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The Where and How of Touch: A Review of Tactile Localization Research
arXiv:2601.23023v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Tactile localization is the seemingly simple ability to 'tell' where a touch has occurred. However, how this ability is assessed, and what conclusions are drawn from experiments, depends on the theoretical ideas that inspire the research. Here, we review both theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches based on a systematic web-based literature search on tactile localization. After presenting current theories of tactile localization, we discuss task characteristics that differentiate current methodology for tactile localization into at least 8 distinct types of experimental tasks. We describe these tasks, discuss their, often implicit, underlying assumptions and cognitive requirements, and relate them to the theoretical approaches. We then compare, in an exemplary manner, the tactile localization results reported by a subset of studies and demonstrate how some methods are associated with specific biases, illustrating that the choice of experimental method significantly affects the conclusions drawn from the results. Our review suggests that the field currently lacks a clear concept of the specific processes induced by the various experimental tasks and, thus, calls for concerted efforts to clarify and unify currently diverse, fragmented, and partly inconsistent theoretical underpinnings of tactile spatial processing, flanked by dedicated data sharing to allow across-study analysis.in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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SLIM-Brain: A Data- and Training-Efficient Foundation Model for fMRI Data Analysis
arXiv:2512.21881v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Foundation models are emerging as a powerful paradigm for fMRI analysis, but current approaches face a dual bottleneck of data- and training-efficiency. Atlas-based methods aggregate voxel signals into fixed regions of interest, reducing data dimensionality but discarding fine-grained spatial details, and requiring extremely large cohorts to train effectively as general-purpose foundation models. Atlas-free methods, on the other hand, operate directly on voxel-level information - preserving spatial fidelity but are prohibitively memory- and compute-intensive, making large-scale pre-training infeasible. We introduce SLIM-Brain (Sample-efficient, Low-memory fMRI Foundation Model for Human Brain), a new atlas-free foundation model that simultaneously improves both data- and training-efficiency. SLIM-Brain adopts a two-stage adaptive design: (i) a lightweight temporal extractor captures global context across full sequences and ranks data windows by saliency, and (ii) a 4D hierarchical encoder (Hiera-JEPA) learns fine-grained voxel-level representations only from the top-$k$ selected windows, while deleting about 70% masked patches. Extensive experiments across seven public benchmarks show that SLIM-Brain establishes new state-of-the-art performance on diverse tasks, while requiring only 4 thousand pre-training sessions and approximately 30% of GPU memory comparing to traditional voxel-level methods.in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Investigating the Interplay of Parameterization and Optimizer in Gradient-Free Topology Optimization: A Cantilever Beam Case Study
arXiv:2601.22241v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Gradient-free black-box optimization (BBO) is widely used in engineering design and provides a flexible framework for topology optimization (TO), enabling the discovery of high-performing structural designs without requiring gradient information from simulations. Yet, its success depends on two key choices: the geometric parameterization defining the search space and the optimizer exploring it. This study investigates this interplay through a compliance minimization problem for a cantilever beam subject to a connectivity constraint. We benchmark three geometric parameterizations, each combined with three representative BBO algorithms: differential evolution, covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy, and heteroscedastic evolutionary Bayesian optimization, across 10D, 20D, and 50D design spaces. Results reveal that parameterization quality has a stronger influence on optimization performance than optimizer choice: a well-structured parameterization enables robust and competitive performance across algorithms, whereas weaker representations increase optimizer dependency. Overall, this study highlights the dominant role of geometric parameterization in practical BBO-based TO and shows that algorithm performance and selection cannot be fairly assessed without accounting for the induced design space.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Fairness-Aware Performance Evaluation for Multi-Party Multi-Objective Optimization
arXiv:2601.22497v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: In multiparty multiobjective optimization problems, solution sets are usually evaluated using classical performance metrics, aggregated across DMs. However, such mean-based evaluations may be unfair by favoring certain parties, as they assume identical geometric approximation quality to each party's PF carries comparable evaluative significance. Moreover, prevailing notions of MPMOP optimal solutions are restricted to strictly common Pareto optimal solutions, representing a narrow form of cooperation in multiparty decision making scenarios. These limitations obscure whether a solution set reflects balanced relative gains or meaningful consensus among heterogeneous DMs. To address these issues, this paper develops a fairness-aware performance evaluation framework grounded in a generalized notion of consensus solutions. From a cooperative game-theoretic perspective, we formalize four axioms that a fairness-aware evaluation function for MPMOPs should satisfy. By introducing a concession rate vector to quantify acceptable compromises by individual DMs, we generalize the classical definition of MPMOP optimal solutions and embed classical performance metrics into a Nash-product-based evaluation framework, which is theoretically shown to satisfy all axioms. To support empirical validation, we further construct benchmark problems that extend existing MPMOP suites by incorporating consensus-deficient negotiation structures. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed evaluation framework is able to distinguish algorithmic performance in a manner consistent with consensus-aware fairness considerations. Specifically, algorithms converging toward strictly common solutions are assigned higher evaluation scores when such solutions exist, whereas in the absence of strictly common solutions, algorithms that effectively cover the commonly acceptable region are more favorably evaluated.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Detect and Act: Automated Dynamic Optimizer through Meta-Black-Box Optimization
arXiv:2601.22542v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Dynamic Optimization Problems (DOPs) are challenging to address due to their complex nature, i.e., dynamic environment variation. Evolutionary Computation methods are generally advantaged in solving DOPs since they resemble dynamic biological evolution. However, existing evolutionary dynamic optimization methods rely heavily on human-crafted adaptive strategy to detect environment variation in DOPs, and then adapt the searching strategy accordingly. These hand-crafted strategies may perform ineffectively at out-of-box scenarios. In this paper, we propose a reinforcement learning-assisted approach to enable automated variation detection and self-adaption in evolutionary algorithms. This is achieved by borrowing the bi-level learning-to-optimize idea from recent Meta-Black-Box Optimization works. We use a deep Q-network as optimization dynamics detector and searching strategy adapter: It is fed as input with current-step optimization state and then dictates desired control parameters to underlying evolutionary algorithms for next-step optimization. The learning objective is to maximize the expected performance gain across a problem distribution. Once trained, our approach could generalize toward unseen DOPs with automated environment variation detection and self-adaption. To facilitate comprehensive validation, we further construct an easy-to-difficult DOPs testbed with diverse synthetic instances. Extensive benchmark results demonstrate flexible searching behavior and superior performance of our approach in solving DOPs, compared to state-of-the-art baselines.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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COBRA++: Enhanced COBRA Optimizer with Augmented Surrogate Pool and Reinforced Surrogate Selection
arXiv:2601.22624v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: The optimization problems in realistic world present significant challenges onto optimization algorithms, such as the expensive evaluation issue and complex constraint conditions. COBRA optimizer (including its up-to-date variants) is a representative and effective tool for addressing such optimization problems, which introduces 1) RBF surrogate to reduce online evaluation and 2) bi-stage optimization process to alternate search for feasible solution and optimal solution. Though promising, its design space, i.e., surrogate model pool and selection standard, is still manually decided by human expert, resulting in labor-intensive fine-tuning for novel tasks. In this paper, we propose a learning-based adaptive strategy (COBRA++) that enhances COBRA in two aspects: 1) An augmented surrogate pool to break the tie with RBF-like surrogate and hence enhances model diversity and approximation capability; 2) A reinforcement learning-based online model selection policy that empowers efficient and accurate optimization process. The model selection policy is trained to maximize overall performance of COBRA++ across a distribution of constrained optimization problems with diverse properties. We have conducted multi-dimensional validation experiments and demonstrate that COBRA++ achieves substantial performance improvement against vanilla COBRA and its adaptive variant. Ablation studies are provided to support correctness of each design component in COBRA++.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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NEXUS: Bit-Exact ANN-to-SNN Equivalence via Neuromorphic Gate Circuits with Surrogate-Free Training
arXiv:2601.21279v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) promise energy-efficient computing through event-driven sparsity, yet all existing approaches sacrifice accuracy by approximating continuous values with discrete spikes. We propose NEXUS, a framework that achieves bit-exact ANN-to-SNN equivalence -- not approximate, but mathematically identical outputs. Our key insight is constructing all arithmetic operations, both linear and nonlinear, from pure IF neuron logic gates that implement IEEE-754 compliant floating-point arithmetic. Through spatial bit encoding (zero encoding error by construction), hierarchical neuromorphic gate circuits (from basic logic gates to complete transformer layers), and surrogate-free STE training (exact identity mapping rather than heuristic approximation), NEXUS produces outputs identical to standard ANNs up to machine precision. Experiments on models up to LLaMA-2 70B demonstrate identical task accuracy (0.00% degradation) with mean ULP error of only 6.19, while achieving 27-168,000$\times$ energy reduction on neuromorphic hardware. Crucially, spatial bit encoding's single-timestep design renders the framework inherently immune to membrane potential leakage (100% accuracy across all decay factors $\beta\in[0.1,1.0]$), while tolerating synaptic noise up to $\sigma=0.2$ with >98% gate-level accuracy.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Understanding Transformer Optimization via Gradient Heterogeneity
arXiv:2502.00213v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Transformers are difficult to optimize with stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and largely rely on adaptive optimizers such as Adam. Despite their empirical success, the reasons behind Adam's superior performance over SGD remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyze the optimization of Transformer models through the lens of \emph{gradient heterogeneity}, defined as the variation in gradient norms across parameter blocks. We provide a theoretical analysis showing that gradient heterogeneity, together with Hessian heterogeneity, degrades the convergence of gradient-based methods such as SGD, while sign-based methods are substantially less sensitive to this effect. Adam's coordinate-wise normalization makes its update directions depend mainly on gradient signs, so Adam can be interpreted as a soft variant of SignSGD. Our analysis uses the fact that SGD and SignSGD follow steepest descent directions under different norms, and derives upper bounds on the iteration complexity with implications for learning rate scaling in SignSGD. We further investigate the origin of gradient heterogeneity in Transformer architectures and show that it is strongly influenced by the placement of layer normalization, with Post-LN architectures exhibiting particularly pronounced heterogeneity. Experimental results from fine-tuning Transformers in both NLP and vision domains validate our theoretical analysis. Code is available at https://github.com/tom4649/gradient-heterogeneity.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Stretching Beyond the Obvious: A Gradient-Free Framework to Unveil the Hidden Landscape of Visual Invariance
arXiv:2506.17040v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Uncovering which feature combinations are encoded by visual units is critical to understanding how images are transformed into representations that support recognition. While existing feature visualization approaches typically infer a unit's most exciting images, this is insufficient to reveal the manifold of transformations under which responses remain invariant, which is critical to generalization in vision. Here we introduce Stretch-and-Squeeze (SnS), a model-agnostic, gradient-free framework to systematically characterize a unit's maximally invariant stimuli, and its vulnerability to adversarial perturbations, in both biological and artificial visual systems. SnS frames these transformations as bi-objective optimization problems. To probe invariance, SnS seeks image perturbations that maximally alter (stretch) the representation of a reference stimulus in a given processing stage while preserving unit activation downstream (squeeze). To probe adversarial sensitivity, stretching and squeezing are reversed to maximally perturb unit activation while minimizing changes to the upstream representation. Applied to CNNs, SnS revealed invariant transformations that were farther from a reference image in pixel-space than those produced by affine transformations, while more strongly preserving the target unit's response. The discovered invariant images differed depending on the stage of the image representation used for optimization: pixel-level changes primarily affected luminance and contrast, while stretching mid- and late-layer representations mainly altered texture and pose. By measuring how well the hierarchical invariant images obtained for L2 robust networks were classified by humans and other observer networks, we discovered a substantial drop in their interpretability when the representation was stretched in deep layers, while the opposite trend was found for standard models.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Thoughtbubbles: an Unsupervised Method for Parallel Thinking in Latent Space
arXiv:2510.00219v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Current approaches for scaling inference-time compute in transformers train them to emit explicit chain-of-thought tokens before producing an answer. While these methods are powerful, they are limited because they cannot be applied during pretraining and rely solely on serially-generated, natural-language verbalization. In this work, we propose Thoughtbubbles, a transformer variant that natively performs parallel adaptive computation in latent space by learning to fork or delete residual streams. Thus, tokens requiring more computation can form a "bubble" of cloned residuals in the middle of the network. Crucially, this behavior is learned during pretraining with only language modeling loss. Using half of the training budget, Thoughtbubbles outperforms the perplexity and zero-shot evals of both standard decoder LMs and those using non-adaptive parallel computation approaches. These results hold across model sizes from 150M to 1.9B. Thoughtbubbles achieves competitive GSM8K results using half of the baseline's token budget. The implicit nature of our method enables models to begin learning adaptive computation at pretraining time, paving the way to unified train-time and test-time scaling behaviors.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Equivariant Neural Networks for General Linear Symmetries on Lie Algebras
arXiv:2510.22984v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Many scientific and geometric problems exhibit general linear symmetries, yet most equivariant neural networks are built for compact groups or simple vector features, limiting their reuse on matrix-valued data such as covariances, inertias, or shape tensors. We introduce Reductive Lie Neurons (ReLNs), an exactly GL(n)-equivariant architecture that natively supports matrix-valued and Lie-algebraic features. ReLNs resolve a central stability issue for reductive Lie algebras by introducing a non-degenerate adjoint (conjugation)-invariant bilinear form, enabling principled nonlinear interactions and invariant feature construction in a single architecture that transfers across subgroups without redesign. We demonstrate ReLNs on algebraic tasks with sl(3) and sp(4) symmetries, Lorentz-equivariant particle physics, uncertainty-aware drone state estimation via joint velocity-covariance processing, learning from 3D Gaussian-splat representations, and EMLP double-pendulum benchmark spanning multiple symmetry groups. ReLNs consistently match or outperform strong equivariant and self-supervised baselines while using substantially fewer parameters and compute, improving the accuracy-efficiency trade-off and providing a practical, reusable backbone for learning with broad linear symmetries. Project page: https://reductive-lie-neuron.github.io/in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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AgenticRed: Optimizing Agentic Systems for Automated Red-teaming
arXiv:2601.13518v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: While recent automated red-teaming methods show promise for systematically exposing model vulnerabilities, most existing approaches rely on human-specified workflows. This dependence on manually designed workflows suffers from human biases and makes exploring the broader design space expensive. We introduce AgenticRed, an automated pipeline that leverages LLMs' in-context learning to iteratively design and refine red-teaming systems without human intervention. Rather than optimizing attacker policies within predefined structures, AgenticRed treats red-teaming as a system design problem. Inspired by methods like Meta Agent Search, we develop a novel procedure for evolving agentic systems using evolutionary selection, and apply it to the problem of automatic red-teaming. Red-teaming systems designed by AgenticRed consistently outperform state-of-the-art approaches, achieving 96% attack success rate (ASR) on Llama-2-7B (36% improvement) and 98% on Llama-3-8B on HarmBench. Our approach exhibits strong transferability to proprietary models, achieving 100% ASR on GPT-3.5-Turbo and GPT-4o, and 60% on Claude-Sonnet-3.5 (24% improvement). This work highlights automated system design as a powerful paradigm for AI safety evaluation that can keep pace with rapidly evolving models.in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on 2026-02-02 05:00:00 UTC.
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Dual Janus foam for directional thermal management
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-69140-6
Directional thermal management is critical for energy harvesting and the common passive radiative cooling and heating strategies free of electricity input focus on regulating the solar and thermal radiation properties of materials but neglect the thermal conduction process. Here, the authors report dual Janus foams with dual asymmetries in photothermal and thermal rectification showing high photothermal property contrast and thermal rectification ratios.in Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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A common 19 bp APOE enhancer deletion is protective against Alzheimer’s disease in African Americans
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-68808-3
The APOE-ε4/ε4 genotype is the strongest genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer’s disease. Here, Brutman et al. identify a deletion common in people of African ancestry that reduces the relative risk conferred by the APOE-ε4/ε4 genotype.in Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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Breaking activity-selectivity-stability trade-offs in reverse water-gas shift reaction via high-energy micro-faceted Mo2N nanocrystals
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-68756-y
The reverse water–gas shift reaction is crucial for CO₂ conversion using renewable hydrogen, but simultaneously achieving high activity, selectivity, and stability in catalysts remains a challenge. Here, the authors introduce a near-surface “quasi-hyperbaric” ammonia strategy that integrates atmospheric-pressure processing with in situ ammonia decomposition to synthesize a high-energy Mo₂N-based catalyst capable of overcoming these trade-offs.in Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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Orbital exchange-mediated current control of magnetism
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-68846-x
This work predicts the current-induced control of magnetism by orbital exchange interaction and provides formal framework treating the orbital exchange interaction, not only limited to conventional ferromagnetic systems.in Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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Coacervate droplets as pH-regionalized protocells
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-68980-6
This study shows that liquid–liquid phase separation can help create and regulate pH differences across cell-like coacervate droplets, which can mimic simple cellular functions by organizing enzyme reactions and supporting basic biological processes.in Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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Asymmetric Pt1C3-Pt1O1C3 catalytic pairs for efficient transfer hydrogenation of azobenzene
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-68759-9
Atomic catalytic pairs enable multistep transformations, yet the roles of spatial arrangement and coordination symmetry in homonuclear pairs remain unclear. Here, the authors construct atomically dispersed homonuclear Pt₁–Pt₁ pairs with asymmetric Pt₁C₃–Pt₁O₁C₃ coordination on reduced graphene oxide, enabling efficient transfer hydrogenation of azobenzene.in Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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Acoustic shape-morphing micromachines
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-68856-9
Balancing structural miniaturization with reliable shape-morphing performance is challenging in microrobot design. Here, the authors design an acoustic shape-morphing micromachine that can rapidly switch between multiple modes with precise control.in Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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Delivery of peptide coacervates to form stable interaction hubs in cells
Nature Communications, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-68793-7
Short HBpep peptides assemble into micron-size coacervates that are efficiently taken up by various cell types and stably retained for days. Nanobodies and bioPROTACs loaded in the coacervates enable interaction with native targets and these hubs can function as a bioreactor for target degradationin Nature Communications on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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AIR-LEISH: A Dataset of Giemsa-Stained Microscopy Images for AI-based Leishmania amastigotes Detection
Scientific Data, Published online: 02 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06676-8
AIR-LEISH: A Dataset of Giemsa-Stained Microscopy Images for AI-based Leishmania amastigotes Detectionin Nature scientific data on 2026-02-02 00:00:00 UTC.
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Tbr2-dependent parallel pathways regulate the development of distinct ipRGC subtypes
Communications Biology, Published online: 01 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09645-4
Two parallel transcription cascades via Irx1 and Tbx20, which are downstream of Tbr2, regulate ipRGC subtype formation, fate divergence, and maintenance in the retina.in Nature communications biology on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Pathogenic tau in the mouse locus coeruleus induces noradrenergic hyperactivity and neuropsychiatric phenotypes reminiscent of early Alzheimers disease
Alzheimers disease (AD), though defined as a cognitive disorder, often presents neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, agitation and sleep disruptions years before the onset of frank memory impairment. An early pathological feature is the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated pretangle tau (pTau) in the locus coeruleus (LC), the brains primary source of norepinephrine (NE). While clinical studies link LC pTau burden to behavioral abnormalities, causal mechanisms remain unclear. We developed a translationally-relevant mouse model that recapitulates the LC-first phenomenon using cell type-specific viral expression of pathogenic P364S mutant human tau in LC neurons. Three months post-infusion, pTau accumulation induced anxiety- and compulsive-like behaviors and reduced sleep spindles without altering overall sleep architecture. Consistent with the behavioral phenotypes, electrophysiological recordings revealed significant increases in spontaneous and evoked firing of LC neurons, accompanied by robust astrocytic reactivity with no apparent cell death. Transcriptomic analysis identified upregulation of Hcn2 and downregulation of Clic6, suggesting changes in neuronal excitability. To further define molecular mechanisms, we developed a cell type-specific proteomics approach, which showed synaptic and metabolic alterations associated with LC-specific tau pathology. Early anxiety-like behaviors observed at 3 months diminished at later timepoints (6-9 months) and were replaced by anxiolytic characteristics. These findings demonstrate that pTau triggers phenotypes reflective of LC-NE hyperactivity in the early stages of AD pathogenesis, laying the foundation for the development of LC-based disease-modifying therapies to address neuropsychiatric manifestations.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Hierarchical Chromatin Rewiring Orchestrates Early Transcriptional Regulation in Mouse Cerebral Cortex Following Focal Ischemia
Ischemic stroke triggers massive transcriptional reprogramming, yet how the brain's higher-order chromatin architecture orchestrates this response remains unknown. We mapped the spatiotemporal reorganization of the genome in the mouse peri-infarct cerebral cortex following transient middle cerebral artery occlusion at 6h and 24h of reperfusion. By integrating high-resolution Hi-C data with transcriptomic and cis-regulatory landscapes, we show that stroke induces a hierarchical rewiring of genome architecture across compartments, domains, and loops. Early A to B compartment shifts were largely transcriptionally silent for coding genes, whereas B compartments were enriched for upregulated noncoding RNAs. We also observe structural dependencies between scales. Gained loops do not independently drive differential expression. Instead, their regulatory potential is gated by their domain context. Loops nested within expanded Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) show a higher percentage of stroke-responsive transcripts. Flow analyses indicate that gained TADs establish the primary scaffold for transcriptional responses, while compartment identity refines the specificity of noncoding RNA regulation. These findings suggest that post-stroke gene expression follows a selective, multi-scale architectural hierarchy, with chromatin remodeling as a central regulator of the early ischemic stress response and genome architecture is a determinant of transcriptional outcomes.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Visual confidence accurately tracks increasing internal noise with eccentricity in peripheral vision
Sensory representations are inherently noisy, and monitoring this noise is essential for effective decision-making. This metacognitive ability of evaluating the quality of one's perceptual decision is referred to as perceptual confidence. However, whether perceptual confidence accurately tracks internal noise remains unresolved. Peripheral vision provides a natural testing ground for this question, yet previous studies report mixed results complicated by different definitions and measurements of confidence. Here, we used a normative Bayesian framework with incentivized confidence measurements to address these discrepancies. We tested the Bayesian-confidence hypothesis that confidence is derived from the posterior probability distribution of the feature being judged, given noisy sensory measurements. We tested two perceptual tasks while varying stimulus eccentricity: spatial localization and orientation estimation. We measured confidence by post-decision wagering, by which participants set a symmetrical range around the perceptual estimates. Participants earned higher reward for narrower confidence ranges but received zero reward if the range did not enclose the target. We estimated sensory noise from the perceptual responses to predict confidence, assuming that sensory noise linearly increases with eccentricity. We then compared a normative Bayesian model with three alternative models that challenged different assumptions. Across both tasks, the Bayesian ideal-observer model best predicted confidence. These results suggest that humans can accurately monitor the increased internal noise in peripheral vision and use this information to make optimal confidence judgments.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Serotonergic modulation of motor subspace dynamics drives a sleep-independent quiescent state
The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) serotonergic (5-HT) system has been implicated in regulating sleep and motor control; however, its specific role remains controversial. In this study, we found that optogenetic activation of DRN 5-HT neurons in larval zebrafish induced a quiescent state and a reduced response to acoustic stimuli. Unlike sleep, the induced quiescent state was not accompanied by a loss of postural control, and nighttime activation of DRN 5-HT neurons led to subsequent sleep rebound. Whole brain light field imaging combined with demixed principal component analysis (dPCA) revealed distinct neural subspaces related to DRN activation, sound responses, and motor activity. DRN 5-HT activation selectively modulated the motor-related subspace while leaving the sound-evoked subspace unaffected. Unlike DRN activation, sleep induced by mepyramine significantly altered sound-evoked neuronal activity patterns. Further analysis demonstrated that serotonin had a graded effect on the motor subspace, wherein downstream neurons responsible for particular bout types were more significantly influenced. Together, these results elucidate that serotonergic modulation promotes behavioral quiescence through a hierarchical regulation of motor populations.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Hyperhomocysteinemia does not increase the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage in hypertensive mice
Objective: Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) affects approximately 75% of the population in China, and there is currently controversy regarding whether HHcy increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. This study aims to investigate the effects of high homocysteine (Hcy) levels on cerebral hemorrhage in hypertensive mice by administering homocysteine to them. Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice at 8 months of age were used in the experiment. The study was divided into two groups: the Hcy + AngII + L - NAME group and the AngII + L - NAME group. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed when the mice exhibited signs of cerebral hemorrhage.After the hemorrhage, anesthesia was induced to euthanize the animals, and then the brain tissue was fixed. The total rearing period was 18 weeks. The relationship between homocysteine and stroke was described by plotting survival curves. The location and quantity of cerebral hemorrhage were determined through histopathological staining. Results: The serum Hcy concentration of mice fed with Hcy for 6 weeks increased to 23.07 ?mol/L, and the blood pressure ranged from 170 to 180 mmHg. The number of deaths due to cerebral hemorrhage was 10 in both the AngII + L - NAME + Hcy group and the AngII + L - NAME group. The p - value of the survival curves between the two groups was 0.162, indicating no statistically significant difference. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that elevated homocysteine levels did not influence the incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage in hypertensive mice.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Cortistatin neurons in the prelimbic cortex regulate seizure susceptibility in female mice via BDNF-TrkB signaling
The risk of developing psychiatric disorders, particularly stress-related disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is increased threefold in patients with epilepsy. While this increased risk may arise as a consequence of living with epilepsy, shared neurobiological mechanisms, particularly dysregulation of GABAergic signaling, may also contribute. To investigate this link, we investigated the function of GABAergic neurons co-expressing the neuropeptide cortistatin (CST), which has anticonvulsant effects and is implicated in both MDD and PTSD. Targeting CST+ neurons in the prelimbic cortex (PrL), a rodent brain region that is functionally and anatomically similar to the human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), we found that ablating CST+ neurons disrupts context-dependent fear renewal, causes spontaneous convulsive seizures, dramatically increases susceptibility to chemically-induced seizures, and increases anxiety-like phenotypes following stressors. We further show that repeated chemogenetic inhibition of CST+ neurons increases the rate of seizure kindling in female mice, and that disruption of brain derived neurotrophic factor signaling in CST+ neurons phenocopies the effects of acute inhibition. These data support the hypothesis that epilepsy and stress-related psychiatric disorders potentially share common neurobiological mechanisms, and that loss of CST+ neuron function may be a critical feature underlying fear dysregulation and cortical hyperexcitability.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Ultrastructural and Histological Cryopreservation of Mammalian Brains by Vitrification
Studies of whole brain cryopreservation are rare but are potentially important for a variety of applications. It has been demonstrated that ultrastructure in whole rabbit and pig brains can be cryopreserved by vitrification (ice-free cryopreservation) after prior aldehyde fixation, but fixation limits the range of studies that can be done by neurobiologists, including studies that depend upon general molecular integrity, signal transduction, macromolecular synthesis, and other physiological processes. We now show that whole brain ultrastructure can be preserved by vitrification without prior aldehyde fixation. Rabbit brain perfusion with the M22 vitrification solution followed by vitrification, warming, and fixation showed an absence of visible ice damage and overall structural preservation, but osmotic brain shrinkage sufficient to distort and obscure neuroanatomical detail. Neuroanatomical preservation in the presence of M22 was also investigated in human cerebral cortical biopsies taken after whole brain perfusion with M22. These biopsies did not form ice upon cooling or warming, and high power electron microscopy showed dehydrated and electron-dense but predominantly intact cells, neuropil, and synapses with no signs of ice crystal damage, and partial dilution of these samples restored normal cortical pyramidal cell shapes. To further evaluate ultrastructural preservation within the severely dehydrated brain, rabbit brains were perfused with M22 and then partially washed free of M22 before fixation. Perfusion dilution of the brain to 3-5M M22 resulted in brain re-expansion and the re-appearance of well-defined neuroanatomical features, but rehydration of the brain to 1M M22 resulted in ultrastructural damage suggestive of preventable osmotic injury caused by incomplete removal of M22. We conclude that both animal and human brains can be cryopreserved by vitrification with predominant retention of ultrastructural integrity without the need for prior aldehyde fixation. This observation has direct relevance to the feasibility of human cryopreservation, for which direct evidence has been lacking until this report. It also provides a starting point for perfecting brain cryopreservation, which may be necessary for lengthy space travel and could allow future medical time travel.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Presynaptic control of top-down signaling in neocortical layer 1
The integration of bottom-up and top-down signals is crucial for perception and behavior. Neocortical layer 1 (L1) is a key target for top-down inputs and contains various GABAergic interneurons. Here, we investigated whether GABA can presynaptically regulate neurotransmitter release at top-down synapses targeting L1 of primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Our findings show that presynaptic GABAB receptor activation suppresses corticocortical inputs from primary motor (M1) and secondary somatosensory cortices (S2) more than those from the posterior medial nucleus of the thalamus (POm). This effect varied by target cell type, with GABAergic interneurons being less affected. Finally, we demonstrate that L1 neuron-derived neurotrophic factor (NDNF)-expressing interneurons inhibit top-down synapses more effectively than somatostatin-expressing interneurons, and that POm drives L1 neurogliaform cells, a subtype of NDNF interneuron that elicits unitary GABAB responses. These results reveal a novel circuit in which higher-order thalamus influences top-down corticocortical communication via L1 neurogliaform cells.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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LRRC55 modulates BK channels to support Purkinje cell plasticity and motor coordination
Large-conductance Ca2+- and voltage-activated K+ (BK) channels are broadly expressed in the brain and shape neuronal excitability, yet their physiological impact depends on cell-type-specific auxiliary subunits. LRRC55 (BK {gamma}3) shifts BK activation to more negative voltages, but its protein distribution and in vivo function have remained unclear. Here, we generated knock-in mice carrying a C-terminal 3xHA-V5 tag on endogenous LRRC55 to map its expression, and Lrrc55 knockout mice to test its function. LRRC55 protein was selectively enriched in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Lrrc55 deletion produced ataxia-like impairments in gait, balance, and coordination. In acute slices, pharmacological BK-channel block with paxilline altered Purkinje cell simple- and complex-spike firing in wild-type mice, whereas these BK-dependent effects were largely absent in Lrrc55 knockouts, indicating that LRRC55 is required for BK channels to shape Purkinje cell firing under these conditions. Moreover, LRRC55 loss disrupted cerebellar synaptic plasticity, abolishing parallel fiber-Purkinje cell long-term potentiation and eliminating climbing fiber-Purkinje cell long-term depression, phenocopying paxilline in wild-type cells. Together, these results identify LRRC55 as a Purkinje-cell-enriched auxiliary subunit that is essential for BK-dependent excitability and plasticity and that supports normal cerebellar motor function.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-02-01 00:00:00 UTC.
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Reply to “Extending the Interpretation of Biomarker Dynamics in SOD1‐ALS Proteomics”
in Annals of Neurology on 2026-01-31 16:19:15 UTC.
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Glucagon‐Like Peptide‐1 Targets in the Human Nodose Ganglion
Our findings demonstrate that the human nodose ganglion expresses Glp1r mRNA and reveal species similarities and differences in Glp1r expression between humans and mice.
ABSTRACT
Given the rapidly expanding clinical use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP1R) agonists—well-known for their antidiabetic and antiobesity effects—it is increasingly important to understand the precise distribution of GLP1R expression in the human body, as this knowledge is crucial for elucidating both their therapeutic effects and side effects. In this study, we investigated Glp1r mRNA expression in the human nodose ganglion, a key sensory relay between the periphery and the brain. We analyzed postmortem paraffin-embedded nodose ganglia sections from 10 human donors, using RNAscope analysis. We found that optimal tissue required fixation times under 48 h and postmortem intervals of approximately 10 h or less. Ultimately, nine nodose ganglia from six donors met quality standards for analysis. Using multiplex RNAscope, we detected moderate to high levels of Glp1r expression in approximately 7% of all nodose neurons, with no clear differences between sides, sex, or age. The proportion of neurons with low Glp1r expression rose to nearly 28%. Notably, Glp1r expression was also observed in nonneuronal cells within the perineurium, epineurium, and fascicles of the human vagus nerve. As a point of comparison, we also examined Glp1r expression in mice, where 17.9%–29.1% of nodose neurons were positive, with slightly higher expression on the right side. In mice, Glp1r expression was strictly neuronal. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the human nodose ganglion is a potential target for GLP1R-based therapeutics and reveal species similarities and differences in Glp1r expression between humans and mice.
in Journal of Comparative Neurology on 2026-01-31 15:25:25 UTC.
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Correction to “Unpacking the Medial Temporal Lobe: Separating Recollection and Familiarity”
in Hippocampus on 2026-01-31 12:05:30 UTC.
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RVLM C1 Neurons Innervate Sacral as well as Thoracolumbar Autonomic Preganglionic Neurons in the Rat
Axons expressing the adrenaline-synthesizing enzyme, phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), project widely throughout the spinal cord. Many of these axons are from C1 neurons of the rostral ventrolateral medulla. We confirm that dense arrays of PNMT-expressing, C1-derived axons surround thoracolumbar sympathetic preganglionic neurons, many of which are putative vasomotor neurons. The C1/PNMT axons are also more widespread, innervating sacral preganglionic neurons activated by the micturition reflex and, very sparsely, somatic motor neurons in the ventral horn.
ABSTRACT
We examined the distribution of axons throughout the spinal cord of the rat that were either immunoreactive for the adrenaline-synthesizing enzyme, phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), or derived from medullary C1 neurons, one of the three groups of neurons in the brain that synthesize PNMT. We observed that PMNT-immunoreactive axons, as well as C1 axons labelled with GFP from viral transduction, innervate most, but not all, sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the thoracolumbar spinal cord. GFP-positive C1 axons provided innervation to sympathetic preganglionic neurons that expressed cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript, an accepted marker of sympathetic vasomotor neurons. In addition, we observed axons from PNMT-containing and C1 neurons caudal to the distribution of sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the sacral spinal cord where they closely apposed parasympathetic preganglionic neurons retrogradely labelled from the major pelvic ganglion. We also found close appositions from PNMT-immunoreactive or GFP-labelled C1 axons on choline acetyltransferase-stained parasympathetic preganglionic neurons activated by the micturition reflex, thus providing clear evidence of a non-cardiovascular target for RVLM C1 neurons. Furthermore, we observed a few PNMT-positive and GFP-positive C1 axons making close appositions with somatic motor neurons in Onuf's nucleus in the sacral cord and in the ventral horn at more rostral levels. These data provide a comprehensive map of the distribution of adrenergic inputs to the spinal cord and identify parasympathetic preganglionic neurons, including those involved in the micturition reflex, as well as sympathetic preganglionic neurons as the major targets for these inputs.
in Journal of Comparative Neurology on 2026-01-31 09:52:10 UTC.
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Risk Factors for Severe and Profound Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Auditory Performance in Children After Cochlear Implant Surgery at Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño, San Borja, Lima, 2021–2024 [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background Sensorineural hearing loss in children, when associated with specific risk factors, can negatively affect language development, which in turn impacts their quality of life as well as their family and social environment. Objective To determine the association between risk factors for severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss and auditory performance in post–cochlear implant patients at Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño, San Borja, during the period from 2021 to 2024. Methods An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted. Data collection was performed through a review of medical records; information was obtained from children treated between 2021 and 2024, including sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of post–cochlear implant patients. Auditory performance was assessed using the PEACH test. Results Medical records from 100 children who underwent cochlear implant surgery were reviewed. Preterm children showed poorer auditory performance (52.8%) compared with those born at term (70.5%). Children with low birth weight recorded a PEACH score of 51.4%, whereas those with normal birth weight reached higher values (71.8%). Additionally, children implanted before their first year of life presented a lower rate of suboptimal performance (40%), while those implanted after the age of three reached 56.5% performance. Analysis of risk factors associated with auditory outcomes revealed that prematurity, low birth weight, severe asphyxia, and hydrocephalus were significantly associated with poorer auditory performance. Conclusions There is a significant association between risk factors and reduced auditory performance in children with sensorineural hearing loss who underwent cochlear implant surgery, particularly among those born prematurely, with low birth weight, severe asphyxia, or hydrocephalus.in F1000Research on 2026-01-31 07:38:17 UTC.
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Integrated water quality assessment and health risk analysis of heavy metal and microbial contamination in the Ichu River, Peru [version 4; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
Background The Ichu River serves as the primary water source for urban consumption, agricultural irrigation, and several local industrial operations in the Huancavelica region; however, increasing anthropogenic pressures including untreated municipal wastewater, mining effluents, agricultural runoff, and expanding urbanization have significantly deteriorated its water quality. These combined stressors highlight the need for an integrated assessment to understand the extent of contamination and associated human health risks. Methods The investigation measured water quality and health-related risks by analyzing physicochemical parameters, heavy metals, and microbial pollutants at eight sampling points, site 1 (S1) through (S8). Results The research data showed that water quality worsened progressively from upstream to downstream locations such as turbidity, TDS, conductivity, and BOD levels increased. Oil pollution and oxygen depletion arose from a reduction in dissolved oxygen from 6.3 to 4.5 mg/L at the different sampling sites (S1 to S8). Heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd, and Cr) in the samples exceeded the standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO) established standards because of mining and industrial wastewater and local wastewater discharge. The presence of excessive Escherichia coli (E. coli) and total coliforms in microbial tests proved that the water was severely contaminated by fecal matter. Principal Component Analysis showed that heavy metals exist with microbial pollution and organic load as the main sources of water quality decline, and pollution indicators were found to establish powerful relationships with depleted oxygen levels. Conclusion The severe contamination risks found in this study justify immediate pollution control measures, wastewater treatment enforcement, and sustainable watershed management practices. Urgent action is necessary because vital parameters surpass the standards set by the WHO and (United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to avoid enduring environmental damage and health problems. This research demonstrates the value of continuing water quality assessments while enforcing policies and raising public awareness to improve the water quality of the Ichu River.in F1000Research on 2026-01-31 07:32:19 UTC.
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Echoes of Childhood Neglect: Path analysis of Emotional Regulation and Solitude Preferences in Young Adults [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background Neglect is the most prevalent manifestation of maltreatment of a child, which can have severe long-term and short-term consequences. The negative consequences of childhood neglect are not just limited to childhood but are found to be related to minor to major emotional issues during adulthood. Methods The study employs a cross-sectional research design to explore the effects of childhood neglect on difficulties in emotional regulation and a preference for solitude among young adults, using path analysis. Using the purposive sampling method, 209 young adults aged 19 to 30 years were selected. The Multidimensional Neglectful Behaviour Scale Form A, which measures neglect of physical needs (PN), supervisory needs (SN), cognitive needs (CN), and emotional needs (EN), as well as the Preference for Solitude scale and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form I, were utilised for data collection. Result Path analysis revealed a significant direct effect of experiencing childhood emotional and supervisory neglect on difficulties in emotional regulation among young adults. A preference for solitude was not significantly predicted by childhood neglect or difficulties in emotional regulation. Conclusion The study signifies that the experience of various forms of childhood neglect does not occur in isolation and is not limited to troubled childhood, but can echo into adulthood, resulting in deprived emotional capacities.in F1000Research on 2026-01-31 07:21:42 UTC.
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The Role of Digital Maturity in Achieving the Quality of E-Services: An Analytical Study at Al-Rafidain Bank – Fallujah Branch [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Objective The study aims to explore how the features and components of digital maturity influence the enhancement of e-service quality at Al-Rafidain Bank – Fallujah Branch. Design/Methodology The study employed a descriptive-analytical methodology, utilizing a questionnaire as the primary tool to measure the relationships between variables. Theoretical/Framework This study investigates the impact of digital maturity on e-service quality (reliability, trust, security, responsiveness, ease of invective, data confidentiality, etc.) to find out if Al-Rafidain Bank will be able to serve its customers more efficiently and effectively in the coming years Findings The findings showed a strong correlation and a significant impact of digital maturity on the quality of e-services offered. It was also established that digital maturity explained between 53% and 56% of the service quality variance. The strongest drivers in this regard included technological culture, organizational structures, and visions and perceptions, while the impact of technological tools was weak in the absence of effective implementation. These findings suggest that to achieve superior quality in e-services, having technology available is a prerequisite. However, having technology is not enough; it should be combined with organizational elements, staff empowerment, and a predominant digital vision. Thus, digital maturity is an essential determinant for performance improvement and institutional digital transformation. Conclusions The results showed that Al-Rafidain Bank – Fallujah Branch, Al-Rafidain Bank in the Fallujah branch, maintains a high level of digital maturity, which is a result of advanced technology coupled with quality e-services. The technological culture organization, and digital vision framework uniquely enhance service quality, demonstrating the need to provide all the digital components in order to attain a tangible transformation that is viable and efficient.in F1000Research on 2026-01-31 07:16:21 UTC.
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Assessment Levels of cytokines and chemokines parameters in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women with Breast Cancer [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background Immune dysregulation—particularly involving cytokines and chemokines—contributes to breast cancer progression and metastasis. To compare circulating levels of interleukin-17 (IL-17), interleukin-34 (IL-34), and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) between premenopausal and postmenopausal women with breast cancer and age-matched healthy controls. Methods In this case–control study, 130 women were enrolled: 90 patients with breast cancer (45 premenopausal; 45 postmenopausal) and 40 healthy controls (20 premenopausal; 20 postmenopausal). Serum IL-17, IL-34, and CXCL12 concentrations were quantified by ELISA. Group differences were assessed using independent-samples t-tests. Results Mean serum levels of IL-17, IL-34, and CXCL12 were significantly higher in patients than in controls across both menopausal strata (all p < 0.001). The pattern of elevation was consistent in premenopausal and postmenopausal subgroups, indicating that the observed immune perturbations are not restricted by menopausal status. Conclusions IL-17, IL-34, and CXCL12 are markedly elevated in women with breast cancer irrespective of menopausal state and may serve as accessible immune biomarkers for disease detection and monitoring. Validation in larger, longitudinal cohorts is warranted to evaluate diagnostic performance and potential therapeutic relevance.in F1000Research on 2026-01-31 07:13:02 UTC.
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From Leadership to Addiction: How Does a Brand Create a Lasting Impact? a Descriptive Analytical of The Opinions of a Sample Customers of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei Companies [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Objective The main objective of the study lies in identifying the impact of brand leadership in achieving brand addiction, and Apple, Samsung, and Huawei companies were chosen as the field of study. Study Methodology and Tools In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers adopted the descriptive-analytical method to collect data accurately and in detail about the phenomenon, and then analyze it to extract results and interpretations. Accordingly, the study investigated the opinions of a sample of customers of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei companies at the level of Iraq, in line with the nature of the studied variables. The questionnaire was formulated as the main tool for data collection, and (395) questionnaires were distributed electronically through a Google form, using the five-point Likert scale, and processed and analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. Results The study reached a set of results, the most important of which is the existence of a partial effect of brand leadership in achieving brand addiction in the investigated companies. The study concluded with a set of recommendations related to the study variables, the most important of which is focusing on strengthening brand leadership, which enhances customer addiction to the brand and the sustainability of their relationship with it, in addition to future research directions.in F1000Research on 2026-01-31 07:07:05 UTC.
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Deconvoluting the Electrophysiological Signatures of Myocardial Ischemia using a Validated Machine Learning Framework [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
Background Myocardial ischemia is a dynamic, complex process characterized by hyperkalemia, acidosis, and ATP depletion. While these three conditions alter cardiomyocyte electrophysiology, it is difficult to discern how much each one individually contributes to the resulting changes in action potential (AP). In this study, we test whether machine learning can deconvolute these distinct ischemic patterns within a single AP. Methods We developed a multi-target regression model trained on data generated by the Luo-Rudy (1991) computational model of a ventricular cardiomyocyte, simulating a wide range of ischemic conditions. The model was designed to predict two continuous variables: extracellular potassium concentration ([K+]o) and intracellular pH (pHi). Results The model achieved high accuracy on a held-out test set, with mean squared errors (MSE) below 0.25 for [K+]o and below 0.01 for pHi. To further generalize this model, we applied this trained model to a structurally distinct model, the Ten Tusscher (2006) framework. We were able to accurately predict [K+]o and pHi from APs, demonstrating that the learned principles are robust. A feature importance analysis revealed that resting membrane potential (RMP) was the strongest predictor for [K+]o, while action potential duration (APD) is most important for predicting pHi, underscoring these distinct cardiomyocyte electrophysiological patterns Conclusions Our approach can distinguish distinct ischemic drivers and has potential for in silico drug screening and mechanistic analysis.in F1000Research on 2026-01-31 07:02:58 UTC.
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How Do Amyloid Pathology and Aberrant Neuronal Activity Disrupt Plasticity and Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease?
The Neuroscientist, Ahead of Print.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is increasingly understood as a disorder of network-state and plasticity-capacity, in which amyloid-β and tau pathologies disrupt the activity-dependent mechanisms that build and stabilize memory engrams. Here, I review how ...in The Neuroscientist on 2026-01-31 04:43:13 UTC.
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FOXA1 mutations co-opt nascent transcription factor networks in partnership with androgen receptor to enhance prostate tumorigenicity
Ladewig et al. show that distinct Foxa1 mutations reprogram chromatin, altering epithelial lineage specification. Indels promote basal-like states, whereas C-terminal truncations, Wing2 missense mutations, and FOXA1 overexpression drive L1 luminal differentiation via an AR-FOXA1 hybrid motif and POU2F1 cooperation. In vivo modeling recapitulates basal-like to L1 phenotype with Trp53/Pten loss.in Cell Reports: Current Issue on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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A dataset of scientific citations in U.S. patent Office Actions
Scientific Data, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06720-7
A dataset of scientific citations in U.S. patent Office Actionsin Nature scientific data on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Social Perception of Autonomous Mobility: A Survey on Public Transport Pilots in Switzerland
Scientific Data, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06672-y
Social Perception of Autonomous Mobility: A Survey on Public Transport Pilots in Switzerlandin Nature scientific data on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Depth Resolved Metagenomic Dataset from Surface and Deep Chlorophyll Maximum Layers in the Western Pacific Ocean
Scientific Data, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06706-5
Depth Resolved Metagenomic Dataset from Surface and Deep Chlorophyll Maximum Layers in the Western Pacific Oceanin Nature scientific data on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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A high-quality chromosome level genome assembly of the South African indigenous Nguni goat (Capra hircus)
Scientific Data, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06725-2
A high-quality chromosome level genome assembly of the South African indigenous Nguni goat (Capra hircus)in Nature scientific data on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Rhizosphere microbial functions drive ecological stoichiometry in soils across an elevational gradient of a temperate mountain ecosystem
Communications Biology, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09553-7
Analysis of rhizosphere microbiomes across an elevational gradient reveals microbial functional genes as key drivers of soil ecological stoichiometry, highlighting their role as a biological filter between climate and soil nutrient cyclingin Nature communications biology on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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The perforant pathway and CA3-Schaffer collateral afferents coordinate to regulate spatial learning
Communications Biology, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09577-z
Entorhinal-hippocampal afferents innervate intrahippocampal circuitry at both behavioral and synaptic levels, including the spatial learning and heterosynaptic plasticity.in Nature communications biology on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Gut microbial signatures expose the westernized lifestyle of urban Ethiopian children
Communications Biology, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09639-2
An extensive analysis of the gut microbiome in Ethiopian children identifies microbial metabolic pathways that can be attributed to a Western diet, and that the consumption of foods like traditional fermented cereal are associated with higher microbial diversity.in Nature communications biology on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Characterising nanobody developability to improve therapeutic design using the Therapeutic Nanobody Profiler
Communications Biology, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09594-y
The Therapeutic Nanobody Profiler is a tool to characterise developability traits specific to nanobodies to support therapeutic design.in Nature communications biology on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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A histidine pseudokinase modulates polar growth and cell shape in Streptomyces venezuelae
Communications Biology, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09620-z
A pseudokinase version of a hybrid histidine kinase is identified as part of the protein assembly that directs polar growth in Streptomyces bacteria. This protein, PsmA, interacts with the essential DivIVA and modulates polar growth and cell shape.in Nature communications biology on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular matrix for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration
Communications Biology, Published online: 31 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09638-3
A review summarizes the preparation and regenerative functions of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular matrix (mECM) as a biomimetic material for bone, cartilage, muscle, tendon, and nerve repair, alongside its clinical translation prospects.in Nature communications biology on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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A Connectome-Constrained Jansen-Rit Framework for Inferring Cortical Gain Control and Ensemble Stability
Understanding how local circuit dynamics give rise to large-scale stability and instability of brain activity is a central challenge in computational neuroscience, with direct relevance for disorders characterized by disrupted excitatory-inhibitory balance, including schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD). Here, we introduce a principled methodology for recovering local neural parameters and low-dimensional dynamical biomarkers from a connectome-constrained Jansen-Rit (JR) neural mass model using variational free-energy inversion and sliding-window analysis. Each cortical region is modeled as a canonical excitatory-inhibitory microcircuit embedded within a whole-brain network whose long-range interactions are factorized into pyramidal-pyramidal, pyramidal-excitatory, and pyramidal-inhibitory subnetworks. Across 80 independent simulations, the inversion framework reliably recovered both microcircuit parameters and emergent biomarkers derived from neural states, including the mean--variance slope ({beta}1), its spatial variability, and the lag-1 autocorrelation ({rho}1). These quantities capture complementary aspects of cortical ensemble dynamics, gain sensitivity, regional heterogeneity, and temporal persistence associated with proximity to criticality, and were consistently estimated with minimal bias and high reliability. The recovered slope hierarchy {beta}1(I) > {beta}1(E) > {beta}1(P) revealed an interpretable gain-control architecture in which inhibitory channels regulate damping, excitatory channels gate resonance, and pyramidal populations integrate network drive into stable output. Together, these results demonstrate that the JR model provides a tractable and biophysically grounded framework for linking synaptic parameters, network structure, and ensemble-level stability. Although motivated by questions surrounding psychosis risk and SSD, the proposed approach is general and establishes a foundation for future applications in model-based inference, network control, and adaptive neuromodulation.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Improved myelin clearance and cognitive outcomes after TBI in female mice are mediated by ovarian steroids and sex chromosomes
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes sex-specific memory deficits, yet the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Using a mouse TBI model, we investigated the role of reactive astrocytes in sex-specific outcome. TBI provoked long-term contextual memory impairment in males and ovariectomized females, but not in intact females. The synthetic steroid tibolone preserved memory and cFos+ neuronal density in the hippocampus of ovariectomized females. Hormone deprivation upregulated astrocytic GFAP and S100B, reduced Homer1, and impaired myelin phagocytosis by astrocytes in females. These effects were counteracted by tibolone. In Four-Core-Genotype mice, memory loss correlated with reduced astrocytic myelin uptake and neuronal activity in XX males and XY female animals. Astrocyte transplantation showed that female astrocytes exhibit superior myelin clearance capacity, especially in female brain environments, though they outperform male astrocytes in both sex contexts. These findings identify astrocyte-mediated myelin phagocytosis as a key mechanism for memory preservation after TBI, governed by both hormonal and chromosomal sex factors.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Chemo-omic pipeline enables discovery of prion synaptotoxic pathways and inhibitory drugs
Prion propagation, in which the cellular prion protein (PrPC) is conformationally converted into an infectious structure (PrPSc), is now well understood. However, the molecular mechanism responsible for the neurotoxicity of prions remains unclear. Synaptic loss is one of the earliest events in both in vivo and in vitro models of prion disease. We previously developed a neuronal cell culture model to analyze the mechanisms of prion-induced synaptic degeneration in a physiologically relevant setting. Using this system, we showed that exposure of hippocampal neurons to PrPSc engages a NMDAR/p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway that results in rapid, PrPC-dependent loss of synaptic transmission and retraction of dendritic spines. To comprehensively identify the components of this synaptotoxic signaling pathway, we measured changes in the phosphoproteome and transcriptome of hippocampal neurons exposed to PrPSc while they were undergoing the process of dendritic spine retraction. We then used these data as input into the L1000 and P100 databases of transcriptomic and proteomic drug signatures, leading to the discovery of 17 compounds that were able to prevent PrPSc-induced spine retraction. These compounds converged on three protein kinase targets: Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), protein kinase C (PKC), and glycogen synthase kinase 3{beta} (GSK3{beta}). Using immunocytochemical staining, we confirmed that PrPSc treatment of hippocampal neurons induced phosphorylation of the three kinases and caused their rapid translocation to dendritic spines. Along with N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) on the neuronal surface, which trigger an initial influx of Ca2+ in response to PrPSc, these kinases constitute key nodes in a signaling network that mediates prion synaptotoxicity. Taken together, our results provide new insights into the mechanisms of prion neurotoxicity, and they identify novel molecular targets and inhibitory compounds that can be utilized for therapy of prion diseases.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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The lateral septum orchestrates state-dependent modulation of associative threat memory dynamics across the ovarian hormone cycle
Cycling ovarian hormones orchestrate neural states that greatly impact brain function and guide behavior. Here, we discover that cued threat memory processes are regulated across the mouse estrous cycle in a state-dependent manner. We show that low hormone states lead to overexpression of threat memory in females. However, high hormone states confer protection against this overexpression via state-dependent recruitment and reengagement of the lateral septum (LS) to the memory ensemble. Chemogenetic manipulations confirmed the LS as necessary and sufficient to suppress female memory overexpression. Single nucleus sequencing revealed a novel LS neuron population, defined by coexpression of neurotensin and somatostatin, selectively recruited to the female memory ensemble during high hormone states. This estradiol-sensitive population exhibits a female bias in projection strength to the nucleus accumbens and displays unique calcium dynamics associated with state-dependent memory suppression. Altogether, we uncover a sexually divergent neural mechanism whereby cycling ovarian hormones modulate memory expression.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Validating the Standard Model of diffusion MRI in white matter with Numerical Substrates
The non-invasive estimation of intra- and extracellular microstructural parameters using biophysical models has been a major focus in brain microstructure imaging with MRI. The Standard Model (SM) of diffusion in white matter (WM) provides a unifying framework for various modelling approaches, representing axons as impermeable narrow cylinders embedded within a locally anisotropic extra-axonal space. However, the SM relies on simplifying assumptions that may not hold in realistic WM tissue, as they do not take into account axonal undulations, beading, the presence of glial cells, or membrane permeability. In this work, we investigate how SM-derived estimates behave when the model is applied to realistic numerical WM substrates generated by the CATERPillar tool. Specifically, we vary (i) axonal morphological features such as beading and undulations, (ii) axonal packing density, (iii) orientation dispersion, (iv) membrane permeability of axons and astrocytes separately, (v) myelin volume fraction, and (vi) diffusion time. In each part of the analysis, different noise levels are introduced. Overall, according to our results, the relative changes in SM estimates show that the intra-axonal volume fraction f increased with stronger beading, higher packing density, and greater myelin volume, and was strongly influenced by axonal and astrocytic permeability. The orientation dispersion index p2 was affected by undulation, but was substantially biased at low packing densities, with stronger beading and when astrocytes were impermeable. The effective intra-axonal diffusivity Da decreased with stronger beading and undulation and tended to be overestimated in most scenarios. The parallel extra-axonal diffusivity De|| was strongly influenced by axonal permeability, as well as packing density, dispersion, and undulation, and was the most noise-sensitive parameter, showing systematic overestimation at low SNR. Finally, the effective perpendicular extra-axonal diffusivity De{perp} was the most stable parameter relative to the effective ground truth across the tested conditions, while remaining sensitive to packing density, axonal permeability, myelin volume fraction, and undulation. These findings enable users to identify potential biases introduced by varying conditions and to adjust their interpretations accordingly.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Interplay of action-based prediction and top-down attention: EEG evidence for joint modulation of late perceptual processing
Voluntary action shapes our perception through sensory predictions of its consequences. These predictions are thought to inhibit perceptual processing of predicted outcomes, leading to sensory attenuation. However, some studies have reported findings that contrast with this effect, suggesting that the influence of predictions may reflect, or interact with, attentional processes. Here, we investigated the interplay of action-based prediction and top-down attention on early and late perceptual processing, where prediction and attention refer to the likelihood of a sensory event and its behavioral relevance, respectively. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded while participants viewed two sequential gratings. The orientation of the first was either predicted and self-generated or unpredicted and externally generated. Participants judged the tilt direction of the second grating relative to the first but responded only when the grating appeared in a task-relevant color. EEG analyses revealed no modulation of early visual potentials (N1a), but modulations in later processing stages (P3b). Specifically, the P3b exhibited reduced amplitude for predicted and self-generated stimuli compared to unpredicted and externally generated ones, but only when they were task-relevant. Multivariate pattern analysis further showed that the significant temporal cluster supporting decoding of the first grating's orientation was largest for relevant, predicted and self-generated stimuli. Our results suggest an optimization process whereby action-based prediction, when aligned with task goals, reduces the amount of evidence needed and increases its accumulation speed, while preserving sensory representations as accurate as in the absence of prediction/self-generation.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Tissue-to-Analysis Framework Enables Multiscale Mapping of the Architectural and Cellular Organization in the Human Dorsal Root Ganglion
Transcriptomic studies have helped us understand the dorsal root ganglia's cellular milieu, yet our knowledge of protein expression and spatial organization/architecture remains less defined. Here we establish a comprehensive resource from processing through analysis of hDRG tissue. We optimize tissue-handling strategies and evaluate 114 antibodies targeting neuronal and non-neuronal cell types, identifying protocols that preserve neuronal morphology and antigen retain specificity. Integrating these workflows with our Deep Learning-assisted image analysis pipelines, we quantify size, expression, and spatial organization across 35,721 neurons from 15 donors. Female donors exhibited significantly larger neuronal somata, indicating sexual dimorphism. Neuronal subpopulations display clear spatial clustering. We further characterized the perineuronal niche, marked by dense vascularization, nuclear remodeling in perineuronal cells, and age-related increased turnover of neuron-associated macrophages. Together, this resource provides standardized methodologies and quantitative frameworks for reproducible protein-level interrogation of human sensory biology and pain mechanisms.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Lets talk about sex: Male and female mice show similar fear memory retention despite hippocampal activity differences during encoding and consolidation
Accurate and efficient memory processing is essential for survival. Recent work in human subjects and animal models has suggested that memory processing may differ in meaningful ways between males and females. In mice, contextual fear memory (CFM) encoding, consolidation, and recall have been well studied, and the mouse hippocampus and amygdala have been implicated in these processes. The present study addresses how the specific contribution of these brain regions to each stage CFM processing in female vs. male mice. We find that male and female mice show no differences in CFM recall, nor in sleep behavior in the hours following single-trial contextual fear conditioning (CFC), which is essential for CFM consolidation. However, females, but not males, show significantly increased expression of cFos in dorsal hippocampal CA1 and CA2 neurons during CFM encoding. On the other hand, males, but not females, show increased cFos expression among DG granule cells during CFM consolidation. These findings highlight the fact that the neurobiological underpinnings of memory processing may differ between males and females, even when recall performance is identical.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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APPNL-F knock-in Alzheimer's Disease model mice reveal etiological convergence of aging and amyloidosis
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide, with a steadily increasing prevalence. Despite the advent of some plaque-degrading therapies, early intervention strategies are still suboptimal, largely due to an incomplete understanding of how early pathological events of amyloid-b (Ab) plaque deposition entail or accompany the neuroinflammatory processes that ensue. The APPNL-F mouse line is a second-generation endogenous-promoter knock-in AD model that represents a valuable tool to dissect disease mechanisms and evaluate therapeutic strategies. However, the early prodromal stage remains poorly characterized. Here we performed in-depth analyses in both homozygous (APPNL-F/NL-F) and heterozygous (APPNL-F/WT) mice at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age. Among a battery of behavioural tests, the first phenotype was observed at 9 months with defects in spatial memory. Using hypersensitive MSD-ELISA technology assays we quantified distinct Ab species and found that Ab42 oligomers, protofibrils, and fibrillar aggregates were detectable as early as 6 months of age in homozygous APPNL-F/NL-F mice. By 9 months, their Ab42 levels increased markedly and overt Ab plaques were detected, histologically associated with recruited glial cells. Targeted RT-qPCR analysis of neuroinflammation-related genes in the cortex also identified 9 months as a molecular tipping point in these 'middle aged' APPNL-F mice. To characterize the etiological signal transduction at the cellular level, we isolated microglia, the brain resident immune cells, whose contribution to AD pathogenesis is now well established. Sequencing around 5,000 individual cells from both 12-month-old APPNL F/NL F and APPWT/WT CD11b+ myeloid cells revealed that the buildup of amyloidosis was associated with an accelerated shift of microglia from a homeostatic toward a senescent-like state. Together, these findings highlight the 6-12 month period of the APPNL-F/NL-F model as a powerful system to study the interdependence between microglial senescence and amyloidosis in driving AD progression.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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A Conserved Locus Coeruleus fMRI Signature of Brain-State Transitions across Sleep, Anesthesia, and Wakefulness
Neuromodulatory systems dynamically reconfigure large-scale brain networks to support adaptation across behavioral and cognitive states. The locus coeruleus (LC), which broadcasts noradrenaline throughout the forebrain, is a central regulator of arousal and state-dependent dynamics. However, how LC activity manifests in brain-wide organization across physiological contexts, and how it biases fMRI connectivity, remains poorly understood. Using an optogenetically informed cross-species framework, we identify a transient LC-derived spatiotemporal pattern of brain activity accompanying brain-state transitions under progressively naturalistic conditions: controlled LC stimulation and endogenous LC fluctuations in anesthetized mice, sleep-wake transitions in rodents and humans, and resting-state activity in awake humans. This LC-derived signature is conserved across species and contexts, leaving a robust and detectable imprint on the BOLD signal. Critically, the prevalence of LC events systematically biases functional connectivity metrics in human fMRI. These findings establish LC activity as a mechanistically interpretable source of variability in resting-state measurements, with direct implications for the interpretation of fMRI biomarkers in arousal-related disorders.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Feasibility of PIANO-Cog for older adults: A randomised controlled pilot trial exploring changes in cognition and brain microstructure.
Background: Executive functions are a key target of cognitive interventions for older adults due to their central role in daily functioning and maintaining a good quality of life. Piano training has been proposed as an ecologically valid method of improving cognition and brain structure in older adults. The primary aims of this study were to (i) evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of Piano Instruction for Adult Novices as an Online Cognitive Intervention (PIANO-Cog), a novel bespoke 8-week self-guided piano training programme for adults over 50 years of age, and (ii) assess the feasibility of conducting a fully-powered randomised controlled trial (RCT), including recruitment, retention, and adherence. Secondary aims explored effects of PIANO-Cog on executive functions and brain microstructure using advanced diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Method: Thirty-three healthy music novices aged 51-80 years (M = 63.73, SD = 7.94) participated in a two-arm unblinded feasibility RCT. Participants were assigned by stratified allocation for age and sex to either (i) 8 weeks of PIANO-Cog, requiring 30 minutes of practice, 5 days per week, or (ii) a passive control group. Cognitive assessment and MRI scanning were conducted before and after the intervention using a strong-gradient (300mT/m) 3T Connectom scanner to acquire multi-shell DWI data with b-values ranging from 200 to 6,000 s/mm2. Grey and white matter microstructure were modelled with Soma And Neurite Density Imaging (SANDI) and Neurite Orientation Density and Dispersion Imaging (NODDI). Results: According to predefined criteria, feasibility was established for recruitment (91.6%), retention (75%) and adherence (>100%) rates. Preliminary observations suggest that piano training compared with control was associated with improvements in verbal fluency and multiple changes in brain microstructure including increases in apparent soma size and radius and reductions in extracellular signal in frontal and temporal cortical regions, larger apparent neurite density in right inferior frontal gyrus and changes in neurite dispersion in left middle temporal and right precentral gyri. Discussion: The results demonstrate that short-term remote piano training is a feasible cognitive intervention for healthy adults over 50. Preliminary evidence suggest that PIANO-Cog was associated cognitive improvements and changes in brain microstructure in executive, auditory and motor regions.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Oscillatory and aperiodic neural dynamics shape temporal perception and weighting of perceptual priors in ADHD profiles
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by an atypically compressed sense of time, yet the neural mechanisms underlying this atypical temporal perception remain poorly understood. Temporal perception depends on the brain's ability to organize sensory input into coherent experiences, ensuring perceptual stability despite uncertainty. Oscillations in the alpha band (8-13 Hz) and aperiodic 1/f dynamics have been proposed as key neural mechanisms through which the visual system orchestrates sensory information over time. Individuals with ADHD show atypicalities in these neural dynamics, but how these features relate to ADHD differences in temporal processing remains unexplored. Here, we combined a sustained visual temporal integration task with resting-state EEG to test whether oscillatory and aperiodic neural dynamics jointly account for temporal processing performance across neurotypical participants with self-reported ADHD traits (n = 83). Higher ADHD features in both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive domains were associated with narrower temporal binding windows and reduced serial dependence on prior perception, indicating sharper temporal resolution but diminished perceptual stability. Resting-state EEG revealed systematically faster individual alpha frequency (IAF) and flatter aperiodic spectra in individuals with higher ADHD traits. Mediation analyses showed that faster IAF explained ADHD-related reductions in temporal integration thresholds and serial dependence, whereas increased neural noise selectively amplified perceptual history-dependent biases. These findings reveal distinct oscillatory and aperiodic neural pathways through which ADHD features shape temporal perception, suggesting a multidimensional neural architecture underlying atypical temporal processing in ADHD.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Dopamine shapes brain metastate dynamics
Dopamine's influence on large-scale network dynamics, especially on the default mode network (DMN), remains uncertain, as fMRI studies have produced mixed results. One likely contributor to these discrepancies is reliance on traditional functional connectivity analyses, which typically derive a single metric (e.g., the Pearson correlation coefficient) from the entire time series and thus fail to capture network dynamics. To address this issue, we combined a dopaminergic challenge (mazindol, a dopamine transporter [DAT] reuptake inhibitor), PET, resting-state fMRI, and hidden Markov modeling (HMM) to characterize time-varying alterations in human large-scale functional networks following acute DAT blockade. We found that mazindol-induced increases in endogenous dopamine altered the balance between the brain's functional "metastates," two recurrent higher-order network configurations that each encompass multiple HMM-derived brain states. Mazindol increased the time participants spent in an internally oriented cognitive metastate and decreased the time spent in a sensorimotor-perceptual metastate, with the DMN showing the most pronounced lengthening. In exploratory analyses, declines in [11C]raclopride binding, a PET index of D2 dopamine receptor availability reflecting increased striatal extracellular dopamine levels, tended to show a positive correlation with the prolongation of these cognitive states. These findings indicate that dopamine is closely linked to shifts from sensorimotor and perceptual to cognitive brain metastates, potentially underpinning the prioritization of internally oriented over externally driven psychological processes. Our results highlight the importance of dynamic, time-resolved connectivity approaches for understanding neuromodulatory actions in the human brain and suggest that dopamine helps regulate the dynamic balance between functionally competing large-scale brain networks.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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The richness of little voices: using artificial intelligence to understand early language development
How informative are preschoolers' speech vocalizations? Preschoolers' speech is often imprecise, highly variable and hard to interpret by humans and machines; consequently, its predictive value for later developmental outcomes remains quite underexplored. Here, we analyzed 6.595 brief vocalizations (0.5-5s) from 127 preschoolers aged 3-4 years, including 74 children with diagnosed language delay, recorded in naturalistic environments. The vocalization models robustly distinguished children with and without language delay (ROC-AUC 0.90), beyond the acoustic properties of the recordings (ROC-AUC: 0.62), and outperformed similar models analyzing metadata that literature reports as predictive factor for early language development (ROC-AUC: < 0.69 [95% CI: 0.08 - 0.15 to 0.48 - 0.73], P < 0.001]). This indicates that neural networks applied to foundational model audio vectorizations can extract meaningful developmental markers from brief samples of immature speech, to classify speech status, offering a promising, scalable approach for language abilities early screening.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Neural representations of speech production in neocortical and cerebellar regions
Speech production depends on the precise temporal integration of articulatory movements with phonation. While ventral primary motor cortex is known to encode articulatory features, how phonatory timing, and its coordination with articulation, is represented across cortical and cerebellar circuits remains poorly understood. Using 7T functional MRI, we examined neural representations during overt syllable production varying in place of articulation and voice onset time. Multivariate analyses revealed reliable, syllable-specific differences in activity patterns across both cortical and cerebellar speech regions. Ventral primary sensorimotor cortex distinguished syllables by place of articulation, whereas dorsal sensorimotor cortex was more sensitive to the timing of voice onset relative to articulation. Secondary sensorimotor speech areas, including the operculum and auditory cortex, showed a hybrid representational profile, integrating both articulatory and phonatory features. In the cerebellum, representational geometry was dominated by the place of articulation; however, overall syllable representations were most similar to those in the operculum, accounting for unique variance beyond that explained by ventral sensorimotor cortex. Together, these findings reveal feature-specific representational tuning across primary sensorimotor regions during speech production. The selective representational alignment between operculum and cerebellum may support the refinement of speech motor plans prior to execution.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Topographical differences during motion processing in autistic and dyslexic children
Atypical motion processing has been reported in multiple developmental conditions, including autism and dyslexia, and taken as support for a general developmental vulnerability in the dorsal stream. Yet by uncovering dynamically unfolding processes, electroencephalography can determine the extent to which motion processing signatures are shared or distinct across different developmental conditions. Here we used pre-registered topographical analyses across the whole high-density electrode array to determine, for the first time, whether autistic and dyslexic children activate the same or distinct brain pathways as typically developing children, when completing two motion processing tasks. Participants were 29 autistic, 44 dyslexic and 57 typically developing children aged 6 to 14 years. Group differences in overall brain response strength were found in both tasks. Topographical activity differed in both autistic and dyslexic children compared to typically developing children (but not between autistic and dyslexic children) in a motion coherence task between 456 - 560 ms. However, group differences in a direction integration task (with no incoherent motion) depended on stimulus difficulty and time window (434 - 500 ms and 538 - 638 ms), with different patterns of divergence from typical development in autism and dyslexia. These results suggest that there are differences in the brain networks used to accomplish motion processing tasks in both autistic and dyslexic children, and demonstrate the utility of a topographical approach for detecting group differences in neural mechanisms, which can be missed by univariate approaches.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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The progression of sex differences in brain networks across the lifespan
Sex differences in brain connectivity are well documented, yet how these differences evolve across the human lifespan remains poorly understood. Rigorously assessing sex-dependent trajectories of brain network organization is challenging due to difficulty in acquiring, processing, and modeling high-dimensional connectomes. Here, we analyzed 15 types of functional and structural connectivity networks from 1286 healthy individuals aged 8-100+ years, using our new AI-based Krakencoder to derive a low-dimensional multimodal "fusion" connectome representation. Sex differences were minimal in early childhood, pronounced in young to mid-adulthood, and diverged across modalities in later life: functional connectivity grew less distinct and structural connectivity grew more distinct from midlife onward. Functional differences were driven predominantly by higher-order association networks (default mode, control), while structural differences concentrated in lower-order cerebellar and subcortical pathways. These findings provide a lifespan-wide, multimodal map of sex differences in brain networks which may help inform sex-specific vulnerability and resilience to brain disorders.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Counting apples - How does the prefrontal region support early numerical understanding in preschool children?
Because early maths skills strongly predict later outcomes, it is crucial to understand the mechanisms that shape early learning in children. The recent years have seen an increase in studying the neural correlates that support the acquisition of maths skills. However, existing work in early childhood has primarily focused on core number-processing regions in the parietal regions, with comparatively little attention to the supportive role of prefrontal regions. In this study, we examined the engagement of the prefrontal regions when matching numbers and objects. Children (N=60, 25 girls, aged 2.74-5.18 years) matched auditory small (1-3) and large (5-7) numbers, as well as objects (fruits) to corresponding visual pictures while their frontoparietal brain responses were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Importantly, matching large numbers was substantially more difficult than matching small numbers or objects. The analysis revealed that children had increased activation in the right middle frontal gyrus when matching large numbers, compared to small numbers. However, there was no difference in the prefrontal region between matching small numbers and objects. The connectivity analysis further revealed increased frontoparietal connectivity when matching small numbers, but not large numbers or objects. Our findings suggest that prefrontal involvement during early numerical knowledge acquisition relies primarily on domain-general mechanisms, with number-specific responses likely to emerge later in development.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Individual Differences in Dopaminergic Modulation of Exploration-Exploitation Behaviour
Dopamine (DA) has been implicated in exploration-exploitation behaviour, i.e., exploring novel, potentiallybetter options vs. exploiting known, previously rewarding options. Impairments in this trade-off occur inpsychiatric disorders involving DAergic dysfunction, including addiction and schizophrenia. Pharmacologicalstudies revealed a contribution of DA to exploration, but inconsistent findings suggest that interindividualvariability in baseline DA may modulate effects. To address this, we investigated the effects of the DAprecursor L-DOPA on exploration-exploitation during reinforcement learning in a sample of N = 75 healthyparticipants (n = 32 women), following a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pre-registered design(https://osf.io/p2r7u). We assessed whether putative baseline DA markers, including spontaneouseye blink rate, working memory (WM) capacity, and impulsivity, modulated drug effects and probed visualfixation patterns and pupil dilation as markers of exploration. L-DOPA had no overall effect on computationalmodel parameters of random exploration, directed exploration or choice perseveration. WM capacitymoderated drug effects on random exploration, with stronger effects at higher WM capacity. Remaining DAproxies showed no credible effects. Pooling the data from male participants with that from an earlier male-only study (Chakroun et al., 2020; total N = 74), L-DOPA increased uncertainty-dependent value weightingand perseveration strength, while decreasing habit updating, indicating a stronger tendency to repeatprevious choices and slower decay of their influence over time. No credible drug effects were observed infemale participants. Pupil dilation was tonically increased under L-DOPA and scaled with explorationbehaviour and prediction error, confirming that pupillometry can index exploration-exploitation dynamics.Visual exploration patterns reflected uncertainty-driven sampling, but were unaffected by L-DOPA. Takentogether, results suggest that DAergic modulation of exploration and perseveration behaviour may becontingent on cognitive capacity and sex, rather than exerting uniform effects across individuals.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Alpha oscillations are dysrhythmic in Fragile X syndrome
Background: Alpha oscillations are dominant rhythms in the human brain, supporting inhibitory control and coordination of neural activity. Altered alpha dynamics are observed across many neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common monogenic cause of autism and intellectual disability. FXS exhibits paradoxical alpha power: elevated absolute but reduced relative power. To resolve this incongruity, we considered that conventional power metrics, relying on averaging, may obscure the underlying critical temporal dynamics of such neural rhythms. Methods: Here, we investigate alpha oscillations in FXS as a model to decompose nonspecific alpha abnormalities into underlying temporal features. We used cycle-by-cycle (bycycle) alpha burst analysis from source-localized resting-state EEG of 70 individuals with FXS and 71 age- and sex-matched typically developing controls. Statistical modeling examined group, sex, and regional differences in alpha burst features using generalized linear mixed-effects models. Results: We reveal that alpha bursts in FXS show reduced count only in males, prolonged periods across sexes, and elevated amplitudes, particularly in males. Spatial mapping identified differential circuit vulnerability: timing-associated dysregulation in cognitive-control regions and amplitude elevations in sensory cortices. Within the FXS group, global alpha burst amplitude correlated with hyperactivity symptoms and inversely with general intelligence scores, and burst count correlated with age. Limitations: This study is limited by its resting-state design and cross-sectional nature. Future studies should explore task-based modulation of alpha burst features and longitudinal trajectories in FXS. Additionally, fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein (FMRP) was not quantified for participants, limiting potential stratification by molecular severity. Conclusions: These findings resolve paradoxical alpha power in FXS into features consistent with interneuron dysfunction, demonstrating the potential for burst-level decomposition in mechanistic hypothesis generation and biomarker development across neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Motor implementation of control and reward-based urgency regulation across impulsivity
Everyday decisions unfold dynamically, with commitment shaped by a growing sense of urgency that can, when excessive, contribute to impulsive choices. Here we aimed at dissociating two modes of urgency regulation, control-driven (accuracy-oriented) and reward-driven (motivation-based), and asked whether their relative influence varies across individuals differing in impulsivity. We further investigated how these regulatory modes are implemented in the motor system, focusing on two modulatory effects: surround inhibition and broad modulation. Healthy participants, whose impulsivity was assessed with the UPPS urgency dimension, performed a modified Tokens task crossing control demands (low vs high control blocks) with motivational context (low vs high reward trials). In two separate sessions, single-pulse TMS was applied either over the hand motor representation to probe corticospinal excitability indexing surround inhibition, or over the leg representation to index broad modulations of motor activity. This design successfully dissociated the two regulatory modes: control-driven adjustments (across blocks) were most evident in less impulsive participants, whereas reward-driven adjustments (across trials) were most evident in more impulsive participants. Consistent with this dissociation, control-driven urgency regulation was associated with broad modulation of motor activity, whereas reward-driven urgency adjustments were associated with changes in surround inhibition. These motor signatures may serve as probes of the respective contributions of control- and reward-driven regulation even when they are not explicitly dissociated. Our findings suggest that impulsivity may not simply reflect 'more urgency' but a different weighting of the influences that shape it during decision making, a hypothesis that can now be tested in clinical conditions.in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on 2026-01-31 00:00:00 UTC.
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Alpha-2 Adrenergic Agonists Reduce Heavy Alcohol Drinking and Improve Cognitive Performance in Mice
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the top behavioral causes of global disease burden in the United States. Repeated cycles of alcohol intoxication and abstinence induce neuroplastic alterations which induce excessive drinking and cognitive impairments. A system deeply dysregulated by chronic drinking is norepinephrine (NE). At moderate levels, NE has beneficial effects on cognition and behavior, mediated by the α2 adrenergic receptor (AR) subtype. Whether α2 AR activation blunts alcohol consumption in models of heavy drinking has not been determined, and whether α2 AR activation improves cognitive performance following chronic alcohol consumption is unknown. Here, we show that the α2 AR agonist clonidine worsens ethanol-induced hypothermia and sedation in male mice, while the more selective α2 AR agonist guanfacine is devoid of these effects. We also observed that, in male and female mice, while both clonidine and guanfacine reduce heavy alcohol drinking, guanfacine does so with higher potency. Furthermore, guanfacine improved cognitive performance in a temporal order test and, partially, in a novel object recognition test but had no effect in a novel spatial location test, in male and female ethanol-experienced mice. Finally, we found that chronic intermittent ethanol drinking increases the number of persistently activated NE neurons in both the locus ceruleus and the nucleus of the tractus solitarius, in both male and female mice. Our results highlight a central role for the α2 AR system in heavy alcohol drinking and associated cognitive deficits, suggesting that α2 AR stimulation may represent a viable pharmacological strategy to treat AUD.
in eNeuro on 2026-01-30 16:30:27 UTC.
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TEvarSim: A genome simulator for transposable element (TE) variants
by Jian Miao, Dawei Li
Transposable element (TE) variants, the presence or absence of TE sequences such as LINE-1, Alu, SVA, and endogenous retroviruses, are a major source of genomic diversity and play critical roles in human health, evolution, and disease. As interest in TE variants grows, developing related methods and tools for detection has become increasingly important. However, rigorous benchmarking of TE variant detection methods remains limited due to the lack of accurate and scalable TE variant simulation platforms and the absence of reliable ground truth data. Here, we developed TEvarSim, a novel TE variant simulator that generates TE-containing genomic data in multiple formats, including genomes, short- and long-read sequencing data, and VCF files. TEvarSim supports both random and real-world TE insertions and deletions, including variants derived from pangenome graphs. It can rapidly simulate hundreds to thousands of synthetic chromosomes or genomes and model natural variation at the haplotype, individual, and population levels, making it well suited for large-scale studies. In addition, TEvarSim can directly compare simulated VCF files with TEs reported by TE detection tools, streamlining the benchmarking of TE genotyping methods. TEvarSim provides an all-in-one toolkit for simulating, evaluating, and improving TE variant detection, advancing our ability to accurately study TEs in health and disease in various species.in PLoS Computational Biology on 2026-01-30 14:00:00 UTC.
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Capturing individual variation in children’s electroencephalograms during nREM sleep
by Verna Heikkinen, Susanne Merz, Riitta Salmelin, Sampsa Vanhatalo, Leena Lauronen, Mia Liljeström, Hanna Renvall
Human brain dynamics are highly unique between individuals: functional neuroimaging studies have recently described functional features that can be used as neural fingerprints. However, the stability of these fingerprints is affected by aging and disease. As such, the stability of brain fingerprints may be a useful metric when studying normal and pathological neurodevelopment. Before examining clinically relevant deviations, the individual stability and variation of neuroimaging features across brain maturation in normally developing children need to be addressed with real clinical data. Here we applied Bayesian reduced-rank regression (BRRR) to extract low-dimensional representations of electroencephalography (EEG) power spectra measured during different non-REM sleep stages (N1 and N2) from 782 normally developing children aged between 6 weeks to 19 years. The representations learned within specific sleep stages successfully separated between subjects and generalized across sleep stages. Fingerprint stability increased with the age of the subjects. Compared to correlation-based fingerprinting methods, the BRRR model performed better, especially in fingerprinting across sleep stages, highlighting the usefulness of dimensionality reduction when the noise and signal of interest are correlated. While further studies are needed to address the possible non-linear maturation effects over developmental periods, our results demonstrate the existence of stable within-session neurofunctional fingerprints in pediatric populations.in PLoS Computational Biology on 2026-01-30 14:00:00 UTC.
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Microstructural profiles of the human superficial white matter and their associations to cortical geometry and connectivity
by Youngeun Hwang, Raul Rodriguez-Cruces, Jordan DeKraker, Donna Gift Cabalo, Ilana R. Leppert, Risavarshni Thevakumaran, Christine L. Tardif, David A. Rudko, Casey Paquola, Pierre-Louis Bazin, Andrea Bernasconi, Neda Bernasconi, Luis Concha, Alan C. Evans, Boris C. Bernhardt
The superficial white matter (SWM), immediately beneath the cortical mantle, is thought to play a major role in cortico-cortical connectivity as well as large-scale brain function. Yet, this compartment remains rarely studied due to its complex organization. Our objectives were to develop and disseminate a robust computational framework to study SWM organization based on 3D histology and high-field 7T MRI. Using data from the BigBrain and Ahead 3D histology initiatives, we first interrogated variations in cell staining intensities across different cortical regions and different SWM depths. These findings were then translated to in vivo 7T quantitative myelin-sensitive MRI, including T1 relaxometry (T1 map) and magnetization transfer saturation (MTsat). As indicated by the statistical moments of the SWM intensity profiles, the first 2 mm below the cortico-subcortical boundary were characterized by high structural complexity. We quantified SWM microstructural variation using a nonlinear dimensionality reduction method and examined the relationship of the resulting microstructural gradients with indices of cortical geometry, as well as structural and functional connectivity. Our results showed correlations between SWM microstructural gradients, as well as curvature and cortico-cortical functional connectivity. Our study provides novel insights into the organization of SWM in the human brain and underscores the potential of SWM mapping to advance fundamental and applied neuroscience research.in PLoS Biology on 2026-01-30 14:00:00 UTC.
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Correction: Intragenomic conflicts with plasmids and chromosomal mobile genetic elements drive the evolution of natural transformation within species
by Fanny Mazzamurro, Jason Baby Chirakadavil, Isabelle Durieux, Ludovic Poiré, Julie Plantade, Christophe Ginevra, Sophie Jarraud, Gottfried Wilharm, Xavier Charpentier, Eduardo P. C. Rocha
in PLoS Biology on 2026-01-30 14:00:00 UTC.
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A gut-activated NHR-86–CYP pathway mediates the neuroprotective effects of Enterococcus faecium probiotics in a nematode model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
by Yu Sang, Jie Ren, Alejandro Aballay
Neurodegenerative diseases are often associated with oxidative stress, and while probiotics may influence neuronal health, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using the sod-1 A4VM amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) model in Caenorhabditis elegans, we investigated the protective effects of the probiotic Enterococcus faecium against oxidative stress-induced neurodegeneration. Animals fed E. faecium showed reduced motor neuron degeneration under oxidative stress compared to those maintained on a standard Escherichia coli diet. Transcriptome analysis revealed a significant enrichment of oxidoreductase genes, including cytochrome P450 (cyp) genes. RNAi-mediated knockdown of cyp genes impaired E. faecium-mediated neuroprotection, and this loss correlated with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. We identified the conserved nuclear hormone receptor NHR-86 as a key regulator of cyp gene expression and neuroprotection. Loss of nhr-86 abolished the probiotic’s protective benefits, while transgenic expression of nhr-86 restored cyp induction and neuronal resilience. Importantly, intestinal expression of NHR-86 was sufficient to restore CYP induction and neuronal resilience, whereas neuronal knockdown had no effect, indicating that gut NHR-86 activity is essential for this protective pathway. These findings reveal a previously uncharacterized NHR-CYP regulatory axis activated by an intestinal probiotic, highlighting a mechanistic link between microbial signals and host neuroprotection.in PLoS Biology on 2026-01-30 14:00:00 UTC.
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Five energy metabolism pathways show distinct regional distributions and lifespan trajectories in the human brain
by Moohebat Pourmajidian, Justine Y. Hansen, Golia Shafiei, Bratislav Misic, Alain Dagher
Energy metabolism involves a series of biochemical reactions that generate ATP, utilizing substrates such as glucose and oxygen supplied via cerebral blood flow. Energy substrates are metabolized in multiple interrelated pathways that are cell- and organelle-specific. These pathways not only generate energy but are also fundamental to the production of essential biomolecules required for neuronal function and survival. How these complex biochemical processes are spatially distributed across the cortex is integral to understanding the structure and function of the brain. Here, using curated gene sets and whole-brain transcriptomics, we generate maps of five fundamental energy metabolic pathways: glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, tricarboxylic acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation and lactate metabolism. We find consistent divergence between primarily energy-producing and anabolic pathways, particularly in unimodal sensory cortices. We then explore the spatial alignment of these maps with multi-scale structural and functional attributes, including metabolic uptake, neurophysiological oscillations, cell type composition, laminar organization and macro-scale connectivity. We find that energy pathways exhibit unique relationships with the cellular and laminar organization of the cortex, pointing to the higher energy demands of large pyramidal cells and efferent projections. Finally, we show that metabolic pathways exhibit distinct developmental trajectories from the fetal stage to adulthood. The primary energy-producing pathways peak in childhood, while the anabolic pentose phosphate pathway shows greater prenatal expression and declines throughout life. Together, these results highlight the rich biochemical complexity of energy metabolism organization in the brain.in PLoS Biology on 2026-01-30 14:00:00 UTC.
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Reimagining Identity in Postcolonial East African Literature: A Comparative Analysis of Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Abdulrazak Gurnah [version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
This essay compares how Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Abdulrazak Gurnah, two leading East African writers, represent postcolonial identity and historical trauma through fiction. It examines their contrasting approaches to literary resistance: Ngugi embraces radical language politics and collective cultural reclamation, while Gurnah employs narrative ambiguity, exile experiences, and linguistic hybridity. The analysis reveals how intergenerational trauma operates in their works, with memory functioning as a morally charged force shaping identity and narrative authority. Despite their differences, Ngugi prioritizing political clarity and revolutionary consciousness, Gurnah exploring subtle psychological details and narrative dissonance, both authors demonstrate literature’s ethical power to contest historical erasure and reimagine postcolonial futures with compassion and complexity.in F1000Research on 2026-01-30 11:51:15 UTC.
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Counterfactual analysis: Comparing voucher systems with taxes, subsidies, and public spending to reduce income inequality [version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 1 not approved]
Background This study examines how voucher systems compare to traditional redistributive policies—such as progressive taxation, subsidies, and public spending—in reducing income inequality. Methods We apply a counterfactual analysis approach, using panel data from twelve countries over 22 years. By employing econometric modelling, we simulate a series of “what-if” scenarios to assess the impact of each policy on the Gini coefficient, a key measure of income inequality. Results The results suggest that voucher systems can be particularly effective at targeting essential services, like education and healthcare, improving access for lower-income groups, and helping to reduce inequality. Public spending on education and healthcare proves to be incredibly potent in narrowing income disparities. These sectors are vital for addressing systemic inequalities, improving overall access and providing long-term benefits to disadvantaged groups. In contrast, progressive taxation and subsidies show mixed effectiveness. While higher tax revenues often correlate with reduced inequality, their impacts vary across countries and contexts. The effectiveness of progressive taxation depends on factors such as the efficiency of tax systems and the political environment, which can influence how well these policies work. Similarly, subsidies generally produce only modest or inconsistent reductions in income gaps, suggesting that while they provide temporary relief, they do not always address the root causes of inequality. Conclusions These findings suggest that well-designed voucher programs, when combined with progressive taxation and strategic public spending, can play a key role in enhancing redistribution efforts. By improving access to essential services and targeting lower-income groups, vouchers have the potential to reduce income inequality. However, achieving equitable economic outcomes requires careful policy design and attention to the broader economic context.in F1000Research on 2026-01-30 11:44:36 UTC.
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Issue Information
in Journal of Comparative Neurology on 2026-01-30 11:32:23 UTC.
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Magnetic properties of an individual Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense cell
Author(s): Mathias M. Claus, Marcus Wyss, Dirk Schüler, Martino Poggio, and Boris Gross
Many bacteria share the fascinating ability to sense Earth's magnetic field—a process known as magnetotaxis. These bacteria synthesize magnetic nanoparticles, called magnetosomes, within their own cell body and arrange them to form a linear magnetic chain. The chain, which behaves like a compass nee…
[Phys. Rev. E 113, 014408] Published Fri Jan 30, 2026
in Physical Review E: Biological physics on 2026-01-30 10:00:00 UTC.
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REV-ERB-alpha and -beta coordinately regulate astrocyte reactivity and proteostatic function
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 5, February 2026.
SignificanceCircadian clock proteins have been implicated in regulation of neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, though mechanisms are still emerging. Our study shows that REV-ERB-α and -β, which are circadian clock components and nuclear ...in PNAS on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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GABA corelease guides the functional maturation of glycinergic synapses in an auditory sound localization circuit
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 5, February 2026.
SignificanceGlycinergic neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord often corelease GABA during development, but the role of this corelease in circuit refinement or synapse maturation remains poorly understood. This study found that disruption of ...in PNAS on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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A genetic screen for modifiers of cohesin clustering identifies regulators of genome folding
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Multimodal social context modulates larval behavior in Drosophila
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Inhibition of focal adhesion kinase impairs tumor formation and preserves hearing in a murine model of NF2-related schwannomatosis
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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The gut-brain vagal axis governs mesolimbic dopamine dynamics and reward events
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Structural insight into the glucose-6-phosphate transport by G6PT1 and inhibition mechanism of CGA
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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An electrophilicity-engineered magnetic sensor for MRI detection of dormant tumor cell clusters
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Induction of collective behavior by β-1,3-glucans in microalgae
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Cryo-EM structure of human AQP11 reveals a trimeric architecture with a large pore
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Computational rational design of unspecific peroxygenase for C-H oxidation
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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The root nodule symbiosis regulator NIN exhibits broad DNA binding specificity conferred by an NLP-inherited motif
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Pyruvate kinase muscle 2 (PKM2) promotes CD4 T cell survival by regulating pyruvate oxidation during homeostasis and expansion
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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A synthetic Antrodia cinnamomea galactomannan library by frameshift unveils a potent immunoregulatory octasaccharide domain
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Eccentricity rhythms in the Oligocene-Miocene carbon cycle regulated by weathering and carbonate burial
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Monitoring glioblastoma extracellular vesicle evolution using a nanodiagnostic platform to detect glioma stem cells driving recurrent disease
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Quantum state revival via coherent energy redistribution
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Neuroimmune activation in temporal lobe epilepsy patients with worsening seizure following the COVID-19 pandemic: A [18F]DPA-714 PET/MR study
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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Kilometer-scale convection-allowing model emulation using generative diffusion modeling
Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 5, January 2026.
in Science Advances on 2026-01-30 08:00:00 UTC.
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From monoamine deficits to multiscale plasticity: twenty-five years of ketamine and the neurophysiology of depression
Journal of Neurophysiology, Volume 135, Issue 2, Page 406-413, February 2026.
in Journal of Neurophysiology on 2026-01-30 06:01:42 UTC.
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Menstrual cycle phase alters corticospinal excitability and spike-timing-dependent plasticity in healthy females
Journal of Neurophysiology, Volume 135, Issue 2, Page 414-424, February 2026.
in Journal of Neurophysiology on 2026-01-30 06:01:40 UTC.
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Urethane and vagotomy reshape cardiorespiratory homeostasis and RTN chemoreceptor function
Journal of Neurophysiology, Volume 135, Issue 2, Page 394-405, February 2026.
in Journal of Neurophysiology on 2026-01-30 06:01:40 UTC.
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Astrocytes and neurons exhibit partially shared but distinct composite receptive fields for natural stimuli
Journal of Neurophysiology, Volume 135, Issue 2, Page 382-393, February 2026.
in Journal of Neurophysiology on 2026-01-30 06:01:39 UTC.
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Impact of sample size on optimisation algorithms for the MLP used in the prediction of client subscription to a term deposit [version 2; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]
Background One of the disadvantages of the multilayer perception (MLP), which is a machine learning (ML) algorithm used in various fields, includes the uncontrollable growth of the number of total parameters, which may make MLP redundant in such high dimensions, and the uncontrollable growing stack of layers that ignores spatial information. Optimization algorithms were developed to determine the optimum number of parameters for MLP. Methods In this paper, the performances of the Genetic Algorithm (GA), Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA), and Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES) are compared. The study also sought to determine the impact of sample size variations on these optimization algorithms. A dataset on the direct marketing campaigns of a Portuguese banking institution from the UCI Machine Learning Repository with a sample size of 4 521 was used. Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) was applied to balance the binary dependent variables for the training data across various sample sizes. Results Based on the classification accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, precision, F-score, and execution time, the MLP based on CMA-ES (CMA-ES-MLP) was identified as the best classifier overall, as it maintained high rates of these classification metrics and was the second fastest to train. CMA-ES-MLP with a training sample of 5 114 was our ideal classifier, and it competes well with the classifiers that have been built by previous studies that used the same dataset. Conclusions The study found no consistent increase or decrease in the classification performance of the algorithms as the sample size increased, and the metrics fluctuated rapidly across sample sizes. It is recommended that future studies be conducted to compare the best-performing classifiers identified in previous studies with the CMA-ES-MLP in this study under the same experimental conditions.in F1000Research on 2026-01-30 05:03:35 UTC.
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The State at a Crossroads: Legal Pluralism in Indonesia's Indigenous Peoples' Agrarian Conflicts [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
One of the most difficult types of agrarian dispute to resolve in conflict-prone countries is one involving corporations, governments, and powerful individuals. Indonesia has the sixth highest agrarian conflict rate in Asia. This dispute took place in 74% of all occurrences, 94% of all individual victims, and 84% of all impacted households. This article focuses on territorial boundaries between indigenous tribes as well as Indonesian government programs such as public infrastructure development, which includes roads, bridges, airports, ports, and trains. This study combines historical analysis with current developments to contribute to an empirical and theoretical understanding of land battles. This article gives a systematic evaluation of the literature on indigenous peoples using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic evaluation and Meta-Analysis) methodology. This review looks at three academic databases: Scopus, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Eric. These findings reveal that many indigenous tribes continue to lack legal or official recognition. Despite constitutional law, Indonesia, a multicultural country, has customary and religious rules among its indigenous tribes. Recognition of customary law and customary land still lacks a solid foundation.in F1000Research on 2026-01-30 04:46:14 UTC.
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Empowerment Model for The Elderly and Community to Improve the Welfare of the Elderly [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Rapid population ageing poses significant challenges to elderly welfare, particularly in communities with limited institutional support. This study aims to develop and empirically test an empowerment model involving older people and the community to sustainably improve elderly welfare. Using a mixed-method research design, the study combines quantitative analysis of welfare outcomes with qualitative exploration of empowerment processes. Quantitative data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to 210 elderly participants involved in community-based empowerment programs. Elderly welfare was measured across physical, psychological, social, and economic dimensions. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, paired-samples t-tests, and multiple regression. Qualitative data were obtained through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with elderly participants, family members, and community cadres. They were analysed thematically to enrich the interpretation of the statistical findings. The statistical results indicate a significant improvement in elderly welfare following program implementation. The mean welfare score increased from 3.12 to 3.89 on a five-point scale (t = 9.46, p < 0.001). Regression analysis shows that community participation (β = 0.41, p < 0.001) and elderly self-efficacy (β = 0.36, p < 0.01) are strong predictors of welfare improvement, explaining 52% of the variance in welfare outcomes (R2 = 0.52). Qualitative findings support these results, revealing enhanced independence, stronger social networks, and increased community recognition of older people as active contributors rather than dependents. The study concludes that an integrated empowerment model, combining health promotion, social engagement, economic micro-activities, and psychosocial support, effectively improves elderly welfare when supported by active community involvement. This research contributes to scientific discourse on empowerment-based ageing interventions and provides evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in designing community-driven elderly welfare programs.in F1000Research on 2026-01-30 04:38:40 UTC.
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Digital marketing and consumer behavior of enterprises under the background of national subsidy policies [version 2; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]
Against the backdrop of the digital economy, government subsidies, as a key macroeconomic regulation tool, interact with enterprises’ digital marketing investment and consumer behavior, yet relevant in-depth research remains scarce. This study aims to explore the complex relationships between national subsidy policies, enterprises’ digital marketing strategies, and consumer purchase intentions, with a focus on the second-hand product market. Based on a review of existing literature, five core hypotheses are proposed: national subsidy policies significantly enhance enterprises’ digital marketing investment; enterprises’ digital marketing strategies under subsidies positively impact consumer purchase intentions; consumers’ awareness of subsidy policies strengthens their purchase intentions; consumers’ trust in digital marketing platforms moderates the impact of digital marketing on purchase intentions; and national subsidy policies reduce consumers’ willingness to purchase second-hand products. This research bridges the existing research gap, constructs a comprehensive theoretical framework for the interaction between government, enterprises, and consumers in the digital age, and provides theoretical basis and practical guidance for policy makers and business decision-makers.in F1000Research on 2026-01-30 04:21:15 UTC.
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Integrated approaches for investigating the Neural Bases of Movement - Highlights from the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Neural Control of Movement
Journal of Neurophysiology, Ahead of Print.
in Journal of Neurophysiology on 2026-01-30 04:09:45 UTC.
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A neural language for the cerebellum: control of behavior via competing populations of Purkinje cells
Journal of Neurophysiology, Ahead of Print.
in Journal of Neurophysiology on 2026-01-30 03:59:56 UTC.
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Weight-bearing symmetry changes after asymmetric surface stiffness walking
Journal of Neurophysiology, Ahead of Print.
in Journal of Neurophysiology on 2026-01-30 03:53:49 UTC.
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Runx1 transcription factor modulates opioid analgesia and withdrawal in humans and rodents
Opioid responses differ across individuals. Runt-related transcription factor 1 (Runx1) modulates the microglial transcriptome, influencing opioid analgesia and withdrawal. RUNX1 variants may underlie inter-individual differences in opioid responses, guiding personalized strategies to optimize opioid pain management and minimize adverse outcomes.in Neuron: In press on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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CB1R and GlyT2 interaction in spinal glycinergic circuits drives neuropathic mechanical pain
Wang et al. reveal how nerve injury causes mechanical allodynia. It triggers endocannabinoid release, which disables the spinal Gly-PKCγ “allodynia gate” by disrupting inhibitory control. They develop a peptide that reverses this process, offering a promising strategy to alleviate chronic pain.in Neuron: In press on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Large-scale metagenomic analysis reveals host genetics shapes microbiomes in wild freshwater fish gut and skin
Tang et al. performed a large-scale metagenomic analysis that provided a deeper understanding of the microbial composition of the gut and skin of wild freshwater fish as well as the phylosymbiosis relationships between them. The assembled 705 MAGs have greatly enriched microbial genome resources for fish species.in Cell Reports: Current Issue on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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NAD+ sensing by PARP7 regulates the C/EBPβ-dependent transcription program during adipogenesis
Stokes et al. demonstrate that PARP7 “senses” the levels of nuclear NAD+ during early adipogenic differentiation via an ADP-ribosylation-ubiquitin-proteasome pathway to regulate C/EBPβ-dependent proadipogenic gene expression through p300-mediated H3K27 acetylation. Stabilized PARP7 promotes the binding of C/EBPβ to chromatin genome-wide, enhancing lipid synthesis and adipogenesis in vivo.in Cell Reports: Current Issue on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Two-component system HprS/HprR enhances kidney colonization of uropathogenic Escherichia coli CFT073 by increasing flagellar expression
Li et al. reported that TCS HprSR contributes to UPEC colonization of kidneys. The underlying mechanism involves UPEC HprSR directly activating the expression of flagellar export apparatus genes (fliLMNOPQR) in response to host-derived ROS and RCS. This finding provides insights for the development of therapeutic agents to treat UPEC infection.in Cell Reports: Current Issue on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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A neuron subtype-specific role of MEK-ERK signaling in axon survival via transcriptional regulation of Nmnat2
Yue et al. find the subtype-specific regulation of Nmnat2 transcription by Raf-MEK-ERK in DRG neurons, while cortical and spinal neurons use a MEK-independent mechanism. This context-dependent axon survival paradigm helps explain differential MEKi vulnerability of PNS and CNS neurons, indicating Nmnat2 as a potential target to counteract MEKi-induced neuropathy.in Cell Reports: Current Issue on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Neuronal networks in the dorsal hippocampus causally regulate rescue behavior in mice
dos Santos Correa et al. show that exposure to a stressful context promotes the acquisition of rescue behavior in mice and that the dorsal hippocampus is required for this learning. Calcium imaging reveals synchronized neuronal ensembles in the dHPC that mechanistically support successful prosocial rescues.in Cell Reports: Current Issue on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Publisher Correction: A domed pachycephalosaur from the early Cretaceous of Mongolia
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10184-5
Publisher Correction: A domed pachycephalosaur from the early Cretaceous of Mongoliain Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Publisher Correction: Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10185-4
Publisher Correction: Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceousin Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Largest galaxy survey yet confirms that the Universe is not clumpy enough
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00276-7
The six-year results from the Dark Energy Survey highlight unresolved tensions in standard cosmological theory.in Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Briefing Chat: What Brazilian centenarians could reveal about the science of ageing
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00322-4
Nature staff discuss some of the week’s top science news.in Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Light-powered bacteria become living chemical factories
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00275-8
Engineered Escherichia coli could open the door to more sustainable routes to new drugs and other chemicals.in Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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This robot hand detaches and walks by itself
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00327-z
Six-fingered appendage can detach, crawl and manipulate objectsin Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Can academia handle my religious faith?
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00154-2
Religious faith is a fundamental part of many academics’ identities, but some are nervous of talking about it at work.in Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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How DeepMind's genome AI could help solve rare disease mysteries
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00302-8
Hackathons using AlphaGenome and other AI models are hunting down the genetic causes of devastating conditions that have evaded diagnosis.in Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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China is betting on ‘optical’ computer chips – will they power AI?
Nature, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00274-9
Semiconductor chips that process light rather than electricity could boost processing speeds and reduce energy use.in Nature on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Ultrahigh-resolution nanoimprint patterning of quantum-dot light-emitting diodes via capillary self-assembly
Nature Photonics, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41566-025-01836-5
A nanoimprint technique exploiting capillary forces in nanohole arrays enables patterning CdSe-based quantum-dot LEDs with a resolution of nearly 170,000 pixels per inch while maintaining high average external quantum efficiencies of 17.0%, 10.5% and 5.7% for red-, green- and blue-emitting pixels, respectively.in Nature Photomics on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Quantum computing isn’t just about scaling
Nature Physics, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-03110-5
The race to demonstrate quantum error correction often focuses on making ever-larger devices. A demonstration showing that splitting a surface-code logical qubit into two simpler repetition codes substantially reduces logical gate errors reminds us that advancing quantum computing does not hinge solely on scaling qubit numbers.in Nature Physics on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Observation of dissipationless fractional Chern insulator
Nature Physics, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-03167-2
Fractional Chern insulators have been observed in moiré MoTe2 at zero magnetic field, but the expected zero longitudinal resistance has not been demonstrated. Now it is shown that improving device quality allows this effect to appear.in Nature Physics on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Lattice surgery realized on two distance-three repetition codes with superconducting qubits
Nature Physics, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-03090-6
Quantum error correction codes protect quantum information, but running algorithms also requires the ability to perform gates on logical qubits. A lattice surgery scheme for fault-tolerant gates has now been demonstrated in a quantum repetition code.in Nature Physics on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Fungal photobiont and microbiome genome composition in the Cladonia uncialis tripartite symbiosis
Scientific Data, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06624-6
Fungal photobiont and microbiome genome composition in the Cladonia uncialis tripartite symbiosisin Nature scientific data on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Tile-drainage and Crop Rotation Enhanced Cropland Dataset to Improve Spatial Accuracy of Eco-hydrologic Models
Scientific Data, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06693-7
Tile-drainage and Crop Rotation Enhanced Cropland Dataset to Improve Spatial Accuracy of Eco-hydrologic Modelsin Nature scientific data on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Chromosome-level genome assembly of the longfin barb (Acrossocheilus longipinnis)
Scientific Data, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-06656-y
Chromosome-level genome assembly of the longfin barb (Acrossocheilus longipinnis)in Nature scientific data on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Structural analysis reveals that water molecules mediate self-activation of GPR99
Communications Biology, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09644-5
GPR99 self-activation is promoted by the second extracellular loop (ECL2) occupying the orthosteric pocket, which is stabilized by a water-mediated polar network. These findings provide a structural basis for this receptor’s physiological roles and a theoretical framework for designing drugs targeting the receptor.in Nature communications biology on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Causal evidence for a domain-specific role of left superior frontal sulcus in human perceptual decision-making
Humans and animals can flexibly choose their actions based on different information, ranging from objective states of the environment (e.g., apples are bigger than cherries) to subjective preferences (e.g., cherries are tastier than apples). Whether the brain instantiates these different choices by recruiting either specialised or shared neural circuitry remains debated. Specifically, domain-general accounts of prefrontal cortex (PFC) function propose that prefrontal areas flexibly process either perceptual or value-based evidence depending on what is required for the present choice, whereas domain-specific theories posit that PFC sub-areas, such as the left superior frontal sulcus (SFS), selectively integrate evidence relevant for perceptual decisions. Here, we comprehensively test the functional role of the left SFS for choices based on perceptual- and value-based evidence, by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging with a behavioural paradigm, computational modelling, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Confirming predictions by a sequential sampling model, we show that TMS-induced excitability reduction of the left SFS selectively changes the processing of decision-relevant perceptual information and associated neural processes. In contrast, value-based decision-making and associated neural processes remain unaffected. This specificity of SFS function is evident at all levels of analysis (behavioural, computational, and neural, including functional connectivity), demonstrating that the left SFS causally contributes to evidence integration for perceptual but not value-based decisions.in eLife on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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The representation of facial emotion expands from sensory to prefrontal cortex with development
Facial expression recognition develops rapidly during infancy and improves from childhood to adulthood. As a critical component of social communication, this skill enables individuals to interpret others’ emotions and intentions. However, the brain mechanisms driving the development of this skill remain largely unclear due to the difficulty of obtaining data with both high spatial and temporal resolution from young children. By analyzing intracranial EEG data collected from childhood (5–10 years old) and post-childhood groups (13–55 years old), we find differential involvement of high-level brain area in processing facial expression information. For the post-childhood group, both the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) encode facial emotion features from a high-dimensional space. However, in children, the facial expression information is only significantly represented in the pSTC, not in the DLPFC. Furthermore, the encoding of complex emotions in pSTC is shown to increase with age. Taken together, young children rely more on low-level sensory areas than on the prefrontal cortex for facial emotion processing, suggesting that the prefrontal cortex matures with development to enable a full understanding of facial emotions, especially complex emotions that require social and life experience to comprehend.in eLife on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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A forebrain hub for cautious actions via the midbrain
Adaptive goal-directed behavior requires dynamic coordination of movement, motivation, and environmental cues. Among these, cautious actions, where animals adjust their behavior in anticipation of predictable threats, are essential for survival. Yet, their underlying neural mechanisms remain less well understood than those of appetitive behaviors, where caution plays little role. Using calcium imaging in freely moving mice, we show that glutamatergic neurons in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) are robustly engaged by contraversive movement during cue-evoked avoidance and exploratory behavior. Model-based analyses controlling for movement and other covariates revealed that STN neurons additionally encode salient sensory cues, punished errors, and especially cautious responding, where their activity anticipates avoidance actions. Targeted lesions and optogenetic manipulations reveal that STN projections to the midbrain are necessary for executing cued avoidance. These findings identify a critical role for the STN in orchestrating adaptive goal-directed behavior by integrating sensory, motor, and punitive signals to guide timely, cautious actions via its midbrain projections.in eLife on 2026-01-30 00:00:00 UTC.
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Issue Information ‐ Editorial Board
in Hippocampus on 2026-01-29 17:41:59 UTC.
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Correction to “Overdispersion: Navigating Noise, Learning and Remembering”
in Hippocampus on 2026-01-29 17:34:22 UTC.
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SpaConTDS: A multimodal contrastive learning framework for identifying spatial domains by applying tuple disturbing strategy
by Ruiwen Xu, Xiaoqing Cheng, Waiki Ching, Siyao Wu, Yuanben Zhang, Yidan Zhang
The rational utilization of multimodal spatial transcriptomics (ST) data enables accurate identification of spatial domains, which is essential for investigating cellular structure and functions. In this study, we proposed SpaConTDS, a novel framework that integrates reinforcement learning with self-supervised multimodal contrastive learning. SpaConTDS generates positive and negative samples through data augmentation and a pseudo-label tuple perturbation strategy, enabling the learning of fused representations that capture global semantics and cross-modal interactions. The model’s hyper-parameters are dynamically optimized using reinforcement learning. Extensive experiments across various resolutions and platforms demonstrate that SpaConTDS achieves state-of-the-art accuracy in spatial domain identification and outperforms existing methods in downstream tasks such as denoising, trajectory inference, and UMAP visualization. Moreover, SpaConTDS effectively integrates multiple tissue sections and corrects batch effects without requiring prior alignment. Compared to existing approaches, SpaConTDS offers more robust fused representations of multimodal data, providing researchers with a flexible and powerful tool for a wide range of spatial transcriptomics analyses.in PLoS Computational Biology on 2026-01-29 14:00:00 UTC.
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A protocol study on assessment of sleep cycle pattern, quality, and its determinant among Young Adults in an urban area of Wardha. [version 2; peer review: 2 not approved]
Introduction The value of sleep in preserving health and well-being is widely understood, especially among young people. To improve cognitive abilities, especially memory retention, adequate sleep is essential. Inadequate sleep quality and the resulting daytime sleepiness can negatively affect young adults’ physical and cognitive health and performance. Objective To assess the sleep cycle pattern, quality, electronic usage at bedtime, and diet among young adults in an urban area of Wardha. Protocol An observational cross-sectional study will be carried out with young adults to evaluate sleep patterns. Sleep quality and related risk factors will be measured using self-reports by participants. The link between many risk variables and poor sleep quality will be investigated using logistic regression analysis. Study Implication The study will help understand and address sleep quality in young adults. The information gathered in the study can further help serve as data for future research. This study aims to improve the understanding of factors contributing to poor sleep quality and disturbed sleep cycle patterns among young adults in an urban setting.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 11:46:22 UTC.
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Individualized Atrophy‐Based Prediction of Dementia Progression in Familial Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration With Bayesian Linear Mixed‐Effects Modeling
Objective
Age of symptom onset is highly variable in familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration (f-FTLD). Accurate prediction of onset would inform clinical management and trial enrollment. Prior studies indicate that individualized maps of brain atrophy can predict conversion to dementia in f-FTLD. We used a Bayesian linear mixed-effect (BLME) prediction method for identifying accelerated brain volume loss to predict conversion to dementia.
Methods
Participants included 234 asymptomatic or prodromal carriers of C9orf72, GRN, or MAPT mutations (including 21 dementia converters) with ≥3 longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T1-weighted scans. The BLME models established individual voxel-wise gray matter trajectories using the first 2 scans. Person-specific clusters of accelerated volume loss were estimated in subsequent scans and tested as predictors of dementia conversion compared with other approaches in time-varying Cox proportional hazard models covarying for age. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves estimated utility of cluster volume in discriminating which participants converted to dementia within 24 months.
Results
The BLME cluster volume predicted conversion to dementia in f-FTLD mutation carriers overall and separately in C9orf72, GRN, and MAPT, with comparable hazard ratios observed for atrophy W-maps and regional volumes. Within a 24-month timeframe, BLME cluster volume discriminated dementia converters from non-converters with larger areas under the curve (AUCs) than other approaches.
Interpretation
Bayesian-modeled individualized atrophy scores predict dementia progression among asymptomatic f-FTLD mutation carriers and may have increased utility compared with other structural imaging methods when studying individuals over shorter timeframes that align with clinical trial design. ANN NEUROL 2026
in Annals of Neurology on 2026-01-29 10:35:46 UTC.
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Eco-Friendly Modified Fabrication of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) Nanoparticles from a Novel Utilized date seed Extract with Potent Antibacterial Properties isolated from Osteomyelitis patients. [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Green nanotechnology presents an opportunity in management of osteomyelitis, whereby environmental friendly procedures are used to provide nanoparticles that are of minimal toxicity. Green nanomaterials have the potential of effectively delivering antibiotics to the infected bone sites by incorporation of biocompatible materials to improve the efficiency of the delivery as well as reducing side effects. This sustainable treatment does not only provide safer treatment but also enhances faster healing and curbs infection spread that provides a more viable and environmentally friendly solution in managing osteomyelitis. This study is the first to synthesize poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles by using Phoenix dactylifera L. (Zahidi date) seeds extract as a capping agent in a green approach. 120 osteomyelitis specimens were collected; the nanoparticles were fabricated via a modified double emulsion solvent evaporation/diffusion technique followed by lyophilization. Characterization via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Antimicrobial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of green-synthesized PLGA nanoparticles was determined. 40% of the specimens contained Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; 20%, Staphylococcus aureus; 10%, Proteus mirabilis; 10%, Enterococcus faecium; and 20%, different Gram-negative bacilli. PLGA nanoparticles do not exhibit considerable crystallization using the date seed extract in XRD analysis, FTIR spectroscopic analysis of PLGA nanoparticles reveals absorption bands characteristic of the polymer’s chemical structure and indicates the presence of functional groups from both PLGA and the bioactive constituents of the date pit extract. (FE-SEM) confirmed the formation of uniformly sized spherical particles (23–33 nm) with an amorphous polymeric structure and maintaining the inherent chemical integrity of PLGA. Importantly, the incorporation of bioactive phytochemicals from the date seed extract was confirmed, indicating their participation in the functional activity of the nanoparticles. Antimicrobial activities determined using the broth microdilution method revealed high inhibition against Klebsiella pneumoniae (MIC: 75–125 μg/mL) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC: 100–125 μg/mL). The findings highlight the significance of incorporating agro-industrial waste into the sustainable production of bioactive nanocarriers. The developed PLGA nanoparticles constitute an efficient carrier system with high antibacterial activity and represent a novel therapeutic strategy for treating osteomyelitis.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 09:51:11 UTC.
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High Measles Complication Rates and Vaccine Breakthroughs Among Pediatric Cases in Iraq: A Cross-Sectional Study [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background Measles constitutes a substantial public health concern in Iraq. Despite concerted efforts to achieve elimination in accordance with World Health Organization targets, comprehensive understanding of its epidemiological patterns and vaccine effectiveness remains critically important. Objectives This investigation aimed to: (1) assess the relationship between age and clinical manifestations among measles patients; (2) evaluate Iraq’s progress toward measles elimination objectives; and (3) identify immunization coverage gaps. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled 200 laboratory-confirmed measles cases (serological or molecular confirmation) from Ramadi Teaching Hospital, Al-Anbar Province, Iraq, during January 2023 to March 2024. Vaccination status was verified through official refrigerator immunization cards. Statistical analyses employed chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression to adjust for potential confounding variables. Results Among 200 confirmed measles cases, 32% were infants aged <12 months and 68% were children aged 1-9 years. Notably, 71% represented breakthrough infections among individuals who had received at least one vaccine dose. Severe complications included pneumonia (77%), diarrhea (73%), otitis media (45%), and encephalitis (23%). Unvaccinated children demonstrated 3.2-fold increased odds of developing pneumonia. Disease burden was disproportionately higher in rural populations (58%). Mean C-reactive protein concentration was 56.8 mg/dL. Conclusion Measles persists with substantial morbidity in Iraq. The breakthrough infection rate (71%) significantly exceeds World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office reports (45-50%), suggesting unique regional challenges. Achieving elimination necessitates urgent evaluation of vaccination programs, strengthening of routine immunization services, and enhancement of surveillance systems. Future investigations should assess post-vaccination seroconversion rates and conduct molecular genotyping studies.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 09:42:48 UTC.
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Creative play and creativity development: A three level meta data analysis of moderators (age, culture, play type) [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
This study presents a comprehensive three-level meta-analysis examining the relationship between creative play and creativity development, focusing on the moderating effects of age, culture, and game type. Using meta-analytic methods, we systematically analyzed 78 empirical studies (N = 21,456 participants) published between 2000 and 2024. Results revealed a significant positive relationship between creative play engagement and creativity development (g = 0.62, 95% CI [0.58, 0.66]). Moderator analyses showed the relationship’s strength varied significantly by age group: early childhood (3–7 years) demonstrated the strongest effect (g = 0.74), followed by middle childhood (8–12 years; g = 0.61), and adolescence (13–18 years; g = 0.84). Cultural context significantly moderated the relationship, with collectivist cultures showing a stronger effect (g = 0.68) compared to individualist cultures (g = 0.57). Regarding play type, dramatic play exhibited the strongest relationship with creativity (g = 0.71), followed by constructive play (g = 0.65), and digital play (g = 0.52). These findings underscore the importance of developmentally and culturally appropriate play interventions for fostering creativity. This research offers valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and future researchers in designing effective creativity-enhancing programs across developmental stages and cultural contexts.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 09:36:23 UTC.
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Organizational cybersecurity and its impact on organizational immunity-An analytical study at the Ministry of Education Iraq/ General Directorate of Educational Planning [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background This research addressed organizational cybersecurity, which has emerged as a critical element in the digital age and has become a strategic issue for organizations working to protect user assets against security risks in the cyber environment. And Organizational immunity includes the policies and procedures adopted by an organization to protect its core values and correct performance deviations. The research purpose on studying the impact of organizational cybersecurity on organizational immunity at the Iraqi Ministry of Education/General Directorate of Educational Planning. There is a need to study this relationship to better understand how organizations can strengthen their capabilities in an advanced digital environment. Methods The research adopted a descriptive analytical approach, whereby 95 questionnaires were distributed and data was collected from 85 respondents, ready for statistical analysis. The data was analyzed using statistical tools (SPSS V.28&smartpls4) to verify the scale and analyze the relationships between variables. Results indicate that the level of organizational cybersecurity implementation was first in relative importance, while organizational immunity came in second, and there is an impact relationship between organizational cybersecurity and organizational immunity, which reinforces the fundamental role of the General Directorate of Educational Planning in maintaining business continuity and limiting the impact of cyberattacks. Conclusion The research concludes that organizational cybersecurity plays an important role in enhancing organizational immunity, as the application of cybersecurity tools would enhance the role of the General Directorate of Educational Planning and its ability to withstand cyber threats, strengthen digital measures, improve protection, and ensure business continuity in the digital environment.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 08:20:05 UTC.
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Authentic Quality Experience as a Catalyst for Brand Trust, Value, and Loyalty: A Multidisciplinary Approach in Heritage Tourism [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background Cultural heritage tourism presents unique challenges and opportunities in building long-term consumer–brand relationships. While brand loyalty is a key objective for destination marketers, the role of authentic quality experience in shaping trust and perceived brand value remains underexplored. This study aims to bridge that gap by examining how quality experience influences brand trust, brand value, and ultimately brand loyalty, using a multidisciplinary lens that integrates marketing theory, cultural studies, and psychology. Methods A quantitative survey was conducted involving 573 respondents from diverse demographic backgrounds who had visited cultural heritage destinations. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the relationships among quality experience, brand trust, brand value, and brand loyalty. Measurement validity and reliability were assessed prior to hypothesis testing. Results The results indicate that quality experience has a significant positive effect on both brand trust and brand value. Furthermore, brand trust and brand value act as mediating variables that strengthen the relationship between quality experience and brand loyalty. The structural model demonstrated strong fit indices, confirming the robustness of the proposed relationships. These findings underscore the importance of delivering authentic and meaningful experiences to enhance consumer perceptions and emotional attachment to heritage brands. Conclusions This study advances the theory of Relationship Marketing and Tourism Consumption by clarifying the key role of quality experience in building brand loyalty. Practically, the findings offer concrete recommendations for heritage site managers and destination marketers to develop branding strategies that emphasize authenticity, emotional resonance, and sustainable engagement. By focusing on quality experience, heritage destinations can foster greater trust, perceived value, and loyalty among visitors.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 08:16:43 UTC.
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Representational drift reflects ongoing balancing of stochastic changes by Hebbian learning
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 5, February 2026.
SignificanceRecent studies have shown that neural responses to familiar sounds continuously change in stable environments, a phenomenon termed representational drift. By analyzing long-term recordings from the mouse auditory cortex, we suggest that this ...in PNAS on 2026-01-29 08:00:00 UTC.
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Aging drives a program of DNA methylation decay in plant organs
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 08:00:00 UTC.
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Engineered aldehyde dehydrogenases for amide bond formation
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 08:00:00 UTC.
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The evolution of gene regulation in mammalian cerebellum development
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
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DNA-protein cross-links promote cGAS-STING–driven premature aging and embryonic lethality
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
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High-precision tracking of human foragers reveals adaptive social information use in the wild
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 08:00:00 UTC.
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Wafer-scale ultrathin and uniform van der Waals ferroelectric oxide
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 08:00:00 UTC.
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The origin of hepatocellular carcinoma depends on metabolic zonation
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
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The ‘undone science’ of opioid overdose deaths
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, January 2026.
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The essential nature of creative endeavors
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 453-453, January 2026.
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Making sense of disease
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 454-454, January 2026.
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High-resolution geodetic velocities reveal role of weak faults in deformation of Tibetan Plateau
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 499-503, January 2026.
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Multiple protein structure alignment at scale with FoldMason
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 485-488, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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Cellular survivorship bias as a mechanistic driver of muscle stem cell aging
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 517-521, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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Probing supersolidity through excitations in a spin-orbit–coupled Bose-Einstein condensate
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 480-484, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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Soils drive convergence in the regulation of vascular tension in land plants
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 476-479, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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Heritability of intrinsic human life span is about 50% when confounding factors are addressed
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 504-510, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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Lithographic crystallinity regulation in additive fabrication of thermoplastics (CRAFT)
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 511-516, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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Kinetic acceleration of MoS2 growth by oxy-metal-organic chemical vapor deposition
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 494-498, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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From sequence to function: Bridging single-molecule kinetics and molecular diversity
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 458-465, January 2026.
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A wake-up call
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 526-526, January 2026.
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In Other Journals
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 467-468, January 2026.
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Muscle stem cells trade functionality for survival
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 444-444, January 2026.
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Should I stay or should I go with them?
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 442-443, January 2026.
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Rethinking the heritability of aging
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 448-448, January 2026.
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Controlling plastic behavior with light
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 446-447, January 2026.
in Science on 2026-01-29 07:00:02 UTC.
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Solving the ferroelectric scaling trilemma
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 445-446, January 2026.
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Paying resilience forward
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 456-456, January 2026.
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Planning policy undermines UK’s nature goals
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 457-457, January 2026.
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A global imperative to remediate Ukraine’s soils
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 455-456, January 2026.
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Into the deep
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 436-441, January 2026.
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The great government brain drain
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 428-429, January 2026.
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Earthquake sensors buried in the quietest spot on Earth
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 430-431, January 2026.
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Leading preprint server clamps down on ‘AI slop’
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 432-433, January 2026.
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Magnetic fields cause fluorescent proteins to dim
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 434-435, January 2026.
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Oil helped build Venezuela’s science. Can oil now revive it?
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 431-432, January 2026.
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China turns the tables in biotech
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 427-427, January 2026.
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Public access’s next frontier
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 522-524, January 2026.
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Fossil energy minimum viable scale
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 449-452, January 2026.
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In Science Journals
Science, Volume 391, Issue 6784, Page 466-468, January 2026.
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A raster-based dataset for spatio-temporal analysis of forest fires in the Amazon rainforest from 2001 to 2020 [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations]
Forest fires are becoming increasingly common worldwide, posing a threat to the environment, economy, and society. Spatiotemporal analysis of forest fires is important to understand their characteristics and causes and to inform decision-making. This type of analysis requires the availability of a number of factors that contribute to fire occurrence, such as land use, environment, climate, and human activities, at high spatial and temporal resolutions. The South American Amazon rainforest covers a large area, and acquiring a useful dataset for analysis requires extensive effort and computer-intensive processing. This study investigates potential data sources, establishes a methodology, and prepares a dataset of attributes useful for spatiotemporal fire analysis. We provide a raster-based dataset that includes fires, land use, environment, and climate factors at a spatial resolution of 500 m and monthly temporal resolution from 2001 to 2020, which facilitates the analysis of forest fires in the Amazon. Moreover, because data sources and implementation procedures are detailed, this work also encourages similar research in other parts of the world.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 06:41:46 UTC.
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Therapeutic Use of Cannabis: Knowledge and Acceptance among Citizens of Trujillo, Peru [version 2; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background In Peru, the legalization of Cannabis was given in 2017 and approved in 2019; however, there are discrepancies in the knowledge of the therapeutic use of this plant, causing rejection in its application as an alternative medicine. Methods The research was of a basic type with a quantitative approach and a non-experimental design, with a cross-sectional and descriptive scope. Non-probabilistic sampling was applied, with 324 participants aged 18-60. Data were collected through a virtual questionnaire of closed questions (KR-20 = 0.825). Descriptive statistics were used (frequencies and percentages), and inferential analyses Spearman’s correlation, simple linear regression, Monte Carlo exact tests, and a two-step cluster analysis to identify acceptance profiles. Results Participants expressed a favorable perception of the potential benefits of medical cannabis. However, their knowledge of its therapeutic indications and dosage was limited. Inferential analyses revealed a significant positive association between knowledge and acceptance of the therapeutic use of cannabis. Knowledge emerged as a significant predictor of acceptance, although it explained only a limited proportion of its variability. Cluster analysis identified distinct acceptance profiles within the study population, showing adequate internal cohesion and separation, and highlighting knowledge as the most influential factor in cluster formation. Despite moderate acceptance of regular use under medical supervision, participants emphasized that cannabis use should be limited to prescriptions from specialized physicians and supported by scientific evidence. Conclusion Study participants demonstrate limited knowledge about medical cannabis, despite moderate acceptance of its regulated use. Knowledge plays an important, though not exclusive, role in shaping acceptance, underscoring the need for targeted educational strategies and evidence-based public health policies.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 06:17:05 UTC.
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Workflow graphical editor and translator to Nextflow [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Abstract* Background The Workflow Description Language (WDL) is an open standard that is widely used for bioinformatics workflows. Due to its declarative nature WDL workflows can be easily presented and edited as graphs. Nextflow is both domain specific language for bioinformatics workflows and a convenient workflow execution engine. Our objective was to develop a tool that allows a user to edit WDL workflows visually as a graph providing synchronisation between its textual and graphical representation. Methods Translation of WDL workflows into Nextflow ones allows usage of both languages with the same execution engine. BioUML platform provides class library for object oriented presentation of most common workflow concepts as well as plugins for workflow visualisation and its graphical editing. Results We have developed a WDL parser that with some limitations maps content of WDL workflows into its object-oriented presentation (model). This model can be visualised and edited as a graph. WDL and Nextflow generators create WDL and Nextflow text from the same model. Conclusions Developed tools are available as a standalone Java program, web server, web service and a plugin for the BioUML platform.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 06:07:37 UTC.
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The Experimental Development of Solar Collector with Different Types of Nanofluid [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
In the present study, the flow rate and nanofluid effects on a parabolic trough solar collector were examined experimentally in Kirkuk city climate conditions during the period from May to July. Three flow rates, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 l/min were utilized. The theoretical and experimental results prove that lower flow rates enhance the thermal performance significantly as they increase the fluid residence time. According to the obtained results, two nanofluids, ZnO-water and MgO-water (at 0.2 wt. %), were experimentally evaluated at the optimal flow rate of 0.1 l/min. Both nanofluids showed better results than base fluid (water). Thus, MgO exhibited a better thermal efficiency of 66.9% at 12 pm than ZnO (62.7%) and water (57.19%). Directly, MgO generated the better thermal efficiency with maximum outlet temperature of MgO was 75.08°C. This could be due to the higher thermal efficiency of MgO-water, which is attributed to its much higher thermal conductivity (48.4 W/m·K) than ZnO (29 W/m·K). The exergy efficiency was nearly the same and negligible, that is, 13.8% for MgO, owing to the thermodynamic limitations. The practical results show that MgO nanofluid at a low flow rate could be an optimal solution for the parabolic trough solar collector.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 05:58:37 UTC.
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Effect of anti-obesity drug orlistat (Xenical™) on liver and kidney function in male rats fed a high-fat diet [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background HFDs have adverse effects on metabolic health, which puts individuals at risk of obesity and liver and kidney dysfunction. Orlistat is an antihypertensive agent against obesity that prevents the absorption of dietary fats, although its impact on hepatic and renal functions is still disputed. In this study, the dose-dependent effects of orlistat on liver and renal functioning were in male rats on an HFD were assessed. Methods There was a control HFD group and three HFD groups with orlistat (360, 480 and 600 mg/kg) on male rats over 60 days. Lipid profiles, liver enzymes (AST, ALT, GGT, ALP), kidney (urea, creatinine, direct and indirect bilirubin), and hematological (hemoglobin, hematocrit, RBC, WBC counts, MCV, MCH, MCHC) serum tests were done. Histopathological analysis of liver and kidney tissues was done. Findings Orlistat caused dose-related changes in lipid profiles, increased liver enzymes, and an increased mark of kidney functioning. The hematological parameters were also greatly impaired, and the histopathology indicated structural and tissue damage in both of the organs, more so at higher doses. Conclusions Orlistat was used in HFD-conditions in male rats, which resulted in severe dose-related impairment of the liver and kidney. These results highlight the importance of close observation of hepatic and renal functions when using orlistat especially in the high-fat dietary situation.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 05:58:10 UTC.
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Relation of Anxiety Levels and Objective Structured Clinical Examination among Undergraduate Nursing Students [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Background The incidence of stress and anxiety among nursing students is observed across all academic years of their educational training. Although Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are helpful in healthcare education, they can be anxiety-inducing. This study aimed to assess the anxiety level among nursing students during the OSCE exams. Methods A descriptive study was carried out on a purposive sample by distributing an online survey among students from an undergraduate nursing program. Anxiety levels were measured using the State-trait anxiety inventory, including the subscales of the state and trait of anxiety. Results A total of 121 students with a mean age of 22.2 years (SD +/-3.6) participated in the study. The majority of the participants, 72.7%, were females, and 27.3% were males. Before attending the OSCE, 58.7% of the participants reported a mild degree of anxiety, 33.1% had a moderate level of anxiety, and only 10.7% had a severe level of trait anxiety. Conclusions The findings highlight the complex interplay between sociodemographic factors, academic performance, work-study balance, and anxiety levels among nursing students preparing for high-stakes assessments like the OSCE. Addressing anxiety levels among nursing students preparing for OSCE assessments requires a multifaceted approach that considers individual characteristics, academic performance, and external stressors.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 05:54:50 UTC.
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Why Are Christian Schools Popular in Japan Despite the Small Number of Christians? : A Case Study of a Catholic Girls’ Junior and Senior High School [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
The proportion of Christians in Japan’s population is very small (0.7%). In contrast, Christian-affiliated schools are numerous and enjoy widespread popularity. As previous studies suggest, Christian schools—especially those for girls—are often associated with positive social images (such as being “refined” or “upper-class”), particularly among young women, and this association has been considered one reason for their popularity. However, much of the existing research is based on statistical analysis, literature review, or quantitative methods, and few studies have employed detailed qualitative approaches. Some earlier studies have applied Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of class reproduction to analyze the popularity of Christian girls’ schools, but they often frame this in terms of marriage as a pathway to upward social mobility—a perspective that does not fully align with the values of today’s youth, who tend to place greater emphasis on their individual careers. Therefore, this paper focuses on one Christian-affiliated integrated junior and senior high school for girls (referred to as School X) and explores the reasons for its popularity through semi-structured interviews with its alumni. Unlike previous research that has been constrained by gender biases, this study examines the appeal of such schools from the perspective of cultural capital. In particular, it emphasizes the relevance of alignment between the students’ values and the founding mission of the school. The findings reveal that the students perceived School X’s education as directly contributing to the acquisition of various forms of capital and habitus, as defined by Bourdieu (although not articulated in such terms by the students themselves). Additionally, These results indicate a strong sense of coherence between the school’s founding ideals and the students’ personal values. In conclusion, this paper offers insight—through the lens of cultural capital and habitus—into why Christian girls’ schools in Japan continue to be highly regarded.in F1000Research on 2026-01-29 05:50:08 UTC.
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