14,529 research outputs found
Double Inverse Stochastic Resonance with Dynamic Synapses
We investigate the behavior of a model neuron that receives a
biophysically-realistic noisy post-synaptic current based on uncorrelated
spiking activity from a large number of afferents. We show that, with static
synapses, such noise can give rise to inverse stochastic resonance (ISR) as a
function of the presynaptic firing rate. We compare this to the case with
dynamic synapses that feature short-term synaptic plasticity, and show that the
interval of presynaptic firing rate over which ISR exists can be extended or
diminished. We consider both short-term depression and facilitation.
Interestingly, we find that a double inverse stochastic resonance (DISR), with
two distinct wells centered at different presynaptic firing rates, can appear.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Superstructure high efficiency photovoltaics
A novel class of photovoltaic cascade structures is introduced which features multijunction upper subcells. These superstructure high efficiency photovoltaics (SHEP's) exhibit enhanced upper subcell spectral response because of the additional junctions which serve to reduce bulk recombination losses by decreasing the mean collection distance for photogenerated minority carriers. Two possible electrical configurations were studied and compared: a three-terminal scheme that allows both subcells to be operated at their individual maximum power points and a two-terminal configuration with an intercell ohmic contact for series interconnection. The three-terminal devices were found to be superior both in terms of beginning-of-life expectancy and radiation tolerance. Realistic simulations of three-terminal AlGaAs/GaAs SHEP's show that one sun AMO efficiencies in excess of 26 percent are possible
Gravitational energy in a small region for the modified Einstein and Landau-Lifshitz pseudotensors
The purpose of the classical Einstein and Landau-Lifshitz pseudotensors is
for determining the gravitational energy. Neither of them can guarantee a
positive energy in holonomic frames. In the small sphere approximation, it has
been required that the quasilocal expression for the gravitational
energy-momentum density should be proportional to the Bel-Robinson tensor
. However, we propose a new tensor
which is the sum of certain tensors
and , it has certain properties
so that it gives the same gravitational "energy-momentum" content as
does. Moreover, we show that a modified Einstein
pseudotensor turns out to be one of the Chen-Nester quasilocal expressions,
while the modified Landau-Lifshitz pseudotensor becomes the Papapetrou
pseudotensor; these two modified pseudotensors have positive gravitational
energy in a small region.Comment:
Neural Network Model for Apparent Deterministic Chaos in Spontaneously Bursting Hippocampal Slices
A neural network model that exhibits stochastic population bursting is
studied by simulation. First return maps of inter-burst intervals exhibit
recurrent unstable periodic orbit (UPO)-like trajectories similar to those
found in experiments on hippocampal slices. Applications of various control
methods and surrogate analysis for UPO-detection also yield results similar to
those of experiments. Our results question the interpretation of the
experimental data as evidence for deterministic chaos and suggest caution in
the use of UPO-based methods for detecting determinism in time-series data.Comment: 4 pages, 5 .eps figures (included), requires psfrag.sty (included
Opioid modulation of GABA release in the rat inferior colliculus
Background: The inferior colliculus, which receives almost all ascending and descending auditory signals, plays a crucial role in the processing of auditory information. While the majority of the recorded activities in the inferior colliculus are attributed to GABAergic and glutamatergic signalling, other neurotransmitter systems are expressed in this brain area including opiate peptides and their receptors which may play a modulatory role in neuronal communication.Results: Using a perfusion protocol we demonstrate that morphine can inhibit KCl-induced release of [H-3] GABA from rat inferior colliculus slices. DAMGO ([D-Ala(2), N-Me-Phe(4), Gly(5)ol]-enkephalin) but not DADLE ([D-Ala2, D-Leu5]-enkephalin or U69593 has the same effect as morphine indicating that mu rather than delta or kappa opioid receptors mediate this action. [H-3]GABA release was diminished by 16%, and this was not altered by the protein kinase C inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide I. Immunostaining of inferior colliculus cryosections shows extensive staining for glutamic acid decarboxylase, more limited staining for mu opiate receptors and relatively few neurons co-stained for both proteins.Conclusion: The results suggest that mu-opioid receptor ligands can modify neurotransmitter release in a sub population of GABAergic neurons of the inferior colliculus. This could have important physiological implications in the processing of hearing information and/or other functions attributed to the inferior colliculus such as audiogenic seizures and aversive behaviour
CPPD crystal deposition disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and the outcome of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis in which calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystal deposits were found to coexist in synovial fluid analysis. Such association was more frequent than previously believed with CPPD crystals found in 25.8% of 93 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. As a group, a trend toward a worse outcome was suggested by more frequent prostheses of the lower lim
Reasoning with comparative moral judgements: an argument for Moral Bayesianism
The paper discusses the notion of reasoning with comparative moral judgements
(i.e judgements of the form “act a is morally superior to act b”) from the point of view of several meta-ethical positions. Using a simple formal result, it is argued that only a version of moral cognitivism that is committed to the claim that moral beliefs come in degrees can give a normatively plausible account of such reasoning. Some implications of accepting such a version of moral cognitivism are discussed
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