Tissue-specific expression of TRP channel genes in the mouse and its variation in three different mouse strains

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this work was to study the gene expression of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in the mouse. The application of a standardized and quantitative technique, TaqMan RT-PCR, should give information about the pattern and relative importance of TRP channels for murine tissues and cell types. To verify data sets with an independent method, we studied the occurrence of some of the transcripts by in situ hybridization. RESULTS: We have characterized the mRNA expression of 22 TRP channels in the mouse with a focus on nerve and muscle tissues. This is the first study to describe the expression profiles of all channel isoforms of the four related Group 1 subfamilies (TRPC, TRPV, TRPM and TRPA) with a standardized and quantitative technique. Comparisons of transcript abundance showed a consistent dominance of TRPM7 and TRPC3 in most tissues. We further observed characteristic patterns and differences in gene expression of individual channels ranging over three orders of magnitude. The overall level of TRP channel mRNAs was highest in brain areas followed by kidney, lung, reproductive organs and muscle. In brain TRPM3 and TRPM7 dominated and 19 other isoforms were detected. In lung and kidney TRPV4, TRPV5 and TRPM7 were found in highest levels. TRPM7, TRPC3, TRPC6 and TRPM3 mRNAs were characteristically present in all tested muscle tissues. Most data obtained with the C57Bl/10 mouse strain were confirmed with Balb/c and NOD mice. However, TRPC3, C6, TRPM7, M3, TRPV2 and V4 expression showed marked differences in the three tested mouse strains. In situ hybridization revealed co-expression of transcripts on the cellular level and widely confirmed the data obtained with RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: Transcripts coding for members of the TRPC, TRPV, TRPM and TRPA subfamilies of TRP cation channels are present in a broad spectrum of murine tissues. Several channel isoforms often coexist in a specific tissue or cell type. TRP channel expression does not show typical tissue specific dominance of individual members as is known from other ion channel families. Mouse strain specific variations of TRP channel expression indicate that genetic background or physiological requirements considerably influence expression levels

Geometric potential and transport in photonic topological crystals

We report on the experimental realization of an optical analogue of a quantum geometric potential for light wave packets constrained on thin dielectric guiding layers fabricated in silica by the femtosecond laser writing technology. We further demonstrate the optical version of a topological crystal, with the observation of Bloch oscillations and Zener tunneling of purely geometric nature

Two-dimensional solitons at interfaces between binary superlattices and homogeneous lattices

We report on the experimental observation of two-dimensional surface solitons residing at the interface between a homogeneous square lattice and a superlattice that consists of alternating "deep" and "shallow" waveguides. By exciting single waveguides in the first row of the superlattice, we show that solitons centered on deep sites require much lower powers than their respective counterparts centered on shallow sites. Despite the fact that the average refractive index of the superlattice waveguides is equal to the refractive index of the homogeneous lattice, the interface results in clearly asymmetric output patterns.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physical Review

Universal sign control of coupling in tight-binding lattices

We present a method of locally inverting the sign of the coupling term in tight-binding systems, by means of inserting a judiciously designed ancillary site and eigenmode matching of the resulting vertex triplet. Our technique can be universally applied to all lattice configurations, as long as the individual sites can be detuned. We experimentally verify this method in laser-written photonic lattices and confirm both the magnitude and the sign of the coupling by interferometric measurements. Based on these findings, we demonstrate how such universal sign-flipped coupling links can be embedded into extended lattice structures to impose a Z2-gauge transformation. This opens a new avenue for investigations on topological effects arising from magnetic fields with aperiodic flux patterns or in disordered systems

Quantum walks of correlated photon pairs in two-dimensional waveguide arrays

We demonstrate quantum walks of correlated photons in a 2D network of directly laser written waveguides coupled in a 'swiss cross' arrangement. The correlated detection events show high-visibility quantum interference and unique composite behaviour: strong correlation and independence of the quantum walkers, between and within the planes of the cross. Violations of a classically defined inequality, for photons injected in the same plane and in orthogonal planes, reveal non-classical behaviour in a non-planar structure.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

The random mass Dirac model and long-range correlations on an integrated optical platform

Long-range correlation-the non-local interdependence of distant events-is a crucial feature in many natural and artificial environments. In the context of solid state physics, impurity spins in doped spin chains and ladders with antiferromagnetic interaction are a prominent manifestation of this phenomenon, which is the physical origin of the unusual magnetic and thermodynamic properties of these materials. It turns out that such systems are described by a one-dimensional Dirac equation for a relativistic fermion with random mass. Here we present an optical configuration, which implements this one-dimensional random mass Dirac equation on a chip. On this platform, we provide a miniaturized optical test-bed for the physics of Dirac fermions with variable mass, as well as of antiferromagnetic spin systems. Moreover, our data suggest the occurence of long-range correlations in an integrated optical device, despite the exclusively short-ranged interactions between the constituting channels

Driving Big Data – Integration and Synchronization of Data Sources for Artificial Intelligence Applications with the Example of Truck Driver Work Stress and Strain Analysis

This paper contributes to the issue of big data analysis and data quality with the specific field of time synchronization. As a highly relevant use case, big data analysis of work stress and strain factors for driving professions is outlined. Drivers experience work stress and strain due to trends like traffic congestion, time pressure or worsening work conditions. Although a large professional group with 2.5 million (US) and 3.5 million (EU) truck drivers, scientific analysis of work stress and strain factors is scarce. Driver shortage is growing into a large-scale economic and societal challenge, especially for small businesses. Empirical investigations require big data approaches with sources like physiological and truck, traffic, weather, planning or accident data. For such challenges, accurate data is required, especially regarding time synchronization. Awareness among researchers and practitioners is key and first solution approaches are provided, connecting to many further Machine Learning and big data applications

Observation of localized modes at phase slips in two-dimensional photonic lattices

We study experimentally light localization at phase-slip waveguides and at the intersection of phase-slips in a two-dimensional (2D) square photonic lattice. Such system allows to observe a variety of effects, including the existence of spatially localized modes for low powers, the generation of strongly localized states in the form of discrete bulk and surface solitons, as well as a crossover between one-dimensional (1D) and 2D localization.Comment: 4 double-column pages, 6 figures, submitted for publicatio

Nonlinearity-induced broadening of resonances in dynamically modulated couplers

We report the observation of nonlinearity-induced broadening of resonances in dynamically modulated directional couplers. When the refractive index of the guiding channels in the coupler is harmonically modulated along the propagation direction and out-of-phase in two channels, coupling can be completely inhibited at resonant modulation frequencies. We observe that nonlinearity broadens such resonances and that localization can be achieved even in detuned systems at power levels well below those required in unmodulated couplers.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Optics Letter