Two is better than one : the effects of strategic cooperation on intra- and inter-brain connectivity by fNIRS

Inter-brain synchronization during joint actions is a core question in social neuroscience, and the differential contribution of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity has yet to be clarified along with the role of psychological variables such as perceived self-efficacy. The cognitive performance and the neural activation underlying the execution of joint actions were recorded by functional Near-Infrared imaging during a synchronicity game. An 8-channel array of optodes was positioned over the frontal and prefrontal regions. During the task, the dyads received reinforcing feedback that was experimentally manipulated to induce adoption of common strategies. Intra- and inter-brain connectivity indices were computed along with an inter-brain/intra-brain connectivity index (ConIndex). Finally, correlation analyses were run to assess the relationship between behavioral and physiological levels. The results showed that the external feedback could modulate participant responses in both behavioral and neural components. After the reinforcing manipulation, there were faster response times and increased inter-brain connectivity, and ConIndex emerged primarily over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Additionally, the presence of significant correlations between response times and inter-brain connectivity revealed that only the \u201ctwo-players connection\u201d may guarantee an efficient performance. The present study provides a significant contribution to the identification of intra- and inter-brain functional connectivity when social reinforcement is provided

Randomness Increases Order in Biological Evolution

n this text, we revisit part of the analysis of anti-entropy in Bailly and Longo (2009} and develop further theoretical reflections. In particular, we analyze how randomness, an essential component of biological variability, is associated to the growth of biological organization, both in ontogenesis and in evolution. This approach, in particular, focuses on the role of global entropy production and provides a tool for a mathematical understanding of some fundamental observations by Gould on the increasing phenotypic complexity along evolution. Lastly, we analyze the situation in terms of theoretical symmetries, in order to further specify the biological meaning of anti-entropy as well as its strong link with randomness

Innovative downhole geophysical methods for high frequency seawater intrusion dynamics monitoring

The detailed characterization of salt water intrusion is a key to understand both submarine groundwater discharge and manage often intensively exploited groundwater resources in coastal areas. With the objective to study the response of a coastal aquifer to a series of boundary conditions, a new experimental site has been developed through a clastic aquifer located north of Barcelona (Spain). This hectometer scale site is located 50 m from the seashore and equipped with 17 nearby shallow holes, with depths ranging from 15 to 28 m. In order to study not only the sedimentary structure but also the response of the aquifer to a set of natural boundary conditions, downhole geophysical measurements have been deployed over the past 3 years in an innovative manner, either in a time-lapse or stationary manner. The downhole measurements are complicated by the unconsolidated nature of the sediment, obliging to perform all measurements through PVC. Also, the granitic nature of the sediment prevents clays identification from a direct use of gamma ray profiles. For this, constituting minerals (quartz, albite, feldspar, microcline, illite) were identified from X-ray diffraction on cores, and spectral gamma logs used to determine the illite fractions from Th/K ratios. In time lapse, high frequency electrical resistivity induction measurements show that preferential flow paths through the aquifer can be identified in a fast and reliable manner. Also, changes in depth of the fresh to salt water interface (FSWI) are precisely described, either in response to marine tides, or to a short but intense mediterranean rain event. Changes on the order of than 1.70 m are obtain in less than a day of heavy rain. Overnight as well as seasonal changes such as months of dryness are also illustrated due to the variability of pore fluid salinity and temperature, even over short periods of time such as tens of minutes. In stationary mode, the spectral natural gamma sensor located in front of the FSWI fluctuation zones records changes in front of all radioactive peaks (from K, Tl, Bi, but also Ra with Rn) during intense rain events such as that of October 18-19, 2017. This places constraints on Ra and Rn production rate during such an event, leading to trace fresh water outpour into the sea.Peer reviewe

Sublethal Doses of Anthrax Lethal Toxin on the Suppression of Macrophage Phagocytosis

BACKGROUND: Lethal toxin (LT), the major virulence factor produced by Bacillus anthracis, has been shown to suppress the immune system, which is beneficial to the establishment of B. anthracis infections. It has been suggested that the suppression of MEK/MAPK signaling pathways of leukocytes contributes to LT-mediated immunosuppressive effects. However, the involvement of MAPK independent pathways has not been clearly elucidated; nor has the crucial role played by LT in the early stages of infection. Determining whether LT exerts any pathological effects before being enriched to an MEK inhibitory level is an important next step in the furtherance of this field. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a cell culture model, we determined that low doses of LT inhibited phagocytosis of macrophages, without influencing MAPK pathways. Consistent low doses of LT significantly suppressed bacterial clearance and enhanced the mortality of mice with bacteremia, without suppressing the MEK1 of splenic and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that LT suppresses the phagocytes in a dose range lower than that required to suppress MEK1 in the early stages of infection

Hydrothermal circulation at the Cleft-Vance overlapping spreading center : results of a magnetometric resistivity survey

We report on a magnetometric resistivity sounding carried out in the overlapping spreading center between the Cleft and Vance segments of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The data collected reveal a strong three dimensionality in the crustal electrical resistivity structure on wavelengths of a few kilometers. Areas of reduced crustal electrical resistivities, with values approaching that of seawater, are seen beneath the neovolcanic zones of both active spreading centers. We interpret these reduced resistivities as evidence of active hydrothermal circulation within the uppermost 1 km of hot, young oceanic crust

Drilling-induced and logging-related features illustrated from IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 downhole logs and borehole imaging tools

Expedition 364 was a joint IODP and ICDP mission-specific platform (MSP) expedition to explore the Chicxulub impact crater buried below the surface of the Yucatán continental shelf seafloor. In April and May 2016, this expedition drilled a single borehole at Site M0077 into the crater's peak ring. Excellent quality cores were recovered from ~ 505 to ~1335m below seafloor (m b.s.f.), and high-resolution open hole logs were acquired between the surface and total drill depth. Downhole logs are used to image the borehole wall, measure the physical properties of rocks that surround the borehole, and assess borehole quality during drilling and coring operations. When making geological interpretations of downhole logs, it is essential to be able to distinguish between features that are geological and those that are operation-related. During Expedition 364 some drilling-induced and logging-related features were observed and include the following: effects caused by the presence of casing and metal debris in the hole, logging-tool eccentering, drilling-induced corkscrew shape of the hole, possible re-magnetization of low-coercivity grains within sedimentary rocks, markings on the borehole wall, and drilling-induced changes in the borehole diameter and trajectory

Hydrodynamics and hydrogeochemical changes in the mixing zone of a coastal aquifer during a heavy rain event

The coastal aquifers are the place where meet fresh water and seawater. This confluence between both of them is called mixing zone which is in equilibrium due to the different density of the two masses and where various biogeochemical reactions takes place. We know that this equilibrium can be canceled during an important recharge event. Within the aquifer, such events displace the mixing zone over a short time period. This study is aims at the identification and description at high frequency of spatial and temporal response of the mixing zone and its impact on geochemical processes during one such fast water inflow event. We choose the experimental site of Argentona as the place of this study. Located in the northeast of Spain this site is subjected to a Mediterranean climate characterized by heavy rainfall amount recorded during Fall and early Spring period, concentrated during a few hours. Furthermore, this site is located on an alluvial aquifer, equipped with 16 shallow boreholes over a 100 m scale (Fig.1). The geological cross section presented in Fig.2 shows that the aquifer is multilayered and we suspect an effect of a clay/silt layer located at around 12 m.This work was funded by the projects CGL2013-48869-C2-1 y CGL2013-48869-C2-2-R of the Spanish Government. We would like to thank SIMMAR (Serveis Integrals de Manteniment del Maresme) and the Consell Comarcal del Maresme in the construction of the research site.Peer reviewe

Petrophysical, Geochemical, and Hydrological Evidence for Extensive Fracture-Mediated Fluid and Heat Transport in the Alpine Fault's Hanging-Wall Damage Zone

Fault rock assemblages reflect interaction between deformation, stress, temperature, fluid, and chemical regimes on distinct spatial and temporal scales at various positions in the crust. Here we interpret measurements made in the hanging-wall of the Alpine Fault during the second stage of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-2). We present observational evidence for extensive fracturing and high hanging-wall hydraulic conductivity (∼10−9 to 10−7 m/s, corresponding to permeability of ∼10−16 to 10−14 m2) extending several hundred meters from the fault's principal slip zone. Mud losses, gas chemistry anomalies, and petrophysical data indicate that a subset of fractures intersected by the borehole are capable of transmitting fluid volumes of several cubic meters on time scales of hours. DFDP-2 observations and other data suggest that this hydrogeologically active portion of the fault zone in the hanging-wall is several kilometers wide in the uppermost crust. This finding is consistent with numerical models of earthquake rupture and off-fault damage. We conclude that the mechanically and hydrogeologically active part of the Alpine Fault is a more dynamic and extensive feature than commonly described in models based on exhumed faults. We propose that the hydrogeologically active damage zone of the Alpine Fault and other large active faults in areas of high topographic relief can be subdivided into an inner zone in which damage is controlled principally by earthquake rupture processes and an outer zone in which damage reflects coseismic shaking, strain accumulation and release on interseismic timescales, and inherited fracturing related to exhumation

The possibility of evidence-based psychiatry: depression as a case

Considering psychiatry as a medical discipline, a diagnosis identifying a disorder should lead to an effective therapy. Such presumed causality is the basis of evidence-based psychiatry. We examined the strengths and weaknesses of research onto the causality of relationship between diagnosis and therapy of major depressive disorder and suggest what could be done to strengthen eventual claims on causality. Four obstacles for a rational evidence-based psychiatry were recognised. First, current classification systems are scientifically nonfalsifiable. Second, cerebral processes are—at least to some extent—nondeterministic, i.e. they are random, stochastic and/or chaotic. Third, the vague or lack of relationship between therapeutic regimens and suspected pathogenesis. Fourth, the inadequacy of tools to diagnose and delineate a functional disorder. We suggest a strategy to identify diagnostic prototypes that are characterised by a limited number of parameters (symptoms, markers and other characteristics). A prototypical diagnosis that may either support or reject particular elements of current diagnostic systems. Nevertheless, one faces the possibility that psychiatry will remain a relatively weak evidence-based medical discipline