The locus coeruleus (LC) is a chemoreceptive brain stem region in anuran amphibians and contains neurons sensitive to physiological changes in CO2/pH. The ventilatory and central sensitivity to CO2/pH is proportional to the temperature in amphibians, i.e., sensitivity increases with increasing temperature. We hypothesized that LC neurons from bullfrogs, Lithobates catesbeianus, would increase C...

It is now well understood that the global surface ocean, whose pH has been reduced by;0.1 in response to rising atmospheric CO2 since industrialization, will continue to become more acidic as fossil fuel CO2 emissions escalate. However, it is unclear how uncertainties in climate sensitivity to future CO2 emissions will alter the manifestation of ocean acidification. Using an earth system model ...

The pH-sensitive chloride channels (pHCls) are broadly expressed in insects, but little is known about their physiologic role, diversity, and sensitivity to insecticides acting on relevant chloride channels. Here we have sequenced 50 transcripts of the pHCl-1 gene from the brain, third thoracic ganglion (T3G), and midgut of larvae of silkworm Bombyx mori It was found that >50 variants were expr...

Smart hydrogels are promising materials for actuators and sensors, as they can respond to small changes in their environment with a large property change. Hydrogels can respond to a variety of stimuli, for example temperature, pH, metal ions, etc. In this article, the synthesis and characterization of polyampholyte hydrogels based on open chain ligands showing pH and metal ion sensitivity are d...

Central respiratory chemoreception is the mechanism by which the CNS maintains physiologically appropriate pH and PCO2 via control of breathing. A prominent hypothesis holds that neural substrates for this process are distributed widely in the respiratory network, especially because many neurons that make up this network are chemosensitive in vitro. We and others have proposed that TASK channel...

In this study, the urea-enzymatic field effect transistors (EnFETs) were investigated based on pH-ion sensitive field effect transistors (ISFETs) with tantalum pentoxide (Ta(2)O(5)) sensing membranes. In addition, a post N(2) annealing was used to improve the sensing properties. At first, the pH sensitivity, hysteresis, drift, and light induced drift of the ISFETs were evaluated. After the cova...

Myocardial ischemia is characterized by reduced blood flow to cardiomyocytes, which can lead to acidosis. Acidosis decreases the calcium sensitivity and contractile efficiency of cardiac muscle. By contrast, skeletal and neonatal muscles are much less sensitive to changes in pH. The pH sensitivity of cardiac muscle can be reduced by replacing cardiac troponin I with its skeletal or neonatal cou...

The functional relevance of oxygen transport by hemocyanin of the Antarctic octopod Megaleledone senoi and of the eurythermal cuttlefish Sepia officinalis was analyzed by continuous and simultaneous recordings of changes in pH and hemocyanin oxygen saturation in whole blood at various temperatures. These data were compared to literature data on other temperate and cold-water cephalopods (octopo...

Background K(2P) channels are tightly regulated by different stimuli including variations of external and internal pH. pH sensitivity relies on proton-sensing residues that influence channel gating and activity. Gene inactivation in the mouse is a revealing implication of K(2P) channels in many physiological functions ranging from hormone secretion to central respiratory adaptation. Surprisingl...

Accurate, non-contact pH sensing is of particular importance in the biological and clinical sciences. Fluorescence lifetime based pH sensing is potentially more useful than intensity based methods because of the reduced sensitivity to excitation source intensity variations, scattering effects, and photobleaching. In this work, we investigate the variation of fluorescence lifetime with pH for re...