Biomedical subjects

V Cvetkovic

Publications and source records attributed to V Cvetkovic.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Excitatory action of hypocretin/orexin on neurons of the central medial amygdala.

The neurons of the lateral hypothalamus that contain hypocretin/orexin (hcrt/orx) are thought to promote arousal through the excitatory action they exert on the multiple areas to which they project within the CNS. We show here that the hcrt/orx peptides can also exert a strong action on the amygdala, a structure known for its implication in emotional aspects of behavior. Indeed, the hcrt/orx peptides, applied in acute rat brain slices, excite a specific class of "low threshold burst" neurons in the central medial (CeM) nucleus which is considered as a major output of the amygdala. These excitatory effects are postsynaptic, mediated by Hcrt2/OX2 receptors and result from the closure of a potassium conductance. They occur on a class of neurons that are also excited by vasopressin acting through V1a receptors. These results suggest that the hcrt/orx system can act through the amygdala to augment arousal and evoke the autonomic and behavioral responses associated with fear, stress or emotion.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2006

Quantum smectic as a dislocation Higgs phase.

The theory describing quantum smectics in 2+1 dimensions, based on topological quantum melting is presented. This is governed by a dislocation condensate characterized by an ordering of Burger's vector and this "dual shear superconductor" manifests itself in the form of a novel spectrum of phononlike modes.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Nutrient transport scenarios in a changing Stockholm and Mälaren valley region, Sweden.

Norrström catchment, west of Stockholm, covers most of the Mälaren valley. Provision of drinking water from Lake Mälaren is an absolute precondition for continued growth in the region. Stockholm County's population is expected to increase by 600,000 people before 2030. Current climate change predictions anticipate significant temperature and precipitation increases. We implement the PolFlow model embedded in PCRaster for quantifying water and substances fluxes on the catchment scale over a 30-year time horizon. We formulate scenarios for changes in water quality and quantity due to climate change and population development. Results indicate a mild impact from climate change on surface flow rates but substantial effects on sub-surface residence times. Population development slightly affects nutrients loads. Using source apportionment and sensitivity analysis, we identify a number of critical parameters/processes to be further studied, in order for future results to be more reliable and usable in a water resources management context.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

PubMed2004

Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy for the A+B-->P reaction in transitional flows.

We study global decay of the bimolecular reaction A+B-->P as c(t) approximately t(-alpha) in a nonlinear transitional flow. A relationship is established between the decay exponent alpha, and a modified Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, hr. We find that for dynamic conditions which induce relatively strong mixing, the decay exponent is alpha is proportional to ln psi(-Bhr) with B being a characteristic reactive mix-down time for the system, and psi is a space-time scaling parameter. Dynamic conditions which imply weak mixing lead to a degenerate dependence of alpha on hr. The proposed relationship between alpha on hr should be a useful link between the dynamical evolution of the flow field and reaction kinetics in vortex dominated flows.

Entropy↗

PubMed2003

New scaling law for the decay exponent of bimolecular reactions in unbounded transitional flows.

We propose a new scaling law for global kinetics of the stoichiometric reaction A+B-->P in unsteady, transitional flows. We find in the nonlinear flow regime the decay as approximately t(-alpha) where alpha is related to a space-time scaling parameter psi as alpha proportional, variant psi(m), for the considered parameter range m=0.067. In the linear flow regime, we find that the maximum is alpha approximately 2/3 for psi approximately 1. The proposed scaling law should be useful for linking dynamical subgrid processes with reaction kinetics in a variety of transitional flow systems.

Biochemistry↗

PubMed2003

Evidence of melanin-concentrating hormone-containing neurons supplying both cortical and neuroendocrine projections.

In the rat, melanin-concentrating hormone-containing projections are detected in the median eminence and in the neural lobe of the pituitary. After vascular injections of the retrograde tracers fluorogold or fastblue, melanin-concentrating hormone neurons are retrogradely labeled in the rostromedial zona incerta and adjacent perifornical region. These neurons may be the source of the melanin-concentrating hormone projections toward the median eminence and posterior pituitary, and may release their secretory products into the bloodstream. After fastblue injections in the cerebral cortex and vascular fluorogold injections, some melaninconcentrating hormone neurons contain both tracers, indicating that they send collaterals in the cerebral cortex and in the median eminence/posterior pituitary. No such collaterals have been described for the classical neuroendocrine systems. The melanin-concentrating hormone system is thought to play a role in arousal in correlation with specific goal oriented behaviors such as feeding or reproduction. Some MCH neurons may be involved in such functions by modulating directly cortical activity as well as being neuroendocrine.

Afferent Pathways↗

PubMed2003

Diencephalic neurons producing melanin-concentrating hormone are influenced by local and multiple extra-hypothalamic tachykininergic projections through the neurokinin 3 receptor.

As melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons express the neurokinin 3 receptor (NK3) in the rat diencephalon, their innervation by tachykininergic fibers, the origin of this innervation and the effect of a NK3 agonist on MCH mRNA expression were researched. The obtained results show that the tachykininergic system develops complex relationships with MCH neurons. Overall, MCH cell bodies appeared targeted by both NKB- and SP-inputs. These afferents have multiple hypothalamic and extra-hypothalamic origins, but a local (intra-lateral hypothalamic area) origin from small interneurons was suspected as well. MCH cell bodies do not express NK1, but around 2.7% of the MCH neurons contained SP after colchicine injection. Senktide, a NK3 agonist, produced an increase of the MCH mRNA expression in cultured hypothalamic slices. This effect was reversed by two NK3 antagonists. Tachykinins enhance MCH mRNA expression, and, thus, may modulate the effect of MCH in functions such as feeding and reproductive behaviors in which this peptide has been experimentally involved.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Significance of kinetics for sorption on inorganic colloids: modeling and experiment interpretation issues.

A two-site kinetic model for solute sorption on inorganic colloids is developed. The model quantifies linear first-order sorption on two types of sites ("fast" and "slow") characterized by two pairs of rates (forward and reverse). We use the model to explore data requirements for long-term predictive calculations of colloid-facilitated transport and to evaluate laboratory kinetic sorption data of Lu et al.. Five batch sorption data sets are considered with plutonium as the tracer and montmorillonite, hematite, silica, and smectite as colloids. Using asymptotic results applicable on the time scale of limited duration experiments, a robust estimation procedure is developed for the fast-site partitioning coefficient K(C) and the slow forward rate alpha. The estimated range of K(C) is 1.1-76 L/g, and the range for alpha is 0.0017-0.02 1/h. The fast reverse rate k(r) is estimated in the range 0.012-0.1 1/h. Comparison of one-site and two-site sorption interpretations reveals the difficulty in discriminating between the two models for montmorillonite and to a lesser extent for hematite. For silica and smectite, the two-site model clearly provides a better representation of the data as compared with a single site model. Kinetic data for silica are available for different colloid concentrations (0.2 g/L and 1 g/L). For the range of experimental conditions considered, alpha appears to be independent of colloid concentration.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2002

Transport with multiple-rate exchange in disordered media.

We investigate transport of particles subject to exchange using the continuous-time random-walk framework. Transition is controlled by macroscale, and exchange by both macroscale and microscale disorder. A wide class of exchange mechanisms is represented using the multiple-rate exchange model. Particles are transported along random trajectories viewed as one-dimensional lattices. The solution of the transport problem is obtained in the form of the crossing-time density, h(t;L), at an exit surface L; h is dependent on two functions, g and f. g characterizes exchange controlled by microscale disorder. The joint density f is central for the solution as it relates the microscale and macroscale disorder along random trajectories. For the case of transition and exchange disorder, we show that power-law exponent eta (characterizing microscale disorder) and power-law exponents alpha(tau) and alpha(mu) (characterizing macroscale disorder), define two regions delimited by a line alpha(tau)=alpha(mu)(eta+1): One in which the asymptotic transport is dominated by transition, and one in which it is dominated by the exchange. For the case of transition disorder with uniform exchange, both transition and exchange can influence the late-time behavior of h(t). Microscale exchange processes will unconditionally influence the late-time behavior of h(t) only if eta<0. If eta>0, exchange will dominate at late time provided that transition is asymptotically Gaussian.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Time of genesis determines projection and neurokinin-3 expression patterns of diencephalic neurons containing melanin-concentrating hormone.

Anatomical and functional evidence suggests that the diencephalic melanin-concentrating hormone- (MCH-) containing neurons do not form a homogeneous population. In this work, the expression of the neurokinin-3 receptor (NK3) has been researched in MCH neurons which have been retrogradely labelled following fast blue injections into either the spinal cord or the cerebral cortex. The birth-date of these cortically and spinally projecting cells has been determined using the bromodeoxyuridine method. The results obtained show that neurons projecting to the spinal cord are born early (E11) and most of them (78,7%) do not express NK3, but neurons that send axons to the cerebral cortex are born later (E12-E13) and most of them (84,8%) express NK3. Both neuronal types are largely intermingled in the lateral hypothalamic area proper. These results are discussed in terms of the functional organization of the MCH neuronal population.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Organotypic culture of neuroepithelium attached to olfactory bulb from adult mouse as a tool to study neuronal regeneration after ZnSO4 neuroepithelial trauma.

Chemical destruction of the olfactory mucosa leads to a neuronal regeneration. A new organotypic culture model is perfected to improve the regenerating processes study. Explants of neuroepithelium attached to olfactory bulbs were removed from adult mice and cultured, 12 h after ZnSO4 intranasal application. After 3 days in culture, explants showed a necrosis in the olfactory epithelium and a thinning of the olfactory bulb nervous layer. From the fifth day of culture, and mostly the tenth, new cells showed positive immunoreactivity with the olfactory marker protein (OMP), meaning they were regenerating olfactory neurons. Simultaneously, OMP immunoreactivity increased in the nervous and glomerular layers of the olfactory bulb, indicating epithelio-bulbar reconnection. This organotypic culture model could allow further investigations on the regenerating process kinetic.

Age Factors↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of heterogeneity on radionuclide retardation in the alluvial aquifer near Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The U.S. Department of Energy is currently studying Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a potential site for a geological high-level waste repository. In the current conceptual models of radionuclide transport at Yucca Mountain, part of the transport path to pumping locations would be through an alluvial aquifer. Interactions with minerals in the alluvium are expected to retard the downstream migration of radionuclides, thereby delaying arrival times and reducing ground water concentrations. We evaluate the effectiveness of the alluvial aquifer as a transport barrier using the stochastic Lagrangian framework. A transport model is developed to account for physical and chemical heterogeneities and rate-limited mass transfer between mobile and immobile zones. The latter process is caused by small-scale heterogeneity and is thought to control the macroscopic-scale retardation in some field experiments. A geostatistical model for the spatially varying sorption parameters is developed from a site-specific database created from hydrochemical measurements and a calibrated modeling approach (Turner and Pabalan 1999). Transport of neptunium is considered as an example. The results are sensitive to the rate of transfer between mobile and immobile zones, and to spatial variability in the hydraulic conductivity. Chemical heterogeneity has only a small effect, as does correlation between hydraulic conductivity and the neptunium distribution coefficient. These results illustrate how general sensitivities can be explored with modest effort within the Lagrangian framework. Such studies complement and guide the application of more detailed numerical simulations.

Actinoid Series Elements↗