A competitive lateral flow assay for the detection of tenofovir.

Proper management of an HIV infection requires that a patient be at least 80-95% adherent to a prescribed drug regimen to avoid poor health outcomes and the development of drug-resistant HIV strains. Clinicians generally monitor adherence habits indirectly through patient self-reporting, pill counting, and electronic drug monitoring. While direct measurement of patient samples like urine for monitoring drug levels is possible, it requires specialized equipment and training that is not readily available in resource-limited settings where the need is greatest.

An Engineered Human Fc-Mannose-Binding-Lectin Captures Circulating Tumor Cells.

Tumor cells circulating throughout the body have shown great potential for providing new diagnostic or therapeutic strategies for treating cancer patients. However, isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is still challenging due to the lack of broad spectrum reagents that bind specifically to these cells. This study shows that an engineered human blood opsonin that mimics the innate immune mechanism for opsonizing complex mannan carbohydrates, Fc-mannose binding lectin (FcMBL), exhibits a broad spectrum of CTC binding activity.

Optical clearing agent perfusion enhancement via combination of microneedle poration, heating and pneumatic pressure.

Background And Objective: Optical clearing agents (OCAs) have shown promise for increasing the penetration depth of biomedical lasers by temporarily decreasing optical scattering within the skin. However, their translation to the clinic has been constrained by lack of practical means for effectively perfusing OCA within target tissues in vivo. The objective of this study was to address this limitation through combination of a variety of techniques to enhance OCA perfusion, including heating of OCA, microneedling and/or application of pneumatic pressure over the skin surface being treated (vacuum and/or positive pressure).