# life: apropos of transitions (in visual perceptions), 'when the reasoning mind melts away, only shapes remain'.

<< Those who drink the hallucinogenic ayahuasca report seeing two-dimensional patterns or throbbing, three-dimensional hexahedral cells. When the reasoning mind melts away, only shapes remain. >>

<< Geometry gives us a world unclad. "Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare," wrote Edna St. Vincent Millay. That feeling of mystical revelation — of a shimmering, underlying order that we can apprehend if we purify our perception — might explain the mutual affinity between poets and geometers.  (..) Many of the mathematicians cited in Ellenberg’s book (Jordan Ellenberg,  'Shape' ) wrote verse. >>

<< “I prove a theorem,” the poet Rita Dove wrote, “and the house expands.” >>️

️

Parul Sehgal. ‘Shape’ Makes Geometry Entertaining. Really, It Does. NYT. May 20, 2021.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/books/review-shape-geometry-jordan-ellenberg.html

Jordan Ellenberg. Shape. The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else. 463 pages. Penguin Press.

https://www.nytimes.com/column/books-of-the-times

Also

keyword 'ayahuasca'  | 'magic string' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=ayahuasca

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=magic+string

keyword 'transition' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=transition

keyword 'transition' | 'transizion*' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=transition

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=transizione

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=transizioni

# acad: oops! published papers in top psychology, economics, and science journals that fail to replicate are cited more than those that replicate.

<< Papers in leading psychology, economic and science journals that fail to replicate and therefore are less likely to be true are often the most cited papers in academic research, >>

The study << explores the ongoing "replication crisis" in which researchers have discovered that many findings in the fields of social sciences and medicine don't hold up when other researchers try to repeat the experiments. The paper reveals that findings from studies that cannot be verified when the experiments are repeated have a bigger influence over time. The unreliable research tends to be cited as if the results were true long after the publication failed to replicate. >>

<< We also know that experts can predict well which papers will be replicated, (..) Given this prediction, we ask 'why are non-replicable papers accepted for publication in the first place?' >> Marta Serra-Garcia.

<< Their possible answer is that review teams of academic journals face a trade-off. When the results are more "interesting," they apply lower standards regarding their reproducibility. >>

<< Interesting or appealing findings are also covered more by media or shared on platforms like Twitter, generating a lot of attention, but that does not make them true, >> Uri Gneezy.️

A new replication crisis: Research that is less likely to be true is cited more. 

University of California - San Diego. May 21, 2021. 

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-replication-crisis-true-cited.html 

<< Only 12% of postreplication citations of nonreplicable findings acknowledge the replication failure. >>

️

Marta Serra-Garcia, Uri Gneezy. Nonreplicable publications are cited more than replicable ones. Science Advances. Vol. 7, no. 21, eabd1705

doi: 10.1126/ sciadv.abd1705. May 21,  2021.

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/21/eabd1705 

Also

keyword 'oops' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=oops

# brain: a broad range of decision-making abilities, the 'decision acuity'

<< A common factor called "decision acuity" underpins diverse decision-making abilities in adolescents and young adults, (..) is stable over time, distinct from IQ, and reduced in individuals with low general social functioning. >>️

<< decision acuity predicted patterns of correlated activity among opercular cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and somatosensory and motor areas -- brain regions previously linked to decision-making.  >>️

Independent of IQ, 'decision acuity' predicts broad range of decision-making abilities. Cell Press. May 20, 2021.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210520133924.htm

<< Decision acuity was decreased in those with aberrant thinking and low general social functioning. Crucially, decision acuity and IQ had dissociable brain signatures, in terms of their associated neural networks of resting-state functional connectivity. >>

Michael Moutoussis, Benjamín Garzón, et al. Decision-making ability,  psychopathology, and brain connectivity. Neuron. doi: 10.1016/ j.neuron.2021.04.019. May 20, 2021.

️

https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(21)00285-3

Also

keyword 'decision-making' in PubMed:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=decision-making

# gst: a scenario in which System Theory meets Poetry, bird's-eye vistas into a primitive chaos

<< The notion of primitive chaos was proposed [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 79, 15002 (2010)] as a notion closely related to the fundamental problems of physics itself such as determinism, causality, free will, predictability, and irreversibility. In this letter, (AA) introduce the notion of bird's-eye view into the primitive chaos, and (they) find a new hierarchic structure of the primitive chaos. This means that if we find a chaos in a real phenomenon or a computer simulation, behind it, we can clearly realize the possibility of tremendous varieties of chaos in the hierarchic structure unless we can see them visually. >>

<< This fact provides a totally new method of viewing our world. >>️️

Yoshihito Ogasawara. Bird's-Eye View of Primitive Chaos. arXiv:2105.04796v2 [nlin.CD]. May 17, 2021. 

https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.04796

Also

Ludwig von Bertalanffy  (gst)  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Bertalanffy

keyword 'caos' | 'caotico' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry)

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=caos

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=caotico

# gst: modeling complex nanofibril-based (cell) walls to meet diverse (bio-physical) constraints.

<< A plant cell wall's unique ability to expand without weakening or breaking -- a quality required for plant growth -- is due to the movement of its cellulose skeleton >>️

<< The new model, (..) reveals that chains of cellulose bundle together within the cell wall, providing strength, and slide against each other when the cell is stretched, providing extensibility. >>

<< The new study, (..) presents a new concept of the plant cell wall, gives insights into plant cell growth, and could provide inspiration for the design of polymeric materials with new properties. >>

<< For a long time, the prevailing concept of a plant cell wall has been that of a gel that is reinforced by cellulose fibers, with the stiff cellulose rods acting like steel rebar in cement, (..) However, we determined that cellulose chains instead stick to each other to form a network of cellulose bundles, which provides a lot more mechanical strength than disconnected rods floating in a gel. And it's the cellulose chains, rather than other components, that limit cell wall expansion, sliding alongside each other like an extension ladder when the cell is stretched. >> Daniel Cosgrove. ️

️

What makes plant cell walls both strong and extensible? Penn State. May 13, 2021. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210513142432.htm

Yao Zhang, Jingyi Yu, et al. Molecular insights into the complex mechanics of plant epidermal cell walls. Science. 

Vol. 372, Issue 6543, pp. 706-711

doi: 10.1126/ science.abf2824. May 14,  2021. 

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6543/706

# behav: apropos of the uncertainty about the 'Zona Incerta', a thresholding mechanism involved in curiosity and novelty-seeking behavior

<< Motivational drives are internal states that can be different even in similar interactions with external stimuli. Curiosity as the motivational drive for novelty-seeking and investigating the surrounding environment is for survival as essential and intrinsic as hunger. Curiosity, hunger, and appetitive aggression drive three different goal-directed behaviors—novelty seeking, food eating, and hunting >>️

<< Optogenetic activation of inhibitory neurons in medial ZI (ZIm) [medial Zona Incerta in mouse, freedom to choose what it wants], ZImGAD2 neurons, showed a dramatic increase in positive arousal level, depth of investigation, and duration of interaction with conspecifics and novel objects compared with familiar objects, crickets, and food. Optogenetic or chemogenetic deactivation of these neurons decreased depth and duration of investigation. Moreover, [AA] found that ZImGAD2 neurons are more active during deep investigation as compared with during shallow investigation. >>

<< [They] found that activation of prelimbic cortex (PL) axons into ZIm increases arousal level, and chemogenetic deactivation of these axons decreases the duration and depth of investigation. >>

<< Optogenetic activation of ZImGAD2 axons into lateral periaqueductal gray (lPAG) increases the arousal level, whereas chemogenetic deactivation of these axons decreases duration and depth of investigation. Calcium fiber photometry of these axons showed high activity during deep investigation and no significant activity during shallow investigation, suggesting a thresholding mechanism. >>️

<< Last, [AA] found a new subpopulation of inhibitory neurons in ZIm expressing tachykinin 1 (TAC1) that monosynaptically receive PL inputs and project to lPAG. Optogenetic activation and deactivation of these neurons, respectively, increased and decreased depth and duration of investigation. >>️️

Ahmadlou, Janou H. W. Houba, et al. A cell type–specific cortico-subcortical brain circuit for investigatory and novelty-seeking behavior. Science . Vol. 372, Issue 6543, eabe9681. doi: 10.1126/ science.abe9681. May 14, 2021. 

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6543/eabe9681   

Brain mechanism of curiosity unraveled. Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience - KNAW.  May 13, 2021. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210513142430.htm

# gst: like a bowl of worms, but with two behavioral regimes

AA << have observed strand motion in a polymer melt that contradicts the idea of independent motion. >>️

<< According to the results of new neutron scattering experiments, polymer molecules in plastics move in ways that aren’t captured by commonly used models. >>

<< Melt a plastic, and its constituent molecules, known as polymers, wiggle around. Experts typically describe polymer motion using the so-called tube model, which imagines plastics as a tangle of polymer strands—think a bowlful of worms. The model assumes that each strand moves independently within a virtual tube.  >>️

<< Monitoring the center of mass motion of the short strands, they observed two behavior regimes. For short translational distances, the motion of the short strands slowed as they grew apart. For longer distances, when the center of mass of the strands reached a size on the order of the diameter of the virtual tube, the speed at which the short strands moved stopped slowing down and instead matched that of diffusion. (..) the motions of short strands were tied to those of neighboring strands at short distances, differing from a standard assumption of the tube model. This cooperative motion may come from interactions between the segments, beyond simple local friction. >>️️

Sophia Chen. The Weird Wiggle of Polymers. Physics 14, s56. May 4, 2021.

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/s56    

Zamponi M., Kruteva M., et al. Cooperative Chain Dynamics of Tracer Chains in Highly Entangled Polyethylene Melts. Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 187801. May 4,  2021.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.187801