8,675 research outputs found
GABAergic compensation in connexin36 knock-out mice evident during low-magnesium seizure-like event activity
Gap junctions within the cerebral cortex may facilitate cortical seizure formation by their ability to synchronize electrical activity. To investigate this, one option is to compare wild-type (WT) animals with those lacking the gene for connexin36 (Cx36 KO); the protein that forms neuronal gap junctions between cortical inhibitory cells. However, genetically modified knock-out animals may exhibit compensatory effects; with the risk that observed differences between WT and Cx36 KO animals could be erroneously attributed to Cx36 gap junction effects. In this study we investigated the effect of GABAA-receptor modulation (augmentation with 16 μM etomidate and blockade with 100 μM picrotoxin) on low-magnesium seizure-like events (SLEs) in mouse cortical slices. In WT slices, picrotoxin enhanced both the amplitude (49% increase, p = 0.0006) and frequency (37% increase, p = 0.005) of SLEs; etomidate also enhanced SLE amplitude (18% increase, p = 0.003) but reduced event frequency (25% decrease, p < 0.0001). In Cx36 KO slices, the frequency effects of etomidate and picrotoxin were preserved, but the amplitude responses were abolished. Pre-treatment with the gap junction blocker mefloquin in WT slices did not significantly alter the drug responses, indicating that the reduction in amplitude seen in the Cx36 KO mice was not primarily mediated by their lack of interneuronal gap junctions, but was rather due to pre-existing compensatory changes in these animals. Conclusions from studies comparing seizure characteristics between WT and Cx36 KO mice must be viewed with a degree of caution because of the possible confounding effect of compensatory neurophysiological changes in the genetically modified animals
Simple model for 1/f noise
We present a simple stochastic mechanism which generates pulse trains
exhibiting a power law distribution of the pulse intervals and a
power spectrum over several decades at low frequencies with close to
one. The essential ingredient of our model is a fluctuating threshold which
performs a Brownian motion. Whenever an increasing potential hits the
threshold, is reset to the origin and a pulse is emitted. We show that
if increases linearly in time, the pulse intervals can be approximated
by a random walk with multiplicative noise. Our model agrees with recent
experiments in neurobiology and explains the high interpulse interval
variability and the occurrence of noise observed in cortical
neurons and earthquake data.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Connexin36 knockout mice display increased sensitivity to pentylenetetrazol-induced seizure-like behaviors
Large-scale synchronous firing of neurons during seizures is modulated by electrotonic coupling between neurons via gap junctions. To explore roles for connexin36 (Cx36) gap junctions in seizures, we examined the seizure threshold of connexin36 knockout (Cx36KO) mice using a pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) model
Localization of elastic waves in heterogeneous media with off-diagonal disorder and long-range correlations
Using the Martin-Siggia-Rose method, we study propagation of acoustic waves
in strongly heterogeneous media which are characterized by a broad distribution
of the elastic constants. Gaussian-white distributed elastic constants, as well
as those with long-range correlations with non-decaying power-law correlation
functions, are considered. The study is motivated in part by a recent discovery
that the elastic moduli of rock at large length scales may be characterized by
long-range power-law correlation functions. Depending on the disorder, the
renormalization group (RG) flows exhibit a transition to localized regime in
{\it any} dimension. We have numerically checked the RG results using the
transfer-matrix method and direct numerical simulations for one- and
two-dimensional systems, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Coherent Propagation of Polaritons in Semiconductor Heterostructures: Nonlinear Pulse Transmission in Theory and Experiment
The influence of coherent optical nonlinearities on polariton propagation
effects is studied within a theory-experiment comparison. A novel approach that
combines a microscopic treatment of the boundary problem in a sample of finite
thickness with excitonic and biexcitonic nonlinearities is introduced.
Light-polarization dependent spectral changes are analyzed for single-pulse
transmission and pump-probe excitation
Fractal dimensions of the Q-state Potts model for the complete and external hulls
Fortuin-Kastelyn clusters in the critical -state Potts model are
conformally invariant fractals. We obtain simulation results for the fractal
dimension of the complete and external (accessible) hulls for Q=1, 2, 3, and 4,
on clusters that wrap around a cylindrical system. We find excellent agreement
between these results and theoretical predictions. We also obtain the
probability distributions of the hull lengths and maximal heights of the
clusters in this geometry and provide a conjecture for their form.Comment: 9 pages 4 figure
Memory functions and Correlations in Additive Binary Markov Chains
A theory of additive Markov chains with long-range memory, proposed earlier
in Phys. Rev. E 68, 06117 (2003), is developed and used to describe statistical
properties of long-range correlated systems. The convenient characteristics of
such systems, a memory function, and its relation to the correlation properties
of the systems are examined. Various methods for finding the memory function
via the correlation function are proposed. The inverse problem (calculation of
the correlation function by means of the prescribed memory function) is also
solved. This is demonstrated for the analytically solvable model of the system
with a step-wise memory function.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
The Gaia spectrophotometric standard stars survey -II. Instrumental effects of six ground-based observing campaigns
The Gaia SpectroPhotometric Standard Stars (SPSS) survey started in 2006, it
was awarded almost 450 observing nights, and accumulated almost 100,000 raw
data frames, with both photometric and spectroscopic observations. Such large
observational effort requires careful, homogeneous, and automated data
reduction and quality control procedures. In this paper, we quantitatively
evaluate instrumental effects that might have a significant (i.e.,1%)
impact on the Gaia SPSS flux calibration. The measurements involve six
different instruments, monitored over the eight years of observations dedicated
to the Gaia flux standards campaigns: DOLORES@TNG in La Palma, EFOSC2@NTT and
ROSS@REM in La Silla, [email protected] in Calar Alto, BFOSC@Cassini in Loiano, and
[email protected] in San Pedro Martir. We examine and quantitatively evaluate the
following effects: CCD linearity and shutter times, calibration frames
stability, lamp flexures, second order contamination, light polarization, and
fringing. We present methods to correct for the relevant effects, which can be
applied to a wide range of observational projects at similar instruments.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astron. Nach
Precision mass measurements on neutron-rich rare-earth isotopes at JYFLTRAP - reduced neutron pairing and implications for the -process calculations
The rare-earth peak in the -process abundance pattern depends sensitively
on both the astrophysical conditions and subtle changes in nuclear structure in
the region. This work takes an important step elucidating the nuclear structure
and reducing the uncertainties in -process calculations via precise atomic
mass measurements at the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap. Nd, Pm,
Sm, and Gd have been measured for the first time and the
precisions for Nd, Pm, Eu, Gd, and
Tb have been improved considerably. Nuclear structure has been probed
via two-neutron separation energies and neutron pairing energy metrics
. The data do not support the existence of a subshell closure at .
Neutron pairing has been found to be weaker than predicted by theoretical mass
models. The impact on the calculated -process abundances has been studied.
Substantial changes resulting in a smoother abundance distribution and a better
agreement with the solar -process abundances are observed.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
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