Thursday, March 27, 2008, 4:00pm
Location: Kerchof 317
Title: Understanding Bursting Oscillations through Bifurcation Analysis
Gerda de Vries (University of Alberta)
Bursting oscillations are commonly seen to be the primary mode of electrical behavior in a variety of nerve and endocrine cells, and have also been observed in some biochemical and chemical systems. Bursting oscillations are characterized by an alternation of silent and active phases. An observable of a system (for example, the electrical potential across the membrane of a cell) remains relatively constant during the silent phase, while it undergoes rapid oscillations during the active phase. In this talk, I will begin by reviewing a well-studied bursting system, namely the electrical behavior of pancreatic beta cells. A minimal model of bursting oscillations in beta cells consists of three ordinary differential equations, with variables operating on different time scales. A decomposition of the system into a fast and a slow component facilitates a bifurcation analysis that reveals the mechanism underlying bursting. The main focus during the remainder of my talk will be to review efforts to understand the role of electrical coupling between individual cells in the modification of the bursting phenomenon and, possibly, the genesis of the bursting phenomenon in a network of cells.

April 12, 2008, 9:00am-3:00pm
Location: Kerchof 314
Sonja Kovalevskaya Mathematics Day
Sonja Kovalevskaya Mathematics Day is a program of workshops, talks, and problem-solving competitions for middle and high school girls and their teachers, both women and men. The purpose of this program is to encourage girls to continue their study of mathematics, to assist them with the sometimes difficult transition between middle and high school mathematics and between high school and college mathematics, to assist the teachers of these students, and to develop a more extensive cooperation between IVa and the middle schools and high schools in the area.
http://people.virginia.edu/~im3p/08SonjaKovalevskya.html
Organizer: Irina Mitrea (im3p @virginia.edu)