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Recent studies suggested that internet gaming disorder (IGD) was associated with impulsivity and structural abnormalities in brain gray matter (GM). However, no morphometric study has examined the association between GM and impulsivity in IGD individuals. In this study, 25 adolescents with IGD and 27 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited, and the relationship between Barratt impulsiveness scale-11 (BIS) score and gray matter volume (GMV) was investigated with the voxel-based morphometric (VBM) correlation analysis. Then, the intergroup differences in correlation between BIS score and GMV were tested across all GM voxels. Our results showed that the correlations between BIS score and GMV of the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), the bilateral insula and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the right amygdala and the left fusiform gyrus decreased in the IGD group compared to the HCs. Region-of-interest (ROI) analysis revealed that GMV in all these clusters showed significant positive correlations with BIS score in the HCs, while no significant correlation was found in the IGD group. Our findings demonstrated that dysfunction of these brain areas involved in the behavior inhibition, attention and emotion regulation might contribute to impulse control problems in IGD adolescents.

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in soybeans is a complex process involving the interplay between the plant host and the symbiotic rhizobia. As nitrogen supply has a crucial role in growth and development, higher nitrogen fixation capacity would be important to achieve bigger plants and larger seeds, which were important selection criteria during plant domestication by humans. To test this hypothesis, we monitored the nitrogen fixation-related performance in 31 cultivated and 17 wild soybeans after inoculation with the slow-growing Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens sp. nov. USDA110 and the fast-growing Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) fredii CCBAU45436. Our results showed that, in general, cultivated soybeans gave better performance in BNF. Electron microscopic studies indicated that there was an exceptionally high accumulation of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate bodies in bacteroids in the nodules of all wild soybeans tested, suggesting that the C/N balance in wild soybeans may not be optimized for nitrogen fixation. Furthermore, we identified new quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for total ureides and total nodule fresh weight by employing a recombinant inbred population composed of descendants from a cross between a cultivated and a wild parent. Using nucleotide diversity (θπ), divergence index (F st ) and distribution of fixed single-nucleotide polymorphisms as parameters, we found that some regions in the total ureides QTL on chromosome 17 and the total nodule fresh weight QTL on chromosome 12 exhibited very low diversity among cultivated soybeans, suggesting that these were traits specially selected during the domestication and breeding process.

Background and Aims: Recently we reported that direct injection of M1 macrophages significantly caused tumor regression in vivo. Despite the promising result, a major limitation in translating this approach is the induction of acute inflammatory response. To improve the strategy, a biocompatible scaffold for cell presentation and support is essential to control cell fate. Here, we aimed to elucidate the anti-tumor effects of a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGdA) and thiolated gelatin poly(ethylene glycol) (Gel-PEG-Cys) cross-linked hydrogels capsulated with M1 macrophages in both in vitro and in vivo disease models.Methods: Hydrogels were made at 0.5% (w/v) Iragcure 2959 photoinitiator, 10% (w/v) PEGdA, and 10% (w/v) Gel-PEG-Cys. Monocytic THP-1 cells were loaded into hydrogels and differentiated into M1 macrophages with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ). The M1 hydrogels were then cocultivated with HCC cell-lines Hep3B and MHCC97L to investigate the anti-tumor capacities and the associated molecular profiles in vitro. A nude mice ectopic liver cancer model with dorsal window chamber (DWC) and a subcutaneous tumor model were both performed to validate the in vivo application of M1 hydrogels.Results: M1 hydrogels significantly decreased the viability of HCC cells (MHCC97L: -46%; Hep3B: -56.9%; P<0.05) compared to the control in vitro. In response to HCC cells, the hydrogel embedded M1 macrophages up-regulated nitrite and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) activating caspase-3 induced apoptosis in the tumor cells. Increased tumor necrosis was observed in DWC filled with M1 hydrogels. In addition, mice treated with M1 hydrogels exhibited a significant 2.4-fold decrease in signal intensity of subcutaneous HCC tumor compared to control (P=0.036).Conclusion: M1 hydrogels induced apoptosis in HCC cells and tumor regression in vivo. Continuous development of the scaffold-based cancer immunotherapy may provide an alternative and innovative strategy against HCC.

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