Affective communication in rodents: ultrasonic vocalizations as a tool for research on emotion and motivation

Mice and rats emit and perceive calls in the ultrasonic range, i.e., above the human hearing threshold of about 20 kHz: so-called ultrasonic vocalizations (USV). Juvenile and adult rats emit 22-kHz USV in aversive situations, such as predator exposure and fighting or during drug withdrawal, whereas 50-kHz USV occur in appetitive situations, such as rough-and-tumble play and mating or in response to drugs of abuse, e.g., amphetamine. Aversive 22-kHz USV and appetitive 50-kHz USV serve distinct communicative functions. Whereas 22-kHz USV induce freezing behavior in the receiver, 50-kHz USV lead to social approach behavior. These opposite behavioral responses are paralleled by distinct patterns of brain activation. Freezing behavior in response to 22-kHz USV is paralleled by increased neuronal activity in brain areas regulating fear and anxiety, such as the amygdala and periaqueductal gray, whereas social approach behavior elicited by 50-kHz USV is accompanied by reduced activity levels in the amygdala but enhanced activity in the nucleus accumbens, a brain area implicated in reward processing. These opposing behavioral responses, together with distinct patterns of brain activation, particularly the bidirectional tonic activation or deactivation of the amygdala elicited by 22-kHz and 50-kHz USV, respectively, concur with a wealth of behavioral and neuroimaging studies in humans involving emotionally salient stimuli, such as fearful and happy facial expressions. Affective ultrasonic communication therefore offers a translational tool for studying the neurobiology underlying socio-affective communication. This is particularly relevant for rodent models of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social and communication deficits, such as autism and schizophrenia.     

Stabilization of glucoso-6-phosphate dehydrogenase by its substrate and cofactor in an ultrasonic field

The inactivation kinetics of glucoso-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) and its complexes with glucoso-6-phosphate and NADP+ was characterized in aqueous solutions at 36-47 degrees C under treatment with low frequency (27 kHz, 60 W/cm2) and high frequency ultrasound (880 kHz, 1 W/cm2). To this end, we measured three effective first-order inactivation rate constants: thermal k(in)* , total (thermal and ultrasonic) kin, and ultrasonic kin (US). The values of the constants were found to be higher for the free enzyme than for its complexes GP-DH-GP and GPDH-NADP+ at all temperatures, which confirms the enzyme stabilization by its substrate and cofactor under both thermal and ultrasonic inactivation. Effective values of the activation energies (Ea) were determined and the preexponential factors of the rate constants and thermodynamic activation parameters of inactivation processes (deltaH*, deltaS*, and deltaG*) were calculated from the temperature dependences of the inactivation rate constants of GPDH and its complexes. The sonication of aqueous solutions of free GPDH and its complexes was accompanied by a reduction of Ea and deltaH* values in comparison with the corresponding values for thermal inactivation. The Ea, deltaH*, and deltaS* inactivation values for GPDH are lower than the corresponding values for its complexes. A linear dependence between the growth of the deltaH* and deltaS* values was observed for all the inactivation processes for free GPDH and its complexes.     

超声波对木质纤维素糖化过程影响的研究

将超声波应用在木质纤维素预处理及其酶解糖化过程中,通过SEM、FTIR研究了处理前后纤维素的形态结构和结晶性能,并考察了不同预处理方式对原料 成分的影响和超声波对酶解糖化率的影响。结果表明,超声波作用能有效的破坏纤维素分子中的氢键,降低其结晶程度,而且能有效地提高木质素的脱除率和酶解糖化率。对超声波作用于酶解过程中的机理进行了初步探讨     

Molecular cloning and characterization of Bacillus alvei thiol-dependent cytolytic toxin expressed in Escherichia coli

A chromosomal DNA fragment from Bacillus alvei, encoding a thiol-dependent haemolytic product known as alveolysin (Mr 60,000, pI 5.0) was cloned in Escherichia coli SK1592, using pBR322 as the vector plasmid. Only a single haemolysin-positive clone was identified, by testing for haemolysis on blood agar plates. The haemolytic material was associated with the host bacterial cell. It was released by ultrasonic disruption and purified 267-fold. A 64 kDa polypeptide of pI 8.2 cofractionated with haemolytic activity during gel filtration chromatography and isoelectric focusing. It behaved identically to alveolysin in its activation by thiols, inactivation by thiol group reagents, inhibition by cholesterol, and neutralization, immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting by immune sera raised against alveolysin and streptolysin O.     

Method of dissecting peripheral nerve sheaths with an ultrasonic microscalpel that does not disturb neural conduction

A new method for dissection of the nerve sheaths by an ultrasonic microscalpel was tested in in-vivo experiments with the cat saphenus nerve. The compound nerve action potential consisting of A beta, A delta and C waves did not change after successive one-cm long dissections of the major nerve sheaths, epineurium and perineurium, demonstrating innocuous character of the method. Not deep plunging of the ultrasonic scalpel into the nerve, hemocoagulation when dissecting as well as drastically reduced mechanical efforts are the principal advantages of new method.     

生物组织散射元平均间距估计的一种新方法

生物组织散射元平均间中划描述生物组织微观结构特性和生物组织超微散射特性的重要参数。本文在对生物组织超声背向散射随机模的基础上,提出了基于生物组织超声背向散射信号突变点检测的工用射元平均间距估计的新方法。该方法是生物组织超声散射分析的有效方法。     

The non-oxidative decarboxylation ofp-hydroxybenzoic acid,gentisic acid,protocatechuic acid and gallic acid byKlebsiella aerogenes (Aerobacter aerogenes)

Klebsiella aerogenes adapted to a chemically-defined mineral salts medium with glucose orp-hydroxybenzoate as sole source of carbon and energy possessed constitutive decarboxylases for gentisate (2,5-dihydroxybenzoate), protocatechuate (3,4-dihydroxybenzoate) and gallate (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate) whose pH optima were respectively 5.9, 5.6 and 5.8. A decarboxylase for PHB was induced by PHB in both growing and resting cells; the induction was delayed or inhibited by chloramphenicol and by ultrasonic disruption of the bacteria. Crude ultrasonic preparations of PHB decarboxylase had an optimum pH of 6.0, a Michaelis constant of 4mm and an activation energy of 25,500 cal mole^–1 at 28 – 38 C. All four decarboxylations proceeded without O₂ and for every mole of phenolic acid decomposed one mole of CO₂ and one mole of the corresponding phenol were produced. The effects of ultrasonic disruption of the bacteria suggested that permeability barriers limited the rate of decarboxylation of PHB and 2,5-DHB but not of 3,4-DHB or 3,4,5-THB. During ultrasonic disintegration PHB and 3,4-DHB decarboxylases were retained solely by insoluble centrifugeable particles, whereas 2,5-DHB and 3,4,5-THB decarboxylases were gradually released into solution.The decarboxylation of protocatechuic acid is an essential stage in the assimilation ofp-hydroxybenzoic acid byK. aerogenes, whereas the decarboxylation ofp-hydroxybenzoate itself is an injurious side reaction.We wish to thank Mr. P. J. Wragg for technical assistance.     

基于启发式A^＊算法的超声图像颈动脉内膜提取

从超声图像准确提取颈动脉内膜,为基于颈动脉超声图像判断动脉粥样硬化服务。方法提出一种基于启发式A*算法从超声图像中提取颈动脉内膜边缘的方法。先使用图像分割法区分血管腔和血管壁,再采用结合图像灰度值特点的A*算法准确地提取颈动脉内膜边缘。结果通过对临床采集的32幅颈动脉超声图像的分析研究,表明本方法自动提取的结果与医生手工描绘的结果基本吻合。结论本方法有望应用于超声图像颈动脉内膜的自动提取。     

High Speed Imaging of Cavitation around Dental Ultrasonic Scaler Tips

Cavitation occurs around dental ultrasonic scalers, which are used clinically for removing dental biofilm and calculus. However it is not known if this contributes to the cleaning process. Characterisation of the cavitation around ultrasonic scalers will assist in assessing its contribution and in developing new clinical devices for removing biofilm with cavitation. The aim is to use high speed camera imaging to quantify cavitation patterns around an ultrasonic scaler. A Satelec ultrasonic scaler operating at 29 kHz with three different shaped tips has been studied at medium and high operating power using high speed imaging at 15,000, 90,000 and 250,000 frames per second. The tip displacement has been recorded using scanning laser vibrometry. Cavitation occurs at the free end of the tip and increases with power while the area and width of the cavitation cloud varies for different shaped tips. The cavitation starts at the antinodes, with little or no cavitation at the node. High speed image sequences combined with scanning laser vibrometry show individual microbubbles imploding and bubble clouds lifting and moving away from the ultrasonic scaler tip, with larger tip displacement causing more cavitation.     

Combined rheological and ultrasonic study of alginate and pectin gels near the sol-gel transition

The sol-gel transition of biopolymer mixtures has been investigated by rheological and ultrasonic measurements. A scaling analysis of the data was performed for both types of measurements. A gel time was determined from rheology for the pure pectin samples, and the data could be fitted to a universal scaling form near the transition point. Its critical exponents are in good agreement with the predictions of scalar percolation theory. In addition, the ultrasonic signal of the pectin samples close to the transition was analyzed in terms of a high-frequency scaling approach for the attenuation and the velocity. For the alginate samples and the mixtures, for which the gel point cannot be determined reliably from rheology, the ultrasonic measurements were analyzed using the same scaling form as for the pectin sample, thus providing a method for estimating the gel point, even in the absence of rheological data.     

超声辅助低共熔溶剂提取沙棘籽粕多酚的工艺优化

以一系列低共熔溶剂为提取剂,采用超声波辅助法从沙棘籽粕中提取多酚。在单因素试验结果基础上,利用Box-Behnken实验设计,运用响应面分析法对影响沙棘籽粕多酚得率的主要因素（超声功率、超声时间、超声温度）进行优化。结果表明,沙棘籽粕多酚最佳提取工艺条件为：以含水量为30%的氯化胆碱-草酸低共熔溶剂为最佳提取剂,液料比为14∶1,超声功率420 W,超声时间56 min,超声温度44℃。在此条件下,多酚得率为3.31±0.008%。对比试验发现：氯化胆碱-草酸低共熔溶剂对沙棘籽粕多酚的得率明显优于传统溶剂;与热回流提取相比,超声提取法具有明显的优势。     

Experiments on Ultrasonic Lubrication Using a Piezoelectrically-assisted Tribometer and Optical Profilometer

Friction and wear are detrimental to engineered systems. Ultrasonic lubrication is achieved when the interface between two sliding surfaces is vibrated at a frequency above the acoustic range (20 kHz). As a solid-state technology, ultrasonic lubrication can be used where conventional lubricants are unfeasible or undesirable. Further, ultrasonic lubrication allows for electrical modulation of the effective friction coefficient between two sliding surfaces. This property enables adaptive systems that modify their frictional state and associated dynamic response as the operating conditions change. Surface wear can also be reduced through ultrasonic lubrication. We developed a protocol to investigate the dependence of friction force reduction and wear reduction on the linear sliding velocity between ultrasonically lubricated surfaces. A pin-on-disc tribometer was built which differs from commercial units in that a piezoelectric stack is used to vibrate the pin at 22 kHz normal to the rotating disc surface. Friction and wear metrics including effective friction force, volume loss, and surface roughness are measured without and with ultrasonic vibrations at a constant pressure of 1 to 4 MPa and three different sliding velocities: 20.3, 40.6, and 87 mm/sec. An optical profilometer is utilized to characterize the wear surfaces. The effective friction force is reduced by 62% at 20.3 mm/sec. Consistently with existing theories for ultrasonic lubrication, the percent reduction in friction force diminishes with increasing speed, down to 29% friction force reduction at 87 mm/sec. Wear reduction remains essentially constant (49%) at the three speeds considered.     

Characterizing maternal isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in a gene–environment interaction rat model for autism

Deficits in social communication and language development belong to the earliest diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorders. Of the many risk factors for autism spectrum disorder, the contactin-associated protein-like 2 gene, CNTNAP2, is thought to be important for language development. The present study used a rat model to investigate the potential compounding effects of autism spectrum disorder risk gene mutation and environmental challenges, including breeding conditions or maternal immune activation during pregnancy, on early vocal communication in the offspring. Maternal isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations from Cntnap2 wildtype and knockout rats at selected postnatal days were analyzed for their acoustic, temporal and syntax characteristics. Cntnap2 knockout pups from heterozygous breeding showed normal numbers and largely similar temporal structures of ultrasonic vocalizations to wildtype controls, whereas both parameters were affected in homozygously bred knockouts. Homozygous breeding further exacerbated altered pitch and transitioning between call types found in Cntnap2 knockout pups from heterozygous breeding. In contrast, the effect of maternal immune activation on the offspring's vocal communication was confined to call type syntax, but left ultrasonic vocalization acoustic and temporal organization intact. Our results support the “double-hit hypothesis” of autism spectrum disorder risk gene–environment interactions and emphasize that complex features of vocal communication are a useful tool for identifying early autistic-like features in rodent models.     

Cook Your Samples: The Application of Microwave Irradiation in Speeding Up Biological Processes

Classic and conventional procedures in molecular cloning are inherent compositions in modern molecular biological experiments and are frequently involved in daily laboratory activities. They take up the majority of the total time input in spite of the availability of well-designed specialized commercial kits. A similar situation is also in the field of biotechnology. Fortunately, microwave/ultrasonic irradiation has been found to be capable of speeding up these processes, such as proteolysis in sample preparation for proteomics research, and digestion, ligation, (de)phosphorylation of DNA with the corresponding enzymes, even the introduction of DNA samples to recipient cells, and biotransformation (e.g., the production of biodiesel). Microwave/ultrasonic irradiation, when used solely or in combination with other existing operations, makes it possible to finish these time-consuming processes in as short as 1 min with comparable or even improved efficiency, and there is no need of reagent upgradation. The adoption of irradiation is ideal because it eliminates any possible side effects of the chemicals used as performance enhancer(s) that will inevitably make the system more complicated at least. More notably, the needed irradiation in the laboratory can be generated by a common microwave oven or ultrasonic cleaner. Taken together, microwave/ultrasonic irradiation provides an accessible method to make the procedures mentioned above time- and cost- efficient. In this article, we reviewed the relevant literature and discussed the experiment and mechanism details.     

Nephrosonography in Infants and Children: A New Technique

A technique has been developed for the ultrasonic investigation of renal disease in infants using a specially designed water-bath with a conventional ultrasonic scanner. This permits ultrasonic studies of the renal tract from the neonatal period onwards; the procedure does not distress the child and the water acts as an excellent coupling medium.     

Ultrasonic communication in concave-eared torrent frogs (Amolops tormotus)

The concave-eared torrent frogs (Amolops tormotus) have highly unusual ear morphology--in males the eardrums are embedded deep inside ear cavities. In collaboration with our colleagues we investigated the functional significance of this morphological feature in hearing. Sound recordings in the field showed that males of A. tormotus produce diverse bird-like melodic calls with pronounced frequency modulations and non-linear phenomena (e.g., frequency jumps, different orders of subharmonics, and chaos) that often contain spectral energy in the ultrasonic range. The audible as well as the ultrasonic components of the species call could effectively evoke males' vocal responses, demonstrating that they can hear and respond to ultrasound. Electrophysiological recordings from the auditory midbrain confirmed the ultrasonic hearing capacity of these frogs. The recessed tympana and extremely thin tympanic membranes are adaptations for hearing ultrasound--this sensitivity may have evolved in response to the intense, predominately low-frequency ambient noise from local streams. Finally, results from the isolated laryngeal preparation in euthanized frogs revealed that the origin of call complexity and diversity lies with having a vocal system with nonlinear properties.     

Absolute measurement of enhanced fluctuations in assemblies of biomolecules by ultrasonic techniques.

By expressing the fluctuation-dissipation theorem explicitly, equations are obtained for the ultrasonic relaxation amplitudes that contain one single molecular parameter, i.e., the fluctuation, or the sum of fluctuations. The absolute measurement of this parameter is therefore possible. The equations apply to a two-state system, to a multistate system and to a linear Ising chain as well. In an aqueous medium, where molar volume changes are important, the ultrasonic relaxation amplitudes are proportional to the volume fluctuations. For assemblies of biomolecules that exhibit enhanced ultrasonic absorption on assembly it is possible to measure the increase on assembly of the sum of fluctuations. In view of application to tobacco mosaic virus protein aggregates, examples are given in which the fluctuations associated with two normal modes of relaxation are equally enhanced when the difference of conformational stability of the states is reduced. The corresponding observable changes of the ultrasonic spectra are described.     

Improving the gel properties of transgenic microbial transglutaminase cross-linked soybean-whey mixed protein by ultrasonic pretreatment

This study investigated the effect of microbial transglutaminase cross-linking on the gel properties of soybean-whey mixed protein (SPI-WPI) after ultrasonic pretreatment. The average particle size of SPI-WPI decreased with increasing of ultrasonic time treatment, and minimal particle size was verified after 45 min. Endogenous fluorescence spectroscopy and surface hydrophobicity analysis showed that the SPI-WPI conformation changed after ultrasonic treatment. The polypeptide chain partially expanded inside the protein molecule, the hydrophobic group was exposed, and the protein structure became more stretched. The gel hardness and water holding capacity of the SPI-WPI hybrid system reached a maximum 30 min after ultrasonic treatment. Fourier infrared analysis showed that the secondary structure of the protein changed after ultrasonic modification. A complex is formed between SPI and WPI, and the gel properties of the mixed protein are significantly improved, providing theoretical and technical support for the development of new mixed protein foods.     

Ultrasonic Welding of Thermoplastic Composite Coupons for Mechanical Characterization of Welded Joints through Single Lap Shear Testing

This paper presents a novel straightforward method for ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic-composite coupons in optimum processing conditions. The ultrasonic welding process described in this paper is based on three main pillars. Firstly, flat energy directors are used for preferential heat generation at the joining interface during the welding process. A flat energy director is a neat thermoplastic resin film that is placed between the parts to be joined prior to the welding process and heats up preferentially owing to its lower compressive stiffness relative to the composite substrates. Consequently, flat energy directors provide a simple solution that does not require molding of resin protrusions on the surfaces of the composite substrates, as opposed to ultrasonic welding of unreinforced plastics. Secondly, the process data provided by the ultrasonic welder is used to rapidly define the optimum welding parameters for any thermoplastic composite material combination. Thirdly, displacement control is used in the welding process to ensure consistent quality of the welded joints. According to this method, thermoplastic-composite flat coupons are individually welded in a single lap configuration. Mechanical testing of the welded coupons allows determining the apparent lap shear strength of the joints, which is one of the properties most commonly used to quantify the strength of thermoplastic composite welded joints.     

Functional state of the thyroid gland following exposure to ultrasound

Changes are described in the content of butanol-extracted iodine in the blood serum and total iodine in thyroid tissue of white rat males under ultrasonic effect of various intensity (0.2, 0.6, 1.0 Watt/cm2) and analysed at different time intervals after ultrasound application. A decrease in total iodine content in thyroid glands (at initial level 0.315 mg%) and an increase of butanol-extracted iodine content in the blood serum were observed in all the experimental groups. The data obtained compared with the earlier found increase of the thyroid hormone content in the serum and thyreotropic hormone at a decreased content of thyroxins in the thyroid gland seem to point to the activation of the thyroid function after the application of ultrasound.