Sequential Sparsening by Successive Adaptation in Neural Populations

In the principal cells of the insect mushroom body, the Kenyon cells (KC), olfactory information is represented by a spatially and temporally sparse code. Each odor stimulus will activate only a small portion of neurons and each stimulus leads to only a short phasic response following stimulus onset irrespective of the actual duration of a constant stimulus. The mechanisms responsible for the sparse code in the KCs are yet unresolved. Here, we explore the role of the neuron-intrinsic mechanism of spike-frequency adaptation (SFA) in producing temporally sparse responses to sensory stimulation in higher processing stages. Our single neuron model is defined through a conductance-based integrate-and-fire neuron with spike-frequency adaptation [1]. We study a fully connected feed-forward network architecture in coarse analogy to the insect olfactory pathway. A first layer of ten neurons represents the projection neurons (PNs) of the antenna lobe. All PNs receive a step-like input from the olfactory receptor neurons, which was realized by independent Poisson processes. The second layer represents 100 KCs which converge onto ten neurons in the output layer which represents the population of mushroom body extrinsic neurons (ENs). Our simulation result matches with the experimental observations. In particular, intracellular recordings of PNs show a clear phasic-tonic response that outlasts the stimulus [2] while extracellular recordings from KCs in the locust express sharp transient responses [3]. We conclude that the neuron-intrinsic mechanism is can explain a progressive temporal response sparsening in the insect olfactory system. Further experimental work is needed to test this hypothesis empirically. [1] Muller et. al., Neural Comput, 19(11):2958-3010, 2007. [2] Assisi et. al., Nat Neurosci, 10(9):1176-1184, 2007. [3] Krofczik et. al. Front. Comput. Neurosci., 2(9), 2009.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, This manuscript was submitted for review to the Eighteenth Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting CNS*2009 in Berlin and accepted for oral presentation at the meetin

Cloud Ownership and Reliability – Issues and Developments

Cloud computing is a composite paradigm that provides crucial services to individuals and organisations over networked infrastructure at a cost. The Cloud provides custom built applications, made available by a CSP to customers. Several customers can access an instance of one application. The Cloud also affords an avenue for customers to build their own application in a language compatible with a CSP and subsequently deploy that application on the Cloud. In addition, massive scalable storage and computing devices are available on the Cloud. A customers expects optimum services whenever and wherever it is required. Hence, system failure on the part of a CSP must not affect the services being provided to the customer. This paper examines present trends in the area of Cloud ownership reliability and provides a guide for future research. The paper aims to answer the following question: what is the current trend and development in Cloud ownership reliability? In addition, analysis was done on existing work published in journals, conferences, white papers and those published in reputable magazines, to answer the question raised. The expected result is the identification of trends in Cloud ownership and reliability which will be of benefit to prospective Cloud users and service providers alike

Natural history of colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE): a systematic review

Background: No published systematic reviews have assessed the natural history of colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). Time to clearance of colonization has important implications for patient care and infection control policy. Methods: We performed parallel searches in OVID Medline for studies that reported the time to documented clearance of MRSA and VRE colonization in the absence of treatment, published between January 1990 and July 2012. Results: For MRSA, we screened 982 articles, identified 16 eligible studies (13 observational studies and 3 randomized controlled trials), for a total of 1,804 non-duplicated subjects. For VRE, we screened 284 articles, identified 13 eligible studies (12 observational studies and 1 randomized controlled trial), for a total of 1,936 non-duplicated subjects. Studies reported varying definitions of clearance of colonization; no study reported time of initial colonization. Studies varied in the frequency of sampling, assays used for sampling, and follow-up period. The median duration of total follow-up was 38 weeks for MRSA and 25 weeks for VRE. Based on pooled analyses, the model-estimated median time to clearance was 88 weeks after documented colonization for MRSA-colonized patients and 26 weeks for VRE-colonized patients. In a secondary analysis, clearance rates for MRSA and VRE were compared by restricting the duration of follow-up for the MRSA studies to the maximum observed time point for VRE studies (43 weeks). With this restriction, the model-fitted median time to documented clearance for MRSA would occur at 41 weeks after documented colonization, demonstrating the sensitivity of the pooled estimate to length of study follow-up. Conclusions: Few available studies report the natural history of MRSA and VRE colonization. Lack of a consistent definition of clearance, uncertainty regarding the time of initial colonization, variation in frequency of sampling for persistent colonization, assays employed and variation in duration of follow-up are limitations of the existing published literature. The heterogeneity of study characteristics limits interpretation of pooled estimates of time to clearance, however, studies included in this review suggest an increase in documented clearance over time, a result which is sensitive to duration of follow-up

Curvature in Noncommutative Geometry

Our understanding of the notion of curvature in a noncommutative setting has progressed substantially in the past ten years. This new episode in noncommutative geometry started when a Gauss-Bonnet theorem was proved by Connes and Tretkoff for a curved noncommutative two torus. Ideas from spectral geometry and heat kernel asymptotic expansions suggest a general way of defining local curvature invariants for noncommutative Riemannian type spaces where the metric structure is encoded by a Dirac type operator. To carry explicit computations however one needs quite intriguing new ideas. We give an account of the most recent developments on the notion of curvature in noncommutative geometry in this paper.Comment: 76 pages, 8 figures, final version, one section on open problems added, and references expanded. Appears in "Advances in Noncommutative Geometry - on the occasion of Alain Connes' 70th birthday

Seismic response evaluation of RC tower connected to short rigid buildings.

In urban construction with the presence of tall buildings adjacent to short buildings, civil engineers have tried to connect low-rise rigid buildings to tall buildings in order to enhance the rigidity of the towers and decrease seismic response induced by earthquake excitation. From recent developments in earthquake energy dissipation systems, the application of viscous dampers for coupling of parallel and adjacent buildings to reduce earthquake effect has been considered by civil engineers, and many investigations have been conducted. In the present study an attempt has been made to evaluate the effect of connecting reinforced concrete towers to short rigid building through viscous damper devices. For this purpose, a 10-story RC tower connected to two short RC buildings by viscous damper was modeled and analyzed under Elcentro (1940) earthquake record excitation by using the finite element technique. In addition, the effect of various viscous damper damping coefficients on seismic response of the tower was evaluated by analyzing the aforementioned tower with various damper damping coefficient to the short building. The results showed improvement of seismic response of the tall building which was supported by short RC buildings through viscous damper device during earthquake. Moreover by increasing damper damping coefficient response of the tower structure the displacement was effectively reduced

A Paper-Based Multiplexed Transaminase Test for Low-Cost, Point-of-Care Liver Function Testing

In developed nations, monitoring for drug-induced liver injury through serial measurements of serum transaminases [aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)] in at-risk individuals is the standard of care. Despite the need, monitoring for drug-related hepatotoxicity in resource-limited settings is often limited by expense and logistics, even for patients at highest risk. This article describes the development and clinical testing of a paper-based, multiplexed microfluidic assay designed for rapid, semiquantitative measurement of AST and ALT in a fingerstick specimen. Using 223 clinical specimens obtained by venipuncture and 10 fingerstick specimens from healthy volunteers, we have shown that our assay can, in 15 min, provide visual measurements of AST and ALT in whole blood or serum, which allow the user to place those values into one of three readout “bins” [5× ULN, corresponding to tuberculosis/HIV treatment guidelines] with >90% accuracy. These data suggest that the ultimate point-of-care fingerstick device will have high impact on patient care in low-resource settings.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

The driver landscape of sporadic chordoma.

Chordoma is a malignant, often incurable bone tumour showing notochordal differentiation. Here, we defined the somatic driver landscape of 104 cases of sporadic chordoma. We reveal somatic duplications of the notochordal transcription factor brachyury (T) in up to 27% of cases. These variants recapitulate the rearrangement architecture of the pathogenic germline duplications of T that underlie familial chordoma. In addition, we find potentially clinically actionable PI3K signalling mutations in 16% of cases. Intriguingly, one of the most frequently altered genes, mutated exclusively by inactivating mutation, was LYST (10%), which may represent a novel cancer gene in chordoma.Chordoma is a rare often incurable malignant bone tumour. Here, the authors investigate driver mutations of sporadic chordoma in 104 cases, revealing duplications in notochordal transcription factor brachyury (T), PI3K signalling mutations, and mutations in LYST, a potential novel cancer gene in chordoma

An accelerated stochastic vortex structure method for particle collision and agglomeration in homogeneous turbulence

Modeling the response of interacting particles, droplets, or bubbles to subgrid-scale fluctuations in turbulent flows is a long-standing challenge in multiphase flow simulations using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes approach. The problem also arises for large-eddy simulation for sufficiently small values of the Kolmogorov-scale particle Stokes number. This paper expands on a recently proposed stochastic vortex structure (SVS) method for modeling of turbulence fluctuations for colliding or otherwise interacting particles. An accelerated version of the SVS method was developed using the fast multipole expansion and local Taylor expansion approach, which reduces computation speed by two orders of magnitude compared to the original SVS method. Detailed comparisons are presented showing close agreement of the energy spectrum and probability density functions of various fields between the SVS computational model, direct numerical simulation (DNS) results, and various theoretical and experimental results found in the literature. Results of the SVS method for particle collision rate and related measures of particle interaction exhibit excellent agreement with DNS predictions for homogeneous turbulent flows. The SVS method was also used with adhesive particles to simulate formation of particle agglomerates with different values of the particle Stokes and adhesion numbers, and various measures of the agglomerate structure are compared to the DNS results

Signal Transmission in the Auditory System

Contains table of contents for Section 3, an introduction, and reports on seven research projects.National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00194National Institutes of Health Grant P01 DC00119National Institutes of Health Grant F32 DC00073National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00473National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 DC00238National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 DC00235National Institutes of Health Grant 5 P01 DC00361National Institutes of Health Grant T32 DC00006Whitaker Health Sciences Fun