Patterns Of Organization Research Articles

Monoaminergic Modulation of Learning and Cognitive Function in the Prefrontal Cortex.

Extensive research has shed light on the cellular and functional underpinnings of higher cognition as influenced by the prefrontal cortex. Neurotransmitters act as key regulatory molecules within the PFC to assist with synchronizing cognitive state and arousal levels. The monoamine family of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, play multifaceted roles in the cognitive processes behind learning and memory. The present review explores the organization and signaling patterns of monoamines within the PFC, as well as elucidates the numerous roles played by monoamines in learning and higher cognitive function.

Collaborative activities and flexible working

Digitalization and globalization have radically affected work organization and interaction between workers in the course of performing job duties. Co-creation activity on digital labour platforms is a new phenomenon that has been little studied. The paper aims to explore collaboration as a driving force in the evolution of work organization patterns and investigates its main effects on the labour market. Theory of cooperation and organizational theory constitute the methodological basis of the study. The research methods used are evolutionary analysis, statistical and regression analysis. The empirical evidence is comprised of open data from the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 10 (2020/23). The study identifies the directions for altering the forms of collaborative activities: the key ones are associated with the enhancement of individual value, accumulation of human capital and a rise in worker autonomy. It is shown that organization of work, which is also undergoing significant changes, promotes flexible working practices. The empirical analysis indicates that high-frequency Internet use among self-employed workers significantly increases the probability of engaging in co-creation activities, particularly as education levels rise. The growing intrinsic motivation of participants to such activities leads to higher labour productivity. The findings highlight a critical issue regarding the lack of human resource management practices in platform employment. Designing a new (flexible) model of work organization aligned with the characteristics and effects of co-creation activities can serve as a promising direction for further research.

Programming DNA Nanoassemblies into Polyvalent Lysosomal Degraders for Potent Degradation of Pathogenic Membrane Proteins.

Lysosome-targeting chimera (LYTAC) shows great promise for protein-based therapeutics by targeted degradation of disease-associated membrane or extracellular proteins, yet its efficiency is constrained by the limited binding affinity between LYTAC reagents and designated proteins. Here, we established a programmable and multivalent LYTAC system by tandem assembly of DNA into a high-affinity protein degrader, a heterodimer aptamer nanostructure targeting both pathogenic membrane protein and lysosome-targeting receptor (insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor, IGF2R) with adjustable spatial distribution or organization pattern. The DNA-based multivalent LYTACs showed enhanced efficacy in removing immune-checkpoint protein programmable death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) in tumor cell membrane that respectively motivated a significant increase in T cell activity and a potent effect on cancer cell growth inhibition. With high programmability and versatility, this multivalent LYTAC system holds considerable promise for realizing protein therapeutics with enhanced activity.

Spatial organisation of the soil macrofauna community of an oak forest in the steppe zone of Ukraine

Background. Environmental impact assessments and the development of measures for the protection and sustainable use of ecosystems should take into account that not only steppe ecosystems but also forest, marsh, salt marsh and meadow ecosystems are referenced for the steppe zone. A comparative approach requires the study of reference ecosystems to understand how much a particular ecosystem has been transformed or how far it is from natural patterns in the restoration process. The soil macrofaunal community of the forest ecosystem of the right bank of the Samara River can be considered a reference for many forest ecosystems in the region. The aim of this study was to identify patterns of spatial organization of the soil macrofaunal community of an oak forest on the right bank of the Samara River. Materials and Methods. A study was conducted in a deciduous woodland located in an oak forest on the right bank of the Samara River. The study area was divided into 5 transects, each consisting of 20 sampling points with a 2 m distance between rows. The samples of the soil macrofauna were taken from a single block of soil that was 25×25×30 cm deep and removed quickly. Vascular plant species lists were recorded for each 2×2 m subplot. The soil penetration resistance and electrical conductivity were measured. Soil faunal trophic activity was assessed by means of a bait lamina test. Results and Discussion. The spatial structure of the community is complex in terms of hierarchy. The driver of the broad-scale component of spatial variation in the community is the properties of the topsoil, mainly the density of the litter. Vegetation cover forms a broad component of the spatial variation in soil macrofauna. An important factor in structuring ecological space is the location of trees. The pure spatial pattern is represented by broad-, medium-, and fine-scale components. Conclusion. The soil macrofaunal community of an oak forest on the slope of the right bank of a steppe river has a high level of abundance and taxonomic and ecological diversity. The spatial distribution of trees forms a broad-scale component of variation in the soil macrofaunal community, and herbaceous cover forms a medium-scale component. The fine-scale component of community variation is due to neutral factors.

Cellular processing of beneficial de novo emerging proteins.

Novel proteins can originate de novo from non-coding DNA and contribute to species-specific adaptations. It is challenging to conceive how de novo emerging proteins may integrate pre-existing cellular systems to bring about beneficial traits, given that their sequences are previously unseen by the cell. To address this apparent paradox, we investigated 26 de novo emerging proteins previously associated with growth benefits in yeast. Microscopy revealed that these beneficial emerging proteins preferentially localize to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Sequence and structure analyses uncovered a common protein organization among all ER-localizing beneficial emerging proteins, characterized by a short hydrophobic C-terminus immediately preceded by a transmembrane domain. Using genetic and biochemical approaches, we showed that ER localization of beneficial emerging proteins requires the GET and SND pathways, both of which are evolutionarily conserved and known to recognize transmembrane domains to promote post-translational ER insertion. The abundance of ER-localizing beneficial emerging proteins was regulated by conserved proteasome- and vacuole-dependent processes, through mechanisms that appear to be facilitated by the emerging proteins' C-termini. Consequently, we propose that evolutionarily conserved pathways can convergently govern the cellular processing of de novo emerging proteins with unique sequences, likely owing to common underlying protein organization patterns.

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography and scleral collagen fiber orientation in osteogenesis imperfecta

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic connective tissue disorder, primarily arises from pathogenic variants affecting the production or structure of collagen type I. In addition to skeletal fragility, individuals with OI may face an increased risk of developing ophthalmic diseases. This association is believed to stem from the widespread presence of collagen type I throughout various parts of the eye. However, the precise consequences of abnormal collagen type I on different ocular tissues remain unknown. Of particular significance is the sclera, where collagen type I is abundant and crucial for maintaining the structural integrity of the eye. Recent research on healthy individuals has uncovered a unique organizational pattern of collagen fibers within the sclera, characterized by fiber arrangement in both circular and radial layers around the optic nerve head. While the precise function of this organizational pattern remains unclear, it is hypothesized to play a role in providing mechanical support to the optic nerve. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of abnormal collagen type I on the sclera by assessing the fiber organization near the optic nerve head in individuals with OI and comparing them to healthy individuals. Collagen fiber orientation of the sclera was measured using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT), an extension of the conventional OCT that is sensitive to materials that exhibit birefringence (axial changes in light refraction). Birefringence was quantified and used as imaging contrast to extract collagen fiber orientation as well as the thickness of the radially oriented scleral layer. Three individuals with OI, exhibiting different degrees of disease severity, were assessed and analyzed, along with seventeen healthy individuals. Mean values obtained from individuals with OI were descriptively compared to those of the healthy participant group. PS-OCT revealed a similar orientation pattern of scleral collagen fibers around the optic nerve head between OI individuals and healthy individuals. However, two OI participants exhibited reduced mean birefringence of the radially oriented scleral layer compared to the healthy participant group (OI participant 1 oculus dexter et sinister (ODS): 0.34°/μm, OI participant 2: ODS 0.26°/μm, OI participant 3: OD: 0.29°/μm, OS: 0.28°/μm, healthy participants: ODS 0.38 ± 0.05°/μm). The radially oriented scleral layer was thinner in all OI participants although within ±2 standard deviations of the mean observed in healthy individuals (OI participant 1 OD: 101 μm, OS 104 μm, OI participant 2: OD 97 μm, OS 98 μm, OI participant 3: OD: 94 μm, OS 120 μm, healthy participants: OD 122.8 ± 13.6 μm, OS 120.8 ± 15.1 μm). These findings imply abnormalities in collagen organization or composition, underscoring the necessity for additional research to comprehend the ocular phenotype in OI.

Regional patterns of human cortex development correlate with underlying neurobiology.

Human brain morphology undergoes complex changes over the lifespan. Despite recent progress in tracking brain development via normative models, current knowledge of underlying biological mechanisms is highly limited. We demonstrate that human cortical thickness development and aging trajectories unfold along patterns of molecular and cellular brain organization, traceable from population-level to individual developmental trajectories. During childhood and adolescence, cortex-wide spatial distributions of dopaminergic receptors, inhibitory neurons, glial cell populations, and brain-metabolic features explain up to 50% of variance associated with a lifespan model of regional cortical thickness trajectories. In contrast, modeled cortical thickness change patterns during adulthood are best explained by cholinergic and glutamatergic neurotransmitter receptor and transporter distributions. These relationships are supported by developmental gene expression trajectories and translate to individual longitudinal data from over 8,000 adolescents, explaining up to 59% of developmental change at cohort- and 18% at single-subject level. Integrating neurobiological brain atlases with normative modeling and population neuroimaging provides a biologically meaningful path to understand brain development and aging in living humans.

Tracking the Distance to Criticality in Systems with Unknown Noise

Many real-world systems undergo abrupt changes in dynamics as they move across critical points, often with dramatic and irreversible consequences. Much existing theory on identifying the time-series signatures of nearby critical points, such as increased signal variance and slower timescales, is derived from analytically tractable systems, typically considering the case of fixed, low-amplitude noise. However, real-world systems are often corrupted by unknown levels of noise that can distort these temporal signatures. Here we aim to develop noise-robust indicators of the distance to criticality (DTC) for systems affected by dynamical noise in two cases: when the noise amplitude is either fixed or is unknown and variable across recordings. We present a highly comparative approach to this problem that compares the ability of over 7000 candidate time-series features to track the DTC in the vicinity of a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. Our method recapitulates existing theory in the fixed-noise case, highlighting conventional time-series features that accurately track the DTC. But in the variable-noise setting, where these conventional indicators perform poorly, we highlight new types of high-performing time-series features and show that their success is accomplished by capturing the shape of the invariant density (which depends on both the DTC and the noise amplitude) relative to the spread of fast fluctuations (which depends on the noise amplitude). We introduce a new high-performing time-series statistic, the rescaled autodensity (RAD), that combines these two algorithmic components. We then use RAD to provide new evidence that brain regions higher in the visual hierarchy are positioned closer to criticality, supporting existing hypotheses about patterns of brain organization that are not detected using conventional metrics of the DTC. Our results demonstrate how large-scale algorithmic comparison can yield theoretical insights that can motivate new theory and interpretable algorithms for solving important real-world problems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

The Genetic Architecture of the Human Corpus Callosum and its Subregions.

The corpus callosum (CC) is the largest set of white matter fibers connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. In humans, it is essential for coordinating sensorimotor responses, performing associative/executive functions, and representing information in multiple dimensions. Understanding which genetic variants underpin corpus callosum morphometry, and their shared influence on cortical structure and susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders, can provide molecular insights into the CC's role in mediating cortical development and its contribution to neuropsychiatric disease. To characterize the morphometry of the midsagittal corpus callosum, we developed a publicly available artificial intelligence based tool to extract, parcellate, and calculate its total and regional area and thickness. Using the UK Biobank (UKB) and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (ABCD), we extracted measures of midsagittal corpus callosum morphometry and performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of European participants (combined N = 46,685). We then examined evidence for generalization to the non-European participants of the UKB and ABCD cohorts (combined N = 7,040). Post-GWAS analyses implicate prenatal intracellular organization and cell growth patterns, and high heritability in regions of open chromatin, suggesting transcriptional activity regulation in early development. Results suggest programmed cell death mediated by the immune system drives the thinning of the posterior body and isthmus. Global and local genetic overlap, along with causal genetic liability, between the corpus callosum, cerebral cortex, and neuropsychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity and bipolar disorders were identified. These results provide insight into variability of corpus callosum development, its genetic influence on the cerebral cortex, and biological mechanisms related to neuropsychiatric dysfunction.

Large-scale analysis of structural brain asymmetries during neurodevelopment: Associations with age and sex in 4265 children and adolescents.

Only a small number of studies have assessed structural differences between the two hemispheres during childhood and adolescence. However, the existing findings lack consistency or are restricted to a particular brain region, a specific brain feature, or a relatively narrow age range. Here, we investigated associations between brain asymmetry and age as well as sex in one of the largest pediatric samples to date (n = 4265), aged 1-18 years, scanned at 69 sites participating in the ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) consortium. Our study revealed that significant brain asymmetries already exist in childhood, but their magnitude and direction depend on the brain region examined and the morphometric measurement used (cortical volume or thickness, regional surface area, or subcortical volume). With respect to effects of age, some asymmetries became weaker over time while others became stronger; sometimes they even reversed direction. With respect to sex differences, the total number of regions exhibiting significant asymmetries was larger in females than in males, while the total number of measurements indicating significant asymmetries was larger in males (as we obtained more than one measurement per cortical region). The magnitude of the significant asymmetries was also greater in males. However, effect sizes for both age effects and sex differences were small. Taken together, these findings suggest that cerebral asymmetries are an inherent organizational pattern of the brain that manifests early in life. Overall, brain asymmetry appears to be relatively stable throughout childhood and adolescence, with some differential effects in males and females.

A multidimensional investigation of sleep and biopsychosocial profiles with associated neural signatures.

Sleep is essential for optimal functioning and health. Interconnected to multiple biological, psychological and socio-environmental factors (i.e., biopsychosocial factors), the multidimensional nature of sleep is rarely capitalized on in research. Here, we deployed a data-driven approach to identify sleep-biopsychosocial profiles that linked self-reported sleep patterns to inter-individual variability in health, cognition, and lifestyle factors in 770 healthy young adults. We uncovered five profiles, including two profiles reflecting general psychopathology associated with either reports of general poor sleep or an absence of sleep complaints (i.e., sleep resilience) respectively. The three other profiles were driven by the use of sleep aids and social satisfaction, sleep duration and cognitive performance, and sleep disturbance linked to cognition and mental health. Furthermore, identified sleep-biopsychosocial profiles displayed unique patterns of brain network organization. In particular, somatomotor network connectivity alterations were involved in the relationships between sleep and biopsychosocial factors. These profiles can potentially untangle the interplay between individuals' variability in sleep, health, cognition and lifestyle - equipping research and clinical settings to better support individual's well-being.

Novel organizational patterns of stability phases in a single-species population model: chiral tree, spikes adding-doubling complexification cascade

Novel organizational patterns of stability phases in a single-species population model: chiral tree, spikes adding-doubling complexification cascade

Pan-cancer integrative analyses dissect the remodeling of endothelial cells in human cancers.

Therapeutics targeting tumor endothelial cells (TECs) have been explored for decades, with only suboptimal efficacy achieved, partly due to an insufficient understanding of the TEC heterogeneity across cancer patients. We integrated single-cell RNA-seq data of 575 cancer patients from 19 solid tumor types, comprehensively charting the TEC phenotypic diversities. Our analyses uncovered underappreciated compositional and functional heterogeneity in TECs from a pan-cancer perspective. Two subsets, CXCR4 + tip cells and SELE + veins, represented the prominent angiogenic and proinflammatory phenotypes of TECs, respectively. They exhibited distinct spatial organization patterns, and compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues, tumor tissue showed an increased prevalence of CXCR4 + tip cells, yet with SELE + veins depleted. Such functional and spatial characteristics underlie their differential associations with the response of anti-angiogenic therapies and immunotherapies. Our integrative resources and findings open new avenues to understand and clinically intervene in the tumor vasculature.

Unveiling the impact of low-frequency electrical stimulation on network synchronization and learning behavior in cultured hippocampal neural networks

Understanding the dynamics of neural networks and their response to external stimuli is crucial for unraveling the mechanisms associated with learning processes. In this study, we hypothesized that electrical stimulation (ES) would lead to significant alterations in the activity patterns of hippocampal neuronal networks and investigated the effects of low-frequency ES on hippocampal neuronal populations using the microelectrode arrays (MEAs). Our findings revealed significant alterations in the activity of hippocampal neuronal networks following low-frequency ES trainings. Post-stimulation, the neural activity exhibited an organized burst firing pattern characterized by increased spike and burst firings, increased synchronization, and enhanced learning behaviors. Analysis of peri-stimulus time histograms (PSTHs) further revealed that low-frequency ES (1Hz) significantly enhanced neural plasticity, thereby facilitating the learning process of cultured neurons, whereas high-frequency ES (>10Hz) impeded this process. Moreover, we observed a substantial increase in correlations and connectivity within neuronal networks following ES trainings. These alterations in network properties indicated enhanced synaptic plasticity and emphasized the positive impact of low-frequency ES on hippocampal neural activities, contributing to the brain's capacity for learning and memory.

Histological characterization and morphological alterations in gill and digestive gland in non-native bivalve from the Province of Buenos Aires: Spatial and seasonal evaluation

Morphological alterations of the gill and digestive gland were studied in Magallana gigas from areas with different degrees of human activity over one year. For that, the height of the plicas and filaments of the gill and the mean epithelial thickness were measured, the ratio of cell type and tissue composition analyzed of the digestive gland as well as alterations in the pattern of structural organization in these organs were assessed. The specimens were collected in November 2021, and February, May and August 2022 from two representative sampling sites of distinct anthropic pressures in the coastal area of Buenos Aires Province: Arroyo Parejas (AP, 38° 55′ S, 62° 04′ W) and Pehuén-Có (PC, 39° 01′ S; 61° 32’ W). The results of the morphological parameters, ratio of cell-type, tissue composition, and histological alterations of M. gigas showed differences between the studied areas and seasons, suggesting a negative relationship between human activity and the health of the gills and digestive gland of the oyster. Understanding the gill and digestive gland morphology of oysters, as well as their response to varying levels of human activity in the study region, could help mitigate the impacts of this non-native species.

Spatially resolved imaging of human macular capillaries using adaptive optics-enhanced optical coherence tomography angiography

Documenting the organization of the retinal capillaries is of importance to understand the visual consequences of vascular diseases which may differentially affect the microvascular layers. Here we detailed the spatial organization of the macular capillaries in ten healthy human subjects using a prototypic adaptive optics-enhanced optical coherence tomography angiography (AO-OCTA) system. Within the central 6° × 6°, the radial peripapillary capillaries and the superficial, intermediate and deep vascular plexuses (SVP, IVP and DVP, respectively) were consistently resolved. In 8 out of the 10 eyes, the capillary segments composing the perifoveal arcade (PFA) were perfused only by the SVP, while drainage of the PFA showed more variability, comprising a case in which the PFA was drained by the DVP. Around the center, a distinct central avascular zone could be documented for each layer in 7 of the 10 cases; in three eyes, the IVP and SVP merged tangentially around the center. In all eyes, the foveal avascular zone was larger in the DVP than in the SVP and IVP. In one eye with incomplete separation of the inner foveal layers, there was continuity of both the SVP and the IVP; a central avascular zone was only present in the DVP. The diversity of perfusion and drainage patterns supported a connectivity scheme combining parallel and serial organizations, the latter being the most commonly observed in perifoveal vessels. Our results thus help to further characterize the diversity of organization patterns of the macular capillaries and to robustly analyze the IVP, which will help to characterize early stages of microvascular diseases.

Linking functional and structural brain organisation with behaviour in healthy adults.

Multimodal data integration approaches, such as Linked Independent Component Analysis (LICA), increase sensitivity to brain-behaviour relationships and allow us to probe the relationship between modalities. Here we focus on inter-regional functional and structural organisation to determine if organisational patterns persist across modalities and if investigating multi-modality organisations provides increased sensitivity to brain-behaviour associations. We utilised multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; T1w, resting-state functional [fMRI] and diffusion weighted [DWI]) and behavioural data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP, n=676; 51% female). Unimodal features were extracted to produce individual grey matter density maps, probabilistic tractography connectivity matrices and connectopic maps from the T1w, DWI and fMRI data, respectively. DWI and fMRI analyses were restricted to subcortical regions for computational reasons. LICA was then used to integrate features, generating 100 novel independent components. Associations between these components and demographic/behavioural (n=308) variables were examined. 15 components were significantly associated with various demographic/behavioural measures. 2 components were strongly related to various measures of intoxication, driven by DWI and resemble components previously identified. Another component was driven by striatal functional data and related to working memory. A small number of components showed shared variance between structure and function but none of these displayed any significant behavioural associations. Our working memory findings provide support for the use of fMRI connectopic mapping in future research of working memory. Given the lack of behaviourally relevant shared variance between functional and structural organisation, as indexed here, we question the utility of integrating connectopic maps and tractography data.

POLA KOMUNIKASI ORGANISASI DALAM IMPLEMENTASI PROGRAM MERDEKA BELAJAR KAMPUS MERDEKA (MBKM) DAN PRAKTEK KERJA LAPANGAN (PKL) DI GREEN SCHOOL BALI

Complex and extensive communication within an organization will create a pattern of communication that becomes the flow of information being channel. This pattern of communication will make it easier for students to determine appropriate and correct actions and directions. The purpose of this study is to examine how the Green School Bali's pattern of organizational communication is implemented to students of the PKL and MBKM internship programs using Goldhaber's (1986) theory of organizational communication, which describes seven key concepts: process, message, network, interdependence, relationship, environment, and uncertainty. The research method used was a qualitative one involving observations and in-depth interviews with informants, who in this study were supervisors of each department, heads of internships, and student interns for the July-December 2022 period. The results of this study indicate that Green School Bali uses the wheel organizational communication pattern in its implementation for apprentice students in the PKL and MBKM programs.

Family resilience in a crisis: A qualitative study of family resilience in multimember infected families in the context of COVID-19.

This study aimed to understand the family experience and identify family resilience factors to help families adapt to and cope with COVID-19. A purposive sample of 21 patients (from nine families) diagnosed with COVID-19 were recruited for interviews. Participants were interviewed using a semistructured question guide to explore family experiences. Deductive content analysis was used to develop emerging themes. Deductive findings included three main themes: belief systems, family organizational patterns, and communication and problem solving. These themes can be applied to the analysis and conclusions related to family resilience during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reveals the coping process of families after multiple members were diagnosed with COVID-19, from the establishment and reinforcement of belief systems to the determination of how the family copes with risks and finally their ability to withstand risks. In addition, the study supports the concept that family resilience can be demonstrated during epidemics. Considering that the COVID pandemic might persist for a significant period of time, doctors and nurses must focus not only on individuals but also on the overall recovery of the family and develop interventions aimed at improving family resilience during these challenging times. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Virtual Exchange Genres: what Can Genre Theories Inform us about the First Synchronous Session?

Virtual exchange or telecollaboration refers to pedagogical practices that connect geographically distant learners who work together towards a common goal. Despite the growing interest in telecollaborative practices and research, few studies have concentrated on investigating the genres that emerge in such contexts. This study shares the understanding that genres are goal-directed events organized in rhetorical patterns and used by members of a discourse community. It aims to explore the first synchronous session between dyads in a telecollaborative project directed to language learning, Teletandem, from a genre perspective. In particular, this paper describes the rhetorical organization patterns of the genre. Data were selected from MulTeC (Multimodal Teletandem Corpus) and comprise transcripts of ten initial Teletandem Oral Sessions (itos) – the first synchronous encounter – from three learning scenarios, which were held in Portuguese and English and recorded between 2012 and 2015. The research involved analyzing each transcript to describe the genre patterns and discuss the specificities in itos organization relative to the learning scenarios. Results show that itos has a flexible and scenario-dependent structure in which the actions of greetings and introduction, information exchange, negotiation, and saying goodbye are prevalent.