Elucidating the cellular dynamics of the brain with single-cell RNA sequencing

Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged in recent years as a breakthrough technology to understand RNA metabolism at cellular resolution. In addition to allowing new cell types and states to be identified, scRNA-seq can permit cell-type specific differential gene expression changes, pre-mRNA processing events, gene regulatory networks and single-cell developmental trajectories to be uncovered. More recently, a new wave of multi-omic adaptations and complementary spatial transcriptomics workflows have been developed that facilitate the collection of even more holistic information from individual cells. These developments have unprecedented potential to provide penetrating new insights into the basic neural cell dynamics and molecular mechanisms relevant to the nervous system in both health and disease. In this review we discuss this maturation of single-cell RNA-sequencing over the past decade, and review the different adaptations of the technology that can now be applied both at different scales and for different purposes. We conclude by highlighting how these methods have already led to many exciting discoveries across neuroscience that have furthered our cellular understanding of the neurological disease

Balancing social and cultural priorities in the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for UNESCO World Heritage cities

There is a strong relationship between heritage-led urban regeneration and the UN initiatives for Sustainable Development (SD). These include the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention (ICH; 2003) and Historic Urban Landscape (HUL; 2011) under the UNESCO mandate and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; 2015) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA; 2016) under the UN mandate. Despite the presence of those initiatives, regeneration in a World Heritage city often leads to the disappearance of intangible heritage, gentrification, excessive tourism, and social exclusion. Therefore, this paper critically identifies the shortcomings of those initiatives in addressing social and cultural sustainability. It uses the recently inscribed city of As-Salt on the WHL to showcase how the relevant SDGs’ targets and indicators are problematic in monitoring and measuring the sustainability of urban regeneration practices in WH cities. This is achieved by investigating where heritage and culture are embedded within the descriptions of goals and indicators in the three initiatives (SDGs, NUA, and HUL) document. A content analysis, using the NVivo qualitative data analysis tool, was conducted in order to identify complementarity, synergies, and correlations among the goals and indicators related to social and cultural sustainability. This paper concludes by suggesting an integrated approach under the umbrella of the SDGs for a more sustainable heritage-led urban regeneration alternative for cities acquiring UNESCO WH status

Heritage-led urban regeneration in the context of WH listing: lessons and opportunities for the newly inscribed city of As-Salt in Jordan

The nomination of a city on the UNESCO WHL is usually followed by urban regeneration with emphasis on tourism development and the OUV assigned to the city. In doing so, other heritage values are likely to be excluded, while new urban challenges are unintentionally triggered such as gentrification, touristification, social exclusion, amongst others. Following the recent inscription of As-Salt City in Jordan on the UNESCO WHL in July 2021, this paper traces the urban regeneration initiatives in the city from the first attempt of its nomination on the WHL in 2014 to its inscription in 2021. Based on a survey of the local community members’ perceptions and priorities, conducted in November 2020, the paper highlights the opportunities and the challenges that have resulted from the urban transformations triggered by the WHL nomination processes of As-Salt. In addition, key lessons are drawn from the urban regeneration trajectories of world heritage cities in the MENA region that have been on the WHL for a number of decades. These lessons combined with the result of As-Salt community survey are used to develop a list of prioritized short, medium, and long-term recommendations for the city of As-Salt to address how the urban regeneration practices that have already started can be nudged to change to more sustainable trajectories

Reflecting on nostalgic, positive, and novel experiences increases state Openness

Objective Personality change is a growing field of interest, but relatively few studies have examined causes of change in Openness. We investigated whether it is possible to influence state Openness, and through what mechanisms this effect may occur. Method In two experiments (Study 1: N = 144, Mage = 36.4, 58% female, 88% White; Study 2: N = 269, Mage = 34.0, 60% female, 91% White), participants reflected on and wrote about a personal experience requested to be either: nostalgic; positive and novel (Study 1); positive or novel (Study 2); or ordinary. They rated the events for nostalgia, positivity, novelty, and sociality, and completed measures of state positive affect, self‐esteem, social connectedness, meaning in life, and state Openness. Results Participants who recalled positive and/or novel events reported greater state Openness than those who recalled ordinary events. In Study 1, this also applied to those recalling nostalgic events. Event ratings of positivity (both studies), nostalgia and novelty (Study 2) independently predicted state Openness. State positive affect and self‐esteem were independent predictors in both studies, suggesting possible indirect paths. Conclusions Reflecting on nostalgic, positive, and novel experiences can increase state Openness. This finding may be useful for interventions targeting trait‐level change

Ambulatory monitoring of activity levels of individuals in the sub-acute stage following stroke: a case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is an important need to better understand the activities of individual patients with stroke outside of structured therapy since this activity is likely to have a profound influence on recovery. A case-study approach was used to examine the activity levels and associated physiological load of patients with stroke throughout a day.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Activities and physiologic measures were recorded during a continuous 8 hour period from 4 individuals in the sub-acute stage following stroke (ranging from 49 to 80 years old; 4 to 8 weeks post-stroke) in an in-patient rehabilitation hospital.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both heart rate (p = 0.0207) and ventilation rate (p < 0.0001) increased as intensity of activity increased. Results revealed individual differences in physiological response to daily activities, and large ranges in physiological response measures during 'moderately' and 'highly' therapeutic activities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Activity levels of individuals with stroke during the day were generally low, though task-related changes in physiologic measures were observed. Large variability in the physiological response to even the activities deemed to be greatest intensity suggests that inclusion of such extended measurement of physiologic measures may improve understanding of physiological profile that could guide elements of the physical therapy prescription.</p

Aesthetics and literature : a problematic relation?

The paper argues that there is a proper place for literature within aesthetics but that care must be taken in identifying just what the relation is. In characterising aesthetic pleasure associated with literature it is all too easy to fall into reductive accounts, for example, of literature as merely "fine writing". Belleslettrist or formalistic accounts of literature are rejected, as are two other kinds of reduction, to pure meaning properties and to a kind of narrative realism. The idea is developed that literature-both poetry and prose fiction-invites its own distinctive kind of aesthetic appreciation which far from being at odds with critical practice, in fact chimes well with it