Geometry of Information Integration

Information geometry is used to quantify the amount of information integration within multiple terminals of a causal dynamical system. Integrated information quantifies how much information is lost when a system is split into parts and information transmission between the parts is removed. Multiple measures have been proposed as a measure of integrated information. Here, we analyze four of the previously proposed measures and elucidate their relations from a viewpoint of information geometry. Two of them use dually flat manifolds and the other two use curved manifolds to define a split model. We show that there are hierarchical structures among the measures. We provide explicit expressions of these measures

Response to comment on "preserved feedforward but impaired top-down processes in the vegetative state".

King et al. raise some technical issues about our recent study showing impaired top-down processes in the vegetative state. We welcome the opportunity to provide more details about our methods and results and to resolve their concerns. We substantiate our interpretation of the results and provide a point-by-point response to the issues raised.Peer reviewe

Consciousness and cortical responsiveness: a within-state study during non-rapid eye movement sleep.

When subjects become unconscious, there is a characteristic change in the way the cerebral cortex responds to perturbations, as can be assessed using transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG). For instance, compared to wakefulness, during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep TMS elicits a larger positive-negative wave, fewer phase-locked oscillations, and an overall simpler response. However, many physiological variables also change when subjects go from wake to sleep, anesthesia, or coma. To avoid these confounding factors, we focused on NREM sleep only and measured TMS-evoked EEG responses before awakening the subjects and asking them if they had been conscious (dreaming) or not. As shown here, when subjects reported no conscious experience upon awakening, TMS evoked a larger negative deflection and a shorter phase-locked response compared to when they reported a dream. Moreover, the amplitude of the negative deflection-a hallmark of neuronal bistability according to intracranial studies-was inversely correlated with the length of the dream report (i.e., total word count). These findings suggest that variations in the level of consciousness within the same physiological state are associated with changes in the underlying bistability in cortical circuits

Complexity of multi-dimensional spontaneous EEG decreases during propofol induced general anaesthesia

Emerging neural theories of consciousness suggest a correlation between a specific type of neural dynamical complexity and the level of consciousness: When awake and aware, causal interactions between brain regions are both integrated (all regions are to a certain extent connected) and differentiated (there is inhomogeneity and variety in the interactions). In support of this, recent work by Casali et al (2013) has shown that Lempel-Ziv complexity correlates strongly with conscious level, when computed on the EEG response to transcranial magnetic stimulation. Here we investigated complexity of spontaneous high-density EEG data during propofol-induced general anaesthesia. We consider three distinct measures: (i) Lempel-Ziv complexity, which is derived from how compressible the data are; (ii) amplitude coalition entropy, which measures the variability in the constitution of the set of active channels; and (iii) the novel synchrony coalition entropy (SCE), which measures the variability in the constitution of the set of synchronous channels. After some simulations on Kuramoto oscillator models which demonstrate that these measures capture distinct ‘flavours’ of complexity, we show that there is a robustly measurable decrease in the complexity of spontaneous EEG during general anaesthesia

COSNET-a coherent optical subscriber network

A complete coherent multichannel system, designed for application in the local loop, is presented. The concept of a uni- and bidirectional system and its technical realization in a laboratory demonstrator are described. The network control, including frequency management of the bidirectional channels, and network security are discussed. Attention is paid to the scenario for evolution from a narrowband to a complete broadband system. All aspects are integrated in a demonstrator, which is capable of supporting a large number of narrowband and broadband distributive and communicative services. Novel technical solutions for frequency management, data induced polarization switching (DIPS), high-speed encryption, and network signaling are presented

Age au premier vêlage et intervalle entre vêlages de quatre races bovines en zone périurbaine de N’Djaména, Tchad

L’objectif de l’étude est de déterminer l’âge au premier vêlage et l’intervalle entre vêlages des vaches de quatre races bovines en zone périurbaine de N’Djaména au Tchad. Les races locales concernées ont été : Arabes, Bororo, Bokolodji et Kouri. Un échantillon de 43 vaches pour l’évaluation de l’intervalle entre vêlages et 34 pour l’âge au premier vêlage a été constitué et suivi de 1997 à 2014. Les valeurs moyennes obtenues ont été: 47,41 ± 9,92 mois pour l’âge de premier vêlage, 493,09 ± 187,30 jours pour l’intervalle entre vêlages, 91,18 ± 26,31 jours pour l’intervalle vêlage – saillie fécondante et 285,73 ± 8,76 jours pour la durée de gestation. Les différents facteurs de variation de ces paramètres ont été analysés ont révélé que la race et l’année de naissance des vaches ont influencé l’âge au premier vêlage alors que c’est le type de saillie seul qui a influencé la durée de l’intervalle entre les vêlages. La fécondité de bovins tchadiens a été acceptable dans le contexte africain mais n’a pas permis d’atteindre l’objectif d’un veau par vache et par an. D’où l’importance de la conduite de la reproduction sur l’intervalle entre vêlages. L’amélioration des performances de reproduction des bovins tchadiens doit passer par le croisement avec les races exotiques pour les premiers vêlages et la mise au point d’un protocole pratique d’induction de chaleur, en période post-partum immédiat afin de programmer la remise en reproduction des vaches pour réduire l’intervalle entre vêlages.Mots-clés: âge premier vêlage, intervalle vêlage-vêlage, bovins, zone périurbaine, N’Djaména, Tchad. Age at the first calving and interval between calving’s of four bovine breeds in N'Djamena per urban area, ChadThe aim of the study was to determine the age with the first calving and the interval between calving’s of the cows of four bovines breed in per urban area of N’Djamena at Chad. The local’s breeds concerned were: Arabs, Bororo, Bokolodji and Kuri. A sample of 43 cows for the evaluation from the interval between calving’s and 34 for the age with the first calving was made up and followed from 1997 to 2014. The average values obtained were: 47.41 ± 9.92 months for the age of first calving, 493.09 ± 187.30 days for the interval between calving, 91.18 ± 26.31 days for the interval calving – covered fertilizing and 285.73 ± 8.76 days for the gestation period. The various factors of variation of these parameters were analyzed and revealed that the breed and the year of birth of the cows influenced the age with the first calving whereas it is the type of projection alone which influenced the duration of the interval between the calving’s. The fertility of Chadians bovines was acceptable in the African context but did not allow achieving the goal of a calf per cow and per annum. From where importance of the control of the reproduction on the interval between calving’s. The improvement of the performances of reproduction of the Chadians bovine must pass by the crossing with the exotic races for the first calving’s and the development of a practical protocol of induction of heat, in period immediate postpartum in order to program the handing-over in reproduction of the cows to reduce the interval between calving’s.Keywords: age first calving, interval calving-calving, bovines, per urban area, N’Djamena, Chad

Causal hierarchy within the thalamo-cortical network in spike and wave discharges

Background: Generalised spike wave (GSW) discharges are the electroencephalographic (EEG) hallmark of absence seizures, clinically characterised by a transitory interruption of ongoing activities and impaired consciousness, occurring during states of reduced awareness. Several theories have been proposed to explain the pathophysiology of GSW discharges and the role of thalamus and cortex as generators. In this work we extend the existing theories by hypothesizing a role for the precuneus, a brain region neglected in previous works on GSW generation but already known to be linked to consciousness and awareness. We analysed fMRI data using dynamic causal modelling (DCM) to investigate the effective connectivity between precuneus, thalamus and prefrontal cortex in patients with GSW discharges. Methodology and Principal Findings: We analysed fMRI data from seven patients affected by Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy (IGE) with frequent GSW discharges and significant GSW-correlated haemodynamic signal changes in the thalamus, the prefrontal cortex and the precuneus. Using DCM we assessed their effective connectivity, i.e. which region drives another region. Three dynamic causal models were constructed: GSW was modelled as autonomous input to the thalamus (model A), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (model B), and precuneus (model C). Bayesian model comparison revealed Model C (GSW as autonomous input to precuneus), to be the best in 5 patients while model A prevailed in two cases. At the group level model C dominated and at the population-level the p value of model C was ∼1. Conclusion: Our results provide strong evidence that activity in the precuneus gates GSW discharges in the thalamo-(fronto) cortical network. This study is the first demonstration of a causal link between haemodynamic changes in the precuneus - an index of awareness - and the occurrence of pathological discharges in epilepsy. © 2009 Vaudano et al

Paramètres de reproduction des vaches Kouri au Lac Tchad

Objectif : évaluer les performances de reproduction des vaches de la race Kouri au Tchad et proposer les actions d’amélioration.Méthodologie et résultats : une enquête longitudinale a été réalisée sur 101 vaches durant 10 ans, allant de novembre 2003 à avril 2013 au Centre de Sauvegarde de cette race taurine en pleine zone sahélienne du Tchad. Les performances de reproduction de la vache Kouri ont été: l’âge au premier vêlage de 41,43 ± 0,66 mois (n=70), une durée de gestation moyenne de 298,74 ± 5,11 jours avec un poids moyen des veaux à la naissance de 22,87 3,53 kg, l’intervalle entre vêlages moyen de 477,23 ±118,58 jours (n=126) et a varié en fonction de rang de vêlage, un taux de fécondité moyen de 76,48%, la fertilité en première saillie de 80,77%, un indice coïtal moyen de 1,53 ± 0,14. Les vêlages ont eu lieu toute l’année mais les périodes de forte concentration se situent entre les mois de février et avril.Conclusion et perspectives : Les performances de reproduction de la vache Kouri ont été faibles et ne permettent pas d’atteindre l’objectif d’un intervalle entre vêlages classique de 365 jours. L’intervalle entre vêlages a été plus long que l’intervalle standard d’un an. Ces performances ne peuvent être améliorées que par la mise en place d’une meilleure conduite des pratiques d’élevage et d’un programme de suivi de la reproduction. Ces actions permettront la remise en reproduction des vaches dans les 3 mois après vêlageMots clés : Vache Kouri, Reproduction, Lac-Tchad

Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin

What is the level of consciousness of the psychedelic state? Empirically, measures of neural signal diversity such as entropy and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity score higher for wakeful rest than for states with lower conscious level like propofol-induced anesthesia. Here we compute these measures for spontaneous magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals from humans during altered states of consciousness induced by three psychedelic substances: psilocybin, ketamine and LSD. For all three, we find reliably higher spontaneous signal diversity, even when controlling for spectral changes. This increase is most pronounced for the single-channel LZ complexity measure, and hence for temporal, as opposed to spatial, signal diversity. We also uncover selective correlations between changes in signal diversity and phenomenological reports of the intensity of psychedelic experience. This is the first time that these measures have been applied to the psychedelic state and, crucially, that they have yielded values exceeding those of normal waking consciousness. These findings suggest that the sustained occurrence of psychedelic phenomenology constitutes an elevated level of consciousness - as measured by neural signal diversity