University of Toledo

Social learning is the process of acquiring social skills, new information, or associating negative or positive valence to a context through the observation of others and through direct social interaction with others. Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder show deficits in social salience and reciprocal affective responses. Social learning implicates the basolateral amygdala (BLA), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and anterior insula (AI). The lateral habenula (LHb), a brain area renowned for its role in negative reinforcement learning, has not been yet extensively studied in the domain of social learning. We developed a fear conditioning by proxy paradigm called ‘social transmission of negative valence’ (STNV) and tested prairie voles on the task. Observers experienced negative social conditioning through a proxy cage mate that served as the demonstrator during retrieval of a cued fear memory. Observers went through a social memory recall session 24 h after observation. We measured observers’ freezing time, self-grooming, rearing, and ultrasonic vocalizations emitted as signs of distress. We also quantified immediate early gene translation as a proxy for neural activity using c-Fos immunochemistry 80 min after observing demonstrators going through memory recall. Socially-conditioned observers that were exposed to the fear-conditioned demonstrators displayed increased freezing time, self-grooming, and rearing during social recall sessions compared to control observers. They also displayed higher ultrasonic vocalization frequency compared to controls. Socially-conditioned observers showed increased c-Fos expression in the LHb, BLA, ACC and AI compared to controls. The c-Fos findings are correlational and additional experiments involving chemo- or optogenetic inhibition or excitation of LHb neurons in observers are necessary for causality confirmation. We found that the LHb is co-activated with other key areas during social learning in prairie voles. These findings extend the traditional view of the LHb as an area involved in negative reinforcement learning and position it as a critical area for social affect. This offers a fresh perspective on the neural mechanisms of social affect and opens a new line of inquiry into brain dysfunction of social salience in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Molecular interactions are crucial to improving the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells, yet current solution-based approaches relying on molecular incorporation or surface passivation show inherent limitations in separately controlling these interactions. Here we reveal an intrinsic interfacial interaction that arises from simple contact between individually crystallized two-dimensional and three-dimensional perovskites without mixing or permanent bonding. We define this contact-triggered cationic interaction (CCI), which reversibly constrains molecular degrees of freedom, suppresses phase transitions, enhances carrier lifetimes and induces a unique recrystallization of the three-dimensional framework. This CCI-driven recrystallization produces refined FAPbI3 with improved cation homogeneity, reduced lattice disorder and superior optoelectronic properties. Devices using CCI-driven FAPbI3 achieve 26.25% efficiency (25.61% certified) and retain a projected operational lifetime exceeding 20,000 h. Our findings provide the first quantitative evidence that intrinsic interfacial cationic interactions can directly influence perovskite material quality and device performance. Solution processing of 2D/3D perovskite structures for solar cells offers limited control over layer formation. Lee et al. propose a dry approach, bringing the 2D and 3D perovskite layers into physical contact, to enhance the quality of the perovskite film.

The surface of cancer cells is covered in abnormal carbohydrate antigens that facilitate tumor growth, immune evasion and metastasis. Overexpressed and often specific to cancer cells, these tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) offer a valuable handle for targeted immunotherapy and were soon targeted by TACA-protein conjugate vaccines. Despite good initial results, sTn-KLH conjugate Theratope® failed in clinical trials fifteen years ago for failure to improve life expectancy. This has been attributed to poor immunogenicity, inhomogeneous expression of TACAs within tumors, and vaccine carrier interference. This review covers the two decades of subsequent effort to overcome these limitations and the now large toolbox available to vaccine researchers to improve the outcome of anticancer vaccines: analogues and conformation-locked mimics of TACAs, monomolecular multivalent vaccines, more biologically relevant presentation of TACAs through clusters and glycopeptides, and a new generation of vaccine carriers to reduce carrier interference, immune reaction, or provide simple modular vaccine delivery platforms.

ABSTRACT The elastocaloric (eC) effect, which harnesses the latent heat released during stress‐induced transformations of superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs), offers a promising pathway toward solid‐state, environmentally friendly refrigeration technologies. However, the advancement of eC devices is constrained by the limited heat transfer surface area between SMAs and heat transfer fluids, as well as the high mechanical work input relative to the extracted latent heat. Among available SMAs, nickel titanium (NiTi) alloys are the most widely commercialized and exhibit strong potential for eC applications, yet their poor machinability and fabrication challenges hinder widespread implementation. Additive manufacturing (AM) provides a solution by enabling layer‐by‐layer fabrication of NiTi with complex geometries, thereby enhancing surface area and reducing work input through lattice structures. This review summarizes recent progress in AM‐fabricated NiTi for eC applications, with an emphasis on components produced by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and directed energy deposition (DED) techniques using both wire and powder feedstocks. Finally, future directions and opportunities for integrating AM NiTi into practical eC devices are discussed.

Introduction: Pulmonary rehabilitation after critical illness for acute respiratory failure has a positive impact on patients’ lives by improving their functional outcomes and independence. However, evidence to identify participation in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is limited. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between patient characteristics and clinical course with participation in PR and functional outcomes. Methods: This prospective study enrolled patients who survived critical illness at the University of Kentucky. Social determinants of health data (SDOH) data were collected using a validated screener 3 months after hospital discharge. Patient demographics, clinical course information and functional outcomes during PR were extracted from the electronic health record (EHR). Grouped t-tests, chi-square and correlations were completed for statistical analysis. Results: Of 42 patients enrolled in the study, 26 attended PR after ICU discharge with an equal number of male and female patients with an average age of 56.8 ± 9.0 years and BMI of 26.7 ± 5.4 kg/m2. Patients with greater severity of illness upon hospital admission determined by the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) (r= -0.353, p=0.028) were less likely to attend PR after discharge. Additionally, those that reported being a caregiver prior to ICU admission had better functional outcomes measured by the 5 times sit to stand (t= 9, p= 0.046), gait speed (t= 66.5, p= 0.005), Short Physical Performance Battery (t= 60, p= 0.042), Timed Up and Go (t= 7.5, p= 0.010), and distance ambulated in the 6 minute walk test (t= 69, p= 0.002), compared to those that were not a caregiver. Of the patients who reported unmet social needs, a trend was observed where all (n=12) the patients who reported 1-2 unmet needs attended PR whereas 33% (n=1) of the patients who reported 5-6 unmet needs attended. A similar clinically relevant trend was reflected with only 33% (n=2) of patients who reported food insecurity attending PR. Conclusions: Barriers to participating in pulmonary rehabilitation after discharge are related to patients’ societal roles and their health prior to an ICU stay as well as their clinical course during the hospital. Addressing barriers to attending pulmonary rehabilitation may improve patient recovery.