Entrainment degree of globally coupled Winfree oscillators under external forcing.

We consider globally connected coupled Winfree oscillators under the influence of an external periodic forcing. Such systems exhibit many qualitatively different regimes of collective dynamics. Our aim is to understand this collective dynamics and, in particular, the system's capability of entrainment to the external forcing. To quantify the entrainment of the system, we introduce the entrainment degree, that is, the proportion of oscillators that synchronize to the forcing, as the main focus of this paper. Through a series of numerical simulations, we study the entrainment degree for different inter-oscillator coupling strengths, external forcing strengths, and distributions of natural frequencies of the Winfree oscillators, and we compare the results for the different cases. In the case of identical oscillators, we give a precise description of the parameter regions where oscillators are entrained. Finally, we use a mean-field method, based on the Ott-Antonsen ansatz, to obtain a low-dimensional description of the collective dynamics and to compute an approximation of the entrainment degree. The mean-field results turn out to be strikingly similar to the results obtained through numerical simulations of the full system dynamics.

Synchronized clusters in globally connected networks of second-order oscillators: Uncovering the role of inertia.

We discuss the formation of secondary synchronized clusters, that is, small clusters of synchronized oscillators besides the main cluster, in second-order oscillator networks and the role of inertia in this process. Such secondary synchronized clusters give rise to non-stationary states such as oscillatory and standing wave states. After describing the formation of such clusters through numerical simulations, we use a time-periodic mean field ansatz to obtain a qualitative understanding of the formation of non-stationary states. Finally, the effect of inertia in the formation of secondary synchronized clusters is analyzed through a minimal model. The analysis shows that the effect of the main synchronized cluster on the other oscillators is weakened by inertias, thus leading to secondary synchronized clusters during the transition to synchronization.

Reduction of oscillator dynamics on complex networks to dynamics on complete graphs through virtual frequencies.

We consider the synchronization of oscillators in complex networks where there is an interplay between the oscillator dynamics and the network topology. Through a remarkable transformation in parameter space and the introduction of virtual frequencies we show that Kuramoto oscillators on annealed networks, with or without frequency-degree correlation, and Kuramoto oscillators on complete graphs with frequency-weighted coupling can be transformed to Kuramoto oscillators on complete graphs with a rearranged, virtual frequency distribution and uniform coupling. The virtual frequency distribution encodes both the natural frequency distribution (dynamics) and the degree distribution (topology). We apply this transformation to give direct explanations to a variety of phenomena that have been observed in complex networks, such as explosive synchronization and vanishing synchronization onset.

Short-time work in Luxembourg: evidence from a firm survey.

We analyse the use of short-time work (STW) by Luxembourg firms during the years of economic and financial crisis (2008-2009) and the subsequent European sovereign debt crisis (2010-2013). The economic and financial crisis saw a surge in the number of firms using short-time work. We find that the likelihood that a firm applied for or used short-time work increases with demand volatility, the degree of firm-specific human capital and is higher for firms that cannot shift workers between establishments or that are more export oriented. Firms reported that 20-25% of jobs in short-time work were saved by this measure.

Phenotypic heterogeneity of peripheral monocytes in healthy dogs.

Monocytes are key cells of the innate immune system. Their phenotypic and functional roles have been investigated in humans, mice and other animals, such as the rat, pig and cow. To date, detailed phenotypic analysis of monocytes has not been undertaken in dogs. Two important surface markers in human monocytes are CD14 and MHC class II (MHC II). By flow cytometry, we demonstrated that canine monocytes can be subdivided into three separate populations: CD14posMHC IIneg, CD14posMHC IIpos and CD14negMHC IIpos. Both light and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the monocytic identity of all three populations. The CD14posMHC IIneg population could be distinguished on an ultrastructural level by their smaller size, the presence of more numerous, larger granules, and more pseudopodia than both of the other populations.

Isochronous dynamics in pulse coupled oscillator networks with delay.

We consider a network of identical pulse-coupled oscillators with delay and all-to-all coupling. We demonstrate that the discontinuous nature of the dynamics induces the appearance of isochronous regions-subsets of the phase space filled with periodic orbits having the same period. For each fixed value of the network parameters, such an isochronous region corresponds to a subset of initial states on an appropriate surface of section with non-zero dimensions such that all periodic orbits in this set have qualitatively similar dynamical behaviour. We analytically and numerically study in detail such an isochronous region, give proof of its existence, and describe its properties. We further describe other isochronous regions that appear in the system.

CAST: Effective and Efficient User Interaction for Context-Aware Selection in 3D Particle Clouds.

We present a family of three interactive Context-Aware Selection Techniques (CAST) for the analysis of large 3D particle datasets. For these datasets, spatial selection is an essential prerequisite to many other analysis tasks. Traditionally, such interactive target selection has been particularly challenging when the data subsets of interest were implicitly defined in the form of complicated structures of thousands of particles. Our new techniques SpaceCast, TraceCast, and PointCast improve usability and speed of spatial selection in point clouds through novel context-aware algorithms. They are able to infer a user's subtle selection intention from gestural input, can deal with complex situations such as partially occluded point clusters or multiple cluster layers, and can all be fine-tuned after the selection interaction has been completed. Together, they provide an effective and efficient tool set for the fast exploratory analysis of large datasets. In addition to presenting Cast, we report on a formal user study that compares our new techniques not only to each other but also to existing state-of-the-art selection methods. Our results show that Cast family members are virtually always faster than existing methods without tradeoffs in accuracy. In addition, qualitative feedback shows that PointCast and TraceCast were strongly favored by our participants for intuitiveness and efficiency.

A compact hybrid-multiplexed potentiostat for real-time electrochemical biosensing applications.

The architecture and design of a compact, multichannel, hybrid-multiplexed potentiostat for performing electrochemical measurements on continuously-biased electrode arrays is presented. The proposed architecture utilises a combination of sequential and parallel measurements, to enable high performance whilst keeping the system low-cost and compact. The accuracy of the signal readout is maintained by following a special multiplexing approach, which ensures the continuous biasing of all the working electrodes of an array. After sampling the results, a digital calibration technique factors out errors from component inaccuracies. A prototype printed circuit board (PCB) was designed and built using off-the-shelf components for the real-time measurement of the amperometric signal of 48 electrodes. The operation and performance of the PCB was evaluated and characterised through a wide range of testing conditions, where it exhibited high linearity (R(2)>0.999) and a resolution of 400pA. The effectiveness of the proposed multiplexing scheme is demonstrated through electrochemical tests using KCl and [Fe(CN)6](3-) in KCl solutions. The applicability of the prototype multichannel potentiostat is also demonstrated using real biosensors, which were applied to the detection of IgA antibodies.