Review on Gold Nanoparticles-Based Biosensors in Clinical and Non-Clinical Applications

Gold nanoparticles (GNP) acquire unique properties that have made significant contributions to clinical and non-clinical fields, specifically in the application of GNP’s for designing biosensor devices in which exhibit novel functional properties. Many properties of GNP’s are reviewed in this literature including optical properties, biocompatibility, conductivity, catalytic properties, high surface-to-volume ratio, and high density of the GNPs, that make them excellent in the application of constructing GNP-based biosensors. This literature review covers a specific comparison between the optical, electrochemical, and piezoelectric biosensors, as these are the three most common GNP-based biosensors. Optical biosensors are optimal due to their ability to cater to surface modification, which then leads to the ability for selective bonding. Furthermore, with the use of GNP and the sensor's non-invasive and non-toxic method of use, high-resolution images and signals can be formed. The sensitivity and specificity of electrochemical biosensors with the conductivity of GNPs, the electrodes of this stable biosensor can detect tumour markers in the human body. Piezoelectric biosensors are mass sensitive sensors and with the use of GNP, it amplifies the changes in mass. Through this, these sensors progress to be immunosensors which determine microorganisms and macromolecular compounds. As well, this review will conclude with an outline of present and future research recommendations for real-world application of the three GNP-based biosensors discussed.

The Historiolae in Belarusian Incantations

The article deals with one of the most popular techniques in Belarusian magical medicine — the so-called historiolae, the essence of which is to recall precedent situations. This implies that the “disequilibrium of being, which has arisen in human life at the present moment (e.g. a disease), is restored according to a sacred pattern that took place in the past”. The texts declare connections between different levels of the worlds, past and present, but to the same extent between the microcosm and the macrocosm, erasing all distinctions between the real and the supernatural worlds. The present time of these charms prevents the transfer of the patient and the healer to ancient times of the myths. Instead, it is the sacred world that spreads around the requester. The most common form of such charms includes a narrative that relates certain events in Christian history, primarily describing the life of Christ or of one of the saints. A particular place among the narrative manifestations of historiolae is occupied by references to the Passion of Christ. These narratives, in turn, possess powerful life-affirming and healing potential. It is not the logical correspondence of a specific comparison in an incantation that is central, but the very desire to place the situation of treatment in an appropriate context. A number of texts from the author’s field records and archival materials are introduced here into scholarly circulation.

Accordo assoluto tra valutazioni espresse su scala ordinale

Many methods for measuring agreement among raters have been proposed and applied in many domains in the areas of education, psychology, sociology, and medical research. A brief overview of the most used measures of interrater absolute agreements for ordinal rating scales is provided, and a new index is proposed that has several advantages. In particular, the new index allows to evaluate the agreement between raters for each single case (subject or object), and to obtain also a global measure of the interrater agreement for the whole group of cases evaluated. The possibility of having evaluations of the agreement on the single case is particularly useful, for example, in situations where the rating scale is being tested, and it is necessary to identify any changes to it, or to request the raters for a specific comparison on the single case in which the disagreement occurred. The index is not affected by the possible concentration of ratings on a very small number of levels of the ordinal scale.

Defining Comparative Physiology: Results from an Online Survey and Systematic Review

August Krogh's 1929 principle is referenced as the cornerstone of comparative physiology (CP). However, there are diverse views as to what type of research falls under the CP approach. This study had three aims: 1) determine how CP is defined through an online survey (OS) of physiologists and a systematic review (SR), 2) put forth an updated definition of CP by summarizing OS and SR results, and 3) outline the numerous CP research approaches. Professional physiology societies (n=54) were invited to share the OS with their members and a SR was conducted which yielded 197 and 70 definitions, respectively. The three most common words in descending order in the OS definitions were 'different', 'animals', and 'species' and in the SR definitions, 'animals', 'species', and 'organisms'. The three most prevalent themes from the OS and SR definitions were comparing/differences/diversity across species (78% and 51%, respectively), response to the environment/ecology (28% and 43%, respectively), and included evolution or adaptation (24% and 60%, respectively). Ten research approaches were identified, which include: broad comparison (i.e., many species generalization), specific comparison (e.g., two species; for traits that are different, exaggerated, extreme, missing, or not induced), or comparison while considering evolution (i.e., evolutionary physiology), ecology (i.e., ecophysiology), or human physiology/medicine. Only 5% and 33% of OS and SR definitions described or mentioned Krogh's principle. In conclusion, CP can best be defined as a compilation of research approaches that utilize different types of comparisons to elucidate physiological mechanisms, and not simply comparing physiologies as the name implies.

Decompression of Multimorbidity Along the Disease Trajectories of Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Multimorbidity, the presence of two or more diseases in a patient, is maybe the greatest health challenge for the aging populations of many high-income countries. One of the main drivers of multimorbidity is diabetes mellitus (DM) due to its large number of risk factors and complications. Yet, we currently have very limited understanding of how to quantify multimorbidity beyond a simple counting of diseases and thereby inform prevention and intervention strategies tailored to the needs of elderly DM patients. Here, we conceptualize multimorbidity as typical temporal progression patterns of multiple diseases, so-called trajectories, and develop a framework to perform a matched and sex-specific comparison between DM and non-diabetic patients. We find that these disease trajectories can be organized into a multi-level hierarchy in which DM patients progress from relatively healthy states with low mortality to high-mortality states characterized by cardiovascular diseases, chronic lower respiratory diseases, renal failure, and different combinations thereof. The same disease trajectories can be observed in non-diabetic patients, however, we find that DM patients typically progress at much higher rates along their trajectories. Comparing male and female DM patients, we find a general tendency that females progress faster toward high multimorbidity states than males, in particular along trajectories that involve obesity. Males, on the other hand, appear to progress faster in trajectories that combine heart diseases with cerebrovascular diseases. Our results show that prevention and efficient management of DM are key to achieve a compression of morbidity into higher patient ages. Multidisciplinary efforts involving clinicians as well as experts in machine learning and data visualization are needed to better understand the identified disease trajectories and thereby contribute to solving the current multimorbidity crisis in healthcare.

On the suitability of the distance between the tip of the nose and the middle of the elbow joint for sneezing etiquette as corona infection prophylaxis

During the current corona pandemic, the question to which extent people could reach the middle of the elbow joint with the tip of their nose, which the Federal Ministry of Health recommended as a preventive measure when sneezing, was investigated with the help of an online questionnaire. The analysis included 316 fully completed online questionnaires and 16 additional telephone interviews, a total of 332 test persons (average age 29.5 (± 14.3) years, average BMI 22.9 (± 3.4) kg/m²; 226 women, 106 men). The results of this study show that 84.6% of respondents followed the recommended coughing etiquette and sneezed into the crook of their arm, 15.4% did not. The most common reason given for not using it was habit. Nevertheless, 92.8% of the participants found sneezing or coughing in the crook of their arm to be useful. When measuring the distance, 76.2% of the participants were able to touch the crook of the arm at the specific angle on both sides. The average measured distance was 1.13 cm on the right and 1.23 cm on the left. It was found that the BMI and age had a significant relationship with the measured distance. In a gender-specific comparison, more women than men sneezed into the crook of their arm, while no significant differences were found when measuring the distance. If the results of this study are put into practice, it makes perfect sense to continue to recommend sneezing or coughing in the crook of the arm. However, a note should be attached to this recommendation, which prompts one to take the sneeze position once and to check whether the crook of the arm can really be reached effectively. If this is not possible, alternative options should be recommended.