Bayesian Learning Models of Pain: A Call to Action

Learning is fundamentally about action, enabling the successful navigation of a changing and uncertain environment. The experience of pain is central to this process, indicating the need for a change in action so as to mitigate potential threat to bodily integrity. This review considers the application of Bayesian models of learning in pain that inherently accommodate uncertainty and action, which, we shall propose are essential in understanding learning in both acute and persistent cases of pain

Spontaneous rotational inversion in Phycomyces

The filamentary fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus undergoes a series of remarkable transitions during aerial growth. During what is known as the Stage IV growth phase, the fungus extends while rotating in a counterclockwise manner when viewed from above (Stage IVa) and then, while continuing to grow, spontaneously reverses to a clockwise rotation (Stage IVb). This phase lasts for 24 - 48 hours and is sometimes followed by yet another reversal (Stage IVc) before the overall growth ends. Here, we propose a continuum mechanical model of this entire process using nonlinear, anisotropic, elasticity and show how helical anisotropy associated with the cell wall structure can induce spontaneous rotation and, under appropriate circumstances, the observed reversal of rotational handedness

On blowup for Yang-Mills fields

We study development of singularities for the spherically symmetric Yang-Mills equations in $d+1$ dimensional Minkowski spacetime for $d=4$ (the critical dimension) and $d=5$ (the lowest supercritical dimension). Using combined numerical and analytical methods we show in both cases that generic solutions starting with sufficiently large initial data blow up in finite time. The mechanism of singularity formation depends on the dimension: in $d=5$ the blowup is exactly self-similar while in $d=4$ the blowup is only approximately self-similar and can be viewed as the adiabatic shrinking of the marginally stable static solution. The threshold for blowup and the connection with critical phenomena in the gravitational collapse (which motivated this research) are also briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter