9,527 research outputs found
Channel noise induced stochastic facilitation in an auditory brainstem neuron model
Neuronal membrane potentials fluctuate stochastically due to conductance
changes caused by random transitions between the open and close states of ion
channels. Although it has previously been shown that channel noise can
nontrivially affect neuronal dynamics, it is unknown whether ion-channel noise
is strong enough to act as a noise source for hypothesised noise-enhanced
information processing in real neuronal systems, i.e. 'stochastic
facilitation.' Here, we demonstrate that biophysical models of channel noise
can give rise to two kinds of recently discovered stochastic facilitation
effects in a Hodgkin-Huxley-like model of auditory brainstem neurons. The
first, known as slope-based stochastic resonance (SBSR), enables phasic neurons
to emit action potentials that can encode the slope of inputs that vary slowly
relative to key time-constants in the model. The second, known as inverse
stochastic resonance (ISR), occurs in tonically firing neurons when small
levels of noise inhibit tonic firing and replace it with burst-like dynamics.
Consistent with previous work, we conclude that channel noise can provide
significant variability in firing dynamics, even for large numbers of channels.
Moreover, our results show that possible associated computational benefits may
occur due to channel noise in neurons of the auditory brainstem. This holds
whether the firing dynamics in the model are phasic (SBSR can occur due to
channel noise) or tonic (ISR can occur due to channel noise).Comment: Published by Physical Review E, November 2013 (this version 17 pages
total - 10 text, 1 refs, 6 figures/tables); Associated matlab code is
available online in the ModelDB repository at
http://senselab.med.yale.edu/ModelDB/ShowModel.asp?model=15148
Weighted Estimates for the Bergman and Szeg\H{o} Projections on Strongly Pseudoconvex Domains with Near Minimal Smoothness
We prove the weighted regularity of the ordinary Bergman and
Cauchy-Szeg\H{o} projections on strongly pseudoconvex domains in
with near minimal smoothness for appropriate generalizations of
the classes. In particular, the Muckenhoupt type condition
is expressed relative to balls in a quasi-metric that arises as a space of
homogeneous type on either the interior or the boundary of the domain .Comment: 40 pages, introduction reorganized and some typos correcte
Bounds on Spin-Dependent Lorentz Violation From Inverse Compton Observations
Some of the best bounds on possible Lorentz violation in the electron sector
come from observations of high-energy astrophysical phenomena. Using
measurements of TeV inverse Compton radiation from a number of sources, we
place the first bounds--at the 10^(-15) level--on seven of the electron d
coefficients.Comment: 10 page
Reconfiguring an Irrigation Landscape to Improve Provision of Ecosystem Services
Over-allocation of fresh water resources to consumptive uses, coupled with recurring drought and the prospect of climate change, is compromising the stocks of natural capital in the world’s basins and reducing their ability to provide ecosystem services. To combat this, governments world wide are making significant investment in efforts to improve sharing of water between consumptive uses and the environment, with many investments centred on modernisation of inefficient irrigation delivery systems, and the purchase of water by government for environmental flows. In this study, spatial targeting was applied within a cost-benefit framework to reconfigure agricultural land use in an irrigation district to achieve a 20% reduction in agricultural water use to increase environmental flows and improve the provision of other ecosystem services. We demonstrate using spatial planning and optimisation models that a targeted land use reconfiguration policy approach could potentially increase the net present value of ecosystem services by up to AUS68.7m in economic returns to agriculture which may be only marginally offset by the increased value of ecosystem services resulting from the return of 61 GL of water to the environment.landscape planning, geographic information systems, cost-benefit analysis, irrigation, climate change, water management, spatial targeting, environmental valuation
A sensory-guided surgical micro-drill
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 The Authors.This article describes a surgical robotic device that is able to discriminate tissue interfaces and other controlling parameters ahead of the drill tip. The advantage in such a surgery is that the tissues at the interfaces can be preserved. A smart tool detects ahead of the tool point and is able to control the interaction with respect to the flexing tissue, to avoid penetration or to control the extent of protrusion with respect to the position of the tissue. For surgical procedures, where precision is required, the tool offers significant benefit. To interpret the drilling conditions and the conditions leading up to breakthrough at a tissue interface, a sensing scheme is used that discriminates between the variety of conditions posed in the drilling environment. The result is a fully autonomous system, which is able to respond to the tissue type, behaviour, and deflection in real-time. The system is also robust in terms of disturbances encountered in the operating theatre. The device is pragmatic. It is intuitive to use, efficient to set up, and uses standard drill bits. The micro-drill, which has been used to prepare cochleostomies in the theatre, was used to remove the bone tissue leaving the endosteal membrane intact. This has enabled the preservation of sterility and the drilling debris to be removed prior to the insertion of the electrode. It is expected that this technique will promote the preservation of hearing and reduce the possibility of complications. The article describes the device (including simulated drill progress and hardware set-up) and the stages leading up to its use in the theatre.Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, U
Event-related potential abnormalities in schizophrenia: A failure to gate in salient information?
Sensory gating refers to the central nervous system\u27s ability to filter sensory inputs, and can be measured by comparing the suppression of event-related brain potential (ERP) amplitudes in paired auditory stimulus procedure. Poor gating scores in schizophrenia may be caused by: abnormal responses to the first (SI), the second (S2) or both of the paired stimuli. However since S1 and S2 responses may index separate psychological phenomenon, corresponding to the ability to gate in and gate out sensory stimuli respectively, the precise mechanism affected in schizophrenia remains unclear. To examine the extent to which saliency processing abnormalities may contribute to SI response deficits, standard and rare (15% probability paired stimuli were presented to 21 participants with schizophrenia and 22 healthy control! P50 and N100 ERP amplitude as well as low, beta and gamma frequency power were measure to examine the time course and relative contributions of oscillatory activity affecting auditor processing in schizophrenia. In this study, schizophrenia patients exhibited less evoked beta power (12-20 Hz) in response to salient stimuli at SI, and lower N100 amplitude in response to all SI stimuli. No group differences were found in the low, beta 2 (20-30 Hz), or gamma frequency ranges. These findings suggest aberrant sensory processing during stages of stimulu evaluation and saliency detection in schizophrenia. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Statistical Analyses of Second Indoor Bio-Release Field Evaluation Study at Idaho National Laboratory
In September 2008 a large-scale testing operation (referred to as the INL-2 test) was performed within a two-story building (PBF-632) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The report “Operational Observations on the INL-2 Experiment” defines the seven objectives for this test and discusses the results and conclusions. This is further discussed in the introduction of this report. The INL-2 test consisted of five tests (events) in which a floor (level) of the building was contaminated with the harmless biological warfare agent simulant Bg and samples were taken in most, if not all, of the rooms on the contaminated floor. After the sampling, the building was decontaminated, and the next test performed. Judgmental samples and probabilistic samples were determined and taken during each test. Vacuum, wipe, and swab samples were taken within each room. The purpose of this report is to study an additional four topics that were not within the scope of the original report. These topics are: 1) assess the quantitative assumptions about the data being normally or log-normally distributed; 2) evaluate differences and quantify the sample to sample variability within a room and across the rooms; 3) perform geostatistical types of analyses to study spatial correlations; and 4) quantify the differences observed between surface types and sampling methods for each scenario and study the consistency across the scenarios. The following four paragraphs summarize the results of each of the four additional analyses. All samples after decontamination came back negative. Because of this, it was not appropriate to determine if these clearance samples were normally distributed. As Table 1 shows, the characterization data consists of values between and inclusive of 0 and 100 CFU/cm2 (100 was the value assigned when the number is too numerous to count). The 100 values are generally much bigger than the rest of the data, causing the data to be right skewed. There are also a significant number of zeros. Using QQ plots these data characteristics show a lack of normality from the data after contamination. Normality is improved when looking at log(CFU/cm2). Variance component analysis (VCA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to estimate the amount of variance due to each source and to determine which sources of variability were statistically significant. In general, the sampling methods interacted with the across event variability and with the across room variability. For this reason, it was decided to do analyses for each sampling method, individually. The between event variability and between room variability were significant for each method, except for the between event variability for the swabs. For both the wipes and vacuums, the within room standard deviation was much larger (26.9 for wipes and 7.086 for vacuums) than the between event standard deviation (6.552 for wipes and 1.348 for vacuums) and the between room standard deviation (6.783 for wipes and 1.040 for vacuums). Swabs between room standard deviation was 0.151, while both the within room and between event standard deviations are less than 0.10 (all measurements in CFU/cm2)
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