Time-lapse recordings reveal why IVF embryos are more likely to develop into twins
Lyon, France: Evidence gathered from time-lapse recordings of the formation of early embryos (blastocysts) in the laboratory has revealed why embryos created via IVF and undergoing extended culture are more likely to develop into twins than those created via natural conception. Furthermore, the research has ...Prey not hard-wired to fear predators
...without their traditional predators, Berger played recordings of wolves and tigers and chronicled their reaction...ves and bears-- responded five times faster to the recordings than did elk in Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado) where major predators have been absent for s...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...ioned stimulus (CS). The authors made simultaneous recordings from neurons in mPFC, perirhinal (PR) cortex, and ...ensory cortex. The authors next made intracellular recordings from neurons in each layer of the S1 somatosensory cortex. Compared with neurons in the upper layers...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...anesthetized gerbils. The authors made single-unit recordings from IC and AI neurons responding to auditory tones. In awake animals, first-spike timing variability increased in AI compared with IC neurons, indicating a reduction in temporal precision of firing. AI temporal precision improved during anesthesia, ...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...uscle. The authors made simultaneous extracellular recordings of EAUGs and intracellular recordings from laryngeal motoneurons in anesthetized cats. During fictive breathing, coughing, or sneezing, ev...Bioluminescence at the service of a novel cerebral imaging technique
...sible to standard, fluorescent-type markers. Such recordings of the ellipsoid body have thus demonstrated the considerable sensitivity of this novel approach, while validating access to all structures, even those located deep in the brain. It will therefore be possible to study all neurons or cerebral structu...FSU leads botanical research into 21st century: Deep South Plant Specimen Imaging Project
...oject will have produced 100,000 annotated digital recordings of plant specimens from across the ecoregion. Then, DSPSIP will ensure the broad distribution of those images by submitting them to Web sites such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility portal (www.gbif.org). But most notably, they will be...Male owls pitch their hoots to advertise body weight to competitors
...range of body weights. They then played back these recordings to males with established territories, and observed and quantified their response (a combination of approaches and vocal responses). The results show that male owls respond more strongly to the high-pitched calls that simulate lighter individuals, co...Eavesdropping nuthatches distinguish danger threats in chickadee alarm calls
...s, sometimes adding five, 10 or 15 dees. When the recordings were played back to other chickadees their response was related to the size and threat presented by the potential predator. Small, agile raptors such as the pygmy owl which can prey on small songbirds present a greater danger to the chickadees than ...Keeping the body in sync -- the stability of cellular clocks
... Using mouse fibroblast circadian bioluminescence recordings from the Schibler Lab at the University of Geneva, the researchers turned to dynamical systems theory and developed a mathematical model that identified the molecular parameters responsible for the stability of the cellular clocks. Stability is a mea...When your brain talks, your muscles don't always listen
...he downturn toward a valley," Knight noted. Once recordings were completed at one site in the muscle, the electrode was repositioned to sample from other motor units within the muscle. Knight and graduate student Dhiraj Poojari and undergraduate researchers Maria Bellumori and Christopher Martens then analy...Robotic cameras join search for 'Holy Grail of bird-watching'
...reported sightings and retrieved a number of audio recordings of the bird's distinctive double knock. Still, none of the evidence to date has provided the definitive proof of the bird's existence that skeptics demand. "A single photographic frame would have to clearly show the unique markings of the ivory-bil...'Good vibrations' from deep-sea smokers may keep fish out of hot water
...of the flows, Crone says. It was decided that new recordings should be attempted because Crone and other oceanographers are looking for new ways to measure vent flows, which are a source of heat and minerals in the world's oceans that scientists would like to understand better. Commonly used instruments to mea...Rats on a road trip reveal pollution-heart disease risk
...cardiogram readings during the trip. Post-exposure recordings began 30 minutes after the trip and continued for five days. Results showed a maximum drop in heart rate of 40 beats per minute, or a 10 percent decline. The effect persisted for up to 14 hours. In addition, researchers found a 70 percent decrease ...Huddling and a drop in metabolism allow penguins to survive the South Pole cold
...his mechanism, the researchers conducted the first recordings of deep body temperatures in free ranging birds throughout their breeding cycle by using long-term implanted data loggers. The researchers sought to assess whether male emperor penguins lower their deep body temperature during breeding and incubatio...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...rs made whole-cell voltage-clamp and current-clamp recordings from cultured giant neurons, generated from fly em... around three axes. The authors made intracellular recordings from RS neurons, and recorded motoneuron responses with surface electrodes. In each plane, RS neuron...Bats in flight reveal unexpected aerodynamics
...combining high-resolution, three-dimensional video recordings with precise measurements of the wake field generated by the bats' wing movements. Their study, published in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, marks the first such measurements made in bats and highlights ways in which bat flight appears to...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...ard This week, Bauer et al. combined voltage-clamp recordings with membrane capacitance measurements to examine modulation of secretion in bovine chromaffin cells. Their goal was to determine whether G q -protein-coupled receptors (G q PCRs), specifically H1 histamine receptors, regulate Munc131, a protein that...Cellular killer also important to memory
... of zebra finches after exposing the birds to tape recordings of the songs of other birds. They found an increase in the concentration of activated caspase-3 in post-synaptic sites of the auditory forebrain shortly after the birds were exposed to unfamiliar bird songs. Exposure to familiar songs caused no signi......aced spring and fall females in cages, then played recordings of male songs and observed their reactions. Paralleling the result with the males, more of the spring females approached the speaker quickly and more closely than the fall females. "The spring females are extremely eager. The minute they hear a mal...