Temporal Response Patterns Research Articles

Seven hydrogeological terrains characteristic of southern Ontario

Groundwater is an important component of the hydrological cycle of southern Ontario, significant to water supply and discharge to surface water. To improve overall understanding of key hydrological mechanisms, a proof-of-concept framework is presented that consists of seven typical terrains or hydrogeological settings. Geologic and topographic controls influence each setting as recorded by climate, streamflow, and groundwater level data, which trace how water moves through various parts of the southern Ontario landscape. This hydrogeological framework considers the geology of surface sediment and bedrock, permeability and porosity (inferred), physiography, and topographic gradients to define seven distinctive hydrogeological terrains. The data and watershed selection process allow for concentration on patterns of hydrologic response across the landscape, with less focus on hydrologic accounting of the terrain. The analysis identifies events in climate, stream, and well-monitoring data indicative of influxes and temporal patterns of hydrological and hydrogeological response to local geology and topography, thus differentiating styles of groundwater movement in sediment/bedrock landscapes of the Paleozoic basin and Shield margin. A case study is provided for each setting: five in sediment (clay, sand, gravel, till upland, and thick till); and two in bedrock (crystalline and carbonate). The selected hydrogeological terrains characterize ∼90% of the landscape based on a simplified geological map of southern Ontario. The main hydrogeological characteristics and behaviour of these terrains are proposed as a set of conceptual models representative of near-surface groundwater regimes. Such models can inform water and land resource management as future climates change.

The O2-sensitive brain stem, hyperoxic hyperventilation, and CNS oxygen toxicity.

Central nervous system oxygen toxicity (CNS-OT) is a complex disorder that presents, initially, as a sequence of cardio-respiratory abnormalities and nonconvulsive signs and symptoms (S/Sx) of brain stem origin that culminate in generalized seizures, loss of consciousness, and postictal cardiogenic pulmonary edema. The risk of CNS-OT and its antecedent “early toxic indications” are what limits the use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) in hyperbaric and undersea medicine. The purpose of this review is to illustrate, based on animal research, how the temporal pattern of abnormal brain stem responses that precedes an “oxtox hit” provides researchers a window into the early neurological events underlying seizure genesis. Specifically, we focus on the phenomenon of hyperoxic hyperventilation, and the medullary neurons presumed to contribute in large part to this paradoxical respiratory response; neurons in the caudal Solitary complex (cSC) of the dorsomedial medulla, including putative CO2 chemoreceptor neurons. The electrophysiological and redox properties of O2-/CO2-sensitive cSC neurons identified in rat brain slice experiments are summarized. Additionally, evidence is summarized that supports the working hypothesis that seizure genesis originates in subcortical areas and involves cardio-respiratory centers and cranial nerve nuclei in the hind brain (brainstem and cerebellum) based on, respectively, the complex temporal pattern of abnormal cardio-respiratory responses and various nonconvulsive S/Sx that precede seizures during exposure to HBO2.

Cognitive outcomes are differentially associated with depression severity trajectories during psychotherapy treatment for late life major depressive disorder.

Late Life Depression (LLD) is associated with persistent cognitive dysfunction even after depression symptoms improve. The present study was designed to examine cognitive outcomes associated with the pattern of depression severity change during psychotherapy intervention for LLD. 96 community-dwelling adults ages 65-91 with major depressive disorder completed 12 sessions of Problem-Solving Therapy at the University of California, San Francisco. Nonlinear trajectories of depression severity ratings using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were computed from multiple time points collected throughout the weekly psychotherapy intervention. Performance on measures of cognition (information processing speed, executive functioning, verbal learning, memory) was assessed at baseline and post-treatment. Linear mixed-effects models examined associations between nonlinear depression severity trajectories and post-treatment change in cognitive performance. Broadly, different patterns of depression change during treatment were associated with improved cognition post-treatment. Greater and more consistent interval improvements in depression ratings were differentially associated with improvements in aspects of verbal learning, memory, and executive function post-treatment, while no associations were found with information processing speed. The heterogeneity of depression trajectories associated with improved cognitive outcomes suggests that the temporal pattern of depression response may impact specific cognitive processes distinctly. Results suggest that use of nonlinear depression severity trajectories may help to elucidate complex associations between the time course of depression response and cognitive outcomes of psychotherapy in LLD. These findings have important implications for identifying treatment targets to enhance clinical and cognitive outcomes of psychotherapy in LLD.

Typhoon footprints on ocean surface temperature and chlorophyll-a in the South China Sea

Typhoons pose great threats to coastal regions, leaving distinctive ocean surface changes along the typhoon track before landing. However, a quantitative description of the spatial and temporal patterns of typhoon-induced oceanic responses remains unclear. Sixteen years of composited data of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in the South China Sea demonstrate that typhoon-induced changes initiate immediately before the arrival of the typhoon and continue to increase during its passage. The largest decrease in temperature occurred one day after the typhoon, leading the maximum Chl-a increase by four days. The spatial distribution of changes in SST and Chl-a clearly shows the prominent enhancement to the right of the typhoon's path. Both typhoon features and ocean status determine the corresponding impact on the oceans, as large temperature responses are associated with strong wind, slow translation speed and shallow mixed layer depth (MLD). The Chl-a responses generally followed the same rule, but the maximum Chl-a increase was found with a moderate value of the MLD that was most favorable to induce phytoplankton blooms. Quantifying the typhoon footprints will help to predict how the ocean responds to extreme events in the future climate.

Distinct neuronal types contribute to hybrid temporal encoding strategies in primate auditory cortex.

Studies of the encoding of sensory stimuli by the brain often consider recorded neurons as a pool of identical units. Here, we report divergence in stimulus-encoding properties between subpopulations of cortical neurons that are classified based on spike timing and waveform features. Neurons in auditory cortex of the awake marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) encode temporal information with either stimulus-synchronized or nonsynchronized responses. When we classified single-unit recordings using either a criteria-based or an unsupervised classification method into regular-spiking, fast-spiking, and bursting units, a subset of intrinsically bursting neurons formed the most highly synchronized group, with strong phase-locking to sinusoidal amplitude modulation (SAM) that extended well above 20 Hz. In contrast with other unit types, these bursting neurons fired primarily on the rising phase of SAM or the onset of unmodulated stimuli, and preferred rapid stimulus onset rates. Such differentiating behavior has been previously reported in bursting neuron models and may reflect specializations for detection of acoustic edges. These units responded to natural stimuli (vocalizations) with brief and precise spiking at particular time points that could be decoded with high temporal stringency. Regular-spiking units better reflected the shape of slow modulations and responded more selectively to vocalizations with overall firing rate increases. Population decoding using time-binned neural activity found that decoding behavior differed substantially between regular-spiking and bursting units. A relatively small pool of bursting units was sufficient to identify the stimulus with high accuracy in a manner that relied on the temporal pattern of responses. These unit type differences may contribute to parallel and complementary neural codes.

Animal-vehicle collisions during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020 in the Krakow metropolitan region, Poland

The interrelations between human activity and animal populations are of increasing interest due to the emergence of the novel COVID-19 and the consequent pandemic across the world. Anthropogenic impacts of the pandemic on animals in urban-suburban environments are largely unknown. In this study, the temporal and spatial patterns of urban animal response to the COVID-19 lockdown were assessed using animal-vehicle collisions (AVC) data. We collected AVC data over two 6-month periods in 2019 and 2020 (January to June) from the largest metropolis in southern Poland, which included lockdown months. Furthermore, we used traffic data to understand the impact of lockdown on AVC in the urban area. Our analysis of 1063 AVC incidents revealed that COVID-19 related lockdown decreased AVC rates in suburban areas. However, in the urban area, even though traffic volume had significantly reduced, AVC did not decrease significantly, suggesting that lockdown did not influence the collision rates in the urban area. Our results suggest that there is a need to focus on understanding the effects of changes in traffic volume on both human behaviour and wildlife space use on the resulting impacts on AVC in the urban area.

Physiological sensitivity to across-channel temporal patterns in response to Schroeder harmonic complexes, based on sequence rather than coincidence detection

The flat-envelope harmonic complexes devised by Schroeder (1970) contain a linear frequency sweep whose direction and speed depend on phase curvature C. Physiological studies have focused on responses at a given characteristic frequency (CF), which show only a subtle dependence on the sign and magnitude of C. The question arises whether CNS neurons are sensitive to the temporal pattern across nerve fibers differing in CF. Octopus cells in the cochlear nucleus receive convergent excitatory input from nerve fibers spanning a wide range of CFs and are thought to be monaural coincidence detectors. We studied their spike output and membrane responses to Schroeder complexes in anesthetized gerbils. Octopus cells were indeed tuned to a wide frequency range but showed discrete frequency “hotspots” of differing strength. Most cells showed marked sensitivity to C, with some neurons preferring upward and others downward frequency sweeps, which was broadly stable across SPL and fundamental frequency. The sensitivity to C arises not from coincidence detection, but from a sensitivity to the temporal sequence of activation of inputs tuned to different frequencies. We conclude that marked sensitivity to Schroeder phase exists at the first CNS processing stage and is based on temporal sequence detection across frequency channels.

Temporal Properties of Vocal Turn-Taking between Parents and Young Children with Typical Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objectives: The temporal response characteristics in vocal turn-taking are related to the language and emotional development of infants. This study identified the temporal response patterns in the vocal turn-taking between parents and infants with typical development through systematic literature and meta-analysis.Methods: Using eight databases, the appropriateness of the literature was evaluated according to the Participants, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study design (PICOS) criteria. As a result, seven articles which met the inclusive criteria were selected. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was conducted. The effect sizes were calculated using Hedges’s g.Results: As a result of the systematic literature review, the selected literature had a low risk of bias. In a considerable number of articles, mothers and infants before 12 months of age participated. The duration of parents’ vocalization was significantly longer than that of infants. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the switching pause between parents and infants.Conclusion: These results suggest that although infants have less duration of vocalization than their parents due to lack of linguistic experience, infants may know the rules of switching pause in verbal communication. Future research should examine parents and infants with diverse communication disorders such as hearing loss and autism spectrum disorders. In addition, these findings have implications for assessment and early intervention designed to target parents’ communication behaviors.

Distinct spatio-temporal and spectral brain patterns for different thermal stimuli perception

Understanding the human brain’s perception of different thermal sensations has sparked the interest of many neuroscientists. The identification of distinct brain patterns when processing thermal stimuli has several clinical applications, such as phantom-limb pain prediction, as well as increasing the sense of embodiment when interacting with neurorehabilitation devices. Notwithstanding the remarkable number of studies that have touched upon this research topic, understanding how the human brain processes different thermal stimuli has remained elusive. More importantly, very intense thermal stimuli perception dynamics, their related cortical activations, as well as their decoding using effective features are still not fully understood. In this study, using electroencephalography (EEG) recorded from three healthy human subjects, we identified spatial, temporal, and spectral patterns of brain responses to different thermal stimulations ranging from extremely cold and hot stimuli (very intense), moderately cold and hot stimuli (intense), to a warm stimulus (innocuous). Our results show that very intense thermal stimuli elicit a decrease in alpha power compared to intense and innocuous stimulations. Spatio-temporal analysis reveals that in the first 400 ms post-stimulus, brain activity increases in the prefrontal and central brain areas for very intense stimulations, whereas for intense stimulation, high activity of the parietal area was observed post-500 ms. Based on these identified EEG patterns, we successfully classified the different thermal stimulations with an average test accuracy of 84% across all subjects. En route to understanding the underlying cortical activity, we source localized the EEG signal for each of the five thermal stimuli conditions. Our findings reveal that very intense stimuli were anticipated and induced early activation (before 400 ms) of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Moreover, activation of the pre-frontal cortex, somatosensory, central, and parietal areas, was observed in the first 400 ms post-stimulation for very intense conditions and starting 500 ms post-stimuli for intense conditions. Overall, despite the small sample size, this work presents novel findings and a first comprehensive approach to explore, analyze, and classify EEG-brain activity changes evoked by five different thermal stimuli, which could lead to a better understanding of thermal stimuli processing in the brain and could, therefore, pave the way for developing a real-time withdrawal reaction system when interacting with prosthetic limbs. We underpin this last point by benchmarking our EEG results with a demonstration of a real-time withdrawal reaction of a robotic prosthesis using a human-like artificial skin.

Identification of an integrated stress and growth response signaling switch that directs vertebrate intestinal regeneration

BackgroundSnakes exhibit extreme intestinal regeneration following months-long fasts that involves unparalleled increases in metabolism, function, and tissue growth, but the specific molecular control of this process is unknown. Understanding the mechanisms that coordinate these regenerative phenotypes provides valuable opportunities to understand critical pathways that may control vertebrate regeneration and novel perspectives on vertebrate regenerative capacities.ResultsHere, we integrate a comprehensive set of phenotypic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic data from boa constrictors to identify the mechanisms that orchestrate shifts in metabolism, nutrient uptake, and cellular stress to direct phases of the regenerative response. We identify specific temporal patterns of metabolic, stress response, and growth pathway activation that direct regeneration and provide evidence for multiple key central regulatory molecules kinases that integrate these signals, including major conserved pathways like mTOR signaling and the unfolded protein response.ConclusionCollectively, our results identify a novel switch-like role of stress responses in intestinal regeneration that forms a primary regulatory hub facilitating organ regeneration and could point to potential pathways to understand regenerative capacity in vertebrates.

The Temporal and Spatial Characteristics and Response Patterns of Flood Records in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty - Possibilities as Historical Sources of Flood Resilience -

오늘날 대형 태풍, 홍수, 신종 감염병 등과 다양한 재난 위협에 직면하여 사회 전반의 리질리언스를 확보하는 일이 시급하다. 이를 위해 동시대의 정형화된 재난데이터뿐만 아니라 해당 지역의 과거 재난기록에 대한 통시적인 고찰이 필요하다. 본 연구는 조선왕조실록 홍수 기록의 시·공간적 특성과 대응 양상을 분석하고, 오늘날 홍수 리질리언스를 높일 수 있는 자료로서의 가치를 탐색하였다. 먼저, 조선왕조실록홍수 기록을 조사하여, 기본 정보(실록명, 권차, 원문, 번역문), 시간정보(음력, 양력), 공간정보, 홍수피해유형, 구제 및 방재대책, 인문·사회요소 등을 포괄하는 데이터베이스를 구축하였다. 이를 바탕으로 조선왕조실록 홍수 기록의 데이터베이스를 분석하여 시·공간 패턴을 분석하였다. 마지막으로 조선시대 홍수 관리와 피해 구제에 대한 지식을 발굴하였다. 이번 연구는 조선왕조실록에 기록된 비정형 재난 기록들을 체계적으로 분석하고 홍수 리질리언스 증진을 위한 기반으로서의 가능성을 확인하였다는 점에서 의미가 있다. 향후 홍수 기록의 시·공간적 분포, 홍수방어 대책 등을 국토지리정보시스템 등 다양한 자료와 연계하는 연구를 심도 있게 진행한다면 홍수 리질리언스를 확보하는데 크게 기여할 수 있을 것이다.

Spatiotemporal soil moisture response and controlling factors along a hillslope

Soil moisture is a critical variable for evaluating water movement in hillslope hydrology. To understand its temporal response patterns via statistical distribution, time series of soil moisture spatial distributions were collected for nine months along a steep montane hillside. In this study, a novel synthesized probability density function was introduced to accurately describe the soil moisture variability in conjunction with controls. The optimal number of componential distribution model was determined using hidden Markov model (HMM). A univariate HMM captured the profile development of latent soil moisture states as well as the transitional probabilities between regression and switch patterns that were useful for categorizing soil moisture variability corresponding to hydrological processes. The deeper and lower the locations in the hillslope, the greater the complexity in soil moisture latent states, indicating a higher number of flow paths. Both seasonal- and event-based soil moisture variations were adequately characterized through the identification of latent soil moisture states. The impact of environmental factors on soil moisture was evaluated via a comparative analysis of multivariate HMM and principle component analysis, revealing that the controlling factors were related to the context of seasonal and spatial variability, as well as wetting and drying periods during rainfall event.

Differential effects of skilled reaching training on the temporal and spatial organization of somatosensory input to cortical and striatal motor circuits

It has been hypothesized that to perform sensorimotor transformations efficiently, somatosensory information being fed back to a particular motor circuit is organized in accordance with the mechanical loading patterns of the skin that result from the motor activity generated by that circuit. Rearrangements of sensory information to different motor circuits could in this respect constitute a key component of sensorimotor learning. We here explored whether the organization of tactile input from the plantar forepaw of the rat to cortical and striatal circuits is affected by a period of extensive sensorimotor training in a skilled reaching and grasping task. Our data show that the representation of tactile stimuli in terms of both temporal and spatial response patterns changes as a consequence of the training and that spatial changes particularly involve the primary motor cortex. Based on the observed reorganization, we propose that reshaping of the spatiotemporal representation of the tactile afference to motor circuits is an integral component of the learning process that underlies skill acquisition in reaching and grasping.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Sensorimotor transformations are fundamental to the function of the nervous system and determine how patterns of sensory input are converted into appropriate movements. We here investigated the extent to which experience-dependent processes can reshape the organization of somatosensory input feeding into cortico-basal ganglia motor structures. Our data point to a particularly important role for the primary motor cortex in the functional adaptions associated with skilled motor learning.

Sports Augmented Cognitive Benefits: An fMRI Study of Executive Function with Go/NoGo Task.

Exercise is believed to have significant cognitive benefits. Although an array of experimental paradigms have been employed to test the cognitive effects on exercising individuals, the mechanism as to how exercise induces cognitive benefits in the brain remains unclear. This study explores the effect of dynamic neural network processing with the classic Go/NoGo task with regular exercisers. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to analyze the brain activation of areas involved in executive function, especially inhibitory control. Nineteen regular joggers and twenty-one subjects as a control group performed the task, and their brain imaging data were analyzed. The results showed that at the attentive visual period, the frontal and parietal areas, including the prefrontal cortex, putamen, thalamus, lingual, fusiform, and caudate, were significantly enhanced in positive activities than the control group. On the other hand, in the following inhibitory control processing period, almost the same areas of the brains of the exercise group have shown stronger negative activation in comparison to the control group. Such dynamic temporal response patterns indicate that sports augment cognitive benefits; i.e., regular jogging increases the brain's visual attention and inhibitory control capacities.

Contrasting patterns of risk from human and non-human predators shape temporal activity of prey.

Spatiotemporal variation in predation risk arises from interactions between landscape heterogeneity, predator densities and predator hunting mode, generating landscapes of fear for prey species that can have important effects on prey behaviour and ecosystem dynamics. As widespread apex predators, humans present a significant source of risk for hunted animal populations. Spatiotemporal patterns of risk from hunters can overlap or contrast with patterns of risk from other predators. Human infrastructure can also reshape spatial patterns of risk by facilitating or impeding hunter or predator movement, or deterring predators that are themselves wary of humans. We examined how anthropogenic and natural landscape features interact with hunting modes of rifle hunters and mountain lions Puma concolor to generate spatiotemporal patterns of risk for their primary prey. We explored the implications of human-modified landscapes of fear for Columbian black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus columbianus in Mendocino County, California. We used historical harvest records, hunter GPS trackers and camera trap records of mountain lions to model patterns of risk for deer. We then used camera traps to examine deer spatial and temporal activity patterns in response to this variation in risk. Hunters and mountain lions exhibited distinct, contrasting patterns of spatiotemporal activity. Risk from rifle hunters, who rely on long lines of sight, was highest in open grasslands and near roads and was confined to the daytime. Risk from mountain lions, an ambush predator, was highest in dense shrubland habitat, farther from developed areas, and during the night and crepuscular periods. Areas of human settlement provided a refuge from both hunters and mountain lions. We found no evidence that deer avoided risk in space at the scale of our observations, but deer adjusted their temporal activity patterns to reduce the risk of encounters with humans and mountain lions in areas of higher risk. Our study demonstrates that interactions between human infrastructure, habitat cover and predator hunting mode can result in distinct spatial patterns of predation risk from hunters and other predators that may lead to trade-offs for prey species. However, distinct diel activity patterns of predators may create vacant hunting domains that reduce costly trade-offs for prey. Our study highlights the importance of temporal partitioning as a mechanism of predation risk avoidance.

A Multiplex Noninvasive Salivary Antibody Assay for SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Its Application in a Population-Based Survey by Mail.

ABSTRACTNoninvasive salivary antibody immunoassays can enable low-cost epidemiological surveillance of infections. This study involved developing and validating a multiplex suspension immunoassay on the Luminex platform to measure immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid and spike (S) proteins, and the spike protein’s S1 and S2 subunits and receptor binding domain. Multiple versions of these recombinant proteins acquired from commercial and noncommercial sources were evaluated. Assay development and validation utilized saliva and serum samples from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases procured from commercial sources and negative controls from a prepandemic survey. Saliva was also collected in a demonstration survey by mail involving adult individuals in the United States who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection 15 to 80 days prior to sample collection. The survey had an 83% valid sample return rate (192 samples from 38 states). Most COVID-19 cases (93%) reported mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic infections. The final salivary assay based on the best-performing spike and nucleocapsid proteins had a sensitivity of 87.1% (95% bootstrap confidence interval, 82.1 to 91.7%) and specificity of 98.5% (95.0 to 100%) using 227 and 285 saliva samples, respectively. The same assay had 95.9% (92.8 to 98.9%) sensitivity and 100% (98.4 to 100%) specificity in serum (174 and 285 serum samples, respectively). Salivary and serum antibody responses to spike and nucleocapsid proteins were strongly correlated in 22 paired samples (r = 0.88 and r = 0.80, respectively). Antibody responses peaked at approximately 50 days postonset; greater illness severity was associated with stronger responses. This study demonstrated that a salivary antibody assay can be used in large-scale population surveys by mail to better characterize public health impacts of COVID-19.IMPORTANCE Given the enormous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, developing tools for population surveillance of infection is of paramount importance. This article describes the development of a multiplex immunoassay on a Luminex platform to measure salivary immunoglobulin G responses to the spike protein, its two subunits and receptor binding domain, and the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2. The assay validation utilized serum and saliva samples from prepandemic controls and recent COVID-19 cases. A survey by mail targeting recent COVID-19 cases across the United States also demonstrated the utility of safe, at-home self-collection of saliva. By incorporating multiple SARS-CoV-2 proteins, this assay may differentiate responses to natural SARS-CoV-2 infections from responses to most vaccines. Application of this noninvasive immunoassay in COVID-19 surveillance can help provide estimates of cumulative incidence rates of symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in various communities and subpopulations, temporal patterns of antibody responses, and risk factors for infection.

Pri smORF Peptides Are Wide Mediators of Ecdysone Signaling, Contributing to Shape Spatiotemporal Responses.

There is growing evidence that peptides encoded by small open-reading frames (sORF or smORF) can fulfill various cellular functions and define a novel class regulatory molecules. To which extend transcripts encoding only smORF peptides compare with canonical protein-coding genes, yet remain poorly understood. In particular, little is known on whether and how smORF-encoding RNAs might need tightly regulated expression within a given tissue, at a given time during development. We addressed these questions through the analysis of Drosophila polished rice (pri, a.k.a. tarsal less or mille pattes), which encodes four smORF peptides (11–32 amino acids in length) required at several stages of development. Previous work has shown that the expression of pri during epidermal development is regulated in the response to ecdysone, the major steroid hormone in insects. Here, we show that pri transcription is strongly upregulated by ecdysone across a large panel of cell types, suggesting that pri is a core component of ecdysone response. Although pri is produced as an intron-less short transcript (1.5 kb), genetic assays reveal that the developmental functions of pri require an unexpectedly large array of enhancers (spanning over 50 kb), driving a variety of spatiotemporal patterns of pri expression across developing tissues. Furthermore, we found that separate pri enhancers are directly activated by the ecdysone nuclear receptor (EcR) and display distinct regulatory modes between developmental tissues and/or stages. Alike major developmental genes, the expression of pri in a given tissue often involves several enhancers driving apparently redundant (or shadow) expression, while individual pri enhancers can harbor pleiotropic functions across tissues. Taken together, these data reveal the broad role of Pri smORF peptides in ecdysone signaling and show that the cis-regulatory architecture of the pri gene contributes to shape distinct spatial and temporal patterns of ecdysone response throughout development.

Timing and durability of response to erenumab in patients with chronic migraine.

BackgroundErenumab is a human anti‐calcitonin gene‐related peptide receptor monoclonal antibody approved for migraine prevention. We sought to further assess the temporal patterns of response to erenumab in patients with chronic migraine (CM), specifically the onset and sustainability of monthly migraine day (MMD) response.MethodsThis is a post hoc analysis of a 12‐week, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study of erenumab for migraine prevention in patients with CM (≥15 headache days/month, including ≥8 migraine days/month). Onset and sustainability were assessed according to MMD reduction from baseline, with the following response categories: responders (≥50% reduction), partial responders (≥30% and <50%), or nonresponders (<30%).ResultsAmong the erenumab 140 mg group (n = 187), 54.0% (101/187) achieved a response at any month during the study with a median time to onset of monthly response of 1 month. This improvement was maintained in most patients with continued treatment. An initial response was achieved at Month 1 by 28.3% (53/187) of patients; 69.8% (37/53) of whom maintained a response at Months 2 and 3. Although many patients responded early, some patients required longer treatment to achieve a response; 79.4% (27/34) of initial partial responders and 21.0% (21/100) of initial nonresponders subsequently achieved a response. Similar findings were observed for the erenumab 70mg group (n = 188).ConclusionA majority of erenumab‐treated patients with CM who achieved an initial response at Month 1 sustained this benefit. Many patients responded later with continued treatment. Our data support recommendations to assess outcomes after ≥3 months of preventive treatment with erenumab in CM.

Enacted Clock-Time: How Temporal Agency Structures Strategic Activity

Agents strategizing in a specific context engage in an ongoing process of temporal structuring that regulates, and reflects, their strategic activity (Orlikowski & Yates, 2002). My study attempts to unpack the temporal structuring process to understand the interplay between temporal agency and strategic activity. Using a phenomenological approach (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, as per Smith & Osborn, 2008), I investigated the research-oriented strategic activities of a set of doctoral students in different stages of their respective programs at an elite management institute. Consistent with the structuration perspective, I observed dynamism in the temporalities underlying individuals’ strategic activities, characterized by shifting temporal structuring patterns in response to their evolving contexts. Importantly, I found that temporal agents attempt to control their strategic context through enacting temporal discipline. Abstracting from my findings, I propose a process model of temporal enactment that substantiates the role of temporal agency in effecting strategic outcomes. By elaborating the process of temporal structuring, this study contributes at the intersection of temporality and strategy-as-practice literatures.

Recovery: Fast and Slow—Vegetation Response During the 2012–2016 California Drought

AbstractThe 2012–2016 California Drought severely impacted natural vegetation across a wide range of environmental gradient. Although several studies have reported an increase in plant water stress and mortality, the spatiotemporal variations of ecosystem productivity responses and the associated environmental and biological drivers remain unclear. Here, using Enhanced Vegetation Index from the Moderate resolution imaging spectrometer, we found that 45% of the natural ecosystems showed an abrupt change (breakpoint [BP]) in productivity during 2012–2016. There were three major contrasting temporal patterns of productivity responses: (i) a steady increase under higher temperature followed by a decline due to accumulated moisture depletion (high elevation forest) or temperature decrease (high elevation nonforest), (ii) gradual decline during the drought followed by a rapid recovery within 1 year after drought stress was partially relieved, and (iii) both a gradual decline and an abrupt decline. The magnitude of abrupt changes was negatively correlated (r = −0.80, p &lt; 0.001) with initial gradual changes. Overall, changes during BP offset, on average, 57% of the preceding gradual responses. The spatial variability in ecosystem response patterns is driven by both environmental and biological factors. Particularly, for forests, positive BP was driven by increasing rainfall and decreasing temperature, while negative BP was mainly driven by the precipitation anomaly. By 2019, 33% of the natural vegetation have recovered to the level of EVI in 2010. Ecosystem responses to multiyear droughts can influence ecosystem dynamics in a complex pattern. Multiple ecohydrological factors should be considered to understand and predict the long‐term drought impacts on ecosystems.