Calcium signals can freely cross the nuclear envelope in hippocampal neurons: somatic calcium increases generate nuclear calcium transients

Background  

In hippocampal neurons, nuclear calcium signaling is important for learning- and neuronal survival-associated gene expression. However, it is unknown whether calcium signals generated by neuronal activity at the cell membrane and propagated to the soma can unrestrictedly cross the nuclear envelope to invade the nucleus. The nuclear envelope, which allows ion transit via the nuclear pore complex, may represent a barrier for calcium and has been suggested to insulate the nucleus from activity-induced cytoplasmic calcium transients in some cell types.     

The contribution of high frequencies to human brain activity underlying horizontal localization of natural spatial sounds

Background  

In the field of auditory neuroscience, much research has focused on the neural processes underlying human sound localization. A recent magnetoencephalography (MEG) study investigated localization-related brain activity by measuring the N1m event-related response originating in the auditory cortex. It was found that the dynamic range of the right-hemispheric N1m response, defined as the mean difference in response magnitude between contralateral and ipsilateral stimulation, reflects cortical activity related to the discrimination of horizontal sound direction. Interestingly, the results also suggested that the presence of realistic spectral information within horizontally located spatial sounds resulted in a larger right-hemispheric N1m dynamic range. Spectral cues being predominant at high frequencies, the present study further investigated the issue by removing frequencies from the spatial stimuli with low-pass filtering. This resulted in a stepwise elimination of direction-specific spectral information. Interaural time and level differences were kept constant. The original, unfiltered stimuli were broadband noise signals presented from five frontal horizontal directions and binaurally recorded for eight human subjects with miniature microphones placed in each subject's ear canals. Stimuli were presented to the subjects during MEG registration and in a behavioral listening experiment.     

Generation of vortices by a streamwise oscillating cylinder

The wake of a streamwise oscillating cylinder is presently investigated. The Reynolds number investigated is 300, based on the cylinder diameterd. The cylinder oscillates at an amplitude of 0.5d and a frequencyf _e/f_s=1.8, wheref _e is the cylinder oscillating frequency andf _s is the natural vortex shedding frequency of a stationary cylinder. Under these conditions the flow is essentially two dimensional. A two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) scheme has been developed to calculate the flow. The DNS results display a street of binary vortices, each containing two counter-rotating vortical structures, symmetrical about the centerline, which is in excellent agreement with measurements. The drag and lift on the cylinder have been examined. The time averaged drag and lift are 1.4 and 0, respectively, which are the same as those on a stationary cylinder at the sameRe. However, the fluctuating drag was high, about 2.68. It has been found that, being symmetrically formed about the centerline, the binary vortices induce an essentially zero fluctuating lift, which may have a profound implication in flow control and engineering.     

New insight into the role of the β3 subunit of the GABA<Subscript>A</Subscript>-R in development,behavior, body weight regulation,and anesthesia revealed by conditional gene knockout

Background  

The β3 subunit of the γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABA_A-R) has been reported to be important for palate formation, anesthetic action, and normal nervous system function. This subunit has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of Angelman syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. To further investigate involvement of this subunit, we previously produced mice with a global knockout of β3. However, developmental abnormalities, compensation, reduced viability, and numerous behavioral abnormalities limited the usefulness of that murine model. To overcome many of these limitations, a mouse line with a conditionally inactivated β3 gene was engineered.     

有界波电磁脉冲模拟器下短线缆效应的理论和实验研究

 研究了有界波电磁脉冲模拟器下短线缆效应的理论建模和实验方法。基于传输线模型计算了线缆在有界波电磁脉冲模拟器辐照下的电流响应。建立了有界波电磁脉冲模拟试验环境,其前沿时间小于5 ns,脉冲半高宽约200 ns。开展了短线缆的效应实验验证研究,短线缆负载端响应电流的测量和计算结果吻合得很好,表明应用改型有界波电磁脉冲模拟器开展短线缆效应实验在理论和实验上都是可行的。这种线缆实验方法具有效应实验空间电磁场分布规范均匀、参数指标可控、监测技术成熟等优点。     

模拟激光制导的实验设计

通过固定激光器，改变光学系统的状态，实现了模拟激光制导的目的。     

Aubry-Mather Theory and Hamilton-Jacobi Equations

 We review and extend some results of Jauslin, Kreiss, Moser and Weinan E on the smooth approximation of Mather sets. Received: 20 November 2000 / Accepted: 4 November 2002 Published online: 24 January 2003 Communicated by G. Gallavotti     

Fragmentation functions of mesons in the Field-Feynman model

The fragmentation functions of the pion with distinction between , , and are studied in the Field-Feynman recursive model, by taking into account the flavor structure in the excitation of quark-antiquark pairs by the initial quarks. The obtained analytical results are compatible with the available empirical results. The framework is also extended to predict the fragmentation functions of the kaon with distinction between , , , and . This work gives a significant modification of the original model, and the predictions can be tested by future experiments on the fragmentation functions of the kaon.Received: 30 January 2003, Revised: 12 June 2003, Published online: 15 August 2003Bo-Qiang Ma: Corresponding author     

改进的同步迭代算法在光声血管成像中的应用

光声成像结合了光学成像和声学成像的优点，是一种高分辨率，高对比度的无损伤医学成像技术.一种改进的同步迭代算法应用于光声图像重建.仿真和模拟结果表明，与传统的代数迭代算法相比，在90°，135°，180°的有限场光声成像中，此算法对测量误差的校正和迭代次数的收敛上具有较大的优势，图像重建的速度和成像质量都有了明显的提高.实验中，一种圆形扫描结构的光声成像装置，用于180°的有限场扫描，利用改进的同步迭代算法，重建出了高对比度和高分辨率（60μm）的鸡胚胎光声血管图像.实验证明，这种算法的应用，大幅度减少了数据采集时间，为光声成像技术运用于实时监测血流灌注和肿瘤光动力治疗的血管损伤效应提供了潜在的应用价值. 关键词： 光声成像 有限角度 代数迭代算法 光声血管成像     

高压下ZnS的电子结构和性质

运用密度泛函理论体系下的平面波赝势(PWP)和广义梯度近似(GGA)方法，计算研究了闪锌矿结构的ZnS晶体在不同的外界压强下的电子结构. 通过分析发现，随着外界压强的增大，晶格常数和键长在不断缩小，从S原子向Zn原子转移的电荷越来越少，Zn—S键的共价性逐渐增强，Zn原子和S原子的态密度都有不同程度的变化，而且还有向低能量移动的趋势. 当外界压强达到24GPA时，ZnS从直接带隙半导体变成间接带隙半导体，而且随着压强的增大，间接带隙逐渐变小，直接带隙逐渐增大. 关键词： 闪锌矿结构 态密度 能带结构 密度泛函理论