2,675 research outputs found
Na(V)1.5 sodium channel window currents contribute to spontaneous firing in olfactory sensory neurons
Olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) fire spontaneously as well as in response to odor; both forms of firing are physiologically important. We studied voltage-gated Na+ channels in OSNs to assess their role in spontaneous activity. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings from OSNs demonstrated both tetrodotoxin-sensitive and tetrodotoxin-resistant components of Na+ current. RT-PCR showed mRNAs for five of the nine different Na+ channel α-subunits in olfactory tissue; only one was tetrodotoxin resistant, the so-called cardiac subtype NaV1.5. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that NaV1.5 is present in the apical knob of OSN dendrites but not in the axon. The NaV1.5 channels in OSNs exhibited two important features: 1) a half-inactivation potential near −100 mV, well below the resting potential, and 2) a window current centered near the resting potential. The negative half-inactivation potential renders most NaV1.5 channels in OSNs inactivated at the resting potential, while the window current indicates that the minor fraction of noninactivated NaV1.5 channels have a small probability of opening spontaneously at the resting potential. When the tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ channels were blocked by nanomolar tetrodotoxin at the resting potential, spontaneous firing was suppressed as expected. Furthermore, selectively blocking NaV1.5 channels with Zn2+ in the absence of tetrodotoxin also suppressed spontaneous firing, indicating that NaV1.5 channels are required for spontaneous activity despite resting inactivation. We propose that window currents produced by noninactivated NaV1.5 channels are one source of the generator potentials that trigger spontaneous firing, while the upstroke and propagation of action potentials in OSNs are borne by the tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ channel subtypes.This work was aided by support from Boston University, the Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center Core for Cellular Visualization and Analysis [National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) P30 DC-04657; D. Restrepo, principal investigator], and NIDCD Grants DC-04863 to V. Dionne and DC-006070 to D. Restrepo and T. E. Finger. (Boston University; P30 DC-04657 - Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center Core for Cellular Visualization and Analysis [National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)]; DC-04863 - Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center Core for Cellular Visualization and Analysis [National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)]; DC-006070 - Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center Core for Cellular Visualization and Analysis [National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)])https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4122723/Accepted manuscrip
Coulomb Breakup Mechanism of Neutron-Halo Nuclei in a Time-Dependent Method
The mechanism of the Coulomb breakup reactions of the nuclei with
neutron-halo structure is investigated in detail. A time-dependent
Schr\"odinger equation for the halo neutron is numerically solved by treating
the Coulomb field of a target as an external field. The momentum distribution
and the post-acceleration effect of the final fragments are discussed in a
fully quantum mechanical way to clarify the limitation of the intuitive picture
based on the classical mechanics. The theory is applied to the Coulomb breakup
reaction of Be + Pb. The breakup mechanism is found to be
different between the channels of and
, reflecting the underlying structure of Be. The
calculated result reproduces the energy spectrum of the breakup fragments
reasonably well, but explains only about a half of the observed longitudinal
momentum difference.Comment: 15 pages,revtex, 9 figures (available upon request
Having children with multiple partners is associated with reduced risk of malignant melanoma: an observation seeking a plausible explanation
Anne V Olesen1,2,3, Erik T Parner4, Preben B Mortensen5, Cecilia H Ramlau-Hansen6, Jørn Olsen71Institute of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Aarhus; 2Unit for Psychiatric Research, Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital; 3Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital; 4Institute of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics; 5National Centre for Register-based Research; 6Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark; 7Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, USAObjective: We examined the association between the number of partners that mothers and fathers have children with and occurrence of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM).Methods: We conducted a complete registry-based follow-up of all Danish mothers born after 1935 from the birth of their second child until CMM, death, emigration, or end of study in 2002. We conducted a similar follow-up of the corresponding fathers. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) and confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by Poisson regression.Results: This study corroborates that women having children with three or more men are half as likely to have CMM as women who have children with one man: incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.91; having children by two fathers reduces risk among women by 20%: IRR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.70, 0.91. Fathers with multiple partners tend to face a similar risk reduction.Conclusion: The similar patterns of mothers and fathers challenge us to consider and propose likely mechanisms common to both sexes. The patterns of reduced risk have now been reported in two large independent complete population-based studies in Sweden and Denmark.Keywords: malignant melanoma, epidemiology, children with multiple partner
Momentum Distributions of Particles from Three--Body Halo Fragmentation: Final State Interactions
Momentum distributions of particles from nuclear break-up of fast three-body
halos are calculated consistently, and applied to Li. The same two-body
interactions between the three particles are used to calculate the ground state
structure and the final state of the reaction processes. We reproduce the
available momentum distributions from Li fragmentation, together with
the size and energy of Li, with a neutron-core relative state containing
a -state admixture of 20\%-30\%. The available fragmentation data strongly
suggest an -state in Li at about 50 keV, and indicate a -state
around 500 keV.Comment: 11 pages (RevTeX), 3 Postscript figures (uuencoded postscript file
attached at the end of the LaTeX file). To be published in Phys. Rev.
Surface properties correlate to the digestibility of hydrothermally pretreated lignocellulosic Poaceae biomass feedstocks
Additional file 1: Figures S1–S12. 13C-1H HSQC (heteronuclear single quantum coherence) spectra of untreated (raw) and hydrothermally pretreated (log R 0 = 3.65, 3.83 and 3.97) corn stover, Miscanthus × giganteus stalks and wheat straw. Figure S13. Phenylcoumaran structure. Figures S14–S16. Selected ATR-FTIR spectra each representing sample from untreated (raw) and hydrothermally pretreated (log R 0 = 3.65, 3.83 and 3.97) corn stover, Miscanthus × giganteus stalks and wheat straw. Figures S17–S30. Scatter plot of surface and bulk chemical composition with glucose release and wettability test of hydrothermally pretreated (log R 0 = 3.65, 3.83 and 3.97) corn stover, Miscanthus × giganteus stalks and wheat straw
Dynamical description of the breakup of one-neutron halo nuclei 11Be and 19C
We investigate the breakup of the one-neutron halo nuclei 11Be and 19C within
a dynamical model of the continuum excitation of the projectile. The time
evolution of the projectile in coordinate space is described by solving the
three-dimensional time dependent Schroedinger equation, treating the
projectile-target (both Coulomb and nuclear) interaction as a time dependent
external perturbation. The pure Coulomb breakup dominates the relative energy
spectra of the fragments in the peak region, while the nuclear breakup is
important at higher relative energies. The coherent sum of the two
contributions provides a good overall description of the experimental spectra.
Cross sections of the first order perturbation theory are derived as a limit of
our dynamical model. The dynamical effects are found to be of the order of
10-15% for the beam energies in the range of 60 - 80 MeV/nucleon. A comparison
of our results with those of a post form distorted wave Born approximation
shows that the magnitudes of the higher order effects are dependent on the
theoretical model.Comment: 15 pages, ReVTeX, 5 figures, typos corrected, accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Coulomb-nuclear interference in the breakup of Be
Within a theory of breakup reactions formulated in the framework of the post
form distorted wave Born approximation, we calculate contributions of the pure
Coulomb and the pure nuclear breakup as well as those of their interference
terms to a variety of cross sections in breakup reactions of the one-neutron
halo nucleus Be on a number of target nuclei. In contrast to the
assumption often made, the Coulomb-nuclear interference terms are found to be
non-negligible in case of exclusive cross sections of the fragments emitted in
this reaction on medium mass and heavy target nuclei. The consideration of the
nuclear breakup leads to a better description of such data.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 2 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. C (Rapid
Communication
Dark ice in a warming world: advances and challenges in the study of Greenland Ice Sheet's biological darkening
The surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet is darkening, which accelerates its surface melt. The role of glacier ice algae in reducing surface albedo is widely recognised but not well quantified and the feedbacks between the algae and the weathering crust remain poorly understood. In this letter, we summarise recent advances in the study of the biological darkening of the Greenland Ice Sheet and highlight three key research priorities that are required to better understand and forecast algal-driven melt: (i) identifying the controls on glacier ice algal growth and mortality, (ii) quantifying the spatio-temporal variability in glacier ice algal biomass and processes involved in cell redistribution and (iii) determining the albedo feedbacks between algal biomass and weathering crust characteristics. Addressing these key research priorities will allow us to better understand the supraglacial ice-algal system and to develop an integrated model incorporating the algal and physical controls on ice surface albedo
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