Astrocytes regulate synaptic transmission and play a role in the formation of new memories, long-term potentiation (LTP), and functional synaptic plasticity. Specifically, astroglial release of glutamate, ATP, and cytokines likely alters the survivability and functioning of newly formed connections. Among these pathways, regulation of glutamate appears to be most directly related to the promotion of LTP, which is highly dependent on the synchronization of synaptic receptors through the regulation of excitatory postsynaptic potentials. Moreover, regulation of postsynaptic glutamate receptors, particularly AMPA receptors, is dependent on signaling by ATP synthesized in astrocytes. Finally, cytokine signaling is also implicated in regulating LTP, but is likely most important in plasticity following tissue damage. Despite the role of these signaling factors in regulating LTP and functional plasticity, an integrative model of these factors has not yet been elucidated. In this review, we seek to summarize the current body of evidence on astrocytic mechanisms for regulation of LTP and functional plasticity, and provide an integrative model of the processes.
A series of palladium/alkylphosphine-sulfonate catalysts were synthesized and examined in the homopolymerization of ethylene and the copolymerization of ethylene and polar monomers. Catalysts with alkylphosphine-sulfonate ligands containing sterically demanding alkyl substituents afforded (co)polymers whose molecular weight was increased by up to 2 orders of magnitude relative to polymers obtained from previously reported catalyst systems. The polymer molecular weight was found to be closely correlated to the Sterimol B5 parameter of the alkyl substituents in the alkylphosphine-sulfonate ligands. Thus, the use of bulky alkylphosphine-sulfonate ligands represents an effective and versatile method to prepare high-molecular-weight copolymers of ethylene and various polar monomers, which are difficult to obtain by previously reported methods.
The Star Formation in Nearby Clouds (SFiNCs) project is aimed at providing a detailed study of the young stellar populations and of star cluster formation in thenearby 22 star-forming regions (SFRs) for comparison with our earlier MYStIX survey of richer, more distant clusters. As a foundation for the SFiNCs science studies, here, homogeneous data analyses of the Chandra X-ray and Spitzer mid-infrared archival SFiNCs data are described, and the resulting catalogs of over 15,300 X-ray and over 1,630,000 mid-infrared point sources are presented. On the basis of their X-ray/infrared properties and spatial distributions, nearly 8500 point sources have been identified as probable young stellar members of the SFiNCs regions. Compared to the existing X-ray/mid-infrared publications, the SFiNCs member list increases the census of YSO members by 6%-200% for individual SFRs and by 40% for the merged sample of all 22 SFiNCs SFRs.
Moderately isospecific homopolymerization of propylene and the copolymerization of propylene and polar monomers have been achieved with palladium complexes bearing a phosphine-sulfonate ligand. Optimization of substituents on the phosphorus atom of the ligand revealed that the presence of bulky alkyl groups (e.g. menthyl) is crucial for the generation of high-molecular-weight polypropylenes (Mw ≈10(4) ), and the substituent at the ortho-position relative to the sulfonate group influences the molecular weight and isotactic regularity of the obtained polypropylenes. Statistical analysis suggested that the introduction of substituents at the ortho-position relative to the sulfonate group favors enantiomorphic site control over chain end control in the chain propagation step. The triad isotacticity could be increased to mm=0.55-0.59, with formation of crystalline polar polypropylenes, as supported by the presence of melting points and sharp peaks in the corresponding X-ray diffraction patterns.
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