Contrast enhancement improves the representation of /epsilon/-like vowels in the hearing-impaired auditory nerve

This study examines the neural representation of the vowel /epsilon/ in the auditory nerve of acoustically traumatized cats and asks whether spectral modifications of the vowel can restore a normal neural representation. Four variants of /epsilon/, which differed primarily in the frequency of the second formant (F2), were used as stimuli. Normally, the rate-place code provides a robust representation of F2 for these vowels, in the sense that rate changes encode changes in F2 frequency [Conley and Keilson, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 3223 (1995)]. This representation is lost after acoustic trauma [Miller et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 105, 311 (1999)]. Here it is shown that an improved representation of the F2 frequency can be gained by a form of high-frequency emphasis that is determined by both the hearing-loss profile and the spectral envelope of the vowel. Essentially, the vowel was high-pass filtered so that the F2 and F3 peaks were amplified without amplifying frequencies in the trough between F1 and F2. This modification improved the quality of the rate and temporal tonotopic representations of the vowel and restored sensitivity to the F2 frequency. Although a completely normal representation was not restored, this method shows promise as an approach to hearing-aid signal processing.     

Modeling microflow and stirring around a microrotor in creeping flow using a quasi-steady-state analysis

The microflow and stirring around paramagnetic particle microchains, referred to as microrotors, are modeled as a circular cylinder rotating about its radial axis at very low Reynolds number. Time scales for momentum transfer under these conditions are determined to be much smaller than those for boundary movement, hence a quasi-steady approximation can be used. The flow is derived at every instant from the case of a steady motion of a horizontally translating cylinder, with the rotation approximated to a series of differential incremental translations. A numerical simulation is used to determine the pathlines and material lines of virtual point fluid elements, which were analyzed to understand the behavior of the flow around the microrotor. The results indicate the flow to be unsteady, with chaotic advection observed in the system. The fluid motion is primarily two-dimensional, parallel to the rotational plane, with mixing limited to the immediate area around the rotating cylinder. Fluid layers, up to many cylinder diameters, in the axial direction experience the disturbance. Elliptic and star shaped pathlines, including periodic orbits, are observed depending on the fluid element's initial location. The trajectories and phase angles compare well with the experimental results, as well as with data from particle dynamics simulations. Material lines and streaklines display stretching and folding, which are indicative of the chaotic behavior and stirring characteristics of the system. The material lines have similar lengths for the same amount of rotation at different speeds, and the effect of rotational speeds appears to be primarily to change the time of mixing. The results are expected to help in the design of a particle microrotor based sensing technique.     

氢原子在过渡金属修饰的Mg(0001)面扩散的第一性原理研究

基于密度泛函理论(DFY)的第一性原理计算方法,对氢原子在过渡金属(Sc、Ti、Cr、Mn、Fe、Co、Ni、Cu、V、Zn)修饰的Mg(0001)表面扩散性能进行了研究.研究发现过渡金属元素Sc、Ti、V、Cr、Mn、Fe、Co、Ni和Cu选择替代在镁表面第二层稳定,而Zn则选择替代在第一层稳定.当镁表面掺杂Zn和Cu时,氢原子选择停留在表面稳定;当掺杂Sc、Ti、V、Cr、Mn、Fe、Co和Ni时,氢原子选择进入镁块体内部.值得一提的是氢原子通过从过渡金属顶部通道扩散进入镁块体内部的势垒大大降低,笔者用差分电荷密度分析后发现氢原子与过渡金属原子成键使扩散势垒降低.当氢原子进入镁块体内部后靠近Sc、Ti、V、Cu和Zn原子时,将与这些过渡金属原子成键,从而阻碍了氢原子继续向内部扩散;而氢原子靠近Cr、Mn、Fe、Co、Ni原子时,选择离开过渡金属从而促进了氢原子向块体内扩散,可以大幅改善镁基储氢材料的吸氢动力性能.     

A method for comparing group fMRI data using independent component analysis: application to visual, motor and visuomotor tasks

Independent component analysis (ICA) is an approach for decomposing fMRI data into spatially independent maps and time courses. We have recently proposed a method for ICA of multisubject data; in the current paper, an extension is proposed for allowing ICA group comparisons. This method is applied to data from experiments designed to stimulate visual cortex, motor cortex or both visual and motor cortices. Several intergroup and intragroup metrics are proposed for assessing the utility of the components for comparisons of group ICA data. The proposed method may prove to be useful in answering questions requiring multigroup comparisons when a flexible modeling approach is desired.     

Vertically coupled GaInAsP--InP microring resonators

Vertically coupled microring resonator channel-dropping filters are demonstrated in the GaInAsP-InP material system. These devices were fabricated without regrowth. In this method, low-loss single-mode waveguides are removed from the growth substrate and bonded to a GaAs transfer substrate with benzocyclobutene. This permits fabrication of vertically coupled waveguides on both sides of the epilayer. Optical quality facets are obtained by cleaving through the transfer substrate. Operation of single-mode, single-ring optical channel-dropping filters is demonstrated.     

Prenatal stress and subsequent exposure to chronic mild stress influence dendritic spine density and morphology in the rat medial prefrontal cortex

Background  

Both prenatal stress (PS) and postnatal chronic mild stress (CMS) are associated with behavioral and mood disturbances in humans and rodents. The aim of this study was to reveal putative PS- and/or CMS-related changes in basal spine morphology and density of pyramidal neurons in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).     

The solubility of ethane in aqueous solutions of sodium 1-pentanesulfonate, sodium 1-hexanesulfonate, sodium 1-heptanesulfonate, and sodium 1-octanesulfonate at 25 degrees C

Measurements have been made to determine the solubility of ethane, C2H6, in aqueous solutions of four different surfactants of the linear alkanesulfonate class at 25 degrees C. The surfactants, sodium 1-pentanesulfonate, sodium 1-hexanesulfonate, sodium 1-heptanesulfonate, and sodium 1-octanesulfonate, all share a common head group (-SO-3) and counter ion (Na+), and differ only in the length of the alkyl chain attached to the head group. The solubility of ethane has been determined as a function of surfactant concentration for each surfactant. At surfactant concentrations below the critical micelle concentration (CMC), the solubility of ethane is quite low and differs only slightly from the solubility of ethane in pure water. At concentrations greater than the CMC, the solubility of ethane exhibits a gradual increase with surfactant concentration. At high surfactant concentrations, well in excess of the CMC, the solubility of ethane is found to increase as a linear function of surfactant concentration. From this data it becomes possible to determine the fractional population of the surfactant in the free and micellized states. The solubility data measured for ethane is interpreted in terms of the mass-action model for micelle formation.     

青海省唐古特铁线莲质量控制标准的研究

目的对青海省唐古特铁线莲质量控制标准进行研究。方法采用薄层色谱法对唐古特铁线莲进行定性鉴定,展开剂为氯仿与丙酮（95：5）,显色剂为10％硫酸甲醇;采用HPLC（Lc-2010HT）法测定唐古特铁线莲中齐墩果酸的含量,色谱柱为PhenomenexLunaCt8（250mm×4．6mm,5Ixm）,流动相为y（乙腈）＋V（0．2％磷酸水溶液）=35＋65,流量为1mL／min,柱温为室温（25℃）,检测波长为205nm。结果薄层色谱鉴定中,供试品色谱与对照品色谱相应的位置上,显示出相同颜色的荧光斑点;齐墩果酸在0．0233—0,7000mg／mL范围内呈良好的线性关系,线性回归方程为Y=2×10-6＋360803,r。=0．9917,RSD为1．61％,并对青海省野生和栽培唐古特铁线莲中齐墩果酸进行了定量分析,结果显示前者平均值为0．1184％、RSD为2．5113％,后者平均值为0．0651％、RSD为2．92％。结论该法操作简单、快速、准确、灵敏、重现性好,可有效控制青海省唐古特铁线莲的质量。     

Pt^＋（^2D）催化H2O和CH4制取水煤气循环反应的理论探究

采用密度泛函理论（DFT）B3LYP方法和非迭代三激发电子相关耦合簇CCSD（T）方法研究了二重态和四重态势能面上由Pt＋（2D,4F）催化H2O和CH4产生水煤气的循环反应.采用分子轨道（MO）理论和自然键轨道（NBO）理论对最低能量路径的反应势能面作了详细的分析说明.应用Kozuch撰写的能量跨度模型（energetic span model）确定了决定循环反应速率的决速过渡态（TDTS）和决速中间体（TDI）,最后计算了催化剂的转化频率（TOF）以评价催化剂的性能.