Analyzing 20 years of Resting-State fMRI Research: Trends and collaborative networks revealed.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), initially proposed by Biswal et al. in 1995, has emerged as a pivotal facet of neuroimaging research. Its ability to examine brain activity during the resting state without the need for explicit tasks or stimuli has made it an integral component of brain imaging studies. In recent years, rs-fMRI has witnessed substantial growth and found widespread application in the investigation of functional connectivity within the brain. To delineate the developmental trajectory of rs-fMRI over the past two decades, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using bibliometric tool Citespace. Our analysis encompassed publication trends, authorship networks, institutional affiliations, international collaborations, as well as emergent themes in references and keywords. Our study reveals a remarkable increase in the volume of rs-fMRI publications over the past two decades, underscoring the burgeoning interest and potential within this field. Harvard University stands out as the institution with the highest number of research papers published in the realm of RS-fMRI, while the United States holds the highest overall influence in this domain. The recent emergence of keywords such as "machine learning" and "default mode," coupled with citation surges in reference to rs-fMRI, have paved new avenues for research within this field. Our study underscores the critical importance of integrating machine learning techniques into rs-fMRI investigations, offering valuable insights into brain function and disease diagnosis. These findings hold profound significance for the field of neuroscience and may furnish insights for future research employing rs-fMRI as a diagnostic tool for a wide array of neurological disorders, thus emphasizing its pivotal role and potential as a tool for investigating brain functionality.

Effects of smartphone-based hypnotic intervention for undergraduate students' shyness during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, university students have been exposed to a heightened vulnerability towards developing psychological issues, such as psychological distress and shyness. Internet-based interventions offer a convenient avenue for scalability, thus prompting the development of a smartphone-based hypnotic intervention aimed at addressing shyness among university students. OBJECTIVE: We devised an innovative smartphone-based hypnotic intervention called mHypnosis to examine its impact on shyness among undergraduate students. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate whether the apprehension of negative evaluations before treatment could serve as a predictor for the effectiveness of the intervention on shyness. METHODS: Eighty students with high shyness scores were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group. Another 40 participants with low shyness score were selected as the baseline group. The Shyness Scale (SS), Fear of Negative evaluation scale (FNE), Self-Acceptance Questionnaire (SAQ), and Self-Esteem Scale (SES) were used to evaluate the effect of hypnotic intervention. RESULTS: Before the intervention, the scores of the experimental and control groups on the SS, FNE, SAQ, and SES were higher than those in the baseline group (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in scores between the experimental and control group (p > 0.05). After the intervention, the scores of the SS, FNE, SAQ, and SES were significantly lower in the experimental group than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The pretest score of FNE could predict the shyness score after hypnotic intervention (B = 0.35, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Smartphone-based hypnotic intervention had a significant effect on ameliorating shyness during the COVID-19 pandemic; fear of negative evaluation can be a target for treating shyness.

Reduced Feeding Frequency Improves Feed Efficiency Associated With Altered Fecal Microbiota and Bile Acid Composition in Pigs.

A biphasic feeding regimen exerts an improvement effect on feed efficiency of pigs. While gut microbiome and metabolome are known to affect the host phenotype, so far the effects of reduced feeding frequency on fecal microbiota and their metabolism in pigs remain unclear. Here, the combination of 16S rRNA sequencing technique as well as untargeted and targeted metabolome analyses was adopted to investigate the fecal microbiome and metabolome of growing-finishing pigs in response to a biphasic feeding [two meals per day (M2)] pattern. Sixty crossbred barrows were randomly assigned into two groups with 10 replicates (three pigs/pen), namely, the free-access feeding group (FA) and the M2 group. Pigs in the FA group were fed free access while those in the M2 group were fed ad libitum twice daily for 1 h at 8:00 and 18:00. Results showed that pigs fed biphasically exhibited increased feed efficiency compared to FA pigs. The Shannon and Simpson indexes were significantly increased by reducing the feeding frequency. In the biphasic-fed pigs, the relative abundances of Subdoligranulum, Roseburia, Mitsuokella, and Terrisporobacter were significantly increased while the relative abundances of unidentified_Spirochaetaceae, Methanobrevibacter, unidentified_Bacteroidales, Alloprevotella, Parabacteroides, and Bacteroides were significantly decreased compared to FA pigs. Partial least-square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) analysis revealed an obvious variation between the FA and M2 groups; the differential features were mainly involved in arginine, proline, glycine, serine, threonine, and tryptophan metabolism as well as primary bile acid (BA) biosynthesis. In addition, the changes in the microbial genera were correlated with the differential fecal metabolites. A biphasic feeding regimen significantly increased the abundances of primary BAs and secondary BAs in feces of pigs, and the differentially enriched BAs were positively correlated with some specific genera. Taken together, these results suggest that the improvement effect of a reduced feeding frequency on feed efficiency of pigs might be associated with the altered fecal microbial composition and fecal metabolite profile in particular the enlarged stool BA pool.

Effects of Dietary Fat Sources during Late Gestation on Colostrum Quality and Mammary Gland Inflammation in Lipopolysaccharide-Challenged Sows.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of maternal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge and dietary fat sources on colostrum quality and inflammatory response in sows. Sixty Landrace × Yorkshire sows were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments supplemented with 3% soybean oil (SO), 3% coconut oil (CO) or 3% fish oil (FO), respectively, from Day 90 of gestation until parturition. On Day 112 of gestation, half the sows from each dietary treatment were challenged with LPS (10 µg/kg BW) or saline. The results showed that maternal LPS challenge decreased colostrum yield and dry matter content. A similar pattern of changes was observed for body weight gain and colostrum intake in piglets from LPS-challenged sows. Maternal LPS challenge increased the levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), interleukin 1ß (IL1ß) and IL6 in colostum, and the mRNA abundance of IL6, IL1ß and TNFα and the phosphorylation level of p65 in mammary glands. However, the responses of these variables to LPS treatment were lower in sows fed a FO diet. In conclusion, maternal immune challenge reduced the growth performance of piglets by decreasing colostrum yield and intake by piglets, and dietary supplementation with FO in sows attenuates the LPS-induced inflammatory response in mammary glands.