Frequency-dependent self-induced bias of the basilar membrane and its potential for controlling sensitivity and tuning in the mammalian cochlea

A displacement-sensitive capacitive probe technique was used in the first turn of guinea pig cochleas to examine whether the motion of the basilar membrane includes a displacement component analogous to the dc receptor potentials of the hair cells. Such a "dc" component apparently exists. At a given location on the basilar membrane, its direction toward scala vestibuli (SV) or scala tympani (ST) varies systematically with frequency of the acoustic stimulus. Furthermore, it appears to consist of two parts: a small asymmetric offset response to each gated tone burst plus a progressive shift of the basilar membrane from its previous position. The mean position shift is cumulative, increasing with successive tone bursts. The amplitude of the immediate offset response, when plotted as a function of frequency, appears to exhibit a trimodal pattern. This displacement offset is toward SV at the characteristic frequency (CF) of the location of the probe, while at frequencies either above or below the CF the offset is relatively larger, and toward ST. The mechanical motion of the basilar membrane therefore appears to contain the basis for lateral suppression. The cumulative mean position shift, however, appears to peak toward ST at the apical end of the traveling wave envelope and appears to be associated with a resonance, not of the basilar membrane motion directly, but coupled to it. The summating potential, measured concurrently at the round window, shows a more broadly tuned peak just above the CF of the position of the probe. This seems to correspond to the peak at the CF of the mechanical bias. As the preparation deteriorates, the best frequency of the vibratory displacement response decreases to about a half-octave below the original CF. There is a corresponding decrease in the frequency of the peaks of the trimodal pattern of the asymmetric responses to tone bursts. The trimodal pattern also broadens. In previous experiments the basilar membrane has been forced to move in response to a low-frequency biasing tone. The sensitivity to high-frequency stimuli varies in phase with the biasing tone. The amplitudes of slow movement in these earlier experiments and in the present experiments are of the same order of magnitude. This suggests strongly that the cumulative shift toward ST to a high-frequency acoustic stimulus constitutes a substantial controlling bias on the sensitivity of the cochlea in that same high-frequency region. Its effect will be to reduce the slope of neural rate-level functions on the high-frequency side of CF.     

Semi-wet growth and characterization of multi-functional nano-engineered mixed metal oxides for industrial application

This review paper covers the low temperature wet growth of nano-engineered particles of ZnO-based mixed metal oxides, their growth mechanism, and characterization using X-ray diffraction, SEM, TEM and IR, UV–visible, and XPS spectral techniques. Main focus of this article is centered on low temperature semi-wet methods of synthesis that are suitable for large scale production of zinc oxide-based systems mixed with iron oxide, copper oxide, nickel oxide and cobalt oxide. These mixed metal oxides have broad industrial applications as catalyst, semiconductors, adsorbents, superconductors, electro-ceramics, and antifungal agents in addition to extensive applications in medicines. This paper discusses the low-cost and environment friendly synthesis of these mixed metal oxides, measurement of properties and applicability of these materials systems.     

Spectral integral representations of volume scattering in sediments in layered waveguides

In situ measurements of scattering strength are often obtained by analyzing the early-time, high-angle reverberation from bottom and subbottom features. In order to provide insight into the mechanisms which cause bottom reverberation, and to their distinguishing characteristics, it is necessary to have a capability for modeling both the rough surface and the volume scattering mechanisms. For high-angle, early-time backscatter, the most appropriate approach is to use a spectral integral representation, which naturally includes the continuous spectrum important for this angular regime. A rough surface scattering theory developed earlier in this framework has provided important insights into wave scattering and penetration physics at the seafloor. Here a consistent representation for the subbottom scattering is developed and examples are provided which illustrate the observable differences between the two scattering mechanisms.     

New process for the manufacture of alpha-1 antitrypsin

We report a novel method for the extraction of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) from plasma. This method uses an anion-exchange column and two metal chelate columns. The AAT is recovered in a 60% yield and a purity of over 90%. The AAT manufactured by this method was stable at 4 degrees C for 12 months without any stabilisers. Other proteins of therapeutic value and commercial interest are recoverable in good yields. The simplicity of this process makes it a suitable alternative to the traditionally employed ethanol precipitation method where high ethanol levels inactivate AAT.     

Spherically symmetric inhomogeneous dust collapse in higher dimensional space-time and cosmic censorship hypothesis

We consider a collapsing spherically symmetric inhomogeneous dust cloud in higher dimensional space-time. We show that the central singularity of collapse can be a strong curvature or a weak curvature naked singularity depending on the initial density distribution.     

An iterated logarithm law for families of Brownian paths

Summary If n is large, a plot of log n independent Brownian paths over [0, n] is nearly certain to give the appearance of a shaded region having square root boundaries.Research of this author was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under grant MCS 82-00786This work was undertaken while B. Schreiber, of Wayne State University, was a Visiting Professor of Mathematics at Michigan State University, whose hospitality he wishes to acknowledge with gratitude.     

Synaptic depression and short-term habituation are located in the sensory part of the mammalian startle pathway

Background  

Short-term habituation of the startle response represents an elementary form of learning in mammals. The underlying mechanism is located within the primary startle pathway, presumably at sensory synapses on giant neurons in the caudal pontine reticular nucleus (PnC). Short trains of action potentials in sensory afferent fibers induce depression of synaptic responses in PnC giant neurons, a phenomenon that has been proposed to be the cellular correlate for short-term habituation. We address here the question whether both this synaptic depression and the short-term habituation of the startle response are localized at the presynaptic terminals of sensory afferents. If this is confirmed, it would imply that these processes take place prior to multimodal signal integration, rather than occurring at postsynaptic sites on PnC giant neurons that directly drive motor neurons.     

The application of a capacitive probe technique for direct observation of electromechanical processes in the guinea pig cochlea

The demonstration of evoked mechanical responses of the outer hair cells in the mammalian cochlea by indirect measurements introduces a new range of problems into direct mechanical measurements. Direct and indirect measurements indicate that the frequency spectra of evoked electromechanical responses may extend well into the range of audio frequencies, revealing a need to develop terminology and protocols for distinguishing evoked mechanical responses from the traditional traveling wave when both are apparently superimposed on the motion of the basilar membrane in the normally functioning cochlea. Details are presented of a frequency-modulation capacitive probe technique for measurement of vibrating structures of the guinea pig ear. Considerations include the design of the transducer, calibration, sensitivity, linearity, and sources of noise, as well as the influence of the technique upon the animal preparation, and in particular the issues associated with draining scala tympani for the measurement. Relative advantages and disadvantages of the technique are compared with salient features of other techniques currently available. In view of the apparent complexity of cochlear mechanics some preliminary experiments are required to elucidate some of the key questions about reverse-transduction processes in general. A "simple" first experiment is to test existence of any rectifying or motile response.     

Spectral integral representations of monostatic backscattering from three-dimensional distributions of sediment volume inhomogeneities

A theory is developed for generating short time, monostatic reverberation realizations caused by three-dimensionally distributed volume inhomogeneities in stratified media. A wave number integral approach to treating the propagation to and from the scatterers, combined with a two-dimensional spectral representation of the azimuthally averaged scatterer realizations and a novel numerical implementation, combine to yield an efficient, high fidelity reverberation simulator for predicting monostatic backscatter from horizontally stratified sediments.