0000000000337305
AUTHOR
Gaetano L. Aiello
The amelioration of olfactory acuity upon sexual maturation might affect food preferences.
Upon sexual maturation, olfactory acuity in women ameliorates and starts oscillating across the cycle. During ovulation, mean olfactory threshold is 30 times lower than during bleeding. Interestingly, menstruated women undergo maleodorant trimethylaminuria. We argued that olfactory amelioration during ovulation might concur to a mating strategy, whereas olfactory impairment during bleeding might protect women against self-refusal. Testosterone and its 17β-estradiol derivative might be responsible for the synchronization of these menstrual events. Furthermore, we posed the question whether olfactory detection amelioration upon sexual maturation might provoke a change in food preferences, for…
The selection of serum-independent PC12 cells for a more-reliable manganese cytotoxicity test.
A major issue concerning the protocols of heavy metal cytotoxicity tests with PC12 cells was the hypothesis that serum in the culture medium might sequester the metal, thus altering the results obtained. However, serum withdrawal impairs the viability of PC12 cells themselves, thus impeding cytotoxicity testing in the absence of serum. In this study, we repeatedly selected undifferentiated, totally non-adherent PC12 cells in Petri dishes. Surprisingly, we discovered that these cells could survive and proliferate in serum-free medium. Moreover, features such as NGF-responsiveness, resazurin reduction potential, doubling rate, protein content, and basal caspase-3 enzyme activity, were equiva…
The cost of an action potential.
Neuronal modules, or 'cell-assemblies', comprising millions of mutually interconnected cells have been postulated to form the basis of many functions of the brain, such as mood, sleep, hunger, vigilance, and more. Depending on the extent of the module, neurocommunication in cell-assemblies might exceed metabolic resources. A medium-size (10000 neurons) module would require at least 10 J per l of brain, based on a calculated cost of an isolated action potential (AP) of 10(11)-10(12) molecules of ATP per cm(2) of cell membrane, with an absolute minimum of 10(6) ATP at a node of Ranvier. The figure matches the cost of depolarizing the unmyelinated axon of the large monopolar cell in the blowfl…
Natural Convection Cooling of a Hot Vertical Wall Wet by a Falling Liquid Film
Abstract The system studied is a plane channel in which one of the two vertical walls is kept at an arbitrary temperature profile and may be partially or completely wet by a falling liquid film, while the opposite wall is adiabatic. Air from the environment flows along the channel with a mass flow rate which depends on the balance between hydraulic resistances and buoyancy forces. These latter, in their turn, depend on the distribution of temperature and humidity (hence, density) along the channel and eventually on the heat and mass transferred from wall and film to the humid air. A simplified computational model of the above system was developed and applied to the prediction of relevant qu…
Diffusive neural network
Abstract A non-connectionist model of a neuronal network based on passive diffusion of neurotransmitters is presented as an alternative to hard-wired artificial neural networks. Classic thermodynamical approach shows that the diffusive network is capable of exhibiting asymptotic stability and a dynamics resembling that of a chaotic system. Basic computational capabilities of the net are discussed based on the equivalence with a Turing machine. The model offers a way to represent mass-sustained brain functions in terms of recurrent behaviors in the phase space.