Optimal recall from bounded metaplastic synapses: predicting functional adaptations in hippocampal area CA3.

A venerable history of classical work on autoassociative memory has significantly shaped our understanding of several features of the hippocampus, and most prominently of its CA3 area, in relation to memory storage and retrieval. However, existing theories of hippocampal memory processing ignore a key biological constraint affecting memory storage in neural circuits: the bounded dynamical range of synapses. Recent treatments based on the notion of metaplasticity provide a powerful model for individual bounded synapses; however, their implications for the ability of the hippocampus to retrieve memories well and the dynamics of neurons associated with that retrieval are both unknown. Here, we develop a theoretical framework for memory storage and recall with bounded synapses. We formulate the recall of a previously stored pattern from a noisy recall cue and limited-capacity (and therefore lossy) synapses as a probabilistic inference problem, and derive neural dynamics that implement approximate inference algorithms to solve this problem efficiently. In particular, for binary synapses with metaplastic states, we demonstrate for the first time that memories can be efficiently read out with biologically plausible network dynamics that are completely constrained by the synaptic plasticity rule, and the statistics of the stored patterns and of the recall cue. Our theory organises into a coherent framework a wide range of existing data about the regulation of excitability, feedback inhibition, and network oscillations in area CA3, and makes novel and directly testable predictions that can guide future experiments.

Effects of ammonium on growth, nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism of Potamogeton maackianus A. Benn

Growth, nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to eutrophication were studied for a submerged plant Potamogeton maackianus, a species common in East Asian shallow lakes. The plants were grown in six NH4+-N concentrations (0.05, 0.50, 1.00, 3.50, 5.00 and 10.00 mg/L) for six days. NH4+-N levels in excess of 0.50 mg/L inhibited the plant growth. The relationships between external NH4+-N availability and total nitrogen (TN), protein-N, free amino acid-N (FAA-N) and NH4+-N in plant tissues, respectively, conformed to a logarithmic model suggesting that a feedback inhibition mechanism may exist for ammonium uptake. The response of starch to NH4+-N was fitted with a negative, logarithmic curve. Detailed analysis revealed that the influx NH4+-N had been efficiently incorporated into organic-N and eventually stored as protein at the expense of starch accumulation. These data suggest that this species may be able to tolerate high levels of ammonium when dissolved oxygen is sufficient.

Fracture mechanics of idealised bituminous mixes

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. The durability of asphalt pavements is strongly impaired by cracks, caused primarily by traffic loads and environmental effects. In this work, fracture behaviour of idealised asphalt mixes is investigated. Experiments on idealised asphalt mixes under pure-tension mode (mode I cracking) were performed and fracture parameters were evaluated. In these three-point bend fracture tests, the test variables were temperature and load rate. The test data were stored in an asphalt materials database and special-purpose tools were implemented to analyse and handle the laboratory data automatically. Fracture mechanism maps were constructed, showing the conditions associated with ductile, brittle and ductile-brittle transition regimes of behaviour. The mechanism maps show the failure response of the material in terms of the stress intensity factor, strain energy release rate and J-integral as a function of the temperature-compensated crack mouth opening strain rate. Fracture behaviour of asphalt mix specimens was simulated by cohesive zone model in conjunction with a novel material constitutive model for asphalt mixes. The finite element model agrees well with the experimental results and provides insights into fracture response of the notched asphalt mix beam specimens.

cDNA cloning and characterization of a novel SNX gene differentially expressed in previtellogenic oocytes of gibel carp

To understand the molecular events governing fish oogenesis, a multiple technique was used to identify the genes differentially expressed at different phases during fish oogenesis. This technique is a combination of suppression subtractive hybridization, SMART cDNA synthesis and RACE-PCR. Here we report the cDNA cloning and expression characterization of a novel SNX gene based on its differential transcription between previtellogenic and fully mature oocytes in naturally gynogenetic gibel carp. First, a cDNA fragment selectively expressed in previtellogenic oocytes was identified and used to screen a SMART cDNA library prepared from the same mRNA sample by RACE-PCR for cloning fully length cDNA. The full length cDNA was 1392-bp long and coded for a novel SNX protein with 225 amino acids. The 5' UTR had 72 bp and 3' UTR had 642 bp. Unlike most of maternal genes that are transcribed after vitellogenesis and stored in oocytes, this gene is expressed at a higher level in the previtellogenic oocytes and at a much lower level in fully matured oocytes. However, RT-PCR analysis of tissues showed it was ubiquitous transcription. The novel gene is named fish sorting nexin (fSNX), because it contains a conserved PX domain. The fact which major expression of the gene occurs in the previtellogenic oocytes suggests that it might have an important function in the oogenesis. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microcalorimetric studies on the thermogenesis of energy release of mitochondria isolated from rice

After isolation from rice mitochondria still have activity and can live for a long time by using its stored nutrients. The thermogenesis curves of energy release of the mitochondria isolated from variant strains of rice have been determined by using an LKB2277 bioactivity monitor. The differences in shape of the curves and the thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of the thermogenesis of the mitochondria have been compared. The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of energy release of the mitochondria in the thermogenesis increasing stage have been calculated, and the experimental thermokinetic equations of the thermogenesis have been established. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Photovoltaic effect in a photon storage cell

The response of photonic memory effect in I-V characteristics of a specially designed photonic memory cell was reported. When the cell is biased in a storage mode, the optical excitation with the photon's energy larger than the energy gap gives rise to a step-like jump in the current. A set-up was used to measure the transient photocurrent at the biases where the step-like jump showed up. It is proved that the falling transient edge of the photocurrent, as the photoexcitation turns off, mainly maps the decaying of electrons and holes, which were previously stored in the cell during the illumination. Its time constant is a measure of photonic memory time.

Photon-storage in optical memory cells based on a semiconductor quantum dot-quantum well hybrid structure

We report a new type of photonic memory cell based on a semiconductor quantum dot (QD)-quantum well (QW) hybrid structure, in which photo-generated excitons can be decomposed into separated electrons and holes, and stored in QW and QDs respectively. Storage and retrieval of photonic signals are verified by time-resolved photoluminescence experiments. A storage time in excess of 100ms has been obtained at a temperature of 10 K while the switching speed reaches the order of ten megahertz.

Highly coherent solid-state quantum bit from a pair of quantum dots

In this letter, we propose a scheme to buildup a highly coherent solid-state quantum bit (qubit) from two coupled quantum dots. Quantum information is stored in the state of the electron-hole pair with the electron and hole located in different dots, and universal quantum gates involving any pair of qubits are realized by effective coupling interaction via virtually exchanging cavity photons. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Quantum computation with coupled quantum dots embedded in optical microcavities

Based on an idea that spatial separation of charge states can enhance quantum coherence, we propose a scheme for a quantum computation with the quantum bit (qubit) constructed from two coupled quantum dots. Quantum information is stored in the electron-hole pair state with the electron and hole located in different dots, which enables the qubit state to be very long-lived. Universal quantum gates involving any pair of qubits are realized by coupling the quantum dots through the cavity photon which is a hopeful candidate for the transfer of long-range information. The operation analysis is carried out by estimating the gate time versus the decoherence time.

High-power operation of quantum cascade lasers endured prolonged air-oxidation

High-power strain-compensated In1-xGaxAs/ln(1-y)Al(y)As quantum cascade lasers (lambda similar to 5.5 mu m) are demonstrated. Peak power at least 1.2W per facet for a 32 mu mx2mm uncoated laser stored in ambient condition for 240 days, is obtained at 80 K. Considering the collection efficiency of 60%, the actual output power is 4W at this temperature.

Proposed scheme for parallel 10Gb/s VSR system and its Verilog HDL realization

This paper proposes a novel and innovative scheme for 10Gb/s parallel Very Short Reach (VSR) optical communication system. The optimized scheme properly manages the SDH/SONET redundant bytes and adjusts the position of error detecting bytes and error correction bytes. Compared with the OIF-VSR4-01.0 proposal, the scheme has a coding process module. The SDH/SONET frames in transmission direction are disposed as follows: (1) The Framer-Serdes Interface (FSI) gets 16x622.08Mb/s STM-64 frame. (2) The STM-64 frame is byte-wise stripped across 12 channels, all channels are data channels. During this process, the parity bytes and CRC bytes are generated in the similar way as OIF-VSR4-01.0 and stored in the code process module. (3) The code process module will regularly convey the additional parity bytes and CRC bytes to all 12 data channels. (4) After the 8B/10B coding, the 12 channels is transmitted to the parallel VCSEL array. The receive process approximately in reverse order of transmission process. By applying this scheme to 10Gb/s VSR system, the frame size in VSR system is reduced from 15552x12 bytes to 14040x12 bytes, the system redundancy is reduced obviously.

an improved smart card based password authentication scheme with provable security

Password authentication has been adopted as one of the most commonly used solutions in network environment to protect resources from unauthorized access. Recently, Lee–Kim–Yoo [S.W. Lee, H.S. Kim, K.Y. Yoo, Improvement of Chien et al.'s remote user authentication scheme using smart cards, Computer Standards & Interfaces 27 (2) (2005) 181–183] and Lee-Chiu [N.Y. Lee, Y.C. Chiu, Improved remote authentication scheme with smart card, Computer Standards & Interfaces 27 (2) (2005) 177–180] respectively proposed a smart card based password authentication scheme. We show that these two schemes are both subject to forgery attacks provided that the information stored in the smart card is disclosed by the adversary. We also propose an improved scheme with formal security proof.

Polarization multiplexed write-once-read-many optical data storage in bacteriorhodopsin films

In polymeric films of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) a photoconversion product, which was named the F620 state, was observed on excitation of the film with 532 nm nanosecond laser pulses. This photoproduct shows a strong nonlinear absorption. Such BR films can be used for write-once-read-many (WORM) optical data storage. We demonstrate that a photoproduct similar or even identical to that obtained with nanosecond pulses is generated on excitation with 532 mn femtosecond pulses. This photoproduct also shows strong anisotropic absorption, which facilitates polarization storage of data. The product is thermally stable and is irretrievable to the initial B state either by photochemical reaction or through a thermal pathway. The experimental results indicate that the product is formed by a two-photon absorption process. Optical WORM storage is demonstrated by use of two polarization states, but more polarization states may be used. The combination of polarization data multiplexing and extremely short recording time in the femtosecond range enables very high data volumes to be stored within a very short time. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Photochromic diarylethene for reversible holographic recording

A novel photochromic, diarylethene with 2,5-dihydrothiophene bridging unit la was synthesized, and the photochromic properties of 1 were also investigated. It showed that I exhibited excellent ring-open and ring-closed photochromism with UV/vis light irradiation. Holographic recording was measured by employing the thin film of PMMA-diarylethene 1 as recording media. It showed that six different images were recorded in the same place on the sample with the dimension of 64 mu m x 42 mu m by the intersecting of the object beam and a reference beam with an intensity of 15 mW/cm(2), and the stored information was readout by the attenuated reference beam with an intensity of 0.5 mW/cm(2). In addition, preliminary investigations showed that the material was thermally stable and fatigue resistant. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

岷江柏种子的形态和发芽特征与贮藏生理动态研究

岷江柏(Cupressus chenggiana S. Y. Hu)是我国川甘地区特有的珍稀濒危乔木，一般生长在干旱的河谷区，在涵养水源和保护水 土等方面起着重要的作用。本文选择4个岷江柏种群，采用了野外调查和室内实验相结合的研究方法，调查岷江柏种群结实状况， 分析种子和球果形态特征，阐明种子发芽的基本特征，研究岷江柏种子贮藏过程中几个生理指标的动态变化特点，目的是为岷江柏 种苗繁育、自然更新能力评估以及珍稀濒危机制分析提供理论依据。研究得出如下结论：1.岷江柏球果呈椭球形，长为1.5～ 2.2cm,宽为1.5～1.9cm，质量为1.7～4.2g，球果鳞片数量为8～11片，球果内种子数量一般在40～70粒。岷江柏种子为椭圆形，长 为3.58～4.02mm，宽为3.10～3.15mm，厚为0.96～1.11mm，千粒重为3.1～3.5g。岷江柏的结实率很低，并且有显著的地理差异和 大小年差异。2. 岷江柏种子发芽温度范围是5℃～30℃,其中种子的适宜发芽温度范围是10℃～25℃。种子最适发芽温度随着贮藏 时间的增加而变化。在适宜温度范围内，种子发芽周期为20d。温度对种子的发芽势和T50有显著影响，对种子发芽率没有显著影响 ；光照有利于种子发芽；岷江柏种子的发芽特征是岷江柏保护种子资源、防止物种濒危的一种环境适应，有助于岷江柏种子提高发 芽率和幼苗的存活率。岷江柏种子是一种耐贮藏的正常性种子，在短期贮藏过程中，贮藏温度和种子含水量对于种子生理指标和种 子发芽没有显著影响。3. 岷江柏种子在短期贮藏过程中，千粒重没有显著变化；含水量都经历了先下降，再稳定的过程；粗脂肪 含量和可溶性糖含量逐渐降低；可溶性蛋白含量和丙二醛含量逐渐增加；脯氨酸含量在贮藏1～7个月时变化差异不明显，但是贮藏 7～10个月后显著增加。岷江柏种子的各个生理指标之间的相关性差异不显著。4. 岷江柏球果和种子的形态特征存在显著的地理差 异。岷江柏种子的发芽能力的地理性差异不大，种群间差异不大。岷江柏种群的地理差异由种群特征、生境特征和气候特征共同决 定。5. 在岷江柏的人工繁育中，对于刚刚采集的种子，发芽温度在15℃～25℃比较适合，其中以25℃最佳；而对于短期贮藏(4～ 10个月)后的种子，发芽温度在10℃～25℃均可，以15℃～20℃为最佳。野外播种的最适时间为4～6月，6～9月的间歇性干旱和降 水波动可能是限制岷江柏自然更新的因素之一。在短期贮藏过程中，种子可以采用常规室温贮藏，可以节约成本。Cupressus chenggiana is a specific and endangered plant in Sichuan and Gansu provinces of China, and it usually grows in dry valley and plays an important role in water supply and soil and water conservation in the dry valley of alpine and canyon region of southwest China. The research selected four Cupressus chenggiana populations and used the methods of the field investigation and the lab experiments. The fruiting characters of Cupressus chenggiana populations, the morphological characters of seeds and cones, the germination characters of seeds and the store physiological dymatics of several factors of seeds have been studied in order to give some theoretical advices on the artificial propagation and the ability of natural regeneration and the endangered principle of Cupressus chenggiana in the paper. The main results may be clarified as follows: 1. The cones of Cupressus chenggiana are ellipsoidal, length ranged from 1.5 to 2.2cm, with ranged from 1.5 to 1.9 cm, weight ranged from 1.7 to 4.2g, the number of cone squama ranged from 8 to 11, and the seed number of per cone ranged from 40 to 70. The seeds of Cupressus chenggiana are elliptical, length ranged from 3.58 to 4.02 mm, width ranged from 3.10 to 3.15 mm, thickness ranged from 0.96 to 1.11 mm, and the weight of 1000 seeds ranged from 3.1 to 3.5g. The fruiting rate of Cupressus chenggiana is very low, and the fruiting period of Cupressus chenggiana has the geographical differences and the big or small year differences. 2. Seed germination temperature is between 5℃ and 30℃, while the suited temperature is between 10℃ and 25℃. The optimum temperature of seed germination will change as the store time of seeds changes logner. The cycle of seed germination can persist 20 days in the range of the suited temperature. The germination temperatures have significant influences on the germination potential and T50, but have no significant infuluences on the germination rate. The photoperiod is in favor of seed germination. The characters of Cupressus chenggiana seed germination represent a kind of environmental adaptability to protect the seed sources and endangered species, and it can give help to increase the germination rate of seeds and the livability of seedings. The seeds of Cupressus chenggiana are a kind of orthodox seeds that can endure the long time storage. In the short time storage, the store temperatures and the moisture contents of seeds have no significant infuluences on the physiological factors and the germination of seeds, but the store time has significant influences on the physiological factors of seeds. 3. In the short store course of Cupressus chenggianna seeds, the 1000 seed weight has no significant variation; The moisture content descends at the beginning of the storage, but has no significant variation later; The crude fat content and the soluble sugar content descend gradually; The soluble protein content and MDA content increase gradually; The praline content has no significant variation after 1～7 months storage, but increase significantly after 7～10 months storage. The correlations of different physiological factors are not significant. 4. The morphological characters of cones and seeds of four populations exist significant differences. The germination of Cupressus chenggiana seeds has no significant geographical variation. The geographical variation of Cupressus chenggiana populations can be ascribed to the population characters, climate and environment. 5. In the course of artificial propagation of Cupressus chenggiana, it is favored that the germination temperature of newly collected seeds is between 15℃ and 25℃, while the optimum temperature is 25℃. After the short storage ranged from 4 months to 10 months, it is favored that the germination temperature is between 10℃ and 25℃, while the optimum temperature is ranged from 15℃ to 20℃. The field sowing optimum time is between April and June, and the interval drought and fallrain fluctuation between July and September may be one of the reasons that restrict natural regeneration of Cupressus chenggiana. In the short storage, seeds can be stored in the condition of room temperature.