# s-brain: silent synapses

<< (..)  researchers  were  able  for  the  first  time  to  view  the  release  and  re-uptake  of dopamine  —  a  neurotransmitter  involved  in  motor  learning,  habit  formation,  and  reward-seeking  behavior  —  in  individual synapses.  When  all  the  neurons  were  electrically  stimulated  in  a  sample  of  brain  tissue,  the  researchers  expected  all  the synapses  to  release  dopamine. Instead,  they  found  that  less  than  20  percent  of  dopaminergic  synapses  were  active  following  a  pulse  of  electricity. >>

The  case  of  the  silent  synapses:  Why  are  only  20%  of  synapses  active  during neurotransmission? Unknown  information  coding  in  the  brain? February  26,  2016

http://www.kurzweilai.net/study-finds-only-a-small-portion-of-synapses-may-be-active-during-neurotransmission

Daniela  B  Pereira, Yvonne  Schmitz, et al. Fluorescent  false  neurotransmitter  reveals functionally  silent  dopamine  vesicle  clusters  in  the striatum. Nature Neuroscience (2016) doi:10.1038/nn.4252. Published  online  22  February  2016

http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4252.html

# p-USA: #POTUS race, a POEtic justice ...

<< There's  poetic  justice  in  Trump's  rise  to  the  top  of  the  GOP  presidential  field.  The  GOP  is reaping  precisely  what  it  has  sown. >>

Dave  Pruett. From  the  Party  of  Abe  to  the  Party  of  Donald. 03/24/2016  07:46  pm  ET

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/from-the-party-of-lincoln_b_9535034.html

# s-game: #POTUS race turned into a game theory experiment ...

<< Zollman [Kevin  Zollman, Carnegie  Mellon University] notes being among the first to endorse a candidate who is best positioned  to  win  has its  advantages.  “You  get more credibility,”  he  said.  “I  want to  endorse  early  so  I can say, ‘I was there first’  —  the political  version  of  being  a hipster.” >>

<< That’s  what game theorists call  “costly  signaling,”  a  concession  an  individual makes to indicate greater  strength. Academics  have  theorized  that  the  sharing  of food  in  hunter-gatherer  societies  might  not  be  primarily  altruistic,  but  rather  a chance for the best hunters to show off their skills,  and  thereby  move up in the reproductive  pecking  order. >>

<< But  that  was  before  the  2016 race turned into a game theory experiment, where true feelings are set aside for the purpose of a single  mathematical  result. >>

Andrew McGill. The Anti-Trump Endorsement Game. The mathematical strategy behind endorsing Ted Cruz, as explained by game theory. The  Atlantic. March 25, 2016

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/trump-cruz-kasich-endorsement/475230/ 

<< (..) another  turn  of  the  cards  in  a  game  that  refuses  to  conform  to  old  rules.  The winner  will  be  the  candidate  who  figures  out  the  new  ones. >>

Andrew  McGill. The Game  Theory  Principles  Behind  a  Political Endorsement  Against  Trump. The  Atlantic. March  27,  2016.

http://m.govexec.com/oversight/on-politics/2016/03/game-theory-principles-behind-political-endorsement-against-trump/126971/

# s-gene-biotech: the first designer minimal cell JCVI-syn3.0

<< "It doesn’t do anything magical rather than live, eat, and self-replicate,” Venter [@JCVenter]  says. But it is, he says, “the first designer organism in history" >>

Matthew Herper. After 20 Year Quest, Biologists Create Synthetic Bacteria With No Extra Genes. Mar 24, 2016 02:00 PM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/03/24/bio-maverick-craig-venter-hacks-bacteria-to-have-tiniest-possible-genetic-code/

<<  JCVI-syn3.0 is a working approximation of a minimal cellular genome, a compromise between small genome size and a workable growth rate for an experimental organism. It retains almost all the genes that are involved in the synthesis and processing of macromolecules. Unexpectedly, it also contains 149 genes with unknown biological functions, suggesting the presence of undiscovered functions that are essential for life. >>

Clyde A. Hutchison III, Ray-Yuan Chuang, et al. Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome. Science  25 Mar 2016: Vol. 351, Issue 6280, DOI: 10.1126/science.aad6253

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6280/aad6253

# s-math-stat: forecasting inside irregular epidemics; more ...

https://twitter.com/PLOS/status/712672625831452674

# s-math-stat: forecasting inside irregular epidemics

<< My name is Wan Yang, ... >>

https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/4bm28u/plos_science_wednesday_hi_reddit_my_name_is_wan/

<< Here  we  develop and  report  forecast  systems  that  are  able  to  predict  irregular  non-seasonal  influenza  epidemics >>

Yang  W,  Cowling  BJ,  Lau  EHY,  Shaman  J  (2015)  Forecasting  Influenza Epidemics  in  Hong  Kong.  PLoS  Comput  Biol  11(7):  e1004383. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004383

http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004383

# s-behav: mama's boys among spotted hyenas

<< Males that stay at home are not second-class males but can breed as successfully as their more adventurous competitors that leave home, a new long-term study on spotted hyenas shows. >>

<< Spotted hyenas live in female-dominated groups of up to 100 individuals and express highly complex social behaviour. >>

Mama’s boys are not losers in spotted hyenas! 17 March 2016 Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB)

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=162267&CultureCode=en

Eve Davidian, Alexandre Courtiol, et al. Why do some males choose to breed at home when most other males disperse? Science Advances  18 Mar 2016: Vol. 2, no. 3, e1501236 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501236

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/3/e1501236