Developmental changes in electrophysiological properties and a transition from electrical to chemical coupling between excitatory layer 4 neurons in the rat barrel cortex

© 2016 Valiullina, Akhmetshina, Nasretdinov, Mukhtarov, Valeeva, Khazipov and Rozov.During development, sensory systems switch from an immature to an adult mode of function along with the emergence of the active cortical states. Here, we used patch-clamp recordings from neocortical slices in vitro to characterize the developmental changes in the basic electrophysiological properties of excitatory L4 neurons and their connectivity before and after the developmental switch, which occurs in the rat barrel cortex in vivo at postnatal day P8. Prior to the switch, L4 neurons had higher resting membrane potentials, higher input resistance, lower membrane capacity, as well as action potentials (APs) with smaller amplitudes, longer durations and higher AP thresholds compared to the neurons after the switch. A sustained firing pattern also emerged around the switch. Dual patch-clamp recordings from L4 neurons revealed that recurrent connections between L4 excitatory cells do not exist before and develop rapidly across the switch. In contrast, electrical coupling between these neurons waned around the switch. We suggest that maturation of electrophysiological features, particularly acquisition of a sustained firing pattern, and a transition from the immature electrical to mature chemical synaptic coupling between excitatory L4 neurons, contributes to the developmental switch in the cortical mode of function

Novel type of isoprenoid membrane anchors: an investigation of binding properties with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.In this work, we present a new type of amphiphilic membrane-anchoring agents that can be easily obtained by the Diels-Alder reaction between terpene myrcene and N-substituted maleimides. The interaction between the compounds and small unilamellar dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles was investigated using infrared spectroscopy, microgravimetry, and turbidimetry. The ability of the compounds to embed in the phospholipid membrane was shown to be strongly dependent on the charge of their polar group. The insertion of the compounds studied into the lipid bilayer did not lead to disruption of the dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles up to the highest tested drug to lipid molar ratio of 0.5 to 0.6. Low lipid solubilization ability of the compounds as well as their rigid nonplanar structure makes them an interesting alternative to the common membrane-anchoring structural motifs

Novel type of isoprenoid membrane anchors: An investigation of binding properties with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.In this work, we present a new type of amphiphilic membrane-anchoring agents that can be easily obtained by the Diels-Alder reaction between terpene myrcene and N-substituted maleimides. The interaction between the compounds and small unilamellar dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles was investigated using infrared spectroscopy, microgravimetry, and turbidimetry. The ability of the compounds to embed in the phospholipid membrane was shown to be strongly dependent on the charge of their polar group. The insertion of the compounds studied into the lipid bilayer did not lead to disruption of the dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles up to the highest tested drug to lipid molar ratio of 0.5 to 0.6. Low lipid solubilization ability of the compounds as well as their rigid nonplanar structure makes them an interesting alternative to the common membrane-anchoring structural motifs

Current status of nuclear cardiology in the Russian Federation

The article is devoted to the analysis of the current status of nuclear cardiology in the Russian Federation. The data on the number of facilities performing radionuclide investigations for the diagnosis and monitoring of the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, their staffing and equipment are given. The statistics of the conducted nuclear cardiology tests for 2018-2020 are given, as well as their methods, features and diagnostic significance are described

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

The use of thermal imaging survey to identify defects building envelope constructions and energy eqipment

Meeting the challenges of evaluating technical condition of building envelope constructions and energy equipment is largely connected to the introduction of effective methods of instrumental monitoring and, in particular, thermal nondestructive testing method - IR diagnostics. The following are the main points for thermal imaging diagnostics and main factors influencing measurement accuracy. The results are providedfor IR diagnosis of various objects

POSSIBILITY OF APPLICATION OF CRYSTALHIDRADES OF COBALT CHLORIDE FOR DRYING TRANSFORMER OILS

This paper presents the results of experiments for studying the possibility of using crystalline cobalt chloride for drying of transformer oils. It is shown that the use of crystalline hydrates of cobalt chloride for the drying of transformer oils leads to their complete dehydration. This is due to the interaction between the molecules of cobalt chloride and water. To determine the interaction of cobalt chloride with oil and water, absorption spectra in the visible and near-IR region at room temperature were studied in cuvettes 10 mm thick in the wavelength range λ 300 ÷ 1000 nm. It is shown that, regardless of the amount of cobalt chloride added, the transformer oil spectra do not change and, consequently, the chemical composition of the oil does not change. Thisindicatesthatthe cobalt chloride does not react with the transformer oil and remains in full at the bottom of the container with transformer oil. This method is more economical and less "resource-intensive"

QUALITATIVE METHODS OF SPECTRAL ANALYSIS IN DIAGNOSTICS OF TRANSFORMER OILS

Abstract: In this paper, we offer a simple, intuitive, qualitative method for analyzing in diagnosing transformer oils, which does not require expensive equipment and at the initial stage allows us to determine the degree of oil aging

Novel type of isoprenoid membrane anchors: an investigation of binding properties with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.In this work, we present a new type of amphiphilic membrane-anchoring agents that can be easily obtained by the Diels-Alder reaction between terpene myrcene and N-substituted maleimides. The interaction between the compounds and small unilamellar dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles was investigated using infrared spectroscopy, microgravimetry, and turbidimetry. The ability of the compounds to embed in the phospholipid membrane was shown to be strongly dependent on the charge of their polar group. The insertion of the compounds studied into the lipid bilayer did not lead to disruption of the dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles up to the highest tested drug to lipid molar ratio of 0.5 to 0.6. Low lipid solubilization ability of the compounds as well as their rigid nonplanar structure makes them an interesting alternative to the common membrane-anchoring structural motifs

Novel type of isoprenoid membrane anchors: An investigation of binding properties with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.In this work, we present a new type of amphiphilic membrane-anchoring agents that can be easily obtained by the Diels-Alder reaction between terpene myrcene and N-substituted maleimides. The interaction between the compounds and small unilamellar dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles was investigated using infrared spectroscopy, microgravimetry, and turbidimetry. The ability of the compounds to embed in the phospholipid membrane was shown to be strongly dependent on the charge of their polar group. The insertion of the compounds studied into the lipid bilayer did not lead to disruption of the dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles up to the highest tested drug to lipid molar ratio of 0.5 to 0.6. Low lipid solubilization ability of the compounds as well as their rigid nonplanar structure makes them an interesting alternative to the common membrane-anchoring structural motifs