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On July 26 (Friday), well-known foreignscienceThe main contents of the website are as follows:

Nature website (www.nature.com)

A brainNeuronshelpYoung miceEstablished with MomIntimate Relationships

Yale researchers have discovered a type of neuron in the brains of mouse pups that enables them to form a unique and strong bond with their mothers during their first days of life.

Stimulating these neurons in separated-mother rat pups mimics the soothing effects of the mother's presence and reduces stress-related behaviors.

The discovery was recently published in the journal Science.mammalThe formation of the mother-child bond provides new clues and helps researchers better understand how brain development affects behavior.

The research team studied nursing mouse pups between 16 and 18 days old. Using live imaging, they recorded activity in a thin layer of gray matter beneath the thalamus (ZI) as the animals interacted with their mothers.

The thin layer of gray matter is responsible for processing visual, auditory and sensory information. During early development, it forms connections with different brain regions, some of which shrink after weaning. The researchers noticed that when the pups interacted with their mothers, neurons in their thin gray matter that produce a hormone called somatostatin became active.

Although the study provides evidence that somatostatin neurons in the thin layer of gray matter play a role in bonding and stress reduction in young mice, the authors note that studies in adult mice have shown different results.

The authors say these neural circuits may change as mice age to help them adapt to different stresses throughout their lives. "It could be very exciting to track these neurons longitudinally throughout development to understand how they take on their adult roles," said a neuroscientist who was not involved in the study.

Science Daily website (www.sciencedaily.com)

1. Wearable devices may have negative effects on health

Tracking health data and disease symptoms using wearable devices such as smartwatches should help people monitor their physical condition and address symptoms in a timely manner to promote positive health outcomes. However, for people with atrial fibrillation, using a wearable device to monitor heart rate and alert the wearer of irregular heart rate may not be as helpful as imagined.

A new study led by the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows for the first time that wearable devices such as smartwatches can significantly amplify anxiety and increase the use of medical resources in patients with atrial fibrillation.

The study included 172 patients from UNC Health who had been previously diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and completed a survey that linked their information to electronic health records. About half of the study subjects had a wearable device, and their data were compared with those who did not have a wearable device.

The research team found that compared with atrial fibrillation patients without wearable devices, patients who used wearable devices were more likely to focus on their heart symptoms, report concerns about their atrial fibrillation treatment, and use medical resources more frequently.

Additionally, one in five patients with atrial fibrillation who used wearable devices in this study reported intense fear and anxiety in response to irregular rhythm notifications from the device.

It is unclear whether the reported anxiety contributed to the worsening of symptoms, although anxiety is a well-documented factor in various conditions, including atrial fibrillation.

“Given the marked increase in the use of wearable devices in this patient population (and in the general population), we believe that prospective studies and randomized trials are needed to understand the net impact of wearable devices (including their alerts) on patients’ healthcare resource use and mental health, as well as the downstream effects on providers, hospitals, and health systems,” the researchers said.

2. A new lithium-ion battery recycling method: metal recovery rate can reach 98%

Amid the increasing use of lithium-ion batteries, a research team at Rice University in the United States has developed a method to effectively recycle lithium-ion batteries.

The research team innovatively used a new method to extract and purify active substances from battery waste, and the results were published in detail in the journal Nature Communications. Their discovery may promote the efficient separation and recycling of valuable battery materials at minimal cost, contributing to greener electric vehicle production.

The solvent-free "Flash Joule Heating (FJH)" technique they used passes an electric current through a moderately resistive material, rapidly heating it and converting it into something else.

Using the FJH technique, the researchers heated the battery waste to 2,500 Kelvin in a matter of seconds, creating a unique structure with a magnetic shell and a stable core. This magnetic separation makes efficient purification possible.

In the process, cobalt-based battery cathodes – commonly used in electric vehicles and associated with high financial, environmental and social costs – unexpectedly displayed magnetism in the outer spinel cobalt oxide layer, facilitating separation.

This method enables the recovery of lithium-ion battery metals at rates up to 98% while maintaining the value of the battery structure.

Scitech Daily website (https://scitechdaily.com)

1. How did bats start flying? Science has revealed their ancient secret

In a new study published in the journal PeerJ Life & Environment, researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Oregon Institute of Technology have advanced our understanding of the evolutionary origins of flight in bats. The study, titled "Gliding toward an Understanding of the Origin of Flight in Bats," used a phylogenetic comparative approach to explore the evolutionary transition from gliding to powered flight in these unique mammals.

Bats are the only mammals capable of powered flight, a feat facilitated by their highly specialized limb morphology. However, the evolutionary pathway of this ability has remained a mystery due to the incomplete fossil record. The study provides important insights by testing the hypothesis that bats evolved from gliding ancestors.

The team analyzed a comprehensive dataset of limb bone measurements, including four extinct bats and 231 living mammals with a variety of locomotion modes. Their findings suggest that gliding animals exhibit relatively long forelimbs and narrow hindlimb bones, intermediate between bats and non-gliding arboreal mammals. Evolutionary models from these data support the hypothesis that certain forelimb traits in bats may have been strongly selected, pulling them from gliding animals toward the flight adaptation zone.

This study not only supports the hypothesis that bats evolved from gliding to flight, but also challenges the traditional view of limb evolution in bats and gliding animals. The researchers emphasize that future studies need to test the biomechanical implications of these bone morphologies and consider the complex genetic and ecological factors that influenced the evolution of powered flight in bats.

2. Why your body size is more important than you think: Linked to dementia and Parkinson's

People with more fat in their abdomens or arms are more likely to develop diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's than those with less fat in those areas, according to a study published online recently in Neurology. The study also found that people with higher muscle strength were less likely to develop those diseases than those with lower muscle strength.

The study followed 412,691 people for an average of nine years with an average age of 56. At the start of the study, body composition, such as waist and hip circumference, grip strength, bone density, and fat and lean mass, were measured.

During the study period, 8,224 people developed a neurodegenerative disease, primarily Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia and Parkinson's disease.

After adjusting for other factors that could affect disease incidence, such as high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol consumption and diabetes, the researchers found that overall, people with high levels of abdominal fat were 13% more likely to develop these diseases than those with low levels of abdominal fat.

People with more arm fat were 18 percent more likely to develop these conditions than those with less arm fat.

People with high muscle strength are 26% less likely to suffer from these diseases than those with low muscle strength.