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In order to improve the living standards of diabetes patients and reduce the negative health effects of this disease, the medical community has been actively searching for more effective treatments. In recent years, an artificial pancreas has emerged as an important approach to managing diabetes. Despite these recent advances, meeting the requirements for miniaturized size, accurate sensing and large-volume pumping capability remains a great challenge. Here, we present a novel miniaturized artificial pancreas based on a long microtube sensor integrated with an ultrasonic pump. Our device meets the requirements of achieving both accurate sensing and high pumping capacity. The artificial pancreas is constructed based on a long microtube that is low cost, painless and simple to operate, where the exterior of the microtube is fabricated as a glucose sensor for detecting diabetes and the interior of the microtube is used as a channel for delivering insulin through an ultrasonic pump. This work successfully achieved closed-loop control of blood glucose and treatment of diabetes in rats. It is expected that this work can open up new methodologies for the development of microsystems, and advance the management approach for diabetes patients. [Display omitted] • We report a miniature artificial pancreas with accuracy and high pumping capacity. • The artificial pancreas is based on a long microtube sensor and an ultrasonic pump. • This work realized a closed-loop control of blood glucose levels in diabetic rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of novel diabetes monitoring sensors is important for the diabetes management of millions of diabetic patients. This work reports a flexible filamentary continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor. A multilayer CGM sensor has been constructed on titanium filament with low cost and ease of use. The sensor, made of flexible material, offers better adaptability and comfort than traditional rigid filament CGM sensors, allowing continuous monitoring of subcutaneous blood glucose levels to provide patients with treatment strategies. The performance and reliability of the sensor were verified through rat experiments. The trend of the increase and decrease of the detected current was generally consistent with the actual blood glucose, and the detected values were located in regions A and B of the Clarke error grid. The results show that the sensor has the advantages of high sensitivity, high accuracy and fast response speed, which is suitable for monitoring the blood glucose level for a long time and has a broad application prospect in diabetes monitoring, exercise monitoring, health management and clinical application. [Display omitted] • This work reports a flexible filamentary continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor. • A multilayer CGM sensor has been constructed on titanium filament with low cost and ease of use. • The performance of the sensor was verified through rat experiments with high reliability and accuracy. • The sensor has high sensitivity, high accuracy and fast response for monitoring interstitial glucose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the rapid development of medical devices, micropumps have received increasing and widespread attentions for a variety of healthcare applications. The ongoing challenges for developing the micropumps for healthcare applications are the working mechanisms of the pumps, the device configurations, and the fabrication approaches. To address these challenges, this review would explore the fundamental principles and practical aspects of the micropumps, including the types of the micropumps, their working principles, the manufacturing processes for constructing the micropumps, and the related biomedical applications and commercial products. This review can serve as a resouce for the construction of next-generation micropumps, as well as a wide range of biomedical applications ranging from the disease diagnosis to drug delivery. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In clinical practice, sera creatinine level is regarded as a crucial biomarker for the diagnosis, staging and monitoring of kidney disease. An amperometric biosensor is rapid, accurate, and cost-effective, with a portability and a simple operation. Herein, we report for the firsttime a disposable, printed amperometric biosensor for the clinical evaluation of creatinine in renal function detection. The sensor is constructed based on Prussian blue/carbon-graphite paste as the working electrode and the immobilization of creatinine amidohydrolase, creatine amidinohydrolase and sarcosine oxidase. The creatinine biosensor shows a linear detection range from 0.05 to 1.4 mM with a detection time of about 3 min. In addition, the sensor shows a high stability that can maintain above 86% of the initial activity after being stored for over 4 months. Moreover, the sensor shows almost the same results as those with the Jaffe method for measuring the real blood samples. We anticipate that the creatinine biosensor could be widely used in the medical and healthcare areas, especially for at-home testing and onsite medical examinations. [Display omitted] • The work reports for the first time the development of a disposable, miniaturized and cost-effective creatinine biosensor. • The biosensor shows an accurate, sensitive and rapid determination of serum creatinine in renal function detection. • The biosensor demonstrates a similar detection performance to the Jeff Method that is used in hospital. • The biosensor exhibits a great potential for the at-home testing and the on-site medical examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uric acid and creatinine are essential biomarkers for many diseases, such as gout, hyperuricemia, kidney diseases and heart diseases. Electrochemical biosensors are promising candidates for detecting uric acid and creatinine. However, the sensors always suffer from low stability that would limit their practical applications. In this work, we report a new multilayer enzyme matrix to enhance the room-temperature storage stabilities of uric acid and creatinine biosensors significantly. The enzymes are first dropped on the electrode surface directly, then a layer of glutaraldehyde was deposited on the surface of the enzyme layer, and after that, another layer of a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) composite was further placed on the surface of the glutaraldehyde layer, with drying in between. The stabilities of uric acid and creatinine biosensors were enhanced significantly, and the sensors can maintain highly stable sensing performance for over 4 months with a storage at room temperature. It is anticipated that this work could open new avenues for the practical applications of the uric acid and creatinine biosensors. [Display omitted] • The work reports a new multilayer enzyme matrix to enhance the room-temperature storage stabilities of biosensors. • The method is based on a sequential deposition of enzyme, glutaraldehyde, and polyvinyl alcohol/poly(ethylene glycol). • The sensors can maintain highly stable sensing performance for over 4 months with a storage at room temperature. • The sensors can perform accurate detection of uric acid and creatinine in whole blood samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many rice breeding programs have currently reached yield plateaus as a result of limited genetic variability in parental strains. Dongxiang common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) is the progenitor of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) and serves as an important gene pool for the genetic improvement of rice cultivars. In this study, heterotic loci (HLs) associated with six yield-related traits were identified in wild and cultivated rice and investigated using a set of 265 introgression lines (ILs) of O. rufipogon Griff. in the background of the Indica high-yielding cultivar Guichao 2 (O. sativa L.). Forty-two HLs were detected by a single point analysis of mid-parent heterosis values from test cross F1 offspring, and 30 (71.5%) of these HLs showed significantly positive effects, consistent with the superiority shown by the F1 test cross population in the six yield-related traits under study. Genetic mapping of hsp11, a locus responsible for the number of spikelets per panicle, confirmed the utility of these HLs. The results indicate that favorable HLs capable of improving agronomic traits are available. The identification of HLs between wild rice and cultivated rice could lead to a new strategy for the application of heterosis in rice breeding. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]