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Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious mental health concern affecting approximately 17.22 % of new mothers worldwide. In addition to its obstetric effects, oxytocin (OXT) has also been considered to play a role in PPD. However, most previous studies exploring associations between PPD and OXT levels focus on easier accessible compartments such as blood or saliva.To explore the possible association between PPD and OXT levels, and to assess the interaction between peripheral secretion and central release of OXT.In this study, we prospectively measured OXT concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), plasma and saliva of 94 women with elective cesarean section by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. The participants were divided into the PPD group if the score of Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) ≥ 10 at 3 months postpartum, otherwise into the non-PPD (nPPD) group.The incidence of PPD was 30.85 %. OXT concentrations in CSF (r = -0.518, p 0.001), plasma (r = -0.240, p = 0.020) and saliva (r = -0.263, p = 0.010) were negatively correlated with EPDS score, and were valuable for the prediction of PPD, with AUC and 95%CI of 0.890 (0.809-0.945), 0.683 (0.579-0.775) and 0.699 (0.596-0.790), respectively. Moreover, OXT concentrations in plasma (r = 0.407, p 0.001) and saliva (r = 0.624, p 0.001) were positively correlated with CSF OXT concentrations.Only full-term pregnant women undergoing elective cesarean section were included in this study, which may affect study generalizability.The central and peripheral release of OXT is coordinated, and OXT level measured prenatally in CSF, plasma, or saliva is valuable for the prediction of PPD.

The endogenous repair mechanisms play an important role in the recovery of nerve function after stroke, such as gliosis, synaptic plasticity, remyelination and nerve regeneration. Iron is the most abundant trace metal element in the brain and plays a crucial role in the maintenance of normal cerebral function. It is an important coenzyme factor in the process of cell metabolism, DNA synthesis, purine catabolism and neurotransmitter synthesis and decomposition. However, it is unclear what role iron plays in the long-term recovery of neurological function after stroke. In this study, we first observed that changes in iron metabolism occurred during neurological function recovery in the mice with distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (dMCAO). Our data showed that plasticity changes due to endogenous repair mechanisms resulted in improvements in cerebral cortex function. These changes involved gliosis, synaptic function reconstruction, remyelination, and activation of neural stem cells. In order to examine the potential role of iron, we synthesized liposomal-encapsulated deferoxamine (DFO) nanoparticles to further explore the effect and the mechanism of iron on the recovery of neurological function in dMCAO mice. Our results showed that liposome-DFO decreased iron deposition and reversed plasticity changes in cerebral cortex function after stroke, which delayed neurological function recovery. This experiment shows that the increasing iron level promotes endogenous repair in ischemic stroke. Our finding reveals the change regularity of iron and emphasizes the beneficial role of iron in the recovery process of neurological function, which provides an important basis for the prevention and/or treatment of ischemia-reperfusion and recovery after stroke.

Recently, the development of new electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has received intensive attention. As an important family of inorganic materials, mixed Mo-based transition metal oxides system is focused as anode materials. In the present work, a simple route has been adopted for the synthesis of layered-flake-like β-SnMoO4 Nano-assemblies, which have been explored as potential anode materials for the first time in lithium-ion battery (LIB). Overall, the current reports on metal molybdate as anode materials are still rarely. As the anode material for LIBs, it was observed that the fabricated anode is capable of delivering a steady state capacity of almost 400 mAh/g up to 300 cycles under the influence of 200 mA/g current density. Further, the anode material is suitable for use as a rated capacity anode because of its high current density tolerance. The present study can be further extended for the generation of a wide variety of other novel materials for multidisciplinary energy related applications.

The pathological and immune response of individuals with COVID-19 display different dynamics in lung and intestine. Here, we depict the single-cell transcriptional atlas of longitudinally collected lung and intestinal tissue samples from SARS-CoV-2-infected monkeys at 3 to 10 dpi. We find that intestinal enterocytes are degraded at 3 days post-infection but recovered rapidly, revealing that infection has mild effects on the intestine. Crucially, we observe suppression of the inflammatory response and tissue damage related to B-cell and Paneth cell accumulation in the intestines, although T cells are activated in the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Compared with that in the lung, the expression of interferon response-related genes is inhibited, and inflammatory factor secretion is reduced in the intestines. Our findings indicate an imbalance of immune dynamic in intestinal mucosa during SARS-CoV-2 infection, which may underlie ongoing rectal viral shedding and mild tissue damage.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the causative agent of pulmonary tuberculosis. Rapid and accurate diagnosis is crucial to tuberculosis control and prevention. A series of diagnostic methods has been available for MTB detection; however, new rapid, simple and affordable methods are needed. In this study, a multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA)-based assay was developed to detect the IS6110 gene of the M. tuberculosis complex. Hydroxy naphthol blue (HNB), a colorimetric indicator, was used to detect amplification products. Amplification was carried out at a constant temperature (68°C) for only 40min, followed by direct determination of amplification products through observation of color variations. The entire detection procedure, from processing of specimens to reading of results, required only 85min. Moreover, this assay, hereafter designated MTB-MCDA-HNB, was able to detect as little as 1pg of DNA extracted from the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) strain of Mycobacterium bovis. No cross-reaction with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species was observed. Moreover, during testing of clinical samples, the sensitivity and specificity of MCDA results were 94.7% and 92.9%, respectively, when compared to results obtained using the Xpert MTB/RIF method. Therefore, the MTB-MCDA-HNB method developed in this study holds promise for application as an effective point-of-care test to detect M. tuberculosis.

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) belongs to the Picornaviridae family and can lead to severe clinical manifestations in the respiratory system. The 3D-polymerase (3Dpoly) is an important nonstructural protein during EV-D68 replication, but few studies have addressed its interaction with the host antiviral response during EV-D68 infection. Here, we used human bronchial epithelial cells to investigate the impact of the 3Dpoly on the mitochondrial dynamics and innate immune response. The results showed that the number and morphology of the mitochondria in 16HBE cells was affected during the early stage of infection, and these effects included the cellular apoptosis. Moreover, we found that the 3Dpoly of EV-D68 can interact with PGAM5 and promote mitofusin 2 protein upregulation, and subsequently, 3Dpoly impairs IFN-β expression by impacting the activation of the RIG-I receptor signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that during EV-D68 replication, the 3Dpoly, via its interaction with PGAM5, can affect the mitochondrial dynamics and suppress the expression of IFN-β by impacting the RIG-I-like receptor signal pathway.

Well controlled novel architectures of stannous oxide (SnO) with three-dimensional (3D) flowerlike microstructures have been successfully synthesized in an aqueous solution system by using SnCl 2 2H 2 O and NaOH as raw materials. SnO microstructures were found to be strongly depended on temperatures of reaction system. From microstructural analysis, SnO flowerlike structures synthesized at 40 °C are self-assembled by four nanosheet-arrays with cross growth from center toward the edges. While SnO flowerlike structures obtained at 70 °C are built by plenty of individual nanosheets with acute edge, and each nanosheet consists of many closely attached nanograins. In UV–vis absorption spectra, SnO flowerlike structures present a broad and weak signal centered at 400 nm suggesting a potential application at visible light.

To examine the efficiency of hydrogen-rich saline in the treatment of intensive noise-induced cochlear injury.Forty guinea pigs were assigned to one of four groups: HS+NOISE (i.p. injection hydrogen-rich saline), NS+NOISE (i.p. injection normal saline), NOISE ALONE (noise control), and NO TREATMENT (normal control) groups. The HS+NOISE, NS+NOISE, and NOISE ALONE groups were exposed to intensive noise (4 h at 115 dB SPL noise of 4000±100 Hz). The auditory brainstem response (ABR) was used to examine the hearing threshold in each group. Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) was used to examine outer hair cell function. We also examined cochlear morphology to evaluate inner and outer hair cell trauma induced by noise exposure. Hydrogen-rich saline was administered twice daily for 6 days (2.5 ml/kg, i.p.) 24 h after noise exposure.Baseline ABR thresholds and DPOAE values were normal in all groups at the measured frequencies (2, 4, 8, and 16 kHz) before noise exposure. The ABR threshold shift was 50-55 dB across the frequencies tested, and average DPOAE declined in the NOISE ALONE, NS+NOISE, and HS+NOISE groups 24 h after noise exposure. However, the changes in cochlear parameters were different between groups. The HS+NOISE group showed a significantly decreased ABR threshold value as compared with the NS+NOISE or NOISE ALONE group (P0.01) on day 7. The mean DPOAE recovered to some extent in the three noise exposure groups, but at most frequencies the HS+NOISE group showed significantly increased DPOAE on day 7 as compared with the NS+NOISE group or NOISE ALONE group (P0.01). Surface Corti organ preparations stained with succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) showed that most outer hair cells (OHCs) were still dropsical and a few were missing 7 days after noise exposure in the NS+NOISE group. Only a few OHCs were slightly dropsical in the HS+NOISE group. The numbers of missing hair cells 7 days after noise exposure were significantly greater in the NOISE ONLY and NS+NOISE groups than the HS+NOISE group (P0.01).Hydrogen-rich saline can alleviate experimental noise-induced hearing loss in guinea pigs, partially by preventing the death of cochlear hair cells after intensive noise exposure.