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Sitthiyot T. Income distribution in Thailand is scale-invariant. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288265. [PMID: 37432918 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
This study examines whether income distribution in Thailand has a property of scale invariance or self-similarity across years. By using the data on income shares by quintile and by decile of Thailand from 1988 to 2021, the results from 306-pairwise Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests indicate that income distribution in Thailand is statistically scale-invariant or self-similar across years with p-values ranging between 0.988 and 1.000. Based on these empirical findings, this study would like to propose that, in order to change income distribution in Thailand whose pattern had been persisted for over three decades, the change itself cannot be gradual but has to be like a phase transition of substance in physics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thitithep Sitthiyot
- Department of Banking and Finance, Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
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2
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Grosu GF, Hopp AV, Moca VV, Bârzan H, Ciuparu A, Ercsey-Ravasz M, Winkel M, Linde H, Mureșan RC. The fractal brain: scale-invariance in structure and dynamics. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:4574-4605. [PMID: 36156074 PMCID: PMC10110456 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The past 40 years have witnessed extensive research on fractal structure and scale-free dynamics in the brain. Although considerable progress has been made, a comprehensive picture has yet to emerge, and needs further linking to a mechanistic account of brain function. Here, we review these concepts, connecting observations across different levels of organization, from both a structural and functional perspective. We argue that, paradoxically, the level of cortical circuits is the least understood from a structural point of view and perhaps the best studied from a dynamical one. We further link observations about scale-freeness and fractality with evidence that the environment provides constraints that may explain the usefulness of fractal structure and scale-free dynamics in the brain. Moreover, we discuss evidence that behavior exhibits scale-free properties, likely emerging from similarly organized brain dynamics, enabling an organism to thrive in an environment that shares the same organizational principles. Finally, we review the sparse evidence for and try to speculate on the functional consequences of fractality and scale-freeness for brain computation. These properties may endow the brain with computational capabilities that transcend current models of neural computation and could hold the key to unraveling how the brain constructs percepts and generates behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- George F Grosu
- Department of Experimental and Theoretical Neuroscience, Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Str. Ploiesti 33, 400157 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Str. Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | | | - Vasile V Moca
- Department of Experimental and Theoretical Neuroscience, Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Str. Ploiesti 33, 400157 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Harald Bârzan
- Department of Experimental and Theoretical Neuroscience, Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Str. Ploiesti 33, 400157 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Str. Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Andrei Ciuparu
- Department of Experimental and Theoretical Neuroscience, Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Str. Ploiesti 33, 400157 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Str. Memorandumului 28, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Maria Ercsey-Ravasz
- Department of Experimental and Theoretical Neuroscience, Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Str. Ploiesti 33, 400157 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Faculty of Physics, Babes-Bolyai University, Str. Mihail Kogalniceanu 1, 400084 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Mathias Winkel
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Straße 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Helmut Linde
- Department of Experimental and Theoretical Neuroscience, Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Str. Ploiesti 33, 400157 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Straße 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Raul C Mureșan
- Department of Experimental and Theoretical Neuroscience, Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Str. Ploiesti 33, 400157 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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3
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Niizato T, Murakami H, Musha T. Functional duality in group criticality via ambiguous interactions. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1010869. [PMID: 36791061 PMCID: PMC9931117 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Critical phenomena are wildly observed in living systems. If the system is at criticality, it can quickly transfer information and achieve optimal response to external stimuli. Especially, animal collective behavior has numerous critical properties, which are related to other research regions, such as the brain system. Although the critical phenomena influencing collective behavior have been extensively studied, two important aspects require clarification. First, these critical phenomena never occur on a single scale but are instead nested from the micro- to macro-levels (e.g., from a Lévy walk to scale-free correlation). Second, the functional role of group criticality is unclear. To elucidate these aspects, the ambiguous interaction model is constructed in this study; this model has a common framework and is a natural extension of previous representative models (such as the Boids and Vicsek models). We demonstrate that our model can explain the nested criticality of collective behavior across several scales (considering scale-free correlation, super diffusion, Lévy walks, and 1/f fluctuation for relative velocities). Our model can also explain the relationship between scale-free correlation and group turns. To examine this relation, we propose a new method, applying partial information decomposition (PID) to two scale-free induced subgroups. Using PID, we construct information flows between two scale-free induced subgroups and find that coupling of the group morphology (i.e., the velocity distributions) and its fluctuation power (i.e., the fluctuation distributions) likely enable rapid group turning. Thus, the flock morphology may help its internal fluctuation convert to dynamic behavior. Our result sheds new light on the role of group morphology, which is relatively unheeded, retaining the importance of fluctuation dynamics in group criticality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takayuki Niizato
- Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Hisashi Murakami
- Faculty of Information and Human Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto city, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Takuya Musha
- Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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4
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Dvoretskii S, Gong Z, Gupta A, Parent J, Alicea B. Braitenberg Vehicles as Developmental Neurosimulation. ARTIFICIAL LIFE 2022; 28:369-395. [PMID: 35881679 DOI: 10.1162/artl_a_00384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Connecting brain and behavior is a longstanding issue in the areas of behavioral science, artificial intelligence, and neurobiology. As is standard among models of artificial and biological neural networks, an analogue of the fully mature brain is presented as a blank slate. However, this does not consider the realities of biological development and developmental learning. Our purpose is to model the development of an artificial organism that exhibits complex behaviors. We introduce three alternate approaches to demonstrate how developmental embodied agents can be implemented. The resulting developmental Braitenberg vehicles (dBVs) will generate behaviors ranging from stimulus responses to group behavior that resembles collective motion. We will situate this work in the domain of artificial brain networks along with broader themes such as embodied cognition, feedback, and emergence. Our perspective is exemplified by three software instantiations that demonstrate how a BV-genetic algorithm hybrid model, a multisensory Hebbian learning model, and multi-agent approaches can be used to approach BV development. We introduce use cases such as optimized spatial cognition (vehicle-genetic algorithm hybrid model), hinges connecting behavioral and neural models (multisensory Hebbian learning model), and cumulative classification (multi-agent approaches). In conclusion, we consider future applications of the developmental neurosimulation approach.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Bradly Alicea
- Orthogonal Research and Education Laboratory
- OpenWorm Foundation.
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5
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Nauta J, Khaluf Y, Simoens P. Resource ephemerality influences effectiveness of altruistic behavior in collective foraging. SWARM INTELLIGENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11721-021-00205-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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6
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Ding SS, Chong KL, Shi JQ, Ding GY, Lu HY, Xia KQ, Zhong JQ. Inverse centrifugal effect induced by collective motion of vortices in rotating thermal convection. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5585. [PMID: 34552094 PMCID: PMC8458392 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25838-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
When a fluid system is subject to strong rotation, centrifugal fluid motion is expected, i.e., denser (lighter) fluid moves outward (inward) from (toward) the axis of rotation. Here we demonstrate, both experimentally and numerically, the existence of an unexpected outward motion of warm and lighter vortices in rotating thermal convection. This anomalous vortex motion occurs under rapid rotations when the centrifugal buoyancy is sufficiently strong to induce a symmetry-breaking in the vorticity field, i.e., the vorticity of the cold anticyclones overrides that of the warm cyclones. We show that through hydrodynamic interactions the densely distributed vortices can self-aggregate into coherent clusters and exhibit collective motion in this flow regime. Interestingly, the correlation of the vortex velocity fluctuations within a cluster is scale-free, with the correlation length being proportional ( ≈ 30%) to the cluster length. Such long-range correlation leads to the counterintuitive collective outward motion of warm vortices. Our study brings insights into the vortex dynamics that are widely present in nature. Ding et al. study the collective motion of densely packed vortices in rotating thermal convection. They uncover the counterintuitive effect of warmer and thus lighter vortices moving outward from the central axis of rotation, driven by long range, scale-free vortex correlations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shan-Shan Ding
- School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Kai Leong Chong
- Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.,School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200072, PR, China
| | - Jun-Qiang Shi
- School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Guang-Yu Ding
- Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.,Center for Complex Flows and Soft Matter Research and Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Hao-Yuan Lu
- School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Ke-Qing Xia
- Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China. .,Center for Complex Flows and Soft Matter Research and Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
| | - Jin-Qiang Zhong
- School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
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7
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Xenakis MN, Kapetis D, Yang Y, Heijman J, Waxman SG, Lauria G, Faber CG, Smeets HJ, Lindsey PJ, Westra RL. Non-extensitivity and criticality of atomic hydropathicity around a voltage-gated sodium channel's pore: a modeling study. J Biol Phys 2021; 47:61-77. [PMID: 33735400 PMCID: PMC7981368 DOI: 10.1007/s10867-021-09565-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Voltage-gated sodium channels (NavChs) are pore-forming membrane proteins that regulate the transport of sodium ions through the cell membrane. Understanding the structure and function of NavChs is of major biophysical, as well as clinical, importance given their key role in cellular pathophysiology. In this work, we provide a computational framework for modeling system-size-dependent, i.e., cumulative, atomic properties around a NavCh's pore. We illustrate our methodologies on the bacterial NavAb channel captured in a closed-pore state where we demonstrate that the atomic environment around its pore exhibits a bi-phasic spatial organization dictated by the structural separation of the pore domains (PDs) from the voltage-sensing domains (VSDs). Accordingly, a mathematical model describing packing of atoms around NavAb's pore is constructed that allows-under certain conservation conditions-for a power-law approximation of the cumulative hydropathic dipole field effect acting along NavAb's pore. This verified the non-extensitivity hypothesis for the closed-pore NavAb channel and revealed a long-range hydropathic interactions law regulating atom-packing around the NavAb's selectivity filter. Our model predicts a PDs-VSDs coupling energy of [Formula: see text] kcal/mol corresponding to a global maximum of the atom-packing energy profile. Crucially, we demonstrate for the first time how critical phenomena can emerge in a single-channel structure as a consequence of the non-extensive character of its atomic porous environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markos N Xenakis
- Department of Toxicogenomics, Section Clinical Genomics, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
- Research School for Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNS), Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Dimos Kapetis
- Neuroalgology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta", via Celoria 11, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Yang Yang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
- Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Jordi Heijman
- Department of Cardiology, CARIM School for Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Stephen G Waxman
- Department of Neurology and Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
- Rehabilitation Research Center, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA
| | - Giuseppe Lauria
- Neuroalgology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta", via Celoria 11, 20133, Milan, Italy
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Luigi Sacco", University of Milan, via G.B. Grassi 74, 20157, Milan, Italy
| | - Catharina G Faber
- Department of Neurology, Maastricht University Medical Center, PO Box 5800, 6202 AZ, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Hubert J Smeets
- Department of Toxicogenomics, Section Clinical Genomics, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Research School for Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNS), Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Patrick J Lindsey
- Department of Toxicogenomics, Section Clinical Genomics, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Research School for Oncology and Developmental Biology (GROW), Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Ronald L Westra
- Department of Data Science and Knowledge Engineering, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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8
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Turgut AE, Boz İC, Okay İE, Ferrante E, Huepe C. Interaction network effects on position- and velocity-based models of collective motion. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20200165. [PMID: 32811297 PMCID: PMC7482575 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
We study how the structure of the interaction network affects self-organized collective motion in two minimal models of self-propelled agents: the Vicsek model and the Active-Elastic (AE) model. We perform simulations with topologies that interpolate between a nearest-neighbour network and random networks with different degree distributions to analyse the relationship between the interaction topology and the resilience to noise of the ordered state. For the Vicsek case, we find that a higher fraction of random connections with homogeneous or power-law degree distribution increases the critical noise, and thus the resilience to noise, as expected due to small-world effects. Surprisingly, for the AE model, a higher fraction of random links with power-law degree distribution can decrease this resilience, despite most links being long-range. We explain this effect through a simple mechanical analogy, arguing that the larger presence of agents with few connections contributes localized low-energy modes that are easily excited by noise, thus hindering the collective dynamics. These results demonstrate the strong effects of the interaction topology on self-organization. Our work suggests potential roles of the interaction network structure in biological collective behaviour and could also help improve decentralized swarm robotics control and other distributed consensus systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Emre Turgut
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - İhsan Caner Boz
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - İlkin Ege Okay
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Eliseo Ferrante
- Department of Computer Science, Vrij Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Cristián Huepe
- CHuepe Labs, 2713 West Haddon Ave #1, Chicago, IL 60622, USA
- Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems and ESAM, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
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9
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Rausch I, Simoens P, Khaluf Y. Adaptive Foraging in Dynamic Environments Using Scale-Free Interaction Networks. Front Robot AI 2020; 7:86. [PMID: 33501253 PMCID: PMC7805822 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2020.00086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2019] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Group interactions are widely observed in nature to optimize a set of critical collective behaviors, most notably sensing and decision making in uncertain environments. Nevertheless, these interactions are commonly modeled using local (proximity) networks, in which individuals interact within a certain spatial range. Recently, other interaction topologies have been revealed to support the emergence of higher levels of scalability and rapid information exchange. One prominent example is scale-free networks. In this study, we aim to examine the impact of scale-free communication when implemented for a swarm foraging task in dynamic environments. We model dynamic (uncertain) environments in terms of changes in food density and analyze the collective response of a simulated swarm with communication topology given by either proximity or scale-free networks. Our results suggest that scale-free networks accelerate the process of building up a rapid collective response to cope with the environment changes. However, this comes at the cost of lower coherence of the collective decision. Moreover, our findings suggest that the use of scale-free networks can improve swarm performance due to two side-effects introduced by using long-range interactions and frequent network regeneration. The former is a topological consequence, while the latter is a necessity due to robot motion. These two effects lead to reduced spatial correlations of a robot's behavior with its neighborhood and to an enhanced opinion mixing, i.e., more diversified information sampling. These insights were obtained by comparing the swarm performance in presence of scale-free networks to scenarios with alternative network topologies, and proximity networks with and without packet loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilja Rausch
- IDLab - Department of Information Technology, Ghent University—IMEC, Ghent, Belgium
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10
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Nauta J, Khaluf Y, Simoens P. Hybrid foraging in patchy environments using spatial memory. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20200026. [PMID: 32429823 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Efficient random searches are essential to the survival of foragers searching for sparsely distributed targets. Lévy walks have been found to optimize the search over a wide range of constraints. When targets are distributed within patches, generating a spatial memory over the detected targets can be beneficial towards optimizing the search efficiency. Because foragers have limited memory, storing each target location separately is unrealistic. Instead, we propose incrementally learning a spatial distribution in favour of memorizing target locations. We demonstrate that an ensemble of Gaussian mixture models is a suitable candidate for such a spatial distribution. Using this, a hybrid foraging strategy is proposed, which interchanges random searches with informed movement. Informed movement results in displacements towards target locations, and is more likely to occur if the learned spatial distribution is correct. We show that, depending on the strength of the memory effects, foragers optimize search efficiencies by continuous revisitation of non-destructive targets. However, this negatively affects both the target and patch diversity, indicating that memory does not necessarily optimize multi-objective searches. Hence, the benefits of memory depend on the specific goals of the forager. Furthermore, through analysis of the distribution over walking distances of the forager, we show that memory changes the underlying walk characteristics. Specifically, the forager resorts to Brownian motion instead of Lévy walks, due to truncation of the long straight line displacements resulting from memory effects. This study provides a framework that opens up new avenues for investigating memory effects on foraging in sparse environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Nauta
- Department of Information Technology-IDLab, Ghent University-imec, Technologiepark Zwijnaarde 126, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Yara Khaluf
- Department of Information Technology-IDLab, Ghent University-imec, Technologiepark Zwijnaarde 126, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Pieter Simoens
- Department of Information Technology-IDLab, Ghent University-imec, Technologiepark Zwijnaarde 126, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
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11
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Marhl U, Gosak M. Proper spatial heterogeneities expand the regime of scale-free behavior in a lattice of excitable elements. Phys Rev E 2019; 100:062203. [PMID: 31962506 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.100.062203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Signatures of criticality, such as power law scaling of observables, have been empirically found in a plethora of real-life settings, including biological systems. The presence of critical states is believed to have many functional advantages and is associated with optimal operational abilities. Typically, critical dynamics arises in the proximity of phase transition points between absorbing disordered states (subcriticality) and ordered active regimes (supercriticality) and requires a high degree of fine tuning to emerge, which is unlikely to occur in real biological systems. In the present study we propose a rather simple, and biologically relevant mechanism that profoundly expands the critical-like region. In particular, by means of numerical simulation we show that incorporating spatial heterogeneities into the square lattice of map-based excitable oscillators broadens the parameter space in which the distribution of excitation wave sizes follows closely a power law. Most importantly, this behavior is only observed if the spatial profile exhibits intermediate-sized patches with similar excitability levels, whereas for large and small spatial clusters only marginal widening of the critical state is detected. Furthermore, it turned out that the presence of spatial disorder in general amplifies the size of excitation waves, whereby the relatively highest contributions are observed in the proximity of the critical point. We argue that the reported mechanism is of particular importance for excitable systems with local interactions between individual elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Urban Marhl
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenia
- Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics, Jadranska ulica 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Marko Gosak
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenia
- Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Taborska ulica 8, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenia
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12
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Sophisticated collective foraging with minimalist agents: a swarm robotics test. SWARM INTELLIGENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s11721-019-00176-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
How groups of cooperative foragers can achieve efficient and robust collective foraging is of interest both to biologists studying social insects and engineers designing swarm robotics systems. Of particular interest are distance-quality trade-offs and swarm-size-dependent foraging strategies. Here, we present a collective foraging system based on virtual pheromones, tested in simulation and in swarms of up to 200 physical robots. Our individual agent controllers are highly simplified, as they are based on binary pheromone sensors. Despite being simple, our individual controllers are able to reproduce classical foraging experiments conducted with more capable real ants that sense pheromone concentration and follow its gradient. One key feature of our controllers is a control parameter which balances the trade-off between distance selectivity and quality selectivity of individual foragers. We construct an optimal foraging theory model that accounts for distance and quality of resources, as well as overcrowding, and predicts a swarm-size-dependent strategy. We test swarms implementing our controllers against our optimality model and find that, for moderate swarm sizes, they can be parameterised to approximate the optimal foraging strategy. This study demonstrates the sufficiency of simple individual agent rules to generate sophisticated collective foraging behaviour.
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13
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Coherent collective behaviour emerging from decentralised balancing of social feedback and noise. SWARM INTELLIGENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s11721-019-00173-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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14
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Stožer A, Markovič R, Dolenšek J, Perc M, Marhl M, Slak Rupnik M, Gosak M. Heterogeneity and Delayed Activation as Hallmarks of Self-Organization and Criticality in Excitable Tissue. Front Physiol 2019; 10:869. [PMID: 31333504 PMCID: PMC6624746 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-organized critical dynamics is assumed to be an attractive mode of functioning for several real-life systems and entails an emergent activity in which the extent of observables follows a power-law distribution. The hallmarks of criticality have recently been observed in a plethora of biological systems, including beta cell populations within pancreatic islets of Langerhans. In the present study, we systematically explored the mechanisms that drive the critical and supercritical behavior in networks of coupled beta cells under different circumstances by means of experimental and computational approaches. Experimentally, we employed high-speed functional multicellular calcium imaging of fluorescently labeled acute mouse pancreas tissue slices to record calcium signals in a large number of beta cells simultaneously, and with a high spatiotemporal resolution. Our experimental results revealed that the cellular responses to stimulation with glucose are biphasic and glucose-dependent. Under physiological as well as under supraphysiological levels of stimulation, an initial activation phase was followed by a supercritical plateau phase with a high number of global intercellular calcium waves. However, the activation phase displayed fingerprints of critical behavior under lower stimulation levels, with a progressive recruitment of cells and a power-law distribution of calcium wave sizes. On the other hand, the activation phase provoked by pathophysiologically high glucose concentrations, differed considerably and was more rapid, less continuous, and supercritical. To gain a deeper insight into the experimentally observed complex dynamical patterns, we built up a phenomenological model of coupled excitable cells and explored empirically the model’s necessities that ensured a good overlap between computational and experimental results. It turned out that such a good agreement between experimental and computational findings was attained when both heterogeneous and stimulus-dependent time lags, variability in excitability levels, as well as a heterogeneous cell-cell coupling were included into the model. Most importantly, since our phenomenological approach involved only a few parameters, it naturally lends itself not only for determining key mechanisms of self-organized criticality at the tissue level, but also points out various features for comprehensive and realistic modeling of different excitable systems in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andraž Stožer
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Rene Markovič
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Faculty of Education, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Faculty of Energy Technology, University of Maribor, Krško, Slovenia
| | - Jurij Dolenšek
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Matjaž Perc
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Center for Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marko Marhl
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Faculty of Education, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Marjan Slak Rupnik
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Institute of Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Alma Mater Europaea - ECM, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Marko Gosak
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.,Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
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Abstract
In many complex systems observed in nature, properties such as scalability, adaptivity, or rapid information exchange are often accompanied by the presence of features that are scale-free, i.e., that have no characteristic scale. Following this observation, we investigate the existence of scale-free features in artificial collective systems using simulated robot swarms. We implement a large-scale swarm performing the complex task of collective foraging, and demonstrate that several space and time features of the simulated swarm—such as number of communication links or time spent in resting state—spontaneously approach the scale-free property with moderate to strong statistical plausibility. Furthermore, we report strong correlations between the latter observation and swarm performance in terms of the number of retrieved items.
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Khaluf Y, Simoens P, Hamann H. The Neglected Pieces of Designing Collective Decision-Making Processes. Front Robot AI 2019; 6:16. [PMID: 33501032 PMCID: PMC7805907 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2019.00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Autonomous decision-making is a fundamental requirement for the intelligent behavior of individual agents and systems. For artificial systems, one of the key design prerequisites is providing the system with the ability to make proper decisions. Current literature on collective artificial systems designs decision-making mechanisms inspired mostly by the successful natural systems. Nevertheless, most of the approaches focus on voting mechanisms and miss other fundamental aspects. In this paper, we aim to draw attention to the missed pieces for the design of efficient collective decision-making, mainly information processes in its two types of stimuli and options set.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yara Khaluf
- IDLab, Ghent University-Imec, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Heiko Hamann
- Institute of Computer Engineering, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
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Ugarte JP, Tobón C, Lopes AM, Machado JAT. Atrial Rotor Dynamics Under Complex Fractional Order Diffusion. Front Physiol 2018; 9:975. [PMID: 30087620 PMCID: PMC6066719 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Accepted: 07/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms of atrial fibrillation (AF) are a challenging research topic. The rotor hypothesis states that the AF is sustained by a reentrant wave that propagates around an unexcited core. Cardiac tissue heterogeneities, both structural and cellular, play an important role during fibrillatory dynamics, so that the ionic characteristics of the currents, their spatial distribution and their structural heterogeneity determine the meandering of the rotor. Several studies about rotor dynamics implement the standard diffusion equation. However, this mathematical scheme carries some limitations. It assumes the myocardium as a continuous medium, ignoring, therefore, its discrete and heterogeneous aspects. A computational model integrating both, electrical and structural properties could complement experimental and clinical results. A new mathematical model of the action potential propagation, based on complex fractional order derivatives is presented. The complex derivative order appears of considering the myocardium as discrete-scale invariant fractal. The main aim is to study the role of a myocardial, with fractal characteristics, on atrial fibrillatory dynamics. For this purpose, the degree of structural heterogeneity is described through derivatives of complex order γ = α + jβ. A set of variations for γ is tested. The real part α takes values ranging from 1.1 to 2 and the imaginary part β from 0 to 0.28. Under this scheme, the standard diffusion is recovered when α = 2 and β = 0. The effect of γ on the action potential propagation over an atrial strand is investigated. Rotors are generated in a 2D model of atrial tissue under electrical remodeling due to chronic AF. The results show that the degree of structural heterogeneity, given by γ, modulates the electrophysiological properties and the dynamics of rotor-type reentrant mechanisms. The spatial stability of the rotor and the area of its unexcited core are modulated. As the real part decreases and the imaginary part increases, simulating a higher structural heterogeneity, the vulnerable window to reentrant is increased, as the total meandering of the rotor tip. This in silico study suggests that structural heterogeneity, described by means of complex order derivatives, modulates the stability of rotors and that a wide range of rotor dynamics can be generated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan P. Ugarte
- Grupo de Investigación en Modelamiento y Simulación Computacional, Facultad de Ingenierías, Universidad de San Buenaventura, Medellín, Colombia
| | | | - António M. Lopes
- UISPA-LAETA/INEGI, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - J. A. Tenreiro Machado
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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