Individual Regions Research Articles

Spatial transcriptomics reveals unique gene expression changes in different brain regions after sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation has far-reaching consequences on the brain and behavior, impacting memory, attention, and metabolism. Previous research has focused on gene expression changes in individual brain regions, such as the hippocampus or cortex. Therefore, it is unclear how uniformly or heterogeneously sleep loss affects the brain. Here, we use spatial transcriptomics to define the impact of a brief period of sleep deprivation across the brain in male mice. We find that sleep deprivation induced pronounced differences in gene expression across the brain, with the greatest changes in the hippocampus, neocortex, hypothalamus, and thalamus. Both the differentially expressed genes and the direction of regulation differed markedly across regions. Importantly, we developed bioinformatic tools to register tissue sections and gene expression data into a common anatomical space, allowing a brain-wide comparison of gene expression patterns between samples. Our results suggest that distinct molecular mechanisms acting in discrete brain regions underlie the biological effects of sleep deprivation.

Prevalence Trends of Anemia Impairment in Adolescents and Young Adults with HIV/AIDS

Background Anemia is a common complication of HIV/AIDS, particularly in adolescents and young adults. However, little is known about the changing prevalence trends of anemia impairment in this population over time. Methods Data on anemia in adolescents and young adults with HIV/AIDS from 1990 to 2019 were collected globally. Prevalence was calculated by gender, region, and country for individuals aged 10-24, and trends were measured using estimating annual percentage changes (EAPC). Results Globally, the prevalence of adolescents and young adults with HIV/AIDS increased from 103.95 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 203.78 in 2019. However, anemia impairment has decreased over the past three decades, with a global percentage decreasing from 70.6% in 1990 to 34.7% in 2019, mainly presenting as mild to moderate anemia and significantly higher in females than males. The largest decreases were observed in Central Sub-Saharan Africa, High-income North America, and Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa, with EAPCs of -2.8, -2.34, and -2.17, respectively. Tajikistan (78.76%) and Madagascar (74.65%) had the highest anemia impairment percentage in 2019, while China (16.61%) and Iceland (13.73%) had the lowest. Anemia impairment was closely related to sociodemographic index (SDI) levels, with a high proportion of impairment in low SDI regions but a stable decreasing trend (EAPC=-0.37). Hence, anemia impairment in HIV/AIDS-infected individuals varies by region, sex, and age group. Conclusion Continued anemia monitoring and management are crucial for HIV/AIDS patients, especially in high-prevalence regions and among females. Public health policies and interventions can improve the quality of life and reduce morbidity and mortality. Keywords : Adolescents; Human immunodeficiency virus; Anemia; Prevalence; Global Burden of Diseases

The relevance of using methods of molecular epidemiology of HIV to characterize territorial epidemics: Sakhalin region, Russia

Aim. To investigate the molecular-epidemiological characteristics of the territorial distribution of HIV infection in the Sakhalin region.Materials and Methods. A comprehensive analysis of molecular-genetic characteristics of HIV-1 and clinical-epidemiological data of 64 HIV-infected residents of the Sakhalin region was conducted. Nucleotide sequences of the pol gene region encoding protease, reverse transcriptase, and integrase of HIV-1 were obtained by sequencing amplified virus fragments. Genotyping, phylogenetic and mutational analyses were performed using specialized software resources.Results. Among the HIV-1 cases studied, the HIV-1 subtype A6 was detected in 81.3 % of cases, with 58.4 % of them reliably clustering into closely related HIV groups, indicating the development of internal epidemic networks of infection transmission. Additionally, HIV-1 CRF63_02A6 and 06_cpx were detected in 4.7 % of cases each, subtype B and B/G in 3.1 %, subtypes C and A1 in 1.6 %. HIV-1 A6, B/G variants, and subtype A1 similar to Mediterranean HIV were detected in the MSM group. In 10.8 % of cases, treatment-naive patients had HIV-1 with the K103N mutation, and in one case, multiple drug resistance was identified.Conclusion. The contemporary territorial epidemic of HIV infection in the Sakhalin region is characterised by the presence of internal epidemic networks and the registration and spread of imported HIV. Key population groups with HIV infection require special attention due to the documented transmission of ART-resistant viruses. Studying the peculiarities of HIV infection spread in individual regions of Russia is important for the development of effective measures aimed at ending HIV transmission in the country.

Организация обеспечения служилых людей Сибири хлебными запасами на пути из Соли Камской до Верхотурья в 1598–1605 годах

Introduction. The article examines the problem of organizing the provision of service people in Siberia with grain reserves, which were collected as a special tax from the lands of the south-eastern part of the Pomorye during the reign of B.F. Godunov along the road from Sol Kamskaya to Verkhoturye. Methods and materials. The source base is the official material of the Verkhoturye and Solikamsk administrative huts, individual documents of the Siberian order. The method of diachronic analysis obtained a year-by-year picture of how transportation functioned from 1596/97 to 1605. The method of comparative analysis clarified the dynamics of changes in the amounts of salary fees for each individual region of the Pomorye. Analysis. The article clarifies the idea of the administrative management of Verkhoturye at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, gives a general description of the system for collecting and sending grain reserves, as well as the accompanying duty in the form of a ship case, clarifies the features of the organization of supplies, and systematizes and calculates their norms by year. Results. It was possible to establish that the Moscow government, first from the court of clerk I. Vakhromeev and, after 1599, from the Order of the Kazan and Meshchersky Palace, directly controlled Verkhoturye. Until 1597, supplies were carried out through Cherdyn and Lozva, and from 1598 through Sol Kamskaya in Verkhoturye. In 1596/97 and 1597/98. The largest volumes of grain reserves were supplied from the territories of Perm the Great and Vyatka. In 1600/01 and 1601/02, instead of the territory of the Pomorye, grain harvests were delivered to Sol Kamskaya from Kazan; the Pomors were engaged in transportation to Siberia. The share of transportation was higher near Vyatka and Ustyug the Great, as in 1604/05, when the collection of grain reserves resumed from the territory of the Pomorye. The scheme for public procurement of grain reserves developed by the government can be assessed as effective; however, management difficulties also arose due to the remote location of the region, abuse of the official powers of the governor, the forced need to quickly find funds to resolve issues locally, and attempts by carriers to find their own benefits and avoid losses.

Influence of Soils Conditions on the Macroseismic Effects in the Dukagjin Area Based the Seismic Wave Propagation from Durres Earthquake 26/11/2019

Kosovo represents a region with relatively high seismic activity, it has been hit in the past and may be hit in the future by very strong indigenous earthquakes. Geographically, Kosovo is in the contact zone of two large tectonic plates, on one side of Africa that pushes the Euro-Asian and lies at its foundation. For these reasons, the countries in theMediterranean area belong to countries with high seismic risk, including the surrounding areas. The strongest earthquake recorded and documented in Kosovo is the earthquake of 1921, in the Viti-Ferizaj-Gjilan area with a magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter scale and an intensity of 8.5 on the Mercalli scale. During the recent geological period the region has been embraced from the neotectonic processes which have conditioned the formation of many structural units that are expressed by intensive uplifting and sinking movements. Are used macroseismic data to investigate the influence of local geological structure on earthquake intensities in Dukagjin area of Kosovo. The occurrence of earthquakes is connected with the geological and neotectonics characteristics of the individual regions. The territory of Kosovo is composed of rocks of Precambrian to Quaternary age. In addition soft sediments in the Kosovo basins have a strong influence on seismic ground motion. Macroseismic data are used to investigate Response of Soil class of Dukagjini basin with deposits of Oligocene, Pliocene and Quaternary, where the lake sediments continue during its Pleistocene, (epicenter distance 140 km, Durrës Earthquake 26/11/2019), which had shown, systematic Intensity increase.

Flu vaccination ‘influenced’ by Covid-19: Italy experience

Abstract Background During last decades, National Health System has guaranteed free flu vaccination to the ‘fragile’ population. However, the population's compliance with this prophylactic procedure has never been optimal, reaching only in a few years and only in some regions the percentage considered satisfactory of 70% of people at risk. The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly raised the public's awareness of diseases of an infectious nature, respiratory in particular, among which influenza occupies a prominent role. We aimed to assess whether that compliance is increased as a result of Covid-19. Methods From epicenter.iss.it, influenza vaccination coverage rates of the Italian population both as a whole and of individual regions from 1999 to 2022 were obtained. In particular, comparisons were made between data for the pre-Covid (2017-2019) and post-Covid (2020-2022) three-year periods. Results The comparison revealed an increase in influenza vaccine coverage nationwide over the last three-year period (2020-2022). An average of the values from 1999 to 2017 of 15.22% of the population, an average of the pre-Covid three-year period (2017-2019) of 16.3%, not deviating from the national average of previous years, and an average of the post-Covid three-year period (2020-2022) of 22.1% was developed. A 35.58% increase in influenza vaccine coverage in the general population in Italy between the two three-year periods could be ascertained, which was the subject of special attention. Conclusions The Covid-19 pandemic has raised awareness among the population toward the usefulness of vaccination and not only toward the anti-SARS-CoV2 one. Influenza vaccination adherence has increased over the past three years. We plan to investigate whether compliance particularly affects those at higher risk who should be the main recipients. Key messages • The population after the covid 19 pandemic has become more aware of the usefulness of vaccination, not just the SARS-CoV2 vaccination.

Investments in the Regions as a Factor of Russia’s Economic Growth

Investing in the economy of the Russian Federation as a whole and in its regions in particular is a task of paramount importance because the well-being of both the state itself and its citizens will depend on its proper execution. This determines the relevance of the research topic. Investments in the regions are aimed at increasing the regional product and production volumes, mastering new activities, and developing the existing material and technical base. The subject of this study is the investment climate in certain Russian regions. The purpose of the study is to analyze investments in Russia and its individual regions and assess their dynamics, development trends and state policy to improve the investment climate. Investments in the regions will help eliminate the uneven development of the regions and turn depressed subjects into donor entities. The scientific novelty lies in the analysis of the investment climate of the Russian Federation and the factors influencing the volume of investments in the regions. The article presents the current state of the investment climate in the two regions of Russia. A modern interpretation of investments is given. Two regions of Russia — Kaluga and Kaliningrad — are considered as examples of actively developing investment regions. The prospects for investment activity and possible problems due to the imposed sanctions are noted. As part of the study, the authors used methods for analyzing statistical data and official documents. Based on the results of the analysis, it was revealed that despite the high investment potential of the regions, many economic indicators have a negative tendency. It was concluded that improving the investment climate as well as active state participation will allow Russia to achieve completely different results of economic growth in the long term.

Changes of gray matter volumes of subcortical regions across the lifespan: a Human Connectome Project study.

We assessed changes in gray matter volume (GMV) of nine subcortical regions (accumbens, amygdala, brainstem, caudate, cerebellar cortex, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, and ventral diencephalon) across the lifespan in a large sample of participants in the Human Connectome Project (n = 2,458, 5-90 yr old, 1,113 males and 1,345 females). 3T MRI data were acquired using a harmonized protocol and were processed in an identical way for all brains. GMVs of individual regions were adjusted for estimated total intracranial volume and regressed against age. We found highly statistically significant changes in GMV with age (P < 0.001) that were distinct among areas and mostly consistent between sexes, as follows. 1) The GMVs of accumbens, caudate, putamen, and cerebellum decreased with age in a linear fashion. The rate of decrease was steeper in males than in females for all regions. 2) The GMVs of the amygdala, pallidum, thalamus, ventral diencephalon, and brainstem changed with age in a quadratic fashion, i.e., increasing first and decreasing afterward. The estimated age at the peak (vertex) of the parabola was 51.8 yr for the brainstem and 28.0-37.9 yr for the other regions. The peak occurred earlier in males than in females, by an average of 8 yr, with the exception of the brainstem, where the age at the peak was very similar in both sexes. These results confirm previous findings and offer new insights into region-specific age-related changes in subcortical brain GMVs.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We report mixed effects of age on subcortical grey matter volume (GMV) during lifespan (n = 2458, 5-90 yr old, 1113 male, 1345 female). Striatal and cerebellar GMVs decreased linearly with age, more steeply in males. In contrast, GMVs of the amygdala, pallidum, thalamus, ventral diencephalon, and brainstem changed in a quadratic fashion, increasing first and decreasing afterward, with males peaking earlier than females in all regions but the brainstem where they peaked at nearly the same time.

Историко-социальные факторы политической позиции казачества Юга России в годы Гражданской войны (1917–1920 гг.)

The article examines the historical and social factors that led to the formation of the political position of the Cossack population of Southern Russia during the Civil War. The relevance of the study is determined by the peculiarities of federal policy in various regions of Russia at the present stage of development of Russian soci-ety and the state, taking into account the historical originality and socio-cultural specifics of individual regions included in the federal space. In this context, the history of the Cossack regions of the South of Russia is highly relevant and in demand when analyzing modern regional, political and socio-economic processes, as well as the historical experience of development of individual territories that constitute the Russian Federation. As part of the study, the authors come to the general conclusion that a certain position of the Cossacks, which they took during the civil conflict in the region, was largely conditioned by the general state of society in this period, as well as by the historical contradictions that existed in it between its various social strata during the long historical period preceding the onset of the civil armed conflict.

Exploring real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback in adolescents with disruptive behavior disorder and callous unemotional traits

IntroductionAdolescents with increased callous unemotional traits (CU traits) in the context of disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) show a persistent pattern of antisocial behavior with shallow affect and a lack of empathy or remorse. The amygdala and insula as regions commonly associated with emotion processing, empathy and arousal are implicated in DBD with high CU traits. While behavioral therapies for DBD provide significant but small effects, individualized treatments targeting the implicated brain regions are missing. MethodsIn this explorative randomized controlled trial we randomly assigned twenty-seven adolescents with DBD to individualized real-time functional magnetic resonance neurofeedback (rtfMRI-NF) or behavioral treatment as usual (TAU). Visual feedback of either amygdala or insula activity was provided during rtfMRI-NF by gauges and included a simple and concurrent video run plus a transfer run. A linear mixed model (LMM) was applied to determine improvement of self-regulation. Specificity was assessed by correlating individual self-regulation improvement with clinical outcomes. ResultsThe rtfMRI-NF (n = 11) and TAU (n = 10) completers showed comparable and significant clinical improvement indicating neither superiority nor inferiority of rtfMRI-NF. The exploratory LMM revealed successful learning of self-regulation along the course of training for participants who received feedback from the amygdala. A significant exploratory correlation between individual target region activity in the simple run and clinical improvement was found for one dimension of DBD. ConclusionsThis exploratory study demonstrated feasibility and suggests clinical efficacy of individualized rtfMRI-NF comparable to active TAU for adolescents with DBD and increased CU traits. Further studies are needed to confirm efficacy, specificity and to clarify underlying learning mechanisms.

Multimodal Neuroimaging Summary Scores as Neurobiological Markers of Psychosis.

Structural brain alterations are well-established features of schizophrenia but they do not effectively predict disease/disease risk. Similar to polygenic risk scores in genetics, we integrated multifactorial aspects of brain structure into a summary "Neuroscore" and examined its potential as a marker of disease. We extracted measures from T1-weighted scans and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) models from three studies with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. We calculated individual-level summary scores (Neuroscores) for T1-weighted and DTI measures and a combined score (Multimodal Neuroscore-MM). We assessed each score's ability to differentiate schizophrenia cases from controls and its relationship to clinical symptomatology, intelligence quotient (IQ), and medication dosage. We assessed Neuroscore specificity by performing all analyses in a more inclusive psychosis sample and by using scores generated from MDD effect sizes. All Neuroscores significantly differentiated schizophrenia cases from controls (T1 d = 0.56, DTI d = 0.29, MM d = 0.64) to a greater degree than individual brain regions. Higher Neuroscores (ie, increased liability) were associated with lower IQ (T1 β = -0.26, DTI β = -0.15, MM β = -0.30). Higher T1-weighted Neuroscores were associated with higher positive and negative symptom severity (Positive β = 0.21, Negative β = 0.16); Higher Multimodal Neuroscores were associated with higher positive symptom severity (β = 0.30). SZ Neuroscores outperformed MDD Neuroscores in predicting IQ (T1: z = 3.5, q = 0.0007; MM: z = 1.8, q = 0.05). Neuroscores are a step toward leveraging widespread structural brain alterations in psychosis to identify robust neurobiological markers of disease. Future studies will assess ways to improve neuroscore calculation, including developing the optimal methods to calculate neuroscores and considering disorder overlap.

DIGITALIZATION PROCESSES IN WESTERN ASIAN COUNTRIES

The relevance of the topic is predetermined, on the one hand, by the strengthening of the global trend of digitalization, and, on the other, by the need for individual countries and regions of the developing world to intensify their efforts in the field of the digital economy in order to diversify production and foreign trade. The process under study is considered as one of the opportunities for the transformation of the hydrocarbon specialization of most countries in Western Asia, the development of new high-tech and advanced industries based on regional cooperation and interaction with third countries. An important goal of the digital transformation of the countries of Western Asia remains the need to stabilize national socioeconomic development and reduce dependence on the volatility of the world oil market. In addition, according to the author, the experience of oil-producing and oil-exporting countries of Western Asia in the field of digitalization can be adapted for other resource-rich countries of the world, including the Russian Federation. The purpose of the article is to analyze current trends in the development of digitalization in the Middle East countries, as well as new opportunities opening up to their socio-economic systems. The article substantiates the necessity and possibility of digitalization, shows its main directions in the group of countries under consideration. Based on the analysis, the author argues the point of view that the introduction of digital technologies in Western Asia can bring huge social and economic benefits and contribute to the emergence of new jobs in a region with a high birth rate.

UV-continuum β slopes of individual z ∼ 2–6 clumps and their evolution

ABSTRACT We study the ultraviolet (UV) continuum β slope of a sample of 166 clumps, individual star-forming regions observed in high-redshift galaxies. They are hosted by 67 galaxies with redshift between 2 and 6.2, strongly lensed by the Hubble Frontier Fields cluster of galaxies MACS J0416.1 − 2403. The β slope is sensitive to a variety of physical properties, such as the metallicity, the age of the stellar population, the dust attenuation throughout the galaxy, the stellar initial mass function (IMF), and the star formation history (SFH). The aim of this study is to compare the β-values of individual clumps with those measured on the entire galaxy, to investigate possible physical differences between these regions and their hosts. We found a median value of β ∼ −2.4, lower than that of integrated galaxies. This result confirms that clumps are sites of intense star formation, populated by young, massive stars, whose spectrum strongly emits in the UV. This is also consistent with the assumption that the dust extinction at the location of the clumps is lower than the average extinction of the galaxy, or that clumps have a different IMF or SFH. We made use of the correlations, discovered for high-redshift galaxies, of the β-value with those of redshift and UV magnitude, MUV, finding that clumps follow the same relations, extended to much fainter magnitudes (MUV &amp;lt; −13). We also find evidence of eight clumps with extremely blue (β ≲ −2.7) slopes, which could be the signpost of low-metallicity stars and constrain the emissivity of ionizing photons at high redshift.

Directed functional connectivity of the sensorimotor system in young and older individuals.

Studies in the sensorimotor system of older versus young individuals have shown alterations in functional connectivity and organization. Our objective was to explore the implications of these differences in terms of local organizations, and to identify processes that correlate with neuropsychological parameters. Using a novel multivariate analysis method on resting-state functional MRI data obtained from 50 young and 31 older healthy individuals, we identified directed 4-node functional pathways within the sensorimotor system and examined their correlations with neuropsychological assessments. In young individuals, the functional pathways were unidirectional, flowing from the primary motor and sensory cortices to higher motor and visual regions. In older individuals, the functional pathways were more complex. They originated either from the calcarine sulcus or the insula and passed through mutually coupled high-order motor areas before reaching the primary sensory and motor cortices. Additionally, the pathways in older individuals that resembled those found in young individuals exhibited a positive correlation with years of education. The flow pattern of young individuals suggests efficient and fast information transfer. In contrast, the mutual coupling of high-order motor regions in older individuals suggests an inefficient and slow transfer, a less segregated and a more integrated organization. The differences in the number of sensorimotor pathways and of their directionality suggests reduced efferent degenerated pathways and increased afferent compensated pathways. Furthermore, the positive effect of years of education may be associated with the Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis, implying that cognitive reserve could be maintained through specific information transfer pathways.

Features of Transformation Business Demographies of Enterprises in the Modern Economic Space of Russia

The demography of enterprises (or business demography) is a fairly new scientific direction for foreign and especially Russian economic science. The purpose of the study is to assess demographic business trends in the federal districts of the Russian Federation in 2017-2022. in the context of economic sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic, NWO in Ukraine. The main trends in the entry and exit of enterprises from the market are identified, the birth rates and official liquidation rates are calculated on average over a 6-year period for all federal districts of the Russian Federation. The authors prove that the demography of enterprises is becoming one of the most important markers of the development of countries and regions. As a result of the study, it was concluded that regional features of the entry and exit of enterprises from the market remain and are largely predetermined by the existing economic potential and structure of the economy of individual subjects of the Russian Federation. The given information and analytical materials are useful in developing measures to improve the effectiveness of managerial decisions in order to increase the mobility of the economy of the country and individual regions, taking into account their territorial identity. Taking into account the identified features of the transformation of the business demography of enterprises across the country will be relevant when developing strategies for the socio-economic development of regions in the context of overcoming the consequences of sanctions.

Dissecting a 30 kpc galactic outflow at z ~ 1.7

ABSTRACT We present the spatially resolved measurements of a cool galactic outflow in the gravitationally lensed galaxy RCS0327 at z ≈ 1.703 using VLT/MUSE IFU observations. We probe the cool outflowing gas, traced by blueshifted Mg ii and Fe ii absorption lines, in 15 distinct regions of the same galaxy in its image-plane. Different physical regions, 5 – 7 kpc apart within the galaxy, drive the outflows at different velocities (Vout ∼ −161 to −240 km s−1), and mass outflow rates ($\dot{M}_{out} \sim 183$ – 527 ${\rm M}_{\odot }\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$). The outflow velocities from different regions of the same galaxy vary by 80 km s−1, which is comparable to the variation seen in a large sample of star-burst galaxies in the local universe. Using multiply lensed images of RCS0327, we probe the same star-forming region at different spatial scales (0.5–25 kpc2), we find that outflow velocities vary between ∼ −120 and −242 km s−1, and the mass outflow rates vary between ∼37 and 254 ${\rm M}_{\odot }\, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. The outflow momentum flux in this galaxy is ≥ 100% of the momentum flux provided by star formation in individual regions, and outflow energy flux is ≈ 10% of the total energy flux provided by star formation. These estimates suggest that the outflow in RCS0327 is energy driven. This work shows the importance of small scale variations of outflow properties due to the variations of local stellar properties of the host galaxy in the context of galaxy evolution.

Perception of aesthetic features after surgical treatment of craniofacial malformations by observers of the same age: An eye-tracking study

The aim of this study is to evaluate where exactly children and adolescents of the same group look when they interact with each other, and attempt to record and analyse the data recorded by eye-tracking technology. Materials and methods60 subjects participated in the study, evenly divided into three age categories of 20 each in pre-school/primary school age (5–9 years), early adolescence (10–14 years) and late adolescence/transition to adulthood (15–19 years). Age groups were matched and categorized to be used both for creating the picture series and testing. Photographs of patients with both unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate were used to create the series of images which consisted of a total of 15 photos, 5 of which were photos of patients with surgically treated cleft deformity and 10 control photos with healthy faces, that were presented in random order. Using the eye-tracking module, the data on "area of first view" (area of initial attention), "area with longest view" (area of sustained attention), "time until view in this area" (time of initial attention) and "frequency of view in each area" (time of sustained attention) were calculated. ResultsAcross all groups, there was no significant difference for the individual regions for the parameters of initial attention (area of first view), while the time until first fixation of one of the AOIs (time until view in this area) was significant for all facial regions. A predictable path of the facial scan is abandoned when secondary facial deformities are present and attention is focused more on the region of an existing deformity, which are the nose and mouth regions. ConclusionsThere are significant differences in both male and female participants' viewing of faces with and without secondary cleft deformity. While in the age group of the younger test persons it was still the mouth region that received special attention from the male viewers, this shifted in the male test persons of the middle age group to the nose region, which was fixed significantly more often and faster. In the female participants, the mouth and nose regions were each looked at for twice as long compared to the healthy faces, making both the mouth and the nose region are in the focus of observation.

Spatial transcriptomics in neuroscience.

The brain is one of the most complex living tissue types and is composed of an exceptional diversity of cell types displaying unique functional connectivity. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) can be used to efficiently map the molecular identities of the various cell types in the brain by providing the transcriptomic profiles of individual cells isolated from the tissue. However, the lack of spatial context in scRNA-seq prevents a comprehensive understanding of how different configurations of cell types give rise to specific functions in individual brain regions and how each distinct cell is connected to form a functional unit. To understand how the various cell types contribute to specific brain functions, it is crucial to correlate the identities of individual cells obtained through scRNA-seq with their spatial information in intact tissue. Spatial transcriptomics (ST) can resolve the complex spatial organization of cell types in the brain and their connectivity. Various ST tools developed during the past decade based on imaging and sequencing technology have permitted the creation of functional atlases of the brain and have pulled the properties of neural circuits into ever-sharper focus. In this review, we present a summary of several ST tools and their applications in neuroscience and discuss the unprecedented insights these tools have made possible.

Whole-Brain Evaluation of Cortical Microconnectomes.

The brain is an organ that functions as a network of many elements connected in a nonuniform manner. In the brain, the neocortex is evolutionarily newest and is thought to be primarily responsible for the high intelligence of mammals. In the mature mammalian brain, all cortical regions are expected to have some degree of homology, but have some variations of local circuits to achieve specific functions performed by individual regions. However, few cellular-level studies have examined how the networks within different cortical regions differ. This study aimed to find rules for systematic changes of connectivity (microconnectomes) across 16 different cortical region groups. We also observed unknown trends in basic parameters in vitro such as firing rate and layer thickness across brain regions. Results revealed that the frontal group shows unique characteristics such as dense active neurons, thick cortex, and strong connections with deeper layers. This suggests the frontal side of the cortex is inherently capable of driving, even in isolation and that frontal nodes provide the driving force generating a global pattern of spontaneous synchronous activity, such as the default mode network. This finding provides a new hypothesis explaining why disruption in the frontal region causes a large impact on mental health.

Resolved Kennicutt–Schmidt law in two strongly lensed star-forming galaxies at redshift 1

We study the star formation rate (SFR) vs. molecular gas mass (Mmol) scaling relation from hundreds to thousands of parsec in two strongly lensed galaxies at redshift z ∼ 1, the Cosmic Snake and A521. We trace the SFR using extinction-corrected rest-frame UV observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and Mmol using detections of the CO(4–3) line with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The similar angular resolutions of our HST and ALMA observations of 0.15 − 0.2″ combined with magnifications reaching μ &gt; 20 enable us to resolve structures in the galaxies of sizes lower than 100 pc. These resolutions are close to those of studies of nearby galaxies. This allows us to investigate for the first time the Kennicutt–Schmidt (KS) law (SFR–Mmol surface densities) at different spatial scales, from galactic scales to ∼100 pc scales, in galaxies at z ∼ 1. At integrated scales we find that both galaxies satisfy the KS law defined by galaxies at redshifts between 1 and 2.5. We test the resolved KS (rKS) law in cells of sizes down to 200 pc in the two galaxies. We observe that this relationship generally holds in these z ∼ 1 galaxies, although its scatter increases significantly with decreasing spatial scales. We check the scale dependence of the spatial correlation between the surface densities of SFR and Mmol by focusing on apertures centred on individual star-forming regions and molecular clouds. We conclude that star-forming regions and molecular clouds become spatially de-correlated at ≲1 kpc in the Cosmic Snake, whereas they appear de-correlated at all spatial scales (from 400 pc to 6 kpc) in A521.