Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Axon morphology and intrinsic cellular properties determine repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation threshold for plasticity

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a widely used therapeutic tool in neurology and psychiatry, but its cellular and molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Standardizing stimulus parameters, specifically electric field strength and direction, is crucial in experimental and clinical settings. It enables meaningful comparisons across studies and facilitating the translation of findings into clinical practice. However, the impact of biophysical properties inherent to the stimulated neurons and networks on the outcome of rTMS protocols remains not well understood. Consequently, achieving standardization of biological effects across different brain regions and subjects poses a significant challenge. This study compared the effects of 10 Hz repetitive magnetic stimulation (rMS) in entorhino-hippocampal tissue cultures from mice and rats, providing insights into the impact of the same stimulation protocol on similar neuronal networks under standardized conditions. We observed the previously described plastic changes in excitatory and inhibitory synaptic strength of CA1 pyramidal neurons in both mouse and rat tissue cultures, but a higher stimulation intensity was required for the induction of rMS-induced synaptic plasticity in rat tissue cultures. Through systematic comparison of neuronal structural and functional properties and computational modeling, we found that morphological parameters of CA1 pyramidal neurons alone are insufficient to explain the observed differences between the groups. However, axon morphologies of individual cells played a significant role in determining activation thresholds. Notably, differences in intrinsic cellular properties were sufficient to account for the 10 % higher intensity required for the induction of synaptic plasticity in the rat tissue cultures. These findings demonstrate the critical importance of axon morphology and intrinsic cellular properties in predicting the plasticity effects of rTMS, carrying valuable implications for the development of computer models aimed at predicting and standardizing the biological effects of rTMS.
Exonuclease Xrn1 regulates TORC1 signaling in response to SAM availability

Autophagy is a conserved process of cellular self-digestion that promotes survival during nutrient stress. In yeast, methionine starvation is sufficient to induce autophagy. One pathway of autophagy induction is governed by the SEACIT complex, which regulates TORC1 activity in response to amino acids through the Rag GTPases Gtr1 and Gtr2. However, the precise mechanism by which SEACIT senses amino acids and regulates TORC1 signaling remains incompletely understood. Here, we identify the conserved 5’-3’ RNA exonuclease Xrn1 as a surprising and novel regulator of TORC1 activity in response to methionine starvation. This role of Xrn1 is dependent on its catalytic activity, but not on degradation of any specific class of mRNAs. Instead, Xrn1 modulates the nucleotide-binding state of the Gtr1/2 complex, which is critical for its interaction with and activation of TORC1. This work identifies a critical role for Xrn1 in nutrient sensing and growth control that extends beyond its canonical housekeeping function in RNA degradation and indicates an avenue for RNA metabolism to function in amino acid signaling into TORC1.
Spatial transcriptomics and single-nucleus RNA sequencing reveal a transcriptomic atlas of adult human spinal cord

Despite the recognized importance of the spinal cord in sensory processing, motor behaviors, and neural diseases, the underlying organization of neuronal clusters and their spatial location remain elusive. Recently, several studies have attempted to define the neuronal types and functional heterogeneity in the spinal cord using single-cell or single-nucleus RNA sequencing in animal models or developing humans. However, molecular evidence of cellular heterogeneity in the adult human spinal cord is limited. Here, we classified spinal cord neurons into 21 subclusters and determined their distribution from nine human donors using single-nucleus RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics. Moreover, we compared the human findings with previously published single-nucleus data of the mouse adult spinal cord, which revealed an overall similarity in the neuronal composition of the spinal cord between the two species while simultaneously highlighting some degree of heterogeneity. Additionally, we examined the sex differences in the spinal neuronal subclusters. Several genes, such as SCN10A and HCN1, showed sex differences in motor neurons. Finally, we classified human dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons using spatial transcriptomics and explored the putative interactions between DRG and spinal cord neuronal subclusters. In summary, these results illustrate the complexity and diversity of spinal neurons in humans and provide an important resource for future research to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying spinal cord physiology and diseases.
Virus fate and transport during artificial recharge with recycled water

A field‐scale experiment was conducted at a research site using bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) MS2 and PRD1 as surrogates for human viruses, bromide as a conservative tracer, and tertiary‐treated municipal wastewater (recycled water) to investigate the fate and transport of viruses during artificial recharge. Observed virus concentrations were fitted using a mathematical model that simulates virus transport in one‐dimensional, homogeneous, water‐saturated porous media accounting for virus sorption (or filtration), virus inactivation, and time‐dependent source concentration. The fitted time‐dependent clogging rate constants were used to estimate the collision efficiencies for bacteriophage MS2 and PRD1 during vertical fully saturated flow. Furthermore, the corresponding time‐dependent collision efficiencies for both bacteriophage asymptotically reached similar values at the various sampling locations. These results can be used to develop an optimal management scenario to maximize the amount of recycled water that can be applied to the spreading grounds while still maintaining favorable attachment conditions for virus removal.
Leveraging resources to achieve high competitive advantage for digital new ventures: an empirical study in China

ABSTRACT Drawing on the resource-based view and dynamic-capability view, this study examines the impact of the digital technology and entrepreneurial support policy on the competitive advantage of digital new ventures in China, with a particular emphasis on the interaction role between them. We also examine the roles of digital capability as a mediator and strategic flexibility as a moderator. We tested related hypotheses using a sample of 234 digital new ventures in the Chinese emerging economy. The empirical results offer broad support for these predictions and indicate potential elements that could achieve competitive advantage for digital new ventures.
Geochemical and geochronological constraints on the glenelg river complex, western victoria

During the Cambro‐Ordovician the muddy sandstone and mudstone of the Glenelg River Complex underwent low grade (greenschist) metamorphism involving one principal phase of deformation (Di), which produced open style folds. K‐Ar total‐rock ages of well‐cleaved slate are 550–570 Ma suggesting a minimum Cambrian age of metamorphism. However, around syn‐metamorphic plutons the metasediment has reached upper amphibolite grade and shows at least three phases of deformation including isoclinal F2 folds. In these rocks the onset of partial melting and development of andalusite‐biotite‐muscovite‐feldspar‐garnet assemblages records pressures ∼500 MPa and temperatures reaching 600–700°C. K‐Ar biotite and total‐rock ages on schist and gneiss in this sequence fall in the range 480–500 Ma indicating the time of postmetamorphic closure and, therefore, a minimum Late Cambrian or Early Ordovician age for the metamorphism. Nd (depleted mantle) model ages on the metasediment are ∼ 1.5–2 Ga (at 516 Ma, ϵNd ‐11; 87Sr/86Sr 0.72.
Solar wind spatial structure: The meaning of latitude gradients in observations averaged over solar longitude

The three-dimensional structure of the solar wind is often studied by searching for solar latitude variations in observed physical properties that have been averaged over solar longitude. The effects of longitude averaging are examined here by using general qualitative arguments and quantitative calculations for a simple class of assumed spatial variations in the solar wind speed. We show that unless the solar wind spatial structure is simply organized about the solar equator, its presence is extremely difficult to infer from longitude averages unless the observations extend to very high solar latitudes. Thus the absence of semiannual variations in ecliptic observations or the absence of large latitude gradients in radio scintillation or comet tail results do not constitute evidence against the presence of strong spatial variations (or large spatial gradients) in the solar wind.
Cultivating an Ecosystem: A Qualitative Exploration of Sustainability in Long-Standing Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships

Abstract:Background: While sustainability is crucial to the success of community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships, there is a lack of conceptual clarity on what defines sustainability and what characterizes sustainability-promoting practices in long-standing (in existence 6 years or longer) CBPR partnerships.Objectives: The aim of this article is to explore the definition of sustainability, as well as practices that influence sustainability from the perspectives of academic and community experts in long-standing CBPR partnerships.Methods: This qualitative analysis is part of Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success, a participatory mixed methods validity study that examined "success" and its contributing factors in long-standing CBPR partnerships. Thematic analysis of 21 semistructured interviews was conducted, including 10 academic and 11 community experts of long-standing CBPR partnerships.Results: The key defining components of sustainability we identified include: distinguishing between sustaining the work of the partnership and ongoing relationships among partners; working towards a common goal over time; and enduring changes that impact the partnership. We further identified strengthening and capacity building practices at multiple levels of the partnership that served to promote the sustainability of the partnership's work and of ongoing relationships among partners.Conclusions: Sustainability can be understood as supporting an ecosystem that surrounds the beneficial relationships between academic and community partners. Ongoing evaluation and application of practices that promote the sustainability of partnership activities and relationships may strengthen the long-term effectiveness of CBPR partnerships in advancing health equity.
Levels of PCBs and trace metals in Crab Orchard Lake sediment, benthos, zooplankton and fish

Concentrations of trace metals and PCBs in six species of fish, zooplankton, macrobenthos, sediment, and water were studied in Crab Orchard Lake, Williamson County, Illinois. Eleven sites were chosen throughout the lake, including one site (site 10) near an abandoned dumpsite of a former electrical transformer manufacturing facility. PCB levels in the selected components from site 10 were considerably higher than the other sites. Thirty-eight percent (17/45) of fish fillets from various species at this site exceeded the 2.00 mg/kg FDA guideline for PCBs. PCB concentrations in fish were variable, and little relationship existed between age or size and PCB concentrations in most species. Common carp and channel catfish had higher PCB levels than the other species examined. Trace metals were low in fish and other components analyzed and were comparable to literature values for the midwestern United States. Mercury was the only trace metal to exhibit a significant positive relationship with age or size of fish. Mercury was also the only trace metal to exhibit biomagnification.
Synthetic aperture radar interferometry applied to ship‐generated internal waves in the 1989 Loch Linnhe experiment

Interferometer synthetic aperture radar images collected during the 1989 Loch Linnhe experiment showed mean Doppler variations across the phase of ship-generated internal waves that corresponded to “velocity” variations of the order of 50 to 100 cm/s. The in situ current data, however, showed surface currents associated with the internal wave features of the order of 5 to 10 cm/s and virtually ruled out the existence of surface currents as large as the interferometer-inferred values. In this paper we show how the pixel-to-pixel phase difference measured by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory interferometer is related to the mean Doppler frequency of the backscattered field. Model calculations are used to show how this frequency can sometimes change by a large amount, even when rather small surface currents are present. In particular, for winds blowing roughly across the internal wave features, as was the case for the interferometer runs in Loch Linnhe, computations based on our wave-current interaction and time dependent scattering models show that changes in the mean Doppler frequency corresponding to large velocities can, in fact, be produced from the much smaller measured surface currents. We show that the larger interferometer velocity estimates are essentially due to the different modulation strengths of the surface Bragg waves advancing toward and receding from the radar. Thus for these crosswind conditions, care must be taken in converting the phase differences measured by the interferometer to a surface current image. When the wind is aligned more nearly along the internal wave propagation direction, the mean Doppler shifts (and the phase differences) are dominated mostly by advection, and interferometer current estimates are more accurate. C band computations predict that if the antenna spacing is small enough so that the fields from the two antennas remain correlated, then the C band interferometer current estimates will be better than those at L band.
Extremal Combinatorics: With Applications in Computer Science

This book is a concise, self-contained, up-to-date introduction to extremal combinatorics for nonspecialists. There is a strong emphasis on theorems with particularly elegant and informative proofs, they may be called gems of the theory. The author presents a wide spectrum of the most powerful combinatorial tools together with impressive applications in computer science: methods of extremal set theory, the linear algebra method, the probabilistic method, and fragments of Ramsey theory. No special knowledge in combinatorics or computer science is assumed the text is self-contained and the proofs can be enjoyed by undergraduate students in mathematics and computer science. Over 300 exercises of varying difficulty, and hints to their solution, complete the text. This second edition has been extended with substantial new material, and has been revised and updated throughout. It offers three new chapters on expander graphs and eigenvalues, the polynomial method and error-correcting codes. Most of the remaining chapters also include new material, such as the KruskalKatona theorem on shadows, the LovszStein theorem on coverings, large cliques in dense graphs without induced 4-cycles, a new lower bounds argument for monotone formulas, Dvir's solution of the finite field Kakeya conjecture, Moser's algorithmic version of the Lovsz Local Lemma, Schning's algorithm for 3-SAT, the SzemerdiTrotter theorem on the number of point-line incidences, surprising applications of expander graphs in extremal number theory, and some other new results.
Interest Rate Rules and Macroeconomic Stability under Heterogeneous Expectations

The recent macroeconomic literature stresses the importance of managing heterogeneous expectations in the formulation of monetary policy. We use a stylized macro model of Howitt (1992) to investigate inflation dynamics under alternative interest rate rules when agents have heterogeneous expectations and update their beliefs based on past performance as in Brock and Hommes (1997). The stabilizing effect of different monetary policies depends on the ecology of forecasting rules, on agents’ sensitivity to differences in forecasting performance and on how aggressively the monetary authority sets the nominal interest rate in response to inflation. In particular, if the monetary authority only responds weakly to inflation, a cumulative process with rising inflation is likely. On the other hand, a Taylor interest rate rule
Vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases and related tracers from a tunnel study

Measurements of CO 2 , CO, N 2 O and CH 4 mole fractions, O 2 /N 2 ratios and the sta- ble isotopes 13 C and 18 O in CO2 and CO have been performed in air samples from the highway tunnel Islisberg (Switzerland). The CO:CO 2 ratios, with an average of (4.15±0.34)ppb:ppm, are lower than reported by previous studies, pointing to a re- 5 duction in CO emissions from tra c. The 13 C in CO2 reflects the isotopic composition of the fuel. 18 O in CO2 is slightly depleted compared to the 18 O in atmospheric O2, and shows significant variability. In contrast, the 13 C values of CO show that significant fractionation takes place during CO destruction in the catalytic converter. 13 C in CO is enriched by 3% compared to the 13 C in the fuel burnt, while the 18 O content is similar 10 to that of atmospheric O 2 . We compute a fractionation constant of ( 2.7±0.7)% for 13 C during CO destruction. The N
Marine submersion of an archaic moa-hunter occupational site, Shag River estuary, North Otago

Abstract At Shag River estuary, North Otago, New Zealand, parts of an Archaic moa-hunter occupation site (AD 1340–1410) lie beneath 50 cm of saltmarsh sediment at a modern elevation of 0.3 m below mean high water. Fossil saltmarsh foraminiferal assemblages in the overlying cored sediment provide high-tidal palaeo-elevation estimates (Modern Analogue Technique) that indicate a gradual rise in relative sea level of 0.59±0.05 m since that time. This part of the moa-hunter site appears to have been located on an unvegetated high-tidal sand flat at the time of occupation. There is no evidence that supports previously hypothesised coseismic compaction of underlying sediment as a cause for the submergence during the time of occupation. Comparison with other saltmarsh foraminiferal records in southern New Zealand suggests that the moa-hunter occupation occurred during the interval of lowest sea level in the last millennium (early part of the Little Ice Age) and that approximately half the subsequent sea-level rise occurred after AD 1900.
Miocene lateral extrusion in the inner western Alps revealed by dynamic fault analysis

From early Miocene to the present‐day the core parts of the western European Alps experienced brittle extensional deformations, mostly in a strike‐parallel direction. Here we present new data constraining the brittle deformation of the Vanoise area (French Alps) and a synthesis of 312 paleostress tensors in the whole arc of the internal western Alps. The data show a continuous change in the direction of extension, from N065° (Simplon area), to N‐S (Vanoise area) and to NNW‐SSE (Briançon area). The abundance of orogen‐perpendicular σ3 axes increases from the north to the south. In the Briançonnais area, an extensional reactivation of the Basal Penninic Thrust seems to be the origin of the E‐W to NE‐SW oriented σ3. In light of these new data and the regional paleostress synthesis, we propose a predominant orogen‐parallel extension in the internal zone as a whole. This orogen‐parallel extension is related to the indentation/rotation of the Apulian microplate and to the opening of the Ligurian Sea during the lower‐middle Miocene. The locally observed orogen‐perpendicular extension is interpreted as an effect of the exhumation of the Internal Crystalline massifs, the uplift of the External Crystalline massifs and/or the present‐day geodynamics (postorogenic gravitational collapse). Some transcurrent tectonics, older than the extension in the Valais area and younger than the extension farther south is observed in the entire inner western Alps; strike‐slip movements are correlated with the Apulian rotation and local permutation of stress axes.
Lithology, landscape dissection and glaciation controls on catchment erosion as determined by cosmogenic nuclides in river sediment (the Wutach Gorge, Black Forest)

Cosmogenic nuclides, measured in quartz from recent river bedload, provide a novel tool to quantify catchment‐wide erosion rates at geologically meaningful time scales. Here we present an analysis of the geomorphological evolution of the 350 km2 Wutach catchment in the uplands of the south‐west German Black Forest. The robustness of the method is demonstrated by the fact that, although the area was affected by river capture at 18 kyr bp, the formed gorge is so narrow that spatially averaged erosion rates were not resolvably perturbed. However, because cosmogenic nuclides preserve an erosion memory of several thousand years, the only perturbation introduced was detected in the minor areas that have been subject to the last maximum glaciation. In unglaciated areas, an important relationship between lithology and erosion can by quantified: sandstone lithologies erode at 12–18 mm kyr−1, granite lithologies at 35–47 mm kyr−1 and limestone lithologies (as deduced from river load gauging) at 70–90 mm kyr−1.
Tillage Effects on Crop Yield and Physicochemical Properties of Sodic Soils

Tillage modifies soil structure and has been suggested as a practice to improve physical, hydrological and chemical properties of compacted soils. But little is known about effect of long‐term tillage on physicochemical soil properties and crop yield on sodic soils in India. Our objective was to investigate the effect of different tillage regimes on crop yield (wheat and paddy rice) and physicochemical properties of sodic soils. Two sodic sites under conventional tillage for 5 (5‐YT; 5‐year tillage) and 9 (9‐YT; 9‐year tillage) years were selected for this study. Changes in crop yield and physicochemical soil properties were compared with a control, sodic land without any till history, that is, 0‐year tillage/untilled (0‐YT). Five replicated samples at 0‐ to 10‐cm and 10‐ to 20‐cm soils depths were analysed from each site. In the top, 0‐ to 10‐cm soil depth 5‐YT and 9‐YT sites had higher particle density (Pd), porosity, water holding capacity, hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon, total nitrogen (Nt), available nitrogen (Navail), phosphorus (Pavail) and exchangeable calcium (Exch. Ca++) than 0‐YT, whereas bulk density (Bd), C : N ratio and CaCO3 were significantly lower. Bd, pH, EC and CaCO3 increased significantly with depth in all the lands, whereas Pd, porosity, water holding capacity, hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon, Nt, Navail, Pavail and Exch. Ca++ decreased. We conclude that continuous tillage and cropping can be useful for physical and chemical restoration of sodic soils. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.