Characterization of the behaviour of dissociated neurons exposed to dielectrophoretic forces

The behaviour of cortical rat neurons exposed to dielectrophoretic forces is investigated by varying the amplitude and frequency of the applied field. The number of neurons trapped in the center of a planar quadrupole micro-electrode structure is determined for two different amplitudes (3 V and 5 V) and six different frequencies in the range from 1 MHz to 18 MHz. A contradictory trend is found for the yield of trapped neurons for the two amplitudes as a function of the frequency

Trapping cortical rat neurons

Cortical rat neurons were trapped by dielectrophoresis (DEP). Experimental data were compared with theoretically deduced relationships. The neuron was represented by a single-shell model. A planar quadrupole electrode structure was used for the creation of a nonuniform field. The electrode structure was modeled as four point charges. The experimental data did almost completely fit the theoretical yield/time relationship. The theoretical yield/amplitude relationship, however, did only apply for a restricted amount of frequencies. The experimental frequency behaviour (i.e., the DEP-spectrum) did not apply to the theory. A difference in neuronal physiological state can produce different DEP-spectra. For two frequencies (10 kHz and 14 MHz) adhesion to the substrate and outgrowth of the neurons was investigate

Measuring activity of the subthalamic nucleus in acute slices using multi electrode arrays

The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (a.o.: tremor, rigidity) can be suppressed by electrical stimulation of the basal ganglia. The most common target nucleus of this so called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Good clinical results are obtained by the application of pulses of 200 s, 1-3 V amplitude at a constant rate of about 130 Hz. However, the mechanism(s) responsible for the clinical improvements are not yet elucidated.\ud The use of acute brain slices as a model is widely used, despite the inevitable loss of many connections. Accurate (i.e. subthreshold) measurements of single neuron and multiple neuron (up to ~3, for practical reasons) membrane potentials are obtained by patch-clamp technique. We propose to use arrays of microelectrodes in slice recordings of STN. We present here our first results

Modulating basal ganglia and cerebellar activity to suppress parkinsonian tremor

Despite extensive research, the detailed pathophysiology of the parkinsonian tremor is still unknown. It has been hypothesized that the generation of parkinsonian tremor is related to abnormal activity within the basal ganglia. The cerebello-thalamic-cortical loop has been suggested to indirectly contribute to the expression of parkinsonian tremor. However, the observed tremor-related hyperactivity in the cerebellar loop may have a compensatory rather than a causal role in Parkinson's disease (PD) by preventing tremor from spilling over into voluntary movement. Furthermore, observed overactivation in cerebellar loops has also been associated with a higher ability of PD patients to perform repetitive movements that are cued by auditory or visual stimuli, suggesting that rhythmic synchronization with an auditory timekeeper can be achieved in the absence of intact basal ganglia function. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is currently an accepted treatment for advanced PD that may significantly improve motor complications and reduce tremor. While DBS directly influences neuronal activity patterns in basal ganglia loops, it may be expected that modulation of the cerebellar loops have an additional effect on parkinsonian tremor if both loops are involved in tremor generation and expression.\ud The aim of this pilot study is to test whether the combination of DBS and auditory cueing has an enhanced effect on tremor reduction. Therefore, in a group of seven PD patients receiving STN-DBS, tremor occurrence in both hands and both feet was sequentially tested while performing repetitive movements cued by an auditory signal. The frequency of the auditory cues ranged from 1.6 Hz, which is within the range of frequencies that can be found during normal movements, and 4.8 Hz, which is near the average PD tremor frequency. Movements and tremor were registered by inertial sensors attached to the hands and feet. The Chi-square test was used to compare the occurrence of tremor in any of the extremities for the different cueing frequencies and DBS “on” and “off”.\ud Compared to the resting condition and the performance of self-paced hand or foot movements, the number of extremities showing tremor was significantly reduced under external cueing conditions when stimulation was “on”. With DBS “off”, only the lower cueing frequencies (1.6 and 3.2 Hz) provided a beneficial effect.\ud From the results it may be hypothesized that modulation of the pathological patterns in basal ganglia (by DBS) and cerebellar activity (by auditory cueing) provides enhanced suppression of action tremor in PD

Multi-Terminal Superconducting Phase Qubit

Mesoscopic multi-terminal Josephson junctions are novel devices that provide weak coupling between several bulk superconductors through a common normal layer. Because of the nonlocal coupling of the superconducting banks, a current flow between two of the terminals can induce a phase difference and/or current flow in the other terminals. This "phase dragging" effect is used in designing a new type of superconducting phase qubit, the basic element of a quantum computer. Time-reversal symmetry breaking can be achieved by inserting a pi-phase shifter into the flux loop. Logical operations are done by applying currents. This removes the necessity for local external magnetic fields to achieve bistability or controllable operations.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Constraining the nature of the accreting binary in CXOGBS J174623.5-310550

We report optical and infrared observations of the X-ray source CXOGBS J174623.5-310550. This Galactic object was identified as a potential quiescent low-mass X-ray binary accreting from an M-type donor on the basis of optical spectroscopy and the broad Halpha emission line. The analysis of X-shooter spectroscopy covering 3 consecutive nights supports an M2/3-type spectral classification. Neither radial velocity variations nor rotational broadening is detected in the photospheric lines. No periodic variability is found in I- and r'-band light curves. We derive r' = 20.8, I = 19.2 and Ks = 16.6 for the optical and infrared counterparts with the M-type star contributing 90% to the I-band light. We estimate its distance to be 1.3-1.8 kpc. The lack of radial velocity variations implies that the M-type star is not the donor star in the X-ray binary. This could be an interloper or the outer body in a hierarchical triple. We constrain the accreting binary to be a < 2.2 hr orbital period eclipsing cataclysmic variable or a low-mass X-ray binary lying in the foreground of the Galactic Bulge.Comment: (9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Ballistic spin-polarized transport and Rashba spin precession in semiconductor nanowires

We present numerical calculations of the ballistic spin-transport properties of quasi-one-dimensional wires in the presence of the spin-orbit (Rashba) interaction. A tight-binding analog of the Rashba Hamiltonian which models the Rashba effect is used. By varying the robustness of the Rashba coupling and the width of the wire, weak and strong coupling regimes are identified. Perfect electron spin-modulation is found for the former regime, regardless of the incident Fermi energy and mode number. In the latter however, the spin-conductance has a strong energy dependence due to a nontrivial subband intermixing induced by the strong Rashba coupling. This would imply a strong suppression of the spin-modulation at higher temperatures and source-drain voltages. The results may be of relevance for the implementation of quasi-one-dimensional spin transistor devices.Comment: 19 pages (incl. 9 figures). To be published in PR

Coherent current transport in wide ballistic Josephson junctions

We present an experimental and theoretical investigation of coherent current transport in wide ballistic superconductor-two dimensional electron gas-superconductor junctions. It is found experimentally that upon increasing the junction length, the subharmonic gap structure in the current-voltage characteristics is shifted to lower voltages, and the excess current at voltages much larger than the superconducting gap decreases. Applying a theory of coherent multiple Andreev reflection, we show that these observations can be explained in terms of transport through Andreev resonances.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Effect of point-contact transparency on coherent mixing of Josephson and transport supercurrents

The influence of electron reflection on dc Josephson effect in a ballistic point contact with transport current in the banks is considered theoretically. The effect of finite transparency on the vortex-like currents near the contact and at the phase difference $\phi =\pi ,$ which has been predicted recently \cite{KOSh}, is investigated. We show that at low temperatures even a small reflection on the contact destroys the mentioned vortex-like current states, which can be restored by increasing of the temperature.Comment: 6 pages, 8 Figures, Latex Fil

Quantum transport theory for nanostructures with Rashba spin-orbital interaction

We report on a general theory for analyzing quantum transport through devices in the Metal-QD-Metal configuration where QD is a quantum dot or the device scattering region which contains Rashba spin-orbital and electron-electron interactions. The metal leads may or may not be ferromagnetic, they are assumed to weakly couple to the QD region. Our theory is formulated by second quantizing the Rashba spin-orbital interaction in spectral space (instead of real space), and quantum transport is then analyzed within the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. The Rashba interaction causes two main effects to the Hamiltonian: (i) it gives rise to an extra spin-dependent phase factor in the coupling matrix elements between the leads and the QD; (ii) it gives rise to an inter-level spin-flip term but forbids any intra-level spin-flips. Our formalism provides a starting point for analyzing many quantum transport issues where spin-orbital effects are important. As an example, we investigate transport properties of a Aharnov-Bohm ring in which a QD having Rashba spin-orbital and e-e interactions is located in one arm of the ring. A substantial spin-polarized conductance or current emerges in this device due to a combined effect of a magnetic flux and the Rashba interaction. The direction and strength of the spin-polarization are shown to be controllable by both the magnetic flux and a gate voltage.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure