gaussian noise on the delay-induced spiking behavior is discussed. It was found that multiple spatio-temporal resonances occur when the delay lengths are integer multiples of the spiking periods,and the resonances may be strengthened when the non-Gaussian noise is appropriate. This result shows that time delays can optimize the spiking temporal regulari...     

Discrete-state representation of ion permeation coupled to fast gating in a model of CLC-chloride channels: analytic estimation of the state-to-state rate constants

Analytical estimation of state-to-state rate constants is carried out for a recently developed discrete state model of chloride ion motion in a CLC chloride channel (Coalson and Cheng, J. Phys. Chem. B 2010, 114, 1424). In the original presentation of this model, the same rate constants were evaluated via three-dimensional Brownian dynamics simulations. The underlying dynamical theory is an appropriate single- or multiparticle three-dimensional Smoluchowski equation. Taking advantage of approximate geometric symmetries (based on the details of the model channel geometry), well-known formulas for state-to-state transition rates are appealed to herein and adapted as necessary to the problem at hand. Rates of ionic influx from a bulk electrolyte reservoir to the nearest binding site within the channel pore are particularly challenging to compute analytically because they reflect multi-ion interactions (as opposed to single-ion dynamics). A simple empirical correction factor is added to the single-ion rate constant formula in this case to account for the saturation of influx rate constants with increasing bulk Cl(-) concentration. Overall, the agreement between all analytically estimated rate constants is within a factor of 2 of those computed via three-dimensional Brownian dynamics simulations, and often better than this. Current-concentration curves obtained using rate constants derived from these two different computational approaches agree to within 25%.     

Effects of BaCl_2 on slow vacuolar ion channels on radish by patch-clamp

Effects of BaCl2 on slow vacuolar ion channels on radish by patch-clamp YANG Pin (杨 频) & ZHANG Liping (张丽平) Institute of Molecular Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China Correspondence should be addressed to Yang Pin (email: yangpin@sxu.edu.cn)     

Thermodynamics of coupled reactions by the method of dynamic titration: the Nickel(II)-salicylate ion system

Amplitudes of chemical relaxation signals can provide useful information as to the thermodynamics of coupled chemical reactions. The temperature-jump technique has been used to investigate the thermodynamic behavior of the Nickel(II)-3,5-dinitrosalicylate system in buffer solution, where complex formation steps are coupled to proton transfer steps. The analysis of the relaxation curves is based on the transformation of a set of coupled elementary reactions into a set of uncoupled normal reactions. By analogy with classical titrations, the experiments have been performed by changing the metal ion concentration at constant ligand concentration and pH. Each measured amplitude is associated in this way to a point of a dynamic titration and a procedure is formulated by which the values of the equilibrium constants and enthalpies of the normal reactions are simultaneously obtained by simple linear plots. From the dependence of these parameters on suitable functions of the concentrations of the reactants the values of G° and H° of the individual steps are derived. It is shown that the addition of a buffer (instead of an indicator) influences the stoichiometric coefficients of the normal reaction in such a way that measurable amplitudes are produced in systems that, as the presently investigated, in unbuffered solution would remain insensitive to the external perturbation. The circumstances under which the dynamic method offers advantages over the classical techniques are discussed.     

高氯酸镱对大鼠背根神经元细胞毒性及膜上钾通道的影响

研究了高氯酸镱(Yb(ClO4)3)诱导大鼠背根神经(DRG)元凋亡、引起胞内钙离子浓度变化以及对膜上钾离子通道的影响.急性分离大鼠DRG细胞,用不同浓度的Yb(ClO4)3处理DRG细胞24和96h,采用流式细胞仪和激光共聚焦法,检测细胞的凋亡和细胞内钙离子荧光强度的变化.利用全细胞膜片钳法,记录Yb(ClO4)3对细胞膜上不同钾通道电流的影响.结果表明,10,100,1000μmol/L Yb(ClO4)3处理DRG神经元24h,细胞基本不表现凋亡;处理96h,细胞出现明显的凋亡(P0.05～0.01),尤其是1000μmol/L Yb(ClO4)3,凋亡率达到了(55.23±3.76)%(P0.01).经Yb(ClO4)3孵育的DRG神经元胞内的Ca2+的荧光强度显著增大;Yb(ClO4)3抑制背根神经节纤维和神经元突起的生长.Yb(ClO4)3抑制DRG神经元膜上的钾电流,胞内和胞外的Yb(ClO4)3作用钾通道的部位不同.细胞外液中的Yb(ClO4)3不同程度地阻断了瞬间外向钾电流IA,对延迟整流钾电流几乎没影响;往电极内液中加入同样浓度的Yb(ClO4)3对IA影响很小,却特异性地阻断了延迟整流钾电流IK.10μmol/L Yb(ClO4)3使IA的激活和失活过程都显著右移,延长了瞬间外向钾电流达到峰值的时间和快速失活时间常数,增加神经元的兴奋性.     

Effect of ion pairing on steady-state voltammetric limiting currents at microelectrodes Part I. Theoretical principles

Voltammetric studies in solutions of high resistivity are facilitated by the use of microelectrodes under steady-state conditions. Such solutions are encountered with solvents of low permittivity because of the very sparing solubility of electrolytes. Moreover, in such media the supporting electrolyte, as well as the electroactive ionic species, is usually extensively ion paired. Here we predict the limiting current that will flow in these circumstances, when a monovalent ion undergoes a one-electron transfer at a hemispherical microelectrode to form a neutral product. The ion pairing equilibria are assumed to be fast but all diffusion coefficients are treated as distinct. An analytical solution is elusive in the general case, but a simple numerical procedure allows the limiting current to be predicted for any combination of the system parameters. Several special cases are also discussed, some of which yield explicit formulae for the limiting current. In a companion paper, experimental data are compared with the theoretical predictions.     

Interactions of He atoms with Xe plated graphite: unified treatment of scattering and adsorbate dynamics based on method of coupled channels

Interactions of He atoms with surfaces have been in the focus of surface scientists for more than seventy years. Depending on the types of the studied problems, and on the algorithms available for their assessment, the accuracy of model calculations aiming at the interpretations of the various aspects of He-atom scattering and dynamics in the adsorbed phase have greatly varied during that period. In this article, we describe the application of a numerical algorithm based on the coupled-channel method that proves very accurate in the calculations of eigen-states and eigen-energies of He atoms interacting with strongly corrugated surfaces. The algorithm is applied to compute diffraction spectra characteristic of thermal energy He-atom scattering from a monolayer of Xe atoms adsorbed on (0 0 0 1) surface of graphite, and the thermodynamical quantities describing a quasi-two-dimensional gas of He atoms adsorbed on the same surface. The usefulness of the developed approach is illustrated in comparisons of the theoretical results with the available experimental data.     

Effect of ion exchange and regeneration conditions on the catalytic activity of H-ZSM-5 zeolites

The effect of Na⁺ H⁺ ion-exchange conditions on catalytic properties of the resulting H-ZSM-5 zeolites has been investigated. The concentration and mode of addition of the reactant to the exchange medium affect the degree of exchange achieved. During low-temperature conversion of olefins, the H-ZSM-5 zeolites have become rapidly deactivated. Thermal regeneration fully restores their original catalytic properties.

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Na⁺H⁺ --5. . - --5 . .

     

Effects of BaCl<Subscript>2</Subscript> on slow vacuolar ion channels on radish by patch-clamp

The effects of BaCl₂ on slow vacuolar (SV) currents of radish are studied by using the whole-vacuolar patch-clamp recording mode. The Ca²⁺-dependent SV channel can be activated by cytosolic Ca²⁺. When 1 mmol/L BaCl₂ is added into pipette solution, SV currents are suppressed remarkably. Then adding BaCl₂ of different concentrations into the bath solution, SV currents reflect different effects. The results show that BaCl₂ with a lower concentration (<3 mmol/L) promotes the channel currents and the currents are saturated when BaCl₂ concentrations are between 1 μmol/L and 1 mmol/L, but BaCl₂ with higher concentration (≥ 3 mmol/L) inhibits SV currents.     

Effect of suppressor current intensity on the determination of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid by suppressed conductivity ion chromatography

This paper presents the application of ion chromatography with electrolytic eluent generation and mobile phase suppression for the direct conductimetric detection of glyphosate and its degradation product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). The compounds were separated on a Dionex AS18 anion exchange column with a 12–40 mM KOH step gradient from 9 to 9.5 min. The effect of the suppressor current intensity on the electrostatic interaction of these amphoteric compounds with the suppressor cation exchange membranes was evaluated. A suppressor current gradient technique was proposed for the limitation of peak broadening and baseline noise, in order to improve method sensitivity and detectability. It was observed that residual sample carbonates co-eluted with AMPA when a large injection loop was installed for the low level determination of both compounds in natural waters. For this reason, glyphosate was isocratically eluted using 33 mM KOH in order to decrease analysis time within 10 min and a column clean up step using 100 mM KOH was used to ensure retention time reproducibility. The developed method was applied to the analysis of drinking and natural water and it was further successfully applied to orange samples with slight modifications. Instrumental LOD for glyphosate was 0.24 μg/L, while method LOD was 0.54 μg/L for spring waters and 0.01 mg/kg for oranges using a 1000 μL direct loop injection of the sample. Intra-day and inter-day precision (as %RSD) for water samples was 4.6% and 12% at a spiking level of 2 μg/L, and the recovery ranged from 64% to 88% depending on sample conductivity. For orange samples, the inter-day precision was 1.4% at a spiking level of 4.4 mg/kg, while overall recovery was 103%. The developed method is direct, fast, sensitive and relatively inexpensive, and could be used as an ideal fast screening tool for the monitoring of glyphosate residues in water and fruit samples.     

The effect of sulfide ion chemisorption on the kinetics of gold dissolution in cyanide solutions

The effect of sodium sulfide additions (from 5 × 10^?6 to 2 × 10^?5 M) on the kinetics of gold dissolution in cyanide solutions of the following composition, M: 0.1 KCN, 0.02 KAu(CN)₂, 0.5 K₂SO₄, pH 10–13 is studied. Hydrosulfide ions are shown to exert a strong catalytic effect on the dissolution kinetics of this metal in a potential range where their adsorption is accompanied by the formation of polysulfides (?0.2 < E < 0.4 V). The reaction acceleration depend on the potential and is 100-fold for E ? 0.1 V. The effect becomes more pronounced as the concentration of hydrosulfide ions increases to 10^?4 M and is almost pH-independent in the pH range from 10 to 13. An attempt to explain the found relationships is undertaken.     

Study of the effect of the membrane composition on ion transfer across a supported liquid membrane

The rate of ion transfer across the supported liquid membrane (SLM) is studied in the rotating diffusion cell (RDC), varying the chemical composition of the SLM from net-cloth supported gel membranes to radiation-grafted polymer membranes. Steady-state current–voltage curves are measured as a function of the rotation rate, and values for the standard rate constant, k⁰, are determined for a series of tetraalkylammonium cations from the analysis of the initial slopes and the diffusion limiting currents. The analysis gives values for k⁰ of the order of 10⁻²–10⁻⁴ cm s⁻¹, which is in rather good agreement with the values found in the literature for this type of the system. As controlled delivery of ionic drugs can be achieved by control of the electric current, whereby the SLM acts as a drug reservoir, the study is extended to the release of the anti-Alzheimer drug Tacrine, where ion-exchange fibers are embedded in the membrane as the drug carrier. Our previous transient experiments are also discussed, and it is suggested that their interpretation is seriously hampered by the non-uniform potential distribution, which brings about high capacitive currents.     

Effect of catalysts on the reaction of an aliphatic isocyanate and water

The kinetics of the reaction of aliphatic isocyanate with water were investigated with hexyl isocyanate as a model compound. The kinetic study was carried out with a titration method to determine the concentration of the isocyanate group as a function of time. Gas chromatography was used to augment the kinetic data obtained from the titration method. The effects of an organic acid [p‐toluene sulfonic acid monohydrate (p‐TSA)], a tertiary amine {diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO)}, and an organotin compound [dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL)] on the reaction were investigated for the conversion of isocyanate to a urea. Under the reaction conditions in this study, urea was the only product observed. The rate constants indicated that p‐TSA had low catalytic activity, DABCO had intermediate catalytic activity, and DBTDL had high catalytic activity. A reaction mechanism was proposed for each of the catalysts. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1677–1688, 2002     

Numerical study of the vortex-induced electroosmotic mixing of non-Newtonian biofluids in a nonuniformly charged wavy microchannel: Effect of finite ion size

We propose a micromixer for obtaining better efficiency of vortex induced electroosmotic mixing of non-Newtonian bio-fluids at a relatively higher flow rate, which finds relevance in many biomedical and biological applications. To represent the rheology of non-Newtonian fluid, we consider the Carreau model in this study, while the applied electric field drives the constituent components in the micromixer. We show that the spatial variation of the applied field, triggered by the topological change of the bounding surfaces, upon interacting with the non-uniform surface potential gives rise to efficient mixing as realized by the formation of vortices in the proposed micromixer. Also, we show that the phase-lag between surface potential leads to the formation of asymmetric vortices. This behavior offers better mixing performance following the appearance of undulation on the flow pattern. Finally, we establish that the assumption of a point charge in the paradigm of electroosmotic mixing, which is not realistic as well, under-predicts the mixing efficiency at higher amplitude of the non-uniform zeta potential. The inferences of the present analysis may guide as a design tool for micromixer where rheological properties of the fluid and flow actuation parameters can be simultaneously tuned to obtain phenomenal enhancement in mixing efficiency.     

Effect of Different Binders on the Combustion Properties of Lignite. Part II. Effect on kinetics

In this research kinetic analysis of the Tuncbilek lignite and its mixture with different binders (molasses, CMC, sulphide liquor, heavy crude oil, sodium silicate,cornstarch, lime, peridur, bentonite, cement and poly(vinyl-acetate)) were analysed by thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) methods. Two different kinetic models (Arrhenius and Coats–Redfern) were used to determine the activation energies of the samples studied. The concept of weighed mean activation energy was applied to determine the overall reactivity of the samples. It was observed that molasses, CMC, heavy crude oil, peridur, bentonite and poly(acetate) decreased the activation energy of the coal sample, whereas, all other binders increased the activation energy of the coal sample. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of synthesis parameters on the structural,morphological characteristics,and photocatalytic activity of La2O3 nanoparticles

This study investigates the influence of synthesis processes such as sonication, sol-gel, and microwave on the production of highly crystalline Lanthanum oxide nanoparticles (La₂O₃) employing Lanthanum nitrate and Ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH) as precursors. X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analysis (DLS), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy (UV–Vis), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to examine the most effective processing method and its effects on the nanoparticle characteristics, such as structure, morphology, and optical and electrical behavior. Sonication produces La₂O₃ NPs with a smaller crystalline size, an agglomerated nanorod structure, a higher bandgap, and better electrical responsiveness than sol-gel and microwave techniques. Structural and optical characterization tests discovered this. The photocatalytic degradation activity of cationic Safranin and anionic Congo red dye exhibits degradation efficiency of around 90.13% and 89.66%, respectively.     

氟对别洛索夫-扎鲍京斯基振荡反应的影响

报道了氟离子对Ce(SO4) 2 KBrO3 CH2 (COOH) 2 H2 SO4(B Z)振荡体系的干扰 ,考察了在 5× 10 - 5～ 1× 10 - 3 mol L范围内 ,F- 的浓度与振荡反应周期的改变ΔTP 之间的关系。结合FKN机理模型 ,提出了F- 干扰振荡反应的机理 ,为其应用奠定基础