Gatumiljön som ett offentligt rum har möjligheter att utvecklas till utrymmen med flera samverkande funktioner. En av funktionerna är att gaturummet ska fungera som en social plats, eftersom den offentliga miljön tillhör alla invånare och ska utformas efter allas behov. Denna studie tar sin utgångspunkt i en tidigare studie som är utförd i USA, som tillämpar en forskningsmetod som kvantifierar socialt beteende genom observationer i gatumiljö. Utgångspunktens metod söker sambandet mellan gatumiljöns platsegenskaper och social aktivitet via en multipel regressionsanalys. Syftet är att besvara vilka fysiska funktioner och attribut som påverkar gatumiljöns livlighet, det vill sägaden sociala aktiviteten. Målet med denna studie är att anpassa den befintliga forskningsmetoden till en svensk kontext och applicera den på ett studieområde. Utgångspunktens tillvägagångssätt av observationer och inventering har därför anpassats och tillämpats genom empirin av pilotstudier. Resultatet visar att ett statistiskt samband mellan platsegenskaper och gatumiljöns livlighet inte kan säkerställas i en multipel regressionsanalys. Det går däremot att visa på statiskt samband mellan gatumiljöns livlighet och tiden på dygnet. I sin helhet visar studien att metodanpassning är komplext att genomföra avseende tid och erfarenhet, men även valideringen av den. Denna studie kan därför betraktas som en pilotstudie, och lämnar alternativa tillvägagångsätt för framtida forskning. / Streets as a public space have opportunities to become spaces with several interacting functions. One of these functions includes streets as a social place since the public environment belongs to all residents and should be designed for all needs. This study is based on a former study conducted in the U.S.A.that quantifies social behavior through observations in the street environment. The applied method seeks the association between the physical characteristics of the street environment and social activity by using multiple regression analysis. The purpose was to answer which physical functions and attributes affect the liveliness of the street environment, i.e., the social activity in the U.S.A. This study aims to adapt the existing research method into a Swedish context and apply it within a study area in Gävle. The results show that a statistical association between physical characteristics and the liveliness of the street cannot be ensured by a multiple regression analysis. On the other hand, it is possible to show a static association between the liveliness of the street and a time period of the day. This study shows that method adaption is complex in terms of time and experience, but also in terms of validation. Thisstudy can therefore be considered a pilot study and provides alternative approaches for future research.

Although the central nervous system was long perceived as the ivory tower without immune entities, there is growing evidence that the immune and nervous systems are intimated connected. These two systems have been shown to communicate both cellularly and molecularly under physiological and pathological conditions. Despite our increasing understanding of the interplay between these two systems, there are still numerous open questions. In this thesis, I address such unanswered questions related to: the role of microglia and their mechanism in contributing to pathologies in Rett syndrome; the beneficial effects of T-cell secreted cytokines in supporting social brain function; the evolutionary link of the interactions between the nervous and immune systems; the transcription regulation of a subset of microglia population in common neurodegenerative diseases. Collectively, the current thesis is focused on the joint frontier of bioinformatics and experimental work in neuroimmunology. A multifaceted approach, that includes transcriptomics, genomics and other biomolecular modules, was implemented to unearth signaling pathways and mechanisms underlying the presenting biological phenomena. The findings of this thesis can be summarized as follows: 1) MeCP2 acts as a master regulator in the transcriptional repression of inflammatory stimuli in macrophages; 2) T-cell secreted IFN-γ supports social brain function through an evolutionally conserved interaction between the immune and nervous systems; 3) The APOE-TREM2 pathway regulates the microglia phenotype switch in neurodegenerative diseases. Provided that recent technologies allow for readily manipulating the immune system, the findings presented herein may create new vistas for therapeutic interventions in various neurological disorders.

Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is an active component of marijuana. During recent years, the popularity of marijuana in the United States has increased tremendously. Marijuana edibles are a form of marijuana that has become very popular in recent years. These are easily accessible not only to adolescents but also to young children. According to recent statistical data, the consumption of marijuana edibles by children below the age of 5 has increased 600% in the states that have legalized marijuana. This has led to an adverse impact on children’s health as evidenced by a sudden increase in the number of children seeking emergency assistance in hospitals. In the current research, we addressed the issue of possible persistent effects on children’s behavior due to an earlier exposure to THC. Juvenile rats were treated with 10 mg/kg of THC from postnatal day 10 through 16. Once they reached adolescence, these rats were tested using several behavioral paradigms. To evaluate the biological basis for the behavioral deficits observed, brain samples obtained from these rats were subjected to proteomic analysis to determine any altered pathways related to the behavior. Our behavioral data indicated that juvenile exposure to THC has no effect on anxiety-related behavior in adolescents. However, we observed a significant effect of treatment on multiple parameters related to social interactions. Of these, episodes and time of social play were significantly increased in the THC treated rats suggesting alterations in the reward circuit function occurring as a result of developmental THC exposure. In the proteomics, we observed a significant effect on relevant canonical pathways such as the changes in thrombin and opioid signaling. Thrombin signaling in neurons is associated with processes involved in the connection between neurons and opioid signaling is involved in the activation processes of the reward circuit suggesting that juvenile THC exposure alters these processes in adolescence which could have detrimental effects on behavior. Overall, our data suggest that consumption of edibles by juveniles leads to altered behavioral and biochemical outcomes in adolescence. This may be detrimental in terms of the appropriate acquisition of skills necessary for meeting the challenges in future life.

The purpose of this research study was to research and present data on social interaction in VR, specifically in the game VRChat. The aim of the study was to get a better understanding of social interaction in VRChat and contribute additional knowledge on the subject. The research primarily focused on VRChat users’ own experiences, thoughts, and perspectives on social interaction in VRChat. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews and an ethnographic field study that was conducted in VRChat among VRChat users. The research also present and discuss findings from different aspects of social interaction in VRChat. The results of the research consist of themes and common patterns from VRChat users’ own experiences, thoughts, and perspectives on social interaction in VRChat, as well as observations from within the game.

The unifying concept of endosymbiosis and the ‘holobiont’ is that the interaction of the microbial community and the host’s biology can affect myriad processes from speciation to physiology to behavior. This study explored the role of the microbiome as a potential facilitator of rapid evolution of social behavior in a socially polymorphic species of spider, Anelosimus studiosus. Adult females were collected from solitary and social colonies at two geographically distinct locations, and behaviorally assayed to assign individuals to ‘docile’ or ‘aggressive’ phenotypes. Microbiomes of each individual were analyzed by 16s rRNA sequencing. Correlations were found with external influences on the microbiome (colony type, local environmental microbiota, and among colony), and also between the microbiome and individual’s behavioral phenotype. While causation has not yet been established, these data suggest that demographics and ecology affect the microbiome, and that behavior may be affected by the microbiome.

The ability of animals to sense, interpret, and respond appropriately to social stimuli in their environment is essential for identifying and distinguishing between members of their own species. In mammals, social interactions both within and across species play a key role in determining if an animal will live to pass on its genes to the next generation or else be removed from the gene pool. The result of this selection pressure can be observed in specialized neural circuits that respond to social stimuli and orchestrate appropriate behavioral responses. This highly conserved network of brain structures is often referred to as the Social Behavior Network (SBN). The medial amygdala (MeA) is a central node in the SBN and has been shown to be involved in transforming information from olfactory sensory systems into social and defensive behavioral responses. Previous research has shown that individual neurons in the MeA of anesthetized mice respond selectively to different chemosensory social cues, a characteristic not observed in its upstream relay, the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). However, the cause of this stimulus selectivity in the MeA is not yet understood. Here, I hypothesize that a subpopulation of neurons in the MeA that express the enzyme aromatase are involved in the sensory representation of social stimuli in awake, behaving animals. To test this hypothesis, I designed and built a novel behavioral apparatus that allows for discrete presentations of social stimuli in a highly controllable and reproducible environment. I then injected the adeno-associated virus (AAV) AAV-Syn-Flex-GCAMP6s into the MeA of Aromatase:Cre transgenic mice and implanted a fiber optic cannula slightly above the injection site. The combination of this transgenic mouse line and conditional AAV caused GCaMP6s expression to be exclusive to aromatase-expressing neurons. By coupling my novel behavioral apparatus to a fiber photometry system, I successfully recorded the moment-to-moment activity of aromatase neurons in the MeA of awake, behaving animals as they investigated various social stimuli. Aromatase neurons in the MeA of adult male mice respond strongly to conspecific social stimuli, including live adult mice, mouse pups, and mouse urine samples. Sniffing and investigative behaviors correlated strongly with increased GCaMP6s signal in aromatase neurons, reflecting increases in their neural activity. Interestingly, after repeated investigations of the same stimuli the activity of aromatase neurons gradually diminished. Presenting a novel stimulus following repeated investigations of a familiar stimulus reinstated some, but not all of the initial GCaMP6s signal. This points to the potential role that aromatase neurons may play in the habituation to social stimuli that are consistently present in their environment. Investigations of predator stimuli did not evoke significant responses from aromatase neurons, nor did investigations of non-social stimuli. These results demonstrate that aromatase expressing neurons in the MeA of awake, behaving animals encode the sensory representation of conspecific social stimuli, and their responses are highly selective to the type of stimulus presented.

Social interaction deficits seen in psychiatric disorders emerge in early-life and are most closely linked to aberrant neural circuit function. Due to technical limitations, we have limited understanding of how typical versus pathological social behavior circuits develop. Using a suite of invasive procedures in awake, behaving infant rats, including optogenetics, microdialysis, and microinfusions, we dissected the circuits controlling the gradual increase in social behavior deficits following two complementary procedures-naturalistic harsh maternal care and repeated shock alone or with an anesthetized mother. Whether the mother was the source of the adversity (naturalistic Scarcity-Adversity) or merely present during the adversity (repeated shock with mom), both conditions elevated basolateral amygdala (BLA) dopamine, which was necessary and sufficient in initiating social behavior pathology. This did not occur when pups experienced adversity alone. These data highlight the unique impact of social adversity as causal in producing mesolimbic dopamine circuit dysfunction and aberrant social behavior.

Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten Arbeiten zielten darauf ab, verschiedene Formen des Lernens und der Verhaltensanpassung in Tieren zu testen. Hierbei wurder der Großteil dieser Arbeit an einer natürlich vorkommenden klonalen Fischart, der Amazonas-Molly Poecilia formosa, durchgeführt. Diese gesellige, ausschließlich weibliche Art erzeugt durch ungeschlechtliche Fortpflanzung genetisch identische Nachkommen. Mit dem Aufkommen von immer detaillierteren Ansätzen zur Unterscheidung von Verhaltensunterschieden sind solche klonalen Arten in der Ethologie von entscheidender Bedeutung, da sie als perfektes natürliches Modell dienen, um individuelle Verhaltensunterschiede und deren Entwicklung zu testen. Da genetische Variationen als Störfaktor weitgehend ausgeschlossen werden können, kann die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Unterschiede zwischen Individuen aufgrund ihrer Vorerfahrungen gelenkt werden. In den ersten drei Kapiteln der hier vorgestellten Arbeit wurden die individuellen Erfahrungen durch operante Konditionierung oder durch das Aussetzen der Tiere gegenüber neuen oder bekannten Situationen verändert. Das jeweilige Verhalten wurde sowohl alleine, als auch im sozialen Kontext untersucht. Auf diese Weise wurde die Auswirkung des sozialen Kontexts sowie der physischen Umgebung auf Verhaltensaspekte wie Schwimmgeschwindigkeit und Sprungwahrscheinlichkeit ermittelt. Kleinere Verhaltensunterschiede wurden dann im folgenden Kapitel durch den Vergleich von manuellen Ansätzen und automatischen Quantifizierungsinstrumenten bewertet und evaluiert. Schließlich wurde ein methodischer Ansatz augearbeitet, bei dem die Leistungsfähigkeit künstlicher intelligenz in Form von neuronalen Netze genutzt wurde, um Individuen in komplizierten, natürlichen Szenen während Räuber-Beute-Interaktionen zu verfolgen. / The work presented in this thesis set out to test various forms of learning and behavior adaptation. The bulk of this work was done using a naturally occurring clonal fish species, the Amazon molly Poecilia formosa. This sociable, all female species produces genetically identical offspring through asexual reproduction. With the advent of increasingly detailed approaches to discriminate behavioral differences, such clonal species are vital in ethology as they serve as a perfect natural model to test for individual behavioral differences and the development of such. Since genetical variation can largely be excluded as a confounding factor, attention can be drawn towards the differences among individuals due to their prior experience. In the first three chapters of the work presented here, the individual information and experience was altered by applying operant conditioning or by exposing the animals to novel or well-known situations. This was done both individually and in a group setting. By doing so, the effect of the social context, as well as the physical surroundings on behavioral aspects such as swimming speed and jumping probability was determined. Minute behavioral differences were then evaluated in the following chapter by comparing manual approaches and automated quantification tools. Lastly, a methodological approach was taken in which the power of artifical neural networks was harnessed to track individuals in convoluted natural scenes during predator-prey interactions.

No description available.

Network science emerged as an interdisciplinary field over the last 20 years, and played a central role to address fundamental problems in other fields, e.g., epidemiology, public health, and transportation, and is now part of most university curriculums. Network dynamics is a major area within network science where researchers study different forms of processes in networked populations, such as the spread of emotions, influence, opinions, flu, ebola, and mass movements. These processes often referred to individually and collectively as contagions. Contagions are increasingly studied because of their economic, social, and political impacts. Yet, resources for studying network dynamics are largely dispersed and stand-alone. Furthermore, many researchers interested in the study of networks are not computer scientists. As a result, they do not have easy access to computing and data resources. Even with the presence of software or tools, it is challenging to install, build, and maintain software. These challenges create a barrier for researchers and domain scientists. The goal of this work is the design and implementation of a research framework for modeling contagions on large networked populations. The framework consists of various systems and services that provide support for researchers and domain scientists at different stages of their research workflow. / Ph. D.