Homonucleotide tracts, short repeats and CpG/CpNpG motifs are frequent sites for heterogeneous mutations in the neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) tumour-suppressor gene

Glutamatergic synaptic potentials induced by micromolar concentrations of the potassium conductance blocker 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) were recorded intracellularly from rat neostriatal neurons in the presence of 10 microM bicuculline (BIC). These synaptic potentials originate from neostriatal cortical and thalamic afferents and were completely blocked by 10 microM 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX) plus 100 microM D-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (2-APV). Their inter-event time intervals could be fitted to exponential distributions, suggesting that they are induced randomly. Their amplitude distributions had most counts around 1 mV and fewer counts with values up to 5 mV. Since input resistance of the recorded neurons is about 40 M omega, the amplitudes agree to quantal size measurements in mammalian central neurons. The action of a D2 agonist, quinpirole, was studied on the frequency of these events. Mean amplitude of synaptic potentials was preserved in the presence of 2-10 microM quinpirole, but the frequency of 4-AP-induced glutamatergic synaptic potentials was reduced in 35% of cases. The effect was blocked by the D2 antagonist sulpiride (10 microM). Input resistance, membrane potential, or firing threshold did not change during quinpirole effect, suggesting a presynaptic site of action for quinpirole in some but not all glutamatergic afferents that make contact on a single cell. The present experiments show that dopaminergic presynaptic modulation of glutamatergic transmission in the neostriatum does not affect all stimulated afferents, suggesting that it is selective towards some of them. This may control the quality and quantity of afferent flow upon neostriatal neurons.     

Morphology of amorphous layers ballistically deposited on a planar substrate

Identification of a specific biomolecular target appropriately sensitive to a wide array of anesthetics has been elusive. At concentrations close to their respective ED50's for anesthesia in man or other species, 18 compounds, differing in potencies up to 66,000 fold, inhibited cytochrome P450 mediated metabolism of aminopyrine, a synthetic substrate, and arachidonic acid (AA), an endogenous substrate, in isolated liver microsomes. There was a highly significant correlation for both substrates between the absolute concentrations required for anesthesia (EC50) and for inhibition of P450 activity (Ki or IC50). The mean Ki/EC50 ratio was 0.97 for inhibition of aminopyrine demethylase. The mean IC50/EC50 ratios were 0.42 and 0.64 for inhibition of two AA-derived products and 2.8 for a third; a mean ratio of 1.4 for inhibition of overall AA metabolism suggests interaction of general anesthetics with a composite of P450 isozymes. The universal cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, in conjunction with other lipid oxygenases (cyclooxygenases and lipoxygenases) participate in the second messenger AA cascade. In nerve cells the sensitivity of these enzymes to hydrophobic neurodepressant drugs may underlie the state of general anesthesia: reversible disruption of intracellular and intercellular signalling without impairment of enzymes vital to cell respiration.     

Effect of rare-earth doping on the electrical and photoelectrical properties of furazano [ 3,4-b] piperazine (FP) thin-film devices

Schottky diodes of rare-earth, praseodymium (Pr)-doped and samarium (Sm)-doped furazano [3,4-b] piperazine (FP), sandwiched between Al and indium-tin oxide (ITO) were made by a spin-coating technique. The diodes, in which doped FP behaves as a p-type organic semiconductor, exhibit rectification behaviour. The p-type semiconductivity and rectification properties of the devices improve with rare-earth doping. The electrical effects observed in these devices are explained in terms of the p-type semiconducting behaviour of the doped FP thin films and the formation of a blocking contact (Schottky barrier) with the Al electrode and ohmic contact with the ITO electrode. Various electrical parameters such as carrier mobility, position of Fermi level, free carrier concentration, trap density, trap level and conductivity of doped FP are calculated and discussed. It is found that the position of the Fermi level shifts toward the valence band on rare-earth doping; concentration of free carriers and carrier mobility increase on doping. From the capacitance-voltage (C-V measurements, various electrical parameters such as barrier height, density of ionized acceptor atoms and depletion layer width are calculated and discussed. From the action spectra and absorption spectra it is confirmed that the Al-doped FP interface forms a Schottky barrier and the ITO-doped FP interface shows ohmic contact. The photovoltaic measurement on the two devices reveals that the short circuit current, open circuit voltage, fill factor and power conversion efficiency increase on rare-earth doping.     

Synthesis of lithium aluminate,mullite and coloured zirconia by a combustion process

Also with the Department of Agronomy.     

On-body propagation velocity estimation using ultra-wideband frequency-domain spatial correlation analyses

On-body communications around the human torso are considered, using ultra-wideband transmissions. The velocity of the diffracted wave propagating around the body is extracted from frequency- domain spatial correlation analyses.     

The Einstein relation in nanostructured materials: simplified theory and suggestion for experimental determination

An attempt is made to study the Einstein relation for the diffusivity–mobility ratio (DMR) in quantum wells (QWs) and quantum well wires (QWWs) of tetragonal compounds on the basis of a newly formulated electron energy spectrum taking into account the combined influences of the anisotropies in effective electron mass, the spin–orbit splitting, and the presence of crystal field splitting, respectively. The results for quantum-confined III–V compounds form a special case of our generalized analysis. The DMR has also been studied for QWs and QWWs of II–VI and IV–VI materials. Taking QWs and QWWs of CdGeAs₂, InAs, CdS and PbSe as examples, it was found that the DMR increases with increasing carrier statistics and decreasing film thickness respectively in various oscillatory manners emphasizing the influence of dimensional quantizations and the energy band constants in different cases. An experimental method of determining the DMR in nanostructures with arbitrary dispersion laws has also been suggested and the present simplified analysis is in agreement with the suggested relationship. The well-known results for nanostructures with parabolic energy bands have also been obtained as special cases from this generalized analysis under certain limiting conditions.     

Let's call it “color‐gamut rendering”

The term “color gamut” historically has been associated with color output such as optimal color stimuli and additive and subtractive imaging systems. Recently, this term has been used with input devices such as scanners and digital cameras. It is proposed that the term “color‐gamut rendering” should be used instead of input devices. This clarifies the distinction between input (analysis) and output (synthesis) color systems in terms of the effect of an input system on defining the colorimetric properties of an output system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 334–335, 2007     

Some spatial equilibria in facility investment under uncertain demand

This paper describes the spatial distribution of customer demand, supply of customer services and facility investment, as the outcome of a three-level game-like interaction between customers (e.g., shoppers), suppliers (e.g., retailers) and developers (e.g., landlords). Treating both the suppliers and developers at each centre as competitors, oligopolistic equilibria of the Nash-Stackelberg type are developed, and conditions for their existence and uniqueness established. Uncertain customer demand is specified in probabilistic terms, representing the suppliers' perception of expected customer behaviour.