The new brain project, the International Brain Laboratory (IBL), will engage researchers from 21 neuroscience labs across several countries, including the
U.S., the UK, Portugal, France and Switzerland, in a global virtual laboratory
to measure neuronal activity in mice faced with a very simple decision-making
task. The aim is to determine how the brain functions when it makes a choice,
reported Swissinfo.
Researchers will use a visual stimulus, such as a black stripe on a white background, that appears on a screen to the left or right of the mouse. The
animal then has to use its paws to turn a small steering wheel, made of Lego, to
align the black stripe back to the center of the screen. The mouse will have to
decide whether the stimulus is on the right or the left, and will convey its
decision by operating the wheel.
The experiment will be conducted under the same conditions in each of the IBL labs, which will then be able to measure the activity in different regions of
the brain simultaneously.
The IBL team will record the activity of several hundred neurons simultaneously, undertaking measurements in all areas of the brain at the
cellular level. Overall, the researchers will record activity from 5,000 to
10,000 neurons in animals performing exactly the same task, it reported.
This comprehensive and entirely unprecedented map of neuronal activity will be made possible, thanks to the precise coordination between different
laboratories, none of which alone would have sufficient resources and know-how.
The virtual lab will then use this unprecedented dataset to develop large-scale
models of the decision-making process.
For the initial four years, the Simons Foundation in the U.S. and Britain's Wellcome Trust will commit a total of 14 million Swiss francs (14.6 million U.S.
dollars) to the project, which could be the ultimate quest to understand the
brain, according to the research team.
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Damaged vehicles are seen at the blast site in southwest Pakistan's Quetta, on Dec. 17, 2017. At least eight people were killed and 44 others injured in a
suicide attack at a church in Pakistan's southwest provincial capital of Quetta
on Sunday, hospital sources told Xinhua. (XinhuaIrfan) A soldier stands guard at
an attacked church in southwest Pakistan's Quetta, on Dec. 17, 2017. At least
eight people were killed and 44 others injured in a suicide attack at a church
in Pakistan's southwest provincial capital of Quetta on Sunday, hospital sources
told Xinhua. (XinhuaIrfan)
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 44 others injured in a suicide attack at a church in Pakistan's southwest
provincial capital of Quetta on Sunday, hospital sources told Xinhua.
Waseem Baig, spokesperson for a civic hospital, told Xinhua through telephone that eight people were killed and 44 others injured in the suicidal blast in
Quetta.
Local reports said that the death toll may further rise as nine were in critical conditions, and that about 10 to 15 kg of explosives were used in the
attack.
Interior Minister of the country's southwest Balochistan Province Sarfraz Bugti said that a group of four terrorists attacked the bethel memorial
methodist church located at the Zarghoon Road area of Quetta, the provincial
capital of Balochistan.
Bugti said one of the suicide bombers was shot dead by police guards at the main entrance of the church before he could detonate his explosives vest while
the second one blew himself up outside of the church wall after he got injured
in police firing, and that no attacker could enter the church premises.
Earlier, Bugti said that one of the attackers managed to enter the church and blew himself up.
Following the retaliatory fire from police, two of the attackers managed to run away from the site, the interior minister said, adding that the forces have
cleared the church and are conducting clearance operation in nearby areas.
At the time of attack around 500 people were offering their prayers in the church.
A state of emergency has been declared in all the hospitals of the city. Following the attack, rescue teams, security forces and police rushed to the
site and shifted the bodies and injured to the hospitals.
A high security alert has been declared in the Quetta district.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Abdul Razzaq said that if security forces had not acted in a timely manner, the number of causalities could have been
more, and that it was a successful operation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi condemned the attack and directed the authorities concerned to provide the best available medical
treatment to the wounded people.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
One of the "work horses" of many ventilation and cooling systems is the wall-mounted exhaust fan. A mounting panel attaches the fan to the inside face
of a wall opening. An automatic or motor-operated wall shutter is mounted on the
outside face of the wall to provide weather protecti.
