Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A symmetric and asymmetric nexus between environmental sustainability and tourism development in BRIC nations: What is the role of good governance and globalization?

The motivation of the study was to gauge the impact of environmental quality (EQ), good governance (GG), and globalization (GLO) on tourism development in BRIC nations for the period 1990–2021. The study implements linear and nonlinear frameworks for evaluating the elasticity of explanatory variables on tourism and the directional association by using the non-granger causality test. Combined cointegration test statistics show a long-run association between EQ, GG, and GLO and tourism development in BRIC nations. Furthermore, the long-run association in the empirical estimation is established in both linear and nonlinear framework assessments. Referring to linear assessment, the study documents the positive, statistically significant linkage between good governance, globalization, and tourism development, implying that political stability, governmental effectiveness, and accountability foster tourism development. Furthermore, global economic and financial integration opens a window for tourism development by inducing the economy’s international tourism. On the other hand, environmental degradation reveals adverse statistically significant influences on tourism development, suggesting that the environmental stability in the form of healthy and amicable ambiance positively triggers tourism development, especially in the long run. According to the test statistics of the standard Wald test, it is obvious that there is an asymmetric association between explanatory variables such as EQ, GG, and GLO and tourism development in the long-run and short-run assessment. The directional causality test documented bidirectional causality in explaining the causality between environmental quality and tourism development in Brazil, India, and China, good governance and tourism development in India, and globalization and tourism development in China. On a policy note, the study advocated that BRIC has to ensure environmental protection and governmental effectiveness to promote sustainable development in the tourism sector.
Title: Sex-specific association between emotion negativity and neural processing of reward feedback in young children

Understanding whether sex-related differences in the associations between emotion negativity and reward processing are present in early childhood has the potential to critically inform the etiology and prevention of psychiatric disorders characterized by dysregulated negative affect. Previous research suggests that altered neural processing of reward is associated with elevated levels of negative affect in adolescents and that the patterns of these associations may show sex-related differences. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between negative affect and reward processing in young children and none have directly examined potential sex-related differences in this relationship during early childhood. The current study investigated potential sex-related differences in neural response to reward feedback using EEG and their sex-specific association with emotional negativity in 140 children 4-7 years of age. Children completed a developmentally appropriate reward processing task while EEG data was recorded. Temporospatial Principal Component Analysis was used to separate overlapping feedback-related ERP components, revealing that males had greater loss-related feedback negativity and gain- and loss-related P200 values than females. At the individual level, males also showed a negative correlation between emotional negativity scores and gain-related P200 amplitudes. In line with prior work in adults for sex differences in attentional biases to emotional stimuli, these results suggest that neural mechanisms leading to sex differences in abnormal development of emotional negativity may emerge during early childhood and grow in magnitude during adolescence.
Comparison of Heuristics for Generating All-partition Arrays in the Style of Milton Babbitt

An all-partition array is a mathematical structure developed by Milton Babbitt (1916{2011) for organizing the pitch classes in many of his twelve-tone works. Constructing an all-partition array requires nd- ing a sequence of ' aggregate-forming subsets of a matrix of pitch classes called a PCMatrix. Each of these ' subsets corresponds to a distinct in- teger partition and ' is the total number of distinct integer partitions possible, given the number of rows in the PCMatrix. Collectively, the ' subsets (or integer partitions) form a partition of the PCMatrix. In some types of all-partition arrays, where ' = 58, the PCMatrix does not contain all 12' pitch classes. In these types, Babbitt developed a method for adding to the PCMatrix what we call outer-aggregate repeated pcs (OARPs). A self-contained sequence of integer partitions is one in which each integer partition either contains a complete aggregate or an incom- plete one that can be made complete by adding OARPs. It is noteworthy that, when constructing an all-partition array, Babbitt started out with a non-self-contained sequence of partitions. In this paper, we use a known self-contained sequence as a basis for forming two heuristics that se- lect integer partitions likely to have been chosen by Babbitt. We suggest these heuristics will select integer partitions more likely to produce a self- contained sequence and we present it as a means for eciently searching the space of possible sequences. We apply our heuristics to both types of sequences and conclude with a simple method for evaluating the results.
Sensory convergence and inhibitory divergence: deep dorsal horn inhibitory interneurons modulate the timing and magnitude of limb coordination during locomotion

Authors Nofar Ozeri-Engelhard*1,2,3,6, Mark A Gradwell*1,2,6, Olivier D Laflamme4,5, Aman Upadhyay1,2,3, Adin Aoki1,2, Tara Shrier1,2, Melissa Gandhi1,2, Melissa Gonzalez2, Jaclyn T Eisdorfer1,2, Gloria AbbasZadeh1,2, Nusrath Yusuf1,2,3, Zarghona Imtiaz1,2, Simona A Alomary1,22, Jordan Katz1,2, Michael Haas1,2, Yurdiana Hernandez2, Turgay Akay5, Victoria Abraira1,2,7 * These authors have contributed equally
Modulation effect of non-invasive transcranial ultrasound stimulation in an ADHD rat model

Objective. Previous studies have demonstrated that transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) with noninvasive high penetration and high spatial resolution has an effective neuromodulatory effect on neurological diseases. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a persistent neurodevelopmental disorder that severely affects child health. However, the neuromodulatory effects of TUS on ADHD have not been reported to date. This study aimed to investigate the neuromodulatory effects of TUS on ADHD. Approach. TUS was performed in ADHD model rats for two consecutive weeks, and the behavioral improvement of ADHD, neural activity of ADHD from neurons and neural oscillation levels, and the plasma membrane dopamine transporter and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brains of ADHD rats were evaluated. Main results. TUS can improve cognitive behavior in ADHD rats, and TUS altered neuronal firing patterns and modulated the relative power and sample entropy of local field potentials in the ADHD rats. In addition, TUS can also enhance BDNF expression in the brain tissues. Significance. TUS has an effective neuromodulatory effect on ADHD and thus has the potential to clinically improve cognitive dysfunction in ADHD.
Identiﬁcation and characterization of thousands of bacteriophage satellites across bacteria

Bacteriophage–bacteria interactions are affected by phage satellites, elements that exploit phages for transfer between bacteria. Satellites can encode defense systems, antibiotic resistance genes, and virulence factors, but their number and diversity are unknown. We developed SatelliteFinder to identify satellites in bacterial genomes, detecting the four best described families: P4-like, phage inducible chromosomal islands (PICI), capsid-forming PICI, and PICI-like elements (PLE). We vastly expanded the number of described elements to ∼ 5000, ﬁnding bacterial genomes with up to three different families of satellites. Most satellites were found in Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, but some are in novel taxa such as Actinobacteria. We characterized the gene repertoires of satellites, which are variable in size and composition, and their genomic organization, which is very conserved. Phylogenies of core genes in PICI and cfPICI indicate independent evolution of their hijacking modules. There are few other homologous core genes between other families of satellites, and even fewer homologous to phages. Hence, phage satellites are ancient, diverse, and probably evolved multiple times independently. Given the many bacteria infected by phages
Subjective assessment and taste strips testing of gustatory function, at home, and in the lab

Gustatory ability is an important marker of health status, including COVID-19 disease. We compare self-reporting with home and lab psychophysical “taste strips” tests in healthy subjects. The taste test consisted of paper strips impregnated with sweet, bitter, salty, or sour tastants, and with the trigeminal stimulus capsaicin, each in high and in low concentration. The test was carried out either in a controlled lab environment (74 participants, 47 women) with the strips being administered by the experimenter or self-administered by the participants at home (77 participants, 59 women). After self-reporting their subjective assessment of chemosensory ability, the participant identified the taste of each strip and rated intensity and pleasantness. Identification score, intensity, and pleasantness averaged over the 8 taste strips were similar between the lab and the home-administered tests. Self-rated taste ability did not correlate with any of these scores, but strongly correlated with self-rated smell ability in the lab group (r=0.73), and moderately correlated in the home group (r=0.51). Taste identification correlated with intensity ratings (r=0.63 lab, r=0.36 home) but not with the pleasantness ratings (r=-0.14 lab, r=0.1 home). The results of the taste strips test were similar in the lab and at home for healthy young participants and provide a baseline against which taste tests can be compared in future applications.
Network controllability measures of subnetworks: implications for neurosciences

Objective: Recent progress in network sciences has made it possible to apply key findings from control theory to the study of networks. Referred to as network control theory, this framework describes how the interactions between interconnected system elements and external energy sources, potentially constrained by different optimality criteria, result in complex network behavior. A typical example is the quantification of the functional role certain brain regions or symptoms play in shaping the temporal dynamics of brain activity or the clinical course of a disease, a property that is quantified in terms of the so-called controllability metrics. Critically though, contrary to the engineering context in which control theory was originally developed, a mathematical understanding of the network nodes and connections in neurosciences cannot be assumed. For instance, in the case of psychological systems such as those studied to understand psychiatric disorders, a potentially large set of related variables are unknown. As such, while the measures offered by network control theory would be mathematically correct, in that they can be calculated with high precision, they could have little translational values with respect to their putative role suggested by controllability metrics. It is therefore critical to understand if and how the controllability metrics estimated over subnetworks would deviate, if access to the complete set of variables, as is common in neurosciences, cannot be taken for granted. Approach: In this paper, we use a host of simulations based on synthetic as well as structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to study the potential deviation of controllability metrics in sub- compared to the full networks. Specifically, we estimate average- and modal-controllability, two of the most widely used controllability measures in neurosciences, in a large number of settings where we systematically vary network type, network size, and edge density. Main results: We find out, across all network types we test, that average and modal controllability are systematically, over- or underestimated depending on the number of nodes in the sub- and full network and the edge density. Significance: Finally, we provide formal theoretical proof that our observations generalize to any network type and discuss the ramifications of this systematic bias and potential solutions to alleviate the problem.
The structure, catalytic mechanism, and inhibitor identification of phosphatidylinositol remodeling MBOAT7

Cells remodel glycerophospholipid acyl chains via the Lands cycle to adjust membrane properties. Membrane-bound O-acyltransferase (MBOAT) 7 acylates lyso-phosphatidylinositol (lyso-PI) with arachidonyl-CoA. MBOAT7 mutations cause brain developmental disorders, and reduced expression is linked to fatty liver disease. Further, increased MBOAT7 expression is linked to hepatocellular and renal cancers. The mechanistic basis of MBOAT7 catalysis and substrate selectivity are unknown. Here, we report the structure and a model for the catalytic mechanism of human MBOAT7. Arachidonyl-CoA and lyso-PI access the catalytic center through a twisted tunnel from the cytosol and lumenal sides, respectively. N-Terminal residues on the ER lumenal side determine phospholipid headgroup selectivity: swapping them between MBOATs 1, 5, and 7 converts enzyme specificity for different lyso-phospholipids. Finally, the MBOAT7 structure and virtual screening enabled identification of small-molecule inhibitors that may serve as lead compounds for pharmacologic development.
Differential role of dopamine D3 receptor through balanced modulation of Akt/mTOR and ERK1/2 activity in the reactivation of cocaine rewarding memories evoked by psychological versus physiological stress

Stress is an important trigger of relapses in cocaine use. These relapses engage the activity of memory-related nuclei, such as the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the dentate gyrus (DG). Further, preclinical research signals D3 receptor (D3R) antagonists as promising therapeutic tools to attenuate cocaine reward and relapse. Therefore, we assessed the effect of SB-277011-A, a D3R antagonist, in the activity of Akt/mTOR and MEK/ERK1/2 pathways in these areas during the reinstatement of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) evoked by psychological (restraint) and physiological (tail pinch) stress. Both stimuli reactivated the extinguished cocaine-CPP, but only restrained animals decreased their locomotor activity during reinstatement. Moreover, p-Akt, p-mTOR and p-ERK1/2 activity in the BLA and DG of restrained animals decreased during the reactivation of cocaine memories, contrasting to tail-pinched mice. While D3R blockade prevented stress-induced CPP reactivation and plasmatic corticosterone enhancement, SB-277011-A distinctly modulated Akt, mTOR and ERK1/2 activities in the BLA and DG based on the stressor and the dose of antagonist. Corticosterone may be partially responsible for these variations as we found high correlations among its levels and mTOR and/or Akt activity in the BLA and DG of restrained animals receiving SB-277011-A. Besides, locomotor activity of animals receiving 48 mg/kg of the antagonist highly correlated with p-mTOR/mTOR and p-ERK1/2 /ERK1/2 in the BLA during restraint- and tail pinch-induced relapse in cocaine-CPP, respectively. Hence, our study endorses D3R antagonists as therapeutic tools to prevent stress-induced relapses in drug use through a complex balance of Akt/mTOR and MEK/ERK1/2 pathways in memory-processing brain nuclei.
DEGoldS: a workflow to assess the accuracy of differential expression analysis pipelines through gold-standard construction

RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is a high throughput sequencing method that has become one the most employed tools in transcriptomics. The implementation of optimal bioinformatic analyses required in RNA-seq experiments may be complicated due to the large amounts of data generated by the sequencing platforms, along with the intrinsic nature of these data types. In the last years many programs and pipelines have been developed for differential expression (DE) analyses, but their effectiveness can be reduced when working with non-model species lacking public genomic resources. Moreover, there is not a universal recipe for all the experiments and datasets and the modification of standard RNA-seq bioinformatic pipelines through parameter tuning and the use of alternative software may have a strong impact in the outcome of DE analysis. Therefore, although the selection of the most accurate DE pipeline configuration and the evaluation of how these changes could affect the final DE results in RNA-seq experiments is mandatory to reduce bias, the lack of gold-standard datasets with known expression patterns hampers its implementation. In the present manuscript we present DEGoldS, a workflow consisting on sequential Bash and R scripts to construct gold-standards for simulation-based benchmarking of user selected pipelines for DE analysis and the computation of the accuracy of the pipelines. We validated the workflow with a case study consisting on real RNA-seq libraries of radiata pine, an important forest tree species with no publicly available reference genome. The results showed that slight pipeline modifications produced remarkable differences in the outcome of DE analysis.
Fast adaptation to rule switching using neuronal surprise

In humans and animals, surprise is a physiological reaction to an unexpected event, but how surprise can be linked to plausible models of neuronal activity is an open problem. We propose a self-supervised spiking neural network model where a surprise signal is extracted from an increase in neural activity after an imbalance of excitation and inhibition. The surprise signal modulates synaptic plasticity via a three-factor learning rule which increases plasticity at moments of surprise. The surprise signal remains small when transitions between sensory events follow a previously learned rule but increases immediately after rule switching. In our model, previously learned rules are protected against overwriting when learning a new rule. Our surprise-modulated spiking network model makes a step towards solving the stability-plasticity dilemma in neuroscience and the problem of continual learning in machine learning.
Altered plasma membrane abundance of the sulfatide-binding protein NF155 links glycosphingolipid imbalances to demyelination

Myelin is a multi-layered membrane that tightly wraps neuronal axons enabling efficient, high-speed signal propagation. The axon and myelin sheath form tight contacts, mediated by specific plasma membrane proteins and lipids, and disruption of these contacts causes devastating demyelinating diseases. Using two cell-based models of demyelinating sphingolipidoses, we demonstrate that altered lipid metabolism changes the abundance of specific plasma membrane proteins. These altered membrane proteins have known roles in cell adhesion and signalling, with several implicated in neurological diseases. The cell surface abundance of the adhesion molecule Neurofascin, a protein critical for the maintenance of myelin-axon contacts, changes following disruption to sphingolipid metabolism. This provides a direct molecular link between altered lipid abundance and myelin stability. We show that the Neurofascin isoform NF155, but not NF186, interacts directly and specifically with the sphingolipid sulfatide via multiple binding sites and that this interaction requires the full-length extracellular domain of NF155. We demonstrate that NF155 adopts an S-shaped conformation and preferrentially binds sulfatide-containing membranes in cis, with important implications for protein arrangement in the tight axon-myelin space. Our work links glycosphingolipid imbalances to disturbance of membrane protein abundance and demonstrates how this may be driven by direct protein-lipid interactions, providing a mechanistic framework to understand the pathogenesis of galactosphingolipidoses.
Huntingtin Over-Expression Does Not Alter Overall Survival in Murine Cancer Models

A reduced incidence of various forms of cancer has been reported in Huntington’s disease (HD) patients and may be due to pro-apoptotic effects of mutant huntingtin. We tested this hypothesis by assessing the effects of huntingtin protein over-expression on survival in two murine cancer models. We generated yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) HD mice containing human huntingtin transgenes with various CAG tract lengths (YAC18, YAC72, YAC128) on either an Msh2 or p53 null background, which have increased cancer incidence. In both mouse models of cancer, the over-expression of either mutant or wild-type huntingtin had no significant effect on overall survival. These results do not support the hypothesis that mutant huntingtin expression is protective against cancer.
The influence of the social environment on larval development and resulting caste in Bombus impatiens


The ability of a single genome to express multiple phenotypes is key to understanding social evolution, where individuals with different morphologies perform different tasks. In social insects, phenotypes are typically determined during larval development and depend on the social environment. Here, we used the bumble bee Bombus impatiens to examine the social regulation of body size variation and caste by manipulating the identity (queen/worker) and the number of caretakers tending for the brood. Eggs of females and males were kept in cages with (1) a single queen; (2) a single worker; (3) three workers; or (4) ten workers. We measured larval weight, developmental length, and the resulting caste (in females) throughout the brood development of >2000 individuals. We found differences in larval mass when reared by varying number of workers, but not when reared by a single worker compared to a queen. Additionally, in contrast with previous findings in B. terrestris, none of the female eggs reared by workers developed into gynes (new queens), indicating that the mechanisms regulating caste determination in B. impatiens is not solely dependent on the queen presence as in B. terrestris. Adult males were slightly larger than workers and developed for a longer period in the presence of the queen. Overall, we suggest that body size in B. impatiens is determined by the number of caretakers and is likely mediated by the amount of provision. The hypothesis that the queen’s presence manipulates female caste was not supported by our data.