Reducing aberration by inverse filtering in Fresnel zone plate transducers

Transducers employing a spatial electrode pattern in the form of a Fresnel zone plate (FZP) are useful in acoustic imaging systems for focusing an ultrasonic beam. A technique has been developed to predict the spatial acoustic output of such a transducer from a knowledge of the spatial electrode pattern. It has been shown that, due to mechanical aberration, sharp edges in the electrode pattern are not reproduced in the output pattern. The mechanism producing the aberration can be modeled as a low-pass spatial filter. A desired acoustic spatial pattern may be generated by a synthesized electrode pattern obtained through inverse filtering. The approach is to assume that the desired acoustic pattern is the output of a linear spatial system and then to synthesize the electrode pattern that would produce it by multiplying it with the inverse of the aberrating low-pass filter. The synthesized electrode pattern will then generate an acoustic pattern which replicates the desired acoustic pattern very closely.     

Spatial organization of transport domains and subdomain formation in the plasma membrane of Chara corallina

Pattern formation mechanisms in developing organisms determine cellular differentiation and function. However, the components that interact during the manifestation of a spatial pattern are in general unknown. Characean algae represent a model system to study pattern formation. These algae develop alternating acid and alkaline transport domains that influence the pattern of growth. In the present study, it will be demonstrated that a diffusion mechanism is implicated in acid and alkaline domain formation and this growth pattern. Experiments on the characean growth pattern were performed that resulted in pronounced, however, unpredictable modifications in the original pattern. A major component involved in this pattern-forming mechanism emerged from the nonlinear kinetics of the H⁺-ATPase that is located in the plasma membrane of these algae. Based on these kinetics, a mathematical model was developed and numerically analyzed. As a result, the contribution of a diffusional component to the characean acid/alkaline pattern appeared most likely.This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant #571 1/1) to JF.     

Genetic control of bud site selection in yeast by a set of gene products that constitute a morphogenetic pathway

Yeast cells choose bud sites on their surface in two distinct spatial patterns: axial for a and alpha cells and bipolar for a/alpha cells. We have identified four genes, BUD1-BUD4, necessary for the axial pattern by isolating mutants of alpha cells that do not exhibit this pattern. Mutations in BUD1 (which is the same as the previously identified gene RSR1) or BUD2 lead to a random budding pattern in all cell types; mutations in BUD3 or BUD4 lead to a bipolar pattern in all cell types. These observations indicate the existence of a basal budding pattern, requiring no BUD products, that is random; BUD1 and BUD2 act on this basal pattern to create the bipolar pattern; the further action of BUD3 and BUD4 leads to the axial pattern. These studies thus identify a set of gene products that directs cell morphogenesis to a genetically programmed site.     

Pattern separability in a random neural net with inhibitory connections

Some interesting properties on pattern separation have been shown through researches by neural models of cerebellar cortex. It seems to us that those results are a part of the properties of pattern separation. A two layer random nerve net with inhibitory connections is given as a model of the cerebellar cortex. The model is composed of threshold elements there. A more general theory of pattern separation than those studied earlier is given, and the pattern separability of the model is considered. It is revealed that the standard deviation of threshold values of threshold elements has a great effect on the pattern separability and the control of the firing rate. The present study is also intended to investigate the pattern separability in such a case that the firing rate of input patterns are not equal, and a pattern includes the other pattern. It is assumed there that the standard deviation is small. Some properties of the degree of pattern separation are cleaned up.     

Adult neurogenesis and pattern separation in rodents: A critical evaluation of data,tasks and interpretation

The ability to discriminate and store similar inputs as distinct representations in memory is thought to rely on a process called pattern separation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Recent computational and empirical findings support a role for adult-born granule neurons in spatial pattern separation. We reviewed rodent studies that have manipulated both hippocampal adult neurogenesis and assessed pattern separation. The majority of studies report a supporting role of adult born neurons in pattern separation as measured at the behavioral level. However, closer evaluation of the published findings reveals variation in both pattern separation tasks and in the interpretation of behavioral performance that, taken together, suggests that the role of hippocampal adult neurogenesis in pattern separation may be less established than is currently assumed. Assessment of pattern separation at the network level through the use of immediate early gene expression, optogenetic, pharmacogenetic and/or in vivo electrophysiology studies could be instrumental in further confirming a role of adult born neurons in pattern separation further. Finally, hippocampal adult neurogenesis and pattern separation are not an exclusive pair, as evidence for hippocampal adult neurogenesis contributing to the temporal separation of events in memory, forgetting and cognitive flexibility has also been found. We conclude that whereas current empirical evidence for the involvement of hippocampal adult neurogenesis in pattern separation seems supportive, there is a need for careful interpretation of behavioral findings and an integration of the various proposed functions of adult born neurons.     

Regulation of ciliary pattern in ciliates.

The modes of pattern regulation found in the ciliates Dileptus and Paraurostyla are compared. These forms are systematically distant but both possess very extensive regenerative capacities. They are characterized by 2 types of ciliary patterns: the ciliature of Dileptus has largely a simple pattern composed of single kinetosomes while that of Paraurostyla has a complex pattern composed of aggregates of kinetosomes interconnected by amorphic matter. In both ciliates a change in cell size evokes pattern regulation which differs substantially in the extent of pattern replacement, timing, and localization of morphogenetic activities. It is concluded that these differences result from the pattern constituents.     

Investigations on the Retroactive Influence of Latent Visual Learning on Previously Formed Memory Traces in Fish1

Experiments with crucians (Carassius carassius L.) and goldfish (Carassius auratus L.) have shown that a consolidated memory trace of a simple visual pattern became disturbed by later seeing series of similar patterns (unrewarded), that is to say by latent learning. In a test in which the experimental group (es) had to choose between the originally learnt and the similar pattern, it did not prefer the former, whereas the control group (cs), which had only seen white walls of the aquarium, still preferred the originally learnt pattern. The same happened when es learnt a similar pattern by reward after the memory of the original pattern had been consolidated. In another set of experiments the negative influence of post-exposure could be demonstrated in facilitation of later learning the postexposed pattern as positive versus the originally learnt pattern, now negative. When es had seen a dissimilar wall-paper pattern then the memory of the primarily learnt pattern was not disturbed. A tentative explanation is based on the notion that two similar engrams have part of the neuronal network in common.     

Physiological responses to single versus double stepping pattern of ascending the stairs

The aim of this study was to compare the physiological responses and energy cost between two ascending patterns, the single-step (SS) and the double-step (DS), in climbing a public staircase. In the SS pattern, a person climbs one step at a time whilst in the double-step (DS) pattern, the individual traverses two steps in a single stride. Advocates of each stepping pattern claimed that their type of ascent is physically more taxing and expends more calories. Thirty subjects (10 males and 20 females) climbed a typical 11-storey flat (each step height of 0.15 m, a total of 180 steps and a vertical displacement of 27.0 m). The subjects climbed using either the SS pattern at a tempo of 100 steps x min(-1) or the DS pattern at 50 steps x min(-1). The prescribed stepping frequencies ensured that an equal amount of total work was performed between the SS and DS patterns. The climbing patterns were performed in random order. Physiological measures during the last 30 s of the climbs were used in the comparative analysis. The results showed that ventilation, oxygen uptake and heart rate values were significantly higher (all p < 0.01) in the SS as compared to the DS pattern. However, the caloric expenditure during the SS pattern was calculated to be only marginally higher than the DS pattern. In conclusion, ascending with the SS pattern led to significantly higher physiological responses compared to the DS pattern. The higher calorie expended with the SS compared to the DS pattern was deemed to be of little practical significance.     

A template matching model for pattern recognition: Self-organization of templates and template matching by a disinhibitory neural network

A template matching model for pattern recognition is proposed. By following a previouslyproposed algorithm for synaptic modification (Hirai, 1980), the template of a stimulus pattern is selforganized as a spatial distribution pattern of matured synapses on the cells receiving modifiable synapses. Template matching is performed by the disinhibitory neural network cascaded beyond the neural layer composed of the cells receiving the modifiable synapses. The performance of the model has been simulated on a digital computer. After repetitive presentations of a stimulus pattern, a cell receiving the modifiable synapses comes to have the template of that pattern. And the cell in the latter layer of the disinhibitory bitory neural network that receives the disinhibitory input from that cell becomes electively sensitive to that pattern. Learning patterns are not restricted by previously learned ones. They can be subset or superset patterns of the ones previously learned. If an unknown pattern is presented to the model, no cell beyond the disinhibitory neural network will respond. However, if previously learned patterns are embedded in that pattern, the cells which have the templates of those patterns respond and are assumed to transmit the information to higher center. The computer simulation also shows that the model can organize a clean template under a noisy environment.     

Importance of photoperiodic signal quality to entrainment of the circannual reproductive rhythm of the ewe

An endogenous circannual rhythm drives the seasonal reproductive cycle of a broad spectrum of species. This rhythm is synchronized to the seasons (i.e., entrained) by photoperiod, which acts by regulating the circadian pattern of melatonin secretion from the pineal gland. Prior work has revealed that melatonin patterns secreted in spring/summer entrain the circannual rhythm of reproductive neuroendocrine activity in sheep, whereas secretions in winter do not. The goal of this study was to determine if inability of the winter-melatonin pattern to entrain the rhythm is due to the specific melatonin pattern secreted in winter or to the stage of the circannual rhythm at that time of year. Either a summer- or a winter-melatonin pattern was infused for 70 days into pinealectomized ewes, centered around the summer solstice, when an effective stimulus readily entrains the rhythm. The ewes were ovariectomized and treated with constant-release estradiol implants, and circannual cycles of reproductive neuroendocrine activity were monitored by serum LH concentrations. Only the summer-melatonin pattern entrained the circannual reproductive rhythm. The inability of the winter pattern to do so indicates that the mere presence of a circadian melatonin pattern, in itself, is insufficient for entrainment. Rather, the characteristics of the melatonin pattern, in particular a pattern that mimics the photoperiodic signals of summer, determines entrainment of the circannual rhythm of reproductive neuroendocrine activity in the ewe.     

Pattern influence on the fingers.

In this study dermatoglyphic traits in 16 populations in northern Hungary were examined. The occurrence and probability of the manifestation of finger pattern types were analysed. Certain relationships were found that show that if a given pattern type is present on one of the fingers, then, in these cases, the frequency of pattern types on the other nine fingers typically is different from that in the entire sample. We termed this relationship or effect; pattern influence. In most cases there was a strong significant difference in frequency values between the entire sample and the studied cases. We studied the relationship of populations and pattern types using correspondence analysis. In the entire sample, most populations are located around the ulnar loop and the whorl. This arrangement is significantly and typically different in pattern-influence cases. Most populations aggregated around the pattern type in which pattern influence was studied. Pattern influence was found in all populations studied, and in both sexes.     

Insect vision: remembering the shape of things

How does the nervous system store a newly experienced visual pattern, and how is that pattern subsequently made available for recognition? Recent work in Drosophila suggests that specific pattern features are stored separately in the nervous system.     

Pattern discrimination by the honeybee: disruption as a cue

The discrimination of pattern disruption in freely flying honeybees (Apis mellifera) was examined. Bees were trained to discriminate at a fixed distance between a regularly repeated black/white pattern and the same pattern at a different magnification in targets of the same angular size. The locations of areas of black were regularly shuffled to make them useless as cues. The results of the experiments indicate that the bees discriminate the disruption of the pattern as a whole, irrespective of the actual pattern. Bees trained to prefer a larger period transfer to an even larger period, when given a forced choice with a pair of patterns of differing disruption from those they were trained on, as if their spontaneous preference has not been overcome. Bees trained to prefer a smaller period, however, prefer the former negative pattern rather than transfer to an even smaller period. These results show that the bees do not rely solely on learning the absolute period of a pattern nor the relative disruption of two patterns, and they are confused when these two cues conflict in tests with unfamiliar targets. Bees can discriminate between fields of view that differ in average disruption as a generalized cue, irrespective of pattern. Accepted: 7 April 1997     

Generalization of Mimics Imperfect in Colour Patterns: The Point of View of Wild Avian Predators

Current research of imperfect mimicry brings ambiguous results. Experiments simulating more natural conditions rather than laboratory experiments show lower willingness of avian predators to attack less perfect mimics. We decided to simulate a natural situation by testing responses of wild‐caught adult avian predators (Great tit – Parus major) to variously perfect mimics of the red firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus), which were in previous studies shown to elicit avoidance in Great tits. Presented mimics were perfect in all traits (firebug with its own colour pattern), imperfect in colour pattern (firebug with modified colour pattern), perfect in colour pattern, but imperfect in other visual traits (cockroach with firebug colour pattern), and imperfect in colour pattern as well as in other visual traits (cockroach with modified colour patterns). Modification of the pattern focused on the rounded spots on firebug's hemielytra, which is a conspicuous trait within the pattern. The pattern modification had no influence on the number of birds attacking the prey; nevertheless, birds spent more time observing the cockroaches that displayed the perfect firebug colour pattern than in the case of any other prey. Moreover, firebugs that displayed the perfect firebug colour pattern were observed for the shortest time (equal to that of the model – unmodified firebug). Cockroaches were attacked more often than firebugs, which suggest that birds were able to use additional visual cues (shape of legs and antennae) in prey recognition. Given these result, we conclude that differences in morphological traits characteristic for used prey taxa (true bugs, cockroaches) seem to be more important in the prey's protection than its colour pattern.     

Patterns of tooth crown size and shape variation in great apes and humans and species recognition in the hominid fossil record

It has been suggested that patterns of craniodental variation in living hominids (Gorilla, Homo, Pan, and Pongo) may be useful for evaluating variation in fossil hominid assemblages. Using this approach, a fossil sample exhibiting a pattern of variation that deviates from one shared among living taxa would be regarded as taxonomically heterogeneous. Here we examine patterns of tooth crown size and shape variation in great apes and humans to determine 1) if these taxa share a pattern of dental variation, and 2) if such a pattern can reliably discriminate between samples that contain single species and those that contain multiple species. We use parametric and nonparametric correlation methods to establish the degree of pattern similarity among taxa, and randomization tests to assess their statistical significance. The results of this study show that extant hominids do not share a pattern of dental size variation, and thus these taxa cannot be used to generate expectations for patterns of size variation in fossil hominid species. The hominines (Gorilla, Homo, and Pan) do share a pattern of shape variation in the mandibular dentition; however, Pongo is distinct, and thus it is unclear which, if either, pattern should be expected in fossil hominids. Moreover, in this case, most combined-species samples exhibit patterns of shape variation that are similar to those for single hominine species samples. Thus, although a common pattern of shape variation is present in the mandibular dentition, it is not useful for recognizing taxonomically mixed paleontological samples.     

Cell Sorting daring Pattern Formation in Dictyostelium

Formation of the prestalk-prespore pattern in Dictyostelium was investigated in slugs and submerged clumps of cells. Prestalk and prespore cells were identified by staining with vital dyes, which are shown to be stable cell markers. Dissociated slug cells reaggregate and form slugs that contain a prestalk-prespore pattern indistinguishable from the original pattern. The pattern forms by sorting out of stained prestalk cells from unstained prespore cells. Sorting also occurs in clumps of dissociated slug cells submerged in liquid or agar. A pattern arises in 2 h in which a central core of stained cells is surrounded by a periphery of unstained cells. Sorting appears to be due to differential chemotaxis of stained and unstained cells to cAMP since exogenous cAMP (>10⁻⁷ M) reverses the normal direction of sorting-out such that stained cells sort to the periphery of the clumps.
Isolated portions of slugs regenerate a new prestalk-prespore pattern. Posterior isolates regenerate a pattern within 2 h due to sorting of a population of vitally stained 'anterior-like' cells present in posteriors. Anterior-like cells do not sort in intact slugs due to the influence of a diffusible inhibitor secreted by the anterior region. During posterior regeneration this signal is absent and anterior-like cells rapidly acquire the ability to sort. Anterior isolates regenerate a staining pattern more slowly than posterior isolates by a process that requires conversion of stained prestalk cells to unstained prespore cells.
The results suggest that pattern formation in Dictyostelium consists of two processes: establishment of appropriate proportions of two cell types and establishment of the pattern itself by a mechanism of sorting-out.     

Nuclear DNA content as an indicator of chemosensitivity in small-cell carcinoma of the lung

The relationship between the nuclear DNA histogram pattern of tumor cells obtained by bronchoscopic brushing and the response to combination chemotherapy (Cytoxan + Adriamycin + Vincristine) was studied in 28 patients with small-cell carcinoma of the lung. Microspectrophotometric analysis of the tumor cells showed a near-diploid nuclear DNA pattern in 18 patients and a hyperdiploid pattern in 10 patients. Eight of the ten patients with the hyperdiploid pattern showed a good response (complete or partial response) to the chemotherapy. However, of the 18 patients with the near-diploid DNA pattern, only 2 displayed a good response; the remaining 16 patients exhibited no response. The hyperdiploid DNA pattern of tumor cells was thus associated with a better response to chemotherapy than was the near-diploid pattern. These results indicate that the nuclear DNA histogram pattern may be an indicator for predicting the degree of response to chemotherapy in small-cell carcinoma of the lung.     

DNA Evidence of the Origin of Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans in the Americas

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to examine possible origin of Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans in the Americas. Among 64 primers screened, 2 primers provided variation which was informative for this study. All V. jacobsoni collected from the United States had the same banding pattern to that of mites collected from Russia, Morocco, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal (Russian pattern). This banding pattern was different from the pattern found for mites collected from Japan, Brazil, and Puerto Rico (Japanese pattern). The Japanese pattern lacked a 766-bp band found in the Russian pattern (OPE-07). With primer OPP-03, the Russian pattern had a distinct band at 442 bp not found in the Japanese pattern. Two bands located at 675 and 412 bp were specific to the Japanese pattern. These results suggest that the V. jacobsoni of the United States is probably predominantly Russian in origin (via Europe), while the V. jacobsoni of Brazil and Puerto Rico are probably predominantly Japanese in origin.     

Evocation of venation pattern in the wing of a moth,Manduca sexta

The insect wing is formed from an epithelial sheet that folds during development to establish a saclike tissue with an upper and a lower epithelial monolayer. The adult cuticle formed by the upper and lower monolayers has a distinctive pattern of thickened regions called veins. The venation pattern on the lower surface matches that on the upper surface. As demonstrated by transposition of grafts from the upper monolayer, determination of venation pattern occurs prior to pupation in both wing monolayers. However, the pattern is not expressed until later in adult development. Expression of this determined pattern occurs autonomously in most circumstances. One circumstance in which the pattern fails to be expressed is in pieces of the upper monolayer that are isolated from the lower monolayer before adult cuticle deposition and expression of venation pattern. The only evident interaction between the two monolayers of the wing occurs during a 3-day period, 6–8 days after pupation. During this time, the basal laminae segregating upper monolayer from lower monolayer disappear, and the basal ends of cells form desmosomal junctions at the interface between upper and lower monolayer. Transposition as well as isolation of tissue fragments from the upper monolayer suggest that this interaction between the basal surfaces of the two monolayers is a prerequisite for evocation of venation pattern.     

Sample-Based Vegetation Distribution Information Synthesis

In constructing and visualizing a virtual three-dimensional forest scene, we must first obtain the vegetation distribution, namely, the location of each plant in the forest. Because the forest contains a large number of plants, the distribution of each plant is difficult to obtain from actual measurement methods. Random approaches are used as common solutions to simulate a forest distribution but fail to reflect the specific biological arrangements among types of plants. Observations show that plants in the forest tend to generate particular distribution patterns due to growth competition and specific habitats. This pattern, which represents a local feature in the distribution and occurs repeatedly in the forest, is in line with the “locality” and “static” characteristics in the “texture data”, making it possible to use a sample-based texture synthesis strategy to build the distribution. We propose a vegetation distribution data generation method that uses sample-based vector pattern synthesis. A sample forest stand is obtained first and recorded as a two-dimensional vector-element distribution pattern. Next, the large-scale vegetation distribution pattern is synthesized automatically using the proposed vector pattern synthesis algorithm. The synthesized distribution pattern resembles the sample pattern in the distribution features. The vector pattern synthesis algorithm proposed in this paper adopts a neighborhood comparison technique based on histogram matching, which makes it efficient and easy to implement. Experiments show that the distribution pattern synthesized with this method can sufficiently preserve the features of the sample distribution pattern, making our method meaningful for constructing realistic forest scenes.