Emergent Collective Locomotion in an Active Polymer Model of Entangled Worm Blobs

Numerous worm and arthropod species form physically-connected aggregations in which interactions among individuals give rise to emergent macroscale dynamics and functionalities that enhance collective survival. In particular, some aquatic worms such as the California blackworm (Lumbriculus variegatus) entangle their bodies into dense blobs to shield themselves against external stressors and preserve moisture in dry conditions. Motivated by recent experiments revealing emergent locomotion in blackworm blobs, we investigate the collective worm dynamics by modeling each worm as a self-propelled Brownian polymer. Though our model is two-dimensional, compared to real three-dimensional worm blobs, we demonstrate how a simulated blob can collectively traverse temperature gradients via the coupling between the active motion and the environment. By performing a systematic parameter sweep over the strength of attractive forces between worms, and the magnitude of their directed self-propulsion, we obtain a rich phase diagram which reveals that effective collective locomotion emerges as a result of finely balancing a tradeoff between these two parameters. Our model brings the physics of active filaments into a new meso- and macroscale context and invites further theoretical investigation into the collective behavior of long, slender, semi-flexible organisms.

Emergent collective locomotion in an active polymer model of entangled worm blobs

Numerous worm and arthropod species form physically-connected aggregations in which interactions among individuals give rise to emergent macroscale dynamics and functionalities that enhance collective survival. In particular, some aquatic worms such as the California blackworm (Lumbriculus variegatus) entangle their bodies into dense blobs to shield themselves against external stressors and preserve moisture in dry conditions. Motivated by recent experiments revealing emergent locomotion in blackworm blobs, we investigate the collective worm dynamics by modeling each worm as a self-propelled Brownian polymer. Though our model is two-dimensional, compared to real three-dimensional worm blobs, we demonstrate how a simulated blob can collectively traverse temperature gradients via the coupling between the active motion and the environment. By performing a systematic parameter sweep over the strength of attractive forces between worms, and the magnitude of their directed self-propulsion, we obtain a rich phase diagram which reveals that effective collective locomotion emerges as a result of finely balancing a tradeoff between these two parameters. Our model brings the physics of active filaments into a new meso- and macroscale context and invites further theoretical investigation into the collective behavior of long, slender, semi-flexible organisms.

Survival of the cryptic: Tracing technological imaginaries across ideologies, infrastructures, and community practices

This article explores an inflection point for the crypto community as it grappled with a series of cascading failures. Drawing on 3 years of ethnographic observation and interviews at conferences devoted to building privacy systems, I consider how a determinist conception of encryption technologies inhibited the widespread adoption of privacy technologies. I develop the frame of “survival of the cryptic” to call attention to the way this conception fails to acknowledge how power shapes the conditions of surveillance: that race and racism, gender and misogyny affect not only who is most impacted by surveillance but also how the encryption technologies developed to inhibit surveillance were designed—and, as importantly, who they were designed for. I conclude by offering a new imaginary for encryption that draws on queer, black and feminist thought by centering the need to create safe and autonomous spaces for collective survival under conditions of mass surveillance.

Apuntes sociológicos de las inmigrantes suramericanas (Ecuador, Bolivia y Colombia) en Mallorca.

Se trata de visibilizar y mostrar las desigualdades de género en el marco de la diversidad cultural, en un contexto de multiculturalidad transcultural jerarquizada en Mallorca como sociedad receptora. Para constatar estos planteamientos se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad a mujeres afro-ecuatorianas y originarias, emigradas de Suramérica hacia Mallorca, registrando sus respuestas en un cuestionario-guía preestablecido. Éste fue contestado por 39 mujeres de origen étnico afro-ecuatoriano y originarias de Ecuador, Colombia y Bolivia. Estas mujeres constituyen una muestra y un ejemplo significativo de la feminización de la migración y la supervivencia colectiva. The aim is to make visible and show gender inequalities within the framework of cultural diversity, in a context of hierarchical cross-cultural multiculturalism in Mallorca as a host society. In order to verify these approaches, in-depth interviews were conducted with Afro-Ecuadorian women and indigenous natives, emigrated from South America to Mallorca, recording their responses in a pre-established questionnaire-guide. This was answered by 39 women of Afro-Ecuadorian and indigenous ethnicity from Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia. They represent a significant aspect of the feminization of migration and collective survival.

Global community effect: large-scale cooperation yields collective survival of differentiating embryonic stem cells

SUMMARY“Community effect” conventionally describes differentiation occurring only when enough cells help their local (micrometers-scale) neighbors differentiate. Although new community effects are being uncovered for myriad differentiations, macroscopic-scale community effects - fates of millions of cells all entangled across centimeters - remain elusive. We found that differentiating mouse Embryonic Stem (ES) cells that are scattered as individuals over many centimeters form one macroscopic entity via long-range communications. The macroscopic population avoids extinction only if its centimeter-scale density is above a threshold value. Single-cell-level measurements, transcriptomics, and mathematical modeling revealed that this “global community effect” occurs because differentiating ES-cell populations secrete, accumulate, and sense survival-promoting factors, including FGF4, that diffuse over many millimeters and activate Yap1-induced survival mechanisms. Only above-threshold-density populations accumulate above-threshold-concentrations of factors required to survive. We thus uncovered a previously overlooked, large-scale cooperation that underlies ES-cell differentiation. Tuning such large-scale cooperation may enable constructions of macroscopic, synthetic multicellular structures.

Values of Greetings in Igbo Traditional Culture and the Contemporary Society

Greetings are one of the cherished core values that facilitate interpersonal relationships and cooperative reality in Igbo traditional culture. It appears that in the contemporary society, especially as a result of influence of foreign languages and culture, the value attached to greetings and respect for others are grossly waning, and more among the younger generation. Some also greet in a nonconforming manner that the socio-cultural value inherent in the Igbo traditional pattern of greetings is apparently absent. As a result, some people have been flagrantly contemptuous and snubbed away noble opportunities or relationships that would have helped in improving their individual lives and the society in general. The paper adopted ethnographic approach and data derived largely from personal observation and interviews. Despite the central place greetings occupied in the Igbo traditional culture, there appears to be scarcity of exploratory information on it. The paper, therefore, attempts to underscore the value of greetings by highlighting its essential elements in Igbo traditional culture. The Igbo should continue to make conscientious efforts in the preservation of their social norms and cultural values, which have shaped and sustained the society since time immemorial. It surmises that greeting in Igbo traditional culture is key relational oil that lubricates and maintains collective survival of the Igbo race.

Just Keep Going - Polyphony. Gentle Activism for Collective Survival

This portfolio examines the possibility of my project ‘Just Keep Going’ series to nurture resilience for those experiencing uncanniness during periods of change and re-organization in the aftermath of extreme experiences. Experiences in an action-oriented non-verbal polyphony environment that prioritizes the uniqueness of a holistic self while accepting the existence of diverse individuals who are participating in collective survival could foster that resilience. My practice-led research aims to explore an expanded application of my Ikebana practice to my public Spatial Neural-Architectures while exploring a new way of understanding security, survival, and wellbeing. My research informs my art practice that includes the practices arising out of my life experience as a transnational voluntary evacuee to Australia from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. My portfolio shows the transformation of my artwork and my everyday life. I investigate how my art practice could offer a therapeutic experience as well as a new cultural framework by examining the methods of Open Dialogue, the Biophilia Hypothesis, Ikebana Philosophy, and Sand-play Therapy. These methods open up new possibilities for a socially engaged practice that addresses collective traumas in the midst/aftermath of global crisis and the social changes necessary for collective survival.

Can Indigenous Foods Play Role as ‘the Food of Survival’?

The indigenous foods are ‘the way of life’ of the people in rural Sudan and are considered ‘the food of survival’. Traditional/indigenous foods provide inexpensive, safe, nutritious foods throughout the whole year. These indigenous foods contribute to diversify of the diet of rural people in normal times and alternative foods that crucial to their survival during times of food shortage. Indigenous foods have the nutritional values; are both palatable and enjoyable, in addition to their potential health benefits. Indigenous techniques to process and preserve food materials are rooted in the traditional cultural, are economically practicable and more appropriate for the local contexts. Indigenous foods and traditional processing techniques are based on empiricism and bring to bear a sense of the connections of indigenous people to their surrounding environment. This is important as it enables those people to relate their knowledge to solving problems in their context. It indicates how indigenous people are in ‘harmony’ with their surrounding environments for collective survival. The paper gives a brief description of some indigenous foods from various rural areas of Sudan.

Abnormal energy metabolism can alter foraging behavior in termites in different social contexts

Foraging behavior, as an energy-consuming behavior, is very important for collective survival in termites. How energy metabolism related to glucose decomposition and ATP production influences foraging behavior in termites is still unclear. Here, we analyzed the change in energy metabolism in the whole organism and brain after silencing the key metabolic gene isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) and then investigated its impact on foraging behavior in the subterranean termite Odontotermes formosanus in different social contexts. The IDH gene exhibited higher expression in the abdomen and head of O. formosanus. The knockdown of IDH resulted in metabolic disorders in the whole organism, including the impairment of the NAD+-IDH reaction and decreased ATP levels and glucose accumulation. The dsIDH-injected workers showed significantly reduced walking activity but increased foraging success. Interestingly, IDH downregulation altered brain energy metabolism, resulting in a decline in ATP levels and an increase in IDH activity. Additionally, the social context obviously affected brain energy metabolism and, thus, altered foraging behavior in O. formosanus. We found that the presence of predator ants increased the negative influence on the foraging behavior of dsIDH-injected workers, including a decrease in foraging success. However, an increase in the number of nestmate soldiers could provide social buffering to relieve the adverse effect of predator ants on worker foraging behavior. Our orthogonal experiments further verified that the role of the IDH gene as an inherent factor was dominant in manipulating termite foraging behavior compared with external social contexts, suggesting that energy metabolism, especially brain energy metabolism, plays a crucial role in regulating termite foraging behavior.Author summaryForaging behavior plays a key role in collective survival in social insects, as found in termites. Worker termites are responsible for foraging duty and exhibit large foraging areas and long foraging distances, so they need to consume much energy during foraging. It is well established that energy can influence insect behaviors. However, how energy metabolism affects foraging behavior in termites remains unknown. Here, we found that the downregulation of the conserved metabolic gene IDH impaired whole-organism and the brain energy metabolism and further altered foraging behavior, resulting in decreased walking activity but increased foraging success in the termite O. formosanus, which is an important insect pest damaging embankments and trees in China. Additionally, the social context affected brain energy metabolism and obviously changed foraging behavior in O. formosanus, causing a decline in foraging success in the absence of nestmate soldiers and the presence of predator ants. However, the increasing number of nestmate soldiers strengthened social buffering to relieve the negative effect of predator ants on worker foraging behavior. Our findings provide new insights into the underlying molecular mechanism involved in modulating the sophisticated foraging strategy of termites in different social contexts from the perspective of energy metabolism.

Sexualities

Two influential approaches to understanding sexuality emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe: sexology and psychoanalysis. These approaches develop a method for thinking about human sexuality apart from religious discourse. Sexology births the concept of the congenital “homosexual,” often understanding this figure as pathological. In turn, psychoanalysis, as it was first developed by Sigmund Freud, considers infantile sexuality as polymorphous and perverse. It analyzes how this perversity develops into adult genders and sexualities, sometimes through the repression of drives that, even in their repressed form, continue to show effects. In both these models, sexuality is figured as a natural force, one that may come to be shaped by social and cultural milieus, but that is ultimately innate. Breaking from this tradition, Michel Foucault’s 1978 The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 offers a different, groundbreaking approach. Rather than arguing that sexuality is repressed, Foucault argues that sexuality, as a discrete nexus of experiences and sensations, emerges in a particular nexus of power and knowledge, one that disciplines bodies to become productive and docile while also seeking to manage populations through the human sciences. In this vision, sexuality does not oppose power, but rather sex and power spiral together, producing or inciting one another. Feminist, queer, and decolonial approaches to sexuality also consider how the organization and even production of sexuality is tied to structures of power and inequality such as patriarchy, heteronormativity, colonization, and anti-black racism. For example, black feminist and queer of color scholarship explore the ways in which racial difference and inequality has been justified through the production of gendered, sexual stereotypes. Indigenous and decolonial approaches build on this argument, looking to how colonization was often figured as a form of erotic penetration of a feminized land, considering how enforcing heterosexuality and binary gender formation have been key to both colonization and settler colonialism, and attending to the ongoing legacies of colonial sexual violence. These approaches often seek to reclaim and reimagine the erotic as a part of a project of resistance and collective survival.