Damage or deprivation of a localized region of the skin surface has been shown to induce a selective expansion of adjacent skin surface representations in the adult somatosensory cortex. Here, we use repeated optical imaging in conjunction with single unit recordings to assess the plasticity of a single whisker's functional representation in the adult rat. We observed a large-scale expansion of...

Actin dynamics provide an important mechanism for the modification of synaptic plasticity, which is regulated by the actin depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin. However, the role of cofilin regulated actin dynamics in memory extinction process is still unclear. Here, we observed that extinction of conditioned taste aversive (CTA) memory led to temporally enhanced ADF/cofilin activity in the infr...

Modification of NMDA receptor function and trafficking contributes to the regulation of synaptic transmission and is important for several forms of synaptic plasticity. Here, we report that NMDA receptor subunits NR2A and NR2B have two distinct clusters of palmitoylation sites in their C-terminal region. Palmitoylation within the first cluster on a membrane-proximal region increases tyrosine ph...

Plastic changes in glutamatergic synapses that lead to endurance of drug craving and addiction are poorly understood. We examined the turnover and trafficking of NMDA receptors and found that chronic exposure to the psychostimulant amphetamine (AMPH) induced selective downregulation of NMDA receptor NR2B subunits in the confined surface membrane pool of rat striatal neurons at synaptic sites. T...

In the current research with novel first and second differentiations of a yield function, Euler forward along with Euler backward with its consistent elastic-plastic modulus are newly implemented in finite element program in rate-independent plasticity. An elastic-plastic internally pressurized thick walled cylinder is analyzed with four famous criteria including both pressure dependent and ind...

Clayey soils are the most common material used for water sealing and undertake an important role in controlling landfill-related pollution. Organic liquids can adversely affect the effectiveness of clay liners by drastically increasing their hydraulic conductivity. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the permeability in two types of clay with different plasticity, exposed to the...

Micropolar plasticity provides the capability to carry out post-failure simulations of geo-structures due to microstructural considerations and embedded length scale in its formulation. An essential part of the numerical implementation of a micropolar plasticity model is the integration of the rate constitutive equations. Efficiency and robustness of the implementation hinge on the type of int...

This talk will introduce the idea that talent development is related to learning where learning is the physiological process of neuro-plastic changes in the brain. To develop talents, individuals must move from novice or beginner’s status to expertise levels of knowledge or skills in a particular domain. Learning depends on maximizing an individual’s potential through the experience...

We predict a strongest size for the contact strength when asperity radii of curvature decrease below 10 nm. The reason for such strongest size is found to be correlated with the competition between the dislocation plasticity and surface diffusional plasticity. The essential role of temperature is calculated and illustrated in a comprehensive asperity size-strength-temperature map taking into ac...