Systems Neuroscience Computing in Python (SyNCoPy): a python package for large-scale analysis of electrophysiological data.

We introduce an open-source Python package for the analysis of large-scale electrophysiological data, named SyNCoPy, which stands for Systems Neuroscience Computing in Python. The package includes signal processing analyses across time (e.g.

Optimized psilocybin production in tryptophan catabolism-repressed fungi.

The high therapeutic potential of psilocybin, a prodrug of the psychotropic psilocin, holds great promise for the treatment of mental disorders such as therapy-refractory depression, alcohol use disorder and anorexia nervosa. Psilocybin has been designated a 'Breakthrough Therapy' by the US Food and Drug Administration, and therefore a sustainable production process must be established to meet future market demands. Here, we present the development of an in vivo psilocybin production chassis based on repression of l-tryptophan catabolism.

Vibrationally Mode-Specific Molecular Energy Transfer to Surface Electrons in Metastable Formaldehyde Scattering from Cesium-Covered Au(111).

Nonadiabatic interaction of adsorbate nuclear motion with the continuum of electronic states is known to affect the dynamics of chemical reactions at metal surfaces. A large body of work has probed the fundamental mechanisms of such interactions for atomic and diatomic molecules at surfaces. In polyatomic molecules, the possibility of mode-specific damping of vibrational motion due to the effects of electronic friction raises the question of whether such interactions could profoundly affect the outcome of chemistry at surfaces by selectively removing energy from a particular intramolecular adsorbate mode.

Vibrational energy transfer in collisions of molecules with metal surfaces.

The Born-Oppenheimer approximation (BOA), which serves as the basis for our understanding of chemical bonding, reactivity and dynamics, is routinely violated for vibrationally inelastic scattering of molecules at metal surfaces. The title-field therefore represents a fascinating challenge to our conventional wisdom calling for new concepts that involve explicit electron dynamics occurring in concert with nuclear motion. Here, we review progress made in this field over the last decade, which has witnessed dramatic advances in experimental methods, thereby providing a much more extensive set of diverse observations than has ever before been available.

Genetic regulation of L-tryptophan metabolism in Psilocybe mexicana supports psilocybin biosynthesis.

Background: Although Basidiomycota produce pharmaceutically and ecologically relevant natural products, knowledge of how they coordinate their primary and secondary metabolism is virtually non-existent. Upon transition from vegetative mycelium to carpophore formation, mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe use L-tryptophan to supply the biosynthesis of the psychedelic tryptamine alkaloid psilocybin with the scaffold, leading to a strongly increased demand for this particular amino acid as this alkaloid may account for up to 2% of the dry mass. Using Psilocybe mexicana as our model and relying on genetic, transcriptomic, and biochemical methods, this study investigated if L-tryptophan biosynthesis and degradation in P.

Parallel Evolution of Asco- and Basidiomycete -Prenyltransferases.

Prenyltransferases (PTs) are involved in the biosynthesis of a multitude of pharmaceutically and agriculturally important plant, bacterial, and fungal compounds. Although numerous prenylated compounds have been isolated from Basidiomycota (mushroom-forming fungi), knowledge of the PTs catalyzing the transfer reactions in this group of fungi is scarce. Here, we report the biochemical characterization of an - and -prenylating dimethylallyltryptophan synthase (DMATS)-like enzyme LpTyrPT from the scurfy deceiver This PT transfers dimethylallyl moieties to l-tyrosine at the - position and to l-tryptophan at atom C-7 and represents the first basidiomycete l-tyrosine PT described so far.

6-Pyrazolylpurine and its deaza derivatives as nucleobases for silver(I)-mediated base pairing with pyrimidines.

The artificial nucleobase 6-pyrazolylpurine (6PP) and its deaza derivatives 1-deaza-6-pyrazolylpurine (6PP), 7-deaza-6-pyrazolylpurine (6PP), and 1,7-dideaza-6-pyrazolylpurine (6PP) were investigated with respect to their ability to differentiate between the canonical nucleobases cytosine and thymine by means of silver(I)-mediated base pairing. As shown by temperature-dependent UV spectroscopy and by circular dichroism spectroscopy, 6PP and (to a lesser extent) 6PP form stable silver(I)-mediated base pairs with cytosine, but not with thymine. 6PP and 6PP do not engage in the formation of stabilizing silver(I)-mediated base pairs with cytosine or thymine.

Hyperthermal velocity distributions of recombinatively-desorbing oxygen from Ag(111).

This study presents velocity-resolved desorption experiments of recombinatively-desorbing oxygen from Ag (111). We combine molecular beam techniques, ion imaging, and temperature-programmed desorption to obtain translational energy distributions of desorbing O. Molecular beams of NO are used to prepare a (4 × 4)-O adlayer on the silver crystal.

Enhancing precision in human neuroscience.

Human neuroscience has always been pushing the boundary of what is measurable. During the last decade, concerns about statistical power and replicability - in science in general, but also specifically in human neuroscience - have fueled an extensive debate. One important insight from this discourse is the need for larger samples, which naturally increases statistical power.

Differences in Intrinsic Gray Matter Connectivity and Their Genomic Underpinnings in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Autism is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition accompanied by differences in brain connectivity. Structural connectivity in autism has mainly been investigated within the white matter. However, many genetic variants associated with autism highlight genes related to synaptogenesis and axonal guidance, thus also implicating differences in intrinsic (i.

Site-specific covalent metalation of DNA oligonucleotides with phosphorescent platinum(ii) complexes.

Phosphorescent Pt(II) complexes, composed of a tridentate N^N^C donor ligand and a monodentate ancillary ligand, were covalently attached to DNA oligonucleotides. Three modes of attachment were investigated: positioning the tridentate ligand as an artificial nucleobase a 2'-deoxyribose or a propane-1,2-diol moiety and orienting it towards the major groove by appending it to a uridine C5 position. The photophysical properties of the complexes depend on the mode of attachment and on the identity of the monodentate ligand (iodido cyanido ligand).

Excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in autism: the role of glutamate and GABA gene-sets in symptoms and cortical brain structure.

The excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance hypothesis posits that imbalance between excitatory (glutamatergic) and inhibitory (GABAergic) mechanisms underlies the behavioral characteristics of autism. However, how E/I imbalance arises and how it may differ across autism symptomatology and brain regions is not well understood. We used innovative analysis methods-combining competitive gene-set analysis and gene-expression profiles in relation to cortical thickness (CT) to investigate relationships between genetic variance, brain structure and autism symptomatology of participants from the AIMS-2-TRIALS LEAP cohort (autism = 359, male/female = 258/101; neurotypical control participants = 279, male/female = 178/101) aged 6-30 years.

Genital gender-affirming surgery for transgender women.

Transgender women may opt for genital gender-affirming surgery (gGAS), which comprises bilateral orchiectomy, gender-affirming vulvoplasty, or vaginoplasty. Vaginoplasty is chosen most frequently in this population, penile inversion vaginoplasty being the surgical gold standard. In selected cases, skin graft vaginoplasty, intestinal vaginoplasty, or peritoneal vaginoplasty may be indicated.

Velocity map images of desorbing oxygen from sub-surface states of Rh(111).

We combine velocity map imaging (VMI) with temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments to record the angular-resolved velocity distributions of recombinatively-desorbing oxygen from Rh(111). We assign the velocity distributions to desorption from specific surface and sub-surface states by matching the recorded distributions to the desorption temperature. These results provide insight into the recombinative desorption mechanisms and the availability of oxygen for surface-catalyzed reactions.

Stereodynamics of adiabatic and non-adiabatic energy transfer in a molecule surface encounter.

Molecular energy transfer and reactions at solid surfaces depend on the molecular orientation relative to the surface. While such steric effects have been largely understood in electronically adiabatic processes, the orientation-dependent energy transfer in NO scattering from Au(111) was complicated by electron-mediated nonadiabatic effects, thus lacking a clear interpretation and posing a great challenge for theories. Herein, we investigate the stereodynamics of adiabatic and nonadiabatic energy transfer molecular dynamics simulations of NO( = 3) scattering from Au(111) using realistic initial orientation distributions based on accurate neural network fitted adiabatic potential energy surface and electronic friction tensor.

Genetic Survey of Psilocybe Natural Products.

Psilocybe magic mushrooms are best known for their main natural product, psilocybin, and its dephosphorylated congener, the psychedelic metabolite psilocin. Beyond tryptamines, the secondary metabolome of these fungi is poorly understood. The genomes of five species (P.

Detecting chirality in mixtures using nanosecond photoelectron circular dichroism.

We report chirality detection of structural isomers in a gas phase mixture using nanosecond photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD). Combining pulsed molecular beams with high-resolution resonance enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI) allows specific isolated transitions belonging to distinct components in the mixture to be targeted.

Longitudinal Changes in Cortical Thickness in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Association with Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors.

The neuroanatomy of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows highly heterogeneous developmental trajectories across individuals. Mapping atypical brain development onto clinical phenotypes, and establishing their molecular underpinnings, is therefore crucial for patient stratification and subtyping. In this longitudinal study we examined intra- and inter-individual differences in the developmental trajectory of cortical thickness (CT) in childhood and adolescence, and their genomic underpinnings, in 33 individuals with ASD and 37 typically developing controls (aged 11-18 years).

Mind the mushroom: natural product biosynthetic genes and enzymes of Basidiomycota.

Covering: up to September 2020 Mushroom-forming fungi of the division Basidiomycota have traditionally been recognised as prolific producers of structurally diverse and often bioactive secondary metabolites, using the methods of chemistry for research. Over the past decade, -omics technologies were applied on these fungi, and sophisticated heterologous gene expression platforms emerged, which have boosted research into the genetic and biochemical basis of the biosyntheses. This review provides an overview on experimentally confirmed natural product biosyntheses of basidiomycete polyketides, amino acid-derived products, terpenoids, and volatiles.

Examining volumetric gradients based on the frustum surface ratio in the brain in autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that is accompanied by neurodevelopmental differences in regional cortical volume (CV), and a potential layer-specific pathology. Conventional measures of CV, however, do not indicate how volume is distributed across cortical layers. In a sample of 92 typically developing (TD) controls and 92 adult individuals with ASD (aged 18-52 years), we examined volumetric gradients by quantifying the degree to which CV is weighted from the pial to the white surface of the brain.