Stress in Regulation of GABA Amygdala System and Relevance to Neuropsychiatric Diseases

The amygdala is an almond-shaped nucleus located deep and medially within the temporal lobe and is thought to play a crucial role in the regulation of emotional processes. GABAergic neurotransmission inhibits the amygdala and prevents us from generating inappropriate emotional and behavioral responses. Stress may cause the reduction of the GABAergic interneuronal network and the development of neuropsychological diseases. In this review, we summarize the recent evidence investigating the possible mechanisms underlying GABAergic control of the amygdala and its interaction with acute and chronic stress. Taken together, this study may contribute to future progress in finding new approaches to reverse the attenuation of GABAergic neurotransmission induced by stress in the amygdala

Superchirality induced ultrasensitive chiral detection in high-Q optical cavities

The scale mismatch between nanoscale biomolecules and sub-wavelength light hinders circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy for chiral small molecule sensing. In this study, we propose a high quality-factor (Q-factor) optical cavity that offers a breakthrough solution to the intrinsic trade-off between optical chirality density and mode loss. A spin-preserving chiral metasurface utilizes bound states in the continuum (BIC)-guided mode resonance (GMR) degenerate modes to achieve a high Q-factor, while ensuring the preservation of chirality purity for circularly polarized light propagating within the cavity via spin-locking mechanism. Experimental results demonstrate that the BIC-GMR degenerate state enables near-perfect transmission CD up to 0.99, without requiring symmetry breaking. Full-wave simulations further predict that this synergistically enhanced system can achieve a Q-factor as high as 10037 and generate a localized field in the molecular interaction region with an optical chirality density enhancement of up to 400-fold, leading to 5025-fold amplification of the CD signal. This study establishes a foundation for detecting low-concentration chiral molecules, reveals high-Q enhancement, and advances chiral toward single-molecule sensitivity, opening new research avenues in chiral biosensing

Comparison of staged-stent and stent-assisted coiling technique for ruptured saccular wide-necked intracranial aneurysms: Safety and efficacy based on a propensity score-matched cohort study

BackgroundApplication of stent-assisted coiling and FD in acute phase of ruptured wide-necked aneurysms is relatively contraindicated due to the potential risk of ischemic and hemorrhagic complications. Scheduled stenting after initial coiling has emerged as an alternative paradigm for ruptured wide-necked aneurysms. The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a strategy of staged stent-assisted coiling in acutely ruptured saccular wide-necked intracranial aneurysms compared with conventional early stent-assisted coiling strategy via propensity score matching in a high-volume center.MethodsA retrospective review of patients with acutely ruptured saccular wide-necked intracranial aneurysms who underwent staged stent-assisted coiling or conventional stent-assisted coiling from November 2014 to November 2019 was performed. Perioperative procedure-related complications and clinical and angiographic follow-up outcomes were compared.ResultsA total of 69 patients with staged stent-assisted coiling and 138 patients with conventional stent-assisted coiling were enrolled after 1:2 propensity score matching. The median interval time between previous coiling and later stenting was 4.0 weeks (range 3.5–7.5 weeks). No rebleeding occurred during the intervals. The rate of immediate complete occlusion was lower with initial coiling before scheduled stenting than with conventional stent-assisted coiling (21.7 vs. 60.9%), whereas comparable results were observed at follow-up (82.5 vs. 72.9%; p = 0.357). The clinical follow-up outcomes, overall procedure-related complications and procedure-related mortality between the two groups demonstrated no significant differences (P = 0.232, P = 0.089, P = 0.537, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that modified Fisher grades (OR = 2.120, P = 0.041) were independent predictors for overall procedure-related complications and no significant predictors for hemorrhagic and ischemic complications.ConclusionsStaged stent-assisted coiling is a safe and effective treatment strategy for acutely ruptured saccular wide-necked intracranial aneurysms, with comparable complete occlusion rates, recurrence rates at follow-up and overall procedure-related complication rates compared with conventional stent-assisted coiling strategy. Staged stent-assisted coiling could be an alternative treatment option for selected ruptured intracranial aneurysms in the future

Target assignment in formation reconfiguration for swarms of unmanned ships

[Objectives] To study the target assignment in the formation reconfiguration of unmanned ships,a target assignment method is proposed.[Methods] Firstly,a distance-based cost function is generated by the current positions of the unmanned ships and the fixed target points. Secondly,based on the auction theory and according to the rapidity requirement of the target assignment in the formation reconfiguration of the unmanned ship,an auction termination mechanism is proposed based on the maximum number of iterations for possible non-feasible solution in the assignment of the traditional auction algorithm, which disperses part of the simulations, thus shortening the assignment time.[Results] Finally,the simulation results show that this proposed method can quickly give an optimized target assignment scheme for the formation reconfiguration of swarms of the unmanned ships when compared with the classical Hungarian method.[Conclusions] The proposed method herein can provide an effective reference for the target assignment in the formation reconfiguration of swarms of the unmanned ships and for the study on the autonomous decision-making of the unmanned ships

Ultrasound Guidance Enhances the Efficiency of Brachial Plexus Block and Ameliorates the Vascular Injury Compared with Nerve Stimulator Guidance in Hand Surgery Patients

Background: Nerve stimulation guidance and ultrasound guidance are two major methods that have been widely accepted and applied in axillary brachial plexus block. However, the differences between the effects of these two types of guidance still need to be further elucidated for clinical usage. Materials and Methods: Overall, 208 patients undergoing elective upper limb surgeries and receiving axillary brachial plexus block were recruited in our study. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either ultrasound guidance (group U, n = 112) or nerve stimulation (group N, n = 96). Pinprick test was performed for assessing the sensory blockades. The pain was evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured by dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate staining and serum levels of nitric oxide (NO), nitric oxide synthases (NOS), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP1) were evaluated by ELISA. Results: Ultrasound guidance significantly enhanced the quality of the sensory blockade and reduced the VAS scores when compared with the nerve stimulator guidance. In addition, the production of ROS, NO, NOS, TNF-α, and MCP-1 were significantly alleviated by ultrasound guidance. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided brachial plexus block relieves pain during operation, provides higher success rates in the nerve block, causes less vascular damage and results in lower levels of inflammatory cytokines secretion when compared with neurostimulator-directed brachial plexus blockage