The distribution of histamine and serotonin in the barnacle's nervous system

The use of antisera directed against conjugates of histamine and serotonin has revealed the locations of neurons labeling for these transmitters in the nervous system of barnacles. Photoreceptors label for histamine but not serotonin and also satisfy a number of other criteria indicating that histamine is their neurotransmitter. Photoreceptors also take up radioactively labeled histamine but not serotonin. Within the barnacle's brain no somata are consistently found that label with antiserum against histamine, but one to three pairs of small cells, depending on species, label with antiserum against serotonin. The most impressive serotonin-like immunoreactivity in the brain, however, is in a pair of large fibers ascending through the circumesophageal connectives and ramifying extensively. Within the ventral ganglion, the only other ganglion in the barnacle, ten pairs of cells label with antiserum against histamine. These neurons are confined to the posterior portion of the ganglion but ramify extensively throughout the ganglion. Antiserum against serotonin labels about 15 cell pairs, depending on species, located throughout the ganglion. The positions of the arbors of many of these cells suggest that these amines have a role in modulating either the motor pathways underlying feeding or the visual pathways responsible for the detection of shadows.     

一个用于取得符号IEC 61508组织性功能安全认证的方法论第一部分:制定策略和确定实施范围

IEC 61508和IEC 61511为那些涉及在危险的与安全相关的环境下运营,同时想证明自身在功能安全管理方面有合规能力和资质的企业设立了一个全球通用的标准.为证明对这些标准的遵循,许多企业都选择通过制定一个战略目标来获得一个第三方权威机构的认证.做到这一点对企业来说是一项重要的成就,它除了要求一个全面完善的工作程序和出色的技术资源,还要求对标准有全面深入的理解、取得最高管理层的支持、需要对安全生命周期与该机构相关的各个阶段有清晰的认识.本文简要介绍了某国际级的安全系统集成商在获取符合IEC 61508标准的第三方功能安全认证的道路上所采用的战略.     

Using full matching to estimate causal effects in nonexperimental studies: Examining the relationship between adolescent marijuana use and adult outcomes.

Matching methods such as nearest neighbor propensity score matching are increasingly popular techniques for controlling confounding in nonexperimental studies. However, simple k:1 matching methods, which select k well-matched comparison individuals for each treated individual, are sometimes criticized for being overly restrictive and discarding data (the unmatched comparison individuals). The authors illustrate the use of a more flexible method called full matching. Full matching makes use of all individuals in the data by forming a series of matched sets in which each set has either 1 treated individual and multiple comparison individuals or 1 comparison individual and multiple treated individuals. Full matching has been shown to be particularly effective at reducing bias due to observed confounding variables. The authors illustrate this approach using data from the Woodlawn Study, examining the relationship between adolescent marijuana use and adult outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Geometric control and tuneable pore size distribution of buckypaper and buckydiscs

The fabrication of buckypaper from unfunctionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) without the aid of surfactants or surface modification techniques is accomplished through a novel and quick frit compression method. The dimensions can be controlled through the size of the syringe housing and the through the mass of carbon nanotubes added. Their thicknesses are typically much larger than surfactant-cast buckypaper and range from 120 μm up to 650 μm; buckypaper with thicknesses larger than 500 μm we call buckydiscs. Buckypaper and buckydiscs are mechanically robust to handle, flexible, stable in solvents and possess larger porosities than Triton-X100 cast buckypaper. They also exhibit a memory effect when bending wetted samples, returning to their former geometry on drying. Buckypaper and buckydiscs were studied by mercury intrusion porosimetry to reveal a defined distribution of mesopores and small macropores that is, along with their density and apparent free volume, dependant on the casting solvent and therefore tuneable. Moreover, the frit compression system also allows control over the 3-dimensional geometry of the buckydiscs during the casting process.     

Low Loss Sintered Dielectric Resonators with HTS Thick Films

The combination of high-Qdielectric resonators and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) films offer many advantages in the area of cellular and satellite communications. The high cost of single crystal dielectrics and HTS thin films may be unattractive in certain applications. Superconducting thick films and polycrystalline ceramic dielectrics offer a high performance, low-cost alternative to high-Qthin film/single crystal dielectric resonators. The loss of polycrystalline ceramics of A1₂O₃, Ba(Mg_1/3Ta_2/3)O₃ (BMT), and Zr_0.875 Sn_0.25Ti0.875O₄ (ZTS) has been studied. Alumina, A1_2Oin3, has been studied as a model material for dielectric loss. Theory predicts that the loss in single crystal sapphire should follow aT ₅ dependence. However, at low temperatures the loss is dominated by extrinsic losses due to crystal imperfection, residual dopant atoms, dislocations, and other lattice defects and theT ₅ dependence does not hold. In polycrystalline alumina the intrinsic loss is immediately masked by these extrinsic losses, even at room temperature, and a simpleT dependence is observed. Results on polycrystalline alumina show that Q’s well in excess of 105 at 10 GHz and 77 K can be achieved in a design made compact by the use of a HTS thick film shield.     

Electrophysiological assessment of primary cortical neurons genetically engineered using iron oxide nanoparticles

The development of safe technologies to genetically modify neurons is of great interest in regenerative neurology,for both translational and basic science applications.Such approaches have conventionally been heavily reliant on viral transduction methods,which have safety and production limitations.Magnetofection (magnet-assisted gene transfer using iron oxide nanoparticles as vectors) has emerged as a highly promising non-viral alternative for safe and reproducible genetic modification of neurons.Despite the high potential of this technology,there is an important gap in our knowledge of the safety of this approach,namely,whether it alters neuronal function in adverse ways,such as by altering neuronal excitability and signaling.We have investigated the effects of magnetofection in primary cortical neurons by examining neuronal excitability using the whole cell patch clamp technique.We found no evidence that magnetofection alters the voltage-dependent sodium and potassium ionic currents that underpin excitability.Our study provides important new data supporting magnetofection as a safe technology for bioengineering of neuronal cell populations.     

Multifrequency ultrasound transducers for conformal interstitial thermal therapy

Control over the pattern of thermal damage generated by interstitial ultrasound heating applicators can be enhanced by changing the ultrasound frequency during heating. The ability to change transmission frequency from a single transducer through the use of high impedance front layers was investigated in this study. The transmission spectrum of multifrequency transducers was calculated using the KLM equivalent circuit model and verified with experimental measurements on prototype transducers. The addition of a quarter-wavelength thick PZT (unpoled) front layer enabled the transmission of ultrasound at two discrete frequencies, 4.7 and 9.7 MHz, from a transducer with an original resonant frequency of 8.4 MHz. Three frequency transmission at 3.3, 8.4, and 10.8 MHz was possible for a transducer with a half-wavelength thick front layer. Calculations of the predicted thermal lesion size at each transmission frequency indicated that the depth of thermal lesion could be varied by a factor of 1.6 for the quarter-wavelength front layer. Heating experiments performed in excised liver tissue with a dual-frequency applicator confirmed this ability to control the shape of thermal lesions during heating to generate a desired geometry. Practical interstitial Designs that enable the generation of shaped thermal lesions are feasible.     

Toward in-cylinder absorption tomography in a production engine

Design requirements for an 8000 frame/s dual-wavelength ratiometric chemical species tomography system, intended for hydrocarbon vapor imaging in one cylinder of a standard automobile engine, are examined. The design process is guided by spectroscopic measurements on iso-octane and by comprehensive results from laboratory phantoms and research engines, including results on temporal resolution performance. Novel image reconstruction techniques, necessary for this application, are presented. Recent progress toward implementation, including details of the optical access arrangement employed and signal-to-noise issues, is described. We present first cross-cylinder IR absorption measurements from a reduced channel-count (nontomographic) system and discuss the prospects for imaging.