Cultural Neuroeconomics of Intertemporal Choice

According to theories of cultural neuroscience, Westerners and Easterners may have distinct styles of cognition (e.g., different allocation of attention). Previous research has shown that Westerners and Easterners tend to utilize analytical and holistic cognitive styles, respectively. On the other hand, little is known regarding the cultural differences in neuroeconomic behavior. For instance, economic decisions may be affected by cultural differences in neurocomputational processing underlying attention; however, this area of neuroeconomics has been largely understudied. In the present paper, we attempt to bridge this gap by considering the links between the theory of cultural neuroscience and neuroeconomic theory\ud of the role of attention in intertemporal choice. We predict that (i) Westerners are more impulsive and inconsistent in intertemporal choice in comparison to Easterners, and (ii) Westerners more steeply discount delayed monetary losses than Easterners. We examine these predictions by utilizing a novel temporal discounting model based on Tsallis' statistics (i.e. a q-exponential model). Our preliminary analysis of temporal discounting of gains and losses by Americans and Japanese confirmed the predictions from the cultural neuroeconomic theory. Future study directions, employing computational modeling via neural networks, are briefly outlined and discussed

Evolution of ethnocentrism on undirected and directed Barabási-Albert networks

Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study the evolution of contigent cooperation and ethnocentrism in the one-move game. Interactions and reproduction among computational agents are simulated on undirected and directed Barabási-\ud Albert (BA) networks. We first replicate the Hammond-Axelrod model of in-group favoritism on a square lattice and then generalize this model on undirected and directed BA networks for both asexual and sexual reproduction cases. Our simulations demonstrate that irrespective of the mode of reproduction, ethnocentric strategy becomes common even though cooperation is individually costly and mechanisms such as reciprocity or conformity are absent. Moreover, our results indicate that the spread of favoritism toward similar others highly depends on the network topology and the associated heterogeneity of the studied population

The Molecular Biodiversity of Protein Targeting and Protein Transport Related to the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Looking at the variety of the thousands of different polypeptides that have been focused on in the research on the endoplasmic reticulum from the last five decades taught us one humble lesson: no one size fits all. Cells use an impressive array of components to enable the safe transport of protein cargo from the cytosolic ribosomes to the endoplasmic reticulum. Safety during the transit is warranted by the interplay of cytosolic chaperones, membrane receptors, and protein translocases that together form functional networks and serve as protein targeting and translocation routes. While two targeting routes to the endoplasmic reticulum, SRP (signal recognition particle) and GET (guided entry of tail-anchored proteins), prefer targeting determinants at the N- and C-terminus of the cargo polypeptide, respectively, the recently discovered SND (SRP-independent) route seems to preferentially cater for cargos with non-generic targeting signals that are less hydrophobic or more distant from the termini. With an emphasis on targeting routes and protein translocases, we will discuss those functional networks that drive efficient protein topogenesis and shed light on their redundant and dynamic nature in health and disease

Universality of preference behaviors in online music-listener bipartite networks: A Big Data analysis

We investigate the formation of musical preferences of millions of users of the NetEase Cloud Music (NCM), one of the largest online music platforms in China. We combine the methods from complex networks theory and information sciences within the context of Big Data analysis to unveil statistical patterns and community structures underlying the formation and evolution of musical preference behaviors. Our analyses address the decay patterns of music influence, users' sensitivity to music, age and gender differences, and their relationship to regional economic indicators. Employing community detection in user-music bipartite networks, we identified eight major cultural communities in the population of NCM users. Female users exhibited higher within-group variability in preference behavior than males, with a major transition occurring around the age of 25. Moreveor, the musical tastes and the preference diversity measures of women were also more strongly associated with economic factors. However, in spite of the highly variable popularity of music tracks and the identified cultural and demographic differences, we observed that the evolution of musical preferences over time followed a power-law-like decaying function, and that NCM listeners showed the highest sensitivity to music released in their adolescence, peaking at the age of 13. Our findings suggest the existence of universal properties in the formation of musical tastes but also their culture-specific relationship to demographic factors, with wide-ranging implications for community detection and recommendation system design in online music platforms.Comment: 23 pages, 15 Figures, 4 Table

The missing neurocognitive and artificial general intelligence bases of robocup reasearch: What still needs to be done before 2050?

Contains fulltext : 73427.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access

Influence of geography on language competition

Competition between languages or cultural traits diffusing in the same geographical area is studied combining the language competition model of Abrams and Strogatz and a human dispersal model on an inhomogeneous substrate. Also, the effect of population growth is discussed. It is shown through numerical experiments that the final configuration of the surviving language can be strongly affected by geographical and historical factors. These factors are not related to the dynamics of culture transmission, but rather to initial population distributions as well as geographical boundaries and inhomogeneities, which modulate the diffusion process.Comment: typos in contact information have been corrected - text/figures not change

Cooperation in the snowdrift game on directed small-world networks under self-questioning and noisy conditions

Cooperation in the evolutionary snowdrift game with a self-questioning updating mechanism is studied on annealed and quenched small-world networks with directed couplings. Around the payoff parameter value $r=0.5$, we find a size-invariant symmetrical cooperation effect. While generally suppressing cooperation for $r>0.5$ payoffs, rewired networks facilitated cooperative behavior for $r<0.5$. Fair amounts of noise were found to break the observed symmetry and further weaken cooperation at relatively large values of $r$. However, in the absence of noise, the self-questioning mechanism recovers symmetrical behavior and elevates altruism even under large-reward conditions. Our results suggest that an updating mechanism of this type is necessary to stabilize cooperation in a spatially structured environment which is otherwise detrimental to cooperative behavior, especially at high cost-to-benefit ratios. Additionally, we employ component and local stability analyses to better understand the nature of the manifested dynamics.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Proteomics Identifies Substrates and a Novel Component in hSnd2-Dependent ER Protein Targeting

Importing proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is essential for about 30% of the human proteome. It involves the targeting of precursor proteins to the ER and their insertion into or translocation across the ER membrane. Furthermore, it relies on signals in the precursor polypeptides and components, which read the signals and facilitate their targeting to a protein-conducting channel in the ER membrane, the Sec61 complex. Compared to the SRP- and TRC-dependent pathways, little is known about the SRP-independent/SND pathway. Our aim was to identify additional components and characterize the client spectrum of the human SND pathway. The established strategy of combining the depletion of the central hSnd2 component from HeLa cells with proteomic and differential protein abundance analysis was used. The SRP and TRC targeting pathways were analyzed in comparison. TMEM109 was characterized as hSnd3. Unlike SRP but similar to TRC, the SND clients are predominantly membrane proteins with N-terminal, central, or C-terminal targeting signals

Proteomics Identifies Substrates and a Novel Component in hSnd2-Dependent ER Protein Targeting

Importing proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is essential for about 30% of the human proteome. It involves the targeting of precursor proteins to the ER and their insertion into or translocation across the ER membrane. Furthermore, it relies on signals in the precursor polypeptides and components, which read the signals and facilitate their targeting to a protein-conducting channel in the ER membrane, the Sec61 complex. Compared to the SRP- and TRC-dependent pathways, little is known about the SRP-independent/SND pathway. Our aim was to identify additional components and characterize the client spectrum of the human SND pathway. The established strategy of combining the depletion of the central hSnd2 component from HeLa cells with proteomic and differential protein abundance analysis was used. The SRP and TRC targeting pathways were analyzed in comparison. TMEM109 was characterized as hSnd3. Unlike SRP but similar to TRC, the SND clients are predominantly membrane proteins with N-terminal, central, or C-terminal targeting signals

A Biased Review of Sociophysics

Various aspects of recent sociophysics research are shortly reviewed: Schelling model as an example for lack of interdisciplinary cooperation, opinion dynamics, combat, and citation statistics as an example for strong interdisciplinarity.Comment: 16 pages for J. Stat. Phys. including 2 figures and numerous reference