Faculty Scholarship

Showing 151 - 200 of 733 Items

The neuromuscular transform of the lobster cardiac system explains the opposing effects of a neuromodulator on muscle output

Date: 2013-10-18

Creator: Alex H. Williams, Andrew Calkins, Timothy O'Leary, Renee Symonds, Eve, Marder, Patsy S. Dickinson

Access: Open access

Motor neuron activity is transformed into muscle movement through a cascade of complex molecular and biomechanical events. This nonlinear mapping of neural inputs to motor behaviors is called the neuromuscular transform (NMT). We examined the NMT in the cardiac system of the lobster Homarus americanus by stimulating a cardiac motor nerve with rhythmic bursts of action potentials and measuring muscle movements in response to different stimulation patterns. The NMT was similar across preparations, which suggested that it could be used to predict muscle movement from spontaneous neural activity in the intact heart. We assessed this possibility across semi-intact heart preparations in two separate analyses. First, we performed a linear regression analysis across 122 preparations in physiological saline to predict muscle movements from neural activity. Under these conditions, the NMT was predictive of contraction duty cycle but was unable to predict contraction amplitude, likely as a result of uncontrolled interanimal variability. Second, we assessed the ability of the NMT to predict changes in motor output induced by the neuropeptide C-type allatostatin. Wiwatpanit et al. (2012) showed that bath application of C-type allatostatin produced either increases or decreases in the amplitude of the lobster heart contractions. We show that an important component of these preparation-dependent effects can arise from quantifiable differences in the basal state of each preparation and the nonlinear form of the NMT. These results illustrate how properly characterizing the relationships between neural activity and measurable physiological outputs can provide insight into seemingly idiosyncratic effects of neuromodulators across individuals. © 2013 the authors.


The peptide hormone pQDLDHVFLRFamide (crustacean myosuppressin) modulates the Homarus americanus cardiac neuromuscular system at multiple sites

Date: 2009-12-15

Creator: J. S. Stevens, C. R. Cashman, C. M. Smith, K. M. Beale, D. W., Towle, A. E. Christie, P. S. Dickinson

Access: Open access

pQDLDHVFLRFamide is a highly conserved crustacean neuropeptide with a structure that places it within the myosuppressin subfamily of the FMRFamide-like peptides. Despite its apparent ubiquitous conservation in decapod crustaceans, the paracrine and/or endocrine roles played by pQDLDHVFLRFamide remain largely unknown. We have examined the actions of this peptide on the cardiac neuromuscular system of the American lobster Homarus americanus using four preparations: the intact animal, the heart in vitro, the isolated cardiac ganglion (CG), and a stimulated heart muscle preparation. In the intact animal, injection of myosuppressin caused a decrease in heartbeat frequency. Perfusion of the in vitro heart with pQDLDHVFLRFamide elicited a decrease in the frequency and an increase in the amplitude of heart contractions. In the isolated CG, myosuppressin induced a hyperpolarization of the resting membrane potential of cardiac motor neurons and a decrease in the cycle frequency of their bursting. In the stimulated heart muscle preparation, pQDLDHVFLRFamide increased the amplitude of the induced contractions, suggesting that myosuppressin modulates not only the CG, but also peripheral sites. For at least the in vitro heart and the isolated CG, the effects of myosuppressin were dose-dependent (10 -9 to 10-6mol l-1 tested), with threshold concentrations (10-8-10-7 mol l-1) consistent with the peptide serving as a circulating hormone. Although cycle frequency, a parameter directly determined by the CG, consistently decreased when pQDLDHVFLRFamide was applied to all preparation types, the magnitudes of this decrease differed, suggesting the possibility that, because myosuppressin modulates the CG and the periphery, it also alters peripheral feedback to the CG.


Identification, physiological actions, and distribution of TPSGFLGMRamide: A novel tachykinin-related peptide from the midgut and stomatogastric nervous system of Cancer crabs

Date: 2007-06-01

Creator: Elizabeth A. Stemmler, Braulio Peguero, Emily A. Bruns, Patsy S. Dickinson, Andrew E., Christie

Access: Open access

In most invertebrates, multiple species-specific isoforms of tachykinin-related peptide (TRP) are common. In contrast, only a single conserved TRP isoform, APSGFLGMRamide, has been documented in decapod crustaceans, leading to the hypothesis that it is the sole TRP present in this arthropod order. Previous studies of crustacean TRPs have focused on neuronal tissue, but the recent demonstration of TRPs in midgut epithelial cells in Cancer species led us to question whether other TRPs are present in the gut, as is the case in insects. Using direct tissue matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry, in combination with sustained off-resonance irradiation collision-induced dissociation, we found that at least one additional TRP is present in Cancer irroratus, Cancer borealis, Cancer magister, and Cancer productus. The novel TRP isoform, TPSGFLGMRamide, was present not only in the midgut, but also in the stomatogastric nervous system (STNS). In addition, we identified an unprocessed TRP precursor APSGFLGMRG, which was detected in midgut tissues only. TRP immunohistochemistry, in combination with preadsorption studies, suggests that APSGFLGMRamide and TPSGFLGMRamide are co-localized in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG), which is contained within the STNS. Exogenous application of TPSGFLGMRamide to the STG elicited a pyloric motor pattern that was identical to that elicited by APSGFLGMRamide, whereas APSGFLGMRG did not alter the pyloric motor pattern. © 2007 The Authors.


From local to global behavior in competitive Lotka-Volterra systems

Date: 2003-01-01

Creator: E. C. Zeeman, M. L. Zeeman

Access: Open access

In this paper we exploit the linear, quadratic, monotone and geometric structures of competitive Lotka-Volterra systems of arbitrary dimension to give geometric, algebraic and computational hypotheses for ruling out nontrivial recurrence. We thus deduce the global dynamics of a system from its local dynamics. The geometric hypotheses rely on the introduction of a split Liapunov function. We show that if a system has a fixed point p ∈ int R+n and the carrying simplex of the system lies to one side of its tangent hyperplane at p, then there is no nontrivial recurrence, and the global dynamics are known. We translate the geometric hypotheses into algebraic hypotheses in terms of the definiteness of a certain quadratic function on the tangent hyperplane. Finally, we derive a computational algorithm for checking the algebraic hypotheses, and we compare this algorithm with the classical Volterra-Liapunov stability theorem for Lotka-Volterra systems.


Genetic Population Structure and Accuracy of Morphological Assessment in Alosa aestivalis (Blueback Herring) and A. pseudoharengus (Alewife)

Date: 2017-12-01

Creator: Christopher Kan, John Lichter, Vladimir Douhovnikoff

Access: Open access

Alosa aestivalis and A. pseudoharengus are herring congeners that are important forage species for piscivorous fish and birds. We measured population structure metrics for these species using microsatellite markers. The Southern Gulf of Maine study area allowed the assessment of these species at an inter- and intra-watershed level. We found no detectable population structure within or among watershed for either species which agrees with other recent research. Our results support regional-scale (e.g., Gulf of Maine) plans for management for A. aestivalis and A. pseudoharengus. We found that 5.4% of our samples were hybrids. Our study adds to a growing body of evidence that hybridization and introgression should be management concerns for these species, and precautions should be taken to preserve species barriers. An error rate of morphological identification was calculated by comparing morphological identifications against genetic classifications. We found an overall identification error rate of 16%, which differed significantly from zero (P = 0.008). Managers should also take note of the uncertainty in morphological identifications and adjust stock models and policies accordingly.


Salix exigua clonal growth and population dynamics in relation to disturbance regime variation

Date: 2005-01-01

Creator: Vladimir Douhovnikoff, Joe R. McBride, Richard S. Dodd

Access: Open access

Willows are important riparian colonizers. However, the predominant models of early riparian colonization, which emphasize seedling recruitment, are inadequate to explain the success of these species in light of the extremely low rates of seedling survival observed. We used molecular fingerprinting markers (AFLPs) to identify and characterize Salix exigua clones on six sites, ranging in size from 850 to 1150 m2, located on two rivers. Clones as large as 325 m2 were detected, and an average of six clones per site occupied 75% of the vegetated area. Building on Mahoney and Rood's recruitment box model, we propose a model whereby prolific clonal growth allows for long-term colonization of riparian zones, and the balance between the relative importance of seedling regeneration and clonal growth varies based upon disturbance regime. A reduction in disturbance regime resulted in greater clonal growth and reduced genotypic variation. It is probable that, with an extended reduction in disturbance, the Salix exigua component would be represented by fewer, larger clones and would eventually decline significantly when these clones are replaced by taller and more shade tolerant species. © 2005 by the Ecological Society of America.


Sign Under the Domino Robinson-Schensted Maps

Date: 2014-01-01

Creator: Thomas Pietraho

Access: Open access

We generalize a formula obtained independently by Reifegerste and Sjöstrand for the sign of a permutation under the classical Robinson-Schensted map to a family of domino Robinson-Schensted algorithms. © 2014 Springer Basel.


Midazolam-induced amnesia reduces memory for details and affects the ERP correlates of recollection and familiarity

Date: 2012-02-01

Creator: Erika Nyhus, Tim Curran

Access: Open access

Dual process models suggest that recognition memory is supported by familiarity and recollection processes. Previous research administering amnesic drugs and measuring ERPs during recognition memory have provided evidence for separable neural correlates of familiarity and recollection. This study examined the effect of midazolam-induced amnesia on memory for details and the proposed ERP correlates of recognition. Midazolam or saline was administered while subjects studied oriented pictures of common objects. ERPs were recorded during a recognition test 1 day later. Subjects' discrimination of old and new pictures as well as orientation discrimination was worse when they were given midazolam instead of saline. As predicted, the parietal old/new effect was decreased with the administration of midazolam. However, weaker effects on FN400 old/new effects were also observed. These results provide converging pharmacological and electrophysiological evidence that midazolam primarily affects recollection as indexed by parietal ERP old/new effects and memory for orientation, while also exerting some weaker effects on familiarity as indexed by FN400 old/new effects. © 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


Neural inhibition enables selection during language processing

Date: 2010-09-21

Creator: Hannah R. Snyder, Natalie Hutchison, Erika Nyhus, Tim Curran, Marie T., Banich, Randall C. O'Reilly, Yuko Munakata

Access: Open access

Whether grocery shopping or choosing words to express a thought, selecting between options can be challenging, especially for people with anxiety. We investigate the neural mechanisms supporting selection during language processing and its breakdown in anxiety. Our neural network simulations demonstrate a critical role for competitive, inhibitory dynamics supported by GABAergic interneurons. As predicted by our model, we find that anxiety (associated with reduced neural inhibition) impairs selection among options and associated prefrontal cortical activity, even in a simple, nonaffective verb-generation task, and the GABA agonist midazolam (which increases neural inhibition) improves selection, whereas retrieval from semantic memory is unaffected when selection demands are low. Neural inhibition is key to choosing our words.


BEING CAYLEY AUTOMATIC IS CLOSED under TAKING WREATH PRODUCT with VIRTUALLY CYCLIC GROUPS

Date: 2021-12-13

Creator: Dmitry Berdinsky, Murray Elder, Jennifer Taback

Access: Open access

We extend work of Berdinsky and Khoussainov ['Cayley automatic representations of wreath products', International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science 27(2) (2016), 147-159] to show that being Cayley automatic is closed under taking the restricted wreath product with a virtually infinite cyclic group. This adds to the list of known examples of Cayley automatic groups.


A note on convexity properties of Thompson's group F

Date: 2012-01-01

Creator: Matthew Horak, Melanie Stein, Jennifer Taback

Access: Open access

We prove that Thompson's group F is not minimally almost convex with respect to any generating set which is a subset of the standard infinite generating set for F and which contains x1. We use this to show that F is not almost convex with respect to any generating set which is a subset of the standard infinite generating set, generalizing results in [4]. © Gruyter 2012.


An Arabidopsis cell wall-associated kinase required for invertase activity and cell growth

Date: 2006-04-01

Creator: Bruce D. Kohorn, Masaru Kobayashi, Sue Johansen, Jeff Riese, Li Fen, Huang, Karen Koch, Sarita Fu, Anjali Dotson, Nicole Byers

Access: Open access

The wall-associated kinases (WAK), a family of five proteins that contain extracellular domains that can be linked to pectin molecules of the cell wall, span the plasma membrane and have a cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinase domain. Previous work has shown that a reduction in WAK protein levels leads to a loss of cell expansion, indicating that these receptor-like proteins have a role in cell shape formation. Here it is shown that a single wak2 mutation exhibits a dependence on sugars and salts for seedling growth. This mutation also reduces the expression and activity of vacuolar invertase, often a key factor in turgor and expansion. WAKs may thus provide a molecular mechanism linking cell wall sensing (via pectin attachment) to regulation of solute metabolism, which in turn is known to be involved in turgor maintenance in growing cells. © 2006 The Authors.


The use of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium in clonal plant systems

Date: 2016-02-01

Creator: Vladimir Douhovnikoff, Matthew Leventhal

Access: Open access

Traditionally population genetics precludes the use of the same genetic individual more than once in Hardy-Weinberg (HW) based calculations due to the model's explicit assumptions. However, when applied to clonal plant populations this can be difficult to do, and in some circumstances, it may be ecologically informative to use the ramet as the data unit. In fact, ecologists have varied the definition of the individual from a strict adherence to a single data point per genotype to a more inclusive approach of one data point per ramet. With the advent of molecular tools, the list of facultatively clonal plants and the recognition of their ecological relevance grows. There is an important risk of misinterpretation when HW calculations are applied to a clonal plant not recognized as clonal, as well as when the definition of the individual for those calculations is not clearly stated in a known clonal species. Focusing on heterozygosity values, we investigate cases that demonstrate the extreme range of potential modeling outcomes and describe the different contexts where a particular definition could better meet ecological modeling goals. We emphasize that the HW model can be ecologically relevant when applied to clonal plants, but caution is necessary in how it is used, reported, and interpreted. We propose that in known clonal plants, both genotype (GHet) and ramet (RHet) based calculations are reported to define the full range of potential values and better facilitate cross-study comparisons.


Does differential receptor distribution underlie variable responses to a neuropeptide in the lobster cardiac system?

Date: 2021-08-02

Creator: Audrey J. Muscato, Patrick Walsh, Sovannarath Pong, Alixander Pupo, Roni J., Gross, Andrew E. Christie, J. Joe Hull, Patsy S. Dickinson

Access: Open access

Central pattern generators produce rhythmic behaviors independently of sensory input; however, their outputs can be modulated by neuropeptides, thereby allowing for functional flexibility. We investigated the effects of C-type allatostatins (AST-C) on the cardiac ganglion (CG), which is the central pattern generator that controls the heart of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, to identify the biological mechanism underlying the significant variability in individual responses to AST-C. We proposed that the presence of multiple receptors, and thus differential receptor distribution, was at least partly responsible for this observed variability. Using transcriptome mining and PCR-based cloning, we identified four AST-C receptors (ASTCRs) in the CG; we then characterized their cellular localization, binding potential, and functional activation. Only two of the four receptors, ASTCR1 and ASTCR2, were fully functional GPCRs that targeted to the cell surface and were activated by AST-C peptides in our insect cell expression system. All four, however, were amplified from CG cDNAs. Following the confirmation of ASTCR expression, we used physiological and bioinformatic techniques to correlate receptor expression with cardiac responses to AST-C across individuals. Expression of ASTCR1 in the CG showed a negative correlation with increasing contraction amplitude in response to AST-C perfusion through the lobster heart, suggesting that the differential expression of ASTCRs within the CG is partly responsible for the specific physiological response to AST-C exhibited by a given individual lobster.


Assessment and comparison of putative amine receptor complement/diversity in the brain and eyestalk ganglia of the lobster, Homarus americanus

Date: 2020-06-01

Creator: Andrew E. Christie, J. Joe Hull, Patsy S. Dickinson

Access: Open access

In decapods, dopamine, octopamine, serotonin, and histamine function as locally released/hormonally delivered modulators of physiology/behavior. Although the functional roles played by amines in decapods have been examined extensively, little is known about the identity/diversity of their amine receptors. Recently, a Homarus americanus mixed nervous system transcriptome was used to identify putative neuronal amine receptors in this species. While many receptors were identified, some were fragmentary, and no evidence of splice/other variants was found. Here, the previously predicted proteins were used to search brain- and eyestalk ganglia-specific transcriptomes to assess/compare amine receptor complements in these portions of the lobster nervous system. All previously identified receptors were reidentified from the brain and/or eyestalk ganglia transcriptomes, i.e., dopamine alpha-1, beta-1, and alpha-2 (Homam-DAα2R) receptors, octopamine alpha (Homam-OctαR), beta-1, beta-2, beta-3, beta-4, and octopamine–tyramine (Homam-OTR-I) receptors, serotonin type-1A, type-1B (Homam-5HTR1B), type-2B, and type-7 receptors; and histamine type-1 (Homam-HA1R), type-2, type-3, and type-4 receptors. For many previously partial proteins, full-length receptors were deduced from brain and/or eyestalk ganglia transcripts, i.e., Homam-DAα2R, Homam-OctαR, Homam-OTR-I, and Homam-5HTR1B. In addition, novel dopamine/ecdysteroid, octopamine alpha-2, and OTR receptors were discovered, the latter, Homam-OTR-II, being a putative paralog of Homam-OTR-I. Finally, evidence for splice/other variants was found for many receptors, including evidence for some being assembly-specific, e.g., a brain-specific Homam-OTR-I variant and an eyestalk ganglia-specific Homam-HA1R variant. To increase confidence in the transcriptome-derived sequences, a subset of receptors was cloned using RT-PCR. These data complement/augment those reported previously, providing a more complete picture of amine receptor complement/diversity in the lobster nervous system.


“Mayra Santos-Febres: El lenguaje de los cuerpos”. A Body of One’s Own: Conversations with Caribbean Women Writers

Date: 2008-01-01

Creator: Nadia V. Celis Salgado, Mayra Santos Febres

Access: Open access



Arginine methylation of yeast mRNA-binding protein Npl3 directly affects its function, nuclear export, and intranuclear protein interactions

Date: 2005-09-02

Creator: Anne E. McBride, Jeffrey T. Cook, Elizabeth A. Stemmler, Kate L. Rutledge, Kelly A., McGrath, Jeffrey A. Rubens

Access: Open access

Arginine methylation can affect both nucleocytoplasmic transport and protein-protein interactions of RNA-binding proteins. These effects are seen in cells that lack the yeast hnRNP methyltransferase (HMT1), raising the question of whether effects on specific proteins are direct or indirect. The presence of multiple arginines in individual methylated proteins also raises the question of whether overall methylation or methylation of a subset of arginines affects protein function. We have used the yeast mRNA-binding protein Npl3 to address these questions in vivo. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry was used to identify 17 methylated arginines in Npl3 purified from yeast: whereas 10 Arg-Gly-Gly (RGG) tripeptides were exclusively dimethylated, variable levels off methylation were found for 5 RGG and 2 RG motif arginines. We constructed a set of Npl3 proteins in which subsets of the RGG arginines were mutated to lysine. Expression of these mutant proteins as the sole form of Npl3 specifically affected growth of a strain that requires Hmtl. Although decreased growth generally correlated with increased numbers of Arg-to-Lys mutations, lysine substitutions in the N terminus of the RGG domain showed more severe effects. Npl3 with all 15 RGG arginines mutated to lysine exited the nucleus independent of Hmtl, indicating a direct effect of methylation on Npl3 transport. These mutations also resulted in a decreased, methylation-independent interaction of Npl3 with transcription elongation factor Tho2 and inhibited Npl3 self-association. These results support a model in which arginine methylation facilitates Npl3 export directly by weakening contacts with nuclear proteins. © 2005 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.


BCJ relations from a new symmetry of gauge-theory amplitudes

Date: 2016-10-01

Creator: Robert W. Brown, Stephen G. Naculich

Access: Open access

We introduce a new set of symmetries obeyed by tree-level gauge-theory amplitudes involving at least one gluon. The symmetry acts as a momentum-dependent shift on the color factors of the amplitude. Using the radiation vertex expansion, we prove the invariance under this color-factor shift of the n-gluon amplitude, as well as amplitudes involving massless or massive particles in an arbitrary representation of the gauge group with spin zero, one-half, or one. The Bern-Carrasco-Johansson relations are a direct consequence of this symmetry. We also introduce the cubic vertex expansion of an amplitude, and use it to derive a generalized-gauge-invariant constraint on the kinematic numerators of the amplitude. We show that the amplitudes of the bi-adjoint scalar theory are invariant under the color-factor symmetry, and use this to derive the null eigenvectors of the propagator matrix. We generalize the color-factor shift to loop level, and prove the invariance under this shift of one-loop n-gluon amplitudes in any theory that admits a color-kinematic-dual representation of numerators. We show that the one-loop color-factor symmetry implies known relations among the integrands of one-loop color-ordered amplitudes.


CHY representations for gauge theory and gravity amplitudes with up to three massive particles

Date: 2015-05-28

Creator: Stephen G. Naculich

Access: Open access

We show that a wide class of tree-level scattering amplitudes involving scalars, gauge bosons, and gravitons, up to three of which may be massive, can be expressed in terms of a Cachazo-He-Yuan representation as a sum over solutions of the scattering equations. These amplitudes, when expressed in terms of the appropriate kinematic invariants, are independent of the masses and therefore identical to the corresponding massless amplitudes.


Controls on the movement and composition of firn air at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide

Date: 2011-11-14

Creator: M. O. Battle, J. P. Severinghaus, E. D. Sofen, D. Plotkin, A. J., Orsi, M. Aydin, S. A. Montzka, T. Sowers, P. P. Tans

Access: Open access

We sampled interstitial air from the perennial snowpack (firn) at a site near the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide (WAIS-D) and analyzed the air samples for a wide variety of gas species and their isotopes. We find limited convective influence (1.4-5.2 m, depending on detection method) in the shallow firn, gravitational enrichment of heavy species throughout the diffusive column in general agreement with theoretical expectations, a ∼10 m thick lock-in zone beginning at ∼67 m, and a total firn thickness consistent with predictions of Kaspers et al. (2004). Our modeling work shows that the air has an age spread (spectral width) of 4.8 yr for CO2 at the firn-ice transition. We also find that advection of firn air due to the 22 cm yr-1 ice-equivalent accumulation rate has a minor impact on firn air composition, causing changes that are comparable to other modeling uncertainties and intrinsic sample variability. Furthermore, estimates of Δage (the gas age/ice age difference) at WAIS-D appear to be largely unaffected by bubble closure above the lock-in zone. Within the lock-in zone, small gas species and their isotopes show evidence of size-dependent fractionation due to permeation through the ice lattice with a size threshold of 0.36 nm, as at other sites. We also see an unequivocal and unprecedented signal of oxygen isotope fractionation within the lock-in zone, which we interpret as the mass-dependent expression of a size-dependent fractionation process. © 2011 Author(s).


Probing quantum Hall state homogeneity with surface waves

Date: 2013-01-01

Creator: M. E. Msall, W. Dietsche, S. Schmult, K. Von Klitzing

Access: Open access

We study single quantum wells and matched density bilayer samples. Simultaneous measurements of the Hall voltages using low frequency lock-in techniques and of the changes in the 232 MHz (12.6 μm) SAW propagation measured with a vector network-analyzer allow comparison of the complex bulk and edge conductivities. The vtotal 1 bilayer state is seen directly in the SAW measurement only when the conductivity is below ∼ 6 × 10 -7 Siemens and is destroyed at moderate SAW powers by localized heating. The simultaneous reduction of the conductivity minima extracted from Hall data and from SAW data conclusively demonstrates that the vtotal 1 state disappears simultaneously throughout the bulk and not by the formation of competing domains or conducting filaments. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.


Approximate initial data for binary black holes

Date: 2006-09-21

Creator: Kenneth A. Dennison, Thomas W. Baumgarte, Harald P. Pfeiffer

Access: Open access

We construct approximate analytical solutions to the constraint equations of general relativity for binary black holes of arbitrary mass ratio in quasicircular orbit. We adopt the puncture method to solve the constraint equations in the transverse-traceless decomposition and consider perturbations of Schwarzschild black holes caused by boosts and the presence of a binary companion. A superposition of these two perturbations then yields approximate, but fully analytic binary black hole initial data that are accurate to first order in the inverse of the binary separation and the square of the black holes' momenta. © 2006 The American Physical Society.


Effects of differential rotation on the maximum mass of neutron stars

Date: 2003-01-01

Creator: N.D. Lyford, T.W. Baumgarte, S.L. Shapiro

Access: Open access



Gravity darkening and brightening in binaries

Date: 2012-01-01

Creator: H.E. White, T.W. Baumgarte, S.L. Shapiro

Access: Open access



Unusual decay modes of D0 and D+ mesons

Date: 1991-01-01

Creator: R. Ammar, P. Baringer, D. Coppage, R. Davis, P., Haas, M. Kelly, N. Kwak, H. Lam, S. Ro, Y. Kubota, J. K. Nelson, D. Perticone, R. Poling, S. Schrenk, G. Crawford, R. Fulton, T. Jensen, D. Johnson, H. Kagan, R. Kass, R. Malchow, F. Marrow, J. Whitmore, P. Wilson, D. Bortoletto, D. N. Brown, J. Dominick, R. L. McIlwain, D. H. Miller, M. Modesitt, C. R. Ng

Access: Open access

CLEO has measured decay modes of the D0 and D+ into final states consisting of K's, s, K0's and 0's, using data taken with the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. We report new results on the decays of D0's into 4, K-K+-+, 0K+K-, 0K+-, K0K-+, 3KS0 and 0 together with some of their resonant substructure. We also present the first observation of the decay D00K+ and give limits on the doubly-Cabibbo-suppressed decays of the D0 into K+- and K+-+-. © 1991 The American Physical Society.


Atmospheric potential oxygen: New observations and their implications for some atmospheric and oceanic models

Date: 2006-03-01

Creator: Mark Battle, Sara Mikaloff Fletcher, Michael L. Bender, Ralph F. Keeling, Andrew C., Manning, Nicolas Gruber, Pieter P. Tans, Melissa B. Hendricks, David T. Ho, Caroline Simonds, Robert Mika, Bill Paplawsky

Access: Open access

Measurements of atmospheric O2/N2 ratios and CO2 concentrations can be combined into a tracer known as atmospheric potential oxygen (APO ≈ O2/N2 + CO2) that is conservative with respect to terrestrial biological activity. Consequently, APO reflects primarily ocean biogeochemistry and atmospheric circulation. Building on the work of Stephens et al. (1998), we present a set of APO observations for the years 1996-2003 with unprecedented spatial coverage. Combining data from the Princeton and Scripps air sampling programs, the data set includes new observations collected from ships in the low-latitude Pacific. The data show a smaller interhemispheric APO gradient than was observed in past studies, and different structure within the hemispheres. These differences appear to be due primarily to real changes in the APO field over time. The data also show a significant maximum in APO near the equator. Following the approach of Gruber et al. (2001), we compare these observations with predictions of APO generated from ocean O2 and CO2 flux fields and forward models of atmospheric transport. Our model predictions differ from those of earlier modeling studies, reflecting primarily the choice of atmospheric transport model (TM3 in this study). The model predictions show generally good agreement with the observations, matching the size of the interhemispheric gradient, the approximate amplitude and extent of the equatorial maximum, and the amplitude and phasing of the seasonal APO cycle at most stations. Room for improvement remains. The agreement in the interhemispheric gradient appears to be coincidental; over the last decade, the true APO gradient has evolved to a value that is consistent with our time-independent model. In addition, the equatorial maximum is somewhat more pronounced in the data than the model. This may be due to overly vigorous model transport, or insufficient spatial resolution in the air-sea fluxes used in our modeling effort. Finally, the seasonal cycles predicted by the model of atmospheric transport show evidence of an excessive seasonal rectifier in the Aleutian Islands and smaller problems elsewhere. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.


A super MHV vertex expansion for n=4 SYM theory

Date: 2009-07-06

Creator: Michael Kiermaier, Stephen G. Naculich

Access: Open access

We present a supersymmetric generalization of the MHV vertex expansion for all tree amplitudes in = 4 SYM theory. In addition to the choice of a reference spinor, this super MHV vertex expansion also depends on four reference Grassmann parameters. We demonstrate that a significant fraction of diagrams in the expansion vanishes for a judicious choice of these Grassmann parameters, which simplifies the computation of amplitudes. Even pure-gluon amplitudes require fewer diagrams than in the ordinary MHV vertex expansion. We show that the super MHV vertex expansion arises from the recursion relation associated with a holomorphic all-line supershift. This is a supersymmetric generalization of the holomorphic all-line shift recently introduced in arXiv:0811.3624. We study the large-z behavior of generating functions under these all-line supershifts, and find that they generically provide 1/z k falloff at (Next-to) kMHV level. In the case of anti-MHV generating functions, we find that a careful choice of shift parameters guarantees a stronger 1/z k+4 falloff. These particular all-line supershifts may therefore play an important role in extending the super MHV vertex expansion to = 8 supergravity. © SISSA 2009.


Carbon cycle studies based on the distribution of O2 in air

Date: 1999-01-01

Creator: Michael L. Bender, Mark O. Battle

Access: Open access



One-instanton predictions for non-hyperelliptic curves derived from M-theory

Date: 1998-12-21

Creator: Isabel P. Ennes, Stephen G. Naculich, Henric Rhedin, Howard J. Schnitzer

Access: Open access

One-instanton predictions are obtained from certain non-hyperelliptic Seiberg-Witten curves derived from M-theory for N = 2 supersymmetric gauge theories. We consider SU(N1) × SU(N2) gauge theory with a hypermultiplet in the bifundamental representation together with hypermultiplets in the defining representations of SU(N1) and SU(N2). We also consider SU(N) gauge theory with a hypermultiplet in the symmetric or antisymmetric representation, together with hypermultiplets in the defining representation. The systematic perturbation expansion about a hyperelliptic curve together with the judicious use of an involution map for the curve of the product groups provide the principal tools of the calculations. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.


Linear relations between N ≥ 4 supergravity and subleading-color SYM amplitudes

Date: 2012-02-27

Creator: Stephen G. Naculich, Horatiu Nastase, Howard J. Schnitzer

Access: Open access

The IR divergences of supergravity amplitudes are less severe than those of planar SYM amplitudes, and are comparable to those subleading-color SYM amplitudes that are most subleading in the 1/N expansion, namely O(1/ε L) for L-loop amplitudes. We derive linear relations between one- and two-loop four-point amplitudes and one-loop five-point amplitudes of N ≥ 4, 5, and 6 supergravity and the most-subleading-color contributions of the analogous amplitudes of N = 0, 1, and 2 SYM theory, extending earlier results for N = 8 supergravity amplitudes. Our work relies on linear relations between N = 4 supergravity and planar SYM amplitudes that were recently derived using the double-copy property of gravity, and color-kinematic duality of gauge theories. © SISSA 2012.


Level-rank duality of untwisted and twisted D-branes

Date: 2006-05-15

Creator: Stephen G. Naculich, Howard J. Schnitzer

Access: Open access

Level-rank duality of untwisted and twisted D-branes of WZW models is explored. We derive the relation between D0-brane charges of level-rank dual untwisted D-branes of over(su, ̂) ( N )K and over(sp, ̂) ( n )k, and of level-rank dual twisted D-branes of over(su, ̂) ( 2 n + 1 )2 k + 1. The analysis of level-rank duality of twisted D-branes of over(su, ̂) ( 2 n + 1 )2 k + 1 is facilitated by their close relation to untwisted D-branes of over(sp, ̂) ( n )k. We also demonstrate level-rank duality of the spectrum of an open string stretched between untwisted or twisted D-branes in each of these cases. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


pp-wave limits and orientifolds

Date: 2003-02-03

Creator: Stephen G. Naculich, Howard J. Schnitzer, Niclas Wyllard

Access: Open access

We study the pp-wave limits of various elliptic models with orientifold planes and D7-branes, as well as the pp-wave limit of an orientifold of AdS5 × T11. Many of the limits contain both open and closed strings. We also present pp-wave limits of theories which give rise to a compact null direction and contain open strings. Maps between the string theory states and gauge theory operators are proposed. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Vacuum states of N =1* mass deformations of N =4 and N =2 conformal gauge theories and their brane interpretations

Date: 2001-08-27

Creator: Stephen G. Naculich, Howard J. Schnitzer, Niclas Wyllard

Access: Open access

We find the classical supersymmetric vacuum states of a class of N =1* field theories obtained by mass deforming superconformal models with simple gauge groups and N =4 or N =2 supersymmetry. In particular, new classical vacuum states for mass-deformed N =4 models with Sp(2N) and SO(N) gauge symmetry are found. We also derive the classical vacua for various mass-deformed N =2 models with Sp(2N) and SU(N) gauge groups and antisymmetric (and symmetric) hypermultiplets. We suggest interpretations of the mass-deformed vacua in terms of three-branes expanded into five-brane configurations. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.


Fermions destabilize electroweak strings

Date: 1995-01-01

Creator: Stephen G. Naculich

Access: Open access

Z strings in the Weinberg-Salam model including fermions are unstable for all values of the parameters. The cause of this instability is the fermion vacuum energy in the Z-string background. Z strings with nonzero fermion densities, however, may still be stable. © 1995 The American Physical Society.


Elliptic models and M-theory

Date: 2000-06-12

Creator: Isabel P. Ennes, Carlos Lozano, Stephen G. Naculich, Howard J. Schnitzer

Access: Open access

We give a unified analysis of four-dimensional elliptic models with N = 2 supersymmetry and a simple gauge group, and their relation to M-theory. Explicit calculations of the Seiberg-Witten curves and the resulting one-instanton prepotential are presented. The remarkable regularities that emerge are emphasized. In addition, we calculate the prepotential in the Coulomb phase of the (asymptotically-free) Sp(2N) gauge theory with Nf fundamental hypermultiplets of arbitrary mass. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Matrix model approach to the N = 2 U (N) gauge theory with matter in the fundamental representation

Date: 2003-01-01

Creator: Stephen G. Naculich, Howard J. Schnitzer, Niclas Wyllard

Access: Open access

We use matrix model technology to study the N = 2 U (N) gauge theory with Nf massive hypennultiplets in the fundamental representation. We perform a completely perturbative calculation of the periods ai and the prepotential F(a) up to the first instanton level, finding agreement with previous results in the literature. We also derive the Seiberg-Witten curve and differential from the large-M solution of the matrix model. We show that the two cases Nf < N and N ≤ Nf < 2N can be treated simultaneously. © SISSA/ISAS 2003.


Production and decay of D1 (2420)0 and D2* (2460)0

Date: 1994-06-30

Creator: P. Avery, A. Freyberger, J. Rodriguez, R. Stephens, S., Yang, J. Yelton, D. Cinabro, S. Henderson, T. Liu, M. Saulnier, R. Wilson, H. Yamamoto, T. Bergfeld, B. I. Eisenstein, G. Gollin, B. Ong, M. Palmer, M. Selen, J. J. Thaler, K. W. Edwards, M. Ogg, B. Spaan, A. Bellerive, D. I. Britton, E. R.F. Hyatt, D. B. MacFarlane, P. M. Patel, A. J. Sadoff, R. Ammar, S. Ball, P. Baringer

Access: Open access

We have investigated D+ π- and D*+ π- final states and observed the two established L = 1 charmed mesons, the D1 (2420)0 with mass 2421-2-2+1+2 MeV/c2 and width 20-5-3+6+3 MeV/c2 and the D2* (2460)0 with mass 2465 ± 3 ± 3 MeV/c2 and width 28-7-6+8+6 MeV/c2. Properties of these final states, including their decay angular distributions and spin-parity assignments, have been studied. We identify these two mesons as the jlight = 3 2 doublet predicted by HQET. We also obtain constraints on Γs/ (Γs + ΓD) as a function of the cosine of the relative phase of the two amplitudes in the D1 (2420)0 decay. © 1994.


Tau decays with one charged particle plus multiple π0's

Date: 1993-01-01

Creator: M. Procario, S. Yang, R. Balest, K. Cho, M., Daoudi, W. T. Ford, D. R. Johnson, K. Lingel, M. Lohner, P. Rankin, J. G. Smith, J. P. Alexander, C. Bebek, K. Berkelman, D. Besson, T. E. Browder, D. G. Cassel, H. A. Cho, D. M. Coffman, P. S. Drell, R. Ehrlich, R. S. Galik, M. Garcia-Sciveres, B. Geiser, B. Gittelman, S. W. Gray, D. L. Hartill, B. K. Heltsley, K. Honscheid, C. D. Jones, S. L. Jones

Access: Open access

With the CLEO-II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we have measured branching fractions for tau lepton decay into one-prong final states with multiple π0's Bhnπ0, normalized to the branching fraction for tau decay into one charged particle and a single π0. We find Bh2π0/Bhπ0=0. 345±0.006±0.016, Bh3π0/Bhπ0=0.041 ±0.003±0. 005, and Bh4π0/Bhπ0=0.006±0.002±0.002. © 1993 The American Physical Society.


Measurement of gross photosynthesis, respiration in the light, and mesophyll conductance usingh2 18o labeling

Date: 2018-05-01

Creator: Paul P.G. Gauthier, Mark O. Battle, Kevin L. Griffin, Michael L. Bender

Access: Open access

A fundamental challenge in plant physiology is independently determining the rates of gross O2 production by photosynthesis and O2 consumption by respiration, photorespiration, and other processes. Previous studies on isolated chloroplasts or leaves have separately constrained net and gross O2 production (NOP and GOP, respectively) by labeling ambient O2 with 18O while leaf water was unlabeled. Here, we describe a method to accurately measure GOP and NOP of whole detached leaves in a cuvette as a routine gas-exchange measurement. The petiole is immersed in water enriched to a d18O of ;9,000 , and leaf water is labeled through the transpiration stream. Photosynthesis transfers 18O from H2O to O2. GOP is calculated from the increase in d18O ofO2 as air passes through the cuvette. NOP is determined from the increase in O2/N2. Both terms are measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. CO2 assimilation and other standard gas-exchange parameters also were measured. Reproducible measurements are made on a single leaf for more than 15 h. We used this method to measure the light response curve of NOP and GOP in French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) at 21% and 2% O2. We then used these data to examine the O2/CO2 ratio of net photosynthesis, the light response curve of mesophyll conductance, and the apparent inhibition of respiration in the light (Kok effect) at both oxygen levels. The results are discussed in the context of evaluating the technique as a tool to study and understand leaf physiological traits.


A two-hybrid assay to study protein interactions within the secretory pathway

Date: 2010-12-01

Creator: Danielle H. Dube, Bin Li, Ethan J. Greenblatt, Sadeieh Nimer, Amanda K., Raymond, Jennifer J. Kohler

Access: Open access

Interactions of transcriptional activators are difficult to study using transcription-based two-hybrid assays due to potent activation resulting in false positives. Here we report the development of the Golgi two-hybrid (G2H), a method that interrogates protein interactions within the Golgi, where transcriptional activators can be assayed with negligible background. The G2H relies on cell surface glycosylation to report extracellularly on protein-protein interactions occurring within the secretory pathway. In the G2H, protein pairs are fused to modular domains of the reporter glycosyltransferase, Och1p, and proper cell wall formation due to Och1p activity is observed only when a pair of proteins interacts. Cells containing interacting protein pairs are identified by selectable phenotypes associated with Och1p activity and proper cell wall formation: cells that have interacting proteins grow under selective conditions and display weak wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) binding by flow cytometry, whereas cells that lack interacting proteins display stunted growth and strong WGA binding. Using this assay, we detected the interaction between transcription factor MyoD and its binding partner Id2. Interfering mutations along the MyoD:Id2 interaction interface ablated signal in the G2H assay. Furthermore, we used the G2H to detect interactions of the activation domain of Gal4p with a variety of binding partners. Finally, selective conditions were used to enrich for cells encoding interacting partners. The G2H detects protein-protein interactions that cannot be identified via traditional two-hybrid methods and should be broadly useful for probing previously inaccessible subsets of the interactome, including transcriptional activators and proteins that traffic through the secretory pathway. © 2010 Dube et al.


The Free-Trade Doctrine and Commercial Diplomacy of Condy Raguet

Date: 2011-05-11

Creator: Stephen Meardon

Access: Open access

Condy Raguet (1784-1842) was the first Chargé d’Affaires from the United States to Brazil and a conspicuous author of political economy from the 1820s to the early 1840s. He contributed to the era’s free-trade doctrine as editor of influential periodicals, most notably The Banner of the Constitution. Before leading the free-trade cause, however, he was poised to negotiate a reciprocity treaty between the United States and Brazil, acting under the authority of Secretary of State and protectionist apostle Henry Clay. Raguet’s career and ideas provide a window into the uncertain relationship of reciprocity to the cause of free trade.


Learning by lending

Date: 2019-01-01

Creator: Matthew Botsch, Victoria Vanasco

Access: Open access

This paper studies bank learning through repeated interactions with borrowers from a new perspective. To understand learning by lending, we adapt a methodology from labor economics to analyze how loan contract terms evolve as banks acquire new information about borrowers. We construct “proxy” variables for this information using data from borrowers’ out-of-sample, future credit performance. Due to the timing of their construction, banks could not have used these variables directly to price loans. We nonetheless find that these proxies increasingly predict loan prices as relationships progress, even after controlling for possible omitted variable bias. Our methodology provides strong evidence that: (a) bank learning affects loan prices, and (b) relationship benefits are heterogeneous. In particular, higher quality borrowers face differentially lower spreads as their relationship with lenders develop – and banks learn about their quality – while lower quality borrowers see loan prices increase and their loan amounts fall. We further find suggestive evidence that banks incorporate CEO-specific information into loan prices.


On kindleberger and hegemony: From berlin to MIT and back

Date: 2014-01-01

Creator: Stephen Meardon

Access: Open access

The most conspicuous idea of Charles P. Kindleberger’s later career is the value of a single country acting as stabilizer of an international economy prone to instability. It runs through his widely read books, The World in Depression, 1929-1939 (1973), Manias, Panics, and Crashes (1978), A Financial History of Western Europe (1984), and kindred works. This essay traces Kindleberger’s attachment to the idea of “hegemonic stability” back to his tenure as chief of the State Department’s Division of German and Austrian Economic Affairs from 1945 to 1947 and adviser to the European Recovery Program from 1947 to 1948. In both capacities Kindleberger observed and participated indirectly in the 1948 monetary reform in Western Germany. In the 1990s, during his octogenary decade, he revisited the German monetary reform with a fellow participant, economist, and longtime friend, F. Taylor Ostrander. Their collaborative essay became Kindleberger’s effort to reclaim hegemonic stability theory from the scholars who developed it following his works of the 1970s and 1980s.


Wandering words: Tracing changes in words used by teacher tweeters over time

Date: 2017-01-01

Creator: Stephen Houser, Doris Santoro, Clare Bates Congdon, Jessica Hochman

Access: Open access

Public school teachers in the United States are often constrained in terms of their ability to express their moral views on issues that affect their schools, classrooms, students, and teaching practices, but are able to express their ideas, concerns, and frustrations as private citizens using social media. Previously we developed the Tweet Capture and Clustering System (TCCS) in order to explore how teachers use Twitter, looking at word usage among a group of teacher tweeters, and attempting to find clusters of teachers who have similar patterns of word usage in their tweets. In the work reported here, we look at teacher tweeters across the 12 months of 2016, seeking to understand how the clusters and the words used in these clusters vary from month to month. In this initial look at the dynamics of the system, we see some evidence of word usage changing across the 12-month period. This initial work suggests that extending TCCS to have temporal topic tracing as a core capability will be a meaningful addition to of the system. Copyright held by the author(s).


Genetic interactions of yeast eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5a (eIF5A) reveal connections to poly(A)-binding protein and protein kinase C signaling

Date: 2002-03-14

Creator: Sandro R. Valentini, Jason M. Casolari, Carla C. Oliveira, Pamela A. Silver, Anne E., McBride

Access: Open access

The highly conserved eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF5A has been proposed to have various roles in the cell, from translation to mRNA decay to nuclear protein export. To further our understanding of this essential protein, three temperature-sensitive alleles of the yeast TIF51A gene have been characterized. Two mutant eIF5A proteins contain mutations in a proline residue at the junction between the two eIFSA domains and the third, strongest allele encodes a protein with a single mutation in each domain, both of which are required for the growth defect. The stronger tif51A alleles cause defects in degradation of short-lived mRNAs, supporting a role for this protein in mRNA decay. A multicopy suppressor screen revealed six genes, the overexpression of which allows growth of a tif51A-1 strain at high temperature; these genes include PAB1, PKC1, and PKC1 regulators WSC1, WSC2, and WSC3. Further results suggest that eIFSA may also be involved in ribosomal synthesis and the WSC/PKC1 signaling pathway for cell wall integrity or related processes.


Arginine methyltransferase affects interactions and recruitment of mRNA processing and export factors

Date: 2004-08-15

Creator: Michael C. Yu, François Bachand, Anne E. McBride, Suzanne Komili, Jason M., Casolari, Pamela A. Silver

Access: Open access

Hmt1 is the major type I arginine methyltransferase in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and facilitates the nucleocytoplasmic transport of mRNA-binding proteins through their methylation. Here we demonstrate that Hmt1 is recruited during the beginning of the transcriptional elongation process. Hmt1 methylates Yra1 and Hrp1, two mRNA-binding proteins important for mRNA processing and export. Moreover, loss of Hmt1 affects interactions between mRNA-binding proteins and Tho2, a component of the TREX (transcription/export) complex that is important for transcriptional elongation and recruitment of mRNA export factors. Furthermore, RNA in situ hybridization analysis demonstrates that loss of Hmt1 results in slowed release of HSP104 mRNA from the sites of transcription. Genome-wide location analysis shows that Hmt1 is bound to specific functional gene classes, many of which are also bound by Tho2 and other mRNA-processing factors. These data suggest a model whereby Hmt1 affects transcriptional elongation and, as a result, influences recruitment of RNA-processing factors.


Metabolic Glycan Labeling-Based Screen to Identify Bacterial Glycosylation Genes

Date: 2020-12-11

Creator: Karen D. Moulton, Adedunmola P. Adewale, Hallie A. Carol, Sage A. Mikami, Danielle H., Dube

Access: Open access

Bacterial cell surface glycans are quintessential drug targets due to their critical role in colonization of the host, pathogen survival, and immune evasion. The dense cell envelope glycocalyx contains distinctive monosaccharides that are stitched together into higher order glycans to yield exclusively bacterial structures that are critical for strain fitness and pathogenesis. However, the systematic study and inhibition of bacterial glycosylation enzymes remains challenging. Bacteria produce glycans containing rare sugars refractory to traditional glycan analysis, complicating the study of bacterial glycans and the identification of their biosynthesis machinery. To ease the study of bacterial glycans in the absence of detailed structural information, we used metabolic glycan labeling to detect changes in glycan biosynthesis. Here, we screened wild-type versus mutant strains of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori, ultimately permitting the identification of genes involved in glycoprotein and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. Our findings provide the first evidence that H. pylori protein glycosylation proceeds via a lipid carrier-mediated pathway that overlaps with lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. Protein glycosylation mutants displayed fitness defects consistent with those induced by small molecule glycosylation inhibitors. Broadly, our results suggest a facile approach to screen for bacterial glycosylation genes and gain insight into their biosynthesis and functional importance, even in the absence of glycan structural information.



Sri Lanka in 2018: Seeking a way forward

Date: 2019-02-01

Creator: Sree Padma

Access: Open access

The highlight of Maithripala Sirisena's presidency came in its very beginning when he ended a decade of autocracy by restoring democracy. And when rivalry with his own prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, devolved into a constitutional crisis, Sirisena was forced to abide by the democratic norms he had restored.


Bilateral consequences of chronic unilateral deafferentation in the auditory system of the cricket gryllus bimaculatus

Date: 2011-04-01

Creator: Hadley Wilson Horch, Elizabeth Sheldon, Claire C. Cutting, Claire R. Williams, Dana M., Riker, Hannah R. Peckler, Rohit B. Sangal

Access: Open access

The auditory system of the cricket has the unusual ability to respond to deafferentation by compensatory growth and synapse formation. Auditory interneurons such as ascending neuron 2 (AN-2) in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus possess a dendritic arbor that normally grows up to, but not over, the midline of the prothoracic ganglion. After chronic deafferentation throughout larval development, however, the AN-2 dendritic arbor changes dramatically, and medial dendrites sprout across the midline where they form compensatory synapses with the auditory afferents from the contralateral ear. We quantified the extent of the effects of chronic, unilateral deafferentation by measuring several cellular parameters of 3 different neuronal components of the auditory system: the deafferented AN-2, the contralateral (or nondeafferented) AN-2 and the contralateral auditory afferents. Neuronal tracers and confocal microscopy were used to visualize neurons, and double-label experiments were performed to examine the cellular relationship between pairs of cells. Dendritic complexity was quantified using a modified Sholl analysis, and the length and volume of processes and presynaptic varicosities were assessed under control and deafferented conditions. Chronic deafferentation significantly influenced the morphology of all 3 neuronal components examined. The overall dendritic complexity of the deafferented AN-2 dendritic arbor was reduced, while both the contralateral AN-2 dendritic arbor and the remaining, intact, auditory afferents grew longer. We found no significant changes in the volume or density of varicosities after deafferentation. These complex cellular changes after deafferentation are interpreted in the light of the reported differential regulation of vesicle-associated membrane protein and semaphorin 2a. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.