Comparison of the unit cell from Cuticle network and orientation preference of photonic crystals in the scales of the weevil <i>Lamprocyphus augustus</i>

Comparison of the unit cell structure between the theory (left) and experiment (right)

Comparison of the unit cell from Cuticle network and orientation preference of photonic crystals in the scales of the weevil <i>Lamprocyphus augustus</i>

Comparison of the unit cell structure between the theory (left) and experiment (right)

Acoustic Overexposure Increases the Expression of VGLUT-2 Mediated Projections from the Lateral Vestibular Nucleus to the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus

The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is a first relay of the central auditory system as well as a site for integration of multimodal information. Vesicular glutamate transporters VGLUT-1 and VGLUT-2 selectively package glutamate into synaptic vesicles and are found to have different patterns of organization in the DCN. Whereas auditory nerve fibers predominantly co-label with VGLUT-1, somatosensory inputs predominantly co-label with VGLUT-2. Here, we used retrograde and anterograde transport of fluorescent conjugated dextran amine (DA) to demonstrate that the lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) exhibits ipsilateral projections to both fusiform and deep layers of the rat DCN. Stimulating the LVN induced glutamatergic synaptic currents in fusiform cells and granule cell interneurones. We combined the dextran amine neuronal tracing method with immunohistochemistry and showed that labeled projections from the LVN are co-labeled with VGLUT-2 by contrast to VGLUT-1. Wistar rats were exposed to a loud single tone (15 kHz, 110 dB SPL) for 6 hours. Five days after acoustic overexposure, the level of expression of VGLUT-1 in the DCN was decreased whereas the level of expression of VGLUT-2 in the DCN was increased including terminals originating from the LVN. VGLUT-2 mediated projections from the LVN to the DCN are likely to play a role in the head position in response to sound. Amplification of VGLUT-2 expression after acoustic overexposure could be a compensatory mechanism from vestibular inputs in response to hearing loss and to a decrease of VGLUT-1 expression from auditory nerve fibers

Excitation Energy-Transfer Dynamics of Brown Algal Photosynthetic Antennas

Fucoxanthin–chlorophyll-<i>a</i>/<i>c</i> protein (FCP) complexes from brown algae Cladosiphon okamuranus TOKIDA (Okinawa Mozuku in Japanese) contain the only species of carbonyl carotenoid, fucoxanthin, which exhibits spectral characteristics attributed to an intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) property that arises in polar environments due to the presence of the carbonyl group in its polyene backbone. Here, we investigated the role of the ICT property of fucoxanthin in ultrafast energy transfer to chlorophyll-<i>a</i>/<i>c</i> in brown algal photosynthesis using femtosecond pump–probe spectroscopic measurements. The observed excited-state dynamics show that the ICT character of fucoxanthin in FCP extends its absorption band to longer wavelengths and enhances its electronic interaction with chlorophyll-<i>a</i> molecules, leading to efficient energy transfer from fucoxanthin to chlorophyll-<i>a</i>