Simultaneous Detection of Tumor Cell Apoptosis Regulators Bcl‑2 and Bax through a Dual-Signal-Marked Electrochemical Immunosensor

B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) are often used to monitor the apoptosis of tumor cells and evaluate cancer drug effect. In this work, a novel sandwich-type dual-signal-marked electrochemical biosensor was fabricated for simultaneous detection of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins. Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) layers were used as substrate to immobilize Bcl-2 and Bax antibodies for further capturing target antigens. CdSeTe@CdS quantum dots (QDs) and Ag nanoclusters (NCs) with antibody modification and mesoporous silica amplification were used as signal probes, which were proportional to the amount of Bcl-2 and Bax antigens. Mesoporous SiO₂ can provide a larger surface area, more effectively charged by ethylene imine polymer or poly­(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) to adsorb more probes. The Bcl-2 and Bax proteins were determined indirectly by the detection of oxidation peak currents of Cd and Ag using anodic stripping voltammetry, showing a good linear relationship in the protein concentration range from 1 ng/mL to 250 ng/mL. The detection limit of trace protein level was ∼0.5 fmol. The biosensor was further introduced to investigate Bcl-2 and Bax expressions from nilotinib-treated chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells. With the increase of drug dosage and incubation time, the up-regulation for Bax and down-regulation for Bcl-2 were observed, which indicated that the apoptosis level of K562 cells could be regulated by Bcl-2 family. The ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 was further calculated for evaluation of its drug effect and apoptosis level. The limited cell amount for detection reached less than 1 × 10³ cells, much lower than traditional methods. Furthermore, completely independent detection step and stable acid solutions containing Ag⁺ and Cd²⁺ for long-time storage contribute to reducing the error from the sample differences and avoiding the potential errors from the photodegradation of fluorescent probes, enzymolysis of DNA, or inactivation of enzyme during an excess experimental period

Fine Tuning of the Longitudinal Plasmon Resonance of Gold Nanorods by Depleting Gold Precursor

For gold nanorod synthesis, the seed-mediated growth as the most effective method has been used widely. However, the inevitable overgrowth leads to poor control of the final shape of particle. In present work, by adding chemical inhibitor to deplete the residual gold salt in solution, the growth process can be terminated effectively at any stage and nanorods with desirable shape can be produced. This kind of competitive precursor depletion provides a simple pathway to finely tune the wavelength of the longutidinal plasmon band of gold nanorods. It also has potential application in studying the crystallization mechanism of nonspherical metal nanoparticles in solution

Impact of Physical Exercise on Substance Use Disorders: A Meta-Analysis

<div><p>Objective</p><p>The goal of this meta-analysis was to examine whether long-term physical exercise could be a potential effective treatment for substance use disorders (SUD).</p><p>Methods</p><p>The PubMed, Web of Science, Elsevier, CNKI and China Info were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCT) studies in regards to the effects of physical exercise on SUD between the years 1990 and 2013. Four main outcome measures including abstinence rate, withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, and depression were evaluated.</p><p>Results</p><p>Twenty-two studies were integrated in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that physical exercise can effectively increase the abstinence rate (OR = 1.69 (95% CI: 1.44, 1.99), z = 6.33, <i>p</i><0.001), ease withdrawal symptoms (SMD = −1.24 (95% CI: −2.46, −0.02), z = −2, <i>p</i><0.05), and reduce anxiety (SMD = −0.31 (95% CI: −0.45, −0.16), z  =  −4.12, <i>p</i><0.001) and depression (SMD  =  −0.47 (95% CI: −0.80, −0.14), z = −2.76, <i>p</i><0.01). The physical exercise can more ease the depression symptoms on alcohol and illicit drug abusers than nicotine abusers, and more improve the abstinence rate on illicit drug abusers than the others. Similar treatment effects were found in three categories: exercise intensity, types of exercise, and follow-up periods.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercises, designed according to the Guidelines of American College of Sports Medicine, and the mind-body exercises can be an effective and persistent treatment for those with SUD.</p></div

Are We Afraid of Different Categories of Stimuli in Identical Ways? Evidence from Skin Conductance Responses

<div><p>Studies have shown that emotional pictures attract more attention than neutral pictures, and pictures of living stimuli have similar advantage in driving attention (vs. nonliving). However, factors of emotion, category and picture context are usually mixed so that whether living and nonliving categories elicit different skin conductance (SC) responses, in both conscious and unconscious conditions, remains to be clarified. In this study, participants were presented with negative and neutral pictures denoting different living and nonliving concepts in conscious (Experiments 1 and 2) and unconscious conditions (40ms, Experiment 3) when their SC responses were measured. The picture context was manipulated in Experiments 2 and 3 as half including human-related information. In three experiments, the emotional levels of different categories were matched in different and identical cohorts of participants. The results showed that living pictures in a negative, high-arousing dimension elicited stronger SC responses than nonliving pictures. When nonhuman animals and inanimate objects were compared, the increased SC responses to animals was obtained only for negative pictures without human contexts in the conscious condition, but regardless of human context in the unconscious condition. These results suggested that contextual information and level of conscious awareness are important to modulate the animate advantage in emotional processing.</p> </div

Neural encoding of saltatory pneumotactile velocity in human glabrous hand

An fMRI Data set used in "Neural encoding saltatory pneumotactile velocity in human glabrous hand"

Estimation of the relative hazard of death for patients with colorectal cancer, lung cancer and malignant melanoma, diagnosed 1997–2006.

1.<p> adjusted for age (as continuous variable) and socioeconomic status.</p>2.<p> including a generalized random intercept term for each patient to account for observed overdispersion.</p>3.<p> 210 (3.2%) of men and 210 (3.71%) of women, p = 0.14.</p>4.<p> 553 (8.4%) of men and 367 (8.2%) of women, p = 0.73.</p>5.<p> 11 (0.6%) of men and 13(0.5%) of women, p = 0.84.</p

Experiment stimulus design.

<p>Random-balanced experimental block design in one functional scan session. One session includes 4 cycles of the 5 stimulus conditions and the total measurement time of one session was 13:20 min.</p

Kaplan-Meier survival curves for colorectal cancer patients (diagnosed between 1997–2006).

<p>Kaplan-Meier survival curves for colorectal cancer patients (diagnosed between 1997–2006).</p

Mean number of primary care consultations per cancer patient (aged 16+) had in each month preceding their recorded cancer diagnosis by gender.

<p>Mean number of primary care consultations per cancer patient (aged 16+) had in each month preceding their recorded cancer diagnosis by gender.</p

Mean number of primary care consultations per malignant melanoma patient made prior to cancer diagnosis by month and gender.

<p>Mean number of primary care consultations per malignant melanoma patient made prior to cancer diagnosis by month and gender.</p