Emotional stress, a common form of tension in daily life, can disrupt the body’s homeostasis. Beyond affecting peripheral organ functionality, maladaptive and uncontrollable responses to emotional stress may contribute to central nervous system disorders such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), epilepsy, and ischemic stroke. Multiple brain regions in mammals are involved in coping with emotional stress, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala, anterior insula, hippocampus, and striatum. Human neuroimaging evidence suggests that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a critical locus within the adaptive behavioral coping circuit, regulating anxious emotions. Under emotional stress, the activation of the stress, immune, and oxidative systems can converge into a state of mutual activation, potentially leading to behavioral and biochemical changes, thus forming a vicious cycle.

This research revealed that glassware used in manipulation and cultivation of fertilized eggs in the fields of assisted reproductive technology, livestock farming, and basic research leach toxic substances that interfere with development of fertilized eggs (embryos). There have been cases where the embryo development rates have dropped despite the right conditions. A Japanese research team investigated the reason for this and found that zinc eluted from the glassware used for culturing might be one of the causing factors. It is expected that this discovery will lead to the development of safer and more effective in vitro fertilization (IVF) methods.

An international research team led by Mayukh Kumar Ray, Mingxuan Fu, and Satoru Nakatsuji from the University of Tokyo, along with Collin Broholm from Johns Hopkins University, has discovered the anomalous Hall effect in a collinear antiferromagnet. More strikingly, the anomalous Hall effect emerges from a non-Fermi liquid state, in which electrons do not interact according to conventional models. The discovery not only challenges the textbook framework for interpreting the anomalous Hall effect but also widens the range of antiferromagnets useful for information technologies. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.

A genetically engineered protein featuring dual uranyl-binding sites significantly improves uranium extraction efficiency from seawater. The innovative strategy provides a promising candidate for uranium extraction and valuable insights for designing protein-based adsorbents to enhance metal ion adsorption capacity.

Meiosis is the core process of sexual reproduction. Proper spindle assembly and chromosome alignment are essential for the successful completion of meiotic division. Abnormal spindle assembly and chromosome misalignment often lead to female infertility. R-loops are three-stranded nucleic acid structures composed of DNA-RNA hybrids and the displaced single-stranded DNA, and they play critical roles in gene transcription, DNA replication, and DNA damage repair. However, the dynamic localization and regulatory mechanism of R-loops during oocyte meiotic division remain unclear.