Memory consolidation drives the enhancement of remote cocaine memory via prefrontal circuit.

Remote memory usually decreases over time, whereas remote drug-cue associated memory exhibits enhancement, increasing the risk of relapse during abstinence. Memory system consolidation is a prerequisite for remote memory formation, but neurobiological underpinnings of the role of consolidation in the enhancement of remote drug memory are unclear. Here, we found that remote cocaine-cue associated memory was enhanced in rats that underwent self-administration training, together with a progressive increase in the response of prelimbic cortex (PrL) CaMKII neurons to cues. System consolidation was required for the enhancement of remote cocaine memory through PrL CaMKII neurons during the early period post-training. Furthermore, dendritic spine maturation in the PrL relied on the basolateral amygdala (BLA) input during the early period of consolidation, contributing to remote memory enhancement. These findings indicate that memory consolidation drives the enhancement of remote cocaine memory through a time-dependent increase in activity and maturation of PrL CaMKII neurons receiving a sustained BLA input.

The regulation of Tfh cell differentiation by ß-hydroxybutyrylation modification of transcription factor Bcl6.

Transcriptional repressor B cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl6) is a major transcription factor involved in Tfh cell differentiation and germinal center response, which is regulated by a variety of biological processes. However, the functional impact of post-translational modifications, particularly lysine ß-hydroxybutyrylation (Kbhb), on Bcl6 remains elusive. In this study, we revealed that Bcl6 is modified by Kbhb to affect Tfh cell differentiation, resulting in the decrease of cell population and cytokine IL-21. Furthermore, the modification sites are identified from enzymatic reactions to be lysine residues at positions 376, 377, and 379 by mass spectrometry, which is confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis and functional analyses. Collectively, our present study provides evidence on the Kbhb modification of Bcl6 and also generates new insights into the regulation of Tfh cell differentiation, which is a starting point for a thorough understanding of the functional involvement of Kbhb modification in the differentiations of Tfh and other T cells.

The gut microbiome modulates the susceptibility to traumatic stress in a sex-dependent manner.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a psychological condition triggered by exposure to extreme or chronic stressful events, exhibits a sex bias in incidence and clinical manifestations. Emerging research implicates the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of PTSD and its roles in stress susceptibility. However, it is unclear whether differential gut microbiota contribute to PTSD susceptibility in male and female rats. Here, we utilized the single prolonged stress animal model and employed unsupervised machine learning to classify stressed animals into stress-susceptible subgroups and stress-resilient subgroups. Subsequently, using 16S V3-V4 rDNA sequencing, we investigated the differential gut microbiota alterations between susceptible and resilient individuals in male and female rats. Our findings revealed distinct changes in gut microbiota composition between the sexes at different taxonomic levels. Furthermore, the abundance of Parabacteroides was lower in rats that underwent SPS modeling compared to the control group. In addition, the abundance of Tenericutes in the stress-susceptible subgroup was higher than that in the control group and stress-resilient subgroup, suggesting that Tenericutes may be able to characterize stress susceptibility. What is particularly interesting here is that Cyanobacteria may be particularly associated with anti-anxiety effects in male rats. This study underscores sex-specific variations in gut microbiota composition in response to stress and sex differences should be taken into account when using macrobiotics for neuropsychiatric treatment, highlighting potential targets for PTSD therapeutic interventions.

Chiral Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Kinetic Resolution of Sulfoximines for the Synthesis of Benzothiadiazine-1-Oxides.

Benzothiadiazine-1-oxide scaffolds with S-stereogenic centers are prevalent in bioactive and pharmaceutical molecules. Reported works mainly focused on the metal-catalyzed asymmetric C-H amination/cyclization reaction for the synthesis of benzothiadiazine-1-oxides. Here, we reported a chiral phosphoric acid-catalyzed kinetic resolution of sulfoximines, providing chiral benzothiadiazine-1-oxides and recovered chiral sulfoximines with moderate to good enantioselectivities (s factors up to 36.6).

Co-Occurrence Patterns of Soil Fungal and Bacterial Communities in Subtropical Forest-Transforming Areas.

Soil microbial communities are engineers of important biogeochemical processes and play a critical role in regulating the functions and stability of forest ecosystem. However, few studies have assessed microbial interactions during forest conversion, which is essential to the understanding of the structure and function of soil microbiome. Herein, we investigated the co-occurrence network pattern and putative functions of fungal and bacterial communities in forest-transforming areas (five sites that cover the typical forests) using high-throughput sequencing of the ITS genes and 16S rRNA. Our study showed that the bacterial network had higher average connectivity and more links than fungal network, which might indicate that the bacterial community had more complex internal interactions compared with fungal one. Alphaproteobacteria_unclassfied, Telmatobacter, 0319-6A21 and Latescibacteria_unclassfied were the keystone taxa in bacterial network. For the fungal community network, the keystone taxon was Ceratobasidium. A structural equation model indicated that the available potassium and total organic carbon were important soil environmental factors, which affected all microbial modules, including bacterial and fungi. Total nitrogen had significant effects on the bacterial module that contains a relatively rich group of nitrogen cycling functions, and pH influenced the bacterial module which have higher potential functions of carbon cycling. And, more fungal modules were directly affected by forest structure (S Tree) compared with bacterial ones. This study provides new insights into our understanding of the feedback of underground creatures to forest conversion and highlights the importance of microbial modules in the nutrient cycling process.

Volatile Perovskite Precursor Ink Enables Window Printing of Phase-Pure FAPbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules in Ambient Atmosphere.

Despite the great success of perovskite photovoltaics in terms of device efficiency and stability using laboratory-scale spin-coating methods, the demand for high-throughput and cost-effective solutions remains unresolved and rarely reported because of the complicated nature of perovskite crystallization. In this work, we propose a stable precursor ink design strategy to control the solvent volatilization and perovskite crystallization to enable the wide speed window printing (0.3 to 18.0 m/min) of phase-pure FAPbI3 perovskite solar cells (pero-SCs) in ambient atmosphere. The FAPbI3 perovskite precursor ink uses volatile acetonitrile (ACN) as the main solvent with DMF and DMSO as coordination additives is beneficial to improve the ink stability, inhibit the coffee rings, and the complicated intermediate FAPbI3 phases, delivering high-quality pin-hole free and phase-pure FAPbI3 perovskite films with large-scale uniformity. Ultimately, small-area FAPbI3 pero-SCs (0.062 cm2 ) and large-area modules (15.64 cm2 ) achieved remarkable efficiencies of 24.32 % and 21.90 %, respectively, whereas the PCE of the devices can be maintained at 23.76 % when the printing speed increases to 18.0 m/min. Specifically, the unencapsulated device exhibits superior operational stability with T90 >1350 h. This work represents a step towards the scalable, cost-effective manufacturing of perovskite photovoltaics with both high performance and high throughput.

Activation of Epac in the BLA disrupts reconsolidation and attenuates heroin-seeking behaviour.

The susceptibility to drug cravings evoked by stimuli poses a formidable hurdle in the treatment of addiction and the prevention of relapse. Pharmacological interventions targeting drug-associated memories hold promise for curbing relapse by impeding the process of memory reconsolidation, predominantly governed by cAMP signalling. Exchange Protein Activated by cAMP (Epac) serves as a distinctive mediator of cAMP signalling, which has been implicated in reinforcing the effects of cocaine and facilitating the acquisition. Nonetheless, the role of Epac in heroin-related memory and the subsequent seeking behaviour remains enigmatic. In this study, we explored the impact of Epac activation on the reconsolidation process of drug-related memories associated with heroin self-administration. Over the course of 10 consecutive days, rats underwent training, wherein they acquired the behaviour of nose poking to obtain heroin accompanied by a tone + light cue. This nose-poking behaviour was subsequently extinguished when heroin infusion and cue presentation were discontinued. Subsequently, we administered 8-pCPT-cAMP (8-CPT), an Epac-specific activator, into the basolateral amygdala at various time points, either in the presence or absence of a conditioned stimulus. Our findings demonstrate that administering 8-CPT immediately after memory retrieval effectively reduces cue- and heroin-induced reinstatement, with the observed effects persisting significantly for a minimum of 28 days. However, infusion of 8-CPT for a duration of 6 h following the memory retrieval trial, or without it altogether, had no discernible impact. Thus, these findings strongly suggest that Epac activation can disrupt the reconsolidation of heroin-associated memory, thereby diminishing the reinstatement of heroin-seeking behaviour.

Rapid and high-precision displacement sensing based on the multiple mode dip areas in a SNAP microresonator.

Whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators offer significant potential for precise displacement measurement owing to their compact size, ultrahigh sensitivity, and rapid response. However, conventional WGM displacement sensors are prone to noise interference, resulting in accuracy loss, while the demodulation process for displacement often exhibits prolonged duration. To address these limitations, this study proposes a rapid and high-precision displacement sensing method based on the dip areas of multiple resonant modes in a surface nanoscale axial photonics microresonator. By employing a neural network to fit the nonlinear relationship between displacement and the areas of multiple resonant dips, we achieve displacement prediction with an accuracy better than 0.03 µm over a range of 200 µm. In comparison to alternative sensing approaches, this method exhibits resilience to temperature variations, and its sensing performance remains comparable to that in a noise-free environment as long as the signal-to-noise ratio is greater than 25 dB. Furthermore, the extraction of the dip area enables significantly enhanced speed in displacement measurement, providing an effective solution for achieving rapid and highly accurate displacement sensing.

Study on the scanning protocols for measuring bone mineral density by gemstone CT spectral imaging based on European spine phantom.

BACKGROUND: Gemstone spectral computed tomography (GSCT) has been used to measure bone mineral density (BMD) in human vertebrae and animal models gradually. PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of scanning protocols for BMD measurements by GSCT using the European spine phantom (ESP) and its accuracy and precision. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The ESP number 145 containing three hydroxyapatite (HAP) inserts with densities of 50, 100, and 200 mg/cm3 were labeled as L1, L2, and L3, respectively. Quantitative CT (QCT) protocol and 14 groups of scanning protocols configured by GSCT were used to repeatedly scan the ESP 10 times. Their measurements were compared with the true values of ESP and their relative standard deviation and relative error were calculated. RESULTS: The measured values of the three inserts at different exposure levels were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The measured values in the 0.8 s/r 260 mA group, 0.5 s/r 630 mA group, and 0.6 s/r 640 mA group were not significantly different from the actual ESP values for L1 and L2. However, the measured values at all the parameters were significantly different from the actual values for the L3. CONCLUSION: CT gemstone spectral imaging can accurately and quantitatively measure the HAP value of ESP, but the results of BMD will be affected by the scanning protocols. The best scanning parameter of ESP measured by GSCT was 0.8 s/r 260 mA, taking dose into consideration, and the measurement accuracy of vertebrae with low BMD was higher than that of QCT under this parameter.

A Novel Method for Filled/Unfilled Grain Classification Based on Structured Light Imaging and Improved PointNet+.

China is the largest producer and consumer of rice, and the classification of filled/unfilled rice grains is of great significance for rice breeding and genetic analysis. The traditional method for filled/unfilled rice grain identification was generally manual, which had the disadvantages of low efficiency, poor repeatability, and low precision. In this study, we have proposed a novel method for filled/unfilled grain classification based on structured light imaging and Improved PointNet++. Firstly, the 3D point cloud data of rice grains were obtained by structured light imaging. And then the specified processing algorithms were developed for the single grain segmentation, and data enhancement with normal vector. Finally, the PointNet++ network was improved by adding an additional Set Abstraction layer and combining the maximum pooling of normal vectors to realize filled/unfilled rice grain point cloud classification. To verify the model performance, the Improved PointNet++ was compared with six machine learning methods, PointNet and PointConv. The results showed that the optimal machine learning model is XGboost, with a classification accuracy of 91.99%, while the classification accuracy of Improved PointNet++ was 98.50% outperforming the PointNet 93.75% and PointConv 92.25%. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated a novel and effective method for filled/unfilled grain recognition.

Gender differences in oral health among prisoners: a cross-sectional study from Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of oral diseases among Taiwanese prisoners has rarely been investigated. This study aimed to estimate the gender-specific prevalence of oral disease in a sample of Taiwanese prisoners. METHODS: We included 83,048 participants from the National Health Insurance (NHI) Program. Outcomes were measured using the clinical version of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9-CM). For prevalence, we provide absolute values and percentages. We also performed a χ2 test to assess sex and age group differences in the percentage of disease in the oral cavity, salivary glands, and jaw. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of oral diseases was 25.90%, which was higher than that of the general population. The prevalence of oral diseases in female prisoners was higher than that in male prisoners (p < 0.001), and the prevalence of oral diseases in prisoners aged ≤ 40 was higher than that of prisoners aged > 40. Among all cases of diagnosed oral diseases, the top three diseases were dental hard tissue diseases (13.28%), other cellulitis and abscesses (9.79%), and pruritus and related conditions (2.88%), respectively. The prevalence of various oral diseases in female prisoners was significantly higher than that in male prisoners. CONCLUSION: Oral disease is common among Taiwanese prisoners. Female prisoners had a higher prevalence of oral, salivary gland, and jaw diseases than male prisoners. Therefore, early prevention and appropriate treatment are required and also a need for gender-specific oral disease products given the differences in the prevalence of oral disease among male and female prisoners.

Adult abuse and poor prognosis in Taiwan, 2000-2015: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the risk of poor prognosis regarding schizophrenic disorders, psychotic disorders, suicide, self-inflicted injury, and mortality after adult violence from 2000 to 2015 in Taiwan. METHODS: This study used data from National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) on outpatient, emergency, and inpatient visits for two million people enrolled in the National Health Insurance (NHI) from 2000 to 2015. The case study defined ICD-9 diagnosis code N code 995.8 (abused adult) or E code E960-E969 (homicide and intentional injury of another). It analyzed first-time violence in adults aged 18-64 years (study group). 1:4 ratio was matched with injury and non-violent patients (control group). The paired variables were sex, age (± 1 year), pre-exposure to the Charlson comorbidity index, and year of medical treatment. Statistical analysis was conducted using SAS 9.4 and Cox regression for data analysis. RESULTS: In total, 8,726 individuals experienced violence (case group) while34,904 did not experienced violence (control group) over 15 years. The prevalence of poor prognosis among victims of violence was 25.4/104, 31.3/104, 10.5/10,4 and 104.6/104 for schizophrenic disorders, psychotic disorders, suicide or self-inflicted injury and mortality, respectively. Among adults, the risks of suicide or self-inflicted injury, schizophrenic disorders, psychotic disorders, and mortality after exposure to violence (average 9 years) were 6.87-, 5.63-, 4.10-, and 2.50-times (p < 0.01), respectively, compared with those without violence. Among males, the risks were 5.66-, 3.85-, 3.59- and 2.51-times higher, respectively, than those without violence (p < 0.01), and they were 21.93-, 5.57-, 4.60- and 2.46-times higher than those without violence (p < 0.01) among females. CONCLUSION: The risk of poor prognosis regarding schizophrenic disorders, psychotic disorders, suicide, or self-inflicted injury and mortality after adult violence was higher than in those who have not experienced a violent injury. Adults at the highest risk for violent suicide or self-inflicted injuries due to exposure to violent injuries -males were at risk for schizophrenia and females were at risk for suicide or self-inflicted injuries. Therefore, it is necessary for social workers and medical personnel to pay attention to the psychological status of victims of violence.

Cloning, expression and characterization of two S-ribosylhomocysteine lyases from Lactobacillus plantarum YM-4-3: Implication of conserved and divergent roles in quorum sensing.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a means of cell-to-cell communication that regulates, via small signalling molecules, expression of a series of genes and controls multicellular behaviour in many bacterial species. The enzyme S-ribosylhomocysteine lyase (LuxS) transforms S-ribosylhomocysteine (SRH) into 4, 5-dihydroxy-2, 3-pentanedione (DPD), the precursor of the interspecies QS signalling molecule autoinducer-2 (AI-2). In this study, two LuxS-coding genes, luxS1 and luxS2, with 70% sequence identity were isolated from Lactobacillus plantarum YM-4-3, and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), and the protein products were purified successfully. After incubation of LuxS1 or LuxS2 with SRH, the reaction products were able to induce Vibrio harveyi BB170 bioluminescence, clearly demonstrating that both LuxS1 and LuxS2 synthesize AI-2 from SRH in vitro. Ellman's assay results revealed optimal temperatures for LuxS1 and LuxS2 of 45 and 37 °C, respectively, and their activities were stimulated or inhibited by several metal ions and chemical reagents. In addition, enzyme kinetics data showed that Km, Vmax and Kcat value of LuxS1 for the substrate (SRH) were higher than that of LuxS2. These results suggest that LuxS1 and LuxS2 mediate QS in a temperature-dependent manner and may play conserved roles in AI-2 synthesis but exhibit different activities in response to external environmental stress. To our knowledge, this paper is the first report of two luxS genes present in one bacterial genome and the subsequent comparative elucidation of their functions in AI-2 production. Collectively, our study provides a solid basis for future research concerning the AI-2/LuxS QS system in L. plantarum YM-4-3.

HNRNPA2B1 regulates the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in pancreatic cancer cells through the ERK/snail signalling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2B1 (HNRNPA2B1) is closely related to tumour occurrence and development, oncogene expression, apoptosis inhibition and invasion and metastasis capacities. However, its function in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of pancreatic cancer is not fully understood. METHODS: By comparing various wild-type pancreatic cancer cell lines, we determined which have a higher expression level of HNRNPA2B1 accompanied by the higher expression of N-cadherin and vimentin and lower expression of E-cadherin. Therefore, to elucidate the role of HNRNPA2B1 in EMT, we generated models of HNRNPA2B1 knockdown and overexpression in different types of pancreatic cancer cell lines (MIA Paca-2, PANC-1 and Patu-8988) and examined changes in expression of EMT-related factors, including CDH1, CDH2, vimentin and snail. RESULTS: The results show that HNRNPA2B1 promotes EMT development by down-regulating E-cadherin and up-regulating N-cadherin and vimentin, and also stimulates the invasion capacity and inhibits viability in human pancreatic cancer cell lines, the similar results in vivo experiments. Moreover, we found that HNRNPA2B1 likely regulates EMT progression in pancreatic carcinoma via the ERK/snail signalling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this work suggest that HNRNPA2B1 inhibition has potential antitumour effects, which warrants in-depth investigation.

Association between XPG polymorphisms and stomach cancer susceptibility in a Chinese population.

Xeroderma pigmentosum group G (XPG) protein plays an important role in the DNA repair process by cutting the damaged DNA at the 3' terminus. Previous studies have indicated some polymorphisms in the XPG gene are associated with stomach cancer susceptibility. We performed this hospital-based case-control study to evaluate the association of four potentially functional XPG polymorphisms (rs2094258 C>T, rs751402 C>T, rs2296147 T>C and rs873601G>A) with stomach cancer susceptibility. The four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 692 stomach cancer cases and 771 healthy controls. Logistic regression analysis was conducted, and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the association of interest. Of the studied SNPs, XPG rs873601G>A polymorphism was found to significantly associate with stomach cancer susceptibility (AA versus GG/AG: OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.03-1.66, P = 0.027). Combined analysis of all SNPs revealed that the individuals with two of risk genotypes had a significantly increased stomach cancer risk (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.13-2.06). In the stratification analysis, the association between the rs873601AA genotype and stomach cancer risk was observed in older group (>59 year), as well as patients with non-cardia stomach cancer. Further combined analysis indicated men, smokers, or non-drinkers more than one risk genotypes had a significantly increased stomach cancer risk. Our results indicate that XPG rs873601G>A polymorphism may be associated with the risk of stomach cancer. Further prospective studies with different ethnicities and large sample sizes are needed to validate our findings.

Shikonin ameliorates depressive- and anxiogenic-like behaviors in rats via the suppression of inflammation in the hippocampus.

Shikonin is an active naphthoquinone with antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. In this study, we investigated the effects of shikonin on depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced depression and chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rat models and explored the potential mechanism. First, a 14-day intraperitoneal administration of shikonin (10 mg/kg) significantly decreased immobility time in forced swimming test (FST) and increased open arm entries in elevated plus maze (EPM) test, without affecting line crossings in open field test (OFT), indicating that shikonin has anti-depressant- and anxiolytic-like effects. Second, chronic shikonin administration (10 mg/kg) reversed depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors in LPS-induced and CUMS depression models, as shown in the sucrose preference test (SPT), FST, EPM, and novel object recognition test (NORT). Finally, shikonin significantly reduced the levels of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in hippocampus, indicating that the anti-depressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of shikonin are related to the reduction of neuroinflammation in hippocampus. These findings suggest that shikonin exerts anti-depressant- and anxiolytic-like effects via an anti-inflammatory mechanism of shikonin in the hippocampus.

Root Zone Water Management Effects on Soil Hydrothermal Properties and Sweet Potato Yield.

Sufficient soil moisture is required to ensure the successful transplantation of sweet potato seedlings. Thus, reasonable water management is essential for achieving high quality and yield in sweet potato production. We conducted field experiments in northern China, planted on 18 May and harvested on 18 October 2021, at the Nancun Experimental Base of Qingdao Agricultural University. Three water management treatments were tested for sweet potato seedlings after transplanting: hole irrigation (W1), optimized drip irrigation (W2), and traditional drip irrigation (W3). The variation characteristics of soil volumetric water content, soil temperature, and soil CO2 concentration in the root zone were monitored in situ for 0-50 days. The agronomy, root morphology, photosynthetic parameters, 13C accumulation, yield, and yield components of sweet potato were determined. The results showed that soil VWC was maintained at 22-25% and 27-32% in the hole irrigation and combined drip irrigation treatments, respectively, from 0 to 30 days after transplanting. However, there was no significant difference between the traditional (W3) and optimized (W2) drip irrigation systems. From 30 to 50 days after transplanting, the VWC decreased significantly in all treatments, with significant differences among all treatments. Soil CO2 concentrations were positively correlated with VWC from 0 to 30 days after transplanting but gradually increased from 30 to 50 days, with significant differences among treatments. Soil temperature varied with fluctuations in air temperature, with no significant differences among treatments. Sweet potato survival rates were significantly lower in the hole irrigation treatments than in the drip irrigation treatments, with no significant difference between W2 and W3. The aboveground biomass, photosynthetic parameters, and leaf area index were significantly higher under drip irrigation than under hole irrigation, and values were higher in W3 than in W2. However, the total root length, root volume, and 13C partitioning rate were higher in W2 than in W3. These findings suggest that excessive drip irrigation can lead to an imbalance in sweet potato reservoir sources. Compared with W1, the W2 and W3 treatments exhibited significant yield increases of 42.98% and 36.49%, respectively. The W2 treatment had the lowest sweet potato deformity rate.

The sexually divergent cFos activation map of fear extinction.

Objective: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Exposure therapy is a common treatment for PTSD, but it has varying levels of efficacy depending on sex. In this study, we aimed to compare the sexual dimorphism in brain activation during the extinction of fear conditioning in male and female rats by detecting the c-fos levels in the whole brain. Methods: Thirty-two rats (Male: n = 16; Female: n = 16) were randomly separated into the extinction group as well as the non-extinction group, and fear conditioning was followed by extinction and non-extinction, respectively. Subsequently, brain sections from the sacrificed animal were performed immunofluorescence and the collected data were analyzed by repeated two-way ANOVAs as well as Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Results: Our findings showed that most brain areas activated during extinction were similar in both male and female rats, except for the reuniens thalamic nucleus and ventral hippocampi. Furthermore, we found differences in the correlation between c-fos activation levels and freezing behavior during extinction between male and female rats. Specifically, in male rats, c-fos activation in the anterior cingulate cortex was negatively correlated with the freezing level, while c-fos activation in the retrosplenial granular cortex was positively correlated with the freezing level; but in female rats did not exhibit any correlation between c-fos activation and freezing level. Finally, the functional connectivity analysis revealed differences in the neural networks involved in extinction learning between male and female rats. In male rats, the infralimbic cortex and insular cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial granular cortex, and dorsal dentate gyrus and dCA3 were strongly correlated after extinction. In female rats, prelimbic cortex and basolateral amygdala, insular cortex and dCA3, and anterior cingulate cortex and dCA1 were significantly correlated. Conclusion: These results suggest divergent neural networks involved in extinction learning in male and female rats and provide a clue for improving the clinical treatment of exposure therapy based on the sexual difference.

Intelligent classification of major depressive disorder using rs-fMRI of the posterior cingulate cortex.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a widespread psychiatric condition that affects a significant portion of the global population. The classification and diagnosis of MDD is crucial for effective treatment. Traditional methods, based on clinical assessment, are subjective and rely on healthcare professionals' expertise. Recently, there's growing interest in using Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rs-fMRI) to objectively understand MDD's neurobiology, complementing traditional diagnostics. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is a pivotal brain region implicated in MDD which could be used to identify MDD from healthy controls. Thus, this study presents an intelligent approach based on rs-fMRI data to enhance the classification of MDD. Original rs-fMRI data were collected from a cohort of 430 participants, comprising 197 patients and 233 healthy controls. Subsequently, the data underwent preprocessing using DPARSF, and the amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuation values were computed to reduce data dimensionality and feature count. Then data associated with the PCC were extracted. After eliminating redundant features, various types of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) were employed as classifiers for intelligent categorization. Ultimately, we compared the performance of each algorithm, along with its respective optimal classifier, based on classification accuracy, true positive rate, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC). Upon analyzing the comparison results, we determined that the Random Forest (RF) algorithm, in conjunction with a sophisticated Gaussian SVM classifier, demonstrated the highest performance. Remarkably, this combination achieved a classification accuracy of 81.9 % and a true positive rate of 92.9 %. In conclusion, our study improves the classification of MDD by supplementing traditional methods with rs-fMRI and machine learning techniques, offering deeper neurobiological insights and aiding accuracy, while emphasizing its role as an adjunct to clinical assessment.

Modulation of immune-responses by DSF/Cu enhances the anti-tumor effects of DTX for metastasis breast cancer.

Metastasis has been one of the most important causes of death from breast cancer, and chemotherapy remains the major option for metastatic breast cancer. However, drug resistance and higher toxicity from chemotherapy have been an obstacle for clinical practice, and the combination of chemotherapy with immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment strategy. Here, we describe a therapy based on the combination of disulfiram (DSF) and Cu2+ with widely used cytotoxic docetaxel (DTX). DSF/Cu-induced immunogenic cell death promoted the release of type I interferon and human monocyte-induced dendritic cell maturation, which established a foundation for the combination with chemotherapy. Consequently, the combination of DSF/Cu and DTX resulted in significantly more potent anti-tumor effects in 4T1-bearing mice than in single therapy. The present study has shed new light on combining DSF/Cu-induced immune responses with traditional chemotherapeutic agents to achieve greater benefits for patients with metastasis.