scholarly journals The Limit of Photoreceptor Sensitivity

2005 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 641-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Holcman ◽  
Juan I. Korenbrot
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Single Photon ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
Light Sensitivity ◽  
Power Density Spectrum ◽  
Noise Power ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Density Spectrum ◽  
Dark Noise ◽  
The Mean

Detection threshold in cone photoreceptors requires the simultaneous absorption of several photons because single photon photocurrent is small in amplitude and does not exceed intrinsic fluctuations in the outer segment dark current (dark noise). To understand the mechanisms that limit light sensitivity, we characterized the molecular origin of dark noise in intact, isolated bass single cones. Dark noise is caused by continuous fluctuations in the cytoplasmic concentrations of both cGMP and Ca2+ that arise from the activity in darkness of both guanylate cyclase (GC), the enzyme that synthesizes cGMP, and phosphodiesterase (PDE), the enzyme that hydrolyzes it. In cones loaded with high concentration Ca2+ buffering agents, we demonstrate that variation in cGMP levels arise from fluctuations in the mean PDE enzymatic activity. The rates of PDE activation and inactivation determine the quantitative characteristics of the dark noise power density spectrum. We developed a mathematical model based on the dynamics of PDE activity that accurately predicts this power spectrum. Analysis of the experimental data with the theoretical model allows us to determine the rates of PDE activation and deactivation in the intact photoreceptor. In fish cones, the mean lifetime of active PDE at room temperature is ∼55 ms. In nonmammalian rods, in contrast, active PDE lifetime is ∼555 ms. This remarkable difference helps explain why cones are noisier than rods and why cone photocurrents are smaller in peak amplitude and faster in time course than those in rods. Both these features make cones less light sensitive than rods.

Clinical experience with a continuous monitor of intracranial compliance

1989 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia S. Robertson ◽  
Raj K. Narayan ◽  
Charles F. Contant ◽  
Robert G. Grossman ◽  
Ziya L. Gokaslan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Volume Index ◽  
Power Density Spectrum ◽  
Intracranial Volume ◽  
Density Spectrum ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Intracranial Compliance ◽  
The Mean

✓ Intracranial compliance, as estimated from a computerized frequency analysis of the intracranial pressure (ICP) waveform, was continuously monitored during the acute postinjury phase in 55 head-injured patients. In previous studies, the high-frequency centroid (HFC), which was defined as the power-weighted average frequency within the 4- to 15-Hz band of the ICP power density spectrum, was found to inversely correlate with the pressure-volume index (PVI). An HFC of 6.5 to 7.0 Hz was normal, while an increase in the HFC to 9.0 Hz coincided with a reduction in the PVI to 13 ml and indicated exhaustion of intracranial volume-buffering capacity. The mean HFC for individual patients in the present study ranged from 6.8 to 9.0 Hz, and the length of time that the HFC was greater than 9.0 Hz ranged from 0 to 104.8 hours. The mortality rate increased concomitantly with the mean HFC, from 7% when the mean HFC was less than 7.5 Hz to 46% when the mean HFC was 8.5 Hz or greater. The length of time that the HFC was 9.0 Hz or greater was also associated with an increased mortality rate, which ranged from 16% if the HFC was never above 9.0 Hz to 60% if the HFC was 9.0 Hz or greater for more than 12 hours. In 12 patients who developed uncontrollable intracranial hypertension or clinical signs of tentorial herniation during the monitoring period, 75% were observed to have had an increase in the HFC to 9.0 Hz or more 1 to 36 hours prior to the clinical decompensation. The more rapid the increase in the HFC, the more likely the deterioration was to be caused by an intracranial hematoma. Continuous monitoring of intracranial compliance by computerized analysis of the ICP waveform may provide an earlier warning of neurological decompensation than ICP per se and, unlike PVI, does not require volumetric manipulation of intracranial volume.

Photoreceptor cells with unusual functional properties on the ventral nerve of Limulus

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1191-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
KÁROLY NAGY ◽  
MARLIES DORLÖCHTER ◽  
SVENJA KLÄSEN ◽  
DANNY STEINBUSCH
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Single Photon ◽  
Receptor Potential ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Light Sensitivity ◽  
Atpase Inhibitor ◽  
Decay Kinetics ◽  
Normal Cells ◽  
Inward Current ◽  
Low Efficiency

Normal photoreceptor cells on the ventral nerve of Limulus respond to a moderately intense flash with a large receptor potential or current. Occasionally, cells are found in which the same flash evokes only a small receptor potential or current. Our investigations reveal physiological reasons for the poor light sensitivity in these “unusual cells.” In unusual cells prolonged illumination with intense light evokes a step-like inward current with an amplitude of some nanoamperes, but without a large transient peak. The current appears to be summed up of single photon responses with amplitudes smaller than about 50 pA. Their time course is similar to that of small single photon responses forming the so-called macroscopic C1 component in normal cells. The macroscopic current evoked by an intense flash has slow activation and deactivation kinetics and reaches a saturated amplitude of about 4–5 nanoamperes. The light-intensity dependence of the current evoked by flashes or by prolonged illumination has a slope of about 1 in log–log plots. The decay kinetics of the current is similar to that of the C1 component measured in normal cells after the block of the C2 component. Occasionally, the step-like current is superposed by large standard bumps. These bumps are blocked by the Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor cyclopiazonic acid, while the sustained inward current persists. We conclude that in unusual cells the light-activated current is identical to the C1 component of normal cells. The phospholipase C pathway that in normal cells presumably gives rise to the C2 component functions only with a low efficiency in unusual cells.

Membrane current of retinal rods of Caudiverbera caudiverbera (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae): Dark noise, spectral and absolute light sensitivity

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCISCO PALMA ◽  
PABLO RONCAGLIOLO ◽  
JUAN BACIGALUPO ◽  
ADRIÁN G. PALACIOS
Keyword(s):  
Single Photon ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Light Sensitivity ◽  
Integration Time ◽  
Ambystoma Tigrinum ◽  
Current Response ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Noise Component ◽  
Dark Noise ◽  
Time To Peak

We investigated the photocurrents from isolated rods of the South American anuran, Caudiverbera caudiverbera. Rod outer segments were on average 66.4 ± 11.2 μm (mean ± S.D., n = 104) in length and 6.6 ± 0.9 μm (mean ± S.D.) in diameter; 40 ± 22 photoisomerizations (mean ± S.D., range 10–99, n = 16) were required for eliciting a half-saturating photocurrent response. The time-to-peak was 911 ± 217 ms (mean ± S.D., n = 14, 20°C) in the linear range of the response and the integration time of the current response was 1744 ± 451 ms (mean ± S.D., n = 14). The time-to-peak appears to be slower and the integration time shorter in Caudiverbera than in Ambystoma tigrinum, Rana pipiens or Xenopus laevis rods under similar experimental conditions. The α-band of rod spectral sensitivity has a λmax at 520 ± 2.1 nm (mean ± S.D., range 516–525 nm, n = 24) and the bandwidth fits a porphyropsin visual pigment. The single-event response amplitude ranges from 0.31–0.51 pA, depending on the calculation method. The intrinsic dark current (variance at dark minus variance under bright light) was 0.045 ± 0.040 pA2 (mean ± S.D., n = 24). Our results support the presence of a dark-noise component below 1 Hz, with kinetics similar to the single-photon evoked response and a rate of 0.006 events s−1 (n = 9).

EARLY VARIATIONS OF PLASMA CORTISOL AFTER PULSE INTRAVENOUS INJECTION OF DIBUTYRYL CYCLIC ADENOSINE 3′,5′-MONOPHOSPHATE IN NORMAL SUBJECTS

1973 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 753-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Angeli ◽  
Giuseppe Boccuzzi ◽  
Roberto Frajria ◽  
Daniela Bisbocci ◽  
Franco Ceresa
Keyword(s):  
Intravenous Injection ◽  
Plasma Cortisol ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Healthy Adult ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Healthy Women ◽  
Adrenal Steroidogenesis ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Zero Time

ABSTRACT 10 mg/kg of dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (Db-cAMP) was iv pulse injected into twelve healthy adult women. The plasma cortisol levels were determined as 11-OHCS at zero time and then at 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 30, 60 and 180 min after the injection. The data were compared with those obtained at the corresponding times in two groups of eleven and seventeen healthy women after the injection of 250 ng and 250 μg of synthetic β-1-24 corticotrophin performed in the same manner as the injection of the nucleotide. The mean increments in plasma cortisol were significantly lower after Db-cAMP than after ACTH. Differences were noted by analyzing the time course of the responses. In the case of stimulation with Db-cAMP the 11-OHCS levels rose progressively to a maximum at 15–30 min. By contrast, a peak of plasma cortisol was evident in most cases within a few min after the injection of ACTH; after a fall, a later rise was then observed starting from 15 min. The differences in the plasma 11-OHCS responses after the two stimuli may also be of interest clinically for the investigation of some aspects of adrenal steroidogenesis.

scholarly journals Properties of Faint X-ray Activity of XTE J1908+094 in 2019

Galaxies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Debjit Chatterjee ◽  
Arghajit Jana ◽  
Kaushik Chatterjee ◽  
Riya Bhowmick ◽  
Sujoy Kumar Nath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Power Density Spectrum ◽  
Periodic Oscillations ◽  
Telescope Array ◽  
Density Spectrum ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Black Hole Candidate ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Spectral State

We study the properties of the faint X-ray activity of Galactic transient black hole candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2019 outburst. Here, we report the results of detailed spectral and temporal analysis during this outburst using observations from Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). We have not observed any quasi-periodic-oscillations (QPOs) in the power density spectrum (PDS). The spectral study suggests that the source remained in the softer (more precisely, in the soft–intermediate) spectral state during this short period of X-ray activity. We notice a faint but broad Fe Kα emission line at around 6.5 keV. We also estimate the probable mass of the black hole to be 6.5−0.7+0.5M⊙, with 90% confidence.

Decline of contractility during ischemia-reperfusion injury: actin glutathionylation and its effect on allosteric interaction with tropomyosin

2006 ◽  
Vol 290 (3) ◽  
pp. C719-C727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank C. Chen ◽  
Ozgur Ogut
Keyword(s):  
Reperfusion Injury ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Troponin I ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion Injury ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Impact

The severity and duration of ischemia-reperfusion injury is hypothesized to play an important role in the ability of the heart subsequently to recover contractility. Permeabilized trabeculae were prepared from a rat model of ischemia-reperfusion injury to examine the impact on force generation. Compared with the control perfused condition, the maximum force (Fmax) per cross-sectional area and the rate of tension redevelopment of Ca2+-activated trabeculae fell by 71% and 44%, respectively, during ischemia despite the availability of a high concentration of ATP. The reduction in Fmax with ischemia was accompanied by a decline in fiber stiffness, implying a drop in the absolute number of attached cross bridges. However, the declines during ischemia were largely recovered after reperfusion, leading to the hypothesis that intrinsic, reversible posttranslational modifications to proteins of the contractile filaments occur during ischemia-reperfusion injury. Examination of thin-filament proteins from ischemic or ischemia-reperfused hearts did not reveal proteolysis of troponin I or T. However, actin was found to be glutathionylated with ischemia. Light-scattering experiments demonstrated that glutathionylated G-actin did not polymerize as efficiently as native G-actin. Although tropomyosin accelerated the time course of native and glutathionylated G-actin polymerization, the polymerization of glutathionylated G-actin still lagged native G-actin at all concentrations of tropomyosin tested. Furthermore, cosedimentation experiments demonstrated that tropomyosin bound glutathionylated F-actin with significantly reduced cooperativity. Therefore, glutathionylated actin may be a novel contributor to the diverse set of posttranslational modifications that define the function of the contractile filaments during ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Pattern of plasma progesterone, oestradiol-17β, luteinizing hormone and androgen in non-pregnant buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

1982 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Arora ◽  
R. S. Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Luteinizing Hormone ◽  
Peak Level ◽  
Systemic Circulation ◽  
Bubalus Bubalis ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Plasma Progesterone ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Androgen Level ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Low Levels

Abstract. Domestic buffaloes were used to characterize the pattern of progesterone, oestradiol-17β, LH and androgen in the systemic circulation following infertile insemination. Concentrations of hormones were measured by RIA in blood samples collected daily or at alternate days following insemination. The concentration of progesterone was lowest on the day of insemination, and increased significantly to a peak level of 4.00 ± 0.60 ng/ml by day 13 post insemination. After day 17, it declined significantly (P < 0.01) to reach low levels by day 21. The concentration of oestradiol-17β was high at the time of insemination and declined significantly (P < 0.01) by day 2 after insemination. It was maintained around the basal level till day 18 with minor peaks in between this period. It again rose significantly (P < 0.01) at subsequent oestrus. The mean level of LH was highest at the time of insemination, and declined significantly (P < 0.01) by day 1 post insemination. It did not vary appreciably till the animal returned to oestrus. The oestrous value of LH and progesterone were negatively correlated (r = −0.77). The androgen level was observed to be high at insemination in 3 out of 5 animals, but the overall pattern of this steroid was inconsistent during the period studied. A high concentration of androgen was recorded in all the animals from day 2–5 before the onset of oestrus.

scholarly journals RECOGNIZING DIFFERENT TYPES OF STOCHASTIC PROCESSES

2006 ◽  
Vol 06 (01) ◽  
pp. L1-L6
Author(s):  
JONG U. KIM ◽  
LASZLO B. KISH
Keyword(s):  
Image Processing ◽  
Stochastic Processes ◽  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Correlation Method ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Power Density Spectrum ◽  
Density Spectrum ◽  
Random Telegraph Signals ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Coefficient Method

We propose a new cross-correlation method that can recognize independent realizations of the same type of stochastic processes and can be used as a new kind of pattern recognition tool in biometrics, sensing, forensic, security and image processing applications. The method, which we call bispectrum correlation coefficient method, makes use of the cross-correlation of the bispectra. Three kinds of cross-correlation coefficients are introduced. To demonstrate the new method, six different random telegraph signals are tested, where four of them have the same power density spectrum. It is shown that the three coefficients can map the different stochastic processes to specific sub-volumes in a cube.

Quantitative studies of the reactions to horizontal angular accelerations in axolotls. I. The head-turning reflexes of normal animals

1977 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
K. Brandle
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Intensity ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Maximum Velocity ◽  
Afferent Input ◽  
Head Turning ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Negative Exponential ◽  
Total Angle

1. Artifically metamorphosed axolotls were exposed to both brief (impulse) and long-lasting horizontal angular accelerations on a turn-table. The animals responded with a head-turning reaction. 2. The general course of the reaction to impulse acceleration was independent of stimulus intensity. The velocity of the head movement first increased to a maximum exponentially and then decreased in a negative exponential manner. Stimulus intensity had a linear relationship to the mean maximum velocity and mean total angle covered by head-turning. The average velocity-time curves at various stimulus intensities differed only by a velocity factor. 3. During long-lasting constant accelerations the velocity of the head-turning increased to a maximum velocity in a sigmoid time-course and then decreased, first to a constant velocity, and then further. Mean values of the maximum velocity were correlated linearly with the stimulus intensity. 4. It was concluded that the head-turning reflexes in axolotls do not agree with the accepted movements of the vertebrate cupula and therefore are not a simple ‘copy’ of the afferent input. It is also suggested that the reaction threshold differes from that for the labyrinthine input.

scholarly journals The relevance of non-stationarities and non-Gaussianities in vibration fatigue

2018 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 10011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Česnik ◽  
Janko Slavič ◽  
Lorenzo Capponi ◽  
Massimiliano Palmieri ◽  
Filippo Cianetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Domain ◽  
Dynamic Loading ◽  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Time History ◽  
Power Density Spectrum ◽  
Time To Failure ◽  
Density Spectrum ◽  
Frequency Domain Methods ◽  
Vibration Fatigue ◽  
Non Gaussian

In classical fatigue of materials, the frequency contents of dynamic loading are well below the natural frequencies of the observed structure or test specimen. However, when dealing with vibration fatigue the frequency contents of dynamic loading and structure's dynamic response overlap, resulting in amplified stress loads of the structure. For such cases, frequency counting methods are especially convenient. Gaussianity and stationarity assumptions are applied in frequency-domain methods for obtaining dynamic structure's response and frequency-domain methods for calculating damage accumulation rate. Since it is common in real environments for the structure to be excited with non-Gaussian and non-stationary loads, this study addresses the effects of such dynamic excitation to experimental time-to-failure of a structure. Initially, the influence of non-Gaussian stationary excitation is experimentally studied via excitation signals with equal power density spectrum and different values of kurtosis. Since no relevant changes of structure's time-to-failure were observed, the study focused on non-stationary excitation signals that are also inherently non-Gaussian. The non-stationarity of excitation was achieved by amplitude modulation and significantly shorter times-to-failure were observed when compared to experiments with stationary non-Gaussian excitation. Additionally, the structure's time-to-failure varied with the rate of the amplitude modulation. To oversee this phenomenon the presented study proposes a non-stationarity index which can be obtained from the excitation time history. The non-stationarity index was experimentally confirmed as a reliable estimator for severity of non-stationary excitation. The non-stationarity index is used to determine if the frequencydomain methods can safely be applied for time-to-failure calculation.

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