Information Optimization in Coupled Audio-Visual Cortical Maps

Barn owls hunt in the dark by using cues from both sight and sound to locate their prey. This task is facilitated by topographic maps of the external space formed by neurons (e.g., in the optic tectum) that respond to visual or aural signals from a specific direction. Plasticity of these maps has been studied in owls forced to wear prismatic spectacles that shift their visual field. Adaptive behavior in young owls is accompanied by a compensating shift in the response of (mapped) neurons to auditory signals. We model the receptive fields of such neurons by linear filters that sample correlated audio-visual signals, and search for filters that maximize the gathered information, while subject to the costs of rewiring neurons. Assuming a higher fidelity of visual information, we find that the corresponding receptive fields are robust and unchanged by artificial shifts. The shape of the aural receptive field, however, is controlled by correlations between sight and sound. In response to prismatic glasses, the aural receptive fields shift in the compensating direction, although their shape is modified due to the costs of rewiring.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Mitigating Autonomous Vehicle GPS Spoofing Attacks through Scene Text Observations

This paper investigates both from an empirical and a systems-based perspective, how surrounding textual information can be leveraged towards the mitigation of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) and self-driving cars Global Positioning System (GPS) signal spoofing attacks. The paper presents and proposes methods of how AVs and self-driving cars can extract, as they travel along a trajectory, surrounding textual information through machine-learning based Scene Text Recognition (STR). The paper researches and proposes geospatial models which can be applied to the extracted textual information in order to build a text-based geolocation system for the purposes of validating the received GPS signal. The ultimate contribution of the paper is to lay the groundwork towards enhancing the Cybersecurity of the current and future Autonomous Vehicle and self-driving car ecosystem by addressing its Achilles heel, namely insecure and inaccurate geolocation due to GPS spoofing attacks

A Survey Study Evaluating and Comparing the Health Literacy Knowledge and Communication Skills Used by Nurses and Physicians

Health literacy (HL) is considered as an interaction between the demands of health systems and the skills of individuals. The current global approach demands health professionals to be more accountable for universal precautions approach and improve communication skills, and employ strategies to confirm patients' understanding. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of health care professionals (HCPs) about HL and their communication skills, and its effect on their practices, and to compare the findings among subgroups of HCPs. An online cross-sectional survey involving 29 items was developed for sociodemographic and professional characteristics and knowledge, attitude, and practices evaluation. Health care professionals reached by occupational organizations and social media platforms. Among the 277 participants that answered the questions, 184 were physicians and 78 were nurses, and 37.99% of physicians and 18.42% nurses heard about the term "HL" through this survey. Most of the participants stated their willingness to receive information/training on the subject and that knowing HL level would change their approach to and outcomes of the patients. Nurses were using a variety of methods that improve communication with patients and considered HCPs' lack of knowledge of the concept of "HL" and their neglect of HL as obstacles to its evaluation more than physicians. These results emphasize the urgent need of initiatives to be taken to improve the awareness of HCPs of HL and the subsequent incorporation of these initiatives into the daily health care services they provide. Nurses' awareness of HL is higher and they are already better at incorporating HL-sensitive items into their practices. Both graduate and continuing education programs need to be modified to improve HL knowledge of all HCPs and its positive effects on health care. The current structure of the roles and responsibilities of these professions needs to be improved to make it more HL sensitive

Econometric analyses of horticultural production and marketing in Central and Eastern Ethiopia

Keywords: vegetables, food and cash crops, land and labour allocations, crop and market outlet choice, price information, farm households, Ethiopia.The central item of this research is to examine the development of less-favoured areas through commercializing small-scale agriculture that produces crops with export potential, particularly in horticulture.First the role of horticulture, along with other non-traditional agricultural commodities, in stabilizing the export income of Ethiopia is analyzed using a portfolio approach. Next, farm household land and labour allocation decisions to cash and food crop production are investigated using household survey data collected from Central and Eastern Ethiopia. Using the same survey data, crop and market outlet choice interactions at household level are analyzed to examine the impact of institutional arrangements on agricultural commercialization. Finally, farmers' bargaining power on tomatoes transacted at farm-gate under asymmetric price information is examined.The study shows that horticultural products may stabilize export income at tbc macro-economic level and therefore it is worthwhile to explore the possibilities for growth of this sector. At household level, farm capital and motor pump ownership are the major elements, among others, influencing land and labour allocation decisions to cash crop production. For some cash crops, there is interdependence between the share of land allocated to a given crop and the share of the specific crop harvest sold at a farm-gate implying that institutional arrangements influence household crop choices and the level of commercialization. Results from the bargaining power analysis show that well informed farmers are more committed to their initial ask prices than other farmers during tomato price negotiations at a farm-gate. This implies that market price information enhances farmers' bargaining power on prices.In general, institutional arrangements that enhance small-scale farmers' working capital, secure the existence of market outlets for vegetables and provide price information are needed to influence farm household land and labour allocation decisions towards cash crop production. The findings of this thesis help to understand the process of moving towards commercialized small-scale agriculture to bring rural development and better welfare to the rural poor and particularly for those living in less-favoured areas

Farm-gate tomato price negotiations under asymmetric information information

This article provides an empirical analysis of farm-gate tomato price negotiations under asymmetric information. Regression models are estimated to analyze when and by how much sellers stick to their initial ask prices and what explains the variation in the initial ask¿offer price spread. Detailed information on 66 farm-gate tomato transactions and daily tomato wholesale price data from the central vegetable market in Addis Ababa are used for the analysis. Estimation results show that farmers are less committed to their initial ask price when the buyer speaks out the transaction price first, when their quality perceptions of the tomatoes being transacted differ from those of the buyers, and when their tomato farm is at a large distance from the main road. Sellers stick more to their initial ask price when they know that the central market price is high. The initial ask¿offer price spread decreases when the buyer speaks out the initial negotiation price first, but increases in the difference in quality perception between buyer and seller, and in the quantity of tomatoes being transacted

Land and Labour Allocation Decisions in the Shift from Subsistence to Commercial Agriculture

This chapter assesses farm household land and labour allocation decisions under imperfect factor and product markets. A non-separable farm household model is adapted to obtain econometric estimates of land and labour allocation decisions under different market participation regimes. Survey data obtained from a sample of 154 farm households producing both cash and food crops in central and eastern Ethiopia is used for the analysis. Endogenously switching regression estimation results shows that market participation, which is household specific, affects the quantity of land and labour that households allocate to food and cash crop production. There is also a significant regional difference in resource allocation decisions. Farm capital ownership (including motor pump) influences the allocation decisions. Thus, policies improving the efficiency in rural factor and product markets promote farm households' participation in these markets and orient their resource allocation decisions towards more cash crop production and higher farm income

Hunting Increases Phosphorylation of Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type II in Adult Barn Owls

Juvenile barn owls readily adapt to prismatic spectacles, whereas adult owls living under standard aviary conditions do not. We previously demonstrated that phosphorylation of the cyclic-AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) provides a readout of the instructive signals that guide plasticity in juveniles. Here we investigated phosphorylation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (pCaMKII) in both juveniles and adults. In contrast to CREB, we found no differences in pCaMKII expression between prism-wearing and control juveniles within the external nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICX), the major site of plasticity. For prism-wearing adults that hunted live mice and are capable of adaptation, expression of pCaMKII was increased relative to prism-wearing adults that fed passively on dead mice and are not capable of adaptation. This effect did not bear the hallmarks of instructive information: it was not localized to rostral ICX and did not exhibit a patchy distribution reflecting discrete bimodal stimuli. These data are consistent with a role for CaMKII as a permissive rather than an instructive factor. In addition, the paucity of pCaMKII expression in passively fed adults suggests that the permissive default setting is "off" in adults