1,113 research outputs found
Киев-Еганское месторождение нефти
Рассматривается геологическое строение Киев-Еганского нефтяного месторождения Томской области, описываются его нефтеносные объекты, отмечается значение данного месторождения с точки зрения поисков нефтяных и газовых месторождений в восточном направлении
Echo Delay and Overlap with Emitted Orientation Sounds and Doppler-shift Compensation in the Bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum
The compensation of Doppler-shifts by the bat, Rhinolophusferrumequinum,
functions only when certain temporal relations between the echo
and the emitted orientation sound are given. Three echo configurations
were used:
a) Original orientation sounds were electronically Doppler-shifted and
played back either cut at the beginning (variable delay) or at the end (variable
duration) of the echo.
b) Artificial constant frequency echoes with variable delay or duration
were clamped to the frequency of the emitted orientation sound at different
Doppler-shifts.
c) The echoes were only partially Doppler-shifted and the Doppler-shifted
component began after variable delays or had variable durations.
With increasing delay or decreasing duration of the Doppler-shifted echo
the compensation amplitude for a sinusoidally modulated + 3 kHz Dopplershift
(modulation rate 0.08 Hz) decreases for all stimulus configurations
(Figs. 1, 2, 3).
The range of the Doppler-shift compensation system is therefore limited
by the delay due to acoustic travel time to about 4 m distance between
bat and target. In this range the overlap duration of the echo with the
emitted orientation sound is always sufficiently long, when compared with
data on the orientation pulse length during target approach from Schnitzler
(1968) (Fig. 5)
Elicitor-Induced Changes in Ca2+ Influx, K+ Efflux, and 4-Hydroxybenzoic Acid Synthesis in Protoplasts of Daucus carota L
Heterogeneous OH oxidation of secondary brown carbon aerosol
Light-absorbing organic aerosol, or brown carbon (BrC), has significant but
poorly constrained effects on climate; for example, oxidation in the
atmosphere may alter its optical properties, leading to absorption
enhancement or bleaching. Here, we investigate for the first time the effects
of heterogeneous OH oxidation on the optical properties of a laboratory
surrogate of aqueous, secondary BrC in a series of photo-oxidation chamber
experiments. The BrC surrogate was generated from aqueous resorcinol, or
1,3-dihydroxybenzene, and H2O2 exposed to > 300 nm
radiation that is atomized, passed through trace gas denuders, and injected
into the chamber, which was conditioned to either 15 % or 60 %
relative humidity (RH). Aerosol absorption and scattering coefficients and single scattering albedo (SSA) at
405 nm were measured using a photoacoustic spectrometer. At
60 % RH, upon OH exposure,
absorption first increased, and the SSA decreased sharply. Subsequently,
absorption decreased faster than scattering, and SSA increased gradually.
Comparisons to the modelled trend in SSA, based on Mie theory calculations,
confirm that the observed trend is due to chemical evolution, rather than
slight changes in particle size. The initial absorption enhancement is likely
due to molecular functionalization and/or oligomerization and the bleaching
to fragmentation. By contrast, at 15 % RH, slow absorption enhancement
was observed without appreciable bleaching. A multi-layer kinetics model,
consisting of two surface reactions in series, was constructed to provide
further insights regarding the RH dependence of the optical evolution. Candidate parameters suggest
that the oxidation is efficient, with uptake coefficients on the order of
unity. The parameters also suggest that, as RH decreases, reactivity
decreases and aerosol viscosity increases, such that particles are well-mixed
at 60 % RH but not at 15 % RH. These results further the current
understanding of the complex processing of BrC that may occur in the
atmosphere.</p
Thyroid hormone disrupting chemicals in sea bass (<i>Dicentrarchus labrax</i>) from European coasts
Audition in vampire bats, Desmodus rotundus
1. Within the tonotopic organization of the inferior colliculus two frequency ranges are well represented: a frequency range within that of the echolocation signals from 50 to 100 kHz, and a frequency band below that of the echolocation sounds, from 10 to 35 kHz. The frequency range between these two bands, from about 40 to 50 kHz is distinctly underrepresented (Fig. 3B).
2. Units with BFs in the lower frequency range (10–25 kHz) were most sensitive with thresholds of -5 to -11 dB SPL, and units with BFs within the frequency range of the echolocation signals had minimal thresholds around 0 dB SPL (Fig. 1).
3. In the medial part of the rostral inferior colliculus units were encountered which preferentially or exclusively responded to noise stimuli. — Seven neurons were found which were only excited by human breathing noises and not by pure tones, frequency modulated signals or various noise bands. These neurons were considered as a subspeciality of the larger sample of noise-sensitive neurons. — The maximal auditory sensitivity in the frequency range below that of echolocation, and the conspicuous existence of noise and breathing-noise sensitive units in the inferior colliculus are discussed in context with the foraging behavior of vampire bats
Cracking the code of oscillatory activity
Neural oscillations are ubiquitous measurements of cognitive processes and dynamic routing and gating of information. The fundamental and so far unresolved problem for neuroscience remains to understand how oscillatory activity in the brain codes information for human cognition. In a biologically relevant cognitive task, we instructed six human observers to categorize facial expressions of emotion while we measured the observers' EEG. We combined state-of-the-art stimulus control with statistical information theory analysis to quantify how the three parameters of oscillations (i.e., power, phase, and frequency) code the visual information relevant for behavior in a cognitive task. We make three points: First, we demonstrate that phase codes considerably more information (2.4 times) relating to the cognitive task than power. Second, we show that the conjunction of power and phase coding reflects detailed visual features relevant for behavioral response-that is, features of facial expressions predicted by behavior. Third, we demonstrate, in analogy to communication technology, that oscillatory frequencies in the brain multiplex the coding of visual features, increasing coding capacity. Together, our findings about the fundamental coding properties of neural oscillations will redirect the research agenda in neuroscience by establishing the differential role of frequency, phase, and amplitude in coding behaviorally relevant information in the brai
Inhibition of PFKFB3 Hampers the Progression of Atherosclerosis and Promotes Plaque Stability
Aims: 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase (PFKFB)3-mediated glycolysis is pivotal in driving macrophage- and endothelial cell activation and thereby inflammation. Once activated, these cells play a crucial role in the progression of atherosclerosis. Here, we analyzed the expression of PFKFB3 in human atherosclerotic lesions and investigated the therapeutic potential of pharmacological inhibition of PFKFB3 in experimental atherosclerosis by using the glycolytic inhibitor PFK158.
Methods and Results: PFKFB3 expression was higher in vulnerable human atheromatous carotid plaques when compared to stable fibrous plaques and predominantly expressed in plaque macrophages and endothelial cells. Analysis of advanced plaques of human coronary arteries revealed a positive correlation of PFKFB3 expression with necrotic core area. To further investigate the role of PFKFB3 in atherosclerotic disease progression, we treated 6–8 weeks old male Ldlr–/– mice. These mice were fed a high cholesterol diet for 13 weeks, of which they were treated for 5 weeks with the glycolytic inhibitor PFK158 to block PFKFB3 activity. The incidence of fibrous cap atheroma (advanced plaques) was reduced in PFK158-treated mice. Plaque phenotype altered markedly as both necrotic core area and intraplaque apoptosis decreased. This coincided with thickening of the fibrous cap and increased plaque stability after PFK158 treatment. Concomitantly, we observed a decrease in glycolysis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells compared to the untreated group, which alludes that changes in the intracellular metabolism of monocyte and macrophages is advantageous for plaque stabilization.
Conclusion: High PFKFB3 expression is associated with vulnerable atheromatous human carotid and coronary plaques. In mice, high PFKFB3 expression is also associated with a vulnerable plaque phenotype, whereas inhibition of PFKFB3 activity leads to plaque stabilization. This data implies that inhibition of inducible glycolysis may reduce inflammation, which has the ability to subsequently attenuate atherogenesis
What a Plant Sounds Like: The Statistics of Vegetation Echoes as Received by Echolocating Bats
A critical step on the way to understanding a sensory system is the analysis of the input it receives. In this work we examine the statistics of natural complex echoes, focusing on vegetation echoes. Vegetation echoes constitute a major part of the sensory world of more than 800 species of echolocating bats and play an important role in several of their daily tasks. Our statistical analysis is based on a large collection of plant echoes acquired by a biomimetic sonar system. We explore the relation between the physical world (the structure of the plant) and the characteristics of its echo. Finally, we complete the story by analyzing the effect of the sensory processing of both the echolocation and the auditory systems on the echoes and interpret them in the light of information maximization. The echoes of all different plant species we examined share a surprisingly robust pattern that was also reproduced by a simple Poisson model of the spatial reflector arrangement. The fine differences observed between the echoes of different plant species can be explained by the spatial characteristics of the plants. The bat's emitted signal enhances the most informative spatial frequency range where the species-specific information is large. The auditory system filtering affects the echoes in a similar way, thus enhancing the most informative spatial frequency range even more. These findings suggest how the bat's sensory system could have evolved to deal with complex natural echoes
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