Extracting interpretable signatures of whole-brain dynamics through systematic comparison.

The brain's complex distributed dynamics are typically quantified using a limited set of manually selected statistical properties, leaving the possibility that alternative dynamical properties may outperform those reported for a given application. Here, we address this limitation by systematically comparing diverse, interpretable features of both intra-regional activity and inter-regional functional coupling from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data, demonstrating our method using case-control comparisons of four neuropsychiatric disorders. Our findings generally support the use of linear time-series analysis techniques for rs-fMRI case-control analyses, while also identifying new ways to quantify informative dynamical fMRI structures.

Multiscale heterogeneity of white matter morphometry in psychiatric disorders.

Background: Inter-individual variability in neurobiological and clinical characteristics in mental illness is often overlooked by classical group-mean case-control studies. Studies using normative modelling to infer person-specific deviations of grey matter volume have indicated that group means are not representative of most individuals. The extent to which this variability is present in white matter morphometry, which is integral to brain function, remains unclear.

Extracting interpretable signatures of whole-brain dynamics through systematic comparison.

The brain's complex distributed dynamics are typically quantified using a limited set of manually selected statistical properties, leaving the possibility that alternative dynamical properties may outperform those reported for a given application. Here, we address this limitation by systematically comparing diverse, interpretable features of both intra-regional activity and inter-regional functional coupling from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data, demonstrating our method using case-control comparisons of four neuropsychiatric disorders. Our findings generally support the use of linear time-series analysis techniques for rs-fMRI case-control analyses, while also identifying new ways to quantify informative dynamical fMRI structures.

Kynurenine 3-monooxygenase limits de novo NAD synthesis through dietary tryptophan in renal proximal tubule epithelial cell models.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a pivotal coenzyme, essential for cellular reactions, metabolism, and mitochondrial function. Depletion of kidney NAD levels and reduced de novo NAD synthesis through the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway are linked to acute kidney injury (AKI), whereas augmenting NAD shows promise in reducing AKI. We investigated de novo NAD biosynthesis using in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models to understand its role in AKI.

Mode-based morphometry: A multiscale approach to mapping human neuroanatomy.

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and surface-based morphometry (SBM) are two widely used neuroimaging techniques for investigating brain anatomy. These techniques rely on statistical inferences at individual points (voxels or vertices), clusters of points, or a priori regions-of-interest. They are powerful tools for describing brain anatomy, but offer little insights into the generative processes that shape a particular set of findings.

A multiscale characterization of cortical shape asymmetries in early psychosis.

Psychosis has often been linked to abnormal cortical asymmetry, but prior results have been inconsistent. Here, we applied a novel spectral shape analysis to characterize cortical shape asymmetries in patients with early psychosis across different spatial scales. We used the Human Connectome Project for Early Psychosis dataset (aged 16-35), comprising 56 healthy controls (37 males, 19 females) and 112 patients with early psychosis (68 males, 44 females).

Prosocial motives underlie scientific censorship by scientists: A perspective and research agenda.

Science is among humanity's greatest achievements, yet scientific censorship is rarely studied empirically. We explore the social, psychological, and institutional causes and consequences of scientific censorship (defined as actions aimed at obstructing particular scientific ideas from reaching an audience for reasons other than low scientific quality). Popular narratives suggest that scientific censorship is driven by authoritarian officials with dark motives, such as dogmatism and intolerance.

Wheat craft beer made from AFB-contaminated wheat malt contains detectable mycotoxins, retains quality attributes, but differs in some fermentation metabolites.

Levels of aflatoxin B (AFB) were measured during the production of wheat craft beer made with wheat malt contaminated with AFB (1.23 µg/kg). A wheat craft beer made with non-contaminated wheat malt was produced for comparison purposes.

Disruptions of Hierarchical Cortical Organization in Early Psychosis and Schizophrenia.

Background: The cerebral cortex is organized hierarchically along an axis that spans unimodal sensorimotor to transmodal association areas. This hierarchy is often characterized using low-dimensional embeddings, termed gradients, of interregional functional coupling estimates measured with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Such analyses may offer insights into the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, which has been frequently linked to dysfunctional interactions between association and sensorimotor areas.

Blaming the unvaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic: the roles of political ideology and risk perceptions in the USA.

Individuals unvaccinated against COVID-19 (C19) experienced prejudice and blame for the pandemic. Because people vastly overestimate C19 risks, we examined whether these negative judgements could be partially understood as a form of scapegoating (ie, blaming a group unfairly for an undesirable outcome) and whether political ideology (previously shown to shape risk perceptions in the USA) moderates scapegoating of the unvaccinated. We grounded our analyses in scapegoating literature and risk perception during C19.

Geometric constraints on human brain function.

The anatomy of the brain necessarily constrains its function, but precisely how remains unclear. The classical and dominant paradigm in neuroscience is that neuronal dynamics are driven by interactions between discrete, functionally specialized cell populations connected by a complex array of axonal fibres. However, predictions from neural field theory, an established mathematical framework for modelling large-scale brain activity, suggest that the geometry of the brain may represent a more fundamental constraint on dynamics than complex interregional connectivity.

Collaborating within a Lockdown: Students' Online Collaboration to Develop a College Readiness Workshop during the COVID-19 in-person restrictions.

The COVID-19 pandemic created significant disruption within the educational setting, including the rapid shift to a fully online learning environment. The purpose of this study was to explore how graduate students collaborated synchronously and reimagined an in-person academic service learning project into an asynchronous workshop format. An explanatory single case study approach was used to explore how educational leadership doctoral students developed content for and transitioned the modality of an academic service learning project-a college readiness workshop for middle school students-during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Worth the Risk? Greater Acceptance of Instrumental Harm Befalling Men than Women.

Scientific and organizational interventions often involve trade-offs whereby they benefit some but entail costs to others (i.e., instrumental harm; IH).

Using in silico perturbational approach to identify critical areas in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder whose underlying correlates remain unclear despite decades of neuroimaging investigation. One contentious topic concerns the role of global signal (GS) fluctuations and how they affect more focal functional changes. Moreover, it has been difficult to pinpoint causal mechanisms of circuit disruption.

Mode-based morphometry: A multiscale approach to mapping human neuroanatomy.

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and surface-based morphometry (SBM) are two widely used neuroimaging techniques for investigating brain anatomy. These techniques rely on statistical inferences at individual points (voxels or vertices), clusters of points, or a priori regions-of-interest. They are powerful tools for describing brain anatomy, but offer little insights into the generative processes that shape a particular set of findings.

Supporting Students with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Perspective of Disability Resource Professionals.

Utilizing national survey data, this paper details the academic and access challenges created by the pandemic for students with disabilities, as perceived by disability resource professionals. Data included in this paper capture disability support service challenges at two unique timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic-May 2020 [ = 535] and January 2021 [ = 631]. Disability resource professionals reported there was difficulty in the initial months of the pandemic for students to provide documentation of a disability to receive accommodations, use assistive technology in the new remote academic setting, and receive testing accommodations within the remote environment.

The genetic background shapes the susceptibility to mitochondrial dysfunction and NASH progression.

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a global health concern without treatment. The challenge in finding effective therapies is due to the lack of good mouse models and the complexity of the disease, characterized by gene-environment interactions. We tested the susceptibility of seven mouse strains to develop NASH.

The music of the hemispheres: Cortical eigenmodes as a physical basis for large-scale brain activity and connectivity patterns.

Neuroscience has had access to high-resolution recordings of large-scale cortical activity and structure for decades, but still lacks a generally adopted basis to analyze and interrelate results from different individuals and experiments. Here it is argued that the natural oscillatory modes of the cortex-cortical eigenmodes-provide a physically preferred framework for systematic comparisons across experimental conditions and imaging modalities. In this framework, eigenmodes are analogous to notes of a musical instrument, while commonly used statistical patterns parallel frequently played chords.

Leadership in the eye of the beholder: Follower self-esteem is associated with divergent perceptions of leadership ability for dominant and prestigious leaders.

Objective: Drawing from dual-strategies theory, leader-member exchange theory, and several theories of self-esteem, we develop and test hypotheses about how followers' self-esteem predicts their perceptions of dominant and prestigious leaders' leadership ability.

Method: Across four studies (N = 1568), we tested the association between self-esteem and perceptions of leadership ability for dominant and prestigious leaders.

Results: Individuals with high self-esteem perceived greater leadership ability in prestigious leaders than did those with low self-esteem and individuals with low self-esteem perceived greater leadership ability in dominant leaders than did those with high self-esteem.

When Do Observers Deprioritize Due Process for the Perpetrator and Prioritize Safety for the Victim in Response to Information-Poor Allegations of Harm?

We examined how observers assess information-poor allegations of harm (e.g., "my word against yours" cases), in which the outcomes of procedurally fair investigations may favor the alleged perpetrator because the evidentiary standards are unmet.

The individuality of shape asymmetries of the human cerebral cortex.

Asymmetries of the cerebral cortex are found across diverse phyla and are particularly pronounced in humans, with important implications for brain function and disease. However, many prior studies have confounded asymmetries due to size with those due to shape. Here, we introduce a novel approach to characterize asymmetries of the whole cortical shape, independent of size, across different spatial frequencies using magnetic resonance imaging data in three independent datasets.

Metabolic Strategies Shared by Basement Residents of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field.

Alkaline fluids venting from chimneys of the Lost City hydrothermal field flow from a potentially vast microbial habitat within the seafloor where energy and organic molecules are released by chemical reactions within rocks uplifted from Earth's mantle. In this study, we investigated hydrothermal fluids venting from Lost City chimneys as windows into subseafloor environments where the products of geochemical reactions, such as molecular hydrogen (H), formate, and methane, may be the only available sources of energy for biological activity. Our deep sequencing of metagenomes and metatranscriptomes from these hydrothermal fluids revealed a few key species of archaea and bacteria that are likely to play critical roles in the subseafloor microbial ecosystem.