”’SfN 2010 Membership Renewal Deadline”’ has been extended until January 15th. This isn’t the last day to renew your membership, but it is the last day to renew if you’re trying to Qualify for Bonus Day Registration. I’m not sure of any perks that come with being able to register one day before registration opens for the rest of the membership, but if someone knows of any, feel free to comment.
I’ve finally had enough with the constant battle to own a non-obsolete computer. Who really has the money to keep trading-up about every three years. With computers, I experience buyers remorse after just a few months. My once new Macbook Pro with the screaming-fast 2.6 GHz core 2 duo processor (which warranted 2 grand of my cashola) is now just average. I can’t take it anymore. So I’ve come up with a plan. This plan will allow me to upgrade whenever I have just a fraction of the cost of a new computer. A plan that will put me at least 3 years ahead of any mere standard new computer. It will let me add another processor core whenever Intel renders my current chip obsolete; it will allow me replace any junk Nvidia graphics card that supports GDDR# and not GDDR#+1, and it will make sure that I will have the first 500 gig solid-state hard drive that costs less than 300 bucks. Most importantly, it will let me take any processor and double the GHz via overclocking.
Things I’ll Need
* 1 Chassis
* 2 CPU/Processor
* 3 Cooling Fan
* 4 Motherboard
* 5 Memory
* 6 Video Card 1
* 7 Video Card 2
* 8 Dedicated PHYSX Card
* 9 Multiple Video Card Settings
* 10 Hard Drive
* 11 Data Hard Drive
* 12 Optical Drive 1
* 13 Optical Drive 2
* 14 Sound
* 15 Network
* 16 Extra Thermal Display
* 17 Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card
* 18 IEEE1394 Card: None
Section: Chassis Chassis
Any computer that is scheduled to last around the decade is going to require the right chassis. There are a couple of important factors to consider when purchasing a shell for the components.
* Cooling
* Board Compatibility
* Stacking Ability
* Aesthetics and Durability
* Cable Management
* Drive Bays
* Tower Space
* Front Ports
After doing a bit of research I’ve decided to go with the Cosmos 1000 by Cooler Master. It has a nice combination of features which include: tool-free Structure, tree kit side panel installation, finger pressing buttons for quickly maintaining or upgrading 5.25″ drive devices, detachable aluminum HDD trays, an air intake system (dual bottom an intakes to draw in cool air and reduces system noise), 120 mm bottom Ian fans, detachable aluminum HDD, stacking feature that optimizes cooling performance.
Full Steal Tower
Extended ATX, ATX
Four 120mm Fans
USB2.0 x 4, IEEE 1394 x 1, Audio x 2, eSATA x 1
Section: CPU/Processor CPU/Processor
Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition 3.33 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366
Section: Cooling Fan Cooling Fan
Asetek LCLC 240 Liquid Cooling system w/ 240MM Radiator and Dual Fans (Extreme Overclocking Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
Section: Motherboard Motherboard
(3-Way SLI Support) GigaByte GA-EX58-UD5 Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Ultra Durable™3 Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA,Dual GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio
(3-Way SLI Support) EVGA X58 SLI Classified Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX DDR3 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio (Venom Boost Extreme OC Certified) [+137]
(3-Way SLI Support) GigaByte GA-X58A-UD7 Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Ultra Durable™3 Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 24 Phase Power ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Dobly Audio, Dual GbLAN, USB3.0, 2 x SATA-III RAID, 4 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI (Venom Boost Extreme OC Certified) [+96]
(3-Way SLI Support) Asus P6X58D Premium Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3 FCLGA1366 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen2 PCIe, 1 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI (Venom Boost Extreme OC Certified) [+13]
Section: Memory Memory
6GB (2GBx3) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1800MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Corsair or Major Brand) [+56]
Section: Video Card 1 Video Card 1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX285 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1.7GB 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA) [+0] Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA
ATI Radeon HD 5970 PCI-E 16X 2GB DDR5 Video Card [DirectX 11 Support] (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
Section: Video Card 2 Video Card 2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX285 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1.7GB 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
Section: Dedicated PHYSX Card Dedicated PHYSX Card
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA) [+102] More Brand Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA [+0] EVGA Powered by NVIDIA [+5]
To have the Dedicated PhysX Card option, you must:
1. Select NVIDIA video card(s) as your primary video card.
2. Select a motherboard with an appropriate number of PCI-E slots to accommodate your video card and Dedicated PhysX Card.
Section: Multiple Video Card Settings Multiple Video Card Settings
Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple Monitors
Section: Hard Drive Hard Drive
Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives (600GB (300GBx2) Gaming Western Digital VelociRaptor 10,000RPM SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache WD3000GLFS)
512GB (256GBx2) Kingston 2.5 inch SATA Gaming MLC Solid State Disk (Nearly Instant Data Access Technology) [+1200]
Section: Data Hard Drive Data Hard Drive
Single Hard Drive (1.5TB (1.5TBx1) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
160 GB Intel X25-M 2.5 inch SATA Gaming MLC Solid State Disk (Nearly Instant Data Access Technology) [+373]
Section: Optical Drive 1 Optical Drive 1
LG BH08-LS20K 8X Internal Super Multi Blu-Ray Rewriter (Black Color) [+143]
Section: Optical Drive 2 Optical Drive 2
LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive (BLACK COLOR)
Section: Sound Sound
HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series PCI Express Sound Card [+199]
Section: Network Network
Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
Killer Xeno Pro Gigabit High Speed Online Gaming PCI Network Interface Card [+99]
Section: Extra Thermal Display Extra Thermal Display
NZXT Sentry LX Aluminum High Performance Fan Control, Clock, & Temperature Display [+69]
Section: Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card
Linksys WMP110 802.11 b/g/n Range Plus PCI Wireless Adapter Network Card [+66]
Section: IEEE1394 Card: None IEEE1394 Card: None
None
IEEE 1394 CARD AND DRIVER [+19]
Computer Case with SD/MMC Reader Inside, Screw-free Installation Model Number:H920-Mini desktop computer case
The following article is featured on the NPR news website, along with a nice little video.
Harald Wolf of the University of Ulm and his assistant Matthias Whittlinger proposed that ants have “pedometer-like” cells in their brains that count the steps they take.
How Do Ants Get Home?
Most ants get around by leaving smell trails on the forest floor that show other ants how to get home or to food. They squeeze the glands that cover their bodies; those glands release a scent, and the scents in combination create trails the other ants can follow.
That works in the forest, but it doesn’t work in a desert. Deserts are sandy and when the wind blows, smells scatter.
So how do desert ants find their way home?
Humor plays an important role in social interactions as people take great pleasure in sharing moments of suspense followed by mirth as they listen to a joke. Contributions from multiple brain areas including semantic, mnemonic, emotional and inferential are necessary to understand a joke and derive a sense of amusement, but the functional neuroanatomy and processing time course of such a network remain unknown. Prominent models commonly postulate that the punchline is appreciated as funny in two stages of integration: in the first stage the punchline is perceived as incongruous with the setup, and in the second, further consideration establishes a deeper coherence with the preceding context. Thus, amusement may result when a “twist” is successfully incorporated into the context, that is, when the initial incongruity is resolved by reinterpreting or “frame shifting”. We will discuss neural underpinnings of these processing stages by examining evidence obtained with intracranial EEG and anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (aMEG) in language and humor tasks. By combining high-density whole head MEG with anatomical MRI, the aMEG method allows us to estimate where the humor-specific brain activations occur, and to understand their temporal sequence. Our results indicate that coherent integration of the intended meaning and a sense of amusement may emerge from the dynamic interaction of both left and right hemispheres with special contributions from the right prefrontal region.
BACK TO ONESCI
Most computational models build off this ‘all or none’ assumption, and they seem to do a decent job in representing some phenomena. But why would it have to be this way? What is so special about this transient fluctuation in membrane potential, and what about it allows images and events to enter our awareness? Is it the opening of voltage-gated ion channels? Release of neurotransmitter? Rapid movement of ions? Do action potentials that originate at the hillock have different effects than those initiated in the dendrites?
One of the central predictions of the Hebbian theory of learning is that memories are stored by the same neurons that were engaged during learning. Although Hebb published his famous postulate, “neurons that fire together, wire together” (paraphrasing, of course) over 50 years ago, actual evidence that both learning and memory activate the same population of neurons has largely been absent. However, new research out of the Hausser lab lends experimental support to this long-standing assumption, and also indicates that reactivation of just a fraction of these “memory neurons” is enough to conjure up full blown recall.
Full story on the onesci main page -
G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) are my favorite receptors in the whole wide world. Their versatility allows them to modulate a remarkable number of signaling pathways; environmental stimuli such as light, neurotransmission signals like acetylcholine, and hormonal stimuli such as adrenaline, all utilize GPCRs.
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are localized on plasma membranes and activated by extracellular ligands. However, recent studies have opened the door to the possibility that GPCRs exist and function INSIDE the cell — HOW THE! — is exactly what a group from Washington University in St. Louis (a.k.a. Wash-U) has been exploring…
Richard Morris Water Maze SfN Presidential Lecture
Recent Comments