Waughestes0615

Two-photon Ca2+ imaging is a widely used technique for investigating brain functions across multiple spatial scales. However, the recording of neuronal activities is affected by movement of the brain during tasks in which the animal is behaving normally. Although post-hoc image registration is the commonly used approach, the recent developments of online neuroscience experiments require real-time image processing with efficient motion correction performance, posing new challenges in neuroinformatics. We propose a fast and accurate image density feature-based motion correction method to address the problem of imaging animal during behaviors. This method is implemented by first robustly estimating and clustering the density features from two-photon images. Then, it takes advantage of the temporal correlation in imaging data to update features of consecutive imaging frames with efficient calculations. Thus, motion artifacts can be quickly and accurately corrected by matching the features and obtaining the transformation parameters for the raw images. Based on this efficient motion correction strategy, our algorithm yields promising computational efficiency on imaging datasets with scales ranging from dendritic spines to neuronal populations. Furthermore, we show that the proposed motion correction method outperforms other methods by evaluating not only computational speed but also the quality of the correction performance. Specifically, we provide a powerful tool to perform motion correction for two-photon Ca2+ imaging data, which may facilitate online imaging experiments in the future.Bis(urea)s based on the 4,4'-methylenebis(2,6-diethylphenylene) (4,4'-MDEP) spacer are highly effective low molecular weight gelators, and the first single crystal structure of a bis(urea) based on this spacer is reported. The structure is a conformational isomorph with eight crystallographically independent molecules (Z' = 8) arranged in four tennis-ball type dimers with the 2,6-diethylphenylene units adopting five different conformations in the ratio 45322. The awkward shape and conformational promiscuity arising from the orientations of the ethyl groups in this system is linked to its gelation behavior. A total of seven 4,4'-MDEP derivatives have been prepared, and six are versatile gelators, confirming the particularly effective nature of the MDEP spacer. Androgen Receptor high throughput screening Only the nitrophenyl derivative does not form gels, likely because of intramolecular CH···O hydrogen bonding arising from the electron-withdrawing nature of the nitro substituent and hence inhibition of the urea α-tape hydrogen-bonded motif.Autonomy - acting volitionally with a sense of choice - is a crucial right for children. Given parents' pivotal position in their child's autonomy development, we examined how parental autonomy support and children's need for autonomy were negotiated and manifested in the context of children's independent mobility - children's ability to play, walk or cycle unsupervised. We interviewed 105 Canadian children between 10 and 13-years-old and their parents (n = 135) to examine child-parents' negotiation patterns as to children's independent mobility. Four patterns emerged, varying on parental autonomy support and children's need/motivation for independent mobility (1) child/parent dyad wants to increase independent mobility; (2) child only wants to increase independent mobility while parents do not; (3) child does not want to increase independent mobility while parents do; and (4) child/parent dyad does not want to increase independent mobility. Findings illuminate the importance of recognizing children as active and capable agents of change.Cyclic α-aryl β-dicarbonyl derivatives are important scaffolds in medicinal chemistry. Palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions of haloarenes were conducted with diverse five- to seven-membered cyclic β-dicarbonyl derivatives including barbiturate, pyrazolidine-3,5-dione, and 1,4-diazepane-5,7-dione. The coupling reactions of various para- or meta-substituted aryl halides occurred efficiently when Pd(t-Bu3P)2, Xphos, and Cs2CO3 were used under 1,4-dioxane reflux conditions. Although the couplings of ortho-substituted aryl halides with pyrazolidine-3,5-dione and 1,4-diazepane-5,7-dione were moderate, the coupling with barbiturate was limited. Using the optimized reaction conditions, we synthesized several 5-aryl barbiturates as new scaffolds of CaV1.3 Ca2+ channel inhibitors. Among the synthesized molecules, 14e was the most potent CaV1.3 inhibitor with an IC50 of 1.42 μM.An anion-exchange electrolyte membrane, QPAF(C6)-4, polymerized with hydrophobic 1,4'-bis(3-chlorophenyl)perfluorohexane and hydrophilic (6,6'-(2,7-dichloro-9H-fluorene-9.9-diyl)bis(N,N-dimethylhexan-1-amine) is physically flexible and chemically stable. The drawbacks are relatively large water swelling and lower OH- conductivity at higher water uptakes, which are considered to be due to the entanglement of the flexible hydrophobic structure of the membrane. In this study, a QPAF(C4)-4 membrane was newly synthesized with shortened hydrophobic fluoroalkyl chains. Unexpectedly, QPAF(C4)-4 showed a higher water uptake and a lower bulk/surface conductivity than QPAF(C6)-4 possibly due to the decrease in hydrophobicity with a smaller number of fluorine atoms. The thermal stability of QPAF(C4)-4 was higher than that of QAPF(C6)-4, possibly due to the rigidity of the QAPF(C4)-4 structure. A higher mechanical strength of QAPF(C6)-4 than that of QPAF(C4)-4 could be explained by the larger interactions between molecules, as shown in the ultraviolet-visible spectrum. The interactions of molecules were understood in more detail with density functional theory calculations. Both the chemical structures of the polymers and the arrangements of the polymers in the membranes were found to influence the membrane properties.The interaction of a heterocyclic azo compound with itself and with bovine serum albumin (BSA) is realized by probing the structural modifications in Langmuir (L) monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films. It was found from the pressure-area/molecule isotherms that the elastic, thermodynamic, and hysteretic properties of the pure azo L monolayer were strongly altered due to the variation of temperature and pH of subphase water. In addition to that, the modification of such properties of the azo L monolayer due to mixing with BSA was also studied. The incorporation of BSA within the azo molecular assembly reduced the elasticity of that assembly. Such reduction of in-plane elasticity of the pure azo monolayer can also be achieved by reducing the temperature and pH of subphase water without adding BSA. A reduction in area per molecule of the azo assembly at the air-water interface associated with the conformational change from horizontal to vertical orientation facilitating π-π interaction was observed with increase in temperature and pH of the subphase. Such parameters also affected the interactions between azo and BSA molecules within the azo/BSA binary system. The structures of pure azo and binary films can be determined after they are transferred to hydrophilic and hydrophobic Si surfaces using the LB technique. Their out-of-plane and in-plane structures, as extracted from two complementary surface sensitive techniques, X-ray reflectivity and atomic force microscopy, were found to be strongly dependent on mixing with BSA, subphase pH, temperature, and substrate nature.In order to explore the influence of different chemical demineralizations on coal combustion characteristics and combustion kinetics, five coals subjected to different chemical demineralization processes were investigated via thermogravimetric analysis. The ash contents of clean coal was reduced to 0.1-1.55% after different chemical demineralizations. The ignition temperature of coal decreased by 12-69 °C, and the peak temperature decreased by 7-62 °C. The burnout temperature of clean coal increased by 63 °C after demineralization by NaOH. The adsorption of noncombustible NaOH into the porous structure of TaiXi-3 caused an increase in burnout temperature. Alkali-soluble minerals were proven to have a negative effect on the combustion performance of coal, while acid-soluble minerals had the opposite effect. The combustion kinetics of five kinds of coals at a heating rate of 10 °C/min was investigated. The activation energy of coal obviously changes before and after demineralization (58.39-91.39 kJ mol-1). The activation energy of clean coal is obviously lower than that of raw coal.Herein, we report a facile, simple, cost-effective, and green synthesis of a new fluoro-nitrato energetic plasticizer, 2-nitrato-1,3-di(trifluoroethoxy)propane (ACR-ENP-1). Compatible mixtures of ACR-ENP-1 with known binders demonstrated far impressive energetic and mechanical properties of the composite compared to similar composites of same binders with known energetic platicizers.Graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) are considered to be a new method for regulating the proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). However, there are few reports on such regulation with different concentrations of GOQDs, and the molecular mechanism has not been fully elucidated. The purposes of this study were, first, to explore the effects of GOQDs on the proliferation and differentiation of BMSCs in vitro and in vivo, and, second, to provide a theoretical basis for the repair of bone defects. Live/Dead staining, EdU staining, immunofluorescence staining, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), western blotting, and qT-PCR were used for detecting the proliferation and differentiation of BMSCs after coculture with GOQDs of different concentrations. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and Van Gieson (VG) staining were used to detect new bone regeneration in vivo. The results showed that low-concentration GOQDs (0.1 and 1 μg/mL) promoted the proliferation and differentiation of BMSCs. Compared with the 1 μg/mL GOQD group, the 0.1 μg/mL GOQD group had better ability to promote the proliferation and differentiation of BMSCs. HE and VG staining results showed the greatest proportion of new bone area on sandblasted, large-grit, and acid-etched (SLA)/GOQD scaffolds. Furthermore, the ratio of active β-catenin and the phosphorylation level of GSK-3β (p-GSK-3β) increased after BMSCs treatment with 0.1 μg/mL GOQDs. Low concentrations of GOQDs improved the osteogenic differentiation ability of BMSCs by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.Microalgae are used as a lipid source for different applications, such as cosmetics and biofuel. The nonliving biomass and the byproduct from the lipid extraction procedure can efficiently remove antibiotics. This work has explored the potential use of Chlorella sp. biomasses for tetracycline (Tc) removal from highly concentrated aqueous media. Non-living biomass (NLB) is the biomass before the lipid extraction procedure, while lipid-extracted biomass (LEB) is the byproduct mentioned before. LEB removed 76.9% of Tc at 40 mg/L initial concentration and 40 mg of biomass, representing an adsorption capacity of 19.2 mg/g. Subsequently, NLB removed 68.0% of Tc at 50 mg/L and 60 mg of biomass, equivalent to 14.2 mg/g of adsorptive capacity. These results revealed an enhanced removal capacity by LEB compared with NLB and other microalgae-based materials. On the other hand, the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order and Elovich models, suggesting chemisorption with interactions between adsorbates. The adsorption isotherms indicate a multilayer mechanism on a heterogeneous surface.