Long-term deficits in cortical circuit function after asphyxial cardiac arrest and resuscitation in developing rats

AbstractCardiac arrest is a common cause of global hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Poor neurologic outcome among cardiac arrest survivors results not only from direct cellular injury but also from subsequent long-term dysfunction of neuronal circuits. Here, we investigated the long-term impact of cardiac arrest during development on the function of cortical layer IV (L4) barrel circuits in the rat primary somatosensory cortex. We used multielectrode single-neuron recordings to examine responses of presumed excitatory L4 barrel neurons to controlled whisker stimuli in adult (8 ± 2-mo-old) rats that had undergone 9 min of asphyxial cardiac arrest and resuscitation during the third postnatal week. Results indicate that responses to deflections of the topographically appropriate principal whisker (PW) are smaller in magnitude in cardiac arrest survivors than in control rats. Responses to adjacent whisker (AW) deflections are similar in magnitude between the two groups. Because of a disproportionate decrease in PW-evoked responses, receptive fields of L4 barrel neurons are less spatially focused in cardiac arrest survivors than in control rats. In addition, spiking activity among L4 barrel neurons is more correlated in cardiac arrest survivors than in controls. Computational modeling demonstrates that experimentally observed disruptions in barrel circuit function after cardiac arrest can emerge from a balanced increase in background excitatory and inhibitory conductances in L4 neurons. Experimental and modeling data together suggest that after a hypoxic-ischemic insult, cortical sensory circuits are less responsive and less spatially tuned. Modulation of these deficits may represent a therapeutic approach to improving neurologic outcome after cardiac arrest.</jats:p

An experimental investigation of two large annular diffusers with swirling and distorted inflow

Two annular diffusers downstream of a nacelle-mounted fan were tested for aerodynamic performance, measured in terms of two static pressure recovery parameters (one near the diffuser exit plane and one about three diameters downstream in the settling duct) in the presence of several inflow conditions. The two diffusers each had an inlet diameter of 1.84 m, an area ratio of 2.3, and an equivalent cone angle of 11.5, but were distinguished by centerbodies of different lengths. The dependence of diffuser performance on various combinations of swirling, radially distorted, and/or azimuthally distorted inflow was examined. Swirling flow and distortions in the axial velocity profile in the annulus upstream of the diffuser inlet were caused by the intrinsic flow patterns downstream of a fan in a duct and by artificial intensification of the distortions. Azimuthal distortions or defects were generated by the addition of four artificial devices (screens and fences). Pressure recovery data indicated beneficial effects of both radial distortion (for a limited range of distortion levels) and inflow swirl. Small amounts of azimuthal distortion created by the artificial devices produced only small effects on diffuser performance. A large artificial distortion device was required to produce enough azimuthal flow distortion to significantly degrade the diffuser static pressure recovery

RESCUE Testing of Full-Scale In-Situ Structures

At SRI International a state-of-the-art technique for testing large-scale structures to dynamic motion resembling that from a large magnitude earthquake has been developed. The technique, referred to as repeatable earth shaking by controlled underground expansion (RESCUE), may allow actual full-scale structures to be tested in-situ. In this paper we present the results of a finite element simulation of a full-scale highway overpass loaded from ground motion produced by the RESCUE technique. Results indicated that the RESCUE technique could generate significantly enough ground motion to excite failure damage modes

Universal parametric correlations in the transmission eigenvalue spectra of disordered conductors

We study the response of the transmission eigenvalue spectrum of disordered metallic conductors to an arbitrary external perturbation. For systems without time-reversal symmetry we find an exact non-perturbative solution for the two-point correlation function, which exhibits a new kind of universal behavior characteristic of disordered conductors. Systems with orthogonal and symplectic symmetries are studied in the hydrodynamic regime.Comment: 10 pages, written in plain TeX, Preprint OUTP-93-36S (University of Oxford), to appear in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communication

Itinerant ferromagnetism in an atomic Fermi gas: Influence of population imbalance

We investigate ferromagnetic ordering in an itinerant ultracold atomic Fermi gas with repulsive interactions and population imbalance. In a spatially uniform system, we show that at zero temperature the transition to the itinerant magnetic phase transforms from first to second order with increasing population imbalance. Drawing on these results, we elucidate the phases present in a trapped geometry, finding three characteristic types of behavior with changing population imbalance. Finally, we outline the potential experimental implications of the findings.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, typos added, references adde

Ising Deconfinement Transition Between Feshbach-Resonant Superfluids

We investigate the phase diagram of bosons interacting via Feshbach-resonant pairing interactions in a one-dimensional lattice. Using large scale density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) and field theory techniques we explore the atomic and molecular correlations in this low-dimensional setting. We provide compelling evidence for an Ising deconfinement transition occurring between distinct superfluids and extract the Ising order parameter and correlation length of this unusual superfluid transition. This is supported by results for the entanglement entropy which reveal both the location of the transition and critical Ising degrees of freedom on the phase boundary.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

JWalk: a tool for lazy, systematic testing of java classes by design introspection and user interaction

Popular software testing tools, such as JUnit, allow frequent retesting of modified code; yet the manually created test scripts are often seriously incomplete. A unit-testing tool called JWalk has therefore been developed to address the need for systematic unit testing within the context of agile methods. The tool operates directly on the compiled code for Java classes and uses a new lazy method for inducing the changing design of a class on the fly. This is achieved partly through introspection, using Java’s reflection capability, and partly through interaction with the user, constructing and saving test oracles on the fly. Predictive rules reduce the number of oracle values that must be confirmed by the tester. Without human intervention, JWalk performs bounded exhaustive exploration of the class’s method protocols and may be directed to explore the space of algebraic constructions, or the intended design state-space of the tested class. With some human interaction, JWalk performs up to the equivalent of fully automated state-based testing, from a specification that was acquired incrementally