Human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex neurons mediate ongoing behavioural adaptation

The ability to optimize behavioural performance when confronted with continuously evolving environmental demands is a key element of human cognition. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), which lies on the medial surface of the frontal lobes, is important in regulating cognitive control. Hypotheses about its function include guiding reward-based decision making, monitoring for conflict between competing responses and predicting task difficulty. Precise mechanisms of dACC function remain unknown, however, because of the limited number of human neurophysiological studies. Here we use functional imaging and human single-neuron recordings to show that the firing of individual dACC neurons encodes current and recent cognitive load. We demonstrate that the modulation of current dACC activity by previous activity produces a behavioural adaptation that accelerates reactions to cues of similar difficulty to previous ones, and retards reactions to cues of different difficulty. Furthermore, this conflict adaptation, or Gratton effect, is abolished after surgically targeted ablation of the dACC. Our results demonstrate that the dACC provides a continuously updated prediction of expected cognitive demand to optimize future behavioural responses. In situations with stable cognitive demands, this signal promotes efficiency by hastening responses, but in situations with changing demands it engenders accuracy by delaying responses.     

Visual Study on Flow and Operational Characteristics of Flat Plate Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes

This paper presents an experimental study including visualization on a flat plate closed loop pulsating heat pipes.It consists of a total of 40 channels with square cross section(2 mm×2 mm,165 mm long) machined directly on an aluminum plate(180 mm×120 mm×3 mm) covered by a transparent plate.The working fluid employed is ethanol.As a result,various flow patterns and their transitions are observed and found to be related to the fluid fill ratio,input heat load and the device orientation.Also the operational c...     

Tbx2 and Tbx3 induce atrioventricular myocardial development and endocardial cushion formation

A key step in heart development is the coordinated development of the atrioventricular canal (AVC), the constriction between the atria and ventricles that electrically and physically separates the chambers, and the development of the atrioventricular valves that ensure unidirectional blood flow. Using knock-out and inducible overexpression mouse models, we provide evidence that the developmentally important T-box factors Tbx2 and Tbx3, in a functionally redundant manner, maintain the AVC myocardium phenotype during the process of chamber differentiation. Expression profiling and ChIP-sequencing analysis of Tbx3 revealed that it directly interacts with and represses chamber myocardial genes, and induces the atrioventricular pacemaker-like phenotype by activating relevant genes. Moreover, mutant mice lacking 3 or 4 functional alleles of Tbx2 and Tbx3 failed to form atrioventricular cushions, precursors of the valves and septa. Tbx2 and Tbx3 trigger development of the cushions through a regulatory feed-forward loop with Bmp2, thus providing a mechanism for the co-localization and coordination of these important processes in heart development.     

Hatching phenology,life history and population dynamics of the Oriental clam shrimp Eulimnadia indocylindrova Durga Prasad and Simhachalam with notes on phenology patterns in the Spinicaudata

We studied the natural history, hatching phenology and egg bank composition of the Oriental spinicaudatan clam shrimp Eulimnadia indocylindrova Durga Prasad and Simhachalam using both field studies and ex situ sediment rehydration. Field observations revealed that hatching began very early (1–2 days) after inundation, and continued for about 5 days. Mature adults could be observed by 10 days, and they survived up to 16 days. The population showed a largely hermaphrodite-biased sex ratio (male:hermaphrodite 1:3) observed over three years, with a decrease in number of males throughout the hydroperiod. Both amphigenic and monogenic hermaphrodites were observed. The total lifetime fecundity recorded was about 300 eggs laid in multiple clutches. The egg bank composition showed a high proportion of intact eggs, indicative of predictable hydrations and low sediment adversity. Hatching began on the first day post-inundation for all successive cyclical hydration treatments, with peak hatching on days 2 and 3. Hatching rate was highest (57% of total hatching in successive cycles) for the first hydration, decreasing subsequently for the further hydrations. Hatching duration decreased with successive hydrations and was the longest (around 7 days) for the first hydration. Maximum hatching (93%) occurred in the first 10 days for the continuous hydration treatment. Overall, the total emergence of nauplii in successive hydrations was larger than that observed for the continuous hydration treatment, indicative of a risk-spreading strategy across hydroperiods. Early and concentrated naupliar emergence, along with decreased hatching durations for successive cycles, was observed for all the hydrations. A survey of literature revealed a general lack of data on hatching phenology of clam shrimps, particularly from tropical and sub-tropical regions. Based on the available data, it appears that hatching patterns, particularly high, early hatching fractions, are commonly observed in Spinicaudata species, and do not seem to differ much across biogeographical regions.     

Micrometre-scale silicon electro-optic modulator

Metal interconnections are expected to become the limiting factor for the performance of electronic systems as transistors continue to shrink in size. Replacing them by optical interconnections, at different levels ranging from rack-to-rack down to chip-to-chip and intra-chip interconnections, could provide the low power dissipation, low latencies and high bandwidths that are needed. The implementation of optical interconnections relies on the development of micro-optical devices that are integrated with the microelectronics on chips. Recent demonstrations of silicon low-loss waveguides, light emitters, amplifiers and lasers approach this goal, but a small silicon electro-optic modulator with a size small enough for chip-scale integration has not yet been demonstrated. Here we experimentally demonstrate a high-speed electro-optical modulator in compact silicon structures. The modulator is based on a resonant light-confining structure that enhances the sensitivity of light to small changes in refractive index of the silicon and also enables high-speed operation. The modulator is 12 micrometres in diameter, three orders of magnitude smaller than previously demonstrated. Electro-optic modulators are one of the most critical components in optoelectronic integration, and decreasing their size may enable novel chip architectures.     

脉动热管技术的研究现状及前沿热点

脉动热管作为一种新型热管技术，具有结构简单、成本低廉和性能卓越的优点，在微电子元器件的冷却以及航空航天领域的热控制技术中极具应用和发展潜力。这里简单介绍了脉动热管技术的结构及工作原理；分析其运行特性和性能影响参数。在综合分析有关文献的基础上，明确了下一步研究工作的方向以及热点问题。     

Two-Phase Flow Modeling in a Single Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes

Mathematical modeling of pulsating heat pipes through 'first’ principles is a contemporary problem which remains quite elusive. Simplifications and assumptions made in all the modeling approaches developed so far render them unsuitable for engineering design. In this paper, a more realistic modeling scheme is presented which provides considerable try for thought toward the next progressive step. At high enough heat flux level, closed loop pulsating heat pipes experience a bulk internal unidirectional fluid circulation. Under such a condition, conventional two-phaseflow modeling in capillary tubes may be applied. This has been attempted for single-loop PHPs. A homogeneous model and a separated two-fluid flow model based on simultaneous conservation of mass, momentum and energy, have been developed for an equivalent 'open flow' system. The model allows prediction of two-phase flow parameters in each subsection of the device thereby providing important insights into its operation. The concept of 'void fraction constraint'in pulsating heat pipe operation is introduced and its relevance to future modeling attempts is outlined.     

Oncogenically active MYD88 mutations in human lymphoma

The activated B-cell-like (ABC) subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains the least curable form of this malignancy despite recent advances in therapy. Constitutive nuclear factor (NF)-κB and JAK kinase signalling promotes malignant cell survival in these lymphomas, but the genetic basis for this signalling is incompletely understood. Here we describe the dependence of ABC DLBCLs on MYD88, an adaptor protein that mediates toll and interleukin (IL)-1 receptor signalling, and the discovery of highly recurrent oncogenic mutations affecting MYD88 in ABC DLBCL tumours. RNA interference screening revealed that MYD88 and the associated kinases IRAK1 and IRAK4 are essential for ABC DLBCL survival. High-throughput RNA resequencing uncovered MYD88 mutations in ABC DLBCL lines. Notably, 29% of ABC DLBCL tumours harboured the same amino acid substitution, L265P, in the MYD88 Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain at an evolutionarily invariant residue in its hydrophobic core. This mutation was rare or absent in other DLBCL subtypes and Burkitt's lymphoma, but was observed in 9% of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas. At a lower frequency, additional mutations were observed in the MYD88 TIR domain, occurring in both the ABC and germinal centre B-cell-like (GCB) DLBCL subtypes. Survival of ABC DLBCL cells bearing the L265P mutation was sustained by the mutant but not the wild-type MYD88 isoform, demonstrating that L265P is a gain-of-function driver mutation. The L265P mutant promoted cell survival by spontaneously assembling a protein complex containing IRAK1 and IRAK4, leading to IRAK4 kinase activity, IRAK1 phosphorylation, NF-κB signalling, JAK kinase activation of STAT3, and secretion of IL-6, IL-10 and interferon-β. Hence, the MYD88 signalling pathway is integral to the pathogenesis of ABC DLBCL, supporting the development of inhibitors of IRAK4 kinase and other components of this pathway for the treatment of tumours bearing oncogenic MYD88 mutations.     

Parametric Influence on Thermal Performance of Flat Plate Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes

IntroductionMeandering tube pulsating heat pipes(PHPs) , whichare very attractive entrants in the family of heat pipes ,have already found successful applications in cooling powerand microelectronics[1]due to their si mple structures ,costeffectiveness and excellent ther mal perfor mance .They alsohave a potential for ther mal control application for spaceand avionics . Since its introduction in1990 s researchactivity in this area has steady increased,including variousexperi mental studies an…