Innate heuristics and fast learning support escape route selection in mice

When faced with imminent danger, animals must rapidly take defensive actions to reach safety. Mice can react to innately threatening stimuli in less than 250 milliseconds [1] and, in simple environments, use spatial memory to quickly escape to shelter [2,3]. Natural habitats, however, often offer multiple routes to safety which animals must rapidly identify and choose from to maximize the chances of survival [4]. This is challenging because while rodents can learn to navigate complex mazes to obtain rewards [5,6], learning the value of different routes through trial-and-error during escape from threat would likely be deadly. Here we have investigated how mice learn to choose between different escape routes to shelter. By using environments with paths to shelter of varying length and geometry we find that mice prefer options that minimize both path distance and path angle relative to the shelter. This choice strategy is already present during the first threat encounter and after only ~10 minutes of exploration in a novel environment, indicating that route selection does not require experience of escaping. Instead, an innate heuristic is used to assign threat survival value to alternative paths after rapidly learning the spatial environment. This route selection process is flexible and allows quick adaptation to arenas with dynamic geometries. Computational modelling of different classes of reinforcement learning agents shows that the observed behavior can be replicated by model-based agents acting in an environment where the shelter location is rewarding during exploration. These results show that mice combine fast spatial learning with innate heuristics to choose escape routes with the highest survival value. They further suggest that integrating priors acquired through evolution with knowledge learned from experience supports adaptation to changing environments while minimizing the need for trial-and-error when the errors are very costly.

Analysis of LLL System Properties for Different Excitation Parameters

Photoluminescent strips forming a Low Location Lighting (LLL) system are the primary method for marking escape routes on passenger ships. The LLL system can be built as a self-luminous system (powered by electricity) or made as a series of strips made of photoluminescent materials, which glow and indicate the escape route after the loss of basic and emergency lighting. To ensure correct visual guidance, these strips must be installed at specific locations in the passageways and achieve appropriate photometric parameters after a certain time from their activation. The properties of the LLL system depend on the type of luminescent material used, the excitation source, and the exposure parameters. This paper presents the results of laboratory tests on two types of photoluminescent materials used for the construction of LLL systems. We recorded the change in luminance after the loss of excitation and measured the luminance values obtained 10 and 60 min after the loss of excitation under exposure to light sources commonly used for interior lighting on passenger ships. It turns out that replacing fluorescent lamps with LED lamps can reduce the luminance of the LLL system.

Climate change, fires and their impact on safety

Our planet is warming due to climate change. Along with this, the incidence of fires is increasing. Fires negatively affect the environment. Fire prevention is one of the safety priorities in the Czech Republic and in the world. One aspect of safety is the evacuation of people, animals and potentially property. The paper will present a case study of escape route ventilation.

Hybridity Culture: The Adaptive Reuse Concept for an Escape Place. Study Case: Gedung Antara, Pasar Baru, Jakarta

The growth of cities has an impact on society. As a result of the population’s increased bustle and activity needs, dwelling space is becoming increasingly limited. The concept of “third place in hybrid and multicultural areas” is explored in this study, which combines adaptive reuse in buildings with the idea of multicultural hybridity. By adapting historic structures into new purposes that meet current needs, we could solve escaping spaces. To put that concept into practice, we must first comprehend the region’s cultural characteristics. The heritage building in Pasar Baru is situated in an area generated by the complex hybridity of Jakarta’s numerous ethnic communities. This area’s hybridity offers an exciting place that can be used as an escape route. This study employs a qualitative research approach that includes in-depth observations in Pasar Baru. We study old buildings that have a hybrid character from the ethnicities prevalent in Pasar Baru. According to the findings, heritage structures undergoing adaptive reuse must be evaluated regularly to account for changes in spatial conditions that occur over time. Adaptive reuse transforms ancient structures into new roles in conservation and uses a cultural context approach in the surrounding area, allowing for more efficient service.

Why do Dalits Migrate? A Case Study of Neo-bondage in Western Uttar Pradesh

Drawing on fieldwork in two villages of Muzaffarnagar district of Western Uttar Pradesh, through case studies of brick kiln workers and cane cutters, this article attempts to show how bonded labour is continued in contemporary times. These two groups of brick kiln workers and cane-cutters belong to the Scheduled caste, and their marginalization is manufactured through social exclusion. Debt is used as a tool to sustain and build upon their marginalization by capitalist forces. Through studying the elements of neo-bondage, this article aims to show how Dalits who are at the lowest rung of India’s informal economy are tied down to exploitative and harsh working conditions that reduce their possibility of exit from those conditions. Not undermining debt as a tool of exploitation, it is also argued that bonded labour is often seen as a protective safety net that not only promises the Dalit labourers fixed employment for a stipulated time but also shows them the escape route from financial dependence on the upper caste moneylenders who play havoc in their lives through usury.

Tunneling in Various Shapes Using Numerical Analysis

Tunnelling has gained popularity in the recent times due to lack of space and the rapidly increasing population. Thus, going underground is the only option to provide the infrastructure facilities which will meet the need of increasing population. The shape and dimensions of the tunnel cross section usually depends on certain parameters like purpose for which the tunnel is provided, drainage & maintenance requirements, requirement of escape route, etc. Geology plays an important role in deciding the shape of the tunnel. The ground behaves in a complex manner, when a tunnel is excavated in it as new stresses are developed. Based on the ground types, the shape is selected in such a way that the stresses developed in the ground should distribute properly around the tunnel periphery and should not cause convergence of the tunnel boundary. Also, requirement of support system should not be too heavy, as it will increase the cost. Apart from the above parameters, the availability of the equipment & the construction method also decides the shape of the tunnel. There are various shapes of tunnels like D-shape, Circular, Elliptical, Egg-shape, Box type, Horseshoe & Modified Horseshoe shape. In the present course of work three shapes of tunnels viz. Horseshoe Shape, Modified Horseshoe Shape & D-Shape tunnels are considered. By hypothetical assumption the geology and overburden are taken into account for the tunnels and the tunnels are simulated for roof collapse and shear failure case by using RS2 FEM based software.

Figueira da Foz as a «site of memory» on the escape route from occupied Europe during the Second World War (1943-1945). Proposal for a historical itinerary

This study presents a proposal for a historical itinerary based on the «sites of memory» resulting from the presence in Figueira da Foz (a coastal city in central Portugal) of refugees from World War II. This seaside resort was one of the places chosen by the Salazar regime to receive refugees on a temporary basis, while they were waiting to embark to other countries or continents. Drawing on historical documentation, literary works and memoirs, this study identifies and maps out the places inhabited and frequented by these refugees during their stay in the city. The aim is to connect the intangible values of European history with the history of the city and its civic culture. By appreciating local heritage, it also seeks to maximize its potential to become a cultural-tourist product, enabling its integration into transnational cultural circuits, within the framework of the European Union’s policy for cross-border regions whose main aim was to free Europe from Nazi power and to break up of occupied Europe.