Clique of functional hubs orchestrates population bursts in developmentally regulated neural networks

It has recently been discovered that single neuron stimulation can impact network dynamics in immature and adult neuronal circuits. Here we report a novel mechanism which can explain in neuronal circuits, at an early stage of development, the peculiar role played by a few specific neurons in promoting/arresting the population activity. For this purpose, we consider a standard neuronal network model, with short-term synaptic plasticity, whose population activity is characterized by bursting behavior. The addition of developmentally inspired constraints and correlations in the distribution of the neuronal connectivities and excitabilities leads to the emergence of functional hub neurons, whose stimulation/deletion is critical for the network activity. Functional hubs form a clique, where a precise sequential activation of the neurons is essential to ignite collective events without any need for a specific topological architecture. Unsupervised time-lagged firings of supra-threshold cells, in connection with coordinated entrainments of near-threshold neurons, are the key ingredients to orchestrateComment: 39 pages, 15 figures, to appear in PLOS Computational Biolog

ESA-UE. Spazio e difesa per la geopolitica del continente. Analisi del conflitto russo-ucraino

The interconnection between space and defence is known and recognized. Among others, the latter has always been at heart of space activities but in the last few years we have been witnessing an increased interest in these dimensions in Europe. In the past 20 years, the New Space economy and the birth of new spacefaring nations, the increased interconnection between space and new domains, among others, have been contributing to open the space sector to several factors of influence. On the one hand, these phenomena have unlocked space for new actors, new scientific and technological developments in the upstream and downstream. On the other, they have exposed space to new threats. For instance, the advent of mega-constellations, the increased number of space objects and unregulated activities in outer space have been worsening the space debris issue and endangering human and robotic missions. The use of new technologies has strengthened ties between space and other domains, such as the cyber world. Russia’s current war against Ukraine, strongly condemned by the international community as an unjustified act of violence and a violation of international law, has been raising questions regarding cooperation in space and opened new scenarios. Since the outset, space has been one of the strategic domains in which the sanctions war is being fought and the subject of threats that risk undermining not only the safety and security of the sector itself, but also the national and European security, with many strategic sectors and infrastructures heavily relying on space systems and technologies. This paper will firstly investigate some of Europe’s most recent strategies, policies and plans in the space, defence and security sector, as well as space programmes and initiatives with a defence dimension. Selected examples are the latest communication of the European Commission (EC) regarding initiatives in EU’s critical areas for defence and security, including space, to contribute to the EU Strategic Compass on Security and Defence; the EC’s communication in Space Traffic Management (STM); the EC’s Action Plan on Synergies between civil, defence and space industries. Secondly, it will analyse the impact of the most recent geopolitical events on these and upcoming actions and activities, as well as on the European space sector. Finally, it will reflect on the need to establish real cooperation between EU and ESA to increase Europe’s relevance in defence and security as well as its role as a geopolitical player

Evaluation and the environmental democracy of cities: Strategic Environmental Assessment of urban plans in Italy.

Cities stand up as a major concern for environmental governance and democracy, and an ideal target for theoretical investigations and practical innovations alike. Our work is concerned with reconstructing the links between democracy and the environment, by targeting urban governance and tapping into the institutional practices of Urban Planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). SEA is a major policy tool, and its interplay with planning unravels key issues in both urban governance and environmental democracy, including coping with fundamental risks, voicing non-human agents, managing commons, addressing environmental justice. The observations we present in this paper rest on two parallel approaches. First, we carried out a content review of 12 SEA reports concerning urban plans in Italy. Second, we were involved in two case studies concerning urban planning and SEA in the towns of Monopoli and Magenta. We point to some key reflections with the aim of opening up the discussion. Participation often languishes in institutional arenas, yet it thrives in other forms that affect decision-making. Negotiation around individual planning processes should be framed in the general governance arrangements that are constantly reshaped through interactions among fluid trans-organizational networks. Legally binding measures have an ambivalent relation with environmental governance strategies, and they are handled with difficulty by deliberative planning approaches. In mainstreaming new policy tools (such as SEA), procedural aspects are usually stressed, whereas a focus on process and desired outcomes could foster, respectively, capacity building and salience

Evaluation and the environmental democracy of cities: Strategic Environmental Assessment of urban plans in Italy.

Cities stand up as a major concern for environmental governance and democracy, and an ideal target for theoretical investigations and practical innovations alike. Our work is concerned with reconstructing the links between democracy and the environment, by targeting urban governance and tapping into the institutional practices of Urban Planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). SEA is a major policy tool, and its interplay with planning unravels key issues in both urban governance and environmental democracy, including coping with fundamental risks, voicing non-human agents, managing commons, addressing environmental justice. The observations we present in this paper rest on two parallel approaches. First, we carried out a content review of 12 SEA reports concerning urban plans in Italy. Second, we were involved in two case studies concerning urban planning and SEA in the towns of Monopoli and Magenta. We point to some key reflections with the aim of opening up the discussion. Participation often languishes in institutional arenas, yet it thrives in other forms that affect decision-making. Negotiation around individual planning processes should be framed in the general governance arrangements that are constantly reshaped through interactions among fluid trans-organizational networks. Legally binding measures have an ambivalent relation with environmental governance strategies, and they are handled with difficulty by deliberative planning approaches. In mainstreaming new policy tools (such as SEA), procedural aspects are usually stressed, whereas a focus on process and desired outcomes could foster, respectively, capacity building and salience

Individual and sex-related differences in pain and relief responsiveness are associated with differences in resting-state functional networks in healthy volunteers

Pain processing is associated with neural activity in a number of widespread brain regions. Here, we investigated whether functional connectivity at rest between these brain regions is associated with individual and sex-related differences in thermal pain and relief responsiveness. Twenty healthy volunteers (ten females) were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging in resting conditions. Half an hour after scanning, we administered thermal pain on the back of their right hand and collected pain and relief ratings in two separate runs of twelve stimuli each. Across the whole group, mean pain ratings were associated with decreased connectivity at rest between brain regions belonging to the default mode and the visual resting-state network. In men, pain measures correlated with increased connectivity within the visual resting-state network. In women, in contrast, decreased connectivity between this network and parietal and prefrontal brain regions implicated in affective cognitive control were associated with both pain and relief ratings. Our findings indicate that the well documented individual variability and sex differences in pain sensitivity may be explained, at least in part, by network dynamics at rest in these brain regions

Toward fractioning of isomers through binding-induced acceleration of azobenzene switching

The E/Z isomerization process of a uracil-azobenzene derivative in which the nucleobase is conjugated to a phenyldiazene tail is studied in view of its ability to form triply-H-bonded complexes with a suitably complementary 2,6-diacetylamino-4-pyridine ligand. UV-Vis and 1H-NMR investigations of the photochemical and thermal isomerization kinetics show that the thermal Z→E interconversion is four-fold accelerated upon formation of the H-bonded complex. DFT calculations show that the formation of triple H-bonds triggers a significant elongation of the N=N double bond, caused by an increase of its πg∗ antibonding character. This results in a reduction of the N=N torsional barrier and thus in accelerated thermal Z→E isomerization. Combined with light controlled E→Z isomerization this enables controllable fractional tuning of the two configurational isomers

Two-dimensional ketone-driven metal-organic coordination on Cu(111)

Two-dimensional metal-organic nanostructures based on the binding of ketone groups and metal atoms were fabricated by depositing pyrene-4,5,9,10-tetraone (PTO) molecules on a Cu(111) surface. The strongly electronegative ketone moieties bind to either copper adatoms from the substrate or co-deposited iron atoms. In the former case, scanning tunnelling microscopy images reveal the development of an extended metal-organic supramolecular structure. Each copper adatom coordinates two ketone ligands of two neighbouring PTO molecules, forming chains that are linked together into large islands via secondary van der Waals interactions. Deposition of iron atoms leads to a transformation of this assembly resulting from the substitution of the metal centres. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the driving force for the metal substitution is primarily determined by the strength of the ketone-metal bond, which is higher for Fe compared to Cu. This second class of nanostructures displays a structural dependence on the rate of iron deposition