A Spiking Neural Network Model of the Medial Superior Olive Using Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity for Sound Localization

Sound localization can be defined as the ability to identify the position of an input sound source and is considered a powerful aspect of mammalian perception. For low frequency sounds, i.e., in the range 270 Hz–1.5 KHz, the mammalian auditory pathway achieves this by extracting the Interaural Time Difference between sound signals being received by the left and right ear. This processing is performed in a region of the brain known as the Medial Superior Olive (MSO). This paper presents a Spiking Neural Network (SNN) based model of the MSO. The network model is trained using the Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity learning rule using experimentally observed Head Related Transfer Function data in an adult domestic cat. The results presented demonstrate how the proposed SNN model is able to perform sound localization with an accuracy of 91.82% when an error tolerance of ±10° is used. For angular resolutions down to 2.5°, it will be demonstrated how software based simulations of the model incur significant computation times. The paper thus also addresses preliminary implementation on a Field Programmable Gate Array based hardware platform to accelerate system performance

Parliament, people or technocrats? Explaining mass public preferences on delegation of policymaking authority

While delegation of policymaking authority from citizens to parliament is the most defining characteristic of representative democracy, public demand for delegating such authority away from legislature/government to technocrats or back to citizens appears to have increased. Drawing on spatial models of voting, we argue that the distance between individuals’ ideal policy points, the status quo, experts’ policy positions and aggregated societal policy preferences can help explain whether individuals prefer to delegate decision-making power away from parliament and, if so, to whom. The effects of individual’s preference distance from these ideal points are likely to be stronger the more salient the policy issue is for the respective individual. We test this argument using survey experiments in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The analysis provides evidence for the empirical implications of our theoretical arguments. The research presented here contributes to better understanding variation in citizens’ support for representative democracy and preferences for delegating policymaking authority away from parliament

Preparation of Biomass-Derived Furfuryl Acetals by Transacetalization Reactions Catalyzed by Nanoporous Aluminosilicates

Nanoporous aluminosilicate materials efficiently catalyze the formation of furaldehyde dimethyl acetal directly from methanol in high yields and in short reaction times. The facile nature of this reaction has led to the development of a telescoped protocol in which the acyclic acetal is produced in situ and subsequently functions as a substrate for a transacetalization reaction with glycerol to produce the corresponding dioxane and dioxolane products, which are potentially useful biofuel additives. These products are generated in high yield without the requirement for high reaction temperatures of prolonged reaction times, and the aluminosilicate catalysts are operationally simple to produce, are effective with either purified furaldehyde or crude furaldehyde, and are fully recyclable

Lansoprazole use and tuberculosis incidence in the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink: A population based cohort.

BACKGROUND: Recent in vitro and animal studies have found the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) lansoprazole to be highly active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Omeprazole and pantoprazole have no activity. There is no evidence that, in clinical practice, lansoprazole can treat or prevent incident tuberculosis (TB) disease. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We studied a cohort of new users of lansoprazole, omeprazole, or pantoprazole from the United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink to determine whether lansoprazole users have a lower incidence of TB disease than omeprazole or pantoprazole users. Negative control outcomes of myocardial infarction (MI) and herpes zoster were also studied. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to adjust for potential confounding by a wide range of factors. We identified 527,364 lansoprazole initiators and 923,500 omeprazole or pantoprazole initiators. Lansoprazole users had a lower rate of TB disease (n = 86; 10.0 cases per 100,000 person years; 95% confidence interval 8.1-12.4) than omeprazole or pantoprazole users (n = 193; 15.3 cases per 100,000 person years; 95% confidence interval 13.3-17.7), with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.68 (0.52-0.89). No association was found with MI (adjusted HR 1.04; 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.08) or herpes zoster (adjusted HR 1.03; 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.06). Limitations of this study are that we could not determine whether TB disease was due to reactivation of latent infection or a result of recent transmission, nor could we determine whether lansoprazole would have a beneficial effect if given to people presenting with TB disease. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, use of the commonly prescribed and cheaply available PPI lansoprazole was associated with reduced incidence of TB disease. Given the serious problem of drug resistance and the adverse side effect profiles of many TB drugs, further investigation of lansoprazole as a potential antituberculosis agent is warranted

The Impact of a Graded Maximal Exercise Protocol on Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds:A Pilot Study

Exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are of interest due to their minimally invasive sampling procedure. Previous studies have investigated the impact of exercise, with evidence suggesting that breath VOCs reflect exercise-induced metabolic activity. However, these studies have yet to investigate the impact of maximal exercise to exhaustion on breath VOCs, which was the main aim of this study. Two-litre breath samples were collected onto thermal desorption tubes using a portable breath collection unit. Samples were collected pre-exercise, and at 10 and 60 min following a maximal exercise test (VO2MAX). Breath VOCs were analysed by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using a non-targeted approach. Data showed a tendency for reduced isoprene in samples at 10 min post-exercise, with a return to baseline by 60 min. However, inter-individual variation meant differences between baseline and 10 min could not be confirmed, although the 10 and 60 min timepoints were different (p = 0.041). In addition, baseline samples showed a tendency for both acetone and isoprene to be reduced in those with higher absolute VO2MAX scores (mL(O2)/min), although with restricted statistical power. Baseline samples could not differentiate between relative VO2MAX scores (mL(O2)/kg/min). In conclusion, these data support that isoprene levels are dynamic in response to exercise.</p

Acute kidney injury and infections in patients taking antihypertensive drugs: a self-controlled case series analysis.

BACKGROUND: The relative risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) following different infections, and whether angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) modify the risk, is unclear. We aimed to determine the risks of hospital admission with AKI following infections (urinary tract infection [UTI], lower respiratory tract infection [LRTI], and gastroenteritis) among users of antihypertensive drugs. METHODS: We used UK electronic health records from practices contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to the Hospital Episode Statistics database. We identified adults initiating ACEIs/ARBs or alternative antihypertensive therapy (β-blockers, calcium channel blockers, or thiazide diuretics) between April 1997 and March 2014 with at least 1 year of primary care registration prior to first prescription, who had a hospital admission for AKI, and who had a primary care record for incident UTI, LRTI, or gastroenteritis. We used a self-controlled case series design to calculate age-adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for AKI during risk periods following acute infection relative to noninfected periods (baseline). RESULTS: We identified 10,219 eligible new users of ACEIs/ARBs or other antihypertensives with an AKI record. Among these, 2,012 had at least one record for a UTI during follow-up, 2,831 had a record for LRTI, and 651 had a record for gastroenteritis. AKI risk was higher following infection than in baseline noninfectious periods. The rate ratio was highest following gastroenteritis: for the period 1-7 days postinfection, the IRR for AKI following gastroenteritis was 43.4 (95% CI=34.0-55.5), compared with 6.0 following LRTI (95% CI=5.0-7.3), and 9.3 following UTI (95% CI=7.8-11.2). Increased risks were similar for different antihypertensives. CONCLUSION: Acute infections are associated with substantially increased transient AKI risk among antihypertensive users, with the highest risk after gastroenteritis. The increase in relative risk is not greater among users of ACEIs/ARBs compared with users of other antihypertensives