bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Human behaviour and climate-linked fluctuations in the rainforests of West-Central Africa
Authors: Orijemie Emuobosa Akpo 
Published: March 2022

Africa, the cradle of human evolution, has one of the largest and most diverse rainforests in the world. The African rainforests contain evidence of human occupation as well as fluctuating climate during the Pleistocene; such evidence offers archaeologists and palaeoecologists the opportunity to understand how climatic fluctuations have influenced human behaviour. However, compared to the rainforests environments in Asia and South America, the human ecological history of those in West-Central Africa is poorly understood. This is because of comparatively fewer scientific programmes which synergize palaeoecological and archaeological data and thus could enhance the knowledge and allow for an evaluation of the impact of climatic fluctuations on human behaviour in the rainforests of West-Central Africa during the Pleistocene and Holocene periods. The goals of this paper are twofold, namely: (i) to provide a synthesis of the past climatic variability in the rainforests of West-Central Africa, and (ii) to demonstrate the influence of such variability on human behaviour during the Pleistocene to Holocene periods. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate Africanists to adopt an inclusive scientific anthropological and palaeoecological approach in understanding human–climate interactions in the West-Central African rainforests.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
Social ties in the Congo Basin: insights into tropical forest adaptation from BaYaka and their neighbours
Authors: Boyette Adam H. , Lew-Levy Sheina , Jang Haneul , Kandza Vidrige 
Published: March 2022

Investigating past and present human adaptation to the Congo Basin tropical forest can shed light on how climate and ecosystem variability have shaped human evolution. Here, we first review and synthesize genetic, palaeoclimatological, linguistic and historical data on the peopling of the Congo Basin. While forest fragmentation led to the increased genetic and geographical divergence of forest foragers, these groups maintained long-distance connectivity. The eventual expansion of Bantu speakers into the Congo Basin provided new opportunities for forging inter-group links, as evidenced by linguistic shifts and historical accounts. Building from our ethnographic work in the northern Republic of the Congo, we show how these inter-group links between forest forager communities as well as trade relationships with neighbouring farmers facilitate adaptation to ecoregions through knowledge exchange. While researchers tend to emphasize forager–farmer interactions that began in the Iron Age, we argue that foragers' cultivation of relational wealth with groups across the region played a major role in the initial occupation of the Congo Basin and, consequently, in cultural evolution among the ancestors of contemporary peoples.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
Fossils, fish and tropical forests: prehistoric human adaptations on the island frontiers of Oceania
Authors: Roberts Patrick , Douka Katerina , Tromp Monica , Bedford Stuart , Hawkins Stuart , Bouffandeau Laurie , Ilgner Jana , Lucas Mary , Marzo Sara , Hamilton Rebecca , Ambrose Wallace , Bulbeck David , Luu Sindy , Shing Richard , Gosden Chris , Summerhayes Glenn , Spriggs Matthew 
Published: March 2022

Oceania is a key region for studying human dispersals, adaptations and interactions with other hominin populations. Although archaeological evidence now reveals occupation of the region by approximately 65–45 000 years ago, its human fossil record, which has the best potential to provide direct insights into ecological adaptations and population relationships, has remained much more elusive. Here, we apply radiocarbon dating and stable isotope approaches to the earliest human remains so far excavated on the islands of Near and Remote Oceania to explore the chronology and diets of the first preserved human individuals to step across these Pacific frontiers. We demonstrate that the oldest human (or indeed hominin) fossil outside of the mainland New Guinea-Aru area dates to approximately 11 800 years ago. Furthermore, although these early sea-faring populations have been associated with a specialized coastal adaptation, we show that Late Pleistocene–Holocene humans living on islands in the Bismarck Archipelago and in Vanuatu display a persistent reliance on interior tropical forest resources. We argue that local tropical habitats, rather than purely coasts or, later, arriving domesticates, should be emphasized in discussions of human diets and cultural practices from the onset of our species' arrival in this part of the world.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
Early to mid-Holocene human activity exerted gradual influences on Amazonian forest vegetation
Authors: Nascimento Majoi N. , Heijink Britte M. , Bush Mark B. , Gosling William D. , McMichael Crystal N. H. 
Published: March 2022

Humans have been present in Amazonia throughout the Holocene, with the earliest archaeological sites dating to 12 000 years ago. The earliest inhabitants began managing landscapes through fire and plant domestication, but the total extent of vegetation modification remains relatively unknown. Here, we compile palaeoecological records from lake sediments containing charcoal and from pollen analyses to understand how human land-use affected vegetation during the early to mid-Holocene, and place our results in the context of previous archaeological work. We identified gradual, rather than abrupt changes in forest openness, disturbance and enrichment, with useful species at almost all sites. Early human occupations occurred in peripheral sites of Amazonia, where natural fires are part of the vegetation dynamics, so human-made fires did not exert a novel form of disturbance. Synchronicity between evidence of the onset of human occupation in lake records and archaeological sites was found for eastern Amazonia. For southwestern and western Amazonia and the Guiana Shield, the timing of the onset of human occupation differed by thousands of years between lake records and archaeological sites. Plant cultivation showed a different spatio-temporal pattern, appearingca2000 years earlier in western Amazonia than in other regions. Our findings highlight the spatial–temporal heterogeneity of Amazonia and indicate that the region cannot be treated as one entity when assessing ecological or cultural history.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
Legacies of Indigenous land use and cultural burning in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest ecotone
Authors: Maezumi S. Yoshi , Elliott Sarah , Robinson Mark , Betancourt Carla Jaimes , Gregorio de Souza Jonas , Alves Daiana , Grosvenor Mark , Hilbert Lautaro , Urrego Dunia H. , Gosling William D. , Iriarte José 
Published: March 2022

The southwestern Amazon Rainforest Ecotone (ARE) is the transitional landscape between the tropical forest and seasonally flooded savannahs of the Bolivian Llanos de Moxos. These heterogeneous landscapes harbour high levels of biodiversity and some of the earliest records of human occupation and plant domestication in Amazonia. While persistent Indigenous legacies have been demonstrated elsewhere in the Amazon, it is unclear how past human–environment interactions may have shaped vegetation composition and structure in the ARE. Here, we examine 6000 years of archaeological and palaeoecological data from Laguna Versalles (LV), Bolivia. LV was dominated by stable rainforest vegetation throughout the Holocene. Maize cultivation and cultural burning are present afterca5700 cal yr BP. Polyculture cultivation of maize, manioc and leren afterca3400 cal yr BP predates the formation of Amazonian Dark/Brown Earth (ADE/ABE) soils (approx. 2400 cal yr BP). ADE/ABE formation is associated with agroforestry indicated by increased edible palms, includingMauritia flexuosaandAttaleasp., and record levels of burning, suggesting that fire played an important role in agroforestry practices. The frequent use of fire altered ADE/ABD forest composition and structure by controlling ignitions, decreasing fuel loads and increasing the abundance of plants preferred by humans. Cultural burning and polyculture agroforestry provided a stable subsistence strategy that persisted despite pronounced climate change and cultural transformations and has an enduring legacy in ADE/ABE forests in the ARE.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
Visual Perception of 3D Space and Shape in Time - Part III 2D Shape Recognition by Log-Scaling
Authors: Ta Brian , Silva Maria E. M. M. , Bartlett Kelly , Afifa Umaima , Agazaryan Annie , Canela Ricardo , Carmona Javier , De Leon Emmanuel John L. , Drost Alyssa , Espino Diego , Espinoza Guadalupe , Follis Kyleigh , Gan Paul , Ho Lauren , Honoré Christina , Huang Emily , Ibarra Luis , Jackson Tessa , Khosla Mira , Le Caominh , Li Victor , McCarthy Trevor , Mills Elizabeth , Mohapatra Sukanya , Morishige Yuuki , Nguyen Nancy , Peng Ziyan , Peyvan Kimya , Phipps Michael , Poschl Isabella , Rangarajan Jagannathan , Santos Charÿsa , Schummer Leonard , Shi Sky , Smale Natalie , Smith April , Sood Divya , Ta Cindy , Tran Anna , Tran Michelle , Wang Rui , Wilson Patrick , Yang Nicole L. , Yu Megan , Yu Selena , Blaisdell Aaron P. , Arisaka Katsushi 
Published: March 2022

AbstractHuman vision has a remarkable ability to recognize complex 3D objects such as faces that appear with any size and 3D orientations at any 3D location. If we initially memorize a face only with a normalized size and viewed from directly head on, the direct comparison between the one-sized memory and a new incoming image would demand tremendous mental frame translations in 7D. How can we perform such a demanding task so promptly and reliably as we experience the objects in the world around us?Intriguingly, our primary visual cortex exhibits a 2D retinotopy with a log-polar coordinate system, where scaling up/down of shape is converted to linear frame translation. As a result, mental scaling can be performed by linearly translating the memory or the perceptual image until they overlap with each other. According to our new model of NHT (Neural Holography Tomography), alpha brainwaves traveling at a constant speed can conduct this linear translation. With this scheme, every scaling up/down by a factor of two should take the same amount of extra mental time to recognize a smaller/larger face.To test this hypothesis, we designed a reaction time (RT) experiment, where participants were first asked to memorize sets of unfamiliar faces with a given specific size (4° or 8°). Following the memorization phase, similar stimuli with a wide range of sizes (from 1° to 32°) were presented, and RTs were recorded. As predicted, the increase in RT was proportional to the scaling factor in the log scale. Furthermore, we observed that RTs were fastest for 8° faces even if the memorized face was 4°. This supports our hypothesis that we always memorize faces at the exact size of ~8 °. To our surprise, the increases in RT were also consistent with the mentally-estimated depth sensation, which indicates that the apparent size of the recognized face can create a proper depth sensation.
Intracranial EEG spectral feature analysis and focal brain stimulation reveal affective specialization within dorsal anterior cingulate cortex
Authors: Metzger Brian A. , Kalva Prathik , Mocchi Madaline M. , Cui Brian , Adkinson Joshua A. , Wang Zhengjia , Mathura Raissa , Gavvala Jay , Krishnan Vaishnav , Lin Lu , Maheshwari Atul , Shofty Ben , Sheth Sameer A. , Bijanki Kelly R. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractEmotion is represented in several limbic and prefrontal cortical brain areas herein referred to as the Affective Salience Network (ASN). Within this network, less is known about how valence and intensity are processed in the dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC), and how affective processes in dACC compare to activity in other nodes within the ASN. Using a novel spectral feature approach to analyze intracranial electrophysiological data, we discover hemispheric specialization in the dACC such that the right hemisphere is sensitive to intensity while the left hemisphere is sensitive to valence and negative affective bias. We further applied 130 Hz continuous stimulation to the anterior cingulum bundle while patients viewed emotional faces. Faces were rated happier in all patients, an effect modulated by baseline affective bias, suggesting a causal role for the dACC during the processing of external affective stimuli.
The Grainyhead/LSF transcription factor GRH-1 is rhythmically required for molting
Authors: Meeuse Milou W.M. , Hauser Yannick P. , Nahar Smita , Braun Kathrin , Großhans Helge 
Published: March 2022

AbstractMolting, that is, the synthesis and shedding of a cuticular exoskeleton, is a defining characteristic of ecdysozoa. In nematodes such as C. elegans, molts rhythmically terminate each of four larval stages. The molting cycle is tightly coupled to the rhythmic accumulation of thousands of transcripts. Here, using chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to sequencing (ChIP-seq) and quantitative reporter assays, we show that these dynamic gene expression patterns rely on rhythmic transcription. To gain insight into the relevant gene regulatory networks (GRNs), we performed an RNAi-based screen for transcription factors required for molting to identify potential components of a molting clock. We find that depletion of GRH-1, BLMP-1, NHR-23, NHR-25, MYRF-1 or BED-3 impairs progression through the molting cycle. We characterize GRH-1, a Grainyhead/LSF transcription factor whose orthologues in other animals are key epithelial cell fate regulators. We show that GRH-1 depletion causes a dose-dependent extension of molt duration, defects in cuticle formation and shedding, and larval death. Coincident with its rhythmic accumulation, GRH-1 is required repetitively for each molt, during specific time windows preceding lethargus. These findings are consistent with a function of GRH-1 in a molting cycle GRN. As its mammalian orthologues, as well as those of BLMP-1 and NHR-23, have been implicated in rhythmic homeostatic skin regeneration in mouse, the mechanisms underlying rhythmic C. elegans molting may apply beyond nematodes.
The influence of movement-related costs when searching to act and acting to search
Authors: Moskowitz J. B. , Berger S. A. , Castelhano M. S. , Gallivan J. P. , Flanagan J. R. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractReal world search behaviour often involves limb movements, either during search or following search. Here we investigated whether movement-related costs influence search behaviour in two kinds of search tasks. In our visual search tasks, participants made saccades to find a target object among distractors and then moved a cursor, controlled by the handle of a robotic manipulandum, to the target. In our manual search tasks, participants moved the cursor to perform the search, placing it onto objects to reveal their identity as either a target or a distractor. Across experiments, we manipulated either the effort or time costs associated with movement such that these costs varied across the search space. We varied effort by applying different resistive forces to the handle and we varied time costs by altering the speed of the cursor. Our analysis of cursor and eye movements during manual and visual search, respectively, showed that effort influenced manual search but did not influence visual search. In contrast, time costs influenced both visual and manual search. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to perceptual and cognitive factors, movement-related costs can also influence search behaviour.Public Significance StatementMany of the tasks we perform on a daily basis involve searching for targets. Numerous studies have investigated perceptual and cognitive factors that influence decisions about where to search. However, few studies have examined how search is influenced by movement-related costs associated with manual search (e.g., opening drawers to find a corkscrew) or acting on an object once it has been located (e.g., reaching for a particular bottle of wine once it has been spied in a rack). We show that movement effort and time costs associated with manual search, and time costs associated with moving after visual search, can influence decision-making about where to search over time.
NAC1 Modulates Autoimmunity by Suppressing Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Tolerance
Authors: Yang Jin-Ming , Ren Yijie , Kumar Anil , Xiong Xiaofang , Das Jugal Kishore , Peng Hao-Yun , Wang Liqing , Ren Xingcong , Zhang Yi , Ji Cheng , Cheng Yan , Zhang Li , Alaniz Robert C. , de Figueiredo Paul , Fang Deyu , Liu Xiaoqi , Wang Jianlong , Song Jianxun 
Published: March 2022

AbstractFoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a distinct subset of CD4+ T cells integral to the maintenance of the balance of the immune system, and their dysregulation is a trigger of autoimmunity. We report here that nucleus accumbens-associated protein-1 (NAC1), a nuclear factor of the broad complex, tramtrack, bric-a-brac / poxvirus and zinc finger (BTB/POZ) gene family, is a negative regulator of FoxP3 in Tregs and a critical determinant of immune tolerance. Phenotypically, NAC1-/- mice show substantial tolerance to the induction of autoimmunity, as evidenced by the significantly decreased occurrences of autoimmune arthritis and colitis. Analysis of T cells from the wild-type (WT) or NAC1 knockout (-/-) mice found that NAC1 is crucially involved in the early stage of T cell development. NAC1 positively affects CD8+ T cell differentiation, but negatively regulates Treg development. Compared with WT animals, NAC1-/- mice displayed defects in CD8+ T cell development but generated a larger amount of CD4+ regulatory Tregs that exhibit a higher metabolic profile and immune suppressive activity, increased acetylation, and expression of FoxP3, and slower turnover of this transcriptional factor. Furthermore, treatment of Tregs with the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β or TNF-α induced a robust upregulation of NAC1 but an evident downregulation of FoxP3 as well as the acetylated FoxP3, suggesting that the reduction of FoxP3 by the NAC1-mediated deacetylation and destabilization of this lineage-specific transcriptional factor contributes considerably to break of immune tolerance. These findings imply that the pro-inflammatory cytokines-stimulated upregulation of NAC1 acts as a trigger of the immune response through destabilization of Tregs and suppression of tolerance induction, and that therapeutic targeting of NAC1 warrants further exploration as a potential tolerogenic strategy for treatment of autoimmune disorders.
Sub-harmonic Entrainment of Cortical Gamma Oscillations to Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson’s Disease: Model Based Predictions and Validation in Three Human Subjects
Authors: Sermon James J. , Olaru Maria , Anso Juan , Cernera Stephanie , Little Simon , Shcherbakova Maria , Bogacz Rafal , Starr Philip A. , Denison Timothy , Duchet Benoit 
Published: March 2022

AbstractObjectivesThe exact mechanisms of deep brain stimulation (DBS) are still an active area of investigation, in spite of its clinical successes. This is due in part to the lack of understanding of the effects of stimulation on neuronal rhythms. Entrainment of brain oscillations has been hypothesised as a potential mechanism of neuromodulation. A better understanding of entrainment might further inform existing methods of continuous DBS, and help refine algorithms for adaptive methods. The purpose of this study is to develop and test a theoretical framework to predict entrainment of cortical rhythms to DBS across a wide range of stimulation parameters.Materials and MethodsWe fit a model of interacting neural populations to selected features characterising PD patients’ off-stimulation finely-tuned gamma rhythm recorded through electrocorticography. Using the fitted models, we predict basal ganglia DBS parameters that would result in 1:2 entrainment, a special case of sub-harmonic entrainment observed in patients and predicted by theory.ResultsWe show that the neural circuit models fitted to patient data exhibit 1:2 entrainment when stimulation is provided across a range of stimulation parameters. Furthermore, we verify key features of the region of 1:2 entrainment in the stimulation frequency/amplitude space with follow-up recordings from the same patients, such as the loss of 1:2 entrainment above certain stimulation amplitudes.ConclusionOur results reveal that continuous, constant frequency DBS in patients may lead to nonlinear patterns of neuronal entrainment across stimulation parameters, and that these responses can be predicted by modelling. Should entrainment prove to be an important mechanism of therapeutic stimulation, our modelling framework may reduce the parameter space that clinicians must consider when programming devices for optimal benefit.
Global ecological and biogeochemical impacts of pelagic tunicates
Authors: Luo Jessica Y. , Stock Charles A. , Henschke Natasha , Dunne John P. , O’Brien Todd D. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe pelagic tunicates, gelatinous zooplankton that include salps, doliolids, and appendicularians, are filter feeding grazers thought to produce a significant amount of particulate organic carbon (POC) detritus. However, traditional sampling methods (i.e., nets), have historically underestimated their abundance, yielding an overall underappreciation of their global biomass and contribution to ocean biogeochemical cycles relative to crustacean zooplankton. As climate change is projected to decrease the average plankton size and POC export from traditional plankton food webs, the ecological and biogeochemical role of pelagic tunicates may increase; yet, pelagic tunicates were not resolved in the previous generation of global earth system climate projections. Here we present a global ocean study using a coupled physical-biogeochemical model to assess the impact of pelagic tunicates in the pelagic food web and biogeochemical cycling. We added two tunicate groups, a large salp/doliolid and a small appendicularian to the NOAA-GFDL Carbon, Ocean Biogeochemistry, and Lower Trophics version 2 (COBALTv2) model, which was originally formulated to represent carbon flows to crustacean zooplankton. The new GZ-COBALT simulation was able to simultaneously satisfy new pelagic tunicate biomass constraints and existing ecosystem constraints, including crustacean zooplankton observations. The model simulated a global tunicate biomass of 0.10 Pg C, annual tunicate production of 0.49 Pg C y-1in the top 100 m, and annual tunicate detritus production of 0.98 Pg C y-1in the top 100 m. Tunicate-mediated export flux was 0.71 Pg C y-1, representing 11% of the total export flux past 100 m. Overall export from the euphotic zone remained largely constant, with the GZ-COBALT pe-ratio only increasing 5.3% (from 0.112 to 0.118) compared to the COBALTv2 control. While the bulk of the tunicate-mediated export production resulted from the rerouting of phytoplankton- and mesozooplankton-mediated export, tunicates also shifted the overall balance of the upper oceans away from recycling and towards export. Our results suggest that pelagic tunicates play important trophic roles in both directly competing with microzooplankton and indirectly shunting carbon export away from the microbial loop.