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Pain is a subjective feeling; it is a sensation that every human being must have experienced all their life. Yet, its mechanism and the way to immune to it is still a question to be answered. This review presents the mechanism and correlation of pain and stress, their assessment and detection approach with medical devices and wearable sensors. Various physiological signals (i.e., heart activity, brain activity, muscle activity, electrodermal activity, respiratory, blood volume pulse, skin temperature) and behavioral signals are organized for wearables sensors detection. By reviewing the wearable sensors used in the healthcare domain, we hope to find a way for wearable healthcare-monitoring system to be applied on pain and stress detection. Since pain leads to multiple consequences or symptoms such as muscle tension and depression that are stress related, there is a chance to find a new approach for chronic pain detection using daily life sensors or devices. Then by integrating modern computing techniques, there is a chance to handle pain and stress management issue.

Monitoring spiking activity across large neuronal populations at behaviorally relevant timescales is critical for understanding neural circuit function. Unlike calcium imaging, voltage imaging requires kilohertz sampling rates that reduce fluorescence detection to near shot-noise levels. High-photon flux excitation can overcome photon-limited shot noise, but photobleaching and photodamage restrict the number and duration of simultaneously imaged neurons. We investigated an alternative approach aimed at low two-photon flux, which is voltage imaging below the shot-noise limit. This framework involved developing positive-going voltage indicators with improved spike detection (SpikeyGi and SpikeyGi2); a two-photon microscope (‘SMURF’) for kilohertz frame rate imaging across a 0.4 mm × 0.4 mm field of view; and a self-supervised denoising algorithm (DeepVID) for inferring fluorescence from shot-noise-limited signals. Through these combined advances, we achieved simultaneous high-speed deep-tissue imaging of more than 100 densely labeled neurons over 1 hour in awake behaving mice. This demonstrates a scalable approach for voltage imaging across increasing neuronal populations. A suite of tools including positive-going voltage indicators, a high-speed two-photon microscope, and denoising software enables prolonged imaging of electrical activity in neurons with limited toxicity.

Mental health in the UK had deteriorated compared with pre-pandemic trends. Existing studies on heterogenous wellbeing changes associated COVID-19 tend to segment population based on isolated socio-economic and demographic indicators, notably gender, income and ethnicity, while a more holistic and contextual understanding of such heterogeneity among the workforce seems lacking. This study addresses this gap by 1) combining UK time use surveys collected before and during COVID-19, 2) identifying latent lifestyles within three working mode groups (commuter, homeworker and hybrid worker) using latent class model, and 3) quantifying nuanced experiential wellbeing (ExWB) changes across workers of distinct lifestyles. The direction and magnitude of ExWB changes were not uniform across activity types, time of day, and lifestyles. The direction of ExWB change during the daytime activities window varied in accordance with lifestyle classifications. Specifically, ExWB decreased for all homeworkers but increased significantly for certain hybrid workers. Magnitude of ExWB change correlated strongly with lifestyle. To understand the significant heterogeneity in ExWB outcomes, a spatial-temporal conceptualisation of working flexibility is developed to explicate the strong yet complex correlations between wellbeing and lifestyles. The implications to post-pandemic “back-to-work” policies are 1) continued expansion of hybrid working optionality, 2) provide wider support for lifestyle adaptation and transitions.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the equity market reaction to sustainability disclosure measures derived from firms' inaugural sustainability reports following the implementation of mandatory sustainability reporting in Singapore.Design/methodology/approachThis study explores the equity market reaction to first-time sustainability reports of mandatory adopters and compares the reactions between voluntary and mandatory adopters. To mitigate any imbalanced distribution effects, entropy balancing techniques are employed.FindingsThe author observes a significant equity market reaction when mandatory adopters adhere to a reporting framework and release sustainability reports as standalone documents. Additionally, the study indicates that government regulation amplifies the equity market reaction for companies that include a board statement within their sustainability reports and present them as standalone publications.Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of quantitative information disclosed in the first-time sustainability reports may restrict the generalizability of the findings.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable insights for organizations and managers to evaluate the market's response to sustainability disclosures and improve communication effectiveness with investors. Furthermore, the study has direct policy implications for global standard-setting organizations in sustainability reporting. The findings support the notion that investors value market-led and investor-focused sustainability disclosures.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the limited body of research that examines the capital market effects of mandatory sustainability disclosures. To the author’s knowledge, this is among a few studies to directly investigate the equity market reaction to mandatory sustainability disclosures at the firm level.

In the mouse whisker region of primary somatosensory cortex (S1), neurons projecting to secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) and primary motor cortex (M1), respectively, are differentially activated during distinct whisker-based behavioural tasks; sensory stimulus features alone do not elicit these differences, suggesting that selective transmission of S1 information to S2 and M1 is driven by behaviour. Separate streams in somatosensory cortex In order to understand one's environment, it is necessary to know both the identity and the location of the objects within it. It is thought that in the visual system these two properties are processed in separate streams, but how different stimulus aspects are represented in the somatosensory system is less clear. Fritjof Helmchen and colleagues now show that in rats, distinct and largely non-overlapping projections from primary somatosensory cortex to secondary cortex and motor cortex are active during different tasks, demonstrating how information within an area can be segregated into separate outputs. In the mammalian neocortex, segregated processing streams are thought to be important for forming sensory representations of the environment 1 , 2 , but how local information in primary sensory cortex is transmitted to other distant cortical areas during behaviour is unclear. Here we show task-dependent activation of distinct, largely non-overlapping long-range projection neurons in the whisker region of primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in awake, behaving mice. Using two-photon calcium imaging, we monitored neuronal activity in anatomically identified S1 neurons projecting to secondary somatosensory (S2) or primary motor (M1) cortex in mice using their whiskers to perform a texture-discrimination task or a task that required them to detect the presence of an object at a certain location. Whisking-related cells were found among S2-projecting (S2P) but not M1-projecting (M1P) neurons. A higher fraction of S2P than M1P neurons showed touch-related responses during texture discrimination, whereas a higher fraction of M1P than S2P neurons showed touch-related responses during the detection task. In both tasks, S2P and M1P neurons could discriminate similarly between trials producing different behavioural decisions. However, in trials producing the same decision, S2P neurons performed better at discriminating texture, whereas M1P neurons were better at discriminating location. Sensory stimulus features alone were not sufficient to elicit these differences, suggesting that selective transmission of S1 information to S2 and M1 is driven by behaviour.

Understanding brain function requires monitoring local and global brain dynamics. Two-photon imaging of the brain across mesoscopic scales has presented trade-offs between imaging area and acquisition speed. We describe a flexible cellular resolution two-photon microscope capable of simultaneous video rate acquisition of four independently targetable brain regions spanning an approximate five-millimeter field of view. With this system, we demonstrate the ability to measure calcium activity across mouse sensorimotor cortex at behaviorally relevant timescales. Functional brain imaging with two-photon microscopy is limited by a tradeoff between imaging area and acquisition speed. Here, the authors present Quadroscope, a flexible microscope which allows for simultaneous video rate acquisition of four independently targetable brain regions across 5 mm.

NK2 Homeobox 1 (NKX2‐1) is a well‐characterized pathological marker that delineates lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression. The advancement of LUAD is influenced by the immune tumor microenvironment through paracrine signaling. However, the involvement of NKX2‐1 in modeling the tumor immune microenvironment is still unclear. Here, the downregulation of NKX2‐1 is observed in high‐grade LUAD. Meanwhile, single‐cell RNA sequencing and Visium in situ capturing profiling revealed the recruitment and infiltration of neutrophils in orthotopic syngeneic tumors exhibiting strong cell‐cell communication through the activation of CXCLs/CXCR2 signaling. The depletion of NKX2‐1 triggered the expression and secretion of CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, and CXCL5 in LUAD cells. Chemokine secretion is analyzed by chemokine array and validated by qRT‐PCR. ATAC‐seq revealed the restrictive regulation of NKX2‐1 on the promoters of CXCL1, CXCL2, and CXCL5 genes. This phenomenon led to increased tumor growth, and conversely, tumor growth decreased when inhibited by the CXCR2 antagonist SB225002. This study unveils how NKX2‐1 modulates the infiltration of tumor‐promoting neutrophils by inhibiting CXCLs/CXCR2‐dependent mechanisms. Hence, targeting CXCR2 in NKX2‐1‐low tumors is a potential antitumor therapy that may improve LUAD patient outcomes. An overview showing the utilization of unconventional molecular profiling techniques, such as Single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) and Visium In situ Capturing, employed to unravel the modulatory role of NK2 homeobox 1 (NKX2‐1) within the immune microenvironment of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). The downregulation of NKX2‐1 triggers the expression and secretion of CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, and CXCL5. This increases neutrophil recruitment and infiltration into LUAD tumors, thereby promoting cancer progression.

Argonaute (AGO) proteins partner with microRNAs (miRNAs) to target specific genes for post-transcriptional regulation. During larval development in Caenorhabditis elegans, Argonaute-Like Gene 1 (ALG-1) is the primary mediator of the miRNA pathway, while the related ALG-2 protein is largely dispensable. Here we show that in adult C. elegans these AGOs are differentially expressed and, surprisingly, work in opposition to each other; alg-1 promotes longevity, whereas alg-2 restricts lifespan. Transcriptional profiling of adult animals revealed that distinct miRNAs and largely non-overlapping sets of protein-coding genes are misregulated in alg-1 and alg-2 mutants. Interestingly, many of the differentially expressed genes are downstream targets of the Insulin/ IGF-1 Signaling (IIS) pathway, which controls lifespan by regulating the activity of the DAF-16/ FOXO transcription factor. Consistent with this observation, we show that daf-16 is required for the extended lifespan of alg-2 mutants. Furthermore, the long lifespan of daf-2 insulin receptor mutants, which depends on daf-16, is strongly reduced in animals lacking alg-1 activity. This work establishes an important role for AGO-mediated gene regulation in aging C. elegans and illustrates that the activity of homologous genes can switch from complementary to antagonistic, depending on the life stage.

The authors used chronic two-photon calcium imaging to record activity in primary whisker somatosensory cortex neurons projecting to secondary somatosensory or primary motor cortex while mice learned a texture discrimination task. Learning-related changes in primary somatosensory cortex enhanced sensory representations in a pathway-specific manner and provided downstream areas with task-relevant information for behavior. In the mammalian brain, sensory cortices exhibit plasticity during task learning, but how this alters information transferred between connected cortical areas remains unknown. We found that divergent subpopulations of cortico-cortical neurons in mouse whisker primary somatosensory cortex (S1) undergo functional changes reflecting learned behavior. We chronically imaged activity of S1 neurons projecting to secondary somatosensory (S2) or primary motor (M1) cortex in mice learning a texture discrimination task. Mice adopted an active whisking strategy that enhanced texture-related whisker kinematics, correlating with task performance. M1-projecting neurons reliably encoded basic kinematics features, and an additional subset of touch-related neurons was recruited that persisted past training. The number of S2-projecting touch neurons remained constant, but improved their discrimination of trial types through reorganization while developing activity patterns capable of discriminating the animal's decision. We propose that learning-related changes in S1 enhance sensory representations in a pathway-specific manner, providing downstream areas with task-relevant information for behavior.

The coordination of activity across neocortical areas is essential for mammalian brain function. Understanding this process requires simultaneous functional measurements across the cortex. In order to dissociate direct cortico-cortical interactions from other sources of neuronal correlations, it is furthermore desirable to target cross-areal recordings to neuronal subpopulations that anatomically project between areas. Here, we combined anatomical tracers with a novel multi-area two-photon microscope to perform simultaneous calcium imaging across mouse primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory whisker cortex during texture discrimination behavior, specifically identifying feedforward and feedback neurons. We find that coordination of S1-S2 activity increases during motor behaviors such as goal-directed whisking and licking. This effect was not specific to identified feedforward and feedback neurons. However, these mutually projecting neurons especially participated in inter-areal coordination when motor behavior was paired with whisker-texture touches, suggesting that direct S1-S2 interactions are sensory-dependent. Our results demonstrate specific functional coordination of anatomically-identified projection neurons across sensory cortices. Behavior and cognition – the process of thought – emerge from computations that occur within vast networks of neurons in the brain. Within these networks, neurons may communicate with their neighbours in the same brain region as well as with distant counterparts in remote brain regions. Neuroscientists have studied these networks by measuring the activity of neurons within a single region or across the brain as a whole. However, it has not been possible to study long-distance communication between pairs of neurons in different brain regions. This has made it difficult to work out exactly what information brain regions exchange. Chen, Voigt et al. now overcome these challenges by developing a new microscope system that allows researchers to measure the activity of individual neurons in different brain regions at the same time. The system works alongside tracing techniques that map the connections between distant neurons. To demonstrate the new tools, Chen, Voigt et al. measured the activity of neurons in two areas of the mouse brain that monitor the whiskers. Mice brush their whiskers against an object to obtain information on its size, shape, texture and location. Two brain regions, called the primary and secondary areas of the whisker cortex, process this information and exchange messages back and forth. However, it was unclear what information these messages contain. Chen, Voigt et al. therefore trained mice to discriminate between coarse and fine sandpapers using their whiskers, and analysed the activity of the neurons that directly connect the two areas of the whisker cortex. The results revealed that although movement and sensory stimulation activated both the primary and secondary areas of the whisker cortex, the direct connections between these regions mainly exchange sensory information. This approach makes it possible to observe brain networks in an unprecedented level of detail. In the future, this technology will be extended to provide a more comprehensive view of how neurons communicate across brain areas. This will increase our understanding of how multiple areas of the brain all work together to produce the activity patterns that give rise to behavior.