Functional implications of Ca 2.3 R-type voltage-gated calcium channels in the murine auditory system - novel vistas from brainstem-evoked response audiometry.

Voltage-gated Ca channels (VGCCs) are considered to play a key role in auditory perception and information processing within the murine inner ear and brainstem. In the past, Ca 1.3 L-type VGCCs gathered most attention as their ablation causes congenital deafness.

A seed flying like a bullet: ballistic seed dispersal in Chinese witch-hazel (Hamamelis mollis OLIV., Hamamelidaceae).

The fruits of Chinese witch-hazel (Hamamelis mollis, Hamamelidaceae) act as 'drying squeeze catapults', shooting their seeds several metres away. During desiccation, the exocarp shrinks and splits open, and subsequent endocarp deformation is a complex three-dimensional shape change, including formation of dehiscence lines, opening of the apical part and formation of a constriction at the middle part. Owing to the constriction forming, mechanical pressure is increasingly applied on the seed until ejection.

Ontology-based specification and generation of search queries for post-market surveillance.

Background: The vigilant observation of medical devices during post-market surveillance (PMS) for identifying safety-relevant incidents is a non-trivial task. A wide range of sources has to be monitored in order to integrate all accessible data about the safety and performance of a medical device. PMS needs to be supported by an efficient search strategy and the possibility to create complex search queries by domain experts.

Ca3.2 T-Type Calcium Channels Are Physiologically Mandatory for the Auditory System.

Voltage-gated Ca channels (VGCCs) play key roles in auditory perception and information processing within the inner ear and brainstem. Pharmacological inhibition of low voltage-activated (LVA) T-type Ca channels is related to both age- and noise induced hearing loss in experimental animals and may represent a promising approach to the treatment of auditory impairment of various etiologies. Within the LVA Ca channel subgroup, Ca3.

Gender specific click and tone burst evoked ABR datasets from mice lacking the Ca3.2 T-type voltage-gated calcium channel.

Objectives: Voltage-gated Ca channels (VGCCs) are of central relevance in regulating Ca influx into living cells. The low-voltage activated (LVA) Ca3 T-type Ca channels are widely distributed throughout the brain including the peripheral auditory system and ascending auditory tract. Their exact role in auditory information processing is still not fully understood.

Gender specific click and tone burst evoked ABR datasets from mice lacking the Ca2.3 R-type voltage-gated calcium channel.

This data article provides raw auditory evoked brainstem responses (ABRs) from controls and Ca2.3 transgenics, i.e.

Incident reporting to BfArM - regulatory framework, results and challenges.

Medical devices are manifold and one of the most innovative fields of technology. As technologies advance, former limits cease to exist and complex devices become reality. Medical devices represent a very dynamic field with high economic relevance.

Impact behaviour of freeze-dried and fresh pomelo (Citrus maxima) peel: influence of the hydration state.

Pomelos (Citrus maxima) are known for their thick peel which-inter alia-serves as energy dissipator when fruits impact on the ground after being shed. It protects the fruit from splitting open and thus enables the contained seeds to stay germinable and to potentially be dispersed by animal vectors. The main part of the peel consists of a parenchymatous tissue that can be interpreted from a materials point of view as open pored foam whose struts are pressurized and filled with liquid.

Plant surfaces with cuticular folds and their replicas: influence of microstructuring and surface chemistry on the attachment of a leaf beetle.

Plant surfaces covered either with epicuticular wax crystals or cuticular folds have been shown to strongly reduce the ability of insects to attach to them. However, the relative impact of surface structuring vs. surface chemistry on insect attachment remains unclear.

Catapulting tentacles in a sticky carnivorous plant.

Among trapping mechanisms in carnivorous plants, those termed 'active' have especially fascinated scientists since Charles Darwin's early works because trap movements are involved. Fast snap-trapping and suction of prey are two of the most spectacular examples for how these plants actively catch animals, mainly arthropods, for a substantial nutrient supply. We show that Drosera glanduligera, a sundew from southern Australia, features a sophisticated catapult mechanism: Prey animals walking near the edge of the sundew trigger a touch-sensitive snap-tentacle, which swiftly catapults them onto adjacent sticky glue-tentacles; the insects are then slowly drawn within the concave trap leaf by sticky tentacles.

Impact of cell shape in hierarchically structured plant surfaces on the attachment of male Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata).

Plant surfaces showing hierarchical structuring are frequently found in plant organs such as leaves, petals, fruits and stems. In our study we focus on the level of cell shape and on the level of superimposed microstructuring, leading to hierarchical surfaces if both levels are present. While it has been shown that epicuticular wax crystals and cuticular folds strongly reduce insect attachment, and that smooth papillate epidermal cells in petals improve the grip of pollinators, the impact of hierarchical surface structuring of plant surfaces possessing convex or papillate cells on insect attachment remains unclear.

Structure, attachment properties, and ecological importance of the attachment system of English ivy (Hedera helix).

Root climbers such as English ivy (Hedera helix) rely on specialized adventitious roots for attachment, enabling the plants to climb on a wide range of natural and artificial substrates. Despite their importance for the climbing habit, the biomechanical properties of these specialized adventitious roots compared with standard roots and their performance in the attachment to different host species or inert substrates have not been studied. Here organs and tissues involved in the attachment are characterized and their significance in regard to a broader functional and ecological aspect is discussed.

Combined in vivo/in silico study of mechanobiological mechanisms during endochondral ossification in bone healing.

Mechanobiological theories have been introduced to illustrate the interaction between biology and the local mechanical environment during bone healing. Although several theories have been proposed, a quantitative validation using histomorphometric data is still missing. In this study, in vivo histological data based on an ovine animal experiment was quantified and used to validate bone healing simulations focussing on the endochondral ossification process.

Plant surfaces with cuticular folds are slippery for beetles.

Plant surfaces covered with three-dimensional (3D) waxes are known to strongly reduce insect adhesion, leading to slippery surfaces. Besides 3D epicuticular waxes, cuticular folds are a common microstructure found on plant surfaces, which have not been quantitatively investigated with regard to their influence on insect adhesion. We performed traction experiments with Colorado potato beetles on five plant surfaces with cuticular folds of different magnitude.

Mechanics without muscle: biomechanical inspiration from the plant world.

Plant and animal biomechanists have much in common. Although their frame of reference differs, they think about the natural world in similar ways. While researchers studying animals might explore airflow around flapping wings, the actuation of muscles in arms and legs, or the material properties of spider silk, researchers studying plants might explore the flow of water around fluttering seaweeds, the grasping ability of climbing vines, or the material properties of wood.

Temporal tissue patterns in bone healing of sheep.

Secondary fracture healing in long bones leads to the successive formation of intricate patterns of tissues in the newly formed callus. The main aim of this work was to quantitatively describe the topology of these tissue patterns at different stages of the healing process and to generate averaged images of tissue distribution. This averaging procedure was based on stained histological sections (2, 3, 6, and 9 weeks post-operatively) of 64 sheep with a 3 mm tibial mid-shaft osteotomy, stabilized either with a rigid or a semi-rigid external fixator.

The attachment strategy of English ivy: a complex mechanism acting on several hierarchical levels.

English ivy (Hedera helix L.) is able to grow on vertical substrates such as trees, rocks and house plaster, thereby attaching so firmly to the surface that when removed by force typically whole pieces of the climbing substrate are torn off. The structural details of the attachment process are not yet entirely understood.

Morphological aspects of self-repair of lesions caused by internal growth stresses in stems of Aristolochia macrophylla and Aristolochia ringens.

This study reveals in detail the mechanism of self-repair during secondary growth in the vines Aristolochia macrophylla and Aristolochia ringens based on morphological data. For a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms during the self-repair of lesions in the sclerenchymatous cylinder of the stem, which are caused by internal growth stresses, a classification of morphological changes in the cells involved in the repair process is required. In an early stage of self-repair, we observed morphological changes as a mere extension of the turgescent cortex cells surrounding the lesion, whereby the cell wall extends locally through visco-elastic/plastic deformation without observable cell wall synthesis.

Mapping fibre orientation in complex-shaped biological systems with micrometre resolution by scanning X-ray microdiffraction.

A fully automated procedure to extract and to image local fibre orientation in biological tissues from scanning X-ray diffraction is presented. The preferred chitin fibre orientation in the flow sensing system of crickets is determined with high spatial resolution by applying synchrotron radiation based X-ray microbeam diffraction in conjunction with advanced sample sectioning using a UV micro-laser. The data analysis is based on an automated detection of azimuthal diffraction maxima after 2D convolution filtering (smoothing) of the 2D diffraction patterns.