Complex Information Processing Research Articles

ANALYSIS OF THE COMPLEXITY OF EEG SIGNALS IN RELATION TO THE COMPLEXITY OF FRACTAL ANIMATIONS

Visual sense has an important role in shaping human understanding of the natural world. Nevertheless, it is not clear how the complexity of visual stimuli influences the complexity of information processing in the brain. In this study, we hypothesized that changes in the fractal pattern of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals directly follow the changes in the fractal dimension of animations. Therefore, 12 types of 2D fractal animations were presented to a group of healthy students (15 males, [Formula: see text] years old, 3 left-handed) while their brain signals were recorded using a 32-channel amplifier. Regression analysis between the fractal dimension of EEG signals and the fractal dimension of animations indicated that the complexity of fractal animations is directly sensed by changes in the fractal dimension of EEG signals at the centro-parietal and parietal regions. It may indicate that when the complexity of visual stimuli increases, the mechanism of information processing in the brain also enhances its complexity to better attend to and comprehend the stimuli.

Influence of Strategic Leadership on Financial Sustainability of NGOs in Kenya

Purpose: Strategic leadership is capability of the leadership to keep on reinventing motives for the organization’s sustained presence. The leader must have the ability to focus on the organization’s operational activities and at the same time monitor the changes that affect the organization, both internally and externally. Such changes are bound to determine the existence of the organization in the future and they are prospects to grow the firm. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of strategic leadership on financial sustainability of NGOs in Kenya.
 Methodology: A desktop literature review was used for this purpose. Relevant seminal references and journal articles for the study were identified using Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria entailed papers that were not over 10 years old.
 Findings: Strategic leadership requires expertise in managing both internal and external business environment and engage in a complex information processing. Strategic leadership is not only concerned with the possession of unique abilities that allows for the absorption and learning of new information and ideas, but having the adaptive capacity to appropriately respond to the dynamism and complexity of the external environment. Strategic leadership actions significantly influence performance. The study concludes that there is a positive relationship between the use of strategic planning and organizational performance in today’s corporate environment.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The researcher recommended that balanced organizational controls should be effectively applied to realize good performance. The findings also recommended NGOs leaders should use the strategic leadership well since they are likely to improve their organizational performance significantly.

Consciousness, Sapience and Sentience—A Metacybernetic View

Living systems are complex dynamic information processing energy consuming entities with properties of consciousness, intelligence, sapience, and sentience. Sapience and sentience are autonomous attributes of consciousness. While sapience has been well studied over the years, that of sentience is relatively rare. The nature of sapience and sentience will be considered, and a metacybernetic framework using structural information will be adopted to explore the metaphysics of consciousness. Metacybernetics delivers a cyberintrinsic model that is cybernetic in nature, but also uses the theory of structural information arising from Frieden’s work with Fisher information. This will be used to model sapience and sentience and their relationship. Since living systems are energy-consuming entities, it is also natural for thermodynamic metaphysical models to arise, and most of the theoretical studies of sentience have been set within a thermodynamic framework. Hence, a thermodynamic approach will also be introduced and connected to cyberintrinsic theory. In metaphysical contexts, thermodynamics uses free-energy, which plays the same role in cyberintrinsic modelling as intrinsic structural information. Since living systems exist at the dynamical interface of information and thermodynamics, the overall purpose of this paper is to explore sentience from the alternative cyberintrinsic perspective of metacybernetics.

The impact of CEO education on convertible bond issuance

We examine the impact of managerial education on a firm’s decision to issue convertible bonds instead of standard, non-hybrid securities. Upper echelons theory argues that better managerial education attainment fosters a higher ability to process complex information and tolerate ambiguity. Exploiting convertible bonds’ higher degree of complexity, relative to seasoned equity and straight bonds, we hypothesise that Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) with higher education levels are more likely to issue convertible bonds instead of non-hybrid security types. A multinomial probit model analysing firms’ choice between convertibles, seasoned equity, and straight bonds provides evidence consistent with this hypothesis. A one-level increase in a CEO’s highest academic degree raises the likelihood of substituting convertibles for non-hybrid securities by 2.86%, after controlling for standard corporate security choice determinants. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) education levels, by contrast, have no significant impact on convertible bond issuance. Consistent with higher managerial education attainment being associated with a higher cognitive ability, we also find a positive association between CEO education levels and the level of complexity in convertible bond design. Our findings, which hold under a range of alternative specifications, illustrate the influence of CEOs’ personal characteristics on securities issuance and design.

Neural Information Processing and Computations of Two-Input Synapses.

Information processing in artificial neural networks is largely dependent on the nature of neuron models. While commonly used models are designed for linear integration of synaptic inputs, accumulating experimental evidence suggests that biological neurons are capable of nonlinear computations for many converging synaptic inputs via homo- and heterosynaptic mechanisms. This nonlinear neuronal computation may play an important role in complex information processing at the neural circuit level. Here we characterize the dynamics and coding properties of neuron models on synaptic transmissions delivered from two hidden states. The neuronal information processing is influenced by the cooperative and competitive interactions among synapses and the coherence of the hidden states. Furthermore, we demonstrate that neuronal information processing under two-input synaptic transmission can be mapped to linearly nonseparable XOR as well as basic AND/OR operations. In particular, the mixtures of linear and nonlinear neuron models outperform the fashion-MNIST test compared to the neural networks consisting of only one type. This study provides a computational framework for assessing information processing of neuron and synapse models that may be beneficial for the design of brain-inspired artificial intelligence algorithms and neuromorphic systems.

Transgressive dimension of the information society in the context of sustainable development: philosophical and praxeological analysis

In the second half of the twentieth century in the socio-political, economic, cultural life of society began transgressive changes that opened new prospects for the development of society in general and man in particular. The main civilizational tendencies that prompted these changes and continue to be affirmed in the 21st century are: firstly, the tendency towards global social development; secondly, humanity’s acquisition of the ability to self-derail, which is associated with the development of nuclear technologies and global environmental problems; thirdly, the transition of humanity from industrial to scientific and information technologies. It was these trends that initiated the transition to a new type of organization of public life of people, which was called “information society”. Informationism is a strategy to focus on information technologies development, to create multiple ways of accumulation of knowledge and to provide increasingly complex information processing. However, when it comes to the formation of an information society, it is understood not only as a stage of technological development, but as a new stage of spiritual development of mankind. For the first time, the information society produces in the general social volume such features of social existence, which require new approaches to the formation of structural, functional and value components of the social organism. The education system within the framework of the new paradigm is designed to function as a direct generator of new social realities that produces social changes. Accordingly, the educational circuit, as the institutional functioning of a certain value system, should cover all spheres of life, become the core of sustainable social development in general.

Functional brain imaging and central control of the bladder in health and disease.

Central control of the bladder is a complex process. With the development of functional imaging technology and analysis methods, research on brain-bladder control has become more in-depth. Here, we review previous functional imaging studies and combine our latest findings to discuss brain regions related to bladder control, interactions between these regions, and brain networks, as well as changes in brain function in diseases such as urgency urinary incontinence, idiopathic overactive bladder, interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome, urologic chronic pain syndrome, neurogenic overactive bladder, and nocturnal enuresis. Implicated brain regions include the pons, periaqueductal grey, thalamus, insula, prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, cerebellum, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, amygdala, and hippocampus. Because the brain is a complex information transmission and processing system, these regions do not work in isolation but through functional connections to form a number of subnetworks to achieve bladder control. In summarizing previous studies, we found changes in the brain functional connectivity networks related to bladder control in healthy subjects and patients involving the attentional network, central executive network or frontoparietal network, salience network, interoceptive network, default mode network, sensorimotor network, visual network, basal ganglia network, subcortical network, cerebella, and brainstem. We extend the working model proposed by Griffiths et al. from the brain network level, providing insights for current and future bladder-control research.

Nonlinear manipulation and analysis of large DNA datasets.

Information processing functions are essential for organisms to perceive and react to their complex environment, and for humans to analyze and rationalize them. While our brain is extraordinary at processing complex information, winner-take-all, as a type of biased competition is one of the simplest models of lateral inhibition and competition among biological neurons. It has been implemented as DNA-based neural networks, for example, to mimic pattern recognition. However, the utility of DNA-based computation in information processing for real biotechnological applications remains to be demonstrated. In this paper, a biased competition method for nonlinear manipulation and analysis of mixtures of DNA sequences was developed. Unlike conventional biological experiments, selected species were not directly subjected to analysis. Instead, parallel computation among a myriad of different DNA sequences was carried out to reduce the information entropy. The method could be used for various oligonucleotide-encoded libraries, as we have demonstrated its application in decoding and data analysis for selection experiments with DNA-encoded chemical libraries against protein targets.

Quiet eye facilitates processing complex information in elite table tennis players

ABSTRACT Quiet Eye (QE) is the final fixation before a sports movement (e.g., a tennis stroke). To test whether QE can facilitate processing complex information, 12 elite table tennis players (M age = 14.66 years, M experience = 7.33 years) hit 100 balls, either on the entire opponent’s half (simple condition) or on narrow spots on the table (complex condition). We found that hit balls were preceded by longer QE than missed balls (p = .035, η²p = .34). Moreover, in the complex condition athletes extended the duration of QE more for scoring a hit, compared to the simple condition (p = .005, η²p = .52). Finally, athletes increased the duration of QE more after a missed than after a hit ball (p = .059, η2p = .38). This study shows that QE sustains performance in a dynamic sport, by helping athletes to process complex information, and by facilitating their recovery after missed shots.

A fuzzy Einstein-based decision support system for public transportation management at times of pandemic

Optimal decision-making has become increasingly more difficult due to their inherent complexity exacerbated by uncertain and rapidly changing environmental conditions in which they are defined. Hence, with the aim of improving the uncertainty management and facilitating the weighting criteria, this paper introduces an improved fuzzy Einstein Combined Compromise Solution (CoCoSo) methodology. Such a CoCoSo model improves previous CoCoSo proposals by using nonlinear fuzzy weighted Einstein functions for defining weighted sequences. In addition, it proposes a novel algorithm for determining the criteria weights based on the fuzzy logarithmic function, therefore it allows decision-makers a better perception of the relationship between the criteria, as it considers the relationships between adjacent criteria; high consistency of expert comparisons; and enables the definition of weighting coefficients of a larger set of criteria, without the need to cluster (group) the criteria. Nonlinear fuzzy Einstein functions implemented in the fuzzy Einstein CoCoSo methodology enable the processing of complex and uncertain information. Such characteristics contribute to the rational definition of compromise strategies and enable objective reasoning when solving real-world decision problems. The efficiency, effectiveness, and robustness of the proposed fuzzy Einstein CoCoSo model are illustrated by a case study to create a conceptual framework to evaluate and rank the prioritization of public transportation management at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results reveal its good performance in determining the transportation management systems strategy.

Neural Synchrony During Naturalistic Information Processing Is Associated With Aerobically Active Lifestyle and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Cognitively Intact Older Adults.

The functional neural mechanisms underlying the cognitive benefits of aerobic exercise have been a subject of ongoing research in recent years. However, while most neuroimaging studies to date which examined functional neural correlates of aerobic exercise have used simple stimuli in highly controlled and artificial experimental conditions, our everyday life experiences require a much more complex and dynamic neurocognitive processing. Therefore, we have used a naturalistic complex information processing fMRI paradigm of story comprehension to investigate the role of an aerobically active lifestyle in the processing of real-life cognitive-demanding situations. By employing the inter-subject correlation (inter-SC) approach, we have identified differences in reliable stimulus-induced neural responses between groups of aerobically active (n = 27) and non-active (n = 22) cognitively intact older adults (age 65–80). Since cardiorespiratory fitness has previously been suggested to play a key role in the neuroprotective potential of aerobic exercise, we have investigated its dose-response relationship with regional inter-subject neural responses. We found that aerobically active lifestyle and cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with more synchronized inter-subject neural responses during story comprehension in higher order cognitive and linguistic brain regions in the prefrontal and temporo-parietal cortices. In addition, while higher regional inter-SC values were associated with higher performance on a post-listening memory task, this was not translated to a significant between-group difference in task performance. We, therefore, suggest that the modulatory potential of aerobic exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness on cognitive processing may extend beyond simple and highly controlled stimuli to situations in which the brain faces continuous real-life complex information. Additional studies incorporating other aspects of real-life situations such as naturalistic visual stimuli, everyday life decision making, and motor responses in these situations are desired to further validate the observed relationship between aerobic exercise, cardiorespiratory fitness, and complex naturalistic information processing.

How language skills and working memory capacities explain mathematical learning from preschool to primary school age: Insights from a longitudinal study.

Between the age span of 3 to 6 years the foundation for children’s mathematical learning (i.e., numerical abilities and cognition) are laid. However, the developing relations between mathematical skills, language, and working memory starting at preschool age and evolving into primary school age are not well understood. Adopting an empirically validated analysis model, the present study examines in detail longitudinal interdependencies between mathematical skills, a wide range of language skills, and working memory components underlying the mathematical learning process of 41 German preschool children (41.5% female) spanning ages 4 to 6. Phonological processing skills and expressive grammar skills emerged as the most significant language skills for the process of children’s mathematical learning across the investigated age span. Within the latter, children’s phonological processing skills and expressive grammar skills were supported by children’s word expression abilities. The phonological loop emerged as the most important working memory component for children’s early mathematical learning between ages 4 to 6. Furthermore, a wide array of language skills were associated with complex information and storage processes within this mathematical learning process. In conclusion, the present findings provide a more detailed and deeper insight into the learning process of children’s number concept, emphasizing the influence of phonological and particularly grammatical skills.

Graded Variation in T1w/T2w Ratio during Adolescence: Measurement, Caveats, and Implications for Development of Cortical Myelin.

Adolescence is characterized by the maturation of cortical microstructure and connectivity supporting complex cognition and behavior. Axonal myelination influences brain connectivity during development by enhancing neural signaling speed and inhibiting plasticity. However, the maturational timing of cortical myelination during human adolescence remains poorly understood. Here, we take advantage of recent advances in high-resolution cortical T1w/T2w mapping methods, including principled correction of B1+ transmit field effects, using data from the Human Connectome Project in Development (HCP-D; N = 628, ages 8-21). We characterize microstructural changes relevant to myelination by estimating age-related differences in T1w/T2w throughout the cerebral neocortex from childhood to early adulthood. We apply Bayesian spline models and clustering analysis to demonstrate graded variation in age-dependent cortical T1w/T2w differences that are correlated with the sensorimotor-association (S-A) axis of cortical organization reported by others. In sensorimotor areas, T1w/T2w ratio measures start at high levels at early ages, increase at a fast pace, and decelerate at later ages (18-21). In intermediate multimodal areas along the S-A axis, T1w/T2w starts at intermediate levels and increases linearly at an intermediate pace. In transmodal/paralimbic association areas, T1w/T2w starts at low levels and increases linearly at the slowest pace. These data provide evidence for graded variation of the T1w/T2w ratio along the S-A axis that may reflect cortical myelination changes during adolescence underlying the development of complex information processing and psychological functioning. We discuss the implications of these results as well as caveats in interpreting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based estimates of myelination.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Myelin is a lipid membrane that is essential to healthy brain function. Myelin wraps axons to increase neural signaling speed, enabling complex neuronal functioning underlying learning and cognition. Here, we characterize the developmental timing of myelination across the cerebral cortex during adolescence using a noninvasive proxy measure, T1w/T2w mapping. Our results provide new evidence demonstrating graded variation across the cortex in the timing of T1w/T2w changes during adolescence, with rapid T1w/T2w increases in lower-order sensory areas and gradual T1w/T2w increases in higher-order association areas. This spatial pattern of microstructural brain development closely parallels the sensorimotor-to-association axis of cortical organization and plasticity during ontogeny.

Code status discussions in outpatient setting.

e13539 Background: In the face of the COVID 19 pandemic, goal-concordant care has been gaining further significance. Discussions about the care goals are best when they are exploratory, conversational, and longitudinal. Complex information processing is best done outside of a crisis. Ideally, these conversations should start with the primary care clinician who has a longitudinal clinical relationship with the patient. Methods: A quality initiative project was conducted at the Internal Medicine Residency Clinic located in Northwestern Medicine Woodstock Hospital. Review of order entry in electronic medical records and charts for code status was assessed for data gathering. Patients above the age of 65 years presenting for their annual physical visit were included in the study. Various interventions were done, including educating residents through didactic lectures, sending electronic reminders to the residents and formatting a template note including code status documentation. Pre and post-intervention data was gathered. Results: A total of 104 patients were in the pre-intervention group and 94 patients in the post-intervention group. Pre-intervention, code status was addressed in 33% of total patients interviewed during their annual physical visit. Post intervention, code status was addressed in 48% of the patients. Conclusions: This project was undertaken to increase awareness on a crucial aspect of the addressing code status in outpatient setting. Post intervention studies showed that addressing code status significantly increased. In order to fill the gap, we propose that addressing code status be a mandatory process or a reminder be generated in electronic health records.

Science and Art: Transcreation: Introduction to Special Section: Transcreation and Accessibility

The nature of translation has provided the focus of longstanding debates. While some scholars pursue translation as an aesthetic, creativity-driven activity, others explore the practical functions or social utility of translation in fulfilling unmet needs. The term transcreation is used here to denote a purposeful integration of both approaches to translation to serve the needs of diverse people for information in an accessible, equitable, inclusive, creative and engaging way. The term transcreation highlights the nature of translation as an inventive, resourceful, human-centered activity that seeks to eliminate barriers to the communication and understanding between languages, cultures, communities, and individuals of all capabilities.The acquisition of information requires a human-centered design of messages and modality, or the signified and signifier. According to semiology, the link of sign to reality is arbitrary, and the representation of the signified is equally arbitrary. The combination of different signified and signifier pairs contributes to the complexity of language systems. This also encapsulates the uncertainty, variability and creativity in translation, which is intended to establish meaningful links between language and cultural systems. Instead of providing uniform answers, in the process of mediating, negotiating between languages, cultures and modalities, translation affords many possibilities for being open to purposeful interventions to achieve intended outcomes. Debates in translation often focus on the inherent imbalance, asymmetry and reconcilability between linguistic and sociocultural systems. The diversity and variability of readers’ needs tends to remain as hidden as the translators themselves. There is an increasing need to turn the focus to readers as the end users of translated materials and prioritize information accessibility above other translation concerns. Words, texts, discourses have been studied extensively—prominently in translation studies. However, their integration and interaction with visual signs and symbols, tactual and auditory stimulus, or other sensory cues can significantly improve the accessibility of information to diverse audiences. Transcreation is a theoretical framework that supports and legitimates creative interventions at different levels, including lexical, structural, semantic and modal, that recognize, accommodate and promote the diversity and variability in the needs for information from the audiences.Ilan Manouach’s article explores the viability and acceptability of using creative haptic equivalents of alphabet-based linguistic systems to develop touch readers of comics for people with visual impairments. The accessibility installation Shapereader has the capacity to translate lexical meanings to tactile symbols that are accessible by visually impaired readers from different age groups and language, cultural and educational backgrounds. The success of this creative, transmodal approach to accessible comics translation raised awareness of diversification in readerships and illustrated the highly creative, resourceful nature of accessible translation. The article by Dario Rodighiero explores the design of visual networks of conference proceedings that embodies the principles of connectedness, inclusivity and equality among conference contributors. These principles were represented by continuous, spherical surfaces of visualized networks based on the computational modeling of lexical similarity of proceeding texts. The innovation of this approach consists in expanding the dual dimensionality of the visual representation of textual, numerical information to support the interpretation of complex quantitative information in a visually and cognitively accessible manner. The author also experimented with and compared spherical networks after applying different digital cartographic projection techniques. This approach offers insights into the impact of visual techniques on the representation and understanding of networks of individual information, which can aid in the discovery and exploration of higher-level knowledge from primary quantitative textual data. Using translation techniques to increase the accessibility of standard cinematographic practices for audiences with special needs, Pablo Romero-Fresco’s article describes the emerging field of accessible film production. Rather than exclude these audiences from the production process, the innovative approach proposed involves codesigning and coevaluating accessible films with people with visual or auditory impairments. In order to illustrate the codesign process, the author provides examples of sign language interpreters who effectively integrated visual aids for people with hearing impairments into the overall artistic performance for the general audience. As a result, accessibility becomes an inseparable part of standard film production rather than an unnatural addition.Transcreation is an ongoing, iterative project, incorporating the inspirations, visions and innovative efforts of artists, translators, disability researchers and designers that showcase the viability and productivity of human-centered translation-related activities construed in a broad, interdisciplinary sense. The case studies illustrate that innovative transcreation can help us to explore new ways of communicating that are less dependent on physical capabilities and less demanding of cognitive skills to process complex information in large quantities. Transcreation can effectively leverage instruments, techniques and technologies to increase the accessibility of information. From craftsmanship such as tactile ideograms to modern techniques such as data visualization and digital cartographic projection, transcreation represents a sustainable, equitable, inclusive way to engage with and mediate between different languages, cultures and modalities with the diversity and equality in humanity at the heart of information communications.

Information Fragmentation, Encryption and Information Flow in Complex Biological Networks

Assessing where and how information is stored in biological networks (such as neuronal and genetic networks) is a central task both in neuroscience and in molecular genetics, but most available tools focus on the network’s structure as opposed to its function. Here, we introduce a new information-theoretic tool—information fragmentation analysis—that, given full phenotypic data, allows us to localize information in complex networks, determine how fragmented (across multiple nodes of the network) the information is, and assess the level of encryption of that information. Using information fragmentation matrices we can also create information flow graphs that illustrate how information propagates through these networks. We illustrate the use of this tool by analyzing how artificial brains that evolved in silico solve particular tasks, and show how information fragmentation analysis provides deeper insights into how these brains process information and “think”. The measures of information fragmentation and encryption that result from our methods also quantify complexity of information processing in these networks and how this processing complexity differs between primary exposure to sensory data (early in the lifetime) and later routine processing.

Исследование информационного взаимодействия между различными подсистемами на основе стандартов CCSDS при идентификации материальных объектов

Due to the increasing complexity of information processes, there is a need to develop models and methods of interaction between various subsystems, segments and, in relation to them, to develop methods for identifying ob-jects. The object of research is the process of accounting for the movement of material objects between different segments of complex systems, for example, between different segments of the international space station, between different segments of the material flow system or other segments of the Earth-Space system. Instruments and instrument complexes were chosen as material objects. Based on the performed study of data structure complexity levels, the necessity of development of identification systems for different segments of the material flow transportation system was substantiated. A new method is proposed and the results of practical experiments on the identification of material objects on the basis of CCSDS standard (CCSDS RFID Tag-Encoding Yellow Book) are considered. The hardware platform for accounting of tangible objects and information collection was selected radio-frequency readers and on-board computer networks represented by CCSDS 881.1-B-1 (Spacecraft onboard interface services - RFID tag encoding specification). RFID tags are used to identify tangible objects. To solve the problem of transferring information about material objects the developed model of information exchange and method of identification of material objects are presented, necessary fields and tag's memory bank structure are presented. In the process of describing the identification of material objects it is proposed to use a special alphabet ECMA-113 for data representation in the identifiers placed in the RFID tags. As part of the study, the simulation of information exchange between different subsystems during the transfer of information about material objects was conducted. The results of the experiments are presented, confirming that the universality of the alphabet lies in the possibility of simultaneous use of Latin and Cyrillic coding. For an estimation of efficiency of the offered models and modelling of a situation of an exchange of the information on material objects in wireless on-board networks separate independent subprogrammes of coding, decoding of identifiers of material objects have been developed and practical modelling of transfer of the big information volume between two various agencies (segments) is spent. The programmes were developed by the participants independently 
 of each other. On the basis of fulfilled modeling of information interaction and information transfer on material objects it was found that the error of data recognition does not exceed 6-7% and it does not increase with the increasing number of objects. The development results allowed to formulate a conclusion about the success of the experiment on the application of object identifiers based on CCSDS for airborne wireless networks, for the use of radio-frequency identification systems.

User-centred design of clinical dashboards for guided iCBT

As Internet-based technology spreads to most areas of life, it becomes a challenge to grasp opportunities arising from enormous amounts of data being generated from various sources such as smart homes, smart cities, health care systems and industries. Efficient utilization of these data can enable us to improve many human practices, including those connected to health care. In the present study, we focus on the health care sector, as it consists of large-scale organizations that rely on the processing of big data and complex processing of information. Due to the dynamic nature and complexity of this domain, it is essential to develop sophisticated technologies for the efficient processing of vast amounts of information. There is, for example, a need for interactive tools that can visualise actual care processes being executed in the hospital. A tool visualising real-time data could give a dynamic view of the processes, with accurate quantitative information, which can be used to improve the quality and efficiency of health care provision. These tools should be built on the requirements of practitioners needs and requirements, to ensure their relevance and practical utility. In this paper, we present a user-driven design process for developing therapy data visualisation components of guided Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy (iCBT) and their evaluation. In order to ensure the reusability of the visual components, we propose to utilise a model-based approach which allows data analysts to adapt domain models by means of model transformation and transform them into visualization.

Controllable Biological Rhythms and Patterns

One of the goals of soft robotics is to implement intelligent functions capable of processing complex information in soft materials. This is a noble goal, and we already have a familiar example, albeit not an artificial one, in a living organism. We believe that the intelligent biological elements acquired through the evolutionary process, which do not require an electricity supply or CPU, can be used for soft robotics. In this letter, we introduce three biological elements: proteins, squid, and nematodes, which show temporal or special patterns. We then discuss an attempt to apply them to soft robotics.

Characterization of the Core Determinants of Social Influence From a Computational and Cognitive Perspective.

Most human decisions are made among social others, and in what social context the choices are made is known to influence individuals' decisions. Social influence has been noted as an important factor that may nudge individuals to take more risks (e.g., initiation of substance use), but ironically also help individuals to take safer actions (e.g., successful abstinence). Such bi-directional impacts of social influence hint at the complexity of social information processing. Here, we first review the recent computational approaches that shed light on neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying social influence following basic computations involved in decision-making: valuation, action selection, and learning. We next review the studies on social influence from various fields including neuroeconomics, developmental psychology, social psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, and highlight three dimensions of determinants—who are the recipients, how the social contexts are presented, and to what domains and processes of decisions the influence is applied—that modulate the extent to which individuals are influenced by others. Throughout the review, we also introduce the brain regions that were suggested as neural instantiations of social influence from a large body of functional neuroimaging studies. Finally, we outline the remaining questions to be addressed in the translational application of computational and cognitive theories of social influence to psychopathology and health.