Relationship Between Frequency of Remote Visitation and Postpartum Depression in Mothers of Hospitalized Neonates During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: To explore the relationship between symptoms of postpartum depression and the number of remote visitations among mothers of infants in the NICU.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: NICU in a medical university in Iwate, Japan.

Thermo-Responsive Polymer-siRNA Conjugates Enabling Artificial Control of Gene Silencing around Body Temperature.

Purpose: Controlling small interfering RNA (siRNA) activity by external stimuli is useful to exert a selective therapeutic effect at the target site. This study aims to develop a technology to control siRNA activity in a thermo-responsive manner, which can be utilized even at temperatures close to body temperature.

Methods: siRNA was conjugated with a thermo-responsive copolymer that was synthesized by copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and hydrophilic N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) to permit thermally controlled interaction between siRNA and an intracellular gene silencing-related protein by utilizing the coil-to-globule phase transition of the copolymer.