Pooling and Correlated Neural Activity

Correlations between spike trains can strongly modulate neuronal activity and affect the ability of neurons to encode information. Neurons integrate inputs from thousands of afferents. Similarly, a number of experimental techniques are designed to record pooled cell activity. We review and generalize a number of previous results that show how correlations between cells in a population can be amplified and distorted in signals that reflect their collective activity. The structure of the underlying neuronal response can significantly impact correlations between such pooled signals. Therefore care needs to be taken when interpreting pooled recordings, or modeling networks of cells that receive inputs from large presynaptic populations. We also show that the frequently observed runaway synchrony in feedforward chains is primarily due to the pooling of correlated inputs

NEPC Review: Hard Work and Soft Skills (American Enterprise Institute, April 2018)

A study published by the American Enterprise Institute seeks to illuminate how students in career and technical education (CTE) programs demonstrate higher high school graduation rates, overall educational attainment, and earnings than students in academic programs whose previous test scores are similar. Although those students who take many CTE courses by 12th grade tend to have significantly lower test scores, this study finds that these students have higher noncognitive skills (e.g., attendance and homework time). The most remarkable feature of this study is the broad array of indicators it compiles, including how much effort students exhibit on a routine task (e.g., a long and boring survey in school), and teacher reports of student effort. Using such data, the study suggests that CTE may improve attainments by improving noncognitive skills. The key implication is that, instead of the narrow policy focus on academic skills, educators need to consider how to improve students&rsquo; other skills to improve education and job outcomes. While this implication is reasonably drawn from the study, educators need a clearer interpretation of these &ldquo;noncognitive skills&rdquo; and whether they are persistent attributes or highly changeable behaviors. Overall, however, the study presents a strong empirical analysis of a strong dataset and should prove useful for policymakers.</p

Rotary blood pump

A blood pump that comprises a pump housing having a blood flow path therethrough, a blood inlet, and a blood outlet; a stator mounted to the pump housing, the stator having a stator field winding for producing a stator magnetic field; a flow straightener located within the pump housing, and comprising a flow straightener hub and at least one flow straightener blade attached to the flow straightener hub; a rotor mounted within the pump housing for rotation in response to the stator magnetic field, the rotor comprising an inducer and an impeller; the inducer being located downstream of the flow straightener, and comprising an inducer hub and at least one inducer blade attached to the inducer hub; the impeller being located downstream of the inducer, and comprising an impeller hub and at least one impeller blade attached to the impeller hub; and preferably also comprising a diffuser downstream of the impeller, the diffuser comprising a diffuser hub and at least one diffuser blade. Blood flow stagnation and clot formation within the pump are minimized by, among other things, providing the inducer hub with a diameter greater than the diameter of the flow straightener hub; by optimizing the axial spacing between the flow straightener hub and the inducer hub, and between the impeller hub and the diffuser hub; by optimizing the inlet angle of the diffuser blades; and by providing fillets or curved transitions between the upstream end of the inducer hub and the shaft mounted therein, and between the impeller hub and the shaft mounted therein

Low Dose Rapamycin Exacerbates Autoimmune Experimental Uveitis

Rapamycin, a potent immune modulator, is used to treat transplant rejection and some autoimmune diseases. Uveitis is a potentially severe inflammatory eye disease, and 2 clinical trials of treating uveitis with rapamycin are under way. Unexpectedly, recent research has demonstrated that low dose rapamycin enhances the memory T cell population and function. However, it is unclear how low dose rapamycin influences the immune response in the setting of uveitis.B10.RIII mice were immunized to induce experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). Ocular inflammation of control and rapamycin-treated mice was compared based on histological change. ELISPOT and T cell proliferation assays were performed to assess splenocyte response to ocular antigen. In addition, we examined the effect of rapamycin on activation-induced cell death (AICD) using the MitoCapture assay and Annexin V staining.Administration of low dose rapamycin exacerbated EAU, whereas treating mice with high dose rapamycin attenuated ocular inflammation. The progression of EAU by low dose rapamycin coincided with the increased frequency of antigen-reactive lymphocytes. Lastly, fewer rapamycin-treated T cells underwent AICD, which might contribute to exaggerated ocular inflammation and the uveitogenic immune response.These data reveal a paradoxical role for rapamycin in uveitis in a dose-dependent manner. This study has a potentially important clinical implication as rapamycin might cause unwanted consequences dependent on dosing and pharmacokinetics. Thus, more research is needed to further define the mechanism by which low dose rapamycin augments the immune response