Simulating Cortical Feedback Modulation as Changes in Excitation and Inhibition in a Cortical Circuit Model.

Cortical feedback pathways are hypothesized to distribute context-dependent signals during flexible behavior. Recent experimental work has attempted to understand the mechanisms by which cortical feedback inputs modulate their target regions. Within the mouse whisker sensorimotor system, cortical feedback stimulation modulates spontaneous activity and sensory responsiveness, leading to enhanced sensory representations. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying these effects are currently unknown. In this study we use a simplified neural circuit model, which includes two recurrent excitatory populations and global inhibition, to simulate cortical modulation. First, we demonstrate how changes in the strengths of excitation and inhibition alter the input-output processing responses of our model. Second, we compare these responses with experimental findings from cortical feedback stimulation. Our analyses predict that enhanced inhibition underlies the changes in spontaneous and sensory evoked activity observed experimentally. More generally, these analyses provide a framework for relating cellular and synaptic properties to emergent circuit function and dynamic modulation

A collaborative approach to learning programming: a hybrid learning model

The use of cooperative working as a means of developing collaborative skills has been recognised as vital in programming education. This paper presents results obtained from preliminary work to investigate the effectiveness of Pair Programming as a collaborative learning strategy and also its value towards improving programming skills within the laboratory. The potential of Problem Based Learning as a means of further developing cooperative working skills along with problem solving skills is also examined and a hybrid model encompassing both strategies outlined

The effect of pacing strategies on oxygen kinetics and muscle hemoglobin status and energy system contribution in a 6 min exercise performance

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two different pacing strategies during a 6 min exercise performance on average power output, VO2 kinetics, deoxygenation in the vastus lateralis muscle, energy system contribution, average power output and blood lactate concentration. Eight young, healthy, male subjects (age 24 ± 3) completed two 6 min pacing strategies on a cycle ergometer; one bout was paced at a calculated fatigue threshold (FT) and the other began with a 12 s sprint and was paced 5 % below FT pace (5%2, work rate, anaerobic energy system contribution and energy consumption (

Failure to Conform to the Building Code; Its Effect on the Contracting Parties

The issue of the right of recovery by a building contractor who has failed to comply literally with specifications of building codes and ordinances has provoked much discussion and has brought forth opinions from courts and text writers, many of which are diametrically opposed. The authorities are generally agreed that a contract, whether it be a building contract or not, which upon execution will, by the thing which it tends to create, breach a positive law, is void and unenforceable. But, as is true of other rules of law which can not and do not have universal application, the courts will grant exceptions if justice will be better served by so doing. In considering the nature of the law which has been positively and expressly codified and its effect invalidating an agreement which, by its provisions, violates the law, the authorities have found that building ordinances as well as statutes should be given practical application and interpreted in the light of the conditions and circumstances under which they are passed and the objects sought to be attained

Forecasting Electricity Demand on Short, Medium and Long Time Scales Using Neural Networks

This paper examines the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to the modelling and forecasting of electricity demand experienced by an electricity supplier. The data used in the application examples relates to the national electricity demand in the Republic of Ireland, generously supplied by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB). The paper focusses on three different time scales of interest to power boards: yearly (up to fifteen years in advance), weekly (up to three years in advance) and hourly (up to 24 h ahead). Electricity demand exhibits considerably different characteristics on these different time scales, both in terms of the underlying autoregressive processes and the causal inputs appropriate to each time scale. Where possible, the ANN-based models draw on the applications experience gained with linear modelling techniques and in one particular case, manual forecasting methods

The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Description of the Spitzer Legacy Science Database

We present the science database produced by the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems (FEPS) Spitzer Legacy program. Data reduction and validation procedures for the IRAC, MIPS, and IRS instruments are described in detail. We also derive stellar properties for the FEPS sample from available broad-band photometry and spectral types, and present an algorithm to normalize Kurucz synthetic spectra to optical and near-infrared photometry. The final FEPS data products include IRAC and MIPS photometry for each star in the FEPS sample and calibrated IRS spectra.Comment: 64 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables; accepted for publication in ApJ

Tau Aggregation Inhibitor Therapy : An Exploratory Phase 2 Study in Mild or Moderate Alzheimer's Disease

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank patients and their caregivers for their participation in the study and are indebted to all the investigators involved in the study, particularly Drs. Douglas Fowlie and Donald Mowat for their helpful contributions to the clinical execution of the study in Scotland. We thank Sharon Eastwood, Parexel, for assistance in preparing initial drafts of the manuscript. We acknowledge constructive comments provided by Professors G. Wilcock and S. Gauthier on drafts of the article. CMW, CRH, and JMDS are officers of, and hold beneficial interests in, TauRx Therapeutics. RTS, PB, KK, and DJW are paid consultants to TauRx Therapeutics. The study was financed entirely by TauRx TherapeuticsPeer reviewedPublisher PD