Science Society: Recent Episodes
Catarina Cunha
We invite you to dive into the world of science and discovery, where knowledge knows no bounds. This podcast series aims to bring together a diverse array of scientists, researchers, and thought leaders who are at the forefront of their respective fields. From astrophysics to zoology, climate science to genetics, each episode explores groundbreaking research and innovative insights, providing listeners with a firsthand look at the progress shaping our world.
Our conversations stretch beyond the confines of laboratories and research papers. They venture into the significance and societal impact of these discoveries, the intriguing challenges scientists face, and the stories behind their aha! moments. Each week, a distinguished guest brings their latest findings to the table, making complex concepts accessible and engaging for both science enthusiasts and the scientifically curious.
Whether you are a science professional seeking to keep abreast of the latest breakthroughs or a curious mind wanting to better understand the world around you, "Breakthrough Dialogues" serves as your window into the fascinating world of scientific discovery. Tune in to stay informed, get inspired, and join the journey toward the future of science.
In this enlightening episode, we navigate the intricate world of risk and resilience of urban systems with Dr. Logan. Holding a Doctorate from the University of Michigan and an active member in numerous professional organizations like the Society for Risk Analysis and the Association of American Geographers, Dr. Logan's contributions to the field are formidable. His research paves new ways in designing cities resilient to climate change through the lens of risk science, systems engineering, modeling, and statistics.The episode centers around Dr. Logan's recent groundbreaking paper on sea-level rise (SLR). While traditionally, the focus has been on properties at risk of inundation due to rising sea levels, Dr. Logan proposes an often overlooked but critical metric: the risk of population isolation. His team’s findings suggest that a significant number of people might face isolation, cut off from essential services, much before their properties are inundated. These revelations have substantial implications for how we approach SLR in terms of policy, planning, and even human rights.Through the paper’s insights, Dr. Logan emphasizes the importance of considering not just the physical flooding but the broader, cascading consequences that SLR can introduce. This holistic understanding can dramatically reshape how cities and countries approach SLR, ensuring that adaptation strategies are comprehensive, efficient, and prioritize the well-being of at-risk communities.Journey with us into a world where the rising tides pose risks that stretch beyond mere property damage. Learn about the complexities of planning for a future where inundation and isolation go hand in hand and discover the strategic interventions that can help us build a resilient and inclusive future.Urban Systems, Resilience, Climate Change, Risk Science, Sea-Level Rise, Population Isolation, Inundation, Adaptation Policy, Infrastructure, Displacement, Relocation, Global Climate Adaptation.Logan, T.M., Anderson, M.J. & Reilly, A.C. Risk of isolation increases the expected burden from sea-level rise. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 397–402 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01642-3
In this captivating episode, we dive deep into the intersection of mathematics and neuroscience with Dr. Dimitris Pinotsis. Boasting a PhD in Mathematics and an MSc in Theoretical Physics from the renowned University of Cambridge, Dimitris' academic journey is truly impressive. After publishing numerous papers in mathematics and physics, he shifted his focus to his true passion: neuroscience. His collaborations with leading minds in the field, such as Peter Grindrod, Karl Friston, and Earl Miller, have fortified his expertise in machine learning and developing mathematical methods to analyze brain data.Currently positioned as an Associate Professor at City—University of London and maintaining a Research Affiliate status at MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Dimitris has earned numerous accolades in his career. His commitment to the field is evident from receiving multiple fellowships from prestigious institutions to being honored with several awards, including the Poincare Institute Award.In this episode, we'll also unpack his latest paper which explores a groundbreaking concept: how does the brain's anatomy influence its function? Contrary to the prevailing view, Dimitris and his team propose that the geometry of the brain plays a more pivotal role in its dynamics than previously believed. Through analysis of human MRI data, the team presents evidence that brain activity can be better understood by examining the resonant modes of the brain's geometry instead of just its complex interregional connectivity. This finding has far-reaching implications, reshaping our understanding of how task-evoked activations span across the brain and the role of wave-like activity.Join us as we traverse the intersections of math, brain anatomy, and function, unveiling the mysteries of the human mind with Dr. Dimitris Pinotsis.Pang, J.C., Aquino, K.M., Oldehinkel, M. et al. Geometric constraints on human brain function. Nature 618, 566–574 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06098-1Keywords: Theoretical Neuroscience, Cambridge, Machine Learning, Predictive Coding, Deep Neural Networks, Cognitive Neuroscience, Fellowships, Neural Field Theory, Brain Geometry, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Wave Dynamics, Brain-wide Modes, Spatiotemporal Properties.
The world is experiencing an unprecedented shift towards renewable energy sources, bringing about new challenges related to energy storage. In this exciting episode, Dr. Hunt joins us to discuss his innovative solution: Lift Energy Storage Technology (LEST).LEST is a novel concept of energy storage, leveraging the potential of high-rise buildings. The principle is simple yet innovative: using lifts and vacant apartments in tall buildings to store energy. Dr. Hunt describes how energy is stored by elevating containers filled with wet sand or other high-density materials, effectively using gravity as a storage medium. Interestingly, this system can be incorporated into existing buildings with minimal modifications, using pre-existing lift systems to transport these containers.The cost and potential of LEST are also explored. With an estimated installed storage capacity cost ranging from 21 to 128 USD/kWh, dependent on building height, LEST presents a competitive and decentralized solution for energy storage, with a global potential estimated to be around 30 to 300 GWh.Tune in as we delve into this revolutionary concept that may well shape the future of urban energy storage, providing a solution to the challenges posed by the increasingly variable nature of renewable energy sources.Keywords: Dr. Hunt, Lift Energy Storage Technology, LEST, Renewable Energy, Energy Storage, Gravitational Energy Storage, High-rise Buildings, Decentralized Energy Storage, Renewable Energy Challenges.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.124102 Lift Energy Storage Technology: A solution for decentralized urban energy storage
In this groundbreaking episode, we are joined by the acclaimed scientist Dr. Michael Levin, who introduces us to the Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere (TAME). This innovative framework seeks to understand and manipulate cognition in unconventional substrates. By harnessing the power of synthetic biology and bioengineering, we are provided with opportunities to create novel embodied cognitive systems, disrupting conventional philosophies of the mind.Dr. Levin presents a novel perspective on morphogenesis, viewing it as an example of basal cognition. He suggests that problem-solving in various domains, such as anatomical, physiological, transcriptional, and traditional behavioral spaces, can potentially drive cognitive capacities during evolution.One of the most striking discussions is about the importance of developmental bioelectricity in evolution. Implemented by the pre-neural use of ion channels and gap junctions, it scales cell-level feedback loops into anatomical homeostasis, contributing to the plasticity of bodies and minds and enhancing evolvability.Tune in as we delve into this thought-provoking discussion, where we explore the intersections of computational science, evolutionary biology, basal cognition, and more. This conversation carries significant implications for cognitive science, evolutionary biology, regenerative medicine, and artificial intelligence.Keywords: Dr. Michael Levin, Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere, TAME, Synthetic Biology, Bioengineering, Cognition, Morphogenesis, Basal Cognition, Developmental Bioelectricity, Evolution, Cognitive Science, Regenerative Medicine, Artificial Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/t6e8p
In this enlightening episode, Dr. De Pascali presents his revolutionary work on GeometRy-based Actuators that Contract and Elongate (GRACE), a class of pneumatic artificial muscles poised to have significant applications in fields ranging from biodiversity conservation to elder care.While artificial actuators have been successful in mimicking the contraction performance of muscles, the complexity, versatility, and grace of movements realized by muscle arrangements have remained largely unrivaled. Dr. De Pascali's GRACE, however, are designed to contract and extend, capturing the versatility of biological muscles.Comprising a single-material pleated membrane, GRACE can be fabricated at different scales and with varying materials, allowing a broad spectrum of lifelike movements. Intriguingly, GRACE can be produced through low-cost additive manufacturing and even directly integrated into functional devices, such as a fully 3D-printed pneumatic artificial hand. This allows for faster, more straightforward prototyping and fabrication of devices based on pneumatic artificial muscles.Join us as we delve into this innovative realm of biomimetic machines with Dr. De Pascali and explore how this breakthrough can redefine the landscape of robotics and prosthetics.Keywords: Dr. De Pascali, Biomimetic Machines, Pneumatic Artificial Muscles, GRACE, Additive Manufacturing, Robotics, Prosthetics, Artificial Actuators.3D-printed biomimetic artificial muscles using soft actuators that contract and elongate https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abn4155
In this episode, we're privileged to have an in-depth conversation with renowned researchers Dr. Pedro Jacob and Dr. Okray about their groundbreaking research on the fascinating world of multisensory integration and memory enhancement. This duo's cutting-edge study, conducted on the humble fruit fly, Drosophila, explores how associating multiple sensory cues with objects and experiences can dramatically improve object recognition and memory performance.Dr. Jacob and Dr. Okray delve into the mysterious neural mechanisms that are involved in binding sensory features during learning and how these mechanisms amplify memory expression. Their research uncovers a remarkable memory phenomenon, where combining colors and odors can enhance memory performance, even when each sensory modality is evaluated individually.Our experts also shed light on the pivotal role of mushroom body Kenyon cells (KCs), revealing that they are crucial for the improvement of both visual and olfactory memory after multisensory training. They further share their findings about how multisensory learning binds activity between modality-specific KCs, generating a multimodal neuronal response from unimodal sensory input.This engaging conversation goes on to explore the process of cross-modal binding, its role in expanding memory engrams, and how this broadening effect can improve memory performance post-multisensory learning. The researchers discuss their insights about how this process allows a single sensory feature to bring up the memory of a multimodal experience.Tune into this episode for a deep dive into the complex world of multisensory integration and memory, with insights that promise to reshape our understanding of learning and cognition. Don't miss this exciting journey into the fly's mind!
In this enlightening episode, we welcome the renowned scientist Dr. Hoelz, who has dedicated his life to studying the architecture and function of the Nuclear Pore Complex (NPC). We delve into his groundbreaking research on the cytoplasmic face of the NPC, which plays a pivotal role in the transport of proteins and nucleic acid complexes. Using advanced techniques such as biochemical reconstitution and cryo-electron tomography, Dr. Hoelz and his team have elucidated the near-atomic structure of this critical component of the cell. He talks about his surprising findings, including the heterohexameric cytoplasmic filament nucleoporin complex and the role of NUP358 in efficient translation. Dr. Hoelz further discusses the potential implications of these discoveries on understanding diseases related to nucleoporin mutations and viral virulence factor interference with NPC function. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for those interested in the intricate molecular dynamics within our cells. DOI: 10.1126/science.abm9129
In "Science News," we plunge headfirst into the exciting world of cutting-edge scientific research. Each week, we unravel the latest breakthroughs and understand what they mean for our world.In each episode, we cover a diverse range of topics, from ground-breaking medical advances, intriguing astronomical discoveries, fresh insights into climate change, and the latest leaps in artificial intelligence. Our conversations explore not just the "what" but also the "how" and "why" of these discoveries, giving listeners an inside look at the scientific process itself.Whether you're a science enthusiast, a budding researcher, or someone who's simply curious about the world, "Science News" offers an accessible and engaging way to stay up-to-date with the ever-evolving landscape of science. Prepare to have your curiosity piqued and your knowledge expanded.
This episode offers a deep-dive into the intricate dynamics of Arctic warming with Dr. Ielpi, an expert whose extensive research has shed light on the unique transformations occurring within Arctic rivers. Driven by atmospheric warming, permafrost is being destabilized, leading one to assume an increase in the lateral mobility of river channels. Contrary to this expectation, Dr. Ielpi's groundbreaking research has unveiled a surprising decrease in the lateral migration of large Arctic rivers by about 20% over the past half-century.Join us as we delve into this paradox, exploring the indirect effects of atmospheric warming such as bank shrubification and the decline in overland flow. We'll examine how these factors are impacting sediment and organic matter residence times in floodplains, and what this means for watershed-scale carbon budgets and climate feedbacks. Be prepared for a riveting discussion that challenges assumptions and provokes a rethink on the implications of Arctic warming. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01620-9
In "Science News," we plunge headfirst into the exciting world of cutting-edge scientific research. Each week, we unravel the latest breakthroughs and understand what they mean for our world. In each episode, we cover a diverse range of topics, from ground-breaking medical advances, intriguing astronomical discoveries, fresh insights into climate change, and the latest leaps in artificial intelligence. Our conversations explore not just the "what" but also the "how" and "why" of these discoveries, giving listeners an inside look at the scientific process itself. Whether you're a science enthusiast, a budding researcher, or someone who's simply curious about the world, "Science News" offers an accessible and engaging way to stay up-to-date with the ever-evolving landscape of science. Prepare to have your curiosity piqued and your knowledge expanded.
Our speaker, Dr. Mertens, discusses in-depth ground-state thermalization due to instantaneous horizon creation in a gravitational setting and its condensed matter analog. Dr. Mertens sheds light on the implications of a sudden change in position-dependent hopping amplitudes in a one-dimensional lattice model, leading to the emergence of a thermal state that accompanies the formation of a synthetic horizon. Throughout the discussion, we unravel the striking parallelism between the resulting temperature for long chains and the Unruh temperature, given that the post-quench Hamiltonian matches the entanglement Hamiltonian of the pre-quench system. We analyze the outgoing radiation from these synthetic horizons and formulate the conditions required for these horizons to behave as a purely thermal source. This podcast episode offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the interplay between quantum-mechanical and gravitational aspects and to understand how these complex ideas might be tested in a laboratory setting. An absolute must-listen for anyone intrigued by the junction of quantum mechanics and gravity and eager to keep up with the latest theoretical developments in the field. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043084
In this episode, we delve into the fascinating world of cosmic metallicity and its role as a unique record of the Universe's total star formation history. Our focus is a groundbreaking paper analyzing oxygen abundance in the nearby system, Markarian 71. This study presents compelling evidence that challenges long-held beliefs in the astrophysics community, particularly in relation to the 'abundance discrepancy factor'.Through a meticulous combination of optical and far-infrared emission line measurements, the study aims to correct for temperature fluctuation effects. The results present an intriguing twist – a stark inconsistency with the metallicity derived from recombination lines. This finding effectively rules out the longstanding hypothesis that the abundance discrepancy factor is primarily due to temperature fluctuations, at least for Markarian 71.As we explore these findings, we'll be discussing the wider implications for our understanding of metallicity across cosmic history. Additionally, we'll look ahead to the potential of recent data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, promising to shed further light on this cosmic mystery within the first billion years of the universe.Join us as we journey through the cosmic mists and bring the heavy elements of the Universe into sharper focus. Whether you're a seasoned astrophysicist or simply a stargazer, this episode promises an illuminating exploration of the secrets held in the metals of the cosmos. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-01953-7
Welcome back to your weekly science news podcast, where we bring you the cutting-edge of scientific discovery! Tune in for an enlightening discussion!
In this intriguing episode, we are joined by Dr. Alfred, who takes us on a cosmic journey through the mysteries of gravitational lensing and the elusive nature of dark matter. Discussing his latest research, Dr. Alfred illuminates how the unique interplay between gravitational lensing and wavelike dark matter reveals hidden aspects of our universe. Together, we traverse the cosmos, understanding how these phenomena allow us to 'see' the unseen and open new paths for understanding the the true nature of dark matter. Join us for a deep dive into these cosmic phenomena, and which important role ultralight bosons (axions) play. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-01943-9
In this enlightening episode, we welcome Dr. Fukasawa to shed light on an extraordinary phenomenon - the electrical conversations that mushrooms have. With his expert guidance, we venture into the enigmatic world of fungi, deciphering the electrical signals they use to communicate. We explore how these mycelial networks mirror complex systems, fostering a new perspective on nature's intelligence. Dive into the unexpected intersections of biology, information theory, and discover how understanding these natural networks can yield profound insights for the development of bio-inspired systems and sustainable solutions. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1754504823000065
In this riveting episode, we delve into the perplexing world of quantum physics with esteemed guest, Tirole, the remarkable team. We navigate the legendary Double-Slit experiment, but with a mind-bending twist - its application to the dimension of time. From its groundbreaking implications to the vast unknowns it unravels, we explore how this theoretical development is shaking the very foundations of our understanding of reality. Journey with us as we bridge the realms of the micro and the macro, and tease apart the enigmatic relationship between quantum phenomena and time. This episode promises to tantalize your intellect and leave you pondering the true nature of the universe.
Welcome back to your weekly science news podcast, where we bring you the cutting-edge of scientific discovery! Tune in for an enlightening discussion!
In this episode, we dive into the riveting realm of neuromorphic learning with special guest, Dr. Loeffler and the team. Together, they unpack the intricate concept of metaplasticity and its revolutionary implications in the field of neuromorphic learning. This episode offers listeners an intriguing look into the future of artificial learning systems, paving the way for intelligent machines that can learn and adapt in ways akin to the human brain. Discover how the boundary between artificial and biological intelligence is being blurred, and what this could mean for the future of AI. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51330-6
Welcome back to your weekly science news podcast, where we bring you the cutting-edge of scientific discovery! Tune in for an enlightening discussion!
Navigate the global climate conversation with 'Climate Change News.' Every week, we bring you the most important and up-to-date news on climate change from around the globe. By weaving together global events, scientific discoveries, and policy initiatives, 'Climate Change News' aims to provide a comprehensive overview of our planet's changing climate and the innovative solutions being developed to mitigate its effects. Whether you're a climate scientist, an environmental activist, or a concerned citizen, 'Climate Change News' is your reliable source for understanding the climate crisis and our journey towards a sustainable future.
Join us on an intellectual journey with 'The Levin Lab.' We take you to the crossroads of developmental biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. Here, we probe the fundamental principles of life-as-it-can-be. Discover the science behind the extraordinary synthetic and chimeric life forms The Levin Lab creates. The Levin Lab, pushes the boundaries of understanding life, aiming to develop comprehensive frameworks that allow them to identify, comprehend, anticipate, and interact with a vast array of intelligences. From individual cells, tissues, and organs to synthetic living constructs, robots, and advanced software-based AIs, the explorations know no bounds. 'The Levin Lab' offers you an exclusive insight into the future of life science, enabling you to share in the vision of redefining the living world. Suitable for anyone intrigued by the limitless potential of science to reshape our understanding of existence."
Welcome back to your weekly science news podcast, where we bring you the cutting-edge of scientific discovery! Tune in for an enlightening discussion!
Faisal SN, Amjadipour M, Izzo K, Singer JA, Bendavid A, Lin CT, Iacopi F. Non-invasive on-skin sensors for brain machine interfaces with epitaxial graphene. J Neural Eng. 2021 Dec 23;18(6). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac4085. PMID: 34874291. The study explores the use of epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on silicon carbide on silicon for detecting Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in a non-invasive, robust, and efficient way. These dry EG electrodes provide a significantly improved skin contact impedance compared to conventional dry electrodes and maintain their performance even in a highly saline environment. The research also highlights a newly observed phenomenon of surface conditioning of the EG electrodes. Extended contact with skin electrolytes leads to a thin film of water forming on the graphene's surface, which reduces its contact impedance by more than three times. This effect is especially prominent in highly saline environments and can be used to enhance the performance and reliability of the EG sensors.
Microbial drought resistance may destabilize soil carbon DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2023.03.002his study examines how drought, which is becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, impacts soil microbes and in turn, affects carbon storage in soils. The research suggests that soil microbes can withstand drought via physiological acclimation, dispersal, community composition changes, and evolutionary adaptation. These responses permit microbes to continue their decomposition activities, leading to potential carbon loss from soils, especially when plant inputs decrease due to drought conditions. The study highlights that these microbial responses to drought could result in larger-than-expected soil carbon losses in the context of climate change.
"Science News" is an engaging science news podcast that dives into the week's most exciting breakthroughs and discoveries. From the tiniest quantum particles to the vast mysteries of the cosmos, we explore a diverse range of topics in science, technology, medicine, and the environment. With "Science News," you'll stay informed about the latest scientific developments and gain insight into the innovative research shaping our future. Perfect for science enthusiasts, students, or anyone with a curious mind, this podcast is your window into the thrilling world of scientific discovery. Join us weekly as we uncover the stories behind the science.
Rageot, M., Hussein, R.B., Beck, S. et al. Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming. Nature 614, 287–293 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05663-4Researchers have examined 31 ceramic vessels from an ancient Egyptian embalming workshop at Saqqara, dating back to the 26th Dynasty. The vessels were labeled according to their content or use, enabling a correlation between organic substances and specific embalming practices. Through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses, specific mixtures of fragrant or antiseptic oils, tars, and resins used for embalming the head and treating the wrappings were identified. Non-local organic substances found suggest extensive trade networks, linking Egypt with Mediterranean and tropical forest regions. The research also clarifies that the ancient terms "antiu" and "sefet", commonly translated as "myrrh" or "incense" and "a sacred oil" respectively, refer to a coniferous oils-or-tars-based mixture and an unguent with plant additives.
Heneghan, R.F., Everett, J.D., Blanchard, J.L. et al. Climate-driven zooplankton shifts cause large-scale declines in food quality for fish. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 470–477 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01630-7 The model suggests that future oceans, especially tropical ones, will be dominated by carnivorous and gelatinous filter-feeding zooplankton, at the expense of omnivorous copepods and euphausiids. While these changes will provide a more direct energy pathway from phytoplankton to fish, they will also result in reduced carrying capacity for future fish communities due to declining phytoplankton biomass and less nutritious food. This could slightly exacerbate the projected declines in small pelagic fish biomass in tropical regions by 2100.
Bujarrabal-Dueso, A., Sendtner, G., Meyer, D.H. et al. The DREAM complex functions as conserved master regulator of somatic DNA-repair capacities. Nat Struct Mol Biol 30, 475–488 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-00942-8 The study suggests that the DREAM complex acts as a master regulator, controlling the extent of DNA repair capacities in somatic cells across different species. By limiting these capacities, the DREAM complex might be a major contributor to the differences in DNA repair capabilities between germ and somatic cells.
"Science News" is an engaging science news podcast that dives into the week's most exciting breakthroughs and discoveries. From the tiniest quantum particles to the vast mysteries of the cosmos, we explore a diverse range of topics in science, technology, medicine, and the environment. With "Science News", you'll stay informed about the latest scientific developments and gain insight into the innovative research shaping our future. Perfect for science enthusiasts, students, or anyone with a curious mind, this podcast is your window into the thrilling world of scientific discovery. Join us weekly as we uncover the stories behind the science.
Kanarik, K.J., Osowiecki, W.T., Lu, Y.(. et al. Human–machine collaboration for improving semiconductor process development. Nature 616, 707–711 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05773-7
Grinter, R., Kropp, A., Venugopal, H. et al. Structural basis for bacterial energy extraction from atmospheric hydrogen. Nature 615, 541–547 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05781-7
Rusca, M., Savelli, E., Di Baldassarre, G. et al. Unprecedented droughts are expected to exacerbate urban inequalities in Southern Africa. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 98–105 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01546-8
Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (University of Portsmouth), researching bouncing cosmologies: Bouncing cosmology from nonlinear dark energy with two cosmological constants https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.03710
Dr. Bai et al proposes an unconventional possibility that some exoplanets could be made of dark matter, which we name "dark exoplanets." https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2303.12129
Sunflower sea star predation on urchins can facilitate kelp forest recovery https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1897 collapse of sunflower sea stars hypothesized to contribute to losses of kelp forests
Ahmed, A., et al. KDM8 epigenetically controls cardiac metabolism to prevent initiation of dilated cardiomyopathy. Nat Cardiovasc Res 2, 174–191 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-023-00214-0
Quantifying Energy Conversion in Higher-Order Phase Space Density Moments in Plasmas Paul A. Cassak, et al Phys. Rev. Lett. 2023 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.085201
Indirect Evidence for Dark Matter Density Spikes around Stellar-mass Black Holes DOI 10.3847/2041-8213/acaafa possible indirect evidence that dark matter forms a density spike around a black hole.
Stojić, S., Topić, V. & Nadasdy, Z. Children and adults rely on different heuristics for estimation of durations. Sci Rep 13, 1077 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-27419-4s. Sci Rep 13, 1077 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-27419-4
Efstathiou, S., Ottens, F., Schütter, LS. et al. ER-associated RNA silencing promotes ER quality control. Nat Cell Biol 24, 1714–1725 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-01025-4
Liu, Y., et al. Reduced CO2 uptake and growing nutrient sequestration from slowing overturning circulation. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 83–90 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01555-7
A DLG1-ARHGAP31-CDC42 axis is essential for the intestinal stem cell response to fluctuating niche Wnt signaling https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2022.12.008
Moussa, H., Xu, G., Yin, S. et al. Observation of temporal reflection and broadband frequency translation at photonic time interfaces. Nat. Phys. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-01975-y
Diffusion Art or Digital Forgery? Investigating Data Replication in Diffusion Models https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2022arXiv221203860S/doi:10.48550/arXiv.2212.03860
Su, Y., Walker, J.R., Hall, M.P. et al. An optimized bioluminescent substrate for non-invasive imaging in the brain. Nat Chem Biol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-023-01265-x
Watanabe T. et al. Efficient learning in children with rapid GABA boosting during and after training. Curr Biol. 2022 doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.021. Epub 2022 Nov 15. PMID: 36384138.
Le-Niculescu, et al. Towards precision medicine for anxiety disorders: objective assessment, risk prediction, pharmacogenomics, and repurposed drugs. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-023-01998-0
Cheesman, R., et al. A population-wide gene-environment interaction study on how genes, schools, and residential areas shape achievement. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-022-00145-8
This is a new biweekly series discussing AI applications. This session will give an overview of AI in software development: applications, ethics, and impact on jobs and industries.
Dow, C.F., Ross, N., Jeofry, H. et al. Antarctic basal environment shaped by high-pressure flow through a subglacial river system. Nat. Geosci. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01059-1
The author discusses her study on the impact of high-pressure water on the stability of ice sheets in Antarctica. The study found extensive subglacial hydrological systems that transport large amounts of freshwater at high pressure, potentially enhancing ice flow above. The water exits the ice sheet at specific locations, driving ice-shelf melting critical for the ice-sheet stability. Changes in subglacial channel size can affect the water depth and pressure of the surrounding drainage system up to 100 km on either side of the primary channel. The study highlights the importance of considering catchment-scale basal hydrology in calculations of ice-sheet flow and ice-shelf melt at grounding zones.
Inhibitory top-down projections from zona incerta mediate neocortical memory https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.010 flexibly tunes neocortical computations according to individual’s experience.
The article discusses a study that identifies how the brain can adjust its processing based on an individual's experiences. The study found that inhibitory afferents from the subthalamic zona incerta to neocortical interneurons play a crucial role in encoding the importance of sensory information learned through experiences. These afferents allow for bidirectional and balanced processing that enables memory.
McConohy, G., Xu, X., Cui, T. et al. Mechanical regulation of lithium intrusion probability in garnet solid electrolytes. Nat Energy (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01186-4 The author talks about his article on the issue of lithium-metal short-circuiting in rechargeable lithium-metal batteries due to the susceptibility of solid electrolytes to penetration by lithium. The root cause of this issue is debated. Still, the authors of this work investigate the effect of stress on lithium penetration initiation in LLZO using operando microprobe scanning electron microscopy. The authors find that the root cause of lithium intrusion into the electrolyte is a combination of current focusing and the presence of nanoscale cracks rather than electronic leakage or electrochemical reduction. The authors also highlight the mechanical tunability of electrochemical plating reactions in brittle solid electrolytes.
Felsche, E., Böhnisch, A. & Ludwig, R. Inter-seasonal connection of typical European heatwave patterns to soil moisture. npj Clim Atmos Sci 6, 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-023-00330-5
The article discusses a study on heatwaves in Europe and their impact on moisture-related processes. The study uses a regional climate model to derive nine spatial heatwave patterns and analyze their occurrence in relation to soil moisture deficits before and after the event. The study found that negative soil moisture anomalies in the preceding winter/spring can serve as a predictor for heatwaves in South Europe, while North Europe experiences a negative correlation between heatwave days and soil moisture content in summer and autumn. The study highlights the importance of understanding heatwave patterns and their relation to soil moisture deficits in predicting and mitigating heatwaves and droughts.
Community-engaged ancient DNA project reveals diverse origins of 18th-century African descendants in Charleston, South Carolina https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201620120
A lightweight robotic leg prosthesis replicating the biomechanics of the knee, ankle, and toe joint https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abo3996
Sigmundsson, H.; Thórsdóttir, H.S.; Njálsdóttir, H.R.; Hjaltalín, S.T. Reading: From the Simple to the Complex. Brain Sci. 2022,12,1670.
https://doi.org/ 10.3390/brainsci12121670
Serafin, A., Rubio, M.C., Carsi, M. et al. Electroconductive PEDOT nanoparticle integrated scaffolds for spinal cord tissue repair. Biomater Res (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40824-022-00310-5
Martín-Zamora, F.M., Liang, Y., Guynes, K. et al. Annelid functional genomics reveal the origins of bilaterian life cycles. Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05636-7
Zhang, L., Qiu, Y., Liu, WG. et al. An electric molecular motor. Nature 613, 280–286 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05421-6
Pharmaceutical pollution disrupts the behavior and predator-prey interactions of two widespread aquatic insects https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105672
Viana, M.P., Chen, J., Knijnenburg, T.A. et al. Integrated intracellular organization and its variations in human iPS cells. Nature 613, 345–354 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05563-7
Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VO2SUjtnPV-6GvXboP1Uap1G2hKtSux0PEUoQwT7760/edit#slide=id.p1
Valles-Colomer, M., Blanco-Míguez, A., Manghi, P. et al. The person-to-person transmission landscape of the gut and oral microbiomes. Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05620-1
Stein, M., Keller, S., Luo, Y. et al. Shaping contactless radiation forces through anomalous acoustic scattering. Nat Commun 13, 6533 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34207-7
Dual-polarity voltage imaging of the concurrent dynamics of multiple neuron types https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm8797
Wang, S., Meyer, D.H. & Schumacher, B. Inheritance of paternal DNA damage by histone-mediated repair restriction. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05544-w
Stoeger, T., et al. Aging is associated with a systemic length-associated transcriptome imbalance. Nat Aging 2, 1191–1206 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00317-6
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.add0080 Magnetars are young neutron stars with high magnetic fields usually observed at x-ray wavelengths. Taverna et al. measured the x-ray polarization of magnetars.
Tomography of ultrarelativistic nuclei with polarized photon-gluon collisions https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq3903
Dr. Elinav et al: Targeted suppression of human IBD-associated gut microbiota commensals by phage consortia for treatment of intestinal inflammation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.07.003
Benjamin, A.S., Zhang, LQ., Qiu, C. et al. Efficient neural codes naturally emerge through gradient descent learning. Nat Commun 13, 7972 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35659-7
Reddy, N.C., Molla, R., Joshi, P.N. et al. Traceless cysteine-linchpin enables precision engineering of lysine in native proteins. Nat Commun (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33772-1
Kole, K., et al. Parvalbumin basket cell myelination accumulates axonal mitochondria to internodes. Nat Commun 13, 7598 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35350-x
McWilliam et al. A specialized tyrosine-based endocytosis signal in MR1 controls antigen presentation to MAIT cells. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202110125. Epub 2022 Sep 21. PMID: 36129434; PMCID: PMC9499830.
Density, not radius, separates rocky and water-rich small planets orbiting M dwarf stars https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7164 Separating rocky from watery exoplanets
Basu, A., Bobrovnikov, D.G., Cieza, B. et al. Deciphering the mechanical code of the genome and epigenome. Nat Struct Mol Biol 29, 1178–1187 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-022-00877-6
Neguembor, et al. MiOS, an integrated imaging and computational strategy to model gene folding with nucleosome resolution. Nat Struct Mol Biol 29, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-022-00839-y
Balood, M., Ahmadi, M., Eichwald, T. et al. Nociceptor neurons affect cancer immunosurveillance. Nature 611, 405–412 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05374-w
Foraging complexity and the evolution of childhood https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn9889
In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.09.001
Tian F, Yang W. Learned lensless 3D camera. Opt Express. 2022 Sep 12;30(19):34479-34496. doi: 10.1364/OE.465933. PMID: 36242459; PMCID: PMC9576281.
Kabukcu, C. (2022). Cooking in caves: Palaeolithic carbonised plant food remains from Franchthi and Shanidar. Antiquity, 1-17. doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.143
New evidence for Hipparchus’ Star Catalogue revealed by multispectral imaging https://doi.org/10.1177/00218286221128289
Eisen et al. (2022) The microbiota promotes social behavior by modulating microglial remodeling of forebrain neurons. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001838
Kadakia, N., Demir, M., Michaelis, B.T. et al. Odour motion sensing enhances navigation of complex plumes. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05423-4
Kouhei Mizuno, et al (2022) Novel multicellular prokaryote discovered next to an underground stream eLife 11:e71920 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71920
Xie et al. A context-aware deconfounding autoencoder for robust prediction of personalized clinical drug response from cell-line compound screening Nat 2022 https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-022-00541-0
Qiu, B., Dai, X., Li, P. et al. Canalized gene expression during development mediates caste differentiation in ants. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 1753–1765 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01884-y
Nozomi Ando et al. (2022) Comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the ribonucleotide reductase family reveals an ancestral clade eLife 11:e79790 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.79790
Microscopic robots with onboard digital control https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abq2296 This work paves the way for ubiquitous autonomous microscopic robots that perform complex functions.
Breathing Rhythm and Pattern and Their Influence on Emotion https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-090121-014424
Abbigail K Elms Spectral analysis of ultra-cool white dwarfs polluted by planetary debris, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac2908
New research finds galaxy's oldest planetary debris.
University of Warwick research estimates white dwarf's age at around 10 billion years
This is the oldest dead star with an evolved planetary system.
Explores the early history of asteroids, ice moons, and Earth-like rocky planets.
Black widow spiders (Latrodectus hesperus) remember prey capture location and size, but only alter behavior for prey caught at particular sites Clint Sergi, et al https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13328
Averill, C., Anthony, M.A., Baldrian, P. et al. Defending Earth’s terrestrial microbiome. Nat Microbiol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01228-3
Hawn, et al. For whom the bell tolls: psychopathological and neurobiological correlates of a DNA methylation index of time-to-death. Transl Psychiatry(2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02164-w
Fasting-mimicking diet cycles reduce neuroinflammation to attenuate cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s models https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111417
Consciousness as a Memory System Budson, Andrew E. MD*, Richman, Kenneth A. PhD; Kensinger, Elizabeth A. PhD Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology: doi: 10.1097/WNN.0000000000000319
Sperm-inherited H3K27me3 epialleles are transmitted transgenerationally in cis
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209471119 Abstract Caenorhabditis elegans was utilized to determine how sperm-inherited histone tagging affects offspring gene expression. We showed that the lack of the conserved repressive mark H3K27me3 in sperm triggered up-regulation in offspring somatic and germline tissues and that tissue context controlled which genes were up-regulated. Our findings in worms resemble those in human cells, suggesting a conserved mechanism for chromatin-based control. The sperm-inherited pattern of gene marking and up-regulation was passed to grand progeny, suggesting that H3K27me3 can function as a transgenerational epigenetic carrier in C. elegans.
Sudimac, S., Sale, V. & Kühn, S. How nature nurtures: Amygdala activity decreases as the result of a one-hour walk in nature. Mol Psychiatry (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01720-6
Zhou, T., Tarduno, J.A., Nimmo, F. et al. Early Cambrian renewal of the geodynamo and the origin of inner core structure. Nat Commun 13, 4161 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31677-7
Pulletikurti et al. Prebiotic synthesis of α-amino acids and orotate from α-ketoacids potentiates transition to extant metabolic pathways. Nat. Chem. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-00999-w
Fradkin I, If you don't let it in, you don't have to get it out: Thought preemption as a method to control unwanted thoughts. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010285. PMID: 35834438; PMCID: PMC9282588.
Lanna, A., et al. An intercellular transfer of telomeres rescues T cells from senescence and promotes long-term immunological memory. Nat Cell Biol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-00991-z
Multilevel development of cognitive abilities in an artificial neural network https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201304119 This could guide future development in artificial intelligence.
Frank, A., Grinspoon, D., & Walker, S. (2022). Intelligence as a planetary scale process. International Journal of Astrobiology, 21(2), 47-61. doi:10.1017/S147355042100029X
The Extraordinarily Rare Ciliate Legendrea loyezae Fauré-Fremiet, 1908 (Haptoria, Ciliophora) by independent researcher James Weiss et al https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2022.125912
Aluminum Nanoparticles from a Ga–Al Composite for Water Splitting and Hydrogen Generation https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.1c04331
Ed Boyden, Ph.D. Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology at MIT develops tools that image and control the brain, and applying them to solve entire brain circuits. https://syntheticneurobiology.org/
Multilevel development of cognitive abilities in an artificial neural network https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201304119 This could guide future development in artificial intelligence.
Lanna, A., et al. An intercellular transfer of telomeres rescues T cells from senescence and promotes long-term immunological memory. Nat Cell Biol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-00991-z
Fradkin I, If you don't let it in, you don't have to get it out: Thought preemption as a method to control unwanted thoughts. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010285. PMID: 35834438; PMCID: PMC9282588.
Pulletikurti et al. Prebiotic synthesis of α-amino acids and orotate from α-ketoacids potentiates transition to extant metabolic pathways. Nat. Chem. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-00999-w
Zhou, T., Tarduno, J.A., Nimmo, F. et al. Early Cambrian renewal of the geodynamo and the origin of inner core structure. Nat Commun 13, 4161 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31677-7
Sudimac, S., Sale, V. & Kühn, S. How nature nurtures: Amygdala activity decreases as the result of a one-hour walk in nature. Mol Psychiatry (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01720-6
McMullen, A., Muñoz Basagoiti, M., Zeravcic, Z. et al. Self-assembly of emulsion droplets through programmable folding. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05198-8
Iterative Approach Guides Discovery of FabI Inhibitor Fabimycin, Late-Stage Antibiotic Candidate w/ In Vivo Efficacy against Drug-Resistant Gram-Negative Infections doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.2c00598
Plasmas for in situ resource utilization on Mars: Fuels, life support, and agriculture featured Journal of Applied Physics 132, 070902 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0098011
McCracken, et al. Human ureteric bud organoids recapitulate branching morphogenesis and differentiate into functional collecting duct cell types. 2022 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01429-5
Miller, B., et al. Mitochondrial DNA variation in Alzheimer’s disease reveals a unique microprotein called SHMOOSE. Mol Psychiatry (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01769-3
Wireless multi-lateral optofluidic microsystems for real-time programmable optogenetics and photopharmacology Nat Commun 13, 5571 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32947-0
Cambridge University: Pollard, A., & Liu, R. (2022). The six recipes of Zhou: A new perspective on Jin (金) and Xi (锡). Antiquity, 1-14. doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.81
Antonucci, et al. Carbon nanotube uptake in cyanobacteria for near-infrared imaging and enhanced bioelectricity generation in living photovoltaics. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01198-x
A thalamo-preoptic pathway promotes social grooming in rodents https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.062 Social interaction increases activity in the posterior thalamus (PIL)
Visualizing synaptic dopamine efflux with a 2D composite nanofilm https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78773
Venkataramani V et al Glioblastoma hijacks neuronal mechanisms for brain invasion. Cell. 2022 Aug 4;185(16):2899-2917.e31. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.06.054. Epub 2022 Jul 31. PMID: 35914528.
In vivo visualization and molecular targeting of the cardiac conduction system. J Clin Invest. 2022 Aug 11:e156955. doi: 10.1172/JCI156955. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35951416.
Automated model-predictive design of synthetic promoters to control transcriptional profiles in bacteria. Nat Commun 13, 5159 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32829-5
Augmenting neurogenesis rescues memory impairments in Alzheimer’s disease by restoring the memory-storing neurons https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20220391
Therapeutic targeting of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade by novel small-molecule inhibitors recruits cytotoxic T cells into solid tumor microenvironment https://jitc.bmj.com/content/10/7/e004695
Inter-brain synchronization occurs without physical co-presence during cooperative online gaming https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108316
Sponges sneeze mucus to shed particulate waste from their seawater inlet pores https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.017 Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology, University of Amsterdam
Serrano, D., Kuppusamy, S.K., Heinrich, B. et al. Ultra-narrow optical linewidths in rare-earth molecular crystals. Nature 603, 241–246 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04316-2
Nanosecond protonic programmable resistors for analog deep learning https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp8064
Nils Horbelt, Peter Fratzl, Matthew J Harrington, Mistletoe viscin: a hygro- and mechano-responsive cellulose-based adhesive for diverse material applications https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac026
Characterization of pulsed light for microbial inactivation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2022.111152 Pulsed light treatment susceptibility differs for Gram -, Gram +, and spores/fungi.
Post-Gastrulation Synthetic Embryos Generated Ex Utero from Mouse Naïve ESCs by Shadi Tarazi et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.07.028 Weizmann Institute of Science
We work on novel ways to understand and control complex pattern formation. We use techniques of molecular genetics, biophysics, and computational modeling to address large-scale control of growth and form. We work in whole frogs and flatworms, and sometimes zebrafish and human tissues in culture. Our projects span regeneration, embryogenesis, cancer, and learning plasticity - all examples of how cellular networks process information. In all of these efforts, our goal is not only to understand the molecular mechanisms necessary for morphogenesis, but also to uncover and exploit the cooperative signaling dynamics that enable complex bodies to build and remodel themselves toward a correct structure. Our major goal is to understand how individual cell behaviors are orchestrated towards appropriate large-scale outcomes despite unpredictable environmental perturbations.
Centripetal integration of past events by hippocampal astrocytes Peter Rupprecht et al., doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.16.504030
Early expression of mature αβ TCR in CD4−CD8− T cell progenitors enables MHC to drive development of T-ALL bearing NOTCH mutations https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2118529119
Kireev, D., Sel, K., Ibrahim, B. et al. Continuous cuffless monitoring of arterial blood pressure via graphene bioimpedance tattoos. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01145-w
Qiu, S., Miller, M.I., Joshi, P.S. et al. Multimodal deep learning for Alzheimer’s disease dementia assessment. Nat Commun 13, 3404 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31037-5
Opto-Thermocapillary Nanomotors on Solid Substrates Jingang Li, Pavana Siddhartha Kollipara, Ya Liu, Kan Yao, Yaoran Liu, and Yuebing Zheng* https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c09800
Araújo, R., David, R., Benoit, J. et al. Inner ear biomechanics reveals a Late Triassic origin for mammalian endothermy. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04963-z
Moseson H, Fix L, Gerdts C, et al Abortion attempts without clinical supervision among transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive people in the US http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjsrh-2020-200966
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm4106 Genetic physical unclonable functions in human cells
High ambipolar mobility in cubic boron arsenide https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn4290 Boron arsenide is a semiconductor with several interesting properties, including a high thermal conductivity.
Novel temperature-controlled sleep system to improve sleep: a proof-of-concept study First published: 19 July 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13662
Predicting embryonic aneuploidy rate in IVF patients using whole-exome sequencing https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-022-02450-z
Purkis, S.J., Shernisky, H., Swart, P.K. et al. Discovery of the deep-sea NEOM Brine Pools in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. Commun Earth Environ 3, 146 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00482-x
W bosons mediate the weak interaction, one of the fundamental forces in physics. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk1781 High-precision measurement of the W boson mass with the CDF II detector
Deep Learning Enables Design of Multifunctional Synthetic Human Gut Microbiome Dynamics Alfred O. Hero, et al doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.27.461983
“At the crossroad of the search for spontaneous radiation and the Orch OR consciousness theory”, a critical analysis of the Orch OR consciousness theory https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2022.05.004
Gu, H., Hanedan, E., Boehler, Q. et al. Artificial microtubules for rapid and collective transport of magnetic microcargoes. Nat Mach Intell (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-022-00510-7
Ancient DNA reveals five streams of migration into Micronesia and matrilocality in early Pacific seafarers https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm6536
A centimeter-long bacterium with DNA contained in metabolically active, membrane-bound organelles https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb3634
The homeless mind in a mobile world: An autoethnographic approach on cognitive immobility in international migration. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1354067X221111456
Observing separate spin and charge Fermi seas in a strongly correlated one-dimensional conductor https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm2781
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110953 Ablating brainstem GIPR neurons removes anti-nausea effects of GIP
Gq neuromodulation of BLA parvalbumin interneurons induces burst firing and mediates fear-associated network and behavioral state transition in mice. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28928-y
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2TB00573E Deep eutectic solvents as cryoprotective agents for mammalian cells to be at 37 °C for hours prior to freezing is a major step toward storage of organs and tissues.
Beltrán, J., Steiner, P.J., Bedewitz, M. et al. Rapid biosensor development using plant hormone receptors as reprogrammable scaffolds. Nat Biotechnol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01364-5
Rotaru, V., Huang, Y., Li, T. et al. Event-level prediction of urban crime reveals a signature of enforcement bias in US cities. Nat Hum Behav (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01372-0
Mapping microglia and astrocyte activation in vivo using diffusion MRI https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq2923 Science
Li, V.L., He, Y., Contrepois, K. et al. An exercise-inducible metabolite that suppresses feeding and obesity. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04828-5
On-Scalp Optically Pumped Magnetometers versus Cryogenic Magnetoencephalography for Diagnostic Evaluation of Epilepsy in School-aged Children https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.212453
Lasko EN, Dagher AC, West SJ, Chester DS. Neural mechanisms of intergroup exclusion and retaliatory aggression. Soc Neurosci. 2022 Jun 14:1-13. doi: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2086617. PMID: 35658812.
Targeted epigenomic editing ameliorates adult anxiety and excessive drinking after adolescent alcohol exposure https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn2748
Rambo, I.M., Langwig, M.V., Leão, P. et al. Genomes of six viruses that infect Asgard archaea from deep-sea sediments. Nat Microbiol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01150-8
Campisi, L., Chizari, S., Ho, J.S.Y. et al. Clonally expanded CD8 T cells characterize amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-4. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04844-5
Endle, H., Horta, G., Stutz, B. et al. AgRP neurons control feeding behavior at cortical synapses via peripherally derived lysophospholipids. Na (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-022-00589-7
Cassidy, C.M., et al. Association of locus coeruleus integrity with Braak stage and neuropsychiatric symptom severity in Alzheimer’s disease. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01293-6
Hermans, S.L.N., Pompili, M., Beukers, H.K.C. et al. Qubit teleportation between non-neighbouring nodes in a quantum network. Nature 605, 663–668 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04697-y
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0822 A biomimetic fingertip that demonstrates human sensitivity using the transduction principles of human touch.
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-29-133-2022 Control simulation experiment with Lorenz’s butterfly attractor
Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century. Bloom is the author of 7 books, founded 3 international scientific groups and the Space Development Steering Committee.
Chen, CC., González Escudero, R., Minář, J. et al. Continuous Bose–Einstein condensation. Nature (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04731-z could lead to continuous-wave atom lasers
DOI: 10.1039/c9mh00726a Inherently self-sterilizing charged multiblock polymers that kill drug-resistant microbes in minutes
miRNA signatures associated with vulnerability to food addiction in mice and humans https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI156281
Birner, B., Severinghaus, J., Paplawsky, B. et al. Increasing atmospheric helium due to fossil fuel exploitation. Nat. Geosci. 15, 346–348 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00932-3
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm2055 Light-activated molecular machines are fast-acting broad-spectrum antibacterials that target the membrane
The increasing occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the dwindling antibiotic research and development pipeline have created a pressing global health crisis. Here, we report the discovery of a distinctive antibacterial therapy that uses visible (405 nanometers) light-activated synthetic molecular machines (MMs) to kill Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, in minutes, vastly outpacing conventional antibiotics. MMs also rapidly eliminate persister cells and established bacterial biofilms. The antibacterial mode of action of MMs involves physical disruption of the membrane. In addition, by permeabilizing the membrane, MMs at sublethal doses potentiate the action of conventional antibiotics. Repeated exposure to antibacterial MMs is not accompanied by resistance development. Finally, therapeutic doses of MMs mitigate mortality associated with bacterial infection in an in vivo model of burn wound infection. Visible light–activated MMs represent an unconventional antibacterial mode of action by mechanical disruption at the molecular scale, not existent in nature and to which resistance development is unlikely.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04485-8 Triplet fusion upconversion nanocapsules for volumetric 3D printing
Sodium-calcium exchanger-3 regulates pain ‘‘wind- up’’: From human psychophysics to spinal mechanisms https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.05.017
Orihuela-Pinto, B., England, M.H. & Taschetto, A.S. Interbasin and interhemispheric impacts of a collapsed Atlantic Overturning Circulation. Nat. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01380-y
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.062 The perception of odor pleasantness is shared across cultures
https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abm0677 Cooperative cargo transportation by a swarm of molecular machines
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl7853 The evolution of cooperative breeding by direct and indirect fitness effects
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04618-z Somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan across mammals
The rates and patterns of somatic mutation in normal tissues are largely unknown outside of humans1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Comparative analyses can shed light on the diversity of mutagenesis across species, and on long-standing hypotheses about the evolution of somatic mutation rates and their role in cancer and ageing. Here we performed whole-genome sequencing of 208 intestinal crypts from 56 individuals to study the landscape of somatic mutation across 16 mammalian species. We found that somatic mutagenesis was dominated by seemingly endogenous mutational processes in all species, including 5-methylcytosine deamination and oxidative damage. With some differences, mutational signatures in other species resembled those described in humans8, although the relative contribution of each signature varied across species. Notably, the somatic mutation rate per year varied greatly across species and exhibited a strong inverse relationship with species lifespan, with no other life-history trait studied showing a comparable association. Despite widely different life histories among the species we examined—including variation of around 30-fold in lifespan and around 40,000-fold in body mass—the somatic mutation burden at the end of lifespan varied only by a factor of around 3. These data unveil common mutational processes across mammals, and suggest that somatic mutation rates are evolutionarily constrained and may be a contributing factor in ageing.
Northward Expansion of Desert Climate in Central Asia in Recent Decades Qi Hu,Zihang Han https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098895 Climate variation in Central Asia is examined using changes of climate classification to obtain geographically specific information of the variation across the region. Major results show the northward expansion of desert climate by over 100 km in mid-latitudes of the region since the 1980s. In the meantime, all types of climates in the region have increased temperatures. In mountainous areas, the previous cold climate is replaced by warmer and also wetter climate. These changes could have largely resulted in the fast retreat of glaciers and the temporary rise of groundwater and the water levels of lakes in the drainage areas in recent decades. Because different climate types are associated with specific flora and fauna, the shifts of the climate types in locations have elevated the potential to initiate new feedbacks of the ecological systems to the climate and complicate its variation.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30038-8 The fabrication of digital logic circuits comprising resistors and diodes made from protein complexes wired together using printed liquid metal electrodes.
This paper describes the fabrication of digital logic circuits comprising resistors and diodes made from protein complexes and wired together using printed liquid metal electrodes. These resistors and diodes exhibit temperature-independent charge transport over a distance of approximately 10 nm and require no encapsulation or special handling. The function of the protein complexes is determined entirely by self-assembly. When induced to self-assembly into anisotropic monolayers, the collective action of the aligned dipole moments increases the electrical conductivity of the ensemble in one direction and decreases it in the other. When induced to self-assemble into isotropic monolayers, the dipole moments are randomized and the electrical conductivity is approximately equal in both directions. We demonstrate the robustness and utility of these all-protein logic circuits by constructing pulse modulators based on AND and OR logic gates that function nearly identically to simulated circuits. These results show that digital circuits with useful functionality can be derived from readily obtainable biomolecules using simple, straightforward fabrication techniques that exploit molecular self-assembly, realizing one of the primary goals of molecular electronics.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01049-x Neuronal activity drives pathway-specific depolarization of peripheral astrocyte processes
Astrocytes are glial cells that interact with neuronal synapses via their distal processes, where they remove glutamate and potassium (K+) from the extracellular space following neuronal activity. Astrocyte clearance of both glutamate and K+ is voltage dependent, but astrocyte membrane potential (Vm) is thought to be largely invariant. As a result, these voltage dependencies have not been considered relevant to astrocyte function. Using genetically encoded voltage indicators to enable the measurement of Vm at peripheral astrocyte processes (PAPs) in mice, we report large, rapid, focal, and pathway-specific depolarizations in PAPs during neuronal activity. These activity-dependent astrocyte depolarizations are driven by action potential-mediated presynaptic K+ efflux and electrogenic glutamate transporters. We find that PAP depolarization inhibits astrocyte glutamate clearance during neuronal activity, enhancing neuronal activation by glutamate. This represents a novel class of subcellular astrocyte membrane dynamics and a new form of astrocyte-neuron interaction.
Modeling the Repetition-Based Recovering of Acoustic and Visual Sources With Dendritic Neurons https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.855753
In natural auditory environments, acoustic signals originate from the temporal superimposition of different sound sources. The problem of inferring individual sources from ambiguous mixtures of sounds is known as blind source decomposition. Experiments on humans have demonstrated that the auditory system can identify sound sources as repeating patterns embedded in the acoustic input. Source repetition produces temporal regularities that can be detected and used for segregation. Specifically, listeners can identify sounds occurring more than once across different mixtures, but not sounds heard only in a single mixture. However, whether such a behavior can be computationally modeled has not yet been explored. Here, we propose a biologically inspired computational model to perform blind source separation on sequences of mixtures of acoustic stimuli. Our method relies on a somatodendritic neuron model trained with a Hebbian-like learning rule which was originally conceived to detect spatio-temporal patterns recurring in synaptic inputs. We show that the segregation capabilities of our model are reminiscent of the features of human performance in a variety of experimental settings involving synthesized sounds with naturalistic properties. Furthermore, we extend the study to investigate the properties of segregation on task settings not yet explored with human subjects, namely natural sounds and images. Overall, our work suggests that somatodendritic neuron models offer a promising neuro-inspired learning strategy to account for the characteristics of the brain segregation capabilities as well as to make predictions on yet untested experimental settings.
Ata, M., Lee, KG., Vecchia, C.D. et al. Predicted future fate of COSMOS galaxy protoclusters over 11 Gyr with constrained simulations. Nat Astron (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01693-0
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71624 Multi-omic rejuvenation of human cells by maturation phase transient reprogramming
Autti, S., Heikkinen, P.J., Nissinen, J. et al. Nonlinear two-level dynamics of quantum time crystals. Nat Commun 13, 3090 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30783-w
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-022-00871-9 An engineered live biotherapeutic protects the intestinal microbiome.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202201249 DNA-Engineered Hydrogels with Light-Adaptive Plasmonic Responses Orientational control of anisotropic plasmonic nanoparticles.
https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16399 Soil microbiomes are critical for post-fire plant regeneration. We build a framework to predict generalizable microbial responses to fire.
Did you miss our weekly guest speaker events? This is the summary of what we learned this week.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2027540 Technology to restore the ability to communicate in paralyzed persons who cannot speak has the potential to improve autonomy and quality of life.
Massive Gravitons as Feebly Interacting Dark Matter Candidates
We detail our discovery of a chiral enhancement in the production cross-sections of massive spin-2 gravitons, below the electroweak symmetry breaking scale, that makes them ideal dark matter candidates for the freeze-in mechanism. The result is independent of the physics at high scales and points toward masses in the keV–MeV range. The graviton is, therefore, a sub-MeV dark matter particle, as favored by the small scale galaxy structures. We apply the novel calculation to a Randall-Sundrum model with multiple branes, showing a significant parameter space where the first two massive gravitons saturate the dark matter relic density.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.081806
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01110-6 Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatments: using individualized TMS targeting to maximize the therapeutic impact.
The prevalence and severity of many chronic pain syndromes differ across sex, and recent studies have identified differences in immune signalling within spinal nociceptive circuits as a potential mediator. Although it has been proposed that sex-specific pain mechanisms converge once they reach neurons within the superficial dorsal horn, direct investigations using rodent and human preclinical pain models have been lacking.
Here, we discovered that in the Freund’s adjuvant in vivo model of inflammatory pain, where both male and female rats display tactile allodynia, a pathological coupling between KCC2-dependent disinhibition and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) potentiation within superficial dorsal horn neurons was observed in male but not female rats. Unlike males, the neuroimmune mediator brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) failed to downregulate inhibitory signalling elements (KCC2 and STEP61) and upregulate excitatory elements (pFyn, GluN2B and pGluN2B) in female rats, resulting in no effect of ex vivo brain-derived neurotrophic factor on synaptic NMDAR responses in female lamina I neurons. Importantly, this sex difference in spinal pain processing was conserved from rodents to humans. As in rodents, ex vivo spinal treatment with BDNF downregulated markers of disinhibition and upregulated markers of facilitated excitation in superficial dorsal horn neurons from male but not female human organ donors. Ovariectomy in female rats recapitulated the male pathological pain neuronal phenotype, with BDNF driving a coupling between disinhibition and NMDAR potentiation in adult lamina I neurons following the prepubescent elimination of sex hormones in females.
This discovery of sexual dimorphism in a central neuronal mechanism of chronic pain across species provides a foundational step towards a better understanding and treatment for pain in both sexes.
pain, spinal hyperexcitability, sex difference, inflammatory pain, NMDAR
Did you miss our guest speaker events? This recap will give you a summarized weekly update.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04473-y Thermophotovoltaics convert infrared wavelength light to electricity via the photovoltaic effect, and can enable approaches to energy storage and conversion.
doi: 10.1002/alz.12653. Our studies suggest that NMD activators should be explored for their potential therapeutic value to patients with tauopathies.
Complex Oscillatory Waves Emerging from Cortical Organoids Model Early Human Brain Network Development https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2019.08.002
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110669 Resting-state fMRI reveals DMN structure across four primate species
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm6063 Endoplasmic reticulum chaperone genes encode effectors of long-term memory.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08643-w The ectoparasite Varroa destructor is the greatest threat to managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies globally.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb7535 Unidentified infrared emission bands are ubiquitous in many astronomical sources. These bands are widely, if not unanimously, attributed to collective emissions from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, yet no single species of this class has been identified in space. Using spectral matched filtering of radio data from the Green Bank Telescope, we detected two nitrile-group–functionalized PAHs, 1- and 2-cyanonaphthalene, in the interstellar medium. Both bicyclic ring molecules were observed in the TMC-1 molecular cloud. In this paper, we discuss potential in situ gas-phase PAH formation pathways from smaller organic precursor molecules.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04552-0 These data identify a distinct progenitor in a region of the human lung that is critical in maintaining the gas-exchange and altered in chronic lung disease.
doi: 10.1021/acsnano.2c00955 Here we show that the thermal treatment of PW in the presence of potassium acetate yields an effective carbon sorbent with pores width of 0.7-1.4 nm for CO2 capture.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk3112 Mobile elements and repetitive genomic regions are sources of lineage-specific genomic innovation and uniquely fingerprint individual genomes. Comprehensive analyses of such repeat elements, including those found in more complex regions of the genome, require a complete, linear genome assembly. We present a de novo repeat discovery and annotation of the T2T-CHM13 human reference genome. We identified previously unknown satellite arrays, expanded the catalog of variants and families for repeats and mobile elements, characterized classes of complex composite repeats, and located retroelement transduction events. We detected nascent transcription and delineated CpG methylation profiles to define the structure of transcriptionally active retroelements in humans, including those in centromeres. These data expand our insight into the diversity, distribution, and evolution of repetitive regions that have shaped the human genome.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jctc.9b00884 We introduce an unsupervised clustering algorithm to improve training efficiency and accuracy in predicting energies using molecular-orbital-based machine learning (MOB-ML). This work determines clusters via the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) in an entirely automatic manner and simplifies an earlier supervised clustering approach [J. Chem. Theory Comput., 15, 6668 (2019)] by eliminating both the necessity for user-specified parameters and the training of an additional classifier. Unsupervised clustering results from GMM have the advantage of accurately reproducing chemically intuitive groupings of frontier molecular orbitals and having improved performance with an increasing number of training examples. The resulting clusters from supervised or unsupervised clustering is further combined with scalable Gaussian process regression (GPR) or linear regression (LR) to learn molecular energies accurately by generating a local regression model in each cluster. Among all four combinations of regressors and clustering methods, GMM combined with scalable exact Gaussian process regression (GMM/GPR) is the most efficient training protocol for MOB-ML.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0883 Dogs can extract and integrate bimodal sensory emotional information, and discriminate between positive and negative emotions from both humans and dogs.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2022.03.016 Enzymatic exchange of mixes dipeptides leads to buildup of tetrapeptides that can be tracked Self-organization drives selective peptide sequence buildup
doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001576 Mitochondria and the complex endomembrane system are hallmarks of eukaryotic cells. To date, it has been difficult to manipulate organelle structures within single live cells. We developed a FluidFM-based approach to extract, inject, and transplant organelles from and into living cells with subcellular spatial resolution. The technology combines atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy, and nanofluidics to achieve force and volume control with real-time inspection. We developed dedicated probes that allow minimally invasive entry into cells and optimized fluid flow to extract specific organelles. When extracting single or a defined number of mitochondria, their morphology transforms into a pearls-on-a-string phenotype due to locally applied fluidic forces. We show that the induced transition is calcium independent and results in isolated, intact mitochondria. Upon cell-to-cell transplantation, the transferred mitochondria fuse to the host cells mitochondrial network. Transplantation of healthy and drug-impaired mitochondria into primary keratinocytes allowed monitoring of mitochondrial subpopulation rescue. Fusion with the mitochondrial network of recipient cells occurred 20 minutes after transplantation and continued for over 16 hours.
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fnu14030466 Trait Energy and Fatigue May Be Connected to Gut Bacteria among Young Physically Active Adults: An Exploratory Study
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110600 Early stress-induced impaired microglial pruning of excitatory synapses on immature CRH-expressing neurons provokes aberrant adult stress responses Early-life stress (ELA) augments excitatory synapses on hypothalamic CRH cells During ELA, the adjacent microglia poorly survey and prune synapses on CRH neurons Mechanisms involve MerTK and yield aberrant hormonal and behavioral stress response Chemogenetic microglial activation throughout ELA normalizes adult stress responses
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04301-9 Magnetic control of tokamak plasmas through deep reinforcement learning: Nuclear fusion is a promising path towards sustainable energy.
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1907.04178 Lectures on Faster-than-Light Travel and Time Travel: The lectures cover some of what is currently known about the possibility of superluminal travel and time travel within the context of established science, that is, general relativity and quantum field theory. Previous knowledge of general relativity at the level of a standard undergraduate-level introductory course is recommended, but all the relevant material is included for completion and reference. No previous knowledge of quantum field theory, or anything else beyond the standard undergraduate curriculum, is required. Advanced topics in relativity, such as causal structures, the Raychaudhuri equation, and the energy conditions are presented in detail. Once the required background is covered, concepts related to faster-than-light travel and time travel are discussed. After introducing tachyons in special relativity as a warm-up, exotic spacetime geometries in general relativity such as warp drives and wormholes are discussed and analyzed, including their limitations. Time travel paradoxes are also discussed in detail, including some of their proposed resolutions.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b04969 Assessment of Artificial Photosynthetic Systems for Integrated Carbon Capture and Conversion
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01718-1 Pancreatic islet cryopreservation by vitrification achieves high viability, function, recovery and clinical scalability for trans plantation
New polymer membrane tech improves efficiency of CO2 capture http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abj9351 new membrane technology allows more efficient removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from mixed gases
Join us for the weekly recap! Did you miss our guest speaker talks? Do you still have unanswered questions? During the weekly recap we will summarize the guest speaker rooms we had the previous week.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01095-3 IBM scientists give artificial neural networks a new look for neuromorphic computing: This non-von Neumann AI hardware breakthrough in neuromorphic computing could help create machines that recognize objects just like how humans do, and solve some hard mathematical problems for applications that span chip design to flights scheduling.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-022-00282-2 Transcriptional analysis of peripheral memory T cells reveals Parkinson’s disease-specific gene signatures
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a multi-stage neurodegenerative disorder with largely unknown etiology. Recent findings have identified
PD-associated autoimmune features including roles for T cells. To further characterize the role of T cells in PD, we performed RNA
sequencing on PBMC and peripheral CD4 and CD8 memory T cell subsets derived from PD patients and age-matched healthy
controls. When the groups were stratified by their T cell responsiveness to alpha-synuclein (α-syn) as a proxy for an ongoing
inflammatory autoimmune response, the study revealed a broad differential gene expression profile in memory T cell subsets and a
specific PD associated gene signature. We identified significant enrichment of transcriptomic signatures previously associated with
PD, including for oxidative stress, phosphorylation, autophagy of mitochondria, cholesterol metabolism and inflammation, and the
chemokine signaling proteins CX3CR1, CCR5, and CCR1. In addition, we identified genes in these peripheral cells that have
previously been shown to be involved in PD pathogenesis and expressed in neurons, such as LRRK2, LAMP3, and aquaporin.
Together, these findings suggest that features of circulating T cells with α-syn-specific responses in PD patients provide insights into
the interactive processes that occur during PD pathogenesis and suggest potential intervention targets.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.0c01919 TMDC-Based Topological Nanospaser: Single and Double Threshold Behavior
We theoretically study a topological nanospaser, which consists of a silver nanospheroid and MoS2 monolayer flake of a circular shape. The metal nanospheroid acts as a plasmonic nanoresonator that supports two rotating modes, which are coupled to the corresponding valleys of MoS2. We apply external circularly polarized light that selectively pumps only one of the valleys of MoS2. The generated spaser dynamics strongly depends on the size (radius) of the MoS2 nanoflake. For a small radius, the system has only one spasing regime when only the chirally matched plasmon mode is generated, while at a larger size of MoS2, depending on the pump intensity, there are two regimes. In one regime, only the chirally matched plasmon mode is generated, while in the other regime both chirally matched and chirally mismatched modes exist. Different regimes of spaser operation also have opposite handedness of the far-field radiated spaser system. Such a topological nanospaser has potential applications in different areas of infrared spectroscopy, sensing, probing, and biomedical treatment.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27951-9 In an article recently published in the journal Nature Communications, Daniel Persson and Robert Berman, together with Tristan Collins of MIT in the USA, showed how gravity emerges from a special quantum mechanical system, in a simplified model for quantum gravity called the ‘holographic principle’.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2022.117759 We employ a descriptor based machine-learning approach to assess the effect of chemical alloying on formation-enthalpy of rare-earth intermetallics. Application of machine-learning approaches in rare-earth intermetallic design have been sparse due to limited availability of reliable datasets. In this work, we developed an ‘in-house’ rare-earth database with more than 600 + compounds, each entry was populated with formation enthalpy and related atomic features using high-throughput density-functional theory (DFT).
Did you miss our rooms this week? Would like to have a short summary of our weekly guest speaker talks? Do you still have a question about a topic we discussed? Join us for the weekly recap!
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-021-01577-9 A pathway to peptides in space through the condensation of atomic carbon: Organic molecules are widely present in the dense interstellar medium, and many have been synthesized in the laboratory on Earth under the conditions typical for an interstellar environment. Until now, however, only relatively small molecules of biological interest have been demonstrated to form experimentally under typical space conditions. Here we prove experimentally that the condensation of carbon atoms on the surface of cold solid particles (cosmic dust) leads to the formation of isomeric polyglycine monomers (aminoketene molecules). Following encounters between aminoketene molecules, they polymerize to produce peptides of different lengths. The chemistry involves three of the most abundant species (CO, C and NH3) present in star-forming molecular clouds, and proceeds via a novel pathway that skips the stage of amino acid formation in protein synthesis. The process is efficient, even at low temperatures, without irradiation or the presence of water. The delivery of biopolymers formed by this chemistry to rocky planets in the habitable zone might be an important element in the origins of life.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F09567976211032663. The goal of perception is to infer the most plausible source of sensory stimulation. Unisensory perception of temporal order, however, appears to require no inference, because the order of events can be uniquely determined from the order in which sensory signals arrive. Here, we demonstrate a novel perceptual illusion that casts doubt on this intuition: In three experiments (N = 607), the experienced event timings were determined by causality in real-time. Adult participants viewed a simple three-item sequence, ACB, which is typically remembered as ABC in line with principles of causality. When asked to indicate the time at which events B and C occurred, participants' points of subjective simultaneity shifted so that the assumed cause B appeared earlier and the assumed effect C later, despite participants' full attention and repeated viewings. This first demonstration of causality reversing perceived temporal order cannot be explained by post perceptual distortion, lapsed attention, or saccades.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110546 ADRAM is an experience-dependent long noncoding RNA that drives fear extinction through direct interaction with the chaperone protein 14-3-3
•Targeted RNA sequencing reveals learning-induced lncRNAs in the adult brain
•ADRAM is critical for the formation of fear extinction memory
•ADRAM coordinates the epigenomic regulation of Nr4a2
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.140501 Quantum Charging Advantage Cannot Be Extensive without Global Operations: Quantum batteries are devices made from quantum states, which store and release energy in a fast and efficient manner, thus offering numerous possibilities in future technological applications. They offer a significant charging speedup when compared to classical batteries, due to the possibility of using entangling charging operations. We show that the maximal speedup that can be achieved is extensive in the number of cells, thus offering at most quadratic scaling in the charging power over the classically achievable linear scaling. To reach such a scaling, a global charging protocol, charging all the cells collectively, needs to be employed. This concludes the quest on the limits of charging power of quantum batteries and adds to other results in which quantum methods are known to provide at most quadratic scaling over their classical counterparts.
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202106823 Stem cell fate can be directed through the application of various external physical stimuli, enabling a controlled approach to targeted differentiation. Studies involving the use of dynamic mechanical cues driven by vibrational excitation to date have, however, been limited to low frequency (Hz to kHz) forcing over extended durations (typically continuous treatment for >7 days). Contrary to previous assertions that there is little benefit in applying frequencies beyond 1 kHz, we show here that high frequency MHz-order mechanostimulation in the form of nanoscale amplitude surface reflected bulk waves are capable of triggering differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells from various donor sources toward an osteoblast lineage, with early, short time stimuli inducing long-term osteogenic commitment.
Did you miss our rooms during the week? We will give a short summary of what we discussed with our guest speakers this week. Join us!
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03137-x
Abstract Neural representations of visual perception are affected by mental imagery and attention. Although attention is known to modulate neural representations, it is unknown how imagery changes neural representations when imagined and perceived images semantically conflict. We hypothesized that imagining an image would activate a neural representation during its perception even while watching a conflicting image. To test this hypothesis, we developed a closed-loop system to show images inferred from electrocorticograms using a visual semantic space. The successful control of the feedback images demonstrated that the semantic vector inferred from electrocorticograms became closer to the vector of the imagined category, even while watching images from different categories. Moreover, modulation of the inferred vectors by mental imagery depended asymmetrically on the perceived and imagined categories. Shared neural representation between mental imagery and perception was still activated by the imagery under semantically conflicting perceptions depending on the semantic category.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01035-w Although lung cancer risk among smokers is dependent on smoking dose, it remains unknown if this increased risk reflects an increased rate of somatic mutation accumulation in normal lung cells. Here, we applied single-cell whole-genome sequencing of proximal bronchial basal cells from 33 participants aged between 11 and 86 years with smoking histories varying from never-smoking to 116 pack-years. We found an increase in the frequency of single-nucleotide variants and small insertions and deletions with chronological age in never-smokers, with mutation frequencies significantly elevated among smokers. When plotted against smoking pack years, mutations followed the linear increase in cancer risk until about 23 pack years, after which no further increase in mutation frequency was observed, pointing toward individual selection for mutation avoidance. Known lung cancer-defined mutation signatures tracked with both age and smoking. No significant enrichment for somatic mutations in lung cancer driver genes was observed.
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10056-y We investigate the proposal by Kharzeev and Levin of a maximally entangled proton wave function in Deep Inelastic Scattering at low x and the proposed relation between parton number and final state hadron multiplicity. Contrary to the original formulation we determine partonic entropy from the sum of gluon and quark distribution functions at low x, which we obtain from an unintegrated gluon distribution subject to next-to-leading order Balitsky–Fadin–Kuraev–Lipatov evolution. We find for this framework very good agreement with H1 data. We furthermore provide a comparison based on NNPDF parton distribution functions at both next-to-next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading with small x resummation, where the latter provides an acceptable description of data.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009456 A number of neuroimaging techniques have been employed to understand how visual information is transformed along the visual pathway. Although each technique has spatial and temporal limitations, they can each provide important insights into the visual code. While the BOLD signal of fMRI can be quite informative, the visual code is not static and this can be obscured by fMRI’s poor temporal resolution. In this study, we leveraged the high temporal resolution of EEG to develop an encoding technique based on the distribution of responses generated by a population of real-world scenes. This approach maps neural signals to each pixel within a given image and reveals location-specific transformations of the visual code, providing a spatiotemporal signature for the image at each electrode. Our analyses of the mapping results revealed that scenes undergo a series of non-uniform transformations that prioritize different spatial frequencies at different regions of scenes over time. This mapping technique offers a potential avenue for future studies to explore how dynamic feedforward and recurrent processes inform and refine high-level representations of our visual world.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abm4107
Alzheimer's disease is the most common and best known of the tauopathies, a set of neurodegenerative brain diseases caused by toxic tangles of the protein tau. A study has now shown that targeting astrocytes -- an inflammatory cell in the brain -- reduces tau-related brain damage and inflammation in mice.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.01.010
FOXG1 syndrome neural progenitor cells show slower G1 phase exit and proliferation
• FOXG1 syndrome neural progenitor cells have increased frequency of primary cilia
• Engineered FOXG1 dose correlates with proliferation and frequency of primary cilia
doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110457. PMID: 35235780. Bifurcation of cellular fates, a critical process in development, requires histone 3 lysine 27 methylation (H3K27me3) marks propagated by the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). However, precise chromatin loci of functional H3K27me3 marks are not yet known. Here, we identify critical PRC2 functional sites at high resolution. We fused a computationally designed protein, EED binder (EB), which competes with EZH2 and thereby inhibits PRC2 function, to dCas9 (EBdCas9) to allow for PRC2 inhibition at a precise locus using gRNA. Targeting EBdCas9 to four different genes (TBX18, p16, CDX2, and GATA3) results in precise H3K27me3 and EZH2 reduction, gene activation, and functional outcomes in the cell cycle (p16) or trophoblast transdifferentiation (CDX2 and GATA3). In the case of TBX18, we identify a PRC2-controlled, functional TATA box >500 bp upstream of the TBX18 transcription start site (TSS) using EBdCas9. Deletion of this TATA box eliminates EBdCas9-dependent TATA binding protein (TBP) recruitment and transcriptional activation. EBdCas9 technology may provide a broadly applicable tool for epigenomic control of gene regulation.
Did you miss our rooms during the week? We will give a short summary of what we discussed with our guest speakers this week. Join us!
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03416-3 The establishment of a system for robustly growing normal mouse embryos ex utero from pre-gastrulation to advanced organogenesis represents a valuable tool for investigating embryogenesis, as it eliminates the uterine barrier and allows researchers to mechanistically interrogate post-implantation morphogenesis and artificial embryogenesis in mammals.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.02.010 • PolyP is enriched in human and mouse ALS/FTD astrocytes in vitro and in vivo • Excessive polyP released by ALS/FTD astrocytes is toxic to primary MNs • In vitro studies indicate that polyP is a new therapeutic target of ALS/FTD • Study of human samples indicate that polyP is new hallmark and biomarker of ALS/FTD.
https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glac040 Like other biological processes, aging is not random but subject to molecular control. Natural products that modify core metabolic parameters, including fat content, may provide entry points to extend animal lifespan and promote healthy aging. Here, we show that a botanical extract from Artemisia scoparia (SCO), which promotes fat storage and metabolic resiliency in mice, extends the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans by up to 40%.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.103964 Although numerous studies have demonstrated that poor sleep increases the development of AD, direct evidence elucidating the benefits of good sleep on the AD pathogenesis is lacking. Familial Natural Short Sleepers (FNSS) are genetically wired to have lifelong reduction in nightly sleep duration without evident consequence on cognitive demise, implying that they may have better sleep quality. Here we investigated two FNSS mutations, DEC2-P384R and Npsr1-Y206H, on the development of tau and amyloid pathology in AD-like mouse models. We found that the development of tau pathology is attenuated in the hippocampus of tau mice carrying FNSS mutations. We also found that DEC2-P384R;5XFAD and female Npsr1-Y206H;5XFAD mice exhibit significantly less amyloid plaques than control mice at 6 months of age. Together, these results reveal that these two FNSS alleles are strong genetic modifiers of AD pathology and may confer resilience to the progression of tau pathology and amyloid plaque formation in neurodegeneration.
Did you miss our rooms this week? You don’t have enough time to listen to hours of replays? Join our weekly recaps. We will give a short summary of the week! Join us!
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl5855 Both classical and quantum electrodynamics predict the existence of dipole-dipole long-range electrodynamic intermolecular forces; however, these have never been hitherto experimentally observed. The discovery of completely new and unanticipated forces acting between biomolecules could have considerable impact on our understanding of the dynamics and functioning of the molecular machines at work in living organisms. Here, using two independent experiments, on the basis of different physical effects detected by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and terahertz spectroscopy, respectively, we demonstrate experimentally the activation of resonant electrodynamic intermolecular forces. This is an unprecedented experimental proof of principle of a physical phenomenon that, having been observed for biomacromolecules and with long-range action (up to 1000 Å), could be of importance for biology. In addition to thermal fluctuations that drive molecular motion randomly, these resonant (and thus selective) electrodynamic forces may contribute to molecular encounters in the crowded cellular space.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jpsychires.2021.12.024 Hoarding Disorder (HD) is under-recognized and under-treated. Though HD develops by early adulthood, patients present only later in life, resulting in research-based largely on samples of predominantly older females. Whilst formerly associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), it is now recognized that individuals with HD often have inattention symptoms reminiscent of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Here, we investigated HD in adults with ADHD.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-01195-w Many industrial chemicals that are produced from fossil resources could be manufactured more sustainably through fermentation. Here we describe the development of a carbon-negative fermentation route to producing the industrially important chemicals acetone and isopropanol from abundant, low-cost waste gas feedstocks, such as industrial emissions and syngas. Using a combinatorial pathway library approach, we first mined a historical industrial strain collection for superior enzymes that we used to engineer the autotrophic acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum. Next, we used omics analysis, kinetic modeling, and cell-free prototyping to optimize flux. Finally, we scaled up our optimized strains for continuous production at rates of up to ~3 g/L/h and ~90% selectivity. Life cycle analysis confirmed a negative carbon footprint for the products. Unlike traditional production processes, which result in release of greenhouse gases, our process fixes carbon. These results show that engineered acetogens enable sustainable, high-efficiency, high-selectivity chemicals production. We expect that our approach can be readily adapted to a wide range of commodity chemicals.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24504 The genetic basis of human uniqueness remains one of the most enduring mysteries in biological anthropology. The goal of this research project was to identify, characterize, and infer the origin and function of novel elements in the human genome that are not functionally shared with other apes. Our approach toward this goal was to utilize a variety of genome alignment tools to discover islands of non-conserved DNA sequences, followed by theoretical and computational analysis of those regions using synteny sequence analysis. We discovered families of microRNA genes on human chromosome 21 with no detectable orthologs in the other African apes.
https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.104109 A new form of ice discovered Findings could have implications for our understanding of distant, water-rich planets.
Did you miss our guest speaker sessions? Is listening to hours of replays too time-consuming? Join us for the weekly recap rooms!
https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.201900013 Functional Connectivity of Organic Neuromorphic Devices by Global Voltage Oscillations: Global oscillations in the brain synchronize neural populations and lead to dynamic binding between different regions. This functional connectivity reconfigures as needed for the architecture of the neural network, thereby transcending the limitations of its hardwired structure. Despite the fact that it underlies the versatility of biological computational systems, this concept is not captured in current neuromorphic device architectures. Herein, functional connectivity in an array of organic neuromorphic devices connected through an electrolyte is demonstrated. The output of these devices is shown to be synchronized by a global oscillatory input despite the fact that individual inputs are stochastic and independent. This temporal coupling is induced at a specific phase of the global oscillation in a way that is reminiscent of phase locking of neurons to brain oscillations. This demonstration provides a pathway toward new neuromorphic architectural paradigms, where dynamic binding transcends the limitations of structural connectivity, and could enable architectural concepts of hierarchical information flow.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14763 Creativity is a major source of innovation, growth, adaptability, and psychological resilience, making it a top priority of governments, global corporations, educational institutions, and other organizations that collectively invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually into training. The current foundation of creativity training is the technique known as divergent thinking; yet for decades, concerns have been raised about the adequacy of divergent thinking: it is incongruent with the creative processes of children and most adult creatives, and it has failed to yield expected downstream results in creative production. In this article, we present an alternative approach to creativity training, based in neural processes different from those involved in divergent thinking and drawing upon a previously unused resource for creativity research: narrative theory.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28220-z Circularly polarised luminescence laser scanning confocal microscopy to study live cell chiral molecular interactions: The molecular machinery of life is founded on chiral building blocks, but no experimental technique is currently available to distinguish or monitor chiral systems in live cell bio-imaging studies. Luminescent chiral molecules encode a unique optical fingerprint within emitted circularly polarized light (CPL) carrying information about the molecular environment, conformation, and binding state. Here, we present a CPL Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (CPL-LSCM) capable of simultaneous chiroptical contrast based live-cell imaging of endogenous and engineered CPL-active cellular probes. Further, we demonstrate that CPL-active probes can be activated using two-photon excitation, with complete CPL spectrum recovery. The combination of these two milestone results empowers the multidisciplinary imaging community, allowing the study of chiral interactions on a sub-cellular level in a new (chiral) light.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04257-w Quantum many-body systems display rich phase structure in their low-temperature equilibrium states1. However, much of nature is not in thermal equilibrium. Remarkably, it was recently predicted that out-of-equilibrium systems can exhibit novel dynamical phases2,3,4,5,6,7,8 that may otherwise be forbidden by equilibrium thermodynamics, a paradigmatic example being the discrete time crystal (DTC)7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. Concretely, dynamical phases can be defined in periodically driven many-body-localized (MBL) systems via the concept of eigenstate order7,16,17. In eigenstate-ordered MBL phases, the entire many-body spectrum exhibits quantum correlations and long-range order, with characteristic signatures in late-time dynamics from all initial states. It is, however, challenging to experimentally distinguish such stable phases from transient phenomena, or from regimes in which the dynamics of a few select states can mask typical behaviour. Here we implement tunable controlled-phase (CPHASE) gates on an array of superconducting qubits to experimentally observe an MBL-DTC and demonstrate its characteristic spatiotemporal response for generic initial states7,9,10.
Did you miss our rooms? Did you have more questions comments that we didn’t have time to clarify? Join our weekly recap rooms! We will give a summarized overview of what our guest speakers presented.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003941 Dementia is the leading cause of death in elderly Western populations. Preventative interventions that could delay dementia onset even modestly would provide a major public health impact. There are no disease-modifying treatments currently available. Lithium has been proposed as a potential treatment. We assessed the association between lithium use and the incidence of dementia and its subtypes.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11669-022-00942-z A challenge in materials design is that in both natural and humanmade materials, volume sometimes decreases, or increases, with increasing temperature. While there are mechanical explanations for this phenomenon for some specific materials, a general understanding of why this sometimes happens remains lacking.
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl6989 Psychedelics probably alter states of consciousness by disrupting how the higher association cortex governs bottom-up sensory signals. Individual hallucinogenic drugs are usually studied in participants in controlled laboratory settings. Here, we have explored word usage in 6850 free-form testimonials about 27 drugs through the prism of 40 neurotransmitter receptor subtypes, which were then mapped to three-dimensional coordinates in the brain via their gene transcription levels from invasive tissue probes. Despite high interindividual variability, our pattern-learning approach delineated how drug-induced changes of conscious awareness are linked to cortex-wide anatomical distributions of receptor density proxies. Each discovered receptor-experience factor spanned between a higher-level association pole and a sensory input pole, which may relate to the previously reported collapse of hierarchical order among large-scale networks. Coanalyzing many psychoactive molecules and thousands of natural language descriptions of drug experiences, our analytical framework finds the underlying semantic structure and maps it directly to the brain.
In a new study, Yale researchers used an advanced microscopy technique that allowed them to follow a single neuron in the embryo of a worm as it found its neurological home. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71171.sa0
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.105.034401 In this paper, three-dimensional numerical simulations of ballooning in spiders using multiple silk threads are performed using the discrete elastic rods method. The ballooning of spiders is hypothesized to be caused by the presence of the negative electric charge of the spider silk threads and the positive electric potential field in the Earth's atmosphere.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04463-0
Alzheimer’s disease is a disabling condition that disproportionately occurs after menopause. A study in mice shows that increased levels of follicle-stimulating hormone lead to characteristics of the disease — and that blocking the action of this hormone prevents those features from developing.
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn2070 Mammalian photoreceptors aggregate numerous mitochondria, organelles chiefly for energy production, in the ellipsoid region immediately adjacent to the light-sensitive outer segment to support the high metabolic demands of phototransduction. However, these complex, lipid-rich organelles are also poised to affect light passage into the outer segment. Here, we show, via live imaging and simulations, that despite this risk of light scattering or absorption, these tightly packed mitochondria “focus” light for entry into the outer segment and that mitochondrial remodeling affects such light concentration. This “microlens”-like feature of cone mitochondria delivers light with an angular dependence akin to the Stiles-Crawford effect (SCE), providing a simple explanation for this essential visual phenomenon that improves resolution.
A gene-silencing tool that will enable new opportunities for advancing basic biomedical research and drug development. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-021-01369-z
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57974 Antimicrobial resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is one of the greatest threats to global health. New antibacterial strategies are urgently needed, and the development of antibiotic adjuvants that either neutralize resistance proteins or compromise the integrity of the cell envelope is of ever-growing interest. Most available adjuvants are only effective against specific resistance proteins. Here, we demonstrate that disruption of cell envelope protein homeostasis simultaneously compromises several classes of resistance determinants.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04300-w The atmospheres of a large proportion of white dwarf stars are polluted by heavy elements that are expected to sink out of visible layers on short timescales. This has been interpreted as a signature of ongoing accretion of debris from asteroids, comets and giant planets. This scenario is supported by the detection of debris discs and transits of planetary fragments around some white dwarfs. However, photospheric metals are only indirect evidence for ongoing accretion, and the inferred accretion rates and parent body compositions heavily depend on models of diffusion and mixing processes within the white dwarf atmosphere. Here we report a 4.4σ detection of X-rays from a polluted white dwarf, G29–38. From the measured X-ray luminosity, we derive an instantaneous accretion rate of which is independent of stellar atmosphere models.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2021.10.019 A new study shows how cell membranes curve to create the "mouths" that allow the cells to consume things that surround them. The study, published last month in the journal Developmental Cell, found that the intercellular machinery of a cell assembles into a highly curved basket-like structure that eventually grows into a closed cage. Scientists had previously believed that structure began as a flat lattice. Membrane curvature is important, Kural said: It controls the formation of the pockets that carry substances into and out of a cell.
Vocal pitch, which involves not only F0 but also multiple covarying acoustic cues is central to linguistic perception and production at various levels of prosodic structure. Recent studies on language development have shown that differences in learners' musicality affect the F0 cue development in perception of sentence-level intonation or in prosodic realization of focus. This study aims to contribute toward a fuller understanding of the effect of musicality on linguistic pitch development via a close investigation of the relationship between musicality, age, and lexical tone production covering both F0 and spectral cues in children. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.804042
Study reveals symptoms of autism can be detected within the first year of a child’s life, and early detection can help with interventions that may significantly reduce the severity of lifelong developmental deviation.
Inducing massive inflammation resulted in overexpression of Trpv4. The overexpression led to neural hyperexcitability that resulted in social avoidance behaviors associated with ASD in mouse models. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01427-0
Caltech-led team of researchers has discovered that a small-molecule metabolite, produced by bacteria that reside in the mouse gut, can travel to the brain and alter the function of brain cells, leading to increased anxiety in mice. The work helps uncover a molecular explanation for recent observations that gut microbiome changes are associated with complex emotional behaviors. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04396-8
The serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor is widely distributed in the brain and plays a critical role in perception, cognition and psychosis. It is also responsible for the psychedelic effects of drugs, such as psilocybin (hallucinogenic mushrooms) and LSD. Abnormal 5-HT2A receptor function is associated with psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. The leading class of antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia targets 5-HT2A receptors to reduce symptoms of hallucinations and impaired cognition. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01390-w
Matrix quantum mechanics plays various important roles in theoretical physics, such as a holographic description of quantum black holes. Understanding quantum black holes and the role of entanglement in a holographic setup is of paramount importance for the development of better quantum algorithms (quantum error correction codes) and for the realization of a quantum theory of gravity. Quantum computing and deep learning offer us potentially useful approaches to study the dynamics of matrix quantum mechanics. In this paper we perform a systematic survey for quantum computing and deep learning approaches to matrix quantum mechanics, comparing them to Lattice Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, we test the performance of each method by calculating the low-energy spectrum. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.010324
Chemical element mapping is an imaging tool that provides essential information about composite materials, and it is crucial for a broad range of fields ranging from fundamental science to numerous applications. Methods that exploit x-ray fluorescence are very advantageous and are widely used, but require focusing of the input beam and raster scanning of the sample. Thus, the methods are slow and exhibit limited resolution due to focusing challenges. Here, we demonstrate an x-ray fluorescence method based on computational ghost imaging that overcomes those limitations since it does not require focusing and show that when it is combined with compressed sensing the total measurement time can be significantly reduced. Our method opens the possibility to significantly enhance the resolution of chemical element maps and to extend the applicability of x-ray fluorescence inspection to new fields where the measurement time is a critical parameter. https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.441682
Repeated low doses of LSD in healthy adults: A placebo-controlled, dose-response study. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13143
Anxiety Disorder With Autonomic Hypersensitivity and Blunted Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Activity During Peripheral Adrenergic Stimulation A Randomized Clinical Trial: Findings In this crossover randomized clinical trial, female patients with GAD exhibited hypersensitivity to adrenergic stimulation as well as greater interoceptive sensation and diminished ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity compared with healthy participants. Meaning This study provides evidence of dysfunctional autonomic and central nervous system contributions to the pathophysiology of GAD and suggests that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex may be a treatment target. http://jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.4225
Since the first half of the twentieth century, evolutionary theory has been dominated by the idea that mutations occur randomly with respect to their consequences1. Here we test this assumption with large surveys of de novo mutations in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04269-6
Learned associations between stimuli allow us to model the world and make predictions, crucial for efficient behavior (e.g., hearing a siren, we expect to see an ambulance and quickly make way). While there are theoretical and computational frameworks for prediction, the circuit and receptor-level mechanisms are unclear. Using high-density EEG, Bayesian modeling, and machine learning, we show that inferred “causal” relationships between stimuli and frontal alpha activity account for reaction times (a proxy for predictions) on a trial-by-trial basis in an audiovisual delayed match-to-sample task which elicited predictions. Predictive β feedback activated sensory representations in advance of predicted stimuli. Low-dose ketamine, an NMDAR blocker, but not the control drug dexmedetomidine, perturbed behavioral indices of predictions, their representation in higher-order cortex, feedback to posterior cortex, and pre-activation of sensory templates in higher-order sensory cortex. This study suggests that predictions depend on alpha activity in higher-order cortex, β feedback, and NMDARs, and ketamine blocks access to learned predictive information. http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1311-21.2021
Structural biology has the potential to illuminate the evolution of pathogen effectors and their commonalities that cannot be readily detected at the primary sequence level. Recent breakthroughs in protein structure modeling have demonstrated the feasibility to predict the protein folds without depending on homologous templates. These advances enabled a genome-wide computational structural biology approach to help understand proteins based on their predicted folds. In this study, we employed structure prediction methods on the secretome of the destructive fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. Out of 1,854 secreted proteins, we predicted the folds of 1,295 proteins (70%). We showed that template-free modeling by TrRosetta captured 514 folds missed by homology modeling, including many known effectors and virulence factors, and that TrRosetta generally produced higher quality models for secreted proteins. Along with sensitive homology search, we employed structure-based clustering, defining not only homologous groups with divergent members but also sequence-unrelated structurally analogous groups. We demonstrate that this approach can reveal new putative members of structurally similar MAX effectors and novel analogous effector families present in M. oryzae and possibly in other phytopathogens. We also investigated the evolution of expanded putative ADP-ribose transferases with predicted structures. We suggest that the loss of catalytic activities of the enzymes might have led them to new evolutionary trajectories to be specialized as protein binders. Collectively, we propose that computational structural genomics approaches can be an integral part of studying effector biology and provide valuable resources that were inaccessible before the advent of machine learning-based structure prediction. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-03-21-0071-R
Dr. Kaufer's lab has shown in both anxious rats and military veterans with PTSD that acute stress is associated with increased myelination of axons in areas of the brain associated with memory and emotions. These areas in the brain's gray matter are normally only lightly myelinated. Since myelin speeds communication in the brain, the increased myelination may be making some neural circuits hyperresponsive to memories of trauma. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01745-5
Synthetic biology and bioengineering provide the opportunity to create novel embodied cognitive systems (otherwise known as minds) in a very wide variety of chimeric architectures combining evolved and designed material and software. These advances are disrupting familiar concepts in the philosophy of mind, and require new ways of thinking about and comparing truly diverse intelligences, whose composition and origin are not like any of the available natural model species. In this Perspective, I introduce TAME - Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere - a framework for understanding and manipulating cognition in unconventional substrates. TAME formalizes a non-binary (continuous), empirically-based approach to strongly embodied agency. When applied to regenerating/developmental systems, TAME suggests a perspective on morphogenesis as an example of basal cognition. The deep symmetry between problem-solving in anatomical, physiological, transcriptional, and 3D (traditional behavioral) spaces drives specific hypotheses by which cognitive capacities can scale during evolution. An important medium exploited by evolution for joining active subunits into greater agents is developmental bioelectricity, implemented by pre-neural use of ion channels and gap junctions to scale cell-level feedback loops into anatomical homeostasis. This architecture of multi-scale competency of biological systems has important implications for plasticity of bodies and minds, greatly potentiating evolvability. Considering classical and recent data from the perspectives of computational science, evolutionary biology, and basal cognition, reveals a rich research program with many implications for cognitive science, evolutionary biology, regenerative medicine, and artificial intelligence. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/t6e8p
Individuals are constantly exposed to microbial organisms that may or may not colonize their gut microbiome, and newborn individuals assemble their microbiomes through a number of these acquisition events. Since microbiome composition has been shown to influence host physiology, a mechanistic understanding of community assembly has potentially therapeutic applications. In this paper we study microbiome acquisition in a highly controlled setting using germ-free fruit flies inoculated with specific bacterial species at known abundances. Our approach revealed that acquisition events are stochastic, and the colonization odds of different species in different contexts encode ecological information about interactions. These findings have consequences for microbiome-based therapies like fecal microbiota transplantation that attempt to modify a person’s gut microbiome by deliberately introducing foreign microbes. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115877119
Dr. Field is presenting his team's new wearable helmet-shaped device that monitors brain activity. Kernel Flow packages large-scale TD-fNIRS systems into a wearable form, delivering the next generation of noninvasive optical brain imaging devices. DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.27.7.074710
Quantum and biological systems are seldom discussed together as they seemingly demand opposing conditions. Life is complex, "hot and wet" whereas quantum objects are small, cold, and well-controlled. Here, we overcome this barrier with a tardigrade -- a microscopic multicellular organism known to tolerate extreme physiochemical conditions via a latent state of life known as cryptobiosis. We observe coupling between the animal in cryptobiosis and a superconducting quantum bit and prepare a highly entangled state between this combined system and another qubit. The tardigrade itself is shown to be entangled with the remaining subsystems. The animal is then observed to return to its active form after 420 hours at sub 10 mK temperatures and pressure of 6×10−6 mbar, setting a new record for the conditions that a complex form of life can survive. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2112.07978