Sustained Aftereffect of alpha-tACS Lasts Up to 70 min after Stimulation

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has been repeatedly demonstrated to increase power of endogenous brain oscillations in the range of the stimulated frequency after stimulation. In the alpha band this aftereffect has been shown to persist for at least 30 min. However, in most experiments the aftereffect exceeded the duration of the measurement. Thus, it remains unclear how the effect develops beyond these 30 min and when it decays. The current study aimed to extend existing findings by monitoring the physiological aftereffect of tACS in the alpha range for an extended period of 90 min post-stimulation. To this end participants received either 20 min of tACS or sham stimulation with intensities below their individual sensation threshold at the individual alpha frequency (IAF). Electroencephalogram (EEG) was acquired during 3 min before and 90 min after stimulation. Subjects performed a visual vigilance task during the whole measurement. While the enhanced power in the individual alpha band did not return back to pre-stimulation baseline in the stimulation group, the difference between stimulation and sham diminishes after 70 min due to a natural alpha increase of the sham group

Wer trägt den Staat? Eine Analyse von Steuer- und Abgabenlasten

In der Diskussion um ein „gerechtes“ Steuer- und Abgabensystem ist häufig zu hören, dass in Deutschland die „Mittelschicht“ übermäßig stark belastet wird und „Spitzenverdiener“ zu wenig zur Finanzierung des Gemeinwesens beitragen. Diese RWI Position unterzieht die öffentliche Wahrnehmung einer „ungerechten“ Lastenverteilung einer empirischen Überprüfung. Hierzu wird die im Jahr 2010 herrschende Verteilung der Belastungen durch direkte und indirekte Steuern sowie durch Sozialversicherungsbeiträge auf der Basis von repräsentativen Mikrodaten geschätzt. Es zeigt sich, dass die Haushalte aus dem mittleren Einkommensbereich tatsächlich den größten Beitrag zum Gesamtaufkommen der direkten, der indirekten Steuern und der Sozialversicherungsbeiträge leisten. Ihr hoher Finanzierungsanteil resultiert dabei aus der Tatsache, dass diese Haushalte zahlenmäßig in Deutschland am stärksten vertreten sind. Die höchsten Finanzierungslasten schultern jedoch die 10% der Haushalte mit den höchsten Einkommen – sowohl bei den Steuern als auch bei den Abgaben. Bei der Einkommensteuer tragen diese Haushalte sogar mehr als die Hälfte des Aufkommens. [...]Steuerlast; Steuersystem; Steuerbelastung; direkte Steuern; indirekte Steuern

Characterizing low-frequency artifacts during transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS)

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a well-established brain stimulation technique to modulate human brain oscillations. However, due to the strong electro-magnetic artifacts induced by the stimulation current, the simultaneous measurement of tACS effects during neurophysiological recordings in humans is challenging. Recently, transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) has been introduced to stimulate neurons at depth non-invasively. During tTIS, two high-frequency sine waves are applied, that interfere inside the brain, resulting in amplitude modulated waveforms at the target frequency. Given appropriate hardware, we show that neurophysiological data during tTIS may be acquired without stimulation artifacts at low-frequencies. However, data must be inspected carefully for possible low-frequency artifacts. Our results may help to design experimental setups to record brain activity during tTIS, which may foster our understanding of its underlying mechanisms.</p

Similar EEG Activity Patterns During Experimentally-Induced Auditory Illusions and Veridical Perceptions

Hallucinations and illusions are two instances of perceptual experiences illustrating how perception might diverge from external sensory stimulations and be generated or altered based on internal brain states. The occurrence of these phenomena is not constrained to patient populations. Similar experiences can be elicited in healthy subjects by means of suitable experimental procedures. Studying the neural mechanisms underlying these experiences not only has the potential to expand our understanding of the brain's perceptual machinery but also of how it might get impaired. In the current study, we employed an auditory signal detection task to induce auditory illusions by presenting speech snippets at near detection threshold intensity embedded in noise. We investigated the neural correlates of auditory false perceptions by examining the EEG activity preceding the responses in speech absent (false alarm, FA) trials and comparing them to speech present (hit) trials. The results of the comparison of event-related potentials (ERPs) in the activation period vs. baseline revealed the presence of an early negativity (EN) and a late positivity (LP) similar in both hits and FAs, which were absent in misses, correct rejections (CR) and control button presses (BPs). We postulate that the EN and the LP might represent the auditory awareness negativity (AAN) and centro-parietal positivity (CPP) or P300, respectively. The event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs) exhibited a common power enhancement in low frequencies

Interindividual variability of electric fields during transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS)

Abstract Transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) is a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique for electrical stimulation of neurons at depth. Deep brain regions are generally small in size, making precise targeting a necessity. The variability of electric fields across individual subjects resulting from the same tTIS montages is unknown so far and may be of major concern for precise tTIS targeting. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to investigate the variability of the electric fields due to tTIS across 25 subjects. To this end, the electric fields of different electrode montages consisting of two electrode pairs with different center frequencies were simulated in order to target selected regions-of-interest (ROIs) with tTIS. Moreover, we set out to compare the electric fields of tTIS with the electric fields of conventional tACS. The latter were also based on two electrode pairs, which, however, were driven in phase at a common frequency. Our results showed that the electric field strengths inside the ROIs (left hippocampus, left motor area and thalamus) during tTIS are variable on single subject level. In addition, tTIS stimulates more focally as compared to tACS with much weaker co-stimulation of cortical areas close to the stimulation electrodes. Electric fields inside the ROI were, however, comparable for both methods. Overall, our results emphasize the potential benefits of tTIS for the stimulation of deep targets, over conventional tACS. However, they also indicate a need for individualized stimulation montages to leverage the method to its fullest potential

Soy moratorium impacts on soybean and deforestation dynamics in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Abstract - Previous research has established the usefulness of remotely sensed vegetation index (VI) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to characterize the spatial dynamics of agriculture in the state of Mato Grosso (MT), Brazil. With these data it has become possible to track MT agriculture, which accounts for ~85% of Brazilian Amazon soy production, across periods of several years. Annual land cover (LC) maps support investigation of the spatiotemporal dynamics of agriculture as they relate to forest cover and governance and policy efforts to lower deforestation rates. We use a unique, spatially extensive 9-year (2005?2013) ground reference dataset to classify, with approximately 80% accuracy, MODIS VI data, merging the results with carefully processed annual forest and sugarcane coverages developed by Brazil?s National Institute for Space Research to produce LC maps for MT for the 2001?2014 crop years. We apply the maps to an evaluation of forest and agricultural intensification dynamics before and after the Soy Moratorium (SoyM), a governance effort enacted in July 2006 to halt deforestation for the purpose of soy production in the Brazilian Amazon. We find the pre-SoyM deforestation rate to be more than five times the post-SoyM rate, while simultaneously observing the pre-SoyM forest-to-soy conversion rate to be more than twice the post-SoyM rate. These observations support the hypothesis that SoyM has played a role in reducing both deforestation and subsequent use for soy production. Additional analyses explore the land use tendencies of deforested areas and the conceptual framework of horizontal and vertical agricultural intensification, which distinguishes production increases attributable to cropland expansion into newly deforested areas as opposed to implementation of multi-cropping systems on existing cropland. During the 14-year study period, soy production was found to shift from predominantly single-crop systems to majority double-crop systems.artigo e0176168

The progress of early phase bone healing using porous granules produced from calcium phosphate cement

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>Bone grafting is a vital component in many surgical procedures to facilitate the repair of bone defects or fusions. Autologous bone has been the gold standard to date in spite of associated donor-site morbidity and the limited amount of available donor bone. The aim of this study was to investigate the progress of bone regeneration and material degradation of calcium phosphate granules (CPG) produced from a calcium phosphate self-setting cement powder compared to the use of autologous bone grafting in the treatment of "critical size defects" on load-bearing long bones of minipigs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A critical size defect in the tibial metaphysis of 16 mini-pigs was filled either with autologous cancellous graft or with micro- and macroporous carbonated, apatic calcium phosphate granules (CPG) produced from a calcium phosphate self-setting cement powder. After 6 weeks, the specimens were assessed by X-ray and histological evaluation. The amount of new bone formation was analysed histomorphometrically.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The semi-quantitative analysis of the radiological results showed a complete osseous bridging of the defect in three cases for the autograft group. In the same group five animals showed a beginning, but still incomplete bridging of the defect, whereas in the CPG group just two animals developed this. All other animals of the CPG group showed only a still discontinuous new bone formation. Altogether, radiologically a better osseous bridging was observed in the autograft group compared to the CPG group.</p> <p>Histomorphometrical analysis after six weeks of healing revealed that the area of new bone was significantly greater in the autograft group concerning the central area of the defect zone (p < 0.001) as well as the cortical defect zone (p < 0.002). All defects showed new bone formation, but only in the autograft group defects regenerated entirely</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Within the limits of the present study it could be demonstrated that autologous cancellous grafts lead to a significantly better bone regeneration compared to the application of calcium phosphate granules (CPG) produced from a calcium phosphate self-setting cement powder after 6 weeks. In the early phase of bone-healing, the sole application of CPG appears to be inferior to the autologous cancellous grafts in an <it>in vivo </it>critical size defect on load-bearing long bones of mini-pigs.</p

Kinetic proofreading of gene activation by chromatin remodeling

Gene activation in eukaryotes involves the concerted action of histone tail modifiers, chromatin remodellers and transcription factors, whose precise coordination is currently unknown. We demonstrate that the experimentally observed interactions of the molecules are in accord with a kinetic proofreading scheme. Our finding could provide a basis for the development of quantitative models for gene regulation in eukaryotes based on the combinatorical interactions of chromatin modifiers.Comment: 8 pages, 2 Figures; application adde

Spin fluctuations in the quasi-two dimensional Heisenberg ferromagnet GdI_2 studied by Electron Spin Resonance

The spin dynamics of GdI_2 have been investigated by ESR spectroscopy. The temperature dependences of the resonance field and ESR intensity are well described by the model for the spin susceptibility proposed by Eremin et al. [Phys. Rev. B 64, 064425 (2001)]. The temperature dependence of the resonance linewidth shows a maximum similar to the electrical resistance and is discussed in terms of scattering processes between conduction electrons and localized spins.Comment: to be published in PR