Common Phenotype in Patients with Both Food and Substance Dependence: Case Reports.

The understanding that genes play a significant role in reward dependence and associated behavioral and drug addictions is highlighted in the emergence of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS). Here we show two case reports that unequivocally indicate the definite commonality between food and drug addiction. These human cases not atypically raise the question as to how to treat these two seemingly diverse addictions.

Towards a reliable and high sensitivity O₂-independent glucose sensor based on Ir oxide nanoparticles.

The primary goal of this work is the development of a rapidly responding, sensitive, and biocompatible Ir oxide (IrOx)-based glucose sensor that regenerates solely via IrOx-mediation in both O₂-free and aerobic environments. An important discovery is that, for films composed of IrOx nanoparticles, Nafion® and glucose oxidase (GOx), a Michaelis-Menten constant (K'(m)) of 20-30 mM is obtained in the case of dual-regeneration (O₂ and IrOx), while K'(m) values are much smaller (3-5 mM) when re-oxidation of GOx occurs only through IrOx-mediation. These smaller K'(m) values indicate that the regeneration of GOx via direct electron transfer to the IrOx nanoparticles is more rapid than to O₂.