Locally embedded presages of global network bursts

Spontaneous, synchronous bursting of neural population is a widely observed phenomenon in nervous networks, which is considered important for functions and dysfunctions of the brain. However, how the global synchrony across a large number of neurons emerges from an initially non-bursting network state is not fully understood. In this study, we develop a new state-space reconstruction method combined with high-resolution recordings of cultured neurons. This method extracts deterministic signatures of upcoming global bursts in "local" dynamics of individual neurons during non-bursting periods. We find that local information within a single-cell time series can compare with or even outperform the global mean field activity for predicting future global bursts. Moreover, the inter-cell variability in the burst predictability is found to reflect the network structure realized in the non-bursting periods. These findings demonstrate the deterministic mechanisms underlying the locally concentrated early-warnings of the global state transition in self-organized networks

Static and dynamic compression of Earth materials

The triennium, 1967–1970, has been a period of marked increase in acquisition of pressure-volume data for minerals, rocks, and compounds of geophysical interest. A wide assortment of data has been obtained by the conventional dilatometric techniques as well as by the more recently developed X-ray diffraction and shock-wave techniques. Highlights of progress during the last 3 years include hydrostatic compression measurements for Apollo 11 lunar samples [Stephens and Lilley, 1970; Schreiber et al., 1970], static compression measurements of the spinel phase of (Mg,Fe)_2SiO_4 solid solutions, which are likely constituents of the transition zone of the earth's mantle [Mao et al., 1969], and Hugoniot data for high-pressure phases of ferromagnesian silicates, which may represent the constituents of the lower mantle [McQueen et al., 1967b]

Greenhouse Sheds for Increasing Livestock Bodyweight in Taipusi, Inner Mongolia

Grasslands in many developing countries around the world are suffering from degradation, principally as a result of greater grazing pressure from increasing livestock numbers (Kemp and Michalk 2007). In Taipusi County (41°35′ to 42°10′N; 114°51′ to 115°49′ E) of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, traditional winter grazing on pastures with virtually no herbage mass is thought to be exacerbating the grassland condition, as well as being counter-productive to animal production (Zheng et al. 2010). This paper describes a feasibility study of utilizing existing sheds to house sheep during the winter