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Rationale Adverse social experience in adolescence causes reduced medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) dopamine (DA) and associated behavioral deficits in early adulthood. Objective To determine whether mPFC DA hypofunction following social stress is specific to adolescent experience, and if this results from stress-induced DA D2 receptor activation. Materials and Methods Male rats exposed to repeated social defeat during adolescence or adulthood had mPFC DA activity sampled 17 days later. Separate experiments used freely-moving microdialysis to measure mPFC DA release in response to adolescent defeat exposure. At P40, 49 and 56 mPFC DA turnover was assessed to identify when DA activity decreased in relation to the adolescent defeat experience. Finally, non-defeated adolescent rats received repeated intra-mPFC infusions of the D2 receptor agonist quinpirole, while another adolescent group received intra-mPFC infusions of the D2 antagonist amisulpride before defeat exposure. Results Long-term decreases or increases in mPFC DA turnover were observed following adolescent or adult defeat, respectively. Adolescent defeat exposure elicits sustained increases in mPFC DA release, and DA turnover remains elevated beyond the stress experience before declining to levels below normal at P56. Activation of mPFC D2 receptors in non-defeated adolescents decreases DA activity in a similar manner to that caused by adolescent defeat, while defeat-induced reductions in mPFC DA activity are prevented by D2 receptor blockade. Conclusions Both the developing and mature PFC DA systems are vulnerable to social stress, but only adolescent defeat causes DA hypofunction. This appears to result in part from stress-induced activation of mPFC D2 autoreceptors.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) produces symptoms similar to those typifying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans. We sought to determine whether a rodent model of stress concurrent with mTBI produces characteristics of PTSD such as impaired contextual fear extinction, while also examining concurrent alterations to limbic monoamine activity in brain regions relevant to fear and anxiety states. Male rats were exposed to social stress or control conditions immediately prior to mTBI induction, and 6 days later were tested either for anxiety-like behavior using the elevated plus maze (EPM), or for contextual fear conditioning and extinction. Brains were collected 24 h after EPM testing, and tissue from various limbic regions analyzed for content of monoamines, their precursors and metabolites using HPLC with electrochemical detection. Either social defeat or mTBI alone decreased time spent in open arms of the EPM, indicating greater anxiety-like behavior. However, this effect was enhanced by the combination of treatments. Further, rats exposed to both social defeat and mTBI exhibited greater freezing within extinction sessions compared to all other groups, suggesting impaired contextual fear extinction. Social defeat combined with mTBI also had greater effects on limbic monoamines than either insult alone, particularly with respect to serotonergic effects associated with anxiety and fear learning. The results suggest social stress concurrent with mTBI produces provides a relevant animal model for studying the prevention and treatment of post-concussive psychobiological outcomes.

Plug-In Electric Vehicles (PEV) have become a key factor driving towards smart cities, which allow for higher energy efficiency and lower environmental impact across urban sectors. Industry vision for future PEV includes the ability to recharge a vehicle at a speed comparable to traditional gas refueling, i.e., less than 3 minutes per vehicle. Such a technology, referred to as Ultra-Fast Charging (UFC), has drawn much interest from research and industry. The large power density, impulsive, and stochastic loading characteristics of UFC, however, pose unprecedented challenges to existing electricity supply infrastructure. Planning the locations and electric capacities of these UFC stations is critical to preventing detrimental impacts, including grid asset depreciation, grid instabilities, and deteriorated power quality. In this paper, we first review planning methods for conventional charging stations and then discuss outlooks for UFC planning solutions by drawing an analogy with renewable energy source planning, which presents similar power density and stochastic characteristics as UFC. While this paper mainly focuses on UFC planning from the power grid perspective, other urban aspects, including traffic flow and end-user behavior, are examined for feasible UFC integration within smart cities.

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