A test of metabolically efficient coding in the retina

We tested the hypothesis that aspects of the neural code of retinal ganglion cells are optimized to transmit visual information at minimal metabolic cost. Under a broad ensemble of light patterns, ganglion cell spike trains consisted of sparse, precise bursts of spikes. These bursts were viewed as independent neural symbols. The noise in each burst was measured via repeated presentation of the visual stimulus, and the energy cost was estimated from the total charge flow during ganglion cell spiking. Given these costs and noise, the theory of efficient codes predicts an optimal distribution of symbol usage. Symbols that are either noisy or costly occur less frequently in this optimal code. We found good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the measured distribution of burst sizes for ganglion cells in the tiger salamander retina.     

Durability of FRP Composite Bridge Deck Materials under Freeze-Thaw and Low Temperature Conditions

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, especially lightweight sandwich structures, are rapidly finding their way into civil infrastructure application. FRP composite panels are particularly attractive as bridge deck systems due to their high strength, low density, and durability, which are of importance to the bridge industry. Most of the vast amount of durability data for FRP has been generated for aerospace and automotive applications, which involve very different service conditions than civil infrastructure. For civil engineering applications, it is essential to examine the durability performance of FRP materials under weathering conditions. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop a reliable framework for durability assessment of FRP decks, including laboratory testing procedure and finite-element simulation capability. Such a framework should be applicable to all types of FRP deck construction. In this paper, specimens of typical FRP bridge deck skin materials are subjected to freeze-thaw cycling between 4.4 and ?17.8°C in media of dry air, distilled water, and saltwater, and constant freeze at ?17.8°C . The selected deck is used as an example for demonstration purposes. In addition, selected specimens are subjected to simultaneous environmental exposure conditions and sustained loading of 25% ultimate strain. It should be emphasized that most of the environmental conditions reported in the literature produce minor deterioration of a single composite property, and the assessment of such effect on this single property becomes unreliable because of a large property variation. Therefore, in this paper we use multiple mechanical properties as performance indices for damage evaluation. Based on findings from this work, it is concluded that freeze-thaw cycling between 4.4 and ?17.8°C alone and up to 1,250 h and 625 cycles caused very insignificant or no change in the flexural strength, storage modulus, and loss factor of the FRP specimens conditioned in dry air, distilled water, and saltwater. Small reductions in storage modulus (about 1% or less) were observed when specimens were prestrained and subjected to 250 freeze-thaw cycles in distilled water and saltwater. Changes in flexural strength were statistically insignificant, since they were within the data scatter.     

Movement abnormalities and the progression of prodromal symptomatology in adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders.

The link between movement abnormalities and psychotic disorders is presumed to reflect common neural mechanisms that influence both motor functions and vulnerability to psychosis. The prodromal period leading to psychotic disorders represents both a viable point for intervention and a developmental period that, if studied, could shed light on etiology; however, no published studies have examined the temporal progression of this link. A group with high levels of prodromal symptomatology (i.e., adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder [SPD]; n = 42) and both psychiatric controls (with other personality disorders or conduct disorder [OD]; n = 30) and nonpsychiatric controls ([NC]; n = 49) were recruited. Videotapes of structured psychiatric interviews were coded for movement abnormalities by raters blind to participants' diagnostic status, and follow-up assessments were conducted 1 year later. Controlling for psychotropic medications, the authors found that adolescents with SPD exhibited significantly more motor abnormalities in the face and upper body than did OD and NC controls. At baseline, movement abnormalities were positively correlated with the severity of positive, negative, and total prodromal symptoms. Within the SPD group, baseline movement abnormalities predicted symptom severity 1 year later. Movement abnormalities represent an early risk indicator that may be predictive of later symptom severity and potentially of psychosis onset. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Study of annealing effects in In-Sb bilayer thin films

The thin films of In-Sb having different thicknesses of antimony keeping constant thickness of indium was deposited by thermal evaporation method on ITO coated conducting glass substrates at room temperature and a pressure of 10⁻⁵ torr. The samples were annealed for 1 h at 433 K at a pressure of 10⁻⁵ torr. The optical transmission spectra of as deposited and annealed films have been carried out at room temperature. The variation in optical band gap with thickness was also observed. Rutherford back scattering and X-ray diffraction analysis confirms mixing of bilayer system. The transverse I-V characteristic shows mixing effect after annealing at 433 K for 1 h. This study confirms mixing of bilayer structure of semiconductor thin films.     

Hydrolysis of Epoxidized Soybean Oil in the Presence of Phosphoric Acid

Ring-opening hydrolysis of epoxidized soybean oil in the presence of phosphoric acid was studied under varying experimental conditions. The influence of type and amount of solvents, phosphoric acid content and water content on the rate of ring-opening reactions and the characteristics of the derived products were studied. The soy-polyols prepared were characterized by determination of hydroxyl content, viscosity measurements, determination of average molecular weight and polydispersity index (GPC). The structural confirmation was done by FT-IR and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. The study shows that under the reaction conditions employed, a substantial degree of oligomerization due to oxirane-oxirane, and/or oxirane-hydroxyl reaction takes place. It is possible to synthesize soy-polyols having varying hydroxyl content and phosphate-ester functionality by controlling the type and amount of polar solvent and phosphoric acid content.     

Optimized Silica-Binding Peptide-Mediated Delivery of Bactericidal Lysin Efficiently Prevents Staphylococcus aureus from Adhering to Device Surfaces

Staphylococcal-associated device-related infections (DRIs) represent a significant clinical challenge causing major medical and economic sequelae. Bacterial colonization, proliferation, and biofilm formation after adherence to surfaces of the indwelling device are probably the primary cause of DRIs. To address this issue, we incorporated constructs of silica-binding peptide (SiBP) with ClyF, an anti-staphylococcal lysin, into functionalized coatings to impart bactericidal activity against planktonic and sessile Staphylococcus aureus. An optimized construct, SiBP1-ClyF, exhibited improved thermostability and staphylolytic activity compared to its parental lysin ClyF. SiBP1-ClyF-functionalized coatings were efficient in killing MRSA strain N315 (>99.999% within 1 h) and preventing the growth of static and dynamic S. aureus biofilms on various surfaces, including siliconized glass, silicone-coated latex catheter, and silicone catheter. Additionally, SiBP1-ClyF-immobilized surfaces supported normal attachment and growth of mammalian cells. Although the recycling potential and long-term stability of lysin-immobilized surfaces are still affected by the fragility of biological protein molecules, the present study provides a generic strategy for efficient delivery of bactericidal lysin to solid surfaces, which serves as a new approach to prevent the growth of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms on surfaces in hospital settings and could be adapted for other target pathogens as well.     

The Palladium(II) Complex of Aβ4−16 as Suitable Model for Structural Studies of Biorelevant Copper(II) Complexes of N-Truncated Beta-Amyloids

The Aβ4−42 peptide is a major beta-amyloid species in the human brain, forming toxic aggregates related to Alzheimer’s Disease. It also strongly chelates Cu(II) at the N-terminal Phe-Arg-His ATCUN motif, as demonstrated in Aβ4−16 and Aβ4−9 model peptides. The resulting complex resists ROS generation and exchange processes and may help protect synapses from copper-related oxidative damage. Structural characterization of Cu(II)Aβ4−x complexes by NMR would help elucidate their biological function, but is precluded by Cu(II) paramagneticism. Instead we used an isostructural diamagnetic Pd(II)-Aβ4−16 complex as a model. To avoid a kinetic trapping of Pd(II) in an inappropriate transient structure, we designed an appropriate pH-dependent synthetic procedure for ATCUN Pd(II)Aβ4−16, controlled by CD, fluorescence and ESI-MS. Its assignments and structure at pH 6.5 were obtained by TOCSY, NOESY, ROESY, 1H-13C HSQC and 1H-15N HSQC NMR experiments, for natural abundance 13C and 15N isotopes, aided by corresponding experiments for Pd(II)-Phe-Arg-His. The square-planar Pd(II)-ATCUN coordination was confirmed, with the rest of the peptide mostly unstructured. The diffusion rates of Aβ4−16, Pd(II)-Aβ4−16 and their mixture determined using PGSE-NMR experiment suggested that the Pd(II) complex forms a supramolecular assembly with the apopeptide. These results confirm that Pd(II) substitution enables NMR studies of structural aspects of Cu(II)-Aβ complexes.     

Dielectric and conducting behavior of pyrene functionalized PANI/P(VDF‐co‐HFP) blend

Herein, we present the dielectric and electrical conductivity properties of the partially miscible polymer blend prepared using pyrene functionalized polyaniline (pf‐PANI) and poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoro propylene) (PVDF‐co‐HFP). The blend mostly retains the fluorescent nature of pf‐PANI as well as can be moldable and possesses good damping property. The dielectric properties have been investigated as a function of temperature at three different frequencies and the plausible origin of polarization responsible for dielectric behavior in this blend has been identified. The experimental results of dielectric measurements are compared with theoretical models and discussed. The surface morphology of the samples has been examined with a scanning electron microscope. The electrical conductivity has also been studied as a function of temperature and explained in terms of hopping of charge carriers/interconnected networks. The combined dielectric and conductivity results together with scanning electron microscope micrographs, reveal that there is hindrance to achieve percolation threshold even after pf‐PANI addition of 57 vol % and subsequent thermal treatment. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44077.