Graphene-Based Opto-Electronic Platform for Ultra-Sensitive Biomarker Detection at Zeptomolar Concentrations.

A ground-breaking graphene-based biosensor designed for label-free detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) achieving a remarkable concentration of 100 zeptomolar (10 m), is reported. The sensor is a two-terminal device and incorporates a millimeter-wide gold interface, bio-functionalized with ≈10 anti-IgM antibodies and capacitively coupled to a bare graphene electrode through a water-soaked paper strip. In this configuration, few affinity binding events trigger a collective electrostatic reorganization of the protein layer, leading to an extended surface potential (SP) shift of the biofunctionalized Au surface.

Intraneural Device for Electrostimulation of Vagus Nerve in Rats: A Feasibility Study for Modulating Glucose Tolerance.

Objectives: This study introduces EMPATIC (Electro-Modulation of PAncreaTic Islet Cells), a miniaturized intraneural device designed for transversal insertion into small nerves with a mean diameter of 400 μm. EMPATIC aims to modulate glucose tolerance through intraneural vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in rats.

Materials And Methods: EMPATIC design was optimized to fit into the cervical vagus nerve of rats and was developd through thin film microtechnologies.

Electric Field Cycling of Physisorbed Antibodies Reduces Biolayer Polarization Dispersion.

The electric dipoles of proteins in a biolayer determine their dielectric properties through the polarization density P. Hence, its reproducibility is crucial for applications, particularly in bioelectronics. Biolayers encompassing capturing antibodies covalently bound at a biosensing interface are generally preferred for their assumed higher stability.

Piercing the Shadows: Exploring the Influence of Signal Preprocessing on Interpreting Ultrasensitive Bioelectronic Sensor Data.

The development of ultrasensitive electronic sensors for in vitro diagnostics is essential for the reliable monitoring of asymptomatic individuals before illness proliferation or progression. These platforms are increasingly valued for their potential to enable timely diagnosis and swift prognosis of infectious or progressive diseases. Typically, the responses from these analytical tools are recorded as digital signals, with electronic data offering simpler processing compared to spectral and optical data.

Perspectives on systematic optimization of ultrasensitive biosensors through experimental design.

Biosensors have demonstrated versatility across numerous applications; however, their systematic optimization remains a primary obstacle, limiting their widespread adoption as dependable point-of-care tests. Experimental design, a powerful chemometric tool, offers a solution by effectively guiding the development and optimization of ultrasensitive biosensors. This perspective review provides an overview of recent applications of experimental design in the deployment of optical and electrical ultrasensitive biosensors.

Kelvin probe force microscopy on patterned large-area biofunctionalized surfaces: a reliable ultrasensitive platform for biomarker detection.

Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) allows the detection of single binding events between immunoglobulins (IgM, IgG) and their cognate antibodies (anti-IgM, anti-IgG). Here an insight into the reliability and robustness of the methodology is provided. Our method is based on imaging the surface potential shift occurring on a dense layer of ∼5 × 10 antibodies physisorbed on a 50 μm × 90 μm area when assayed with increasing concentrations of antigens in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) standard solutions, in air and at a fixed scanning location.

Point-Of-Care Ultra-Portable Single-Molecule Bioassays for One-Health.

Screening asymptomatic organisms (humans, animals, plants) with a high-diagnostic accuracy using point-of-care-testing (POCT) technologies, though still visionary holds great potential. Convenient surveillance requires easy-to-use, cost-effective, ultra-portable but highly reliable, in-vitro-diagnostic devices that are ready for use wherever they are needed. Currently, there are not yet such devices available on the market, but there are a couple more promising technologies developed at readiness-level 5: the Clustered-Regularly-Interspaced-Short-Palindromic-Repeats (CRISPR) lateral-flow-strip tests and the Single-Molecule-with-a-large-Transistor (SiMoT) bioelectronic palmar devices.

Dual titration of minute ventilation and sweep gas flow to control carbon dioxide variations in patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Background: The implantation of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) support to manage severe acute respiratory distress syndrome generates large variations in carbon dioxide partial pressure (PaCO) that are associated with intracranial bleeding. We assessed the feasibility and efficacy of a pragmatic protocol for progressive dual titration of sweep gas flow and minute ventilation after VV-ECMO implantation in order to limit significant PaCO variations.

Patients And Methods: A protocol for dual titration of sweep gas flow and minute ventilation following VV-ECMO implantation was implemented in our unit in September 2020.

Nuclear magnetic resonance diffraction with subangstrom precision.

We have combined ultrasensitive force-based spin detection with high-fidelity spin control to achieve NMR diffraction (NMRd) measurement of ~2 million [Formula: see text]P spins in a [Formula: see text] volume of an indium-phosphide (InP) nanowire. NMRd is a technique originally proposed for studying the structure of periodic arrangements of spins, with complete access to the spectroscopic capabilities of NMR. We describe two experiments that realize NMRd detection with subangstrom precision.

Postinflammatory rupture of right coronary artery ostium complicating Behçet disease.

Introduction: Behçet disease (BD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disease of unknown etiology, characterized by variable clinical manifestations.

Methods: A 28-year-old woman with BD Cardiovascular and Bipolar Disorder underwent emergency surgical treatment of ascending aortic pseudoaneurysm for ruptured right coronary ostium.A modified Bentall procedure with tricuspid annuloplasty, surgical thrombectomy, and a single coronary artery bypass using a saphenous vein graft was performed.

An N-glycosylation hotspot in immunoglobulin κ light chains is associated with AL amyloidosis.

Immunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis is caused by a small, minimally proliferating B-cell/plasma-cell clone secreting a patient-unique, aggregation-prone, toxic light chain (LC). The pathogenicity of LCs is encrypted in their sequence, yet molecular determinants of amyloidogenesis are poorly understood. Higher rates of N-glycosylation among clonal κ LCs from patients with AL amyloidosis compared to other monoclonal gammopathies indicate that this post-translational modification is associated with a higher risk of developing AL amyloidosis.

Surgery for delayed leaflet impingement after transcatheter closure of a paravalvular leak associated with an aortic pseudoaneurysm.

Paravalvular leak (PVL) is a recognized and challenging complication after surgical or transcatheter valve replacement. The transcatheter closure of PVL has become the first-line treatment in clinical practice when the procedure is not contraindicated. Transcatheter PVL closure rests on a complex procedure and complications still occur in approximately 9% of patients.

The antegrade reperfusion test avoids the risk of mitral regurgitation recurrence optimizing valve repair.

Saline injection into the left ventricle trough mitral valve (saline test) is the most commonly used intraoperative assessment method in mitral valve repair. However, potential discrepancies between the saline test findings and intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography results after the weaning of cardiopulmonary by-pass, remain significant. Here, we describe a new antegrade reperfusion test, reproducing intraoperatively, the physiologic conditions of loaded and beating heart for direct transatrial evaluation of valve tightness.

Successful Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Postpartum as Rescue Therapy in a Woman With COVID-19.

Clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnant women, in contrast to previous outbreaks, seem to be similar to those of nonpregnant women. During severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), SARS influenza A, and Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreaks, an increased severity of disease among pregnant women was observed. In some pregnant women, respiratory failure can occur and progress quickly to acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a rescue therapy.

Valvular surgery in donor hearts before orthotopic heart transplantation.

Background: Donor heart shortage has extended the waiting time and increased the mortality of patients on the transplant waiting list. Widening old standard donor criteria has successfully increased the number of heart transplantations, but for many years, a valve disease in a donor heart has been considered a primary contraindication for organ donation.

Aims: To analyse the results of aortic and mitral valvular surgery in marginal donor hearts with valvulopathy before orthotopic heart transplantation.

Floating thrombus in the ascending aorta revealed by peripheral arterial embolism.

A floating thrombus in the ascending aorta is rarely found in clinical practice and is an uncommon cause of peripheral arterial embolization. When there is minimal atherosclerosis or a normal aorta, the management of such a lesion is poorly defined. Currently, there is no clear consensus concerning optimal treatment.

Late cardiovascular complication after varicose vein endovascular ablation.

Venous insufficiency of the lower limbs is one of the most common vascular disorders affecting millions of people worldwide. Endovascular techniques are considered by current guidelines as simple, safe and effective. Persistence or even migration of foreign bodies after varicose vein endovascular surgery is a rare and unfeared complication.

Ultralow Dissipation Patterned Silicon Nanowire Arrays for Scanning Probe Microscopy.

In recent years, self-assembled semiconductor nanowires have been successfully used as ultrasensitive cantilevers in a number of unique scanning probe microscopy (SPM) settings. We describe the fabrication of ultralow dissipation patterned silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays optimized for scanning probe applications. Our fabrication process produces ultrahigh aspect ratio vertical SiNWs that exhibit exceptional force sensitivity.

Slick, Stretchy Fascia Underlies the Sliding Tongue of Rorquals.

The tongue of rorqual (balaenopterid) whales slides far down the throat into the expanded oral pouch as an enormous mouthful of water is engulfed during gulp feeding. As the tongue and adjacent oral floor expands and slides caudoventrally, it glides along a more superficial (outer) layer of ventral body wall musculature, just deep to the accordion-like ventral throat pleats. We hypothesize that this sliding movement of adjacent musculature is facilitated by a slick, stretchy layer of loose areolar connective tissue that binds the muscle fibers and reduces friction: fascia.

The CLASH model lacks evolutionary and archeological support.

Data from archaeology and paleoanthropology directly challenge the validity of the basic assumptions of the CLASH model. By not incorporating a "deep time" perspective, the hypothesis lacks the evolutionary baseline the authors seek to infer in validating the model.

Sustainable mechanical biological treatment of solid waste in urbanized areas with low recycling rates.

Landfill is still the main technological facility used to treat and dispose municipal solid waste (MSW) worldwide. In developing countries, final dumping is applied without environmental monitoring and soil protection since solid waste is mostly sent to open dump sites while, in Europe, landfilling is considered as the last option since reverse logistic approaches or energy recovery are generally encouraged. However, many regions within the European Union continue to dispose of MSW to landfill, since modern facilities have not been introduced owing to unreliable regulations or financial sustainability.