Nuclear receptors modulate inflammasomes in the pathophysiology and treatment of major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder(MDD)is highly prevalent and is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide.Currently,conventional pharmacological treatments for MDD produce temporary remission in<50%of patients;therefore,there is an urgent need for a wider spectrum of novel antidepressants to target newly discovered underlying disease mechanisms.Accumulated evidence has shown that immune inflammation,particularly inflammasome activity,plays an important role in the pathophysiology of MDD.In this review,we summarize the evidence on nuclear receptors(NRs),such as glucocorticoid receptor,mineralocorticoid receptor,estrogen receptor,aryl hydrocarbon receptor,and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor,in modulating the inflammasome activity and depression-associated behaviors.This review provides evidence from an endocrine perspective to understand the role of activated NRs in the pathophysiology of MDD,and to provide insight for the discovery of antidepressants with novel mechanisms for this devastating disorder.

Friction and wear properties of PM cam materials with different boron contents

In this study,effects of B addition on the sintering densification,microstructure,hardness,friction and wear properties of sintered Fe-2.4C-4Cr-1Mo-0.5P-0.7Si-2.5Cu(in wt%)were investigated.In spite of the decreased sintered density,the addition of B changes the phase composition of the materials and their ratio.Moreover,hardness of either the matrix or the liquid solidification structure dramatically increases.These changes in micro structure result in higher friction coefficient and lower wear loss.It is observed that the addition of0.1 wt%B offers the optimum friction and wear properties with a running-in period of only 30 s and wear volume loss of 0.006 mm^(3) under the testing conditions.Such friction and wear properties are superior to those of the other two widely used cam materials,cast iron and 45 steel.