Subnetworks of decreased FA-weighted and increased FW-weighted connectivity were observed in patients with PSD relative to healthy controls. These networks subsumed the majority of regions constituting the reward system. Within the reward system, FA and FW of major connection pathways and grey matter volume were collectively predictive of PSD, explaining 37.8% of the variance in depression severity.

PSD is associated with grey matter volume loss, reduced FA and increased extracellular FW in the reward system, similar to features observed in major depression without stroke. Structural characterization of the reward system is a promising biomarker of vulnerability to depression after stroke.

PSD is associated with grey matter volume loss, reduced FA and increased extracellular FW in the reward system, similar to features observed in major depression without stroke. Structural characterization of the reward system is a promising biomarker of vulnerability to depression after stroke.Breast carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies in women. Previous studies have reported that 500 μM valproic acid can sensitize breast tumor cells to the anti-neoplastic agent hydroxyurea. However, the dose requirements for valproic acid is highly variable due to the wide inter-individuals clinical characteristics. High therapeutic dose of valproic acid required to induce anti-tumor activity in solid tumor was associated with increased adverse effects. There are attempts to locate suitably high-efficient low-toxicity valproic acid derivatives. We demonstrated that lower dose of 2-hexyl-4-pentynoic acid (HPTA; 15 μM) has similar effects as 500 μM VPA in inhibiting breast cancer cell growth and sensitizing the tumor cells to hydroxyurea on MCF7 cells, EUFA423 cells, MCF7 cells with defective RPA2-p gene and primary culture cells derived from tissue-transformed breast tumor cells. We discovered HPTA resulted in more DNA double-strand breaks, the homologous recombination was inhibited through the interference of the hyperphosphorylation of replication protein A2 and recombinase Rad51. Our data postulate that HPTA may be a potential novel sensitizer to hydroxyurea in the treatment of breast carcinoma.Cyanobacterial species, Anabaena/Nostoc and Chroococcidiopsis are highly radio-resistant indicating the presence of a robust DNA repair system. However, unlike the establishment of multiple DNA repair pathways in the radio-resistant Deinococcus, research on DNA repair in cyanobacteria has lagged far behind. Being ancient organisms, it is likely that the DNA repair mechanisms have evolved from cyanobacteria to the modern day bacteria. This review focuses on identifying and collating information on the major DNA repair proteins in cyanobacteria including re-annotation of recR and ndk, using Anabaena/Nostoc sp. strain PCC7120 as a model organism. Unlike most other bacteria, the DNA repair genes of cyanobacteria are not clustered in operons. Though the functional characterisation of most DNA repair proteins is lacking in cyanobacteria, a bioinformatic approach using sequences of DNA repair proteins from Anabaena PCC7120, has helped identify the possible protein-protein interactions, and build probable pathways of double strand break (DSB) repair. The emerging picture can be used as a guide to discern the biochemical and physiological roles of the different DNA repair proteins in Anabaena or Synechocystis, which can be manipulated genetically and establish the different DNA repair pathways in cyanobacteria, and their evolution with time.

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is the main pathogen of severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are widely used in Chinese hospitals for the rapid diagnosis of acute EV-A71 infections. We present an evaluation of the diagnostic performance of a commercial anti-EV-A71 IgM-capture ELISA kit.

A prospective, hospital-based HFMD cohort was established in Henan Children’s Hospital (February 2017 – February 2018). Stool and blood specimens were collected from 1413 participants for diagnosing EVA71 by quantitative Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and anti-EV-A71 ELISA.

Detection yields of EV-A71 IgM increased from 6.5 % (95 % CI3.3 %-11.4 %) at 0∼24 h, to 42 % (95 % CI28.3 %-57.8) at 120∼144 h from onset to sampling, and stabilized at ∼40 % after 144 h. With increased time from onset to sampling, the sensitivity of the commercial ELISA increased from 0.54 (95 % CI0.25-0.81) to 0.74 (95 % CI0.43-0.66), while specificity decreased from 0.97 (95 % CI0.93-0.99) to 0.80 (95 % CI0.69-0.89), and PPV decreased from 0.96 (95 % CI0.92-0.99) to 0.84 (95 % CI0.73-0.92). Multivariate analysis found age, EV-A71 vaccination, previous HFMD/Herpangina infection, disease severity, infection during peak EV-A71 season, and sampling time after symptom onset were significantly associated with the diagnostic performance of this anti-EV-A71 IgM-capture ELISA.

Achieving satisfactory specificity and sensitivity scores, this commercial anti-EV-A71 IgM-capture ELISA kit is suitable for clinical EV-A71 diagnosis, particularly in resource-poor areas. However, clinicians should interpret results in the context of patient history and epidemiological setting.

Achieving satisfactory specificity and sensitivity scores, this commercial anti-EV-A71 IgM-capture ELISA kit is suitable for clinical EV-A71 diagnosis, particularly in resource-poor areas. However, clinicians should interpret results in the context of patient history and epidemiological setting.

Fast and reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for efficient control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Olaparib PARP inhibitor Due to the high demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing there is a worldwide shortage of RNA extraction reagents. Therefore, extraction-free RT-qPCR protocols are urgently needed.

To establish a rapid RT-qPCR protocol for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 without the need of RNA extraction suitable for all respiratory materials.

Different SARS-CoV-2 positive respiratory materials from our routine laboratory were used as crude material after heat inactivation in direct RT-qPCR with the PrimeDirect™ Probe RT-qPCR Mix (TaKaRa). SARS-CoV-2 was detected using novel primers targeted to the E-gene.

The protocol for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in crude material used a prepared frozen-PCR mix with optimized primers and 5 μl of fresh, undiluted and pre-analytically heat inactivated respiratory material. For validation, 91 respiratory samples were analyzed in direct comparison to classical RNA-based RT-qPCR. Overall 81.3 % of the samples were detected in both assays with a strong correlation between both Ct values (r = 0.