Seongjun Park

Flexible and stretchable nanowire-coated fibers for optoelectronic probing of spinal cord circuits

Stretchable optoelectronic fibers interrogate spinal cord circuits during free behavior. Studies of neural pathways that contribute to loss and recovery of function following paralyzing spinal cord injury require devices for modulating and recording electrophysiological activity in specific neurons. These devices must be sufficiently flexible to match the low elastic modulus of neural tissue and to withstand repeated strains experienced by the spinal cord during normal movement. We report flexible, stretchable probes consisting of thermally drawn polymer fibers coated with micrometer-thick conductive meshes of silver nanowires. These hybrid probes maintain low optical transmission losses in the visible range and impedance suitable for extracellular recording under strains exceeding those occurring in mammalian spinal cords. Evaluation in freely moving mice confirms the ability of these probes to record endogenous electrophysiological activity in the spinal cord. Simultaneous stimulation and recording is demonstrated in transgenic mice expressing channelrhodopsin 2, where optical excitation evokes electromyographic activity and hindlimb movement correlated to local field potentials measured in the spinal cord.

Optogenetic control of nerve growth

Due to the limited regenerative ability of neural tissue, a diverse set of biochemical and biophysical cues for increasing nerve growth has been investigated, including neurotrophic factors, topography, and electrical stimulation. In this report, we explore optogenetic control of neurite growth as a cell-specific alternative to electrical stimulation. By investigating a broad range of optical stimulation parameters on dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) expressing channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2), we identified conditions that enhance neurite outgrowth by three-fold as compared to unstimulated or wild-type (WT) controls. Furthermore, optogenetic stimulation of ChR2 expressing DRGs induces directional outgrowth in WT DRGs co-cultured within a 10 mm vicinity of the optically sensitive ganglia. This observed enhancement and polarization of neurite growth was accompanied by an increased expression of neural growth and brain derived neurotrophic factors (NGF, BDNF). This work highlights the potential for implementing optogenetics to drive nerve growth in specific cell populations.

Seismotectonic Properties and Zonation of the Far-Eastern Eurasian Plate Around the Korean Peninsula

Regional seismotectonics provides crucial information for seismic hazard analysis, which is difficult to address with short-term earthquake records. The far-eastern Eurasian plate around the Korean Peninsula presents a stable intraplate environment with diffuse seismicity, of which responsible tectonics and active faults are difficult to identify. Combined analysis of instrumental and historical earthquake records is required for assessment of long-term seismicity properties. Seismotectonic provinces are identified from the spatial distribution of seismicity properties controlled by the medium properties and stress field. The boundaries of the seismotectonic provinces are defined considering the medium properties that can be inferred from geological, geophysical and tectonic features. The Gutenberg–Richter frequency–magnitude relationships and maximum magnitudes for the seismotectonic provinces are determined using instrumental and historical earthquake records. The validity of maximum magnitude estimation is tested with synthetic data. A parametric method, the Tate–Pisarenko method, produces more accurate estimates than non-parametric methods. A modified Tate–Pisarenko method is proposed for estimation of maximum magnitudes for incomplete short-term earthquake catalogs. The maximum magnitude of events for the whole region is approximately the same as the average of the maximum magnitudes of events for subdivided provinces, causing apparent variation in maximum magnitudes depending on the number of seismotectonic provinces. Consideration of a reasonable number of seismotectonic provinces may be needed for proper assessment of seismic hazard potentials is recommended. The combined analysis of historical and instrumental earthquake records suggests maximum magnitudes greater than 7 around the peninsula.

The nuclear genome of Rhazya stricta and the evolution of alkaloid diversity in a medically relevant clade of Apocynaceae

Alkaloid accumulation in plants is activated in response to stress, is limited in distribution and specific alkaloid repertoires are variable across taxa. Rauvolfioideae (Apocynaceae, Gentianales) represents a major center of structural expansion in the monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) yielding thousands of unique molecules including highly valuable chemotherapeutics. The paucity of genome-level data for Apocynaceae precludes a deeper understanding of MIA pathway evolution hindering the elucidation of remaining pathway enzymes and the improvement of MIA availability in planta or in vitro. We sequenced the nuclear genome of Rhazya stricta (Apocynaceae, Rauvolfioideae) and present this high quality assembly in comparison with that of coffee (Rubiaceae, Coffea canephora, Gentianales) and others to investigate the evolution of genome-scale features. The annotated Rhazya genome was used to develop the community resource, RhaCyc, a metabolic pathway database. Gene family trees were constructed to identify homologs of MIA pathway genes and to examine their evolutionary history. We found that, unlike Coffea, the Rhazya lineage has experienced many structural rearrangements. Gene tree analyses suggest recent, lineage-specific expansion and diversification among homologs encoding MIA pathway genes in Gentianales and provide candidate sequences with the potential to close gaps in characterized pathways and support prospecting for new MIA production avenues.

The 12 September 2016 ML5.8 midcrustal earthquake in the Korean Peninsula and its seismic implications

The seismicity in the Korean Peninsula has increased since the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake. Two strike-slip earthquakes with magnitudes of ML5.1 and 5.8 occurred in the southeastern Korean Peninsula on September 12, 2016. The two events occurred within 48 minutes. The ML5.8 earthquake was the largest event in the Korean Peninsula since 1978 when national seismic monitoring began. Both events produced strong high-frequency ground motions. More than 500 aftershocks with local magnitudes greater than or equal to 1.5 followed the events for two months. An unreported subsurface strike-slip fault with a dip of 65∘ to the east and a strike of N27∘ E was responsible for the earthquakes. The fault ruptured at depths of 11-16 km, resulting in a rupture plane of ∼26 km2. The aftershock distribution displayed horizontal streaks at a depth of ∼14 km, which was consistent with the focal mechanism solutions from long-period waveform inversion. The number of aftershocks decreased exponentially with time. The two ML5.1 and 5.8 earthquakes produced regional Coulomb stress changes of -4.9 to 2.5 bar. The spatial distribution of the aftershocks correlated with the Coulomb stress changes. The peak dynamic stress induced by strong ground motions reached 14.2 bar. The groundwater levels changed coseismically in some regions of decreased static stresses. The earthquakes on previously unidentified faults raised attention for the potential seismic hazards by earthquakes with long recurrence intervals.

Prediction of ground motion and dynamic stress change in Baekdusan (Changbaishan) volcano caused by a North Korean nuclear explosion

Strong ground motions induce large dynamic stress changes that may disturb the magma chamber of a volcano, thus accelerating the volcanic activity. An underground nuclear explosion test near an active volcano constitutes a direct treat to the volcano. This study examined the dynamic stress changes of the magma chamber of Baekdusan (Changbaishan) that can be induced by hypothetical North Korean nuclear explosions. Seismic waveforms for hypothetical underground nuclear explosions at North Korean test site were calculated by using an empirical Green’s function approach based on a source-spectral model of a nuclear explosion; such a technique is efficient for regions containing poorly constrained velocity structures. The peak ground motions around the volcano were estimated from empirical strong-motion attenuation curves. A hypothetical M7.0 North Korean underground nuclear explosion may produce peak ground accelerations of 0.1684 m/s2 in the horizontal direction and 0.0917 m/s2 in the vertical direction around the volcano, inducing peak dynamic stress change of 67 kPa on the volcano surface and ~120 kPa in the spherical magma chamber. North Korean underground nuclear explosions with magnitudes of 5.0–7.6 may induce overpressure in the magma chamber of several tens to hundreds of kilopascals.

Joint Determination of Event Epicenter and Magnitude from Seismic Intensities

Characteristic features of seismicity with long recurrence intervals can be deduced from analysis of historical earthquake records that inherently suffer from uncertainty in the event locations and magnitudes. A novel method to determine the event epicenters and magnitudes jointly from seismic intensities is proposed. The probability for a set of event epicenter and magnitude is assessed by accounting the fitness between the observed and reference seismic intensities, spatial‐occurrence probability based on seismicity density distribution, and temporal‐occurrence probability from the Gutenberg–Richter magnitude–frequency relationship. A set of event epicenter and magnitude yielding the peak probability is chosen. The validity of the method is tested for both synthetic and instrumental seismic‐intensity data, confirming high accuracy. The method is applied effectively to historical events with written seismic damage records. It is found that the errors generally decrease with increasing number and azimuthal coverage of seismic‐intensity data, and increase with epicentral distances. The method appears to be promising for historical earthquakes of which source properties are poorly known. The method is applicable for assessment of the properties of long‐period seismicity, which is crucial for assessment of potential seismic hazards.

Effects of Cervical Extension on Deformation of Intervertebral Disk and Migration of Nucleus Pulposus.

We theorized that active cervical extension should influence the position of the nucleus pulposus (NP) within the intervertebral disk (IVD) in the sagittal plane. Although several studies on the lumbar IVD have been conducted, there are no quantitative data for in vivo positional changes of the NP in the cervical IVD.

Optogenetic entrainment of neural oscillations with hybrid fiber probes

OBJECTIVE Optogenetic modulation of neural activity is a ubiquitous tool for basic investigation of brain circuits. While the majority of optogenetic paradigms rely on short light pulses to evoke synchronized activity of optically sensitized cells, many neurobiological processes are associated with slow local field potential (LFP) oscillations. Therefore, we developed a hybrid fiber probe capable of simultaneous electrophysiological recording and optical stimulation and used it to investigate the utility of sinusoidal light stimulation for evoking oscillatory neural activity in vivo across a broad frequency range. APPROACH We fabricated hybrid fiber probes comprising a hollow cylindrical array of 9 electrodes and a flexible optical waveguide integrated within the core. We implanted these probes in the hippocampus of transgenic Thy1-ChR2-YFP mice that broadly express the blue-light sensitive cation channel channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2) in excitatory neurons across the brain. The effects of the sinusoidal light stimulation were characterized and contrasted with those corresponding to pulsed stimulation in the frequency range of physiological LFP rhythms (3-128 Hz). MAIN RESULTS Within hybrid probes, metal electrode surfaces were vertically aligned with the waveguide tip, which minimized optical stimulation artifacts in neurophysiological recordings. Sinusoidal stimulation resulted in reliable and coherent entrainment of LFP oscillations up to 70 Hz, the cutoff frequency of ChR2, with response amplitudes inversely scaling with the stimulation frequencies. Effectiveness of the stimulation was maintained for two months following implantation. SIGNIFICANCE Alternative stimulation patterns complementing existing pulsed protocols, in particular sinusoidal light stimulation, are a prerequisite for investigating the physiological mechanisms underlying brain rhythms. So far, studies applying sinusoidal stimulation in vivo were limited to single stimulation frequencies. We show the feasibility of sinusoidal stimulation in vivo to induce coherent LFP oscillations across the entire frequency spectrum supported by the gating dynamics of ChR2 and introduce a hybrid fiber probe tailored to continuous light stimulation.

Regional Seismic Intensity Anomalies in the Korean Peninsula and Its Implications for Seismic-Hazard Potentials

The strength of seismic ground motion is a consequence of seismic source strength and medium response. The dependence of seismic amplitudes and seismic intensity on regional geological structures and crustal properties in the stable intraplate region around the Korean Peninsula is investigated. An instrumental seismic intensity scale based on spectral accelerations are proposed after calibrating with the reported macroseismic intensities. A representative seismic intensity attenuation curve for the Korean Peninsula is given by