Faculty Perspectives on Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Integration: A Descriptive Study from the American University in Cairo

The interdisciplinary approach and the science of the brain are successfully wedded. Globally, neuroscience is expanding and offering substantial advances and versatile applications within various domains affirming the worthiness of its investments; however, nationally, a similar engagement with the field is not evident. This study proposes the integrative research cloud model as a framework for interdisciplinary engagement. The American University in Cairo (AUC) is known for its forward-looking strategy and belief in interdisciplinarity that is why it was chosen as the setting for this study. Accordingly, the opinions and perspectives of its faculty from the different schools and departments on the new emerging science were explored using survey research. Also, their familiarity with the field, their attitudes towards collaboration, their beliefs of the field’s relevance to their domains, and their willingness to be part of interdisciplinary brain research were all examined. Biphasic data analysis was carried out where quantitative data was analyzed descriptively and inferentially, and then qualitative data was thematically coded and studied yielding six major themes. The survey response rate was almost 30%, and nearly half of the respondents were familiar with the field. Despite the challenges, faculty were interested and willing to engage with interdisciplinary brain research, and they believed it is a timely endeavor that is worth the investment. They also trusted that AUC could be the national and regional champion in this field, and hoped to realize such engagement in the near future

Digital Twins: Potentials, Ethical Issues, and Limitations

After Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the subject of Digital Twins has emerged as another promising technology, advocated, built, and sold by various IT companies. The approach aims to produce highly realistic models of real systems. In the case of dynamically changing systems, such digital twins would have a life, i.e. they would change their behaviour over time and, in perspective, take decisions like their real counterparts \textemdash so the vision. In contrast to animated avatars, however, which only imitate the behaviour of real systems, like deep fakes, digital twins aim to be accurate "digital copies", i.e. "duplicates" of reality, which may interact with reality and with their physical counterparts. This chapter explores, what are possible applications and implications, limitations, and threats.Comment: 22 pages, in Andrej Zwitter and Oskar Gstrein, Handbook on the Politics and Governance of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, Edward Elgar [forthcoming] (Handbooks in Political Science series

Backwards is the way forward: feedback in the cortical hierarchy predicts the expected future

Clark offers a powerful description of the brain as a prediction machine, which offers progress on two distinct levels. First, on an abstract conceptual level, it provides a unifying framework for perception, action, and cognition (including subdivisions such as attention, expectation, and imagination). Second, hierarchical prediction offers progress on a concrete descriptive level for testing and constraining conceptual elements and mechanisms of predictive coding models (estimation of predictions, prediction errors, and internal models)

The microbiota-gut-brain axis: from dysbiosis to neurodegenerative disease

Treballs Finals de Grau de Farmàcia, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de l'Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, 2022. Tutor/a: Raquel Martín VenegasThe relation between the gut and the brain has been discussed for years, but the concept of gut microbiota (GM) has not been linked for so long. Having suggested its involvement in neurodegenerative disorders, this literature review aims to summarise the current knowledge on the possible bidirectional pathways that could explain it, while discussing the composition and alterations of the GM and the main pathological features that characterise neurodegeneration. It also presents the existing scientific evidence on the use of GM as a therapeutic target, accompanied by a systematic review-meta-analysis that evaluates the indication of one of the possible interventions: the faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). GM is made up of the trillions of microorganisms in the gut, mostly bacteria, which interact dynamically with the host, contributing to both health and disease. These, through neural, endocrine and immune pathways, based on mechanisms that require further research, can modify the gut-brain axis promoting neurodegenerative processes such as neuroinflammation, protein misfolding and loss of integrity of the intestinal and blood-brain barriers, thus facilitating the passage of components derived from a deregulated GM that has been characterised in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. Although more studies are needed, the promising results obtained in animal and more limited human trials, using GM modulating interventions such as oral bacteriotherapy or FMT, give hope for the cure and early detection of these increasingly prevalent diseases

Multi-level agent-based modeling - A literature survey

During last decade, multi-level agent-based modeling has received significant and dramatically increasing interest. In this article we present a comprehensive and structured review of literature on the subject. We present the main theoretical contributions and application domains of this concept, with an emphasis on social, flow, biological and biomedical models.Comment: v2. Ref 102 added. v3-4 Many refs and text added v5-6 bibliographic statistics updated. v7 Change of the name of the paper to reflect what it became, many refs and text added, bibliographic statistics update

Emotional contagion and prosocial behavior in rodents

Empathy is critical to adjusting our behavior to the state of others. The past decade dramatically deepened our understanding of the biological origin of this capacity. We now understand that rodents robustly show emotional contagion for the distress of others via neural structures homologous to those involved in human empathy. Their propensity to approach others in distress strengthens this effect. Although rodents can also learn to favor behaviors that benefit others via structures overlapping with those of emotional contagion, they do so less reliably and more selectively. Together, this suggests evolution selected mechanisms for emotional contagion to prepare animals for dangers by using others as sentinels. Such shared emotions additionally can, under certain circumstances, promote prosocial behavior

A role for tunneling nanotubes in virus spread

Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are actin-rich intercellular conduits that mediate distant cell-to-cell communication and enable the transfer of various cargos, including proteins, organelles, and virions. They play vital roles in both physiological and pathological processes. In this review, we focus on TNTs in different types of viruses, including retroviruses such as HIV, HTLV, influenza A, herpesvirus, paramyxovirus, alphavirus and SARS-CoV-2. We summarize the viral proteins responsible for inducing TNT formation and explore how these virus-induced TNTs facilitate intercellular communication, thereby promoting viral spread. Furthermore, we highlight other virus infections that can induce TNT-like structures, facilitating the dissemination of viruses. Moreover, TNTs promote intercellular spread of certain viruses even in the presence of neutralizing antibodies and antiviral drugs, posing significant challenges in combating viral infections. Understanding the mechanisms underlying viral spread via TNTs provides valuable insights into potential drug targets and contributes to the development of effective therapies for viral infections

An Open Logic Approach to EPM

open2noEPM is a high operative and didactic versatile tool and new application areas are envisaged continuously. In turn, this new awareness has allowed to enlarge our panorama for neurocognitive system EPM is a high operative and didactic versatile tool and new application areas are envisaged continuosly. In turn, this new awareness has allowed to enlarge our panorama for neurocognitive system behavior understanding, and to develop information conservation and regeneration systems in a numeric self-reflexive/reflective evolutive reference framework. Unfortunately, a logically closed model cannot cope with ontological uncertainty by itself; it needs a complementary logical aperture operational support extension. To achieve this goal, it is possible to use two coupled irreducible information management subsystems, based on the following ideal coupled irreducible asymptotic dichotomy: "Information Reliable Predictability" and "Information Reliable Unpredictability" subsystems. To behave realistically, overall system must guarantee both Logical Closure and Logical Aperture, both fed by environmental "noise" (better… from what human beings call "noise"). So, a natural operating point can emerge as a new Trans-disciplinary Reality Level, out of the Interaction of Two Complementary Irreducible Information Management Subsystems within their environment. In this way, it is possible to extend the traditional EPM approach in order to profit by both classic EPM intrinsic Self-Reflexive Functional Logical Closure and new numeric CICT Self-Reflective Functional Logical Aperture. EPM can be thought as a reliable starting subsystem to initialize a process of continuous self-organizing and self-logic learning refinement. understanding, and to develop information conservation and regeneration systems in a numeric self-reflexive/reflective evolutive reference framework. Unfortunately, a logically closed model cannot cope with ontological uncertainty by itself; it needs a complementary logical aperture operational support extension. To achieve this goal, it is possible to use two coupled irreducible information management subsystems, based on the following ideal coupled irreducible asymptotic dichotomy: "Information Reliable Predictability" and "Information Reliable Unpredictability" subsystems. To behave realistically, overall system must guarantee both Logical Closure and Logical Aperture, both fed by environmental "noise" (better… from what human beings call "noise"). So, a natural operating point can emerge as a new Trans-disciplinary Reality Level, out of the Interaction of Two Complementary Irreducible Information Management Subsystems within their environment. In this way, it is possible to extend the traditional EPM approach in order to profit by both classic EPM intrinsic Self-Reflexive Functional Logical Closure and new numeric CICT Self-Reflective Functional Logical Aperture. EPM can be thought as a reliable starting subsystem to initialize a process of continuous self-organizing and self-logic learning refinement.Fiorini, Rodolfo; Degiacomo, PieroFiorini, Rodolfo; Degiacomo, Pier