9,447 research outputs found
Involvement of both sodium influx and potassium efflux in ciguatoxin-induced nodal swelling of frog myelinated axons
Ciguatoxins, mainly produced by benthic dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus species, are responsible for a complex human poisoning known as ciguatera. Previous pharmacological studies revealed that these toxins activate voltage-gated Na+ channels. In frog nodes of Ranvier, ciguatoxins induce spontaneous and repetitive action potentials (APs) and increase axonal volume that may explain alterations of nerve functioning in intoxicated humans. The present study aimed determining the ionic mechanisms involved in Pacific ciguatoxin-1B (P-CTX-1B)-induced membrane hyperexcitability and subsequent volume increase in frog nodes of Ranvier, using electrophysiology and confocal microscopy. The results reveal that P-CTX-1B action is not dependent on external Cl- ions since it was not affected by substituting Cl- by methylsulfate ions. In contrast, substitution of external Na+ by Li+ ions suppressed spontaneous APs and prevented nodal swelling. This suggests that P-CTX-1B-modified Na+ channels are not selective to Li+ ions and/or are blocked by these ions, and that Na+ influx through Na+ channels opened during spontaneous APs is required for axonal swelling. The fact that the K+ channel blocker tetraethylammonium modified, but did not suppress, spontaneous APs and greatly reduced nodal swelling induced by P-CTX-1B indicates that K+ efflux might also be involved. This is supported by the fact that P-CTX-1B, when tested in the presence of both tetraethylammonium and the K+ ionophore valinomycin, produced the characteristic nodal swelling. It is concluded that, during the action of P-CTX-1B, water movements responsible for axonal swelling depend on both Na+ influx and K+ efflux. These results pave the way for further studies regarding ciguatera treatment
Dual action of a dinoflagellate-derived precursor of Pacific ciguatoxins (P-CTX-4B) on voltage-dependent K(+) and Na(+) channels of single myelinated axons
The effects of Pacific ciguatoxin-4B (P-CTX-4B, also named gambiertoxin), extracted from toxic Gambierdiscus dinoflagellates, were assessed on nodal K(+) and Na(+) currents of frog myelinated axons, using a conventional voltage-clamp technique. P-CTX-4B decreased, within a few minutes, both K(+) and Na(+) currents in a dose-dependent manner, without inducing any marked change in current kinetics. The toxin was more effective in blocking K(+) than Na(+) channels. P-CTX-4B shifted the voltage-dependence of Na(+) conductance by about 14 mV towards more negative membrane potentials. This effect was reversed by increasing Ca(2+) in the external solution. A negative shift of about 16 mV in the steady-state Na(+) inactivation-voltage curve was also observed in the presence of the toxin. Unmodified and P-CTX-4B-modified Na(+) currents were similarly affected by the local anaesthetic lidocaine. The decrease of the two currents by lidocaine was dependent on both the concentration and the membrane potential during pre-pulses. In conclusion, P-CTX-4B appears about four times more effective than P-CTX-1B to affect K(+) channels, whereas it is about 50 times less efficient to affect Na(+) channels of axonal membranes. These actions may be related to subtle differences between the two chemical structures of molecules
Effect of the porous texture of activated carbons on the electrochemical properties of molecule-grafted carbon products in organic media
Two commercial activated carbons, different from their texture, were grafted with electroactive molecules and tested for determining what texture is well-suited for the grafting. Microporous and mesoporous carbons, having approximately the same BET surface area, were selected. The electroactive molecule consists in a naphthalimide compound having an amine as surface attachment group. The present work was divided in two parts. In a first part, the modified carbons were characterized by thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, elemental chemical analysis and nitrogen gas adsorption measurements have been used for studying the impact of the grafting on the textural properties of carbons. In a second part, the electrochemical properties of the modified carbons were studied in propylene carbonate +1 M Bu4NBF4. Results show that the grafting ruins the performances of the microporous carbon, while the mesoporous carbon appears well-suited for the grafting, showing a good compromise between electrolyte-accessibility and ionic transportation
The dynamic response process to conflicting institutional demands in MNC subsidiaries - An inductive study in the Sub-Saharan African e-commerce sector
In this paper, we examine responses to the conflicting institutional demands faced by an e-commerce subsidiary located in Sub-Saharan Africa and headquartered in Europe. Following an inductive approach, we gathered data from a 6-month participant-observation study and interviews with local managers. Our findings show that the subsidiary managers responded to conflicting institutional demands in a dynamic way, taking one response after the other. In some cases, the subsidiary managers responded in a way that they thought would be satisfactory but subsequent pressures from their headquarters or their local environment pushed them to adopt a new response. In other cases, the subsidiary managers intentionally adopted responses knowing that they would (have to) adopt another response later in the process
Characterisation of AMS H35 HV-CMOS monolithic active pixel sensor prototypes for HEP applications
Monolithic active pixel sensors produced in High Voltage CMOS (HV-CMOS)
technology are being considered for High Energy Physics applications due to the
ease of production and the reduced costs. Such technology is especially
appealing when large areas to be covered and material budget are concerned.
This is the case of the outermost pixel layers of the future ATLAS tracking
detector for the HL-LHC. For experiments at hadron colliders, radiation
hardness is a key requirement which is not fulfilled by standard CMOS sensor
designs that collect charge by diffusion. This issue has been addressed by
depleted active pixel sensors in which electronics are embedded into a large
deep implantation ensuring uniform charge collection by drift. Very first small
prototypes of hybrid depleted active pixel sensors have already shown a
radiation hardness compatible with the ATLAS requirements. Nevertheless, to
compete with the present hybrid solutions a further reduction in costs
achievable by a fully monolithic design is desirable. The H35DEMO is a large
electrode full reticle demonstrator chip produced in AMS 350 nm HV-CMOS
technology by the collaboration of Karlsruher Institut f\"ur Technologie (KIT),
Institut de F\'isica d'Altes Energies (IFAE), University of Liverpool and
University of Geneva. It includes two large monolithic pixel matrices which can
be operated standalone. One of these two matrices has been characterised at
beam test before and after irradiation with protons and neutrons. Results
demonstrated the feasibility of producing radiation hard large area fully
monolithic pixel sensors in HV-CMOS technology. H35DEMO chips with a substrate
resistivity of 200 cm irradiated with neutrons showed a radiation
hardness up to a fluence of ncm with a hit efficiency of
about 99% and a noise occupancy lower than hits in a LHC bunch
crossing of 25ns at 150V
Raman scattering from fractals. Simulation on large structures by the method of moments
We have employed the method of spectral moments to study the density of
vibrational states and the Raman coupling coefficient of large 2- and 3-
dimensional percolators at threshold and at higher concentration. We first
discuss the over-and under-flow problems of the procedure which arise when
-like in the present case- it is necessary to calculate a few thousand moments.
Then we report on the numerical results; these show that different scattering
mechanisms, all {\it a priori} equally probable in real systems, produce
largely different coupling coefficients with different frequency dependence.
Our results are compared with existing scaling theories of Raman scattering.
The situation that emerges is complex; on the one hand, there is indication
that the existing theory is not satisfactory; on the other hand, the
simulations above threshold show that in this case the coupling coefficients
have very little resemblance, if any, with the same quantities at threshold.Comment: 26 pages, RevTex, 8 figures available on reques
Decomposition of fractional quantum Hall states: New symmetries and approximations
We provide a detailed description of a new symmetry structure of the monomial
(Slater) expansion coefficients of bosonic (fermionic) fractional quantum Hall
states first obtained in Ref. 1, which we now extend to spin-singlet states. We
show that the Haldane-Rezayi spin-singlet state can be obtained without exact
diagonalization through a differential equation method that we conjecture to be
generic to other FQH model states. The symmetry rules in Ref. 1 as well as the
ones we obtain for the spin singlet states allow us to build approximations of
FQH states that exhibit increasing overlap with the exact state (as a function
of system size). We show that these overlaps reach unity in the thermodynamic
limit even though our approximation omits more than half of the Hilbert space.
We show that the product rule is valid for any FQH state which can be written
as an expectation value of parafermionic operators.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure
Correlation of interface states/border traps and threshold voltage shift on AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors
Life Beneath Glacial Ice - Earth(!) Mars(?) Europa(?)
We are investigating a set of cold springs that deposit sulfur and carbonate minerals on the surface of a Canadian arctic glacier. The spring waters and mineral deposits contain microorganisms, as well as clear evidence that biological processes mediate subglacial chemistry, mineralogy, and isotope fractionation . The formation of native sulphur and associated deposits are related to bacterially mediated reduction and oxidation of sulphur below the glacier. A non-volcanic, topography driven geothermal system, harboring a microbiological community, operates in an extremely cold environment and discharges through solid ice. Microbial life can thus exist in isolated geothermal refuges despite long-term subfreezing surface conditions. Earth history includes several periods of essentially total glaciation. lee in the near subsurface of Mars may have discharged liquid water in the recent past Cracks in the ice crust of Europa have apparently allowed the release of water to the surface. Chemolithotrophic bacteria, such as those in the Canadian springs, could have survived beneath the ice of "Snowball Earth", and life forms with similar characteristics might exist beneath the ice of Mars or Europa. Discharges of water from such refuges may have brought to the surface living microbes, as well as longlasting chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic indications of subsurface life
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