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Changes in neuronal activity across the mouse ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus in response to low glucose: evaluation using an extracellular multiâelectrode array approach
The hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) is involved in maintaining systemic glucose homeostasis. Neurophysiological studies in rodent brain slices have identified populations of VMN glucoseâsensing neurones: glucoseâexcited (GE) neurones, cells which increased their firing rate in response to increases in glucose concentration, and glucoseâinhibited (GI) neurones, which show a reduced firing frequency in response to increasing glucose concentrations. To date, most slice electrophysiological studies characterising VMN glucoseâsensing neurones in rodents have utilised the patch clamp technique. Multiâelectrode arrays (MEAs) are a stateâofâtheâart electrophysiological tool enabling the electrical activity of many cells to be recorded across multiple electrode sites (channels) simultaneously. We used a perforated MEA (pMEA) system to evaluate electrical activity changes across the dorsalâventral extent of the mouse VMN region in response to alterations in glucose concentration. Because intrinsic (ie, direct postsynaptic sensing) and extrinsic (ie, presynaptically modulated) glucosensation were not discriminated, we use the terminology âGE/presynaptically excited by an increase (PER)â and âGI/presynaptically excited by a decrease (PED)â in the present study to describe responsiveness to changes in extracellular glucose across the mouse VMN. We observed that 15%â60% of channels were GE/PER, whereas 2%â7% were GI/PED channels. Within the dorsomedial portion of the VMN (DMâVMN), significantly more channels were GE/PER compared to the ventrolateral portion of the VMN (VLâVMN). However, GE/PER channels within the VLâVMN showed a significantly higher basal firing rate in 2.5 mmol lâ1 glucose than DMâVMN GE/PER channels. No significant difference in the distribution of GI/PED channels was observed between the VMN subregions. The results of the present study demonstrate the utility of the pMEA approach for evaluating glucose responsivity across the mouse VMN. pMEA studies could be used to refine our understanding of other neuroendocrine systems by examining population level changes in electrical activity across brain nuclei, thus providing key functional neuroanatomical information to complement and inform the design of singleâcell neurophysiological studies
Spectral and stratigraphic mapping of hydrated sulfate and phyllosilicate-bearing deposits in northern Sinus Meridiani, Mars
We present detailed stratigraphic and spectral analyses that focus on a region in
northern Sinus Meridiani located between 1°N to 5°N latitude and 3°W to 1°E longitude.
Several stratigraphically distinct units are defined and mapped using morphologic
expression, spectral properties, and superposition relationships. Previously unreported
exposures of hydrated sulfates and Fe/Mg smectites are identified using MRO CRISM and
MEX OMEGA nearâinfrared (1.0 to 2.5 ”m) spectral reflectance observations. Layered
deposits with monohydrated and polyhydrated sulfate spectral signatures that occur in
association with a northeastâsouthwest trending valley are reexamined using highresolution
CRISM, HiRISE, and CTX images. Layers that are spectrally dominated by
monohydrated and polyhydrated sulfates are intercalated. The observed compositional
layering implies that multiple wetting events, brine recharge, or fluctuations in evaporation
rate occurred. We infer that these hydrated sulfateâbearing layers were unconformably
deposited following the extensive erosion of preexisting layered sedimentary rocks and
may postdate the formation of the sulfateâ and hematiteâbearing unit analyzed by the MER
Opportunity rover. Therefore, at least two episodes of deposition separated by an
unconformity occurred. Fe/Mg phyllosilicates are detected in units that predate the sulfateand
hematiteâbearing unit. The presence of Fe/Mg smectite in older units indicates that the
relatively low pH formation conditions inferred for the younger sulfateâ and hematitebearing
unit are not representative of the aqueous geochemical environment that prevailed
during the formation and alteration of earlier materials. Sedimentary deposits indicative of
a complex aqueous history that evolved over time are preserved in Sinus Meridiani, Mars
Spin Susceptibility and Gap Structure of the Fractional-Statistics Gas
This paper establishes and tests procedures which can determine the electron
energy gap of the high-temperature superconductors using the model
with spinon and holon quasiparticles obeying fractional statistics. A simpler
problem with similar physics, the spin susceptibility spectrum of the spin 1/2
fractional-statistics gas, is studied. Interactions with the density
oscillations of the system substantially decrease the spin gap to a value of
, much less than the mean-field value of
. The lower few Landau levels remain visible, though broadened
and shifted, in the spin susceptibility. As a check of the methods, the
single-particle Green's function of the non-interacting Bose gas viewed in the
fermionic representation, as computed by the same approximation scheme, agrees
well with the exact results. The same mechanism would reduce the gap of the
model without eliminating it.Comment: 35 pages, written in REVTeX, 16 figures available upon request from
[email protected]
Spin Transition in Strongly Correlated Bilayer Two Dimensional Electron Systems
Using a combination of heat pulse and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques
we demonstrate that the phase boundary separating the interlayer phase coherent
quantum Hall effect at in bilayer electron gases from the weakly
coupled compressible phase depends upon the spin polarization of the nuclei in
the host semiconductor crystal. Our results strongly suggest that, contrary to
the usual assumption, the transition is attended by a change in the electronic
spin polarization.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figur
Mutations in human dynamin block an intermediate stage in coated vesicle formation
The role of human dynamin in receptor-mediated endocytosis was investigated by transient expression of GTP-binding domain mutants in mammalian cells. Using assays which detect intermediates in coated vesicle formation, the dynamin mutants were found to block endocytosis at a stage after the initiation of coat assembly and preceding the sequestration of ligands into deeply invaginated coated pits. Membrane transport from the ER to the Golgi complex was unaffected indicating that dynamin mutants specifically block early events in endocytosis. These results demonstrate that mutations in the GTP-binding domain of dynamin block Tfn-endocytosis in mammalian cells and suggest that a functional dynamin GTPase is required for receptor-mediated endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits
Onset of Interlayer Phase Coherence in a Bilayer Two-Dimensional Electron System: Effect of Layer Density Imbalance
Tunneling and Coulomb drag are sensitive probes of spontaneous interlayer
phase coherence in bilayer two-dimensional electron systems at total Landau
level filling factor . We find that the phase boundary between the
interlayer phase coherent state and the weakly-coupled compressible phase moves
to larger layer separations as the electron density distribution in the bilayer
is imbalanced. The critical layer separation increases quadratically with layer
density difference.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Singular value decomposition applied to compact binary coalescence gravitational-wave signals
We investigate the application of the singular value decomposition to
compact-binary, gravitational-wave data-analysis. We find that the truncated
singular value decomposition reduces the number of filters required to analyze
a given region of parameter space of compact binary coalescence waveforms by an
order of magnitude with high reconstruction accuracy. We also compute an
analytic expression for the expected signal-loss due to the singular value
decomposition truncation.Comment: 4 figures, 6 page
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