Neurophysiological, histological, and behavioral characterization of animal models of distraction spinal cord injury: a systematic review

Distraction spinal cord injury is caused by some degree of distraction or longitudinal tension on the spinal cord and commonly occurs in patients who undergo corrective operation for severe spinal deformity.With the increased degree and duration of distraction,spinal cord injuries become more serious in terms of their neurophysiology,histology,and behavior.Very few studies have been published on the specific characteristics of distraction spinal cord injury.In this study,we systematically review 22 related studies involving animal models of distraction spinal cord injury,focusing particularly on the neurophysiological,histological,and behavioral characteristics of this disease.In addition,we summarize the mechanisms underlying primary and secondary injuries caused by distraction spinal cord injury and clarify the effects of different degrees and durations of distraction on the primary injuries associated with spinal cord injury.We provide new concepts for the establishment of a model of distraction spinal cord injury and related basic research,and provide reference guidelines for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

On the Precursory Abnormal Animal Behavior and Electromagnetic Effects for the Kobe Earthquake (M~6) on April 12, 2013

After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (EQ), there have been numerous aftershocks in the eastern and Pacific Ocean of Japan, but EQs are still rare in the western part of Japan. In this situation a relatively large (magnitude (M) ~6) EQ happened on April 12 (UT), 2013 at a place close to the former 1995 Kobe EQ (M~7), so we have tried to find whether there existed any precursors to this EQ, especially abnormal animal behavior (milk yield of cows), observed at Kagawa, Shikoku, near the EQ epicenter. The milk yield of cows has been continuously monitored at Kagawa, and it is found that the milk yield exhibited an abnormal depletion about 10 days before the EQ. This behavior has been extensively compared with the former electromagnetic precursors (ULF radiation, ionos-pheric perturbation). This leads to the discussion on the sensory mechanism of unusual behavior of mild yield of cows, and it may be suggested that ULF radiation among different electromagnetic precursors is a mostly likely driver, at least, for this EQ.

The Marking Technology in Motion Capture for the Complex Locomotor Behavior of Flexible Small Animals(Gekko gecko)

Animals have evolved a variety of behavior patterns to adapt to the environment. Motion-capture technology is utilized to quantify and characterize locomotor behaviors to reveal the mechanisms of animal motion. In the capture of flexible, small animals with complex locomotor behaviors, the markers interfere with each other easily, and the motion forms(bending, twisting) of the moving parts are obviously different;thus, it is a great challenge to realize accurate quantitative characterization of complex locomotor behaviors. The correlation between the marker properties, including the size and space length, and the precision of the system are revealed in this paper, and the effects of diverse marker shapes on the capturing accuracy of the captured objects in different motion forms were tested. Results showed that the precision of system is significantly improved when the ratio of the space length to the diameter of the markers is larger than four;for the capture of the spatial twisting motion of the flexible object, the hexagon markers had the lowest spatial lost-marker rate relative to the circle, triangle, and square. Customized markers were used to capture the locomotor behavior of the gecko-inspired robot(rigid connection) and the gecko(flexible connection). The results showed that this marking technology can achieve high accuracy of motion capture for geckos(the average deviation was approximately 0.32 mm, and the average deviation’s variation rate was approximately 0.96%). In this paper, the marking technology for the motion capture of flexible, small animals with complex motion is proposed;it can effectively improve the system precision as well as the capture accuracy, and realize the quantitative characterization of the complex motion of flexible, small objects. It provides a reliable technical means to deeply study the evolution of the motion function of small animals and advance systematic research of motion-capture technology.

Electric Field Effects on Animals:Mechanism of Seismic Anomalous Animal Behaviors (SAABs)

Electric field effect on animals has been studied to investigate its relation with seismic anomalous animal behaviors(SAABs)in China.Freshwater eel,crucian carp,catfish,and soft-shelled turtle responded to the threshold electric field of 1-10 V/m,while duck,goose,cat,sheep,pig,dog,and chicken all responded to the ground electric field of about tens of V/m,depending on the species as well as on individuals.Most of the behaviors caused by electric field were similar to those reported as SAABs such as alignment,sudden movement,panic,and convulsion.The intensity of electric field due to a major earthquake would have been over these threshold values.Numerical estimation based on an electromagnetic model of a fault has been made to induce SAABs as electric shocks to pulsed electric fields in electro-physiology.The seismic electric signals(SES)intensity might be estimated from the observation of SAABs.

Use of 3D-printed animal models as a standard method to test avian behavioral responses toward nest intruders in the studies of avian brood parasitism

Living and/or non-living animal models are often used as stimuli to observe the behavioral responses of the target animals.In the past,parasites,predators,and harmless controls have been used to test host anti-parasitism defense behavior,and their taxidermy specimens have been widely used as a set of standard methods for the study of avian brood parasitism.In recent years,with the rapid development of 3D-printing technology,3D-printed bird models are expected to be applied as a standard method in the study of avian brood parasitism.To evaluate the use of 3D-printed models,this study tests the reaction of Oriental Reed Warbler(Acrocephalus orientalis)towards predators,parasites,or controls,and compares the reaction among different nest intruders and between taxidermy specimens and 3D-printed animal models.It was found that the Oriental Reed Warbler responded most aggressively to the parasite,followed by predator,and finally the control;the results were consistent between the reaction to taxidermy specimens and 3D-printed animal models,indicating that 3D-printed models could serve as a substitute for taxidermy specimens.We propose a series of advantages of using 3D-printed models and suggest them to be a standard method for widespread use in future studies of avian brood parasitism.

Nicotine Addiction Models and Evaluation of Animal Behavior

Nicotine is one of the most widely concerning components of cigarette smoke.Long-term intake of nicotine can lead to nicotine dependence that affects higher brain functions,which may involve anxiety,learning and memory impairments,and abnormal decision-making.To facilitate analyzing the molecular mechanisms of nicotine dependence,it is common to establish rodent nicotine dependence models to better understand the physiological changes.This paper summarizes and evaluates the application of animal behavior evaluation experiments in nicotine-dependent animal models,in order to provide a reliable reference for researchers to establish rodent nicotine-dependent models for evaluation.

Pioneering Studies of Spatial Behavior in Animals: Ivane Beritashvili and Edward Tolman

Ivane S. Beritashvili’s doctrine of image-driven behavior was established in the late 1920s and finally extended in his books in English (1965;1971). It bears a strong resemblance to the concepts of purposive behavior and “cognitive maps” developed in parallel by Edward C. Tolman (1932;1948) and significantly anticipated respective modern concepts. John O’Keefe and his disciples May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser received the Nobel Prize in 2014 for their discoveries of cells that constitute a navigation system in the brain. The latter fact brings us to the pioneers of the study of the spatial orientation of animals that figuratively speaking, provided the giant’s shoulders on which O’Keefe and the Mosers stood to receive their award. Beritashvili and Tolman upheld the holistic and goal-directed nature of spatial behavior. A major contribution of Beritashvili to the science of animal behavior was the demonstration of the universality of learning following a single presentation of an object vitally important to the animal: either a food object or a noxious signal. Beritashvili showed that such “image-driven” behavior has a strong spatial component, i.e., the image is projected into a definite point in space. Thus, he came to maintain that there is a class of behavior that is image-driven that does not require a repetition of associations. Tolman made several significant contributions to the field of experimental psychology. He thought of learning as developing from bits of knowledge and cognitions about the environment and how the organism relates to it. He examined the role that reinforcement plays in the way that rats learn their way through complex mazes. These experiments eventually led to the theory of latent learning which describes learning that occurs in the absence of an obvious reward. Tolman also strongly advocated the theory that rats learn the place where they have been rewarded rather than the particular movements required to get there. To a great extent, Tolman’s work determined the direction of American psychology in the 1930s-1950s. The contribution of Beritashvili and Tolman, thus, is the groundwork of modern studies of spatial cognitive processes in human and nonhuman animals.

Ventral Tegmental Area Neuronal Activity Correlates to Animals’ Behavioral Response to Chronic Methylphenidate Recorded from Adolescent SD Male Rats

Methylphenidate (MPD) is considered as the first-line pharmacotherapy to treat ADHD. More recently, MPD has also been used as a cognitive enhancement recreationally. Its therapeutic effects are not fully understood, nor are the long term effects of the drug on brain development. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) neuronal activity was recorded from freely behaving adolescent rats using a wireless recording system. Five groups were used: saline, 0.6, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg MPD. The experiment lasted for 10 days. This study demonstrated that VTA neurons respond to MPD in a dose response characteristic and the same dose of MPD can cause both behavioral sensitization and behavioral tolerance. The neuronal unit activity was evaluated based on the animals’ behavioral activity following chronic MPD administration. The study showed that the animals’ behavioral response to different acute MPD of 0.6, 2.5 and 10.0 mg/kg doses responded in a dose response characteristics. Moreover, the same chronic dose of 0.6, 2.5, and 10.0 mg/kg MPD elicits in some animals’ behavioral sensitization and in some others behavioral tolerance. Therefore, the neuronal activity recorded from animals expressing behavioral sensitization was analyzed separately from the neuronal activity recorded from of behaviorally tolerant animals and it was found that the VTA units of the behaviorally sensitization animals responded significantly different to the drug than those VTA units recorded from animals expressing behavioral tolerance.

Ritalin Dose Response Effect on Medial Prefrontal Cortex and on Animal Behavior

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in complex planning, learning, memory, attention and integrates sensory information. It was reported that the PFC was dysfunctional in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methylphenidate (MPD), a drug often prescribed for the treatment of ADHD, has potential for abuse and misuse. Most MPD studies were completed in adult subjects;however, most users were adolescents. The objective of this study was to investigate the acute and chronic dose response characteristics of MPD on PFC neuronal activity recorded in freely behaving adolescent rats. Four groups of animals were used: saline (control), 0.6, 2.5, and 10 mg/kg MPD. Acute MPD elicited a dose response increase in animals’ locomotor activity. Rechallenge with MPD at experimental day (ED10) when compared to the effect of MPD at ED1 showed no significant differences. When the animals were divided into two groups based on their individual responses to chronic MPD exposure, some animals expressed behavioral tolerance and some expressed behavioral sensitization. Electrophysiologically, a dose response characteristic for acute and chronic MPD exposure was observed. With increasing MPD doses, more PFC units responded by changing their firing rate. Moreover, the neuronal responses to chronic MPD recorded from animals expressing behavioral tolerance were significantly different compared to the neuronal population responses recorded from animals expressing behavioral sensitization. The majority of the PFC units recorded from animals expressing behavioral tolerance responded to MPD predominately by decreasing their firing rates, whereas PFC units recorded from behaviorally sensitized animals mainly showed an increase in their firing rates.

Role of 5-HT2A Receptors in Immunomodulation in Animal Models of Aggressive Behavior

Serotonin 5-HT2A receptors are playing an important role in the pathophysiology of aggressive behaviors and in the control of immune function. In the present study, we analyzed the effects of activation and blockade of 5-HT2A receptors with selective ligands on the immune response formation in animals with aggressive behaviors induced by genetic factors (rats selected for the increased aggressiveness toward human) or by chronic social stress (mice of the CBA/Lac strain engaged in 10 days of social confrontations). Activation of 5-HT2A receptors with DOI at 1.0 mg/kg reduced the immune response level both in aggressive rats and mice compared to the corresponding vehicle-treated groups, while DOI administration did not alter the immune reaction in nonaggressive animals. The blockade of 5-HT2A receptors with ketanserin at 1.0 mg/kg resulted in immunostimulation both in mice of the CBA strain not subjected to social stress (the controls) and in nonaggressive rats selected for elimination of aggressiveness. On the other hand, its administration to CBA mice demonstrating offensive aggression enhanced the immune reaction, while the same dose of ketanserin did not modify the immune response level in rats with genetic predisposition to the increased defensive aggression. Thus, our data suggest that the role of 5-HT2A receptors in immunomodulation depends on the specific type of aggression that may be taking into account in the treatment of some neuropsychiatric disorders with the antipsychotic drugs and antidepressants targeting 5-HT2A receptors.

Alignment silkworms as seismic animal anomalous behavior (SAAB) and electromagnetic model of a fault: a theory and laboratory experiment

Alignment of silkworms and fish, observed as seismic anomalous animal behavior (SAAB) prior to the Kobe earthquake, were duplicated in a laboratory by applying a pulsed electric field assuming SAAB as electrophysiological responses to the stimuli of seismic electric signals (SES). The animals became aligned perpendicularly to the field direction since their skeletal muscle had a higher resistivity perpendicular to the field direction than parallel to it. An electromagnetic model of a fault is proposed in which dipolar charges, ± q are generated due to the change of seismic stress, σ (t) . From a mathematical model,d q /d t=-α (d σ /d t) - q/ερ , where α is the charge generation constant like a piezoelectric coefficient, ε , the dielectric constant and ρ , the resistivity of bedrock granite. A fault having a length 2 a and a displacement or rock rupture time τ , during which the stress is changed, gives pulsed dipolar charge surface densities, +q(t, x) and -q(t, x+2a), or an apparent electric dipole moment of P(t)=2aQ(t)=2aAq(t)=αM 0[ερ/(τ-ερ)](e -t/τ -e -t/ερ ) using the earthquake moment M 0. The fault displacement, D , its initial velocity, D′ and the stress drop, Δ σ give τ=D/D′= (Δ σ/σ 0)(α/β) . The field intensity, F , and seismic current density at a fault zone, J were calculated as F=q/ε and J=F/ρ′ using ρ′ of water as to give J=0.1～1 A/m 2 sufficient to cause SAAB experimentally. The near field ultra low frequency (ULF) waves generated by P(t) give SES reciprocally proportional to the distance R .

Unveiling the brain’s symphony:exploring the necessity and sufficiency of neural networks in behavior control

Since the pioneering work by Broca and Wernicke in the 19th century,who examined individuals with brain lesions to associate them with specific behaviors,it was evident that behaviors are complex and cannot be fully attributable to specific brain areas alone.Instead,they involve connectivity among brain areas,whether close or distant.At that time,this approach was considered the optimal way to dissect brain circuitry and function.These pioneering efforts opened the field to explore the necessity or sufficiency of brain areas in controlling behavior and hence dissecting brain function.However,the connectivity of the brain and the mechanisms through which various brain regions regulate specific behaviors,either individually or collaboratively,remain largely elusive.Utilizing animal models,researchers have endeavored to unravel the necessity or sufficiency of specific brain areas in influencing behavior;however,no clear associations have been firmly established.

Effect of Nb-V microalloying on the hot deformation behavior of medium Mn steels

The influence of Nb-V microalloying on the hot deformation behavior and microstructures of medium Mn steel(MMS)was investigated by uniaxial hot compression tests.By establishing the constitutive equations for simulating the measured flow curves,we successfully constructed deformation activation energy(Q)maps and processing maps for identifying the region of flow instability.We concluded the following consequences of Nb-V alloying for MMS.(i)The critical strain increases and the increment diminishes with the increasing deformation temperature,suggesting that NbC precipitates more efficiently retard dynamic recrystallization(DRX)in MMS compared with solute Nb.(ii)The deformation activation energy of MMS is significantly increased and even higher than that of some reported high Mn steels,suggesting that its ability to retard DRX is greater than that of the high Mn content.(iii)The hot workability of MMS is improved by narrowing the hot processing window for the unstable flow stress,in which fine recrystallized and coarse unrecrystallized grains are present.

Understanding the local structure and thermophysical behavior of Mg-La liquid alloys via machine learning potential

The local structure and thermophysical behavior of Mg-La liquid alloys were in-depth understood using deep potential molecular dynamic(DPMD) simulation driven via machine learning to promote the development of Mg-La alloys. The robustness of the trained deep potential(DP) model was thoroughly evaluated through several aspects, including root-mean-square errors(RMSEs), energy and force data, and structural information comparison results;the results indicate the carefully trained DP model is reliable. The component and temperature dependence of the local structure in the Mg-La liquid alloy was analyzed. The effect of Mg content in the system on the first coordination shell of the atomic pairs is the same as that of temperature. The pre-peak demonstrated in the structure factor indicates the presence of a medium-range ordered structure in the Mg-La liquid alloy, which is particularly pronounced in the 80at% Mg system and disappears at elevated temperatures. The density, self-diffusion coefficient, and shear viscosity for the Mg-La liquid alloy were predicted via DPMD simulation, the evolution patterns with Mg content and temperature were subsequently discussed, and a database was established accordingly. Finally, the mixing enthalpy and elemental activity of the Mg-La liquid alloy at 1200 K were reliably evaluated,which provides new guidance for related studies.

Increased excitatory amino acid transporter 2 levels in basolateral amygdala astrocytes mediate chronic stress–induced anxiety-like behavior

The conventional perception of astrocytes as mere supportive cells within the brain has recently been called into question by empirical evidence, which has revealed their active involvement in regulating brain function and encoding behaviors associated with emotions.Specifically, astrocytes in the basolateral amygdala have been found to play a role in the modulation of anxiety-like behaviors triggered by chronic stress. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms by which basolateral amygdala astrocytes regulate chronic stress–induced anxiety-like behaviors remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we found that in a mouse model of anxiety triggered by unpredictable chronic mild stress, the expression of excitatory amino acid transporter 2 was upregulated in the basolateral amygdala. Interestingly, our findings indicate that the targeted knockdown of excitatory amino acid transporter 2 specifically within the basolateral amygdala astrocytes was able to rescue the anxiety-like behavior in mice subjected to stress. Furthermore, we found that the overexpression of excitatory amino acid transporter 2 in the basolateral amygdala, whether achieved through intracranial administration of excitatory amino acid transporter 2agonists or through injection of excitatory amino acid transporter 2-overexpressing viruses with GfaABC1D promoters, evoked anxiety-like behavior in mice. Our single-nucleus RNA sequencing analysis further confirmed that chronic stress induced an upregulation of excitatory amino acid transporter 2 specifically in astrocytes in the basolateral amygdala. Moreover, through in vivo calcium signal recordings, we found that the frequency of calcium activity in the basolateral amygdala of mice subjected to chronic stress was higher compared with normal mice.After knocking down the expression of excitatory amino acid transporter 2 in the basolateral amygdala, the frequency of calcium activity was not significantly increased, and anxiety-like behavior was obviously mitigated. Additionally, administration of an excitatory amino acid transporter 2 inhibitor in the basolateral amygdala yielded a notable reduction in anxiety level among mice subjected to stress. These results suggest that basolateral amygdala astrocytic excitatory amino acid transporter 2 plays a role in in the regulation of unpredictable chronic mild stress-induced anxiety-like behavior by impacting the activity of local glutamatergic neurons, and targeting excitatory amino acid transporter 2 in the basolateral amygdala holds therapeutic promise for addressing anxiety disorders.

Jungle Animals

A jungle is full of life.You can sometimes see exhibits of jungle animals and learn about them.Monkeys play in jungle trees.Colorful parrots fly and call to one another.Black and orange tigers hunt under the trees.

A semi-analytical pressure and rate transient analysis model for inner boundary and propped fractures exhibiting dynamic behavior under long-term production conditions

The loss of hydrocarbon production caused by the dynamic behavior of the inner boundary and propped fractures under long-term production conditions has been widely reported in recent studies.However,the quantitative relationships for the variations of the inner boundary and propped fractures have not been determined and incorporated in the semi-analytical models for the pressure and rate transient analysis.This work focuses on describing the variations of the inner boundary and propped fractures and capturing the typical characteristics from the pressure transient curves.A generalized semi-analytical model was developed to characterize the dynamic behavior of the inner boundary and propped fractures under long-term production conditions.The pressure-dependent length shrinkage coefficients,which quantify the length changes of the inner zone and propped fractures,are modified and incorporated into this multi-zone semi-analytical model.With simultaneous numerical iterations and numerical inversions in Laplace and real-time space,the transient solutions to pressure and rate behavior are determined in just a few seconds.The dynamic behavior of the inner boundary and propped fractures on transient pressure curves is divided into five periods:fracture bilinear flow(FR1),dynamic PFs flow(FR2),inner-area linear flow(FR3),dynamic inner boundary flow(FR4),and outer-area dominated linear flow(FR5).The early hump during FR2 period and a positive upward shift during FR4period are captured on the log-log pressure transient curves,reflecting the dynamic behavior of the inner boundary and propped fractures during the long-term production period.The transient pressure behavior will exhibit greater positive upward trend and the flow rate will be lower with the shrinkage of the inner boundary.The pressure derivative curve will be upward earlier as the inner boundary shrinks more rapidly.The lower permeability caused by the closure of un-propped fractures in the inner zone results in greater upward in pressure derivative curves.If the permeability loss for the dynamic behavior of the inner boundary caused by the closure of un-propped fractures is neglected,the flow rate will be overestimated in the later production period.

Cluster DetectionMethod of Endogenous Security Abnormal Attack Behavior in Air Traffic Control Network

In order to enhance the accuracy of Air Traffic Control(ATC)cybersecurity attack detection,in this paper,a new clustering detection method is designed for air traffic control network security attacks.The feature set for ATC cybersecurity attacks is constructed by setting the feature states,adding recursive features,and determining the feature criticality.The expected information gain and entropy of the feature data are computed to determine the information gain of the feature data and reduce the interference of similar feature data.An autoencoder is introduced into the AI(artificial intelligence)algorithm to encode and decode the characteristics of ATC network security attack behavior to reduce the dimensionality of the ATC network security attack behavior data.Based on the above processing,an unsupervised learning algorithm for clustering detection of ATC network security attacks is designed.First,determine the distance between the clustering clusters of ATC network security attack behavior characteristics,calculate the clustering threshold,and construct the initial clustering center.Then,the new average value of all feature objects in each cluster is recalculated as the new cluster center.Second,it traverses all objects in a cluster of ATC network security attack behavior feature data.Finally,the cluster detection of ATC network security attack behavior is completed by the computation of objective functions.The experiment took three groups of experimental attack behavior data sets as the test object,and took the detection rate,false detection rate and recall rate as the test indicators,and selected three similar methods for comparative test.The experimental results show that the detection rate of this method is about 98%,the false positive rate is below 1%,and the recall rate is above 97%.Research shows that this method can improve the detection performance of security attacks in air traffic control network.

Evidence for the Reliability and Validity of the Arabic Version of the Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors (SRSS-IE)

School-based universal screening for behavioral/emotional risk is a necessary first step to providing services in an educational setting for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs). Psychometric properties are critical to making decisions about choosing a screening instrument. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the student risk screening scale for internalizing and externalizing behaviors (SRSS-IE). Participants included 3145 students and their teachers. Item-level analyses of the current sample supported the retention of all items. The internal consistency of the SRSS items ranged from 0.83 to 0.85. Convergent validity between the SRSS-IE and a well-established screening tool, the strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), was found for the total score (r = 0.70). Additionally, the results of this study demonstrate strong social validity, suggesting the SRSS-IE to be a useful and functional screening tool. We conclude that the SRSS-IE is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the level of emotional and behavioral difficulties among elementary students.

PCDH17 restricts dendritic spine morphogenesis by regulating ROCK2-dependent control of the actin cytoskeleton,modulating emotional behavior

Proper regulation of synapse formation and elimination is critical for establishing mature neuronal circuits and maintaining brain function.Synaptic abnormalities,such as defects in the density and morphology of postsynaptic dendritic spines,underlie the pathology of various neuropsychiatric disorders.Protocadherin 17(PCDH17)is associated with major mood disorders,including bipolar disorder and depression.However,the molecular mechanisms by which PCDH17 regulates spine number,morphology,and behavior remain elusive.In this study,we found that PCDH17 functions at postsynaptic sites,restricting the number and size of dendritic spines in excitatory neurons.Selective overexpression of PCDH17 in the ventral hippocampal CA1 results in spine loss and anxiety-and depression-like behaviors in mice.Mechanistically,PCDH17 interacts with actin-relevant proteins and regulates actin filament(F-actin)organization.Specifically,PCDH17 binds to ROCK2,increasing its expression and subsequently enhancing the activity of downstream targets such as LIMK1 and the phosphorylation of cofilin serine-3(Ser3).Inhibition of ROCK2 activity with belumosudil(KD025)ameliorates the defective F-actin organization and spine structure induced by PCDH17 overexpression,suggesting that ROCK2 mediates the effects of PCDH17 on F-actin content and spine development.Hence,these findings reveal a novel mechanism by which PCDH17 regulates synapse development and behavior,providing pathological insights into the neurobiological basis of mood disorders.