Coalescent dynamics of planktonic communities.

Planktonic communities are extremely diverse and include a vast number of rare species. The dynamics of these rare species is best described by individual-based models. However, individual-based approaches to planktonic diversity face substantial difficulties, due to the large number of individuals required to make realistic predictions.

Optimization and Fabrication of Multi-Level Microchannels for Long-Term Imaging of Bacterial Growth and Expansion.

Bacteria are unicellular organisms whose length is usually around a few micrometers. Advances in microfabrication techniques have enabled the design and implementation of microdevices to confine and observe bacterial colony growth. Microstructures hosting the bacteria and microchannels for nutrient perfusion usually require separate microfabrication procedures due to different feature size requirements.

Population genetics in microchannels.

SignificanceMany microbial populations proliferate in small channels. In such environments, reproducing cells organize in parallel lanes. Reproducing cells shift these lanes, potentially expelling other cells from the channel.

Generation and Characterization of a Cell Type-Specific, Inducible Cre-Driver Line to Study Olfactory Processing.

In sensory systems of the brain, mechanisms exist to extract distinct features from stimuli to generate a variety of behavioral repertoires. These often correspond to different cell types at various stages in sensory processing. In the mammalian olfactory system, complex information processing starts in the olfactory bulb, whose output is conveyed by mitral cells (MCs) and tufted cells (TCs).

Rapid task-dependent tuning of the mouse olfactory bulb.

Adapting neural representation to rapidly changing behavioural demands is a key challenge for the nervous system. Here, we demonstrate that the output of the primary olfactory area of the mouse, the olfactory bulb, is already a target of dynamic and reproducible modulation. The modulation depends on the stimulus tuning of a given neuron, making olfactory responses more discriminable through selective amplification in a demand-specific way.

[Phospholipid composition of high density lipoproteins in hyperalphalipoproteinemia].

Content of lecithin as related to the total content of phospholipids was increased in alpha-lipoproteins of healthy men with hyper-alpha-lipoproteinemia (concentration of cholesterol exceeded 72 mg% in the lipoproteins). The alpha-lipoproteins accumulated considerably more free cholesterol than its esters; this caused a decrease in the molar ration "phospholipids/free cholesterol". The surface of phospholipid-cholesterol monolayer of alpha-lipoproteins is apparently responsible for retaining of increased amounts of cholesterol in the complex as well as for participation of these structures in enzymatic reactions in blood serum.

[Effect of hydrocortisone on lipid composition of blood serum lipoproteins in the development of experimental atherosclerosis].

Single administration of hydrocortisone into rabbits with experimental atherosclerosis increased the content of atherogenous classes of lipoproteins (Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) and Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL) in the animals with distinct atheromatosis. Content of the lipoproteins was decreased in animals, which had no atheromatous alterations in aorta under the effect of atherogenous diet. Within 5 hrs after the single administration of hydrocortisone in rabbits with pronounced atheromatosis of aorta relative content of cholesterol was increased in the VLDL fraction.