416— The effects of early life trauma on anxiety and alcohol use is modified by environment

Early life trauma is a risk factor for later anxiety and alcohol use disorders. However, the role of the post-trauma environment on the development of such disorders is not well understood. In the present study we investigated experience-dependent changes in anxiety and alcohol use after exposure to early trauma. Young mice (day 23) were exposed to a predator odor (synthetic fox pheromone, TMT) and then reared in either standard (SE) or enriched environments (EE). Adolescent anxiety and conditioned fear were reduced in EE-males, but not EE-females. Adult mice were then tested for their preference to drink alcohol. Alcohol intake escalated across sessions for all mice, however, EE mice had overall lower levels of alcohol use. Interestingly, exposure to TMT affected alcohol preference in EE mice, but not standard mice. Findings demonstrate the environment as a developmental modifier of post-trauma anxiety and alcohol use disorders

Childhood trauma and post-trauma environment affect fear memory and alcohol use differently in male and female mice

Background: Childhood trauma is associated with the development of adult mental health and substance use disorders, with females generally being more at risk. Alcohol is commonly used for coping with trauma, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) affects ~14.4 million adult Americans annually. Research investigating sex differences in the environmental modification of anxiety and alcohol use following childhood trauma will extend our understanding of the etiology of AUD. Here, we sought to model the interacting effects of a single-episode late childhood trauma with post-trauma environment on adult alcohol use using male and female mice. Methods: C57Bl6/J mice (d22) exposed to predator odor (TMT) or water were reared in standard environments (SE) or environmental enrichment (EE). Mice were assessed for adolescent anxiety and conditioned fear, and for adult alcohol use in a limited access, response non-contingent, alcohol exposure paradigm. Results: A single exposure to predator odor was an effective stressor, inducing long-term sex- dependent changes in conditioned fear and alcohol behaviors that interacted with post-trauma environment. Adolescent EE females showed more conditioned freezing to the trauma-associated context. Adult EE mice consumed less total alcohol than SE mice. However, alcohol use across time differed for males and females. Exposure to a childhood stressor increased alcohol use significantly in females, but not males. EE males, but not EE females, drank less than SE counterparts. Conclusions: Findings from this model recapitulate greater vulnerability to childhood trauma in females and support sex differences in post-trauma development of conditioned fear and alcohol use that are modified by environment

159— The effects of trauma on the response to cocaine

Exposure to adverse events is a risk factor for substance use disorder. We modeled this in an inbred strain of mice by exposing adult males to a predator odor (a synthetic fox pheromone, TMT) and then assessing 1. Cocaine-induced locomotion, and 2. Conditioned place preference (CPP) of cocaine. TMT was an effective stressor as indicated by freezing behavior, an absence of movement that is an instinctive fear response in mice. Interestingly, in a 1-hour baseline locomotor test, TMT-exposed (TMT+) mice were more active than non-exposed (TMT-) mice. In addition, following a cocaine (10 mg/kg) injection (i.p.) TMT+ mice showed a cocaine-induced increase in activity, whereas TMT- mice did not. Finally, mice were conditioned to associate one side of a 3-chambered arena with cocaine (10 mg/kg) and were then tested in a 30-minute session of free exploration (15 minutes of cue-prime, 15 minutes of drug-prime). One week later, an identical 30 min session of free exploration was conducted. The time spent inside the drug-associated context was considered an indication of the rewarding properties of cocaine

Comparison of Material Activity and Selectivity in the Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Dibenzothiophene

Due to adverse effects of sulfur-containing compounds present in fuel oils, there is an increasing demand for an efficient and cost-effective method of removing sulfur from oil products, such as oxidative desulfurization. In this work, a set of five materials (gold, glassy carbon, nickel, palladium and platinum) were evaluated as electrochemical catalysts for the oxidation of DBT. Electrolysis at 1.58 V was performed without water present (producing a dimer of DBT) and with the addition of 2 M water (producing DBTO). LC-MS and NMR were used to characterize the oxidation products. It was found that the Faradaic efficiencies ranged from 18.4 – 56.5% for consumption of DBT without water present and there was a correlation between higher rate constants, lower activation energies and more efficient DBT oxidation. After the addition of water, the formation of DBTO was found to have the highest selectivity when catalyzed by gold, with a Faradaic efficiency of 87.9%. The group ten metals demonstrated low Faradaic efficiencies due to the competitive water oxidation taking place. Though there were differences in the observed selectivity for DBT oxidation, all catalysts reduced the concentration of DBT in solution by similar amounts. Of the materials tested, gold served as the most selective for oxidation to DBTO, with the presence of water improving the overall reaction activity

Controlling Product Selectivity in Oxidative Desulfurization Using an Electrodeposited Iron Film

Sulfur-containing compounds must be removed from raw fuel oils before use and recently, there has been an effort to identify and optimize a more energy efficient method of oil processing. One promising route is electrochemical oxidative desulfurization (ODS), and in this work, we investigate an electrodeposited iron oxide film as a working electrode to catalyze the oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT). The electrodeposited Fe film displays unexpected selectivity for the DBT sulfoxide (DBTO) — departing from the catalytic behavior of gold, which favors the dimerization of DBT. In addition, we observe a morphological change within our Fe film from ϒ-FeOOH (lepidocrocite) to ϒ-Fe2O3 (maghemite). This change provides insight to the activity of each structure for ODS as the rate of oxidation increases after the incorporation of ϒ-Fe2O3. Our experimental observations are corroborated with DFT calculations, which suggest that the adsorption energy of DBT on Au is significantly greater than on the Fe film, favoring the formation of dimeric and oligomeric product. Calculations also demonstrate that DBT binds closer on ϒ-Fe2O3 (2.04 Å) when compared to ϒ-FeOOH (2.68 Å) due to the presence of a four-coordinate iron site in ϒ-Fe2O3. We propose that this closer surface interaction facilitates electron transfer and leads to difference in catalytic behavior between Au and the electrodeposited Fe film