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We introduce a more flexible optogenetics-based mapping system attached on a stereo microscope, which offers automatic light stimulation to individual regions of interest in the cortex that expresses light-activated channelrhodopsin-2 in vivo. Combining simultaneous recording of electromyography from specific forelimb muscles, we demonstrate that this system offers much better efficiency and precision in mapping distinct domains for controlling limb muscles in the mouse motor cortex. Furthermore, the compact and modular design of the system also yields a simple and flexible implementation to different commercial stereo microscopes, and thus could be widely used among laboratories.

For a quantale I , the unit interval endowed with a continuous triangular norm, we introduce the canonical, op-canonical and Kleisli extensions of the conical I -semifilter monad to I - Rel. It is proved that the op-canonical extension coincides with the Kleisli extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Herpes simplex virus type 1 strain 129 (H129) has represented a promising anterograde neuronal circuit tracing tool, which complements the existing retrograde tracers. However, the current H129 derived tracers are multisynaptic, neither bright enough to label the details of neurons nor capable of determining direct projection targets as monosynaptic tracer. Methods Based on the bacterial artificial chromosome of H129, we have generated a serial of recombinant viruses for neuronal circuit tracing. Among them, H129-G4 was obtained by inserting binary tandemly connected GFP cassettes into the H129 genome, and H129-ΔTK-tdT was obtained by deleting the thymidine kinase (TK) gene and adding tdTomato coding gene to the H129 genome. Then the obtained viral tracers were tested in vitro and in vivo for the tracing capacity. Results H129-G4 is capable of transmitting through multiple synapses, labeling the neurons by green florescent protein, and visualizing the morphological details of the labeled neurons. H129-ΔTK-tdT neither replicates nor spreads in neurons alone, but transmits to and labels the postsynaptic neurons with tdTomato in the presence of complementary expressed TK from a helper virus. H129-ΔTK-tdT is also capable to map the direct projectome of the specific neuron type in the given brain regions in Cre transgenic mice. In the tested brain regions where circuits are well known, the H129-ΔTK-tdT tracing patterns are consistent with the previous results. Conclusions With the assistance of the helper virus complimentarily expressing TK, H129-ΔTK-tdT replicates in the initially infected neuron, transmits anterogradely through one synapse, and labeled the postsynaptic neurons with tdTomato. The H129-ΔTK-tdT anterograde monosynaptic tracing system offers a useful tool for mapping the direct output in neuronal circuitry. H129-G4 is an anterograde multisynaptic tracer with a labeling signal strong enough to display the details of neuron morphology.

How to fit a properly nonlinear classification model from conventional well logs to lithofacies is a key problem for machine learning methods. Kernel methods (e.g., KFD, SVM, MSVM) are effective attempts to solve this issue due to abilities of handling nonlinear features by kernel functions. Deep mining of log features indicating lithofacies still needs to be improved for kernel methods. Hence, this work employs deep neural networks to enhance the kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) method and proposes a deep kernel method (DKM) for lithofacies identification using well logs. DKM includes a feature extractor and a classifier. The feature extractor consists of a series of KPCA models arranged according to residual network structure. A gradient-free optimization method is introduced to automatically optimize parameters and structure in DKM, which can avoid complex tuning of parameters in models. To test the validation of the proposed DKM for lithofacies identification, an open-sourced dataset with seven conventional logs (GR, CAL, AC, DEN, CNL, LLD, and LLS) and lithofacies labels from the Daniudi Gas Field in China is used. There are eight lithofacies, namely clastic rocks (pebbly, coarse, medium, and fine sandstone, siltstone, mudstone), coal, and carbonate rocks. The comparisons between DKM and three commonly used kernel methods (KFD, SVM, MSVM) show that (1) DKM (85.7%) outperforms SVM (77%), KFD (79.5%), and MSVM (82.8%) in accuracy of lithofacies identification; (2) DKM is about twice faster than the multi-kernel method (MSVM) with good accuracy. The blind well test inWell D13 indicates that compared with the other three methods DKM improves about 24% in accuracy, 35% in precision, 41% in recall, and 40% in F1 score, respectively. In general, DKM is an effective method for complex lithofacies identification. This work also discussed the optimal structure and classifier for DKM. Experimental results show that (m1, m2, 0) is the optimal model structure and linear SVM is the optimal classifier. (m1, m2, 0) means there are m1 KPCAs, and then m2 residual units. A workflow to determine an optimal classifier in DKM for lithofacies identification is proposed, too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Alternative splicing of pre‐mRNAs is crucial for plant growth and development. Serine/arginine‐rich (SR) proteins are a conserved family of RNA‐binding proteins that are critical for both constitutive and alternative splicing. However, how phosphorylation of SR proteins regulates gene transcription and alternative splicing during plant development is poorly understood.We found that the Arabidopsis thaliana L. SR protein‐specific kinase II family proteins (SRPKIIs) play an important role in plant development, including flowering. SRPKIIs regulate the phosphorylation status of a subset of specific SR proteins, including SR45 and SC35, which subsequently mediates their subcellular localization.A phospho‐dead SR45 mutant inhibits the assembly of the apoptosis‐and splicing‐associated protein complex and thereby upregulates the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) via epigenetic modification. The splicing efficiency of FLC introns was significantly increased in the shoot apex of the srpkii mutant. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that SRPKIIs regulate the alternative splicing of c. 400 genes, which largely overlap with those regulated by SR45 and SC35‐SCL family proteins.In summary, we found that Arabidopsis SRPKIIs specifically affect the phosphorylation status of a subset SR proteins and regulate the expression and alternative splicing of FLC to control flowering time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acupuncture can induce changes in the brain. However, the majority of studies to date have focused on a single acupoint at a time. In the present study, we observed activity changes in the brains of healthy volunteers before and after acupuncture at Taichong (LR3) and Taixi (KI3) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Fifteen healthy volunteers underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain 15 minutes before acupuncture, then received acupuncture at Taichong and Taixi using the nail-pressing needle insertion method, after which the needle was retained in place for 30 minutes. Fifteen minutes after withdrawal of the needle, the volunteers underwent a further session of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, which revealed that the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, a measure of spontaneous neuronal activity, increased mainly in the cerebral occipital lobe and middle occipital gyrus (Brodmann area 18/19), inferior occipital gyrus (Brodmann area 18) and cuneus (Brodmann area 18), but decreased mainly in the gyrus rectus of the frontal lobe (Brodmann area 11), inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann area 44) and the center of the posterior lobe of the cerebellum. The present findings indicate that acupuncture at Taichong and Taixi specifically promote blood flow and activation in the brain areas related to vision, emotion and cognition, and inhibit brain areas related to emotion, attention, phonological and semantic processing, and memory.