PKA drives an increase in AMPA receptor unitary conductance during LTP in the hippocampus.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) at hippocampal CA1 synapses can be expressed by an increase either in the number (N) of AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid) receptors or in their single channel conductance (γ). Here, we have established how these distinct synaptic processes contribute to the expression of LTP in hippocampal slices obtained from young adult rodents. LTP induced by compressed theta burst stimulation (TBS), with a 10 s inter-episode interval, involves purely an increase in N (LTPN). In contrast, either a spaced TBS, with a 10 min inter-episode interval, or a single TBS, delivered when PKA is activated, results in LTP that is associated with a transient increase in γ (LTPγ), caused by the insertion of calcium-permeable (CP)-AMPA receptors. Activation of CaMKII is necessary and sufficient for LTPN whilst PKA is additionally required for LTPγ. Thus, two mechanistically distinct forms of LTP co-exist at these synapses.

Anisotropic adhesion of micropillars with spatula pads.

Natural gecko adhesive structures consisting of angled setae, branched into thin spatulas, have remarkable properties including easily attachable and releasable anisotropic adhesion. The geometrically asymmetric structures lead to anisotropic adhesive properties. Inspired by the gecko, we fabricated an array of micropillars with asymmetric spatula pads from elastomeric materials. This paper describes the anisotropic properties of the micropillars with spatula pads as established by experimental measurements and observation together with finite element analysis. The results indicate that the structural difference of the spatula pad at one edge of the micropillar provides the anisotropic adhesive properties.

Real-time convolution method for generating light diffusion profiles of layered turbid media.

In this paper we present a technique to obtain a diffusion profile of layered turbid media in real time by using the quasi fast Hankel transform (QFHT) and the latest graphics processing unit technique. We apply the QFHT to convolve the diffusion profiles of each layer so as to dramatically reduce the time for the convolution step while maintaining the accuracy. In addition, we also introduce an accelerated technique to generate individual discrete diffusion profiles for each layer through parallel processing. The proposed method is 2 orders of magnitude faster than the existing method, and we validate its efficiency by comparing it with Monte Carlo simulation and another relevant methods.

Assay of In Vivo Chromium with a Hollow-fiber Dialysis Sensor.

The analytical in vivo chromium ion was searched for using a voltammetric hollow-fiber dialysis sensor via square wave stripping voltammetry (SW) , cyclic voltammetry (CV) , and chronoamperometry. Under optimum parameters, the analytical results indicated linear working ranges of 50~400 mg/l CV and 10~80 µg/l SW within a 30-sec accumulation time. The analytical detection limit (S/N) was 6.0 µg/l. The developed method can be applied to in vivo tissues and in ex vivo toxicity assay, as well as to other materials that require chromium analysis.