In vivo characterization of hippocampal electrophysiological processes in the heterozygous Pten knockout model of autism

While cognitive deficits have been described in the heterozygous Pten (+/-) KO mouse model of autism, little work has been done to demonstrate how corresponding in vitro physiological alterations in this model may underpin these cognitive deficits in vivo. As Pten KO (+/-) is known to alter electrophysiological characteristics of neurons in vitro, this study measures the in vivo electrophysiological characteristics of CA1 interneurons, pyramidal cells, and place cells which may underlie the spatial cognitive deficits seen in the model. Four transgenic conditional heterozygous Pten+/loxPloxP;Gfap-cre mice (HetPten) and four homozygous Pten littermate control mice were used in this study. This transgene drives cre expression and excision of the Pten gene in hippocampal granule cells of the dentate gyrus, and neurons in CA2 and CA1, but not astrocytes. In vivo local field potentials and single cell recordings were made in CA1 of each mouse during an open field foraging task in two distinct arenas. HetPten mice were found to have increased interneuron and pyramidal cell firing rates. In addition, place cells demonstrated abnormal properties including increased out-of-field firing rates, an increased number of fields, and trends towards larger field sizes that were less stable in comparison to controls. HetPten mice had slower CA1 fast gamma oscillations and more variable speed/theta oscillation correlations. Behaviorally, there were weak trends towards decreased motor output compared to controls. These data suggest that the electrophysiological alterations due to Pten KO (+/-) in mouse hippocampal neurons lead to hyperactivation of CA1 interneurons, pyramidal cells, and place cells

36.我々の軟部悪性腫瘍の治療法(第654回千葉医学会整形外科例会)

Recording synchronous data from EEG and eye-tracking provides a unique methodological approach for measuring the sensory and cognitive processes of overt visual search. Using this approach we obtained fixation related potentials (FRPs) during a guided visual search task specifically focusing on the lambda and P3 components. An outstanding question is whether the lambda and P3 FRP components are influenced by concurrent task demands. We addressed this question by obtaining simultaneous eye-movement and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures during a guided visual search task while parametrically modulating working memory load using an auditory N-back task. Participants performed the guided search task alone, while ignoring binaurally presented digits, or while using the auditory information in a 0, 1, or 2-back task. The results showed increased reaction time and decreased accuracy in both the visual search and N-back tasks as a function of auditory load. Moreover, high auditory task demands increased the P3 but not the lambda latency while the amplitude of both lambda and P3 was reduced during high auditory task demands. The results show that both early and late stages of visual processing indexed by FRPs are significantly affected by concurrent task demands imposed by auditory working memory

Reduced waiting times using a fast switching dual-polarization DDQPSK receiver in a packet switched network

In this paper, we demonstrate a fast switching dual polarization DDQPSK packet switched receiver with very short waiting times. The system employs mth power DDQPSK decoding for high frequency offset tolerance, and Stokes parameter estimation for robust polarization demultiplexing

Reduced OSNR penalty for frequency drift tolerant coherent packet switched systems using doubly differential decoding

In this paper we will demonstrate the improved BER performance of doubly differential phase shift keying in a coherent optical packet switching scenario while still retaining the benefits of high frequency offset tolerance

Expression proteomics identifies biochemical adaptations and defense responses in transgenic plants with perturbed polyamine metabolism

AbstractSoluble proteins from leaves of transgenic tobacco plants with perturbed polyamine metabolism, caused by S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase overexpression, were analysed by comparative proteomics. A group of proteins was found to be increasingly repressed, in parallel with the degree of polyamine perturbation, in each of the three independent transgenic lines. These were identified as isoforms of chloroplast ribonucleoproteins, known to be involved in chloroplast mRNA stability, processing and translation. Another group of eight proteins strongly induced in the most metabolically perturbed line was identified as multiple, uncharacterised isoforms of the defense protein PR-1, a known marker for systemic acquired resistance

Employing DDBPSK in optical burst switched systems to enhance throughput

We demonstrate that doubly differential decoding can demodulate phase shift keyed data much faster after the switching event of a tunable laser than usual mth power single differential decoding. This technique can significantly improve throughput of optical burst switched networks

The automatic recognition and counting of cough

BACKGROUND: Cough recordings have been undertaken for many years but the analysis of cough frequency and the temporal relation to trigger factors have proven problematic. Because cough is episodic, data collection over many hours is required, along with real-time aural analysis which is equally time-consuming. A method has been developed for the automatic recognition and counting of coughs in sound recordings. METHODS: The Hull Automatic Cough Counter (HACC) is a program developed for the analysis of digital audio recordings. HACC uses digital signal processing (DSP) to calculate characteristic spectral coefficients of sound events, which are then classified into cough and non-cough events by the use of a probabilistic neural network (PNN). Parameters such as the total number of coughs and cough frequency as a function of time can be calculated from the results of the audio processing. Thirty three smoking subjects, 20 male and 13 female aged between 20 and 54 with a chronic troublesome cough were studied in the hour after rising using audio recordings. RESULTS: Using the graphical user interface (GUI), counting the number of coughs identified by HACC in an hour long recording, took an average of 1 minute 35 seconds, a 97.5% reduction in counting time. HACC achieved a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 96%. Reproducibility of repeated HACC analysis is 100%. CONCLUSION: An automated system for the analysis of sound files containing coughs and other non-cough events has been developed, with a high robustness and good degree of accuracy towards the number of actual coughs in the audio recording

Quantification of training and match-load distribution across a season in elite English Premier League soccer players

Objective: To examine training and match loads undertaken by soccer players competing in the English Premier League. Methods: Using a retrospective design, external (GPS) and internal training loads (sessions ratings of perceived exertion [sRPE-TL]) were examined in 26 players across the competition phase of the 2012–2013 English Premier League season. Within-subject linear mixed-models estimated the mean effects (95% confidence interval [CI]) for load data across 6-week mesocycles and 1-week microcycles. Results: Daily sRPE-TL (95% CI range, 15 to 111 AU) and total distance (95% CI range, 179 to 949 AU) were higher during the early stages (mesocycle 1 and 2) of the competition period. Overall, high-speed activity was similar between mesocycles. Across the training week, load was greater on match day and lower pre match-day (G-1) vs. all other days, respectively (p &lt; 0.001). sRPE-TL (~70–90 AU per day) and total distance (~700–800 m per day) progressively declined over the 3 days before a match (p &lt; 0.001). High-speed distance was greater 3 days (G-3) before a game vs. G-1 (95% CI, 140 to 336 m) while very high-speed distance was greater on G-3 and G-2 than G-1 (95% CI range, 8 to 62 m; p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: Periodisation of in-season training load is mainly evident across the weekly microcycle reflecting the recovery and preparation for matches.</p

Demonstrating doubly-differential quadrature phase shift keying in the optical domain

We report for the first time the experimental demonstration of doubly differential quadrature phase shift keying (DDQPSK) using optical coherent detection. This method is more robust against high frequency offsets (FO) than conventional single differential quadrature phase shift keying (SDQPSK) with offset compensation. DDQPSK is shown to be able to compensate large FOs (up to the baud rate) and has lower computational requirements than other FO compensation methods. DDQPSK is a simple algorithm to implement in a real-time decoder for optical burst switched network scenarios. Simulation results are also provided, which show good agreement with the experimental results for both SDQPSK and DDQPSK transmissions