Hydrovoltaic cells. Part II: Thermogalvanic cells and numerical simulations of thermal diffusion potentials

When two electrolyte solutions of different temperature are placed in contact, a thermal diffusion potential (TDP) is established. The phenomenon is studied numerically using finite element simulations of the temperature distribution within a hydrodynamic cell. Experimentally, the hydrovoltaic flow cell is used to demonstrate how a temperature difference can induce redox reactions at electrodes placed in the two liquids in order to extract a current continuously in an external circuit resulting in a power-generating unit. When the concentration of the redox couple introduced in the solution is moderated, it is shown that the TDP is not negligible, even if the main driving force is due to the temperature effect on the standard potential of the couple present. The numerical model may also be applied in more general situations involving thermal effects in microsystems

TiO2 Printed Aluminum Foil: Single-Use Film for a Laser Desorption/Ionization Target Plate

Single-use aluminum foil-based laser desorption/ionization (LDI) target plates have been developed for mass spectrometry (MS) analysis and provide detection results comparable to those of commercial stainless steel plates while offering a convenient way to avoid the time-consuming surface cleaning process. Additionally, arrays of TiO2 nanoparticle spots are coated on the foil either by screen-printing or rotogravure-printing followed by sintering to form a mesoporous layer spot to act as an anchor for sample deposition. These TiO2 spots offer further functions to the Al foil, such as matrix-free laser desorption/ionization or specific affinity for in situ enrichment of phosphopeptides. The single-use TiO2-Al foils are cheap to produce, easy to use, and well suited for high-throughput proteomics research. They can also be of interest for protein post-translational modifications study

Voltammetric studies of hexachromic anion transfer reactions across micro-water/polyvinylchloride-2-nitrophenyloctylether gel interfaces for sensing applications

The transfer reactions of various anionic hexavalent chromium species across a polarized water/polyvinylchloride-2-nitrophenyloctylether (PVC-NPOE) interface featuring a 66 microhole array are described for the development of selective and sensitive Cr(VI) sensors. The transfer of hydrophilic hexachromic anions across a liquid/liquid interface typically involves setting the potential window in a negative region. Therefore, a highly hydrophobic tetraoctylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate (TOATB) salt was synthesized and incorporated into the PVC-NPOE gel phase as an organic supporting electrolyte to provide a larger potential window at the negative end. The transfer of different hexachromic anions across the microhole array interface between the aqueous and PVC-NPOE gel phase containing TOATB was first characterized by voltammetric measurements. Since Cr(VI) ion species can hold different anionic forms such as Cr2O72-, HCrO4-, and CrO42- depending upon the pH and the Cr(VI) concentration, the effect of these two parameters on the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) responses was also investigated. In order to utilize the ion transfer reaction across the microhole array interface for the selective and sensitive detection of Cr(VI) ions, the assisted transfer of HCrO4- anion by an Aliquat 336 ionophore incorporated into the PVC-NPOE gel phase was investigated using CV and differential pulse stripping voltammetry (DPSV). An excellent detection limit of 0.5 mu M (26 ppb) with a wide linear dynamic range extending from 0.5 mu M to 10 mu M was achieved. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Foxp3 expression in macrophages associated with RENCA tumors in mice.

The transcription factor Foxp3 represents the most specific functional marker of CD4+ regulatory T cells (TRegs). However, previous reports have described Foxp3 expression in other cell types including some subsets of macrophages, although there are conflicting reports and Foxp3 expression in cells other than Treg is not well characterized. We performed detailed investigations into Foxp3 expression in macrophages in the normal tissue and tumor settings. We detected Foxp3 protein in macrophages infiltrating mouse renal cancer tumors injected subcutaneously or in the kidney. Expression was demonstrated using flow cytometry and Western blot with two individual monoclonal antibodies. Further analyses confirmed Foxp3 expression in macrophages by RT PCR, and studies using ribonucleic acid-sequencing (RNAseq) demonstrated a previously unknown Foxp3 messenger (m)RNA transcript in tumor-associated macrophages. In addition, depletion of Foxp3+ cells using diphtheria toxin in Foxp3DTR mice reduced the frequency of type-2 macrophages (M2) in kidney tumors. Collectively, these results indicate that tumor-associated macrophages could express Foxp3

Axonal remodeling for motor recovery after traumatic brain injury requires downregulation of γ-aminobutyric acid signaling

Remodeling of the remnant neuronal network after brain injury possibly mediates spontaneous functional recovery; however, the mechanisms inducing axonal remodeling during spontaneous recovery remain unclear. Here, we show that altered γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signaling is crucial for axonal remodeling of the contralesional cortex after traumatic brain injury. After injury to the sensorimotor cortex in mice, we found a significant decrease in the expression of GABAAR-α1 subunits in the intact sensorimotor cortex for 2 weeks. Motor functions, assessed by grid walk and cylinder tests, spontaneously improved in 4 weeks after the injury to the sensorimotor cortex. With motor recovery, corticospinal tract (CST) axons from the contralesional cortex sprouted into the denervated side of the cervical spinal cord at 2 and 4 weeks after the injury. To determine the functional implications of the changes in the expression of GABAAR-α1 subunits, we infused muscimol, a GABA R agonist, into the contralesional cortex for a week after the injury. Compared with the vehicle-treated mice, we noted significantly inhibited recovery in the muscimol-treated mice. Further, muscimol infusion greatly suppressed the axonal sprouting into the denervated side of the cervical spinal cord. In conclusion, recovery of motor function and axonal remodeling of the CST following cortical injury requires suppressed GABAAR subunit expression and decreased GABAergic signaling

The repeatability of cognitive performance:A meta-analysis

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from The Royal Society via the DOI in this record.Behavioural and cognitive processes play important roles in mediating an individual's interactions with its environment. Yet, while there is a vast literature on repeatable individual differences in behaviour, relatively little is known about the repeatability of cognitive performance. To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition, we gathered 44 studies on individual performance of 25 species across six animal classes and used meta-analysis to assess whether cognitive performance is repeatable. We compared repeatability (R) in performance (1) on the same task presented at different times (temporal repeatability), and (2) on different tasks that measured the same putative cognitive ability (contextual repeatability). We also addressed whether R estimates were influenced by seven extrinsic factors (moderators): type of cognitive performance measurement, type of cognitive task, delay between tests, origin of the subjects, experimental context, taxonomic class and publication status. We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of cognitive performance, with mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Repeatability estimates were mostly influenced by the type of cognitive performance measures and publication status. Our findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition across a range of taxa which, like behaviour, may be associated with fitness outcomes.PKYC is supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (PE1801); JOvH was funded by an ERC consolidator grant (616474). MC and this research was supported by a grant from the Human Frontier Science Program to ASC and JM-F (RGP0006/2015)

Elemental and configural olfactory coding by antennal lobe neurons of the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

When smelling an odorant mixture, olfactory systems can be analytical (i.e. extract information about the mixture elements) or synthetic (i.e. creating a configural percept of the mixture). Here, we studied elemental and configural mixture coding in olfactory neurons of the honeybee antennal lobe, local neurons in particular. We conducted intracellular recordings and stimulated with monomolecular odorants and their coherent or incoherent binary mixtures to reproduce a temporally dynamic environment. We found that about half of the neurons responded as ‘elemental neurons’, i.e. responses evoked by mixtures reflected the underlying feature information from one of the components. The other half responded as ‘configural neurons’, i.e. responses to mixtures were clearly different from responses to their single components. Elemental neurons divided in late responders (above 60 ms) and early responder neurons (below 60 ms), whereas responses of configural coding neurons concentrated in-between these divisions. Latencies of neurons with configural responses express a tendency to be faster for coherent stimuli which implies employment in different processing circuits

Simple Ways to Measure Behavioral Responses of Drosophila to Stimuli and Use of These Methods to Characterize a Novel Mutant

The behavioral responses of adult Drosophila fruit flies to a variety of sensory stimuli – light, volatile and non-volatile chemicals, temperature, humidity, gravity, and sound - have been measured by others previously. Some of those assays are rather complex; a review of them is presented in the Discussion. Our objective here has been to find out how to measure the behavior of adult Drosophila fruit flies by methods that are inexpensive and easy to carry out. These new assays have now been used here to characterize a novel mutant that fails to be attracted or repelled by a variety of sensory stimuli even though it is motile