Continuous representations of speed by striatal medium spiny neurons

The striatum is critical for controlling motor output. However, it remains unclear how striatal output neurons encode and facilitate movement. A prominent theory suggests that striatal units encode movements in bursts of activity near specific events, such as the start or end of actions. These bursts are theorized to gate or permit specific motor actions, thereby encoding and facilitating complex sequences of actions. An alternative theory has suggested that striatal neurons encode continuous changes in sensory or motor information with graded changes in firing rate. Supporting this theory, many striatal neurons exhibit such graded changes without bursting near specific actions. Here, we evaluated these two theories in the same recordings of mice (both male and female). We recorded single-unit and multiunit activity from the dorsomedial striatum of mice as they spontaneously explored an arena. We observed both types of encoding, although continuous encoding was more prevalent than bursting near movement initiation or termination. The majority of recorded units did not exhibit positive linear relationships with speed but instead exhibited nonlinear relationships that peaked at a range of locomotor speeds. Bulk calcium recordings of identified direct and indirect pathway neurons revealed similar speed tuning profiles, indicating that the heterogeneity in response profiles was not due to this genetic distinction. We conclude that continuous encoding of speed is a central component of movement encoding in the striatum

Time management on task completion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students of ECT Excellencia Global Academy Foundation, Inc.

Time management is a collection of skills that you may use to make the most of your time and enhance your quality of life. Most commonly, students would find meaning, accomplishment, and even fulfillment once achieved the objectives that they set. This is possible because they wisely manage their time. Henceforth, this research study will shed light a report on the concept of time management that significantly affects towards the STEM students’ of ECT Excellencia Global Academy Foundation, Inc. (EEGAFI) on their potentiality to complete their tasks on time. To determine the limitations of students’ time management, hypotheses were developed along with the problems and objectives of this study. The respondents of this study were from the students of STEM 11 of EEGAFI. 150 respondents were randomly selected and these students were those who volunteered to participate in the surveys were picked at random from the group. The researchers gave the predetermined questionnaires to the respondents in this research study with the primary goal of collecting data for statistical analysis. The findings showed that time management behaviors such as procrastination, prioritizing, and planning had a significant impact on the task completion of the students. When doing task completion, it is advised that students pay close attention to the passing of time. Efforts to ensure strong academic success. Given that procrastination, when compared to other factors, significantly affects academic achievement, the results show that students need work very hard to finish their projects as well as completing all other academic tasks on time to avoid missing deadlines

Inheritance and allelic relationships of anthracnose resistance in common bean paloma cultivar

Anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum L., is one of the most important fungal diseases of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, L). Genetic resistance is the most effective method for this disease control. So far, twenty one resistance genes have been already characterized, and among them, only eight are Andean and due to it, the search for Andean resistance sources is really necessary. This way, the work aimed to characterize the genetic resistance of an Andean common bean cultivar.Fil: Castro, S. A. L.. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Gonçalves Vidigal, M. C.. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Nanami, D. S. Y.. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Frias, A. A. T.. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Franzon, R. C.. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Poletine, J. P.. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Lacanallo, G. F.. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Galván, Marta Zulema. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Salta-Jujuy. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta; Argentin

Are patterns of fine-scale spatial genetic structure consistent between sites within tropical tree species?

Documenting the scale and intensity of fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS), and the processes that shape it, is relevant to the sustainable management of genetic resources in timber tree species, particularly where logging or fragmentation might disrupt gene flow. In this study we assessed patterns of FSGS in three species of Dipterocarpaceae (Parashorea tomentella, Shorea leprosula and Shorea parvifolia) across four different tropical rain forests in Malaysia using nuclear microsatellite markers. Topographic heterogeneity varied across the sites. We hypothesised that forests with high topographic heterogeneity would display increased FSGS among the adult populations driven by habitat associations. This hypothesis was not supported for S. leprosula and S. parvifolia which displayed little variation in the intensity and scale of FSGS between sites despite substantial variation in topographic heterogeneity. Conversely, the intensity of FSGS for P. tomentella was greater at a more topographically heterogeneous than a homogeneous site, and a significant difference in the overall pattern of FSGS was detected between sites for this species. These results suggest that local patterns of FSGS may in some species be shaped by habitat heterogeneity in addition to limited gene flow by pollen and seed dispersal. Site factors can therefore contribute to the development of FSGS. Confirming consistency in species’ FSGS amongst sites is an important step in managing timber tree genetic diversity as it provides confidence that species specific management recommendations based on species reproductive traits can be applied across a species’ range. Forest managers should take into account the interaction between reproductive traits and site characteristics, its consequences for maintaining forest genetic resources and how this might influence natural regeneration across species if management is to be sustainable

Tracking cryptic SARS-CoV-2 Lineages Detected in NYC Wastewater

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity is strongly indicated because diversifying selection may lead to the emergence of novel variants resistant to naturally acquired or vaccine-induced immunity. To monitor New York City (NYC) for the presence of novel variants, we deep sequence most of the receptor binding domain coding sequence of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from the New York City wastewater. Here we report detecting increasing frequencies of novel cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineages not recognized in GISAID’s EpiCoV database. These lineages contain mutations that had been rarely observed in clinical samples, including Q493K, Q498Y, E484A, and T572N and share many mutations with the Omicron variant of concern. Some of these mutations expand the tropism of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses by allowing infection of cells expressing the human, mouse, or rat ACE2 receptor. Finally, pseudoviruses containing the spike amino acid sequence of these lineages were resistant to different classes of receptor binding domain neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. We offer several hypotheses for the anomalous presence of these lineages, including the possibility that these lineages are derived from unsampled human COVID-19 infections or that they indicate the presence of a non-human animal reservoir