Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Perturbs the Brain-Wide Excitation-Inhibition Balance: Associations with Microcircuit Organization, Clinical Parameters, and Cognitive Dysfunction.

Excitation-inhibition (E/I) imbalance is theorized as a key mechanism in the pathophysiology of epilepsy, with ample research focusing on elucidating its cellular manifestations. However, few studies investigate E/I imbalance at the macroscale, whole-brain level, and its microcircuit-level mechanisms and clinical significance remain incompletely understood. Here, the Hurst exponent, an index of the E/I ratio, is computed from resting-state fMRI time series, and microcircuit parameters are simulated using biophysical models.

Investigating the impact of microbiome-changing interventions on food decision-making: MIFOOD study protocol.

Background: Obesity is a multifactorial disease reaching pandemic proportions with increasing healthcare costs, advocating the development of better prevention and treatment strategies. Previous research indicates that the gut microbiome plays an important role in metabolic, hormonal, and neuronal cross-talk underlying eating behavior. We therefore aim to examine the effects of prebiotic and neurocognitive behavioral interventions on food decision-making and to assay the underlying mechanisms in a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).

Morphology remodelling and membrane channel formation in synthetic cells via reconfigurable DNA nanorafts.

The shape of biological matter is central to cell function at different length scales and determines how cellular components recognize, interact and respond to one another. However, their shapes are often transient and hard to reprogramme. Here we construct a synthetic cell model composed of signal-responsive DNA nanorafts, biogenic pores and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs).

Chemical signatures of social information in Barbary macaques.

Primates are well-known for their complex social lives and intricate social relationships, which requires them to obtain and update social knowledge about conspecifics. The sense of smell may provide access to social information that is unavailable in other sensory domains or enhance the precision and reliability of other sensory cues. However, the cognition of social information in catarrhine primates has been studied primarily in the visual and auditory domain.

A truncated variant of the ribosome-associated trigger factor specifically contributes to plant chloroplast ribosome biogenesis.

Molecular chaperones are essential throughout a protein's life and act already during protein synthesis. Bacteria and chloroplasts of plant cells share the ribosome-associated chaperone trigger factor (Tig1 in plastids), facilitating maturation of emerging nascent polypeptides. While typical trigger factor chaperones employ three domains for their task, the here described truncated form, Tig2, contains just the ribosome binding domain.

at 50: a data-driven history.

In this paper, we take a data-driven approach to analyse intellectual trends over the first five decades of the (). Our data set, comprising all texts published in the since 1975, reveals not only the most distinctive topics of the in comparison to other key journals with similar profiles but also diachronic fluctuations in the prominence of certain topics. Overall, the distribution of topics shifted gradually, with each editorial period at the showing continuity with its immediate predecessor.

Roles of acyl carrier proteins in ladderane fatty acid producing-organisms.

Ladderanes are highly strained hydrocarbons consisting of two or more linearly concatenated cyclobutane rings. Strikingly, ladderane moieties are part of unique fatty acids and fatty alcohols that are exclusively found in the membrane lipids of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria. These bacteria express a distinctive gene cluster (cluster I) that has been suggested to be responsible for ladderane fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis in addition to a cluster likely involved in canonical FA biosynthesis (cluster III).

Changes in life satisfaction over six years in the general population: A longitudinal study with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS).

Background: Satisfaction with life is a key concept for most individuals. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) for measuring general life satisfaction has been widely analyzed in terms of cross-sectional associations. However, the knowledge about long-term changes in life satisfaction and the associations between such changes and changes in other variables of physical and mental health is limited.

Direct Evidence of Anomalous Peierls Transition-Induced Charge Density Wave Order at Room Temperature in Metallic NaRu2O4.

In the field of quantum materials, understanding anomalous behavior under charge degrees of freedom through bond formation is of fundamental importance, with two key concepts: Dimerization and charge order at different cation sites. The coexistence of both dimerization and charge ordering is unusually found in NaRu2O4, even in its metallic state at room temperature. Our work unveils the origin of the interplay of these effects within metallic single-crystalline NaRu2O4.

Associations of personality trait level and change with mortality risk in 11 longitudinal studies.

People who are higher in conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness and lower in neuroticism tend to live longer. The present research tested the hypothesis that personality trait change in middle and older adulthood would also be associated with mortality risk, above and beyond personality trait level. Personality trait change may causally influence mortality risk through corresponding changes in health behaviors, social processes, and stress experience.

Identification of a Chemical Probe for BLT2 Activation by Scaffold Hopping.

The leukotriene B4 receptor 2 (BLT2) is a G-protein coupled receptor, which is endogenously activated by 12()-hydroxyheptadeca-5Z,8E,10E-trienoic acid (12-HHT). BLT2 is gaining attention as a potential therapeutic target involved in various pathologies including diabetic wound healing, ophthalmic diseases, and colitis. However, validation of BLT2 as drug target requires chemical probes and pharmacological tools which will allow for application in vivo.

Probing Biomolecular Interactions with Paramagnetic Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Recent advances in computational methods like AlphaFold have transformed structural biology, enabling accurate modeling of protein complexes and driving applications in drug discovery and protein engineering. However, predicting the structure of systems involving weak, transient, or dynamic interactions, or of complexes with disordered regions, remains challenging. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy offers atomic-level insights into biomolecular complexes, even in weakly interacting and dynamic systems.

Donor Strand Complementation and Calcium Ion Coordination Drive the Chaperone-free Polymerization of Archaeal Cannulae.

Cannulae are tubular protein filaments that accumulate on the extracellular surface of the hyperthermophilic archaeon during cell division. Cannulae have been postulated to act as a primitive extracellular matrix through which cells could communicate or exchange material, although their native biological function remains obscure. Here, we report cryoEM structural analyses of cannulae and of protein assemblies derived from recombinant cannula-like proteins.

Combining Individual-Based Radio-Tracking With Whole-Genome Sequencing Data Reveals Candidate for Genetic Basis of Partial Migration in a Songbird.

Partial migration is a phenomenon where migratory and resident individuals of the same species co-exist within a population, and has been linked to both intrinsic (e.g., genetic) as well as environmental factors.

Mapping Mental Representations With Free Associations: A Tutorial Using the R Package associatoR.

People's understanding of topics and concepts such as risk, sustainability, and intelligence can be important for psychological researchers and policymakers alike. One underexplored way of accessing this information is to use free associations to map people's mental representations. In this tutorial, we describe how free association responses can be collected, processed, mapped, and compared across groups using the R package .

Experience of Contraceptive Denial, Perceived Ease of Future Access to Contraception, and Adverse Mental Health Outcomes in Polish Women.

Purpose: While several studies demonstrate an association between reproductive coercion or a lack of reproductive autonomy and decreased mental health in women, little is known about potential mental health impacts when women are denied prescription contraceptives. The aim of this research was to explore associations between prescription contraceptive denial and perceived ease of future access to contraception, and self-assessed mental health.

Patients And Methods: Polish women (N=424) completed an anonymous online survey with demographic questions; perceived stress (PSS-10), state anxiety (STAI-X1), and depression (CESD-R) assessments, and contraceptive access questions.

More π, please: What drives the formation of unsaturated molecules in the interstellar medium?

We present a computational investigation into the fragmentation pathways of ethanolamine (CHNO, EtA), propanol (CHO, PrO), butanenitrile (CHN, BuN), and glycolamide (CHNO, GlA)-saturated organic molecules detected in the interstellar medium (ISM), particularly in the molecular cloud complex Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2) and its molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027.

No impact of story context and avatar power on performance in a stop-signal game.

This study investigates the impact of gamification on response inhibition in a Stop-Signal Task (SST) and examines participants' gamification experience. The findings reveal that, after accounting for approach- and avoidance-motivation as well as impulsiveness, higher immersion is associated with impaired response inhibition. This effect could be attributed to a substantial decline in immersion between the first and second SST sessions.

Microplastic Materials for Inhalation Studies: Preparation by Solvent Precipitation and Comprehensive Characterization.

Assessing the inhalation hazard of microplastics is important but necessitates sufficient quantity of microplastics that are representative and respirable (<4 µm). Common plastics are not typically manufactured in such small sizes. Here, solvent precipitation is used to produce respirable test materials from thermoplastics polyurethane (TPU), polyamide (PA-6), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and low-density polyethylene (LDPE).

Boosting Amino Acid Synthesis with WO Sub-Nanoclusters.

The conversion of nitrate-rich wastewater and biomass-derived blocks into high-value products using renewably generated electricity is a promising approach to modulate the artificial carbon and nitrogen cycle. Here, a new synthetic strategy of WO sub-nanoclusters is reported and supported on carbon materials as novel efficient electrocatalysts for nitrate reduction and its coupling with α-keto acids. In acidic solutions, the NH-NHOH selectivity can also optimized by adjusting the potential, with the total FE exceeding 80% over a wide potential range.

TIPPo: A User-Friendly Tool for De Novo Assembly of Organellar Genomes with High-Fidelity Data.

Plant cells have two major organelles with their own genomes: chloroplasts and mitochondria. While chloroplast genomes tend to be structurally conserved, the mitochondrial genomes of plants, which are much larger than those of animals, are characterized by complex structural variation. We introduce TIPPo, a user-friendly, reference-free assembly tool that uses PacBio high-fidelity long-read data and that does not rely on genomes from related species or nuclear genome information for the assembly of organellar genomes.

Validation of a hypomorphic variant in CDK13 as the cause of CHDFIDD with autosomal recessive inheritance through determination of an episignature.

Autosomal dominant CDK13-related disease is characterized by congenital heart defects, dysmorphic facial features, and intellectual developmental disorder (CHDFIDD). Heterozygous pathogenic variants, particularly missense variants in the kinase domain, have previously been described as disease causing. Using the determination of a methylation pattern and comparison with an established episignature, we reveal the first hypomorphic variant in the kinase domain of CDK13, leading to a never before described autosomal recessive form of CHDFIDD in a boy with characteristic features.

A Low-Symmetry Copper Benzenehexathiol Coordination Polymer with In-Plane Electrical Anisotropy.

Electrically conductive coordination polymers (ECCPs), particularly those incorporating benzenehexathiol (BHT) ligands, are emerging as a distinctive class of electronic materials with tunable semiconducting and metallic properties. However, the exploration of novel ECCPs with low-symmetry structures and electrical anisotropy remains under development. Here, we report the on-water surface synthesis of a novel ECCP, namely CuBHT, which exhibits a low-symmetry structure and unique in-plane electrical anisotropy that differs from the well-known CuBHT phase.

Compartment model of strategy-dependent time delays in replicator dynamics.

Real-world processes often exhibit temporal separation between actions and reactions - a characteristic frequently ignored in many modelling frameworks. Adding temporal aspects, like time delays, introduces a higher complexity of problems and leads to models that are challenging to analyse and computationally expensive to solve. In this work, we propose an intermediate solution to resolve the issue in the framework of evolutionary game theory.