Effects of fractal gating of potassium channels on neuronal behaviours

The classical model of voltage-gated ion channels assumes that according to a Markov process ion channels switch among a small number of states without memory, but a bunch of experimental papers show that some ion channels exhibit significant memory effects, and this memory effects can take the form of kinetic rate constant that is fractal. Obviously the gating character of ion channels will affect generation and propagation of action potentials, furthermore, affect generation, coding and propagation of neural information. However, there is little previous research on this series of interesting issues. This paper investigates effects of fractal gating of potassium channel subunits switching from closed state to open state on neuronal behaviours. The obtained results show that fractal gating of potassium channel subunits switching from closed state to open state has important effects on neuronal behaviours, increases excitability, rest potential and spiking frequency of the neuronal membrane, and decreases threshold voltage and threshold injected current of the neuronal membrane. So fractal gating of potassium channel subunits switching from closed state to open state can improve the sensitivity of the neuronal membrane, and enlarge the encoded strength of neural information.     

Structure, room-temperature magnetic and optical properties of Mn-doped TiO2 nano powders prepared by the sol-gel process

TiO 2 nano powders with Mn concentration of 0 at%-12 at% were synthesized by the sol-gel process,and were annealed at 500 C and 800 C in air for 2 hrs.X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements indicate that the Mn-TiO 2 nano powders with Mn concentration of 1 at% and 2 at% annealed at 500 and 800 C are of pure anatase and rutile,respectively.The scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations reveal that the crystal grain size increases with the annealing temperature,and the high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) investigations further indicate that the samples are well crystallized,confirming that Mn has doped into the TiO 2 crystal lattice effectively.The room temperature ferromagnetism,which could be explained within the scope of the bound magnetic polaron (BMP) theory,is detected in the Mn-TiO 2 samples with Mn concentration of 2 at%,and the magnetization of the powders annealed at 500 C is stronger than that of the sample treated at 800 C.The UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectra results demonstrate that the absorption of the TiO 2 powders could be enlarged by the enhanced trapped electron absorption caused by Mn doping.     

First measurement of the 2H(6He,7Li)n angular distribution and proton spectroscopic factor in 7Li

The angular distribution of the ²H ( ⁶He,⁷Li n reaction was measured with a secondary ⁶He beam of 36.4MeV for the first time. The proton spectroscopic factor of ⁷Li ground state was extracted to be 0.42±0.06 by normalizing the calculational differential cross-sections with the distorted-wave Born approximation to the experimental data. It was discussed that the uncertainty of extracted spectroscopic factors from the one-nucleon transfer reactions induced by deuteron might be reduced by determining the volume integrals of imaginary optical potentials precisely.     

基于纠缠的选择自动重传量子同步通信协议

分析经典选择重传自动请求重传（automatic repeat-request,ARQ）协议之后,利用量子力学中纠缠态的非定域关联性,提出了数据链路层的选择重传ARQ量子同步通信协议.该协议把链路分为准备阶段和发送阶段.在线路准备阶段完成EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen)关联对的分发,建立量子信道;在发送阶段完成数据帧和量子确认帧的传送.从吞吐量和信道利用率等方面比较分析了几种常见的数据链路层通信协议的性能.研究表明,该协议可以有效地提高数据链路层的最大吞吐量和信道利用率,改善选择重传ARQ协议的性能,在受时间瓶颈限制的通信中有着重要的应用价值.     

Temporal properties in clear speech perception

Three experiments were conducted to study relative contributions of speaking rate, temporal envelope, and temporal fine structure to clear speech perception. Experiment I used uniform time scaling to match the speaking rate between clear and conversational speech. Experiment II decreased the speaking rate in conversational speech without processing artifacts by increasing silent gaps between phonetic segments. Experiment III created "auditory chimeras" by mixing the temporal envelope of clear speech with the fine structure of conversational speech, and vice versa. Speech intelligibility in normal-hearing listeners was measured over a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios to derive speech reception thresholds (SRT). The results showed that processing artifacts in uniform time scaling, particularly time compression, reduced speech intelligibility. Inserting gaps in conversational speech improved the SRT by 1.3 dB, but this improvement might be a result of increased short-term signal-to-noise ratios during level normalization. Data from auditory chimeras indicated that the temporal envelope cue contributed more to the clear speech advantage at high signal-to-noise ratios, whereas the temporal fine structure cue contributed more at low signal-to-noise ratios. Taken together, these results suggest that acoustic cues for the clear speech advantage are multiple and distributed.     

Two new bioactive sesquiterpenes from the soft coral Sinularia sp

Two new sesquiterpenes, 1S*, 4R*, 5S*, 6R*, 7S*, 10S*-1(5), 6(7)-diepoxy-4-guaiol (1) and 1S*, 4S*, 5S*, 10R*-4,10-guaianediol (2) have been isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble portion of the soft coral Sinularia sp., and their stereostructure were determined by spectroscopic methods and by X-ray single crystal analysis. Both compounds showed antioxidant and cytotoxic activities.     

Acidity of mesoporous MoO(x)/ZrO2 and WO(x)/ZrO2 materials: a combined solid-state NMR and theoretical calculation study

The acidity of mesoporous MoO(x)/ZrO2 and WO(x)/ZrO2 materials was studied in detail by multinuclear solid-state NMR techniques as well as DFT quantum chemical calculations. The 1H MAS NMR experiments clearly revealed the presence of two different types of strong Br?nsted acid sites on both MoO(x)/ZrO2 and WO(x)/ZrO2 mesoporous materials, which were able to prontonate adsorbed pyrine-d5 (resulting in 1H NMR signals at chemical shifts in the range 16-19 ppm) as well as adsorbed trimethylphosphine (giving rise to 31P NMR signal at ca. 0 ppm). The 13C NMR of adsorbed 2-(13)C-acetone indicated that the average Br?nsted acid strength of the two mesoporous materials was stronger than that of zeolite HZSM-5 but still weaker than that of 100% H2SO4, which was in good agreement with theoretical predictions. The quantum chemical calculations revealed the detailed structures of the two distinct types of Br?nsted acid sites formed on the mesoporous MoO(x)/ZrO2 and WO(x)/ZrO2. The existence of both monomer and oligomer Mo (or W) species containing a Mo-OH-Zr (or W-OH-Zr) bridging OH group was confirmed with the former having an acid strength close to zeolite HZSM-5, with the latter having an acid strength similar to sulfated zirconia. On the basis of our NMR experimental and theoretical calculation results, a possible mechanism was proposed for the formation of acid sites on these mesoporous materials.     

Oscillatory behavior of rare-gas atoms in SWCNT

In this paper, we have investigated both the process of rare-gas atoms (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) injected into single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) and the mechanical oscillatory behavior of rare-gas atoms sliding in a SWCNT by using molecular dynamics simulations. The minimal diameters of SWCNT to encapsulate rare-gas atoms are obtained, which are from 6.246 to 7.828 A. The threshold energies to encapsulate rare-gas atoms in SWCNT are also presented, which are less than 0.15 eV/atom. The oscillatory frequencies of the encapsulated atoms in zigzag SWCNT have been studied. The oscillatory frequencies are insensitive to the initial kinetic energy, but they are sensitive to the lengths and the radius of the tube, and they decrease as the length and the radius of the tube increases.     

Multitude of core-localized shear Alfvén waves in a high-temperature fusion plasma

Evidence is presented for a multitude of discrete frequency Alfvén waves in the core of magnetically confined high-temperature fusion plasmas. Multiple diagnostic instruments confirm wave excitation over a wide spatial range from the device size at the longest wavelengths down to the thermal ion Larmor radius. At the shortest scales, the poloidal wavelengths are comparable to the scale length of electrostatic drift wave turbulence. Theoretical analysis confirms a dominant interaction of the modes with particles in the thermal ion distribution traveling well below the Alfvén velocity.