Spiking burstiness and working memory in the human medial temporal lobe

Persistent activity has commonly been considered to be a hallmark of working memory (WM). Recent evidence indicates that neuronal discharges in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) are compatible with WM neural patterns observed in cortical areas. However, the characterization of this activity rarely consists of measurements other than firing rates of single neurons. Moreover, a varied repertoire of firing dynamics has been reported in the MTL regions, which motivate the more detailed examination of the relationships between WM processes and discharge patterns undertaken here. Specifically, we investigate' at different resolution levels, firing irregularities in electrode recordings from the hippocampus, amygdala, and the entorhinal cortex of epileptic patients during a WM task. We show that some types of (ir)regularities predict response times of the patients depending on the trial periods under consideration. Prominent burst activity at the population level is observed in the amygdala and entorhinal cortex during memory retrieval. In general, regular and bursty neurons contribute to the decoding of the memory load, yet they display important differences across the three anatomical areas. Our results suggest that nonrandom (non-Poisson) patterns are relevant for WM, which calls for the development and use of statistics complementary to mere spike counts

Geophysical multidisciplinary investigation of the structure of an unstable flank: the NE sector of Mt. Etna.

Mount Etna is characterized by a complex regional tectonics with a N-S compression related to the Africa – Europe convergence that interacts with a WNW-ESE extension associated to the Malta Escarpment. A general eastward motion is present in the eastern flank. Although the existence of these phenomena is overt, the geometry of the sliding sector is still debated. The non-uniqueness of the geophysical inverse models and the different limitations in resolution and sensitivity of each technique spurred us to undertake, in the frame of the MEDiterranean Supersites Volcanoes (MED-SUV) project, a joint interpretation of independent data in order to better constrain the results. Seismic data come from the network run by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) – Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania. The relocated seismicity defines two main seismogenic volumes in the NE sector of the volcano: the first cluster is related to the known Pernicana Fault system, while the second one is located southwards, beneath the northern wall of the Valle del Bove. The resistivity models come from a MT survey carried out on the eastern flank of the volcano and consisting of thirty broad-band soundings along N-S and NW-SE oriented profiles. The resistivity modeling of MT profiles reveal three major layers in a resistive-conductive-resistive sequence. A low resistivity volume is clearly identified on the NE flank of the volcano, between The Pernicana fault and the northern wall of the Valle del Bove. Ground deformation studies (GPS and InSAR) revealed the segmentation of the unstable flank and define the NE sector as the most mobile one; this sector is perfectly bounded by the two seismic clusters and corresponds to the low resistivity volume. The sliding surface modeled by ground deformation data inversions well matches in depth with a resistivity transition and with two seismogenic layers

Preservation of Abandoned Historic Centres — The Case of Poggioreale antica (Sicily)

Among the fourteen towns most damaged by the earthquake that struck western Sicily in 1968, Poggioreale was subjected to total relocation a few kilometres away, and to the transfer of its whole population. More than half a century later, the damaged settlement is still largely recognisable and has been experiencing a new season of interest for some years now, both from the local community and various kinds of outsiders who imagine economic spin-offs of an uncertain nature in its enhancement. The research we present questions the chance of survival for the settlement, forgotten for decades, in the context of interventions aimed at its reuse. Alternative strategies are discussed: on the one hand, that of bringing the ancient centre back to life, even in part, with a limited inclusion of collective functions and without claiming to inhabit it again; on the other hand, and in the authors’ opinion, more likely, that of reusing the ruins as an archaeological area preserving their memory in a different form. In either case, the kinds of operations to be carried out on the body of the ancient buildings for their physical preservation play a key role. These issues are addressed as a whole through the canonical procedure of correlating the phases of knowledge, interpretation, and definition of minimal and compatible intervention criteria

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Unsupervised Methods for Detection of Neural States: Case Study of Hippocampal-Amygdala Interactions

The hippocampus and amygdala are functionally coupled brain regions that play a crucial role in processes involving memory and learning. Because interareal communication has been reported both during specific sleep stages and in awake, behaving animals, these brain regions can serve as an archetype to establish that measuring functional interactions is important for comprehending neural systems. To this end, we analyze here a public dataset of local field potentials (LFPs) recorded in rats simultaneously from the hippocampus and amygdala during different behaviors. Employing a specific, time-lagged embedding technique, named topological causality (TC), we infer directed interactions between the LFP band powers of the two regions across six frequency bands in a time-resolved manner. The combined power and interaction signals are processed with our own unsupervised tools developed originally for the analysis of molecular dynamics simulations to effectively visualize and identify putative, neural states that are visited by the animals repeatedly. Our proposed methodology minimizes impositions onto the data, such as isolating specific epochs, or averaging across externally annotated behavioral stages, and succeeds in separating internal states by external labels such as sleep or stimulus events. We show that this works better for two of the three rats we analyzed, and highlight the need to acknowledge individuality in analyses of this type. Importantly, we demonstrate that the quantification of functional interactions is a significant factor in discriminating these external labels, and we suggest our methodology as a general tool for large, multisite recordings

Sapphire-based clustering

Molecular dynamics simulations are a popular means to study biomolecules, but it is often difficult to gain insights from the trajectories due to their large size, in both time and number of features. The Sapphire (States And Pathways Projected with HIgh REsolution) plot allows a direct visual inference of the dominant states visited by high-dimensional systems and how they are interconnected in time. Here, we extend this visual inference into a clustering algorithm. Specifically, the automatic procedure derives from the Sapphire plot states that are kinetically homogeneous, structurally annotated, and of tunable granularity. We provide a relative assessment of the kinetic fidelity of the Sapphire-based partitioning in comparison to popular clustering methods. This assessment is carried out on trajectories of n-butane, a β-sheet peptide, and the small protein BPTI. We conclude with an application of our approach to a recent 100 μs trajectory of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2

Cross country comparison on energy efficiency indicators Final report - phase 3. Vol. 3.B : study cases : Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

Available from INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : RP 400 (2195) / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueSIGLEAgence de l'Environnement et de la Maitrise de l'Energie (ADEME), 92 - Vanves (France)FRFranc

Geophysical multidisciplinary investigation of the structure of the unstable sector of Mt. Etna volcano

Mount Etna is characterized by a complex regional tectonics with a N-S compression related to the Africa - Europe convergence that interacts with a WNW-ESE extension associated to the Malta Escarpment. A general eastward motion is present in the eastern flank. Although the existence of these phenomena is overt, the geometry of the sliding sector is still debated. The non-uniqueness of the geophysical inverse models and the different limitations in resolution and sensitivity of each technique spurred us to undertake a joint interpretation of the independent datasets in order to better constrain the results. Seismic data come from the network run by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) - Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania. The relocated seismicity defines two main seismogenic volumes in the NE sector of the volcano: the first cluster is related to the known Pernicana Fault system, while the second one is located southwards, beneath the northern wall of the Valle del Bove. The resistivity models come from a MT survey carried out on the eastern flank of the volcano and consisting of thirty broad-band soundings along N-S and NW-SE oriented profiles. The resistivity modeling of MT profiles reveal three major layers in a resistive-conductive-resistive sequence. A low resistivity volume is clearly identified on the NE flank of the volcano, between The Pernicana fault and the northern wall of the Valle del Bove. Ground deformation studies (GPS and InSAR) revealed the segmentation of the unstable flank and define the NE sector as the most mobile one; this sector is perfectly bounded by the two seismic clusters and corresponds to the low resistivity volume. The sliding surface modeled by ground deformation data inversions well matches in depth with a resistivity transition and with two seismogenic layers.INGVPublished1V. Storia e struttura dei sistemi vulcaniciope

Geophysical multidisciplinary investigation of the structure of an unstable flank: the NE sector of Mt. Etna.

Mount Etna is characterized by a complex regional tectonics with a N-S compression related to the Africa – Europe convergence that interacts with a WNW-ESE extension associated to the Malta Escarpment. A general eastward motion is present in the eastern flank. Although the existence of these phenomena is overt, the geometry of the sliding sector is still debated. The non-uniqueness of the geophysical inverse models and the different limitations in resolution and sensitivity of each technique spurred us to undertake, in the frame of the MEDiterranean Supersites Volcanoes (MED-SUV) project, a joint interpretation of independent data in order to better constrain the results. Seismic data come from the network run by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) – Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania. The relocated seismicity defines two main seismogenic volumes in the NE sector of the volcano: the first cluster is related to the known Pernicana Fault system, while the second one is located southwards, beneath the northern wall of the Valle del Bove. The resistivity models come from a MT survey carried out on the eastern flank of the volcano and consisting of thirty broad-band soundings along N-S and NW-SE oriented profiles. The resistivity modeling of MT profiles reveal three major layers in a resistive-conductive-resistive sequence. A low resistivity volume is clearly identified on the NE flank of the volcano, between The Pernicana fault and the northern wall of the Valle del Bove. Ground deformation studies (GPS and InSAR) revealed the segmentation of the unstable flank and define the NE sector as the most mobile one; this sector is perfectly bounded by the two seismic clusters and corresponds to the low resistivity volume. The sliding surface modeled by ground deformation data inversions well matches in depth with a resistivity transition and with two seismogenic layers.UnpublishedYogyakarta, Indonesia1V. Storia e struttura dei sistemi vulcaniciope