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Results for “spatial dependency”

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At least 973 records · Page 54Linked to original sources

PubMed2001

Effects of characteristic x rays on the noise power spectra and detective quantum efficiency of photoconductive x-ray detectors.

The effects of K fluorescence on the imaging performance of photoconductor-based x-ray imaging systems are investigated. A cascaded linear systems model was developed, where a parallel cascaded process was implemented to take into account the effect of K-fluorescence reabsorption on the modulation transfer function (MTF), noise power spectrum (NPS), and the spatial frequency dependent detective quantum efficiency [DQE(f)] of an imaging system. The investigation was focused on amorphous selenium (a-Se), which is the most highly developed photoconductor material for x-ray imaging. The results were compared to those obtained with Monte Carlo simulation using the same imaging condition and detector parameters, so that the validity of the cascaded linear system model could be confirmed. Our results revealed that K-fluorescence reabsorption in a-Se is responsible for a 18% drop in NPS at high spatial frequencies with an incident x-ray photon energy of E=20 keV (which is just above the K edge of 12.5 keV). When E increases to 60 keV, the effects of K-fluorescence reabsorption on NPS decrease to approximately 12% at high spatial frequencies. Because the high frequency drop is present in both MTF and NPS, the effect of K fluorescence on DQE(f) is minimal, especially for E that is much higher than the K edge. We also applied the cascaded linear system model to a newly developed compound photoconductor, lead iodide (PbI2), and found that at 60 keV there is a high frequency drop in NPS of 19%. The calculated NPS were compared to previously published measurements of PbI2 detectors.

Diagnostic Imaging↗

PubMed2003

A model of graded calcium release and L-type Ca2+ channel inactivation in cardiac muscle.

We have developed a model of Ca(2+) handling in ferret ventricular myocytes. This model includes a novel L-type Ca(2+) channel, detailed intracellular Ca(2+) movements, and graded Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release (CICR). The model successfully reproduces data from voltage-clamp experiments, including voltage- and time-dependent changes in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)), L-type Ca(2+) channel current (I(CaL)) inactivation and recovery kinetics, and Ca(2+) sparks. The development of graded CICR is critically dependent on spatial heterogeneity and the physical arrangement of calcium channels in opposition to ryanodine-sensitive release channels. The model contains spatially distinct subsystems representing the subsarcolemmal regions where the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) abuts the T-tubular membrane and where the L-type Ca(2+) channels and SR ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are localized. There are eight different types of subsystems in our model, with between one and eight L-type Ca(2+) channels distributed binomially. This model exhibits graded CICR and provides a quantitative description of Ca(2+) dynamics not requiring Monte-Carlo simulations. Activation of RyRs and release of Ca(2+) from the SR depend critically on Ca(2+) entry through L-type Ca(2+) channels. In turn, Ca(2+) channel inactivation is critically dependent on the release of stored intracellular Ca(2+). Inactivation of I(CaL) depends on both transmembrane voltage and local [Ca(2+)](i) near the channel, which results in distinctive inactivation properties. The molecular mechanisms underlying many I(CaL) gating properties are unclear, but [Ca(2+)](i) dynamics clearly play a fundamental role.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Spatial buffering of potassium ions in brain extracellular space.

It has long been assumed that one important mechanism for the dissipation of local potassium gradients in the brain extracellular space is the so-called spatial buffer, generally associated with glial cells. To date, however, there has been no analytical description of the characteristic patterns of K(+) clearance mediated by such a mechanism. This study reanalyzed a mathematical model of Gardner-Medwin (1983, J. Physiol. (Lond.). 335:393-426) that had previously been solved numerically. Under suitable approximations, the transient solutions for the potassium concentrations and the corresponding membrane potentials of glial cells in a finite, parallel domain were derived. The analytic results were substantiated by numerical simulations of a detailed two-compartment model. This simulation explored the dependence of spatial buffer current and extracellular K(+) on the distribution of inward rectifier K(+) channels in the glial endfoot and nonendfoot membranes, the glial geometric length, and the effect of passive KCl uptake. Regarding the glial cells as an equivalent leaky cable, the analyses indicated that a maximum endfoot current occurs when the glial geometric length is equal to the corresponding electrotonic space constant. Consequently, a long glial process is unsuitable for spatial buffering, unless the axial space constant can match the length of the process. Finally, this study discussed whether the spatial buffer mechanism is able to efficiently transport K(+) over distances of more than several glial space constants.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

The effect of similarity and duration on spatial interaction in peripheral vision.

Spatial interactions are extensive in the peripheral visual field, extending up to about half the retinal eccentricity of the target (Toet and Levi, Vision Res. 32, 1349-1357, 1992). In the present study it is shown that the degree and extent of peripheral spatial interaction depends in large measure on the similarity between test and flanking stimuli. The stimulus consisted of a test T surrounded by four distracting flanking Ts, each randomly oriented. The task was to determine the orientation of the test T. The test and flanking Ts differed in contrast polarity, shape, depth, color, eye of origin, or contrast. When the target and flanks differed in contrast polarity, depth, or shape, performance improved markedly for all observers. A color difference enhanced the performance of most but not all observers. Eye-of-origin had no effect, that is, spatial interaction was identical when the target and flanks were presented to the same eye, or to opposite eyes. The role of stimulus duration in spatial interaction was examined in two additional experiments. In the first, the stimulus viewing duration was increased in order to allow the observer time to serially search for the test T. In the second experiment, a postmask was presented at the location of the test T. The results of these experiments showed that the influence of similarity was independent of stimulus duration and the postmask, and suggest that serial search does not play an important role in the spatial interaction effects reported here. The extent of spatial interaction is correlated with the ability to do parallel search.

Color Perception↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reversible hippocampal lesions disrupt water maze performance during both recent and remote memory tests.

Conventional lesion methods have shown that damage to the rodent hippocampus can impair previously acquired spatial memory in tasks such as the water maze. In contrast, work with reversible lesion methods using a different spatial task has found remote memory to be spared. To determine whether the finding of spared remote spatial memory depends on the lesion method, we reversibly inactivated the hippocampus with lidocaine either immediately (0-DAY) or 1 mo (30-DAY) after training in a water maze. For both the 0-DAY and 30-DAY retention tests, rats that received lidocaine infusions exhibited impaired performance. In addition, when the 0-DAY group was retested 2 d later, (when the drug was no longer active), the effect was reversed. That is, rats that had previously received lidocaine performed as well as control rats did. These findings indicate that the rodent hippocampus is important for both recent and remote spatial memory, as assessed in the water maze. What determines whether remote spatial memory is preserved or impaired following disruption of hippocampal function appears to be the type of task used to assess spatial memory, not the method used to disrupt the hippocampus.

Anesthetics, Local↗

PubMed2001

Tactile discrimination of edge shape: limits on spatial resolution imposed by parameters of the peripheral neural population.

When the flat faces of a coin are grasped between thumb and index finger, a "curved edge" is felt. Analogous curved edges were generated by our stimuli, which comprised the flat face of segments of annuli applied passively to immobilized fingers. Humans could scale the curvature of the annulus and could discriminate changes in curvature of approximately 20 m(-1). The responses of single slowly adapting type I afferents (SAIs) recorded in anesthetized monkeys could be quantified by the product of two factors: their sensitivity and a spatial profile dependent only on the radius of the annulus. This allowed us to reconstruct realistic SAI population responses that included noise, variation in fiber sensitivity, and varying innervation patterns. The critical question was how relatively small populations ( approximately 70 active fibers) can encode edge curvature with such precision. A template-matching approach was used to establish the accuracy of edge representation in the population. The known large interfiber variability in sensitivity had no effect on curvature resolution. Neural resolution was superior to human performance until large levels of central noise were present showing that, unlike simple detection, spatial processing is limited centrally. In contrast to the behavior of mean response codes, neural resolution improved with increasing covariance in noise. Surprisingly, resolution for any single population varied considerably with small changes in the position of the stimulus relative to the SAI matrix. Overall innervation density was not as critical as the spacing of receptive fields at right angles to the edge.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Spatial control of cell differentiation in Myxococcus xanthus.

Myxococcus xanthus develops species-specific multicellular fruiting bodies. Starting from a uniform mat of cells, some cells enter into nascent fruiting body aggregates, whereas other cells remain outside. The cells within the fruiting body differentiate from rods into spherical, heat-resistant spores, whereas the cells outside the aggregates, called peripheral cells, remain rod-shaped. Early developmentally regulated genes are expressed in peripheral cells as well as by cells in the fruiting bodies. By contrast, late developmental genes are only expressed by cells within the nascent fruiting bodies. The data show that peripheral cells begin to develop, but are unable to express genes that are switched on later than about 6 h after the start of development. All of the genes whose expression is limited to the fruiting body are dependent on C-signaling either directly or indirectly, whereas the genes that are equally expressed in peripheral rods and in fruiting body cells are not. One of the C-signal-dependent and spatially patterned operons is called dev, and the dev operon has been implicated in the process of sporulation. It is proposed that expression of certain genes, including those of the dev operon, is limited to the nascent fruiting body because fruiting body cells engage in a high level of C-signaling. Peripheral cells do less C-signaling than fruiting body cells, because they have a different spatial arrangement and are at lower density. As a consequence, peripheral cells fail to express the late genes necessary for spore differentiation.

Artificial Gene Fusion↗

PubMed1994

The architecture of perceptual spatial interactions.

Lateral interactions between spatial filters were explored with a lateral masking paradigm. Contrast sensitivity (two-alternative forced-choice) for a Gabor signal in the presence of two flanking high contrast Gabor signals (masks) was measured. When the target to mask distance was less than 2 target wavelengths the contrast sensitivity decreased up to a factor of two relative to a no mask condition. At larger separations, up to eight wavelengths, an increase in contrast sensitivity occurred. This increase was maximal at separation distances of 2-3 wavelengths, where sensitivity increased by a factor of two. However, the enhancement magnitude and range was dependent on the offset between the Gabor signal orientation and the direction defined by the virtual line connecting the two masks (global orientation). Maximal effects occurred when this offset was zero (100% increase in sensitivity) and 90 deg (50% increase). A 45 deg offset yielded only a small enhancement (20%). The enhancement dependence on spatial arrangement was found to be invariant across different global orientations (meridian). This pattern of interactions may be involved in grouping colinear line segments into smooth curves.

Contrast Sensitivity↗

PubMed1987

Simple reaction time to sinusoidal grating and perceptual integration time: contributions of perceptual and response processes.

For sinusoidal gratings, two experiments were carried out to examine relation between simple reaction time and perceptual and response processes. First, the simple reaction time (RT) was measured as a function of grating contrast with spatial frequency as a parameter. Second, contrast threshold was determined as a function of exposure duration (ED). On the basis of the RT-contrast function and the ED-contrast threshold function empirically obtained, the difference between the RT and the ED was evaluated as a function of grating contrast. The RT-ED difference, in which the perceptual integration time was eliminated, was considered to reflect the transmission time, delay in the response process, and delay in the motor response. As the grating contrast increased, the RT-ED difference decreased rapidly at first, and then gradually, and finally leveled off. The RT-ED difference vs contrast function depended on spatial frequency. Based on the analysis of the characteristics of the RT-ED functions, the effects of grating contrast and spatial frequency on the simple RT could be ascribed to the changing contributions of the perceptual and the response processes.

Evoked Potentials, Visual↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Scrapie-infected cells, isolated prions, and recombinant prion protein: a comparative study.

Fourier -transform infrared microscopic spectra of scrapie-infected nervous tissue measured at high spatial resolution (approximately 6 microm) were compared with those obtained from the purified, partly proteinase K digested scrapie isoform of the prion protein isolated from nervous tissue of hamsters infected with the same scrapie strain (263K) to elucidate similarities/dissimilarities between prion structure investigated in situ and ex vivo. A further comparison is drawn to the recombinant Syrian hamster prion protein SHaPrP(90-232) after in vitro conformational transition from the predominantly alpha-helical isoform to beta-sheet-rich structures. It is shown that prion protein structure can be investigated within tissue and that detectability of regions with elevated beta-sheet content as observed in microspectra of prion-infected tissue strongly depends on spatial resolution of the experiment.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

Proprioceptive influences on directional hearing: dependence on the movement type.

Proprioceptive effects (PE) on directional hearing, i.e., sound image shifts relatively to the sound source, produced by changes in head position, were studied in their dependence on head movement type in two groups of listeners. The first group included subjects in whom horizontal head deviation to the right or to the left, performed on instruction before the presentation of clicks, caused sound image displacement of 10-15 degrees. When the same sounds were made signals of movement direction, i.e., of pointing with the head at the sound source, PE became fully inhibited in all subjects. The second group included listeners in whom PE was either absent or only very small; substitution of passive head deviations for active turns resulted (in 63 percent of cases) in PEs which presumably had been previously inhibited. Thus identical muscle activities play different roles in auditory spatial perception depending on the type of movement and on the significance of the acoustic signal for the motor act.

Auditory Perception↗

PubMed2005

Senescence of spatial chromatic contrast sensitivity. I. Detection under conditions controlling for optical factors.

Chromatic contrast thresholds for spatially varying patterns of various spatial frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 cycles per degree) were measured for ten older (65-77 yr of age) and ten younger (18-30 yr of age) observers. The stimuli were Gabor patches modulated along S-varying or (L - M)-varying chromatic axes. Thresholds were determined for two sets of stimuli. For one set of stimuli, the mean chromaticity and luminance were equated at the cornea for all observers. The second set of stimuli was corrected for ocular media density differences to equate stimulation of each of the three cone types at the retina for each individual. Chromatic contrast thresholds were higher for older observers for all stimuli tested. The magnitude of this difference showed little dependence on spatial frequency. When stimuli were equated at the cornea, this difference was greater for S-varying stimuli. When stimuli were equated at the retina, the age-related difference in thresholds for S-varying stimuli was reduced. Both optical and neural factors contribute to these age-related losses in spatial chromatic contrast sensitivity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Characterization of a fluoroscopic imaging system for kV and MV radiography.

An on-line kilovoltage (kV) imaging system has been implemented on a medical linear accelerator to verify radiotherapy field placement. A kV x-ray tube is mounted on the accelerator at 90 degrees to the megavoltage (MV) source and shares the same isocenter. Nearly identical CCD-based fluoroscopic imagers are mounted opposite the two x-ray sources. These systems are being used in a clinical study of patient setup error that examines the advantage of kV imaging for on-line localization. In the investigation reported here, the imaging performance of the kV and MV systems are characterized to provide support to the conclusions of the studies of setup error. A spatial-frequency-dependent linear systems model is used to predict the detective quantum efficiencies (DQEs) of the two systems. Each is divided into a series of gain and spreading stages. The parameters of each stage are either measured or obtained from the literature. The model predicts the system gain to within 7% of the measured gain for the MV system and to within 10% for the kV system. The systems' noise power spectra (NPSs) and modulation transfer functions (MTFs) are measured to construct the measured DQEs. X-ray fluences are calculated using modeled polyenergetic spectra. Measured DQEs agree well with those predicted by the model. The model reveals that the MV system is well optimized, and is x-ray quantum noise limited at low spatial frequencies. The kV system is suboptimal, but for purposes of patient positioning yields images superior to those produced by the MV system. This is attributed to the kV system's higher DQE and to the inherently higher contrasts present at kV energies.

Biophysical Phenomena↗

PubMed1986

Changes in conduction velocity during acute ischemia in ventricular myocardium of the isolated porcine heart.

Conduction velocities along longitudinal (vL) and transverse (vT) fiber axes were determined in isolated porcine hearts from subepicardial activation patterns that were produced by local stimulation and measured with a multiterminal electrode. In some of the experiments extracellular [K+] ([K+]o) and transmembrane potentials were recorded. During normal perfusion vL and vT were (cm/sec) 50.08 +/- 2.13, (SE) and 21.08 +/- 0.97. After 3 to 5 min of global ischemia, vL and vT decreased to approximately 30 and 13 cm/sec. Before the occurrence of total inexcitability propagation became time dependent 2: 1 block developed and centrifugal spread from the stimulus site was partially blocked at short intervals and was normal at long intervals. This suggested that slowed conduction was dependent on spatial nonuniformities of recovery from excitability. Slowing of conduction during ischemia was not explained by accumulation of [K+]o alone, because vL and vT at a given [K+]o were lower during ischemia than during perfusion with elevated K+. In hearts perfused at 20 mM [K+]o "slow responses" were produced by addition of epinephrine (2.5 X 10(-5)M). Resting membrane potentials of slow responses were significantly lower than of depressed action potentials during ischemia. The values vL and vT of slow responses (10 and 5 cm/sec) were much lower than the lowest values during ischemia (20 and 10 cm/sec). This indicates that slow conduction in ischemia is associated with depressed action potentials initiated by a partially inactivated rapid Na+ inward current. The time dependence of nonuniform propagation and the relatively high conduction velocities explain two major characteristics of reentrant tachycardias in acute ischemia: the large diameters of reentrant circuits and the beat-to-beat changes in localization of conduction block.

Action Potentials↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Spatial frequency response functions obtained from cat visual evoked potentials.

Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were obtained from the surface of the cat visual cortex in response to contrast reversing sinusoidal gratings. Gratings of different spatial frequency were presented either separately, using signal averaging to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, or as a spatial frequency sweep, in which spatial frequency was sequentially increased every 5 sec during a 40 sec trial (3.99 Hz) or every 3 sec during a 24 sec trial (6.65 Hz). The second harmonic amplitude- and phase-spatial frequency functions derived from averaging or from sweep trials were similar, indicating that the swept stimulus method can be used to provide a rapid and reliable measure of the VEP-spatial frequency function. Intravenous administration of physostigmine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, evoked a spatial frequency-dependent change in VEP amplitude. At 3.99 Hz, responses to low spatial frequencies were enhanced to a greater extent than were responses to high spatial frequency stimuli. At 6.65 Hz, responses to mid-range spatial frequencies were enhanced to a greater extent than were responses to low and high spatial frequency stimuli. VEP phase at both 3.99 and 6.65 Hz was advanced to a greater degree at the higher spatial frequencies. These results indicate that the swept spatial frequency method may be useful in studying spatial frequency-dependent pharmacological effects on the VEP and support the possibility that pharmacological disruption of the cholinergic visual system can produce such changes.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1992

Electro-physiological investigation of edge-selective mechanisms of human vision.

This study investigates the spatial and temporal characteristics of human visual mechanisms that respond selectively to the polarity of edges. The technique was to record steady-state visual evoked-potentials (VEPs) while visually stimulating with a sawtooth waveform (a series of edges of the same polarity) periodically reversing in contrast (and hence edge-polarity) at a suitable frequency. To ensure that phase-locked VEPs resulted from polarity reversal (rather than local luminance modulation) the stimuli were randomly jittered to a new position between each contrast reversal. The jittered stimulus elicited strong and reliable second-harmonic modulation, usually about one-fifth the amplitude of standard VEPs under similar conditions. The amplitude and extrapolated thresholds of polarity-specific VEPs (relative to standard VEPs) did not vary with eccentricity (up to 10 degrees) or with stimulus orientation. The dependency on spatial frequency was similar to that of standard VEPs, but the polarity-specific VEPs tended to peak at lower temporal frequencies. Perhaps the clearest difference in the two types of VEPs was in the estimated response latency, about 140 msec for the polarity VEPs, compared with 90 msec for standard VEPs.

Contrast Sensitivity↗

PubMed2004

Mapping human skeletal muscle perforator vessels using a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) might explain the variability of NIRS and LDF measurements.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) have become the techniques of choice allowing the non-invasive study of local human skeletal muscle metabolism and blood perfusion on a small tissue volume (a few cm3). However, it has been shown that both NIRS and LDF measurements may show a large spatial variability depending on the position of the optodes over the investigated muscle. This variability may be due to local morphologic and/or metabolic characteristics of the muscle and makes the data interpretation and comparison difficult. In the present work, we use a third method to investigate this problem which permits fast, non-invasive mapping of the intramuscular vessel distribution in the human vastus latelralis muscle. This method uses an advanced, passive, infrared imaging sensor called a QWIP (quantum well infrared photodetector). We demonstrate, using a recovery-enhanced infrared imaging technique, that there is a significant presence of perforator vessels in the region of interest of approximately 30 x 18 cm (the number of vessels being: 14, 9, 8, 33, 17 and 18 for each subject, respectively). The presence of these vessels makes the skeletal muscle highly inhomogeneous, and may explain the observed NIRS and LDF spatial variability. We conclude that accurate comparison of the metabolic activity of two different muscle regions is not possible without reliable maps of vascular 'singularities' such as the perforator vessels, and that the QWIP-based imaging system is one method to obtain this information.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Role of spatial and temporal coincidence in depth organization.

The linking of spatial information is essential for coherent space perception. A study is reported of the contribution of temporal and spatial alignment for the linkage of spatial elements in terms of depth perception. Stereo half-images were generated on the left and right halves of a large-screen video monitor and viewed through a mirror stereoscope. The half-images portrayed a black vertically oriented bar with two brackets immediately flanking this bar and placed in crossed or uncrossed disparity relative to the bar. A pair of thin white 'bridging lines' could appear on the black bar, always at zero disparity. Brackets and bridging lines could be flickered either in phase or out of phase. Observers judged whether the brackets appeared in front of or behind the black bar, with disparity varied. Compared to conditions when the bridging lines were absent, depth judgments were markedly biased toward "in front" when bridging lines and brackets flashed in temporal phase; this bias was much reduced when the bridging lines and brackets flashed out of phase. This biasing effect also depended on spatial offset of lines and brackets. However, perception was uninfluenced by the lateral separation between object and brackets.

Computer Graphics↗