Shared environments complicate the use of strain-resolved metagenomics to infer microbiome transmission.

In humans and other social animals, social partners have more similar microbiomes than expected by chance, suggesting that social contact transfers microorganisms. Yet, social microbiome transmission can be difficult to identify based on compositional data alone. To overcome this challenge, recent studies have used information about microbial strain sharing (i.

Pressure-Induced Exciton Formation and Superconductivity in Platinum-Based Mineral Sperrylite.

We report a comprehensive study of Sperrylite (PtAs), the main platinum source in natural minerals, as a function of applied pressures up to 150 GPa. While no structural phase transition is detected from pressure-dependent X-ray measurements, the unit cell volume shrinks monotonically with pressure following the third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. The mildly semiconducting behavior found in pure synthesized crystals at ambient pressures becomes more insulating upon increasing the applied pressure before metalizing at higher pressures, giving way to the appearance of an abrupt decrease in resistance near 3 K at pressures above 92 GPa consistent with the onset of a superconducing phase.

Higher-order interactions between hippocampal CA1 neurons are disrupted in amnestic mice.

Across systems, higher-order interactions between components govern emergent dynamics. Here we tested whether contextual threat memory retrieval in mice relies on higher-order interactions between dorsal CA1 hippocampal neurons requiring learning-induced dendritic spine plasticity. We compared population-level Ca2 transients as wild-type mice (with intact learning-induced spine plasticity and memory) and amnestic mice (TgCRND8 mice with high levels of amyloid-β and deficits in learning-induced spine plasticity and memory) were tested for memory.

Quality space computations for consciousness.

The quality space hypothesis about conscious experience proposes that conscious sensory states are experienced in relation to other possible sensory states. For instance, the colour red is experienced as being more like orange, and less like green or blue. Recent empirical findings suggest that subjective similarity space can be explained in terms of similarities in neural activation patterns.

If Engrams Are the Answer, What Is the Question?

Engram labelling and manipulation methodologies are now a staple of contemporary neuroscientific practice, giving the impression that the physical basis of engrams has been discovered. Despite enormous progress, engrams have not been clearly identified, and it is unclear what they should look like. There is an epistemic bias in engram neuroscience toward characterizing biological changes while neglecting the development of theory.

From computational screening to the synthesis of a promising OER catalyst.

The search for new materials can be laborious and expensive. Given the challenges that mankind faces today concerning the climate change crisis, the need to accelerate materials discovery for applications like water-splitting could be very relevant for a renewable economy. In this work, we introduce a computational framework to predict the activity of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts, in order to accelerate the discovery of materials that can facilitate water splitting.

Rhythmic Temporal Cues Coordinate Cross-frequency Phase-amplitude Coupling during Memory Encoding.

Accumulating evidence suggests that rhythmic temporal cues in the environment influence the encoding of information into long-term memory. Here, we test the hypothesis that these mnemonic effects of rhythm reflect the coupling of high-frequency (gamma) oscillations to entrained lower-frequency oscillations synchronized to the beat of the rhythm. In Study 1, we first test this hypothesis in the context of global effects of rhythm on memory, when memory is superior for visual stimuli presented in rhythmic compared with arrhythmic patterns at encoding [Jones, A.

Fatecode enables cell fate regulator prediction using classification-supervised autoencoder perturbation.

Cell reprogramming, which guides the conversion between cell states, is a promising technology for tissue repair and regeneration, with the ultimate goal of accelerating recovery from diseases or injuries. To accomplish this, regulators must be identified and manipulated to control cell fate. We propose Fatecode, a computational method that predicts cell fate regulators based only on single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data.

Behavioral and neural measures of confidence using a novel auditory pitch identification task.

Observers can discriminate between correct versus incorrect perceptual decisions with feelings of confidence. The centro-parietal positivity build-up rate (CPP slope) has been suggested as a likely neural signature of accumulated evidence, which may guide both perceptual performance and confidence. However, CPP slope also covaries with reaction time, which also covaries with confidence in previous studies, and performance and confidence typically covary; thus, CPP slope may index signatures of perceptual performance rather than confidence per se.

A computational account of transsaccadic attentional allocation based on visual gain fields.

Coordination of goal-directed behavior depends on the brain's ability to recover the locations of relevant objects in the world. In humans, the visual system encodes the spatial organization of sensory inputs, but neurons in early visual areas map objects according to their retinal positions, rather than where they are in the world. How the brain computes world-referenced spatial information across eye movements has been widely researched and debated.

Claustrum neurons projecting to the anterior cingulate restrict engagement during sleep and behavior.

The claustrum has been linked to attention and sleep. We hypothesized that this reflects a shared function, determining responsiveness to stimuli, which spans the axis of engagement. To test this hypothesis, we recorded claustrum population dynamics from male mice during both sleep and an attentional task ('ENGAGE').

Engrams.

Frankland et al. provide a history of research on engrams and their relationship to memory processes, highlighting new technologies that have allowed careful dissection of engrams and their function.

Giant elastocaloric effect at low temperatures in TmVO and implications for cryogenic cooling.

Adiabatic decompression of paraquadrupolar materials has significant potential as a cryogenic cooling technology. We focus on TmVO[Formula: see text], an archetypal material that undergoes a continuous phase transition to a ferroquadrupole-ordered state at 2.15 K.

Stimulus information guides the emergence of behavior-related signals in primary somatosensory cortex during learning.

Neurons in the primary cortex carry sensory- and behavior-related information, but it remains an open question how this information emerges and intersects together during learning. Current evidence points to two possible learning-related changes: sensory information increases in the primary cortex or sensory information remains stable, but its readout efficiency in association cortices increases. We investigated this question by imaging neuronal activity in mouse primary somatosensory cortex before, during, and after learning of an object localization task.

In Silico Chemical Experiments in the Age of AI: From Quantum Chemistry to Machine Learning and Back.

Computational chemistry is an indispensable tool for understanding molecules and predicting chemical properties. However, traditional computational methods face significant challenges due to the difficulty of solving the Schrödinger equations and the increasing computational cost with the size of the molecular system. In response, there has been a surge of interest in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques to in silico experiments.

Knowing that you know that you know? An extreme-confidence heuristic can lead to above-chance discrimination of metacognitive performance.

In daily life, we can not only estimate confidence in our inferences ('I'm sure I failed that exam'), but can also estimate whether those feelings of confidence are good predictors of decision accuracy ('I feel sure I failed, but my feeling is probably wrong; I probably passed'). In the lab, by using simple perceptual tasks and collecting trial-by-trial confidence ratings visual metacognition research has repeatedly shown that participants can successfully predict the accuracy of their perceptual choices. Can participants also successfully evaluate 'confidence in confidence' in these tasks? This is the question addressed in this study.

Delocalized, asynchronous, closed-loop discovery of organic laser emitters.

Contemporary materials discovery requires intricate sequences of synthesis, formulation, and characterization that often span multiple locations with specialized expertise or instrumentation. To accelerate these workflows, we present a cloud-based strategy that enabled delocalized and asynchronous design-make-test-analyze cycles. We showcased this approach through the exploration of molecular gain materials for organic solid-state lasers as a frontier application in molecular optoelectronics.

Fecal transplant from vaginally seeded infants decreases intraabdominal adiposity in mice.

Exposing C-section infants to the maternal vaginal microbiome, coined "vaginal seeding", partially restores microbial colonization. However, whether vaginal seeding decreases metabolic disease risk is unknown. Therefore, we assessed the effect of vaginal seeding of human infants on adiposity in a murine model.

The role of visuomotor synchrony on virtual full-body illusions in children and adults.

The present study explored the effects of visuomotor synchrony in virtual reality during the embodiment of a full human avatar in children (aged 5-6 years) and adults. Participants viewed their virtual bodies from a first-person perspective while they moved the body during self-generated and structured movement. Embodiment was measured via questions and psychophysiological responses (skin conductance) to a virtual body-threat and during both movement conditions.

Neurogenesis-dependent remodeling of hippocampal circuits reduces PTSD-like behaviors in adult mice.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a hypermnesic condition that develops in a subset of individuals following exposure to severe trauma. PTSD symptoms are debilitating, and include increased anxiety, abnormal threat generalization, and impaired extinction. In developing treatment strategies for PTSD, preclinical studies in rodents have largely focused on interventions that target post-encoding memory processes such as reconsolidation and extinction.

Range-separated density functional theory using multiresolution analysis and quantum computing.

Quantum computers are expected to outperform classical computers for specific problems in quantum chemistry. Such calculations remain expensive, but costs can be lowered through the partition of the molecular system. In the present study, partition was achieved with range-separated density functional theory (RS-DFT).