Mechanism Of Information Transfer Research Articles

Movement-related coupling of human subthalamic nucleus spikes to cortical gamma.

Cortico-basal ganglia interactions continuously shape the way we move. Ideas about how this circuit works are based largely on models those consider only firing rate as the mechanism of information transfer. A distinct feature of neural activity accompanying movement, however, is increased motor cortical and basal ganglia gamma synchrony. To investigate the relationship between neuronal firing in the basal ganglia and cortical gamma activity during movement, we analysed human ECoG and subthalamic nucleus (STN) unit activity during hand gripping. We found that fast reaction times were preceded by enhanced STN spike-to-cortical gamma phase coupling, indicating a role in motor preparation. Importantly, increased gamma phase coupling occurred independent of changes in mean STN firing rates, and the relative timing of STN spikes was offset by half a gamma cycle for ipsilateral vs. contralateral movements, indicating that relative spike timing is as relevant as firing rate for understanding cortico-basal ganglia information transfer.

Complex Field Network Coding for Multi-Source Multi-Relay Single-Destination UAV Cooperative Surveillance Networks

Relay-based cooperative communication for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks can obtain spatial diversity gains, expand coverage, and potentially increase the network capacity. A multi-source multi-relay single-destination structure is the main topology structure for UAV cooperative surveillance networks, which is similar to the structure of network coding (NC). Compared with conventional NC schemes, complex field network coding (CFNC) can achieve a higher throughput and is introduced to surveillance networks in this paper. According to whether there is a direct communication link between any source drone and the destination, the information transfer mechanism at the downlink is set to one of two modes, either mixed or relay transmission, and two corresponding irregular topology structures for CFNC-based networks are proposed. Theoretical analysis and simulation results with an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel show that the CFNC obtains a throughput as high as 1/2 symbol per source per channel use. Moreover, the CFNC applied to the proposed irregular structures under the two transmission modes can achieve better reliability due to full diversity gain as compared to that based on the regular structure. Moreover, the reliability of the CFNC scheme can continue to be improved by combining channel coding and modulation techniques at the expense of rate loss.

Synaptic Mechanisms Underlying the Network State-Dependent Recruitment of VIP-Expressing Interneurons in the CA1 Hippocampus.

Disinhibition is a widespread circuit mechanism for information selection and transfer. In the hippocampus, disinhibition of principal cells is provided by the interneuron-specific interneurons that express the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP-IS) and innervate selectively inhibitory interneurons. By combining optophysiological experiments with computational models, we determined the impact of synaptic inputs onto the network state-dependent recruitment of VIP-IS cells. We found that VIP-IS cells fire spikes in response to both the Schaffer collateral and the temporoammonic pathway activation. Moreover, by integrating their intrinsic and synaptic properties into computational models, we predicted recruitment of these cells between the rising phase and peak of theta oscillation and during ripples. Two-photon Ca2+-imaging in awake mice supported in part the theoretical predictions, revealing a significant speed modulation of VIP-IS cells and their preferential albeit delayed recruitment during theta-run epochs, with estimated firing at the rising phase and peak of the theta cycle. However, it also uncovered that VIP-IS cells are not activated during ripples. Thus, given the preferential theta-modulated firing of VIP-IS cells in awake hippocampus, we postulate that these cells may be important for information gating during spatial navigation and memory encoding.

Functional properties of platelets in piglets when changing methods of nutrition

A functionally significant element in ensuring homeostasis of the internal environment of an animal organism is platelets. The state of their activity greatly influences the rheology of blood in small vessels and, thus, the metabolism in tissues. It becomes clear that the process of growth and development of piglets at any age substantially depends on the level of their activity. In this regard, the assessment of agerelated changes in platelet activity in piglets during their early ontogenesis is of great importance. In the work performed, it was found that in piglets during the dairy and vegetable nutrition phase there is an increase in the adhesive, aggregation and secretory properties of platelets. The leading cause of these changes can be the enhancement of receptor processes and activation of the work of post-receptor mechanisms of information transfer in platelets. This is noted in piglets during the milk-plant nutrition phase simultaneously for both strong and weak aggregation inducers. The growth of platelet activity in piglets found during the observation period apparently was due to the intensification of thromboxane generation in platelets as a result of the increased activity of their cyclooxygenase and thromboxane synthetase, as well as an increase in the secretion of ADP molecules from them. The increase in the severity of the hemostatic properties of platelets in piglets during the milk-plant nutrition phase seems to be a serious regulator of their microcirculation and metabolism processes in any environmental conditions.

Domain information transfer method and its application in quasi-brittle failure analysis

This article presents a domain information transfer method for the purpose of quasi-brittle failure analysis. It contains two separated computational levels. On macroscopic level, the material domains are viewed as elementary substances which construct the whole structure. The macroscopic governing equations are established based on this point of view and the boundary displacements of material domains are defined as basic unknowns. Each damaged material domain will be assigned a mesoscale model and the information transfer mechanism from a mesoscale domain to a macroscale domain is established. The damage localization phenomenon is equivalently represented on macroscopic level by boundary deformation of material domains and the macroscale meshes are invariant during analysis. The information exchange element based on nonlocal quadrature scheme is proposed and the efficient upscaling is realized. The proposed method is an efficient and flexible way for quasi-brittle failure analysis.

Factores que influyen en el uso de mecanismos de coordinación entre niveles asistenciales en Colombia

ObjectiveTo analyse the factors influencing the use of mechanisms for the clinical coordination of two Colombian public healthcare networks’ healthcare levels in Bogotá from the main social actors’ perspective. MethodThis was a descriptive-interpretative, qualitative study of two public healthcare networks. Discussion groups and semi-structured interviews were used for collecting information. The approach involved two-stage theoretical sampling of a selection of centres operating at different healthcare levels and a selection of informants, including managers (n=19), healthcare employees (n=23) and administrative staff (n=20). Content analysis involved adopting a mixed method approach for generating categories, segmented by network, informant group and topic. ResultsBoth networks had few mechanisms for enabling the clinical coordination of healthcare levels; information transfer mechanisms predominated and clinical management coordination mechanisms only dealt with maternal-perinatal care. Organisational factor-related complications were found regarding their use: lack of time, staff turnover, administrative use and technological deficiency. Employee/staff-related difficulties were due to lack of interest. These factors directly affected coordination with limited information transfer, patient follow-up and healthcare quality (diagnosis and treatment delays). ConclusionsThe results highlighted the limited use of clinical coordination mechanisms in both public healthcare networks studied here, with problems in their use. Changes are required that affect directly organisational factors (time for coordination and working conditions) and professional factors (attitudes towards collaborative work).

Consumer traceable food attribute preference research–based on the survey data of 1116 consumers in chengdu

Previous studies have shown that traceability system is an important technical means to solve food safety problems. As a way of information disclosure, traceability system can effectively improve the problem of information asymmetry in the food supply chain, so as to overcome market failure and improve food safety to a certain extent. However, the mechanism of information transmission of traceability system is controversial. One view is that consumers obtain more food safety information through food traceability to judge whether food is safe or not. Another view is that the traceability system sends quality signals to consumers to improve their confidence and effectiveness in purchasing food. According to the current research results, based on the origin and quality attribute two variable scale design, using the survey data of chengdu, 1116 consumers SPSS factor analysis is adopted to establish the index of correlation matrix, combined the theory of information entropy, determine the index weight of two kinds of attribute information, to verify that the consumer information transfer mechanism of food traceability system preferences. The results show that 72.22% consumers prefer the food traceability system to directly transmit quality assurance signals to them, which verifies that the traceability system is more effective in solving information asymmetry through signal path.

Information transfer and black hole evaporation via traversable BTZ wormholes

We study traversable wormholes by considering the duality between BTZ black holes and two-dimensional conformal field theory on the thermofield double state. The BTZ black holes can be rendered traversable by a negative energy shock wave. Following Gao, Jafferis and Wall [1], we show that the negative energy shock wave is dual to the infinite boost limit of a specific double trace deformation which couples the left and right CFTs. We spell out the mechanism of information transfer through traversable BTZ wormholes, treating the backreaction of the message as a positive energy shockwave. The corresponding spacetime is that of colliding spherical shells in the BTZ black hole, which we explicitly construct. This construction allows us to obtain a bound on the amount of information that can be sent through the wormhole, which is consistent with previous work in the context of nearly AdS2 gravity [2]. Consequently, we define a notion of traversibility of the wormhole and study it in the context of a multiple shock geometry. We argue that the time-dependence of traversibility in this geometry can be connected to certain aspects of the black hole evaporation process, such as the second half of the Page curve. Finally, we examine the claim that traversable wormholes are fast decoders. We find evidence for this by computing the scrambling time in the shockwave background and showing that it is delayed by the presence of the negative energy shock wave.

Structural transition in the collective behavior of cognitive agents

Living organisms process information to interact and adapt to their surroundings with the goal of finding food, mating, or averting hazards. The structure of their environment has profound repercussions through both selecting their internal architecture and also inducing adaptive responses to environmental cues and stimuli. Adaptive collective behavior underpinned by specialized optimization strategies is ubiquitous in the natural world. We develop a minimal model of agents that explore their environment by means of sampling trajectories. The spatial information stored in the sampling trajectories is our minimal definition of a cognitive map. We find that, as cognitive agents build and update their internal, cognitive representation of the causal structure of their environment, complex patterns emerge in the system, where the onset of pattern formation relates to the spatial overlap of cognitive maps. Exchange of information among the agents leads to an order-disorder transition. As a result of the spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry, a Goldstone mode emerges, which points at a collective mechanism of information transfer among cognitive organisms. These findings may be generally applicable to the design of decentralized, artificial-intelligence swarm systems.

On information coupling in hybrid ISPH framework for fluidized granular systems

An improved information transfer mechanism is developed to couple fluid and granular modules for Incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics modelling of sediment transport. The interaction force pair necessitates effective projection of information among parallel continuum based modules. The particle position in either module is susceptible to considerable variation due to their Lagrangian nature. An attempt has been made to minimize the effective thickness of the diffused interface between the fluid and granular particles. The proposed model reduces artificial drag force resulting from diffused computation of effective porosity. The revised framework outperforms in coarse resolution compared to its existing counterpart.

Nervous-Like Circuits in the Ribosome Facts, Hypotheses and Perspectives.

In the past few decades, studies on translation have converged towards the metaphor of a “ribosome nanomachine”; they also revealed intriguing ribosome properties challenging this view. Many studies have shown that to perform an accurate protein synthesis in a fluctuating cellular environment, ribosomes sense, transfer information and even make decisions. This complex “behaviour” that goes far beyond the skills of a simple mechanical machine has suggested that the ribosomal protein networks could play a role equivalent to nervous circuits at a molecular scale to enable information transfer and processing during translation. We analyse here the significance of this analogy and establish a preliminary link between two fields: ribosome structure-function studies and the analysis of information processing systems. This cross-disciplinary analysis opens new perspectives about the mechanisms of information transfer and processing in ribosomes and may provide new conceptual frameworks for the understanding of the behaviours of unicellular organisms.

Analysis, Simulation, and Optimization of Stochastic Vesicle Dynamics in Synaptic Transmission

AbstractSynaptic transmission is the mechanism of information transfer from one neuron to another (or from a neuron to a muscle or to an endocrine cell). An important step in this physiological process is the stochastic release of neurotransmitter from vesicles that fuse with the presynaptic membrane and spill their contents into the synaptic cleft. We are concerned here with the formulation, analysis, and simulation of a mathematical model that describes the stochastic docking, undocking, and release of synaptic vesicles and their effect on synaptic signal transmission. The focus of this paper is on the parameter p0, the probability of release for each docked vesicle when an action potential arrives. We study the influence of this parameter on the statistics of the release process and on the theoretical capability of the model synapse in reconstructing various desired outputs based on the timing and amount of neurotransmitter release. This theoretical capability is assessed by formulating and solving an optimal filtering problem. Methods for parameter identification are proposed and applied to simulated data. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

NMDAR-Mediated Ca2+ Increase Shows Robust Information Transfer in Dendritic Spines

A dendritic spine is a small structure on the dendrites of a neuron that processes input timing information from other neurons. Tens of thousands of spines are present on a neuron. Why are spines so small and many? We addressed this issue by using the stochastic simulation model of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated Ca2+ increase. NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ increase codes the input timing information between prespiking and postspiking. We examined how much the input timing information is encoded by Ca2+ increase against presynaptic fluctuation. We found that the input timing information encoded in the cell volume (103μm3) largely decreases against the presynaptic fluctuation, whereas that in the spine volume (10−1μm3) slightly decreases. Therefore, the input timing information encoded in the spine volume is more robust against presynaptic fluctuation than that in the cell volume. We further examined the mechanism of the robust information transfer in the spine volume. We demonstrated that the condition for the robustness is that the stochastic NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ increase (intrinsic noise) becomes much larger than the presynaptic fluctuation (extrinsic noise). When the presynaptic fluctuation is large, the condition is satisfied in the spine volume but not in the cell volume. Moreover, we compared the input timing information encoded in many small spines with that encoded in a single large spine. We found that the input timing information encoded in many small spines are larger than that in a single large spine when presynaptic fluctuation is large because of their robustness. Thus, robustness is a functional reason why dendritic spines are so small and many.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on IEEE RFID 2018 Conference

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a generic term for a variety of active and passive RF technologies that wirelessly convey object identification information. RFID technologies encompass multiple frequency bands and different mechanisms of information transfer: Low Frequency (LF) and High Frequency (HF) RFID tags typically use inductive coupling, Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) and microwave RFID typically use electromagnetic wave propagation although they often operate in near-field application scenarios as well. RFID transponders have varying degrees of sophistication and their design is often a tradeoff between functionality and cost. At one end of the spectrum, there are active RFID tags that offer on-board battery and memory, sensor integration, active RF transmitter and hence communication range up to kilometers albeit at increased costs. At the other end, passive RFID tags rely on a simple load modulation to backscatter ID back to the reader. The tiny ICs of those passive tags are very complex: they contain more transistors than the Intel 80386 processor in the 1985 IBM PC-AT (that processor had about 275,000 transistors) but have lower power consumption than a honeybee’s brain (which consumes about 10 microwatts) and thus can be RF-powered. These tags are range limited to the order of several meters but, at a price point of several cents per tag, are well suited for large-scale, low-cost automatic identification.

Social foraging extends associative odor-food memory expression in an automated learning assay for Drosophila melanogaster.

Animals socially interact during foraging and share information about the quality and location of food sources. The mechanisms of social information transfer during foraging have been mostly studied at the behavioral level, and its underlying neural mechanisms are largely unknown. Fruit flies have become a model for studying the neural bases of social information transfer, because they provide a large genetic toolbox to monitor and manipulate neuronal activity, and they show a rich repertoire of social behaviors. Fruit flies aggregate, they use social information for choosing a suitable mating partner and oviposition site, and they show better aversive learning when in groups. However, the effects of social interactions on associative odor-food learning have not yet been investigated. Here, we present an automated learning and memory assay for walking flies that allows the study of the effect of group size on social interactions and on the formation and expression of associative odor-food memories. We found that both inter-fly attraction and the duration of odor-food memory expression increase with group size. This study opens up opportunities to investigate how social interactions during foraging are relayed in the neural circuitry of learning and memory expression.

SWIPT-Enabled Relaying in IoT Networks Operating With Finite Blocklength Codes

This paper considers simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) mechanisms in a relaying-assisted ultra-reliable low latency communication network operating with finite blocklength codes. The reliability of the network is maximized by the optimal selection of SWIPT parameters under both a power splitting (PS) protocol and a time switching (TS) protocol. In addition, we propose a protocol to improve the reliability performance by introducing a tradeoff between the PS and TS protocols. To further improve the reliability, a joint design is provided, which aligns the optimal selection of SWIPT parameters together with a blocklength allocation between two relaying hops. Via simulations, we validate our analytical model and show that the proposed algorithm achieves the same performance as that obtained with exhaustive search. In addition, we evaluate the considered network, and characterize the impact of blocklength, transmit power, and packet size on the reliability of the considered SWIPT-enabled relaying network. Finally, the performance advantages of the proposed protocol (in comparison with the PS and TS protocols) and the proposed joint designs are investigated.

Information Technology in the Development of Electronic Health Records in Taiwan

The use of electronic medical record is the developmental tendency in Hospital Information Systems (HIS). It can be expanded to form Electronic Health Records (EHR). Its value consists of its ability to integrate the health information of patients from different sources. The Taiwan Electronic Medical Record Template (TMT) was developed to provide a basic structure of reference for establishing electronic medical records in the unique medical environment in Taiwan. This paper will review past developments in electronic medical record between 2004 and 2009 in Taiwan and scrutinize the current application and development of international electronic medical record exchange standards. Additionally, this study will address the TMT construction process and its information architecture as well as its information safety design and describe the TMT information transfer mechanism and present some application samples. Finally, the researchers will present concrete suggestions conducive to the study of future medical information exchange standards.

Alternative Biochemistries for Alien Life: Basic Concepts and Requirements for the Design of a Robust Biocontainment System in Genetic Isolation.

The universal genetic code, which is the foundation of cellular organization for almost all organisms, has fostered the exchange of genetic information from very different paths of evolution. The result of this communication network of potentially beneficial traits can be observed as modern biodiversity. Today, the genetic modification techniques of synthetic biology allow for the design of specialized organisms and their employment as tools, creating an artificial biodiversity based on the same universal genetic code. As there is no natural barrier towards the proliferation of genetic information which confers an advantage for a certain species, the naturally evolved genetic pool could be irreversibly altered if modified genetic information is exchanged. We argue that an alien genetic code which is incompatible with nature is likely to assure the inhibition of all mechanisms of genetic information transfer in an open environment. The two conceivable routes to synthetic life are either de novo cellular design or the successive alienation of a complex biological organism through laboratory evolution. Here, we present the strategies that have been utilized to fundamentally alter the genetic code in its decoding rules or its molecular representation and anticipate future avenues in the pursuit of robust biocontainment.

Information transfer about food as a reason for sociality in bats

AbstractInformation transfer about food is a potential reason for sociality in many animals. If an animal is better informed, it should then be better able to adjust its behaviour and reduce the uncertainty of finding food in a variable world.Given the remarkable range of social systems and ecological niches of bats throughout the world, bats are well‐suited as a model to review mechanisms and fitness consequences of information transfer about food. The aim of this manuscript was to conduct a systematic literature review for mechanisms for information transfer and their potential fitness consequences for bats.Information transfer behaviour is found in bats under various ecological conditions, including in groups of males in temperate regions, in groups of males or females in subtropical regions, and in mixed groups in tropical regions. Bats can learn about food indirectly, for example via chemical cues carried by the breath and body of frugivorous bats, or via acoustic cues from feeding buzzes from insectivorous bats. The majority of playback studies in captivity and in the wild showed stronger intra‐specific and inter‐specific attraction of bats to feeding buzzes than to silence controls or to search phase calls. Bats can also transfer information directly, via signals intended to attract, to repel or even to jam the echolocation of conspecifics.Social foraging in bats can be categorised as local enhancement, information‐centre hypothesis, group foraging or food sharing, depending on the type of information transfer and the food sources used. Fitness consequences of information transfer from the actor's and the recipient's perspective remain poorly investigated to date. Recent studies in insectivorous bats suggest a balance of benefits from prey searching and costs of acoustic interference that may condition group size.The future use of a wide array of methods promises to reveal exciting insights about mechanisms and fitness consequences of information transfer by bats about food.

Институциональные ловушки в сфере высшего образования

Objective: to test the sphere of higher education for the presence of institutional traps under deep transformation of higher education and science in Russia, which may reduce the efficiency of their functioning.Methods: narrative analysis based on the analysis of behavioural practices of economic agents identified in various publications and presenting the author’s direct speech in regard to certain scientific and practical problems within the framework of institutional economic theory methodology.Results: theoretical approaches are reviewed to the interpretation of “institutional trap” phenomenon, which demonstrated the evolution of this category from the “blocking effect” in the English scientific economic literature to sustainable inefficient institution in the Russian segment of economic theory. It is revealed that one of the most discussed issues is inefficient transformation of institutions, and identification of its causes. Researchers’ ideas about some types of institutional traps inherent in the Russian economy are systematized.Based on the analysis of narratives, a large-scale study of behavioural practices of economic agents was carried out, as a result of which groups of institutional traps in the Russian higher education and science were identified and classified. It is established that the imperfection of the education financing causes problems in the system of labour remuneration and research grants. The fragmentation and inconsistency of managerial decisions led to the transformation of post-graduate course into a level of higher education, which violates the logic of scientific personnel training. A trap of metrics is the systemic orientation to assessment criteria, ranking and other quantitative indicators, leading to substitution of quality for quantity. Orientation to digitalization and informatization of the educational process has led to the transformation of education into a mechanism of mere information transfer. Scientific novelty: based on the conducted deep narrative analysis, the most characteristic groups of institutional traps inherent in the Russian sphere of higher education and science are identified and described, such as financial traps, administrative traps, metric traps, informatization and digitalization traps, as well as the systemic motivational trap based on the effect of asymmetry of the institutional motivation of market agents.Practical significance: the obtained results can be used to correct the state policy in the field of higher education and science in the direction of elimination and prevention of institutional traps in order to improve its efficiency, as well as in the development of various programs for the development of this sphere by public authorities.