No abstract

Correlated Raman microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to study the ordering of {111} planar defects in individual silicon nanowires. Detailed electron diffraction and polarization-dependent Raman analysis of individual nanowires enabled assessments of the stacking fault distribution, which varied from random to periodic, with the latter giving rise to local domains of 2H and 9R polytypes rather than the 3C diamond cubic structure. Some controversies and inconsistencies concerning earlier reports of polytypes in Si nanowires were resolved.

Mammalian reproduction is dependent upon intermittent delivery of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) to the anterior pituitary. This mode of secretion is required to sensitize maximally the gonadotrophs to LHRH stimulation and to regulate gonadotropin gene expression. While LHRH secretion is pulsatile in nature, the origin of the pulse generator is unknown. In this report, we show that this oscillator could be located within the LHRH neuronal network. When immortalized LHRH neurons are placed into a perifusion system, LHRH is secreted into the medium in a pulsatile fashion under basal conditions. LHRH secretion and the number of LHRH pulses are reduced when calcium is removed from the medium. Perifusion also influences pro-LHRH processing, since the molar ratio of its processed products varies dramatically when the cells are transferred from a static system. Several different cellular mechanisms may underlie these changes in secretion and processing. Lucifer yellow experiments reveal that some cells are dye-coupled. Hence, these cells could be electrically coupled through gap junctions such that secretion from individual cells could be coordinated. Secretion could also be synchronized through the observed synapse-like contacts. These contacts could perform a negative-feedback role to regulate not only the amount of LHRH released but also the molecular forms secreted. The organization of LHRH neurons into interconnected clusters could serve to coordinate LHRH secretion from individual cells and, thereby, orchestrate functions in vivo as diverse as the onset of puberty, the timing of ovulation, and the duration of lactational infertility.Luteinizing hormone (LH)-releasing hormone (LHRH) is a major regulator of reproduction in mammals (1-3). While LHRH neuronal cell bodies are scattered throughout the anterior hypothalamic region, their nerve terminals converge on the median eminence. LHRH is secreted into the hypophysial portal circulation, where it is transported to the anterior pituitary to stimulate the release of LH and folliclestimulating hormone.In all mammalian species studied so far, secretion of LH into blood is episodic in nature (1,(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Interestingly, LHRH is secreted into the hypophysial portal blood in a pulsatile manner (9-11), and LH pulses are preceded by LHRH release (1, 10, 11). In addition, LH pulsatile secretion is lost either after passive immunization with LHRH antiserum (12) or with administration of a LHRH antagonist (13). Lesions of either the medial basal hypothalamus or the arcuate nucleus also eradicate LH pulses (1). By comparison, continuous infusion of LHRH, which desensitizes the gonadotropes through down-regulation of the LHRH receptor (14), also abolishes episodic secretion of LH and reduces LH 03-and a-subunit mRNA levels (15, 16). While the relationship between LHRH and LH secretion is well established, it is unclear whether the generator for LHRH pulses is located within the LHRH neuronal network itself or within networks of other neighboring neuro...