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At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Probing the spatial dependence of the emission spectrum of single human retinal lipofuscin granules using near-field scanning optical microscopy.

The emission spectra of single lipofuscin granules are examined using spectrally resolved confocal microscopy and near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). The emission spectrum varies among the granules examined revealing that individual granules are characterized by different distributions of fluorophores. The range of spectra observed is consistent with in vivo spectra of human retinal pigment epithelium cells. NSOM measurements reveal that the shape of the spectrum does not vary with position within the emissive regions of single lipofuscin granules. These results suggest that the relative distribution of fluorophores within the emissive regions of an individual granule is homogeneous on the spatial scale approximately 150 nm.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

Reward-dependent spatial selectivity of anticipatory activity in monkey caudate neurons.

Many neurons show anticipatory activity in learned tasks. This phenomenon appears to reflect the brain's ability to predict future events. However, what actually is predicted is unknown. Using a memory-guided saccade task, in which only one out of four directions was rewarded in each block of trials, we found that a group of neurons in the monkey caudate nucleus (CD) showed activity before presentation of an instruction cue stimulus. Among 329 CD neurons that were related to memory-guided saccade tasks, 156 showed the precue activity and 91 of them were examined fully. Remarkably, the magnitude of the precue activity varied across the four blocks of the one-direction-rewarded (1DR) condition, depending on which direction was rewarded. A majority of neurons with precue activity (83/91, 91%) showed significant directional preference. The best and worst directions were usually in the contralateral and ipsilateral directions, respectively. Within a block, the precue activity increased rapidly for the best direction in 1DR and decreased gradually for the worst direction in 1DR and all-directions-rewarded (ADR) condition. The precue activity was weak in ADR. The precue activity did not reflect the likelihood of a particular cue stimulus, because the probability of the cue appearing in each direction was the same regardless of the rewarded direction. These results suggest that each CD neuron indicates a particular position-reward association prospectively, usually with contralateral preference. Assuming that the CD neurons have access to saccadic motor outputs, the precue activity would create a motivational bias toward the contralateral space, even before an instruction is given by the cue stimulus.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Transcription-dependent spatial arrangements of CFTR and adjacent genes in human cell nuclei.

We investigated in different human cell types nuclear positioning and transcriptional regulation of the functionally unrelated genes GASZ, CFTR, and CORTBP2, mapping to adjacent loci on human chromosome 7q31. When inactive, GASZ, CFTR, and CORTBP2 preferentially associated with the nuclear periphery and with perinuclear heterochromatin, whereas in their actively transcribed states the gene loci preferentially associated with euchromatin in the nuclear interior. Adjacent genes associated simultaneously with these distinct chromatin fractions localizing at different nuclear regions, in accordance with their individual transcriptional regulation. Although the nuclear localization of CFTR changed after altering its transcription levels, the transcriptional status of CFTR was not changed by driving this gene into a different nuclear environment. This implied that the transcriptional activity affected the nuclear positioning, and not vice versa. Together, the results show that small chromosomal subregions can display highly flexible nuclear organizations that are regulated at the level of individual genes in a transcription-dependent manner.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Visual processing of configuration-dependent spatial characteristics of shapes and patterns. A model useful in the study of the role of the departure from circularity or dispersion of shapes in human visual perception.

In this work a theoretical model was used in combination with testings on normal subjects to get more insight in the role of the departure from circularity or dispersion of the shapes in visual perception. The model was inspired by the observation that the intensity of the effect of a given level of contrast of a shape usually increases, for the same area, with the shape being better concentrated around a center. The model introduces as a measurable characteristic the degree of concentration or dispersion of a shape with respect to a center. The measure was based on the maximum of the convolution integral of the characteristic function of the shape with the weighting function 1/2 pi r, r being the distance between the point of convolution and the surface element to be integrated. A program for the calculation of the degree of concentration of figures and other related processing operations was developed in Turbo Pascal language on a 486 PC. The program included the possibility to generate various figures and to operate on them various transformations such as strangulation, fragmentation with separation of fragments. The model introduces a center of the figure, the point best surrounded by the whole figure, with a geometric and visual significance, as resulting from the good concordance between its calculated and perceived positioning in different relatively simple shapes. In symmetrical compact figures subjected to a central separation or narrowing two centres appear entering the two resulting nuclear parts; a good concordance between model and perception was again observed in this transition to two centres and their subsequent positions in the two nuclear parts. In accord to model prediction, testings showed a very pronounced dependence of the summation efficiency over a contrasting area on the degree of dispersion of the area. This is reflected in the drastic decrease upon figure dispersion of the intensity with which a given brightness or colour contrast is perceived. Thus, the model gives a better explanation and a more efficient way to approach the great capacity of the visual system to disclose more compact shapes or agglomeration zones in a complex visual scene. This capacity is to a large extent due to the increase in the intensity with which a given contrast is perceived, occurring in these conditions. This intensity, which strongly depends on the degree of concentration or dispersion of the figure, becomes an important additional signal leading to the accentuation of the difference between compact and rarefied shapes. The model based on the degree of concentration determined around a centre, although useful for finding a centre and applicable satisfactorily to many shapes, do not cover well all aspects of shape dispersions. In shapes without a dominant central part the confrontation model-testing showed an important involvement in global perception of all local concentrations, not only central but also peripheral, the later underestimated in our model. The model can be however improved by taking into account also such local concentrations.

Form Perception↗
PubMed2005

Bayesian ranking of sites for engineering safety improvements: decision parameter, treatability concept, statistical criterion, and spatial dependence.

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in applying statistical ranking criteria to identify sites on a road network, which potentially present high traffic crash risks or are over-represented in certain type of crashes, for further engineering evaluation and safety improvement. This requires that good estimates of ranks of crash risks be obtained at individual intersections or road segments, or some analysis zones. The nature of this site ranking problem in roadway safety is related to two well-established statistical problems known as the small area (or domain) estimation problem and the disease mapping problem. The former arises in the context of providing estimates using sample survey data for a small geographical area or a small socio-demographic group in a large area, while the latter stems from estimating rare disease incidences for typically small geographical areas. The statistical problem is such that direct estimates of certain parameters associated with a site (or a group of sites) with adequate precision cannot be produced, due to a small available sample size, the rareness of the event of interest, and/or a small exposed population or sub-population in question. Model based approaches have offered several advantages to these estimation problems, including increased precision by "borrowing strengths" across the various sites based on available auxiliary variables, including their relative locations in space. Within the model based approach, generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) have played key roles in addressing these problems for many years. The objective of the study, on which this paper is based, was to explore some of the issues raised in recent roadway safety studies regarding ranking methodologies in light of the recent statistical development in space-time GLMM. First, general ranking approaches are reviewed, which include naïve or raw crash-risk ranking, scan based ranking, and model based ranking. Through simulations, the limitation of using the naïve approach in ranking is illustrated. Second, following the model based approach, the choice of decision parameters and consideration of treatability are discussed. Third, several statistical ranking criteria that have been used in biomedical, health, and other scientific studies are presented from a Bayesian perspective. Their applications in roadway safety are then demonstrated using two data sets: one for individual urban intersections and one for rural two-lane roads at the county level. As part of the demonstration, it is shown how multivariate spatial GLMM can be used to model traffic crashes of several injury severity types simultaneously and how the model can be used within a Bayesian framework to rank sites by crash cost per vehicle-mile traveled (instead of by crash frequency rate). Finally, the significant impact of spatial effects on the overall model goodness-of-fit and site ranking performances are discussed for the two data sets examined. The paper is concluded with a discussion on possible directions in which the study can be extended.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1992

Analysis of the temporal and spatial dependence of the eddy current fields in a 40-cm bore magnet.

Eddy current fields, generated in an animal-size superconducting NMR magnet by a nominally rectangular pulsed transverse gradient applied in the vertical direction, have been studied by measuring the offset frequency of the proton NMR signal obtained from a small spherical sample. Measurements were made, after various time delays, at nine different locations in the sample space. Analysis of the data shows that the time-dependent fields at all nine locations are quite well accounted for by the superposition of only four independent exponentially decaying components that have time constants in the range from 9 to 400 ms. Two of these were found to be caused by eddy currents generated in the magnet structure. They generate primarily linear gradients, though one of them also produces a B0 shift, indicating a significant asymmetry about the isocenter of the conducting structure in which the eddy current flows. The other two exponentially decaying components, which had very different time constants from the eddy currents and also initial amplitudes of the opposite sign, were generated by the preemphasis unit. This calls into question the procedure used to adjust the preemphasis unit and an alternative method is proposed.

Artifacts↗
PubMed2001

Spatial dependence of a differential shading artifact in images from coil arrays with reactive cross-talk at 1.5 T.

Reactive cross-talk causes leakage of the reception signal between neighboring coils of a receiver array. We present here experimental and computer-simulated NMR images (based upon a simple theory) to show, for an array of two coils, that the leakage (or secondary) signal is combined phase sensitively with the primary signal in each coil, to produce (in certain geometries) a differential shading artifact, manifest as a divot of missing intensity in the image derived from one (and only one) of the two coils. The asymmetry of this effect arises from the sense of the nuclear precession, and the afflicted coil may be swapped with its mate by reversing the direction of the static magnetic field. The artifact appears most clearly in transaxial images and is shown to be forbidden in certain types of saggital images. In a simplified theory for an array of two meshes (i.e., with only two degrees of freedom) the severity of the artifact depends upon the normalized coefficient of coupling (denoted eta and related to the cross-talk in decibels, psi, by psi=-20 log eta.) While the presence of input trap circuits in a typical array doubles the degrees of freedom and complicates both the circuit theory and the circuit measurements, the cross-talk is nonetheless shown to be given by an expression of the form psi=-20 log eta', where the new primed parameter eta' embodies the impedance-matching capacitance and the resistance of the scanner's preamplifiers, as well as the mutual reactance responsible for the cross-talk. The values of cross-talk inferred from the computer simulations of the image artifact are somewhat higher (by an estimated 3 to 6 dB) than those obtained by bench top measurements; but, given that the simulations unmistakably reproduce the unique and highly characteristic visual appearance of the artifact, the proposed model for its formation is claimed to be essentially correct. Finally, it is suggested that the artifact could be corrected by means of the filtered, edge-completed, reception profile described by Wald and co-workers (Wald et al., Magn. Reson. Med. 34, 433 (1995)).

Algorithms↗
PubMed1996

Evidence for the nitrate-dependent spatial regulation of the nitrate reductase gene in chicory roots.

Young chicory plants (Cichorium intybus L. var. Witloof) show a tenfold higher nitrate reductase NR activity in roots compared to leaves. Northern analysis revealed, besides the nitrate inducibility of the nitrate reductase gene (nia), a higher level of expression in the roots. By modifying the external nitrate concentration the NR activity in the leaves remained negligible whereas a maximal activity was observed in the roots when grown in the presence of 5 mM nitrate. Surprisingly, variation of the external nitrate concentration induced changes in the spatial regulation of nia within the root. In-situ hybridization mainly localized nia mRNA in the cortical cells of roots grown at low nitrate concentrations (0.2 nM). At high nitrate concentrations (5 mM), nia mRNA was more abundant in the vascular tissues. The root apex revealed a strong signal under both conditions. The isolation and characterization of the NR structural gene from chicory is also presented. Southern blot analysis revealed the presence of a single nia gene per haploid genome of chicory.

Cell Line↗
PubMed1989

A novel NMDA antagonist, MK-801, impairs performance in a hippocampal-dependent spatial learning task.

N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors have been implicated with the triggering of long-term potentiation, a currently studied physiological model of learning and memory. The compound (+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo [a,d] cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate (MK-801) has recently been classified as a potent and selective NMDA antagonist acting at the associated ion channel. After determination of the highest intraperitoneal dose of MK-801 at which increases in activity (measured in photocell activity cages and 3-arm maze) were not observed (0.2 mg/kg), rats that had been previously trained to obtain food pellets in an 8-arm radial maze up to criterion were tested with 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg doses. Dose-related decreases in "efficiency" in the task were found. The present findings support the suggestion that NMDA antagonists cause impairments in "working memory" and also support the status of long-term potentiation as a physiological model of memory.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Volume-dependent spatial distribution of microinjected thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) into the medial preoptic nucleus of the rat: an autoradiographic study.

The present study was performed to quantify the distribution of a peptide neurotransmitter after microinjection into the medial preoptic area (POM), using a technique suitable for conscious animal preparations. The results indicate that only 50-nl volumes of injected tracer were sufficiently localized with 77 +/- 9% recovery in the POM. Injections of higher volumes resulted in an increasing spread of tracer into distant anatomical regions and structures, including the needle tract and cerebral ventricles. The amount of tracer localized in the POM decreased to 38 +/- 4% (200 nl) (P less than 0.05) and 14 +/- 8% (500 nl) (P less than 0.05), respectively. The data suggest that the volume of injection is critical for intraparenchymal injections into structures of a diameter of 1mm or less, such as the POM and should not exceed 50 nl in conscious animal preparations.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Expression and localization of Cayman ataxia-related protein, Caytaxin, is regulated in a developmental- and spatial-dependent manner.

Mutation of the gene encoding Caytaxin causes human Cayman ataxia by interfering with normal splicing and, in mutant rodents, by reducing normal transcription, which leads to ataxia, dystonia, and mental retardation: These observations suggest that Caytaxin may be crucial for higher brain functions such as motor learning. We generated antibodies against mouse Caytaxin. Interestingly, we found that the expression of Caytaxin is regulated during brain development while quantitative real time RT-PCR indicated that the mRNA level did not change between postnatal days 7 (P7) and P14 in the cerebellum and hippocampus, implying that the expression of Caytaxin may be controlled by a post-transcriptional mechanism. Immunostaining analyses demonstrated that Caytaxin was localized in many brain areas including the cerebellum and hippocampus. Furthermore, Caytaxin was localized to the presynaptic cytosol by the subcellular fractionation of mouse brain and an observation that was confirmed by co-localization studies with synapsin I and VGLUT1. The above data, disease phenotypes, and mutant animals suggest that Caytaxin may be essential for synaptic function. Thus, identifying the role of Caytaxin in synapse maturation may lead to the development of therapeutic interventions for cerebellar ataxia as well as mental disorders.

Amino Acid Motifs↗
PubMed2006

Scale-dependent spatial variability in peatland lead pollution in the southern Pennines, UK.

Increasingly, within-site and regional comparisons of peatland lead pollution have been undertaken using the inventory approach. The peatlands of the Peak District, southern Pennines, UK, have received significant atmospheric inputs of lead over the last few hundred years. A multi-core study at three peatland sites in the Peak District demonstrates significant within-site spatial variability in industrial lead pollution. Stochastic simulations reveal that 15 peat cores are required to calculate reliable lead inventories at the within-site and within-region scale for this highly polluted area of the southern Pennines. Within-site variability in lead pollution is dominant at the within-region scale. The study demonstrates that significant errors may be associated with peatland lead inventories at sites where only a single peat core has been used to calculate an inventory. Meaningful comparisons of lead inventories at the regional or global scale can only be made if the within-site variability of lead pollution has been quantified reliably.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2005

Vimentin-dependent spatial translocation of an activated MAP kinase in injured nerve.

How are phosphorylated kinases transported over long intracellular distances, such as in the case of axon to cell body signaling after nerve injury? Here, we show that the MAP kinases Erk1 and Erk2 are phosphorylated in sciatic nerve axoplasm upon nerve injury, concomitantly with the production of soluble forms of the intermediate filament vimentin by local translation and calpain cleavage in axoplasm. Vimentin binds phosphorylated Erks (pErk), thus linking pErk to the dynein retrograde motor via direct binding of vimentin to importin beta. Injury-induced Elk1 activation and neuronal regeneration are inhibited or delayed in dorsal root ganglion neurons from vimentin null mice, and in rats treated with a MEK inhibitor or with a peptide that prevents pErk-vimentin binding. Thus, soluble vimentin enables spatial translocation of pErk by importins and dynein in lesioned nerve.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2005

Epidemic West Nile virus encephalomyelitis: a temperature-dependent, spatial model of disease dynamics.

Since first being detected in New York in 1999, West Nile virus (WNV) has spread throughout the United States and more than 20,000 cases of equine WNV encephalomyelitis have been reported. A spatial model of disease occurrence was developed, using data from an outbreak of serologically confirmed disease in an unvaccinated population of horses at 108 locations in northern Indiana between 3 August and 17 October 2002. Daily maximum temperature data were recorded at meteorological stations surrounding the study area. The distribution of the total number of degree-days elapsing between July 4 and the date of diagnosis of each case was best described by a normal distribution (mean=5243 degrees F, S.D.=1047). The days on which the average risk was >25, >50 and >75% were predicted (versus observed) to occur on August 23 (August 9), August 31 (September 2) and September 9 (September 9). The epidemic was predicted to occur 3 days earlier, or 4 days later, than observed if temperatures in the study area were uniformly increased, or decreased, by 5 degrees F, respectively. Maps indicated that WNV encephalomyelitis risk always remained greater in the northwest quadrant of the study area. Since WNV might exist at a hypoendemic level of infection, and occasionally re-emerge as a cause of epidemics in equine populations, by identifying factors that contributed to this epidemic, the potential impact of future epidemics can be reduced. Such studies rely on a GIS framework, availability of meteorological and possibly remotely sensed data and information on host and landscape factors. An early-warning system for WNV transmission in equine populations could be developed.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Spatial dependence of stress distribution for rod-shaped bacteria.

The stress distribution in the cylindrical portion of the cell envelope of a rod-shaped bacterial cell was compared with that at its polar ends. Using a symmetry argument it is shown that the critical internal pressure for the initiation of yielding of the envelope material has a non-uniform distribution and is significantly higher for the polar regions.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Frequency-dependent spatial distribution of human somatosensory evoked neuromagnetic fields.

Using synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM), we examined the spatial distribution of frequency changes in magnetoencephalography signal rhythms on individual magnetic resonance images following somatosensory stimulation. SAM is a novel statistical spatial filtering method that uses an adaptive beamformer. Electrical stimulation of the right median nerve demonstrated high-frequency event-related synchronization (ERS) in the 50-200-Hz range, consistently localized in the contralateral primary sensorimotor area in all subjects (n=7). Event-related desynchronization (ERD) was demonstrated in the 8-13, 13-25 and 25-50-Hz ranges bilaterally in the area surrounding the central sulcus. The differences in the spatial distribution as well as the frequency bands between ERS and ERD suggest that ERS and ERD reflect the responses of different cell assemblies rather than a frequency shift of the same cell assembly.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Spatial dependence of dispersion.

The use of Pulsed Gradient Spin Echo (PGSE) NMR to investigate flow in porous media is well established. Using two pairs of position-encoding pulses in the PGSE experiment gives the possibility of examining velocity fluctuations, by comparing displacements, during the two encoding intervals. This method may be used to measure the asymptotic dispersion coefficient as well as the Velocity Auto-Correlation Function (VACF) in porous media flow. Some examples of two-dimensional maps of density and velocity distributions are accompanied by the first attempt to perform localized measurements of flow dispersion in porous media.

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy↗