Active Dendrites Regulate Spectral Selectivity in Location-Dependent Spike Initiation Dynamics of Hippocampal Model Neurons

How does the presence of plastic active dendrites in a pyramidal neuron alter its spike initiation dynamics? To answer this question, we measured the spike-triggered average (STA) from experimentally constrained, conductance-based hippocampal neuronal models of various morphological complexities. We transformed the STA computed from these models to the spectral and the spectrotemporal domains and found that the spike initiation dynamics exhibited temporally localized selectivity to a characteristic frequency. In the presence of the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels, the STA characteristic frequency strongly correlated with the subthreshold resonance frequency in the theta frequency range. Increases in HCN channel density or in input variance increased the STA characteristic frequency and its selectivity strength. In the absence of HCN channels, the STA exhibited weak delta frequency selectivity and the characteristic frequency was related to the repolarization dynamics of the action potentials and the recovery kinetics of sodium channels from inactivation. Comparison of STA obtained with inputs at various dendritic locations revealed that nonspiking and spiking dendrites increased and reduced the spectrotemporal integration window of the STA with increasing distance from the soma as direct consequences of passive filtering and dendritic spike initiation, respectively. Finally, the presence of HCN channels set the STA characteristic frequency in the theta range across the somatodendritic arbor and specific STA measurements were strongly related to equivalent transfer-impedance-related measurements. Our results identify explicit roles for plastic active dendrites in neural coding and strongly recommend a dynamically reconfigurable multi-STA model to characterize location-dependent input feature selectivity in pyramidal neurons.

SRF Phosphorylation by Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Promotes Axon Growth in Hippocampal Neurons

The growth of axons is an intricately regulated process involving intracellular signaling cascades and gene transcription. We had previously shown that the stimulus-dependent transcription factor, serum response factor (SRF), plays a critical role in regulating axon growth in the mammalian brain. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying SRF-dependent axon growth remains unknown. Here we report that SRF is phosphorylated and activated by GSK-3 to promote axon outgrowth in mouse hippocampal neurons. GSK-3 binds to and directly phosphorylates SRF on a highly conserved serine residue. This serine phosphorylation is necessary for SRF activity and for its interaction with MKL-family cofactors, MKL1 and MKL2, but not with TCF-family cofactor, ELK-1. Axonal growth deficits caused by GSK-3 inhibition could be rescued by expression of a constitutively active SRF. The SRF target gene and actin-binding protein, vinculin, is sufficient to overcome the axonal growth deficits of SRF-deficient and GSK-3-inhibited neurons. Furthermore, short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of vinculin also attenuated axonal growth. Thus, our findings reveal a novel phosphorylation and activation of SRF by GSK-3 that is critical for SRF-dependent axon growth in mammalian central neurons.

Use of Exocentric and Egocentric Representations in the Concurrent Planning of Sequential Saccades

The concurrent planning of sequential saccades offers a simple model to study the nature of visuomotor transformations since the second saccade vector needs to be remapped to foveate the second target following the first saccade. Remapping is thought to occur through egocentric mechanisms involving an efference copy of the first saccade that is available around the time of its onset. In contrast, an exocentric representation of the second target relative to the first target, if available, can be used to directly code the second saccade vector. While human volunteers performed a modified double-step task, we examined the role of exocentric encoding in concurrent saccade planning by shifting the first target location well before the efference copy could be used by the oculomotor system. The impact of the first target shift on concurrent processing was tested by examining the end-points of second saccades following a shift of the second target during the first saccade. The frequency of second saccades to the old versus new location of the second target, as well as the propagation of first saccade localization errors, both indices of concurrent processing, were found to be significantly reduced in trials with the first target shift compared to those without it. A similar decrease in concurrent processing was obtained when we shifted the first target but kept constant the second saccade vector. Overall, these results suggest that the brain can use relatively stable visual landmarks, independent of efference copy-based egocentric mechanisms, for concurrent planning of sequential saccades.

Analogous Synaptic Plasticity Profiles Emerge from Disparate Channel Combinations

An open question within the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro theory for synaptic modification concerns the specific mechanism that is responsible for regulating the sliding modification threshold (SMT). In this conductance-based modeling study on hippocampal pyramidal neurons, we quantitatively assessed the impact of seven ion channels (R- and T-type calcium, fast sodium, delayed rectifier, A-type, and small-conductance calcium-activated (SK) potassium and HCN) and two receptors (AMPAR and NMDAR) on a calcium-dependent Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro-like plasticity rule. Our analysis with R- and T-type calcium channels revealed that differences in their activation-inactivation profiles resulted in differential impacts on how they altered the SMT. Further, we found that the impact of SK channels on the SMT critically depended on the voltage dependence and kinetics of the calcium sources with which they interacted. Next, we considered interactions among all the seven channels and the two receptors through global sensitivity analysis on 11 model parameters. We constructed 20,000 models through uniform randomization of these parameters and found 360 valid models based on experimental constraints on their plasticity profiles. Analyzing these 360 models, we found that similar plasticity profiles could emerge with several nonunique parametric combinations and that parameters exhibited weak pairwise correlations. Finally, we used seven sets of virtual knock-outs on these 360 models and found that the impact of different channels on the SMT was variable and differential. These results suggest that there are several nonunique routes to regulate the SMT, and call for a systematic analysis of the variability and state dependence of the mechanisms underlying metaplasticity during behavior and pathology.

Imaging cellular signalling: many `moving tales' in MAP kinase odyssey

Cellular signalling events are at the core of every adaptive response. Signalling events link environmental changes to physiological responses, consequently allowing cellular and organismal sustenance and survival. Classical approaches to study cellular signalling have relied on a variety of cell disruptive techniques which yield limited kinetic information, while the underlying events are much more complex. In this article, we discuss how modern live cell imaging microscopy has found increasing utilization in revealing spatio temporal dynamics of various signalling pathways. Utilizing the well studied mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling cascade as a template, the design, construction and utilization of `mobile' (translocation proficient) biosensors, suitable for studying MAPK signalling in living cells are described in detail. Experimental setup and results obtained from these biosensors, based on different proteins involved in the MAPK signalling cascade, have been described along with the setup of a microscope optimal for live cell imaging applications. Utilizing the ability to activate or deactivate signalling pathways using defined activators and specific pharmacological inhibitors, we also show how these sensors can yield unique spatial and temporal kinetic information of signalling in living cells.

Accelerating Information Diffusion in Social Networks Under the Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible Epidemic Model

Standard Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) epidemic models assume that a message spreads from the infected to the susceptible nodes due to only susceptible-infected epidemic contact. We modify the standard SIS epidemic model to include direct recruitment of susceptible individuals to the infected class at a constant rate (independent of epidemic contacts), to accelerate information spreading in a social network. Such recruitment can be carried out by placing advertisements in the media. We provide a closed form analytical solution for system evolution in the proposed model and use it to study campaigning in two different scenarios. In the first, the net cost function is a linear combination of the reward due to extent of information diffusion and the cost due to application of control. In the second, the campaign budget is fixed. Results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed system in accelerating and improving the extent of information diffusion. Our work is useful for devising effective strategies for product marketing and political/social-awareness/crowd-funding campaigns that target individuals in a social network.

Comparison of Matching Pursuit Algorithm with Other Signal Processing Techniques for Computation of the Time-Frequency Power Spectrum of Brain Signals

Signals recorded from the brain often show rhythmic patterns at different frequencies, which are tightly coupled to the external stimuli as well as the internal state of the subject. In addition, these signals have very transient structures related to spiking or sudden onset of a stimulus, which have durations not exceeding tens of milliseconds. Further, brain signals are highly nonstationary because both behavioral state and external stimuli can change on a short time scale. It is therefore essential to study brain signals using techniques that can represent both rhythmic and transient components of the signal, something not always possible using standard signal processing techniques such as short time fourier transform, multitaper method, wavelet transform, or Hilbert transform. In this review, we describe a multiscale decomposition technique based on an over-complete dictionary called matching pursuit (MP), and show that it is able to capture both a sharp stimulus-onset transient and a sustained gamma rhythm in local field potential recorded from the primary visual cortex. We compare the performance of MP with other techniques and discuss its advantages and limitations. Data and codes for generating all time-frequency power spectra are provided.

Towards an Understanding of the Influence of Sedimentation on Colloidal Aggregation by Peclet Number

The Peclet number is a useful index to estimate the importance of sedimentation as compared to the Brownian motion. However, how to choose the characteristic length scale for the Peclet number evaluation is rather critical because the diffusion length increases as the square root of the time whereas the drifting length is linearly related to time. Our Brownian dynamics simulation shows that the degree of sedimentation influence on the coagulation decreases when the dispersion volume fraction increases. Therefore using a fixed length, such as the diameter of particle, as the characteristic length scale for Peclet number evaluation is not a good choice when dealing with the influence of sedimentation on coagulation. The simulations demonstrated that environmental factors in the coagulation process, such as dispersion volume fraction and size distribution, should be taken into account for more reasonable evaluation of the sedimentation influence.

竖置管流中液固两相脉动特性和颗粒浓度分布

利用激光多普勒分相测量技术，考察了液固两相自下而上通过竖置矩形管时，固、液两相的时均速度、流向及横向有脉动强度和颗粒相的相对浓度分布，证实了颗粒浓度的横向分布主要取决于颗粒的横向脉动强度分布（即n_p↑—v'_p~2=常数）的分析结果。

Estudio de observación de ciento doce líneas de arroz (Oryza sativa L.) VIOAL-92, bajo ecosistema de riego en la localidad de Malacatoya

Con el objetivo de evaluar 112 líneas de Arroz de porte semienano, procedentes en su mayoría de Colombia, Vivero IRRI (IIRON), Argentina, Cuba y Perú, y utilizando como testigos internacionales las variedades CICA-8 y ORYZICA-1 y como testigos locales las variedades ALTAM1RA-9, ALTAM1RA-10 y CICA-8 también considerada como testigo local, se llevó a cabo un estudio en la "Finca Venllano", ubicada en Malacatoya, municipio del departamento de Granada, bajo el agroecosistema de riego. A cada línea se le evalúo las características agronómicas (floración, altura, desgrane, senescencia, exerción, acame y aceptabilidad fenotípica) y los componentes del rendimiento ( long de panícula, número de granos por panícula, porcentaje de fertilidad, peso de 1000 granos, rendimiento y rendimiento industrial ( % de arroz integral, % de arroz pulido y % de arroz oro). Se seleccionaron 15 líneas por sus características agronómicas y su potencial de rendimiento, lo que da un 13% de selección del material evaluado. La línea de mejor rendimiento fue la 113 (ECIA 561 con 5980 Kg/ha y la de menor rendimiento fue la línea 30 (CT9508-48-1-1P-2PT) con 3195 Kg/ha. El material de mejor calidad industrial fue la línea 10 (CT8837-1-17-1P-4) con 58.5 % de Arroz Oro y la línea más baja fue la 41 (CT7B05-17-4A-M-4P) con 48.0 % de Arroz Oro.

Efecto de policultivos repollo-arroz, repollo-zanahoria, repollo-frijol, repollo-cebolla sobre la entomofauna en el cultivo del repollo (Brassica oleraceae L.) híbrido Izalco

El experimento de campo se llevó a cabo en San Ignacio, municipio de la Concepción, departamento de Masaya con el objetivo de evaluar el efecto de policultivos (repollo-arroz, repollo-zanahoria, repollo-frijol y repollo-cebolla) sobre la palomilla de la col (Plutella xylostella L.) en el cultivo de repollo (Brassica oleracea L.) híbrido Izalco, además se evaluó un tratamiento en monocultivo de repollo y otro con aplicación de insecticida biológico dipel (Bacillus thuringiensis) para ser usados como testigo absoluto y relativo respectivamente. Las plagas predominantes durante el ensayo fueron Plutella Xylostella, Spodoptera sp., Ascia monuste y Afidos. En la etapa de crecimiento vegetativo (0-32 días después del trasplante, DDT),las población de Plutella xylostella fue baja, pero en la etapa de preformación de cabeza (32-64 DDT) la población se incrementó, los tratamientos que presentaron menores poblaciones fueron repollo-arroz, repollo + dipel seguido de repollo-cebolla. En la etapa de formación de cabeza (64-88 DDT) la incidencia de la plaga fue siempre alta en el monocultivo de repollo y repollo-frijol a excepción de los demás tratamientos, siendo esta la etapa de mayor importancia del cultivo. El uso de cultivos en asocio no ejerció ningún efecto sobre Ascia monuste, Spodoptera sp. y Afidos. En la incidencia de insectos benéficos sólo se encontró & ralas y sus poblaciones se mantuvieron a niveles bajos.

Temas de historia argentina y americana, 2005, n° 7 (número completo)

Centralismo y descentralización en el Plata. Aproximaciones / Edberto Oscar Acevedo -- La Justicia letrada en la campaña bonaerense. 1853-1856 / María Angélica Corva -- La tradición indiana y la formación del derecho argentino / José María Días Couselo -- El destierro de Perón en la España franquista / Beatriz J. Figallo -- Ideología y pragmatismo: relaciones hispano-chilenas, 1964-1970 / María José Henriquez Uzal -- Los aspectos navales de las relaciones Argentino Germanas II – La época del Tercer Reich 1930-1945 / Julio M. Luqui-Lagleyze -- Las formas sociales del habitar. Derivaciones tipológicas de la vivienda hacia el Centenario de Mayo / Susana N. Tuler -- Las publicaciones producidas por el ambiente del Centenario de la Revolución de Mayo (1910) / Juan María Veniard -- Documentos -- Reseñas Bibliográficas