A terrified-sound stress causes cognitive impairment in female mice by impairing neuronal plasticity.

Stress is an important environmental factor affecting mental health that cannot be ignored. Moreover, due to the great physiological differences between males and females, the effects of stress may vary by sex. Previous studies have shown that terrified-sound stress, meaning exposed mice to the recorded vocalizations in response to the electric shock by their kind to induce psychological stress, can cause cognitive impairment in male. In the study, we investigated the effects of the terrified-sound stress on adult female mice. METHODS: 32 adults female C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control (n = 16) and stress group (n = 16). Sucrose preference test (SPT)was carried out to evaluate the depressive-like behavior. Using Open field test (OFT) to evaluate locomotor and exploratory alterations in mice. Spatial learning and memory ability were measured in Morris Water maze test (MWM), Golgi staining and western blotting showed dendritic remodeling after stress. In addition, serum hormone quantifications were performed by ELISA. RESULTS: we found the sucrose preference of stress group was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) compared with control group; the escape latency of the stress group was significantly prolonged (p < 0.05), the total swimming distance and the number of target crossings(p < 0.05) were significantly increased (p < 0.05) in MWM; Endocrine hormone, Testosterone (T) (p < 0.05), GnRH (p < 0.05), FSH and LH levels was decreased; Golgi staining and western blotting showed a significant decrease in dendritic arborization, spine density and synaptic plasticity related proteins PSD95 and BDNF in the stress group. CONCLUSION: Terrified-sound stress induced depressive-like behaviors, locomotor and exploratory alterations. And impaired cognitive by altering dendritic remodeling and the expression of synaptic plasticity-related proteins. However, females are resilient to terrified-sound stress from a hormonal point of view.

Identify the significant contributors of regional CO2 emissions in the context of the operation of high-speed railway-illustrated by the case of Hunan Province.

High-speed rail (HSR) is one of the essential innovations in the field of transportation in the latter half of the twentieth century. In China, the rapid development of HSR has received increasing attention and resulted in a boost of tourism, with significant impact on the development of cities that operates HSR. To accurately comprehend how will the operation of HSR influence the regional CO2 emissions, this paper applies the modified STIRPAT model, combining with real data on high-speed rail passenger flow volume of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail Hunan section. The results show that (1) the high-speed rail operation is also a significant impact factor for regional CO2 emissions. (2) Considering the operation of HSR, the ranking of contribution rate of driving factors for regional CO2 emissions is as follows: GDP per capita, energy consumption per unit of GDP, arrival volume of high-speed rail, originated volume of high-speed rail, the proportion of coal in the energy mix, proportion of the tertiary industry, and population. (3) Surprisingly, the numerical research result shows that the operation of HSR for the cities may promote regional CO2 emissions, while the increase in urban population and the optimization of energy structure have a reducing effect on regional carbon emissions. There is a transfer effect of the operation of HSR and region development, which results in the rising of regional CO2 emissions. Thus, it is urgent to research on the decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions. The findings could be conducive for the government and railway company to evaluate and administrate the operation of high-speed rail and adequately deal with the relationships between the high-speed railway and regional development.