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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 1 February 2021 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 15 Feb '21

15 Feb '21

Alaaf!¹ Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference, today Monday 15 February, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). As usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2021-02-15-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ¹) "Alaaf" is the traditional chant in this particular southern region of the Rheinland for this particular day. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenmontag ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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Master branch Doxygen location
by Itaru Kitayama 08 Feb '21

08 Feb '21

Hi, The NEST "Read the Docs" tells us how to invoke doxygen, but I am wondering if the community continuously builds Doxygen db every time a series is committed to master and put it somewhere.

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Registration to the mailing list
by Vittorio De Falco 04 Feb '21

04 Feb '21

Dear NEST users, I tried to inscribe to the mailing list with this e-mail account deltafi.mat(a)live.it. I completed the registration, but I did not receive any link. Could you please help me? Thanks for your support. Best, Vittorio *************************************************************** * Postdoctoral Researcher in Mathematics * University of Naples "Federico II" * Department of Mathematics and Application "R. Caccioppoli" * Via Cintia, IT-80126 Naples, Italy * CELL: +39 340 544 70 15 ****************************************************************

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Spike Event Multiplicity
by Benedikt Feldotto 04 Feb '21

04 Feb '21

Dear all, I realized that spikes that pass synapses (e.g. stdp_connection) are not processing a "multiplicity" value. However, some other nodes e.g. spikes delivered from the volume_transmitter into the stdp_dopa_connection include such a value. Does this mean, the multiplicity for spike events that pass a synapse is always equal to 1? Thanks! Best Regards, Benedikt -- Benedikt Feldotto M.Sc. Research Assistant Human Brain Project - Neurorobotics Technical University of Munich Department of Informatics Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems Room HB 2.02.20 Parkring 13 D-85748 Garching b. München Tel.: +49 89 289 17628 Mail: feldotto(a)in.tum.de https://www6.in.tum.de/en/people/benedikt-feldotto-msc/ www.neurorobotics.net

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Turn Off NEST Warnings
by Benedikt Feldotto 03 Feb '21

03 Feb '21

Dear all, is there a possibility to turn off NEST warnings such as: It does not influence my experiments per se, but we are currently recording videos for our review and it just doesnt make a good impression to have warnings popping up :) Thanks, Benedikt -- Benedikt Feldotto M.Sc. Research Assistant Human Brain Project - Neurorobotics Technical University of Munich Department of Informatics Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems Room HB 2.02.20 Parkring 13 D-85748 Garching b. München Tel.: +49 89 289 17628 Mail: feldotto(a)in.tum.de https://www6.in.tum.de/en/people/benedikt-feldotto-msc/ www.neurorobotics.net

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 1 February 2021 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 01 Feb '21

01 Feb '21

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference, today Monday 1 February, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). As usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2021-02-01-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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CBD Online
by brielleyoung31＠gmail.com 20 Jan '21

20 Jan '21

If you are thinking of starting a CBD product business, then you should get to know the different CBD products on the market. Cannabidiol, also called cannabidiol, is a powerful phytochemical found in nature. It's one of only 47 known compounds that produce delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in plants. The good news is that scientists have successfully bred several strains of plants that contain cannabidiol and made it usable as a food supplement. Some of these strains are even available online, which makes it easier for people to try out new products that they haven't tried before. Unfortunately, not every CBD product is created equal. It's important to understand the differences between these strains so that you can get a better understanding of which ones will be the most effective when used as dietary supplements. Take some time to learn more about these CBD products, because there is an abundance of information available at https://goldbee.com/. A good way to start is by looking at the ingredients. Most of the CBD products available today are derived from a variety of different sources. Some sources include hemp, the leaves of hemp, and other plants. Other sources are not as reliable, such as hemp seed oil, hemp hurd, and other plant parts. Take the time to learn about the various components of each CBD product so that you can make a more informed decision. One of the best natural compounds found in CBD products is cannabidiol. This substance is often used interchangeably with cannabigerol. While cannabidiol has been shown to have a number of health benefits, it has also been shown to produce some of the same side effects as other substances. In some instances, it has been shown to cause depression, and it has also been linked to memory loss and muscle weakness. This substance has also been banned in several countries because of its possible side effects. It's important to note that some clinical trials have shown positive results with this compound. However, there are still many questions surrounding this herb. It's important that you understand why it is important to have clinical trials conducted on CBD products. If the medical community is able to determine the full potential for CBD, then it will help them come up with better medications. There may come a time when it will be possible to develop a CBD pill that produces the same positive results without the dangerous side effects. With that said, it's important that you research different CBD products so that you're ready to enter the world of natural medicine. There are a lot of different options out there that offer great products that can help you combat a wide range of conditions. Take some time to get familiar with all of your options, and then you will be ready to get started.

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CBD Products Online
by brielleyoung31＠gmail.com 20 Jan '21

20 Jan '21

If you are thinking of starting a CBD product business, then you should get to know the different CBD products on the market. Cannabidiol, also called cannabidiol, is a powerful phytochemical found in nature. It's one of only 47 known compounds that produce delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in plants. The good news is that scientists have successfully bred several strains of plants that contain cannabidiol and made it usable as a food supplement. Some of these strains are even available online, which makes it easier for people to try out new products that they haven't tried before. Unfortunately, not every CBD product is created equal. It's important to understand the differences between these strains so that you can get a better understanding of which ones will be the most effective when used as dietary supplements. Take some time to learn more about these CBD products, because there is an abundance of information available. A good way to start is by looking at the ingredients. Most of the CBD products available today are derived from a variety of different sources. Some sources include hemp, the leaves of hemp, and other plants. Other sources are not as reliable, such as hemp seed oil, hemp hurd, and other plant parts. Take the time to learn about the various components of each CBD product so that you can make a more informed decision. One of the best natural compounds found in CBD products is cannabidiol. This substance is often used interchangeably with cannabidiol. While cannabidiol has been shown to have a number of health benefits, it has also been shown to produce some of the same side effects as other substances. In some instances, it has been shown to cause depression, and it has also been linked to memory loss and muscle weakness. This substance has also been banned in several countries because of its possible side effects. It's important to note that some clinical trials have shown positive results with this compound. However, there are still many questions surrounding this herb. It's important that you understand why it is important to have clinical trials conducted on CBD products. If the medical community is able to determine the full potential for CBD, then it will help them come up with better medications. There may come a time when it will be possible to develop a CBD pill that produces the same positive results without the dangerous side effects. With that said, it's important that you research different CBD products so that you're ready to enter the world of natural medicine. There are a lot of different options out there that offer great products that can help you combat a wide range of conditions. Take some time to get familiar with all of your options, and then you will be ready to get started.

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Plot weight matrices example
by Ing Jyh Tsang 19 Jan '21

19 Jan '21

HI, I may be mistaken, but isn't the EI and IE index switched (https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/stable/auto_examples/plot_weight_m…) ? a_EI = nest.GetConnections(I_neurons, E_neurons) c_EI = nest.GetStatus(a_EI, keys='weight') a_IE = nest.GetConnections(E_neurons, I_neurons) c_IE = nest.GetStatus(a_IE, keys='weight') for idx, n in enumerate(a_EI): W_EI[n[0] - min(I_neurons), n[1] - min(E_neurons)] += c_EI[idx] for idx, n in enumerate(a_IE): W_IE[n[0] - min(E_neurons), n[1] - min(I_neurons)] += c_IE[idx] Thanks,

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Re: NEST installation error on Mac
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 18 Jan '21

18 Jan '21

Hi Pooja, Over the weekend, I did a brief test on a Mac with Big Sur an built NEST successfully. Below is a detailed description of my setup and steps I have taken. I hope this helps. Best, Hans Ekkehard System: Mac Book Air with INTEL CPU, Big Sur 11.1 Apple Command Line Tools % xcode-select --print-path /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools Homebrew packages (explicitly installed; see below for full list) % brew leaves boost cmake git gsl imagemagick open-mpi scipy wget Conda packages (base installation is miniconda3; this shows only explicitly installed packages, full list below) % conda create -n nest_dev nomkl numpy scipy matplotlib ipython cython nose % conda activate nest_dev % pip install junitparser % conda export --from-history name: nest_dev channels: - defaults dependencies: - nomkl - numpy - nose - matplotlib - cython - ipython - scipy Additionally via pip: junitparser CMake invocation and report % cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=`pwd`/install -Dwith-mpi=ON ../src -- NEST version: master@0e6cd2819 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEST Configuration Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Build type : Target System : Darwin Cross Compiling : FALSE C compiler : AppleClang 12.0.0.12000032 (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/cc) C compiler flags : -O2 -Wall -Xclang -fopenmp C++ compiler : AppleClang 12.0.0.12000032 (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/c++) C++ compiler flags : -std=c++11 -O2 -Wall -Xclang -fopenmp Build dynamic : ON Built-in modules : models User modules : None Python bindings : Yes (Python 3.8.5: /Users/hep/opt/miniconda3/envs/nest_dev/bin/python3) Includes : /Users/hep/opt/miniconda3/envs/nest_dev/include/python3.8 Libraries : /Users/hep/opt/miniconda3/envs/nest_dev/lib/libpython3.8.dylib Cython bindings : Yes (Cython 0.29.21: /Users/hep/opt/miniconda3/envs/nest_dev/bin/cython) MPI4PY header : NO Use threading : Yes (OpenMP: -Xclang -fopenmp) Use GSL : Yes (GSL 2.6) Includes : /usr/local/Cellar/gsl/2.6/include Libraries : /usr/local/Cellar/gsl/2.6/lib/libgsl.dylib;/usr/local/Cellar/gsl/2.6/lib/libgslcblas.dylib Use Readline : No Use libltdl : Yes (LTDL 2.4.6) Includes : /usr/local/include Libraries : /usr/local/lib/libltdl.dylib Use doxygen : No Use MPI : Yes (MPI: /usr/local/bin/mpicxx) FLAGS : Includes : /usr/local/Cellar/open-mpi/4.0.5/include Link Flags : -L/usr/local/Cellar/libevent/2.1.12/lib Libraries : /usr/local/Cellar/open-mpi/4.0.5/lib/libmpi.dylib Use MUSIC : No Use libneurosim : No Use Boost : Yes (Boost 1.75.0) Includes : /usr/local/include Libraries : Use recording backend Arbor : No Use SIONlib : No ———————————————————————————————————————— Results from testsuite % make -j4 install % make installcheck ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NEST Testsuite Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Phase Tests Skipped Failures Errors Time ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 basetests 6 0 0 0 12.0 02 selftests 8 4 0 0 24.0 03 unittests 185 1 0 0 208.0 04 regressiontests 94 7 0 0 142.0 05 mpitests 79 0 0 0 258.0 07 pynesttests 796 11 0 0 144.2 08 cpptests 29 0 0 0 0.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 1197 23 0 0 788.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Complete list of Brew packages % brew list aom 2.0.1 boost 1.75.0_1 cmake 3.19.3 docbook 5.1_1 docbook-xsl 1.79.2_1 freetype 2.10.4 gcc 10.2.0_2 gdbm 1.18.1_1 gettext 0.21 ghostscript 9.53.3_1 git 2.30.0 glib 2.66.4_1 gmp 6.2.1 gnu-getopt 2.36.1 gsl 2.6 hwloc 2.4.0 icu4c 67.1 ilmbase 2.5.4 imagemagick 7.0.10-57 isl 0.23 jpeg 9d libde265 1.0.8 libevent 2.1.12 libffi 3.3_2 libheif 1.10.0 libidn2 2.3.0 liblqr 0.4.2_1 libmpc 1.2.1 libomp 11.0.1 libpng 1.6.37 libtiff 4.2.0 libtool 2.4.6_2 libunistring 0.9.10 little-cms2 2.11 mpfr 4.1.0 numpy 1.19.5 open-mpi 4.0.5 openblas 0.3.13 openexr 2.5.4 openjpeg 2.3.1 openssl(a)1.1<mailto:openssl@1.1> 1.1.1i pcre 8.44 pcre2 10.36 pybind11 2.6.1_1 python(a)3.8<mailto:python@3.8> 3.8.7 python(a)3.9<mailto:python@3.9> 3.9.1_6 readline 8.1 scipy 1.6.0 shared-mime-info 2.1 sqlite 3.34.0 tcl-tk 8.6.11 webp 1.1.0 wget 1.21 x265 3.4_2 xmlto 0.0.28 xz 5.2.5 Complete list of Conda packages in nest_dev % conda activate nest_dev % conda env export name: nest_dev channels: - defaults dependencies: - appnope=0.1.2=py38hecd8cb5_1001 - backcall=0.2.0=py_0 - blas=1.0=openblas - ca-certificates=2020.12.8=hecd8cb5_0 - certifi=2020.12.5=py38hecd8cb5_0 - cycler=0.10.0=py38_0 - cython=0.29.21=py38h23ab428_0 - decorator=4.4.2=py_0 - freetype=2.10.4=ha233b18_0 - ipython=7.19.0=py38h01d92e1_1 - ipython_genutils=0.2.0=pyhd3eb1b0_1 - jedi=0.17.2=py38hecd8cb5_1 - jpeg=9b=he5867d9_2 - kiwisolver=1.3.0=py38h23ab428_0 - lcms2=2.11=h92f6f08_0 - libcxx=10.0.0=1 - libedit=3.1.20191231=h1de35cc_1 - libffi=3.3=hb1e8313_2 - libgfortran=3.0.1=h93005f0_2 - libopenblas=0.3.10=h0794777_0 - libpng=1.6.37=ha441bb4_0 - libtiff=4.1.0=hcb84e12_1 - lz4-c=1.9.2=h79c402e_3 - matplotlib=3.3.2=hecd8cb5_0 - matplotlib-base=3.3.2=py38h181983e_0 - ncurses=6.2=h0a44026_1 - nomkl=3.0=0 - nose=1.3.7=pyhd3eb1b0_1006 - numpy=1.19.2=py38h63973fd_0 - numpy-base=1.19.2=py38h68fea81_0 - olefile=0.46=py_0 - openssl=1.1.1i=h9ed2024_0 - parso=0.7.0=py_0 - pexpect=4.8.0=pyhd3eb1b0_3 - pickleshare=0.7.5=pyhd3eb1b0_1003 - pillow=8.1.0=py38h5270095_0 - pip=20.3.3=py38hecd8cb5_0 - prompt-toolkit=3.0.8=py_0 - ptyprocess=0.7.0=pyhd3eb1b0_2 - pygments=2.7.4=pyhd3eb1b0_0 - pyparsing=2.4.7=py_0 - python=3.8.5=h26836e1_1 - python-dateutil=2.8.1=py_0 - readline=8.0=h1de35cc_0 - scipy=1.5.2=py38h4420a3a_0 - setuptools=51.1.2=py38hecd8cb5_4 - six=1.15.0=py38hecd8cb5_0 - sqlite=3.33.0=hffcf06c_0 - tk=8.6.10=hb0a8c7a_0 - tornado=6.1=py38h9ed2024_0 - traitlets=5.0.5=py_0 - wcwidth=0.2.5=py_0 - wheel=0.36.2=pyhd3eb1b0_0 - xz=5.2.5=h1de35cc_0 - zlib=1.2.11=h1de35cc_3 - zstd=1.4.5=h41d2c2f_0 - pip: - future==0.18.2 - junitparser==1.6.2 -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no> Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser On 15/01/2021, 15:48, "Babu, Pooja" <p.babu(a)fz-juelich.de<mailto:p.babu@fz-juelich.de>> wrote: Hello everyone, I have a Mac with Big Sur and I tried installing NEST with a Conda environment as mentioned here<https://www.nest-initiative.org/mailinglist/hyperkitty/list/users@nest-simu…> by pulling in the latest code from Github. My commands look like this conda create -n nestml_dev nomkl numpy scipy matplotlib ipython cython nose pytest conda activate nestml_dev <Pull the latest code from github> mkdir nest-simulator-build cd nest-simulator-build cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<nest_path> -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc-10 -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++-10 <nest_src> make -j4 make install After this, if I try to import nest in python or run nest from the command line, I get the following error OMP: Error #13: Assertion failure at kmp_csupport.cpp(590). OMP: Hint Please submit a bug report with this message, compile and run commands used, and machine configuration info including native compiler and operating system versions. Faster response will be obtained by including all program sources. For information on submitting this issue, please see http://www.intel.com/software/products/support/. Abort trap: 6 Has anyone else seen this error? Any pointers on this would be helpful. Thank you, Pooja ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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V_act_NMDA and S_act_NMDA parameter in ht_neuron
by Maryada Maryada 18 Jan '21

18 Jan '21

Dear all, I am looking for the details of ht_neuron model and referred to DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00915.2004 for details. However, I couldn't find information on V_act_NMDA and S_act_NMDA. Can anyone please point me in the specific paragraph/table in the paper or share a one line explanation. I have attached a screenshot of the equation from the example notebook and also the complete notebook for quick reference -- Thanks and Regards *Maryada*

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 18 January 2021 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 18 Jan '21

18 Jan '21

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference, today Monday 18 January, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). As usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2021-01-18-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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NEST installation error on Mac
by Babu, Pooja 15 Jan '21

15 Jan '21

Hello everyone, I have a Mac with Big Sur and I tried installing NEST with a Conda environment as mentioned here<https://www.nest-initiative.org/mailinglist/hyperkitty/list/users@nest-simu…> by pulling in the latest code from Github. My commands look like this conda create -n nestml_dev nomkl numpy scipy matplotlib ipython cython nose pytest conda activate nestml_dev <Pull the latest code from github> mkdir nest-simulator-build cd nest-simulator-build cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<nest_path> -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc-10 -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++-10 <nest_src> make -j4 make install After this, if I try to import nest in python or run nest from the command line, I get the following error OMP: Error #13: Assertion failure at kmp_csupport.cpp(590). OMP: Hint Please submit a bug report with this message, compile and run commands used, and machine configuration info including native compiler and operating system versions. Faster response will be obtained by including all program sources. For information on submitting this issue, please see http://www.intel.com/software/products/support/. Abort trap: 6 Has anyone else seen this error? Any pointers on this would be helpful. Thank you, Pooja ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Error in Simulate
by Petia Koprinkova 15 Jan '21

15 Jan '21

We have encountered the following error: Traceback (most recent call last): File "all_v2.py", line 364, in <module> nest.Simulate(sim_time) File"/opt/soft/nest-2.18.0/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/nest/ll_api.py",line 246, in stack_checker_func return f(*args, **kwargs) File"/opt/soft/nest-2.18.0/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/nest/lib/hl_api_simulation.py",line 66, in Simulate sr('ms Simulate') File"/opt/soft/nest-2.18.0/lib64/python3.6/site-packages/nest/ll_api.py",line 132, in catching_sli_run raise exceptionCls(commandname, message) nest.ll_api.C++Exception: ('C++Exception in Simulate_d:std::bad_alloc', 'C++Exception', <SLILiteral: Simulate_d>, ':std::bad_alloc') Could you help to resolve it? Best regards,Petia Koprinkova-Hristova

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Trouble about the spiking time will increase and get so bigger with the simulation epoch increasing.
by enguang zhou 13 Jan '21

13 Jan '21

Deal all, I am recording the spiking time of neurons after every simulation, and I find that the time beginning of every simulation isn't all 0 except the first simulation. So how can I set to recording spiking time beginning from 0 during all simulations? By now I am processing that for every simulation spiking time recording by deleting all the time used before a specific simulation epoch. Hope for your answer,thanks! Enguang

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Problems with installation of NEST on MAC
by Vittorio De Falco 12 Jan '21

12 Jan '21

Dear Users of NEST, I have downloaded and installed nest on my MAC. I was able to configure it. When I launch make I receive the following error Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64: "___kmpc_critical", referenced from: SLIInterpreter::message(int, char const*, char const*, char const*) const in interpret.cc.o "___kmpc_end_critical", referenced from: SLIInterpreter::message(int, char const*, char const*, char const*) const in interpret.cc.o "___kmpc_global_thread_num", referenced from: SLIInterpreter::message(int, char const*, char const*, char const*) const in interpret.cc.o "_omp_in_parallel", referenced from: Name::insert(std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char> > const&) in name.cc.o ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64 clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation) make[2]: *** [sli/libsli.dylib] Error 1 make[1]: *** [sli/CMakeFiles/sli_lib.dir/all] Error 2 make: *** [all] Error 2 I have already installed it successfully the previous week, but for example I have problem when I launch an example code from NEST (one_neuron.py), because import nest is recognised, while "import nest.voltage_trace" is not found ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'nest.voltage_trace' Sorry I am a little bit confused. When I try to launch a code in a folder different from the nest-simulator folder "import nest" is not recognised. Could you please explain me better how to solve such an issue? Thank you very much for your support. Best, Vittorio *************************************************************** * Postdoctoral Researcher in Mathematics * University of Naples "Federico II" * Department of Mathematics and Application "R. Caccioppoli" * Via Cintia, IT-80126 Naples, Italy * CELL: +39 340 544 70 15 ****************************************************************

2 1

spatiotemporal Poisson generator
by Abolfazl Ziaeemehr 08 Jan '21

08 Jan '21

Hello everyone, Is it possible to include a *spatiotemporal poisson generator* in the simulation? I am trying to apply a current to a population of neurons which is something like this? [image: Selection_001.png] where `i` is the index of the neuron and `t` is the current time of the simulation. Thank you for any guidance. best, -- Abolfazl Ziaeemehr PhD in Computational Neuroscience Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS) Page: iasbs.ac.ir/~a.ziaeemehr https://github.com/Ziaeemehr

2 1

I want to know the derivative equation of iaf_psc_alpha neuron model to design some algorithms for neural network
by enguang zhou 06 Jan '21

06 Jan '21

Hi everyone, I have a very big problem now again for the iaf neuron(such as iaf_psc_alpha), which is I don't know know differential equation for the neuron model, so I can't get the derivative of voltage about some other variable, such as derivative of voltage versus synapse weight. The point is I do need to know the derivative equation of iaf_psc_alpha neuron model to design some algorithm for neural network. For the paper mentioned below, I still can't figure out the exact derivative equation of voltage or voltage state equation. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s004220050570 By the way, At last meeting, I wanted to ask that but my device had trouble when host asked, so awkward. Hope for your answer. Thank you. Enguang

2 2

How does the synapse weight influence 'iaf_psc_alpha' neuron(or any other neuron you know) to send a spike?
by enguang zhou 04 Jan '21

04 Jan '21

Hello everyone, As the title says, can someone help me answer this? I am really confused about this. Because I need to know how to control the neuron spiking from the mathematical formula, and I check out the iaf_psc_alpha.cpp and its .h file, and I can't get a clue how does the synapse weight value influence the neuron spiking. I would be appreciate if you can tell me how to check out the code in nest_simualator. Thank you. Enguang

2 5

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 4 January 2021 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 04 Jan '21

04 Jan '21

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and invite you to our first fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference of this year, today Monday 4 January, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). Today we have a special feature discussion on * Python module installation Additionally, as usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion Python module installation The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2021-01-04-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Thank you for 2020
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 23 Dec '20

23 Dec '20

Dear NEST Users! I would like to thank all of you in the NEST Community for you efforts and interest in NEST in 2020, which has been a special year for us all. We have achieved a lot and I am very confident that 2021 will finally see the official release of NEST 3 as the culmination of several years work with significant benefits for users. After the good experiences with the virtual NEST conference this year, the NEST Initiative has decided to hold the conference as a digital conference also in 2021, as this allows a much wider range of users to participate. The conference will take place at its usual time in the end of June. I wish you all happy holidays and all the best for 2021! Hans Ekkehard Plesser President, The NEST Initiative -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no> Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

2 1

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 21 December 2020 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 21 Dec '20

21 Dec '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our last fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference of this year, today Monday 21 December, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). Today we have a special feature discussion on *NeuronGPU *by Bruno Golosio, bringing GPU acceleration to spiking neural networks. Additionally, as usual, in the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion NeuronGPU The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-12-21-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Multi-node parallel simulation error
by jiadu xie 17 Dec '20

17 Dec '20

I want to run neuron simulations in parallel on multiple servers in OpenMPI. I've installed Nest through conda: conda install -c conda-forge nest-simulator. multi_test.pycode show as below： from nest import * SetKernelStatus({"total_num_virtual_procs": 4}) pg = Create("poisson_generator", params={"rate": 50000.0}) n = Create("iaf_psc_alpha", 4) sd = Create("spike_detector", params={"to_file": True}) print("work01,My Rank is :{}".format(Rank())) #print("Processes Number is :{}".format(NumProcesses()) #print("Processor Name is :{}".format(ProcessorName()) Connect(pg, [n[0]], syn_spec={'weight': 1000.0, 'delay': 1.0}) Connect([n[0]], [n[1]], syn_spec={'weight': 1000.0, 'delay': 1.0}) Connect([n[1]], [n[2]], syn_spec={'weight': 1000.0, 'delay': 1.0}) Connect([n[2]], [n[3]], syn_spec={'weight': 1000.0, 'delay': 1.0}) Connect(n, sd) Simulate(100.0) To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior: (pynest) work@work01:~/xiejiadu/nest_multi_test$ /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/mpirun -np 2 -host work01:1,work02:1 /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3 /home/work/xiejiadu/nest_multi_test/multi_test.py [INFO] [2020.11.23 3:57:6 /home/conda/feedstock_root/build_artifacts/nest-simulator_1580129123254/work/nestkernel/rng_manager.cpp:217 @ Network::create_rngs_] : Creating default RNGs [INFO] [2020.11.23 3:57:6 /home/conda/feedstock_root/build_artifacts/nest-simulator_1580129123254/work/nestkernel/rng_manager.cpp:260 @ Network::create_grng_] : Creating new default global RNG [INFO] [2020.11.23 3:57:6 /home/conda/feedstock_root/build_artifacts/nest-simulator_1580129123254/work/nestkernel/rng_manager.cpp:217 @ Network::create_rngs_] : Creating default RNGs [INFO] [2020.11.23 3:57:6 /home/conda/feedstock_root/build_artifacts/nest-simulator_1580129123254/work/nestkernel/rng_manager.cpp:260 @ Network::create_grng_] : Creating new default global RNG python3: /home/conda/feedstock_root/build_artifacts/nest-simulator_1580129123254/work/sli/scanner.cc:581: bool Scanner::operator()(Token&): Assertion `in->good()' failed. [work02:95945] *** Process received signal *** [work02:95945] Signal: Aborted (6) [work02:95945] Signal code: (-6) [work02:95945] [ 0] /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0(+0x12730)[0x7fc94a207730] [work02:95945] [ 1] /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x10b)[0x7fc94a0697bb] [work02:95945] [ 2] /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(abort+0x121)[0x7fc94a054535] [work02:95945] [ 3] /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(+0x2240f)[0x7fc94a05440f] [work02:95945] [ 4] /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(+0x30102)[0x7fc94a062102] [work02:95945] [ 5] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/../../../libsli.so(_ZN7ScannerclER5Token+0x1489)[0x7fc93cf3ceb9] [work02:95945] [ 6] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/../../../libsli.so(_ZN6ParserclER5Token+0x49)[0x7fc93cf2f229] [work02:95945] [ 7] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/../../../libsli.so(_ZNK14IparseFunction7executeEP14SLIInterpreter+0x96)[0x7fc93cf66666] [work02:95945] [ 8] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/../../../libsli.so(+0x74193)[0x7fc93cf25193] [work02:95945] [ 9] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/../../../libsli.so(_ZN14SLIInterpreter8execute_Em+0x222)[0x7fc93cf29a32] [work02:95945] [10] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/../../../libsli.so(_ZN14SLIInterpreter7startupEv+0x27)[0x7fc93cf29e57] [work02:95945] [11] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/../../../libnest.so(_Z11neststartupPiPPPcR14SLIInterpreterNSt7__cxx1112basic_stringIcSt11char_traitsIcESaIcEEE+0x1ea0)[0x7fc93d97ba40] [work02:95945] [12] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/lib/python3.8/site-packages/nest/pynestkernel.so(+0x444dc)[0x7fc93dd774dc] [work02:95945] [13] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(+0x1b4924)[0x55e5ae205924] [work02:95945] [14] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalFrameDefault+0x4bf)[0x55e5ae22dbcf] [work02:95945] [15] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyFunction_Vectorcall+0x1b7)[0x55e5ae21a637] [work02:95945] [16] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalFrameDefault+0x71a)[0x55e5ae22de2a] [work02:95945] [17] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalCodeWithName+0x260)[0x55e5ae219490] [work02:95945] [18] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(+0x1f6bb9)[0x55e5ae247bb9] [work02:95945] [19] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(+0x13a23d)[0x55e5ae18b23d] [work02:95945] [20] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(PyVectorcall_Call+0x6f)[0x55e5ae1aef2f] [work02:95945] [21] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalFrameDefault+0x5fc1)[0x55e5ae2336d1] [work02:95945] [22] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalCodeWithName+0x260)[0x55e5ae219490] [work02:95945] [23] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyFunction_Vectorcall+0x594)[0x55e5ae21aa14] [work02:95945] [24] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalFrameDefault+0x4e73)[0x55e5ae232583] [work02:95945] [25] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyFunction_Vectorcall+0x1b7)[0x55e5ae21a637] [work02:95945] [26] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalFrameDefault+0x4bf)[0x55e5ae22dbcf] [work02:95945] [27] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyFunction_Vectorcall+0x1b7)[0x55e5ae21a637] [work02:95945] [28] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyEval_EvalFrameDefault+0x71a)[0x55e5ae22de2a] [work02:95945] [29] /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3(_PyFunction_Vectorcall+0x1b7)[0x55e5ae21a637] [work02:95945] *** End of error message *** -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Primary job terminated normally, but 1 process returned a non-zero exit code. Per user-direction, the job has been aborted. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARNING: Open MPI failed to TCP connect to a peer MPI process. This should not happen. Your Open MPI job may now hang or fail. Local host: work01 PID: 114620 Message: connect() to 192.168.204.122:1024 failed Error: Operation now in progress (115) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [work01:114615] PMIX ERROR: UNREACHABLE in file server/pmix_server.c at line 2193 -- N E S T -- Copyright (C) 2004 The NEST Initiative Version: nest-2.18.0 Built: Jan 27 2020 12:49:17 This program is provided AS IS and comes with NO WARRANTY. See the file LICENSE for details. Problems or suggestions? Visit https://www.nest-simulator.org Type 'nest.help()' to find out more about NEST. Nov 23 03:57:06 ModelManager::clear_models_ [Info]: Models will be cleared and parameters reset. Nov 23 03:57:06 Network::create_rngs_ [Info]: Deleting existing random number generators Nov 23 03:57:06 Network::create_rngs_ [Info]: Creating default RNGs Nov 23 03:57:06 Network::create_grng_ [Info]: Creating new default global RNG Nov 23 03:57:06 RecordingDevice::set_status [Info]: Data will be recorded to file and to memory. work01,My Rank is :0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- mpirun noticed that process rank 1 with PID 95945 on node work02 exited on signal 6 (Aborted). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Command to run /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/mpirun -np 2 -host work01:1,work02:1 /home/work/anaconda3/envs/pynest/bin/python3 /home/work/xiejiadu/nest_multi_test/multi_test.py Expected behavior A clear and concise description of what you expected to happen. Screenshots If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem. Desktop/Environment: OS: Debain-10.0 Shell: conda4.8.3 Python-Version: Python 3.8.6 NEST-Version: nest-2.18 Installation:conda packet, with MPI Best jiaduxie

2 2

NEST Spack package maintainers
by itaru.kitayama＠gmail.com 15 Dec '20

15 Dec '20

I am updating the package.py script a bit so that it can build; though I wonder who are the maintainers of the Spack package currently?

1 1

NEST developer documentation
by Cristiano Alessandro 11 Dec '20

11 Dec '20

Dear all, I am new to developing NEST neuron models. I am aware I should use NEST-ML and I started that way, but I now need to modify the (successfully) generated C++ code. To do so, I would like to understand the details of the C++ implementation, including the overall logic of the class NEST-ML created (what is the functionality of the methods and attributes). Where can I find documentation about this? I would also like to take a look at the description of the NEST C++ developers library. I could not find these aspects in the Nest Developer Space. Thank you in advance. Best Cristiano

3 3

NEST developer documentation
by Cristiano Alessandro 11 Dec '20

11 Dec '20

Dear all, I am new to developing NEST neuron models. I am aware I should use NEST-ML and I started that way, but I now need to modify the (successfully) generated C++ code. To do so, I would like to understand the details of the C++ implementation, including the overall logic of the class NEST-ML created (what is the functionality of the methods and attributes). Where can I find documentation about this? I would also like to take a look at the description of the NEST C++ developers library. I could not find these aspects in the Nest Developer Space. Thank you in advance. Best Cristiano

1 0

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 07 December 2020 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 07 Dec '20

07 Dec '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 07 December, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion To squash, or not to squash The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-12-07-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Combining neuron model features
by d.standage＠bham.ac.uk 03 Dec '20

03 Dec '20

Hi all - I'm aiming to run simulations using Izhikevich's neuron model (or another efficient model with spike generation), two dendritic compartments, two glutamate receptor subtypes, and temporal synaptic dynamics. My understanding is that Nest supports the Izhikevich neuron model with instantaneous current injection (i.e. no synaptic dynamics), the iaf_cond_alpha_mc neuron model for multiple compartments, the aeif_cond_alpha_multisynapse model for multiple receptor subtypes, and any of the _psc_ or _cond_ neuron models for synaptic dynamics. Am I looking at multiple choice here? I.e. I can't use a single neuron model with all of these features? If so, does anyone know of any Nest add-ons that efficiently handle all the features above? I'd be grateful for any advice. Best Dominic

3 2

Technical Editor – European Research Infrastructures for Neuroscience (EBRAINS)
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 03 Dec '20

03 Dec '20

Dear colleagues, The Computational Neuroscience Group at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (www.nmbu.no<http://www.nmbu.no/>) aims to recruit a technical editor in a senior engineer position. The position is part of our contribution to the Human Brain Project (www.humanbrainproject.eu<http://www.humanbrainproject.eu/>) in building the European EBRAINS research infrastructures for neuroscience. This full-time position is available immediately and limited until 31 March 2023. As technical editor, you will be part of the EBRAINS High-Level Service Team and be responsible for coordinating and supervising the production and provision of documentation and tutorial materials for EBRAINS service offerings with the pertaining EBRAINS partners. We are looking for applicants with a master's, preferably a doctoral, degree in a STEM discipline, ideally with experience in technical writing, documentation generation systems, and neuroscience. Closing date for applications is 4 January 2021. For more information about the position and to submit your application, please see https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/196909/technical-editor-seni… Please contact Prof Hans Ekkehard Plesser (hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no>) if you have any questions concerning the position. Best regards, Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no<mailto:hans.ekkehard.plesser@nmbu.no> Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

1 0

Reset Spike Detector
by feldotto 03 Dec '20

03 Dec '20

Dear all,I am running a large simulation where I need to evaluate the spike frequency of large populations in several elapsed time frames. In order to keep this procedure efficient and memory efficient, is it possible to reset the spikeDetector (delete all events)?Thanks in advance!Best,Benedikt

3 2

Getting single neuron spiking
by nosratullah mohammadi 30 Nov '20

30 Nov '20

Dear NEST Users, I wonder how to get single neuron spikes out of spike detector that record all of the neurons in the network. Best, Nosratullah Mohammadi (Mr.)

2 1

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 23 November 2020 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 23 Nov '20

23 Nov '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 23 November, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion For the in-depth discussion the topic of "/Compiler variants vs. MPI implementations/" was proposed, as this is recently causing headache on some setups. The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-11-23-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

NEST network object
by alehr 20 Nov '20

20 Nov '20

Dear NEST developer, I would like to initialize a network with neurons and connections and then run many simulations with it. It would be great if I could build the network one time and then deepcopy (or something similar) for each simulation. Is something like this possible? Thanks, Andrew Lehr

7 13

Microcircuit example, segmentation fault
by d.standage＠bham.ac.uk 17 Nov '20

17 Nov '20

Hi all - I'm running NEST on Ubuntu 18.04, installed with Conda. I can run the example networks in the user documentation, except the Microcircuit Example (having downloaded all the files). It causes a segmentation fault during the call to Simulate( ). I can provide the full error message, but in the interest of brevity - Signal: Segmentation fault (11) Signal code: Address not mapped (1) ... [ 0] /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0(+0x128a0)[0x7feb38d5f8a0] ... Segmentation fault (core dumped) Has anyone else had this issue? I'd be grateful for any help you can provide. Best Dominic

3 3

Re: NEST on macOS 11 Big Sur
by Joris Dolderer 14 Nov '20

14 Nov '20

Thank you for your very useful e-mail! You wrote a lot, but you also had something to say. On Sat, 14 Nov 2020, 13:35 Hans Ekkehard Plesser, < hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no> wrote: > > Dear all, > > I am happy to report that NEST seems to work find under macOS 11 Big Sur. > So far, I have only tested on Intel hardware, a system with the Apple M1 > chip is on its way. > > Specifcially, I proceeded as follows: > > 1. After upgrading to Big Sur, run "brew doctor" and follow the > instructions to update the Apple Command Line Tools. If you encounter > problems, see > https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64821648/homebrew-fails-on-macos-big-sur > > 2. Run "brew update" and "brew upgrade". > > 3. For safety's sake, I then ran "brew uninstall nest" and then "brew > install nest". This gave me a working NEST 2.20.0 installation. > > > To build NEST myself, I first performed steps 1 and 2 above and then > > 3. conda update conda > conda create -n nest_dev nomkl numpy scipy matplotlib ipython cython > nose > conda activate nest_dev > pip install junitparser > > The nomkl package ensures that NumPy does not use Intel's MKL, which can > lead to conflicting OpenMP libraries. > Junitparser is needed to handle testsuite results and is only available > from PyPI. > > 4. Pull latest sources from NEST master branch to src > > 5. mkdir bld > cd bld > cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<install path> -Dwith-mpi=ON ../src > make -j4 install && make installcheck > > All tests pass. If many MPI tests fail, you may need to add > --oversubscribe to the mpirun command in your .nestrc file. C++ tests will > only run if you have installed boost, e.g., with "brew install boost". > > Best regards, > Hans Ekkehard > > -- > > > Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser > Head, Department of Data Science > > Faculty of Science and Technology > Norwegian University of Life Sciences > PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway > > Phone +47 6723 1560 > Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no > Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser > > > _______________________________________________ > NEST Users mailing list -- users(a)nest-simulator.org > To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave(a)nest-simulator.org > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH > 52425 Juelich > Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich > Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 > Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke > Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), > Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >

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NEST on macOS 11 Big Sur
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 14 Nov '20

14 Nov '20

Dear all, I am happy to report that NEST seems to work find under macOS 11 Big Sur. So far, I have only tested on Intel hardware, a system with the Apple M1 chip is on its way. Specifcially, I proceeded as follows: 1. After upgrading to Big Sur, run "brew doctor" and follow the instructions to update the Apple Command Line Tools. If you encounter problems, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64821648/homebrew-fails-on-macos-big-sur 2. Run "brew update" and "brew upgrade". 3. For safety's sake, I then ran "brew uninstall nest" and then "brew install nest". This gave me a working NEST 2.20.0 installation. To build NEST myself, I first performed steps 1 and 2 above and then 3. conda update conda conda create -n nest_dev nomkl numpy scipy matplotlib ipython cython nose conda activate nest_dev pip install junitparser The nomkl package ensures that NumPy does not use Intel's MKL, which can lead to conflicting OpenMP libraries. Junitparser is needed to handle testsuite results and is only available from PyPI. 4. Pull latest sources from NEST master branch to src 5. mkdir bld cd bld cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<install path> -Dwith-mpi=ON ../src make -j4 install && make installcheck All tests pass. If many MPI tests fail, you may need to add --oversubscribe to the mpirun command in your .nestrc file. C++ tests will only run if you have installed boost, e.g., with "brew install boost". Best regards, Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Department of Data Science Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 9 November 2020 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 09 Nov '20

09 Nov '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 9 November, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-11-09-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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Configuration of multi-node parallel environment
by 1323504842＠qq.com 05 Nov '20

05 Nov '20

Hi,I am now simulating a small network for testing on two machines, and run it with the following command. It seems that the two machines run by themselves without interaction,running your own. mpirun -np 2 -host work0,work1 python ./multi_test.py Can nest simulate a network in a multi-node cluster environment? If yes, how do the nodes exchange data? Do you know about the configuration of a parallel cluster environment? I installed NEST under ANCCONDA? Can anyone share some experience?

2 1

Data-handling with NEST-MPI
by swathi anil 03 Nov '20

03 Nov '20

Hello all, I use NEST with OpenMPI on a high performance cluster to run plasticity related network simulations. So far I have divided my whole job into: phase 1: data collection (data collected: senders, times, sources, targets for each time point) phase 2: data anaylsis (refers to spike count and connectivity calculation) I face an issue with data-handling. In phase 1, the data pertaining to each of the four variables is saved in X different files (X = number of virtual processes), rank-wise. This means that the total number of files generated goes [ n(time-points)*X*4 ], which surpasses the chunk file storage limit, per user for the cluster. Each file here is an ndarray saved as a *.npy file. I wonder if there is a way to retrieve the data from each of the X processes while collecting data, concatenating and then saving them? So instead of X number of files, I can save the concatenated version. This probably involves recruiting a single VP to collect and concatenate and save the datapoints, but i am not quite sure how to execute this using NEST. Any help would be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance! Best, Swathi

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because of the spike time stored in unordered time, so I get problem ablout the use of stdp_synapse.
by 1240288839＠qq.com 27 Oct '20

27 Oct '20

Dear all! I want to know how to use stdp_synapse correctly but I noticed there is a sentence 'Another important point is that spikes do NOT pass the Connection object in correct order of biological arrival time—they are unordered in time' about the overview of stdp_synapse; it's the last part of spike handling at website https://nest.github.io/nest-simulator/synapses_overview. So if these spike time are unordered, whether the stdp_synapse function would mimic properly.

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 26 October 2020 11:30 CET (UTC+1)
by Dennis Terhorst 26 Oct '20

26 Oct '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 26 October, 11.30-12.30 CET (UTC+1). Please note that we changed to winter time (UTC+1). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion We will continue discussion on some of the topics of last time: * Issue #1773 <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues/1773>: wrapper around |Prepare| and |Run| (postponed from last time) * organizing HBP CodeJam#11 activities <https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/education/participatecollaborate/infras…> The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-10-26-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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V_th Issue in Izhikevich Neuron Model
by Allen Rabayda 17 Oct '20

17 Oct '20

Dear Nest Community, When trying to reproduce Izhikevich's Simple Neuron Model with NEST Izhikevich Neuron Model, it is spiking before reaching my V_th potential threshold setting of 30 mV, producing results inconsistent with the publication. Would anybody have insight as to why the neuron is spiking early? Did I perhaps not include a relevant NEST setting? I compared it to an explicit implementation of the ODEs, attached, for your reference of expected neuron response. Thank you for any suggestions. Best Regards, --Allen

3 4

test failures on nest master@6997cae6c on Fedora 32 with Intel Prallel Studio XE 2020 update 2
by Nilton Liuji Kamiji 16 Oct '20

16 Oct '20

Dear all, I have compiled NEST master@6997cae6c onFedora 32 with both, 1- gcc (10.2.1) and OpenMPI (4.0.4): the default on this distro 2 - Intel Parallel Studio XE update 2 with GSL compiled from source using the same compiler using same configuration (-Dwith-mpi=ON, -Dwith-boost=ON) . On Intel, -Dwith-gsl=${GSL_DIR} was added to point to the GSL built with the Intel Compiler. On the gcc configuration, all tests worked fine (I defined OMPI_MCA_rmaps_base_oversubscribe=1 to avoid oversubscription error as reported in issue #1758). On the other hand, on the Intel configuration, several MPI tests have failed as described in the attached files. (To allow oversubscription the following variables were defined: I_MPI_WAIT_MODE=1 and I_MPI_THREAD_YIELD=3) I report it here as it is probably not directly a NEST code issue, but hope that someone in the community could have the answer. If I should submit it as an issue on GitHub, please let me know. Attached files: cmake_command_summary.txt : cmake command invocation and summary installcheck.log : make installcheck log reports.tar.gz : reports folder created by make installcheck; it also contains the instalcheck.log file above Best, Nilton -- Nilton Liuji Kamiji University of Sao Paulo Department of Physics, FFCLRP Laboratory of Neural Systems Phone: +55 16 3315 3859

2 2

Running NEST with SIONlib
by Itaru Kitayama 14 Oct '20

14 Oct '20

Hi, Has anyone explored the external library support? I am on Fugaku and the jobs can create casually tens of thousands of files in a single directory; this aborts jobs. Itaru.

2 5

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 12 October 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 12 Oct '20

12 Oct '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 12 October, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion * HBP CodeJam #11 <https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/education/participatecollaborate/infras…> * Extension Module System <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/projects/22> * Issue #1773 <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues/1773>: wrapper around |Prepare| and |Run| The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-10-12-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 28 September 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 28 Sep '20

28 Sep '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 28 September, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion Benchmarking setups for CoSim and the NRP-NEST coupling. Special guests will be Kim Sontheimer and Cristian Jimenez-Romero of the SimLab Neuroscience The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-09-28-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Is there a developer meeting soon?
by Robin Gilbert De Schepper 23 Sep '20

23 Sep '20

Hi! It seems to have been a while since an invitation to the bi-weekly meeting has been sent out. Will they resume soon? I would like to discuss the topic of extension modules and feel like the meeting is great place to get informed. Best regards -- Robin De Schepper, MSc Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences Unit of Neurophysiology University of Pavia, Italy Via Forlanini 6, 27100 Pavia - Italy Tel: (+39) 038298-7607 http://www-5.unipv.it/dangelo/

1 0

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 14 September 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 14 Sep '20

14 Sep '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 14 September, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. The ongoing hackathon this week will be one of the topics and a quick overview will be discussed. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-09-14-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

error when making
by Carlos Gutierrez 05 Sep '20

05 Sep '20

Dear All, I get the following error when making NEST 2.20 on my desktop, any idea where is the problem?. Thanks, Carlos. [ 99%] Building CXX object pynest/CMakeFiles/pynestkernel.dir/pynestkernel.cxx.o [100%] Linking CXX shared module pynestkernel.so /usr/bin/ld: /usr/local/lib/libpython3.8.a(abstract.o): relocation R_X86_64_PC32 against symbol `_Py_NotImplementedStruct' can not be used when making a shared object; recompile with -fPIC /usr/bin/ld: final link failed: bad value collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status make[2]: *** [pynest/CMakeFiles/pynestkernel.dir/build.make:103: pynest/pynestkernel.so] Error 1 make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:1030: pynest/CMakeFiles/pynestkernel.dir/all] Error 2 make: *** [Makefile:141: all] Error 2 ######## -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEST Configuration Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Build type : Target System : Linux Cross Compiling : FALSE C compiler : GNU 9.3.0 (/usr/bin/cc) C compiler flags : -fPIC -fopenmp -pthread -fdiagnostics-color=auto C++ compiler : GNU 9.3.0 (/usr/bin/c++) C++ compiler flags : -std=c++11 -fPIC -fopenmp -pthread -fdiagnostics-color=auto Build dynamic : ON Built-in modules : models;precise;topology User modules : None Python bindings : Yes (Python 3.8: /usr/local/bin/python3) Includes : /usr/local/include/python3.8 Libraries : /usr/local/lib/libpython3.8.a Cython bindings : Yes (Cython 0.29.21: /usr/local/bin/cython) Use threading : Yes (OpenMP: -fopenmp) Use GSL : Yes (GSL 2.5) Includes : /usr/include Libraries : /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgsl.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgslcblas.so Use Readline : Yes (GNU Readline 8.0) Includes : /usr/include Libraries : /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libreadline.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libncurses.so Use libltdl : Yes (LTDL ) Includes : /usr/include Libraries : /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libltdl.so Use doxygen : No Use MPI : Yes (MPI: /usr/bin/mpicxx) FLAGS : -pthread Includes : /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/openmpi/include/openmpi;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/openmpi/include Link Flags : -pthread Libraries : /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/openmpi/lib/libmpi_cxx.so;/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/openmpi/lib/libmpi.so Use MUSIC : No Use libneurosim : No Use Boost : No --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 31 August 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 31 Aug '20

31 Aug '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 31 August, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-08-31-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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Re: Issue with NEST Live Media 2.20
by Steffen Graber 27 Aug '20

27 Aug '20

Hi Maryada I just tested the VM with Windows 10 Home (Version 1903) and with Virtualbox 6.12. No problems at startup. The network does not seem to start in your installation. If not done yet I would first delete the VM completely and reinstall it. Then deactivate the network in the settings of the VM and restart it again. Hope this helps. Best Steffen Am 26.08.20 um 11:08 schrieb Maryada Maryada: > Sorry for the late reply. > Here you go. I hope this helps. > > On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 2:16 PM Steffen Graber <s.graber(a)fz-juelich.de > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de>> wrote: > > Hi, > > That's ok. Could you send me the log of the VM? > Highlight the VM in the manager and press CTRL+L. > > Best > > Steffen > > Am 25.08.20 um 13:01 schrieb Maryada Maryada: > > Hey, > > The latest one, 6.1.12 > > > > On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 12:52 PM Steffen Graber > <s.graber(a)fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de> > > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de>>> > wrote: > > > > Hi, > > > > Do you have the ExtensionPack installed? In which version? > > > > Best > > > > Steffen > > > > Am 25.08.20 um 12:39 schrieb Maryada Maryada: > > > Hi Steffen, > > > I am using Windows 10 as my host OS and Oracle Virtual Box 6.1 > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 12:34 PM Steffen Graber > > <s.graber(a)fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de> > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de>> > > > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de> <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de>>>> > > wrote: > > > > > > Hi Maryada, > > > > > > Just tried Live Media 2.20 under Ubuntu 20.04 with > Virtualbox 6.1. > > > Starting the VM worked fine for me. > > > > > > Which operating system and which version of Virtualbox > do you use? > > > > > > Best > > > > > > Steffen > > > > > > Am 25.08.20 um 11:40 schrieb Maryada Maryada: > > > > Hi, > > > > I am trying to import Live Media 2.20 however the VM > > virtualbox is > > > > always get stuck immediately > > > > as it starts (see attachment). I also tried to import the > > 2.18 version > > > > just to be sure if it's an issue on my side. However, > that's > > working > > > > perfectly fine. > > > > > > > > Is there an additional requirement that I might be > missing? > > > > -- > > > > Thanks and Regards > > > > > > > > *Maryada* > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > NEST Users mailing list -- users(a)nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org> > > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org>> > > > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org> > > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org>>> > > > > To unsubscribe send an email to > > users-leave(a)nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org> > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org>> > > > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org> > > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org>>> > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Steffen Graber > > > SimLab Neuroscience > > > Division HPC in Neuroscience > > > Jülich Supercomputing Centre > > > Institute for Advanced Simulation > > > Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH > > > E-mail: s.graber(a)fz-juelich.de > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de> <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de>> > > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de> > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de>>> > > > Phone: +49 2461 61 85457 > > > http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc > > > > > > Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) > > > Computational and Systems Neuroscience & > > > Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) > > > Theoretical Neuroscience & > > > JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships > (INM-10) > > > Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH > > > http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH > > > 52425 Juelich > > > Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich > > > Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren > Nr. HR > > B 3498 > > > Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke > > > Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt > > (Vorsitzender), > > > Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. > Harald Bolt > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Thanks and Regards > > > > > > *Maryada* > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > NEST Users mailing list -- users(a)nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org> > > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users@nest-simulator.org>> > > > To unsubscribe send an email to > users-leave(a)nest-simulator.org <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org> > > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org > <mailto:users-leave@nest-simulator.org>> > > > > > > > -- > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Steffen Graber > > SimLab Neuroscience > > Division HPC in Neuroscience > > Jülich Supercomputing Centre > > Institute for Advanced Simulation > > Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH > > E-mail: s.graber(a)fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de> > <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de>> > > Phone: +49 2461 61 85457 > > http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc > > > > Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) > > Computational and Systems Neuroscience & > > Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) > > Theoretical Neuroscience & > > JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10) > > Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH > > http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH > > 52425 Juelich > > Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich > > Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR > B 3498 > > Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke > > Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt > (Vorsitzender), > > Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > > > -- > > Thanks and Regards > > > > *Maryada* > > > > -- > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Steffen Graber > SimLab Neuroscience > Division HPC in Neuroscience > Jülich Supercomputing Centre > Institute for Advanced Simulation > Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH > E-mail: s.graber(a)fz-juelich.de <mailto:s.graber@fz-juelich.de> > Phone: +49 2461 61 85457 > http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc > > Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) > Computational and Systems Neuroscience & > Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) > Theoretical Neuroscience & > JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10) > Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH > http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH > 52425 Juelich > Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich > Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 > Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke > Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), > Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > -- > Thanks and Regards > > *Maryada* > -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steffen Graber SimLab Neuroscience Division HPC in Neuroscience Jülich Supercomputing Centre Institute for Advanced Simulation Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH E-mail: s.graber(a)fz-juelich.de Phone: +49 2461 61 85457 http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Theoretical Neuroscience & JARA Institute Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10) Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH http://www.csn.fz-juelich.de ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Issue with NEST Live Media 2.20
by Maryada Maryada 25 Aug '20

25 Aug '20

Hi, I am trying to import Live Media 2.20 however the VM virtualbox is always get stuck immediately as it starts (see attachment). I also tried to import the 2.18 version just to be sure if it's an issue on my side. However, that's working perfectly fine. Is there an additional requirement that I might be missing? -- Thanks and Regards *Maryada*

2 5

Random refractory period
by giovannidisarra 18 Aug '20

18 Aug '20

How can I set a random refractory period (different for every neuron) in a population with SetDefaults()?

2 1

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 17 August 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 17 Aug '20

17 Aug '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 17 August, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-08-17-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Saving and loading entire network
by LOW, SOCK CHING 05 Aug '20

05 Aug '20

Hi, I am new to pynest and am using it to implement a liquid state machine. It works marvelously for generating the network. My workflow is as follows: - Initialise kernel - Get stimulation episodes - Create neurons (including spike generators) - Connect neurons - nest.Simulate() - nest.GetStatus(recording_neurons) for readout at relevant timepoints I would like to save the network so I can run nest.Simulate() on other episodes in a real-time application, is there a straight-forward way to do so? I have tried pickling conn = nest.GetConnections() but to my knowledge that does not include a lot of details about the connection, like the weight. It also does not return where there is *no* connections, which means simply using nest.SetConnections(conn) prior to nest.Simulate() will not work to reproduce the previously generated network even if I initialise with all the same variables. I have found the functions GetNetwork() and GetNodes() but I'm not sure how I can use them, or if they are even useful for what I need. Cheers, Sock Ching

6 7

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 3 August 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 03 Aug '20

03 Aug '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 3 August, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-08-03-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 20 July 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 20 Jul '20

20 Jul '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 20 July, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-07-20-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 6 July 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 06 Jul '20

06 Jul '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference today Monday 6 July, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion: Hackathon Wrap-up The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-07-06-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

1 0

How to normalize incoming/outgoing synaptic weights
by Keiko Fujii 29 Jun '20

29 Jun '20

Hello everyone, I would like to ask how to normalize synaptic weights during STDP learning. What I want to do is keeping the total amount of synaptic weights to/from each neuron constant. I try to describe my goal a bit more precisely: i: The index of a pre-synaptic neuron. j: The index of a post-synaptic neuron. w_ij(t): The synaptic weight from i-th neuron to j-th neuron at time=t. s_i(t): the sum of all incoming synaptic weights to i-th neuron at time=t. i.e. the sum of w_ij(t) over j. The goal is to set the sum of incoming weights (s_i(*)) to 1 by normalization (1 is just for simplicity). By STDP, we can get updated synaptic weight matrix w_ij(t+1), and the sum s_i(t+1) is not necessarily 1. So, I want to set w_ij(t+1) <- w_ij(t+1) / s_i(t+1) I briefly read the documentation for synaptic models( https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/stable/models/synapses.html). I am not very confident if my understanding is correct, but it seems that existing synaptic models handle only one synaptic weight. How can I gather data of all incoming(or outgoing as well) weights to a neuron and use the summation value inside of the STDP synapse model? Best regards, Keiko Fujii

2 1

Error: UnknownModelName
by Allen Rabayda 27 Jun '20

27 Jun '20

Dear Nest Community, Would anyone have insight into why I'm getting an UnknownModelName error? I'm new to Nest and am using Nest 18.0 on Lubuntu Virtual Box (Windows 10 OS). Thanks for any help. Best Regards, --Allen **** Error Message--additional details attached ****** raise exceptionCls(commandname, message) nest.ll_api.UnknownModelName: ('UnknownModelName in CopyModel_l_l_D: /stdp_izh_bitwise_correct_connection is not a known model name. Please check the modeldict for a list of available models.', 'UnknownModelName', <SLILiteral: CopyModel_l_l_D>, ': /stdp_izh_bitwise_correct_connection is not a known model name. Please check the modeldict for a list of available models.') ********************************************************

5 16

Install nest via homebrew
by Tammo Ippen 22 Jun '20

22 Jun '20

Hello nest users with a mac, From now on, it is possible to install nest via homebrew from the default homebrew-core tap: https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nest#default [1] You get nest 2.20.0 with OpenMP and PyNEST bindings with python 3.8 delivered as a 'bottle' (prebuild binary package) in a couple of seconds - with all dependencies. Go to https://brew.sh/ [2] and follow the installation of homebrew. When brew is installed, just type: brew install nest And you should see something like: $ brew install nest ==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/nest-2.20.0_1.catalina.bottle.tar.gz ==> Downloading from https://akamai.bintray.com/38/38bfd492f381cd059a495122d1c3342e8fb5095501c04… ######################################################################## 100.0% ==> Pouring nest-2.20.0_1.catalina.bottle.tar.gz Warning: nest dependency gcc was built with a different C++ standard library (libstdc++ from clang). This may cause problems at runtime. ==> Caveats The PyNEST bindings and its dependencies are installed with the python(a)3.8 formula. If you want to use PyNEST, use the Python interpreter from this path: /usr/local/opt/python(a)3.8/bin You may want to add this to your PATH. ==> Summary 🍺 /usr/local/Cellar/nest/2.20.0_1: 1,290 files, 21.2MB Now you can run nest like: $ nest -- N E S T -- Copyright (C) 2004 The NEST Initiative Version: nest-2.20.0 Built: Jun 22 2020 13:38:00 This program is provided AS IS and comes with NO WARRANTY. See the file LICENSE for details. Problems or suggestions? Visit https://www.nest-simulator.org Type 'help' to get more information. Type 'quit' or press CTRL-D to quit. SLI ] If you want to use PyNEST, you have to use the python(a)3.8 formula python - the dependencies numpy, scipy, etc. are also delivered via homebrew and they are build with the python(a)3.8 formula, which is keg-only [3]. Add the opt-bin path to your PATH variable like: export PATH=/usr/local/opt/python@3.8/bin:$PATH and you can start with: $ python3.8 -c 'import nest' -- N E S T -- Copyright (C) 2004 The NEST Initiative Version: nest-2.20.0 Built: Jun 22 2020 13:38:00 This program is provided AS IS and comes with NO WARRANTY. See the file LICENSE for details. Problems or suggestions? Visit https://www.nest-simulator.org Type 'nest.help()' to find out more about NEST. Best, Tammo Links: ------ [1] https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nest#default [2] https://brew.sh/ [3] https://docs.brew.sh/How-to-Build-Software-Outside-Homebrew-with-Homebrew-k…

1 0

Feature discussion: STDP and delays
by Dennis Terhorst 22 Jun '20

22 Jun '20

Dear NEST enthusiasts! In the NEST Meeting on May 25th <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-05-25-Open-NEST-Developer-…> [1] there was a very interesting discussion of handling of delays in networks with STDP in NEST. It became obvious, that this topic requires a more in-depth discussion and it was decided to do a separate VC for this discussion, which will happen this week on * Thursday, June 25, 2020 - 13:30 CEST with the connection details <https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/Connection-Details> [2] as usual. Best, Dennis [1]: https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-05-25-Open-NEST-Developer-… [2]: https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/Connection-Details i.e. https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 -- Dipl.-Phys. Dennis Terhorst Coordinator Software Development Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Theoretical Neuroscience, Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Jülich Research Centre, Member of the Helmholz Association and JARA 52425 Jülich, Germany Building 15.22 Room 4004 Phone +49 2461 61-85062 Fax +49 2461 61- 9460 d.terhorst(a)fz-juelich.de ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 22 June 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 22 Jun '20

22 Jun '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference on Monday 22 June, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion of topics that came up on the mailing list or that are suggested by the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-06-22-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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Installation on supercomputer failed
by Petia Koprinkova 19 Jun '20

19 Jun '20

Hi, We are trying to install NEST on supercomputer Ahitohol but we were unable to manage with some errors. Here attached is a screenshot with last reported errors. Could you help to resolve it?Regards,Petia

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LIF neuron with both current based and conductance based synapses
by Hartmut Schmidt 18 Jun '20

18 Jun '20

Dear all, I am trying to implement a network consisting of LIF neurons with mixed current based and conductance based synaptic connections. Eg. one LIF neuron which gets two inputs from which one is treated as current input and the other as conductance input. That means, how to treat the input should be encoded in the synapse and not in the type of the postsynaptic neuron. Is such a neuron model already implemented or is there a way to implement this? Thanks for your help. Best, Hartmut

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pipnest
by Robin Gilbert De Schepper 17 Jun '20

17 Jun '20

Hi, I created a little tool that provides packaging for NEST extension modules into python packages that can be `pip installed` on the target machine. https://pip-nest.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ First off, is this interesting to the community? It certainly seems easier to `pip install some-module` than to provide installation instructions, and I can now specify my modules as dependencies in code I distribute. Secondly, there are some shortcomings based on the fact that the pip install only reliably produces the build artifacts into python's site-packages and nest doesn't look for them there. This can probably only be elegantly solved by adding an `entry_point` to the nest python module so that these pip nest modules can announce themselves there? -- Robin De Schepper, MSc Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences Unit of Neurophysiology University of Pavia, Italy Via Forlanini 6, 27100 Pavia - Italy Tel: (+39) 038298-7607 http://www-5.unipv.it/dangelo/

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NEST Conference 2020 Program — Registration Deadline Monday 22 June 2020
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

Dear Colleagues! The virtual NEST Conference 2020 on 29/30 June is less than two weeks away and we are happy to invite you to an exciting program of presentations and workshops, which you will find below. The conference will be single track to facilitate interactions and include virtual coffee breakouts to mix and mingle. Please don't forget to register by MONDAY, 22 June 2020 at https://www.nest-simulator.org/conference. Please note that we now also accept PayPal as a payment method. See you at the NEST Conference 2020! Hans Ekkehard Plesser & Susanne Kunkel Monday 29 June, 2020 (all times are CEST) * 09:00 — Welcome & Introduction (Susanne Kunkel) * 09:15 — NEST user-level documentation: Why, how and what’s next? (Sara Konradi) * 09:35 — Exploring new Fenix resources using NEST (Alexander Patronis) * 09:55 — Minibreak * 10:00 — Toward a possible integration of NeuronGPU in NEST (Bruno Golosio) * 10:45 — Coffee breakout * 11:15 — Workshop: NEST multiscale co-simulation (Wouter Klijn) * 12:15 — Lunch break * 13:15 — Thalamo-cortical spiking model of incremental learning combining perception, context and NREM-sleep-mediated noise-resilience (Chiara De Luca) * 14:00 — Minibreak * 14:05 — An Integrated Model of Visual Perception and Reinforcement(Petia Koprinkova-Hristova) * 14:25 — Partial Information Decomposition Contextual Neurons in NEST(Sepehr Mahmoudian) * 14:45 — Coffee breakout * 15:15 — deNEST: a declarative frontend for specifying networks and running simulations in NEST (Tom Bugnon) * 15:35 — Primate perisylvian cortex in NEST: from reflex to small world (Harry Howard) * 15:55 — Minibreak * 16:00 — Modeling robust and efficient coding in the mouse primary visual cortex using computational perturbations (Stefan Mihalas) * 16:45 — Wrap-up (Hans Ekkehard Plesser) * 17:00 — Mingle Tuesday 30 June, 2020 (all times are CEST) * 09:00 — A spiking neural network builder for systematic data-to-model workflow(Carlos E Gutierrez) * 09:20 — Insite: A Generalized Pipeline for In-transit Visualization and Analysis(Simon Oehrl) * 09:40 — Minibreak * 09:45 — NEST Component for Modeling Spiking Neuron-Astrocyte Networks(Jugoslava Aćimović) * 10:30 — Coffee breakout * 11:00 — Atlas-mapped reconstruction and simulation of the cerebellar Lingula in NEST (Alice Geminiani) * 11:20 — Cerebro-cerebellar loops for sensorimotor adaptation (Alberto Antonietti) * 11:40 — Minibreak * 11:45 — Modeling plasticity inducing stimulation protocols in recurrent neuronal networks with homeostatic structural plasticity (Swathi Anil) * 12:30 — Lunch break * 13:30 — Dendrites in NEST (Willem Wybo) * 13:50 — Just-in-time compilation for NESTML models in NEST Simulator (Charl Linssen) * 14:10 — NEST Desktop: A web-based GUI for the NEST Simulator (Sebastian Spreizer) * 14:30 — Minibreak * 14:40 — Evolving interpretable plasticity rules using NEST (Jakob Jordan) * 15:25 — Coffee breakout * 15:45 — Workshop: deNEST: a declarative frontend for specifying networks and running simulations in NEST (Tom Bugnon & William Mayner) * 16:45 — Closing Remarks -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Data Science Section Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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Training SNNs with PyNEST
by s.kraemer96＠gmx.net 15 Jun '20

15 Jun '20

Dear all, I´m writing a master thesis on spiking neural networks and how transparent they are. For that I need to implement a SNN network and train it. So I started with Brian but that is much to complex and I don´t need something special. So I decided to use PyNest. I did all the tutorials but I´m missing a tutorial how to train the network. I don´t know how to put in a dataset to train the model. I haven´t found anything to this topic. So my questions are: 1. Can PyNest train set up a SNN and train it trough data and if not is there another simulator who can do this? 2. How do I do it? Is there anything I missed to read or can someone send me an example? This would be very helpful. Thanks for your help. Best, Sonja

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 8 June 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference on Monday 8 June, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion suggested from the teams. In-depth discussions will cover updates on the ongoing discussion around #1604 (STDP and delays) and proposed refactoring of the testing framework. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-06-08-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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[NEST users] Docker container with NEST3 and music
by Benjamin Staude 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

Hi NEST users, Does anyone know if there is a Docker container available that has NEST3 and the MUSIC interface installed? Best regards, Benjamin -- -- -- Dr. Benjamin Staude | Paul-Lincke-Ufer 7 | 10999 Berlin | benjamin.staude(a)gmail.com

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NEST Conference 2020 Registration now open
by Dennis Terhorst 04 Jun '20

04 Jun '20

The NEST Conference organization team would like to share the following exciting news: Dear Colleagues! The NEST Conference Website is open again on https://nest-simulator.org/conference and we have now opened for registration as well. Registration by 22 June 2020 is required for attendance. Only registered users will receive log-in information for the conference. Registration to the conference is * free of charge for members of the NEST Initiative * 35 CHF for non-members To qualify for the member rate, you must apply for membership in the NEST Initiative by 10 June. See http://www.nest-initiative.org/membership/ for information on how to join. Membership is currently free of charge for students, including PhD students, and 25 CHF annually for everyone else. We are looking forward to seeing you on 29/30 June! Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Data Science Section Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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NEST Conference 2020 Registration now open
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 03 Jun '20

03 Jun '20

Dear Colleagues! The NEST Conference Website is open again on https://nest-simulator.org/conference and we have now opened for registration as well. Registration by 22 June 2020 is required for attendance. Only registered users will receive log-in information for the conference. Registration to the conference is * free of charge for members of the NEST Initiative * 35 CHF for non-members To qualify for the member rate, you must apply for membership in the NEST Initiative by 10 June. See http://www.nest-initiative.org/membership/ for information on how to join. Membership is currently free of charge for students, including PhD students, and 25 CHF annually for everyone else. We are looking forward to seeing you on 29/30 June! Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Data Science Section Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

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NEST Conference Abstract Submission via EMAIL
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

Dear Colleagues, Regrettably, the website for the NEST Conference 2020 became unavailable shortly before the abstract submission deadline. We are currently working to restore the website. In the meantime, please submit your abstract BY EMAIL to conference(a)nest-initiative.org using the attached template (DOCX). Please also find an example abstract with detailed instructions attached. We extend the deadline to 2 June 2020. Best regards, Hans Ekkehard

2 1

NEST 2.20.1
by Ing Jyh Tsang 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

Hi, Is NEST 2.20.1<https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/milestone/8> the installed version (when following https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installation/index.html), since it solves issue #1394<https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues/1394>? it seems it is completed. If this is not, when will this happen? Thanks a lot Ing Jyh Tsang

1 0

send() function
by Itaru Kitayama 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Hi, How do I check where send() function implemented in connector_base.h is generated and stored in which object file? Itaru.

1 1

NEST Conference website not reachable
by Bruno Golosio 30 May '20

30 May '20

Hello, the deadline for submission of contributions is approaching and the NEST Conference website is down since yesterday. Is there an alternative way to submit contributions? Bruno -- Bruno Golosio, PhD Associate Professor of Applied Physics Coordinator of the School of Medical Physics Department of Physics University of Cagliari (Italy) [image: image.gif]

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Finding the right parameters for the balanced network
by nosratullah mohammadi 26 May '20

26 May '20

Dear Nest Users, I hope all of you be in health during these times. I want to create a balanced network as it’s the first step of my master thesis. The model I want to use is “iaf_cond_exp” which is a must for later purposes. There’s an example in Pynest folder of a balanced network, unless it’s using “iaf_psc_alpha” and it doesn’t fit my goals. When I try to change the model, and run the program, the network doesn’t get active and there’s nothing to record. I divided my question into two part: - Does anyone have a balanced network with “iaf_cond_exp” neurons and all of its necessary parameters to run? - In general, how do people find or calculate their network parameters to fit the neuron model they use and don’t get lost in the massive number of parameters. Note: I also tried to use the example of “brunel_alpha_evolution_strategies.py” example which is a genetic algorithm to find the best parameter, although it finds the parameters after 50 generation, I use those parameters afterwards. It just doesn’t work! Kind regards, Nosratullah Mohammadi

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NEST Conference 2020 — Submission deadline 1 June 2020
by Anne Elfgen 26 May '20

26 May '20

Dear all, Just a little reminder that the submission deadline for the (virtual) NEST Conference 2020 is *this Monday, June 1st. *We are looking forward to your contributions. The NEST Conference provides an opportunity for the NEST Community to meet, exchange success stories, swap advice, learn about current developments in and around NEST spiking network simulation and its application. This year's conference will take place as a *virtual conference* on *Monday/Tuesday 29/30 June 2020*. We are inviting contributions to the conference, including plenary talks, "posters" and breakout sessions on specific topics. *Important dates* *01 June 2020* — Deadline for submission of contributions *08 June 2020* — Notification of acceptance *10 June 2020* — Deadline for NEST Initiative Membership applications (registration is free for members in 2020) *22 June 2020* — Registration deadline *29 June 2020* — NEST Conference 2020 starts For more information on how to submit your contribution, register and participate, please visit the conference website *https://nest-simulator.org/conference* We are looking forward to seeing you all in June! Hans Ekkehard Plesser, Susanne Kunkel, Dennis Terhorst, Anne Elfgen & many more

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 25 May 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 25 May '20

25 May '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference on Monday 25 May, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion suggested from the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-05-25-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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Reset Kernel + STDP Performance
by Benedikt S. Vogler 22 May '20

22 May '20

Hello everyone! I am writing to you regarding two matters: Reset Network/Kernel in nest2->nest 3 In the last developer conference, Daphne Cornelisse talked about that she used ResetNetwork() to solve her problem. ResetNetwork() is marked as deprecated. No one said anything, so I got confused why this is apparently the recommended way or at least approved. She showed me, that it works (in her case). It is deprecated, so there is probably some good reasoning behind it. The documentation says: "ResetNetwork is deprecated and will be removed in NEST 3, because this function is not fully able to reset network and simulator state. What are the edge cases where the use causes problems? In this ticket, it is stated that the feature is just removed with any replacement. https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues/525 Thus, in nest3 there is only ResetKernel(). This means that you have to rebuild the network for any application where you do multiple simulations with different input or parameter changes. I am using nest3 for reinforcement learning and in each training episode, I have to extract all the weights and save them, reset the kernel, reconstruct the net, then load all the weights. This adds a lot of overhead in performance and bloats my code. I basically have another front-end storing the net and talking to the nest back-end. Therefore, the update to nest3 is a downgrade for many applications. I don’t have a solution for this issue, but I want to spark some discussion as I learned that I am not the only nest user to stumble into this issue. STDP Performance boost by manual computation in python In the paper "Demonstrating Advantages of Neuromorphic Computation: A Pilot Study“ by Wunderlich et al. (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00260/full) some performance improvement on STDP was reported. "The synaptic weight updates in each iteration were restricted to those synapses which transmitted spikes, i.e., the synapses from the active input unit to all output units (32 out of the 1,024 synapses), as the correlation a+ of all other synapses is zero in a perfect simulation without fixed-pattern noise. This has the effect of reducing the overall time required to simulate one iteration[…]“ The provided source code (https://github.com/electronicvisions/model-sw-pong/blob/976e0778ca05cfd96c4… <https://github.com/electronicvisions/model-sw-pong/blob/976e0778ca05cfd96c4…>) indeed contains a manual computation of STDP. When using the nest library I don’t expect to do some computation in python to be faster. It appears to me that the nest implementation is computing STDP every time, even without spikes? Maybe someone can comment on this whether this can be improved in nest? Kind regards, Benedikt S. Vogler -- Benedikt S. Vogler benedikt.s.vogler(a)tum.de Student M.Sc. Robotics, Cognition, Intelligence

3 3

Inhibitory plasticity with current based neurons
by Julia Gallinaro 11 May '20

11 May '20

Dear all, I would like to simulate a network of current based LIF ('iaf_psc_delta') with inhibitory plasticity. I tried using the model vogels_sprekeler_synapse, but the resulting weights are positive (and they increase when firing rate is high). I guess it is because when used with conductance based neurons, the resulting weights would be multiplied by a gI<0? And with current based neurons, this is not the case. The weight is directly used as the synaptic weight. Do I understand it right? Is there a way to implement inhibitory plasticity using the vogels_sprekeler_synapse and current based LIF? Best, Júlia

3 5

Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 27 April 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 11 May '20

11 May '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference on Monday 11 May, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion suggested from the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-05-11-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

2 2

Spike Train Frequencies Inspection
by Benedikt Feldotto 08 May '20

08 May '20

Dear all, I am working with frequency encoded spike trains and therefore like to observe the changing spike frequencies between different individual connections in my network (if possible in real time). While I can record the spike events with time using 'spike_detector' units, I couldn't find a direct method to calculate the frequency. Is there any method implemented or a preferred way to calculate frequencies from spike trains over time or would this calculation be up to the user? I am also thinking about using an indirect way by attaching a leaky integrate and fire neuron with infinite threshold. Thanks! Best, Benedikt -- Benedikt Feldotto M.Sc. Research Assistant Human Brain Project - Neurorobotics Technical University of Munich Department of Informatics Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems Room HB 2.02.20 Parkring 13 D-85748 Garching b. München Tel.: +49 89 289 17628 Mail: feldotto(a)in.tum.de https://www6.in.tum.de/en/people/benedikt-feldotto-msc/ www.neurorobotics.net

2 2

Control over the synaptic weight and synaptic decay time
by Nosratullah M 08 May '20

08 May '20

Dear all, I hope you are in staying safe. I'm working on a balanced network consisting of "iaf_cond_exp" neurone model. I want to have the control over these parameters at the same time: - increasing the synaptic decay time. - reducing the synaptic weight. The goal is to make the area under the synaptic current, constant. So that we know that the only parameter that is affecting on the network, is synaptic delay. I wonder if you know of any furmula in mathematics or any algorithm, that can help me, making this process automatic. And keeping the area under the curve, a constant value. Best wishes, Nosratullah

3 3

local_num_threads, multiprocessing and topology.ConnectLayers
by Juan Manuel Vicente 06 May '20

06 May '20

Hi all, I'm trying to understand some inner workings of Nest. Rigth now I'm running simulations with close half millons elements, using mpirun in a cluster with 25 nodes. The problem I am having is that the "setup" (layer creation and connections) phase takes close to 8min and the simulation only takes 1min. So I tried to use python's multiprocessing package to speed it up, with the following code: nest.ResetKernel() nest.SetKernelStatus({"local_num_threads": 1}) #... connections = [ (layer1, layer1, conn_ee_dict, 1), (layer1, layer2, conn_ee_dict, 2), (layer2, layer2, conn_ee_dict, 3), (layer2, layer1, conn_ee_dict, 4) ] # Process the connections. def parallel_topology_connect(parameters): [pre, post, projection, number] = parameters print(f"Connection number: {number}") topology.ConnectLayers(pre, post, projection) pool = multiprocessing.Pool(processes=4) pool.map(parallel_topology_connect, connections) The above example takes around 0.9s, but if the last two to lines are changed for a sequential call, it takes 2.1s: for [pre, post, projection, number] in connections: print(f"Connection number: {number}") topology.ConnectLayers(pre, post, projection) So far the multiprocessing works great, the problem comes when the "local_num_threads" parameters is changed from 1 to 2 or more, in the cluster it could be 32. The code gets stuck in the topology.Connect without any error, after a while I just stopped it. Also I realised that the tolopoly.ConnectLayers just spawn one thread to connects layers despite the local_num_threads is setted more than one. Any idea what is going on? Thanks in advance Juan Manuel PD: The full example code is attached (60 lines of code). The local_num_threads and multiprocessing_flag variables change the behaviors of the code.

4 5

Implementing Synaptic Failure Rate
by Joshua Stern 04 May '20

04 May '20

Hello, I hope everyone is well. I am working on replicating some results from Teremae et al 2012 <https://www.nature.com/articles/srep00485#Sec4> and have run into an area of uncertainty. The paper calls for there to be a synaptic weight-dependent failure rate of synaptic transmission: [image: image.png] Is there any way to implement this in Nest? If it would help, I am working on a custom neuron model built in Nestml. I can also write some C++ if it seems that there would be an easy way to add this functionality with a short function. Alternatively, are there canonical ways to alter network structure to account for such a failure rate if it cannot be implemented in Nest? Thank you and best wishes, Josh Stern

2 2

NEST3 / Some thoughts on NodeCollections and Connect
by Hans Ekkehard Plesser 01 May '20

01 May '20

Dear Colleagues, This mail is mostly relevant for developers, but I would also like interested users to take a look and comment. In https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues/1570#issuecomment-622380622 I have attempted to summarize a number of thoughts about the details of node representation and Connect() semantics. While a lot is in place, we still need to clarify some details in the near future, before we can release NEST 3. Your input is therefore welcome! If you haven't looked at NEST 3 yet, you may want to take a look at https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/latest/guides/nest2_to_nest3/nest2… first. Best regards, Hans Ekkehard -- Prof. Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Head, Data Science Section Faculty of Science and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences PO Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway Phone +47 6723 1560 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser(a)nmbu.no Home http://arken.nmbu.no/~plesser

1 0

NEST Conference 2020 goes virtual — Call for Contributions
by Anne Elfgen 30 Apr '20

30 Apr '20

Dear all, The NEST Initiative is excited to invite everyone interested in Neural Simulation Technology and the NEST Simulator to the NEST Conference 2020. The NEST Conference provides an opportunity for the NEST Community to meet, exchange success stories, swap advice, learn about current developments in and around NEST spiking network simulation and its application. This year's conference will take place as a *virtual conference* on *Monday/Tuesday 29/30 June 2020*. We are now inviting contributions to the conference, including plenary talks, "posters" and breakout sessions on specific topics. *Important dates* *01 June 2020* — Deadline for submission of contributions *08 June 2020* — Notification of acceptance *10 June 2020* — Deadline for NEST Initiative Membership applications (registration is free for members in 2020) *22 June 2020* — Registration deadline *29 June 2020* — NEST Conference 2020 starts For more information on how to submit your contribution, register and participate, please visit the conference website *https://nest-simulator.org/conference* We are looking forward to seeing you all in June! Hans Ekkehard Plesser, Susanne Kunkel, Dennis Terhorst, Anne Elfgen & many more

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error at installing nest2.20 from source code
by Abolfazl Ziaeemehr 29 Apr '20

29 Apr '20

Hello everyone, I used the source code to install nest simulator 2.20 from here <https://nest-simulator.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installation/linux_install.…> and did the following steps (I used to do the same steps for version 2.18 without error.) cmake -Dwith-python=3 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=</install/path> </path/to/NEST/src> make make install make installcheck I got this error from "make installcheck": Phase 1: Testing if SLI can execute scripts and report errors ------------------------------------------------------------- Running test 'selftests/test_pass.sli'... Running Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: NEST_DATA_DIR is not usable: Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: Directory '/usr/share/nest' does not exist. Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: I'm using the default: /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/share/nest Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: NEST_DOC_DIR is not usable: Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: Directory '/usr/share/doc/nest' does not exist. Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: I'm using the default: /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/share/doc/nest /usr/bin//bin/nest /usr/share/doc/nest/selftests/test_pass.sli /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/bin/nest_serial: 20: /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/bin/nest_serial: Apr: not found Failed: unexpected exit code 127 Running Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: NEST_DATA_DIR is not usable: Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: Directory '/usr/share/nest' does not exist. Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: I'm using the default: /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/share/nest Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: NEST_DOC_DIR is not usable: Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: Directory '/usr/share/doc/nest' does not exist. Apr 21 19:46:31 SLIStartup [Error]: I'm using the default: /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/share/doc/nest /usr/bin//bin/nest /usr/share/doc/nest/selftests/test_pass.sli /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/bin/nest_serial: 20: /home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/bin/nest_serial: Apr: not found *** *** An unexpected exit code usually hints at a bug in the test suite! *** *** Please report the problem at *** https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/issues *** *** To help us diagnose the problem, please attach the archived content *** of these directories to the issue: *** - '/home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/reports' *** - '/home/abolfazl/prog/install-dir/nest-simulator-2.20.0_build/reports/nest.CgbAi' *** CMakeFiles/installcheck.dir/build.make:57: recipe for target 'CMakeFiles/installcheck' failed make[3]: *** [CMakeFiles/installcheck] Error 2 CMakeFiles/Makefile2:99: recipe for target 'CMakeFiles/installcheck.dir/all' failed make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/installcheck.dir/all] Error 2 CMakeFiles/Makefile2:106: recipe for target 'CMakeFiles/installcheck.dir/rule' failed make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/installcheck.dir/rule] Error 2 Makefile:188: recipe for target 'installcheck' failed make: *** [installcheck] Error 2 -- regards, Abolfazl Ziaeemehr Department of Physics, PhD student in Computational Physics Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS) Tel: 0919 607 4296 Page: iasbs.ac.ir/~a.ziaeemehr

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Reset while keeping network connections
by Daphne Cornelisse 27 Apr '20

27 Apr '20

Dear Nest community, I have a network of LIF neurons ('iaf_cond_alpha') and I would like to implement STDP synapses, rather than the standard 'static_synapse'. I would like to be able to set a subset of the network to STDP synapses (e.g. all excitatory ones) and leave the rest static. This is how have implemented that currently (see code). I am using a for loop because I want to see how STDP changes the activity over time (over many iterations), which leaves me with the following two questions: *1. Is this a correct way to implement STDP in nest? * *2. Is there a way to reset the network such that the connections are not lost? *ResetNetwork() and ResetKernel() both seem to destroy all the network connections. While I would like to keep them, so that the network becomes less and less randomly connected per simulation. Thank you! Best, Daphne *CODE* # define network connectivity conn_dict = {'rule': 'pairwise_bernoulli', 'p': 0.1} # define dicts for static synapses static_ex_params = {'model':'static_synapse','weight': 6.0, 'delay': 1.5} static_in_params = {'model':'static_synapse','weight': -96.0, 'delay': 1.5} if self.STDP == 'ALL': # all synapses should be stdp ones, make connections between the two populations: # from exc neurons to all neurons nest.Connect(neurons_all[:self.NE], neurons_all, conn_dict, self.syn_params_ex) # from interneurons to all neurons nest.Connect(neurons_all[self.NE:], neurons_all, conn_dict, self.syn_params_in) elif self.STDP == 'EXC': # keep the inhibitory synapses static # connections from exc neurons to all neurons nest.Connect(neurons_all[:self.NE], neurons_all, conn_dict, self.syn_params_ex) # connections from interneurons to all neurons nest.Connect(neurons_all[self.NE:], neurons_all, conn_dict, static_in_params) where synapse_params_in = { 'model':'stdp_synapse', 'lambda': 0.01, 'alpha': 1.0, 'delay': 1.5, 'weight':-95.0 }

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Open NEST Video Conference Satellite Event: A declarative front-end for network and simulation specifications
by Dennis Terhorst 24 Apr '20

24 Apr '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! Additionally to the Open NEST Developers VC on Monday, we would like to announce a user contributed presentation of *A declarative front-end for network and simulation specifications* by /Tom Bugnon/ (Paris) and /Will Mayner/ (Wisconsin). on Monday 27 April, 16.00-17.00 CEST (UTC+2) / 9.00am CDT (UTC-5). This frontend to NEST allows to define the structure of more-or-less arbitrary simulations in a set of parameter files. Those let the user define network parameters (layers, neuron/synapse models, connections and nest.Topo "connection models", "input" layers etc.) and simulation parameters (set-up recorders, set-up "sessions", or units of simulations, for which the user can define specific inputs, changes in the state of some units, etc). This approach makes it easier to version-control the network and simulation specifications, share parameter files, perform parameter exploration, or run the same network in different conditions. We will meet in the same VC room, but due to the timezone difference of the presenters this had to be detached from the meeting in the morning. Connection details are given below. Looking forward to seeing you soon! Best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4 -- Dipl.-Phys. Dennis Terhorst Coordinator Software Development Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Theoretical Neuroscience, Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Jülich Research Centre, Member of the Helmholz Association and JARA 52425 Jülich, Germany Building 15.22 Room 4004 Phone +49 2461 61-85062 Fax +49 2461 61- 9460 d.terhorst(a)fz-juelich.de ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Volker Rieke Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 27 April 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 24 Apr '20

24 Apr '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next fortnightly Open NEST Developer Video Conference on Monday 27 April, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). This VC will be in the updated format and we may do some more explanation than I'd expect in future meetings. In the Project team round, a contact person of each team will give a short statement summarizing ongoing work in the team and cross-cutting points that need discussion among the teams. The remainder of the meeting we would go into a more in-depth discussion suggested from the teams. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Short introduction to Github project usage Project team round In-depth discussion The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-04-27-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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Re: SARS-CoV face mask sanitizing gels
by ywjingqing 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

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Question about MPI and multithreading
by kusch lionel 15 Apr '20

15 Apr '20

Dear all, I am actually working on the I/O for Nest with MPI. I am not aware of the solution of Nest for managing the communication between process and thread. I would like to learn more about it for adapting the interface with the actual solution. If someone can answer some of my questions : 1) By looking at the initialization of the MPI, I saw Nest use the /MPI_THREAD_FUNNELED /for the level of thread support. What is the reason for it? 2) This level of thread support surprise me because I suppose that it will overload one thread with all the MPI calls. Why do you do not choose the level /MPI_THREAD_SERIALIZED/? 3) I would like to have different levels for thread support. Do you think it's possible ? Thank you in advance for your answer, Kusch Lionel PS: The reference to the different MPI thread support : http://mpi.deino.net/mpi_functions/MPI_Init_thread.html

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GitHub Projects
by Dennis Terhorst 14 Apr '20

14 Apr '20

Dear NEST users and developers, some of you may already have noticed, that we recently updated a lot of issues and pull-requests in our repository. The changes are completely organizational and aim to provide a better overview and service to our community. In particular, we removed the "C:" category labels (Model, Kernel, PyNEST, Documentation, ...) and instead now make use of corresponding GitHub projects. There, issues and pull-requests are represented as "cards" on a Kanban-like board, which gives a comprehensive view on the current topics and enables dedicated discussions to focus more easily. For each project we assigned a contact person that will take care of organizing work for that subset of cards. You notice that also the "P:" progress labels have mostly been removed (except "blocked" and "won't fix"), as this is automatically tracked in the columns of the projects and is much easier to manage there. The change to GitHub projects enables us to discuss topics in a more focused fashion than detailed issue-by-issue, which will also be reflected in the Open NEST Developer Video Conference. Projects will give a general status update and can raise overarching questions into the discussion. The detailed issue-by-issue work on the other hand, is organized by the project groups separately and each group may decide to do separate meetings to discuss details. Besides the long-running projects corresponding to the category labels, larger short/mid-term activities are organized in "Feature-Projects". These projects aim to help developers to work on special or cross-cutting topics and are expected to be "finished" at some point. The open VC will cover them similar to the long-term projects if required. We hope these changes improve the overview over the work ongoing in all the many areas for users and developers, facilitate detailed discussions between relevant and interested people and make the work on the simulator more transparent. Best, Dennis

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 13 April 2020 SKIPPED (Easter Monday)
by Dennis Terhorst 13 Apr '20

13 Apr '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to wish you all a happy Easter time and I hope you are all well despite the current circumstances. Since it is Easter Monday in some parts of the world, we will skip this meeting. I am looking forward to seeing you again in our next Open NEST Developer Video Conference on April 27th. Stay safe, best, Dennis Terhorst

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Custom input for neurons
by Nicolas Martorell 06 Apr '20

06 Apr '20

Dear all, I'm new at NEST, and I've been trying to recreate a neural system from my work. This involves an IAF neuron which receives two different stimuli (they would be represented by inputs to the neuron - increases in post-synaptic potential). Since these are stimuli I control in my experiments, I need to be able to control their dynamics as the simulation progresses (for example, one of the stimuli has an exponentially larger effect as time progresses). Therefore, it's important for me to be able to control the dynamic of these inputs. However, I have not been able to find a way to do this. One idea I've had is to set the amplitude of a noise-generator to change according to a function of my choosing (going back to the previous example, it would be an exponential function). But this would require for this parameter to be changed mid-simulation, or to be assigned to a function and interpreted by NEST. Is any of this possible? Or alternatively, do you know of another way of accomplishing this? Thank you! Nicolas

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Open NEST Developer Video Conference Monday 30 March 2020 11:30 CEST (UTC+2)
by Dennis Terhorst 30 Mar '20

30 Mar '20

Dear NEST Users & Developers! I would like to invite you to our next bi-weekly Open NEST Developer Video Conference, today Monday 30 March, 11.30-12.30 CEST (UTC+2). Given the current circumstances today's meeting will be again via video conference only, so please do not meet in person! Stay safe! We discuss development status of relevant pull-requests/issues for the upcoming releases. Agenda Welcome Review of NEST User Mailing List Projects & Branches Review of open Github Pull Request Review of open Github Issues The agenda for this meeting is also available online, see https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/wiki/2020-03-30-Open-NEST-Developer-… Looking forward to seeing you soon! best, Dennis Terhorst ------------------ Log-in information ------------------ We use a virtual conference room provided by DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz). You can use the web client to connect. We however encourage everyone to use a headset for better audio quality or even a proper video conferencing system (see below) or software when available. Web client * Visit https://conf.dfn.de/webapp/conference/97938800 * Enter your name and allow your browser to use camera and microphone * The conference does not need a PIN to join, just click join and you're in. In case you see a dfnconf logo and the phrase "Auf den Meetingveranstalter warten", just be patient, the meeting host needs to join first (a voice will tell you). VC system/software How to log in with a video conferencing system, depends on you VC system or software. - Using the H.323 protocol (eg Polycom): vc.dfn.net##97938800 or 194.95.240.2##97938800 - Using the SIP protocol:97938800@vc.dfn.de - By telephone: +49-30-200-97938800 For those who do not have a video conference system or suitable software, Polycom provides a pretty good free app for iOS and Android, so you can join from your tablet (Polycom RealPresence Mobile, available from AppStore/PlayStore). Note that firewalls may interfere with videoconferencing in various and sometimes confusing ways. For more technical information on logging in from various VC systems, please see http://vcc.zih.tu-dresden.de/index.php?linkid=1.1.3.4

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Memory issues arising in small neural networks
by sternj＠college.harvard.edu 27 Mar '20

27 Mar '20

Hello all, Hope everyone is staying safe and well in these difficult times. I am an undergrad who is just getting started with this library, so I want to apologize in advance for the basic question. I am having issues I believe are memory-related when I call GetConnections on rather small networks. Here is my script: import nest # memory testing nest.ResetKernel() n = 5 # number of neurons epop1 = nest.Create("iaf_psc_alpha",n) epop2 = nest.Create("iaf_psc_alpha",n) nest.Connect(epop1,epop2,{'rule': 'all_to_all'}) # we can now query the synapses using GetConnections conns = nest.GetConnections(epop1,target = epop2) nest.GetStatus(conns,["target","weight"]) This runs fine for n < 5, but I get the following error with n >=5: Assertion failed: (source_lid < MAX_LID), function set_source_lid, file /usr/local/miniconda/conda-bld/nest-simulator_1583214474797/work/nestkernel/target_data.h, line 264. Abort trap: 6 I have run some of the example scripts like brunel_alpha_numpy with a few thousand neurons and they work just fine. Am I making an improper call to GetConnections here? And if so, what is a better way to dynamically check connectivity? Alternatively, might there be something wrong with my Nest environment? And if so, what should I look at to troubleshoot this? Thank you so much for your help. Best wishes, Josh

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Error message when installing with cmake
by benedikt.s.vogler＠tum.de 22 Mar '20

22 Mar '20

Hello everyone! I tried installing nest using cmake version 3.14 on ubuntu. This is the command I tried from the nest-simulator directory: cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=/home/bsvogler/Dokumente/nest /home/bsvogler/Dokumente/nest-simulator/nest I get the following two error messages and cannot find any information on how to resolve this issue ========= CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:97 (install): install TARGETS given no RUNTIME DESTINATION for executable target "nest". CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:106 (FILTER_HEADERS): Unknown CMake command "FILTER_HEADERS". CMake Warning (dev) in CMakeLists.txt: No cmake_minimum_required command is present. A line of code such as cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13) should be added at the top of the file. The version specified may be lower if you wish to support older CMake versions for this project. For more information run "cmake --help-policy CMP0000". This warning is for project developers. Use -Wno-dev to suppress it. -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred! See also "/home/bsvogler/Dokumente/nest-simulator/nestinstall/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log". ======= I tried the master branch and the nest3 branch. I need a working nest 3 simulator. I managed to compile just yesterday but in the meantime, I reinstalled the operating system. Please help me out. Kind regards, Benedikt S. Vogler

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