Neuroscience Institute, Langone Medical Center, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Published: August 2021
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Extracellular recordings in freely moving animals allow the monitoring of brain activity from populations of neurons at single-spike temporal resolution. While state-of-the-art electrophysiological recording devices have been developed in recent years (, µLED and Neuropixels silicon probes), implantation methods for silicon probes in rats and mice have not advanced substantially for a decade. The surgery is complex, takes time to master, and involves handling expensive devices and valuable animal subjects. In addition, chronic silicon neural probes are practically single implant devices due to the current low success rate of probe recovery. To successfully recover silicon probes, improve upon the quality of electrophysiological recording, and make silicon probe recordings more accessible, we have designed a miniature, low cost, and recoverable microdrive system. The addition of a novel 3D-printed skull baseplate makes the surgery less invasive, faster, and simpler for both rats and mice. We provide detailed procedural instructions and print designs, allowing researchers to adapt and flexibly customize our designs to their experimental usage.
Many-body interactions in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are fundamental for emergent quantum physics. Unlike their solution counterpart, magnetization at surfaces in low-dimensional analogues is strongly influenced by magnetic anisotropy (MA) induced by the substrate and still not well understood. Here, on-surface coordination chemistry is used to synthesize on Ag(111) and superconducting Pb(111) an iron-based spin chain by using pyrene-4,5,9,10-tetraone (PTO) precursors as ligands.
Glutathione (GSH) plays a vital role in the regulation of intracellular functions which alterations in physiological glutathione levels are associated to various diseases. Molecular bioimaging is a sensitive method for GSH detection, but challenges persist in the development of fluorescent probes, mainly concerning long-term tracking of intracellular GSH concentration because of aggregation of molecular probes and their washout in cells. Engineered nanomaterials have shown great promise for increasing the disease diagnosis accuracy.
Singlet exciton fission has the potential to increase the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells beyond the conventional single junction limit. Perhaps the largest obstacle to achieving this enhancement is uncertainty about energy coupling mechanisms at the interfaces between silicon and exciton fission materials such as tetracene. Here, the previously reported silicon-hafnium oxynitride-tetracene structure is studied and a combination of magnetic-field-dependent silicon photoluminescence measurements and density functional theory calculations is used to probe the influence of the interlayer composition on the triplet transfer process across the hafnium oxynitride interlayer.
In brain activity mapping with optogenetics, patterned illumination is crucial for targeted neural stimulation. However, due to optical scattering in brain tissue, light-emitting implants are needed to bring patterned illumination to deep brain regions. A promising solution is silicon neural probes with integrated nanophotonic circuits that form tailored beam patterns without lenses.
Polimero eta Material Aurreratuak: Fisika, Kimika eta Teknologia, Kimika Fakultatea, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea UPV/EHU, Donostia-San Sebastian 20018, Spain.
Data acquisition under cryogenic conditions allows one to avoid unwanted damage caused by beam irradiation. This is particularly important for the study of biological samples at hard X-ray, micro- or nano-probe beamlines, which focus synchrotron radiation to small beam sizes with extremely high flux densities. Sample preparation methods for cryopreserved specimens have been adapted from electron microscopy, and include the use of silicon nitride membranes as they are easy to handle and possess low X-ray absorption.
