Connexin proteins make intercellular channels - gap junctions - which provide a direct pathway for cell-cell signaling in vertebrates. Studies of mice lacking connexin genes have demonstrated the need for intercellular transfer of messenger molecules and are uncovering the specific functions of each connexin.

The properties of immature cortex that may enable it to exhibit large-scale wavelike activity during a brief critical developmental period were investigated by imaging neuronal calcium signals in neonatal cortical slices under conditions of artificially enhanced excitability, conditions that produce a more frequent and robust version of the naturally occurring waves. Using pharmacological manip...

1 Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&MUniversity, College Station, Texas, United States of America,2 Departmentof Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, College of Medicine, Texas A&MHealth Science Center, Bryan, Texas, United States of America,3 Norman BorlaugCenter, Texas A&MUniversity, College Station, Texas, United States of America,4 Comparative ...

Rulers of weakly institutionalized states constantly fear coup attempts. The risk of coups may lead rulers to exclude certain ethnic groups from power—despite creating incentives for excluded groups to rebel against the government. But under what conditions do leaders perceive strong threats? Focusing on post-independence SubSaharan Africa, this paper argues that leaders of countries containing...

The presence of direct, cytoplasmatic, communication between neurons in the brain of vertebrates has been demonstrated a long time ago. These gap junctions have been characterized in many brain areas in terms of subunit composition, biophysical properties, neuronal connectivity patterns, and developmental regulation. Although interesting findings emerged, showing that different subunits are spe...

Unlike isolated beta-cells, which usually produce continuous spikes or fast and irregular bursts, electrically coupled beta-cells are apt to exhibit robust bursting action potentials. We consider the noise induced by thermal fluctuations as well as that by channel-gating stochasticity and examine its effects on the action potential behavior of the beta-cell model. It is observed numerically tha...

Studies that have investigated the role of unemployment in childbearing decisions have often provided conflicting results. We argue that many of the inconsistencies of prior research may be attributed to a neglect of group-specific differences in behavior. In this study, we examine how the effects of unemployment on fertility vary by sociodemographic subgroups using data from the German Socio-E...

The transmembrane connexin proteins of gap junctions link extracellularly to form channels for cell-to-cell exchange of ions and small molecules. Two primary hypotheses of gap junction coupling in the CNS are the following: (1) generalized coupling occurs between neurons and glia, with some connexins expressed in both neurons and glia, and (2) intercellular junctional coupling is restricted to ...

Aubhik Khan* It is difficult to overemphasize the potential benefits of economic growth for improving human welfare. For example, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, three of the world’s lowest income nations, had real per capita GDP of $1908, $1633, and $1793, respectively, in 1992. In contrast, the equivalent values for three of the world’s highest income nations, Denmark, Sweden, and the United...