Neuromatch Academy: Teaching Computational Neuroscience with Global Accessibility

Neuromatch Academy (NMA) designed and ran a fully online 3-week Computational Neuroscience Summer School for 1757 students with 191 teaching assistants (TAs) working in virtual inverted (or flipped) classrooms and on small group projects. Fourteen languages, active community management, and low cost allowed for an unprecedented level of inclusivity and universal accessibility

Strain localisation and grain breakage in sand under shearing at high mean stress: insights from in-situ x-ray tomography

International audienceThis work presents results from a series of triaxial compression tests on two quartz sands (differing principally in grain shape), at confining pressures high enough to cause grain breakage during shearing. Tests are performed inside an x-ray scanner, which allows specimens to be imaged non-destructively as they deform. Observation of the acquired images clearly shows different mechanisms of deformation, including shearing, dilation, compaction and grain breakage. These mechanisms are investigated quantitatively through 3D measurements of local porosity, as well as strain (obtained by 3D Digital Image Correlation), which is analysed in terms of volumetric and shear components. These tools allow the transition between macroscopically dilative (typically of a dense sand at low mean stress) and compactive behaviour to be investigated. The analysis reveals that at the high end of the confining pressure range studied (100 to 7000 kPa) the more rounded sand deforms with highly localised shear and volumetric strain-the porosity fields show a dilative band within which a compactive region (due to grain crushing) grows. The more angular material shows shear strain localisation, however its faster transition to compactive behaviour (due to a higher propensity for individual grains to crush) translates to much more distributed compactive volumetric strain

DNA repair pathways as guardians of the genome: Therapeutic potential and possible prognostic role in hematologic neoplasms

DNA repair pathways, which are also identified as guardians of the genome, protect cells from frequent damage that can lead to DNA breaks. The most deleterious types of damage are double-strand breaks (DSBs), which are repaired by homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Single strand breaks (SSBs) can be corrected through base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), and mismatch repair (MMR). Failure to restore DNA lesions or inappropriately repaired DNA damage culminates in genomic instability and changes in the regulation of cellular functions. Intriguingly, particular mutations and translocations are accompanied by special types of leukemia. Besides, expression patterns of certain repair genes are altered in different hematologic malignancies. Moreover, analysis of mutations in key mediators of DNA damage repair (DDR) pathways, as well as investigation of their expression and function, may provide us with emerging biomarkers of response/resistance to treatment. Therefore, defective DDR pathways can offer a rational starting point for developing DNA repair-targeted drugs. In this review, we address genetic alterations and gene/protein expression changes, as well as provide an overview of DNA repair pathways. © 202

Strain localization in sandstone and its implications for CO2 storage

International audienc