Building an Allocentric Traveling-Direction Signal Via Vector Computation

Many behavioral tasks require the manipulation of mathematical vectors, but, outside of computational models, it is not known how brains perform vector operations. Here we show how the Drosophila central complex, a region implicated in goal-directed navigation, performs vector arithmetic. First, we describe a neural signal in the fan-shaped body that explicitly tracks a fly\u27s allocentric traveling angle, that is, the traveling angle in reference to external cues. Past work has identified neurons in Drosophila and mammals that track an animal\u27s heading angle referenced to external cues (e.g., head-direction cells), but this new signal illuminates how the sense of space is properly updated when traveling and heading angles differ (e.g., when walking sideways). We then characterize a neuronal circuit that rotates, scales, and adds four vectors related to the fly\u27s egocentric traveling direction––the traveling angle referenced to the body––to compute the allocentric traveling direction. This circuit operates by mapping spatial vectors onto sinusoidal patterns of activity across distinct neuronal populations, with the sinusoid\u27s amplitude representing the vector\u27s length and its phase representing the vector\u27s angle. The principles of this circuit, which performs an egocentric-to-allocentric coordinate transformation and vector addition, may generalize to other brains and to domains beyond navigation where vector operations or reference-frame transformations are required

Health Behaviors Associated with Hypertension

The purpose of this study was to understand the status of health behaviors and the association of these behaviors with hypertensive elder aged 65-74 in Taiwan. Data for this study were from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Health behaviors included BMI, lifestyle factors (alcohol drinking, smoking and physical activity) and dietary factors (snacks intake, sweetened beverages intake, and coffee intake). The Chi-square test was employed to examine the differences of health behavior distributions between men and women. The principal component and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association of health behaviors with hypertension. Results showed that men have a higher percentage than women on current alcohol drinking and smoking experience. For men, current alcohol drinking was associated with age groups. Smoking experience was associated with age and BMI groups. With respect to the dietary variables, the percentage of the elder having sweetened beverages or coffee more than once per week was very low (10-15%). BMI, age, and male with smoking experience were risk factors of hypertension. The influence of BMI on hypertension was greater than other factors. Intervention program for hypertensive elders should target the overweight and obese group

A personalized recommendation system for multi-modal transportation systems

Recommendation system has recently experienced widespread applications in fields like advertising and streaming platforms. Its ability of extracting valuable information from complex data makes it a promising tool for multi-modal transportation system. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for proactive travel mode recommendation combining recommendation system and transportation engineering. The proposed framework works by learning from historical user behavioral preferences and ranking the candidate travel modes. In this framework, an incremental scanning method with multiple time windows is designed to acquire multi-scale features from user behaviors. In addition, to alleviate the computational burden brought by the large data size, a hierarchical behavior structure is developed. To further allow for social benefits, the proposed framework proposes to adjust the candidate modes according to real-time traffic states, which is potential in promoting the use of public transport, alleviating traffic congestion, and reducing environmental pollution

CPSARST: an efficient circular permutation search tool applied to the detection of novel protein structural relationships

CPSARST (Circular Permutation Search Aided by Ramachandran Sequential Transformation) is an efficient database search tool that provides a new way for rapidly detecting novel relationships among proteins

Perspectives on testicular sex cord-stromal tumors and those composed of both germ cells and sex cord-stromal derivatives with a comparison to corresponding ovarian neoplasms

Sex cord-stromal tumors (SCSTs) are the second most frequent category of testicular neoplasms, accounting for approximately 2–5% of cases. Both genetic and epigenetic factors account for the differences in frequency and histologic composition between testicular and ovarian SCSTs. For example, large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumor and intratubular large cell hyalinizing Sertoli cell neoplasia occur in the testis but have not been described in the ovary. In this article, we discuss recently described diagnostic entities as well as inconsistencies in nomenclature used in the recent World Health Organization classifications of SCSTs in the testis and ovary. We also thoroughly review the topic of neoplasms composed of both germ cells and sex cord derivatives with an emphasis on controversial aspects. These include “dissecting gonadoblastoma” and testicular mixed germ cell-sex cord stromal tumor (MGC-SCST). The former is a recently described variant of gonadoblastoma that sometimes is an immediate precursor of germinoma in the dysgenetic gonads of patients with a disorder of sex development. Although the relationship of “dissecting gonadoblastoma” to the previously described undifferentiated gonadal tissue is complex and not entirely resolved, we believe that it is preferable to continue to use the term undifferentiated gonadal tissue for those cases that are not neoplastic and are considered to be the precursor of classical gonadoblastoma. Although the existence of testicular MGC-SCST has been challenged, the most recent evidence supports its existence; however, testicular MGC-SCST differs significantly from ovarian examples due to both genetic and epigenetic factors

External modulation method for generating accurate linear optical FMCW

Frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) lasers are key components in modern optical imaging. However, current intracavity modulation lasers do not exhibit low-frequency jitter rate and high linearity due to the inherent relaxation oscillations. Although this may be compensated in a direct modulation laser diode using an optoelectronic feedback loop, the available sweep speed is moderately small. In this letter, a special external modulation method is developed to improve the performance of FMCW. Since only the first sideband optical field is used during the entire generation process, phase noise is kept to a minimum and is also independent of the sweep speed. We demonstrate that the linearity and jitter rates do not deteriorate appreciably when the sweep speed is changed over three orders of magnitude, even up to the highest sweep speed of 2.5 GHz/ μs

Media Inattention for Entrepreneurship in Pakistan

In this paper, we are discussing the role of media for fostering entrepreneurship, by giving coverage to business success stories entrepreneurs and overall entrepreneurship. Media can play a productive role. We used Pakistan as a case, a country having enormous number of electronic and print media fast pace growth, among all the factor driven economies. We used the GEM data to develop our framework. The area we are thrusting is comparing the size of media and attention being paid to entrepreneurship in Pakistan. The less attention resulting in low level of entrepreneurial intentions, ultimately that will lead to low level of opportunity driven entrepreneurs and new business ownership rate in Pakistan. Keywords: Media entrepreneurship, Media attention, GEM, Entrepreneurship, Pakistani Medi