Field Of Life Sciences Research Articles

Functional Organic Electrochemical Transistor-Based Biosensors for Biomedical Applications

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), as an emerging device for the development of novel biosensors, have attracted more and more attention in recent years, demonstrating their promising prospects and commercial potential. Functional OECTs have been widely applied in the field of biosensors due to their decisive advantages, such as high transconductance, easy functionalization, and high integration capability. Therefore, this review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the most recent advances in the application of functional OECT-based biosensors in biomedicine, especially focusing on those biosensors for the detection of physiological and biochemical parameters that are critical for the health of human beings. First, the main components and basic working principles of OECTs will be briefly introduced. In the following, the strategies and key technologies for the preparation of functional OECT-based biosensors will be outlined and discussed with regard to the applications of the detection of various targets, including metabolites, ions, neurotransmitters, electrophysiological parameters, and immunological molecules. Finally, the current main issues and future development trends of functional OECT-based biosensors will be proposed and discussed. The breakthrough in functional OECT-based biosensors is believed to enable such devices to achieve higher performance, and thus, this technology could provide new insight into the future field of medical and life sciences.

Three-dimensional semiquantitative evaluation of reactive emphysema in magnesium implant models

Background Magnesium alloys have great potentials as bioabsorbable implants, whereas the difficulty in evaluating hydrogen gas produced in the degradation process has hindered their research and development. In this study, we investigated the possibility of industrial microfocus X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) for the precise evaluation of subcutaneous emphysematous changes in a rabbit implantation model. Methods Magnesium plates with/without porous venting were implanted under skin defects on the backs of rabbits. The graft sites were examined by industrial micro-CT after sacrificing. The captured images were reconstructed three-dimensionally for volumetric analyses. The tissues of the graft site were also examined in the traditional histological investigation. Results We were able to image and numerate the shape and volume of subcutaneous emphysema using industrial micro-CT. The volume of emphysema was suppressed by pores punched in samples, and this trend increased as the number of pores increased. In the traditional histological examination, inflammatory changes were observed, but the emphysema could not be measured quantitatively. Conclusions Industrial micro-CT imaging makes it possible to visualize and evaluate magnesium-induced subcutaneous emphysema in animal experiment. This cross-border technology has the potential to be widely applied to other life science fields.

The impact of sex/gender-specific funding and editorial policies on biomedical research outcomes: a cross-national analysis (2000–2021)

Reflecting sex and gender characteristics in biomedical research is critical to improving health outcomes and reducing adverse effects from medical treatments. This study investigates the impact of sex/gender-specific funding policies and journal editorial standards on the integration of sex/gender analysis in biomedical research publications. Using data from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other countries between 2000 and 2021, we assessed how these policies influenced research output in the fields of medicine and life sciences. Our findings show that countries with progressive funding policies and journals promoting sex/gender-based reporting have significantly improved research quality and publication rates. This highlights the importance of coordinated policy efforts and editorial practices in advancing integrated sex/gender research. We recommend continued global efforts from policymakers, funding bodies, and journals to embed sex/gender perspectives in scientific inquiry, ensuring more effective and equitable biomedical advancements.

The Tropic-Concepts of Life: Jacques Derrida’s Contribution to the Question of Metaphor in the Life Sciences

In the field of life science there is a growing awareness of the metaphorical tenor of many of its key concepts and the problems that arise from them, as in the now-controversial case of the genetic ‘program’. In the seminar Life Death (2019) Derrida addresses this question from Georges Canguilhem’s difficulties in establishing a clear distinction between metaphor and concept, precisely with regard to the notion of ‘program’, concluding that this difficulty ‘demand[s] a recasting of this division and of the law of this division’ between metaphor and concept. Beginning with these pages from Life Death, the present essay aims to reconstruct the deconstruction of this opposition and its epistemological consequences by going back to the Derridean essay ‘White Mythology’ (1971), to which Derrida refers in the seminar and in which the question of metaphor in the life sciences had been addressed in a critical confrontation with Bachelard and Canguilhem.

Recent advancement and human tissue applications of volume electron microscopy.

Structural observations are essential for the advancement of life science. Volume electron microscopy has recently realized remarkable progress in the three-dimensional analyses of biological specimens for elucidating complex ultrastructures in several fields of life science. The advancements in volume electron microscopy technologies have led to improvements, including higher resolution, more stability, and the ability to handle larger volumes. Although human applications of volume electron microscopy remain limited, the reported applications in various organs have already provided previously unrecognized features of human tissues and also novel insights of human diseases. Simultaneously, the application of volume electron microscopy to human studies faces challenges, including ethical and clinical hurdles, costs of data storage and analysis, and efficient and automated imaging methods for larger volume. Solutions including the use of residual clinical specimens and data analysis based on artificial intelligence would address those issues and establish the role of volume electron microscopy in human structural research. Future advancements in volume electron microscopy are anticipated to lead to transformative discoveries in basic research and clinical practice, deepening our understanding of human health and diseases for better diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Preparation of coal-based carbon quantum dots and their fluorescence properties

In the field of life sciences, cellular movements play a significant role in influencing the activities of organisms. Current methodologies have limitations in the monitoring of cell recognition, biological macromolecule localization, cell labeling, migration, and biosensors. Although metal–semiconductor quantum dots are commonly used, they may pose toxicity risks to the lungs and kidneys. On the other hand, carbon quantum dots possess the unique optoelectronic properties of traditional quantum dots while exhibiting low toxicity, good biocompatibility, excellent photostability, and abundant raw material sources. In this research, carbon quantum dots were synthesized using the nitric acid oxidation method. The study investigated the effects of temperature, time, and the type of low-rank coal on the synthesis of carbon quantum dots. The structure and properties of the carbon quantum dots, specifically their fluorescence characteristics, were thoroughly analyzed. The proposed synthesis approach includes the nitration of coal macromolecules and the thickening of aromatic clusters through the Scholl reaction, leading to enhanced fluorescence quantum efficiency. The findings of this study indicate that the carbon quantum dots produced through this method demonstrate a high fluorescence quantum yield, making them ideal fluorescent agents for material preparation and offering potential applications in the field of life sciences.

DDBJ update in 2024: the DDBJ Group Cloud service for sharing pre-publication data.

The Bioinformation and DNA Data Bank of Japan Center (DDBJ Center, https://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp) provides public databases that cover a wide range of fields in life sciences. As a founding member of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC), the DDBJ Center accepts and distributes nucleotide sequence data ranging from raw reads to assembled and annotated sequences with the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the European Bioinformatics Institute. Besides INSDC databases, the DDBJ Center provides databases for functional genomics (Genomic Expression Archive), metabolomics (MetaboBank), human genetic variations (TogoVar-repository) and human genetic and phenotypic data (Japanese Genotype-phenotype Archive). These database systems have been built on the National Institute of Genetics supercomputer, which is also a platform for the DDBJ Group Cloud (DGC) services for sharing and analysis of pre-publication data among research groups. This paper reports recent updates on the databases and the services of the DDBJ Center, highlighting the DGC service.

Identification of the genetic background of laboratory rats through amplicon-based next-generation sequencing for single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping

BackgroundLaboratory rats, as model animals, have been extensively used in the fields of life science and medicine. It is crucial to routinely monitor the genetic background of laboratory rats. The conventional approach relies on gel electrophoresis and capillary electrophoresis (CE) technologies. However, the experimental and data analysis procedures for both of these methods are time consuming and costly.ResultsWe established a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing scheme using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) to address the genetic background ambiguity in laboratory rats. This methodology involved three rounds of PCR and two rounds of magnetic bead selection to improve the quality of the sequencing data. We simultaneously analysed 100 laboratory rats (including rats of 5 inbred strains and 2 in-house closed colonies), and the sequencing depth varied from an average of 108.25 to 5189.89, with sample uniformity ranging from 82.5 to 97.5%. A total of 98.9% of the amplicons were successfully genotyped (≥ 30 reads). Genetic background analysis revealed that all 38 experimental rats from the 5 inbred strains were successfully identified (without a heterozygous allele). For the 2 in-house closed colonies, the average heterozygosity (0.162 and 0.169) deviated from the typical range of 0.5–0.7, indicating a departure from the ideal heterozygosity level. Additionally, we employed multiplex PCR-CE to validate the NGS-based method, which yielded consistent results for all the rat strains. These results demonstrated that this approach significantly improves efficiency, saves time, reduces costs and ensures accuracy.ConclusionBy utilizing NGS technology, our developed method leverages SNP genotyping for genetic background identification in laboratory rats, demonstrating advantages in terms of labour efficiency and cost-effectiveness, thereby rendering it well suited for projects involving extensive sample cohorts.

Quantitative Spermidine Detection in Cosmetics using an Organic Transistor-Based Chemical Sensor.

Spermidine is an essential biomarker related to antiaging. Although the detection of spermidine levels is in high demand in life science fields, easy-to-use analytical tools without sample purification have not yet been fully established. Herein, we propose an organic field-effect transistor-based chemical sensor for quantifying the spermidine concentration in commercial cosmetics. An extended-gate structure was employed for organic field-effect transistor (OFET)-based chemical sensing in aqueous media. A coordination-bond-based sensing system was introduced into the OFET device to visualize the spermidine detection information through changes in the transistor characteristics. The extended-gate-type OFET has shown quantitative responses to spermidine, which indicates sufficient detectability (i. e., the limit of detection for spermidine: 2.3 μM) considering actual concentrations in cosmetics. The applicability of the OFET-based chemical sensor for cosmetic analysis was validated by instrumental analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography. The estimated recovery rates for spermidine in cosmetic ingredient products (108-111 %) suggest the feasibility of cosmetic analysis based on the OFET-based chemical sensor.

Development characteristics, problems and countermeasures of major scientific and technological infrastructures in the field of life sciences

The major science and technology infrastructure in the field of life science is an indispensable and important content in the large-science facility landscape. It encompasses cutting-edge, strategic, and fundamental aspects. This field differs from traditional facilities such as particle physics, astronomy and nuclear energy. Moreover, it represents a relatively underdeveloped area in China's facility landscape. Unique characteristics are observed in terms of capital investment, physical form, facility lifespan, digitization degree, organizational structure, project risk, and development effect when compared to traditional facilities. Despite its importance, challenges persist in project establishment, investment, management, and construction. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the condensing mechanism for addressing major scientific issues in the life science field, improve the strategic investment layout, facilitate the localization of technical equipment based on original scientific ideas, and strengthen the differentiated management capacity of life science facilities.

Developing a curriculum cluster in "Synthetic Biology" to cultivate inter-disciplinary and innovative talents for biomanufacturing

Synthetic Biology, as an emerging discipline, has gained widespread attention and is developing rapidly, profoundly impacting the fields of life sciences and biotechnology. Concurrently, as emerging engineering education programs take shape, accelerated cultivation of multifaceted innovative talents represents a new mission and imperative for higher education in China. In the context of the flourishing development of Synthetic Biology, East China University of Science and Technology has established a curriculum cluster in Synthetic Biology, focusing on microbiological drug discovery and biomanufacturing. The teaching team initially reviewed the curriculum system related to Synthetic Biology and its upstream and downstream courses. Subsequently, they expanded the core courses in Synthetic Biology, creating a curriculum cluster that encompasses not only the theoretical foundations and cutting-edge technologies but also integrates with related disciplines. Moreover, the curriculum cluster leverages lectures from renowned domestic and international professors in the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, and harnesses the rich resources of the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (the "111 plan"), aiming to enhance students' innovation capabilities. With the support of this curriculum cluster and teaching team, undergraduate students actively participate in international Synthetic Biology competitions like international genetic engineering machine competition (iGEM), consistently achieving gold awards. Furthermore, many students have applied for patents and made contributions to research paper publications. This work stands as a valuable exemplar for cultivating multifaceted talents with exceptional innovative capabilities.

Summary of Varieties and Diversities of Nanomaterials Used in Food Safety and Quality

In all fields of life sciences, the trends toward sustainability, enhanced product safety, and high standards of quality are significant. The food industry uses intelligent packaging to meet these needs. These systems can continuously monitor a product's quality status and notify the customer of any changes. Conventional methods can only satisfy the needs of regular laboratory food analysis. Thus, in the cases of major food safety concerns, quick, economical, and time-saving analysis techniques, including portable, on-site, and home testing kits, are desperately needed. Nonetheless, there is a chance that nanoparticles could be harmful to people's health. Nanotechnology, for instance, can be applied to food processing to improve food's overall quality, including taste, flavor, and bioavailability. It can also help products last longer on the shelf. Moreover, nanotechnology is often applied to food packaging to deliver innovative packaging and serve as an antimicrobial agent. It can offer fresh approaches to thwart fraud and serve as a valuable weapon in our toolbox to prevent bioterrorism. As a result, it is advised to set up a sufficient regulatory framework to control any dangers related to applications of nanotechnology. This review addresses the classification and safety issues involved in the application of nanotechnology in food safety and packaging.

An intelligent fluorescence sensing platform based on entropy-driven toehold-mediated strand displacement cycle reaction for point-of-care testing of miRNA

BackgroundMicroRNA (miRNA) has gradually become an emerging biomarker for early diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases due to its specific gene expression and high stability. With the development of molecular diagnosis and point-of-care testing (POCT) technology, developing simple, fast, sensitive, efficient, and low-cost miRNA sensors is of great significance for clinical applications and emergency rapid diagnosis. At present, entropy-driven toehold mediated chain displacement reaction, as a promising enzyme free isothermal amplification technique, is an important tool for ultra-sensitive biosensing applications. ResultsIn this study, we used gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as carriers and quenchers, modified them using self-assembled triple chain composite substrates AuNPs@A@B1/B2, and used dual reporter molecules for cascade cyclic amplification to amplify fluorescence signals, which proposed a fluorescent biosensor based on this reaction and build an intelligent fluorescence sensing platform for rapid detection of miRNA. We designed a highly specific self-programmable sensor using the acute ischemic stroke (AIS) biomarker miRNA-125a-5p as a sample, and achieved sensitive detection of miRNA in the range of 0.01 μM∼10 μ M under optimal conditions. It broke through the traditional detection limitations of weak signals and liberated the fluorescence detection environment. SignificanceIn summary, this creative miRNA biosensor combined with POCT has demonstrated extraordinary detection potential, broad application prospects in the early diagnosis and prognosis monitoring of AIS, provides a novel miRNA universal detection strategy for the fields of biological and life sciences.

Immuno-Rolling Circle Amplification (Immuno-RCA): Biosensing Strategies, Practical Applications, and Future Perspectives.

In the rapidly evolving field of life sciences and biomedicine, detecting low-abundance biomolecules, and ultraweak biosignals presents significant challenges. This has spurred a rapid development of analytical techniques aiming for increased sensitivity and specificity. These advancements, including signal amplification strategies and the integration of biorecognition events, mark a transformative era in bioanalytical precision and accuracy. A prominent method among these innovations is immuno-rolling circle amplification (immuno-RCA) technology, which effectively combines immunoassays with signal amplification via RCA. This process starts when a targeted biomolecule, such as a protein or cell, binds to an immobilized antibody or probe on a substrate. The introduction of a circular DNA template triggers RCA, leading to exponential amplification and significantly enhanced signal intensity, thus the target molecule is detectable and quantifiable even at the single-molecule level. This review provides an overview of the biosensing strategy and extensive practical applications of immuno-RCA in detecting biomarkers. Furthermore, it scrutinizes the limitations inherent to these sensors and sets forth expectations for their future trajectory. This review serves as a valuable reference for advancing immuno-RCA in various domains, such as diagnostics, biomarker discovery, and molecular imaging.

La fonction des écrits dans les relations entre la théorie et la pratique en psychiatrie et psychologie clinique. À la mémoire de Georges Lanteri-Laura et de Jean Garrabé

Among the many ways in which knowledge is transmitted in psychiatry and clinical psychology, written communication has always been a vast field. But new means of expression and communication have brought about a diversity in the modalities used in teaching and personal training in the midst of the diversification of psychiatric currents, the means of exploration, and therapeutic methods. The relationship between theory and practice is central to the means of transmission in the specific characteristics of the different currents of French psychiatry: 1) Psychiatric conceptions which focus on the various neurobiological and biochemical networks, genetic research and artificial intelligence are confronted in their current evolution with the epistemological demands of explanation and understanding. And psychiatry, in all its complexity, cannot and will not be spared adopting these same demands; 2) The different psychopathological dimensions that underlie the various concepts of psychiatric disorders in children, adolescents and adults are constantly confronted with the relationship between theoretical conceptions and practical modalities, in the clinical relationship and in therapeutic conduct. In this article, we propose to address a certain number of reflections in this field, by questioning the principal psychopathological conceptions of today. And this reflection places great emphasis on the need to clarify concepts, perspectives and projects; 3) Epistemological dimensions can thereby render it possible to identify the numerous articles concerning the transmission of psychiatry and its fields: – First and foremost, studies on the relationship between theory and practice make it possible to distinguish between the various categories. They provide a clear understanding of the specific dynamics involved in understanding psychiatric disorders; – Studies on the relationship between the fields of time and life sciences correspond to very important epistemological attitudes that are very important to be taken into account. The neurosciences which are currently playing a key role in medicine and psychiatry usher us into “the knowledge of life”. These various studies compel us to consider just what the relationship is betweenthe “objectivity of the scientist” and the “subjectivity of the living”. We can then turn our attention to the anthropological concepts concerning the philosophy of life where we will find in the various psychiatric disorders the essential questions about the meaning of life that are present in the mind of every human being.

Surface Microfabrication of Lactic Acid–Glycolic Acid Copolymers Using a Gas-Permeable Porous Mold

We attempted to perform surface microfabrication of the bioabsorbable material lactic acid–glycolic acid copolymer (LG-80) using a micro-imprint lithography technique with a gas-permeable porous mold at less than 5 °C. As a result, high-resolution surface micromachining with a height of 1.26 μm and a pitch of 2.97 μm was achieved using a convex sapphire mold with a height of 1.3 μm and a pitch of 3 μm. After processing, the LG-80 exhibited high water repellency, and FT-IR analysis of the surface showed no significant change in its chemical structure, confirming that the surface microfabrication was successful, while retaining the properties of the material. This demonstrated new possibilities for surface microfabrication technology for bioabsorbable materials, which are expected to be applied in the medical and life science fields in products such as surgical implants, tissue regeneration materials, and cell culture scaffold materials. In particular, the use of micro-imprint lithography enables low-cost and high-precision processing, which will be a major step toward the practical application of bioabsorbable materials.

Machine Learning-Driven Prediction of DLD Chip Throughput

Abstract The microfluidic chip technology, capable of manipulating fluids at the micrometer-scale, is increasingly being applied in the fields of cell biology, molecular biology, chemistry, and life sciences. The densely integrated microfluidic chip devices enable high-throughput parallel experiments and integration of various operational units. However, the development of densely integrated microfluidic chips also comes with high demands on driving equipment. Due to manufacturing processes and inherent design limitations, the driving capability of the equipment is restricted. To address potential challenges faced by microfluidic chips in the development towards integrated biological microsystems and to maximize their high-throughput performance, improvements are required not only in selecting appropriate driving equipment but also in design aspects. This study focuses on the DLD chip and delves into the complexity of microfluidic chip design. By combining Bézier curves to characterize arbitrarily shaped micropillars and conducting finite element analysis to compute the pressure field of DLD chips, we explore methods utilizing random forest, XGBoost, LightGBM, and ANN machine learning algorithms to predict the impedance of DLD chips. Our objective is to guide engineers in designing chips with smaller impedance (lower pressure drop) and larger throughput more quickly and efficiently during the design phase. Ultimately, through evaluating the predictive capabilities of the four models on new data, we select the ANN algorithm model to predict the pressure drop under different designs of DLD chips. This offers possibilities for enhancing the efficiency and integration of microfluidic technology in biomedical applications.

Mapping the Nordic Research Landscape for the period 2016-2020: a comprehensive study of research outcomes, collaborations, and impact.

This article aims to study the research outcomes of five Nordic countries in terms of research publications, spend on R&D, outcomes and collaborations as these are important parameters to understand research thrust of the countries/regions, in addition to their innovation capability. The research outcomes of the Nordic countries in terms of the total number of publications, coauthored publications, publications with corporate collaborators, citations, the Field Weighted Citation Index (FWCI) and publications in different subject areas were retrieved using Scopus and its associate SciVal. The research outcomes were extracted for five years from 2016-2020. In addition, total population, researcher population and research spend of these countries have been obtained from World Bank data available for the year 2021. The analysis showed that Sweden has the highest population and the highest number of researchers in this region. All countries have the highest number of coauthored publications with the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, except Iceland, which has the second highest number of coauthored publications with Sweden. Denmark, followed by Iceland, stands prominent with reference to having publications with corporate collaborations. Denmark and Sweden have a high percentage of articles in first quartile journals, which is above the average for Nordic countries. Iceland stands at the top with the highest citations, which is depicted by high FWCI. Across subject areas, the Nordic countries have maximum publications in life sciences. Other prominent subject areas include technology and natural sciences. On analysing the research landscape of Nordic countries, maximum research output is in the field of life sciences and medicine, and most of the coauthored publications of these countries are with the United States. Denmark, with its exemplary research output, excels with maximum papers in top quartile journals and with maximum corporate collaborations and the highest FWCI.

Retractions in academic publishing: insights from highly ranked global universities

Purpose The study aims to profile the scientific retractions in the top five global universities and provide descriptive statistics on specific subjects. Design/methodology/approach The data for reasons behind retractions is manually extracted from the Retraction Watch Database. The top five global universities according to the Times Higher Education global ranking of 2024 are selected for this study. Findings The study found that Stanford University emerged with the highest number of retractions in the assessment across institutions in the field of basic life sciences and health sciences. Notably, the predominant reasons for these retractions were identified, with “unreliable results” being the most prevalent, accounting for 53 retractions. Following closely was the category of “errors in results and/or conclusions”, contributing to 51 retractions. MIT has the longest time between publication and retraction of any subject group, with an average of 1,701 days. Research limitations/implications This study has some limitations, as it only analysed the retractions of the top five global universities. Originality/value The study provides a comprehensive analysis of retractions in academic publishing, focusing on reasons, time gaps, article types and accessibility categories across prestigious universities. The paper underscores the critical role of retractions in maintaining the integrity of scientific literature, emphasizing the importance of transparent correction and responsible peer review to ensure the reliability and trustworthiness of published research. Results show that common reasons for retractions include duplication, fake peer review and plagiarism, underlining the need for ethical research standards.

Tunable plasmonic tweezers based on nanocavity array structure for multi-site nanoscale particles trapping

The ability of plasmonic optical tweezers based on metal nanostructure to stably trap and dynamically manipulate nanoscale objects at low laser power has been widely used in the fields of nanotechnology and life sciences. In particular, their plasmonic nanocavity structure can improve the local field intensity and trap depth by confining electromagnetic fields to subwavelength volumes. In this paper, the R6G dye molecules with 10−6 M were successfully trapped by using the Ag@Polydimethylsiloxane nanocavity array structure, and a R6G micro-ring was formed under the combined action of plasmonic optical force and thermophoresis. Subsequently, the theoretical investigation revealed that the trapping performance can be flexibly adjusted by changing the structural parameters of the conical nanocavity unit, and it can provide a stable potential well for polystyrene particles of RNP = 14 nm when the cavity depth is 140 nm. In addition, it is found that multiple trapping sites can be activated simultaneously in the laser irradiation area by investigating the trapping properties of the hexagonal conical nanocavity array structure. This multi-site stable trapping platform makes it possible to analyze multiple target particles contemporaneously.