Navigation often requires movement in three-dimensional (3D) space. Recent studies have postulated two different models for how head direction (HD) cells encode 3D space: the rotational plane hypothesis and the dual-axis model. To distinguish these models, we recorded HD cells in female rats while they traveled different routes along both horizontal and vertical surfaces from an elevated platform to the top of a cuboidal apparatus. We compared HD cell preferred firing directions (PFDs) in different planes and addressed the issue of whether HD cell firing is commutative—does the order of the animal's route affect the final outcome of the cell's PFD? Rats locomoted a direct or indirect route from the floor to the cube top via one, two, or three vertical walls. Whereas the rotational plane hypothesis accounted for PFD shifts when the animal traversed horizontal corners, the cell's PFD was better explained by the dual-axis model when the animal traversed vertical corners. Responses also followed the dual-axis model (1) under dark conditions, (2) for passive movement of the rat, (3) following apparatus rotation, (4) for movement around inside vertical corners, and (5) across a 45° outside vertical corner. The order in which the animal traversed the different planes did not affect the outcome of the cell's PFD, indicating that responses were commutative. HD cell peak firing rates were generally equivalent along each surface. These findings indicate that the animal's orientation with respect to gravity plays an important role in determining a cell's PFD, and that vestibular and proprioceptive cues drive these computations.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Navigating in a three-dimensional (3D) world is a complex task that requires one to maintain a proper sense of orientation relative to both local and global cues. Rodent head direction (HD) cells have been suggested to subserve this sense of orientation, but most HD cell studies have focused on navigation in 2D environments. We investigated the responses of HD cells as rats moved between multiple vertically and horizontally oriented planar surfaces, demonstrating that HD cells align their directional representations to both local (current plane of locomotion) and global (gravity) cues across several experimental conditions, including darkness and passive movement. These findings offer critical insights into the processing of 3D space in the mammalian brain.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized partly by atypical attentional engagement, reflected in exaggerated and variable responses to sensory stimuli. Attentional engagement is known to be regulated by the locus ceruleus (LC). Moderate baseline LC activity globally dampens neural responsivity and is associated with adaptive deployment and narrowing of attention to task-relevant stimuli. In contrast, increased baseline LC activity enhances neural responsivity across cortex and widening of attention to environmental stimuli regardless of their task relevance. Given attentional atypicalities in ASD, this study is the first to evaluate whether, under different attentional task demands, individuals with ASD exhibit a different profile of LC activity compared with typically developing controls. Males and females with ASD and age- and gender-matched controls participated in a one-back letter detection test while task-evoked pupillary responses, an established correlate for LC activity, were recorded. Participants completed this task in two conditions, either in the absence or presence of distractor auditory tones. Compared with controls, individuals with ASD evinced atypical pupillary responses in the presence versus absence of distractors. Notably, this atypical pupillary profile was evident despite the fact that both groups exhibited equivalent task performance. Moreover, between-group differences in pupillary responses were observed specifically in response to task-relevant events, providing confirmation that the group differences most likely were specifically associated with distinctions in LC activity. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD show atypical modulation of LC activity with changes in attentional demands, offering a possible mechanistic and neurobiological account for attentional atypicalities in ASD.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit atypical attentional behaviors, including altered sensory responses and atypical fixedness, but the neural mechanism underlying these behaviors remains elusive. One candidate mechanism is atypical locus ceruleus (LC) activity, as the LC plays a critical role in attentional modulation. Specifically, LC activity is involved in regulating the trade-off between environmental exploration and focused attention. This study shows that, under tightly controlled conditions, task-evoked pupil responses, an LC activity proxy, are lower in individuals with ASD than in controls, but only in the presence of task-irrelevant stimuli. This suggests that individuals with ASD evince atypical modulation of LC activity in accordance with changes in attentional demands, offering a mechanistic account for attentional atypicalities in ASD.

Today’s fisheries sector hosts a multibillion dollar industry that is a vital source of food and nutrition, employment, trade, economic wellbeing and recreation. What is blue growth? The concept of a "blue economy" came out of the 2012 Rio+20 Conference and emphasizes conservation and sustainable management, based on the premise that healthy ocean ecosystems are more productive and a must for sustainable [...]

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 8, 2020 / 03:10 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, said that the Church must return to “normal life” after the governor announced plans to ban large gatherings until a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment is available.

Earlier in the week, the state’s Governor JB Pritzker unveiled a five-phase “Restore Illinois” plan that bans gatherings of more than 50 people until a vaccine or treatment is available, or the virus has stopped spreading for a sustained period of time. Health officials have said that a vaccine for the new coronavirus (COVID-19) might not be available for 12 to 18 months. 

Currently, people in the state are allowed to attend religious services of 10 or fewer people, but no gatherings of more than 10 people are permitted until phase 4 of Pritzker’s plan, and the state wouldn’t even be able to “advance” to phase 3 until May 29.

“The Church has certainly done her part in making great sacrifices to slow the spread of this virus,” Andrew Hansen, director of communications for the diocese of Springfield, Illinois, told CNA on Friday.

“That said, the Church must return to her normal life of liturgy and communal worship,” Hansen said, while emphasizing precautions such as social distancing “will likely be the appropriate path longer term for the return to some version of normalcy for the Church.”

Previously, in-person or drive-in religious services were banned in the state. The Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit on behalf of a church in Lena, Ill., on April 30. Later that evening a paragraph was added to the governor’s executive order allowing for people to leave their homes to attend religious services of ten or fewer people, the society’s president Peter Breen told CNA.

The next day, May 1, the archdiocese of Chicago announced it would be resuming public Masses with 10 or fewer people.

According to the “Restore Illinois” plan, there could not be any gathering of between 11 and 50 people in size until phase 4 of the plan—“Revitalization.”

That phase can start only when certain conditions have been met: the positivity rate of COVID tests is at or under 20% and doesn’t rise by more than 10 points over 14 days; hospital admissions don’t increase for 28 days; and hospitals have at least 14% “surge capacity” in ICU beds, medical and surgical beds, and ventilators.

Pitzker clarified in a Wednesday press conference that religious services would be part of this 50-person limit in phase 4, and schools would not be allowed to reopen until then, raising questions of how tuition-dependent Catholic schools might fare in the fall if remote learning is still widely utilized.

The state’s superintendent of education has said that at least some schools might have to begin the new school year with remote learning, or with students attending classes in-person only on certain days.

“So we continue to hope and pray schools will reopen next school year. Certainly, when our schools reopen, new measures and precautions will be in place,” Hansen told CNA.

The president of DePaul University, located in Chicago, announced earlier this week that the university already plans to “minimize our footprint on campus this fall,” and that an announcement of the fall plans could happen by June 15.

In SOLIDWORKS Electrical, we have the capability to create symbols with defined circuits on the fly, or for use with connectors that entail many, many pins. These are traditionally called Black Boxes. See figure 1 & 2.    Figure 1

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The post BLACK BOXES: Not Just For Locating Downed Aircrafts appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Blog.

CNA Staff, Apr 15, 2020 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom has called on the Pakistani government to ensure aid for the COVID-19 pandemic is being justly distributed to religious minorities, after receiving reports that aid organizations were barring Christians and Hindus from receiving food assistance.

“These actions are simply reprehensible,” USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava said in an April 13 statement. “As COVID-19 continues to spread, vulnerable communities within Pakistan are fighting hunger and to keep their families safe and healthy. Food aid must not be denied because of one’s faith. We urge the Pakistani government to ensure that food aid from distributing organizations is shared equally with Hindus, Christians, and other religions minorities,” she said.

According to the commission, recent reports have shown that in Karachi a non-government aid organization, the Saylani Welfare International Trust, has been denying food assistance to Christians and Hindus, telling them that the aid was reserved for Muslims. Pakistan’s state religion is Islam, and around 97 percent of the population is Muslim.

The authorities of Pakistan have consistently failed to implement safeguards on behalf of religious minorities, despite numerous policies in favor of economic and physical protections for members of non-Muslim religions.

For example, the country has promised to provide quotas for employment to ensure that religious minorities are granted equal access to jobs, but so far it has not done so.

Additionally, strict blasphemy laws in the country are reportedly used to settle scores or to persecute religious minorities. While non-Muslims constitute only 3 percent of the Pakistani population, 14 percent of blasphemy cases have been levied against them.

In a recent highly publicized case, Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, spent eight years on death row on blasphemy charges after being accused of making disparaging remarks about Muhammad after an argument stemming from a cup of water. Amid strong international pressure, the Pakistan Supreme Court acquitted her in late 2018.

A 2019 report from USCIRF found that Christians and Hindus “face continued threats to their security and are subject to various forms of harassment and social exclusion,” the USCIRF statement said.

The country was also designated by the US Department of State as a “Country of Particular Concern” in December 2018 for its poor religious freedom record.

USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore noted in the April 13 statement that in a recent address to the international community, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that governments in developing countries must work to save people from starvation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan’s health ministry has reported nearly 6,000 cases of coronavirus in the country of 212 million people as of April 15.

“This is a monumental task laying before many countries. Prime Minister Khan’s government has the opportunity to lead the way but they must not leave religious minorities behind,” he said. “Otherwise, they may add on top of it all one more crisis, created by religious discrimination and inter-communal strife.”

A March 2020 report from USCIRF noted other countries who have had religious freedom problems in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, including in China, where the virus originated.

According to USCIRF, reports indicated that Chinese authorities forced Uighurs, a Muslim minority that has been forced into concentration camps since 2017, to work in factories to make up for the lack of workers during the country’s coronavirus quarantine. Reports also indicated that some Uighur residents in the city of Ghulja had “limited access to food and local officials have demanded payments in order to bring supplies,” USCIRF noted.

In South Korea, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a fringe Christian group that reported already facing “hostility” from mainline Protestants before the pandemic, faced additional pressures and harassment from the government and citizens after a 61-year-old female member of the church - known as Patient 31 - attended a church service with a fever before being diagnosed with coronavirus, and thus spreading the infection to thousands of others.

“The Shincheonji church has faced considerable criticism and even harassment from the South Korean government and society. Although some government measures appeared to be driven by legitimate public health concerns, others appeared to exaggerate the church’s role in the outbreak,” USCIRF reported, adding that members of the church have faced “discrimination at work and spousal abuse because of their affiliation with the church.”

Other countries in which coronavirus is reportedly impacting religious freedoms include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Italy and the Vatican (for government-mandated cancellation of religious services), the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, and Tajikistan.

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CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- The bishops of England and Wales have urged parishes to help domestic abuse victims after a surge in requests for aid during the coronavirus crisis. 

Since the lockdown began in the U.K. March 23 there has been a 49% increase in calls and online pleas for assistance related to domestic abuse, the bishops said in a statement April 29. 

Bishop John Sherrington, chairman of the bishops’ domestic abuse group, said: “Catholic parishes can play an important role in fighting the scourge of domestic abuse, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where we are seeing some shocking statistics from leading domestic abuse organisations.”

Guidance provided by the bishops’ domestic abuse group encourages pastors to raise the issue of domestic violence during livestreamed Masses and in homilies published on parish websites. 

The group also asks parishes to establish local domestic abuse support groups. Teams of volunteers should keep in regular contact with vulnerable parishioners, and collect and deliver donations to those living in refuges and other safe locations, the group advises.

It adds that team leaders ought to be “in a non-vulnerable COVID-19 category, and not living with any vulnerable people.” They should also have been checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service, which informs employers about applicants’ criminal records.

“Every local situation will differ and so our new guidance is designed to be used as an introduction to start a local project,” Bishop Sherrington said. “I hope that Catholics and parishes will be inspired to take this up in their local area.”

“Violence of this kind should never be tolerated or justified. It is an offence against the dignity of the human person.”
 

London, England, May 1, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- The metropolitan archbishops of England and Wales acknowledged the pain of Catholics who cannot receive the sacraments because of the coronavirus lockdown in a message issued Friday. 

In the message, entitled “A People who Hope in Christ”, published May 1, the archbishops said that while livestreamed Masses nourished faith, they were no substitute for public liturgies.

“None of us would want to be in the situation in which we find ourselves,” they wrote. “While the livestreaming of the Mass and other devotions is playing an important part in maintaining the life of faith, there is no substitute for Catholics being able to physically attend and participate in the celebration of the Mass and the other sacraments.”

Writing on behalf of the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the five archbishops continued: “Our faith is expressed powerfully and beautifully though ‘seeing, touching, and tasting.’ We know that every bishop and every priest recognizes the pain of Catholics who, at present, cannot pray in church or receive the sacraments. This weighs heavily on our hearts.” 

“We are deeply moved by the Eucharistic yearning expressed by so many members of the faithful. We thank you sincerely for your love for the Lord Jesus, present in the sacraments and supremely so in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” 

“The bishops and priests of every diocese are remembering you and your loved ones at Mass each day in our churches as we pray ‘in hope of health and well-being.’ We thank our priests for this faithfulness to their calling.”

Nevertheless, the archbishops said, the Catholic community had to play its part in preserving life and seeking the common good amid the pandemic. Restrictions on public liturgies would therefore have to remain in place until they are lifted by the government.

The U.K. is among the countries worst affected by the pandemic. With a population of 67 million, the U.K has had more than 172,000 documented coronavirus cases and 26,700 deaths as of May 1, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

The archbishops emphasized that Church officials were in talks with public health agencies and the government about the reopening of churches, which were closed March 24. 

“As the government’s restrictions are relaxed step by step, we look forward to opening our churches and resuming our liturgical, spiritual, catechetical and pastoral life step by step,” they said. 

“This will also be of service to those beyond the Catholic Church who depend on our charitable activity and outreach through which much goodness is shared by so many volunteers from our communities...”

“Together with Catholics across England and Wales, we desire the opening of our churches and access to the sacraments. Until then, we are continuing to pray and prepare.”

The message was signed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool, Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff and Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark.

The archbishops concluded: “May the peace of the risen Lord reign in our hearts and homes as we look forward to the day we can enter church again and gather around the altar to offer together the Sacrifice of Praise.”

Rome Newsroom, May 3, 2020 / 08:30 am (CNA).- The liquefaction of the blood of the early Church martyr St. Januarius occurred Saturday amid the coronavirus lockdown, leading the Archbishop of Naples to bless the city with the miraculous relic.

“Dear friends, I have a big announcement to make: even in this time of coronavirus, the Lord through the intercession of St. Januarius has liquified the blood!" Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe said May 2.

Cardinal Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, offered a Mass via video livestream from the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary to celebrate the recurring miracle, and then used the relic of the liquified blood to bless the city.

“How many times our saint has intervened to save us from the plague, from cholera. St. Januarius is the true soul of Naples,” he said in his homily.

St. Januarius, or San Gennaro in Italian, the patron of Naples, was a bishop of the city in the third century, whose bones and blood are preserved in the cathedral as relics. He is believed to have been martyred during Diocletian persecution.

The reputed miracle is locally known and accepted, though has not been the subject of official Church recognition. The liquefaction reportedly happens at least three times a year: Sept. 19, the saint's feast day, the Saturday before the first Sunday of May, and Dec. 16, the anniversary of the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

During the miracle, the dried, red-colored mass confined to one side of the reliquary becomes blood that covers the entire glass. In local lore, the failure of the blood to liquefy signals war, famine, disease or other disaster.

“Naples has never given up in the face of the misfortunes that have affected it,” Sepe said.

The cardinal praised the health care workers who are serving those infected by the coronavirus in the city. Naples is the capital of the region of Campania, where 4,459 people have been documented with COVID-19 by the Italian Ministry of Health.

“But there is another possible epidemic that worries me in the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city," Sepe said, referring to the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia.

“There are those who are good at making a fortune in times of epidemic. … Let’s move, intervene immediately, because the underworld is faster than our bureaucracy. The Camorra does not wait. It is up to us to get rid of all [criminal] organizations. We must overcome and affirm the right to hope,” the cardinal said.

Amid Italy’s lockdown, anti-mafia experts have warned that Italy’s criminal organizations could take advantage of the redirection of police resources, and profit from the government stimulus that could inadvertently fund mafia-controlled industries.

The coronavirus lockdown also prevented the traditional procession for the miracle of St. Januarius from taking place. This procession had even continued in Naples during World War II, according to ACI Stampa.

Public Masses have not been allowed in Italy for the past eight weeks under the country’s coronavirus restrictions. 

The president of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti said May 2 that the bishops had reached an agreement with the government, and that he expects public Masses to resume “in the coming weeks” if the infection curve flattens.

“As a Church, we have certainly shared in suffering the limitations imposed to protect the health of all,” he said.

Rome, Italy, May 7, 2020 / 09:30 am (CNA).- A Eucharistic blessing of the city of Rome has been offered each day from the doorstep of Rome’s largest Marian basilica as coronavirus measures restricted the public from attending Masses.

The daily Eucharistic procession and benediction takes place in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major immediately following a livestreamed Mass at 11 a.m. local time from the chapel containing the Marian icon Salus Populi Romani, Mary Protection of the Roman People.

“The cardinal archpriest, all the canons, priests and religious of this basilica wish to give testimony to the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Doctor and Medicine for humanity tried by this pandemic,” states a caption for the video of a benediction from the loggia on March 21. 

As Rome entered phase two of coronavirus restrictions this week, more people have been able to witness the Eucharistic procession and blessing in person. In the second phase of Italy’s lockdown, which began May 4, residents are allowed to exercise and go for walks in the city with facemasks.

 

A Eucharistic procession and blessing of the city of Rome is offered daily from the doorstep of the Basilica of St. Mary Major during the coronavirus pandemic. pic.twitter.com/LSmHBloK8N

— Courtney Mares (@catholicourtney) May 7, 2020  

On the first day of the eased restrictions, a tour guide in Rome stumbled upon the Eucharistic procession in the basilica.

“I saw that confession was available and adoration was taking place. Following adoration, the priests processed the Blessed Sacrament through the church and into the piazza for a benediction over the city. They then walked to the back door and out into that piazza for another benediction,” Mountain Butorac told CNA. 

“This being one of my first experiences in church in nearly two months brought tears to my eyes and hope to my heart,” he said.

Public Masses will be able to resume in the Diocese of Rome and throughout Italy beginning on May 18, 70 days after the restrictions on Mass went into effect.

During Rome’s lockdown, Pope Francis made a brief walking pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray for the Virgin Mary’s protection from the coronavirus pandemic affecting Italy and the world.

The pope later had the basilica’s Byzantine icon of Salus Populi Romani brought to St. Peter’s Square for the extraordinary Urbi et Orbi benediction on March 27. The Marian icon remained inside the basilica throughout the Easter Triduum liturgies.

The Salus Populi Romani icon was also processed through Rome by Pope Gregory I for an end to a plague in 593.

 

The benediction takes place following a livestreamed Mass before the Salus Populi Romani, the same Marian icon processed through Rome by Pope Gregory I for an end to a plague in the 6th century. pic.twitter.com/efIbaJF6Hf

— Courtney Mares (@catholicourtney) May 7, 2020  

Among the four major papal basilicas in Rome, St. Mary Major is the only one that maintained its original structure. Mosaics dating back to the 5th century can be seen in the central nave of the basilica, which also houses the relic of the Holy Crib from the birth of Christ.

According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to both a nobleman named John and to Pope Liberius (352-366) in a dream foretelling the August snow and asking for a church to be built in her honor on the site of the snowfall on Aug. 5 in the year 358. The church was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III (432-440), after the Council of Ephesus in 431 declared Mary to be the Mother of God.

Vespers and prayers of the holy rosary are offered via livestream each day from the Marian basilica just before 5 p.m. in Rome.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 8, 2020 / 03:10 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, said that the Church must return to “normal life” after the governor announced plans to ban large gatherings until a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment is available.

Earlier in the week, the state’s Governor JB Pritzker unveiled a five-phase “Restore Illinois” plan that bans gatherings of more than 50 people until a vaccine or treatment is available, or the virus has stopped spreading for a sustained period of time. Health officials have said that a vaccine for the new coronavirus (COVID-19) might not be available for 12 to 18 months. 

Currently, people in the state are allowed to attend religious services of 10 or fewer people, but no gatherings of more than 10 people are permitted until phase 4 of Pritzker’s plan, and the state wouldn’t even be able to “advance” to phase 3 until May 29.

“The Church has certainly done her part in making great sacrifices to slow the spread of this virus,” Andrew Hansen, director of communications for the diocese of Springfield, Illinois, told CNA on Friday.

“That said, the Church must return to her normal life of liturgy and communal worship,” Hansen said, while emphasizing precautions such as social distancing “will likely be the appropriate path longer term for the return to some version of normalcy for the Church.”

Previously, in-person or drive-in religious services were banned in the state. The Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit on behalf of a church in Lena, Ill., on April 30. Later that evening a paragraph was added to the governor’s executive order allowing for people to leave their homes to attend religious services of ten or fewer people, the society’s president Peter Breen told CNA.

The next day, May 1, the archdiocese of Chicago announced it would be resuming public Masses with 10 or fewer people.

According to the “Restore Illinois” plan, there could not be any gathering of between 11 and 50 people in size until phase 4 of the plan—“Revitalization.”

That phase can start only when certain conditions have been met: the positivity rate of COVID tests is at or under 20% and doesn’t rise by more than 10 points over 14 days; hospital admissions don’t increase for 28 days; and hospitals have at least 14% “surge capacity” in ICU beds, medical and surgical beds, and ventilators.

Pitzker clarified in a Wednesday press conference that religious services would be part of this 50-person limit in phase 4, and schools would not be allowed to reopen until then, raising questions of how tuition-dependent Catholic schools might fare in the fall if remote learning is still widely utilized.

The state’s superintendent of education has said that at least some schools might have to begin the new school year with remote learning, or with students attending classes in-person only on certain days.

“So we continue to hope and pray schools will reopen next school year. Certainly, when our schools reopen, new measures and precautions will be in place,” Hansen told CNA.

The president of DePaul University, located in Chicago, announced earlier this week that the university already plans to “minimize our footprint on campus this fall,” and that an announcement of the fall plans could happen by June 15.

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State adviser says government was sympathetic to the economic difficulties caused by the on-going lockdown but growth in infections in areas such as the Western Cape are biggest risk to the faster reopening of the economy.