Activity

14% (CI 99.07-99.17). Sensitivity of the Toxo IgM prototype assay was 100% (CI 87.66-100.00) and specificity was 99.64% (98.96-99.93). In acute maternal infections, IgM assays were detected as early with the prototype as with the other two. In the congenitally infected children, IgM were detected on their first sample in 25/40 with the prototype vs. 23/40 with the VIDAS® test. No uninfected child had positive IgM. Conclusion The prototype performed comparably to the ARCHITECT® and VIDAS® Toxo IgM assays for the diagnosis of maternal and congenital toxoplasmosis.Coating of titanium (Ti) implants with biocompatible polymers were performed to improve bone healing. In this study, pure Ti implants were coated via chitosan and alginate by spin coating method at 1000, 4000, and 8000 rpm. The coating layer was cross-linked by calcium chloride. Their chemical structures were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) evaluations. The morphology of the created coating was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the best uniformity was observed in the prepared coating at 8000 rpm (6093× g) spinal speed. The adhesion strength of the coating layer on the substrate was evaluated by the adhesion pull-off test. Also, the best adhesion strength was achieved at an 8000 rpm (6093× g) coating rate. Bioactivity of the chitosan-alginate coating on Ti sheets was evaluated by soaking the samples in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. The apatite formation on prepared Ti sheets was investigated by SEM, XRD, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). A higher mineralization appeared on coated samples compared with pure Ti. The antibacterial behavior of the implants was analyzed by bacterial counting against Escherichia coli. The presence of chitosan and alginate on the Ti sheets resulted in a better antibacterial effect. In-vitro experiments, with L929 fibroblast cells, confirmed the biocompatibility of the implants. Coating the Ti implants with chitosan and alginate improved biomineralization and biological behavior of the implant especially at the spinal speed of 8000 rpm (6093× g). These implants can support osteoblast cell adhesion and facilitate bone regeneration.Adverse maternal environment (AME) and high-fat diet in early childhood increase the risk of cognitive impairment and depression later in life. Cognitive impairment associates with hippocampal dysfunction. A key regulator of hippocampal function is the glucocorticoid receptor. Nimodipine research buy Increased hippocampal GR expression associates with cognitive impairment and depression. Transcriptional control of GR relies in part upon the DNA methylation status at multiple alternative initiation sites that are tissue specific, with exon 1.7 being hippocampal specific. Increased exon 1.7 expression associates with upregulated hippocampal GR expression in early life stress animal models. However, the effects of AME combined with postweaning western diet (WD) on offspring behaviors and the expression of GR exon 1 variants in the hippocampus are unknown. We hypothesized that AME and postweaning WD would impair cognitive function and cause depression-like behavior in offspring in conjunction with dysregulated hippocampal expression of total GR and exon 1.7 variant in mice. We found that AME-WD impaired learning and memory in male adult offspring concurrently with increased hippocampal expression of total GR and GR 1.7. We also found that increased GR 1.7 expression was associated with decreased DNA methylation at the GR 1.7 promoter. We speculate that decreased DNA methylation at the GR 1.7 promoter plays a role in AME-WD induced increase of GR in the hippocampus. This increased GR expression may subsequently contribute to hippocampus dysfunction and lead to the cognitive impairment seen in this model. © 2020 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.AIM The Wechsler Adult Intelligent Scale (WAIS) is the most frequently administered cognitive assessment for adult Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); therefore, identifying discrepancies in WAIS profile in patients and comparing with matched controls would be clinically and diagnostically beneficial. METHODS The WAIS-III profiles of 50 adults with ADHD were compared to an age-matched typical development (TD) group. RESULTS The adult ADHD group exhibited significantly lower WAIS-III working memory (WM) and processing speed (PS) indices. However, these differences disappeared when intelligence quotient (IQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score, or Autism Quotient (AQ) score was included as a covariate. The adult ADHD group also demonstrated significantly lower scores in several WM- and PS-domain subscales, while crystallized abilities were comparatively preserved. Additionally, only a small portion of participants in both groups lacked any significant gaps between WAIS-III verbal and performance IQ scores (VIQ-PIQ) or associated indices. DISCUSSION This study confirms previous findings that adult ADHD patients have deficits in WM and PS. However, it is highly likely that comorbidities such as depression and autism spectrum disorder contribute to lower WM and PS scores in adult ADHD. Unexpectedly, a “flat profile” is uncommon even in TD adults. Therefore, clinician should assess how WAIS deficits affect daily life rather than merely considering an uneven WAIS profile when diagnosing and treating adult ADHD. © 2020 The Authors. Neuropsychopharmacology Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Japanese Society of NeuropsychoPharmacology.The pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the world has caused a large infected population suffering from COVID-19. To curb the spreading of the virus, WHO urgently demanded an extension of screening and testing; thus, a rapid and simple diagnostic method is needed. We applied a reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) to achieve the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in 30 min. We designed four sets of LAMP primers (6 primers in each set), targeting the viral RNA of SARS-CoV-2 in the regions of orf1ab, S gene and N gene. A colorimetric change was used to report the results, which enables the outcome of viral RNA amplification to be read by the naked eye without the need of expensive or dedicated instrument. The sensitivity can be 80 copies of viral RNA per ml in a sample. We validated the RT-LAMP method in a hospital in China, employing 16 clinic samples with 8 positives and 8 negatives. The testing results are consistent with the conventional RT-qPCR. In addition, we also show that one-step process without RNA extraction is feasible to achieve RNA amplification directly from a sample.