In recent years, there has been great interest in mental health disorders. It is very important for people with mental health disorders to protect themselves from the stressful conditions that can occur as part of daily life before their symptoms become worse. We attempted to identify stress markers in skin gases in order to study the stress condition non-invasively in real time. We investigated changes in the skin gas components relative to the normal skin gas components of the subjects when stress was induced in the subjects using the Trier social stress test method, and we attempted to identify stress markers from those changes. We used a statistical analysis method and identified six stress markers in skin gases released from the armpits of the subjects.
Pharmacogenetics has often been touted as a cornerstone for precision medicine as detailed knowledge of a specific genetic makeup may allow for accurate predictions of a patient's individual drug response. Still, the widespread use of genetic tests is limited as they remain expensive and cumbersome, requiring sophisticated tools and highly trained personnel. In order for pharmacogenetics to reach its full potential, more cost-effective and easily accessible genotyping methods are desired. To meet these challenges, we present a silicon-based integrated microsystem for the detection of multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) directly from human blood. The device combines a blood lysis chamber, a cross-flow filter, a T-junction mixer, and a microreactor for quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Using this device, successful on-chip genotyping of two clinically relevant SNPs in human CYP2C9 gene was demonstrated with TaqMan assays, starting from blood. The two SNPs were detected simultaneously by introducing a sequence of plugs, each containing a different set of primers and probes. The method can be easily extended to detect several SNPs. The microsystem described here offers a rapid, reproducible, and accurate sample-to-answer technology enabling multiplex SNP profiling in point-of-care settings, bringing pharmacogenetics-based precision medicine a step closer to reality.
The excellent performance of a 100-GB-capacity write-once disk was demonstrated. The disk has quadruple recording layers, i.e., Layer 3, 2, 1, and 0 (from the laser-incident side of the disk) based on the 4Â Blu-ray disc (BD) format. Each layer is provided with a phase-change type memory film of Te-O-Pd, whose thickness was 20 nm for Layer 0, and only 6 nm for Layers 1, 2, and 3 in order to obtain high transmissivity. Additionally, for Layers 2 and 3, a metallic reflection layer was not needed and an AlN film with high thermal conductivity was formed next to each recording film. The AlN film suppressed the heat-induced damage of thin recording films. Consequently, the high transmissivities of 64% (Layer 1), 75% (Layer 2), and 81% (Layer 3) were achieved so that a quadruple layer disk with high quality was realized. The experimental disk showed tolerance to a wide range of writing speeds from 1Â (36 Mbps) to 4Â (144 Mbps). Good jitter values for each layer within an available maximum laser power of 27 mW on the disk were demonstrated. The acceleration test for lifetime using the Arrhenius plots showed that this write-once disk has an estimated lifetime of more than 100 years at 30 C and 85% relative humidity (RH).
A silicon microfluidic chip was developed for microRNA (miRNA) quantitative analysis. It performs sequentially reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction in a digital droplet format. Individual processes take place on different cavities, and reagent and sample mixing is carried out on a chip, prior to entering each compartment. The droplets are generated on a T-junction channel before the polymerase chain reaction step. Also, a miniaturized fluorescence detector was developed, based on an optical pick-up head of digital versatile disc (DVD) and a micro-photomultiplier tube. The chip integrated in the detection system was tested using synthetic miRNA with known concentrations, ranging from 300 to 3,000 templates/µL. Results proved the functionality of the system.
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