The Basis of Navigation Across Species

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cody A. Freas ◽  
Ken Cheng

Animals navigate a wide range of distances, from a few millimeters to globe-spanning journeys of thousands of kilometers. Despite this array of navigational challenges, similar principles underlie these behaviors across species. Here, we focus on the navigational strategies and supporting mechanisms in four well-known systems: the large-scale migratory behaviors of sea turtles and lepidopterans as well as navigation on a smaller scale by rats and solitarily foraging ants. In lepidopterans, rats, and ants we also discuss the current understanding of the neural architecture which supports navigation. The orientation and navigational behaviors of these animals are defined in terms of behavioral error-reduction strategies reliant on multiple goal-directed servomechanisms. We conclude by proposing to incorporate an additional component into this system: the observation that servomechanisms operate on oscillatory systems of cycling behavior. These oscillators and servomechanisms comprise the basis for directed orientation and navigational behaviors. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Author(s):  
Emir Kocer ◽  
Tsz Wai Ko ◽  
Jörg Behler

In the past two decades, machine learning potentials (MLPs) have reached a level of maturity that now enables applications to large-scale atomistic simulations of a wide range of systems in chemistry, physics, and materials science. Different machine learning algorithms have been used with great success in the construction of these MLPs. In this review, we discuss an important group of MLPs relying on artificial neural networks to establish a mapping from the atomic structure to the potential energy. In spite of this common feature, there are important conceptual differences among MLPs, which concern the dimensionality of the systems, the inclusion of long-range electrostatic interactions, global phenomena like nonlocal charge transfer, and the type of descriptor used to represent the atomic structure, which can be either predefined or learnable. A concise overview is given along with a discussion of the open challenges in the field. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Volume 73 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Yonit Maroudas-Sacks ◽  
Kinneret Keren

Morphogenesis is one of the most remarkable examples of biological pattern formation. Despite substantial progress in the field, we still do not understand the organizational principles responsible for the robust convergence of the morphogenesis process across scales to form viable organisms under variable conditions. Achieving large-scale coordination requires feedback between mechanical and biochemical processes, spanning all levels of organization and relating the emerging patterns with the mechanisms driving their formation. In this review, we highlight the role of mechanics in the patterning process, emphasizing the active and synergistic manner in which mechanical processes participate in developmental patterning rather than merely following a program set by biochemical signals. We discuss the value of applying a coarse-grained approach toward understanding this complex interplay, which considers the large-scale dynamics and feedback as well as complementing the reductionist approach focused on molecular detail. A central challenge in this approach is identifying relevant coarse-grained variables and developing effective theories that can serve as a basis for an integrated framework for understanding this remarkable pattern-formation process. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology, Volume 37 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caylin Louis Moore ◽  
Forrest Stuart

For nearly a century, gang scholarship has remained foundational to criminological theory and method. Twenty-first-century scholarship continues to refine and, in some cases, supplant long-held axioms about gang formation, organization, and behavior. Recent advances can be traced to shifts in the empirical social reality and conditions within which gangs exist and act. We draw out this relationship—between the ontological and epistemological—by identifying key macrostructural shifts that have transformed gang composition and behavior and, in turn, forced scholars to revise dominant theoretical frameworks and analytical approaches. These shifts include large-scale economic transformations, the expansion of punitive state interventions, the proliferation of the Internet and social media, intensified globalization, and the increasing presence of women and LGBTQ individuals in gangs and gang research. By introducing historically unprecedented conditions and actors, these developments provide novel opportunities to reconsider previous analyses of gang structure, violence, and other related objects of inquiry. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego O. Serra ◽  
Regine Hengge

Biofilms are a widespread multicellular form of bacterial life. The spatial structure and emergent properties of these communities depend on a polymeric extracellular matrix architecture that is orders of magnitude larger than the cells that build it. Using as a model the wrinkly macrocolony biofilms of Escherichia coli, which contain amyloid curli fibers and phosphoethanolamine (pEtN)-modified cellulose as matrix components, we summarize here the structure, building, and function of this large-scale matrix architecture. Based on different sigma and other transcription factors as well as second messengers, the underlying regulatory network reflects the fundamental trade-off between growth and survival. It controls matrix production spatially in response to long-range chemical gradients, but it also generates distinct patterns of short-range matrix heterogeneity that are crucial for tissue-like elasticity and macroscopic morphogenesis. Overall, these biofilms confer protection and a potential for homeostasis, thereby reducing maintenance energy, which makes multicellularity an emergent property of life itself. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Microbiology, Volume 75 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Audrey Ruple ◽  
Evan MacLean ◽  
Noah Snyder-Mackler ◽  
Kate E. Creevy ◽  
Daniel Promislow

As the most phenotypically diverse mammalian species that shares human environments and access to sophisticated healthcare, domestic dogs have unique potential to inform our understanding of the determinants of aging. Here we outline key concepts in the study of aging and illustrate the value of research with dogs, which can improve dog health and support translational discoveries. We consider similarities and differences in aging and age-related diseases in dogs and humans and summarize key advances in our understanding of genetic and environmental risk factors for morbidity and mortality in dogs. We address health outcomes ranging from cancer to cognitive function and highlight emerging research opportunities from large-scale cohort studies in companion dogs. We conclude that studying aging in dogs could overcome many limitations of laboratory models, most notably, the ability to assess how aging-associated pathways influence aging in real-world environments similar to those experienced by humans. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, Volume 10 is February 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Frank A. Bosco

In some fields, research findings are rigorously curated in a common language and made available to enable future use and large-scale, robust insights. Organizational researchers have begun such efforts [e.g., metaBUS ( http://metabus.org/ )] but are far from the efficient, comprehensive curation seen in areas such as cognitive neuroscience or genetics. This review provides a sample of insights from research curation efforts in organizational research, psychology, and beyond—insights not possible by even large-scale, substantive meta-analyses. Efforts are classified as either science-of-science research or large-scale, substantive research. The various methods used for information extraction (e.g., from PDF files) and classification (e.g., using consensus ontologies) is reviewed. The review concludes with a series of recommendations for developing and leveraging the available corpus of organizational research to speed scientific progress. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Volume 9 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
John M. Baumann ◽  
Molly S. Adam ◽  
Joel D. Wood

Spray drying is a versatile technology that has been applied widely in the chemical, food, and, most recently, pharmaceutical industries. This review focuses on engineering advances and the most significant applications of spray drying for pharmaceuticals. An in-depth view of the process and its use is provided for amorphous solid dispersions, a major, growing drug-delivery approach. Enhanced understanding of the relationship of spray-drying process parameters to final product quality attributes has made robust product development possible to address a wide range of pharmaceutical problem statements. Formulation and process optimization have leveraged the knowledge gained as the technology has matured, enabling improved process development from early feasibility screening through commercial applications. Spray drying's use for approved small-molecule oral products is highlighted, as are emerging applications specific to delivery of biologics and non-oral delivery of dry powders. Based on the changing landscape of the industry, significant future opportunities exist for pharmaceutical spray drying. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Volume 12 is June 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Lihe Chen ◽  
Hyun Jun Jung ◽  
Arnab Datta ◽  
Euijung Park ◽  
Brian G. Poll ◽  
...  

Systems biology can be defined as the study of a biological process in which all of the relevant components are investigated together in parallel to discover the mechanism. Although the approach is not new, it has come to the forefront as a result of genome sequencing projects completed in the first few years of the current century. It has elements of large-scale data acquisition (chiefly next-generation sequencing–based methods and protein mass spectrometry) and large-scale data analysis (big data integration and Bayesian modeling). Here we discuss these methodologies and show how they can be applied to understand the downstream effects of GPCR signaling, specifically looking at how the neurohypophyseal peptide hormone vasopressin, working through the V2 receptor and PKA activation, regulates the water channel aquaporin-2. The emerging picture provides a detailed framework for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in water balance disorders, pointing the way to improved treatment of both polyuric disorders and water-retention disorders causing dilutional hyponatremia. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Volume 62 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Mahesha M. Poojary ◽  
Marianne N. Lund

Protein is a major nutrient present in foods along with carbohydrates and lipids. Food proteins undergo a wide range of modifications during food production, processing, and storage. In this review, we discuss two major reactions, oxidation and the Maillard reaction, involved in chemical modifications of food proteins. Protein oxidation in foods is initiated by metal-, enzyme-, or light-induced processes. Food protein oxidation results in the loss of thiol groups and the formation of protein carbonyls and specific oxidation products of cysteine, tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, and methionine residues, such as disulfides, dityrosine, kynurenine, m-tyrosine, and methionine sulfoxide. The Maillard reaction involves the reaction of nucleophilic amino acid residues with reducing sugars, which yields numerous heterogeneous compounds such as α-dicarbonyls, furans, Strecker aldehydes, advanced glycation end-products, and melanoidins. Both protein oxidation and the Maillard reaction result in the loss of essential amino acids but may positively or negatively impact food structure and flavor. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, Volume 13 is March 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Author(s):  
Peter H. Gleick ◽  
Heather Cooley

The availability and use of fresh water are critical for human health and for economic and ecosystem stability. But the growing mismatch between human demands and natural freshwater availability is contributing to water scarcity, affecting industrial and agricultural production and a wide range of social, economic, and political problems, including poverty, deterioration of ecosystem health, and violent conflicts. Understanding and addressing different forms of water scarcity are vital for moving toward more sustainable management and use of fresh water. We provide here a review of concepts and definitions of water scarcity, metrics and indicators used to evaluate scarcity together with strategies for addressing and reducing the adverse consequences of water scarcity, including the development of alternative sources of water, improvements in water-use efficiency, and changes in systems of water management and planning. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Volume 46 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document