Quantification of cell death in developing cerebellum by a 14C tracer method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffin, W.S.; Woodward, D.J.; Chanda, R.

1978-01-01

To study the question of whether or not cell death contributes significantly to normal or stressed postnatal brain development in a way which is biochemically quantifiable, we carried out an experiment to assess the amount of cell death in developing cerebellum. By measuring the loss of DNA content and the loss of 14 C from labelled thymidine previously incorporated into the DNA fraction (DNAF) in X-irradiated neonatal animals, shown by histological methods to have cell death to the degree of degranulating the external granular layer (EGL), we showed that when cells die both label and DNA content are greatly decreased in the cerebellum. Experiments on both normal and malnourished animals showed that cell death does not contribute significantly to cerebellar development in either malnutrition-stressed or normal animals. Here, we present a biochemical tool for assessing cell death and evidence that cell death does not contribute significantly to cerebellar development

A comparison of effects between accelerated heavy ion irradiation and X-irradiation on the development of rat cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inouye, Minoru; Hayasaka, Shizu; Murata, Yoshiharu; Takahashi, Sentaro; Kubota, Yoshihisa

1999-01-01

The purpose of this experiment is to compare the effects of 290 MeV/u carbon-ion irradiation and X-irradiation on the development of rat cerebellum. Pregnant rats were exposed to carbon-ion beams at a single dose of 1.5 Gy on day 19.0 of gestation. Other groups of pregnant rats were exposed to X-rays on day 19.0 at single doses of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 Gy. Their fetuses were removed 8 hr after exposure, and an acute effect examined microscopically for cell death in the external granular layer of the cerebellum. Other dams were allowed to give birth and rear their litters. The offspring were sacrificed at 6 weeks of age, and their cerebella were examined for foliar malformation. The results showed that the effect of 1.5 Gy carbon-ion irradiation on the development of cerebellum was stronger than that of 1.5 Gy X-irradiation and similar to 2.0-2.5 Gy X-irradiation. (author)

Apoptosis of Purkinje and granular cells of the cerebellum following chronic ethanol intake.

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Oliveira, Suelen A; Chuffa, Luiz Gustavo A; Fioruci-Fontanelli, Beatriz Aparecida; Lizarte Neto, Fermino Sanches; Novais, Paulo Cezar; Tirapelli, Luiz Fernando; Oishi, Jorge Camargo; Takase, Luiz Fernando; Stefanini, Maira Aparecida; Martinez, Marcelo; Martinez, Francisco Eduardo

2014-12-01

Ethanol alters motricity, learning, cognition, and cellular metabolism in the cerebellum. We evaluated the effect of ethanol on apoptosis in Golgi, Purkinje, and granule cells of the cerebellum in adult rats. There were two groups of 20 rats: a control group that did not consume ethanol and an experimental group of UChA rats that consumed ethanol at 10% (cerebellum of adult UChA rats.

Influence of Subgrade and Unbound Granular Layers Stiffness on Fatigue Life of Hot Mix Asphalts - HMA

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Hugo A. Rondón-Quintana

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The mainly factors studied to predict fatigue life of hot mix asphalt-HMA in flexible pavements are the loading effect, type of test, compaction methods, design parameters of HMA (e.g., particle size and size distribution curve, fine content, type of bitumen and the variables associated with the environment (mainly moisture, temperature, aging. This study evaluated through a computer simulation, the influence of the granular layers and subgrade on the fatigue life of asphalt layers in flexible pavement structures. Mechanics parameters of granular layers of subgrade, base and subbase were obtained using the mathematical equations currently used for this purpose in the world. The emphasis of the study was the city of Bogotá, where the average annual temperature is 14°C and soils predominantly clay, generally experience CBR magnitudes between 1% and 4%. General conclusion: stiffness of the granular layers and subgrade significantly affect the fatigue resistance of HMA mixtures. Likewise, the use of different equations reported in reference literature in order to characterize granular layers may vary the fatigue life between 4.6 and 48.5 times, varying the thickness of the pavement layers in the design.

Granular and layered ferroelectric–ferromagnetic thin-film nanocomposites as promising materials with high magnetotransmission effect

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Akbashev, A.R. [Department of Materials Science, Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow (Russian Federation); Telegin, A.V., E-mail: telegin@imp.uran.ru [M.N. Miheev Institute of Metal Physics of Ural Branch of RAS, 620990 Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Kaul, A.R. [Department of Chemistry, Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow (Russian Federation); Sukhorukov, Yu.P. [M.N. Miheev Institute of Metal Physics of Ural Branch of RAS, 620990 Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation)

2015-06-15

Epitaxial thin films of granular and layered nanocomposites consisting of ferromagnetic perovskite Pr{sub 1–x}Sr{sub x}MnO{sub 3} and ferroelectric hexagonal LuMnO{sub 3} were grown on ZrO{sub 2}(Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}) substrates using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A self-organized growth of the granular composite took place in situ as a result of phase separation of the Pr–Sr–Lu–Mn–O system into the perovskite and hexagonal phases. Optical transmission measurements revealed a large negative magnetotransmission effect in the layered nanocomposite over a wide spectral and temperature range. The granular nanocomposite unexpectedly showed an even larger, but positive, magnetotransmission effect at room temperature. - Highlights: • Thin-film ferromagnetic–ferroelectric nanocomposites have been prepared by MOCVD. • Giant change of optical transparency of nanocomposites in magnetic field was detected. • Positive magnetotransmission in the granular nanocomposite was discovered in the IR. • Negative magnetotransmission in the layered nanocomposite was revealed in the IR. • Ferroelectric–ferromangetic nanocomposite is a promising material for optoelectronics.

Granular and layered ferroelectric–ferromagnetic thin-film nanocomposites as promising materials with high magnetotransmission effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akbashev, A.R.; Telegin, A.V.; Kaul, A.R.; Sukhorukov, Yu.P.

2015-01-01

Epitaxial thin films of granular and layered nanocomposites consisting of ferromagnetic perovskite Pr 1–x Sr x MnO 3 and ferroelectric hexagonal LuMnO 3 were grown on ZrO 2 (Y 2 O 3 ) substrates using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A self-organized growth of the granular composite took place in situ as a result of phase separation of the Pr–Sr–Lu–Mn–O system into the perovskite and hexagonal phases. Optical transmission measurements revealed a large negative magnetotransmission effect in the layered nanocomposite over a wide spectral and temperature range. The granular nanocomposite unexpectedly showed an even larger, but positive, magnetotransmission effect at room temperature. - Highlights: • Thin-film ferromagnetic–ferroelectric nanocomposites have been prepared by MOCVD. • Giant change of optical transparency of nanocomposites in magnetic field was detected. • Positive magnetotransmission in the granular nanocomposite was discovered in the IR. • Negative magnetotransmission in the layered nanocomposite was revealed in the IR. • Ferroelectric–ferromangetic nanocomposite is a promising material for optoelectronics

INVESTIGATION OF INNER SHEAR RESISTANCE OF GEOGRIDS BUILT UNDER GRANULAR PROTECTION LAYERS AND RAILWAY BALLAST

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Sz. Fischer

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Using adequate granular materials and layer structures in the railway super- and substructure is able to stabilise railway track geometry. For this purpose special behaviour of above materials has to be determined, e.g. inner shear resistance. Inner shear resistance of granular media with and without geogrid reinforcement in different depths is not known yet. Methodology. The author developed a special laboratory method to measure and define inner shear resistance of granular materials, it is called «multi-level shear box test». This method is adequate to determine inner shear resistance (pushing force vs. depth (distance from the «zero» surface. Two different granular materials: andesite railway ballast (31.5/63 mm and andesite railway protection layer material (0/56 mm, and seven different types of geogrids (GG1…GG7 were used during the tests. Findings. Values of inner shear resistance functions of andesite railway ballast without geogrid reinforcement and reinforced with different types of geogrids and andesite granular protection layer in function of the vertical distance from the geogrid plane were determined with multi-layer shear box tests when the material aggregation is uncompacted and compacted. Only the compacted sample was tested in case of the 0/56 mm protection layer. Cubic polynomial regression functions fitted on the mean values of the measurements are described graphically. Determination coefficients with values of R2>0.97 were resulted in all the cases of regression functions. Based on the polynomial regression functions fitted on the mean values of the test results, three increasing factors were determined in function of the distance measured from the geogrid. Increasing factor «A», «B» and «D». Originality. Multi-level shear box test, developed by the author, is certified unequivocally adequate for determining inner shear resistance of reinforced and unreinforced granular materials, e.g. railway ballast

The cerebellar Golgi cell and spatiotemporal organization of granular layer activity

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Egidio eD‘Angelo

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The cerebellar granular layer has been suggested to perform a complex spatiotemporal reconfiguration of incoming mossy fiber signals. Central to this role is the inhibitory action exerted by Golgi cells over granule cells: Golgi cells inhibit granule cells through double feedforward and feedback inhibitory loops and generate a broad lateral inhibition that extends beyond the afferent synaptic field. This characteristic connectivity has recently been investigated in great detail and been correlated with specific functional properties of the neuron. These include theta-frequency pacemaking, network entrainment into coherent oscillations and phase resetting. Important advances have also been made in terms of determining the membrane and synaptic properties of the neuron, and clarifying the mechanisms of activation by input bursts. Moreover, voltage sensitive dye imaging and multi-electrode array recordings, combined with mathematical simulations based on realistic computational models, have improved our understanding of the impact of Golgi cell activity on granular layer circuit computations. These investigations have highlighted the critical role of Golgi cells in: generating dense clusters of granule cell activity organized in center-surround structures, implementing combinatorial operations on multiple mossy fiber inputs, regulating transmission gain and cut-off frequency, controlling spike timing and burst transmission, and determining the sign, intensity and extension of long-term synaptic plasticity at the mossy fiber-granule cell relay. This review considers recent advances in the field, highlighting the functional implications of Golgi cells for granular layer network computation and indicating new challenges for cerebellar research.

MicroRNAs Promote Granule Cell Expansion in the Cerebellum Through Gli2.

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Constantin, Lena; Wainwright, Brandon J

2015-12-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of cerebellar function and homeostasis. Their deregulation results in cerebellar neuronal degeneration and spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 and contributes to medulloblastoma. Canonical miRNA processing involves Dicer, which cleaves precursor miRNAs into mature double-stranded RNA duplexes. In order to address the role of miRNAs in cerebellar granule cell precursor development, loxP-flanked exons of Dicer1 were conditionally inactivated using the granule cell precursor-specific Atoh1-Cre recombinase. A reduction of 87% in Dicer1 transcript was achieved in this conditional Dicer knockdown model. Although knockdown resulted in normal survival, mice had disruptions to the cortical layering of the anterior cerebellum, which resulted from the premature differentiation of granule cell precursors in this region during neonatal development. This defect manifested as a thinner external granular layer with ectopic mature granule cells, and a depleted internal granular layer. We found that expression of the activator components of the Hedgehog-Patched pathway, the Gli family of transcription factors, was perturbed in conditional Dicer knockdown mice. We propose that loss of Gli2 mRNA mediated the anterior-restricted defect in conditional Dicer knockdown mice and, as proof of principle, were able to show that miR-106b positively regulated Gli2 mRNA expression. These findings confirm the importance of miRNAs as positive mediators of Hedgehog-Patched signalling during granule cell precursor development.

X-ray-induced cell death by apoptosis in the immature rat cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmon, B.V.; Allan, D.J.

1988-01-01

The cells of the external granular layer (EGL) of the developing cerebellum are known to be particularly sensitive to radiation. In the past, changes induced in this layer by irradiation have been referred to by non-specific terms such as pyknotic cells and the mode of cell death has been assumed to be necrosis. However, in published light micrographs of these dying cells, the appearance is suggestive of apoptosis, a distinctive mode of cell death which occurs spontaneously in normal adult and embryonic tissues and can also be triggered by certain pathological stimuli. This light and transmission electron microscopic study of control and irradiated (7 h post-irradiation) rat cerebellum from 18 day fetuses and 5 day-old neonates showed that the cell death was effected by apoptosis. The apoptosis was markedly enhanced by x-irradiation and quantification of the cell death in the EGL of 5 day-old rats exposed to 4, 8, 25, 100, and 400 cGy x-irradiation demonstrated that there was a positive dose response relationship. The extent of cell death by apoptosis which was 0.2% in control, ranged from 0.8% after 4 cGy to 62.3% after 400 cGy x-irradiation. The recognition that cell death by apoptosis can be a major component of x-irradiation damage has important implications for radiobiological studies

The evolution of the vertebrate cerebellum: absence of a proliferative external granule layer in a basal ray-finned fish

OpenAIRE

Butts, Thomas; Modrell, Melinda S.; Baker, Clare V. H.; Wingate, Richard J. T.

2014-01-01

The cerebellum represents one of the most morphologically variable structures in the vertebrate brain. To shed light on its evolutionary history, we have examined the molecular anatomy and proliferation of the developing cerebellum of the North American paddlefish, Polyodon spathula. Absence of an external proliferative cerebellar layer and the restriction of Atonal1 expression to the rhombic lip and valvular primordium demonstrate that transit amplification in a cerebellar external germinal ...

Immunohistochemical detection of autophagy-related microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) in the cerebellums of dogs naturally infected with canine distemper virus.

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Kabak, Y B; Sozmen, M; Yarim, M; Guvenc, T; Karayigit, M O; Gulbahar, M Y

2015-01-01

We investigated the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) protein in the cerebellums of dogs infected with canine distemper virus (CDV) using immunohistochemistry to detect autophagy. The cerebellums of 20 dogs infected with CDV were used. Specimens showing demyelination of white matter were considered to have an acute infection, whereas specimens showing signs of severe perivascular cuffing and demyelination of white matter were classified as having chronic CDV. Cerebellar sections were immunostained with CDV and LC3 antibodies. The cytoplasm of Purkinje cells, granular layer cells, motor neurons in large cerebellar ganglia and some neurons in white matter were positive for the LC3 antibody in both the control and CDV-infected dogs. In the infected cerebellums, however, white matter was immunostained more intensely, particularly the neurons and gemistocytic astrocytes in the demyelinated areas, compared to controls. Autophagy also was demonstrated in CDV-positive cells using double immunofluorescence staining. Our findings indicate that increased autophagy in the cerebellum of dogs naturally infected with CDV may play a role in transferring the virus from cell to cell.

The effect of capped layer thickness on switching behavior in perpendicular CoCrPt based coupled granular/continuous media

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Li, W.M.; Lim, W.K.; Shi, J.Z.; Ding, J.

2013-01-01

A systematic investigation of magnetic switching behavior of CoCrPt based capped media (perpendicularly coupled granular/continuous (CGC) media consisting of granular CoCrPt:SiO 2 TiO 2 Ta 2 O 5 /capped CoCrPt(B)) is performed by varying the thickness of the capped layer from 0 to 9 nm. The microscopic structures of CGC media with different thickness of capped layer are examined by transmission electron microscope. We find out that CoCrPt magnetic grains are separated by nonmagnetic oxide grain boundaries. Grain size and grain boundary are about 8.9 nm and 2 nm, respectively. The nonmagnetic oxide grain boundaries in the granular layer do not disappear immediately at the interface between the granular and capped layers. The amorphous grain boundary phase in the granular layer propagates to the top surface of the capped layer. After capping with the CoCrPt(B) layer, the grain size at the surface of CGC structure increases and the grain boundary decreases. Both coercivity and intergranular exchange coupling of the CGC media are investigated by Polar magneto-optic Kerr effect magnetometer and alternating gradient force magnetometer. Although H c apparently decreases at thicker capped layer, no obvious variation of macroscopic switching field distribution (SFD/H c ) is observed. We separate intrinsic switching field distribution from intergranular interactions. The investigation of reduced intrinsic SFD/H c and increased hysteresis loop slope at coercivity, suggests that improvement of absolute switching field distribution (SFD) is caused by both strong intergranular exchange coupling and uniform grain size. Micromagnetic simulation results further verify our conclusion that the capped layer in CGC media is not uniformly continuous but has some granular nature. However, grains in the CoCrPt(B) capped layer is not absolutely isolated, strong exchange coupling exists between grains. - Highlights: • In CGC media, CoCrPt magnetic grains are separated by nonmagnetic oxide

Stimulus-dependent state transition between synchronized oscillation and randomly repetitive burst in a model cerebellar granular layer.

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Takeru Honda

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Information processing of the cerebellar granular layer composed of granule and Golgi cells is regarded as an important first step toward the cerebellar computation. Our previous theoretical studies have shown that granule cells can exhibit random alternation between burst and silent modes, which provides a basis of population representation of the passage-of-time (POT from the onset of external input stimuli. On the other hand, another computational study has reported that granule cells can exhibit synchronized oscillation of activity, as consistent with observed oscillation in local field potential recorded from the granular layer while animals keep still. Here we have a question of whether an identical network model can explain these distinct dynamics. In the present study, we carried out computer simulations based on a spiking network model of the granular layer varying two parameters: the strength of a current injected to granule cells and the concentration of Mg²⁺ which controls the conductance of NMDA channels assumed on the Golgi cell dendrites. The simulations showed that cells in the granular layer can switch activity states between synchronized oscillation and random burst-silent alternation depending on the two parameters. For higher Mg²⁺ concentration and a weaker injected current, granule and Golgi cells elicited spikes synchronously (synchronized oscillation state. In contrast, for lower Mg²⁺ concentration and a stronger injected current, those cells showed the random burst-silent alternation (POT-representing state. It is suggested that NMDA channels on the Golgi cell dendrites play an important role for determining how the granular layer works in response to external input.

The evolution of the vertebrate cerebellum: absence of a proliferative external granule layer in a non-teleost ray-finned fish

OpenAIRE

Butts, Thomas; Modrell, Melinda Sue; Baker, Clare Victoria; Wingate, Richard JT

2014-01-01

The cerebellum represents one of the most morphologically variable structures in the vertebrate brain. To shed light on its evolutionary history, we have examined the molecular anatomy and proliferation of the developing cerebellum of the North American paddlefish, Polyodon spathula. Absence of an external proliferative cerebellar layer and the restriction of Atonal1 expression to the rhombic lip and valvular primordium demonstrate that transit amplification in a cerebellar external germinal ...

The Cerebellum and Its Wrapping Meninge: Developmental Interplay between Two Major Structures.

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Catala, Martin

2017-10-01

Meninges have long been considered as a protective and supportive tissue for the central nervous system. Nevertheless, new developmental roles are now attributed to them. The meninges that surround the cerebellum come from the cephalic mesoderm. They are essential for the cerebellum to develop normally. They induce and maintain the basal lamina and glia limitans. In the absence of these structures, the external granular cells of the cerebellum migrate aberrantly and penetrate the subarachnoid space. The molecules involved in the recognition between the cerebellar primordium and the basal lamina belong to two groups in humans: dystroglycan and laminin on the one hand, and GPR56 and collagen III on the other. Finally, molecules secreted by the meninges and acting on the cerebellum begin to be demonstrated; such is the case of SDF1 secreted under the action of FOXC1. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Impairment of DNA synthesis in Gunn rat cerebellum.

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Yamada, N; Sawasaki, Y; Nakajima, H

1977-05-06

Brain DNA synthesis was developmentally investigated in Gunn rat with marked cerebellar hypoplasia due to hereditary hyperbilirubinemia. In this mutant rat, the Purkinje cell was nearly selectively affected in the cerebellar cortex by bilirubin. The impaired DNA synthesis was observed in homozygous (jj) Gunn rat cerebellum, in which the DNA content and [3H]thymidine incorporation rate into DNA decreased after 10 days of age compared to those in the heterozygous (Jj)littermate. In contrast, these impairments were not found in the non-cerebellar parts of the brain and liver of jj Gunn rat. The activity of cerebellar thymidine kinase in jj Gunn rat decreased from a very early stae, being 80% of Jj rat at 6 days, and 50% at 10 days of age. The enzyme activity was not affected in the non-cerebellar parts of the brain. Although bilirubin competitively inhibited cerebellar thymidine kinase activity in vitro (15% at 10(-5) M), such bilirubin level was found to be about 1000-fold that in vivo. Moreover, photo-degradation of bilirubin in jj cerebellum exhibited no improvement in thymidine kinase activity, and the presence of an enzyme inactivator was not suggested in jj cerebellum. These results seem to indicate that the induction of thymidine kinase might be affected in jj Gunn rat cerebellum. The possibility that the impaired DNA synthesis in the external granular cells in jj cerebellum may be due to Purkinje cell damage is discussed.

Double-layered perpendicular magnetic recording media of granular-type FePt-MgO films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhengang; Singh, Amarendra K.; Yin Jinhua; Perumal, A.; Suzuki, Takao

2005-01-01

The recording performance of double-layered granular-type FePt-MgO perpendicular magnetic recording media fabricated onto glass discs by sputtering is investigated. The (0 0 1)-textured FePt granular films are obtained by annealing FePt/MgO multilayers. Three different multilayer structures are compared in their magnetic properties and recording SNR performances. To evaluate thermal stability property of these granular-type FePt disks, the time-dependent magnetic force microscope (MFM) signal from the written bits on one of these disks is recorded in the temperature range 25-200 degree sign C. The signal decay at high observation temperature is interpreted based on the temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy (K u )

Movement of beta-irradiated epidermal basal cells to the spinous-granular layers in the absence of cell division

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Etoh, H.; Taguchi, Y.H.; Tabachnick, J.

1975-01-01

Guinea-pig epidermis was irradiated with 3000 rad of beta rays 1 hr after two injections of [ 3 H]thymidine 5 hr apart (labeled cells in S phase and G 2 phase) or 18 hr after injection (labeled early G 1 cells). In nonirradiated epidermis labeled basal cells divided within 24 hr with daughter cells remaining in the basal layer, and approximately 50 percent of the labeled cells moved into the spinal layer by the 3rd day. Cell division in nonirradiated epidermis diluted the number of silver grains/nucleus, and lightly labeled cells were found in the granular layer by day 7. Beta irradiation inhibited cell division but it did not slow the rate of transit (ca 8 days) of irradiated labeled cells from basal to granular layer, some of these remaining heavily labeled. Although cell division may play some role in upward movement of basal cells in normal epidermis detachment of a basal cell from the basement membrane and its transit to the granular layer is unimpaired in the absence of cell division. These findings suggest that some radioresistant metabolic function(s), not cell division, is responsible for upward movement of basal cells. (auth)

Sensitivity difference between anterior and posterior lobes of rat cerebellum to prenatal exposure to 2.5 Gy X-irradiation. A histological study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darmanto, W.; Hayasaka, Shizu; Takagishi, Yoshiko; Aolad, H.M.; Inouye, Minoru

1997-01-01

We investigated the histological differences in abnormality between anterior lobes (vermian lobules II, III and culmen IV, V) and posterior lobes (lobules IX, X) of the rat cerebellum following prenatal exposure to X-irradiation. Pregnant rats were exposed to 2.5 Gy X-irradiation at gestation day-21 (GD-21), and pups were sacrificed from birth through 15 days of age. Their cerebella were examined histologically and immunohistochemically for glial fibrillary acidic protein in Bergmann fibers. Extensive cell death was found in the external granular layer (EGL) of the cerebellum on the day of birth. In the anterior lobes, the number of cell deaths was higher than in the posterior lobes. During 5 days after birth, the recovery of EGL was earlier in the posterior lobes than in the anterior lobes. Seven days after birth, Bergmann fibers were more irregular in the anterior lobes than in the posterior lobes. The number of Purkinje cells in ectopic locations was higher in the anterior lobes than in the posterior lobes. The EGL and migrating Purkinje cells showed different responses to X-irradiation in the anterior than in the posterior lobes of the cerebellum. (author)

Cellular commitment in the developing cerebellum

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Marzban, Hassan; Del Bigio, Marc R.; Alizadeh, Javad; Ghavami, Saeid; Zachariah, Robby M.; Rastegar, Mojgan

2014-01-01

The mammalian cerebellum is located in the posterior cranial fossa and is critical for motor coordination and non-motor functions including cognitive and emotional processes. The anatomical structure of cerebellum is distinct with a three-layered cortex. During development, neurogenesis and fate decisions of cerebellar primordium cells are orchestrated through tightly controlled molecular events involving multiple genetic pathways. In this review, we will highlight the anatomical structure of human and mouse cerebellum, the cellular composition of developing cerebellum, and the underlying gene expression programs involved in cell fate commitments in the cerebellum. A critical evaluation of the cell death literature suggests that apoptosis occurs in ~5% of cerebellar cells, most shortly after mitosis. Apoptosis and cellular autophagy likely play significant roles in cerebellar development, we provide a comprehensive discussion of their role in cerebellar development and organization. We also address the possible function of unfolded protein response in regulation of cerebellar neurogenesis. We discuss recent advancements in understanding the epigenetic signature of cerebellar compartments and possible connections between DNA methylation, microRNAs and cerebellar neurodegeneration. Finally, we discuss genetic diseases associated with cerebellar dysfunction and their role in the aging cerebellum. PMID:25628535

Cellular Commitment in the Developing Cerebellum

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Hassan eMarzban

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The mammalian cerebellum is located in the posterior cranial fossa and is critical for motor coordination and non-motor functions including cognitive and emotional processes. The anatomical structure of cerebellum is distinct with a three-layered cortex. During development, neurogenesis and fate decisions of cerebellar primordium cells are orchestrated through tightly controlled molecular events involving multiple genetic pathways. In this review, we will highlight the anatomical structure of human and mouse cerebellum, the cellular composition of developing cerebellum, and the underlying gene expression programs involved in cell fate commitments in the cerebellum. A critical evaluation of the cell death literature suggests that apoptosis occurs in ~5% of cerebellar cells, most shortly after mitosis. Apoptosis and cellular autophagy likely play significant roles in cerebellar development, we provide a comprehensive discussion of their role in cerebellar development and organization. We also address the possible function of unfolded protein response in regulation of cerebellar neurogenesis. We discuss recent advancements in understanding the epigenetic signature of cerebellar compartments and possible connections between DNA methylation, microRNAs and cerebellar neurodegeneration. Finally, we then discuss genetic diseases associated with cerebellar dysfunction and their role in the aging cerebellum.

Molecular layer interneurons of the cerebellum: developmental and morphological aspects.

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Sotelo, Constantino

2015-10-01

During the past 25 years, our knowledge on the development of basket and stellate cells (molecular layer interneurons [MLIs]) has completely changed, not only regarding their origin from the ventricular zone, corresponding to the primitive cerebellar neuroepithelium, instead of the external granular layer, but above all by providing an almost complete account of the genetic regulations (transcription factors and other genes) involved in their differentiation and synaptogenesis. Moreover, it has been shown that MLIs' precursors (dividing neuroblasts) and not young postmitotic neurons, as in other germinal neuroepithelia, leave the germinative zone and migrate all along a complex and lengthy path throughout the presumptive cerebellar white matter, which provides suitable niches exerting epigenetic influences on their ultimate neuronal identities. Recent studies carried out on the anatomical-functional properties of adult MLIs emphasize the importance of these interneurons in regulating PC inhibition, and point out the crucial role played by electrical synaptic transmission between MLIs as well as ephaptic interactions between them and Purkinje cells at the pinceaux level, in the regulation of this inhibition.

Highly (002) textured large grain bcc Cr{sub 80}Mn{sub 20} seed layer on Cr{sub 50}Ti{sub 50} amorphous layer for FePt-C granular film

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Jeon, Seong-Jae, E-mail: jsjigst@ecei.tohoku.ac.jp; Saito, Shin [Department of Electronic Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-05 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Hinata, Shintaro [Department of Electronic Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-05 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellow (PD), 5-3-1, Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 (Japan); Takahashi, Migaku [New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, Tohoku University, 6-6-10 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan)

2015-05-07

Effect of bcc Cr{sub 80}Mn{sub 20} seed layer and Cr{sub 50}Ti{sub 50} amorphous texture inducing layer on the heteroepitaxy system in FePt-C granular film was studied by introducing a new concept of the layered structure. The concept suggested that the large grain seed layer in which the crystallographic texture was initially formed on an amorphous layer in the layered structure can reduce the angular distribution of (002) c-axis crystal orientation in the FePt-C granular film owing to heteroepitaxial growth. Structure analysis by X-ray diffraction revealed that (1) when the substrate heating temperature was elevated from 300 °C to 500 °C, grain size in the seed layer increased from 9.8 nm to 11.6 nm, and then decreased with further increasing the substrate temperature. The reduction of the grain size over 500 °C corresponds to the crystallization of the amorphous texture inducing layer, (2) when the grain size increased from 9.8 nm to 11.6 nm, the angular distribution of the (002) orientation in the seed layer dramatically decreased from 13.7° to 4.1°. It was shown that the large grain seed layer increased the perpendicular hysteresis in FePt-C granular film.

Ge clusters and wetting layers forming from granular films on the Si(001) surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storozhevykh, M S; Arapkina, L V; Yuryev, V A

2016-01-01

The report studies the transformation of a Ge granular film deposited on the Si(001) surface at room temperature into a Ge/Si(001) heterostructure as a result of rapid heating and annealing at 600 °C. As a result of the short-term annealing at 600 °C in conditions of a closed system, the Ge granular film transforms into a usual wetting layer and Ge clusters with multimodal size distribution and Ge oval drops having the highest number density. After the long-term thermal treatment of the Ge film at the same temperature, Ge drops disappear; the large clusters increase their sizes at the expense of the smaller ones. The total density of Ge clusters on the surface drastically decreases. The wetting layer mixed c(4 x 2) + p(2 x 2) reconstruction transforms into a single c(4 x 2) one which is likely to be thermodynamically favoured. Pyramids or domes are not observed on the surface after any annealing. (paper)

DNA content of rodent brains during maturation and aging, and autoradiography of postnatal DNA synthesis in monkey brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howard, E.

1973-01-01

[ 3 H]Thymidine is taken up by cells synthesizing DNA prepatory to cell division and remains incorporated in the DNA molecules as a lasting radioactive cell marker unless diluted out by repeated cell divisions. With the mouse and rat, histological studies after [ 3 H]thymidine injections have demonstrated that the cells of the external granular layer of the cerebellum proliferate abundantly during the first 2 weeks of postnatal life. Development of the primate brain is a gradual process extending over a much longer time than is required in the rodent. Despite the relative histological maturity of the monkey cerebellum at birth, the cells of the external granular layer are still actively synthesizing DNA at this time. Two monkeys were given [ 3 H]thymidine at birth and killed within 4 hours. Intense radioactivity was present in the cells of the external granular layer. Cells near the Prukinje perikarya were rather frequently labelled in this monkey, as described by Miale and Sidman in the mouse. In the molecular layer and in the body of the granular layer, relatively few cells were labelled. The labelling was present throughout the cerebellum, although the number of cells labelled varied from one microscopic field to another

The volume of Purkinje cells decreases in the cerebellum of acrylamide-intoxicated rats, but no cells are lost

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jytte Overgaard; Tandrup, T; Braendgaard, H

1994-01-01

The effects of acrylamide intoxication on the numbers of granule and Purkinje cells and the volume of Purkinje cell perikarya have been evaluated with stereological methods. The analysis was carried out in the cerebella of rats that had received a dose of 33.3 mg/kg acrylamide, twice a week, for 7.......5 weeks. The total numbers of cerebellar granule and Purkinje cells were estimated using the optical fractionator and the mean volume of the Purkinje cell perikarya was estimated with the vertical rotator technique. The volumes of the molecular layer, the granular cell layer and the white matter were...... estimated using the Cavalieri principle. The mean weight of the cerebellum of the intoxicated rats was 7% lower than that of the control rats (2P = 0.001). The numbers of the Purkinje cells and granule cells were the same in both groups, but the mean volume of the perikarya of the Purkinje cells...

Formation of periodic and localized patterns in an oscillating granular layer.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aranson, I.; Tsimring, L. S.; Materials Science Division; Bar Ilan Univ.; Univ. of California at San Diego

1998-02-01

A simple phenomenological model for pattern formation in a vertically vibrated layer of granular particles is proposed. This model exhibits a variety of stable cellular patterns including standing rolls and squares as well as localized excitations (oscillons and worms), similar to recent experimental observations (Umbanhowar et al., 1996). The model is an order parameter equation for the parametrically excited waves coupled to the mass conservation law. The structure and dynamics of the solutions resemble closely the properties of patterns observed in the experiments.

Preparation and recording characteristics of granular-type perpendicular magnetic recording media with thin intermediate layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shintaku, K.; Kiya, T.

2008-01-01

Granular-type media with thin Ru intermediate layer were prepared on a highly oriented high-B s FeCo soft underlayer (SUL). A CoPt-TiO 2 recording layer on a Ru intermediate layer of only 2 nm had high-crystal orientation, high H c of 6.5 kOe, and a high squareness ratio (SQ) of 0.99. The magnetic property of the SUL was also good. The recording performance was measured for the media with different Ru intermediate thicknesses by using a single-pole-type (SPT) head. The media had large reproduced output even for the Ru intermediate layer thickness of 2 nm

Preparation and recording characteristics of granular-type perpendicular magnetic recording media with thin intermediate layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shintaku, K. [Akita Research Institute of Advanced Technology, Akita Prefectural R and D Center, 4-21 Sanuki, Araya, Akita 010-1623 (Japan)], E-mail: shintaku@ait.pref.akita.jp; Kiya, T. [Akita Research Institute of Advanced Technology, Akita Prefectural R and D Center, 4-21 Sanuki, Araya, Akita 010-1623 (Japan)

2008-11-15

Granular-type media with thin Ru intermediate layer were prepared on a highly oriented high-B{sub s} FeCo soft underlayer (SUL). A CoPt-TiO{sub 2} recording layer on a Ru intermediate layer of only 2 nm had high-crystal orientation, high H{sub c} of 6.5 kOe, and a high squareness ratio (SQ) of 0.99. The magnetic property of the SUL was also good. The recording performance was measured for the media with different Ru intermediate thicknesses by using a single-pole-type (SPT) head. The media had large reproduced output even for the Ru intermediate layer thickness of 2 nm.

Microtubule-Associated Proteins in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with and without Psychiatric Comorbidities and Their Relation with Granular Cell Layer Dispersion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ludmyla Kandratavicius

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Despite strong association between epilepsy and psychiatric comorbidities, biological substrates are unknown. We have previously reported decreased mossy fiber sprouting in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE patients with psychosis and increased in those with major depression. Microtubule associated proteins (MAPs are essentially involved in dendritic and synaptic sprouting. Methods. MTLE hippocampi of subjects without psychiatric history, MTLE + major depression, and MTLE + interictal psychosis derived from epilepsy surgery and control necropsies were investigated for neuronal density, granular layer dispersion, and MAP2 and tau immunohistochemistry. Results. Altered MAP2 and tau expression in MTLE and decreased tau expression in MTLE with psychosis were found. Granular layer dispersion correlated inversely with verbal memory scores, and with MAP2 and tau expression in the entorhinal cortex. Patients taking fluoxetine showed increased neuronal density in the granular layer and those taking haloperidol decreased neuronal density in CA3 and subiculum. Conclusions. Our results indicate relations between MAPs, granular layer dispersion, and memory that have not been previously investigated. Differential MAPs expression in human MTLE hippocampi with and without psychiatric comorbidities suggests that psychopathological states in MTLE rely on differential morphological and possibly neurochemical backgrounds. This clinical study was approved by our institution’s Research Ethics Board (HC-FMRP no. 1270/2008 and is registered under the Brazilian National System of Information on Ethics in Human Research (SISNEP no. 0423.0.004.000-07.

Induction of brain CYP2E1 by chronic ethanol treatment and related oxidative stress in hippocampus, cerebellum, and brainstem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong, Yanjun; Dong, Guicheng; Luo, Haiguang; Cao, Jie; Wang, Chang; Wu, Jianyuan; Feng, Yu-Qi; Yue, Jiang

2012-01-01

Ethanol is one of the most commonly abused substances, and oxidative stress is an important causative factor in ethanol-induced neurotoxicity. Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) is involved in ethanol metabolism in the brain. This study investigates the role of brain CYP2E1 in the susceptibility of certain brain regions to ethanol neurotoxicity. Male Wistar rats were intragastrically treated with ethanol (3.0 g/kg, 30 days). CYP2E1 protein, mRNA expression, and catalytic activity in various brain regions were respectively assessed by immunoblotting, quantitative quantum dot immunohistochemistry, real-time RT-PCR, and LC–MS. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was analyzed using a laser confocal scanning microscope. The hippocampus, cerebellum, and brainstem were selectively damaged after ethanol treatment, indicated by both lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and histopathological analysis. Ethanol markedly increased the levels of CYP2E1 protein, mRNA expression, and activity in the hippocampus and cerebellum. CYP2E1 protein and activity were significantly increased by ethanol in the brainstem, with no change in mRNA expression. ROS levels induced by ethanol paralleled the enhanced CYP2E1 proteins in the hippocampus, granular layer and white matter of cerebellum as well as brainstem. Brain CYP2E1 activity was positively correlated with the damage to the hippocampus, cerebellum, and brainstem. These results suggest that the selective sensitivity of brain regions to ethanol neurodegeneration may be attributed to the regional and cellular-specific induction of CYP2E1 by ethanol. The inhibition of CYP2E1 levels may attenuate ethanol-induced oxidative stress via ROS generation.

Spreading of a granular droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Clement, Eric; Sanchez, Ivan; Raynaud, Franck; Lanuza, Jose; Andreotti, Bruno; Aranson, Igor

2008-03-01

The influence of controlled vibrations on the granular rheology is investigated in a specifically designed experiment in which a granular film spreads under the action of horizontal vibrations. A nonlinear diffusion equation is derived theoretically that describes the evolution of the deposit shape. A self-similar parabolic shape (the``granular droplet'') and a spreading dynamics are predicted that both agree quantitatively with the experimental results. The theoretical analysis is used to extract effective friction coefficients between the base and the granular layer under sustained and controlled vibrations. A shear thickening regime characteristic of dense granular flows is evidenced at low vibration energy, both for glass beads and natural sand. Conversely, shear thinning is observed at high agitation.

Spike timing regulation on the millisecond scale by distributed synaptic plasticity at the cerebellum input stage: a simulation study

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Jesus A Garrido

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The way long-term synaptic plasticity regulates neuronal spike patterns is not completely understood. This issue is especially relevant for the cerebellum, which is endowed with several forms of long-term synaptic plasticity and has been predicted to operate as a timing and a learning machine. Here we have used a computational model to simulate the impact of multiple distributed synaptic weights in the cerebellar granular layer network. In response to mossy fiber bursts, synaptic weights at multiple connections played a crucial role to regulate spike number and positioning in granule cells. The weight at mossy fiber to granule cell synapses regulated the delay of the first spike and the weight at mossy fiber and parallel fiber to Golgi cell synapses regulated the duration of the time-window during which the first-spike could be emitted. Moreover, the weights of synapses controlling Golgi cell activation regulated the intensity of granule cell inhibition and therefore the number of spikes that could be emitted. First spike timing was regulated with millisecond precision and the number of spikes ranged from 0 to 3. Interestingly, different combinations of synaptic weights optimized either first-spike timing precision or spike number, efficiently controlling transmission and filtering properties. These results predict that distributed synaptic plasticity regulates the emission of quasi-digital spike patterns on the millisecond time scale and allows the cerebellar granular layer to flexibly control burst transmission along the mossy fiber pathway.

Neuropathologic features in the hippocampus and cerebellum of three older men with fragile X syndrome

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Greco Claudia M

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Fragile X syndrome (FXS is the most common inherited form of intellectual disability, and is the most common single-gene disorder known to be associated with autism. Despite recent advances in functional neuroimaging and our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis, only limited neuropathologic information on FXS is available. Methods Neuropathologic examinations were performed on post-mortem brain tissue from three older men (aged 57, 64 and 78 years who had received a clinical or genetic diagnosis of FXS. In each case, physical and cognitive features were typical of FXS, and one man was also diagnosed with autism. Guided by reports of clinical and neuroimaging abnormalities of the limbic system and cerebellum of individuals with FXS, the current analysis focused on neuropathologic features present in the hippocampus and the cerebellar vermis. Results Histologic and immunologic staining revealed abnormalities in both the hippocampus and cerebellar vermis. Focal thickening of hippocampal CA1 and irregularities in the appearance of the dentate gyrus were identified. All lobules of the cerebellar vermis and the lateral cortex of the posterior lobe of the cerebellum had decreased numbers of Purkinje cells, which were occasionally misplaced, and often lacked proper orientation. There were mild, albeit excessive, undulations of the internal granular cell layer, with patchy foliar white matter axonal and astrocytic abnormalities. Quantitative analysis documented panfoliar atrophy of both the anterior and posterior lobes of the vermis, with preferential atrophy of the posterior lobule (VI to VII compared with age-matched normal controls. Conclusions Significant morphologic changes in the hippocampus and cerebellum in three adult men with FXS were identified. This pattern of pathologic features supports the idea that primary defects in neuronal migration, neurogenesis and aging may underlie the neuropathology reported in FXS.

Neuropathologic features in the hippocampus and cerebellum of three older men with fragile X syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited form of intellectual disability, and is the most common single-gene disorder known to be associated with autism. Despite recent advances in functional neuroimaging and our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis, only limited neuropathologic information on FXS is available. Methods Neuropathologic examinations were performed on post-mortem brain tissue from three older men (aged 57, 64 and 78 years) who had received a clinical or genetic diagnosis of FXS. In each case, physical and cognitive features were typical of FXS, and one man was also diagnosed with autism. Guided by reports of clinical and neuroimaging abnormalities of the limbic system and cerebellum of individuals with FXS, the current analysis focused on neuropathologic features present in the hippocampus and the cerebellar vermis. Results Histologic and immunologic staining revealed abnormalities in both the hippocampus and cerebellar vermis. Focal thickening of hippocampal CA1 and irregularities in the appearance of the dentate gyrus were identified. All lobules of the cerebellar vermis and the lateral cortex of the posterior lobe of the cerebellum had decreased numbers of Purkinje cells, which were occasionally misplaced, and often lacked proper orientation. There were mild, albeit excessive, undulations of the internal granular cell layer, with patchy foliar white matter axonal and astrocytic abnormalities. Quantitative analysis documented panfoliar atrophy of both the anterior and posterior lobes of the vermis, with preferential atrophy of the posterior lobule (VI to VII) compared with age-matched normal controls. Conclusions Significant morphologic changes in the hippocampus and cerebellum in three adult men with FXS were identified. This pattern of pathologic features supports the idea that primary defects in neuronal migration, neurogenesis and aging may underlie the neuropathology reported in FXS. PMID:21303513

Hydroxyurea Treatment and Development of the Rat Cerebellum: Effects on the Neurogenetic Profiles and Settled Patterns of Purkinje Cells and Deep Cerebellar Nuclei Neurons.

Science.gov (United States)

Martí, Joaquín; Santa-Cruz, M C; Serra, Roger; Hervás, José P

2016-11-01

The current paper analyzes the development of the male and female rat cerebellum exposed to hydroxyurea (HU) (300 or 600 mg/kg) as embryo and collected at postnatal day 90. Our study reveals that the administration of this drug compromises neither the cytoarchitecture of the cerebellar cortex nor deep nuclei (DCN). However, in comparison with the saline group, we observed that several cerebellar parameters were lower in the HU injected groups. These parameters included area of the cerebellum, cerebellar cortex length, molecular layer area, Purkinje cell number, granule cell counts, internal granular layer, white matter and cerebellar nuclei areas, and number of deep cerebellar nuclei neurons. These features were larger in the rats injected with saline, smaller in those exposed to 300 mg/kg of HU and smallest in the group receiving 600 mg/kg of this agent. No sex differences in the effect of the HU were observed. In addition, we infer the neurogenetic timetables and the neurogenetic gradients of PCs and DCN neurons in rats exposed to either saline or HU as embryos. For this purpose, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine was injected into pregnant rats previously administered with saline or HU. This thymidine analog was administered following a progressively delayed cumulative labeling method. The data presented here show that systematic differences exist in the pattern of neurogenesis and in the spatial location of cerebellar neurons between rats injected with saline or HU. No sex differences in the effect of the HU were observed. These findings have implications for the administration of this compound to women in gestation as the effects of HU on the development of the cerebellum might persist throughout their offsprings' life.

CEMS and XRD studies on changing shape of iron nano-particles by irradiation of Au ions of Fe-implanted Al2O3 granular layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, T.; Wakabayashi, H.; Hashimoto, M.; Toriyama, T.; Taniguchi, S.; Hayashi, N.; Sakamoto, I.

2007-01-01

In order to observe an inverse Ostwald ripening of Fe nano-particles in Fe-implanted Al 2 O 3 granular layers, 3 MeV Au ions were irradiated to Fe nano-particles in these layers with doses of 0.5x and 1.5x10 16 ions/cm 2 . It was found by Conversion Electron Mossbauer Spectroscopy (CEMS) that the inverse Ostwald ripening occurred by fractions of percentages and the magnetic anisotropy of Fe nano-particles was induced to the direction of Au ion beam, i.e. perpendicular to the granular plane. The average crystallite diameters of Fe nano-particles for Au ions unirradiated and irradiated samples were measured using Scherrer's formula from FWHM of Fe (110) X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns obtained by 2θ and 2θ/θ methods. It was confirmed that the average crystallite diameters of Fe nano-particles in Fe-implanted Al 2 O 3 granular layers were extended by Au ions irradiation. (author)

Granular flows on erodible layers: type and evolution of flow and deposit structures

Science.gov (United States)

Crosta, G.; De Blasio, F.; De Caro, M.; Volpi, G.; Frattini, P.

2012-04-01

The interaction of a fast moving landslide mass with the basal layer over which movement takes place has been discussed in previous contributions. Nevertheless, the evolution of the structures within the moving mass and the erodible layer are still to be described in detail (Hungr and Evans, 2004; Crosta et al., 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011; Dufresne et al., 2010; Mangeney et al., 2010) and modeling results (Crosta et al., 2006, 2009, 2011; Mangeney et al., 2010). We present some of the results from a campaign of laboratory experiments aimed at studying the evolution of a granular flow at the impact with and during the successive spreading over a cohesionless erodible layer. We performed these test to study the processes and to collect data and evidences to compare them with the results of numerical simulations and to verify capabilities of numerical codes. The laboratory setup consists of an inclined slope and an horizontal sector where release and transport, and deposition take place, respectively. Materials used for the tests are: a uniform rounded siliceous sand (Hostun sand; 0.125-0.5 mm) commonly adopted in lab tests because free of scale effects, and a gravel made of angular elements (12 mm in ave. size). Both the materials have been tested in dry conditions. Different slope angles have been tested (40, 45, 50, 55, 50, 66°) as well as different thicknesses of the erodible layer (0, 0.5, 1, 2 cm) and volumes of the released material (1.5, 3, 5, 9.6 liters). Tests have been monitored by means of a high speed camera and the pre- and post-failure geometries have been surveyed by means of a laser scanner. Deposit description allowed also the computation of volumes and the characterization of the different structures developed and frozen into the deposit. Experiments allowed us to observe the extreme processes occurring during the movement and the mise en place of the deposits. In particular, we observe the formation of a clear wave-like feature developing during the

The effect of trichlorfon and methylazoxymethanol on the development of guinea pig cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehl, Anna; Schanke, Tore M.; Torvik, Ansgar; Fonnum, Frode

2007-01-01

The pesticide trichlorfon (125 mg/kg on days 42-44 in gestation) gives hypoplasia of Brain of the offspring without any significant reduction in their body weights. The hypoplasia may be caused by trichlorfon itself or by its metabolite dichlorvos. This period of development coincides with the growth spurt period of guinea pig brain. The largest changes occurred in the cerebellum. Electron microscopic examination of the cerebellar cortex showed increased apoptotic death of cells in the granule cell layer after trichlorfon treatment. A reduction in thickness of the external germinal layer of the cerebellar cortex and an elevated amount of pyknotic and karyorrhexic cells in the granule cell layer was found. There was a significant reduction in choline esterase, choline acetyltransferase and glutamate decarboxylase activities in the cerebellum. Methylazoxymethanol (15 mg/kg body weight, day 43) was examined for comparison and caused similar hypoplasia of the guinea pig cerebellum, but did also induce a reduction in body weight. Trichloroethanol, the main metabolite of trichlorfon, did not give brain hypoplasia

Locating the origin of stick slip instabilities in sheared granular layers

Science.gov (United States)

Korkolis, Evangelos; Niemeijer, André

2017-04-01

Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring is a non-invasive technique widely used to evaluate the state of materials and structures. We have developed a system that can locate the source of AE events associated with unstable sliding (stick-slip) of sheared granular layers during laboratory friction experiments. Our aim is to map the spatial distribution of energy release due to permanent microstructural changes, using AE source locations as proxies. This will allow us to determine the distribution of applied work in a granular medium, which will be useful in developing constitutive laws that describe the frictional behavior of such materials. The AE monitoring system is installed on a rotary shear apparatus. This type of apparatus is used to investigate the micromechanical processes responsible for the macroscopic frictional behavior of granular materials at large shear displacements. Two arrays of 8 piezoelectric sensors each are installed into the ring-shaped steel pistons that confine our samples. The sensors are connected to a high-speed, multichannel oscilloscope that can record full waveforms. The apparatus is also equipped with a system that continuously records normal and lateral (shear) loads and displacements, as well as pore fluid pressure. Thus, we can calculate the frictional and volumetric response of our granular aggregates, as well as the location of AE sources. Here, we report on the results of room temperature experiments on granular aggregates consisting of glass beads or segregated mixtures of glass beads and calcite, at up to 5 MPa normal stress and sliding velocities between 1 and 100 μm/s. Under these conditions, glass beads exhibit unstable sliding behavior accompanied by significant AE activity, whereas calcite exhibits stable sliding and produces no AEs. We recorded a range of unstable sliding behaviors, from fast, regular stick slip at high normal stress (> 4 MPa) and sliding velocities below 20 μm/s, to irregular stick slip at low normal

The Granular Blasius Problem: High inertial number granular flows

Science.gov (United States)

Tsang, Jonathan; Dalziel, Stuart; Vriend, Nathalie

2017-11-01

The classical Blasius problem considers the formation of a boundary layer through the change at x = 0 from a free-slip to a no-slip boundary beneath an otherwise steady uniform flow. Discrete particle model (DPM) simulations of granular gravity currents show that a similar phenomenon exists for a steady flow over a uniformly sloped surface that is smooth upstream (allowing slip) but rough downstream (imposing a no-slip condition). The boundary layer is a region of high shear rate and therefore high inertial number I; its dynamics are governed by the asymptotic behaviour of the granular rheology as I -> ∞ . The μ(I) rheology asserts that dμ / dI = O(1 /I2) as I -> ∞ , but current experimental evidence is insufficient to confirm this. We show that `generalised μ(I) rheologies', with different behaviours as I -> ∞ , all permit the formation of a boundary layer. We give approximate solutions for the velocity profile under each rheology. The change in boundary condition considered here mimics more complex topography in which shear stress increases in the streamwise direction (e.g. a curved slope). Such a system would be of interest in avalanche modelling. EPSRC studentship (Tsang) and Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (Vriend).

Granular flows in constrained geometries

Science.gov (United States)

Murthy, Tejas; Viswanathan, Koushik

Confined geometries are widespread in granular processing applications. The deformation and flow fields in such a geometry, with non-trivial boundary conditions, determine the resultant mechanical properties of the material (local porosity, density, residual stresses etc.). We present experimental studies of deformation and plastic flow of a prototypical granular medium in different nontrivial geometries- flat-punch compression, Couette-shear flow and a rigid body sliding past a granular half-space. These geometries represent simplified scaled-down versions of common industrial configurations such as compaction and dredging. The corresponding granular flows show a rich variety of flow features, representing the entire gamut of material types, from elastic solids (beam buckling) to fluids (vortex-formation, boundary layers) and even plastically deforming metals (dead material zone, pile-up). The effect of changing particle-level properties (e.g., shape, size, density) on the observed flows is also explicitly demonstrated. Non-smooth contact dynamics particle simulations are shown to reproduce some of the observed flow features quantitatively. These results showcase some central challenges facing continuum-scale constitutive theories for dynamic granular flows.

Cerebellum - function (image)

Science.gov (United States)

The cerebellum processes input from other areas of the brain, spinal cord and sensory receptors to provide precise timing ... the skeletal muscular system. A stroke affecting the cerebellum may cause dizziness, nausea, balance and coordination problems.

Pyramid-like basket cells in the granular layer of the dentate gyrus in the rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Seress, L

1978-01-01

Basket cells of the dentate gyrus were identified using Nissl (cresyl violet) staining. It has been found that the ratio between basket and granule cells is 1:150--210. Only a few glial cells, mainly astroglia, were found in the granular layer of the dentate gyrus. In accordance with earlier data it was found that the granule cells and glial cells originate mainly postnatally, but the basket cells, like the pyramidal cells of the hippocampus, originate prenatally. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 PMID:701192

Cell-type-specific expression of NFIX in the developing and adult cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, James; Essebier, Alexandra; Gronostajski, Richard M; Boden, Mikael; Wainwright, Brandon J; Harvey, Tracey J; Piper, Michael

2017-07-01

Transcription factors from the nuclear factor one (NFI) family have been shown to play a central role in regulating neural progenitor cell differentiation within the embryonic and post-natal brain. NFIA and NFIB, for instance, promote the differentiation and functional maturation of granule neurons within the cerebellum. Mice lacking Nfix exhibit delays in the development of neuronal and glial lineages within the cerebellum, but the cell-type-specific expression of this transcription factor remains undefined. Here, we examined the expression of NFIX, together with various cell-type-specific markers, within the developing and adult cerebellum using both chromogenic immunohistochemistry and co-immunofluorescence labelling and confocal microscopy. In embryos, NFIX was expressed by progenitor cells within the rhombic lip and ventricular zone. After birth, progenitor cells within the external granule layer, as well as migrating and mature granule neurons, expressed NFIX. Within the adult cerebellum, NFIX displayed a broad expression profile, and was evident within granule cells, Bergmann glia, and interneurons, but not within Purkinje neurons. Furthermore, transcriptomic profiling of cerebellar granule neuron progenitor cells showed that multiple splice variants of Nfix are expressed within this germinal zone of the post-natal brain. Collectively, these data suggest that NFIX plays a role in regulating progenitor cell biology within the embryonic and post-natal cerebellum, as well as an ongoing role within multiple neuronal and glial populations within the adult cerebellum.

How granular vortices can help understanding rheological and mixing properties of dense granular flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rognon Pierre

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Dense granular flows exhibit fascinating kinematic patterns characterised by strong fluctuations in grain velocities. In this paper, we analyse these fluctuations and discuss their possible role on macroscopic properties such as effective viscosity, non-locality and shear-induced diffusion. The analysis is based on 2D experimental granular flows performed with the stadium shear device and DEM simulations. We first show that, when subjected to shear, grains self-organised into clusters rotating like rigid bodies. The average size of these so-called granular vortices is found to increase and diverge for lower inertial numbers, when flows decelerate and stop. We then discuss how such a microstructural entity and its associated internal length scale, possibly much larger than a grain, may be used to explain two important properties of dense granular flows: (i the existence of shear-induced diffusion of grains characterised by a shear-rate independent diffusivity and (ii the development of boundary layers near walls, where the viscosity is seemingly lower than the viscosity far from walls.

Lithium delays the radiation-induced apoptotic process in external granule cells of mouse cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inouye, Minoru; Yamamura, Hideki; Nakano, Atsuhiro.

1995-01-01

Proliferating cells of the external granular layer (EGL) in the developing cerebellum are highly sensitive to ionizing radiation. We examined the effect of lithium, an inhibitor of intracellular signaling, on the manifestation of radiation-induced apoptosis. Newborn mice were exposed to 0.5 Gy gamma-irradiation alone, or first were treated with lithium (10 μmol/g, SC) then given 0.5 Gy irradiation 2 hr later. The EGL was examined histologically for apoptosis at various times after treatment. Apoptotic cells increased rapidly, peaked (about 14%) 6 hr after irradiation, then decreased gradually to the control level by 24 hr. Prior treatment with lithium delayed the manifestation of apoptosis, the peak appearing at 12 hr. The disappearance of dead cells was delayed for about one day. The lithium concentration in the whole brain increased rapidly, being 30 μg/g at the time of irradiation and remaining at more than 40 μg/g for 40 hr. Lithium is reported to inhibit guanine-nucleotide binding to G proteins as well as phosphoinositide turnover. Of the variety of lesions induced by radiation, DNA double strand breaks are the most important source of cell lethality. The present findings, however, suggest that cyclic AMP-mediated and/or phosphoinositide-mediated signaling systems regulate radiation-induced apoptosis. (author)

Lithium delays the radiation-induced apoptotic process in external granule cells of mouse cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Inouye, M; Yamamura, H; Nakano, A

1995-09-01

Proliferating cells of the external granular layer (EGL) in the developing cerebellum are highly sensitive to ionizing radiation. We examined the effect of lithium, an inhibitor of intracellular signaling, on the manifestation of radiation-induced apoptosis. Newborn mice were exposed to 0.5 Gy gamma-irradiation alone, or first were treated with lithium (10 mumol/g, SC) then given 0.5 Gy irradiation 2 hr later. The EGL was examined histologically for apoptosis at various times after treatment. Apoptotic cells increased rapidly, peaked (about 14%) 6 hr after irradiation, then decreased gradually to the control level by 24 hr. Prior treatment with lithium delayed the manifestation of apoptosis, the peak appearing at 12 hr. The disappearance of dead cells was delayed for about one day. The lithium concentration in the whole brain increased rapidly, being 30 micrograms/g at the time of irradiation and remaining at more than 40 micrograms/g for 40 hr. Lithium is reported to inhibit guanine-nucleotide binding to G proteins as well as phosphoinositide turnover. Of the variety of lesions induced by radiation, DNA double strand breaks are the most important source of cell lethality. The present findings, however, suggest that cyclic AMP-mediated and/or phosphoinositidemediated signaling systems regulate radiation-induced apoptosis.

Lithium delays the radiation-induced apoptotic process in external granule cells of mouse cerebellum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inouye, Minoru; Yamamura, Hideki [Nagoya Univ. (Japan). Research Inst. of Environmental Medicine; Nakano, Atsuhiro

1995-09-01

Proliferating cells of the external granular layer (EGL) in the developing cerebellum are highly sensitive to ionizing radiation. We examined the effect of lithium, an inhibitor of intracellular signaling, on the manifestation of radiation-induced apoptosis. Newborn mice were exposed to 0.5 Gy gamma-irradiation alone, or first were treated with lithium (10 {mu}mol/g, SC) then given 0.5 Gy irradiation 2 hr later. The EGL was examined histologically for apoptosis at various times after treatment. Apoptotic cells increased rapidly, peaked (about 14%) 6 hr after irradiation, then decreased gradually to the control level by 24 hr. Prior treatment with lithium delayed the manifestation of apoptosis, the peak appearing at 12 hr. The disappearance of dead cells was delayed for about one day. The lithium concentration in the whole brain increased rapidly, being 30 {mu}g/g at the time of irradiation and remaining at more than 40 {mu}g/g for 40 hr. Lithium is reported to inhibit guanine-nucleotide binding to G proteins as well as phosphoinositide turnover. Of the variety of lesions induced by radiation, DNA double strand breaks are the most important source of cell lethality. The present findings, however, suggest that cyclic AMP-mediated and/or phosphoinositide-mediated signaling systems regulate radiation-induced apoptosis. (author).

Coupled granular/continuous medium for thermally stable perpendicular magnetic recording

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonobe, Y.; Weller, D.; Ikeda, Y.; Takano, K.; Schabes, M.E.; Zeltzer, G.; Do, H.; Yen, B.K.; Best, M.E.

2001-01-01

We studied coupled granular/continuous (CGC) perpendicular media consisting of a continuous multilayer structure and a granular layer. The addition of Co/Pt multilayers decreased the nucleation field from 200 to -1800 Oe and increased the squareness from 0.9 to 1.0. The moment decay at room temperature was significantly reduced from -4.8% to -0.05% per decade. At elevated temperatures, strong exchange coupling between a granular layer and a continuous layer is needed for thermal stability. The exchange-coupled continuous layer reduces thermal demagnetization as it effectively increases the grain size, tightens the grain distribution, and prevents the reversal of individual grains. Magnetic Force Microscope image showed a larger magnetic cluster size for the CGC structure. Compared to the CoCr 18 Pt 12 medium, the CGC medium had 2.3 dB higher output. However, the noise for the CGC medium increased with the recording density, while the noise for the CoCr 18 Pt 12 medium remained constant from 4 to 15 kfc/mm. Further optimization and noise reduction are still required for future high density recording

Coupled granular/continuous medium for thermally stable perpendicular magnetic recording

Science.gov (United States)

Sonobe, Y.; Weller, D.; Ikeda, Y.; Takano, K.; Schabes, M. E.; Zeltzer, G.; Do, H.; Yen, B. K.; Best, M. E.

2001-10-01

We studied coupled granular/continuous (CGC) perpendicular media consisting of a continuous multilayer structure and a granular layer. The addition of Co/Pt multilayers decreased the nucleation field from 200 to -1800 Oe and increased the squareness from 0.9 to 1.0. The moment decay at room temperature was significantly reduced from -4.8% to -0.05% per decade. At elevated temperatures, strong exchange coupling between a granular layer and a continuous layer is needed for thermal stability. The exchange-coupled continuous layer reduces thermal demagnetization as it effectively increases the grain size, tightens the grain distribution, and prevents the reversal of individual grains. Magnetic Force Microscope image showed a larger magnetic cluster size for the CGC structure. Compared to the CoCr 18Pt 12 medium, the CGC medium had 2.3 dB higher output. However, the noise for the CGC medium increased with the recording density, while the noise for the CoCr 18Pt 12 medium remained constant from 4 to 15 kfc/mm. Further optimization and noise reduction are still required for future high density recording.

Granular Leidenfrost effect: Experiment and theory of floating particle clusters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eshuis, Peter; Eshuis, P.G.; van der Meer, Roger M.; van der Weele, J.P.; Lohse, Detlef

2005-01-01

Granular material is vertically vibrated in a 2D container: above a critical shaking strength, and for a sufficient number of beads, a crystalline cluster is elevated and supported by a dilute gaseous layer of fast beads underneath. We call this phenomenon the granular Leidenfrost effect. The

Reduction of intergranular exchange coupling and grain size for high Ku CoPt-based granular media: Metal-oxide buffer layer and multiple oxide boundary materials

Science.gov (United States)

Tham, Kim Kong; Kushibiki, Ryosuke; Kamada, Tomonari; Hinata, Shintaro; Saito, Shin

2018-05-01

Investigation of magnetic properties and microstructure of granular media with various multiple oxides as the grain boundary material is reported. Saturation magnetization (Ms), uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy (Ku), and magnetic grain diameter (GD) of the granular media show linear correlation with volume weighted average for melting point (Tm) of each oxides (Tmave). Ku of magnetic grains (Kugrain) shows a trade-off relation with GD that it is a big challenge to satisfy both high Kugrain and small GD by only controlling Tmave. To obtain a granular medium with appropriate Kugrain, GD, and low degree of intergranular exchange coupling, the combination of Tmave control of grain boundary material by mixing oxides and employment of a buffer layer are required. Here the degree of intergranular exchange coupling is estimated from the slope of M-H loop at around coercivity (α). By applying this technique, a typical granular medium with Kugrain of 1.0×107 erg/cm3, GD of 5.1 nm, and α of 1.2 is realized.

Discrete element modeling of triggered slip in faults with granular gouge: application to dynamic earthquake triggering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferdowsi, B.

2014-01-01

Recent seismological observations based on new, more sensitive instrumentation show that seismic waves radiated from large earthquakes can trigger other earthquakes globally. This phenomenon is called dynamic earthquake triggering and is well-documented for over 30 of the largest earthquakes worldwide. Granular materials are at the core of mature earthquake faults and play a key role in fault triggering by exhibiting a rich nonlinear response to external perturbations. The stick-slip dynamics in sheared granular layers is analogous to the seismic cycle for earthquake fault systems. In this research effort, we characterize the macroscopic scale statistics and the grain-scale mechanisms of triggered slip in sheared granular layers. We model the granular fault gouge using three dimensional discrete element method simulations. The modeled granular system is put into stick-slip dynamics by applying a conning pressure and a shear load. The dynamic triggering is simulated by perturbing the spontaneous stick-slip dynamics using an external vibration applied to the boundary of the layer. The influences of the triggering consist in a frictional weakening during the vibration interval, a clock advance of the next expected large slip event and long term effects in the form of suppression and recovery of the energy released from the granular layer. Our study suggests that above a critical amplitude, vibration causes a significant clock advance of large slip events. We link this clock advance to a major decline in the slipping contact ratio as well as a decrease in shear modulus and weakening of the granular gouge layer. We also observe that shear vibration is less effective in perturbing the stick-slip dynamics of the granular layer. Our study suggests that in order to have an effective triggering, the input vibration must also explore the granular layer at length scales about or less than the average grain size. The energy suppression and the subsequent recovery and increased

Grain scale observations of stick-slip dynamics in fluid saturated granular fault gouge

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, P. A.; Dorostkar, O.; Guyer, R. A.; Marone, C.; Carmeliet, J.

2017-12-01

We are studying granular mechanics during slip. In the present work, we conduct coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) simulations to study grain scale characteristics of slip instabilities in fluid saturated granular fault gouge. The granular sample is confined with constant normal load (10 MPa), and sheared with constant velocity (0.6 mm/s). This loading configuration is chosen to promote stick-slip dynamics, based on a phase-space study. Fluid is introduced in the beginning of stick phase and characteristics of slip events i.e. macroscopic friction coefficient, kinetic energy and layer thickness are monitored. At the grain scale, we monitor particle coordination number, fluid-particle interaction forces as well as particle and fluid kinetic energy. Our observations show that presence of fluids in a drained granular fault gouge stabilizes the layer in the stick phase and increases the recurrence time. In saturated model, we observe that average particle coordination number reaches higher values compared to dry granular gouge. Upon slip, we observe that a larger portion of the granular sample is mobilized in saturated gouge compared to dry system. We also observe that regions with high particle kinetic energy are correlated with zones of high fluid motion. Our observations highlight that spatiotemporal profile of fluid dynamic pressure affects the characteristics of slip instabilities, increasing macroscopic friction coefficient drop, kinetic energy release and granular layer compaction. We show that numerical simulations help characterize the micromechanics of fault mechanics.

Gene transfer to the cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Louboutin, Jean-Pierre; Reyes, Beverly A S; Van Bockstaele, Elisabeth J; Strayer, David S

2010-12-01

There are several diseases for which gene transfer therapy to the cerebellum might be practicable. In these studies, we used recombinant Tag-deleted SV40-derived vectors (rSV40s) to study gene delivery targeting the cerebellum. These vectors transduce neurons and microglia very effectively in vitro and in vivo, and so we tested them to evaluate gene transfer to the cerebellum in vivo. Using a rSV40 vector carrying human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-Nef with a C-terminal FLAG epitope, we characterized the distribution, duration, and cell types transduced. Rats received test and control vectors by stereotaxic injection into the cerebellum. Transgene expression was assessed 1, 2, and 4 weeks later by immunostaining of serial brain sections. FLAG epitope-expressing cells were seen, at all times after vector administration, principally detected in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, identified as immunopositive for calbindin. Occasional microglial cells were tranduced; transgene expression was not detected in astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. No inflammatory or other reaction was detected at any time. Thus, SV40-derived vectors can deliver effective, safe, and durable transgene expression to the cerebellum.

Effects of perinatal hypo- and hyperthyroidism on the levels of nerve growth factor and its low-affinity receptor in cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Figueiredo, B C; Otten, U; Strauss, S; Volk, B; Maysinger, D

1993-04-16

Deficits or excesses of thyroid hormones during critical periods of mammalian cerebellar development can lead to profound biochemical and morphological abnormalities in this system. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of perinatal hypo- and hyperthyroidism on the ontogeny of nerve growth factor (NGF) and its low-affinity receptor (p75NGFR) in the rat cerebellum. The concentration of NGF and of p75NGFR immunoreactivity (IR) were measured, several days after birth, in cerebella of rats which had received propylthiouracil (PTU) or thyroxine. NGF concentration was markedly enhanced only on postnatal day 2 (P2) in hyperthyroid rats, whereas in hypothyroid (PTU-treated) rats NGF values were similar to age-matched controls. These observations suggest that thyroid hormone affects NGF synthesis during early periods of cerebellar development. In Purkinje cells of control animals, p75NGFR IR peaked at P10. In hypothyroid rats, the expression of p75NGFR was retarded, peaking at P15, whereas in hyperthyroid rats it was advanced, peaking at P8. The increased p75NGFR IR found in Purkinje cell bodies and the delayed disappearance of p75NGFR IR from the external granular layer of hypothyroid rats suggest different roles for thyroid hormone in the developing cerebellum. We conclude that p75NGFR and NGF are independently regulated by thyroid hormone during critical periods of cerebellar development. The effect of thyroid hormone deficiency on p75NGFR content in Purkinje cells may involve complex mechanisms such as impaired efficiency of axonal transport.

The cerebellum and psychiatric disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph ePhillips

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The cerebellum has been considered for a long time to play a role solely in motor coordination. However, studies over the past two decades have shown that the cerebellum also plays a key role in many motor, cognitive, and emotional processes. In addition, studies have also shown that the cerebellum is implicated in many psychiatric disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. In this review, we discuss existing studies reporting cerebellar dysfunction in various psychiatric disorders. We will also discuss future directions for studies linking the cerebellum to psychiatric disorders.

Transcriptome differentiation along the dorso-ventral axis in laser-captured microdissected rat hippocampal granular cell layer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, T.; Bisgaard, C.F.; Nielsen, Henrik Bjørn

2010-01-01

Several findings suggest a functional and anatomical differentiation along the dorso-ventral axis of the hippocampus. Lesion studies in rats have indicated that the dorsal hippocampus preferentially plays a role in spatial learning and memory, while the ventral hippocampus is involved in anxiety...... and ventral granular cell layer with a false discovery rate below 5% and with a relative change in gene expression level of 20% or more. From this pool of genes 45 genes were more than two-fold regulated, 13 genes being dorsally enriched and 32 genes being ventrally enriched. Moreover, cluster analysis based...

Regional expression and ultrastructural localization of EphA7 in the hippocampus and cerebellum of adult rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Amegandjin, Clara A; Jammow, Wafaa; Laforest, Sylvie; Riad, Mustapha; Baharnoori, Moogeh; Badeaux, Frédérique; DesGroseillers, Luc; Murai, Keith K; Pasquale, Elena B; Drolet, Guy; Doucet, Guy

2016-08-15

EphA7 is expressed in the adult central nervous system (CNS), where its roles are yet poorly defined. We mapped its distribution using in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) combined with light (LM) and electron microscopy (EM) in adult rat and mouse brain. The strongest ISH signal was in the hippocampal pyramidal and granule cell layers. Moderate levels were detected in habenula, striatum, amygdala, the cingulate, piriform and entorhinal cortex, and in cerebellum, notably the Purkinje cell layer. The IHC signal distribution was consistent with ISH results, with transport of the protein to processes, as exemplified in the hippocampal neuropil layers and weakly stained pyramidal cell layers. In contrast, in the cerebellum, the Purkinje cell bodies were the most strongly immunolabeled elements. EM localized the cell surface-expression of EphA7 essentially in postsynaptic densities (PSDs) of dendritic spines and shafts, and on some astrocytic leaflets, in both hippocampus and cerebellum. Perikaryal and dendritic labeling was mostly intracellular, associated with the synthetic and trafficking machineries. Immunopositive vesicles were also observed in axons and axon terminals. Quantitative analysis in EM showed significant differences in the frequency of labeled elements between regions. Notably, labeled dendrites were ∼3-5 times less frequent in cerebellum than in hippocampus, but they were individually endowed with ∼10-40 times higher frequencies of PSDs, on their shafts and spines. The cell surface localization of EphA7, being preferentially in PSDs, and in perisynaptic astrocytic leaflets, provides morphologic evidence that EphA7 plays key roles in adult CNS synaptic maintenance, plasticity, or function. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:2462-2478, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Reduction of intergranular exchange coupling and grain size for high Ku CoPt-based granular media: Metal-oxide buffer layer and multiple oxide boundary materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Kong Tham

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Investigation of magnetic properties and microstructure of granular media with various multiple oxides as the grain boundary material is reported. Saturation magnetization (Ms, uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy (Ku, and magnetic grain diameter (GD of the granular media show linear correlation with volume weighted average for melting point (Tm of each oxides (Tmave. Ku of magnetic grains (Kugrain shows a trade-off relation with GD that it is a big challenge to satisfy both high Kugrain and small GD by only controlling Tmave. To obtain a granular medium with appropriate Kugrain, GD, and low degree of intergranular exchange coupling, the combination of Tmave control of grain boundary material by mixing oxides and employment of a buffer layer are required. Here the degree of intergranular exchange coupling is estimated from the slope of M-H loop at around coercivity (α. By applying this technique, a typical granular medium with Kugrain of 1.0×107 erg/cm3, GD of 5.1 nm, and α of 1.2 is realized.

Cerebellum and apraxia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mariën, Peter; van Dun, Kim; Verhoeven, Jo

2015-02-01

As early as the beginning of the nineteenth century, a variety of nonmotor cognitive and affective impairments associated with cerebellar pathology were occasionally documented. A causal link between cerebellar disease and nonmotor cognitive and affective disorders has, however, been dismissed for almost two centuries. During the past decades, the prevailing view of the cerebellum as a mere coordinator of autonomic and somatic motor function has changed fundamentally. Substantial progress has been made in elucidating the neuroanatomical connections of the cerebellum with the supratentorial association cortices that subserve nonmotor cognition and affect. Furthermore, functional neuroimaging studies and neurophysiological and neuropsychological research have shown that the cerebellum is crucially involved in modulating cognitive and affective processes. This paper presents an overview of the clinical and neuroradiological evidence supporting the view that the cerebellum plays an intrinsic part in purposeful, skilled motor actions. Despite the increasing number of studies devoted to a further refinement of the typology and anatomoclinical configurations of apraxia related to cerebellar pathology, the exact underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of cerebellar involvement remain to be elucidated. As genuine planning, organization, and execution disorders of skilled motor actions not due to motor, sensory, or general intellectual failure, the apraxias following disruption of the cerebrocerebellar network may be hypothetically considered to form part of the executive cluster of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS), a highly influential concept defined by Schmahmann and Sherman (Brain 121:561-579, 1998) on the basis of four symptom clusters grouping related neurocognitive and affective deficits (executive, visuospatial, affective, and linguistic impairments). However, since only a handful of studies have explored the possible role of the cerebellum in

Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Emotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Adamaszek, M; D'Agata, F; Ferrucci, R; Habas, C; Keulen, S; Kirkby, K C; Leggio, M; Mariën, P; Molinari, M; Moulton, E; Orsi, L; Van Overwalle, F; Papadelis, C; Priori, A; Sacchetti, B; Schutter, D J; Styliadis, C; Verhoeven, J

2017-04-01

Over the past three decades, insights into the role of the cerebellum in emotional processing have substantially increased. Indeed, methodological refinements in cerebellar lesion studies and major technological advancements in the field of neuroscience are in particular responsible to an exponential growth of knowledge on the topic. It is timely to review the available data and to critically evaluate the current status of the role of the cerebellum in emotion and related domains. The main aim of this article is to present an overview of current facts and ongoing debates relating to clinical, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological findings on the role of the cerebellum in key aspects of emotion. Experts in the field of cerebellar research discuss the range of cerebellar contributions to emotion in nine topics. Topics include the role of the cerebellum in perception and recognition, forwarding and encoding of emotional information, and the experience and regulation of emotional states in relation to motor, cognitive, and social behaviors. In addition, perspectives including cerebellar involvement in emotional learning, pain, emotional aspects of speech, and neuropsychiatric aspects of the cerebellum in mood disorders are briefly discussed. Results of this consensus paper illustrate how theory and empirical research have converged to produce a composite picture of brain topography, physiology, and function that establishes the role of the cerebellum in many aspects of emotional processing.

Electrical transport properties in Fe-Cr nanocluster-assembled granular films

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiong-Zhi; Wang, Lai-Sen; Zhang, Qin-Fu; Liu, Xiang; Xie, Jia; Su, A.-Mei; Zheng, Hong-Fei; Peng, Dong-Liang

2017-09-01

The Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films with Cr atomic fraction (x) ranging from 0 to 100 were fabricated by using a plasma-gas-condensation cluster deposition system. The TEM characterization revealed that the uniform Fe clusters were coated with a Cr layer to form a Fe-Cr core-shell structure. Then, the as-prepared Fe100-xCrx nanoclusters were randomly assembled into a granular film in vacuum environments with increasing the deposition time. Because of the competition between interfacial resistance and shunting effect of Cr layer, the room temperature resistivity of the Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films first increased and then decreased with increasing the Cr atomic fraction (x), and revealed a maximum of 2 × 104 μΩ cm at x = 26 at.%. The temperature-dependent longitudinal resistivity (ρxx), magnetoresistance (MR) effect and anomalous Hall effect (AHE) of these Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films were also studied systematically. As the x increased from 0 to 100, the ρxx of all samples firstly decreased and then increased with increasing the measuring temperature. The dependence of ρxx on temperature could be well addressed by a mechanism incorporated for the fluctuation-induced-tunneling (FIT) conduction process and temperature-dependent scattering effect. It was found that the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) had no legible scaling relation in Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films. However, after deducting the contribution of tunneling effect, the scaling relation was unambiguous. Additionally, the Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films revealed a small negative magnetoresistance (MR), which decreased with the increase of x. The detailed physical mechanism of the electrical transport properties in these Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films was also studied.

Dynamic Deformation and Collapse of Granular Columns

Science.gov (United States)

Uenishi, K.; Tsuji, K.; Doi, S.

2009-12-01

Large dynamic deformation of granular materials may be found in nature not only in the failure of slopes and cliffs — due to earthquakes, rock avalanches, debris flows and landslides — but also in earthquake faulting itself. Granular surface flows often consist of solid grains and intergranular fluid, but the effect of the fluid may be usually negligible because the volumetric concentration of grains is in many cases high enough for interparticle forces to dominate momentum transport. Therefore, the investigation of dry granular flow of a mass might assist in further understanding of the above mentioned geophysical events. Here, utilizing a high-speed digital video camera system, we perform a simple yet fully-controlled series of laboratory experiments related to the collapse of granular columns. We record, at an interval of some microseconds, the dynamic transient granular mass flow initiated by abrupt release of a tube that contains dry granular materials. The acrylic tube is partially filled with glass beads and has a cross-section of either a fully- or semi-cylindrical shape. Upon sudden removal of the tube, the granular solid may fragment under the action of its own weight and the particles spread on a rigid horizontal plane. This study is essentially the extension of the previous ones by Lajeunesse et al. (Phys. Fluids 2004) and Uenishi and Tsuji (JPGU 2008), but the striped layers of particles in a semi-cylindrical tube, newly introduced in this contribution, allow us to observe the precise particle movement inside the granular column: The development of slip lines inside the column and the movement of particles against each other can be clearly identified. The major controlling parameters of the spreading dynamics are the initial aspect ratio of the granular (semi-)cylindrical column, the frictional properties of the horizontal plane (substrate) and the size of beads. We show the influence of each parameter on the average flow velocity and final radius

Regional functionality of the cerebellum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Witter, Laurens; De Zeeuw, Chris I

2015-01-01

Over the recent years, advances in brain imaging, optogenetics and viral tracing have greatly advanced our understanding of the cerebellum and its connectivity. It has become clear that the cerebellum can be divided into functional units, each connected with particular brain areas involved in

The cerebellum mediates conflict resolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Schweizer, Tom A; Oriet, Chris; Meiran, Nachshon; Alexander, Michael P; Cusimano, Michael; Stuss, Donald T

2007-12-01

Regions within the frontal and parietal cortex have been implicated as important neural correlates for cognitive control during conflict resolution. Despite the extensive reciprocal connectivity between the cerebellum and these putatively critical cortical areas, a role for the cerebellum in conflict resolution has never been identified. We used a task-switching paradigm that separates processes related to task-set switching and the management of response conflict independent of motor processing. Eleven patients with chronic, focal lesions to the cerebellum and 11 healthy controls were compared. Patients were slower and less accurate in conditions involving conflict resolution. In the absence of response conflict, however, tasks-witching abilities were not impaired in our patients. The cerebellum may play an important role in coordinating with other areas of cortex to modulate active response states. These results are the first demonstration of impaired conflict resolution following cerebellar lesions in the presence of an intact prefrontal cortex.

Prenatal effects of trichlorfon on the guinea pig brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berge, G.N.; Nafstad, I.; Fonnum, F.

1986-01-01

The organophosphorus compound trichlorfon, dimethyl (2,2,2-trichloro-1-hydroxyethyl) phosphonate, was administered by stomach tube (100 mg/kg) to pregnant guinea pigs at two different stages of gestation (days 36, 37, 38 and 51, 52, 53). The pups developed locomotory disturbances, and post mortem examination revealed significantly decreased weights of the total brain and the cerebellum, as compared to controls. There was also a significant weight reduction particularly of the medulla oblongata, but also of the hippocampus, the thalamus, and the colliculi. Histological examination of the cerebellum revealed reduction of the external granular layer and the molecular layer, and regional absence of Purkinje cells. The activities of the neutrotransmitter enzymes choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) in cerebellum were reduced as compared to the control values. (orig.)

Dynamics of crater formations in immersed granular materials

Science.gov (United States)

Varas, G.; Vidal, V.; Géminard, J.

2009-12-01

Craters are part of the widespread phenomena observed in nature. Among the main applications to natural phenomena, aside from meteorite impact craters, are the formation and growth of volcanic edifices, by successive ejecta emplacement and/or erosion. The time evolution and dynamics play a crucial role here, as the competition between volcanic-jet mass-flux (degassing and ejecta) and crater-size evolution may control directly the eruptive regime. Crater morphology in dry granular material has been extensively studied, both experimentally and theoretically. Most of these studies investigate the final, steady crater shape resulting from the collision of solid bodies with the material surface and scaling laws are derived. In immersed granular material, craters generated by an underwater vortex ring, or underwater impact craters generated by landslide, have been reported. In a previous experimental study, Gostiaux et al. [Gran. Matt., 2002] have investigated the dynamics of air flowing through an immersed granular layer. They reported that, depending on the flow rate, the system exhibits two qualitatively different regimes: At small flow rate, the bubbling regime during which bubbles escape the granular layer independently one from another; At large flow rate, the open-channel regime which corresponds to the formation of a channel crossing the whole thickness of the granular bed through which air escapes almost continuously. At intermediate flow rate, a spontaneous alternation between these two regimes is observed. Here, we report the dynamics of crater formations at the free surface of an immersed granular bed, locally crossed by an ascending gas flow. We reproduce the experimental conditions of Gostiaux et al. (2002) in two dimensions: In a vertical Hele-Shaw cell, the crater consists of two sand piles which develop around the location of the gas emission. We observe that the typical size of the crater increases logarithmically with time, independently of the gas

Granular flow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitarai, Namiko; Nakanishi, Hiizu

2012-01-01

Granular material is a collection of macroscopic particles that are visible with naked eyes. The non-equilibrium nature of the granular materials makes their rheology quite different from that of molecular systems. In this minireview, we present the unique features of granular materials focusing...... on the shear flow of dry granular materials and granule-liquid mixture....

Boundary effects in a quasi-two-dimensional driven granular fluid.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, N D; Smith, M I

2017-12-01

The effect of a confining boundary on the spatial variations in granular temperature of a driven quasi-two-dimensional layer of particles is investigated experimentally. The radial drop in the relative granular temperature ΔT/T exhibits a maximum at intermediate particle numbers which coincides with a crossover from kinetic to collisional transport of energy. It is also found that at low particle numbers, the distributions of radial velocities are increasingly asymmetric as one approaches the boundary. The radial and tangential granular temperatures split, and in the tails of the radial velocity distribution there is a higher population of fast moving particles traveling away rather than towards the boundary.

Electromagnetic response of a highly granular hadronic calorimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adloff, C.; Blaha, J.; Blaising, J.J. [Savoie Univ., CNRS/IN2P3, Annecy-le-Vieux (FR). Lab. d' Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique des Particules] (and others)

2010-12-15

The CALICE collaboration is studying the design of high performance electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters for future International Linear Collider detectors. For the hadronic calorimeter, one option is a highly granular sampling calorimeter with steel as absorber and scintillator layers as active material. High granularity is obtained by segmenting the scintillator into small tiles individually read out via silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM). A prototype has been built, consisting of thirty-eight sensitive layers, segmented into about eight thousand channels. In 2007 the prototype was exposed to positrons and hadrons using the CERN SPS beam, covering a wide range of beam energies and incidence angles. The challenge of cell equalization and calibration of such a large number of channels is best validated using electromagnetic processes. The response of the prototype steel-scintillator calorimeter, including linearity and uniformity, to electrons is investigated and described. (orig.)

Electromagnetic response of a highly granular hadronic calorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adloff, C.; Blaha, J.; Blaising, J.J.

2010-12-01

The CALICE collaboration is studying the design of high performance electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters for future International Linear Collider detectors. For the hadronic calorimeter, one option is a highly granular sampling calorimeter with steel as absorber and scintillator layers as active material. High granularity is obtained by segmenting the scintillator into small tiles individually read out via silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM). A prototype has been built, consisting of thirty-eight sensitive layers, segmented into about eight thousand channels. In 2007 the prototype was exposed to positrons and hadrons using the CERN SPS beam, covering a wide range of beam energies and incidence angles. The challenge of cell equalization and calibration of such a large number of channels is best validated using electromagnetic processes. The response of the prototype steel-scintillator calorimeter, including linearity and uniformity, to electrons is investigated and described. (orig.)

Factors influencing the density of aerobic granular sludge.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winkler, M.K.; Kleerebezem, R.; Strous, M.; Chandran, K.; Loosdrecht, M.C. van

2013-01-01

In the present study, the factors influencing density of granular sludge particles were evaluated. Granules consist of microbes, precipitates and of extracellular polymeric substance. The volume fractions of the bacterial layers were experimentally estimated by fluorescent in situ hybridisation

Terminal velocity of liquids and granular materials dispersed by a high explosive

Science.gov (United States)

Loiseau, J.; Pontalier, Q.; Milne, A. M.; Goroshin, S.; Frost, D. L.

2018-04-01

The explosive dispersal of a layer of solid particles or a layer of liquid surrounding a spherical high-explosive charge generates a turbulent, multiphase flow. Shock compression of the material layer during the initial acceleration may partially consolidate the material, leading to the formation of jet-like structures when the layer fragments and sheds particles upon release. Similarly, release of a shock-compressed liquid shell causes the nucleation of cavitation sites, leading to the radial breakup of the shell and the formation of jets upon expansion. In the current study, a wide variety of granular materials and liquids were explosively dispersed. The maximum terminal jet tip or shell velocity was measured using high-speed videography. Charges were constructed using thin-walled glass bulbs of various diameters and contained a central C-4 charge surrounded by the material to be dispersed. This permitted variation of the ratio of material mass to charge mass (M/C) from 4 to 300. Results indicated that material velocity broadly correlates with predictions of the Gurney model. For liquids, the terminal velocity was accurately predicted by the Gurney model. For granular materials, Gurney over-predicted the terminal velocity by 25-60%, depending on the M/C ratio, with larger M/C values exhibiting larger deficits. These deficits are explained by energy dissipation during the collapse of voids in the granular material bed. Velocity deficits were insensitive to the degree of jetting and granular material properties. Empirical corrections to the Gurney model are presented with improved agreement with the dry powder experimental velocities.

Terminal velocity of liquids and granular materials dispersed by a high explosive

Science.gov (United States)

Loiseau, J.; Pontalier, Q.; Milne, A. M.; Goroshin, S.; Frost, D. L.

2018-05-01

The explosive dispersal of a layer of solid particles or a layer of liquid surrounding a spherical high-explosive charge generates a turbulent, multiphase flow. Shock compression of the material layer during the initial acceleration may partially consolidate the material, leading to the formation of jet-like structures when the layer fragments and sheds particles upon release. Similarly, release of a shock-compressed liquid shell causes the nucleation of cavitation sites, leading to the radial breakup of the shell and the formation of jets upon expansion. In the current study, a wide variety of granular materials and liquids were explosively dispersed. The maximum terminal jet tip or shell velocity was measured using high-speed videography. Charges were constructed using thin-walled glass bulbs of various diameters and contained a central C-4 charge surrounded by the material to be dispersed. This permitted variation of the ratio of material mass to charge mass ( M/ C) from 4 to 300. Results indicated that material velocity broadly correlates with predictions of the Gurney model. For liquids, the terminal velocity was accurately predicted by the Gurney model. For granular materials, Gurney over-predicted the terminal velocity by 25-60%, depending on the M/ C ratio, with larger M/ C values exhibiting larger deficits. These deficits are explained by energy dissipation during the collapse of voids in the granular material bed. Velocity deficits were insensitive to the degree of jetting and granular material properties. Empirical corrections to the Gurney model are presented with improved agreement with the dry powder experimental velocities.

Cohesion-Induced Stabilization in Stick-Slip Dynamics of Weakly Wet, Sheared Granular Fault Gouge

Science.gov (United States)

Dorostkar, Omid; Guyer, Robert A.; Johnson, Paul A.; Marone, Chris; Carmeliet, Jan

2018-03-01

We use three-dimensional discrete element calculations to study stick-slip dynamics in a weakly wet granular layer designed to simulate fault gouge. The granular gouge is constituted by 8,000 spherical particles with a polydisperse size distribution. At very low liquid content, liquids impose cohesive and viscous forces on particles. Our simulations show that by increasing the liquid content, friction increases and granular layer shows higher recurrence time between slip events. We also observe that slip events exhibit larger friction drop and layer compaction in wet system compared to dry. We demonstrate that a small volume of liquid induces cohesive forces between wet particles that are responsible for an increase in coordination number leading to a more stable arrangement of particles. This stabilization is evidenced with 2 orders of magnitude lower particle kinetic energy in wet system during stick phase. Similar to previous experimental studies, we observe enhanced frictional strength for wet granular layers. In experiments, the physicochemical processes are believed to be the main reason for such behavior; we show, however, that at low confining stresses, the hydromechanical effects of induced cohesion are sufficient for observed behavior. Our simulations illuminate the role of particle interactions and demonstrate the conditions under which induced cohesion plays a significant role in fault zone processes, including slip initiation, weakening, and failure.

Autism spectrum disorders and neuropathology of the cerebellum

OpenAIRE

Hampson, David R.; Blatt, Gene J.

2015-01-01

The cerebellum contains the largest number of neurons and synapses of any structure in the central nervous system. The concept that the cerebellum is solely involved in fine motor function has become outdated; substantial evidence has accumulated linking the cerebellum with higher cognitive functions including language. Cerebellar deficits have been implicated in autism for more than two decades. The computational power of the cerebellum is essential for many, if not most of the processes ...

The cerebellum and cognition: evidence from functional imaging studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoodley, Catherine J

2012-06-01

Evidence for a role of the human cerebellum in cognitive functions comes from anatomical, clinical and neuroimaging data. Functional neuroimaging reveals cerebellar activation during a variety of cognitive tasks, including language, visual-spatial, executive, and working memory processes. It is important to note that overt movement is not a prerequisite for cerebellar activation: the cerebellum is engaged during conditions which either control for motor output or do not involve motor responses. Resting-state functional connectivity data reveal that, in addition to networks underlying motor control, the cerebellum is part of "cognitive" networks with prefrontal and parietal association cortices. Consistent with these findings, regional differences in activation patterns within the cerebellum are evident depending on the task demands, suggesting that the cerebellum can be broadly divided into functional regions based on the patterns of anatomical connectivity between different regions of the cerebellum and sensorimotor and association areas of the cerebral cortex. However, the distinct contribution of the cerebellum to cognitive tasks is not clear. Here, the functional neuroimaging evidence for cerebellar involvement in cognitive functions is reviewed and related to hypotheses as to why the cerebellum is active during such tasks. Identifying the precise role of the cerebellum in cognition-as well as the mechanism by which the cerebellum modulates performance during a wide range of tasks-remains a challenge for future investigations.

Mosaic Expression of Thyroid Hormone Regulatory Genes Defines Cell Type-Specific Dependency in the Developing Chicken Cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Delbaere, Joke; Van Herck, Stijn L J; Bourgeois, Nele M A; Vancamp, Pieter; Yang, Shuo; Wingate, Richard J T; Darras, Veerle M

2016-12-01

The cerebellum is a morphologically unique brain structure that requires thyroid hormones (THs) for the correct coordination of key cellular events driving its development. Unravelling the interplay between the multiple factors that can regulate intracellular TH levels is a key step to understanding their role in the regulation of these cellular processes. We therefore investigated the regional/cell-specific expression pattern of TH transporters and deiodinases in the cerebellum using the chicken embryo as a model. In situ hybridisation revealed expression of the TH transporters monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8) and 10 (MCT10), L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) and organic anion transporting polypeptide 1C1 (OATP1C1) as well as the inactivating type 3 deiodinase (D3) in the fourth ventricle choroid plexus, suggesting a possible contribution of the resulting proteins to TH exchange and subsequent inactivation of excess hormone at the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. Exclusive expression of LAT1 and the activating type 2 deiodinase (D2) mRNA was found at the level of the blood-brain barrier, suggesting a concerted function for LAT1 and D2 in the direct access of active T 3 to the developing cerebellum via the capillary endothelial cells. The presence of MCT8 mRNA in Purkinje cells and cerebellar nuclei during the first 2 weeks of embryonic development points to a potential role of this transporter in the uptake of T 3 in central neurons. At later stages, together with MCT10, detection of MCT8 signal in close association with the Purkinje cell dendritic tree suggests a role of both transporters in TH signalling during Purkinje cell synaptogenesis. MCT10 was also expressed in late-born cells in the rhombic lip lineage with a clear hybridisation signal in the outer external granular layer, indicating a potential role for MCT10 in the proliferation of granule cell precursors. By contrast, expression of D3 in the first-born rhombic lip-derived population may

The cerebellum after trauma: Resting-state functional connectivity of the cerebellum in posttraumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabellino, Daniela; Densmore, Maria; Théberge, Jean; McKinnon, Margaret C; Lanius, Ruth A

2018-04-17

The cerebellum plays a key role not only in motor function but also in affect and cognition. Although several psychopathological disorders have been associated with overall cerebellar dysfunction, it remains unclear whether different regions of the cerebellum contribute uniquely to psychopathology. Accordingly, we compared seed-based resting-state functional connectivity of the anterior cerebellum (lobule IV-V), of the posterior cerebellum (Crus I), and of the anterior vermis across posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; n = 65), its dissociative subtype (PTSD + DS; n = 37), and non-trauma-exposed healthy controls (HC; n = 47). Here, we observed decreased functional connectivity of the anterior cerebellum and anterior vermis with brain regions involved in somatosensory processing, multisensory integration, and bodily self-consciousness (temporo-parietal junction, postcentral gyrus, and superior parietal lobule) in PTSD + DS as compared to PTSD and HC. Moreover, the PTSD + DS group showed increased functional connectivity of the posterior cerebellum with cortical areas related to emotion regulation (ventromedial prefrontal and orbito-frontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulum) as compared to PTSD. By contrast, PTSD showed increased functional connectivity of the anterior cerebellum with cortical areas associated with visual processing (fusiform gyrus), interoceptive awareness (posterior insula), memory retrieval, and contextual processing (hippocampus) as compared to HC. Finally, we observed decreased functional connectivity between the posterior cerebellum and prefrontal regions involved in emotion regulation, in PTSD as compared to HC. These findings not only highlight the crucial role of each cerebellar region examined in the psychopathology of PTSD but also reveal unique alterations in functional connectivity distinguishing the dissociative subtype of PTSD versus PTSD. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

HYPERELASTIC MODELS FOR GRANULAR MATERIALS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Humrickhouse, Paul W; Corradini, Michael L

2009-01-29

A continuum framework for modeling of dust mobilization and transport, and the behavior of granular systems in general, has been reviewed, developed and evaluated for reactor design applications. The large quantities of micron-sized particles expected in the international fusion reactor design, ITER, will accumulate into piles and layers on surfaces, which are large relative to the individual particle size; thus, particle-particle, rather than particle-surface, interactions will determine the behavior of the material in bulk, and a continuum approach is necessary and justified in treating the phenomena of interest; e.g., particle resuspension and transport. The various constitutive relations that characterize these solid particle interactions in dense granular flows have been discussed previously, but prior to mobilization their behavior is not even fluid. Even in the absence of adhesive forces between particles, dust or sand piles can exist in static equilibrium under gravity and other forces, e.g., fluid shear. Their behavior is understood to be elastic, though not linear. The recent “granular elasticity” theory proposes a non-linear elastic model based on “Hertz contacts” between particles; the theory identifies the Coulomb yield condition as a requirement for thermodynamic stability, and has successfully reproduced experimental results for stress distributions in sand piles. The granular elasticity theory is developed and implemented in a stand- alone model and then implemented as part of a finite element model, ABAQUS, to determine the stress distributions in dust piles subjected to shear by a fluid flow. We identify yield with the onset of mobilization, and establish, for a given dust pile and flow geometry, the threshold pressure (force) conditions on the surface due to flow required to initiate it. While the granular elasticity theory applies strictly to cohesionless granular materials, attractive forces are clearly important in the interaction of

Role of cerebellum in deglutition and deglutition disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangarathnam, Balaji; Kamarunas, Erin; McCullough, Gary H

2014-12-01

The objective of this review is to gather available evidence regarding the role of the cerebellum in swallowing-related functions. We reviewed literature on cerebellar functions related to healthy swallowing, patterns of dysphagia in individuals with cerebellar lesions, and the role of the cerebellum in therapeutic intervention of neurogenic dysphagia since 1980. A collective understanding of these studies suggests that both hemispheres of the cerebellum, predominantly the left, participate in healthy swallowing. Also, it appears that the cerebellum contributes to specific physiological functions within the entire act of swallowing, but this is not clearly understood. The understanding of patterns of dysphagia in cerebellar lesions remains ambiguous with equivocal results across a small number of studies. The cerebellum appears to be involved in oral exercises for dysphagia in the relationship between oral movements in such exercises, and deglutition remains uncertain. There is increasing evidence to suggest successful use of transcranial magnetic stimulation of the cerebellum to improve neuromotor control of swallowing. Future studies should address activation of the cerebellum with swallowing of different consistencies and tastes in healthy adults to gain better insights. Studies should also investigate dynamics of neural activation during different stages of recovery from dysphagia following strokes to cortical centers to determine if the cerebellum plays a compensatory role during instances of increased neural demands.

Blurring the boundary between rapid granular flow and dense granular flow regimes: Evidence from DEM simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Tripathi, Anurag; Prasad, Mahesh; Kumar, Puneet

2017-11-01

The saturation of the effective friction coefficient for granular flows at high inertial numbers has been assumed widely by researchers, despite little simulation/experimental evidence. In contrast, a recent simulation study of plane shear flows by Mandal and Khakhar, suggests that the effective friction coefficient becomes maximum and then starts to decrease with increase in the inertial number for I > 0.5 . In order to investigate whether such a dip at higher inertial numbers is indeed a feature of granular rheology, we perform DEM simulations of chute flow of highly inelastic disks. We show that steady, fully developed flows are possible at inclinations much higher than those normally reported in literature. At such high inclinations, the flow is characterised by a significant slip at the base; the height of the layer increases by more than 300 % and kinetic energy of the layer increases by nearly 5 orders of magnitude. We observe, for the first time, steady chute flows at inertial number I 2 and show that the dip at higher inertial numbers can be observed in case of chute flow as well. The predictions of modified μ - I rheology, however, seem to remain valid in the bulk of the layer for packing fractions as low as 0.2. AT acknowledges the funding obtained from IIT Kanpur through the initiation Grant for this study.

Serotonergic control of the developing cerebellum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oostland, M.

2013-01-01

The work described in this thesis gives insights in the mechanism behind the serotonergic control of the cerebellum during postnatal development. The findings present a powerful role for serotonin in the physiology of the developing cerebellum. The effects of the serotonergic control extend both

COMPORTAMIENTO RESILIENTE DE MATERIALES GRANULARES EN PAVIMENTOS FLEXIBLES: ESTADO DEL CONOCIMIENTO RESILIENT BEHAVIOR OF GRANULAR MATERIALS IN FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS: STATE OF THE ART

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Alexander Rondón Quintana

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Los vehículos que circulan sobre una estructura de pavimento inducen ciclos de carga y descarga que generan dentro de las capas granulares deformaciones recuperables (resilientes y permanentes (plásticas. La ingeniería de pavimentos ha venido desarrollando estudios desde la década de los 60 con el fin de intentar comprender el comportamiento elastoplástico que experimentan materiales granulares cuando conforman capas de base y subbase en estructuras flexibles. La mayor parte de las investigaciones que se han realizado en esta área se han concentrado en estudiar su comportamiento resiliente. El estado del conocimiento de estudios desarrollados para medir la respuesta resiliente y la deformación permanente en materiales granulares es presentado en dos artículos por separado. En este primer artículo se presenta la forma como ha sido estudiado el comportamiento resiliente de materiales granulares y se discuten los factores que influyen en dicho comportamiento. Al final del artículo se presenta la evolución de las ecuaciones matemáticas desarrolladas a partir de resultados de estudios teóricos y experimentales. Un estado del conocimiento sobre el fenómeno de deformación permanente es presentado en un segundo artículo.When vehicles move on a pavement structure, they induce load cycles that generate resilient and permanent strains inside granular layers. Since the 60's, pavement engineering has developed studies in order to understand the elasto-plastic behavior that granular materials experiment on base and sub-base layers of flexible pavements. Most of the researches that have been made in this area have concentrated in studying their resilient behavior. A state of the art about the behavior of granular materials in flexible pavements is presented in two separate papers. This first paper tries on resilient stress-strain characteristics of such materials. The mathematical equations found in the literature to predict the resilient

Consensus Paper: The Cerebellum's Role in Movement and Cognition

Science.gov (United States)

Koziol, Leonard F.; Budding, Deborah; Andreasen, Nancy; D'Arrigo, Stefano; Bulgheroni, Sara; Imamizu, Hiroshi; Ito, Masao; Manto, Mario; Marvel, Cherie; Parker, Krystal; Pezzulo, Giovanni; Ramnani, Narender; Riva, Daria; Schmahmann, Jeremy; Vandervert, Larry; Yamazaki, Tadashi

2014-01-01

While the cerebellum's role in motor function is well recognized, the nature of its concurrent role in cognitive function remains considerably less clear. The current consensus paper gathers diverse views on a variety of important roles played by the cerebellum across a range of cognitive and emotional functions. This paper considers the cerebellum in relation to neurocognitive development, language function, working memory, executive function, and the development of cerebellar internal control models and reflects upon some of the ways in which better understanding the cerebellum's status as a “supervised learning machine” can enrich our ability to understand human function and adaptation. As all contributors agree that the cerebellum plays a role in cognition, there is also an agreement that this conclusion remains highly inferential. Many conclusions about the role of the cerebellum in cognition originate from applying known information about cerebellar contributions to the coordination and quality of movement. These inferences are based on the uniformity of the cerebellum's compositional infrastructure and its apparent modular organization. There is considerable support for this view, based upon observations of patients with pathology within the cerebellum. PMID:23996631

Experimentally determined distribution of granular-flow characteristics in collisional bed load transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matoušek Václav

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A series of laboratory experiments on turbulent open-channel two-phase flow in a form of intense bed load transport is reported. Measurements in a laboratory tilting flume included camera based imaging techniques to identify the structure of the flow at the local level. Obtained experimental distributions of two-phase flow related parameters - granular velocity, concentration, and temperature - across a collisional transport layer are discussed. The results are analysed together with additional measured quantities (discharges of mixture and grains, flow depth, bed slope etc. Our major goal is to evaluate the distribution of granular stresses across the transport layer with a special attention paid to the interface between the transport layer and the bed. Furthermore, comparisons are discussed between the experimental results and predictions produced by suitable kinetic-theory based models.

Disinfection of bacteria attached to granular activated carbon.

Science.gov (United States)

LeChevallier, M W; Hassenauer, T S; Camper, A K; McFeters, G A

1984-01-01

Heterotrophic plate count bacteria, coliform organisms, and pathogenic microorganisms attached to granular activated carbon particles were examined for their susceptibility to chlorine disinfection. When these bacteria were grown on carbon particles and then disinfected with 2.0 mg of chlorine per liter (1.4 to 1.6 mg of free chlorine residual per liter after 1 h) for 1 h, no significant decrease in viable counts was observed. Washed cells attached to the surface of granular activated carbon particles showed similar resistance to chlorine, but a progressive increase in sublethal injury was found. Observations made by scanning electron microscope indicated that granular activated carbon was colonized by bacteria which grow in cracks and crevices and are coated by an extracellular slime layer. These data suggest a possible mechanism by which treatment and disinfection barriers can be penetrated and pathogenic bacteria may enter drinking water supplies. Images PMID:6508306

Cell-Targeted Optogenetics and Electrical Microstimulation Reveal the Primate Koniocellular Projection to Supra-granular Visual Cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Carsten; Evrard, Henry C; Shapcott, Katharine A; Haverkamp, Silke; Logothetis, Nikos K; Schmid, Michael C

2016-04-06

Electrical microstimulation and more recently optogenetics are widely used to map large-scale brain circuits. However, the neuronal specificity achieved with both methods is not well understood. Here we compare cell-targeted optogenetics and electrical microstimulation in the macaque monkey brain to functionally map the koniocellular lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) projection to primary visual cortex (V1). Selective activation of the LGN konio neurons with CamK-specific optogenetics caused selective electrical current inflow in the supra-granular layers of V1. Electrical microstimulation targeted at LGN konio layers revealed the same supra-granular V1 activation pattern as the one elicited by optogenetics. Taken together, these findings establish a selective koniocellular LGN influence on V1 supra-granular layers, and they indicate comparable capacities of both stimulation methods to isolate thalamo-cortical circuits in the primate brain. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CERES: A new cerebellum lobule segmentation method.

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, Jose E; Coupé, Pierrick; Giraud, Rémi; Ta, Vinh-Thong; Fonov, Vladimir; Park, Min Tae M; Chakravarty, M Mallar; Voineskos, Aristotle N; Manjón, Jose V

2017-02-15

The human cerebellum is involved in language, motor tasks and cognitive processes such as attention or emotional processing. Therefore, an automatic and accurate segmentation method is highly desirable to measure and understand the cerebellum role in normal and pathological brain development. In this work, we propose a patch-based multi-atlas segmentation tool called CERES (CEREbellum Segmentation) that is able to automatically parcellate the cerebellum lobules. The proposed method works with standard resolution magnetic resonance T1-weighted images and uses the Optimized PatchMatch algorithm to speed up the patch matching process. The proposed method was compared with related recent state-of-the-art methods showing competitive results in both accuracy (average DICE of 0.7729) and execution time (around 5 minutes). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Circadian oscillators in the mouse brain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rath, Martin F; Rovsing, Louise; Møller, Morten

2014-01-01

with conditional cell-specific clock gene deletions. This prompted us to analyze the molecular clockwork of the mouse neocortex and cerebellum in detail. Here, by use of in situ hybridization and quantitative RT-PCR, we show that clock genes are expressed in all six layers of the neocortex and the Purkinje...... and granular cell layers of the cerebellar cortex of the mouse brain. Among these, Per1, Per2, Cry1, Arntl, and Nr1d1 exhibit circadian rhythms suggesting that local running circadian oscillators reside within neurons of the mouse neocortex and cerebellar cortex. The temporal expression profiles of clock genes...... are similar in the neocortex and cerebellum, but they are delayed by 5 h as compared to the SCN, suggestively reflecting a master-slave relationship between the SCN and extra-hypothalamic oscillators. Furthermore, ARNTL protein products are detectable in neurons of the mouse neocortex and cerebellum...

Ablation of BRaf impairs neuronal differentiation in the postnatal hippocampus and cerebellum.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verena Pfeiffer

Full Text Available This study focuses on the role of the kinase BRaf in postnatal brain development. Mice expressing truncated, non-functional BRaf in neural stem cell-derived brain tissue demonstrate alterations in the cerebellum, with decreased sizes and fuzzy borders of the glomeruli in the granule cell layer. In addition we observed reduced numbers and misplaced ectopic Purkinje cells that showed an altered structure of their dendritic arborizations in the hippocampus, while the overall cornus ammonis architecture appeared to be unchanged. In male mice lacking BRaf in the hippocampus the size of the granule cell layer was normal at postnatal day 12 (P12 but diminished at P21, as compared to control littermates. This defect was caused by a reduced ability of dentate gyrus progenitor cells to differentiate into NeuN positive granule cell neurons. In vitro cell culture of P0/P1 hippocampal cells revealed that BRaf deficient cells were impaired in their ability to form microtubule-associated protein 2 positive neurons. Together with the alterations in behaviour, such as autoaggression and loss of balance fitness, these observations indicate that in the absence of BRaf all neuronal cellular structures develop, but neuronal circuits in the cerebellum and hippocampus are partially disturbed besides impaired neuronal generation in both structures.

Microstructural and magnetic properties of L10 FePt-C (0 0 1) textured nanocomposite films grown on different intermediate layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, J S; Chow, G M; Lim, B C; Hu, J F; Ding, Y F; Ju, G

2008-01-01

The FePt : C films with different volume fractions of carbon and different thicknesses were epitaxially grown on a CrRu(2 0 0) underlayer with Pt and MgO intermediate layers. The magnetic properties and microstructure of these FePt : C films were investigated. The FePt : C films grown on the Pt intermediate layer consisted of a continuous layer of FePt, with overlying granular FePt grains, while the FePt : C films grown on the MgO intermediate layer consisted of granular FePt : C layers with overlying granular grains. The formation of the overlying granular FePt grains was attributed to carbon diffusion to the surface which resulted in the second nucleation of FePt. The different interface energies and surface energies of FePt on Pt and MgO intermediate layers caused the formation of an initial continuous FePt layer on the Pt intermediate layer and initial granular FePt layers on the MgO intermediate layer. The coupling between the continuous FePt layer or the granular FePt layer and the overlying granular FePt grains resulted in simultaneous magnetization reversal and thus strong exchange coupling in FePt : C films.

Role of the cerebellum in reaching movements in humans. II. A neural model of the intermediate cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Schweighofer, N; Spoelstra, J; Arbib, M A; Kawato, M

1998-01-01

The cerebellum is essential for the control of multijoint movements; when the cerebellum is lesioned, the performance error is more than the summed errors produced by single joints. In the companion paper (Schweighofer et al., 1998), a functional anatomical model for visually guided arm movement was proposed. The model comprised a basic feedforward/feedback controller with realistic transmission delays and was connected to a two-link, six-muscle, planar arm. In the present study, we examined the role of the cerebellum in reaching movements by embedding a novel, detailed cerebellar neural network in this functional control model. We could derive realistic cerebellar inputs and the role of the cerebellum in learning to control the arm was assessed. This cerebellar network learned the part of the inverse dynamics of the arm not provided by the basic feedforward/feedback controller. Despite realistically low inferior olive firing rates and noisy mossy fibre inputs, the model could reduce the error between intended and planned movements. The responses of the different cell groups were comparable to those of biological cell groups. In particular, the modelled Purkinje cells exhibited directional tuning after learning and the parallel fibres, due to their length, provide Purkinje cells with the input required for this coordination task. The inferior olive responses contained two different components; the earlier response, locked to movement onset, was always present and the later response disappeared after learning. These results support the theory that the cerebellum is involved in motor learning.

Autism Spectrum Disorders and Neuropathology of the Cerebellum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David R Hampson

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The cerebellum contains the largest number of neurons and synapses of any structure in the central nervous system. The concept that the cerebellum is solely involved in fine motor function has become outdated; substantial evidence has accumulated linking the cerebellum with higher cognitive functions including language. Cerebellar deficits have been implicated in autism for more than two decades. The computational power of the cerebellum is essential for many, if not most of the processes that are perturbed in autism including language and communication, social interactions, stereotyped behavior, motor activity and motor coordination, and higher cognitive functions. The link between autism and cerebellar dysfunction should not be surprising to those who study its cellular, physiological, and functional properties. Postmortem studies have revealed neuropathological abnormalities in cerebellar cellular architecture while studies on mouse lines with cell loss or mutations in single genes restricted to cerebellar Purkinje cells have also strongly implicated this brain structure in contributing to the autistic phenotype. This connection has been further substantiated by studies investigating brain damage in humans restricted to the cerebellum. In this review, we summarize advances in research on idiopathic autism and three genetic forms of autism that highlight the key roles that the cerebellum plays in this spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Autism spectrum disorders and neuropathology of the cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Hampson, David R; Blatt, Gene J

2015-01-01

The cerebellum contains the largest number of neurons and synapses of any structure in the central nervous system. The concept that the cerebellum is solely involved in fine motor function has become outdated; substantial evidence has accumulated linking the cerebellum with higher cognitive functions including language. Cerebellar deficits have been implicated in autism for more than two decades. The computational power of the cerebellum is essential for many, if not most of the processes that are perturbed in autism including language and communication, social interactions, stereotyped behavior, motor activity and motor coordination, and higher cognitive functions. The link between autism and cerebellar dysfunction should not be surprising to those who study its cellular, physiological, and functional properties. Postmortem studies have revealed neuropathological abnormalities in cerebellar cellular architecture while studies on mouse lines with cell loss or mutations in single genes restricted to cerebellar Purkinje cells have also strongly implicated this brain structure in contributing to the autistic phenotype. This connection has been further substantiated by studies investigating brain damage in humans restricted to the cerebellum. In this review, we summarize advances in research on idiopathic autism and three genetic forms of autism that highlight the key roles that the cerebellum plays in this spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Linking Essential Tremor to the Cerebellum: Neurochemical Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Marin-Lahoz, Juan; Gironell, Alexandre

2016-06-01

The pathophysiology and the exact anatomy of essential tremor (ET) is not well known. One of the pillars that support the cerebellum as the main anatomical locus in ET is neurochemistry. This review examines the link between neurochemical abnormalities found in ET and cerebellum. The review is based on published data about neurochemical abnormalities described in ET both in human and in animal studies. We try to link those findings with cerebellum. γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main neurotransmitter involved in the pathophysiology of ET. There are several studies about GABA that clearly points to a main role of the cerebellum. There are few data about other neurochemical abnormalities in ET. These include studies with noradrenaline, glutamate, adenosine, proteins, and T-type calcium channels. One single study reveals high levels of noradrenaline in the cerebellar cortex. Another study about serotonin neurotransmitter results negative for cerebellum involvement. Finally, studies on T-type calcium channels yield positive results linking the rhythmicity of ET and cerebellum. Neurochemistry supports the cerebellum as the main anatomical locus in ET. The main neurotransmitter involved is GABA, and the GABA hypothesis remains the most robust pathophysiological theory of ET to date. However, this hypothesis does not rule out other mechanisms and may be seen as the main scaffold to support findings in other systems. We clearly need to perform more studies about neurochemistry in ET to better understand the relations among the diverse systems implied in ET. This is mandatory to develop more effective pharmacological therapies.

Effects of Ethanol on the Cerebellum: Advances and Prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Jia

2015-08-01

Alcohol abuse causes cerebellar dysfunction and cerebellar ataxia is a common feature in alcoholics. Alcohol exposure during development also impacts the cerebellum. Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) show many symptoms associated specifically with cerebellar deficits. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms are unclear. This special issue discusses the most recent advances in the study of mechanisms underlying alcoholinduced cerebellar deficits. The alteration in GABAA receptor-dependent neurotransmission is a potential mechanism for ethanol-induced cerebellar dysfunction. Recent advances indicate ethanol-induced increases in GABA release are not only in Purkinje cells (PCs), but also in molecular layer interneurons and granule cells. Ethanol is shown to disrupt the molecular events at the mossy fiber - granule cell - Golgi cell (MGG) synaptic site and granule cell parallel fibers - PCs (GPP) synaptic site, which may be responsible for ethanol-induced cerebellar ataxia. Aging and ethanol may affect the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) of PC dendrites and cause dendritic regression. Ethanol withdrawal causes mitochondrial damage and aberrant gene modifications in the cerebellum. The interaction between these events may result in neuronal degeneration, thereby contributing to motoric deficit. Ethanol activates doublestranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase (PKR) and PKR activation is involved ethanolinduced neuroinflammation and neurotoxicity in the developing cerebellum. Ethanol alters the development of cerebellar circuitry following the loss of PCs, which could result in modifications of the structure and function of other brain regions that receive cerebellar inputs. Lastly, choline, an essential nutrient is evaluated for its potential protection against ethanol-induced cerebellar damages. Choline is shown to ameliorate ethanol-induced cerebellar dysfunction when given before ethanol exposure.

Dissecting the links between cerebellum and dystonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Malone, Ailish; Manto, Mario; Hass, Chris

2014-12-01

Dystonia is a common movement disorder characterized by sustained muscle contractions. These contractions generate twisting and repetitive movements or typical abnormal postures, often exacerbated by voluntary movement. Dystonia can affect almost all the voluntary muscles. For several decades, the discussion on the pathogenesis has been focused on basal ganglia circuits, especially striatal networks. So far, although dystonia has been observed in some forms of ataxia such as dominant ataxias, the link between the cerebellum and dystonia has remained unclear. Recent human studies and experimental data mainly in rodents show that the cerebellum circuitry could also be a key player in the pathogenesis of some forms of dystonia. In particular, studies based on behavioral adaptation paradigm shed light on the links between dystonia and cerebellum. The spectrum of movement disorders in which the cerebellum is implicated is continuously expanding, and manipulation of cerebellar circuits might even emerge as a candidate therapy in the coming years.

The Cerebellum and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoodley, Catherine J

2016-02-01

Cerebellar dysfunction is evident in several developmental disorders, including autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and developmental dyslexia, and damage to the cerebellum early in development can have long-term effects on movement, cognition, and affective regulation. Early cerebellar damage is often associated with poorer outcomes than cerebellar damage in adulthood, suggesting that the cerebellum is particularly important during development. Differences in cerebellar development and/or early cerebellar damage could impact a wide range of behaviors via the closed-loop circuits connecting the cerebellum with multiple cerebral cortical regions. Based on these anatomical circuits, behavioral outcomes should depend on which cerebro-cerebellar circuits are affected. Here, we briefly review cerebellar structural and functional differences in autism, ADHD, and developmental dyslexia, and discuss clinical outcomes following pediatric cerebellar damage. These data confirm the prediction that abnormalities in different cerebellar subregions produce behavioral symptoms related to the functional disruption of specific cerebro-cerebellar circuits. These circuits might also be crucial to structural brain development, as peri-natal cerebellar lesions have been associated with impaired growth of the contralateral cerebral cortex. The specific contribution of the cerebellum to typical development may therefore involve the optimization of both the structure and function of cerebro-cerebellar circuits underlying skill acquisition in multiple domains; when this process is disrupted, particularly in early development, there could be long-term alterations of these neural circuits, with significant impacts on behavior.

Near-Infrared Confocal Laser Reflectance Cytoarchitectural Imaging of the Substantia Nigra and Cerebellum in the Fresh Human Cadaver.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheyuo, Cletus; Grand, Walter; Balos, Lucia L

2017-01-01

Cytoarchitectural neuroimaging remains critical for diagnosis of many brain diseases. Fluorescent dye-enhanced, near-infrared confocal in situ cellular imaging of the brain has been reported. However, impermeability of the blood-brain barrier to most fluorescent dyes limits clinical utility of this modality. The differential degree of reflectance from brain tissue with unenhanced near-infrared imaging may represent an alternative technique for in situ cytoarchitectural neuroimaging. We assessed the utility of unenhanced near-infrared confocal laser reflectance imaging of the cytoarchitecture of the cerebellum and substantia nigra in 2 fresh human cadaver brains using a confocal near-infrared laser probe. Cellular images based on near-infrared differential reflectance were captured at depths of 20-180 μm from the brain surface. Parts of the cerebellum and substantia nigra imaged using the probe were subsequently excised and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histologic correlation. Near-infrared reflectance imaging revealed the 3-layered cytoarchitecture of the cerebellum, with Purkinje cells appearing hyperreflectant. In the substantia nigra, neurons appeared hyporeflectant with hyperreflectant neuromelanin cytoplasmic inclusions. Cytoarchitecture of the cerebellum and substantia nigra revealed on near-infrared imaging closely correlated with the histology on hematoxylin-eosin staining. We showed that unenhanced near-infrared reflectance imaging of fresh human cadaver brain can reliably identify and distinguish neurons and detailed cytoarchitecture of the cerebellum and substantia nigra. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using a Time Granularity Table for Gradual Granular Data Aggregation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iftikhar, Nadeem; Pedersen, Torben Bach

2010-01-01

solution for data reduction based on gradual granular data aggregation. With the gradual granular data aggregation mechanism, older data can be made coarse-grained while keeping the newest data fine-grained. For instance, when data is 3 months old aggregate to 1 minute level from 1 second level, when data...... and improve query performance, especially on resource-constrained systems with limited storage and query processing capabilities. A number of data reduction solutions have been developed, however an effective solution particularly based on gradual data reduction is missing. This paper presents an effective...... is 6 months old aggregate to 2 minutes level from 1 minute level and so on. The proposed solution introduces a time granularity based data structure, namely a relational time granularity table that enables long term storage of old data by maintaining it at different levels of granularity and effective...

Magnetism and magnetoresistance from different origins in Co/ZnO:Al granular films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quan, Zhiyong, E-mail: quanzy@sxnu.edu.cn; Liu, Xia; Song, Zhilin; Xu, Xiaohong, E-mail: xuxh@dns.sxnu.edu.cn

2016-12-01

Co/ZnO:Al granular films were made on glass substrates by sequential magnetron sputter deposition of ultrathin Co layer and ZnO:Al layer at room temperature. The as-deposited films consist of superparamagnetic Co particles dispersed in ZnO:Al (~2% Al) semiconductor matrix. Distinguished magnetoresistance effect at room temperature was obtained in the as-deposited films, which obviously reduced after annealing due to the growth of Co particles. The size of important magnetic particles was analyzed by Langevin function for hysteresis loops and magnetoresistance curves at room temperature. It was found that small magnetic particle contribute to magnetoresistance behavior and large particles dominate the room temperature magnetism in Co/ZnO:Al granular films.

Spatiotemporal expression of chondroitin sulfate sulfotransferases in the postnatal developing mouse cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishii, Maki; Maeda, Nobuaki

2008-08-01

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) proteoglycans are major components of the cell surface and the extracellular matrix in the developing brain and bind to various proteins via CS chains in a CS structure-dependent manner. This study demonstrated the expression pattern of three CS sulfotransferase genes, dermatan 4-O-sulfotransferase (D4ST), uronyl 2-O-sulfotransferase (UST), and N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfate 6-O-sulfotransferase (GalNAc4S-6ST), in the mouse postnatal cerebellum. These sulfotransferases are responsible for the biosynthesis of oversulfated structures in CS chains such as B, D, and E units, which constitute the binding sites for various heparin-binding proteins. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated that the expression of UST increased remarkably during cerebellar development. The amounts of B and D units, which are generated by UST activity, in the cerebellar CS chains also increased during development. In contrast, the expression of GalNAc4S-6ST and its biosynthetic product, E unit, decreased during postnatal development. In situ hybridization experiments revealed the levels of UST and GalNAc4S-6ST mRNAs to correlate inversely in many cells including Purkinje cells, granule cells in the external granular layer, and inhibitory interneurons. In these neurons, the expression of UST increased and that of GalNAc4S-6ST decreased during development and/or maturation. D4ST was also expressed by many neurons, but its expression was not simply correlated with development, which might contribute to the diversification of CS structures expressed by distinct neurons. These results suggest that the CS structures of various cerebellar neurons change during development and such changes of CS are involved in the regulation of various signaling pathways.

NMR experiments on a three-dimensional vibrofluidized granular medium

Science.gov (United States)

Huan, Chao; Yang, Xiaoyu; Candela, D.; Mair, R. W.; Walsworth, R. L.

2004-04-01

A three-dimensional granular system fluidized by vertical container vibrations was studied using pulsed field gradient NMR coupled with one-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging. The system consisted of mustard seeds vibrated vertically at 50 Hz, and the number of layers Nl⩽4 was sufficiently low to achieve a nearly time-independent granular fluid. Using NMR, the vertical profiles of density and granular temperature were directly measured, along with the distributions of vertical and horizontal grain velocities. The velocity distributions showed modest deviations from Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, except for the vertical velocity distribution near the sample bottom, which was highly skewed and non-Gaussian. Data taken for three values of Nl and two dimensionless accelerations Γ=15,18 were fitted to a hydrodynamic theory, which successfully models the density and temperature profiles away from the vibrating container bottom. A temperature inversion near the free upper surface is observed, in agreement with predictions based on the hydrodynamic parameter μ which is nonzero only in inelastic systems.

How the cerebellum may monitor sensory information for spatial representation

Science.gov (United States)

Rondi-Reig, Laure; Paradis, Anne-Lise; Lefort, Julie M.; Babayan, Benedicte M.; Tobin, Christine

2014-01-01

The cerebellum has already been shown to participate in the navigation function. We propose here that this structure is involved in maintaining a sense of direction and location during self-motion by monitoring sensory information and interacting with navigation circuits to update the mental representation of space. To better understand the processing performed by the cerebellum in the navigation function, we have reviewed: the anatomical pathways that convey self-motion information to the cerebellum; the computational algorithm(s) thought to be performed by the cerebellum from these multi-source inputs; the cerebellar outputs directed toward navigation circuits and the influence of self-motion information on space-modulated cells receiving cerebellar outputs. This review highlights that the cerebellum is adequately wired to combine the diversity of sensory signals to be monitored during self-motion and fuel the navigation circuits. The direct anatomical projections of the cerebellum toward the head-direction cell system and the parietal cortex make those structures possible relays of the cerebellum influence on the hippocampal spatial map. We describe computational models of the cerebellar function showing that the cerebellum can filter out the components of the sensory signals that are predictable, and provides a novelty output. We finally speculate that this novelty output is taken into account by the navigation structures, which implement an update over time of position and stabilize perception during navigation. PMID:25408638

Friction dependence of shallow granular flows from discrete particle simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thornton, Anthony Richard; Weinhart, Thomas; Luding, Stefan; Bokhove, Onno

2011-01-01

A shallow-layer model for granular flows is completed with a closure relation for the macroscopic bed friction or basal roughness obtained from micro-scale discrete particle simulations of steady flows. We systematically vary the bed friction by changing the contact friction coefficient between

Prefrontal control of cerebellum-dependent associative motor learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hao; Yang, Li; Xu, Yan; Wu, Guang-yan; Yao, Juan; Zhang, Jun; Zhu, Zhi-ru; Hu, Zhi-an; Sui, Jian-feng; Hu, Bo

2014-02-01

Behavioral studies have demonstrated that both medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and cerebellum play critical roles in trace eyeblink conditioning. However, little is known regarding the mechanism by which the two brain regions interact. By use of electrical stimulation of the caudal mPFC as a conditioned stimulus, we show evidence that persistent outputs from the mPFC to cerebellum are necessary and sufficient for the acquisition and expression of a trace conditioned response (CR)-like response. Specifically, the persistent outputs of caudal mPFC are relayed to the cerebellum via the rostral part of lateral pontine nuclei. Moreover, interfering with persistent activity by blockade of the muscarinic Ach receptor in the caudal mPFC impairs the expression of learned trace CRs. These results suggest an important way for the caudal mPFC to interact with the cerebellum during associative motor learning.

Intelligent Network Management and Functional Cerebellum Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Loebner, Egon E.

1989-01-01

Transdisciplinary modeling of the cerebellum across histology, physiology, and network engineering provides preliminary results at three organization levels: input/output links to central nervous system networks; links between the six neuron populations in the cerebellum; and computation among the neurons of the populations. Older models probably underestimated the importance and role of climbing fiber input which seems to supply write as well as read signals, not just to Purkinje but also to basket and stellate neurons. The well-known mossy fiber-granule cell-Golgi cell system should also respond to inputs originating from climbing fibers. Corticonuclear microcomplexing might be aided by stellate and basket computation and associate processing. Technological and scientific implications of the proposed cerebellum model are discussed.

Age-related changes of monoaminooxidases in rat cerebellar cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

FM Tranquilli Leali

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Age-related changes of the monoaminoxidases, evaluated by enzymatic staining, quantitative analysis of images, biochemical assay and statistical analysis of data were studied in cerebellar cortex of young (3-month-old and aged (26- month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats. The enzymatic staining shows the presence of monoamino-oxidases within the molecular and granular layers as well as within the Purkinje neurons of the cerebellum of young and aged animals. In molecular layer, and in Purkinje neurons the levels of monoaminooxidases were strongly increased in old rats. The granular layer showed, on the contrary, an age-dependent loss of enzymatic staining. These morphological findings were confirmed by biochemical results. The possibility that age-related changes in monoaminooxidase levels may be due to impaired energy production mechanisms and/or represent the consequence of reduced energetic needs is discussed.

Consensus paper: Language and the cerebellum: an ongoing enigma.

Science.gov (United States)

Mariën, Peter; Ackermann, Herman; Adamaszek, Michael; Barwood, Caroline H S; Beaton, Alan; Desmond, John; De Witte, Elke; Fawcett, Angela J; Hertrich, Ingo; Küper, Michael; Leggio, Maria; Marvel, Cherie; Molinari, Marco; Murdoch, Bruce E; Nicolson, Roderick I; Schmahmann, Jeremy D; Stoodley, Catherine J; Thürling, Markus; Timmann, Dagmar; Wouters, Ellen; Ziegler, Wolfram

2014-06-01

In less than three decades, the concept "cerebellar neurocognition" has evolved from a mere afterthought to an entirely new and multifaceted area of neuroscientific research. A close interplay between three main strands of contemporary neuroscience induced a substantial modification of the traditional view of the cerebellum as a mere coordinator of autonomic and somatic motor functions. Indeed, the wealth of current evidence derived from detailed neuroanatomical investigations, functional neuroimaging studies with healthy subjects and patients and in-depth neuropsychological assessment of patients with cerebellar disorders shows that the cerebellum has a cardinal role to play in affective regulation, cognitive processing, and linguistic function. Although considerable progress has been made in models of cerebellar function, controversy remains regarding the exact role of the "linguistic cerebellum" in a broad variety of nonmotor language processes. This consensus paper brings together a range of different viewpoints and opinions regarding the contribution of the cerebellum to language function. Recent developments and insights in the nonmotor modulatory role of the cerebellum in language and some related disorders will be discussed. The role of the cerebellum in speech and language perception, in motor speech planning including apraxia of speech, in verbal working memory, in phonological and semantic verbal fluency, in syntax processing, in the dynamics of language production, in reading and in writing will be addressed. In addition, the functional topography of the linguistic cerebellum and the contribution of the deep nuclei to linguistic function will be briefly discussed. As such, a framework for debate and discussion will be offered in this consensus paper.

File list: ALL.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available ALL.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum hg19 All antigens Neural Cerebellum SRX1096823,SRX99829...5 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

File list: ALL.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available ALL.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum hg19 All antigens Neural Cerebellum SRX1096823,SRX99829...5 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

File list: ALL.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available ALL.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum hg19 All antigens Neural Cerebellum SRX998295,SRX109682...3 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

The Cerebellum, Sensitive Periods, and Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Samuel S.-H.; Kloth, Alexander D.; Badura, Aleksandra

2014-01-01

Cerebellar research has focused principally on adult motor function. However, the cerebellum also maintains abundant connections with nonmotor brain regions throughout postnatal life. Here we review evidence that the cerebellum may guide the maturation of remote nonmotor neural circuitry and influence cognitive development, with a focus on its relationship with autism. Specific cerebellar zones influence neocortical substrates for social interaction, and we propose that sensitive-period disruption of such internal brain communication can account for autism's key features. PMID:25102558

Trace element distribution in the rat cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwiatek, W.M.; Long, G.J.; Pounds, J.G.; Reuhl, K.R.; Hanson, A.L.; Jones, K.W.

1989-10-01

Spatial distributions and concentrations of trace elements (TE) in the brain are important because TE perform catalytic structural functions in enzymes which regulate brain function and development. We have investigated the distributions of TE in rat cerebellum. Structures were sectioned and analyzed by the Synchrotron Radiation Induced X-ray Emission (SRIXE) method using the NSLS X-26 white-light microprobe facility. Advantages important for TE analysis of biological specimens with x-ray microscopy include short time of measurement, high brightness and flux, good spatial resolution, multielemental detection, good sensitivity, and non-destructive irradiation. Trace elements were measured in thin rat brain sections of 20-micrometers thickness. The analyses were performed on sample volumes as small as 0.2 nl with Minimum Detectable Limits (MDL) of 50 ppb wet weight for Fe, 100 ppb wet weight for Cu, and Zn, and 1 ppM wet weight for Pb. The distribution of TE in the molecular cell layer, granule cell layer and fiber tract of rat cerebella was investigated. Both point analyses and two-dimensional semi-quantitative mapping of the TE distribution in a section were used

Multi-Anode Photomultplier (MAPMT) readout for High Granularity Calorimeters

CERN Document Server

Mkrtchyan, Tigran; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

Hadron calorimeter high performance in jet sub-structure measurements can be achieved for objects with $p_{T}$ greater than 1 TeV if the readout geometry is finely segmented in $\\Delta\\eta \\times \\Delta\\phi$. A feasibility study to increase the readout granularity of TileCal, the central hadron calorimeter of the ATLAS detector, is presented. We show a preliminary study exploring the possibility to increase by a factor 4 the present readout granularity of the inner layer cells of TileCal (0.1->0.025 in $\\Delta\\eta$) and to split into two layers the intermediate section of TileCal. The proposed solution is designed to cope with mechanical and readout bandwidth and power constraints. Assuming that the mechanics of the Tile modules cannot be changed, Multi-Anode PMTs with same boundary geometry of the present single-anode PMTs are considered to readout WLS bers, ideally one per pixel, carrying the signals from the individual scintillating tiles of each detector cells. The discussed challenges of the design are: ...

Granular patterns

CERN Document Server

Aranson, Igor S

2009-01-01

This title presents a review of experiments and novel theoretical concepts needed to understand the mechanisms of pattern formation in granular materials. An effort is made to connect concepts and ideas developed in granular physics with new emergent fields, especially in biology, such as cytoskeleton dynamics.

File list: DNS.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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File list: DNS.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available DNS.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 DNase-seq Neural Cerebellum SRX191022,SRX191026,SRX685874,SRX685872 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

Sidewall-friction-driven ordering transition in granular channel flows: Implications for granular rheology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, Sandip; Khakhar, D V

2017-11-01

We report a transition from a disordered state to an ordered state in the flow of nearly monodisperse granular matter flowing in an inclined channel with planar slide walls and a bumpy base, using discrete element method simulations. For low particle-sidewall friction coefficients, the flowing particles are disordered, however, for high sidewall friction, an ordered state is obtained, characterized by a layering of the particles and hexagonal packing of the particles in each layer. The extent of ordering, quantified by the local bond-orientational order parameter, varies in the cross section of the channel, with the highest ordering near the sidewalls. The flow transition significantly affects the local rheology-the effective friction coefficient is lower, and the packing fraction is higher, in the ordered state compared to the disordered state. A simple model, incorporating the extent of local ordering, is shown to describe the rheology of the system.

Sidewall-friction-driven ordering transition in granular channel flows: Implications for granular rheology

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, Sandip; Khakhar, D. V.

2017-11-01

We report a transition from a disordered state to an ordered state in the flow of nearly monodisperse granular matter flowing in an inclined channel with planar slide walls and a bumpy base, using discrete element method simulations. For low particle-sidewall friction coefficients, the flowing particles are disordered, however, for high sidewall friction, an ordered state is obtained, characterized by a layering of the particles and hexagonal packing of the particles in each layer. The extent of ordering, quantified by the local bond-orientational order parameter, varies in the cross section of the channel, with the highest ordering near the sidewalls. The flow transition significantly affects the local rheology—the effective friction coefficient is lower, and the packing fraction is higher, in the ordered state compared to the disordered state. A simple model, incorporating the extent of local ordering, is shown to describe the rheology of the system.

File list: DNS.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available DNS.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 DNase-seq Neural Cerebellum SRX191026,SRX191022,SRX...685872,SRX685874,SRX685876 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

File list: DNS.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available DNS.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 DNase-seq Neural Cerebellum SRX191026,SRX191022,SRX...685872,SRX685874,SRX685876 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

Density-wave fronts on the brink of wet granular condensation

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Kai; Zippelius, Andreas; Sand lab @ University of Bayreuth Team

2017-11-01

From sand dunes to Faraday heaping, driven granular matter, i.e., large agglomeration of macroscopic particles, is rich pattern forming system. When a granular material is partially wet (e.g., wet sand on the beach), a different pattern forming scenario arises due to the cohesive particle-particle interactions. Here, we focus on the formation of density-wave fronts in an oscillated wet granular layer undergoing a gas-liquid-like transition. The threshold of the instability is governed by the amplitude of the vertical vibrations. Fronts, which are curved into a spiral shape, propagate coherently along the circular rim of the container with leading edges. They are stable beyond a critical distance from the container center. Based on the measurement of the critical distance and the rotation frequency, we propose a model for the pattern formation by considering the competition between the time scale for the collapse of cohesive particles and that of the energy injection resisting this process. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant No. HU1939 4-1).

Granular computing: perspectives and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, JingTao; Vasilakos, Athanasios V; Pedrycz, Witold

2013-12-01

Granular computing, as a new and rapidly growing paradigm of information processing, has attracted many researchers and practitioners. Granular computing is an umbrella term to cover any theories, methodologies, techniques, and tools that make use of information granules in complex problem solving. The aim of this paper is to review foundations and schools of research and to elaborate on current developments in granular computing research. We first review some basic notions of granular computing. Classification and descriptions of various schools of research in granular computing are given. We also present and identify some research directions in granular computing.

The organization of the human cerebellum estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity

Science.gov (United States)

Krienen, Fenna M.; Castellanos, Angela; Diaz, Julio C.; Yeo, B. T. Thomas

2011-01-01

The cerebral cortex communicates with the cerebellum via polysynaptic circuits. Separate regions of the cerebellum are connected to distinct cerebral areas, forming a complex topography. In this study we explored the organization of cerebrocerebellar circuits in the human using resting-state functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI). Data from 1,000 subjects were registered using nonlinear deformation of the cerebellum in combination with surface-based alignment of the cerebral cortex. The foot, hand, and tongue representations were localized in subjects performing movements. fcMRI maps derived from seed regions placed in different parts of the motor body representation yielded the expected inverted map of somatomotor topography in the anterior lobe and the upright map in the posterior lobe. Next, we mapped the complete topography of the cerebellum by estimating the principal cerebral target for each point in the cerebellum in a discovery sample of 500 subjects and replicated the topography in 500 independent subjects. The majority of the human cerebellum maps to association areas. Quantitative analysis of 17 distinct cerebral networks revealed that the extent of the cerebellum dedicated to each network is proportional to the network's extent in the cerebrum with a few exceptions, including primary visual cortex, which is not represented in the cerebellum. Like somatomotor representations, cerebellar regions linked to association cortex have separate anterior and posterior representations that are oriented as mirror images of one another. The orderly topography of the representations suggests that the cerebellum possesses at least two large, homotopic maps of the full cerebrum and possibly a smaller third map. PMID:21795627

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Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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File list: His.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

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File list: Pol.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

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File list: Pol.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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Functional imaging and the cerebellum: recent developments and challenges. Editorial.

Science.gov (United States)

Habas, Christophe

2012-06-01

Recent neuroimaging developments allow a better in vivo characterization of the structural and functional connectivity of the human cerebellum. Ultrahigh fields, which considerably increase spatial resolution, enable to visualize deep cerebellar nuclei and cerebello-cortical sublayers. Tractography reconstructs afferent and efferent pathway of the cerebellum. Resting-state functional connectivity individualizes the prewired, parallel close-looped sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective networks passing through the cerebellum. These results are un agreement with activation maps obtained during stimulation functional neuroimaging or inferred from neurological deficits due to cerebellar lesions. Therefore, neuroimaging supports the hypothesis that cerebellum constitutes a general modulator involved in optimizing mental performance and computing internal models. However, the great challenges will remain to unravel: (1) the functional role of red and bulbar olivary nuclei, (2) the information processing in the cerebellar microcircuitry, and (3) the abstract computation performed by the cerebellum and shared by sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective domains.

Linking Essential Tremor to the Cerebellum: Physiological Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Filip, Pavel; Lungu, Ovidiu V; Manto, Mario-Ubaldo; Bareš, Martin

2016-12-01

Essential tremor (ET), clinically characterized by postural and kinetic tremors, predominantly in the upper extremities, originates from pathological activity in the dynamic oscillatory network comprising the majority of nodes in the central motor network. Evidence indicates dysfunction in the thalamus, the olivocerebellar loops, and intermittent cortical engagement. Pathology of the cerebellum, a structure with architecture intrinsically predisposed to oscillatory activity, has also been implicated in ET as shown by clinical, neuroimaging, and pathological studies. Despite electrophysiological studies assessing cerebellar impairment in ET being scarce, their impact is tangible, as summarized in this review. The electromyography-magnetoencephalography combination provided the first direct evidence of pathological alteration in cortico-subcortical communication, with a significant emphasis on the cerebellum. Furthermore, complex electromyography studies showed disruptions in the timing of agonist and antagonist muscle activation, a process generally attributed to the cerebellum. Evidence pointing to cerebellar engagement in ET has also been found in electrooculography measurements, cerebellar repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation studies, and, indirectly, in complex analyses of the activity of the ventral intermediate thalamic nucleus (an area primarily receiving inputs from the cerebellum), which is also used in the advanced treatment of ET. In summary, further progress in therapy will require comprehensive electrophysiological and physiological analyses to elucidate the precise mechanisms leading to disease symptoms. The cerebellum, as a major node of this dynamic oscillatory network, requires further study to aid this endeavor.

File list: ALL.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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Implications of Lateral Cerebellum in Proactive Control of Saccades.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunimatsu, Jun; Suzuki, Tomoki W; Tanaka, Masaki

2016-06-29

Although several lines of evidence establish the involvement of the medial and vestibular parts of the cerebellum in the adaptive control of eye movements, the role of the lateral hemisphere of the cerebellum in eye movements remains unclear. Ascending projections from the lateral cerebellum to the frontal and parietal association cortices via the thalamus are consistent with a role of these pathways in higher-order oculomotor control. In support of this, previous functional imaging studies and recent analyses in subjects with cerebellar lesions have indicated a role for the lateral cerebellum in volitional eye movements such as anti-saccades. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we recorded from single neurons in the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum in monkeys performing anti-saccade/pro-saccade tasks. We found that neurons in the posterior part of the dentate nucleus showed higher firing rates during the preparation of anti-saccades compared with pro-saccades. When the animals made erroneous saccades to the visual stimuli in the anti-saccade trials, the firing rate during the preparatory period decreased. Furthermore, local inactivation of the recording sites with muscimol moderately increased the proportion of error trials, while successful anti-saccades were more variable and often had shorter latency during inactivation. Thus, our results show that neuronal activity in the cerebellar dentate nucleus causally regulates anti-saccade performance. Neuronal signals from the lateral cerebellum to the frontal cortex might modulate the proactive control signals in the corticobasal ganglia circuitry that inhibit early reactive responses and possibly optimize the speed and accuracy of anti-saccades. Although the lateral cerebellum is interconnected with the cortical eye fields via the thalamus and the pons, its role in eye movements remains unclear. We found that neurons in the caudal part of the lateral (dentate) nucleus of the cerebellum showed the increased

Stability of stones in the top layer of a granular filter : Literature survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofland, B.

2000-01-01

In order to understand the processes involved in damaging a granular filter, the behaviour of the separate particles it is made of must be known. The hydrodynamic forces on the particles are very important for understanding this behaviour. These forces have been examined by many researchers. Chapter

Does the cerebellum initiate movement?

Science.gov (United States)

Thach, W T

2014-02-01

Opinion is divided on what the exact function of the cerebellum is. Experiments are summarized that support the following views: (1) the cerebellum is a combiner of multiple movement factors; (2) it contains anatomically fixed permanent focal representation of individual body parts (muscles and segments) and movement modes (e.g., vestibular driven vs. cognitive driven); (3) it contains flexible changing representations/memory of physical properties of the body parts including muscle strength, segment inertia, joint viscosity, and segmental interaction torques (dynamics); (4) it contains mechanisms for learning and storage of the properties in item no. 3 through trial-and-error practice; (5) it provides for linkage of body parts, motor modes, and motordynamics via the parallel fiber system; (6) it combines and integrates the many factors so as to initiate coordinated movements of the many body parts; (7) it is thus enabled to play the unique role of initiating coordinated movements; and (8) this unique causative role is evidenced by the fact that: (a) electrical stimulation of the cerebellum can initiate compound coordinated movements; (b) in naturally initiated compound movements, cerebellar discharge precedes that in downstream target structures such as motor cerebral cortex; and (c) cerebellar ablation abolishes the natural production of compound movements in the awake alert individuals.

Chip-scale pattern modification method for equalizing residual layer thickness in nanoimprint lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Youn, Sung-Won; Suzuki, Kenta; Hiroshima, Hiroshi

2018-06-01

A software program for modifying a mold design to obtain a uniform residual layer thickness (RLT) distribution has been developed and its validity was verified by UV-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) simulation. First, the effects of granularity (G) on both residual layer uniformity and filling characteristics were characterized. For a constant complementary pattern depth and a granularity that was sufficiently larger than the minimum pattern width, filling time decreased with the decrease in granularity. For a pattern design with a wide density range and an irregular distribution, the choice of a small granularity was not always a good strategy since the etching depth required for a complementary pattern occasionally exceptionally increased with the decrease in granularity. On basis of the results obtained, the automated method was applied to a chip-scale pattern modification. Simulation results showed a marked improvement in residual layer thickness uniformity for a capacity-equalized (CE) mold. For the given conditions, the standard deviation of RLT decreased in the range from 1/3 to 1/5 in accordance with pattern designs.

File list: ALL.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available ALL.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 All antigens Neural Cerebellum SRX191026,SRX191022,...X669237,SRX669238,SRX685923,SRX685874,SRX685922,SRX150263,SRX150262,SRX685876 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

File list: ALL.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available ALL.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 All antigens Neural Cerebellum SRX191026,SRX062950,...X669237,SRX150265,SRX019017,SRX685922,SRX685924,SRX150262,SRX685876,SRX150263 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

Evolutionary mechanisms that generate morphology and neural-circuit diversity of the cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Hibi, Masahiko; Matsuda, Koji; Takeuchi, Miki; Shimizu, Takashi; Murakami, Yasunori

2017-05-01

The cerebellum is derived from the dorsal part of the anterior-most hindbrain. The vertebrate cerebellum contains glutamatergic granule cells (GCs) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic Purkinje cells (PCs). These cerebellar neurons are generated from neuronal progenitors or neural stem cells by mechanisms that are conserved among vertebrates. However, vertebrate cerebella are widely diverse with respect to their gross morphology and neural circuits. The cerebellum of cyclostomes, the basal vertebrates, has a negligible structure. Cartilaginous fishes have a cerebellum containing GCs, PCs, and deep cerebellar nuclei (DCNs), which include projection neurons. Ray-finned fish lack DCNs but have projection neurons termed eurydendroid cells (ECs) in the vicinity of the PCs. Among ray-finned fishes, the cerebellum of teleost zebrafish has a simple lobular structure, whereas that of weakly electric mormyrid fish is large and foliated. Amniotes, which include mammals, independently evolved a large, foliated cerebellum, which contains massive numbers of GCs and has functional connections with the dorsal telencephalon (neocortex). Recent studies of cyclostomes and cartilaginous fish suggest that the genetic program for cerebellum development was already encoded in the genome of ancestral vertebrates. In this review, we discuss how alterations of the genetic and cellular programs generated diversity of the cerebellum during evolution. © 2017 Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists.

Consensus Paper: Language and the Cerebellum: an Ongoing Enigma

Science.gov (United States)

Mariën, Peter; Ackermann, Herman; Adamaszek, Michael; Barwood, Caroline H. S.; Beaton, Alan; Desmond, John; De Witte, Elke; Fawcett, Angela J.; Hertrich, Ingo; Küper, Michael; Leggio, Maria; Marvel, Cherie; Molinari, Marco; Murdoch, Bruce E.; Nicolson, Roderick I.; Schmahmann, Jeremy D.; Stoodley, Catherine J.; Thürling, Markus; Timmann, Dagmar; Wouters, Ellen; Ziegler, Wolfram

2014-01-01

In less than three decades, the concept “cerebellar neurocognition” has evolved from a mere afterthought to an entirely new and multifaceted area of neuroscientific research. A close interplay between three main strands of contemporary neuroscience induced a substantial modification of the traditional view of the cerebellum as a mere coordinator of autonomic and somatic motor functions. Indeed, the wealth of current evidence derived from detailed neuroanatomical investigations, functional neuroimaging studies with healthy subjects and patients and in-depth neuropsychological assessment of patients with cerebellar disorders shows that the cerebellum has a cardinal role to play in affective regulation, cognitive processing, and linguistic function. Although considerable progress has been made in models of cerebellar function, controversy remains regarding the exact role of the “linguistic cerebellum” in a broad variety of nonmotor language processes. This consensus paper brings together a range of different viewpoints and opinions regarding the contribution of the cerebellum to language function. Recent developments and insights in the nonmotor modulatory role of the cerebellum in language and some related disorders will be discussed. The role of the cerebellum in speech and language perception, in motor speech planning including apraxia of speech, in verbal working memory, in phonological and semantic verbal fluency, in syntax processing, in the dynamics of language production, in reading and in writing will be addressed. In addition, the functional topography of the linguistic cerebellum and the contribution of the deep nuclei to linguistic function will be briefly discussed. As such, a framework for debate and discussion will be offered in this consensus paper. PMID:24318484

The cerebro-cerebellum: Could it be loci of forward models?

Science.gov (United States)

Ishikawa, Takahiro; Tomatsu, Saeka; Izawa, Jun; Kakei, Shinji

2016-03-01

It is widely accepted that the cerebellum acquires and maintain internal models for motor control. An internal model simulates mapping between a set of causes and effects. There are two candidates of cerebellar internal models, forward models and inverse models. A forward model transforms a motor command into a prediction of the sensory consequences of a movement. In contrast, an inverse model inverts the information flow of the forward model. Despite the clearly different formulations of the two internal models, it is still controversial whether the cerebro-cerebellum, the phylogenetically newer part of the cerebellum, provides inverse models or forward models for voluntary limb movements or other higher brain functions. In this article, we review physiological and morphological evidence that suggests the existence in the cerebro-cerebellum of a forward model for limb movement. We will also discuss how the characteristic input-output organization of the cerebro-cerebellum may contribute to forward models for non-motor higher brain functions. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Right Lateral Cerebellum Represents Linguistic Predictability.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesage, Elise; Hansen, Peter C; Miall, R Chris

2017-06-28

Mounting evidence indicates that posterolateral portions of the cerebellum (right Crus I/II) contribute to language processing, but the nature of this role remains unclear. Based on a well-supported theory of cerebellar motor function, which ascribes to the cerebellum a role in short-term prediction through internal modeling, we hypothesize that right cerebellar Crus I/II supports prediction of upcoming sentence content. We tested this hypothesis using event-related fMRI in male and female human subjects by manipulating the predictability of written sentences. Our design controlled for motor planning and execution, as well as for linguistic features and working memory load; it also allowed separation of the prediction interval from the presentation of the final sentence item. In addition, three further fMRI tasks captured semantic, phonological, and orthographic processing to shed light on the nature of the information processed. As hypothesized, activity in right posterolateral cerebellum correlated with the predictability of the upcoming target word. This cerebellar region also responded to prediction error during the outcome of the trial. Further, this region was engaged in phonological, but not semantic or orthographic, processing. This is the first imaging study to demonstrate a right cerebellar contribution in language comprehension independently from motor, cognitive, and linguistic confounds. These results complement our work using other methodologies showing cerebellar engagement in linguistic prediction and suggest that internal modeling of phonological representations aids language production and comprehension. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The cerebellum is traditionally seen as a motor structure that allows for smooth movement by predicting upcoming signals. However, the cerebellum is also consistently implicated in nonmotor functions such as language and working memory. Using fMRI, we identify a cerebellar area that is active when words are predicted and

Evaluation of interlayer ferromagnetic coupling for stacked media by adding reference layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tham, K K; Saito, S; Itagaki, N; Hinata, S; Takahashi, M; Hasegawa, D

2011-01-01

The trial for quantitative evaluation of interlayer ferromagnetic coupling between granular and cap layer in stacked media is reported. The evaluation is realized by analyzing M-H loop of stacked media with another reference layer added on the cap layer. The reference layer is antiferromagnetically coupled with the cap layer through non-magnetic spacer layer. In this experiment, Rh which leads to antiferromagnetic coupling constant along film normal direction of around 2 erg/cm 2 was used as non-magnetic spacer layer. According to the evaluation result done by this method, when thickness of the spacer Pd layer between granular layer and cap layer is increased to 1.1 nm, ferromagnetic coupling constant is weakened to 7.2 erg/cm 2 which results in reduction of saturation field.

Multiple sclerosis impairs regional functional connectivity in the cerebellum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dogonowski, Anne-Marie; Andersen, Kasper Winther; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard

2013-01-01

in the cerebellum in MS. This might be caused by a functional disruption of cortico-ponto-cerebellar and spino-cerebellar inputs, since patients with higher lesion load in the left cerebellar peduncles showed a stronger reduction in cerebellar homogeneity. In patients, two clusters in the left posterior cerebellum...

Maternal exposure of rats to nicotine via infusion during gestation produces neurobehavioral deficits and elevated expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein in the cerebellum and CA1 subfield in the offspring at puberty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdel-Rahman, Ali; Dechkovskaia, Anjelika M.; Sutton, Jazmine M.; Chen, Wei-Chung; Guan, Xiangrong; Khan, Wasiuddin A.; Abou-Donia, Mohamed B.

2005-01-01

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is known to be a significant contributor to developmental neurological health problems in the offspring. In animal studies, nicotine treatment via injection during gestation has been shown to produce episodic hypoxia in the developing fetus. Nicotine delivery via mini osmotic pump, while avoiding effects due to hypoxia-ischemia, it also provides a steady level of nicotine in the plasma. In the present study timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats (300-350 g) were treated with nicotine (3.3 mg/kg, in bacteriostatic water via s.c. implantation of mini osmotic pump) from gestational days (GD) 4-20. Control animals were treated with bacteriostatic water via s.c. implantation of mini osmotic pump. Offspring on postnatal day (PND) 30 and 60, were evaluated for changes in the ligand binding for various types of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and neuropathological alterations. Neurobehavioral evaluations for sensorimotor functions, beam-walk score, beam-walk time, incline plane and grip time response were carried out on PND 60 offspring. Beam-walk time and forepaw grip time showed significant impairments in both male and female offspring. Ligand binding densities for [ 3 H]epibatidine, [ 3 H]cytisine and [ 3 H]α-bungarotoxin did not show any significant changes in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors subtypes in the cortex at PND 30 and 60. Histopathological evaluation using cresyl violet staining showed significant decrease in surviving Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum and a decrease in surviving neurons in the CA1 subfield of hippocampus on PND 30 and 60. An increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immuno-staining was observed in cerebellum white matter as well as granular cell layer of cerebellum and the CA1 subfield of hippocampus on PND 30 and 60 of both male and female offspring. These results indicate that maternal exposure to nicotine produces significant neurobehavioral deficits, a decrease in the surviving neurons and an

Granular gas dynamics

CERN Document Server

Brilliantov, Nikolai

2003-01-01

While there is not yet any general theory for granular materials, significant progress has been achieved for dilute systems, also called granular gases. The contributions in this book address both the kinetic approach one using the Boltzmann equation for dissipative gases as well as the less established hydrodynamic description. The last part of the book is devoted to driven granular gases and their analogy with molecular fluids. Care has been taken so as to present the material in a pedagogical and self-contained way and this volume will thus be particularly useful to nonspecialists and newcomers to the field.

Experiments and characterization of low-frequency oscillations in a granular column

Science.gov (United States)

Oyarte Gálvez, Loreto; Rivas, Nicolás; van der Meer, Devaraj

2018-04-01

The behavior of a vertically vibrated granular bed is reminiscent of a liquid in that it exhibits many phenomena such as convection and Faraday-like surface waves. However, when the lateral dimensions of the bed are confined such that a quasi-one-dimensional geometry is formed, the only phenomena that remain are bouncing bed and the granular Leidenfrost effect. This permits the observation of the granular Leidenfrost state for a wide range of energy injection parameters and more specifically allows for a thorough characterization of the low-frequency oscillation (LFO) that is present in this state. In both experiments and particle simulations we determine the LFO frequency from the power spectral density of the center-of-mass signal of the grains, varying the amplitude and frequency of the driving, the particle diameter, and the number of layers in the system. We thus find that the LFO frequency (i) is inversely proportional to the fast inertial timescale and (ii) decorrelates with a typical decay time proportional to the slow dissipative timescale in the system. The latter is consistent with the view that the LFO is driven by the inherent noise that is present in the granular Leidenfrost state with a low number of particles.

Study of the granular electromagnetic calorimeter with PPDs and scintillator strips for ILC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kotera, Katsushige, E-mail: coterra@azusa.shinshu-u.ac.j [Shinshu University, Asahi 3-1-1, Matsumoto 390-8621 (Japan)

2011-02-01

A prototype module of a fine-granular electromagnetic calorimeter has been constructed by the CALICE collaboration and tested in the period August-September 2008 at the FNAL meson beam test facility. The calorimeter is one of the proposed concepts for a highly granular electromagnetic calorimeter for the International Linear Collider (ILC) experiment, which is designed to have an effective 10 mmx10 mm lateral segmentation using 10 mmx45 mm scintillator strips. The strips in the 15 odd layers are orthogonal with respect to those in the 15 even layers. A total of 2160 strip scintillators are individually read out using a Pixelated Photon Detector (PPD) or MPPC. As a preliminary result of the first stage analysis, we obtain a relative energy resolution for single electrons of {sigma}{sub E}/E=(15.15{+-}0.03)%/{radical}(E{sub beam}(GeV))+(1.44{+-}0.02)%, the quoted uncertainties are purely statistical.

Current Opinions and Areas of Consensus on the Role of the Cerebellum in Dystonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakkottai, Vikram G; Batla, Amit; Bhatia, Kailash; Dauer, William T; Dresel, Christian; Niethammer, Martin; Eidelberg, David; Raike, Robert S; Smith, Yoland; Jinnah, H A; Hess, Ellen J; Meunier, Sabine; Hallett, Mark; Fremont, Rachel; Khodakhah, Kamran; LeDoux, Mark S; Popa, Traian; Gallea, Cécile; Lehericy, Stéphane; Bostan, Andreea C; Strick, Peter L

2017-04-01

A role for the cerebellum in causing ataxia, a disorder characterized by uncoordinated movement, is widely accepted. Recent work has suggested that alterations in activity, connectivity, and structure of the cerebellum are also associated with dystonia, a neurological disorder characterized by abnormal and sustained muscle contractions often leading to abnormal maintained postures. In this manuscript, the authors discuss their views on how the cerebellum may play a role in dystonia. The following topics are discussed: The relationships between neuronal/network dysfunctions and motor abnormalities in rodent models of dystonia. Data about brain structure, cerebellar metabolism, cerebellar connections, and noninvasive cerebellar stimulation that support (or not) a role for the cerebellum in human dystonia. Connections between the cerebellum and motor cortical and sub-cortical structures that could support a role for the cerebellum in dystonia. Overall points of consensus include: Neuronal dysfunction originating in the cerebellum can drive dystonic movements in rodent model systems. Imaging and neurophysiological studies in humans suggest that the cerebellum plays a role in the pathophysiology of dystonia, but do not provide conclusive evidence that the cerebellum is the primary or sole neuroanatomical site of origin.

File list: InP.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available InP.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 Input control Neural Cerebellum SRX026435,SRX026436...38,SRX685924,SRX685922,SRX022872,SRX150265,SRX019017,SRX022867,SRX150263 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

File list: InP.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available InP.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 Input control Neural Cerebellum SRX026438,SRX026435...53,SRX685923,SRX669238,SRX150265,SRX019017,SRX685922,SRX685924,SRX150263 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.Neu.05.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

File list: InP.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available InP.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 Input control Neural Cerebellum SRX026438,SRX026435...17,SRX685924,SRX150265,SRX022872,SRX669238,SRX685923,SRX685922,SRX150263 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.Neu.10.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

File list: InP.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available InP.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum mm9 Input control Neural Cerebellum SRX026435,SRX026436...24,SRX685923,SRX022872,SRX150265,SRX022867,SRX019017,SRX685922,SRX150263 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.Neu.50.AllAg.Cerebellum.bed ...

The cerebellum and visual perceptual learning: evidence from a motion extrapolation task.

Science.gov (United States)

Deluca, Cristina; Golzar, Ashkan; Santandrea, Elisa; Lo Gerfo, Emanuele; Eštočinová, Jana; Moretto, Giuseppe; Fiaschi, Antonio; Panzeri, Marta; Mariotti, Caterina; Tinazzi, Michele; Chelazzi, Leonardo

2014-09-01

Visual perceptual learning is widely assumed to reflect plastic changes occurring along the cerebro-cortical visual pathways, including at the earliest stages of processing, though increasing evidence indicates that higher-level brain areas are also involved. Here we addressed the possibility that the cerebellum plays an important role in visual perceptual learning. Within the realm of motor control, the cerebellum supports learning of new skills and recalibration of motor commands when movement execution is consistently perturbed (adaptation). Growing evidence indicates that the cerebellum is also involved in cognition and mediates forms of cognitive learning. Therefore, the obvious question arises whether the cerebellum might play a similar role in learning and adaptation within the perceptual domain. We explored a possible deficit in visual perceptual learning (and adaptation) in patients with cerebellar damage using variants of a novel motion extrapolation, psychophysical paradigm. Compared to their age- and gender-matched controls, patients with focal damage to the posterior (but not the anterior) cerebellum showed strongly diminished learning, in terms of both rate and amount of improvement over time. Consistent with a double-dissociation pattern, patients with focal damage to the anterior cerebellum instead showed more severe clinical motor deficits, indicative of a distinct role of the anterior cerebellum in the motor domain. The collected evidence demonstrates that a pure form of slow-incremental visual perceptual learning is crucially dependent on the intact cerebellum, bearing the notion that the human cerebellum acts as a learning device for motor, cognitive and perceptual functions. We interpret the deficit in terms of an inability to fine-tune predictive models of the incoming flow of visual perceptual input over time. Moreover, our results suggest a strong dissociation between the role of different portions of the cerebellum in motor versus

Using a million cell simulation of the cerebellum: network scaling and task generality.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wen-Ke; Hausknecht, Matthew J; Stone, Peter; Mauk, Michael D

2013-11-01

Several factors combine to make it feasible to build computer simulations of the cerebellum and to test them in biologically realistic ways. These simulations can be used to help understand the computational contributions of various cerebellar components, including the relevance of the enormous number of neurons in the granule cell layer. In previous work we have used a simulation containing 12000 granule cells to develop new predictions and to account for various aspects of eyelid conditioning, a form of motor learning mediated by the cerebellum. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of scaling up this simulation to over one million granule cells using parallel graphics processing unit (GPU) technology. We observe that this increase in number of granule cells requires only twice the execution time of the smaller simulation on the GPU. We demonstrate that this simulation, like its smaller predecessor, can emulate certain basic features of conditioned eyelid responses, with a slight improvement in performance in one measure. We also use this simulation to examine the generality of the computation properties that we have derived from studying eyelid conditioning. We demonstrate that this scaled up simulation can learn a high level of performance in a classic machine learning task, the cart-pole balancing task. These results suggest that this parallel GPU technology can be used to build very large-scale simulations whose connectivity ratios match those of the real cerebellum and that these simulations can be used guide future studies on cerebellar mediated tasks and on machine learning problems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Type-2 fuzzy granular models

CERN Document Server

Sanchez, Mauricio A; Castro, Juan R

2017-01-01

In this book, a series of granular algorithms are proposed. A nature inspired granular algorithm based on Newtonian gravitational forces is proposed. A series of methods for the formation of higher-type information granules represented by Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Sets are also shown, via multiple approaches, such as Coefficient of Variation, principle of justifiable granularity, uncertainty-based information concept, and numerical evidence based. And a fuzzy granular application comparison is given as to demonstrate the differences in how uncertainty affects the performance of fuzzy information granules.

Moving Forward: Age Effects on the Cerebellum Underlie Cognitive and Motor Declines

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard, Jessica A.; Seidler, Rachael D.

2014-01-01

Though the cortical contributions to age-related declines in motor and cognitive performance are well-known, the potential contributions of the cerebellum are less clear. The diverse functions of the cerebellum make it an important structure to investigate in aging. Here, we review the extant literature on this topic. To date, there is evidence to indicate that there are morphological age differences in the cerebellum that are linked to motor and cognitive behavior. Cerebellar morphology is often as good as -- or even better -- at predicting performance than the prefrontal cortex. We also touch on the few studies using functional neuroimaging and connectivity analyses that further implicate the cerebellum in age-related performance declines. Importantly, we provide a conceptual framework for the cerebellum influencing age differences in performance, centered on the notion of degraded internal models. The evidence indicating that cerebellar age differences associate with performance highlights the need for additional work in this domain to further elucidate the role of the cerebellum in age differences in movement control and cognitive function. PMID:24594194

Granular-relational data mining how to mine relational data in the paradigm of granular computing ?

CERN Document Server

Hońko, Piotr

2017-01-01

This book provides two general granular computing approaches to mining relational data, the first of which uses abstract descriptions of relational objects to build their granular representation, while the second extends existing granular data mining solutions to a relational case. Both approaches make it possible to perform and improve popular data mining tasks such as classification, clustering, and association discovery. How can different relational data mining tasks best be unified? How can the construction process of relational patterns be simplified? How can richer knowledge from relational data be discovered? All these questions can be answered in the same way: by mining relational data in the paradigm of granular computing! This book will allow readers with previous experience in the field of relational data mining to discover the many benefits of its granular perspective. In turn, those readers familiar with the paradigm of granular computing will find valuable insights on its application to mining r...

Morphometric Studies Of The Cerebellum And Forebrain Of The ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Morphometric studies were undertaken using the brains of six African giant rats. The mean of weights and lengths (tip of the olfactory bulb to the caudal border of the cerebellum) were observed tobe 4.88 0.183g and 4.40 0.193g, respectively. Similarly, the mean weight and length of the cerebellum and the forebrain ...

Circadian Clock Proteins and Melatonin Receptors in Neurons and Glia of the Sapajus apella Cerebellum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leila M. Guissoni Campos

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Oscillations of brain proteins in circadian rhythms are important for determining several cellular and physiological processes in anticipation of daily and seasonal environmental rhythms. In addition to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the primary central oscillator, the cerebellum shows oscillations in gene and protein expression. The variety of local circuit rhythms that the cerebellar cortex contains influences functions such as motivational processes, regulation of feeding, food anticipation, language, and working memory. The molecular basis of the cerebellar oscillator has been demonstrated by “clock gene” expression within cells of the cerebellar layers. Genetic and epidemiological evidence suggests that disruption of circadian rhythms in humans can lead to many pathological conditions. Despite this importance, data about clock gene and protein expression in the cerebellum of diurnal (day-active species, specifically primates, is currently poorly explored, mainly in regard to cellular identity, as well as the relationship with other molecules also involved in cerebellar functions. These studies could contribute to clarification of the possible mechanisms behind cerebellar rhythmicity. Considering that calcium binding proteins (CaBPs play crucial roles in preserving and modulating cerebellar functions and that clock gene expression can be controlled by afferent projections or paracrine circadian signals such as the hormone melatonin, the present study aimed to describe cellular identities, distribution patterns and day/night expression changes in PER1, PER2, CaBPs, and MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptors in the cerebellar cortex of a diurnal primate using conventional fluorescence and peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunocytochemical techniques. PER1 and PER2 immunoreactive (IR cells were observed in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, and MT1 and MT2 receptors were localized around Purkinje cells in the Pj layer in Bergmann cells. This identity

A granular refillable filter for glas-flows contaminated by radioactive impurities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonn, J.W.

1975-01-01

Description is given of a granular charcoal refillable filter adapted to adsorb the radioactive impurities of a gaseous flow. That flow comprises a number of filtering layers, the consumed charcoal of which can be discharged by a pneumatic device without exposing the personnel to radioactivity. This can be applied to emergency devices in nuclear facilities [fr

Visuomotor cerebellum in human and nonhuman primates.

Science.gov (United States)

Voogd, Jan; Schraa-Tam, Caroline K L; van der Geest, Jos N; De Zeeuw, Chris I

2012-06-01

In this paper, we will review the anatomical components of the visuomotor cerebellum in human and, where possible, in non-human primates and discuss their function in relation to those of extracerebellar visuomotor regions with which they are connected. The floccular lobe, the dorsal paraflocculus, the oculomotor vermis, the uvula-nodulus, and the ansiform lobule are more or less independent components of the visuomotor cerebellum that are involved in different corticocerebellar and/or brain stem olivocerebellar loops. The floccular lobe and the oculomotor vermis share different mossy fiber inputs from the brain stem; the dorsal paraflocculus and the ansiform lobule receive corticopontine mossy fibers from postrolandic visual areas and the frontal eye fields, respectively. Of the visuomotor functions of the cerebellum, the vestibulo-ocular reflex is controlled by the floccular lobe; saccadic eye movements are controlled by the oculomotor vermis and ansiform lobule, while control of smooth pursuit involves all these cerebellar visuomotor regions. Functional imaging studies in humans further emphasize cerebellar involvement in visual reflexive eye movements and are discussed.

The Effect of Salvia Rhytidea Extract on the Number of Cells of Different Layers of Cerebellar Cortex Following Ischemia Reperfusion in Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Farahmand

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background & aim: Salvia has anti-oxidant oxygen free radicals which are generated during the interruption and reestablishment of ischemia reperfusion.  The aim of study was to investigate the effect of Salvia Rhytidea extract on the number of cells of different layers of cerebellar cortex following ischemia reperfusion in rats. Methods: In the present experimental study, 35 adult male rats were randomly divided into 7 groups of 5: Group 1 (control-: Sampling without ischemia. Group 2 (control +: Cerebellar ischemia with administration of normal saline. Group 3(sham: Manipulation without ischemia with normal saline administration. Group 4   received (3.2 mg/kg aqueous and alcoholic Salvia extract 2 hours after ischemia. Group 5 received 50 mg/kg silymarin drug, 2 hours after ischemia. Group 6 received 3.2 mg/kg aqueous and alcoholic Salvia extract 72, 48, 24 and 0 h before ischemia and group 7 received silymarin drug (50 mg/kg, 0, 24, 48, and 72, hrs. before ischemia. 24 hrs. following reperfusion, the rats were euthanized and samples of the cerebellum were obtained. By using routine histological technique, the sections were stained by H&E. The measurement of cell count in cerebellar cortex were accomplished. Data were evaluated with One-Way ANOVA and Tukey diagnostic tests. Results: A significant decrease was observed in the number of neural cells in granular layer in the non-treated ischemia group and in the groups which received Salvia extract and silymarin, two hours after the ischemia (p< 0.05. No significant decrease was observed in the number of cells of this layer in the groups which received salvia extract before ischemia. But regarding the cell number of molecular and purkinje layers in above groups, no significant difference was observed compared to the control group (P˃0.05. However, no significant differences was seen in the number of cells layers compared to the control group (P˃0.05. Conclusion: Finally, administration of

Where did the motor function of the cerebellum come from?

Science.gov (United States)

Coco, Marinella; Perciavalle, Vincenzo

2015-01-01

Until the end of 18th century, the role of the cerebellum remained obscure. The turning point occurred when Luigi Galvani showed that muscle contraction is due to electricity and Alessandro Volta produced the battery, an apparatus based on the pairing of silver and zinc plates separated by brine soaked paper disks, capable to generate electricity. Luigi Rolando, at beginning of 19th century, was impressed by these two observations. He thought that, since the brain generates the movement, it must contain a device generating electricity. As a battery, it should be formed by overlapping disks and the cerebellum for Rolando seemed to be the right structure for such a characteristic laminar organization. He argued that, if the cerebellum is the battery that produces electricity for muscle activity, its removal would produce paralysis. Consequently, Rolando removed the cerebellum in a young goat and observed that the animal, before dying, could no longer stand up. He concluded that the cerebellum is a motor structure as it generates the electricity which produces the movement. The conclusions of Rolando were criticized by Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens who observed that animals undergoing cerebellectomy were still able to move, even if with problems of balance. Flourens concluded that the role of the cerebellum "is to put in order or to coordinate movements wanted by certain parts of the nervous system, excited by others". It was necessary to wait up to 1891 when Luigi Luciani, observing a dog survived the cerebellectomy, described a triad of symptoms (asthenia, atony and astasis), unquestionably of cerebellar origin.

De rijping van het cerebellum; a study of the postnatal development of the rat cerebellum.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ebels, E.J.

1969-01-01

Chapter I: INTRODUCTION In this investigation the development of the rat cerebellum from 0 -30 days after birth is studied morphologically, by means of enzymchistochemistry and electronmicroscopy. Enzymchistochemistry and electronmicroscopy were chosen because changes in enzyme content or enzyme

Effect of granular activated carbon addition on the effluent properties and fouling potentials of membrane-coupled expanded granular sludge bed process.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, An; Liang, Heng; Qu, Fangshu; Bai, Langming; Li, Guibai; Ngo, Huu Hao; Guo, Wenshan

2014-11-01

To mitigate membrane fouling of membrane-coupled anaerobic process, granular activated carbon (GAC: 50 g/L) was added into an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB). A short-term ultrafiltration test was investigated for analyzing membrane fouling potential and underlying fouling mechanisms. The results showed that adding GAC into the EGSB not only improved the COD removal efficiency, but also alleviated membrane fouling efficiently because GAC could help to reduce soluble microbial products, polysaccharides and proteins by 26.8%, 27.8% and 24.7%, respectively, compared with the control system. Furthermore, excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy analysis revealed that GAC addition mainly reduced tryptophan protein-like, aromatic protein-like and fulvic-like substances. In addition, the resistance distribution analysis demonstrated that adding GAC primarily decreased the cake layer resistance by 53.5%. The classic filtration mode analysis showed that cake filtration was the major fouling mechanism for membrane-coupled EGSB process regardless of the GAC addition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MR diffusion histology and micro-tractography reveal mesoscale features of the human cerebellum.

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Dell'Acqua, Flavio; Bodi, Istvan; Slater, David; Catani, Marco; Modo, Michel

2013-12-01

After 140 years from the discovery of Golgi's black reaction, the study of connectivity of the cerebellum remains a fascinating yet challenging task. Current histological techniques provide powerful methods for unravelling local axonal architecture, but the relatively low volume of data that can be acquired in a reasonable amount of time limits their application to small samples. State-of-the-art in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, such as diffusion tractography techniques, can reveal trajectories of the major white matter pathways, but their correspondence with underlying anatomy is yet to be established. Hence, a significant gap exists between these two approaches as neither of them can adequately describe the three-dimensional complexity of fibre architecture at the level of the mesoscale (from a few millimetres to micrometres). In this study, we report the application of MR diffusion histology and micro-tractography methods to reveal the combined cytoarchitectural organisation and connectivity of the human cerebellum at a resolution of 100-μm (2 nl/voxel volume). Results show that the diffusion characteristics for each layer of the cerebellar cortex correctly reflect the known cellular composition and its architectural pattern. Micro-tractography also reveals details of the axonal connectivity of individual cerebellar folia and the intra-cortical organisation of the different cerebellar layers. The direct correspondence between MR diffusion histology and micro-tractography with immunohistochemistry indicates that these approaches have the potential to complement traditional histology techniques by providing a non-destructive, quantitative and three-dimensional description of the microstructural organisation of the healthy and pathological tissue.

Contact force structure and force chains in 3D sheared granular systems

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Mair, Karen; Jettestuen, Espen; Abe, Steffen

2010-05-01

Faults often exhibit accumulations of granular debris, ground up to create a layer of rock flour or fault gouge separating the rigid fault walls. Numerical simulations and laboratory experiments of sheared granular materials, suggest that applied loads are preferentially transmitted across such systems by transient force networks that carry enhanced forces. The characterisation of such features is important since their nature and persistence almost certainly influence the macroscopic mechanical stability of these systems and potentially that of natural faults. 3D numerical simulations of granular shear are a valuable investigation tool since they allow us to track individual particle motions, contact forces and their evolution during applied shear, that are difficult to view directly in laboratory experiments or natural fault zones. In characterising contact force distributions, it is important to use global structure measures that allow meaningful comparisons of granular systems having e.g. different grain size distributions, as may be expected at different stages of a fault's evolution. We therefore use a series of simple measures to characterise the structure, such as distributions and correlations of contact forces that can be mapped onto a force network percolation problem as recently proposed by Ostojic and coworkers for 2D granular systems. This allows the use of measures from percolation theory to both define and characterise the force networks. We demonstrate the application of this method to 3D simulations of a sheared granular material. Importantly, we then compare our measure of the contact force structure with macroscopic frictional behaviour measured at the boundaries of our model to determine the influence of the force networks on macroscopic mechanical stability.

Neurological disorder associated with pestivirus infection in sheep in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

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Pescador Caroline Argenta

2004-01-01

Full Text Available A two-month-old lamb showing signs of severe neurological disease characterized by muscular tremors, hypermetria, and motor incoordination was submitted to the Veterinary Pathology Laboratory - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. At necropsy, the major findings were a marked reduction of the size of the cerebellum and bilateral dilatation of the lateral ventricles. Microscopically, areas of cellular disorganization in the cerebellar cortex, reduction of the granular layer of cerebellum associated with decreased density of cells, and the presence of large cytoplasmic vacuoles in the molecular layer were observed. Neurons of the gray matter of the brain and macrophages of the mesenteric lymph nodes stained positively by the immunohistochemistry test using the monoclonal antibody 15C5 against Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus. Taken together, those results are consistent with a pestivirus infection, either Border Disease Virus (BDV or BVDV.

Stretched exponentials and power laws in granular avalanching

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Head, D. A.; Rodgers, G. J.

1999-02-01

We introduce a model for granular surface flow which exhibits both stretched exponential and power law avalanching over its parameter range. Two modes of transport are incorporated, a rolling layer consisting of individual particles and the overdamped, sliding motion of particle clusters. The crossover in behaviour observed in experiments on piles of rice is attributed to a change in the dominant mode of transport. We predict that power law avalanching will be observed whenever surface flow is dominated by clustered motion.

Oscillations, Timing, Plasticity, and Learning in the Cerebellum.

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Cheron, G; Márquez-Ruiz, J; Dan, B

2016-04-01

The highly stereotyped, crystal-like architecture of the cerebellum has long served as a basis for hypotheses with regard to the function(s) that it subserves. Historically, most clinical observations and experimental work have focused on the involvement of the cerebellum in motor control, with particular emphasis on coordination and learning. Two main models have been suggested to account for cerebellar functioning. According to Llinás's theory, the cerebellum acts as a control machine that uses the rhythmic activity of the inferior olive to synchronize Purkinje cell populations for fine-tuning of coordination. In contrast, the Ito-Marr-Albus theory views the cerebellum as a motor learning machine that heuristically refines synaptic weights of the Purkinje cell based on error signals coming from the inferior olive. Here, we review the role of timing of neuronal events, oscillatory behavior, and synaptic and non-synaptic influences in functional plasticity that can be recorded in awake animals in various physiological and pathological models in a perspective that also includes non-motor aspects of cerebellar function. We discuss organizational levels from genes through intracellular signaling, synaptic network to system and behavior, as well as processes from signal production and processing to memory, delegation, and actual learning. We suggest an integrative concept for control and learning based on articulated oscillation templates.

Developmental toxicity of toluene in male rats: effects on semen quality, testis morphology, and apoptotic neurodegeneration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalgaard, M.; Hossaini, A.; Hougaard, K.S.

2001-01-01

, the number of apoptotic cells in the hippocampus and cerebellum were counted after visualisation by means of the TUNEL assay. Mean body weight in pups of exposed darns was lower than in pops from control litters. This decrease was still statistically significant at PND 11, but at PND 21 and 90 the body...... in the toluene-exposed group. Thus, the granular cell layer in cerebellum is a highly relevant tissue with which to study toluene-induced apoptosis, because of the continuous migration of neurons and high frequency of neuronal apoptosis during the weaning period. In summary, it is concluded, that neither pre......- and postnatal exposure to 1200 ppm toluene nor prenatal exposure to 1800 ppm induced significant effects on the reproductive parameters investigated. However, prenatal exposure to 1800 ppm toluene did increase neuronal apoptosis in the cerebellum of weaned male rats, possibly by delaying postnatal migration...

An Investigation on Corrosion Behavior of a Multi-layer Modified Aluminum Brazing Sheet

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Liu Wei

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The corrosion behavior of a multi-layer modified aluminum brazing sheet (AA4045/3003Mod./AA7072/AA4045 was investigated. The results shows that, the existence of BDP, which forms at the interface between clad and core layer during brazing, changes the corrosion form of the air side of the material from inter-granular corrosion to local exfoliation corrosion. The addition of anti-corrosion layer makes the corrosion form of the water side from inter-granular corrosion into uniform exfoliation corrosion. Compared to the normal triple-layer brazing sheet at the same thickness, the time to perforation of the modified four-layer brazing sheet is increased by more than 200%.

Mathematical models of granular matter

CERN Document Server

Mariano, Paolo; Giovine, Pasquale

2008-01-01

Granular matter displays a variety of peculiarities that distinguish it from other appearances studied in condensed matter physics and renders its overall mathematical modelling somewhat arduous. Prominent directions in the modelling granular flows are analyzed from various points of view. Foundational issues, numerical schemes and experimental results are discussed. The volume furnishes a rather complete overview of the current research trends in the mechanics of granular matter. Various chapters introduce the reader to different points of view and related techniques. New models describing granular bodies as complex bodies are presented. Results on the analysis of the inelastic Boltzmann equations are collected in different chapters. Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry is also discussed.

Consensus paper: the role of the cerebellum in perceptual processes.

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Baumann, Oliver; Borra, Ronald J; Bower, James M; Cullen, Kathleen E; Habas, Christophe; Ivry, Richard B; Leggio, Maria; Mattingley, Jason B; Molinari, Marco; Moulton, Eric A; Paulin, Michael G; Pavlova, Marina A; Schmahmann, Jeremy D; Sokolov, Arseny A

2015-04-01

Various lines of evidence accumulated over the past 30 years indicate that the cerebellum, long recognized as essential for motor control, also has considerable influence on perceptual processes. In this paper, we bring together experts from psychology and neuroscience, with the aim of providing a succinct but comprehensive overview of key findings related to the involvement of the cerebellum in sensory perception. The contributions cover such topics as anatomical and functional connectivity, evolutionary and comparative perspectives, visual and auditory processing, biological motion perception, nociception, self-motion, timing, predictive processing, and perceptual sequencing. While no single explanation has yet emerged concerning the role of the cerebellum in perceptual processes, this consensus paper summarizes the impressive empirical evidence on this problem and highlights diversities as well as commonalities between existing hypotheses. In addition to work with healthy individuals and patients with cerebellar disorders, it is also apparent that several neurological conditions in which perceptual disturbances occur, including autism and schizophrenia, are associated with cerebellar pathology. A better understanding of the involvement of the cerebellum in perceptual processes will thus likely be important for identifying and treating perceptual deficits that may at present go unnoticed and untreated. This paper provides a useful framework for further debate and empirical investigations into the influence of the cerebellum on sensory perception.

Why granular media are thermal after all

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Mario; Jiang, Yimin

2017-06-01

Two approaches exist to account for granular behavior. The thermal one considers the total entropy, which includes microscopic degrees of freedom such as phonons; the athermal one (as with the Edward entropy) takes grains as elementary. Granular solid hydrodynamics (GSH) belongs to the first, DEM, granular kinetic theory and athermal statistical mechanics (ASM) to the second. A careful discussion of their conceptual differences is given here. Three noteworthy insights or results are: (1) While DEM and granular kinetic theory are well justified to take grains as elementary, any athermal entropic consideration is bound to run into trouble. (2) Many general principles are taken as invalid in granular media. Yet within the thermal approach, energy conservation and fluctuation-dissipation theorem remain valid, granular temperatures equilibrate, and phase space is well explored in a grain at rest. Hence these are abnormalities of the athermal approximation, not of granular media as such. (3) GSH is a wide-ranged continuum mechanical description of granular dynamics.

Quantifying Cerebellum Grey Matter and White Matter Perfusion Using Pulsed Arterial Spin Labeling

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiufeng; Sarkar, Subhendra N.; Purdy, David E.; Briggs, Richard W.

2014-01-01

To facilitate quantification of cerebellum cerebral blood flow (CBF), studies were performed to systematically optimize arterial spin labeling (ASL) parameters for measuring cerebellum perfusion, segment cerebellum to obtain separate CBF values for grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM), and compare FAIR ASST to PICORE. Cerebellum GM and WM CBF were measured with optimized ASL parameters using FAIR ASST and PICORE in five subjects. Influence of volume averaging in voxels on cerebellar grey and white matter boundaries was minimized by high-probability threshold masks. Cerebellar CBF values determined by FAIR ASST were 43.8 ± 5.1 mL/100 g/min for GM and 27.6 ± 4.5 mL/100 g/min for WM. Quantitative perfusion studies indicated that CBF in cerebellum GM is 1.6 times greater than that in cerebellum WM. Compared to PICORE, FAIR ASST produced similar CBF estimations but less subtraction error and lower temporal, spatial, and intersubject variability. These are important advantages for detecting group and/or condition differences in CBF values. PMID:24949416

Quantifying Cerebellum Grey Matter and White Matter Perfusion Using Pulsed Arterial Spin Labeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiufeng Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available To facilitate quantification of cerebellum cerebral blood flow (CBF, studies were performed to systematically optimize arterial spin labeling (ASL parameters for measuring cerebellum perfusion, segment cerebellum to obtain separate CBF values for grey matter (GM and white matter (WM, and compare FAIR ASST to PICORE. Cerebellum GM and WM CBF were measured with optimized ASL parameters using FAIR ASST and PICORE in five subjects. Influence of volume averaging in voxels on cerebellar grey and white matter boundaries was minimized by high-probability threshold masks. Cerebellar CBF values determined by FAIR ASST were 43.8 ± 5.1 mL/100 g/min for GM and 27.6 ± 4.5 mL/100 g/min for WM. Quantitative perfusion studies indicated that CBF in cerebellum GM is 1.6 times greater than that in cerebellum WM. Compared to PICORE, FAIR ASST produced similar CBF estimations but less subtraction error and lower temporal, spatial, and intersubject variability. These are important advantages for detecting group and/or condition differences in CBF values.

Quantifying cerebellum grey matter and white matter perfusion using pulsed arterial spin labeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiufeng; Sarkar, Subhendra N; Purdy, David E; Briggs, Richard W

2014-01-01

To facilitate quantification of cerebellum cerebral blood flow (CBF), studies were performed to systematically optimize arterial spin labeling (ASL) parameters for measuring cerebellum perfusion, segment cerebellum to obtain separate CBF values for grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM), and compare FAIR ASST to PICORE. Cerebellum GM and WM CBF were measured with optimized ASL parameters using FAIR ASST and PICORE in five subjects. Influence of volume averaging in voxels on cerebellar grey and white matter boundaries was minimized by high-probability threshold masks. Cerebellar CBF values determined by FAIR ASST were 43.8 ± 5.1 mL/100 g/min for GM and 27.6 ± 4.5 mL/100 g/min for WM. Quantitative perfusion studies indicated that CBF in cerebellum GM is 1.6 times greater than that in cerebellum WM. Compared to PICORE, FAIR ASST produced similar CBF estimations but less subtraction error and lower temporal, spatial, and intersubject variability. These are important advantages for detecting group and/or condition differences in CBF values.

In vivo three-photon imaging of deep cerebellum

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mengran; Wang, Tianyu; Wu, Chunyan; Li, Bo; Ouzounov, Dimitre G.; Sinefeld, David; Guru, Akash; Nam, Hyung-Song; Capecchi, Mario R.; Warden, Melissa R.; Xu, Chris

2018-02-01

We demonstrate three-photon microscopy (3PM) of mouse cerebellum at 1 mm depth by imaging both blood vessels and neurons. We compared 3PM and 2PM in the mouse cerebellum for imaging green (using excitation sources at 1300 nm and 920 nm, respectively) and red fluorescence (using excitation sources at 1680 nm and 1064 nm, respectively). 3PM enabled deeper imaging than 2PM because the use of longer excitation wavelength reduces the scattering in biological tissue and the higher order nonlinear excitation provides better 3D localization. To illustrate these two advantages quantitatively, we measured the signal decay as well as the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) as a function of depth. We performed 2-photon imaging from the brain surface all the way down to the area where the SBR reaches 1, while at the same depth, 3PM still has SBR above 30. The segmented decay curve shows that the mouse cerebellum has different effective attenuation lengths at different depths, indicating heterogeneous tissue property for this brain region. We compared the third harmonic generation (THG) signal, which is used to visualize myelinated fibers, with the decay curve. We found that the regions with shorter effective attenuation lengths correspond to the regions with more fibers. Our results indicate that the widespread, non-uniformly distributed myelinated fibers adds heterogeneity to mouse cerebellum, which poses additional challenges in deep imaging of this brain region.

Linking Essential Tremor to the Cerebellum: Clinical Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Benito-León, Julián; Labiano-Fontcuberta, Andrés

2016-06-01

Essential tremor (ET) might be a family of diseases unified by the presence of kinetic tremor, but also showing etiological, pathological, and clinical heterogeneity. In this review, we will describe the most significant clinical evidence, which suggests that ET is linked to the cerebellum. Data for this review were identified by searching PUBMED (January 1966 to May 2015) crossing the terms "essential tremor" (ET) and "cerebellum," which yielded 201 entries, 11 of which included the term "cerebellum" in the article title. This was supplemented by articles in the author's files that pertained to this topic. The wide spectrum of clinical features of ET that suggest that it originates as a cerebellar or cerebellar outflow problem include the presence of intentional tremor, gait and balance abnormalities, subtle features of dysarthria, and oculomotor abnormalities, as well as deficits in eye-hand coordination, motor learning deficits, incoordination during spiral drawing task, abnormalities in motor timing and visual reaction time, impairment of social abilities, improvement in tremor after cerebellar stroke, efficacy of deep brain stimulation (which blocks cerebellar outflow), and cognitive dysfunction. It is unlikely, however, that cerebellar dysfunction, per se, fully explains ET-associated dementia, because the cognitive deficits that have been described in patients with cerebellar lesions are generally mild. Overall, a variety of clinical findings suggest that in at least a sizable proportion of patients with ET, there is an underlying abnormality of the cerebellum and/or its pathways.

New roles for the cerebellum in health and disease

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Stacey L Reeber

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The cerebellum has a well-established role in maintaining motor coordination and studies of cerebellar learning suggest that it does this by recognizing neural patterns, which it uses to predict optimal movements. Serious damage to the cerebellum impairs this learning and results in a set of motor disturbances called ataxia. However, recent work implicates the cerebellum in cognition and emotion, and it has been argued that cerebellar dysfunction contributes to non-motor conditions such as autism spectrum disorders. Based on human and animal model studies, two major questions arise. Does the cerebellum contribute to non-motor as well as motor diseases, and if so, how does altering its function contribute to such diverse symptoms? The architecture and connectivity of cerebellar circuits may hold the answers to these questions. An emerging view is that cerebellar defects can trigger motor and non-motor neurological conditions by globally influencing brain function. Furthermore, during development cerebellar circuits may play a role in wiring events necessary for higher cognitive functions such as social behavior and language. We discuss genetic, electrophysiological, and behavioral evidence that implicates Purkinje cell dysfunction as a major culprit in several diseases and offer a hypothesis as to how canonical cerebellar functions might be at fault in non-motor as well as motor diseases.

Arterial territories of human brain: brainstem and cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tatu, L.; Moulin, T.; Bogousslavsky, J.; Duvernoy, H.

1997-01-01

The development of neuroimaging has allowed clinicians to improve clinico-anatomic correlations in patients with strokes. Brainstem and cerebellum structures are well delineated on MRI, but there is a lack of standardization in their arterial supply. We present a system of 12 brainstem and cerebellum axial sections, depicting the dominant arterial territories and the most important anatomic structures. These sections may be used as a practical tool to determine arterial territories on MRI, and may help establish consistent clinico-anatomic correlations in patients with brainstem and cerebellar ischemic strokes. (authors)

Impact Compaction of a Granular Material

Science.gov (United States)

Fenton, Gregg; Asay, Blaine; Todd, Steve; Grady, Dennis

2017-06-01

The dynamic behavior of granular materials has importance to a variety of engineering applications. Although, the mechanical behavior of granular materials have been studied extensively for several decades, the dynamic behavior of these materials remains poorly understood. High-quality experimental data are needed to improve our general understanding of granular material compaction physics. This paper describes how an instrumented plunger impact system can be used to measure the compaction process for granular materials at high and controlled strain rates and subsequently used for computational modelling. The experimental technique relies on a gas-gun driven plunger system to generate a compaction wave through a volume of granular material. This volume of material has been redundantly instrumented along the bed length to track the progression of the compaction wave, and the piston displacement is measured with Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV). Using the gathered experimental data along with the initial material tap density, a granular material equation of state can be determined.

Emotion and Theory of Mind in Schizophrenia-Investigating the Role of the Cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Mothersill, Omar; Knee-Zaska, Charlotte; Donohoe, Gary

2016-06-01

Social cognitive dysfunction, including deficits in facial emotion recognition and theory of mind, is a core feature of schizophrenia and more strongly predicts functional outcome than neurocognition alone. Although traditionally considered to play an important role in motor coordination, the cerebellum has been suggested to play a role in emotion processing and theory of mind, and also shows structural and functional abnormalities in schizophrenia. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the specific role of the cerebellum in emotion and theory of mind deficits in schizophrenia using previously published functional neuroimaging studies. PubMed and PsycINFO were used to search for all functional neuroimaging studies reporting altered cerebellum activity in schizophrenia patients during emotion processing or theory of mind tasks, published until December 2014. Overall, 14 functional neuroimaging studies were retrieved. Most emotion studies reported lower cerebellum activity in schizophrenia patients relative to healthy controls. In contrast, the theory of mind studies reported mixed findings. Altered activity was observed across several posterior cerebellar regions involved in emotion and cognition. Weaker cerebellum activity in schizophrenia patients relative to healthy controls during emotion processing may contribute to blunted affect and reduced ability to recognise emotion in others. This research could be expanded by examining the relationship between cerebellum function, symptomatology and behaviour, and examining cerebellum functional connectivity in patients during emotion and theory of mind tasks.

Bedrock erosion by sliding wear in channelized granular flow

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, C. Y.; Stark, C. P.; Capart, H.; Smith, B.; Maia, H. T.; Li, L.; Reitz, M. D.

2014-12-01

Boundary forces generated by debris flows can be powerful enough to erode bedrock and cause considerable damage to infrastructure during runout. Bedrock wear can be separated into impact and sliding wear processes. Here we focus on sliding wear. We have conducted experiments with a 40-cm-diameter grainflow-generating rotating drum designed to simulate dry channelized debris flows. To generate sliding erosion, we placed a 20-cm-diameter bedrock plate axially on the back wall of the drum. The rotating drum was half filled with 2.3-mm-diameter grains, which formed a thin grain-avalanching layer with peak flow speed and depth close to the drum axis. The whole experimental apparatus was placed on a 100g-ton geotechnical centrifuge and, in order to scale up the stress level, spun to a range of effective gravity levels. Rates and patterns of erosion of the bedrock plate were mapped after each experiment using 3d micro-photogrammetry. High-speed video and particle tracking were employed to measure granular flow dynamics. The resulting data for granular velocities and flow geometry were used to estimate impulse exchanges and forces on the bedrock plate. To address some of the complexities of granular flow under variable gravity levels, we developed a continuum model framed around a GDR MiDi rheology. This model allowed us to scale up boundary forcing while maintaining the same granular flow regime, and helped us to understand important aspects of the flow dynamics including e.g. fluxes of momentum and kinetic energy. In order to understand the detailed processes of boundary forcing, we performed numerical simulations with a new contact dynamics model. This model confirmed key aspects of our continuum model and provided information on second-order behavior such as fluctuations in the forces acting on the wall. By combining these measurements and theoretical analyses, we have developed and calibrated a constitutive model for sliding wear that is a threshold function of

Effects of Cinnamon Extract on Cerebellum Histomorphometry in Diabetic Rats’ Fetus

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AR Rafati

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background & aim: In pregnant women, maternal diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, so glucose increases in the mother's blood and the blood of the fetus therefore causing many complications in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of cinnamon on morphometric histologic changes on fetal cerebellum of diabetic rats at days 18 and 20. Methods: In this study, 32 healthy female Wistar rats were prepared and randomly divided into four groups, normal control, diabetic, healthy subjects treated with cinnamon and cinnamon extract-treated diabetic groups. Diabetic groups were subjected by intraperitoneal of streptozotocin. All groups were charged with natural mating and they received a dose of 60 mg/ kg of cinnamon at the first day off pregnancy. After formation of the nervous system, in the eighteenth and twentieth day of pregnancy, the mother of the four mice were anesthetized and the fetus was removed for sampling. The histological slides were prepared and various parameters were studied in the cerebellum. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Duncan test. Results: The thickness of gray matter, and the gray matter white cells in the cerebellum of diabetic rats compared to other groups tested at days of18 and 20 and embryonic cells in the white matter of the cerebellum at day 18 was significantly decreased (p< 0.05. Conclusion: Administration of cinnamon extract reduces mothers’ blood sugar levels therefore preventing the complications of diabetes on the fetal cerebellum. Key words: cinnamon extract, Diabetes, cerebellum, Rat.

Neuroimmune regulation of neurophysiology in the cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Gruol, Donna L

2013-06-01

Recent studies have established the existence of an innate immune system in the central nervous system (CNS) and implicated a critical role for this system in both normal and pathological processes. Astrocytes and microglia, normal components of the CNS, are the primary cell types that comprise the innate immune system of the CNS. Basic to their role during normal and adverse conditions is the production of neuroimmune factors such as cytokines and chemokines, which are signaling molecules that initiate or coordinate downstream cellular actions. During adverse conditions, cytokines and chemokines function in defensive and repair. However, if expression of these factors becomes dysregulated, abnormal CNS function can result. Both neurons and glial cells of the CNS express receptors for cytokines and chemokines, but the biological consequence of receptor activation has yet to be fully resolved. Our studies show that neuroadaptive changes are produced in primary cultures of rat cerebellar cells chronically treated with the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and in the cerebellum of transgenic mice that chronically express elevated levels of IL-6 in the CNS. In the cerebellum in culture and in vivo, the neuroadaptive changes included alterations in the level of expression of proteins involved in gene expression, signal transduction, and synaptic transmission. Associated with these changes were alterations in neuronal function. A comparison of results from the cultured cerebellar cells and cerebellum of the transgenic mice indicated that the effects of IL-6 can vary across neuronal types. However, alterations in mechanisms involved in Ca(2+) homeostasis were observed in all cell types studied. These results indicate that modifications in cerebellar function are likely to occur in disorders associated with elevated levels of IL-6 in the cerebellum.

File list: His.Neu.20.AllAg.Cerebellum [Chip-atlas[Archive

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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The effects of heavy ion particles on the developing murine cerebellum, with special reference to cell death

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinoshita, Chikako; Yaoi, Takeshi; Fushiki, Shinji; Nojima, Kumie

2003-01-01

We report here the effects of heavy ion beams on postnatal mouse cerebellar development, with reference to cell death. Eight-day-old B6C3F1 mice were irradiated with single doses of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Gy, using a carbon beam of 290 MeV delivered from a heavy ion medical accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC). To compare the effects of X-rays with those of accelerated carbon ions, 8-day-old mice were exposed to X-rays single doses of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Gy, respectively. Pups were fixed at 1, 6, 12 and 24 hr after exposure to HIMAC beams or X-rays. Four-μm-thick parasagittal sections of the cerebella were processed for hematoxylin-eosin staining as well as for staining with the TUNEL (terminal dUTP nick-end labeling) technique. The density of fragmented nuclei in the external granular layer increased with time, peaking at 6 hr after exposure, in both the HIMAC and X-irradiated groups. In the HIMAC groups, the density was significantly higher in those animals exposed to 0.25 Gy or more compared to 0 Gy, whereas in the X-irradiated groups it was significantly higher in those mice exposed to 0.5 Gy or more. Electron microscopic examinations revealed chromatin condensation in the cell nuclei in the HIMAC groups. This is the first in vivo evidence that apoptotic cell death is induced in developing mouse cerebellum after exposure to heavy ion particles. The difference in the frequency of dying cells between exposure to heavy ion particles and to X-rays may reflect the high linear energy transfer (LET) associated with a heavy ion beam. (author)

The mystery of the cerebellum: clues from experimental and clinical observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrenson, Charlotte; Bares, Martin; Kamondi, Anita; Kovács, Andrea; Lumb, Bridget; Apps, Richard; Filip, Pavel; Manto, Mario

2018-01-01

The cerebellum has a striking homogeneous cytoarchitecture and participates in both motor and non-motor domains. Indeed, a wealth of evidence from neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, neuroimaging and clinical studies has substantially modified our traditional view on the cerebellum as a sole calibrator of sensorimotor functions. Despite the major advances of the last four decades of cerebellar research, outstanding questions remain regarding the mechanisms and functions of the cerebellar circuitry. We discuss major clues from both experimental and clinical studies, with a focus on rodent models in fear behaviour, on the role of the cerebellum in motor control, on cerebellar contributions to timing and our appraisal of the pathogenesis of cerebellar tremor. The cerebellum occupies a central position to optimize behaviour, motor control, timing procedures and to prevent body oscillations. More than ever, the cerebellum is now considered as a major actor on the scene of disorders affecting the CNS, extending from motor disorders to cognitive and affective disorders. However, the respective roles of the mossy fibres, the climbing fibres, cerebellar cortex and cerebellar nuclei remains unknown or partially known at best in most cases. Research is now moving towards a better definition of the roles of cerebellar modules and microzones. This will impact on the management of cerebellar disorders.

Quantification of 5-hydroxytryptamine1A receptors in the cerebellum of normal and x-irradiated rats during postnatal development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthiessen, L.; Daval, G.; Bailly, Y.; Gozlan, H.; Hamon, M.; Verge, D.

1992-01-01

5-Hydroxytryptamine 1A receptors were studied in rats during the first postnatal month in the normal cerebellum and in the granule cell-deprived cerebellum produced by X-irradiation at postnatal day 5. Quantitative autoradiographic studies on sagittal sections of cerebellar vermis, using [ 125 1]BH-8-MeO-N-PAT as radioligand or specific anti-receptor antibodies, revealed that 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A receptors existed in the molecular/Purkinje cell layer but at variable density from one lobule to another. Thus, in both normal and X-irradiated rats, the posterior lobules were more heavily labelled than the anterior ones, and the density of 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A sites decreased progressively in all the cerebellar folia down to hardly detectable levels at postnatal day 21. However, the intensity of labelling remained higher at postnatal day 8 and postnatal day 12 in X-irradiated rats than in age-paired controls. Measurements of [ 3 H]8-OH-DPAT [8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin] specific binding to membranes from whole cerebellum confirmed that the density of 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A sites per mg membrane protein (B max ) was higher in X-irradiated animals than in age-paired controls. However, on a ''per cerebellum'' basis, no significant difference could be detected between the total number of 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A sites, which progressively increased in both control and X-irradiated animals during the first postnatal month. These results therefore show that 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A receptors are not located on developing granule cells. (author)

Granular flows: fundamentals and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Cleary, Paul W.

DEM allows the prediction of complex industrial and geophysical particle flows. The importance of particle shape is demonstrated through a series of simple examples. Shape controls resistance to shear, the magnitude of collision stress, dilation and the angle of repose. We use a periodic flow of a bed of particles to demonstrate the different states of granular matter, the generation of dilute granular flow when granular temperature is high and the flow dependent nature of the granular thermodynamic boundary conditions. A series of industrial case studies examines how DEM can be used to understand and improve processes such as separation, mixing, grinding, excavation, hopper discharge, metering and conveyor interchange. Finally, an example of landslide motion over real topography is presented.

Nonlocal rheological properties of granular flows near a jamming limit.

Science.gov (United States)

Aranson, Igor S; Tsimring, Lev S; Malloggi, Florent; Clément, Eric

2008-09-01

We study the rheology of sheared granular flows close to a jamming transition. We use the approach of partially fluidized theory (PFT) with a full set of equations extending the thin layer approximation derived previously for the description of the granular avalanches phenomenology. This theory provides a picture compatible with a local rheology at large shear rates [G. D. R. Midi, Eur. Phys. J. E 14, 341 (2004)] and it works in the vicinity of the jamming transition, where a description in terms of a simple local rheology comes short. We investigate two situations displaying important deviations from local rheology. The first one is based on a set of numerical simulations of sheared soft two-dimensional circular grains. The next case describes previous experimental results obtained on avalanches of sandy material flowing down an incline. Both cases display, close to jamming, significant deviations from the now standard Pouliquen's flow rule [O. Pouliquen, Phys. Fluids 11, 542 (1999); 11, 1956 (1999)]. This discrepancy is the hallmark of a strongly nonlocal rheology and in both cases, we relate the empirical results and the outcomes of PFT. The numerical simulations show a characteristic constitutive structure for the fluid part of the stress involving the confining pressure and the material stiffness that appear in the form of an additional dimensionless parameter. This constitutive relation is then used to describe the case of sandy flows. We show a quantitative agreement as far as the effective flow rules are concerned. A fundamental feature is identified in PFT as the existence of a jammed layer developing in the vicinity of the flow arrest that corroborates the experimental findings. Finally, we study the case of solitary erosive granular avalanches and relate the outcome with the PFT analysis.

Granular boycott effect: How to mix granulates

Science.gov (United States)

Duran, J.; Mazozi, T.

1999-11-01

Granular material can display the basic features of the Boycott effect in sedimentation. A simple experiment shows that granular material falls faster in an inclined tube than in a vertical tube, in analogy with the Boycott effect. As long as the inclination of the tube is above the avalanche threshold, descent of granular material in the tube causes internal convection which in turn results in an efficient mixture of the granular components. By contrast, as in analogous experiments in two dimensions, a vertical fall of granular material occurs via successive block fragmentation, resulting in poor mixing.

A comprehensive study of MPI parallelism in three-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) simulation of complex-shaped granular particles

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Beichuan; Regueiro, Richard A.

2018-02-01

A three-dimensional (3D) DEM code for simulating complex-shaped granular particles is parallelized using message-passing interface (MPI). The concepts of link-block, ghost/border layer, and migration layer are put forward for design of the parallel algorithm, and theoretical scalability function of 3-D DEM scalability and memory usage is derived. Many performance-critical implementation details are managed optimally to achieve high performance and scalability, such as: minimizing communication overhead, maintaining dynamic load balance, handling particle migrations across block borders, transmitting C++ dynamic objects of particles between MPI processes efficiently, eliminating redundant contact information between adjacent MPI processes. The code executes on multiple US Department of Defense (DoD) supercomputers and tests up to 2048 compute nodes for simulating 10 million three-axis ellipsoidal particles. Performance analyses of the code including speedup, efficiency, scalability, and granularity across five orders of magnitude of simulation scale (number of particles) are provided, and they demonstrate high speedup and excellent scalability. It is also discovered that communication time is a decreasing function of the number of compute nodes in strong scaling measurements. The code's capability of simulating a large number of complex-shaped particles on modern supercomputers will be of value in both laboratory studies on micromechanical properties of granular materials and many realistic engineering applications involving granular materials.

A functional MRI study of somatotopic representation of somatosensory stimulation in the cerebellum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takanashi, M.; Abe, K.; Yanagihara, T.; Sakoda, S. [Dept. of Neurology D4, Osaka Univ. Graduate School of Medicine, Suita City, Osaka (Japan); Tanaka, H.; Hirabuki, N.; Nakamura, H.; Fujita, N. [Dept. of Radiology, Osaka Univ. Graduate School of Medicine, Suita City, Osaka (Japan)

2003-03-01

Somatotopic representation in the cerebral cortex of somatosensory stimulation has been widely reported, but that in the cerebellum has not. We investigated the latter in the human cerebellum by functional MRI (fMRI). Using a 1.5 tesla imager, we obtained multislice blood oxygen level-dependent fMRI with single-shot gradient-echo echoplanar imaging in seven right-handed volunteers during electrical stimulation of the left index finger and big toe. In the anterior and posterior cerebellum, activated pixels for the index finger were separate from those for the toe. This suggests that somatosensory stimulation of different parts of the body may involve distinct areas of in the cerebellum as well as the cerebral cortex. (orig.)

A functional MRI study of somatotopic representation of somatosensory stimulation in the cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takanashi, M.; Abe, K.; Yanagihara, T.; Sakoda, S.; Tanaka, H.; Hirabuki, N.; Nakamura, H.; Fujita, N.

2003-01-01

Somatotopic representation in the cerebral cortex of somatosensory stimulation has been widely reported, but that in the cerebellum has not. We investigated the latter in the human cerebellum by functional MRI (fMRI). Using a 1.5 tesla imager, we obtained multislice blood oxygen level-dependent fMRI with single-shot gradient-echo echoplanar imaging in seven right-handed volunteers during electrical stimulation of the left index finger and big toe. In the anterior and posterior cerebellum, activated pixels for the index finger were separate from those for the toe. This suggests that somatosensory stimulation of different parts of the body may involve distinct areas of in the cerebellum as well as the cerebral cortex. (orig.)

Interactions between Prefrontal Cortex and Cerebellum Revealed by Trace Eyelid Conditioning

Science.gov (United States)

Kalmbach, Brian E.; Ohyama, Tatsuya; Kreider, Joy C.; Riusech, Frank; Mauk, Michael D.

2009-01-01

Eyelid conditioning has proven useful for analysis of learning and computation in the cerebellum. Two variants, delay and trace conditioning, differ only by the relative timing of the training stimuli. Despite the subtlety of this difference, trace eyelid conditioning is prevented by lesions of the cerebellum, hippocampus, or medial prefrontal…

TMS Over the Cerebellum Interferes with Short-term Memory of Visual Sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrari, C; Cattaneo, Z; Oldrati, V; Casiraghi, L; Castelli, F; D'Angelo, E; Vecchi, T

2018-04-30

Growing evidence suggests that the cerebellum is not only involved in motor functions, but it significantly contributes to sensory and cognitive processing as well. In particular, it has been hypothesized that the cerebellum identifies recurrent serial events and recognizes their violations. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to shed light on the role of the cerebellum in short-term memory of visual sequences. In two experiments, we found that TMS over the right cerebellar hemisphere impaired participants' ability to recognize the correct order of appearance of geometrical stimuli varying in shape and/or size. In turn, cerebellar TMS did not affect recognition of highly familiar short sequences of letters or numbers. Overall, our data suggest that the cerebellum is involved in memorizing the order in which (concatenated) stimuli appear, this process being important for sequence learning.

Settling properties of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and aerobic granular sludge molasses (AGSM)

Science.gov (United States)

Mat Saad, Azlina; Aini Dahalan, Farrah; Ibrahim, Naimah; Yasina Yusuf, Sara; Aqlima Ahmad, Siti; Khalil, Khalilah Abdul

2018-03-01

Aerobic granulation technology is applied to treat domestic and industrial wastewater. The Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) cultivated has strong properties that appears to be denser and compact in physiological structure compared to the conventional activated sludge. It offers rapid settling for solid:liquid separation in wastewater treatment. Aerobic granules were developed using sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with intermittent aerobic - anaerobic mode with 8 cycles in 24 hr. This study examined the settling velocity performance of cultivated aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and aerobic granular sludge molasses (AGSM). The elemental composition in both AGS and AGSM were determined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The results showed that AGSM has higher settling velocity 30.5 m/h compared to AGS.

Quantification of 5-hydroxytryptamine[sub 1A] receptors in the cerebellum of normal and x-irradiated rats during postnatal development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matthiessen, L; Daval, G; Bailly, Y [Pierre et Marie Curie Univ., Paris (France). Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UA; Gozlan, H; Hamon, M; Verge, D [INSERM, Paris (France). Lab. de Neurobiologie Cellulaire et Fonctionnelle

1992-11-01

5-Hydroxytryptamine[sub 1A] receptors were studied in rats during the first postnatal month in the normal cerebellum and in the granule cell-deprived cerebellum produced by X-irradiation at postnatal day 5. Quantitative autoradiographic studies on sagittal sections of cerebellar vermis, using [[sup 125]1]BH-8-MeO-N-PAT as radioligand or specific anti-receptor antibodies, revealed that 5-hydroxytryptamine[sub 1A] receptors existed in the molecular/Purkinje cell layer but at variable density from one lobule to another. Thus, in both normal and X-irradiated rats, the posterior lobules were more heavily labelled than the anterior ones, and the density of 5-hydroxytryptamine[sub 1A] sites decreased progressively in all the cerebellar folia down to hardly detectable levels at postnatal day 21. However, the intensity of labelling remained higher at postnatal day 8 and postnatal day 12 in X-irradiated rats than in age-paired controls. Measurements of [[sup 3]H]8-OH-DPAT [8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin] specific binding to membranes from whole cerebellum confirmed that the density of 5-hydroxytryptamine[sub 1A] sites per mg membrane protein (B[sub max]) was higher in X-irradiated animals than in age-paired controls. However, on a ''per cerebellum'' basis, no significant difference could be detected between the total number of 5-hydroxytryptamine[sub 1A] sites, which progressively increased in both control and X-irradiated animals during the first postnatal month. These results therefore show that 5-hydroxytryptamine[sub 1A] receptors are not located on developing granule cells. (author).

Uniform shock waves in disordered granular matter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gómez, L.R.; Turner, A.M.; Vitelli, V.

2012-01-01

The confining pressure P is perhaps the most important parameter controlling the properties of granular matter. Strongly compressed granular media are, in many respects, simple solids in which elastic perturbations travel as ordinary phonons. However, the speed of sound in granular aggregates

Granular packing as model glass formers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yujie

2017-01-01

Static granular packings are model hard-sphere glass formers. The nature of glass transition has remained a hotly debated issue. We review recent experimental progresses in using granular materials to study glass transitions. We focus on the growth of glass order with five-fold symmetry in granular packings and relate the findings to both geometric frustration and random first-order phase transition theories. (paper)

The role of the cerebellum in the regulation of language functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Starowicz-Filip, Anna; Chrobak, Adrian Andrzej; Moskała, Marek; Krzyżewski, Roger M; Kwinta, Borys; Kwiatkowski, Stanisław; Milczarek, Olga; Rajtar-Zembaty, Anna; Przewoźnik, Dorota

2017-08-29

The present paper is a review of studies on the role of the cerebellum in the regulation of language functions. This brain structure until recently associated chiefly with motor skills, visual-motor coordination and balance, proves to be significant also for cognitive functioning. With regard to language functions, studies show that the cerebellum determines verbal fluency (both semantic and formal) expressive and receptive grammar processing, the ability to identify and correct language mistakes, and writing skills. Cerebellar damage is a possible cause of aphasia or the cerebellar mutism syndrome (CMS). Decreased cerebellocortical connectivity as well as anomalies in the structure of the cerebellum are emphasized in numerous developmental dyslexia theories. The cerebellum is characterized by linguistic lateralization. From the neuroanatomical perspective, its right hemisphere and dentate nucleus, having multiple cerebellocortical connections with the cerebral cortical language areas, are particularly important for language functions. Usually, language deficits developed as a result of a cerebellar damage have subclinical intensity and require applying sensitive neuropsychological diagnostic tools designed to assess higher verbal functions.

Electronics and triggering challenges for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter

CERN Document Server

Lobanov, Artur

2017-01-01

The High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL), presently being designed by the CMS collaboration to replace the CMS endcap calorimeters for the High Luminosity phase of LHC, will feature six million channels distributed over 52 longitudinal layers. The requirements for the front-end electronics are extremely challenging, including high dynamic range (0-10 pC), low noise (~2000e- to be able to calibrate on single minimum ionising particles throughout the detector lifetime) and low power consumption (~10mW/channel), as well as the need to select and transmit trigger information with a high granularity. Exploiting the intrinsic precision-timing capabilities of silicon sensors also requires careful design of the front-end electronics as well as the whole system, particularly clock distribution. The harsh radiation environment and requirement to keep the whole detector as dense as possible will require novel solutions to the on-detector electronics layout. Processing all the data from the HGCAL imposes equally large ch...

A Grey Wolf Optimizer for Modular Granular Neural Networks for Human Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Sánchez

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A grey wolf optimizer for modular neural network (MNN with a granular approach is proposed. The proposed method performs optimal granulation of data and design of modular neural networks architectures to perform human recognition, and to prove its effectiveness benchmark databases of ear, iris, and face biometric measures are used to perform tests and comparisons against other works. The design of a modular granular neural network (MGNN consists in finding optimal parameters of its architecture; these parameters are the number of subgranules, percentage of data for the training phase, learning algorithm, goal error, number of hidden layers, and their number of neurons. Nowadays, there is a great variety of approaches and new techniques within the evolutionary computing area, and these approaches and techniques have emerged to help find optimal solutions to problems or models and bioinspired algorithms are part of this area. In this work a grey wolf optimizer is proposed for the design of modular granular neural networks, and the results are compared against a genetic algorithm and a firefly algorithm in order to know which of these techniques provides better results when applied to human recognition.

NMR studies of granular media and two-phase flow in porous media

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaoyu

This dissertation describes two experimental studies of a vibrofluidized granular medium and a preliminary study of two-phase fluid flow in a porous medium using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). The first study of granular medium is to test a scaling law of the rise in center of mass in a three-dimensional vibrofluidized granular system. Our granular system consisted of mustard seeds vibrated vertically at 40 Hz from 0g to 14g. We used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to measure density profile in vibrated direction. We observed that the rise in center of mass scaled as nu 0alpha/Nlbeta with alpha = 1.0 +/- 0.2 and beta = 0.5 +/- 0.1, where nu 0 is the vibration velocity and Nl is the number of layers of grains in the container. A simple theory was proposed to explain the scaling exponents. In the second study we measured both density and velocity information in the same setup of the first study. Pulsed Field Gradient (PFG)-NMR combined with MRI was used to do this measurement. The granular system was fully fluidized at 14.85g 50 Hz with Nl ≤ 4. The velocity distributions at horizontal and vertical direction at different height were measured. The distributions were nearly-Gaussian far from sample bottom and non-Gaussian near sample bottom. Granular temperature profiles were calculated from the velocity distributions. The density and temperature profile were fit to a hydrodynamic theory. The theory agreed with experiments very well. A temperature inversion near top was also observed and explained by additional transport coefficient from granular hydrodynamics. The third study was the preliminary density measurement of invading phase profile in a two-phase flow in porous media. The purpose of this study was to test an invasion percolation with gradient (IPG) theory in two-phase flow of porous media. Two phases are dodecane and water doped with CuSO4. The porous medium was packed glass beads. The front tail width sigma and front width of invading phase were

An intact action-perception coupling depends on the integrity of the cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Andrea; Giese, Martin A; Sultan, Fahad; Mueller, Oliver M; Goericke, Sophia L; Ilg, Winfried; Timmann, Dagmar

2014-05-07

It is widely accepted that action and perception in humans functionally interact on multiple levels. Moreover, areas originally suggested to be predominantly motor-related, as the cerebellum, are also involved in action observation. However, as yet, few studies provided unequivocal evidence that the cerebellum is involved in the action perception coupling (APC), specifically in the integration of motor and multisensory information for perception. We addressed this question studying patients with focal cerebellar lesions in a virtual-reality paradigm measuring the effect of action execution on action perception presenting self-generated movements as point lights. We measured the visual sensitivity to the point light stimuli based on signal detection theory. Compared with healthy controls cerebellar patients showed no beneficial influence of action execution on perception indicating deficits in APC. Applying lesion symptom mapping, we identified distinct areas in the dentate nucleus and the lateral cerebellum of both hemispheres that are causally involved in APC. Lesions of the right ventral dentate, the ipsilateral motor representations (lobules V/VI), and most interestingly the contralateral posterior cerebellum (lobule VII) impede the benefits of motor execution on perception. We conclude that the cerebellum establishes time-dependent multisensory representations on different levels, relevant for motor control as well as supporting action perception. Ipsilateral cerebellar motor representations are thought to support the somatosensory state estimate of ongoing movements, whereas the ventral dentate and the contralateral posterior cerebellum likely support sensorimotor integration in the cerebellar-parietal loops. Both the correct somatosensory as well as the multisensory state representations are vital for an intact APC.

Traffic and Granular Flow ’03

CERN Document Server

Luding, Stefan; Bovy, Piet; Schreckenberg, Michael; Wolf, Dietrich

2005-01-01

These proceedings are the fifth in the series Traffic and Granular Flow, and we hope they will be as useful a reference as their predecessors. Both the realistic modelling of granular media and traffic flow present important challenges at the borderline between physics and engineering, and enormous progress has been made since 1995, when this series started. Still the research on these topics is thriving, so that this book again contains many new results. Some highlights addressed at this conference were the influence of long range electric and magnetic forces and ambient fluids on granular media, new precise traffic measurements, and experiments on the complex decision making of drivers. No doubt the “hot topics” addressed in granular matter research have diverged from those in traffic since the days when the obvious analogies between traffic jams on highways and dissipative clustering in granular flow intrigued both c- munities alike. However, now just this diversity became a stimulating feature of the ...

Psychophysiological interaction between superior temporal gyrus (STG) and cerebellum: An fMRI study

Science.gov (United States)

Yusoff, A. N.; Teng, X. L.; Ng, S. B.; Hamid, A. I. A.; Mukari, S. Z. M.

2016-03-01

This study aimed to model the psychophysiological interaction (PPI) between the bilateral STG and cerebellum (lobule VI and lobule VII) during an arithmetic addition task. Eighteen young adults participated in this study. They were instructed to solve single-digit addition tasks in quiet and noisy backgrounds during an fMRI scan. Results showed that in both hemispheres, the response in the cerebellum was found to be linearly influenced by the activity in STG (vice-versa) for both in-quiet and in-noise conditions. However, the influence of the cerebellum on STG seemed to be modulated by noise. A two-way PPI model between STG and cerebellum is suggested. The connectivity between the two regions during a simple addition task in a noisy condition is modulated by the participants’ higher attention to perceive.

Design and Prototyping of a High Granularity Scintillator Calorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zutshi, Vishnu

2016-01-01

A novel approach for constructing fine-granularity scintillator calorimeters, based on the concept of an Integrated Readout Layer (IRL) was developed. The IRL consists of a printed circuit board inside the detector which supports the directly-coupled scintillator tiles, connects to the surface-mount SiPMs and carries the necessary front-end electronics and signal/bias traces. Prototype IRLs using this concept were designed, prototyped and successfully exposed to test beams. Concepts and implementations of an IRL carried out with funds associated with this contract promise to result in the next generation of scintillator calorimeters.

Design and Prototyping of a High Granularity Scintillator Calorimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zutshi, Vishnu [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States). Dept. of Physics

2016-03-27

A novel approach for constructing fine-granularity scintillator calorimeters, based on the concept of an Integrated Readout Layer (IRL) was developed. The IRL consists of a printed circuit board inside the detector which supports the directly-coupled scintillator tiles, connects to the surface-mount SiPMs and carries the necessary front-end electronics and signal/bias traces. Prototype IRLs using this concept were designed, prototyped and successfully exposed to test beams. Concepts and implementations of an IRL carried out with funds associated with this contract promise to result in the next generation of scintillator calorimeters.

The cerebellum: its role in language and related cognitive and affective functions.

Science.gov (United States)

De Smet, Hyo Jung; Paquier, Philippe; Verhoeven, Jo; Mariën, Peter

2013-12-01

The traditional view on the cerebellum as the sole coordinator of motor function has been substantially redefined during the past decades. Neuroanatomical, neuroimaging and clinical studies have extended the role of the cerebellum to the modulation of cognitive and affective processing. Neuroanatomical studies have demonstrated cerebellar connectivity with the supratentorial association areas involved in higher cognitive and affective functioning, while functional neuroimaging and clinical studies have provided evidence of cerebellar involvement in a variety of cognitive and affective tasks. This paper reviews the recently acknowledged role of the cerebellum in linguistic and related cognitive and behavioral-affective functions. In addition, typical cerebellar syndromes such as the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS) and the posterior fossa syndrome (PFS) will be briefly discussed and the current hypotheses dealing with the presumed neurobiological mechanisms underlying the linguistic, cognitive and affective modulatory role of the cerebellum will be reviewed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison and analysis of membrane fouling between flocculent sludge membrane bioreactor and granular sludge membrane bioreactor.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Jing-Feng

Full Text Available The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of inoculating granules on reducing membrane fouling. In order to evaluate the differences in performance between flocculent sludge and aerobic granular sludge in membrane reactors (MBRs, two reactors were run in parallel and various parameters related to membrane fouling were measured. The results indicated that specific resistance to the fouling layer was five times greater than that of mixed liquor sludge in the granular MBR. The floc sludge more easily formed a compact layer on the membrane surface, and increased membrane resistance. Specifically, the floc sludge had a higher moisture content, extracellular polymeric substances concentration, and negative surface charge. In contrast, aerobic granules could improve structural integrity and strength, which contributed to the preferable permeate performance. Therefore, inoculating aerobic granules in a MBR presents an effective method of reducing the membrane fouling associated with floc sludge the perspective of from the morphological characteristics of microbial aggregates.

Regional cerebral blood flow measured with N-isopropyl-p-[123I]iodoamphetamine single-photon emission tomography in patients with Joseph disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Naoya; Odano, Ikuo; Nishihara, Mamiko; Yuasa, Tatsuhiko; Sakai, Kunio

1994-01-01

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured in five Japanese patients who were clinically diagnosed as having Joseph disease, also called Machado-Joseph disease or Azorean disease, using N-isopropyl-p-[ 123 I]iodoamphetamine (IMP) and single-photon emission tomography (SPET). Cerebellar atrophy was evaluated by a five-step rating scale as defined on X-ray computed tomography (X-CT). Compared with ten age-matched normal controls (mean cerebellar CBF ± SD: 66.9 ± 6.6 ml/100 g/min), rCBF in patients with Joseph disease was significantly decreased in the cerebellum (mean ± SD: 50.2 ± 7.3 ml/100 g/min). No significant relationship, however, was found between the decrease in rCBF in the cerebellum and the degree of cerebellar atrophy on X-CT. rCBF in the cerebellum was minimally decreased in one patient who had severe cerebellar atrophy and in two patients with moderate atrophy. These data may support the findings that Purkinje cells in the cerebellum are almost normal in Joseph disease, and that the granular and molecular layers remain intact in spite of cortical atrophy of the cerebellum. It is concluded that [ 123 I]-IMP SPET is able to identify pathological and metabolic changes in the cerebellum that do not appear on X-CT or magnetic resonance imaging, and thus is useful for the diagnosis of Joseph disease. (orig.)

Statistical and visual probing of evolving granular assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Laurence M.

2002-01-01

The majority of processes in the chemical and allied industries involve the storage and conveyancing of granular material, the physics of which is still not particularly well understood. Whilst some non-invasive techniques have been developed, much experimental work unfortunately interferes with the fields being investigated. For this reason and in conjunction with increasing computing power, there has been an increase in simulation based studies. Granular dynamics simulations, being based upon inter-particle interaction laws, give the potential to investigate assemblies at the 'micro-level' and have been successful in modelling process conditions in a number of granular flow situations. To date, most analyses of these simulations are essentially static in nature involving 'time snapshots'. However, in a granular dynamics simulation there is a wealth of data available on a time referenced basis which has the potential to allow a quantitative analysis of the dynamics of assembly evolution. This dissertation describes the development and application of a toolkit for post-simulation analysis. However, the utilities within the toolkit would be equally applicable to large experimental data sets should such data sets exist. The application of the toolset focuses largely on the dynamics of heap evolution in both 2D and 3D with some supportive 3D work on hopper discharge. A major part of the work involves the application of time series techniques (including the wavelet transform) in the context of variable coupling during avalanching. Segregation by self-diffusion receives particular attention and a new mechanism is proposed by which segregation by particle size takes place in the boundary layer of a low impact feed heap displaying a clear velocity gradient during discrete avalanching. Periodic lateral surging is shown to enforce mixing for a high impact feed, a phenomenon which appears to switch off below a certain feed impact. Segregation by self-diffusion is also shown

Cerebellar nicotinic cholinergic receptors are intrinsic to the cerebellum: implications for diverse functional roles.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Jill R; Ortinski, Pavel I; Sherrard, Rachel M; Kellar, Kenneth J

2011-12-01

Although recent studies have delineated the specific nicotinic subtypes present in the mammalian cerebellum, very little is known about their location or function within the cerebellum. This is of increased interest since nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) in the cerebellum have recently been implicated in the pathology of autism spectrum disorders. To begin to better understand the roles of these heteromeric nAChRs in the cerebellar circuitry and their therapeutic potential as targets for drug development, we used various chemical and stereotaxic lesion models in conjunction with slice electrophysiology to examine how specific heteromeric nAChR subtypes may influence the surrounding cerebellar circuitry. Using subunit-specific immunoprecipitation of radiolabeled nAChRs in the cerebella following N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine hydrochloride, p-chloroamphetamine, and pendunculotomy lesions, we show that most, if not all, cerebellar nicotinic receptors are present in cells within the cerebellum itself and not in extracerebellar afferents. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the β4-containing, but not the β2-containing, nAChRs intrinsic to the cerebellum can regulate inhibitory synaptic efficacy at two major classes of cerebellar neurons. These tandem findings suggest that nAChRs may present a potential drug target for disorders involving the cerebellum.

The control of a manipulator by a computer model of the cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Albus, J. S.

1973-01-01

Extension of previous work by Albus (1971, 1972) on the theory of cerebellar function to an application of a computer model of the cerebellum to manipulator control. Following a discussion of the cerebellar function and of a perceptron analogy of the cerebellum, particularly in regard to learning, an electromechanical model of the cerebellum is considered in the form of an IBM 1800 computer connected to a Rancho Los Amigos arm with seven degrees of freedom. It is shown that the computer memory makes it possible to train the arm on some representative sample of the universe of possible states and to achieve satisfactory performance.

Controlling wave propagation through nonlinear engineered granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Andrea

We study the fundamental dynamic behavior of a special class of ordered granular systems in order to design new, structured materials with unique physical properties. The dynamic properties of granular systems are dictated by the nonlinear, Hertzian, potential in compression and zero tensile strength resulting from the discrete material structure. Engineering the underlying particle arrangement of granular systems allows for unique dynamic properties, not observed in natural, disordered granular media. While extensive studies on 1D granular crystals have suggested their usefulness for a variety of engineering applications, considerably less attention has been given to higher-dimensional systems. The extension of these studies in higher dimensions could enable the discovery of richer physical phenomena not possible in 1D, such as spatial redirection and anisotropic energy trapping. We present experiments, numerical simulation (based on a discrete particle model), and in some cases theoretical predictions for several engineered granular systems, studying the effects of particle arrangement on the highly nonlinear transient wave propagation to develop means for controlling the wave propagation pathways. The first component of this thesis studies the stress wave propagation resulting from a localized impulsive loading for three different 2D particle lattice structures: square, centered square, and hexagonal granular crystals. By varying the lattice structure, we observe a wide range of properties for the propagating stress waves: quasi-1D solitary wave propagation, fully 2D wave propagation with tunable wave front shapes, and 2D pulsed wave propagation. Additionally the effects of weak disorder, inevitably present in real granular systems, are investigated. The second half of this thesis studies the solitary wave propagation through 2D and 3D ordered networks of granular chains, reducing the effective density compared to granular crystals by selectively placing wave

Thermal conductivity of granular materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buyevich, Yu A

1974-01-01

Stationary heat transfer in a granular material consisting of a continuous medium containing spherical granules of other substances is considered under the assumption that the spatial distribution of granules is random. The effective thermal conductivity characterizing macroscopic heat transfer in such a material is expressed as a certain function of the conductivities and volume fractions of the medium and dispersed substances. For reasons of mathematical analogy, all the results obtained for the thermal conductivity are valid while computing the effective diffusivity of some admixture in granular materials as well as for evaluation of the effective electric conductivity or the mean dielectric and magnetic permeabilities of granular conductors and dielectrics. (23 refs.)

Rheology of confined granular flows: scale invariance, glass transition, and friction weakening.

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Richard, P; Valance, A; Métayer, J-F; Sanchez, P; Crassous, J; Louge, M; Delannay, R

2008-12-12

We study fully developed, steady granular flows confined between parallel flat frictional sidewalls using numerical simulations and experiments. Above a critical rate, sidewall friction stabilizes the underlying heap at an inclination larger than the angle of repose. The shear rate is constant and independent of inclination over much of the flowing layer. In the direction normal to the free surface, the solid volume fraction increases on a scale equal to half the flowing layer depth. Beneath a critical depth at which internal friction is invariant, grains exhibit creeping and intermittent cage motion similar to that in glasses, causing gradual weakening of friction at the walls.

A Two-Phase Solid/Fluid Model for Dense Granular Flows Including Dilatancy Effects

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Mangeney, Anne; Bouchut, Francois; Fernandez-Nieto, Enrique; Narbona-Reina, Gladys

2015-04-01

We propose a thin layer depth-averaged two-phase model to describe solid-fluid mixtures such as debris flows. It describes the velocity of the two phases, the compression/dilatation of the granular media and its interaction with the pore fluid pressure, that itself modifies the friction within the granular phase (Iverson et al., 2010). The model is derived from a 3D two-phase model proposed by Jackson (2000) based on the 4 equations of mass and momentum conservation within the two phases. This system has 5 unknowns: the solid and fluid velocities, the solid and fluid pressures and the solid volume fraction. As a result, an additional equation inside the mixture is necessary to close the system. Surprisingly, this issue is inadequately accounted for in the models that have been developed on the basis of Jackson's work (Bouchut et al., 2014). In particular, Pitman and Le replaced this closure simply by imposing an extra boundary condition at the surface of the flow. When making a shallow expansion, this condition can be considered as a closure condition. However, the corresponding model cannot account for a dissipative energy balance. We propose here an approach to correctly deal with the thermodynamics of Jackson's equations. We close the mixture equations by a weak compressibility relation involving a critical density, or equivalently a critical pressure. Moreover, we relax one boundary condition, making it possible for the fluid to escape the granular media when compression of the granular mass occurs. Furthermore, we introduce second order terms in the equations making it possible to describe the evolution of the pore fluid pressure in response to the compression/dilatation of the granular mass without prescribing an extra ad-hoc equation for the pore pressure. We prove that the energy balance associated with this Jackson closure is dissipative, as well as its thin layer associated model. We present several numerical tests for the 1D case that are compared to the

Vygotsky Meets Neuroscience: The Cerebellum and the Rise of Culture through Play

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Vandervert, Larry

2017-01-01

The author suggests the brain's cerebellum and cerebral cortex are the origin of culture and considers the cerebellar models that came to constitute culture to be derived specifically from play. He summarizes recent research on the behavioral, cognitive, and affective evolution of the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex that shows the development…

Granular materials flow like complex fluids

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Kou, Binquan; Cao, Yixin; Li, Jindong; Xia, Chengjie; Li, Zhifeng; Dong, Haipeng; Zhang, Ang; Zhang, Jie; Kob, Walter; Wang, Yujie

2017-11-01

Granular materials such as sand, powders and foams are ubiquitous in daily life and in industrial and geotechnical applications. These disordered systems form stable structures when unperturbed, but in the presence of external influences such as tapping or shear they `relax', becoming fluid in nature. It is often assumed that the relaxation dynamics of granular systems is similar to that of thermal glass-forming systems. However, so far it has not been possible to determine experimentally the dynamic properties of three-dimensional granular systems at the particle level. This lack of experimental data, combined with the fact that the motion of granular particles involves friction (whereas the motion of particles in thermal glass-forming systems does not), means that an accurate description of the relaxation dynamics of granular materials is lacking. Here we use X-ray tomography to determine the microscale relaxation dynamics of hard granular ellipsoids subject to an oscillatory shear. We find that the distribution of the displacements of the ellipsoids is well described by a Gumbel law (which is similar to a Gaussian distribution for small displacements but has a heavier tail for larger displacements), with a shape parameter that is independent of the amplitude of the shear strain and of the time. Despite this universality, the mean squared displacement of an individual ellipsoid follows a power law as a function of time, with an exponent that does depend on the strain amplitude and time. We argue that these results are related to microscale relaxation mechanisms that involve friction and memory effects (whereby the motion of an ellipsoid at a given point in time depends on its previous motion). Our observations demonstrate that, at the particle level, the dynamic behaviour of granular systems is qualitatively different from that of thermal glass-forming systems, and is instead more similar to that of complex fluids. We conclude that granular materials can relax

Chronic lithium treatment with or without haloperidol fails to affect the morphology of the rat cerebellum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Licht, R W; Larsen, Jytte Overgaard; Smith, D

2003-01-01

We used unbiased stereological principles to determine whether long-term administration of lithium at human therapeutic levels, with or without haloperidol, affects the number or sizes of cerebellar Purkinje cells or the volume of histological layers in the rat cerebellum. Twenty-eight rats were...... randomly divided into three groups, receiving either no treatment, lithium, or lithium combined with haloperidol. The serum lithium levels ranged from 0.50 to 0.77 mmol/l. Haloperidol was given at a daily dose of 1 mg/kg. After 30 weeks of treatment, the animals were killed and the cerebelli were...

Deformación permanente de materiales granulares en pavimentos flexibles: estado del conocimiento Permanent strain of granular materials in flexible pavements: state of the art

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Hugo Alexánder Rondón

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Diversos estudios han sido desarrollados en el área de los pavimentos para comprender el comportamiento elastoplástico que experimentan materiales granulares bajo carga cíclica. Este es el segundo de dos artículos que presentan el estado del conocimiento de investigaciones desarrolladas en esta área. Basado en una amplia revisión bibliográfica, este artículo da cuenta de la forma como ha sido estudiado el fenómeno de deformación permanente en materiales granulares empleados para conformar capas de base y sub-base de estructuras de pavimentos flexibles. Además, se exponen y se discuten los factores que afectan la resistencia a la deformación permanente y la evolución de las ecuaciones matemáticas desarrolladas para predecir la deformación que experimentan estos materiales bajo carga cíclica. Un estado del conocimiento sobre el comportamiento resiliente de estos materiales es presentado en el primer artículo (Rondón y Reyes, 2007.Several studies have been conducted in pavement field for trying to understand the elastoplastic behavior experienced by granular materials under a cyclic load. This is the second out of two articles which show state-of-the-art of researches conducted in this field. Based on a wide literature review, this article accounts for the way how permanent strain phenomenon has been studied in granular materials used for creating base and sub-base layers of flexible pavement structures. Besides, this article displays and discusses factors which affect resistance to permanent strain and evolution of mathematical equations developed for predicting that strain experienced by these materials under a cyclic load. A state-of-the-art about resilient behavior of these materials has been presented in the first article (Rondón and Reyes, 2007.

Cerebellum and personality traits.

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Petrosini, Laura; Cutuli, Debora; Picerni, Eleonora; Laricchiuta, Daniela

2015-02-01

Personality traits are multidimensional traits comprising cognitive, emotional, and behavioral characteristics, and a wide array of cerebral structures mediate individual variability. Differences in personality traits covary with brain morphometry in specific brain regions. A cerebellar role in emotional and affective processing and on personality characteristics has been suggested. In a large sample of healthy subjects of both sexes and differently aged, the macro- and micro-structural variations of the cerebellum were correlated with the scores obtained in the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) by Cloninger. Cerebellar volumes were associated positively with Novelty Seeking scores and negatively with Harm Avoidance scores. Given the cerebellar contribution in personality traits and emotional processing, we investigated the cerebellar involvement even in alexithymia, construct of personality characterized by impairment in cognitive, emotional, and affective processing. Interestingly, the subjects with high alexithymic traits had larger volumes in the bilateral Crus 1. The cerebellar substrate for some personality dimensions extends the relationship between personality and brain areas to a structure up to now thought to be involved mainly in motor and cognitive functions, much less in emotional processes and even less in personality individual differences. The enlarged volumes of Crus 1 in novelty seekers and alexithymics support the tendency to action featuring both personality constructs. In fact, Novelty Seeking and alexithymia are rooted in behavior and inescapably have a strong action component, resulting in stronger responses in the structures more focused on action and embodiment, as the cerebellum is.

Arrangement and Applying of Movement Patterns in the Cerebellum Based on Semi-supervised Learning.

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Solouki, Saeed; Pooyan, Mohammad

2016-06-01

Biological control systems have long been studied as a possible inspiration for the construction of robotic controllers. The cerebellum is known to be involved in the production and learning of smooth, coordinated movements. Therefore, highly regular structure of the cerebellum has been in the core of attention in theoretical and computational modeling. However, most of these models reflect some special features of the cerebellum without regarding the whole motor command computational process. In this paper, we try to make a logical relation between the most significant models of the cerebellum and introduce a new learning strategy to arrange the movement patterns: cerebellar modular arrangement and applying of movement patterns based on semi-supervised learning (CMAPS). We assume here the cerebellum like a big archive of patterns that has an efficient organization to classify and recall them. The main idea is to achieve an optimal use of memory locations by more than just a supervised learning and classification algorithm. Surely, more experimental and physiological researches are needed to confirm our hypothesis.

The Effect of Gallic Acid on Histopathologic Evaluation of Cerebellum in Valproic Acid-Induced Autism Animal Models

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Parvin Samimi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorder (ASD is counted as a worldwide public health problem. The possible causes of ASD are reactive oxygen species and free radicals. So, this study is aimed to evaluate the effects of Gallic acid, as an effective antioxidant, on histopathologic disorder of the cerebellum in valproic acid-induced autism animal models. 30 pregnant female rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, including: control, autism (or VAP and experimental 1, 2 and 3. Using a gavage needle, Gallic acid administered orally until about2 months of age. After the end of the treatment period, the rats were anesthetized with ether and their cerebellar tissues were removed for histopathologic studies. A significant decrease in the number of Purkinje and granular cells was observed in this study in VAP group compared to the control group (P≤0.05. A trend toward improvement was observed in the groups received 100 and 200 mg/kg of Gallic acid (P≤0.05. The results of this research revealed that Gallic acid reduces the side effects caused by valproic acid on cerebellar tissue of autistic rats. So, it should be considered for therapeutic goals.

Theta synchronization between medial prefrontal cortex and cerebellum is associated with adaptive performance of associative learning behavior

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Chen, Hao; Wang, Yi-jie; Yang, Li; Sui, Jian-feng; Hu, Zhi-an; Hu, Bo

2016-01-01

Associative learning is thought to require coordinated activities among distributed brain regions. For example, to direct behavior appropriately, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) must encode and maintain sensory information and then interact with the cerebellum during trace eyeblink conditioning (TEBC), a commonly-used associative learning model. However, the mechanisms by which these two distant areas interact remain elusive. By simultaneously recording local field potential (LFP) signals from the mPFC and the cerebellum in guinea pigs undergoing TEBC, we found that theta-frequency (5.0–12.0 Hz) oscillations in the mPFC and the cerebellum became strongly synchronized following presentation of auditory conditioned stimulus. Intriguingly, the conditioned eyeblink response (CR) with adaptive timing occurred preferentially in the trials where mPFC-cerebellum theta coherence was stronger. Moreover, both the mPFC-cerebellum theta coherence and the adaptive CR performance were impaired after the disruption of endogenous orexins in the cerebellum. Finally, association of the mPFC -cerebellum theta coherence with adaptive CR performance was time-limited occurring in the early stage of associative learning. These findings suggest that the mPFC and the cerebellum may act together to contribute to the adaptive performance of associative learning behavior by means of theta synchronization. PMID:26879632

Characterization of beta-adrenergic receptors in synaptic membranes from rat cerebral cortex and cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lautens, L.

1986-01-01

Beta-adrenergic receptor ligand binding sites have been characterized in synaptic membranes from rat cerebral cortex and cerebellum using radioligand binding techniques. The equilibrium and kinetic properties of binding were assessed. The binding sites were non-interacting and exhibited two states of agonist binding which were sensitive to guanyl nucleotide. Synaptic membranes from cerebral cortex contained an equal number of beta 1 - and beta 2 -receptors; membranes from cerebellum possessed more beta 2 -than beta 1 -receptors. Photoaffinity labeling experiments revealed two different beta-adrenergic receptor polypeptides, R 1 and R 2 (and possibly a third, R 3 ) in synaptic membranes. The ratios of incorporation of photoaffinity label into R 1 : 2 were approximately 1:1 (cerebral cortex) and 5:1 (cerebellum). Photoaffinity labeling of R 1 and R 2 was inhibited equally well by both agonist and antagonist in synaptic membranes from cerebellum; whereas agonist was a less potent inhibitor in membranes from cerebral cortex. Both subtypes of beta-adrenergic receptors exhibited the same apparent molecular weight in synaptic membranes from cerebral cortex. The beta-adrenergic receptors in synaptic membranes from cerebral cortex and cerebellum were glycoproteins which exhibited the same apparent molecular weight after exposure to endoglycosidase F. The partial proteolytic digest maps of photoaffinity labeled beta-adrenergic receptors from rat cerebral cortex, cerebellum, lung and heart were compared

Targeting the Cerebellum by Noninvasive Neurostimulation: a Review.

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van Dun, Kim; Bodranghien, Florian; Manto, Mario; Mariën, Peter

2017-06-01

Transcranial magnetic and electric stimulation of the brain are novel and highly promising techniques currently employed in both research and clinical practice. Improving or rehabilitating brain functions by modulating excitability with these noninvasive tools is an exciting new area in neuroscience. Since the cerebellum is closely connected with the cerebral regions subserving motor, associative, and affective functions, the cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathways are an interesting target for these new techniques. Targeting the cerebellum represents a novel way to modulate the excitability of remote cortical regions and their functions. This review brings together the studies that have applied cerebellar stimulation, magnetic and electric, and presents an overview of the current knowledge and unsolved issues. Some recommendations for future research are implemented as well.

Use of rubber shreds to enhance attenuation of railway sub-ballast layers made of unbound aggregates

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C. Hidalgo-Signes

2017-02-01

Full Text Available One of the approaches for solving the problem of induced vibrations in railways is by slightly modifying the materials that form the track. A study is presented of the attenuation capacity of mixes composed of granular soil and rubber shreds when used as sub-ballast (the layer located immediately below the ballast layer. Rubber shreds are obtained from scrap tyres, a troublesome waste material whose reuse and recycling is necessary. A series of mixes of granular soil and rubber shreds with rubber contents of between 1% and 10% are submitted to hammer impact tests to study their response to dynamic excitation. Results reveal that mixing rubber shreds with granular soil increases damping ratios, thus demonstrating the potential of the proposed mixes for attenuating vibration.

Use of rubber shreds to enhance attenuation of railway sub-ballast layers made of unbound aggregates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidalgo-Signes, C.; Garzón-Roca, J.; Grima-Palop, J.M.; Insa-Franco, R.

2017-01-01

One of the approaches for solving the problem of induced vibrations in railways is by slightly modifying the materials that form the track. A study is presented of the attenuation capacity of mixes composed of granular soil and rubber shreds when used as sub-ballast (the layer located immediately below the ballast layer). Rubber shreds are obtained from scrap tyres, a troublesome waste material whose reuse and recycling is necessary. A series of mixes of granular soil and rubber shreds with rubber contents of between 1% and 10% are submitted to hammer impact tests to study their response to dynamic excitation. Results reveal that mixing rubber shreds with granular soil increases damping ratios, thus demonstrating the potential of the proposed mixes for attenuating vibration. [es

A constitutive law for dense granular flows.

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Jop, Pierre; Forterre, Yoël; Pouliquen, Olivier

2006-06-08

A continuum description of granular flows would be of considerable help in predicting natural geophysical hazards or in designing industrial processes. However, the constitutive equations for dry granular flows, which govern how the material moves under shear, are still a matter of debate. One difficulty is that grains can behave like a solid (in a sand pile), a liquid (when poured from a silo) or a gas (when strongly agitated). For the two extreme regimes, constitutive equations have been proposed based on kinetic theory for collisional rapid flows, and soil mechanics for slow plastic flows. However, the intermediate dense regime, where the granular material flows like a liquid, still lacks a unified view and has motivated many studies over the past decade. The main characteristics of granular liquids are: a yield criterion (a critical shear stress below which flow is not possible) and a complex dependence on shear rate when flowing. In this sense, granular matter shares similarities with classical visco-plastic fluids such as Bingham fluids. Here we propose a new constitutive relation for dense granular flows, inspired by this analogy and recent numerical and experimental work. We then test our three-dimensional (3D) model through experiments on granular flows on a pile between rough sidewalls, in which a complex 3D flow pattern develops. We show that, without any fitting parameter, the model gives quantitative predictions for the flow shape and velocity profiles. Our results support the idea that a simple visco-plastic approach can quantitatively capture granular flow properties, and could serve as a basic tool for modelling more complex flows in geophysical or industrial applications.

The evolution of cerebellum structure correlates with nest complexity.

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Hall, Zachary J; Street, Sally E; Healy, Susan D

2013-01-01

Across the brains of different bird species, the cerebellum varies greatly in the amount of surface folding (foliation). The degree of cerebellar foliation is thought to correlate positively with the processing capacity of the cerebellum, supporting complex motor abilities, particularly manipulative skills. Here, we tested this hypothesis by investigating the relationship between cerebellar foliation and species-typical nest structure in birds. Increasing complexity of nest structure is a measure of a bird's ability to manipulate nesting material into the required shape. Consistent with our hypothesis, avian cerebellar foliation increases as the complexity of the nest built increases, setting the scene for the exploration of nest building at the neural level.

Co-localization of glycine and gaba immunoreactivity in interneurons in Macaca monkey cerebellar cortex.

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Crook, J; Hendrickson, A; Robinson, F R

2006-09-15

Previous work demonstrates that the cerebellum uses glycine as a fast inhibitory neurotransmitter [Ottersen OP, Davanger S, Storm-Mathisen J (1987) Glycine-like immunoreactivity in the cerebellum of rat and Senegalese baboon, Papio papio: a comparison with the distribution of GABA-like immunoreactivity and with [3H]glycine and [3H]GABA uptake. Exp Brain Res 66(1):211-221; Ottersen OP, Storm-Mathisen J, Somogyi P (1988) Colocalization of glycine-like and GABA-like immunoreactivities in Golgi cell terminals in the rat cerebellum: a postembedding light and electron microscopic study. Brain Res 450(1-2):342-353; Dieudonne S (1995) Glycinergic synaptic currents in Golgi cells of the rat cerebellum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92:1441-1445; Dumoulin A, Triller A, Dieudonne S (2001) IPSC kinetics at identified GABAergic and mixed GABAergic and glycinergic synapses onto cerebellar Golgi cells. J Neurosci 21(16):6045-6057; Dugue GP, Dumoulin A, Triller A, Dieudonne S (2005) Target-dependent use of coreleased inhibitory transmitters at central synapses. J Neurosci 25(28):6490-6498; Zeilhofer HU, Studler B, Arabadzisz D, Schweizer C, Ahmadi S, Layh B, Bosl MR, Fritschy JM (2005) Glycinergic neurons expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein in bacterial artificial chromosome transgenic mice. J Comp Neurol 482(2):123-141]. In the rat cerebellum glycine is not released by itself but is released together with GABA by Lugaro cells onto Golgi cells [Dumoulin A, Triller A, Dieudonne S (2001) IPSC kinetics at identified GABAergic and mixed GABAergic and glycinergic synapses onto cerebellar Golgi cells. J Neurosci 21(16):6045-6057] and by Golgi cells onto unipolar brush and granule cells [Dugue GP, Dumoulin A, Triller A, Dieudonne S (2005) Target-dependent use of coreleased inhibitory transmitters at central synapses. J Neurosci 25(28):6490-6498]. Here we report, from immunolabeling evidence in Macaca cerebellum, that interneurons in the granular cell layer are glycine+ at a density

MR measurement of normal brainstem cerebellum and corpus callosum on midsagittal section

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kogame, Saeko; Sawa, S.; Inoue, Yuichi; Fukuda, Teruo; Tada, Takuji; Shakudo, Miyuki; Yahata, Kunifumi; Shimizu, Hiroshi; Onoyama, Yasuhito.

1989-01-01

The dimensions of the brainstem, cerebellum and corpus callosum were measured on magnetic resonance (MR) images with sagittal spin-echo sequence. Eighty-two normal adults (average 49.6 years old) were measured. The mesencephalic, pontine or cerebellar diamaters and lengths could be measured more accurately and reproducibly than medullary diameter and length. The anterio-posterior diameter of the pons and the cerebellum was 23.2±1.4 mm and 26.4±2.5 mm respectively. The length of the pons and the cerebellum was 27.8±2 mm and 45.8±3.5 mm respectively. We have observed focal thinning at the body of corpus callosum in 73%. This narrowing is almost unquestionably a normal variant. (author)

Fast voltage-sensitive dye imaging of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission in the rat granular retrosplenial cortex.

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Nixima, Ken'ichi; Okanoya, Kazuo; Ichinohe, Noritaka; Kurotani, Tohru

2017-09-01

Rodent granular retrosplenial cortex (GRS) has dense connections between the anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN) and hippocampal formation. GRS superficial pyramidal neurons exhibit distinctive late spiking (LS) firing property and form patchy clusters with prominent apical dendritic bundles. The aim of this study was to investigate spatiotemporal dynamics of signal transduction in the GRS induced by ATN afferent stimulation by using fast voltage-sensitive dye imaging in rat brain slices. In coronal slices, layer 1a stimulation, which presumably activated thalamic fibers, evoked propagation of excitatory synaptic signals from layers 2-4 to layers 5-6 in a direction perpendicular to the layer axis, followed by transverse signal propagation within each layer. In the presence of ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists, inhibitory responses were observed in superficial layers, induced by direct activation of inhibitory interneurons in layer 1. In horizontal slices, excitatory signals in deep layers propagated transversely mainly from posterior to anterior via superficial layers. Cortical inhibitory responses upon layer 1a stimulation in horizontal slices were weaker than those in the coronal slices. Observed differences between coronal and horizontal planes suggest anisotropy of the intracortical circuitry. In conclusion, ATN inputs are processed differently in coronal and horizontal planes of the GRS and then conveyed to other cortical areas. In both planes, GRS superficial layers play an important role in signal propagation, which suggests that superficial neuronal cascade is crucial in the integration of multiple information sources. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Superficial neurons in the rat granular retrosplenial cortex (GRS) show distinctive late-spiking (LS) firing property. However, little is known about spatiotemporal dynamics of signal transduction in the GRS. We demonstrated LS neuron network relaying thalamic inputs to deep layers and anisotropic distribution of

Seawater-based wastewater accelerates development of aerobic granular sludge: A laboratory proof-of-concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiling; Luo, Jinghai; Guo, Gang; Mackey, Hamish R; Hao, Tianwei; Chen, Guanghao

2017-05-15

This study aimed to develop an aerobic granular sludge process for the efficient treatment of highly saline wastewater and understand the granulation process in a seawater-based multi-ion matrix. Five identical sequencing batch airlift reactors (SBARs) are used to treat synthetic saline sewage with different proportions of real seawater (0%-100%). The results confirm that aerobic granular sludge can be successfully developed with various proportions of seawater up to 100% and show that seawater not only significantly accelerates granulation but also generates stronger granular structures than does freshwater. The increased presence of gel-forming alginate-like exopolysaccharides in the granules explains why a greater proportion of seawater leads to higher density and improves the cohesive strength of the granules. SEM-EDX analysis further revealed substantial presence of both Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ phosphate in the granule core as well as in the outer layers providing extra bridging forces in addition to alginate-like exopolysaccharides for accelerating the granule formation and maintaining the structure. It is hoped that this work could explore another approach for saline sewage treatment and bring some clues for the mystery of granulation mechanism. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The cerebellum and decision making under uncertainty.

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Blackwood, Nigel; Ffytche, Dominic; Simmons, Andrew; Bentall, Richard; Murray, Robin; Howard, Robert

2004-06-01

This study aimed to identify the neural basis of probabilistic reasoning, a type of inductive inference that aids decision making under conditions of uncertainty. Eight normal subjects performed two separate two-alternative-choice tasks (the balls in a bottle and personality survey tasks) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The experimental conditions within each task were chosen so that they differed only in their requirement to make a decision under conditions of uncertainty (probabilistic reasoning and frequency determination required) or under conditions of certainty (frequency determination required). The same visual stimuli and motor responses were used in the experimental conditions. We provide evidence that the neo-cerebellum, in conjunction with the premotor cortex, inferior parietal lobule and medial occipital cortex, mediates the probabilistic inferences that guide decision making under uncertainty. We hypothesise that the neo-cerebellum constructs internal working models of uncertain events in the external world, and that such probabilistic models subserve the predictive capacity central to induction. Copyright 2004 Elsevier B.V.

Contribuição da tomografia de coerência óptica de 820 nm na distrofia granular corneana: relato de caso Contribution of 820 nm optical coherence tomography in granular corneal dystrophy: case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatriz de Abreu Fiuza Gomes

2008-10-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho é correlacionar os dados clínicos de um caso de distrofia granular com o exame de tomografia de coerência óptica (OCT de 820 nm de modo a determinar o nível intra-estromal dos depósitos corneanos. É relatado um caso de distrofia granular em paciente de 38 anos do sexo masculino. Foi realizado exame oftalmológico completo e OCT para documentação do caso. O aparelho utilizado foi o Stratus OCT III, originalmente desenvolvido para avaliação do segmento posterior. A acuidade visual corrigida foi de 20/50 em ambos os olhos. À biomicroscopia, foram observadas opacidades em "floco de neve" em diferentes níveis do estroma corneano bilateral e de forma simétrica. A avaliação pelo OCT revelou múltiplos pontos hiperreflectivos nas camadas superficiais e profundas do estroma. Foi possível acessar a anatomia morfológica da córnea através de cortes seriados realizados pelo Stratus OCT III e confirmar a profundidade dos depósitos corneanos.The purpose of this case report is to correlate clinical features of granular dystrophy using 820 nm optical coherence tomography (OCT in order to determine the depth of intrastromal corneal deposits. We report a case of a 38-year-old man with granular dystrophy. After complete ophthalmologic examination the patient was submitted to OCT, using the Stratus OCT III, originally proposed for studying disorders of the posterior segment. Best-corrected visual acuity was 20/50 in both eyes. Biomicroscopy revealed bilateral "snowflake"opacities in different levels of the stromal layer. OCT disclosed multiple hiperreflective dots in anterior and deeper stromal layers. It was possible to assess the morphology of the cornea and to determine the depth of the corneal deposits with serial cross-sectional OCT scans using the Stratus OCT III.

A role for cerebellum in the hereditary dystonia DYT1

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Fremont, Rachel; Tewari, Ambika; Angueyra, Chantal; Khodakhah, Kamran

2017-01-01

DYT1 is a debilitating movement disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in torsinA. How these mutations cause dystonia remains unknown. Mouse models which have embryonically targeted torsinA have failed to recapitulate the dystonia seen in patients, possibly due to differential developmental compensation between rodents and humans. To address this issue, torsinA was acutely knocked down in select brain regions of adult mice using shRNAs. TorsinA knockdown in the cerebellum, but not in the basal ganglia, was sufficient to induce dystonia. In agreement with a potential developmental compensation for loss of torsinA in rodents, torsinA knockdown in the immature cerebellum failed to produce dystonia. Abnormal motor symptoms in knockdown animals were associated with irregular cerebellar output caused by changes in the intrinsic activity of both Purkinje cells and neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei. These data identify the cerebellum as the main site of dysfunction in DYT1, and offer new therapeutic targets. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22775.001 PMID:28198698

Cerebellum-from J. E. Purkyně up to Contemporary Research.

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Vožeh, František

2017-06-01

Jan. Evangelista Purkyně, the most famous among Czech physiologists, was the first who identified and described the largest nerve cells in the cerebellum. The most distinguished researchers of the nervous system then recommended naming these neurons Purkinje cells in his honor. Through experiments by Purkinje and his followers, the function of the cerebellum was properly attributed to the precision of motor movements and skills. This traditional concept was valid until early 1990s, when it was readjusted and replenished with new and important findings. It was discovered that the cerebellar cortex contains more neurons than the cerebral cortex and shortly thereafter was gradually revealed that such enormous numbers of neural cells are not without impact on brain functions. It was shown that the cerebellum, in addition to its traditional role, also participates in higher nervous activity. These new findings were obtained thanks to the introduction of modern methods of examination into the clinical praxis, and experimental procedures using animal models of cerebellar disorders described in this work.

Potassium Bromate-induced Changes in the Adult Mouse Cerebellum Are Ameliorated by Vanillin.

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Ben Saad, Hajer; Driss, Dorra; Jaballi, Imen; Ghozzi, Hanen; Boudawara, Ons; Droguet, Michael; Magné, Christian; Nasri, Monsef; Zeghal, Khaled Mounir; Hakim, Ahmed; Ben Amara, Ibtissem

2018-02-01

The current study aimed to elucidate the effect of vanillin on behavioral changes, oxidative stress, and histopathological changes induced by potassium bromate (KBrO3), an environmental pollutant, in the cerebellum of adult mice. The animals were divided into four groups: group 1 served as a control, group 2 received KBrO3, group 3 received KBrO3 and vanillin, and group 4 received only vanillin. We then measured behavioral changes, oxidative stress, and molecular and histological changes in the cerebellum. We observed significant behavioral changes in KBrO3-exposed mice. When investigating redox homeostasis in the cerebellum, we found that mice treated with KBrO3 had increased lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in the cerebellum. These effects were accompanied by decreased Na+-K+ and Mg2+ ATPase activity and antioxidant enzyme gene expression when compared to the control group. Additionally, there was a significant increase in cytokine gene expression in KBrO3-treated mice. Microscopy revealed that KBrO3 intoxication resulted in numerous degenerative changes in the cerebellum that were substantially ameliorated by vanillin supplementation. Co-administration of vanillin blocked the biochemical and molecular anomalies induced by KBrO3. Our results demonstrate that vanillin is a potential therapeutic agent for oxidative stress associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Copyright © 2018 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by China CDC. All rights reserved.

The Sleeping Cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Canto, Cathrin B; Onuki, Yoshiyuki; Bruinsma, Bastiaan; van der Werf, Ysbrand D; De Zeeuw, Chris I

2017-05-01

We sleep almost one-third of our lives and sleep plays an important role in critical brain functions like memory formation and consolidation. The role of sleep in cerebellar processing, however, constitutes an enigma in the field of neuroscience; we know little about cerebellar sleep-physiology, cerebro-cerebellar interactions during sleep, or the contributions of sleep to cerebellum-dependent memory consolidation. Likewise, we do not understand why cerebellar malfunction can lead to changes in the sleep-wake cycle and sleep disorders. In this review, we evaluate how sleep and cerebellar processing may influence one another and highlight which scientific routes and technical approaches could be taken to uncover the mechanisms underlying these interactions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The cerebellum in Alzheimer's disease: evaluating its role in cognitive decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Heidi I L; Hopkins, David A; Mayrhofer, Helen C; Bruner, Emiliano; van Leeuwen, Fred W; Raaijmakers, Wijnand; Schmahmann, Jeremy D

2018-01-01

The cerebellum has long been regarded as essential only for the coordination of voluntary motor activity and motor learning. Anatomical, clinical and neuroimaging studies have led to a paradigm shift in the understanding of the cerebellar role in nervous system function, demonstrating that the cerebellum appears integral also to the modulation of cognition and emotion. The search to understand the cerebellar contribution to cognitive processing has increased interest in exploring the role of the cerebellum in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Principal among these is Alzheimer's disease. Here we review an already sizeable existing literature on the neuropathological, structural and functional neuroimaging studies of the cerebellum in Alzheimer's disease. We consider these observations in the light of the cognitive deficits that characterize Alzheimer's disease and in so doing we introduce a new perspective on its pathophysiology and manifestations. We propose an integrative hypothesis that there is a cerebellar contribution to the cognitive and neuropsychiatric deficits in Alzheimer's disease. We draw on the dysmetria of thought theory to suggest that this cerebellar component manifests as deficits in modulation of the neurobehavioural deficits. We provide suggestions for future studies to investigate this hypothesis and, ultimately, to establish a comprehensive, causal clinicopathological disease model. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

NMR Measurements of Granular Flow and Compaction

Science.gov (United States)

Fukushima, Eiichi

1998-03-01

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can be used to measure statistical distributions of granular flow velocity and fluctuations of velocity, as well as spatial distributions of particulate concentration, flow velocity, its fluctuations, and other parameters that may be derived from these. All measurements have been of protons in liquid-containing particles such as mustard seeds or pharmaceutical pills. Our favorite geometry has been the slowly rotating partially filled rotating drum with granular flow taking place along the free surface of the particles. All the above-mentioned parameters have been studied as well as a spatial distribution of particulate diffusion coefficients, energy dissipation due to collisions, as well as segregation of non-uniform mixtures of granular material. Finally, we describe some motions of granular material under periodic vibrations.

Selective survival of β1-adenergic receptors in rat cerebellum following neonatal X-irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minneman, K.P.; Pittman, R.N.; Wolfe, B.B.; Molinoff, P.B.

1981-01-01

To investigate the cellular localization of β 1 - and β 2 -adrenergic receptors, the effects of intermittent neonatal X-irradiation focused on the cerebellum were determined on the densities of the two subtypes of β-adrenergic receptor. This treatment destroys the late-maturing cerebellar interneurons including the granule, basket and stellate cells. The total number of β 2 -adrenergic receptors per cerebellum was reduced by 81-83% in 6- and 12-week-old X-irradiated rats. However, the number of β 1 -adrenergic receptors per cerebellum in 6- and 12-week-old X-irradiated rats was not significantly different from that in control animals. The results suggest that β 2 receptors in the rat cerebellum are primarily associated with the small interneurons destroyed by neonatal X-irradiation. The β 1 receptors may be located on a cell population which is unaffected by this treatment, possibly on cerebellar Purkinje cells. (Auth.)

Shp2-Dependent ERK Signaling Is Essential for Induction of Bergmann Glia and Foliation of the Cerebellum

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Kairong; Leung, Alan W.; Guo, Qiuxia; Yang, Wentian

2014-01-01

Folding of the cortex and the persistence of radial glia (RG)-like cells called Bergmann glia (BG) are hallmarks of the mammalian cerebellum. Similar to basal RG in the embryonic neocortex, BG maintain only basal processes and continuously express neural stem cell markers. Past studies had focused on the function of BG in granule cell migration and how granule cell progenitors (GCP) regulate cerebellar foliation. The molecular control of BG generation and its role in cerebellar foliation are less understood. Here, we have analyzed the function of the protein tyrosine phosphatase Shp2 in mice by deleting its gene Ptpn11 in the entire cerebellum or selectively in the GCP lineage. Deleting Ptpn11 in the entire cerebellum by En1-cre blocks transformation of RG into BG but preserves other major cerebellar cell types. In the absence of BG, inward invagination of GCP persists but is uncoupled from the folding of the Purkinje cell layer and the basement membrane, leading to disorganized lamination and an absence of cerebellar folia. In contrast, removing Ptpn11 in the GCP lineage by Atoh1-cre has no effect on cerebellar development, indicating that Shp2 is not cell autonomously required in GCP. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Ptpn11 interacts with Fgf8 and is essential for ERK activation in RG and nascent BG. Finally, expressing constitutively active MEK1 rescues BG formation and cerebellar foliation in Shp2-deficient cerebella. Our results demonstrate an essential role of Shp2 in BG specification via fibroblast growth factor/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase signaling, and reveal a crucial function of BG in organizing cerebellar foliation. PMID:24431450

Nitric oxide in the rat cerebellum after hypoxia/ischemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigo, José; Fernández, Ana Patricia; Alonso, David; Serrano, Julia; Fernández-Vizarra, Paula; Martínez-Murillo, Ricardo; Bentura, María Luisa; Martinez, Alfredo

2004-01-01

Nitric oxide is a regulatory biological substance and an important intracellular messenger that acts as a specific mediator of various neuropathological disorders. In mammals and invertebrates, nitric oxide is synthesized from L-arginine in the central and peripheral neural structures by the endothelial, neuronal and inducible enzymatic isoforms of nitric oxide synthase. Nitric oxide may affect the function of various neurotransmitter-specific systems, and is involved in neuromodulation, reproductive function, immune response, and regulation of the cerebral blood circulation. This makes nitric oxide the main candidate in brain responses to brain ischemia/hypoxia. The cerebellum has been reported to be the area of the brain that has the highest nitric oxide synthase activity and the highest concentration of glutamate and aspartate. By glutamate receptors and physiological action of nitric oxide, cyclic guanisine-5'-monophosphate may be rapidly increased. The cerebellum significantly differs with respect to ischemia and hypoxia, this response being directly related to the duration and intensity of the injury. The cerebellum could cover the eventual need for nitric oxide during the hypoxia, boosting the nitric oxide synthase activity, but overall ischemia would require de novo protein synthesis, activating the inducible nitric oxide synthase to cope with the new situation. The specific inhibitors of nitric oxide synthesis show neuroprotective effects.

Impact of granular drops

KAUST Repository

Marston, J. O.

2013-07-15

We investigate the spreading and splashing of granular drops during impact with a solid target. The granular drops are formed from roughly spherical balls of sand mixed with water, which is used as a binder to hold the ball together during free-fall. We measure the instantaneous spread diameter for different impact speeds and find that the normalized spread diameter d/D grows as (tV/D)1/2. The speeds of the grains ejected during the “splash” are measured and they rarely exceed twice that of the impact speed.

Impact of granular drops

KAUST Repository

Marston, J. O.; Mansoor, Mohammad M.; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T

2013-01-01

We investigate the spreading and splashing of granular drops during impact with a solid target. The granular drops are formed from roughly spherical balls of sand mixed with water, which is used as a binder to hold the ball together during free-fall. We measure the instantaneous spread diameter for different impact speeds and find that the normalized spread diameter d/D grows as (tV/D)1/2. The speeds of the grains ejected during the “splash” are measured and they rarely exceed twice that of the impact speed.

Viscosity evolution of anaerobic granular sludge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pevere, A.; Guibaud, G.; Hullebusch, van E.D.; Lens, P.N.L.; Baudu, M.

2006-01-01

The evolution of the apparent viscosity at steady shear rate of sieved anaerobic granular sludge (20¿315 ¿m diameter) sampled from different full-scale anaerobic reactors was recorded using rotation tests. The ¿limit viscosity¿ of sieved anaerobic granular sludge was determined from the apparent

An Evaluation of the Resilient Modulus and Permanent Deformation of Unbound Mixtures of Granular Materials and Rubber Particles from Scrap Tyres to Be Used in Subballast Layers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hidalgo Sgnes, C.

2016-07-01

Over the last years rubber from scrap tyres has been reused in different civil works such as road embankments and railway platforms due to its resilient properties, low degradation and vibration attenuation. Unfortunately, this issue is still scarce. For instance, in Spain about 175.000 tonnes of scrap tyres were collected in 2014, of which only 0.6% were reused in civil works. Aiming to contribute to the reutilisation of large quantities of this waste material, this paper focuses on the analysis of unbound mixtures of granular materials with different percentages of rubber particles to be used as subballast layers. Mixtures are tested under cyclic triaxial tests so as to obtain their resilient modulus and evaluate their permanent deformations. It is found that as the rubber content increases, the resilient modulus decreases and the permanent deformation increases. Taking into account the usual loads transmitted to the subballast layer, the optimum rubber content that does not compromise the behaviour of the mixture is set in a range between 2.5% and 5% in terms of weight. (Author)

Diffusion of C and Cr During Creation of Surface Layer on Cast Steel Casting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szajnar J.

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In paper a method of improvement in utility properties of unalloyed cast steel casting in result of diffusion of C and Cr in process of creation of surface layer is presented. The aim of paper was determination of diffusion range of basic elements of alloyed surface layer. Moreover a quantitative analysis of carbides phase strengthens alloyed surface layer of casting was carried out. The results of studies shown that important factors of surface layer creation are maximal temperature Tmax on granular insert – cast steel boundary dependent of pouring temperature, granularity Zw of Fe-Cr-C alloy insert and thickness of casting wall gśo. On the basis of obtained results was affirmed that with increase of thickness of casting wall increases range of diffusion in solid state in Fe-Cr-C grains and in liquid state. Moreover the range of Tmax = 13001500oC favours creation of the proper alloyed surface layers on cast steel.

Physical test of a particle simulation model in a sheared granular system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rycroft, Chris; Orpe, Ashish; Kudrolli, Arshad

2009-01-15

We report a detailed comparison of a slow gravity driven sheared granular flow with a computational model performed with the Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS). To our knowledge, this is the first thorough test of the LAMMPS model with a laboratory granular flow. In the experiments, grains flow inside a silo with a rectangular cross-section, and are sheared by a rough boundary on one side and smooth boundaries on the other sides. Individual grain position and motion are measured using a particle index matching imaging technique where a fluorescent dye is added to the interstitial liquid which has the same refractive index as the glass beads. The boundary imposes a packing order, and the grains are observed to flow in layers which get progressively more disordered with distance from the walls. The computations use a Cundall--Strack contact model between the grains, using contact parameters that have been used in many other previous studies, and ignore the hydrodynamic effects of the interstitial liquid. Computations are performed to understand the effect of particle coefficient of friction, elasticity, contact model, and polydispersity on mean flow properties. After appropriate scaling, we find that the mean velocity of the grains and the number density as a function of flow cross-section observed in the experiments and the simulations are in excellent agreement. The mean flow profile is observed to be unchanged over a broad range of coefficient of friction, except near the smooth wall. We show that the flow profile is not sensitive to atleast 10\\percent polydispersity in particle size. Because the grain elasticity used is smaller in the computations as compared with glass grains, wave-like features can be noted over short time scales in the mean velocity and the velocity auto-correlations measured in the simulations. These wave features occur over an intermediate timescale larger than the particle interaction but smaller than the

Generalized role for the cerebellum in encoding internal models: evidence from semantic processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Moberget, Torgeir; Gullesen, Eva Hilland; Andersson, Stein; Ivry, Richard B; Endestad, Tor

2014-02-19

The striking homogeneity of cerebellar microanatomy is strongly suggestive of a corresponding uniformity of function. Consequently, theoretical models of the cerebellum's role in motor control should offer important clues regarding cerebellar contributions to cognition. One such influential theory holds that the cerebellum encodes internal models, neural representations of the context-specific dynamic properties of an object, to facilitate predictive control when manipulating the object. The present study examined whether this theoretical construct can shed light on the contribution of the cerebellum to language processing. We reasoned that the cerebellum might perform a similar coordinative function when the context provided by the initial part of a sentence can be highly predictive of the end of the sentence. Using functional MRI in humans we tested two predictions derived from this hypothesis, building on previous neuroimaging studies of internal models in motor control. First, focal cerebellar activation-reflecting the operation of acquired internal models-should be enhanced when the linguistic context leads terminal words to be predictable. Second, more widespread activation should be observed when such predictions are violated, reflecting the processing of error signals that can be used to update internal models. Both predictions were confirmed, with predictability and prediction violations associated with increased blood oxygenation level-dependent signal in the posterior cerebellum (Crus I/II). Our results provide further evidence for cerebellar involvement in predictive language processing and suggest that the notion of cerebellar internal models may be extended to the language domain.

Partitioning of fresh crude oil between floating, dispersed and sediment phases: Effect of exposure order to dispersant and granular materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Boglaienko, Daria; Tansel, Berrin

2016-06-15

When three or more high and low energy substrates are mixed, wetting order can significantly affect the behavior of the mixture. We analyzed the phase distribution of fresh floating Louisiana crude oil into dispersed, settled and floating phases depending on the exposure sequence to Corexit 9500A (dispersant) and granular materials. In the experiments artificial sea water at salinity 34‰ was used. Limestone (2.00-0.300 mm) and quartz sand (0.300-0.075 mm) were used as the natural granular materials. Dispersant Corexit 9500A increased the amount of dispersed oil up to 33.76 ± 7.04%. Addition of granular materials after the dispersant increased dispersion of oil to 47.96 ± 1.96%. When solid particles were applied on the floating oil before the dispersant, oil was captured as oil-particle aggregates and removed from the floating layer. However, dispersant addition led to partial release of the captured oil, removing it from the aggregated form to the dispersed and floating phases. There was no visible oil aggregation with the granular materials when quartz or limestone was at the bottom of the flask before the addition of oil and dispersant. The results show that granular materials can be effective when applied from the surface for aggregating or dispersing oil. However, the granular materials in the sediments are not effective neither for aggregating nor dispersing floating oil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fracture surfaces of granular pastes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed Abdelhaye, Y O; Chaouche, M; Van Damme, H

2013-11-01

Granular pastes are dense dispersions of non-colloidal grains in a simple or a complex fluid. Typical examples are the coating, gluing or sealing mortars used in building applications. We study the cohesive rupture of thick mortar layers in a simple pulling test where the paste is initially confined between two flat surfaces. After hardening, the morphology of the fracture surfaces was investigated, using either the box counting method to analyze fracture profiles perpendicular to the mean fracture plane, or the slit-island method to analyze the islands obtained by cutting the fracture surfaces at different heights, parallel to the mean fracture plane. The fracture surfaces were shown to exhibit scaling properties over several decades. However, contrary to what has been observed in the brittle or ductile fracture of solid materials, the islands were shown to be mass fractals. This was related to the extensive plastic flow involved in the fracture process.

The cerebellum on the rise in human emotion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schutter, D.J.L.G.; Honk, J. van

2005-01-01

For decennia the cerebellum has largely been excluded from scientific enquiry beyond motor function. However, the intimate afferent and efferent connections to the midbrain and limbic system provide for the neuroanatomical foundation of cerebellar involvement in emotion and emotional disorders.

Effect of low frequency rTMS stimulation over lateral cerebellum: a FDG PET study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Eun Jin; Cho, Sang Soo; Bang, Soong Ae; Park, Hyun Soo; Kim, Sang Eun [Seoul National Univ. College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-07-01

Several lines of evidence suggested the involvement of cerebellum in cognitive function as well as motor function. Because of the measurement difficulty of functional connectivity, little is known about the underlying mechanism involvement of cerebellum in motor and cognitive function in living human brain. To understand the role of cerebellum within the neural network, we investigated the changes of neuronal activity elicited by the cerebellar repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). 11 right-handed normal volunteers (age: 23.4{+-}2.5 y;6 males) were studied with FDG PET under two conditions; sham and 1Hz rTMS over left lateral cerebellum. With 10 min inter-block interval, three blocks of rTMS were started with the intravenous injection of [18F]FDG. In each block, 5min rTMS were delivered with an intensity of 90% of the resting motor threshold (RMT). Sham rTMS was delivered with same protocol but the coil was positioned perpendicular to the target area with 50% RMT. PET scans were acquired immediately after the rTMS stimulation. Sham and 1Hz rTMS images compared using paired t-test with SPM2. Inhibited neuronal activity compare to the sham condition were revealed in the stimulated left lateral cerebellum and orbitofrontal gyrus and right motor related areas (S1, SMA and posterior parietal cortex). While enhanced neuronal activity compare to the sham condition were revealed in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri including Broca's area and superior temporal gyrus including primary auditory cortex. Bilateral middle temporal, left precentral and right middle occipital gyri were also showed enhanced neuronal activity. This result showed that rTMS over left lateral cerebellum modulate direct vicinity of the targeted region and a large network of remote interconnected contralateral motor and ipsilateral language related brain regions. Present result provide evidence that cerebellum may contribute to language related cognitive function as well as motor

Effect of low frequency rTMS stimulation over lateral cerebellum: a FDG PET study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Eun Jin; Cho, Sang Soo; Bang, Soong Ae; Park, Hyun Soo; Kim, Sang Eun

2007-01-01

Several lines of evidence suggested the involvement of cerebellum in cognitive function as well as motor function. Because of the measurement difficulty of functional connectivity, little is known about the underlying mechanism involvement of cerebellum in motor and cognitive function in living human brain. To understand the role of cerebellum within the neural network, we investigated the changes of neuronal activity elicited by the cerebellar repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). 11 right-handed normal volunteers (age: 23.4±2.5 y;6 males) were studied with FDG PET under two conditions; sham and 1Hz rTMS over left lateral cerebellum. With 10 min inter-block interval, three blocks of rTMS were started with the intravenous injection of [18F]FDG. In each block, 5min rTMS were delivered with an intensity of 90% of the resting motor threshold (RMT). Sham rTMS was delivered with same protocol but the coil was positioned perpendicular to the target area with 50% RMT. PET scans were acquired immediately after the rTMS stimulation. Sham and 1Hz rTMS images compared using paired t-test with SPM2. Inhibited neuronal activity compare to the sham condition were revealed in the stimulated left lateral cerebellum and orbitofrontal gyrus and right motor related areas (S1, SMA and posterior parietal cortex). While enhanced neuronal activity compare to the sham condition were revealed in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri including Broca's area and superior temporal gyrus including primary auditory cortex. Bilateral middle temporal, left precentral and right middle occipital gyri were also showed enhanced neuronal activity. This result showed that rTMS over left lateral cerebellum modulate direct vicinity of the targeted region and a large network of remote interconnected contralateral motor and ipsilateral language related brain regions. Present result provide evidence that cerebellum may contribute to language related cognitive function as well as motor control

Studies on surface-mounted SiPMs in 2015 testbeam of a highly granular hadron calorimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krause, Sascha [Institut fuer Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz, Mainz (Germany); Collaboration: CALICE-D-Collaboration

2016-07-01

To achieve excellent jet energy resolution, a highly granular hadronic calorimeter is being developed within the CALICE collaboration. Therefore, about 8 million detector units consisting of scintillator tiles and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) will be installed in the final HCAL design. The usage of surface-mounted (SMD) SiPMs allows an automated mass assembly. During CERN SPS testbeam 2015, data for a prototype consisting of up to 11 layers of HCAL base units (HBU) was collected using electron, muon and pion beams. One of the layers was equipped with the first SMD HBU. Results and performance, especially of the SMD HBU are presented.

Critical phenomenon of granular flow on a conveyor belt.

Science.gov (United States)

De-Song, Bao; Xun-Sheng, Zhang; Guang-Lei, Xu; Zheng-Quan, Pan; Xiao-Wei, Tang; Kun-Quan, Lu

2003-06-01

The relationship between the granular wafer movement on a two-dimensional conveyor belt and the size of the exit together with the velocity of the conveyor belt has been studied in the experiment. The result shows that there is a critical speed v(c) for the granular flow when the exit width d is fixed (where d=R/D, D being the diameter of a granular wafers). When vv(c), the flow rate Q is described as Q=Crho(v)(beta)(d-k)(3/2). These are the effects of the interaction among the granular wafers and the change of the states of the granular flow due to the changing of the speed or the exit width d.

Survivable integrated grooming in multi-granularity optical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jingjing; Guo, Lei; Wei, Xuetao; Liu, Yejun

2012-05-01

Survivability is an important issue to ensure the service continuity in optical network. At the same time, with the granularity of traffic demands ranging from sub-wavelength-level to wavelength-level, traffic demands need to be aggregated and carried over the network in order to utilize resources effectively. Therefore, multi-granularity grooming is proposed to save the cost and reduce the number of switching ports in Optical-Cross Connects (OXCs). However, current works mostly addressed the survivable wavelength or waveband grooming. Therefore, in this paper, we propose three heuristic algorithms called Multi-granularity Dedicated Protection Grooming (MDPG), Multi-granularity Shared Protection Grooming (MSPG) and Multi-granularity Mixed Protection Grooming (MMPG), respectively. All of them are performed based on the Survivable Multi-granularity Integrated Auxiliary Graph (SMIAG) that includes one Wavelength Integrated Auxiliary Graph (WIAG) for wavelength protection and one waveBand Integrated Auxiliary Graph (BIAG) for waveband protection. Numerical results show that MMPG has the lowest average port-cost, the best resource utilization ratio and the lowest blocking probability among these three algorithms. Compared with MDPG, MSPG has lower average port-cost, better resource utilization ratio and lower blocking probability.

Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study on the Metabolism Changes of Cerebellum in Patients with Post-Stroke Depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lei; Sui, Ru-Bo

2017-01-01

To study the metabolic changes of cerebellum by proton magnetic resonance Spectroscopy (1H-MRS) and discuss the relationships between the cerebellar changes and depression severity in patients with post-stroke depression. Data of demographic characteristics, individual history and life style of all subjects were collected. 40 patients with stroke and 20 controls were enrolled. All groups received T1WI, T2WI, DWI and 1H-MRS examination. The cerebral infarction volume and the distribution and severity of leukoaraiosis were evaluated. The ratios of NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA in the cerebellum were calculated. There were no statistical significant difference in the NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA ratios in bilateral cerebellum between CONT group and NORM group. The Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA ratios in the cerebellum contralateral to the stroke region were higher in PSD group than those in NORM and CONT groups, and the Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA ratios in the cerebellum ipsilateral to the stroke region were similar with those in NORM and CONT groups. However, there were no statistical significant difference in the NAA/Cr ratios in bilateral cerebellum among three groups. The result shows preliminarily that the cerebellum involves in the development of post-stroke depression. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

Superconductivity in inhomogeneous granular metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLean, W.L.

1980-01-01

A model of elongated metal ellipsoids imbedded in a granular metal is treated by an effective medium approach to explain the observed temperature dependence of the normal-state conductivity of superconducting granular aluminum. Josephson tunneling is thus still required to account for the superconductivity. The model predicts the same kind of contrasting behavior on opposite sides of the metal-insulator transition as is found in the recent scaling treatment of Anderson localization

Contributions of the cerebellum to disturbed central processing of visceral stimuli in irritable bowel syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberger, Christina; Thürling, Markus; Forsting, Michael; Elsenbruch, Sigrid; Timmann, Dagmar; Gizewski, Elke R

2013-04-01

There is evidence to support that the cerebellum contributes to the neural processing of both emotions and painful stimuli. This could be particularly relevant in conditions associated with chronic abdominal pain, such as the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which are often also characterized by affective disturbances. We aimed to test the hypothesis that in IBS, symptoms of anxiety and depression modulate brain activation during visceral stimulation within the cerebellum. We reanalyzed a previous data set from N = 15 female IBS patients and N = 12 healthy women with a specific focus on the cerebellum using advanced normalization methods. Rectal distension-induced brain activation was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging using non-painful and painful rectal distensions. Symptoms of anxiety and depression, assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, were correlated with cerebellar activation within IBS patients. Within IBS, depression scores were associated with non-painful distension-induced activation in the right cerebellum primarily in Crus II and lobule VIIIb, and additionally in Crus I. Depression scores were also associated with painful distension-induced activation predominantly in vermal lobule V with some extension to the intermediate cerebellum. Anxiety scores correlated significantly with non-painful induced activation in Crus II. Symptoms of anxiety and depression, which are frequently found in chronic pain conditions like IBS, modulate activation during visceral sensory signals not only in cortical and subcortical brain areas but also in the cerebellum.

Functional relationship between the cerebrum and cerebellum in normal subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanyu, Haruo; Arai, Hisayuki; Hatano, Nobuyoshi; Abe, Shinei; Katsunuma, Hideyo

1991-01-01

To determine whether a functional relationship between the cerebrum and cerebellum exists in normal subjects, the correlation between asymmetry in cerebral blood flow and asymmetry in cerebellar blood flow was investigated. Twenty-one healthy right-handed subjects were studied using SPECT with N-isopropyl-p-( 123 I)iodoamphetamine while in a resting state. The asymmetry index (AI) for both the cerebral and cerebellar hemisphere was calculated as follows. AI=right side - left side/right side + left side/200 (%). A negative correlation was found between AI in the cerebellum and AI in the cerebrum. Especially, AI in the cerebellar hemisphere was significantly correlated with AIs in the upper frontal cortex (r=-0.58, p<0.01), middle frontal cortex (r=-0.55, p<0.02), lower frontal cortex (r=-0.49, p<0.05), and mean cerebral hemisphere (r=-0.52, p<0.02). These results suggest the existence of a functional relationship between the cerebral hemisphere and the contralateral cerebellar hemisphere in the resting state of normal subjects. We strongly suspect that the frontal cortex exert an influence on the function in the contralateral cerebellum, probably due to a transneuronal mechanism, mainly through the corticopontocerebellar pathway. (author)

Nonlinear coherent structures in granular crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, C.; Porter, Mason A.; Kevrekidis, P. G.; Daraio, C.

2017-10-01

The study of granular crystals, which are nonlinear metamaterials that consist of closely packed arrays of particles that interact elastically, is a vibrant area of research that combines ideas from disciplines such as materials science, nonlinear dynamics, and condensed-matter physics. Granular crystals exploit geometrical nonlinearities in their constitutive microstructure to produce properties (such as tunability and energy localization) that are not conventional to engineering materials and linear devices. In this topical review, we focus on recent experimental, computational, and theoretical results on nonlinear coherent structures in granular crystals. Such structures—which include traveling solitary waves, dispersive shock waves, and discrete breathers—have fascinating dynamics, including a diversity of both transient features and robust, long-lived patterns that emerge from broad classes of initial data. In our review, we primarily discuss phenomena in one-dimensional crystals, as most research to date has focused on such scenarios, but we also present some extensions to two-dimensional settings. Throughout the review, we highlight open problems and discuss a variety of potential engineering applications that arise from the rich dynamic response of granular crystals.

The cerebellum for jocks and nerds alike.

Science.gov (United States)

Popa, Laurentiu S; Hewitt, Angela L; Ebner, Timothy J

2014-01-01

Historically the cerebellum has been implicated in the control of movement. However, the cerebellum's role in non-motor functions, including cognitive and emotional processes, has also received increasing attention. Starting from the premise that the uniform architecture of the cerebellum underlies a common mode of information processing, this review examines recent electrophysiological findings on the motor signals encoded in the cerebellar cortex and then relates these signals to observations in the non-motor domain. Simple spike firing of individual Purkinje cells encodes performance errors, both predicting upcoming errors as well as providing feedback about those errors. Further, this dual temporal encoding of prediction and feedback involves a change in the sign of the simple spike modulation. Therefore, Purkinje cell simple spike firing both predicts and responds to feedback about a specific parameter, consistent with computing sensory prediction errors in which the predictions about the consequences of a motor command are compared with the feedback resulting from the motor command execution. These new findings are in contrast with the historical view that complex spikes encode errors. Evaluation of the kinematic coding in the simple spike discharge shows the same dual temporal encoding, suggesting this is a common mode of signal processing in the cerebellar cortex. Decoding analyses show the considerable accuracy of the predictions provided by Purkinje cells across a range of times. Further, individual Purkinje cells encode linearly and independently a multitude of signals, both kinematic and performance errors. Therefore, the cerebellar cortex's capacity to make associations across different sensory, motor and non-motor signals is large. The results from studying how Purkinje cells encode movement signals suggest that the cerebellar cortex circuitry can support associative learning, sequencing, working memory, and forward internal models in non

On inconsistency in frictional granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Alart, Pierre; Renouf, Mathieu

2018-04-01

Numerical simulation of granular systems is often based on a discrete element method. The nonsmooth contact dynamics approach can be used to solve a broad range of granular problems, especially involving rigid bodies. However, difficulties could be encountered and hamper successful completion of some simulations. The slow convergence of the nonsmooth solver may sometimes be attributed to an ill-conditioned system, but the convergence may also fail. The prime aim of the present study was to identify situations that hamper the consistency of the mathematical problem to solve. Some simple granular systems were investigated in detail while reviewing and applying the related theoretical results. A practical alternative is briefly analyzed and tested.

Statistical mechanics of dense granular media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coniglio, A; Fierro, A; Nicodemi, M; Ciamarra, M Pica; Tarzia, M

2005-01-01

We discuss some recent results on the statistical mechanics approach to dense granular media. In particular, by analytical mean field investigation we derive the phase diagram of monodisperse and bidisperse granular assemblies. We show that 'jamming' corresponds to a phase transition from a 'fluid' to a 'glassy' phase, observed when crystallization is avoided. The nature of such a 'glassy' phase turns out to be the same as found in mean field models for glass formers. This gives quantitative evidence for the idea of a unified description of the 'jamming' transition in granular media and thermal systems, such as glasses. We also discuss mixing/segregation transitions in binary mixtures and their connections to phase separation and 'geometric' effects

Electronics and triggering challenges for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter

Science.gov (United States)

Lobanov, A.

2018-02-01

The High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL), presently being designed by the CMS collaboration to replace the CMS endcap calorimeters for the High Luminosity phase of LHC, will feature six million channels distributed over 52 longitudinal layers. The requirements for the front-end electronics are extremely challenging, including high dynamic range (0.2 fC-10 pC), low noise (~2000 e- to be able to calibrate on single minimum ionising particles throughout the detector lifetime) and low power consumption (~20 mW/channel), as well as the need to select and transmit trigger information with a high granularity. Exploiting the intrinsic precision-timing capabilities of silicon sensors also requires careful design of the front-end electronics as well as the whole system, particularly clock distribution. The harsh radiation environment and requirement to keep the whole detector as dense as possible will require novel solutions to the on-detector electronics layout. Processing the data from the HGCAL imposes equally large challenges on the off-detector electronics, both for the hardware and incorporated algorithms. We present an overview of the complete electronics architecture, as well as the performance of prototype components and algorithms.

Storage and discharge of a granular fluid.

Science.gov (United States)

Pacheco-Martinez, Hector; van Gerner, Henk Jan; Ruiz-Suárez, J C

2008-02-01

Experiments and computational simulations are carried out to study the behavior of a granular column in a silo whose walls are able to vibrate horizontally. The column is brought to a steady fluidized state and it behaves similar to a hydrostatic system. We study the dynamics of the granular discharge through openings at the bottom of the silo in order to search for a Torricelli-like behavior. We show that the flow rate scales with the wall induced shear rate, and at high rates, the granular bed indeed discharges similar to a viscous fluid.

Use of rubber shreds to enhance attenuation of railway sub-ballast layers made of unbound aggregates; Uso de partículas de caucho para mejorar la capacidad de atenuación de capas granulares de subbalasto en ferrocarriles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hidalgo-Signes, C.; Garzón-Roca, J.; Grima-Palop, J.M.; Insa-Franco, R.

2017-07-01

One of the approaches for solving the problem of induced vibrations in railways is by slightly modifying the materials that form the track. A study is presented of the attenuation capacity of mixes composed of granular soil and rubber shreds when used as sub-ballast (the layer located immediately below the ballast layer). Rubber shreds are obtained from scrap tyres, a troublesome waste material whose reuse and recycling is necessary. A series of mixes of granular soil and rubber shreds with rubber contents of between 1% and 10% are submitted to hammer impact tests to study their response to dynamic excitation. Results reveal that mixing rubber shreds with granular soil increases damping ratios, thus demonstrating the potential of the proposed mixes for attenuating vibration. [Spanish] Una de las posibles formas de resolver el problema de las vibraciones inducidas por el ferrocarril es llevando a cabo una ligera modificación de los materiales que forman la vía. En este artículo, se presenta un estudio de la capacidad de atenuación de mezclas compuestas por zahorras y partículas de caucho para ser usadas como sub-balasto (capa localizada bajo el balasto). Las partículas de caucho se obtienen a partir de neumáticos fuera de uso, un material problemático cuya reutilización y reciclaje es cada vez más necesario. Las mezclas de zahorra-caucho, con un contenido entre el 1% y 10%, se someten a una serie de ensayos dinámicos mediante impacto con martillo, estudiando su respuesta frente a la excitación dinámica. Los resultados revelan que la mezcla de partículas de caucho con zahorras aumenta el coeficiente de amortiguamiento, lo que muestra el potencial que poseen las mezclas propuestas para la atenuación de vibraciones.

Characterization of Unbound Granular Materials for Pavements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Araya, A.A.

2011-01-01

This research is focused on the characterization of the mechanical behavior of unbound granular road base materials (UGMs). An extensive laboratory investigation is described, in which various methods for determination of the mechanical properties of granular materials are examined for their

A numerical study of granular dam-break flow

Science.gov (United States)

Pophet, N.; Rébillout, L.; Ozeren, Y.; Altinakar, M.

2017-12-01

Accurate prediction of granular flow behavior is essential to optimize mitigation measures for hazardous natural granular flows such as landslides, debris flows and tailings-dam break flows. So far, most successful models for these types of flows focus on either pure granular flows or flows of saturated grain-fluid mixtures by employing a constant friction model or more complex rheological models. These saturated models often produce non-physical result when they are applied to simulate flows of partially saturated mixtures. Therefore, more advanced models are needed. A numerical model was developed for granular flow employing a constant friction and μ(I) rheology (Jop et al., J. Fluid Mech. 2005) coupled with a groundwater flow model for seepage flow. The granular flow is simulated by solving a mixture model using Finite Volume Method (FVM). The Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) technique is used to capture the free surface motion. The constant friction and μ(I) rheological models are incorporated in the mixture model. The seepage flow is modeled by solving Richards equation. A framework is developed to couple these two solvers in OpenFOAM. The model was validated and tested by reproducing laboratory experiments of partially and fully channelized dam-break flows of dry and initially saturated granular material. To obtain appropriate parameters for rheological models, a series of simulations with different sets of rheological parameters is performed. The simulation results obtained from constant friction and μ(I) rheological models are compared with laboratory experiments for granular free surface interface, front position and velocity field during the flows. The numerical predictions indicate that the proposed model is promising in predicting dynamics of the flow and deposition process. The proposed model may provide more reliable insight than the previous assumed saturated mixture model, when saturated and partially saturated portions of granular mixture co-exist.

The therapeutic potential of the cerebellum in schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krystal Lynn Parker

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The cognitive role of the cerebellum is critically tied to its distributed connections throughout the brain. Accumulating evidence from anatomical, structural and functional imaging, and lesion studies advocate a cognitive network involving indirect connections between the cerebellum and non-motor areas in the prefrontal cortex. Cerebellar stimulation dynamically influences activity in several regions of the frontal cortex and effectively improves cognition in schizophrenia. In this manuscript, we summarize current literature on the cingulocerebellar circuit and we introduce a method to interrogate this circuit combining opotogenetics, neuropharmacology, and electrophysiology in awake-behaving animals while minimizing incidental stimulation of neighboring cerebellar nuclei. We propose the novel hypothesis that optogenetic cerebellar stimulation can restore aberrant frontal activity and rescue impaired cognition in schizophrenia. We focus on how a known cognitive region in the frontal cortex, the anterior cingulate, is influenced by the cerebellum. This circuit is of particular interest because it has been confirmed using tracing studies, neuroimaging reveals its role in cognitive tasks, it is conserved from rodents to humans, and diseases such as schizophrenia and autism appear in its aberrancy. Novel tract tracing results presented here provide support for how these two areas communicate. The primary pathway involves a disynaptic connection between the cerebellar dentate nuclei and the anterior cingulate cortex. Secondarily, the pathway from cerebellar fastigial nuclei to the ventral tegmental area, which supplies dopamine to the prefrontal cortex, may play a role as schizophrenia characteristically involves dopamine deficiencies. We hope that the hypothesis described here will inspire new therapeutic strategies targeting currently untreatable cognitive impairments in schizophrenia.

Similitude study of a moving bed granular filter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robert C. Brown; Huawei Shi; Gerald Colver; Saw-Choon Soo [Iowa State University, IA (United States)

2003-12-10

The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of a moving bed granular filter designed for hot gas clean up. This study used similitude theory to devise experiments that were conducted at near-ambient conditions while simulating the performance of filters operated at elevated temperatures and pressures (850{sup o}C and 1000 kPa). These experiments revealed that the proposed moving bed granular filter can operate at high collection efficiencies, typically exceeding 99%, and low pressure drops without the need for periodic regeneration through the use of a continuous flow of fresh granular filter media in the filter. In addition, important design constraints were discovered for the successful operation of the proposed moving bed granular filter.

Biosorption of Acid Yellow 17 from aqueous solution by non-living aerobic granular sludge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Jingfeng; Zhang Qian; Su Kai; Chen Ranni; Peng Yongzhen

2010-01-01

Batch biosorption experiments were carried out for the removal of Acid Yellow 17 from aqueous solution using non-living aerobic granular sludge as an effective biosorbent. The effects of solution pH value, biosorbent dosage, initial Acid Yellow 17 concentration, NaCl concentration and temperature on the biosorption were investigated. The experimental results indicate that this process was highly dependent on pH value and the pH value of 2.0 was favorable. The Temkin isotherm was more applicable for describing the biosorption equilibrium at the whole concentration range than the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm. The results of kinetics study show that the pseudo-second-order model fitted to the experimental data well. Both intraparticle diffusion and boundary layer diffusion might affect the biosorption rate. Thermodynamic studies demonstrate that the biosorption process was spontaneous and exothermic. The FTIR analysis before and after Acid Yellow 17 binding indicated that functional groups such as amine, hydroxyl, carboxyl and either on the non-living aerobic granular sludge would be the active binding sites for the biosorption of the studied dye. These results show that non-living aerobic granular sludge could be effectively used as a low-cost and alternative biosorbent for the removal of Acid Yellow 17 dye from wastewater.

The morphometric study of the pons and cerebellum in Korean using MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun Sook; Kim, Dong Ik; Yun, Mi Jin; Chung, In Hyuk; Cho, Young Kook

1995-01-01

To evaluate the size of normal pons and cerebellum in vivo and the change in size according to age, and to compare those with measurement of the diseased pons and cerebellum. 121 normal adults (M:F=54:67), 5 patients with OPCD and 19 patients with Wallerian degeneration were studied. The normal group was divided into 5 subgroups according to the age (ranged from 20 to 72 years). 1.5T GE Signa MR unit was used. On axial plane, the AP(A) and transverse(B) diameters of the pons, the size of the middle cerebellar peduncle(C), and transverse diameter of the posterior fossa(D) and the cerebellum(E) were measured. On midsagittal plane, the longitudinal(F) and AP(G) diameters of the basis pontis were measured. The ratios of E/D and F/G were calculated. The student t test was used for statistical analysis. C, E and F/G were 15.5 mm ± 1.3, 99.8 mm ± 4.3 and 1.63 ± 10, respectively. F/G, H/I, and H/J were larger in male (ρ < .01). All data of the pons showed no statistically significant differences among age groups. E of the seventh decades was shorter than that of the third decades (ρ < .05). C(12.7 mm ± 1.4) in OPCD and F/G(1.81 ± .10) in Wallerian degeneration (± < .01) showed the most significant differences when they were compared to the normal. Although the cerebellum decreased in size with age, the pons maintained its size up to eighth decades. The measurement of middle cerebellar peduncle on axial plane (C) and the ratio of basis pontis on midsagittal plane (F/G) were important in the evaluation of OPCD and Wallerian degeneration, respectively

Editorial: The Cerebellum: Not Just an Anatomical Structure ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evidences from cognitive studies further suggest that cerebellar pathology may be associated with alterations mainly in mental function, instead of motor processes. These pools of evidences continue to attract a sizeable number of researches into the neuroanatomy, neurobiology and neurobehavioral role of the cerebellum ...

"EGM" (Electrostatics of Granular Matter): A Space Station Experiment to Examine Natural Particulate Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, J.; Sauke, T.; Buehler, M.; Farrell, W.; Green, R.; Birchenough, A.

1999-09-01

A granular-materials experiment is being developed for a 2002 launch for Space Station deployment. The experiment is funded by NASA HQ and managed through NASA Lewis Research Center. The experiment will examine electrostatic aggregation of coarse granular materials with the goals of (a) obtaining proof for an electrostatic dipole model of grain interactions, and (b) obtaining knowledge about the way aggregation affects the behavior of natural particulate masses: (1) in unconfined dispersions (clouds such as nebulae, aeolian dust palls, volcanic plumes), (2) in semi-confined, self-loaded masses as in fluidized flows (pyroclastic surges, avalanches) and compacted regolith, or (3) in semi-confined non-loaded masses as in dust layers adhering to solar cells or space suits on Mars. The experiment addresses both planetary/astrophysical issues as well as practical concerns for human exploration of Mars or other solar system bodies. Additional information is contained in the original.

Multiple affinity forms of the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor in rat cerebellum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chatterjee, T.K.; Fisher, R.A.

1991-01-01

Binding of 125I-calcitonin gene-related peptide (125I-CGRP) to rat cerebellum membranes and the sensitivity to guanine nucleotides of binding were investigated. Cerebellum binding sites labeled by 125I-CGRP appear to be highly specific, inasmuch as CGRP inhibited binding with an IC50 of 100 pM but other peptides were inactive or much less active in displacing 125I-CGRP from these sites. 125I-CGRP binding sites in cerebellum membranes were saturable and of high affinity. Scatchard analysis of the saturation binding data revealed a homogeneous population of binding sites, with a KD of 224 ± 28 pM and Bmax of 131 ± 15 fmol/mg of protein. In the presence of guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) (100 microM), a single population of binding sites, with a KD of 464 ± 77 pM and Bmax of 100 ± 14 fmol/mg of protein, was observed. The kinetics of association of 125I-CGRP with cerebellum membranes were monophasic at all ligand concentrations tested. However, the observed association rate constant (kobs) was not dependent on [125I-CGRP] in a linear fashion in either the absence or the presence of GTP gamma S (100 microM). The kinetics of dissociation of 125I-CGRP from cerebellum membranes were multiexponential, with fast and slow dissociating components having rate constants of 0.34 ± 0.01 and 0.025 ± 0.001 min-1, respectively. The fast dissociating component represented 60 ± 2% of the total specific binding sites. Dissociation of 125I-CGRP from cerebellum sites was much faster in the presence of GTP gamma S (100 microM) but still exhibited dissociation from two affinity components. The rate constants for these components of dissociation were 0.67 ± 0.03 and 0.077 ± 0.007 min-1, with the faster dissociating component representing 66 ± 1% of the total specific binding sites

Granular Gases: Probing the Boundaries of Hydrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldhirsch, I.

1999-01-01

The dissipative nature of the particle interactions in granular systems renders granular gases mesoscopic and bearing some similarities to regular gases in the ''continuum transition regime'' where shear rates and/or thermal gradients are very large). The following properties of granular gases support the above claim: (i). Mean free times are of the same order as macroscopic time scales (inverse shear rates); (ii). Mean free paths can be macroscopic and comparable to the system's dimensions; (iii). Typical flows are supersonic; (iv). Shear rates are typically ''large''; (v). Stress fields are scale (resolution) dependent; (vi). Burnett and super-Burnett corrections to both the constitutive relations and the boundary conditions are of importance; (vii). Single particle distribution functions can be far from Gaussian. It is concluded that while hydrodynamic descriptions of granular gases are relevant, they are probing the boundaries of applicability of hydrodynamics and perhaps slightly beyond

Uniform shock waves in disordered granular matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez, Leopoldo R; Turner, Ari M; Vitelli, Vincenzo

2012-10-01

The confining pressure P is perhaps the most important parameter controlling the properties of granular matter. Strongly compressed granular media are, in many respects, simple solids in which elastic perturbations travel as ordinary phonons. However, the speed of sound in granular aggregates continuously decreases as the confining pressure decreases, completely vanishing at the jamming-unjamming transition. This anomalous behavior suggests that the transport of energy at low pressures should not be dominated by phonons. In this work we use simulations and theory to show how the response of granular systems becomes increasingly nonlinear as pressure decreases. In the low-pressure regime the elastic energy is found to be mainly transported through nonlinear waves and shocks. We numerically characterize the propagation speed, shape, and stability of these shocks and model the dependence of the shock speed on pressure and impact intensity by a simple analytical approach.

2D granular flows with the μ(I) rheology and side walls friction: A well-balanced multilayer discretization

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Nieto, E. D.; Garres-Díaz, J.; Mangeney, A.; Narbona-Reina, G.

2018-03-01

We present here numerical modelling of granular flows with the μ (I) rheology in confined channels. The contribution is twofold: (i) a model to approximate the Navier-Stokes equations with the μ (I) rheology through an asymptotic analysis; under the hypothesis of a one-dimensional flow, this model takes into account side walls friction; (ii) a multilayer discretization following Fernández-Nieto et al. (2016) [20]. In this new numerical scheme, we propose an appropriate treatment of the rheological terms through a hydrostatic reconstruction which allows this scheme to be well-balanced and therefore to deal with dry areas. Based on academic tests, we first evaluate the influence of the width of the channel on the normal profiles of the downslope velocity thanks to the multilayer approach that is intrinsically able to describe changes from Bagnold to S-shaped (and vice versa) velocity profiles. We also check the well-balanced property of the proposed numerical scheme. We show that approximating side walls friction using single-layer models may lead to strong errors. Secondly, we compare the numerical results with experimental data on granular collapses. We show that the proposed scheme allows us to qualitatively reproduce the deposit in the case of a rigid bed (i.e. dry area) and that the error made by replacing the dry area by a small layer of material may be large if this layer is not thin enough. The proposed model is also able to reproduce the time evolution of the free surface and of the flow/no-flow interface. In addition, it reproduces the effect of erosion for granular flows over initially static material lying on the bed. This is possible when using a variable friction coefficient μ (I) but not with a constant friction coefficient.

Granular Silo collapse: an experimental study

Science.gov (United States)

Clement, Eric; Gutierriez, Gustavo; Boltenhagen, Philippe; Lanuza, Jose

2008-03-01

We present an experimental work that develop some basic insight into the pre-buckling behavior and the buckling transition toward plastic collapse of a granular silo. We study different patterns of deformation generated on thin paper cylindrical shells during granular discharge. We study the collapse threshold for different bed height, flow rates and grain sizes. We compare the patterns that appear during the discharge of spherical beads, with those obtained in the axially compressed cylindrical shells. When the height of the granular column is close to the collapse threshold, we describe a ladder like pattern that rises around the cylinder surface in a spiral path of diamond shaped localizations, and develops into a plastic collapsing fold that grows around the collapsing silo.

Shock waves in weakly compressed granular media.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Wildenberg, Siet; van Loo, Rogier; van Hecke, Martin

2013-11-22

We experimentally probe nonlinear wave propagation in weakly compressed granular media and observe a crossover from quasilinear sound waves at low impact to shock waves at high impact. We show that this crossover impact grows with the confining pressure P0, whereas the shock wave speed is independent of P0-two hallmarks of granular shocks predicted recently. The shocks exhibit surprising power law attenuation, which we model with a logarithmic law implying that shock dissipation is weak and qualitatively different from other granular dissipation mechanisms. We show that elastic and potential energy balance in the leading part of the shocks.

A hydrodynamic model for granular material flows including segregation effects

Science.gov (United States)

Gilberg, Dominik; Klar, Axel; Steiner, Konrad

2017-06-01

The simulation of granular flows including segregation effects in large industrial processes using particle methods is accurate, but very time-consuming. To overcome the long computation times a macroscopic model is a natural choice. Therefore, we couple a mixture theory based segregation model to a hydrodynamic model of Navier-Stokes-type, describing the flow behavior of the granular material. The granular flow model is a hybrid model derived from kinetic theory and a soil mechanical approach to cover the regime of fast dilute flow, as well as slow dense flow, where the density of the granular material is close to the maximum packing density. Originally, the segregation model has been formulated by Thornton and Gray for idealized avalanches. It is modified and adapted to be in the preferred form for the coupling. In the final coupled model the segregation process depends on the local state of the granular system. On the other hand, the granular system changes as differently mixed regions of the granular material differ i.e. in the packing density. For the modeling process the focus lies on dry granular material flows of two particle types differing only in size but can be easily extended to arbitrary granular mixtures of different particle size and density. To solve the coupled system a finite volume approach is used. To test the model the rotational mixing of small and large particles in a tumbler is simulated.

An Emotional Agent Model Based on Granular Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Hu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Affective computing has a very important significance for fulfilling intelligent information processing and harmonious communication between human being and computers. A new model for emotional agent is proposed in this paper to make agent have the ability of handling emotions, based on the granular computing theory and the traditional BDI agent model. Firstly, a new emotion knowledge base based on granular computing for emotion expression is presented in the model. Secondly, a new emotional reasoning algorithm based on granular computing is proposed. Thirdly, a new emotional agent model based on granular computing is presented. Finally, based on the model, an emotional agent for patient assistant in hospital is realized, experiment results show that it is efficient to handle simple emotions.

Efficiency of a multi-soil-layering system on wastewater treatment using environment-friendly filter materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Chia-Chun; Wang, Pei-Hao

2015-03-23

The multi-soil-layering (MSL) system primarily comprises two parts, specifically, the soil mixture layer (SML) and the permeable layer (PL). In Japan, zeolite is typically used as the permeable layer material. In the present study, zeolite was substituted with comparatively cheaper and more environmentally friendly materials, such as expanded clay aggregates, oyster shells, and already-used granular activated carbon collected from water purification plants. A series of indoor tests indicated that the suspended solid (SS) removal efficiency of granular activated carbon was between 76.2% and 94.6%; zeolite and expanded clay aggregates achieved similar efficiencies that were between 53.7% and 87.4%, and oyster shells presented the lowest efficiency that was between 29.8% and 61.8%. Further results show that the oyster shell system required an increase of wastewater retention time by 2 to 4 times that of the zeolite system to maintain similar chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. Among the four MSL samples, the zeolite system and granular activated carbon system demonstrated a stable NH3-N removal performance at 92.3%-99.8%. The expanded clay aggregate system present lower removal performance because of its low adsorption capacity and excessively large pores, causing NO3--N to be leached away under high hydraulic loading rate conditions. The total phosphorous (TP) removal efficiency of the MSL systems demonstrated no direct correlation with the permeable layer material. Therefore, all MSL samples achieved a TP efficiency of between 92.1% and 99.2%.

Long-range interactions in dilute granular systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Müller, M.K

2008-01-01

In this thesis, on purpose, we focussed on the most challenging, longest ranging potentials. We analyzed granular media of low densities obeying 1/r long-range interaction potentials between the granules. Such systems are termed granular gases and differ in their behavior from ordinary gases by

Connecting grain-scale physics to macroscopic granular flow behavior using discrete contact-dynamics simulations, centrifuge experiments, and continuum modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Reitz, Meredith; Stark, Colin; Hung, Chi-Yao; Smith, Breannan; Grinspin, Eitan; Capart, Herve; Li, Liming; Crone, Timothy; Hsu, Leslie; Ling, Hoe

2014-05-01

A complete theoretical understanding of geophysical granular flow is essential to the reliable assessment of landslide and debris flow hazard and for the design of mitigation strategies, but several key challenges remain. Perhaps the most basic is a general treatment of the processes of internal energy dissipation, which dictate the runout velocity and the shape and scale of the affected area. Currently, dissipation is best described by macroscopic, empirical friction coefficients only indirectly related to the grain-scale physics. Another challenge is describing the forces exerted at the boundaries of the flow, which dictate the entrainment of further debris and the erosion of cohesive surfaces. While the granular effects on these boundary forces have been shown to be large compared to predictions from continuum approximations, the link between granular effects and erosion or entrainment rates has not been settled. Here we present preliminary results of a multi-disciplinary study aimed at improving our understanding of granular flow energy dissipation and boundary forces, through an effort to connect grain-scale physics to macroscopic behaviors. Insights into grain-scale force distributions and energy dissipation mechanisms are derived from discrete contact-dynamics simulations. Macroscopic erosion and flow behaviors are documented from a series of granular flow experiments, in which a rotating drum half-filled with grains is placed within a centrifuge payload, in order to drive effective gravity levels up to ~100g and approach the forces present in natural systems. A continuum equation is used to characterize the flowing layer depth and velocity resulting from the force balance between the down-slope pull of gravity and the friction at the walls. In this presentation we will focus on the effect of granular-specific physics such as force chain networks and grain-grain collisions, derived from the contact dynamics simulations. We will describe our efforts to

Assessing continuum postulates in simulations of granular flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rycroft, Chris; Kamrin, Ken; Bazant, Martin

2008-08-26

Continuum mechanics relies on the fundamental notion of a mesoscopic volume"element" in which properties averaged over discrete particles obey deterministic relationships. Recent work on granular materials suggests a continuum law may be inapplicable, revealing inhomogeneities at the particle level, such as force chains and slow cage breaking. Here, we analyze large-scale three-dimensional Discrete-Element Method (DEM) simulations of different granular flows and show that an approximate"granular element" defined at the scale of observed dynamical correlations (roughly three to five particle diameters) has a reasonable continuum interpretation. By viewing all the simulations as an ensemble of granular elements which deform and move with the flow, we can track material evolution at a local level. Our results confirm some of the hypotheses of classical plasticity theory while contradicting others and suggest a subtle physical picture of granular failure, combining liquid-like dependence on deformation rate and solid-like dependence on strain. Our computational methods and results can be used to guide the development of more realistic continuum models, based on observed local relationships betweenaverage variables.

Granular Materials and Risks In ISRU

Science.gov (United States)

Behringer, Robert P.; Wilkinson, R. Allen

2004-01-01

Working with soil, sand, powders, ores, cement and sintered bricks, excavating, grading construction sites, driving off-road, transporting granules in chutes and pipes, sifting gravel, separating solids from gases, and using hoppers are so routine that it seems straightforward to execute these operations on the Moon and Mars as we do on Earth. We discuss how little these processes are understood and point out the nature of trial-and-error practices that are used in today's massive over-design. Nevertheless, such designs have a high failure rate. Implementation and extensive incremental scaling up of industrial processes are routine because of the inadequate predictive tools for design. We present a number of pragmatic scenarios where granular materials play a role, the risks involved, what some of the basic issues are, and what understanding is needed to greatly reduce the risks. This talk will focus on a particular class of granular flow issues, those that pertain to dense materials, their physics, and the failure problems associated with them. In particular, key issues where basic predictability is lacking include stability of soils for the support of vehicles and facilities, ability to control the flow of dense materials (jamming and flooding/unjamming at the wrong time), the ability to predict stress profiles (hence create reliable designs) for containers such as bunkers or silos. In particular, stress fluctuations, which are not accounted for in standard granular design models, can be very large as granular materials flows, and one result is frequent catastrophic failure of granular devices.

Consideration of reinforcement mechanism in the short fiber mixing granular materials by granular element simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Kentaro; Kaneko, Kenji; Hashizume, Yutaka

2017-06-01

The short fiber mixing method is well known as one of the method to improve the strength of gran- ular soils in geotechnical engineering. Mechanical properties of the short fiber mixing granular materials are influenced by many factors, such as the mixture ratio of the short fiber, the material of short fiber, the length, and the orientation. In particular, the mixture ratio of the short fibers is very important in mixture design. In the past study, we understood that the strength is reduced by too much short fiber mixing by a series of tri-axial compression experiments. Namely, there is "optimum mixture ratio" in the short fiber mixing granular soils. In this study, to consider the mechanism of occurrence of the optimum mixture ratio, we carried out the numerical experiments by granular element method. As the results, we can understand that the strength decrease when too much grain-fiber contact points exist, because a friction coefficient is smaller than the grain-grain contact points.

Functional imaging of the cerebellum and basal ganglia during predictive motor timing in early Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Husárová, Ivica; Lungu, Ovidiu V; Mareček, Radek; Mikl, Michal; Gescheidt, Tomáš; Krupa, Petr; Bareš, Martin

2014-01-01

The basal ganglia and the cerebellum have both emerged as important structures involved in the processing of temporal information. We examined the roles of the cerebellum and striatum in predictive motor timing during a target interception task in healthy individuals (HC group; n = 21) and in patients with early Parkinson's disease (early stage PD group; n = 20) using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Despite having similar hit ratios, the PD failed more often than the HC to postpone their actions until the right moment and to adapt their behavior from one trial to the next. We found more activation in the right cerebellar lobule VI in HC than in early stage PD during successful trials. Successful trial-by-trial adjustments were associated with higher activity in the right putamen and lobule VI of the cerebellum in HC. We conclude that both the cerebellum and striatum are involved in predictive motor timing tasks. The cerebellar activity is associated exclusively with the postponement of action until the right moment, whereas both the cerebellum and striatum are needed for successful adaptation of motor actions from one trial to the next. We found a general ''hypoactivation'' of basal ganglia and cerebellum in early stage PD relative to HC, indicating that even in early stages of the PD there could be functional perturbations in the motor system beyond striatum. Copyright © 2011 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

Storage and discharge of a granular fluid

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pacheco-Martinez, Hector; van Gerner, H.J.; Ruiz-Suarez, J.C.

2008-01-01

Experiments and computational simulations are carried out to study the behavior of a granular column in a silo whose walls are able to vibrate horizontally. The column is brought to a steady fluidized state and it behaves similar to a hydrostatic system. We study the dynamics of the granular

fMRI activities in the emotional cerebellum: a preference for negative stimuli and goal-directed behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Schraa-Tam, Caroline K L; Rietdijk, Willem J R; Verbeke, Willem J M I; Dietvorst, Roeland C; van den Berg, Wouter E; Bagozzi, Richard P; De Zeeuw, Chris I

2012-03-01

Several studies indicate that the cerebellum might play a role in experiencing and/or controlling emphatic emotions, but it remains to be determined whether there is a distinction between positive and negative emotions, and, if so, which specific parts of the cerebellum are involved in these types of emotions. Here, we visualized activations of the cerebellum and extracerebellar regions using high-field fMRI, while we asked participants to observe and imitate images with pictures of human faces expressing different emotional states or with moving geometric shapes as control. The state of the emotions could be positive (happiness and surprise), negative (anger and disgust), or neutral. The positive emotional faces only evoked mild activations of crus 2 in the cerebellum, whereas the negative emotional faces evoked prominent activations in lobules VI and VIIa in its hemispheres and lobules VIII and IX in the vermis. The cerebellar activations associated with negative emotions occurred concomitantly with activations of mirror neuron domains such as the insula and amygdala. These data suggest that the potential role of the cerebellum in control of emotions may be particularly relevant for goal-directed behavior that is required for observing and reacting to another person's (negative) expressions.

2D transient granular flows over obstacles: experimental and numerical work

Science.gov (United States)

Juez, Carmelo; Caviedes-Voullième, Daniel; Murillo, Javier; García-Navarro, Pilar

2016-04-01

the material is traditionally oriented in a predominant longitudinal direction and the layer of the mass is thin in comparison to the scale of interest, the depth-averaged procedure can be performed in the mass and momentum equations. Regarding the friction theory embedded in the landslide motion, a Coulomb-like basal friction law can be assumed as a first attempt of reproducing the phenomena. On the other hand, the presence of obstacles, involves the study of the development of schock waves imposing the simulation of the granular behavior by means of a schock-tracking numerical scheme. The numerical scheme employed, is based on an approximate solvers based on Roe approaches, devoting especial attention to the frictional source terms. This work was partially funded by the ITN-Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN under REA grant agreement n_607394-SEDITRANS. The granular experiments were funded by DGA, Diputación General de Aragón, España.

Preliminary morphological and morphometric study of rat cerebellum following sodium arsenite exposure during rapid brain growth (RBG) period

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dhar, Pushpa; Mohari, Nivedita; Mehra, Raj D.

2007-01-01

The effects of arsenic exposure during rapid brain growth (RBG) period were studied in rat brains with emphasis on the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum. The RBG period in rats extends from postnatal day 4 (PND 4) to postnatal day 10 (PND 10) and is reported to be highly vulnerable to environmental insults. Mother reared Wistar rat pups were administered intraperitoneal injections (i.p.) of sodium arsenite (aqueous solution) in doses of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mg/kg body weight (bw) to groups II, III and IV (n = 6 animals/group) from PND 4 to 10 (sub acute). Control animals (group I) received distilled water by the same route. On PND 11, the animals were perfusion fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (PB) with pH 7.4. The cerebellum obtained from these animals was post-fixed and processed for paraffin embedding. Besides studying the morphological characteristics of Purkinje cells in cresyl violet (CV) stained paraffin sections (10 μm), morphometric analysis of Purkinje cells was carried out using Image Analysis System (Image Proplus software version 4.5) attached to Nikon Microphot-FX microscope. The results showed that on PND 11, the Purkinje cells were arranged in multiple layers extending from Purkinje cell layer (PL) to outer part of granule cell layer (GL) in experimental animals (contrary to monolayer arrangement within PL in control animals). Also, delayed maturation (well defined apical cytoplasmic cones and intense basal basophilia) was evident in Purkinje cells of experimental animals on PND 11. The mean Purkinje cell nuclear area was significantly increased in the arsenic treated animals compared to the control animals. The observations of the present study (faulty migration, delayed maturation and alteration in nuclear area measurements of Purkinje cells subsequent to arsenic exposure) thus provided the morphological evidence of structural alterations subsequent to arsenite induced developmental neurotoxicity which could be presumed to be

The role of fluid viscosity in an immersed granular collapse

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Geng Chao; Kwok, Chung Yee; Sobral, Yuri Dumaresq

2017-06-01

Instabilities of immersed slopes and cliffs can lead to catastrophic events that involve a sudden release of huge soil mass. The scaled deposit height and runout distance are found to follow simple power laws when a granular column collapses on a horizontal plane. However, if the granular column is submerged in a fluid, the mobility of the granular collapse due to high inertia effects will be reduced by fluid-particle interactions. In this study, the effects of fluid viscosity on granular collapse is investigated qualitatively by adopting a numerical approach based on the coupled lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and discrete element method (DEM). It is found that the granular collapse can be dramatically slowed down due to the presence of viscous fluids. For the considered granular configuration, when the fluid viscosity increases. the runout distance decreases and the final deposition shows a larger deposit angle.

The role of fluid viscosity in an immersed granular collapse

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Yang Geng Chao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Instabilities of immersed slopes and cliffs can lead to catastrophic events that involve a sudden release of huge soil mass. The scaled deposit height and runout distance are found to follow simple power laws when a granular column collapses on a horizontal plane. However, if the granular column is submerged in a fluid, the mobility of the granular collapse due to high inertia effects will be reduced by fluid-particle interactions. In this study, the effects of fluid viscosity on granular collapse is investigated qualitatively by adopting a numerical approach based on the coupled lattice Boltzmann method (LBM and discrete element method (DEM. It is found that the granular collapse can be dramatically slowed down due to the presence of viscous fluids. For the considered granular configuration, when the fluid viscosity increases. the runout distance decreases and the final deposition shows a larger deposit angle.

Energy decay in a granular gas collapse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almazán, Lidia; Serero, Dan; Pöschel, Thorsten; Salueña, Clara

2017-01-01

An inelastic hard ball bouncing repeatedly off the ground comes to rest in finite time by performing an infinite number of collisions. Similarly, a granular gas under the influence of external gravity, condenses at the bottom of the confinement due to inelastic collisions. By means of hydrodynamical simulations, we find that the condensation process of a granular gas reveals a similar dynamics as the bouncing ball. Our result is in agreement with both experiments and particle simulations, but disagrees with earlier simplified hydrodynamical description. Analyzing the result in detail, we find that the adequate modeling of pressure plays a key role in continuum modeling of granular matter. (paper)

Gamma-radiation produces abnormal Bergmann fibers and ectopic granule cells in mouse cerebellar cortex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inouye, Minoru; Hayasaka, Shizu; Funahashi, Atsushi; Yamamura, Hideki

1992-01-01

Morphological changes in Bergmann glial fibers in the developing cerebellar cortex produced by exposure to gamma-rays were investigated in association with ectopic granule cells. Six-day-old mice that had been exposed to 3 Gy of gamma-radiation were killed 6 hours after exposure or at 7 through 30 days of age. Their cerebella were examined histologically and immunohistochemically for glial fibrillary acidic protein in Bergmann fibers. Extensive cell death took place in the external granular layer (EGL) of the cerebellum from 6 through 24 hours after exposure. This led to the thinning of the EGL and a decrease in the number of migrating cells in the molecular layer. The number of Bergmann cells was not decreased, but the fibers in the molecular layer were distorted; whereas, in the control these fibers were straight and perpendicular to the pial surface. The EGL began to recover 2 days after exposure, and abnormally oriented migrating cells were seen. At 17 days of age, some cell clustering was observed in the molecular layer of the irradiated cerebellum. Distortion of the Bergmann fibers was marked in regions where ectopic granule cells appeared at 30 days of age. These findings suggest that the distortion of Bergmann fibers leads to the production of ectopic granule cells after exposure to gamma-radiation. (author)

Pristanic acid provokes lipid, protein, and DNA oxidative damage and reduces the antioxidant defenses in cerebellum of young rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Busanello, Estela Natacha Brandt; Lobato, Vannessa Gonçalves Araujo; Zanatta, Ângela; Borges, Clarissa Günther; Tonin, Anelise Miotti; Viegas, Carolina Maso; Manfredini, Vanusa; Ribeiro, César Augusto João; Vargas, Carmen Regla; de Souza, Diogo Onofre Gomes; Wajner, Moacir

2014-12-01

Zellweger syndrome (ZS) and some peroxisomal diseases are severe inherited disorders mainly characterized by neurological symptoms and cerebellum abnormalities, whose pathogenesis is poorly understood. Biochemically, these diseases are mainly characterized by accumulation of pristanic acid (Prist) and other fatty acids in the brain and other tissues. In this work, we evaluated the in vitro influence of Prist on redox homeostasis by measuring lipid, protein, and DNA damage, as well as the antioxidant defenses and the activities of aconitase and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase in cerebellum of 30-day-old rats. The effect of Prist on DNA damage was also evaluated in blood of these animals. Some parameters were also evaluated in cerebellum from neonatal rats and in cerebellum neuronal cultures. Prist significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and carbonyl formation and reduced sulfhydryl content and glutathione (GSH) concentrations in cerebellum of young rats. It also caused DNA strand damage in cerebellum and induced a high micronuclei frequency in blood. On the other hand, this fatty acid significantly reduced α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and aconitase activities in rat cerebellum. We also verified that Prist-induced increase of MDA levels was totally prevented by melatonin and attenuated by α-tocopherol but not by the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(ω)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, indicating the involvement of reactive oxygen species in this effect. Cerebellum from neonate rats also showed marked alterations of redox homeostasis, including an increase of MDA levels and a decrease of sulfhydryl content and GSH concentrations elicited by Prist. Finally, Prist provoked an increase of dichlorofluorescein (DCFH) oxidation in cerebellum-cultivated neurons. Our present data indicate that Prist compromises redox homeostasis in rat cerebellum and blood and inhibits critical enzymes of the citric acid cycle that are susceptible to free radical attack. The

Periurethral granular cell tumor: a case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jeong Kon; Choi, Hyo Gyeong; Cho, Kyoung Sik

1998-01-01

Granular cell tumors are uncommon soft tissue tumors which arise as solitary or multiple masses. Lesions commonly arise in the head, neck, and chest wall, but can occur in any part of the body. To our knowledge, periurethral granular cell tumor has not been previously reported. We report one such case

Granular motor in the non-Brownian limit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oyarte Galvez, Loreto Alejandra; van der Meer, Roger M.

2016-01-01

In this work we experimentally study a granular rotor which is similar to the famous Smoluchowski–Feynman device and which consists of a rotor with four vanes immersed in a granular gas. Each side of the vanes can be composed of two different materials, creating a rotational asymmetry and turning

The role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia: from cognition to molecular pathways

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Peyman Yeganeh-Doost

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Beside its role in motor coordination, the cerebellum is involved in cognitive function such as attention, working memory, verbal learning, and sensory discrimination. In schizophrenia, a disturbed prefronto-thalamo-cerebellar circuit has been proposed to play a role in the pathophysiology. In addition, a deficit in the glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDAf receptor has been hypothesized. The risk gene neuregulin 1 may play a major role in this process. We demonstrated a higher expression of the NMDA receptor subunit 2D in the right cerebellar regions of schizophrenia patients, which may be a secondary upregulation due to a dysfunctional receptor. In contrast, the neuregulin 1 risk variant containing at least one C-allele was associated with decreased expression of NMDA receptor subunit 2C, leading to a dysfunction of the NMDA receptor, which in turn may lead to a dysfunction of the gamma amino butyric acid (GABA system. Accordingly, from post-mortem studies, there is accumulating evidence that GABAergic signaling is decreased in the cerebellum of schizophrenia patients. As patients in these studies are treated with antipsychotics long term, we evaluated the effect of long-term haloperidol and clozapine treatment in an animal model. We showed that clozapine may be superior to haloperidol in restoring a deficit in NMDA receptor subunit 2C expression in the cerebellum. We discuss the molecular findings in the light of the role of the cerebellum in attention and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

Construction and tests of a fine granularity lead-scintillating fibers calorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Branchini, P; Di Micco, B; Passeri, A; Ceradini, F; Corradi, G

2009-01-01

We report the construction and the tests of a small prototype of the lead-scintillating fiber calorimeter of the KLOE experiment, instrumented with multianode photomultipliers to obtain a 16 times finer readout granularity. The prototype is 15 cm wide, 15 radiation lengths deep and is made of 200 layers of fibers 50 cm long. On one side it is read out with an array of 3x5 multianode photomultipliers Hamamatsu type R8900-M16, each segmented with 4x4 anodes, the read out granularity being 240 pixels of 11 x 11 mm 2 corresponding to about 64 scintillating fibers each. These are interfaced to the 6 x 6 mm 2 pixeled photocathode with truncated pyramid light guides made of Bicron BC-800 plastic to partially transmit the UV light. Each photomultiplier provides also an OR of the 16 last dynodes that is used for trigger. The response of the individual anodes, their relative gain and cross-talk has been measured with the light (440 nm) of a laser illuminating only few fibers on the side opposite to the readout. We finally present the first results of the calorimeter response to cosmic rays in auto-trigger mode.

From continuum analytical description to discrete numerical modelling of localized fluidization in granular media

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Puig i Montellà Eduard

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We present analytical and numerical results on localized fluidization within a granular layer subjected to a local injection of fluid. As the injection rate increases the three different regimes previously reported in the literature are recovered: homogeneous expansion of the bed, fluidized cavity in which fluidization starts developing above the injection area, and finally the chimney of fluidized grains when the fluidization zone reaches the free surface. The analytical approach is at the continuum scale, based on Darcy’s law and Therzaghi’s effective stress principle. It provides a good description of the phenomenon as long as the porosity of the granular assembly remains relatively homogeneous. The numerical approach is at the particle scale based on the coupled DEM-PFV method. It tackles the more heterogeneous situations which occur at larger injection rates. A direct link is evidenced between the occurrence of the different regimes of fluidization and the injection aperture. Finally, the merging of chimneys in case of two injection points is investigated.

The Cerebellum and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Rapkin, Andrea J; Berman, Steven M; London, Edythe D

2014-01-01

The cerebellum constitutes ten percent of brain volume and contains the majority of brain neurons. Although it was historically viewed primarily as processing motoric computations, current evidence supports a more comprehensive role, where cerebro-cerebellar feedback loops also modulate various forms of cognitive and affective processing. Here we present evidence for a role of the cerebellum in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which is characterized by severe negative mood symptoms during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Although a link between menstruation and cyclical dysphoria has long been recognized, neuroscientific investigations of this common disorder have only recently been explored. This article reviews functional and structural brain imaging studies of PMDD and the similar but less well defined condition of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The most consistent findings are that women with premenstrual dysphoria exhibit greater relative activity than other women in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior lobules VI and VII of the neocerebellum. Since both brain areas have been implicated in emotional processing and mood disorders, working memory and executive functions, this greater activity probably represents coactivation within a cerebro-cerebellar feedback loop regulating emotional and cognitive processing. Some of the evidence suggests that increased activity within this circuit may preserve cerebellar structure during aging, and possible mechanisms and implications of this finding are discussed.

EMERGENCE OF GRANULAR-SIZED MAGNETIC BUBBLES THROUGH THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE. II. NON-LTE CHROMOSPHERIC DIAGNOSTICS AND INVERSIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodríguez, Jaime de la Cruz [Institute for Solar Physics, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, Albanova University Center, SE-10691 Stockholm (Sweden); Hansteen, Viggo; Ortiz, Ada [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo (Norway); Bellot-Rubio, Luis, E-mail: jaime@astro.su.se [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Apartado de Correos 3004, E-18080 Granada (Spain)

2015-09-10

Magnetic flux emergence into the outer layers of the Sun is a fundamental mechanism for releasing energy into the chromosphere and the corona. In this paper, we study the emergence of granular-sized flux concentrations and the structuring of the corresponding physical parameters and atmospheric diagnostics in the upper photosphere and in the chromosphere. We make use of a realistic 3D MHD simulation of the outer layers of the Sun to study the formation of the Ca ii 8542 line. We also derive semi-empirical 3D models from non-LTE inversions of our observations. These models contain information on the line-of-sight stratifications of temperature, velocity, and the magnetic field. Our analysis explains the peculiar Ca ii 8542 Å profiles observed in the flux emerging region. Additionally, we derive detailed temperature and velocity maps describing the ascent of a magnetic bubble from the photosphere to the chromosphere. The inversions suggest that, in active regions, granular-sized bubbles emerge up to the lower chromosphere where the existing large-scale field hinders their ascent. We report hints of heating when the field reaches the chromosphere.

Consensus Paper: Towards a Systems-Level View of Cerebellar Function: the Interplay Between Cerebellum, Basal Ganglia, and Cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Caligiore, Daniele; Pezzulo, Giovanni; Baldassarre, Gianluca; Bostan, Andreea C; Strick, Peter L; Doya, Kenji; Helmich, Rick C; Dirkx, Michiel; Houk, James; Jörntell, Henrik; Lago-Rodriguez, Angel; Galea, Joseph M; Miall, R Chris; Popa, Traian; Kishore, Asha; Verschure, Paul F M J; Zucca, Riccardo; Herreros, Ivan

2017-02-01

Despite increasing evidence suggesting the cerebellum works in concert with the cortex and basal ganglia, the nature of the reciprocal interactions between these three brain regions remains unclear. This consensus paper gathers diverse recent views on a variety of important roles played by the cerebellum within the cerebello-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical system across a range of motor and cognitive functions. The paper includes theoretical and empirical contributions, which cover the following topics: recent evidence supporting the dynamical interplay between cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortical areas in humans and other animals; theoretical neuroscience perspectives and empirical evidence on the reciprocal influences between cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex in learning and control processes; and data suggesting possible roles of the cerebellum in basal ganglia movement disorders. Although starting from different backgrounds and dealing with different topics, all the contributors agree that viewing the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex as an integrated system enables us to understand the function of these areas in radically different ways. In addition, there is unanimous consensus between the authors that future experimental and computational work is needed to understand the function of cerebellar-basal ganglia circuitry in both motor and non-motor functions. The paper reports the most advanced perspectives on the role of the cerebellum within the cerebello-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical system and illustrates other elements of consensus as well as disagreements and open questions in the field.

Effect of horizontal vibration on pile of cylinder avalanches as a pseudo-two dimensional granular system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mardiansyah, Y; Yulia; Khotimah, S N; Viridi, S; Suprijadi

2016-01-01

Dynamics of pseudo-two dimensional granular material consisted of two layers cylinder piles positioned on top of a horizontally vibrated plate is reported in this work. It is aimed to observe structural change of the cylinder pile vibrated in certain frequency and amplitude. Dimensionless acceleration Γ= 4π 2 f 2 A/g (with g is gravitational acceleration), which is generally used in granular materials to observe transition between states, e.g. stable, rotating without slipping, rolling and slipping in Γ-f plane, does not work well for this system. For this system additional states for the piles can also be observed, e.g. stable and flowing states. Observations parameters are frequency f (measured in Hz) and amplitude A (measured in cm). These parameters are used to construct the A-f plane instead of Γ-f one. (paper)

Shear test on viscoelastic granular material using Contact Dynamics simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Quezada, Juan Carlos; Sagnol, Loba; Chazallon, Cyrille

2017-06-01

By means of 3D contact dynamic simulations, the behavior of a viscoelastic granular material under shear loading is investigated. A viscoelastic fluid phase surrounding the solid particles is simulated by a contact model acting between them. This contact law was implemented in the LMGC90 software, based on the Burgers model. This model is able to simulate also the effect of creep relaxation. To validate the proposed contact model, several direct shear tests were performed, experimentally and numerically using the Leutner device. The numerical samples were created using spheres with two particle size distribution, each one identified for two layers from a road structure. Our results show a reasonable agreement between experimental and numerical data regarding the strain-stress evolution curves and the stress levels measured at failure. The proposed model can be used to simulate the mechanical behavior of multi-layer road structure and to study the influence of traffic on road deformation, cracking and particles pull-out induced by traffic loading.

Effect of Cerebellum Radiation Dosimetry on Cognitive Outcomes in Children With Infratentorial Ependymoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merchant, Thomas E., E-mail: thomas.merchant@stjude.org [Division of Radiation Oncology, St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee (United States); Sharma, Shelly [Division of Radiation Oncology, St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee (United States); Xiong, Xiaoping; Wu, Shengjie [Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee (United States); Conklin, Heather [Department of Psychology, St. Jude Children' s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee (United States)

2014-11-01

Purpose: Cognitive decline is a recognized effect of radiation therapy (RT) in children treated for brain tumors. The importance of the cerebellum and its contribution to cognition have been recognized; however, the effect of RT on cerebellum-linked neurocognitive deficits has yet to be explored. Methods and Materials: Seventy-six children (39 males) at a median 3.3 years of age (range, 1-17 years old) were irradiated for infratentorial ependymoma from 1997 to 2008. The total prescribed dose was 54 to 59.4 Gy administered to the postoperative tumor bed with 5- or 10-mm clinical target volume margin. Age-appropriate cognitive and academic testing was performed prior to the start of RT and was then repeated at 6 months and annually throughout 5 years. The anterior and posterior cerebellum and other normal brain volumes were contoured on postcontrast, T1-weighted postoperative magnetic resonance images registered to treatment planning computed tomography images. Mean doses were calculated and used with time after RT and other clinical covariates to model their effect on neurocognitive test scores. Results: Considering only the statistically significant rates in longitudinal changes for test scores and models that included mean dose, there was a correlation between mean infratentorial dose and intelligence quotient (IQ; −0.190 patients/Gy/year; P=.001), math (−0.164 patients/Gy/year; P=.010), reading (−0.137 patients/Gy/year; P=.011), and spelling scores (−0.147 patients/Gy/year; P=.012), where Gy was measured as the difference between the mean dose received by an individual patient and the mean dose received by the patient group. There was a correlation between mean anterior cerebellum dose and IQ scores (−0.116 patients/Gy/year; P=.042) and mean posterior cerebellum dose and IQ (−0.150 patients/Gy/year; P=.002), math (−0.120 patients/Gy/year; P=.023), reading (−0.111 patients/Gy/year; P=.012), and spelling (−0.117 patients/Gy/year; P=.015

Effect of Cerebellum Radiation Dosimetry on Cognitive Outcomes in Children With Infratentorial Ependymoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merchant, Thomas E.; Sharma, Shelly; Xiong, Xiaoping; Wu, Shengjie; Conklin, Heather

2014-01-01

Purpose: Cognitive decline is a recognized effect of radiation therapy (RT) in children treated for brain tumors. The importance of the cerebellum and its contribution to cognition have been recognized; however, the effect of RT on cerebellum-linked neurocognitive deficits has yet to be explored. Methods and Materials: Seventy-six children (39 males) at a median 3.3 years of age (range, 1-17 years old) were irradiated for infratentorial ependymoma from 1997 to 2008. The total prescribed dose was 54 to 59.4 Gy administered to the postoperative tumor bed with 5- or 10-mm clinical target volume margin. Age-appropriate cognitive and academic testing was performed prior to the start of RT and was then repeated at 6 months and annually throughout 5 years. The anterior and posterior cerebellum and other normal brain volumes were contoured on postcontrast, T1-weighted postoperative magnetic resonance images registered to treatment planning computed tomography images. Mean doses were calculated and used with time after RT and other clinical covariates to model their effect on neurocognitive test scores. Results: Considering only the statistically significant rates in longitudinal changes for test scores and models that included mean dose, there was a correlation between mean infratentorial dose and intelligence quotient (IQ; −0.190 patients/Gy/year; P=.001), math (−0.164 patients/Gy/year; P=.010), reading (−0.137 patients/Gy/year; P=.011), and spelling scores (−0.147 patients/Gy/year; P=.012), where Gy was measured as the difference between the mean dose received by an individual patient and the mean dose received by the patient group. There was a correlation between mean anterior cerebellum dose and IQ scores (−0.116 patients/Gy/year; P=.042) and mean posterior cerebellum dose and IQ (−0.150 patients/Gy/year; P=.002), math (−0.120 patients/Gy/year; P=.023), reading (−0.111 patients/Gy/year; P=.012), and spelling (−0.117 patients/Gy/year; P=.015

Long runout landslides: a solution from granular mechanics

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Stanislav eParez

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Large landslides exhibit surprisingly long runout distances compared to a rigid body sliding from the same slope, and the mechanism of this phenomena has been studied for decades. This paper shows that the observed long runouts can be explained quite simply via a granular pile flowing downhill, while collapsing and spreading, without the need for frictional weakening that has traditionally been suggested to cause long runouts. Kinematics of the granular flow is divided into center of mass motion and spreading due to flattening of the flowing mass. We solve the center of mass motion analytically based on a frictional law valid for granular flow, and find that center of mass runout is similar to that of a rigid body. Based on the shape of deposits observed in experiments with collapsing granular columns and numerical simulations of landslides, we derive a spreading length Rf~V^1/3. Spreading of a granular pile, leading to a deposit angle much lower than the angle of repose or the dynamic friction angle, is shown to be an important, often dominating, contribution to the total runout distance, accounting for the long runouts observed for natural landslides.

De Sedibus et Causis Morborum: is Essential Tremor a Primary Disease of the Cerebellum?

Science.gov (United States)

Louis, Elan D

2016-06-01

Morgagni's 1761 publication of De sedibus et causis morborum (i.e., of the Seats and Causes of Diseases) represented a paradigmatic moment in the history of medicine. The book ushered in a new way of conceptualizing human disease, shattering old dogma, and linking constellations of symptoms and signs (i.e., clinical disease) with anatomic pathology in specific organs (i.e., organ disease). This was the anatomical-clinical method, and it attempted to unveil "the seat" of each disease in a specific organ. Essential tremor (ET) is among the most common neurological diseases. There is little debate that the origin of ET lies in the brain, but if one tries to delve more deeply than this, things become murky. The dogma for the past 40 years has been that the seat of ET is the inferior olivary nucleus. Closer scrutiny of this model, however, has revealed its many flaws, and the model, based on little if any empiric evidence, has increasingly lost favor. Arising from a wealth of research in recent years is a growing body of knowledge that links ET to a disarrangement of the cerebellum. Data from a variety of sources reviewed in this issue (clinical, neuroimaging, neurochemical, animal model, physiological, and pathological) link ET to the cerebellum. That the cerebellum is involved in an abnormal brain loop that is responsible for ET is not debated. The tantalizing question is whether an abnormality in the cerebellum is the prime mover, and whether the cerebellum is the seat of this particular disease.

Surface instabilities in shock loaded granular media

Science.gov (United States)

Kandan, K.; Khaderi, S. N.; Wadley, H. N. G.; Deshpande, V. S.

2017-12-01

The initiation and growth of instabilities in granular materials loaded by air shock waves are investigated via shock-tube experiments and numerical calculations. Three types of granular media, dry sand, water-saturated sand and a granular solid comprising PTFE spheres were experimentally investigated by air shock loading slugs of these materials in a transparent shock tube. Under all shock pressures considered here, the free-standing dry sand slugs remained stable while the shock loaded surface of the water-saturated sand slug became unstable resulting in mixing of the shocked air and the granular material. By contrast, the PTFE slugs were stable at low pressures but displayed instabilities similar to the water-saturated sand slugs at higher shock pressures. The distal surfaces of the slugs remained stable under all conditions considered here. Eulerian fluid/solid interaction calculations, with the granular material modelled as a Drucker-Prager solid, reproduced the onset of the instabilities as seen in the experiments to a high level of accuracy. These calculations showed that the shock pressures to initiate instabilities increased with increasing material friction and decreasing yield strain. Moreover, the high Atwood number for this problem implied that fluid/solid interaction effects were small, and the initiation of the instability is adequately captured by directly applying a pressure on the slug surface. Lagrangian calculations with the directly applied pressures demonstrated that the instability was caused by spatial pressure gradients created by initial surface perturbations. Surface instabilities are also shown to exist in shock loaded rear-supported granular slugs: these experiments and calculations are used to infer the velocity that free-standing slugs need to acquire to initiate instabilities on their front surfaces. The results presented here, while in an idealised one-dimensional setting, provide physical understanding of the conditions required to

Distrofia corneal granular

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexeide de la C Castillo Pérez

Full Text Available Las distrofias corneales constituyen un conjunto de enfermedades que presentan, en su mayoría, una baja incidencia y se caracterizan por acúmulo de material hialino o amiloide que disminuyen la transparencia corneal. La distrofia granular es una enfermedad autosómica dominante que presenta opacidades grises en el estroma superficial central de la córnea y se hacen visibles en la primera y segunda décadas de la vida, lo que provoca disminución de la visión más significativa cerca de los 40 años de edad. Presentamos dos casos clínicos de distrofia granular en pacientes hermanos de diferentes sexos, quienes acudieron a la consulta y refirieron visión nublada. El estudio de la historia familiar nos ayuda en el correcto diagnóstico y la biomicroscopia constituye el elemento más importante.

Embedded DCT and wavelet methods for fine granular scalable video: analysis and comparison

Science.gov (United States)

van der Schaar-Mitrea, Mihaela; Chen, Yingwei; Radha, Hayder

2000-04-01

Video transmission over bandwidth-varying networks is becoming increasingly important due to emerging applications such as streaming of video over the Internet. The fundamental obstacle in designing such systems resides in the varying characteristics of the Internet (i.e. bandwidth variations and packet-loss patterns). In MPEG-4, a new SNR scalability scheme, called Fine-Granular-Scalability (FGS), is currently under standardization, which is able to adapt in real-time (i.e. at transmission time) to Internet bandwidth variations. The FGS framework consists of a non-scalable motion-predicted base-layer and an intra-coded fine-granular scalable enhancement layer. For example, the base layer can be coded using a DCT-based MPEG-4 compliant, highly efficient video compression scheme. Subsequently, the difference between the original and decoded base-layer is computed, and the resulting FGS-residual signal is intra-frame coded with an embedded scalable coder. In order to achieve high coding efficiency when compressing the FGS enhancement layer, it is crucial to analyze the nature and characteristics of residual signals common to the SNR scalability framework (including FGS). In this paper, we present a thorough analysis of SNR residual signals by evaluating its statistical properties, compaction efficiency and frequency characteristics. The signal analysis revealed that the energy compaction of the DCT and wavelet transforms is limited and the frequency characteristic of SNR residual signals decay rather slowly. Moreover, the blockiness artifacts of the low bit-rate coded base-layer result in artificial high frequencies in the residual signal. Subsequently, a variety of wavelet and embedded DCT coding techniques applicable to the FGS framework are evaluated and their results are interpreted based on the identified signal properties. As expected from the theoretical signal analysis, the rate-distortion performances of the embedded wavelet and DCT-based coders are very

Robust Machine Learning-Based Correction on Automatic Segmentation of the Cerebellum and Brainstem.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jun Yi; Ngo, Michael M; Hessl, David; Hagerman, Randi J; Rivera, Susan M

2016-01-01

Automated segmentation is a useful method for studying large brain structures such as the cerebellum and brainstem. However, automated segmentation may lead to inaccuracy and/or undesirable boundary. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether SegAdapter, a machine learning-based method, is useful for automatically correcting large segmentation errors and disagreement in anatomical definition. We further assessed the robustness of the method in handling size of training set, differences in head coil usage, and amount of brain atrophy. High resolution T1-weighted images were acquired from 30 healthy controls scanned with either an 8-channel or 32-channel head coil. Ten patients, who suffered from brain atrophy because of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, were scanned using the 32-channel head coil. The initial segmentations of the cerebellum and brainstem were generated automatically using Freesurfer. Subsequently, Freesurfer's segmentations were both manually corrected to serve as the gold standard and automatically corrected by SegAdapter. Using only 5 scans in the training set, spatial overlap with manual segmentation in Dice coefficient improved significantly from 0.956 (for Freesurfer segmentation) to 0.978 (for SegAdapter-corrected segmentation) for the cerebellum and from 0.821 to 0.954 for the brainstem. Reducing the training set size to 2 scans only decreased the Dice coefficient ≤0.002 for the cerebellum and ≤ 0.005 for the brainstem compared to the use of training set size of 5 scans in corrective learning. The method was also robust in handling differences between the training set and the test set in head coil usage and the amount of brain atrophy, which reduced spatial overlap only by segmentation and corrective learning provides a valuable method for accurate and efficient segmentation of the cerebellum and brainstem, particularly in large-scale neuroimaging studies, and potentially for segmenting other neural regions as

CD44-positive cells are candidates for astrocyte precursor cells in developing mouse cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Na; Kurachi, Masashi; Shibasaki, Koji; Okano-Uchida, Takayuki; Ishizaki, Yasuki

2012-03-01

Neural stem cells are generally considered to be committed to becoming precursor cells before terminally differentiating into either neurons or glial cells during neural development. Neuronal and oligodendrocyte precursor cells have been identified in several areas in the murine central nervous system. The presence of astrocyte precursor cells (APCs) is not so well understood. The present study provides several lines of evidence that CD44-positive cells are APCs in the early postnatal mouse cerebellum. In developing mouse cerebellum, CD44-positive cells, mostly located in the white matter, were positive for the markers of the astrocyte lineage, but negative for the markers of mature astrocytes. CD44-positive cells were purified from postnatal cerebellum by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and characterized in vitro. In the absence of any signaling molecule, many cells died by apoptosis. The surviving cells gradually expressed glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker for mature astrocytes, indicating that differentiation into mature astrocytes is the default program for these cells. The cells produced no neurospheres nor neurons nor oligodendrocytes under any condition examined, indicating these cells are not neural stem cells. Leukemia inhibitory factor greatly promoted astrocytic differentiation of CD44-positive cells, whereas bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) did not. Fibroblast growth factor-2 was a potent mitogen for these cells, but was insufficient for survival. BMP4 inhibited activation of caspase-3 and greatly promoted survival, suggesting a novel role for BMP4 in the control of development of astrocytes in cerebellum. We isolated and characterized only CD44 strongly positive large cells and discarded small and/or CD44 weakly positive cells in this study. Further studies are necessary to characterize these cells to help determine whether CD44 is a selective and specific marker for APCs in the developing mouse cerebellum. In conclusion, we succeeded in

Small-signal analysis of granular semiconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varpula, Aapo; Sinkkonen, Juha; Novikov, Sergey, E-mail: aapo.varpula@tkk.f [Department of Micro and Nanosciences, Aalto University, PO Box 13500, FI-00076 Aalto, Espoo (Finland)

2010-11-01

The small-signal ac response of granular n-type semiconductors is calculated analytically using the drift-diffusion theory when electronic trapping at grain boundaries is present. An electrical equivalent circuit (EEC) model of a granular n-type semiconductor is presented. The analytical model is verified with numerical simulation performed by SILVACO ATLAS. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results is very good in a broad frequency range at low dc bias voltages.

Small-signal analysis of granular semiconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varpula, Aapo; Sinkkonen, Juha; Novikov, Sergey

2010-01-01

The small-signal ac response of granular n-type semiconductors is calculated analytically using the drift-diffusion theory when electronic trapping at grain boundaries is present. An electrical equivalent circuit (EEC) model of a granular n-type semiconductor is presented. The analytical model is verified with numerical simulation performed by SILVACO ATLAS. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results is very good in a broad frequency range at low dc bias voltages.

Applicability and trends of anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Seung Joo; Kim, Tak-Hyun

2014-01-01

Anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes have been continuously developed, although the anaerobic sludge granulation process was not clearly understood. In this review, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), an expanded granule sludge blanket (EGSB), and a static granular bed reactor (SGBR) were introduced as components of a representative anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes. The characteristics and application trends of each reactor were presented. The UASB reactor was developed in the late 1970s and its use has been rapidly widespread due to the excellent performance. With the active granules, this reactor is able to treat various high-strength wastewaters as well as municipal wastewater. Most soluble industrial wastewaters can be efficiently applied using a UASB. The EGSB reactor was developed owing to give more chance to contact between wastewater and the granules. Dispersed sludge is separated from mature granules using the rapid upward velocity in this reactor. The EGSB reactor shows the excellent performance in treating low-strength and/or high-strength wastewater, especially under low temperatures. The SGBR, developed at Iowa State University, is one of anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes. Although the configuration of the SGBR is very simple, the performance of this system is similar to that of the UASB or EGSB reactor. The anaerobic sludge granulation processes showed excellent performance for various wastewaters at a broad range of organic loading rate in lab-, pilot-scale tests. This leads to erect thousands of full-scale granular processes, which has been widely operated around the world. -- Highlights: • Anaerobic sludge granulation is a key parameter for maintaining granular processes. • Anaerobic granular digestion processes are applicable for various wastewaters. • The UASB is an economic high-rate anaerobic granular process. • The EGSB can treat high-strength wastewater using expanding granules. • The SGBR is

Oblique shock waves in granular flows over bluff bodies

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Gopan Nandu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Granular flows around an object have been the focus of numerous analytical, experimental and simulation studies. The structure and nature of the oblique shock wave developed when a quasi-two dimensional flow of spherical granular particles streams past an immersed, fixed cylindrical obstacle forms the focus of this study. The binary granular mixture, consisting of particles of the same diameter but different material properties, is investigated by using a modified LIGGGHTS package as the simulation engine. Variations in the solid fraction and granular temperature within the resulting flow are studied. The Mach number is calculated and is used to distinguish between the subsonic and the supersonic regions of the bow shock.

76 FR 8774 - Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From Japan

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-15

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 731-TA-386 (Third Review)] Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From Japan AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission. ACTION: Termination of five... revocation of the antidumping duty order on granular polytetrafluoroethylene resin from Japan would be likely...

Overexpression of mutant ataxin-3 in mouse cerebellum induces ataxia and cerebellar neuropathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Nóbrega, Clévio; Nascimento-Ferreira, Isabel; Onofre, Isabel; Albuquerque, David; Conceição, Mariana; Déglon, Nicole; de Almeida, Luís Pereira

2013-08-01

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), also known as spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), is a fatal, dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by the polyglutamine-expanded protein ataxin-3. Clinical manifestations include cerebellar ataxia and pyramidal signs culminating in severe neuronal degeneration. Currently, there is no therapy able to modify disease progression. In the present study, we aimed at investigating one of the most severely affected brain regions in the disorder--the cerebellum--and the behavioral defects associated with the neuropathology in this region. For this purpose, we injected lentiviral vectors encoding full-length human mutant ataxin-3 in the mouse cerebellum of 3-week-old C57/BL6 mice. We show that circumscribed expression of human mutant ataxin-3 in the cerebellum mediates within a short time frame--6 weeks, the development of a behavioral phenotype including reduced motor coordination, wide-based ataxic gait, and hyperactivity. Furthermore, the expression of mutant ataxin-3 resulted in the accumulation of intranuclear inclusions, neuropathological abnormalities, and neuronal death. These data show that lentiviral-based expression of mutant ataxin-3 in the mouse cerebellum induces localized neuropathology, which is sufficient to generate a behavioral ataxic phenotype. Moreover, this approach provides a physiologically relevant, cost-effective and time-effective animal model to gain further insights into the pathogenesis of MJD and for the evaluation of experimental therapeutics of MJD.

Linking Essential Tremor to the Cerebellum: Neuropathological Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Louis, Elan D

2016-06-01

A fundamental question about essential tremor (ET) is whether its associated pathological changes and disease mechanisms are linkable to a specific brain region. To that end, recent tissue-based studies have made significant strides in elucidating changes in the ET brain. Emerging from these studies is increasing neuropathological evidence linking ET to the cerebellum. These studies have systematically identified a broad range of structural, degenerative changes in the ET cerebellum, spanning across all Purkinje cell compartments. These include the dendritic compartment (where there is an increase in number of Purkinje cell dendritic swellings, a pruning of the dendritic arbor, and a reduction in spine density), the cell body (where, aside from reductions in Purkinje cell linear density in some studies, there is an increase in the number of heterotopic Purkinje cell soma), and the axonal compartment (where a plethora of changes in axonal morphology have been observed, including an increase in the number of thickened axonal profiles, torpedoes, axonal recurrent collaterals, axonal branching, and terminal axonal sprouting). Additional changes, possibly due to secondary remodeling, have been observed in neighboring neuronal populations. These include a hypertrophy of basket cell axonal processes and changes in the distribution of climbing fiber-Purkinje cell synapses. These changes all distinguish ET from normal control brains. Initial studies further indicate that the profile (i.e., constellation) of these changes may separate ET from other diseases of the cerebellum, thereby serving as a disease signature. With the discovery of these changes, a new model of ET has arisen, which posits that it may be a neurodegenerative disorder centered in the cerebellar cortex. These newly emerging neuropathological studies pave the way for anatomically focused, hypothesis-driven, molecular mechanistic studies of disease pathogenesis.

Efficiency of a Multi-Soil-Layering System on Wastewater Treatment Using Environment-Friendly Filter Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chia-Chun Ho

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The multi-soil-layering (MSL system primarily comprises two parts, specifically, the soil mixture layer (SML and the permeable layer (PL. In Japan, zeolite is typically used as the permeable layer material. In the present study, zeolite was substituted with comparatively cheaper and more environmentally friendly materials, such as expanded clay aggregates, oyster shells, and already-used granular activated carbon collected from water purification plants. A series of indoor tests indicated that the suspended solid (SS removal efficiency of granular activated carbon was between 76.2% and 94.6%; zeolite and expanded clay aggregates achieved similar efficiencies that were between 53.7% and 87.4%, and oyster shells presented the lowest efficiency that was between 29.8% and 61.8%. Further results show that the oyster shell system required an increase of wastewater retention time by 2 to 4 times that of the zeolite system to maintain similar chemical oxygen demand (COD removal efficiency. Among the four MSL samples, the zeolite system and granular activated carbon system demonstrated a stable NH3-N removal performance at 92.3%–99.8%. The expanded clay aggregate system present lower removal performance because of its low adsorption capacity and excessively large pores, causing NO3−-N to be leached away under high hydraulic loading rate conditions. The total phosphorous (TP removal efficiency of the MSL systems demonstrated no direct correlation with the permeable layer material. Therefore, all MSL samples achieved a TP efficiency of between 92.1% and 99.2%.

Spherical shock-wave propagation in three-dimensional granular packings.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Kun; Bai, Chun-Hua

2011-02-01

We investigate numerically the spherical shock-wave propagation in an open dense granular packing perturbed by the sudden expansion of a spherical intruder in the interior of the pack, focusing on the correlation between geometrical fabrics and propagating properties. The measurements of the temporal and spatial variations in a variety of propagating properties define a consistent serrated wave substructure with characteristic length on the orders of particle diameters. Further inspection of particle packing reveals a well-defined particle layering that persists several particle diameters away from the intruder, although its dominant effects are only within one to two diameters. This interface-induced layering not only exactly coincides with the serrated wave profile, but also highlights the competition between two energy transmission mechanisms involving distinct transport speeds. The alternating dominances between these two mechanisms contribute to the nonlinear wave propagation on the particle scale. Moreover, the proliferation of intricate three-dimensional contact force networks suggests the anisotropic stress transmission, which is found to also arise from the localized packing structure in the vicinity of the intruder.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity and Network Analysis of Cerebellum with Respect to IQ and Gender

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Vasileios C. Pezoulas

2017-04-01

Full Text Available During the last years, it has been established that the prefrontal and posterior parietal brain lobes, which are mostly related to intelligence, have many connections to cerebellum. However, there is a limited research investigating cerebellum's relationship with cognitive processes. In this study, the network of cerebellum was analyzed in order to investigate its overall organization in individuals with low and high fluid Intelligence Quotient (IQ. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI data were selected from 136 subjects in resting-state from the Human Connectome Project (HCP database and were further separated into two IQ groups composed of 69 low-IQ and 67 high-IQ subjects. Cerebellum was parcellated into 28 lobules/ROIs (per subject using a standard cerebellum anatomical atlas. Thereafter, correlation matrices were constructed by computing Pearson's correlation coefficients between the average BOLD time-series for each pair of ROIs inside the cerebellum. By computing conventional graph metrics, small-world network properties were verified using the weighted clustering coefficient and the characteristic path length for estimating the trade-off between segregation and integration. In addition, a connectivity metric was computed for extracting the average cost per network. The concept of the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST was adopted and implemented in order to avoid methodological biases in graph comparisons and retain only the strongest connections per network. Subsequently, six global and three local metrics were calculated in order to retrieve useful features concerning the characteristics of each MST. Moreover, the local metrics of degree and betweenness centrality were used to detect hubs, i.e., nodes with high importance. The computed set of metrics gave rise to extensive statistical analysis in order to examine differences between low and high-IQ groups, as well as between all possible gender-based group combinations. Our results

Collapse of tall granular columns in fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Krishna; Soga, Kenichi; Delenne, Jean-Yves

2017-06-01

Avalanches, landslides, and debris flows are geophysical hazards, which involve rapid mass movement of granular solids, water, and air as a multi-phase system. In order to describe the mechanism of immersed granular flows, it is important to consider both the dynamics of the solid phase and the role of the ambient fluid. In the present study, the collapse of a granular column in fluid is studied using 2D LBM - DEM. The flow kinematics are compared with the dry and buoyant granular collapse to understand the influence of hydrodynamic forces and lubrication on the run-out. In the case of tall columns, the amount of material destabilised above the failure plane is larger than that of short columns. Therefore, the surface area of the mobilised mass that interacts with the surrounding fluid in tall columns is significantly higher than the short columns. This increase in the area of soil - fluid interaction results in an increase in the formation of turbulent vortices thereby altering the deposit morphology. It is observed that the vortices result in the formation of heaps that significantly affects the distribution of mass in the flow. In order to understand the behaviour of tall columns, the run-out behaviour of a dense granular column with an initial aspect ratio of 6 is studied. The collapse behaviour is analysed for different slope angles: 0°, 2.5°, 5° and 7.5°.

Traffic and Granular Flow '11

CERN Document Server

Buslaev, Alexander; Bugaev, Alexander; Yashina, Marina; Schadschneider, Andreas; Schreckenberg, Michael; TGF11

2013-01-01

This book continues the biannual series of conference proceedings, which has become a classical reference resource in traffic and granular research alike. It addresses new developments at the interface between physics, engineering and computational science. Complex systems, where many simple agents, be they vehicles or particles, give rise to surprising and fascinating phenomena.   The contributions collected in these proceedings cover several research fields, all of which deal with transport. Topics include highway, pedestrian and internet traffic, granular matter, biological transport, transport networks, data acquisition, data analysis and technological applications. Different perspectives, i.e. modeling, simulations, experiments and phenomenological observations, are considered.

A particle-based method for granular flow simulation

KAUST Repository

Chang, Yuanzhang; Bao, Kai; Zhu, Jian; Wu, Enhua

2012-01-01

We present a new particle-based method for granular flow simulation. In the method, a new elastic stress term, which is derived from a modified form of the Hooke's law, is included in the momentum governing equation to handle the friction of granular materials. Viscosity force is also added to simulate the dynamic friction for the purpose of smoothing the velocity field and further maintaining the simulation stability. Benefiting from the Lagrangian nature of the SPH method, large flow deformation can be well handled easily and naturally. In addition, a signed distance field is also employed to enforce the solid boundary condition. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and efficient for handling the flow of granular materials, and different kinds of granular behaviors can be well simulated by adjusting just one parameter. © 2012 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

A particle-based method for granular flow simulation

KAUST Repository

Chang, Yuanzhang

2012-03-16

We present a new particle-based method for granular flow simulation. In the method, a new elastic stress term, which is derived from a modified form of the Hooke\\'s law, is included in the momentum governing equation to handle the friction of granular materials. Viscosity force is also added to simulate the dynamic friction for the purpose of smoothing the velocity field and further maintaining the simulation stability. Benefiting from the Lagrangian nature of the SPH method, large flow deformation can be well handled easily and naturally. In addition, a signed distance field is also employed to enforce the solid boundary condition. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and efficient for handling the flow of granular materials, and different kinds of granular behaviors can be well simulated by adjusting just one parameter. © 2012 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Subchronic Exposure to Arsenic Represses the TH/TRβ1-CaMK IV Signaling Pathway in Mouse Cerebellum

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Huai Guan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We previously reported that arsenic (As impaired learning and memory by down-regulating calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMK IV in mouse cerebellum. It has been documented that the thyroid hormone receptor (TR/retinoid X receptor (RXR heterodimer and thyroid hormone (TH may be involved in the regulation of CaMK IV. To investigate whether As affects the TR/RXR heterodimer and TH, we determined As concentration in serum and cerebellum, 3,5,3’-triiodothyronine (T3 and thyroxin (T4 levels in serum, and expression of CaMK IV, TR and RXR in cerebellum of mice exposed to As. Cognition function was examined by the step-down passive avoidance task and Morris water maze (MWM tests. Morphology of the cerebellum was observed by Hematoxylin-Eosin staining under light microscope. Our results showed that the concentrations of As in the serum and cerebellum of mice both increased with increasing As-exposure level. A significant positive correlation was found between the two processes. Adeficit in learning and memory was found in the exposed mice. Abnormal morphologic changes of Purkinje cells were observed in cerebellum of the exposed mice. Moreover, the cerebellar expressions of CaMK IV protein and the TRβ gene, and TRβ1 protein were significantly lower in As-exposed mice than those in controls. Subchronic exposure to As appears to increase its level in serum and cerebella of mice, impairing learning and memory and down-regulating expression of TRβ1 as well as down-stream CaMK IV. It is also suggested that the increased As may be responsible for down-regulation of TRβ1 and CaMK IV in cerebellum and that the down-regulated TRβ1 may be involved in As-induced impairment of learning and memory via inhibiting CaMK IV and its down-stream pathway.

Subchronic Exposure to Arsenic Represses the TH/TRβ1-CaMK IV Signaling Pathway in Mouse Cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Huai; Li, Shuangyue; Guo, Yanjie; Liu, Xiaofeng; Yang, Yi; Guo, Jinqiu; Li, Sheng; Zhang, Cong; Shang, Lixin; Piao, Fengyuan

2016-01-26

We previously reported that arsenic (As) impaired learning and memory by down-regulating calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMK IV) in mouse cerebellum. It has been documented that the thyroid hormone receptor (TR)/retinoid X receptor (RXR) heterodimer and thyroid hormone (TH) may be involved in the regulation of CaMK IV. To investigate whether As affects the TR/RXR heterodimer and TH, we determined As concentration in serum and cerebellum, 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxin (T4) levels in serum, and expression of CaMK IV, TR and RXR in cerebellum of mice exposed to As. Cognition function was examined by the step-down passive avoidance task and Morris water maze (MWM) tests. Morphology of the cerebellum was observed by Hematoxylin-Eosin staining under light microscope. Our results showed that the concentrations of As in the serum and cerebellum of mice both increased with increasing As-exposure level. A significant positive correlation was found between the two processes. Adeficit in learning and memory was found in the exposed mice. Abnormal morphologic changes of Purkinje cells were observed in cerebellum of the exposed mice. Moreover, the cerebellar expressions of CaMK IV protein and the TRβ gene, and TRβ1 protein were significantly lower in As-exposed mice than those in controls. Subchronic exposure to As appears to increase its level in serum and cerebella of mice, impairing learning and memory and down-regulating expression of TRβ1 as well as down-stream CaMK IV. It is also suggested that the increased As may be responsible for down-regulation of TRβ1 and CaMK IV in cerebellum and that the down-regulated TRβ1 may be involved in As-induced impairment of learning and memory via inhibiting CaMK IV and its down-stream pathway.

Migraineurs without aura show microstructural abnormalities in the cerebellum and frontal lobe.

Science.gov (United States)

Granziera, C; Romascano, D; Daducci, A; Roche, A; Vincent, M; Krueger, G; Hadjikhani, N

2013-12-01

The involvement of the cerebellum in migraine pathophysiology is not well understood. We used a biparametric approach at high-field MRI (3 T) to assess the structural integrity of the cerebellum in 15 migraineurs with aura (MWA), 23 migraineurs without aura (MWoA), and 20 healthy controls (HC). High-resolution T1 relaxation maps were acquired together with magnetization transfer images in order to probe microstructural and myelin integrity. Clusterwise analysis was performed on T1 and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) maps of the cerebellum of MWA, MWoA, and HC using an ANOVA and a non-parametric clusterwise permutation F test, with age and gender as covariates and correction for familywise error rate. In addition, mean MTR and T1 in frontal regions known to be highly connected to the cerebellum were computed. Clusterwise comparison among groups showed a cluster of lower MTR in the right Crus I of MWoA patients vs. HC and MWA subjects (p = 0.04). Univariate and bivariate analysis on T1 and MTR contrasts showed that MWoA patients had longer T1 and lower MTR in the right and left pars orbitalis compared to MWA (p < 0.01 and 0.05, respectively), but no differences were found with HC. Lower MTR and longer T1 point at a loss of macromolecules and/or micro-edema in Crus I and pars orbitalis in MWoA patients vs. HC and vs. MWA. The pathophysiological implications of these findings are discussed in light of recent literature.

Neurons of the dentate molecular layer in the rabbit hippocampus.

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Francisco J Sancho-Bielsa

Full Text Available The molecular layer of the dentate gyrus appears as the main entrance gate for information into the hippocampus, i.e., where the perforant path axons from the entorhinal cortex synapse onto the spines and dendrites of granule cells. A few dispersed neuronal somata appear intermingled in between and probably control the flow of information in this area. In rabbits, the number of neurons in the molecular layer increases in the first week of postnatal life and then stabilizes to appear permanent and heterogeneous over the individuals' life span, including old animals. By means of Golgi impregnations, NADPH histochemistry, immunocytochemical stainings and intracellular labelings (lucifer yellow and biocytin injections, eight neuronal morphological types have been detected in the molecular layer of developing adult and old rabbits. Six of them appear as interneurons displaying smooth dendrites and GABA immunoreactivity: those here called as globoid, vertical, small horizontal, large horizontal, inverted pyramidal and polymorphic. Additionally there are two GABA negative types: the sarmentous and ectopic granular neurons. The distribution of the somata and dendritic trees of these neurons shows preferences for a definite sublayer of the molecular layer: small horizontal, sarmentous and inverted pyramidal neurons are preferably found in the outer third of the molecular layer; vertical, globoid and polymorph neurons locate the intermediate third, while large horizontal and ectopic granular neurons occupy the inner third or the juxtagranular molecular layer. Our results reveal substantial differences in the morphology and electrophysiological behaviour between each neuronal archetype in the dentate molecular layer, allowing us to propose a new classification for this neural population.

Neurohypophysis granular cell tumours. Upon neurohypophysis rare tumours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrande, G.; Kujas, M.; Gancel, A.; Turpin, G.; Bruckert, E.; Kuhn, J.M.; Luton, J.P.

1995-01-01

Granular cell tumours of neurohypophysis are rare. These tumours are more often encountered as incidental autopsy findings seen in up to 17 % of unselected adult autopsy cases. There are few reports of para-sellar granular cell tumours large enough to cause symptoms. We present three cases of neurohypophysis granular cell tumour and a review of the literature. In one patient, the asymptomatic granular cell tumour was incidentally discovered at surgical removal of a corticotrophic micro-adenoma. The remaining 2 patients had a symptomatic tumour which caused neurological symptoms such as visual disturbance and headaches and endocrine disorders such as hypopituitarism or hyper-prolactinaemia. In these 2 cases, computerized tomography showed a well-circumscribed, contrast-enhanced, intra-sellar and supra-sellar mass. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated an isointense gadolinium-enhanced mass in T1-weighted-images. Trans-sphenoidal partial resection was performed and histology was interpreted as a granular cell tumour. The immunohistochemical study was positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GEAP) and neuron specific enolase (NSE) in 1 of the 2 tumours and positive for S100 protein and vimentin in both tumours but negative for CD68. The histogenesis of neurohypophysis granular cell tumours is still controversial but ultrastructural and immunohistochemical studies support the theory that may arise from pituicytes, the glial cells of neurohypophysis. Management of these benign, slow growing, tumours is based mainly on neurosurgical resection. Data from the literature do not support a beneficial effect of post operative radiation therapy on postoperative recurrences. (authors). 23 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Granular Cell Tumor

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1). Her packed cell volume was 40%, she was system, gastro-intestinal tract, brain, heart, and negative to human immunodeficiency virus. 2 female reproductive . ... histocytes and neurons at various times. They granules. The granules are probably of lysosmal were consequently termed granular cell origin and contain ...

Study of automated segmentation of the cerebellum and brainstem on brain MR images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Norio; Matsuura, Yukihiro; Sanada, Shigeru; Suzuki, Masayuki

2005-01-01

MR imaging is an important method for diagnosing abnormalities of the brain. This paper presents an automated method to segment the cerebellum and brainstem for brain MR images. MR images were obtained from 10 normal subjects (male 4, female 6; 22-75 years old, average 31.0 years) and 15 patients with brain atrophy (male 3, female 12; 62-85 years of age, average 76.0 years). The automated method consisted of the following four steps: segmentation of the brain on original images, detection of an upper plane of the cerebellum using the Hough transform, correction of the plane using three-dimensional (3D) information, and segmentation of the cerebellum and brainstem using the plane. The results indicated that the regions obtained by the automated method were visually similar to those obtained by a manual method. The average rates of coincidence between the automated method and manual method were 83.0±9.0% in normal subjects and 86.4±3.6% in patients. (author)

Development of granular powder manufacturing technology by spray pyrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katoh, Yoshiyuki; Kawase, Keiichi; Takahashi, Yoshiharu; Todokoro, Akio

1996-01-01

For shortening of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel manufacturing process and improvement in treatment of MOX-powder, we have been developing the granular powder production technology. Since the granular powders have excellent fluidity owing to the spherical shape, there is the possibility of modifying scattering and adcering of the powder in the process equipment. In this paper, spray pyrolysis process in adopted as the process of manufacturing the granular powders and the basic feasibility study has been carried out. The experimental results show that the manufactured granular powders have excellent fluidity and the diameter of the powders is controllable. Furthermore, high density pellets are formed by sintering the powders. Thus, it is clarified that this process is promising for the actual MOX fuel fabrication. (author)

Enhanced selection of micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol degrading granular sludge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lv, Yuancai, E-mail: donkey1204@hotmail.com [State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, College of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Chen, Yuancai, E-mail: chenyc@scut.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, College of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration Area, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Song, Wenzhe, E-mail: songwenzhe007@126.com [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration Area, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Hu, Yongyou, E-mail: ppyyhu@scut.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, College of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration Area, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China)

2014-09-15

Graphical abstract: In this work, an aerobic column reactor was placed before the USB to maintain micro-oxygen condition in the reactor and the micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L{sup −1}) was successfully obtained. PCP degradation by the micro-aerobic system was studied and the variance of microbial community was also discussed by using PCR-DGGE analysis. - Highlights: • Micro-aerobic granular sludge was cultivated in column-type combined reactors. • PCP biodegradation, VFA accumulation and biogas production were studied. • The function of Methanogenic archaeon in the system was investigated. • Fluctuation and diversity of microbial community were discussed by DGGE analysis. • The dominated microorganisms were identified by 16S rDNA sequences. - Abstract: Column-type combined reactors were designed to cultivate micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L{sup −1}) over 39-day experimental period. Micro-aerobic granular had both anaerobic activity (SMA: 2.34 mMCH{sub 4}/h g VSS) and aerobic activity (SOUR: 2.21 mMO{sub 2}/h g VSS). Metabolite analysis results revealed that PCP was sequentially dechlorinated to TCP, DCP, and eventually to MCP. Methanogens were not directly involved in the dechlorination of PCP, but might played a vital role in stabilizing the overall structure of the granule sludge. For Eubacteria, the Shannon Index (2.09 in inoculated granular sludge) increased both in micro-aerobic granular sludge (2.61) and PCP-degradation granular sludge (2.55). However, for Archaea, it decreased from 2.53 to 1.85 and 1.84, respectively. Although the Shannon Index demonstrated slight difference between micro-aerobic granular sludge and PCP-degradation granular sludge, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated obvious variance of the microbial composition, revealing significant effect of micro

Enhanced selection of micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol degrading granular sludge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lv, Yuancai; Chen, Yuancai; Song, Wenzhe; Hu, Yongyou

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: In this work, an aerobic column reactor was placed before the USB to maintain micro-oxygen condition in the reactor and the micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L −1 ) was successfully obtained. PCP degradation by the micro-aerobic system was studied and the variance of microbial community was also discussed by using PCR-DGGE analysis. - Highlights: • Micro-aerobic granular sludge was cultivated in column-type combined reactors. • PCP biodegradation, VFA accumulation and biogas production were studied. • The function of Methanogenic archaeon in the system was investigated. • Fluctuation and diversity of microbial community were discussed by DGGE analysis. • The dominated microorganisms were identified by 16S rDNA sequences. - Abstract: Column-type combined reactors were designed to cultivate micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L −1 ) over 39-day experimental period. Micro-aerobic granular had both anaerobic activity (SMA: 2.34 mMCH 4 /h g VSS) and aerobic activity (SOUR: 2.21 mMO 2 /h g VSS). Metabolite analysis results revealed that PCP was sequentially dechlorinated to TCP, DCP, and eventually to MCP. Methanogens were not directly involved in the dechlorination of PCP, but might played a vital role in stabilizing the overall structure of the granule sludge. For Eubacteria, the Shannon Index (2.09 in inoculated granular sludge) increased both in micro-aerobic granular sludge (2.61) and PCP-degradation granular sludge (2.55). However, for Archaea, it decreased from 2.53 to 1.85 and 1.84, respectively. Although the Shannon Index demonstrated slight difference between micro-aerobic granular sludge and PCP-degradation granular sludge, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated obvious variance of the microbial composition, revealing significant effect of micro-aerobic condition and

Exercise-induced expression of monocarboxylate transporter 2 in the cerebellum and its contribution to motor performance.

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Hoshino, Daisuke; Setogawa, Susumu; Kitaoka, Yu; Masuda, Hiroyuki; Tamura, Yuki; Hatta, Hideo; Yanagihara, Dai

2016-10-28

Monocarboxylate transporter 2 (MCT2) is an important component of the lactate transport system in neurons of the adult brain. Purkinje cells in the cerebellum have been shown to have high levels of MCT2, suggesting that this protein has a key function in energy metabolism and neuronal activities in these cells. However, it is not known whether inhibition of lactate transport via MCT2 in the cerebellum affects motor performance. To address this question, we examined motor performance in mice following the inhibition of lactate transport via MCT2 in the cerebellum using α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate (4-CIN). 4-CIN or saline was injected into the subarachnoidal space of the cerebellum of mice and motor performance was analyzed by a rotarod test both before and after injection. 4-CIN injection reduced retention time in the rotarod test by approximately 80% at 1h post-injection compared with pre-injection. No effect was observed at 2h post-injection or in mice treated with the vehicle control. Because we observed that MCT2 plays an important role in motor performance, we next investigated the effects of acute exercise on MCT2 transcription and protein levels in mice sampled pre-exercise and at 0 and 5h after 2h of treadmill running. We found a significant increase in MCT2 mRNA levels, but not of protein levels, in the cerebellum at 5h after exercise. Our results indicate that lactate transport via MCT2 in the cerebellum may play an important role in motor performance and that exercise can increase MCT2 expression at the transcriptional level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Granular neural networks, pattern recognition and bioinformatics

CERN Document Server

Pal, Sankar K; Ganivada, Avatharam

2017-01-01

This book provides a uniform framework describing how fuzzy rough granular neural network technologies can be formulated and used in building efficient pattern recognition and mining models. It also discusses the formation of granules in the notion of both fuzzy and rough sets. Judicious integration in forming fuzzy-rough information granules based on lower approximate regions enables the network to determine the exactness in class shape as well as to handle the uncertainties arising from overlapping regions, resulting in efficient and speedy learning with enhanced performance. Layered network and self-organizing analysis maps, which have a strong potential in big data, are considered as basic modules,. The book is structured according to the major phases of a pattern recognition system (e.g., classification, clustering, and feature selection) with a balanced mixture of theory, algorithm, and application. It covers the latest findings as well as directions for future research, particularly highlighting bioinf...

Functionally heterogenous ryanodine receptors in avian cerebellum.

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Sierralta, J; Fill, M; Suárez-Isla, B A

1996-07-19

The functional heterogeneity of the ryanodine receptor (RyR) channels in avian cerebellum was defined. Heavy endoplasmic reticulum microsomes had significant levels of ryanodine and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate binding. Scatchard analysis and kinetic studies indicated the existence of at least two distinct ryanodine binding sites. Ryanodine binding was calcium-dependent but was not significantly enhanced by caffeine. Incorporation of microsomes into planar lipid bilayers revealed ion channels with pharmacological features (calcium, magnesium, ATP, and caffeine sensitivity) similar to the RyR channels found in mammalian striated muscle. Despite a wide range of unitary conductances (220-500 picosiemens, symmetrical cesium methanesulfonate), ryanodine locked both channels into a characteristic slow gating subconductance state, positively identifying them as RyR channels. Two populations of avian RyR channels were functionally distinguished by single channel calcium sensitivity. One population was defined by a bell-shaped calcium sensitivity analogous to the skeletal muscle RyR isoform (type I). The calcium sensitivity of the second RyR population was sigmoidal and analogous to the cardiac muscle RyR isoform (type II). These data show that there are at least two functionally distinct RyR channel populations in avian cerebellum. This leads to the possibility that these functionally distinct RyR channels are involved in different intracellular calcium signaling pathways.

Structural layers of ex vivo rat hippocampus at 7T MRI.

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Jeanine Manuella Kamsu

Full Text Available Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI applied to the hippocampus is challenging in studies of the neurophysiology of memory and the physiopathology of numerous diseases such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, ischemia, and depression. The hippocampus is a well-delineated cerebral structure with a multi-layered organization. Imaging of hippocampus layers is limited to a few studies and requires high magnetic field and gradient strength. We performed one conventional MRI sequence on a 7T MRI in order to visualize and to delineate the multi-layered hippocampal structure ex vivo in rat brains. We optimized a volumic three-dimensional T2 Rapid Acquisition Relaxation Enhancement (RARE sequence and quantified the volume of the hippocampus and one of its thinnest layers, the stratum granulare of the dentate gyrus. Additionally, we tested passive staining by gadolinium with the aim of decreasing the acquisition time and increasing image contrast. Using appropriated settings, six discrete layers were differentiated within the hippocampus in rats. In the hippocampus proper or Ammon's Horn (AH: the stratum oriens, the stratum pyramidale of, the stratum radiatum, and the stratum lacunosum moleculare of the CA1 were differentiated. In the dentate gyrus: the stratum moleculare and the stratum granulare layer were seen distinctly. Passive staining of one brain with gadolinium decreased the acquisition time by four and improved the differentiation between the layers. A conventional sequence optimized on a 7T MRI with a standard receiver surface coil will allow us to study structural layers (signal and volume of hippocampus in various rat models of neuropathology (anxiety, epilepsia, neurodegeneration.

Differentiating Patients with Parkinson's Disease from Normal Controls Using Gray Matter in the Cerebellum.

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Zeng, Ling-Li; Xie, Liang; Shen, Hui; Luo, Zhiguo; Fang, Peng; Hou, Yanan; Tang, Beisha; Wu, Tao; Hu, Dewen

2017-02-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders in the world. Previous studies have focused on the basal ganglia and cerebral cortices. To date, the cerebellum has not been systematically investigated in patients with PD. In the current study, 45 probable PD patients and 40 age- and gender-matched healthy controls underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging, and we used support vector machines combining with voxel-based morphometry to explore the cerebellar structural changes in the probable PD patients relative to healthy controls. The results revealed that the gray matter alterations were primarily located within the cerebellar Crus I, implying a possible important role of this region in PD. Furthermore, the gray matter alterations in the cerebellum could differentiate the probable PD patients from healthy controls with accuracies of more than 95 % (p cerebellum in the clinical diagnosis of PD.

On the submerging of a spherical intruder into granular beds

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Wu Chuan-Yu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Granular materials are complex systems and their mechanical behaviours are determined by the material properties of individual particles, the interaction between particles and the surrounding media, which are still incompletely understood. Using an advanced discrete element method (DEM, we simulate the submerging process of a spherical projectile (an intruder into granular materials of various properties with a zero penetration velocity (i.e. the intruder is touching the top surface of the granular bed and released from stationary and examine its settling behaviour. By systematically changing the density and size of the intruder and the particle density (i.e. the density of the particles in the granular bed, we find that the intruder can sink deep into the granular bed even with a zero penetration velocity. Furthermore, we confirm that under certain conditions the granular bed can behave like a Newtonian liquid and the submerging intruder can reach a constant velocity, i.e. the terminal velocity, identical to the settling of a sphere in a liquid, as observed experimentally. A mathematical model is also developed to predict the maximum penetration depth of the intruder. The model predictions are compared with experimental data reported in the literature,good agreement was obtained, demonstrating the model can accurately predict the submerging behaviour of the intruder in the granular media.

Jamming by compressing a system of granular crosses

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Zheng, Hu; Wang, Dong; Barés, Jonathan; Behringer, Robert

2017-06-01

A disordered stress-free granular packing can be jammed, transformed into a mechanically rigid structure, by increasing the density of particles or by applying shear deformation. The jamming behavior of systems made of 2D circular discs has been investigated in detail, but very little is known about jamming for non-spherical particles, and particularly, non-convex particles. Here, we perform an experimental study on jamming by compression of a system of quasi-2D granular crosses made of photo-elastic crosses. We measure the pressure evolution during cyclic compression and decompression. The Jamming packing fraction of these quasi-2D granular crosses is ϕJ ≃ 0.475, which is much smaller than the value ϕJ ≃ 0.84 for-2D granular disks. The packing fraction shifts systematically to higher values under compressive cycling, corresponding to systematic shifts in the stress-strain response curves. Associated with these shifts are rotations of the crosses, with minimal changes in their centers of mass.

Vortex jamming in superconductors and granular rheology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshino, Hajime; Nogawa, Tomoaki; Kim, Bongsoo

2009-01-01

We demonstrate that a highly frustrated anisotropic Josephson junction array (JJA) on a square lattice exhibits a zero-temperature jamming transition, which shares much in common with those in granular systems. Anisotropy of the Josephson couplings along the horizontal and vertical directions plays roles similar to normal load or density in granular systems. We studied numerically static and dynamic response of the system against shear, i.e. injection of external electric current at zero temperature. Current-voltage curves at various strength of the anisotropy exhibit universal scaling features around the jamming point much as do the flow curves in granular rheology, shear-stress versus shear-rate. It turns out that at zero temperature the jamming transition occurs right at the isotropic coupling and anisotropic JJA behaves as exotic fragile vortex matter: it behaves as a superconductor (vortex glass) in one direction, whereas it is a normal conductor (vortex liquid) in the other direction even at zero temperature. Furthermore, we find a variant of the theoretical model for the anisotropic JJA quantitatively reproduces universal master flow-curves of the granular systems. Our results suggest an unexpected common paradigm stretching over seemingly unrelated fields-the rheology of soft materials and superconductivity.

The Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus as a Motor and Cognitive Interface between the Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia.

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Mori, Fumika; Okada, Ken-Ichi; Nomura, Taishin; Kobayashi, Yasushi

2016-01-01

As an important component of ascending activating systems, brainstem cholinergic neurons in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) are involved in the regulation of motor control (locomotion, posture and gaze) and cognitive processes (attention, learning and memory). The PPTg is highly interconnected with several regions of the basal ganglia, and one of its key functions is to regulate and relay activity from the basal ganglia. Together, they have been implicated in the motor control system (such as voluntary movement initiation or inhibition), and modulate aspects of executive function (such as motivation). In addition to its intimate connection with the basal ganglia, projections from the PPTg to the cerebellum have been recently reported to synaptically activate the deep cerebellar nuclei. Classically, the cerebellum and basal ganglia were regarded as forming separated anatomical loops that play a distinct functional role in motor and cognitive behavioral control. Here, we suggest that the PPTg may also act as an interface device between the basal ganglia and cerebellum. As such, part of the therapeutic effect of PPTg deep brain stimulation (DBS) to relieve gait freezing and postural instability in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients might also involve modulation of the cerebellum. We review the anatomical position and role of the PPTg in the pathway of basal ganglia and cerebellum in relation to motor control, cognitive function and PD.

The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus as a motor and cognitive interface between the cerebellum and basal ganglia

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Fumika Mori

2016-11-01

Full Text Available As an important component of ascending activating systems, brainstem cholinergic neurons in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg are involved in the regulation of motor control (locomotion, posture and gaze and cognitive processes (attention, learning, and memory. The PPTg is highly interconnected with several regions of the basal ganglia, and one of its key functions is to regulate and relay activity from the basal ganglia. Together, they have been implicated in the motor control system (such as voluntary movement initiation or inhibition, and modulate aspects of executive function (such as motivation. In addition to its intimate connection with the basal ganglia, projections from the PPTg to the cerebellum have been recently reported to synaptically activate the deep cerebellar nuclei. Classically, the cerebellum and basal ganglia were regarded as forming separated anatomical loops that play a distinct functional role in motor and cognitive behavioral control. Here, we suggest that the PPTg may also act as an interface device between the basal ganglia and cerebellum. As such, part of the therapeutic effect of PPTg deep brain stimulation to relieve gait freezing and postural instability in advanced Parkinson’s disease patients might also involve modulation of the cerebellum. We review the anatomical position and role of the PPTg in the pathway of basal ganglia and cerebellum in relation to motor control, cognitive function, and Parkinson’s disease.

Cerebellum: from Fundamentals to Translational Approaches. The Seventh International Symposium of the Society for Research on the Cerebellum.

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Manto, Mario; Mariën, Peter

2016-02-01

In terms of cerebellar research and ataxiology, a most fascinating period is currently going on. Numerous academic groups are now focusing their innovative research on the so-called little brain, hidden at the bottom of our brain. Indeed, its unique anatomical features make the cerebellum a wonderful window to address major questions about the central nervous system. The seventh international symposium of the SRC was held in Brussels at the Palace of Academies from May 8 to 10, 2015. The main goal of this dense symposium was to gather in a 2-day meeting senior researchers of exceptional scientific quality and talented junior scientists from all over the world working in the multidisciplinary field of cerebellar research. Fundamental and clinical researchers shared the latest knowledge and developments in this rapidly growing field. New ideas, addressed in a variety of inspiring talks, provoked a vivid debate. Advances in genetics, development, electrophysiology, neuroimaging, neurocognition and affect, as well as in the cerebellar ataxias and the controversies on the roles and functions of the cerebellum were presented. The Ferdinando Rossi lecture and the key-note lecture were delivered by Jan Voogd and Chris De Zeeuw, respectively. Contacts between researchers of different neuroscientific disciplines established a robust basis for novel trends and promising new cooperations between researchers and their centers spread all over the world.

Investigation of granular impact using positron emission particle tracking

KAUST Repository

Marston, Jeremy O.

2015-04-01

We present results from an experimental study of granular impact using a combination of high-speed video and positron emission particle tracking (PEPT). The PEPT technique exploits the annihilation of photons from positron decay to determine the position of tracer particles either inside a small granular bed or attached to the object which impacts the bed. We use dense spheres as impactors and the granular beds are comprised of glass beads which are fluidised to achieve a range of different initial packing states. For the first time, we have simultaneously investigated both the trajectory of the sphere, the motion of particles in a 3-D granular bed and particles which jump into the resultant jet, which arises from the collapse of the cavity formed by the impacting sphere.

Paraqueratose granular: relato de seis casos em crianças Granular parakeratosis: a report of six cases in children

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Susana Giraldi

2006-02-01

Full Text Available A paraqueratose granular é alteração da queratinização, primeiramente descrita em adultos, caracterizada por pápulas e placas hiperqueratósicas nas áreas intertriginosas. Os autores descrevem seis casos de paraqueratose granular em crianças. Um paciente apresentava lesões nas regiões glúteas, dois em ambas as axilas e região cervical (apresentações inéditas na literatura. Três pacientes apresentavam lesões em pregas inguinais. Realizam também revisão da literatura e discutem a possível etiologia dessa rara dermatose.Granular parakeratosis is an alteration of keratinization that was first described in adults. It is characterized by hiperkeratotic plaques and papules in intertriginous areas. The authors describe six cases of granular parakeratosis in children. One patient had lesions on the buttocks; two children presented papules in both axillae and cervical region (presentations never described before in the literature. The remaining three patients presented with lesions in the inguinal folds. Review of the literature and discussion on the pathogenesis of this rare dermatosis are presented.

Effect of Maternal Diabetes on Cerebellum Histomorphometry in Neonatal Rats

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Z Khaksar

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In pregnant mothers, maternal diabetes occurs when pancreas can't produce enough insulin resulting in increased blood glucose levels in the mother and subsequently in the fetus. This investigation was conducted to evaluate the effects of maternal diabetes on cerebellum of offspring of diabetic mothers (ODM, which was carried out at the veterinary faculty of Shiraz University in 2007-2008. Methods: This was an experimental study that included sixteen normal adult female rats divided in two groups. Diabetes was induced in one group by Alloxan agent. Both groups became pregnant by natural mating . At 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after birth, the cerebellum of all offsprings were collected and the weight of neonates was also measured. After producing histological slides, Olympus BX51 microscope and ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Olysia softwarwere used. Various histological parameters used included gray and white matters thicknesses (µ, the number of cells in gray and white matter separately per unit and the ratio of gray matter to white matter. Results: Cerebellar parameters decreased in ODM as compared to the control group. The body weight of ODM was significantly more than that of the control group (p< 0.05. Conclusions: Maternal hyperglycaemia exhibited deleterious effects on cerebellum during fetal life, which remained persistent during postneonatal period. Maternal diabetes also resulted in reduction of number of cells and thicknesses of both gray and white matter.

The critical role of Golgi cells in regulating spatio-temporal integration and plasticity at the cerebellum input stage

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2008-07-01

Full Text Available After the discovery at the end of the 19th century (Golgi, 1883, the Golgi cell was precisely described by S.R. y Cajal (see Cajal, 1987, 1995 and functionally identified as an inhibitory interneuron 50 years later by J.C. Eccles and colleagues (Eccles e al., 1967. Then, its role has been casted by Marr (1969 within the Motor Learning Theory as a codon size regulator of granule cell activity. It was immediately clear that Golgi cells had to play a critical role, since they are the main inhibitory interneuron of the granular layer and control activity of as many as 100 millions granule cells. In vitro, Golgi cells show pacemaking, resonance, phase-reset and rebound-excitation in the theta-frequency band. These properties are likely to impact on their activity in vivo, which shows irregular spontaneous beating modulated by sensory inputs and burst responses to punctuate stimulation followed by a silent pause. Moreover, investigations have given insight into Golgi cells connectivity within the cerebellar network and on their impact on the spatio-temporal organization of activity. It turns out that Golgi cells can control both the temporal dynamics and the spatial distribution of information transmitted through the cerebellar network. Moreover, Golgi cells regulate the induction of long-term synaptic plasticity at the mossy fiber - granule cell synapse. Thus, the concept is emerging that Golgi cells are of critical importance for regulating granular layer network activity bearing important consequences for cerebellar computation as a whole.

Semiautomated volumetry of the cerebrum, cerebellum-brain stem, and temporal lobe on brain magnetic resonance images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Norio; Matsuura, Yukihiro; Kawahara, Kazuhiro; Tsujii, Hideo; Yamamoto, Tomoyuki; Sanada, Shigeru; Suzuki, Masayuki; Matsui, Osamu

2008-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop an automated method of segmenting the cerebrum, cerebellum-brain stem, and temporal lobe simultaneously on magnetic resonance (MR) images. We obtained T1-weighted MR images from 10 normal subjects and 19 patients with brain atrophy. To perform automated volumetry from MR images, we performed the following three steps: segmentation of the brain region; separation between the cerebrum and the cerebellum-brain stem; and segmentation of the temporal lobe. Evaluation was based on the correctly recognized region (CRR) (i.e., the region recognized by both the automated and manual methods). The mean CRRs of the normal and atrophic brains were 98.2% and 97.9% for the cerebrum, 87.9% and 88.5% for the cerebellum-brain stem, and 76.9% and 85.8% for the temporal lobe, respectively. We introduce an automated volumetric method for the cerebrum, cerebellum-brain stem, and temporal lobe on brain MR images. Our method can be applied to not only the normal brain but also the atrophic brain. (author)

CDKL5 knockout leads to altered inhibitory transmission in the cerebellum of adult mice.

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Sivilia, S; Mangano, C; Beggiato, S; Giuliani, A; Torricella, R; Baldassarro, V A; Fernandez, M; Lorenzini, L; Giardino, L; Borelli, A C; Ferraro, L; Calzà, L

2016-06-01

Mutations in the X-linked cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 gene (CDKL5) are associated to severe neurodevelopmental alterations including motor symptoms. In order to elucidate the neurobiological substrate of motor symptoms in CDKL5 syndrome, we investigated the motor function, GABA and glutamate pathways in the cerebellum of CDKL5 knockout female mice. Behavioural data indicate that CDKL5-KO mice displayed impaired motor coordination on the Rotarod test, and altered steps, as measured by the gait analysis using the CatWalk test. A higher reduction in spontaneous GABA efflux, than that in glutamate, was observed in CDKL5-KO mouse cerebellar synaptosomes, leading to a significant increase of spontaneous glutamate/GABA efflux ratio in these animals. On the contrary, there were no differences between groups in K(+) -evoked GABA and glutamate efflux. The anatomical analysis of cerebellar excitatory and inhibitory pathways showed a selective defect of the GABA-related marker GAD67 in the molecular layer in CDKL5-KO mice, while the glutamatergic marker VGLUT1 was unchanged in the same area. Fine cerebellar structural abnormalities such as a reduction of the inhibitory basket 'net' estimated volume and an increase of the pinceau estimated volume were also observed in CDKL5-KO mice. Finally, the BDNF mRNA expression level in the cerebellum, but not in the hippocampus, was reduced compared with WT animals. These data suggest that CDKL5 deletion during development more markedly impairs the establishment of a correct GABAergic cerebellar network than that of glutamatergic one, leading to the behavioural symptoms associated with CDKL5 mutation. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Robust Machine Learning-Based Correction on Automatic Segmentation of the Cerebellum and Brainstem.

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Jun Yi Wang

Full Text Available Automated segmentation is a useful method for studying large brain structures such as the cerebellum and brainstem. However, automated segmentation may lead to inaccuracy and/or undesirable boundary. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether SegAdapter, a machine learning-based method, is useful for automatically correcting large segmentation errors and disagreement in anatomical definition. We further assessed the robustness of the method in handling size of training set, differences in head coil usage, and amount of brain atrophy. High resolution T1-weighted images were acquired from 30 healthy controls scanned with either an 8-channel or 32-channel head coil. Ten patients, who suffered from brain atrophy because of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, were scanned using the 32-channel head coil. The initial segmentations of the cerebellum and brainstem were generated automatically using Freesurfer. Subsequently, Freesurfer's segmentations were both manually corrected to serve as the gold standard and automatically corrected by SegAdapter. Using only 5 scans in the training set, spatial overlap with manual segmentation in Dice coefficient improved significantly from 0.956 (for Freesurfer segmentation to 0.978 (for SegAdapter-corrected segmentation for the cerebellum and from 0.821 to 0.954 for the brainstem. Reducing the training set size to 2 scans only decreased the Dice coefficient ≤0.002 for the cerebellum and ≤ 0.005 for the brainstem compared to the use of training set size of 5 scans in corrective learning. The method was also robust in handling differences between the training set and the test set in head coil usage and the amount of brain atrophy, which reduced spatial overlap only by <0.01. These results suggest that the combination of automated segmentation and corrective learning provides a valuable method for accurate and efficient segmentation of the cerebellum and brainstem, particularly in large

The Effect of Spaceflight on the Ultrastructure of the Cerebellum

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Holstein, Gay R.; Martinelli, Giorgio P.

2003-01-01

In weightlessness, astronauts and cosmonauts may experience postural illusions as well as motion sickness symptoms known as the space adaptation syndrome. Upon return to Earth, they have irregularities in posture and balance. The adaptation to microgravity and subsequent re-adaptation to Earth occurs over several days. At the cellular level, a process called neuronal plasticity may mediate this adaptation. The term plasticity refers to the flexibility and modifiability in the architecture and functions of the nervous system. In fact, plastic changes are thought to underlie not just behavioral adaptation, but also the more generalized phenomena of learning and memory. The goal of this experiment was to identify some of the structural alterations that occur in the rat brain during the sensory and motor adaptation to microgravity. One brain region where plasticity has been studied extensively is the cerebellar cortex-a structure thought to be critical for motor control, coordination, the timing of movements, and, most relevant to the present experiment, motor learning. Also, there are direct as well as indirect connections between projections from the gravity-sensing otolith organs and several subregions of the cerebellum. We tested the hypothesis that alterations in the ultrastructural (the structure within the cell) architecture of rat cerebellar cortex occur during the early period of adaptation to microgravity, as the cerebellum adapts to the absence of the usual gravitational inputs. The results show ultrastructural evidence for neuronal plasticity in the central nervous system of adult rats after 24 hours of spaceflight. Qualitative studies conducted on tissue from the cerebellar cortex (specifically, the nodulus of the cerebellum) indicate that ultrastructural signs of plasticity are present in the cerebellar zones that receive input from the gravity-sensing organs in the inner ear (the otoliths). These changes are not observed in this region in cagematched

Spontaneous anaplasia in pilocytic astrocytoma of cerebellum.

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Lach, B; Al Shail, E; Patay, Z

2003-06-01

We report a cystic cerebellar astrocytoma with a mural nodule that contained an additional focus of astrocytoma with the histological features of anaplasia, and showed up to 48% of aneuploid and 3% S-phase cells on flow cytometry. This focus was detectable on the enhanced, as well as non-enhanced T1 and T2 images. This appears to be the first case of pilocytic astrocytoma of cerebellum with focal anaplasia detected on histological and radiological studies.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity and Network Analysis of Cerebellum with Respect to Crystallized IQ and Gender.

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Pezoulas, Vasileios C; Zervakis, Michalis; Michelogiannis, Sifis; Klados, Manousos A

2017-01-01

During the last years, it has been established that the prefrontal and posterior parietal brain lobes, which are mostly related to intelligence, have many connections to cerebellum. However, there is a limited research investigating cerebellum's relationship with cognitive processes. In this study, the network of cerebellum was analyzed in order to investigate its overall organization in individuals with low and high crystallized Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were selected from 136 subjects in resting-state from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) database and were further separated into two IQ groups composed of 69 low-IQ and 67 high-IQ subjects. Cerebellum was parcellated into 28 lobules/ROIs (per subject) using a standard cerebellum anatomical atlas. Thereafter, correlation matrices were constructed by computing Pearson's correlation coefficients between the average BOLD time-series for each pair of ROIs inside the cerebellum. By computing conventional graph metrics, small-world network properties were verified using the weighted clustering coefficient and the characteristic path length for estimating the trade-off between segregation and integration. In addition, a connectivity metric was computed for extracting the average cost per network. The concept of the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) was adopted and implemented in order to avoid methodological biases in graph comparisons and retain only the strongest connections per network. Subsequently, six global and three local metrics were calculated in order to retrieve useful features concerning the characteristics of each MST. Moreover, the local metrics of degree and betweenness centrality were used to detect hubs, i.e., nodes with high importance. The computed set of metrics gave rise to extensive statistical analysis in order to examine differences between low and high-IQ groups, as well as between all possible gender-based group combinations. Our results reveal that

Resting-State Functional Connectivity and Network Analysis of Cerebellum with Respect to Crystallized IQ and Gender

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasileios C. Pezoulas

2017-04-01

Full Text Available During the last years, it has been established that the prefrontal and posterior parietal brain lobes, which are mostly related to intelligence, have many connections to cerebellum. However, there is a limited research investigating cerebellum's relationship with cognitive processes. In this study, the network of cerebellum was analyzed in order to investigate its overall organization in individuals with low and high crystallized Intelligence Quotient (IQ. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI data were selected from 136 subjects in resting-state from the Human Connectome Project (HCP database and were further separated into two IQ groups composed of 69 low-IQ and 67 high-IQ subjects. Cerebellum was parcellated into 28 lobules/ROIs (per subject using a standard cerebellum anatomical atlas. Thereafter, correlation matrices were constructed by computing Pearson's correlation coefficients between the average BOLD time-series for each pair of ROIs inside the cerebellum. By computing conventional graph metrics, small-world network properties were verified using the weighted clustering coefficient and the characteristic path length for estimating the trade-off between segregation and integration. In addition, a connectivity metric was computed for extracting the average cost per network. The concept of the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST was adopted and implemented in order to avoid methodological biases in graph comparisons and retain only the strongest connections per network. Subsequently, six global and three local metrics were calculated in order to retrieve useful features concerning the characteristics of each MST. Moreover, the local metrics of degree and betweenness centrality were used to detect hubs, i.e., nodes with high importance. The computed set of metrics gave rise to extensive statistical analysis in order to examine differences between low and high-IQ groups, as well as between all possible gender-based group combinations. Our

Anaerobic granular sludge and biofilm reactors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skiadas, Ioannis V.; Gavala, Hariklia N.; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2003-01-01

by the immobilization of the biomass, which forms static biofilms, particle-supported biofilms, or granules depending on the reactor's operational conditions. The advantages of the high-rate anaerobic digestion over the conventional aerobic wastewater treatment methods has created a clear trend for the change......-rate anaerobic treatment systems based on anaerobic granular sludge and biofilm are described in this chapter. Emphasis is given to a) the Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) systems, b) the main characteristics of the anaerobic granular sludge, and c) the factors that control the granulation process...

Anisotropy in cohesive, frictional granular media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luding, Stefan

2005-01-01

The modelling of cohesive, frictional granular materials with a discrete particle molecular dynamics is reviewed. From the structure of the quasi-static granular solid, the fabric, stress, and stiffness tensors are determined, including both normal and tangential forces. The influence of the material properties on the flow behaviour is also reported, including relations between the microscopic attractive force and the macroscopic cohesion as well as the dependence of the macroscopic friction on the microscopic contact friction coefficient. Related to the dynamics, the anisotropy of both structure and stress are exponentially approaching the maximum

Dynamics of electrostatically driven granular media: Effects of humidity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howell, D. W.; Aronson, Igor S.; Crabtree, G. W.

2001-01-01

We performed experimental studies of the effect of humidity on the dynamics of electrostatically driven granular materials. Both conducting and dielectric particles undergo a phase transition from an immobile state (granular solid) to a fluidized state (granular gas) with increasing applied field. Spontaneous precipitation of solid clusters from the gas phase occurs as the external driving is decreased. The clustering dynamics in conducting particles is primarily controlled by screening of the electric field but is aided by cohesion due to humidity. It is shown that humidity effects dominate the clustering process with dielectric particles

Flow of Dense Granular Suspensions on an Inclined Plane

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnoit, C.; Lanuza, J.; Lindner, A.; Clément, E.

2008-07-01

We investigate the flow behavior of dense granular suspensions, by the use of an inclined plane. The suspensions are prepared at high packing fractions and consist of spherical non-Brownian particles density matched with the suspending fluid. On the inclined plane, we perform a systematic study of the surface velocity as a function of the layer thickness for various flow rates and tilt angles. We perform measurements on a classical rheometer (parallel-plate rheometer) that is shown to be in good agreement with existing models, up to a volume fraction of 50%. Comparing these results, we show that the flow on an inclined plane can, up to a volume fraction of 50%, indeed be described by a purely viscous model in agreement with the results from classical rheometry.

Review and outlook: from single nanoparticles to self-assembled monolayers and granular GMR sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Weddemann

2010-11-01

Full Text Available This paper highlights recent advances in synthesis, self-assembly and sensing applications of monodisperse magnetic Co and Co-alloyed nanoparticles. A brief introduction to solution phase synthesis techniques as well as the magnetic properties and aspects of the self-assembly process of nanoparticles will be given with the emphasis placed on selected applications, before recent developments of particles in sensor devices are outlined. Here, the paper focuses on the fabrication of granular magnetoresistive sensors by the employment of particles themselves as sensing layers. The role of interparticle interactions is discussed.

The Contribution of the Cerebellum in the Hierarchial Development of the Self.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceylan, Mehmet Emin; Dönmez, Aslıhan; Ülsalver, Barış Önen

2015-12-01

What distinguishes human beings from other living organisms is that a human perceives himself as a "self". The self is developed hierarchially in a multi-layered process, which is based on the evolutionary maturation of the nervous system and patterns according to the rules and demands of the external world. Many researchers have attempted to explain the different aspects of the self, as well as the related neural substrates. In this paper, we first review the previously proposed ideas regarding the neurobiology of the self. We then suggest a new hypothesis regarding the hierarchial self, which proposes that the self is developed at three stages: subjective, objective, and reflective selves. In the second part, we attempt to answer the question "Why do we need a self?" We therefore explain that different parts of the self developed in an effort to identify stability in space, stability against constantly changing objects, and stability against changing cognitions. Finally, we discuss the role of the cerebellum as the neural substrate for the self.

USE OF GRANULAR GRAPHITE FOR ELECTROLYTIC DECHLORINATION OF TRICHLOROETHYLENE

Science.gov (United States)

Granular graphite is a potential electrode material for the electrochemical remediation of refractory chlorinated organic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE). However, the use of granular graphite can complicate the experimental results. On one hand, up to 99% of TCE was re...

11th Traffic and Granular Flow Conference

CERN Document Server

Daamen, Winnie

2016-01-01

The Conference on Traffic and Granular Flow brings together international researchers from different fields ranging from physics to computer science and engineering to discuss the latest developments in traffic-related systems. Originally conceived to facilitate new ideas by considering the similarities of traffic and granular flow, TGF'15, organised by Delft University of Technology, now covers a broad range of topics related to driven particle and transport systems. Besides the classical topics of granular flow and highway traffic, its scope includes data transport (Internet traffic), pedestrian and evacuation dynamics, intercellular transport, swarm behaviour and the collective dynamics of other biological systems. Recent advances in modelling, computer simulation and phenomenology are presented, and prospects for applications, for example to traffic control, are discussed. The conference explores the interrelations between the above-mentioned fields and offers the opportunity to stimulate interdisciplinar...

Granular cell tumor: An uncommon benign neoplasm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tirthankar Gayen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Granular cell tumor is a distinctly rare neoplasm of neural sheath origin. It mainly presents as a solitary asymptomatic swelling in the oral cavity, skin, and rarely internal organs in the middle age. Histopathology is characteristic, showing polyhedral cells containing numerous fine eosinophilic granules with indistinct cell margins. We present a case of granular cell tumor on the back of a 48-year-old woman which was painful, mimicking an adnexal tumor.

Alcohol exposure decreases CREB binding protein expression and histone acetylation in the developing cerebellum.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weixiang Guo

Full Text Available Fetal alcohol exposure affects 1 in 100 children making it the leading cause of mental retardation in the US. It has long been known that alcohol affects cerebellum development and function. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is unclear.We demonstrate that CREB binding protein (CBP is widely expressed in granule and Purkinje neurons of the developing cerebellar cortex of naïve rats. We also show that exposure to ethanol during the 3(rd trimester-equivalent of human pregnancy reduces CBP levels. CBP is a histone acetyltransferase, a component of the epigenetic mechanism controlling neuronal gene expression. We further demonstrate that the acetylation of both histone H3 and H4 is reduced in the cerebellum of ethanol-treated rats.These findings indicate that ethanol exposure decreases the expression and function of CBP in the developing cerebellum. This effect of ethanol may be responsible for the motor coordination deficits that characterize fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

The morphofunctional state of Purkin'e cells in the cerebellum of new-born rats following laser and gamma-ray exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zubkova, S.M.; Popov, V.I.

1993-01-01

Following of local laser (632.8 nm, 6.3. J/cm 2 ) and whole-body Gy gamma-ray exposures of new-born rats the contrast changes of morphometrical indices, RNA amount, and chromatophilia of Purkin'e cells in the cerebellum were seen. The preliminary laser exposure of new-born rat cerebellum artially increased activity of karyogene structures of the cerebellum cells which were inhibited by 6.37 Gy gamma-rays

Density-Driven segregation in Binary and Ternary Granular Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Windows-Yule, Kit; Parker, David

2015-01-01

We present a first experimental study of density-induced segregation within a three-dimensional, vibrofluidised, ternary granular system. Using Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT), we study the steady-state particle distributions achieved by binary and ternary granular beds under a variety of

Neuro-protective effects of Crocin on brain and cerebellum tissues in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... make the neurons and astrocytes more sensitive against oxidative damage. ... Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), blood glucose, HbA1c levels and ... appearence of the cerebrum and cerebellum were normal in the control group.

Massive granular cell ameloblastoma with dural extension and atypical morphology

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Vandana Raghunath

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Ameloblastomas are rare histologically benign, locally aggressive tumors arising from the oral ectoderm that occasionally reach a gigantic size. Giant ameloblastomas are a rarity these days with the advent of panoramic radiography in routine dental practice. Furthermore, the granular cell variant is an uncommon histological subtype of ameloblastoma where the central stellate reticulum like cells in tumor follicles is replaced by granular cells. Although granular cell ameloblastoma (GCA is considered to be a destructive tumor with a high recurrence rate, the significance of granular cells in predicting its biologic behavior is debatable. However, we present a rare case of giant GCA of remarkable histomorphology showing extensive craniofacial involvement and dural extension that rendered a good prognosis following treatment.

Development of a double-layered ceramic filter for aerosol filtration at high-temperatures: the filter collection efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

de Freitas, Normanda L; Gonçalves, José A S; Innocentini, Murilo D M; Coury, José R

2006-08-25

The performance of double-layered ceramic filters for aerosol filtration at high temperatures was evaluated in this work. The filtering structure was composed of two layers: a thin granular membrane deposited on a reticulate ceramic support of high porosity. The goal was to minimize the high pressure drop inherent of granular structures, without decreasing their high collection efficiency for small particles. The reticulate support was developed using the technique of ceramic replication of polyurethane foam substrates of 45 and 75 pores per inch (ppi). The filtering membrane was prepared by depositing a thin layer of granular alumina-clay paste on one face of the support. Filters had their permeability and fractional collection efficiency analyzed for filtration of an airborne suspension of phosphatic rock in temperatures ranging from ambient to 700 degrees C. Results revealed that collection efficiency decreased with gas temperature and was enhanced with filtration time. Also, the support layer influenced the collection efficiency: the 75 ppi support was more effective than the 45 ppi. Particle collection efficiency dropped considerably for particles below 2 microm in diameter. The maximum collection occurred for particle diameters of approximately 3 microm, and decreased again for diameters between 4 and 8 microm. Such trend was successfully represented by the proposed correlation, which is based on the classical mechanisms acting on particle collection. Inertial impaction seems to be the predominant collection mechanism, with particle bouncing/re-entrainment acting as detachment mechanisms.

Tunneling magnetoresistance in granular cermet films with particle size distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vovk, A.Ya.; Golub, V.O.; Malkinski, L.; Kravets, A.F.; Pogorily, A.M.; Shypil', O.V.

2004-01-01

The correlation between tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and field sensitivity (dMR/dH) for granular films (Co 50 Fe 50 ) x -(Al 2 O 3 ) 1-x was studied. The position of TMR maximum is shifted towards the lower x in the higher applied magnetic fields. Such a behavior was observed for metal granular nanocomposites but is first reported for granular cermets. However the highest dMR/dH was found for the compositions just below the percolation threshold

Influence of granular strontium chloride as additives on some ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Influence of granular strontium chloride as additives on some electrical and mechanical properties for pure polyvinyl alcohol. A B Elaydy M Hafez ... Keywords. Polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA); granular strontium chloride, SrCl2; a.c. electrical conductivity; dielectric constant; dielectric loss; Young's modulus; creep relaxation curve.

Some effects of gas-induced fluidization in dry granular media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nermoen, Anders

2010-06-15

The main body of this thesis consists of three papers in which aspects of fluid induced deformation in granular materials are studied. Insight from experiments, dimensional analysis, numerical modeling and analytic predictions are combined to interpret observations various aspects of piercement structures in the geological record. A fourth paper is included showing how analogue modeling has been used to understand a geological processes. Paper 1 presents experimental work on the segregation pattern forming in partially fluidized, bi-modal sized granular mixtures. The experiments are performed on a vertically oriented Hele-Shaw cell (HS-cell), the narrow box between two parallel glass plates, filled with glass beads. Gas flow is imparted through the bottom of the bed causing fluidization when the system is driven at velocities exceeding a critical limit. The co-existence of fluidized and static zones is termed partial fluidization and occurs when the imposed gas flux is insufficient to fluidize the whole system. Within the fluidized zones, the particles re-organize and the large particles sediment down while the small particles remains fluidized. The re-organization is caused by differences in the ratio of the weight to the viscous drag. A pipe-like pattern develops due to a feedback mechanism in which the flow is focused through domains dominated by large particles. The focusing of the flow localizes the fluidization, which in turn enables the sedimentation of the large grains. Paper 2 presents an experimental and analytical study of the critical conditions for fluidization of a dry granular material. Based on the experiments, we find that the critical velocity of fluidization scales almost linear with the ratio of the filling height to the inlet width. An analytic model for the pressure field is obtained by solving the Laplace equation for the velocity boundary conditions given by the geometry of the experimental setup. By integrating the vertical component of the

Real-time magnetic resonance imaging of highly dynamic granular phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Penn, Alexander; Pruessmann, Klaas P.; Müller, Christoph

Probing non-intrusively the interior of three-dimensional granular systems is a challenging task for which a number of imaging techniques have been applied including positron emission particle tracking, X-ray tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A particular advantage of MRI is its versatility allowing quantitative velocimetry through phase contrast encoding and tagging, arbitrary slice orientations and the flexibility to trade spatial for temporal resolution and vice versa during image reconstruction. However, previous attempts to image granular systems using MRI were often limited to (pseudo-) steady state systems due to the poor temporal resolution of conventional imaging methodology. Here we present an experimental approach that overcomes previous limitations in temporal resolution by implementing a variety of methodological advances, viz. parallel data acquisition through tailored multiple receiver coils, fast gradient readouts for time-efficient data sampling and engineered granular materials that contain signal sources of high proton density. Achieving a spatial and temporal resolution of, respectively, 2 mm x 2 mm and 50 ms, we were able to image highly dynamic phenomena in granular media such as bubble coalescence and granular compaction waves.

Wet granular matter a truly complex fluid

CERN Document Server

Herminghaus, Stephan

2013-01-01

This is a monograph written for the young and advanced researcher who is entering the field of wet granular matter and keen to understand the basic physical principles governing this state of soft matter. It treats wet granulates as an instance of a ternary system, consisting of the grains, a primary, and a secondary fluid. After addressing wetting phenomena in general and outlining the basic facts on dry granular systems, a chapter on basic mechanisms and their effects is dedicated to every region of the ternary phase diagram. Effects of grain shape and roughness are considered as well. Rather than addressing engineering aspects such as existing books on this topic do, the book aims to provide a generalized framework suitable for those who want to understand these systems on a more fundamental basis. Readership: For the young and advanced researcher entering the field of wet granular matter.

The behaviour of free-flowing granular intruders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wyburn Edward

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Particle shape affects both the quasi-static and dynamic behaviour of granular media. There has been significant research devoted to the flowability of systems of irregularly shaped particles, as well as the flow of grains around fixed intruders, however the behaviour of free flowing intruders within granular flows remains comparatively unexplored. Here, the effect of the shape of these intruder particles is studied, looking at the kinematic behaviour of the intruders and in particular their tendency of orientation. Experiments are carried out within the Stadium Shear Device, which is a novel apparatus able to continuously apply simple shear conditions to two-dimensional grain analogues. It is found that the intruder shows different behaviour to that of the bulk flow, and that this behaviour is strongly shape dependent. These insights could lead to the development of admixtures that alter the flowability of granular materials.

Origin of the resistivity minima in granular superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simanek, E.

1982-01-01

The recently observed minima in the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity of a granular superconductor are explained with use of a percolation model of a disordered granular array, which takes into account the electrostatic charging energy. The thermally activated tunneling of Cooper pairs is shown to play an important role in the interpretation of the experimental data on tin films

Size invariance of the granular Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

Science.gov (United States)

Vinningland, Jan Ludvig; Johnsen, Øistein; Flekkøy, Eirik G; Toussaint, Renaud; Måløy, Knut Jørgen

2010-04-01

The size scaling behavior of the granular Rayleigh-Taylor instability [J. L. Vinningland, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 048001 (2007)] is investigated experimentally, numerically, and theoretically. An upper layer of grains displaces a lower gap of air by organizing into dense fingers of falling grains separated by rising bubbles of air. The dependence of these structures on the system and grain sizes is investigated. A spatial measurement of the finger structures is obtained by the Fourier power spectrum of the wave number k. As the size of the grains increases the wave number decreases accordingly which leaves the dimensionless product of wave number and grain diameter, dk, invariant. A theoretical interpretation of the invariance, based on the scaling properties of the model equations, suggests a gradual breakdown of the invariance for grains smaller than approximately 70 microm or greater than approximately 570 microm in diameter.

Hierarchical modular granular neural networks with fuzzy aggregation

CERN Document Server

Sanchez, Daniela

2016-01-01

In this book, a new method for hybrid intelligent systems is proposed. The proposed method is based on a granular computing approach applied in two levels. The techniques used and combined in the proposed method are modular neural networks (MNNs) with a Granular Computing (GrC) approach, thus resulting in a new concept of MNNs; modular granular neural networks (MGNNs). In addition fuzzy logic (FL) and hierarchical genetic algorithms (HGAs) are techniques used in this research work to improve results. These techniques are chosen because in other works have demonstrated to be a good option, and in the case of MNNs and HGAs, these techniques allow to improve the results obtained than with their conventional versions; respectively artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms.

REPETITIVE TMS ON LEFT CEREBELLUM AFFECTS IMPULSIVITY IN BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER : A PILOT STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giulia Zelda De Vidovich

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The borderline personality disorder (BPD is characterized by a severe pattern of instability in emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, identity, and impulse control. These functions are related to the prefrontal cortex (PFC, and since PFC shows a rich anatomical connectivity with the cerebellum, the functionality of the cerebellar-PFC axis may impact on BPD. In this study we investigated the potential involvement of cerebello-thalamo-cortical connections in impulsive reactions through a pre/post stimulation design. BPD patients (n=8 and healthy controls (HC; n=9 performed an Affective Go/No-Go task (AGN assessing information processing biases for positive and negative stimuli before and after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS; 1 Hz/10 min, 80% RMT over the left lateral cerebellum. The AGN task consisted of four blocks requiring associative capacities of increasing complexity. BPD patients performed significantly worse than the HC, especially when cognitive demands was high (3rd and 4th block, but their performace approached that of HC after rTMS (rTMS was almost ineffective in HC. The more evident effect of rTMS in complex associative tasks might have occurred since the cerebellum is deeply involved in integration and coordination of different stimuli. We hypothesize that, in BPD patients, cerebello-thalamo-cortical communication is altered, resulting in emotional dysregulation and disturbed impulse control. The rTMS over the left cerebellum might have interfered with existing functional connections exerting a facilitating effect on PFC control.

Deficient PKR in RAX/PKR Association Ameliorates Ethanol-Induced Neurotoxicity in the Developing Cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hui; Chen, Jian; Qi, Yuanlin; Dai, Lu; Zhang, Mingfang; Frank, Jacqueline A; Handshoe, Jonathan W; Cui, Jiajun; Xu, Wenhua; Chen, Gang

2015-08-01

Ethanol-induced neuronal loss is closely related to the pathogenesis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The cerebellum is one of the brain areas that are most sensitive to ethanol. The mechanism underlying ethanol neurotoxicity remains unclear. Our previous in vitro studies have shown that the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase (PKR) regulates neuronal apoptosis upon ethanol exposure and ethanol activates PKR through association with its intracellular activator RAX. However, the role of PKR and its interaction with RAX in vivo have not been investigated. In the current study, by utilizing N-PKR-/- mice, C57BL/6J mice with a deficient RAX-binding domain in PKR, we determined the critical role of RAX/PKR association in PKR-regulated ethanol neurotoxicity in the developing cerebellum. Our data indicate that while N-PKR-/- mice have a similar BAC profile as wild-type mice, ethanol induces less brain/body mass reduction as well as cerebellar neuronal loss. In addition, ethanol promotes interleukin-1β (IL-1β) secretion, and IL-1β is a master cytokine regulating inflammatory response. Importantly, ethanol-promoted IL-1β secretion is inhibited in the developing cerebellum of N-PKR-/- mice. Thus, RAX/PKR interaction and PKR activation regulate ethanol neurotoxicity in the developing cerebellum, which may involve ethanol-induced neuroinflammation. Further, PKR could be a possible target for pharmacological intervention to prevent or treat fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

Repetitive TMS on Left Cerebellum Affects Impulsivity in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

De Vidovich, Giulia Zelda; Muffatti, Riccardo; Monaco, Jessica; Caramia, Nicoletta; Broglia, Davide; Caverzasi, Edgardo; Barale, Francesco; D'Angelo, Egidio

2016-01-01

The borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by a severe pattern of instability in emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, identity and impulse control. These functions are related to the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and since PFC shows a rich anatomical connectivity with the cerebellum, the functionality of the cerebellar-PFC axis may impact on BPD. In this study, we investigated the potential involvement of cerebello-thalamo-cortical connections in impulsive reactions through a pre/post stimulation design. BPD patients ( n = 8) and healthy controls (HC; n = 9) performed an Affective Go/No-Go task (AGN) assessing information processing biases for positive and negative stimuli before and after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS; 1 Hz/10 min, 80% resting motor threshold (RMT) over the left lateral cerebellum. The AGN task consisted of four blocks requiring associative capacities of increasing complexity. BPD patients performed significantly worse than the HC, especially when cognitive demands were high (third and fourth block), but their performance approached that of HC after rTMS (rTMS was almost ineffective in HC). The more evident effect of rTMS in complex associative tasks might have occurred since the cerebellum is deeply involved in integration and coordination of different stimuli. We hypothesize that in BPD patients, cerebello-thalamo-cortical communication is altered, resulting in emotional dysregulation and disturbed impulse control. The rTMS over the left cerebellum might have interfered with existing functional connections exerting a facilitating effect on PFC control.

Reliability of Visual and Somatosensory Feedback in Skilled Movement: The Role of the Cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Mizelle, J C; Oparah, Alexis; Wheaton, Lewis A

2016-01-01

The integration of vision and somatosensation is required to allow for accurate motor behavior. While both sensory systems contribute to an understanding of the state of the body through continuous updating and estimation, how the brain processes unreliable sensory information remains to be fully understood in the context of complex action. Using functional brain imaging, we sought to understand the role of the cerebellum in weighting visual and somatosensory feedback by selectively reducing the reliability of each sense individually during a tool use task. We broadly hypothesized upregulated activation of the sensorimotor and cerebellar areas during movement with reduced visual reliability, and upregulated activation of occipital brain areas during movement with reduced somatosensory reliability. As specifically compared to reduced somatosensory reliability, we expected greater activations of ipsilateral sensorimotor cerebellum for intact visual and somatosensory reliability. Further, we expected that ipsilateral posterior cognitive cerebellum would be affected with reduced visual reliability. We observed that reduced visual reliability results in a trend towards the relative consolidation of sensorimotor activation and an expansion of cerebellar activation. In contrast, reduced somatosensory reliability was characterized by the absence of cerebellar activations and a trend towards the increase of right frontal, left parietofrontal activation, and temporo-occipital areas. Our findings highlight the role of the cerebellum for specific aspects of skillful motor performance. This has relevance to understanding basic aspects of brain functions underlying sensorimotor integration, and provides a greater understanding of cerebellar function in tool use motor control.

Surface effects in the acetylation of granular potato starch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steeneken, P.A.M.; Woortman, A.J.J.

2008-01-01

The occurrence of surface effects in the acetylation of granular potato starch with acetic anhydride to degrees of substitution 0.04-0.2 was studied by two different approaches. The first approach involved the fractionation of granular starch acetates into five different size classes and analysis of

Tuning strain of granular matter by basal assisted Couette shear

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Yiqiu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We present a novel Couette shear apparatus capable of generating programmable azimuthal strain inside 2D granular matter under Couette shear. The apparatus consists of 21 independently movable concentric rings and two boundary wheels with frictional racks. This makes it possible to quasistatically shear the granular matter not only from the boundaries but also from the bottom. We show that, by specifying the collective motion of wheels and rings, the apparatus successfully generates the desired strain profile inside the sample granular system, which is composed of about 2000 photoelastic disks. The motion and stress of each particle is captured by an imaging system utilizing reflective photoelasticimetry. This apparatus provides a novel method to investigate shear jamming properties of granular matter with different interior strain profiles and unlimited strain amplitudes.

Dynamic aerofracture or hydrofracture of dense granular packing: pressure and viscosity control of the fracture patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Niebling, Michael J.; Toussaint, Renaud; Flekkøy, Eirik G.; Jørgen Måløy, Knut

2013-04-01

Stress induced by fluid or gases can cause diverse materials to break and fracture. Such hydraulic fractures are a natural and common phenomenon in the field of volcanism and are artificially initiated to enhance the recovery of natural gas and mineral oil by fracturing the reservoir rock with pressurized fluids. A procedure also known as fracking. Recently a new perspective on hydrofractures was added with the storage of supercritical CO2. In this respect two scenarios are considered. First it is one option to inject CO2 into existing hydrofractures, and second the injection of the CO2 can create additional fractures. The typical components for such fractures are a porous material and a compressible gas. The dynamics of such fractures and displacement patterns are simulated and studied in a rectangular Hele-Shaw cell filled with a dense but permeable two-dimensional granular layer. The model used, mixing highly deformable solid and fluid components, can simulate sedimentation problems [1,2], as well as hydrofracture or aerofracture ones. The emerging displacement patterns and fractures variate according to the properties of the injected fluid or gas and the characteristics of the granular phase [3]. The physics behind these variations is discussed and explained. The role of the fluid viscosity and system size shows to lead to a transition from fracturing to compaction, depending on the dynamics of convection versus diffusion of overpressure. The dependence of the obtained patterns on the injection pressure is also explored [4]. References: [1] Niebling, M.J., E.G. Flekkøy, K.J. Måløy, R. Toussaint, Sedimentation instabilities: impact of the fluid compressibility and viscosity, Phys. Rev. E 82, 051302, 2010. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.82.051302 [2] Niebling, M.J., E.G. Flekkøy, K.J. Måløy, R. Toussaint, Mixing of a granular layer falling through a fluid, Phys. Rev. E 82, 011301 (2010) doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.82.011301 [3] Niebling, M., R. Toussaint, E.G. Flekk

A High-Granularity Timing Detector for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Calorimeter system

CERN Document Server

Lenzi, Bruno; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The expected increase of the particle flux at the high luminosity phase of the LHC (HL-LHC) with instantaneous luminosities up to L = 7.5 x 10^34 cm−2s−1 will have a severe impact on pile-up. The pile-up is expected to increase on average to 200 interactions per bunch crossing. The reconstruction and trigger performance for electrons, photons as well as jets and transverse missing energy will be severely degraded in the end-cap and forward region, where the liquid Argon based electromagnetic calorimeter has coarser granularity compared to the central region. A High Granularity Timing Detector (HGTD) is proposed in front of the liquid Argon end-cap calorimeters for pile-up mitigation at Level-0 (L0) trigger level and in the offline reconstruction. This device should cover the pseudo-rapidity range of 2.4 to about 4.2. Four layers of Silicon sensors, possibly interleaved with Tungsten, are foreseen to provide precision timing information for charged and neutral particles with a time resolution of the order ...

A High-Granularity Timing Detector for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Calorimeter system

CERN Document Server

Masetti, Lucia; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The expected increase of the particle flux at the high luminosity phase of the LHC (HL-LHC) with instantaneous luminosities up to L=7.5 x 10^34 cm^-2 s^-1 will have a severe impact on pile-up. The pile-up is expected to increase on average to 200 interactions per bunch crossing. The reconstruction and trigger performance for electrons, photons as well as jets and transverse missing energy will be severely degraded in the end-cap and forward region, where the liquid Argon based electromagnetic calorimeter has coarser granularity compared to the central region. A High Granular Timing Detector (HGTD) is proposed in front of the liquid Argon end-cap calorimeters for pile-up mitigation at Level-0 (L0) trigger level and in offline reconstruction. This device should cover the pseudo-rapidity range of 2.4 to about 4.2. Four layers of Silicon sensors, possibly interleaved with Tungsten, are foreseen to provide precision timing information for charged and neutral particles with a time resolution of the order of 50 pico...

High-Granularity Timing Detector for the Phase-II up-grade of the ATLAS Calorimeter system

CERN Document Server

Gkougkousis, Evangelos Leonidas; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The expected increase of the particle flux at the high luminosity phase of the LHC (HL-LHC) with instantaneous luminosities up to L ≃ 7.5×1034 cm−2s−1 will have a severe impact on pile-up. The pile-up is expected to increase on average to 200 interactions per bunch crossing. The reconstruction and trigger performance for electrons, photons as well as jets and transverse missing energy will be severely degraded in the end-cap and forward region, where the liquid Argon based electromagnetic calorimeter has coarser granularity compared to the central region. A High Granular Timing Detector (HGTD) is proposed in front of the liquid Argon end-cap calorimeters for pile-up mitigation at Level-0 (L0) trigger level and in offline reconstruction. This device should cover the pseudo-rapidity range of 2.4 to about 4.2. Four layers of Silicon sensors, possibly interleaved with Tungsten, are foreseen to provide precision timing information for charged and neutral particles with a time resolution of the order of 50 p...

Functional activity of the sensorimotor cortex and cerebellum relates to cervical dystonia symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Burciu, Roxana G; Hess, Christopher W; Coombes, Stephen A; Ofori, Edward; Shukla, Priyank; Chung, Jae Woo; McFarland, Nikolaus R; Wagle Shukla, Aparna; Okun, Michael S; Vaillancourt, David E

2017-09-01

Cervical dystonia (CD) is the most common type of focal dystonia, causing abnormal movements of the neck and head. In this study, we used noninvasive imaging to investigate the motor system of patients with CD and uncover the neural correlates of dystonic symptoms. Furthermore, we examined whether a commonly prescribed anticholinergic medication in CD has an effect on the dystonia-related brain abnormalities. Participants included 16 patients with CD and 16 healthy age-matched controls. We collected functional MRI scans during a force task previously shown to extensively engage the motor system, and diffusion and T1-weighted MRI scans from which we calculated free-water and brain tissue densities. The dystonia group was also scanned ca. 2 h after a 2-mg dose of trihexyphenidyl. Severity of dystonia was assessed pre- and post-drug using the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale. Motor-related activity in CD was altered relative to controls in the primary somatosensory cortex, cerebellum, dorsal premotor and posterior parietal cortices, and occipital cortex. Most importantly, a regression model showed that increased severity of symptoms was associated with decreased functional activity of the somatosensory cortex and increased activity of the cerebellum. Structural imaging measures did not differ between CD and controls. The single dose of trihexyphenidyl altered the fMRI signal in the somatosensory cortex but not in the cerebellum. Symptom severity was not significantly reduced post-treatment. Findings show widespread changes in functional brain activity in CD and most importantly that dystonic symptoms relate to disrupted activity in the somatosensory cortex and cerebellum. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4563-4573, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Emotional Granularity Effects on Event-Related Brain Potentials during Affective Picture Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ja Y; Lindquist, Kristen A; Nam, Chang S

2017-01-01

There is debate about whether emotional granularity , the tendency to label emotions in a nuanced and specific manner, is merely a product of labeling abilities, or a systematic difference in the experience of emotion during emotionally evocative events. According to the Conceptual Act Theory of Emotion (CAT) (Barrett, 2006), emotional granularity is due to the latter and is a product of on-going temporal differences in how individuals categorize and thus make meaning of their affective states. To address this question, the present study investigated the effects of individual differences in emotional granularity on electroencephalography-based brain activity during the experience of emotion in response to affective images. Event-related potentials (ERP) and event-related desynchronization and synchronization (ERD/ERS) analysis techniques were used. We found that ERP responses during the very early (60-90 ms), middle (270-300 ms), and later (540-570 ms) moments of stimulus presentation were associated with individuals' level of granularity. We also observed that highly granular individuals, compared to lowly granular individuals, exhibited relatively stable desynchronization of alpha power (8-12 Hz) and synchronization of gamma power (30-50 Hz) during the 3 s of stimulus presentation. Overall, our results suggest that emotional granularity is related to differences in neural processing throughout emotional experiences and that high granularity could be associated with access to executive control resources and a more habitual processing of affective stimuli, or a kind of "emotional complexity." Implications for models of emotion are also discussed.

Metabolic changes of cerebrum by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over lateral cerebellum: a study with FDG PET.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Sang Soo; Yoon, Eun Jin; Bang, Sung Ae; Park, Hyun Soo; Kim, Yu Kyeong; Strafella, Antonio P; Kim, Sang Eun

2012-09-01

To better understand the functional role of cerebellum within the large-scale cerebellocerebral neural network, we investigated the changes of neuronal activity elicited by cerebellar repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) using (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET). Twelve right-handed healthy volunteers were studied with brain FDG PET under two conditions: active rTMS of 1 Hz frequency over the left lateral cerebellum and sham stimulation. Compared to the sham condition, active rTMS induced decreased glucose metabolism in the stimulated left lateral cerebellum, the areas known to be involved in voluntary motor movement (supplementary motor area and posterior parietal cortex) in the right cerebral hemisphere, and the areas known to be involved in cognition and emotion (orbitofrontal, medial frontal, and anterior cingulate gyri) in the left cerebral hemisphere. Increased metabolism was found in cognition- and language-related brain regions such as the left inferior frontal gyrus including Broca's area, bilateral superior temporal gyri including Wernicke's area, and bilateral middle temporal gyri. Left cerebellar rTMS also led to increased metabolism in the left cerebellar dentate nucleus and pons. These results demonstrate that rTMS over the left lateral cerebellum modulates not only the target region excitability but also excitability of remote, but interconnected, motor-, language-, cognition-, and emotion-related cerebral regions. They provide further evidence that the cerebellum is involved not only in motor-related functions but also in higher cognitive abilities and emotion through the large-scale cerebellocereberal neural network.

Small solar system bodies as granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hestroffer, Daniel; Campo Bagatín, Adriano; Losert, Wolfgang; Opsomer, Eric; Sánchez, Paul; Scheeres, Daniel J.; Staron, Lydie; Taberlet, Nicolas; Yano, Hajime; Eggl, Siegfried; Lecomte, Charles-Edouard; Murdoch, Naomi; Radjai, Fahrang; Richardson, Derek C.; Salazar, Marcos; Schwartz, Stephen R.; Tanga, Paolo

2017-06-01

Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are currently of great scientific and even industrial interest. Asteroids exist as the permanent record of the formation of the Solar System and therefore hold many clues to its understanding as a whole, as well as insights into the formation of planetary bodies. Additionally, SSSBs are being investigated in the context of impact risks for the Earth, space situational awareness and their possible industrial exploitation (asteroid mining). In all these aspects, the knowledge of the geophysical characteristics of SSSB surface and internal structure are of great importance. Given their size, constitution, and the evidence that many SSSBs are not simple monoliths, these bodies should be studied and modelled as self-gravitating granular systems in general, or as granular systems in micro-gravity environments in particular contexts. As such, the study of the geophysical characteristics of SSSBs is a multi-disciplinary effort that lies at the crossroads between Granular Mechanics, Celestial Mechanics, Soil Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Thermal diffusion segregation of an impurity in a driven granular fluid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reyes, Francisco Vega; Garzó, Vicente [Departamento de Física, Universidad de Extremadura, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain and Instituto de Computación Científica Avanzada (ICCAEx), Universidad de Extremadura, E-06071 Badajoz (Spain)

2014-12-09

We study segregation of an impurity in a driven granular fluid under two types of steady states. In the first state, the granular gas is driven by a stochastic volume force field with a Fourier-type profile while in the second state, the granular gas is sheared in such a way that inelastic cooling is balanced by viscous heating. We compare theoretical results derived from a solution of the (inelastic) Boltzmann equation at Navier-Stokes (NS) order with those obtained from the Direct Monte Carlo simulation (DSMC) method and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Good agreement is found between theory and simulation, which provides strong evidence of the reliability of NS granular hydrodynamics for these steady states (including the dynamics of the impurity), even at high inelasticity. In addition, preliminary results for thermal diffusion in granular fluids at moderate densities are also presented. As for dilute gases, excellent agreement is also found in this more general case.

Volumetric analysis of regional variability in the cerebellum of children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Vindia G; Stuebing, Karla; Juranek, Jenifer; Fletcher, Jack M

2013-12-01

Cerebellar deficits and subsequent impairment in procedural learning may contribute to both motor difficulties and reading impairment in dyslexia. We used quantitative magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the role of regional variation in cerebellar anatomy in children with single-word decoding impairments (N = 23), children with impairment in fluency alone (N = 8), and typically developing children (N = 16). Children with decoding impairments (dyslexia) demonstrated no statistically significant differences in overall grey and white matter volumes or cerebellar asymmetry; however, reduced volume in the anterior lobe of the cerebellum relative to typically developing children was observed. These results implicate cerebellar involvement in dyslexia and establish an important foundation for future research on the connectivity of the cerebellum and cortical regions typically associated with reading impairment.

[The cerebellum as a major player in motor disturbances related to Autistic Syndrome Disorders].

Science.gov (United States)

Jaber, M

2017-04-01

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders associated with disturbances in communication, social interactions, cognition and affect. ASD are also accompanied by complex movement disorders, including ataxia. A special focus of recent research in this area is made on the striatum and the cerebellum, two structures known not only to control movement but also to be involved in cognitive functions such as memory and language. Dysfunction within the motor system may be associated with abnormal movements in ASD that are translated into ataxia, abnormal pattern of righting, gait sequencing, development of walking, and hand positioning. This line of study may generate new knowledge and understanding of motor symptoms associated with ASD and aims to deliver fresh perspectives for early diagnosis and therapeutic strategies against ASD. Despite the relative paucity of research in this area (compared to the social, linguistic, and behavioural disturbances in ASD), there is evidence that the frontostriatal motor system and/or the cerebellar motor systems may be the site of dysfunction in ASD. Indeed, the cerebellum seems to be essential in the development of basic social capabilities, communication, repetitive/restrictive behaviors, and motor and cognitive behaviors that are all impaired in ASD. Cerebellar neuropathology including cerebellar hypoplasia and reduced cerebellar Purkinje cell numbers are the most consistent neuropathologies linked to ASD. The functional state of the cerebellum and its impact on brain function in ASD is the focus of this review. This review starts by recapitulating historical findings pointing towards an implication of the cerebellum, and to a lesser extent the basal ganglia structures, in TSA. We then detail the structure/function of the cerebellum at the regional and cellular levels before describing human and animal findings indicating a role of the cerebellum and basal ganglia in ASD. Several studies have attempted to

Histological studies in developing brain after 0.5 Gy neutron irradiation in utero

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antal, S.; Fueloep, Z.

1986-01-01

Pregnant mice were irradiated with 0.5 Gy neutrons on day 13, 15 or 18 of gestation. There was no significant difference in number of living young born per litter between in neutron irradiated mice and controls. Mortality of irradiated offspings increased in the first 3 days after birth. The brain weight of 21-day old animals after neutron irradiation averaged only 55, 56 and 69% of controls, resp. At six hours after irradiation morphological analysis showed nuclear pyknosis in the central nervous system. On day 13 the telencephalon was severely affected. The 30% cells were pyknotic in the wall of the cerebral hemisphere and 20% of cells in corpus striatum. In the metencephalon marked pyknosis was established in the tectal lamina of mesencephalon (16%) and in the cerebellar anlage (21%). The olfactory plate (24%), the ventricular zone of cerebral hemisphere (30%) and colliculus ganglionaris were damaged mostly (40%) after radiation on day 15 of gestation. The tectum of the mesencephali and in metencephalon the external granular layer of cerebellum and area of the rhombic lip were affected by irradiation (17-20%). The telencephalon found pyknotic but to a less extent in group irradiated on day 18 than it was on day 15. In the olfactory bulb 10% of pyknotic cells were seen and 16% of primary cortex of cerebral hemisphere more over 30% of nucleus caudatus/putamen were affected. In metencephalon 19% of external granular layer of cerebellum and 13% of trigonum cerebelli were pyknotic. In general, lesions of irradiation were rather mild in diencephalon and myelencephalon at all examined ages. Histological examinations support that defined parts of brain are damaged after neutron irradiation in utero and it may lead to the described physiological 18-20 and biochemical consequences 20,23 . (orig.)

Tracing Thermal Creep Through Granular Media

Science.gov (United States)

Steinpilz, Tobias; Teiser, Jens; Koester, Marc; Schywek, Mathias; Wurm, Gerhard

2017-08-01

A temperature gradient within a granular medium at low ambient pressure drives a gas flow through the medium by thermal creep. We measured the resulting air flow for a sample of glass beads with particle diameters between 290 μ m and 420 μ m for random close packing. Ambient pressure was varied between 1 Pa and 1000 Pa. The gas flow was quantified by means of tracer particles during parabolic flights. The flow varies systematically with pressure between 0.2 cm/s and 6 cm/s. The measured flow velocities are in quantitative agreement to model calculations that treat the granular medium as a collection of linear capillaries.

Cerebellum, Language, and Cognition in Autism and Specific Language Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Hodge, Steven M.; Makris, Nikos; Kennedy, David N.; Caviness, Verne S., Jr.; Howard, James; McGrath, Lauren; Steele, Shelly; Frazier, Jean A.; Tager-Flusberg, Helen; Harris, Gordon J.

2010-01-01

We performed cerebellum segmentation and parcellation on magnetic resonance images from right-handed boys, aged 6-13 years, including 22 boys with autism [16 with language impairment (ALI)], 9 boys with Specific Language Impairment (SLI), and 11 normal controls. Language-impaired groups had reversed asymmetry relative to unimpaired groups in…

Statistical shape (ASM) and appearance (AAM) models for the segmentation of the cerebellum in fetal ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes López, Misael; Arámbula Cosío, Fernando

2017-11-01

The cerebellum is an important structure to determine the gestational age of the fetus, moreover most of the abnormalities it presents are related to growth disorders. In this work, we present the results of the segmentation of the fetal cerebellum applying statistical shape and appearance models. Both models were tested on ultrasound images of the fetal brain taken from 23 pregnant women, between 18 and 24 gestational weeks. The accuracy results obtained on 11 ultrasound images show a mean Hausdorff distance of 6.08 mm between the manual segmentation and the segmentation using active shape model, and a mean Hausdorff distance of 7.54 mm between the manual segmentation and the segmentation using active appearance model. The reported results demonstrate that the active shape model is more robust in the segmentation of the fetal cerebellum in ultrasound images.

Pain Experience is Somatotopically Organized and Overlaps with Pain Anticipation in the Human Cerebellum.

Science.gov (United States)

Michelle Welman, F H S; Smit, Albertine E; Jongen, Joost L M; Tibboel, Dick; van der Geest, Jos N; Holstege, Jan C

2018-02-26

Many fMRI studies have shown activity in the cerebellum after peripheral nociceptive stimulation. We investigated whether the areas in the cerebellum that were activated after nociceptive thumb stimulation were separate from those after nociceptive toe stimulation. In an additional experiment, we investigated the same for the anticipation of a nociceptive stimulation on the thumb or toe. For his purpose, we used fMRI after an electrical stimulation of the thumb and toe in 19 adult healthy volunteers. Following nociceptive stimulation, different areas were activated by stimulation on the thumb (lobule VI ipsilaterally and Crus II mainly contralaterally) and toe (lobules VIII-IX and IV-V bilaterally and lobule VI contralaterally), i.e., were somatotopically organized. Cerebellar areas innervated non-somatotopically by both toe and thumb stimulation were the posterior vermis and Crus I, bilaterally. In the anticipation experiment, similar results were found. However, here, the somatotopically activated areas were relatively small for thumb and negligible for toe stimulation, while the largest area was innervated non-somatotopically and consisted mainly of Crus I and lobule VI bilaterally. These findings indicate that nociceptive stimulation and anticipation of nociceptive stimulation are at least partly processed by the same areas in the cerebellum. This was confirmed by an additional conjunction analysis. Based on our findings, we hypothesize that input that is organized in a somatotopical manner reflects direct input from the spinal cord, while non-somatotopically activated parts of the cerebellum receive their information indirectly through cortical and subcortical connections, possibly involved in processing contextual emotional states, like the expectation of pain.

Magnetic characteristics and nanostructures of FePt granular films with GeO2 segregant

Science.gov (United States)

Ono, Takuya; Moriya, Tomohiro; Hatayama, Masatoshi; Tsumura, Kaoru; Kikuchi, Nobuaki; Okamoto, Satoshi; Kitakami, Osamu; Shimatsu, Takehito

2017-01-01

To realize a granular film composed of L10-FePt grains with high uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy, Ku, and segregants for energy-assisted magnetic recording, a FePt-GeO2/FePt-C stacked film was investigated in the engineering process. The FePt-GeO2/FePt-C stacked film fabricated at a substrate temperature of 450 °C realized uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, Kugrain , of about 2.5 × 107 erg/cm3, which is normalized by the volume fraction of FePt grains, and a granular structure with an averaged grain size of 7.7 nm. As the thickness of the FePt-GeO2 upper layer was increased to 9 nm, the Ku values were almost constant. That result differs absolutely from the thickness dependences of the other oxide segregant materials such as SiO2 and TiO2. Such differences on the oxide segregant are attributed to their chemical bond. The strong covalent bond of GeO2 is expected to result in high Ku of the FePt-GeO2/FePt-C stacked films.

Dermatofibroma-like granular cell tumour: a potential diagnostic pitfall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiri Soukup

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Dermatofibroma-like granular cell tumour (GCT is a rare entity, with only two cases having been described so far. We report another case in a 62-year-old woman, discuss histopathological features, and review other tumours in which granular changes have been observed. Our tumour was composed predominantly of oval-to-spindle granular cells with prominent nucleoli, arranged in short fascicles and storiform pattern, infiltrating around collagen bundles. Immunohistochemical analysis with antibodies against CD31, CD56, CD68, CD117, S-100 protein, inhibin, calretinin, EMA, p53 and MIB-1 was performed, showing expression of CD56, CD68, S-100 protein, inhibin and calretinin. The diagnosis of atypical dermatofibroma-like GCT was made.

Advances in studies of dense volcanic granular flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bursik, M [University of Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260 (United States); Patra, A [University of Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260 (United States); Pitman, E B [University of Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260 (United States); Nichita, C [University of Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260 (United States); Macias, J L [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Coyoacan, Mexico D F (Mexico); Saucedo, R [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Coyoacan, Mexico D F (Mexico); Girina, O [Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskii (Russian Federation)

2005-02-01

The collapse and decrepitation of a lava dome at the summit of a volcano generally results in the generation of dense granular flows, often referred to as block and ash flows. As the dome particles propagate from the source, they break apart by internal pressure as well as collision. The propagation of block and ash flows can be simulated to some accuracy with a depth averaged numerical model of the equations of continuity and momentum for a material with a frictional resistance. However, important features of such flows, such as the influence of remote stress through force chains, erosion of the volcano substrate, and shock formation and pressurization upon particle break up are poorly understood. In the near future, the influence of these factors will be incorporated into depth averaged models. Various numerical techniques based on particles will some day yield results that can be compared not only with bulk flow properties, but to the internal layering of block and ash flow deposits.

Characteristics and performance of aerobic algae-bacteria granular consortia in a photo-sequencing batch reactor.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lin; Zeng, Zhichao; Bee, Mingyang; Gibson, Valerie; Wei, Lili; Huang, Xu; Liu, Chaoxiang

2018-05-05

The characteristics and performance of algae-bacteria granular consortia which cultivated with aerobic granules and targeted algae (Chlorella and Scenedesmus), and the essential difference between granular consortia and aerobic granules were investigated in this experiment. The result indicated that algae-bacteria granular consortia could be successfully developed, and the algae present in the granular consortia were mainly Chlorella and Scenedesmus. Although the change of chlorophyll composition revealed the occurrence of light limitation for algal growth, the granular consortia could maintain stable granular structure, and even showed better settling property than aerobic granules. Total nitrogen and phosphate in the algal-bacterial granular system showed better removal efficiencies (50.2% and 35.7%) than those in the aerobic granular system (32.8% and 25.6%) within one cycle (6 h). The biodiesel yield of aerobic granules could be significantly improved by algal coupled process, yet methyl linolenate and methyl palmitoleate were the dominant composition of biodiesel obtained from granular consortia and aerobic granules, respectively. Meanwhile, the difference of dominant bacterial communities in the both granules was found at the order level and family level, and alpha diversity indexes revealed the granular consortia had a higher microbial diversity. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Alternating anoxic feast/aerobic famine condition for improving granular sludge formation in sequencing batch airlift reactor at reduced aeration rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Junfeng; Bessière, Yolaine; Spérandio, Mathieu

2009-12-01

In this study the influence of a pre-anoxic feast period on granular sludge formation in a sequencing batch airlift reactor is evaluated. Whereas a purely aerobic SBR was operated as a reference (reactor R2), another reactor (R1) was run with a reduced aeration rate and an alternating anoxic-aerobic cycle reinforced by nitrate feeding. The presence of pre-anoxic phase clearly improved the densification of aggregates and allowed granular sludge formation at reduced air flow rate (superficial air velocity (SAV)=0.63cms(-1)). A low sludge volume index (SVI(30)=45mLg(-1)) and a high MLSS concentration (9-10gL(-1)) were obtained in the anoxic/aerobic system compared to more conventional results for the aerobic reactor. A granular sludge was observed in the anoxic/aerobic system whilst only flocs were observed in the aerobic reference even when operated at a high aeration rate (SAV=2.83cms(-1)). Nitrification was maintained efficiently in the anoxic/aerobic system even when organic loading rate (OLR) was increased up to 2.8kgCODm(-3)d(-1). In the contrary nitrification was unstable in the aerobic system and dropped at high OLR due to competition between autotrophic and heterotrophic growth. The presence of a pre-anoxic period positively affected granulation process via different mechanisms: enhancing heterotrophic growth/storage deeper in the internal anoxic layer of granule, reducing the competition between autotrophic and heterotrophic growth. These processes help to develop dense granular sludge at a moderate aeration rate. This tends to confirm that oxygen transfer is the most limiting factor for granulation at reduced aeration. Hence the use of an alternative electron acceptor (nitrate or nitrite) should be encouraged during feast period for reducing energy demand of the granular sludge process.

Influence of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to the Cerebellum on Standing Posture Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasuto Inukai

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Damage to the vestibular cerebellum results in dysfunctional standing posture control. Patients with cerebellum dysfunction have a larger sway in the center of gravity while standing compared with healthy subjects. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS is a noninvasive technique for selectively exciting or inhibiting specific neural structures with potential applications in functional assessment and treatment of neural disorders. However, the specific stimulation parameters for influencing postural control have not been assessed. In this study, we investigated the influence of tDCS when applied over the cerebellum on standing posture control. Sixteen healthy subjects received tDCS (20 min, 2 mA over the scalp 2 cm below the inion. In experiment 1, all 16 subjects received tDCS under three stimulus conditions, Sham, Cathodal, and Anodal, in a random order with the second electrode placed on the forehead. In experiment 2, five subjects received cathodal stimulation only with the second electrode placed over the right buccinator muscle. Center of gravity sway was measured twice for 60 s before and after tDCS in a standing posture with eyes open and legs closed, and average total locus length, locus length per second, rectangular area, and enveloped area were calculated. In experiment 1, total locus length and locus length per second decreased significantly after cathodal stimulation but not after anodal or sham stimulation, while no tDCS condition influenced rectangular or enveloped areas. In experiment 2, cathodal tDCS again significantly reduced total locus length and locus length per second but not rectangular and enveloped areas. The effects of tDCS on postural control are polarity-dependent, likely reflecting the selective excitation or inhibition of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Cathodal tDCS to the cerebellum of healthy subjects can alter body sway (velocity.

Hypoglycemia induced changes in cholinergic receptor expression in the cerebellum of diabetic rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anju TR

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Glucose homeostasis in humans is an important factor for the functioning of nervous system. Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia is found to be associated with central and peripheral nerve system dysfunction. Changes in acetylcholine receptors have been implicated in the pathophysiology of many major diseases of the central nervous system (CNS. In the present study we showed the effects of insulin induced hypoglycemia and streptozotocin induced diabetes on the cerebellar cholinergic receptors, GLUT3 and muscle cholinergic activity. Results showed enhanced binding parameters and gene expression of Muscarinic M1, M3 receptor subtypes in cerebellum of diabetic (D and hypoglycemic group (D + IIH and C + IIH. α7nAchR gene expression showed a significant upregulation in diabetic group and showed further upregulated expression in both D + IIH and C + IIH group. AchE expression significantly upregulated in hypoglycemic and diabetic group. ChAT showed downregulation and GLUT3 expression showed a significant upregulation in D + IIH and C + IIH and diabetic group. AchE activity enhanced in the muscle of hypoglycemic and diabetic rats. Our studies demonstrated a functional disturbance in the neuronal glucose transporter GLUT3 in the cerebellum during insulin induced hypoglycemia in diabetic rats. Altered expression of muscarinic M1, M3 and α7nAchR and increased muscle AchE activity in hypoglycemic rats in cerebellum is suggested to cause cognitive and motor dysfunction. Hypoglycemia induced changes in ChAT and AchE gene expression is suggested to cause impaired acetycholine metabolism in the cerebellum. Cerebellar dysfunction is associated with seizure generation, motor deficits and memory impairment. The results shows that cerebellar cholinergic neurotransmission is impaired during hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia and the hypoglycemia is causing more prominent imbalance in cholinergic neurotransmission which is suggested to be a cause of cerebellar

User-centric Query Refinement and Processing Using Granularity Based Strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeng, Y.; Zhong, N.; Wang, Y.; Qin, Y.; Huang, Z.; Zhou, H; Yao, Y; van Harmelen, F.A.H.

2011-01-01

Under the context of large-scale scientific literatures, this paper provides a user-centric approach for refining and processing incomplete or vague query based on cognitive- and granularity-based strategies. From the viewpoints of user interests retention and granular information processing, we

Evaluation of the relative biological effectiveness of carbon ion beams in the cerebellum using the rat organotypic slice culture system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Yukari; Katoh, Hiroyuki; Nakano, Takashi; Suzuki, Yoshiyuki; Al-Jahdari, Wael S.; Shirai, Katsuyuki; Hamada, Nobuyuki; Funayama, Tomoo; Sakashita, Tetsuya; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values of carbon ion (C) beams in normal brain tissues, a rat organotypic slice culture system was used. The cerebellum was dissected from 10-day-old Wistar rats, cut parasagittally into approximately 600-μm-thick slices and cultivated using a membrane-based culture system with a liquid-air interface. Slices were irradiated with 140 kV X-rays and 18.3 MeV/amu C-beams (linear energy transfer=108 keV/μm). After irradiation, the slices were evaluated histopathologically using hematoxylin and eosin staining, and apoptosis was quantified using the TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Disorganization of the external granule cell layer (EGL) and apoptosis of the external granule cells (EGCs) were induced within 24 h after exposure to doses of more than 5 Gy from C-beams and X-rays. In the early postnatal cerebellum, morphological changes following exposure to C-beams were similar to those following exposure to X-rays. The RBEs values of C-beams using the EGL disorganization and the EGC TUNEL index endpoints ranged from 1.4 to 1.5. This system represents a useful model for assaying the biological effects of radiation on the brain, especially physiological and time-dependent phenomena. (author)

Metabolic changes and DNA hypomethylation in cerebellum are associated with behavioral alterations in mice exposed to trichloroethylene postnatally

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Blossom, Sarah J., E-mail: blossomsarah@uams.edu [Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Arkansas Children' s Hospital Research Institute, 13 Children' s Way, Little Rock, AR 72202 (United States); Cooney, Craig A. [Department of Research and Development, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital, 4300 West 7th St., Little Rock, AR 72205-5484 (United States); Melnyk, Stepan B.; Rau, Jenny L.; Swearingen, Christopher J. [Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Arkansas Children' s Hospital Research Institute, 13 Children' s Way, Little Rock, AR 72202 (United States); Wessinger, William D. [Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, 4301 West Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 (United States)

2013-06-15

Previous studies demonstrated that low-level postnatal and early life exposure to the environmental contaminant, trichloroethylene (TCE), in the drinking water of MRL +/+ mice altered glutathione redox homeostasis and increased biomarkers of oxidative stress indicating a more oxidized state. Plasma metabolites along the interrelated transmethylation pathway were also altered indicating impaired methylation capacity. Here we extend these findings to further characterize the impact of TCE exposure in mice exposed to water only or two doses of TCE in the drinking water (0, 2, and 28 mg/kg/day) postnatally from birth until 6 weeks of age on redox homeostasis and biomarkers of oxidative stress in the cerebellum. In addition, pathway intermediates involved in methyl metabolism and global DNA methylation patterns were examined in cerebellar tissue. Because the cerebellum is functionally important for coordinating motor activity, including exploratory and social approach behaviors, these parameters were evaluated in the present study. Mice exposed to 28 mg/kg/day TCE exhibited increased locomotor activity over time as compared with control mice. In the novel object exploration test, these mice were more likely to enter the zone with the novel object as compared to control mice. Similar results were obtained in a second test when an unfamiliar mouse was introduced into the testing arena. The results show for the first time that postnatal exposure to TCE causes key metabolic changes in the cerebellum that may contribute to global DNA methylation deficits and behavioral alterations in TCE-exposed mice. - Highlights: • We exposed male mice to low-level trichloroethylene from postnatal days 1 through 42. • This exposure altered redox potential and increased oxidative stress in cerebellum. • This exposure altered metabolites important in cellular methylation in cerebellum. • This exposure promoted DNA hypomethylation in cerebellum. • This exposure enhanced locomotor

Metabolic changes and DNA hypomethylation in cerebellum are associated with behavioral alterations in mice exposed to trichloroethylene postnatally

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blossom, Sarah J.; Cooney, Craig A.; Melnyk, Stepan B.; Rau, Jenny L.; Swearingen, Christopher J.; Wessinger, William D.

2013-01-01

Previous studies demonstrated that low-level postnatal and early life exposure to the environmental contaminant, trichloroethylene (TCE), in the drinking water of MRL +/+ mice altered glutathione redox homeostasis and increased biomarkers of oxidative stress indicating a more oxidized state. Plasma metabolites along the interrelated transmethylation pathway were also altered indicating impaired methylation capacity. Here we extend these findings to further characterize the impact of TCE exposure in mice exposed to water only or two doses of TCE in the drinking water (0, 2, and 28 mg/kg/day) postnatally from birth until 6 weeks of age on redox homeostasis and biomarkers of oxidative stress in the cerebellum. In addition, pathway intermediates involved in methyl metabolism and global DNA methylation patterns were examined in cerebellar tissue. Because the cerebellum is functionally important for coordinating motor activity, including exploratory and social approach behaviors, these parameters were evaluated in the present study. Mice exposed to 28 mg/kg/day TCE exhibited increased locomotor activity over time as compared with control mice. In the novel object exploration test, these mice were more likely to enter the zone with the novel object as compared to control mice. Similar results were obtained in a second test when an unfamiliar mouse was introduced into the testing arena. The results show for the first time that postnatal exposure to TCE causes key metabolic changes in the cerebellum that may contribute to global DNA methylation deficits and behavioral alterations in TCE-exposed mice. - Highlights: • We exposed male mice to low-level trichloroethylene from postnatal days 1 through 42. • This exposure altered redox potential and increased oxidative stress in cerebellum. • This exposure altered metabolites important in cellular methylation in cerebellum. • This exposure promoted DNA hypomethylation in cerebellum. • This exposure enhanced locomotor

The Cerebellum Generates Motor-to-Auditory Predictions: ERP Lesion Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Knolle, Franziska; Schroger, Erich; Baess, Pamela; Kotz, Sonja A.

2012-01-01

Forward predictions are crucial in motor action (e.g., catching a ball, or being tickled) but may also apply to sensory or cognitive processes (e.g., listening to distorted speech or to a foreign accent). According to the "internal forward model," the cerebellum generates predictions about somatosensory consequences of movements. These predictions…

The Cerebellum and Language: Evidence from Patients with Cerebellar Degeneration

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Stoodley, Catherine J.; Schmahmann, Jeremy D.

2009-01-01

Clinical and imaging studies suggest that the cerebellum is involved in language tasks, but the extent to which slowed language production in cerebellar patients contributes to their poor performance on these tasks is not clear. We explored this relationship in 18 patients with cerebellar degeneration and 16 healthy controls who completed measures…

Large mid-esophageal granular cell tumor: benign versus malignant

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Prarthana Roselil Christopher

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Granular cell tumors are rare soft tissue neoplasms, among which only 2% are malignant, arising from nervous tissue. Here we present a case of a large esophageal granular cell tumor with benign histopathological features which metastasized to the liver, but showing on positron emission tomography-computerized tomography standardized uptake value suggestive of a benign lesion.

Adsorption Study of Cobalt on Treated Granular Activated Carbon

OpenAIRE

Y. V. Hete; S. B. Gholase; R. U. Khope

2012-01-01

This study is carried out for the removal of cobalt from aqueous solution using granular activated carbon in combination with p-nitro benzoic acid at temperature 25±1 °C. The adsorption isotherm of cobalt on granular activated carbon has been determined and the data fitted reasonably well to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm for activated carbon.

Swelling pressure and water absorption property of compacted granular bentonite during water absorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyamada, T.; Komine, H.; Murakami, S.; Sekiguchi, T.; Sekine, I.

2012-01-01

Document available in extended abstract form only. Bentonite is currently planned to be used as buffer materials in engineered barrier of radioactive waste disposal. Granular bentonites are expected as the materials used in constructions as buffer materials by in-situ compaction methods. After applying these buffer materials, it is expected that the condition of the buffer area changes in long-term by the seepage of groundwater into buffer area. Therefore, it is important to understand water movement and swelling behavior of the buffer materials for evaluating the performance of engineered barrier. In this study, we investigated water absorption property and swelling pressure of compacted granular bentonite. Specifically, the process of swelling pressure and amount of water absorption of granular bentonite-GX (Kunigel-GX, produced at the Tsukinuno mine in Japan) were observed by laboratory tests. To discuss the influence of maximum grain size of bentonite particle on swelling pressure and water absorption property, two types of samples were used. One is granular sample which is Bentonite-GX controlled under 2 mm the maximum grain size, the other is milled sample which is Bentonite-GX with the maximum grain size under 0.18 mm by milling with the agate mortar. In addition, the mechanism on the swelling pressure of compacted granular bentonite was considered and discussed. In the cases of granular sample, swelling pressure increases rapidly, then gradually continues to increase up to maximum value. In the cases of milled sample, swelling pressure also increases rapidly at first. However, then its value decreases before progressing of gradual increase continues. Especially, this trend was clearly observed at a relatively low dry density. At the peaks of these curves, the swelling pressure of granular samples is lower than that of milled samples. In addition, the increasing of swelling pressure by the time the peak observed during the process of swelling pressure from

Editorial: Modelling and computational challenges in granular materials

OpenAIRE

Weinhart, Thomas; Thornton, Anthony Richard; Einav, Itai

2015-01-01

This is the editorial for the special issue on “Modelling and computational challenges in granular materials” in the journal on Computational Particle Mechanics (CPM). The issue aims to provide an opportunity for physicists, engineers, applied mathematicians and computational scientists to discuss the current progress and latest advancements in the field of advanced numerical methods and modelling of granular materials. The focus will be on computational methods, improved algorithms and the m...

Can one ``Hear'' the aggregation state of a granular system?

Science.gov (United States)

Kruelle, Christof A.; Sánchez, Almudena García

2013-06-01

If an ensemble of macroscopic particles is mechanically agitated the constant energy input is dissipated into the system by multiple inelastic collisions. As a result, the granular material can exhibit, depending on the magnitude of agitation, several physical states - like a gaseous phase for high energy input or a condensed state for low agitation. Here we introduce a new method for quantifying the acoustical response of the granular system. Our experimental system consists of a monodisperse packing of glass beads with a free upper surface, which is confined inside a cylindrical container. An electro-mechanical shaker exerts a sinusoidal vertical vibration at normalized accelerations well above the fluidization threshold for a monolayer of particles. By increasing the number of beads the granular gas suddenly collapses if a critical threshold is exceeded. The transition can be detected easily with a microphone connected to the soundcard of a PC. From the recorded audio track a FFT is calculated in real-time. Depending on either the number of particles at a fixed acceleration or the amount of energy input for a given number of particles, the resulting rattling noise exhibits a power spectrum with either the dominating (shaker) frequency plus higher harmonics for a granular crystal or a high-frequency broad-band noise for a granular gas, respectively. Our new method demonstrates that it is possible to quantify analytically the subjective audio impressions of a careful listener and thus to distinguish easily between different aggregation states of an excited granular system.

Granular-front formation in free-surface flow of concentrated suspensions

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Leonardi, Alessandro; Cabrera, Miguel; Wittel, Falk K.; Kaitna, Roland; Mendoza, Miller; Wu, Wei; Herrmann, Hans J.

2015-11-01

A granular front emerges whenever the free-surface flow of a concentrated suspension spontaneously alters its internal structure, exhibiting a higher concentration of particles close to its front. This is a common and yet unexplained phenomenon, which is usually believed to be the result of fluid convection in combination with particle size segregation. However, suspensions composed of uniformly sized particles also develop a granular front. Within a large rotating drum, a stationary recirculating avalanche is generated. The flowing material is a mixture of a viscoplastic fluid obtained from a kaolin-water dispersion with spherical ceramic particles denser than the fluid. The goal is to mimic the composition of many common granular-fluid materials, such as fresh concrete or debris flow. In these materials, granular and fluid phases have the natural tendency to separate due to particle settling. However, through the shearing caused by the rotation of the drum, a reorganization of the phases is induced, leading to the formation of a granular front. By tuning the particle concentration and the drum velocity, it is possible to control this phenomenon. The setting is reproduced in a numerical environment, where the fluid is solved by a lattice-Boltzmann method, and the particles are explicitly represented using the discrete element method. The simulations confirm the findings of the experiments, and provide insight into the internal mechanisms. Comparing the time scale of particle settling with the one of particle recirculation, a nondimensional number is defined, and is found to be effective in predicting the formation of a granular front.

Cocaine promotes oxidative stress and microglial-macrophage activation in rat cerebellum

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Rosa M López-Pedrajas

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Different mechanisms have been suggested for cocaine neurotoxicity, including oxidative stress alterations. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB, considered a sensor of oxidative stress and inflammation, is involved in drug toxicity and addiction. NF-κB is a key mediator for immune responses that induces microglial/macrophage activation under inflammatory processes and neuronal injury/degeneration. Although cerebellum is commonly associated to motor control, muscular tone and balance. Its relation with addiction is getting relevance, being associated to compulsive and perseverative behaviors. Some reports indicate that cerebellar microglial activation induced by cannabis or ethanol, promote cerebellar alterations and these alterations could be associated to addictive-related behaviors. After considering the effects of some drugs on cerebellum, the aim of the present work analyzes pro-inflammatory changes after cocaine exposure. Rats received daily 15 mg/kg cocaine i.p. for 18 days. Reduced and oxidized forms of glutathione (GSH and GSSG, glutathione peroxidase (GPx activity and glutamate were determined in cerebellar homogenates. NF-κB activity, CD68 and GFAP expression were determined.Cerebellar GPx activity and GSH/GSSG ratio are significantly decreased after cocaine exposure. A significant increase of glutamate concentration is also observed. Interestingly, increased NF-κB activity is also accompanied by an increased expression of the lysosomal mononuclear phagocytic marker ED1 without GFAP alterations.Current trends in addiction biology are focusing on the role of cerebellum on addictive behaviors. Cocaine-induced cerebellar changes described herein fit with previosus data showing cerebellar alterations on addict subjects and support the proposed role of cerebelum in addiction.

Nonlinear instability and convection in a vertically vibrated granular bed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shukla, P.; Ansari, I.H.; van der Meer, Roger M.; Lohse, Detlef; Alam, M.

2014-01-01

The nonlinear instability of the density-inverted granular Leidenfrost state and the resulting convective motion in strongly shaken granular matter are analysed via a weakly nonlinear analysis of the hydrodynamic equations. The base state is assumed to be quasi-steady and the effect of harmonic

Cerebellum and psychiatric disorders O cerebelo e os transtornos psiquiátricos

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Leonardo Baldaçara

2008-09-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The objective of this update article is to report structural and functional neuroimaging studies exploring the potential role of cerebellum in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. METHOD: A non-systematic literature review was conducted by means of Medline using the following terms as a parameter: "cerebellum", "cerebellar vermis", "schizophrenia", "bipolar disorder", "depression", "anxiety disorders", "dementia" and "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder". The electronic search was done up to April 2008. DISCUSSION: Structural and functional cerebellar abnormalities have been reported in many psychiatric disorders, namely schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, dementia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Structural magnetic resonance imaging studies have reported smaller total cerebellar and vermal volumes in schizophrenia, mood disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies using cognitive paradigms have shown alterations in cerebellar activity in schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In dementia, the cerebellum is affected in later stages of the disease. CONCLUSION: Contrasting with early theories, cerebellum appears to play a major role in different brain functions other than balance and motor control, including emotional regulation and cognition. Future studies are clearly needed to further elucidate the role of cerebellum in both normal and pathological behavior, mood regulation, and cognitive functioning.OBJETIVO: Este artigo de atualização tem como objetivo avaliar estudos em neuroimagem estrutural e funcional a fim de explorar o papel do cerebelo na patofisiologia dos transtornos psiquiátricos. MÉTODO: Uma revisão não sistemática foi realizada através do Medline utilizando-se como parâmetro os seguintes termos: "cerebellum", "cerebellar vermis", "schizophrenia

Controlling mixing and segregation in time periodic granular flows

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Bhattacharya, Tathagata

Segregation is a major problem for many solids processing industries. Differences in particle size or density can lead to flow-induced segregation. In the present work, we employ the discrete element method (DEM)---one type of particle dynamics (PD) technique---to investigate the mixing and segregation of granular material in some prototypical solid handling devices, such as a rotating drum and chute. In DEM, one calculates the trajectories of individual particles based on Newton's laws of motion by employing suitable contact force models and a collision detection algorithm. Recently, it has been suggested that segregation in particle mixers can be thwarted if the particle flow is inverted at a rate above a critical forcing frequency. Further, it has been hypothesized that, for a rotating drum, the effectiveness of this technique can be linked to the probability distribution of the number of times a particle passes through the flowing layer per rotation of the drum. In the first portion of this work, various configurations of solid mixers are numerically and experimentally studied to investigate the conditions for improved mixing in light of these hypotheses. Besides rotating drums, many studies of granular flow have focused on gravity driven chute flows owing to its practical importance in granular transportation and to the fact that the relative simplicity of this type of flow allows for development and testing of new theories. In this part of the work, we observe the deposition behavior of both mono-sized and polydisperse dry granular materials in an inclined chute flow. The effects of different parameters such as chute angle, particle size, falling height and charge amount on the mass fraction distribution of granular materials after deposition are investigated. The simulation results obtained using DEM are compared with the experimental findings and a high degree of agreement is observed. Tuning of the underlying contact force parameters allows the achievement

Submammary Granular Parakeratosis Treated With Mastopexy.

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Nelson, Garrett; Lien, Mary H; Messina, Jane L; Ranjit, Sonali; Fenske, Neil Alan

2017-08-01

Granular parakeratosis, originally named axillary granular parakeratosis, is an uncommon disease with an unclear etiology. It is thought to result from defective processing of profillagrin to fillagrin, causing retention of keratohyaline granules in the epidermis. A myriad of causative factors has been proposed, including friction, moisture, heat, and contact irritants such as deodorants. We present a case in the inframammary area that resolved with mastopexy, further supporting the role of friction, moisture, and heat. Furthermore, we present electron microscopic evidence demonstrating non-degraded keratohyaline granules upon epidermal maturation. This entity, we believe, is reactive and represents a protective response of the body to moisture and heat. J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(8):810-812..

Tumor of granular cells of esophagus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez Fabian, Licet; Diaz Anaya, Amnia; Perez de la Torre, Georgina

2010-01-01

Granular cells tumors are rare and asymptomatic lesions and by general, it is an incidental finding en high or low endoscopy. They were described for the first time by Abrikossoff in 1926. The more frequent locations are the buccal mucosa, dermis and subcutaneous cellular tissue, most of these tumors has a benign origin. This is the case of a woman aged 44 with a pyrosis history from a year ago; by high endoscopy it is noted a 8 mm lesion distal to esophagus and confirmed by histological study of granular cells tumor. Elective treatment of this lesion is the endoscopic polypectomy. Despite that the malign potential is low; we suggested a close clinical and endoscopic follow-up.

Traffic and Granular Flow ’07

CERN Document Server

Chevoir, François; Gondret, Philippe; Lassarre, Sylvain; Lebacque, Jean-Patrick; Schreckenberg, Michael

2009-01-01

This book covers several research fields, all of which deal with transport. Three main topics are treated: road traffic, granular matter, and biological transport. Different points of view, i.e. modelling, simulations, experiments, and phenomenological observations, are considered. Sub-topics include: highway or urban vehicular traffic (dynamics of traffic, macro/micro modelling, measurements, data analysis, security issues, psychological issues), pedestrian traffic, animal traffic (e.g. social insects), collective motion in biological systems (molecular motors...), granular flow (dense flows, intermittent flows, solid/liquid transition, jamming, force networks, fluid and solid friction), networks (biological networks, urban traffic, the internet, vulnerability of networks, optimal transport networks) and cellular automata applied to the various aforementioned fields.

Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics of thermal collapse in a freely cooling granular gas.

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Kolvin, Itamar; Livne, Eli; Meerson, Baruch

2010-08-01

We show that, in dimension higher than one, heat diffusion and viscosity cannot arrest thermal collapse in a freely evolving dilute granular gas, even in the absence of gravity. Thermal collapse involves a finite-time blowup of the gas density. It was predicted earlier in ideal, Euler hydrodynamics of dilute granular gases in the absence of gravity, and in nonideal, Navier-Stokes granular hydrodynamics in the presence of gravity. We determine, analytically and numerically, the dynamic scaling laws that characterize the gas flow close to collapse. We also investigate bifurcations of a freely evolving dilute granular gas in circular and wedge-shaped containers. Our results imply that, in general, thermal collapse can only be arrested when the gas density becomes comparable with the close-packing density of grains. This provides a natural explanation to the formation of densely packed clusters of particles in a variety of initially dilute granular flows.

Bubbling in vibrated granular films.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamankhan, Piroz

2011-02-01

With the help of experiments, computer simulations, and a theoretical investigation, a general model is developed of the flow dynamics of dense granular media immersed in air in an intermediate regime where both collisional and frictional interactions may affect the flow behavior. The model is tested using the example of a system in which bubbles and solid structures are produced in granular films shaken vertically. Both experiments and large-scale, three-dimensional simulations of this system are performed. The experimental results are compared with the results of the simulation to verify the validity of the model. The data indicate evidence of formation of bubbles when peak acceleration relative to gravity exceeds a critical value Γ(b). The air-grain interfaces of bubblelike structures are found to exhibit fractal structure with dimension D=1.7±0.05.

Failure evolution in granular material retained by rigid wall in active mode

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Pietrzak, Magdalena; Leśniewska, Danuta

2012-10-01

This paper presents a detailed study of a selected small scale model test, performed on a sample of surrogate granular material, retained by a rigid wall (typical geotechnical problem of earth thrust on a retaining wall). The experimental data presented in this paper show that the deformation of granular sample behind retaining wall can undergo some cyclic changes. The nature of these cycles is not clear - it is probably related to some micromechanical features of granular materials, which are recently extensively studied in many research centers in the world. Employing very precise DIC (PIV) method can help to relate micro and macro-scale behavior of granular materials.

From cell extracts to fish schools to granular layers: the universal hydrodynamics of self-driven systems