Thermally Degradable Water Diffusion Barrier Assembled by Gelatin and Beeswax toward Edible Electronics.

Making ingestible devices edible facilitates diagnosis and therapy inside the body without the risk of retention; however, food materials are generally soft, absorb water molecules, and are not suitable for electronic devices. Here, we fabricated an edible water diffusion barrier film made by gelatin-beeswax composites for the encapsulation of transient electronics. Hydrophobic beeswax and hydrophilic gelatin are inherently difficult to mix; therefore, we created an emulsion simply by raising the temperature high enough to melt the materials and vigorous stirring them.

Enhancing Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Decisions With Interpretable Machine Learning Models for Predicting Hemoglobin A1c Changes: Machine Learning Model Development.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a significant global health challenge. Physicians need to assess whether future glycemic control will be poor on the current trajectory of usual care and usual-care treatment intensifications so that they can consider taking extra treatment measures to prevent poor outcomes. Predicting poor glycemic control from trends in hemoglobin A (HbA) levels is difficult due to the influence of seasonal fluctuations and other factors.

Noninvasive Glucose Sensing in Dielectrically Equivalent Multilayer Skin Phantoms.

The interstitial fluid of the skin contains glucose levels comparable to those of blood. Noninvasive glucose sensing by microwaves has great potential to relieve diabetics from the burden of daily blood sampling, but improving the selectivity of this method remains a challenge. This study reports a dielectrically equivalent multilayer skin phantom and provides insight into the criteria for noninvasive glucose sensing by conducting dielectric analysis.

Data Processing of SPR Curve Data to Maximize the Extraction of Changes in Electrochemical SPR Measurements.

We developed a novel measuring and data-processing method for performing electrochemical surface plasmon resonance (EC-SPR) on sensor surfaces for which detecting a specific SPR angle is difficult, such as a polymer having a non-uniform thickness with coloration. SPR measurements are used in medicine and basic research as an analytical method capable of molecular detection without labeling. However, SPR is not good for detecting small molecules with small refractive index changes.

Direct Measurement of Near-Wall Molecular Transport Rate in a Microchannel and Its Dependence on Diffusivity.

Solute transport in a narrow space is the most elemental process in chromatography and biological pattern formation. However, the observation of such transport has been quite difficult, and theoretical investigations have therefore preponderated. Here, using a space- and time-resolved surface plasmon resonance (SPR) method, we measured the nanoscale near-wall (next to the wall) transport rate in a narrow channel after a solution and its solvent had come into contact.

Small Intestinal Lesions in Patients with Anemia on Hemodialysis: A Two-Center, Cross-Sectional Study.

Aim: The number of patients on chronic dialysis in Japan is increasing every year, and the average age of these patients is also increasing annually. Iron deficiency is an important cause of anemia in patients on hemodialysis (HD). However, it has not been clarified whether these patients might have small intestinal mucosal lesions causing iron deficiency anemia.

A reliable aptamer array prepared by repeating inkjet-spotting toward on-site measurement.

A preparation protocol is proposed for a reliable aptamer array utilizing an ink-jet spotter. We accumulated streptavidin and biotinylated-aptamer in this order on a biotinylated-polyethylene glycol-coated gold substrate to prepare an aptamer array. The aptamer array was prepared with an alternate spotting structure where each aptamer spot was placed between reference spots formed with blocking solution thus suppressing contamination from neighboring spots during the blocking and washing processes.

Machine-Learning-Based Prediction of a Missed Scheduled Clinical Appointment by Patients With Diabetes.

Background: About 10% of patients with diabetes discontinue treatment, resulting in the progression of diabetes-related complications and reduced quality of life.

Objective: The objective was to predict a missed clinical appointment (MA), which can lead to discontinued treatment for diabetes patients.

Methods: A machine-learning algorithm was used to build a logistic regression model for MA predictions, with L2-norm regularization used to avoid over-fitting and 10-fold cross validation used to evaluate prediction performance.

Characteristics of refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms -is switching proton pump inhibitors based on the patient's CYP2C19 genotype an effective management strategy?

Objective: We investigated factors related to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) -refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms, particularly with respect to acid, the CYP2C19 genotype and psychological aspects.

Methods: Patients with an Frequency Scale for the Symptoms of GERD (FSSG) score of ≥8 after the initial treatment were switched to therapy with rabeprazole at a dose of 20 mg once daily for eight weeks. We investigated the rate of improvement in PPI-refractory GERD symptoms, background factors, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score and the CYP2C19 genotype.

On-chip graphene oxide aptasensor for multiple protein detection.

The versatility of an on-chip graphene oxide (GO) aptasensor was successfully confirmed by the detection of three different proteins, namely, thrombin (TB), prostate specific antigen (PSA), and hemagglutinin (HA), simply by changing the aptamers but with the sensor composition remaining the same. The results indicate that both DNA and RNA aptamers immobilized on the GO surface are sufficiently active to realize an on-chip aptasensor. Molecular selectivity and concentration dependence were investigated in relation to TB and PSA detection by using a dual, triple, and quintuple microchannel configuration.

Molecular design for enhanced sensitivity of a FRET aptasensor built on the graphene oxide surface.

We designed a biomolecular probe for highly sensitive protein detection by modifying an aptamer with a DNA spacer. The spacer controls the distance between a fluorescence dye and a quencher, which is crucial for FRET-based sensors. We successfully demonstrated an improvement in the sensitivity of an on-chip graphene oxide aptasensor.

Graphene-modified interdigitated array electrode: fabrication, characterization, and electrochemical immunoassay application.

We have developed a new procedure for fabricating interdigitated array gold electrodes (Au-IDA) modified with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). In this procedure, we coated the gold surface of the micrometer order electrodes with graphene oxide (GO) prior to the reduction and the lift-off processes to avoid short-circuiting the pair of electrodes by conductive rGO flakes after the reduction. We then studied the basic electrochemical activity of the prepared electrodes, rGO/Au-IDA, mainly on p-aminophenol (pAP), because pAP is a good probe for an electrochemical immunoassay.

Cooperative suction by vertical capillary array pump for controlling flow profiles of microfluidic sensor chips.

A passive pump consisting of integrated vertical capillaries has been developed for a microfluidic chip as an useful component with an excellent flow volume and flow rate. A fluidic chip built into a passive pump was used by connecting the bottoms of all the capillaries to a top surface consisting of a thin layer channel in the microfluidic chip where the thin layer channel depth was smaller than the capillary radius. As a result the vertical capillaries drew fluid cooperatively rather than independently, thus exerting the maximum suction efficiency at every instance.

Selective detection of a catecholamine against electroactive interferents using an interdigitated heteroarray electrode consisting of a metal oxide electrode and a metal band electrode.

We developed an interdigitated array electrode (IDAE) consisting of a metal oxide electrode and a metal band heteroelectrode and employed it for the selective detection of catecholamines. We used an indium-tin oxide (ITO) film as the oxidation electrode of the IDAE because the ITO was able to suppress response currents from L-ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA), which are major electroactive interferents in biological fluids. However, the ITO film also suppresses the reduction of quinones including oxidized catecholamines.

Biocompatible glucose sensor prepared by modifying protein and vinylferrocene monomer composite membrane.

This paper proposes a very simple procedure for preparing a biocompatible sensor based on a protein (bovine serum albumin, BSA), enzyme and vinylferrocene (VF) composite membrane modified electrode. The membrane was prepared simply by first casting vinylferrocene and then coating it with BSA and glucose oxidase immobilised with glutaraldehyde. The sensor response was independent of dissolved oxygen concentration from 3 to 10 ppm and showed good stability for serum sample measurement, unlike the commonly used BSA/enzyme modified electrode.

Differential measurement with a microfluidic device for the highly selective continuous measurement of histamine released from rat basophilic leukemia cells (RBL-2H3).

We fabricated a micro-fluidic device for the highly selective detection of the histamine released from rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) 2H3 cells. The device has two thin layer flow channels, each with one working electrode. One electrode was modified with Os-polyvinylpyridine based mediator containing horseradish peroxidase (Os-gel-HRP) and histamine oxidase (HAOx), the other was modified with Os-gel-HRP without any HAOx.

An amperometric detector formed of highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles embedded in a graphite-like carbon film electrode for sugar determination.

We achieved improved detection limits for sugars by developing a novel thin film containing 0.8% highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles in disordered graphite-like carbon (Ni-NDC) as a detection electrode for high-performance liquid chromatography. The Ni-NDC film was prepared in one step by a simple radio frequency (rf) sputtering method at a temperature below 200 degrees C.

Continuous measurement of glutamate and hydrogen peroxide using a microfabricated biosensor for studying the neurotoxicity of tributyltin.

We first measured the effects of trace levels of an endocrine disruptor, tributyltin (TBT), on the secretion response from nerve cells using a microfabricated biosensor designed for the continuous measurement of L-glutamate and hydrogen peroxide. We observed higher and long-lasting glutamate and hydrogen peroxide concentrations from the cells when cultured rat cortical neurons were exposed to TBT. Glutamate and hydrogen peroxide release was induced even when we reduced the TBT concentration to 10 nM.

Selective detection of L-glutamate using a microfluidic device integrated with an enzyme-modified pre-reactor and an electrochemical detector.

A microfluidic device integrated with a nanoliter volume enzyme pre-reactor and an enzyme-modified electrode was developed for the highly selective continuous measurement of glutamate (Glu). The device consists mainly of two glass plates. One plate incorporates an electrochemical cell that consists of working electrode (WE), reference electrode (RE) and counter electrode (CE).