Substance addiction (or drug addiction) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a recurring desire to continue taking the drug despite harmful consequences. Non-substance addiction (or behavioral addiction) covers pathological gambling, food addiction, internet addiction, and mobile phone addiction. Their definition is similar to drug addiction but they differ from each other in specific domains. This review aims to provide a brief overview of past and current definitions of substance and non-substance addiction, and also touches on the topic of diagnosing drug addiction and non-drug addiction, ultimately aiming to further the understanding of the key concepts needed for a foundation to study the biological and psychological underpinnings of addiction disorders.

The composition of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in triacylglycerols (TAGs) is key to health benefits and for oil applications, yet the underlying genetic mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, by in silico, ex vivo, and in vivo profiling of type-2 diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGAT2s) in Nannochloropsis oceanica we revealed two novel PUFA-preferring enzymes that discriminate individual PUFA species in TAG assembly, with NoDGAT2J for linoleic acid (LA) and NoDGAT2K for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The LA and EPA composition of TAG molecules is mediated in vivo via the functional partitioning between NoDGAT2J and 2K, both of which are localized in the chloroplast envelope. By modulating transcript abundance of the DGAT2s, an N. oceanica strain bank was created, where proportions of LA and EPA in TAG vary by 18.7-fold (between 0.21% and 3.92% dry weight) and 34.7-fold (between 0.09% and 3.12% dry weight), respectively. These findings lay the foundation for producing designer TAG molecules with tailored health benefits or for biofuel applications in industrial microalgae and higher-plant crops.

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BackgroundThe study aimed to compare the safety and effectiveness of Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) with conventional care in gastrectomy for gastric cancer.MethodsSearch strategy from Pubmed, Embase, Web of science, Cochrane library and reference lists was performed. The collected studies were randomized controlled trials and published only in English, and undergoing ERAS in gastrectomy for gastric cancer from January 1994 to August 2016.ResultsA total of eight studies including 801 patients were included. There were 399 cases in the ERAS and 402 cases in the conventional care groups. Meta-analysis showed that time to first passage of flatus (weighted mean difference (WMD) -14.57; 95% confidence interval (CI) -20.31 to -8.83, p<0.00001), level of C-reaction protein (WMD -19.46; 95 % CI -21.74 to -17.18, p<0.00001) and interleukin-6 (WMD-32.16; 95 % CI -33.86 to -30.46,p<0.00001) on postoperative days, postoperative hospital stay (WMD -1.85; 95 % CI -2.35 to -1.35, p<0.00001), hospital charge (WMD −0.94, 95 % CI, −1.40 to 0.49, p<0.0001) were significantly decreased for ERAS, but increased readmission rates (odds ratio (OR), 3.42, 95 % CI, 1.43 to 8.21, P=0.006). There were no statistically significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, operation time, number of retrieved lymph nodes, duration of foley catheter and postoperative complications (p>0.05).ConclusionsERAS is considered to be safe and effective in gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Further larger, multicenter and randomized trials were needed to beresearched.

Thermoplastics such as cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) have been increasingly used in fabricating microfluidic devices. However, the state-of-the-art microvalve technology is a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based three-layer structure. In order to integrate such a valve with a thermoplastics-based microfluidic device, a bonding method for thermoplastics/PDMS must be developed. We report here a method to bond COC with PDMS through surface activation by corona discharge, surface modification using 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA), and thermal annealing. The method is also applicable to PMMA. The bonding strength between thermoplastics and PDMS was represented by the peeling force, which was measured using a method established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The bonding strength measurement offered an objective and quantitative indicator for protocol optimization, as well as comparison with other PDMSassociated bonding methods. Using optimized bonding conditions, two valve arrays were fabricated in a COC/PDMS/COC device and cyclic operations of valve closing/opening were successfully demonstrated. The valve-containing devices withstood 100 psi (~689 KPa) without delamination. Further, we integrated such valve arrays in a device for protein separation and demonstrated isoelectric focusing in the presence of valves.Thermoplastics have been increasingly employed for microfluidics applications. 1 Compared with glass and silicon, thermoplastics offer several advantages including manufacturability, low cost, and biocompatibility. [1][2][3][4] Among several thermoplastics, cyclic olefin copolymers (COC) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) are frequently exploited for making microfluidic devices. These devices were often fabricated by bonding a cover sheet with a substrate containing microchannels and other microfeatures using various bonding methods including thermal fusion, 3-7 solvent bonding, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] surface treatment, [15][16][17][18][19][20] and adhesives. 21,22 Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages as reviewed in the literature. 1,2 A microfluidic system consists of a number of necessary building blocks. One of them is microvalves that may regulate flows, contain fluids, and isolate one region from the other. 23,24 Microvalves can be actuated using a variety of mechanisms, including electric, pneumatic, and thermal methods. 23 The state-of-the-art microvalve technique for lab-on-achip systems is elastic membrane-based polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) valves. Quake's * To whom correspondence should be addressed. hfan@ufl.edu; Fax: 352-392-7303. . 25 followed by several studies using thousands of integrated microvalves for high-throughput applications. [26][27][28][29] The elastomer valves consists of three layers of PDMS. Control channels in the top layer are used to regulate the fluid channels in the bottom layer through the elastic property of the middle PDMS layer. The elastomer valve has been adopted by...

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Protein/surface interactions are well known to play an important role in various biological phenomena and to determine the ultimate biofunctionality of a given material once it is in contact with a biological environment. Control over the interactions between proteins and material surfaces are not only of great theoretical interest but also of crucial importance for many biomedical applications. In this Feature Article, we summarize various successful approaches used in our laboratory and other groups for controlling protein adsorption through chemical modification of the surface and/or the introduction of specific topographic features. Some perspectives on future research in these areas are also presented.

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