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The vertical thorough pores of wood were used to promote the rapid and uniform lithium flux, and the in situ deposited Mo2S3 particles were used as the active sites for the polysulfide capture and catalysis.

A theoretical and experimental study on the catalytic activity for the IRR of Mo–NiSe was carried out to guide the design of cost-effective catalysts in the field of energy conversion.

This paper studies reliability analysis of structures with multiple failure modes. The analysis consists of three parts. First, the memetic animal migration optimization algorithm, applied for mult...

Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) has been associated with avian respiratory disease. On coinfection with other pathogens, ORT can cause serious health problems in avian species, leading to financial losses. To monitor the serologic prevalence of ORT in chicken flocks in China, 1,280 sera were collected to determine ORT antibodies among 64 flocks from 15 provinces of China using a commercial ELISA kit. The overall seroprevalence of ORT among the birds tested was 44.06%. In younger chickens, the serum positive rate was lower than that in older chickens, and with increased age, the serum positive rates increased. Older chickens had not only higher positive rates but also higher antibody levels. These data indicated that ORT infections were common in China. Because an ORT vaccine is currently not available, good disease management and biosecurity measures are required for effective disease control.

Background Online teaching has become increasingly common in higher education of the post-pandemic era. While a traditional face-to-face lecture or offline teaching remains very important and necessary for students to learn the medical knowledge systematically, guided by the BOPPPS teaching model, combination of online and offline learning approaches has become an unavoidable trend for maximizing teaching efficiency. However, in physiological education, the effectiveness of combined online teaching and offline teaching models remains poorly assessed. The present study aims at providing an assessment to the hybrid teaching model. Methods The study was performed among undergraduate medical students of Class 2017 ~ 2019 in the Physiology course in Harbin Medical University during 2018-2020. Based on established offline teaching model with BOPPPS components in 2018, we incorporated online teaching contents into it to form a hybrid BOPPPS teaching model (HBOPPPS, in brief), preliminarily in 2019 and completely in 2020. HBOPPPS effectiveness was assessed through comparing the final examination scores of both objective (multi-choice and single answer questions) and subjective (short and long essays) questions between classes taught with different modalities. Results The final examination score of students in Class 2019 (83.9 ± 0.5) who were taught with the HBOPPPS was significantly higher than that in Class 2017 (81.1 ± 0.6) taught with offline BOPPPS and in Class 2018 (82.0 ± 0.5) taught with immature HBOPPPS. The difference mainly attributed to the increase in average subjective scores (41.6 ± 0.3 in Class 2019, 41.4 ± 0.3 in Class 2018, and 38.2 ± 0.4 in Class 2017). In the questionnaire about the HBOPPPS among students in Class 2019, 86.2% responded positively and 79.4% perceived improvement in their learning ability. In addition, 73.5% of the students appreciated the reproducibility of learning content and 54.2% valued the flexibility of HBOPPPS. Lastly, 61.7% of the students preferred the HBOPPPS relative to BOPPPS in future learning. Conclusions HBOPPPS is likely a more effective teaching model and useful for enhancing effectiveness of Physiology teaching. This is attributable to the reproducibility and flexibility as well as the increased learning initiatives.

Background: Warfarin is an effective treatment for thromboembolic disease but has a narrow therapeutic index; optimal anticoagulation dosage can differ tremendously among individuals. We aimed to evaluate whether genotype-guided warfarin dosing is superior to routine clinical dosing for the outcomes of interest in Chinese patients. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, single-blind, parallel-controlled trial from September 2014 to April 2017 in 15 hospitals in China. Eligible patients were ≥18 years of age, with atrial fibrillation or deep vein thrombosis without previous treatment of warfarin or a bleeding disorder. Nine follow-up visits were performed during the 12-week study period. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of time in the therapeutic range of the international normalized ratio during the first 12 weeks after starting warfarin therapy. Results: A total of 660 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to a genotype-guided dosing group or a control group under standard dosing. The genotype-guided dosing group had a significantly higher percentage of time in the therapeutic range than the control group (58.8% versus 53.2% [95% CI of group difference, 1.1–10.2]; P =0.01). The genotype-guided dosing group also achieved the target international normalized ratio sooner than the control group. In subgroup analyses, warfarin normal sensitivity group had an even higher percentage of time in the therapeutic range during the first 12 weeks compared with the control group (60.8% versus 48.9% [95% CI, 1.1–24.4]). The incidence of adverse events was low in both groups. Conclusions: The outcomes of genotype-guided warfarin dosing were superior to those of clinical standard dosing. These findings raise the prospect of precision warfarin treatment in China. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT02211326.

Over the past decade, the implementation of the novel nanomaterials in the field of nanotechnology for the biomedical applications is essential for the comfort factors such as non-toxicity and biocompatibility in the human biological systems. In this context, a novel synthesis was worked out through bacterial species (citrobacter braakii) in the biofabrication of bioactive gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) for the wound healing management. The biosynthesized Au NPs were further modified and improved its compatibility with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polycaprolactone (PCL) for formed as Au-PEG/PCL nanocomposites to extent the activity in wound healing application. The combination of bioactive nanoparticles with biocompatible polymeric substances has been upsurges the activity of nanoparticles due to the strong interaction of polymers. The biofabricated Au NPs and its nanocomposites were characterized using UV–Vis, FT-IR, XRD, DLS and TEM studies. Further, the prepared materials were tested in a wound healing model of rat with the wound of 22 mm size. The found results are demonstrated that the improved materials are highly active in growth of keratinocytes proliferation and simultaneously reduce scar formation. After 15 days observations, the wound were almost completely healed by the developed Au- PEG/PCL nanocomposites material which was confirmed by Masson's Trichrome staining histological images and antibacterial efficacy was displayed by the CLSM images. Notably, polymeric Au-PEG/PCL nanocomposites showed no inflammation on the wounded portion and internal implantation on rats thus evidencing it as a safe and biologically very active wound healing agent.

To enhance the photocatalytic performance of a bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) photocatalyst, Ag, B, and Eu tri-modified BiVO4 (ABE-BVO) photocatalysts were successfully prepared through an ethylene glycol sol-gel process and photodeposition. The prepared catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRETEM), energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy(EDX), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL). It was found that the Ag, B, and Eu tri-modified BiVO4 catalyst displays an apparently elevated photocatalytic performance towards methyl orange (MO) and tetracycline (TC) degradation compared to the as-prepared pure, single or co-modified BiVO4 samples. A possible mechanism for the improved photocatalytic activity of Ag, B, and Eu tri-modified BiVO4 was also investigated. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be mainly ascribed to the improved charge separation and transfer efficiency originating from the synergistic effect of the Ag, B, and Eu introduction.

Background Menopause is the most important sign of aging in women, and the ovary is the organ most sensitive to aging. Quercetin is a potential antioxidant and free radical scavenger that is widely found in fruits, vegetables, and leaves. However, the effect of quercetin on ovarian aging has not been elucidated, and the mechanism underlying its antioxidative effect remains unclear. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether quercetin protects ovarian function by decreasing oxidative stress. Methods In an in vivo experiment, female menopausal rats (12 months old) were intragastrically administered quercetin at three doses (12.5 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg, and 50 mg/kg) for 90 days, and the estrous cycles were determined by vaginal smearing. In an in vitro experiment, rat primary ovarian granulosa cells were cultured and treated with H2O2 (400 μM) alone or H2O2 plus quercetin at 5 μM, 20 μM, or 50 μM. The levels of the hormones estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were detected by radioimmunoassay. The serum levels of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) were examined. The expression levels of the oxidative stress-related genes SOD-1, catalase (CAT) and glutathione synthetase (GSS) in the ovaries and ovarian granulosa cells were detected by Western blot. Results The in vivo results demonstrated that quercetin had no effects on ovarian morphology, hormone secretion, or the estrous cycle in menopausal rats. Although no significant changes were detected in the serum levels of T-AOC, SOD, GSH, GSH-PX, and GST between the quercetin and control groups, the mRNA and protein expression levels of the oxidative stress-related genes SOD-1, CAT and GSS in menopausal rat ovaries were increased by low-dose quercetin. Moreover, the in vitro results demonstrated that quercetin significantly rescued the decrease in cell viability by H2О2-induced oxidative stress and enhanced the H2O2-induced decrease in expression of oxidative stress-related proteins. Conclusions Together, the results of this study indicated that quercetin increased the antioxidant capacity of the ovary by upregulating the expression of some oxidative stress-related genes both in vivo and in vitro.

A series of hollow structure lantern-like Eu(III)-doped g-C3N4 (xEu-CN, x = 1, 2, 3) was firstly synthesized by heating a mixture of melamine, HNO3 and Eu2O3 at 500 °C for 2 h. The phase, morphology and optical properties of the serial xEu-CN samples were characterized by different techniques, including TEM, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, XPS, BET, UV–vis, PL, photocurrent, and EIS. The results indicated that Eu doping extraordinarily enhanced the photocatalytic activity of pure g-C3N4, and the 2Eu-CN exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance with a 98% (82%) degradation rate for RhB (TC), 6.03 (1.71)-fold of pure g-C3N4(CN). The higher photocatalytic efficiency is ascribed to the synergy effect of Eu(III) and the hollow structures, which led to a larger surface specific area, bandgap narrowing, enhanced light harvesting ability and efficient charge separation.

B-doped Bi 2 MoO 6 photocatalysts have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method using HBO 3 as the doping source and the effect of B doping content on Bi 2 MoO 6 structure and performance was studied. The samples were characterized with XPS, XRD, SEM, BET, UV–Vis DRS, and PL. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm). The results show that all samples are orthorhombic structure. Doping Bi 2 MoO 6 with B increases the amount of Bi 5+ and oxygen vacancies, which led to stronger absorption in visible light region and lower band gap energy of the B-doped Bi 2 MoO 6 but had little impact on morphology. B doping significantly improves the photocatalytic activity of Bi 2 MoO 6 and the highest photocatalytic degradation rate is 89% when the initial molar ratio of B to Bi is 0.01.

Serials Sm doped Bi2MoO6 photocatalyts with different Sm contents (xSm-Bi2MoO6, x% = 0.0%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1.0%, 1.2%) were prepared via hydrothermal method to improve the photocatalytic performance of pure Bi2MoO6. The samples are characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, and PL techniques. It indicates that Sm3+ ions were successfully doped into Bi2MoO6, and the band gap value was gradually decreased with Sm dopant concentration increasing. The photocatalytic activity of Sm-doped Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst was significantly affected by the Sm doping content. Compared to pure Bi2MoO6, the Sm-doped Bi2MoO6 samples exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity and 0.8% Sm-doped Bi2MoO6 shows the highest RhB photodegradation rate, being 89% in 50 min under visible light irradiation. The improved photocatalytic activity of Sm-doped Bi2MoO6 could be attributed to the enhanced visible light absorption, narrower band gaps and higher separation rate of electron-hole pairs derived from Sm trapping photogenerated electrons. But the phase structure, special surface areas and morphology have little effects on the higher photocatalytic activity of Sm-doped Bi2MoO6.

Streptococcal secreted esterase (Sse) is a platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase that is critical for Group A Streptococcus (GAS) skin invasion and innate immune evasion. There are two Sse variant complexes that share >98% identity within each complex but display about 37% variation between the complexes in amino acid sequences. Sse immunization protects mice against lethal infection and skin invasion in subcutaneous infection with the hypervirulent CovRS mutant strain, MGAS5005. However, it is not known whether Sse immunization provides significant protection against infection of GAS with functional CovRS and whether immunization with Sse of one variant complex provides protection against infection of GAS that produces Sse of another variant complex. This study was designed to address these questions. Mice were immunized with recombinant Sse of M1 GAS (SseM1) and challenged with MGAS5005 (serotype M1, CovS mutant, and Sse of variant complex I), MGAS315 (M3, CovS mutant, and Sse of variant complex I), MGAS2221 (M1, wild-type CovRS, and Sse of variant complex I), and MGAS6180 (M28, wild-type CovRS, and Sse of variant complex II). SseM1 immunization significantly increased survival rates of mice in subcutaneous MGAS5005 and intraperitoneal MGAS6180 challenges and showed consistently higher or longer survival in the other challenges. Immunized mice had smaller skin lesion and higher neutrophil responses in subcutaneous infections and lower GAS burdens in spleen, liver, and kidney in most of the challenge experiments than control mice. SseM1 immunization enhanced proinflammatory responses. These data suggest that Sse immunization has a broad benefit against GAS infections that can vary in extent from strain to strain and that the benefit may be due to the immunization-enhanced proinflammatory responses. In particular, immunization with SseM1 can provide protection against M28 GAS infection even though its Sse and SseM1 have significant variations.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cardiovascular disease responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The major pathophysiological basis of CAD is atherosclerosis in association with varieties of immunometabolic disorders that can suppress oxytocin (OT) receptor (OTR) signaling in the cardiovascular system (CVS). By contrast, OT not only maintains cardiovascular integrity but also has the potential to suppress and even reverse atherosclerotic alterations and CAD. These protective effects of OT are associated with its protection of the heart and blood vessels from immunometabolic injuries and the resultant inflammation and apoptosis through both peripheral and central approaches. As a result, OT can decelerate the progression of atherosclerosis and facilitate the recovery of CVS from these injuries. At the cellular level, the protective effect of OT on CVS involves a broad array of OTR signaling events. These signals mainly belong to the reperfusion injury salvage kinase pathway that is composed of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-endothelial nitric oxide synthase cascades and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2. Additionally, AMP-activated protein kinase, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase signaling and many others are also implicated in OTR signaling in the CVS protection. These signaling events interact coordinately at many levels to suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines and the activation of apoptotic pathways. A particular target of these signaling events is endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and mitochondrial oxidative stress that interact through mitochondria-associated ER membrane. In contrast to these protective effects and machineries, rare but serious cardiovascular disturbances were also reported in labor induction and animal studies including hypotension, reflexive tachycardia, coronary spasm or thrombosis and allergy. Here, we review our current understanding of the protective effect of OT against varieties of atherosclerotic etiologies as well as the approaches and underlying mechanisms of these effects. Moreover, potential cardiovascular disturbances following OT application are also discussed to avoid unwanted effects in clinical trials of OT usages.

Compared with traditional lithium-ion battery, lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery shows significant advantages of high specific capacity, high energy density and low price. However, due to the shuttling and low reduction kinetics of the lithium polysulfides (LiPS), the advantages of Li-S batteries are hidden by their rapidly decreased cycle capacity, especially for the batteries with high sulfur content. Here, sulfur was sandwiched into two kinds of layered materials, namely the TixOy-Ti3C2ene heterojunction layer and the C3N4 layer, which can exert polar adsorption and Lewis acid-base interaction to LiPS, respectively. The sandwich structure not only increase the anchoring force to LiPS by the two adsorption layers, also enhance the reduction kinetics of LiPS to Li2S by the synergistic effect of the bidirectional adsorption from the two functional layers. Experimental results consistent with theoretical calculations confirmed the accelerating effect of the sandwich structural material on LiPS reduction. According to this “anchoring and catalyzing” mechanism, the shuttle effect is effectively reduced and the reaction kinetics is greatly increased. High capacity of 749.5 mAh g−1 after 2000 cycle at 0.5C is achieved. Even when the sulfur load reached 4.2 mg cm−2, the cathode also remained 70.5% of its initial capacity after 200 cycles. Also, excellent rate capability from 0.5 to 5C was delivered. This work, as a result, demonstrates an efficient design pathway for two-component materials work together to propel the reaction kinetics and improve the electrochemical performances of Li-S batteries.

In current work, iron doping Co3O4 (Fe/Co3O4) mesoporous nanosheets with different iron ratios were successfully prepared to degrade P-nitrophenol (PNP) via peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. The obtained optimal 0.15Fe/Co3O4 exhibited the best PMS activation performance, almost 100% of PNP can be removed at pH = 5.5 in 60 min with negligible Co leaching. The excellent PMS activation performance of 0.15Fe/Co3O4 was mainly attributed to the enhanced electron transfer efficiency of Co2+/Co3+ and Fe2+/Fe3+ cycles and abundant oxygen vacancies, which benefiting in promoting more hydroxyl radical (•OH), sulfate radical (SO4•−), and singlet oxygen (1O2) generation. And the intimate relationship between PNP degradation efficiency and the contents of Co2+, Fe2+, Ovac in xFe/Co3O4 was obseved. Meanwhile, the mechanism for improved PMS activation efficiency was proposed based on ROSs quenching, XPS, and ESR results. In addition, the degradation pathway of PNP was explored based on the intermediates determined via the gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). This study can provide an effective strategy to obtain Co based catalysts with excellent PMS activation for recalcitrant pollutants degradation.

Tool changing is on the basis of tool wear failure and breakage failure. Utilization rate of the tool is low, which cannot guarantee the reliability of the whole machining system. In machining process, as the number of parts produced increases, tool wear is constantly increasing, which will contribute to the reduction of the reliability of the cutting tool. That account for processing of substandard products. Combining the moment estimation with the maximum likelihood estimation with the dynamic reliability analysis method, the study builds a mathematical model of the dynamic reliability for machining process under the premise of regarding cutting parameters as random variables. The reliability of overall machining process is lower than a given target; the proposed model can identify the tool which has the biggest failure rate quickly and accurately. The failure rate formula of each tool involved in each operation is deduced as well. Based on failure rate, an algorithm for defining the critical tool and its corresponding tool change time is proposed. Beyond that, for maximizing the utilization of every tool, the given model can pick up the cutting parameter which has the largest sensitive degree to the reliability via sensitivity analysis method. Then, the selection of relevant stock removal should be changed so as to improve the reliability of cutting tool and the whole process system, as well as enabling the cutter continue to work and delaying tool change time finally. Ultimately, the manufacturing process can maximize the cutters’ potential and thus reduce the number of tool changes, as well as the production costs.

In practical engineering, randomness of the parameters (mass, stiffness, and cutting coefficients) significantly impacts the stability of turning processes. In this study, the method involving the probabilistic analysis of the regenerative chatter stability in turning is comprehensively investigated. Considering the influences of random factors, the probability characteristic of the regenerative chatter stability in turning is studied using the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method and advanced first order second moment (FOSM) method. Dynamic model of regenerative chatter in turning is obtained, and the relationship between the limiting width of cut for stable machining and the rotation speed of the spindle is acquired based on the Laplace transform. The MCS and advanced FOSM methods for predicting the reliability of the stability in turning are proposed by identifying whether the actual cutting width is less than the limiting width of cut. Finally, practical applications and a detailed analysis to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed methods are discussed.

Developing a low-cost counter electrode (CE) catalyst with outstanding catalytic activity for the triiodide (I3−) reduction reaction (IRR) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is highly desirable. Herein, small-sized NiSe2 nanowires (NiSe2-W) were controllable synthesized by introducing the oleic acid (OA) as organic capping ligand into reaction system. Similarly, the monodisperse NiSe2 nanoparticles (NiSe2-P) with the small-sized were prepared by the same synthesis strategy under the absence of OA. The difference in morphologies between NiSe2-W and NiSe2-P can be attributed to the anisotropy and the oriented attachment of OA, and then the possible growth mechanism of them had been proposed. On the basis of the unique 1D nanostructure and chemical composition merits, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.78 % was achieved when the NiSe2-W exploited as the CE catalyst for DSSCs, superior to that of the state-of-the-art Pt-based DSSCs (7.97 %) in parallel. Moreover, the relevant electrochemical measurements revealed that the as-prepared NiSe2-W displayed superior catalytic activity for IRR and good electrochemical durability in the redox electrolyte containing the I3−/I−. Then the NiSe2-W with unqiue 1D structure had been expected to replace Pt for the application of DSSCs, and could be a potential candidate in extensive new energy applications.

A series of hollow structure lantern-like Eu(III)-doped g-C

Fatty acid synthase (FASN) is a key enzyme involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and serves an important role in breast cancer development. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of patuletin on the gene expression and activity of FASN in the human breast cancer SK-BR-3 cell line, and the apoptotic effects of patuletin to breast cancer cells. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, western blotting and intracellular FASN activity assays were used to evaluate FASN gene expression, protein expression and activity in patuletin-treated SK-BR-3 cells. MTT assays and flow cytometry were used to measure cell growth and cell apoptosis, respectively, following patuletin treatment. As a result, it was demonstrated that patuletin dose-dependently reduces FASN expression and intracellular activity in human breast cancer cells, and induces apoptosis in FASN over-expressing SK-BR-3 cells. Notably, apoptosis is associated with the reduction of intracellular FASN activity. The present study demonstrates that patuletin may be considered as a novel natural inhibitor of FASN, may induce anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in certain human breast cancer cells and may be useful for preventing and/or treating human breast cancer.

To further promote the visible-light photocatalytic efficiency of Bi24O31Cl10, g-C3N4/Eu(III) doped Bi24O31Cl10 heterojunction composites (CN/Eu-BCO) were successfully synthesized via modified solution combustion and immersion-calcination method. The effects of Eu(III) dopants and g-C3N4 coupling on the micro-structures and the photocatalytic efficiency of Bi24O31Cl10 towards Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation were investigated in detail. The results displayed that Eu(III) doping and coupling with g-C3N4 can largely promote the photocatalytic efficiency of Bi24O31Cl10. The photodegradation rate of RhB over 5CN/0.01Eu-BCO can reach to be 91.9% in 40 min, which was 8.46 folds of Bi24O31Cl10, 1.91 folds of 0.01Eu-BCO, and 1.72 folds of 5CN/BCO. The main radical species being responsible for RhB degradation were ●O2− and ●OH. Furthermore, 5CN/0.01Eu-BCO composite photocatalyst exhibited good reusability and stability.

Many cellular processes, such as the diffusion of biomacromolecules, the movement of molecular motors, and the conformational dynamics of proteins, are subjected to hydrodynamic forces because of the high viscosities of cellular environments. However, it is still unknown how hydrodynamic forces are related to the physical properties of different viscogens. Here, using the atomic force microscope-based force spectroscopy technique, we directly measured the hydrodynamic forces acting on a moving cantilever in various viscogen solutions. We found that the hydrodynamic force is not only dependent on the viscosity but also related to the molecular weight of viscogens. Counterintuitively, at the same macroscopic viscosity, the hydrodynamic force rises with the increasing molecular weight of viscogens, although the local microscopic viscosity of the solution decreases. This finding provides insights into the origin of hydrodynamic forces in biomolecule solutions and could inspire many force-spectroscopy-based techniques to measure the molecular weight and conformational changes of biomacromolecules in biological settings directly.

The parameters of a system have the randomness generally in the process of milling, which influences the stability of the milling. This paper uses the neural network to get a comprehensive analysis of the influences of random factors in milling and proposes a method for reliability analysis of the regenerative chatter stability in milling. Dynamic model of milling regenerative chatter is established, and stability lobe diagram is obtained by the full-discretization method (FDM). The neural network is applied to approximate the functional relationship of the limit axial cutting depth; then the reliability is computed with the Monte Carlo simulation method (MCSM) and the moment method (MM), respectively. Finally, the results of an example are used to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.

Oxytocin (OXT) could facilitate preovulatory luteinizing hormone surge in animals and humans while brain OXT production depends on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-associated astrocytic plasticity. Here, we examined if GFAP expressions in OXT-producing hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus (SON) correlate to special estrous stages.38 adult female rats were classified into diestrus, proestrus, estrus, and metestrus groups determined by vaginal smear. Rats were decapitated and the SON was dissected for detecting Fos and GFAP levels by Western Blot and immunohistochemistry.The result showed that Fos expression was significantly high at proestrus compared to other stages in Western blotting. No significant difference in total GFAP expression was observed between rats at different stages of the estrous cycle; however, at proestrus GFAP level at the dorsolateral portion of the SON (a region filled with OXT neurons) was significantly lower than that at the ventro-medial portion in immunohistochemistry.There is a functional correlation between supraoptic neuron activity and proestrous OXT peak during estrous cycle; it is likely that a plastic change in GFAP expression in astrocytes selectively occurs around OXT neurons at proestrus and facilitates OXT release.