A B S T R A C TThree-dimensional modelling of the flow of gas and plasma in a section of the Galaxy has been carried out to study the evolution and formation of Galactic chimneys and worms. It is found that clustered supernovae located on either side of the Galactic plane are sources for the formation of well-collimated chimneys, having widths of ,150-200 pc. The thick gas disc may have a role in the collimation of chimneys. Channel maps of disc gas, obtained from the simulations, show the presence of sheet-like structures running perpendicular to the Galactic plane and resembling worms. Worms are believed to result from the break-up of the shells and supershells. However, the simulations show that although some worms correlate well with the debris of broken shells/supershells, others do not. They are cold gas that has been accelerated in the disc and rise on to the thick gas disc.

Observations with the Venus Express Orbiter reveal complex polar atmospheric dynamics.

a b s t r a c tWe study the effects of migrating solar tides on the winds at the cloud tops of the polar region of Venus.The winds were measured using cloud tracking on images obtained at wavelengths of 3.9 and 5.0 lm by the instrument VIRTIS-M onboard Venus Express. These wavelengths probe about the same altitude close to the cloud tops, allowing for the first time to retrieve winds simultaneously in the day and nightside of the planet. We use a dataset with observations from 16 orbits, covering a time span of 289 days and a latitude range between 70°S and 85°S, the region where the so called cold collar resides. Diurnal and quarter-diurnal tides (wavenumbers 1 and 4) were detected in the wind field, with a decoupled influence on the zonal and meridional directions. The diurnal tide is the dominant harmonic with amplitudes of about 4.7 m/s exclusively affecting the meridional component of the wind and forcing a solar-to-antisolar circulation at the polar region. The quarter-diurnal mode is only apparent in the zonal wind in a restricted latitude range with amplitudes $2.2 m/s. The spatial structure of the diurnal tide has also been investigated, obtaining a vertical wavelength of about 8 km, in accordance with predictions by models. Finally, a theoretical relation between the amplitudes of tidal temperature and tidal wind has been derived and its validity tested with models and results from previous missions.

The possibility that infantile nystagmus (IN) may reflect a failure in early sensorimotor integration has been proposed for more than a century, but is only recently being borne out in animal studies. The underlying neural and genetic substrate for this plasticity is complex. We propose that, in most cases, IN develops as a developmental response to reduced contrast sensitivity to high-spatial frequencies in an early "critical period," however caused, whether by structural malformations (e.g. foveal hypoplasia) or poor optics (e.g. cataract). As shown by psychophysics, contrast sensitivity to low spatial frequencies is enhanced by motion of the image across the retina. Based on our previous theoretical study (Harris & Berry, Nonlinear Dynamics, 2006), we argue that the best compromise between moving the image and maintaining the image near the fovea (or its remnant) is to oscillate the eyes with jerk nystagmus with increasing velocity waveforms, as seen empirically. The generation of jerk waveforms relies heavily on the saccadic system, which is immature in infancy. Pendular waveforms may therefore provide an alternative to jerk waveforms, and may explain why they are seen more often in young infants. We discuss the implications of this developmental model for the need to synchronize sensory and motor developments in normal development. Failure of this synchronization may also explain some idiopathic cases.KEYWORDS congenital nystagmus, infant eye movements, oscular oscillations, developmental plasticity, visual development, optimal controlIn the congenital cases [of nystagmus] it is probable that the absence of the stimulus that accurate retinal impressions afford interferes with the functional development of the co-ordinating centers for the orbital muscles [Swanzy, 1895, p542].

Abstract. Congenital nystagmus (CN) is an incurable pathological spontaneous oscillation of the eyes with an onset in the first few months of life. The pathophysiology of CN is mysterious. There is no consistent neurological abnormality, but the majority of patients have a wide range of unrelated congenital visual abnormalities affecting either the cornea, lens, retina or optic nerve. In this theoretical study, we show that these eye oscillations could develop as an adaptive response to maximize visual contrast with poor foveal function in the infant visuomotor system, at a time of peak neural plasticity. We argue that in a visual system with abnormally poor high spatial frequency sensitivity, image contrast is not only maintained by keeping the image on the fovea (or its remnant) but also by some degree of image motion. Using the calculus of variations, we show that the optimal trade-off between these conflicting goals is to generate oscillatory eye movements with increasing velocity waveforms, as seen in real CN. When we include a stochastic component to the start of each epoch (quick-phase inaccuracy) various observed waveforms (including pseudo-cycloid) emerge as optimal strategies. Using the delay embedding technique, we find a low fractional dimension as reported in real data. We further show that, if a velocity command-based pre-motor circuitry (neural integrator) is harnessed to generate these waveforms, the emergence of a null region is inevitable. We conclude that CN could emerge paradoxically as an 'optimal' adaptive response in the infant visual system during an early critical period. This can explain why CN does not emerge later in life and why CN is so refractory to treatment. It also implies that any therapeutic intervention would need to be very early in life.