A sensitive monitoring of biological analytes, such as biomolecules (protein, lipid, DNA and RNA), and biological cells (blood cell, virus and bacteria), is essential to assess and avoid risks for human health. Nanobiosensors, analytical devices that combine a biologically sensitive element with a nanostructured transducer, are being widely used for molecular detection of biomarkers associated ...

The use of biological agents in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has grown constantly since the approval of the first therapeutic monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) in 1996. While these agents transformed RA treatment, not all patients respond to these agents. Moreover, the cost of these agents is high, and some patients may suffer from adverse events. Thus,...

Self-cycling fermentation (SCF) was coupled with a genetic algorithm (GA) to provide a simple system for evaluating biological models. The SCF provided the necessary system excitation and data "richness" required to completely define the fitted biological models. The solution scheme based on the GA avoided the computational difficulties often associated with calculus-based nonlinear regression ...

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of immunosuppressive drugs has evolved over the last few decades. The use of liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, for example, now provides robust and highly specific quantification in the clinical laboratory. Nevertheless, the measurement of immunosuppressive drug concentrations, even if carried out accurately and precisely, does not sufficiently re...

A significant increase in real world event monitoring capability with wireless sensor networks will lead to a further evolution of ubiquitous computing. This paper describes this evolution, leading to humans being connected to the real world via computers without awareness. We address an ad hoc communication paradigm, a data-centric approach, and a middleware’s task, to understand the ultimate ...

In solid organ transplantation, new approaches able to reflect individual responses are required to monitor immunosuppressive therapy and to improve its safety and efficacy. In the last few years, preliminary studies about the clinical impact of the measurement of new specific biomarkers of exposure (pharmacogenetic biomarkers) and the biological effects (pharmacodynamic biomarkers) of immunosu...

max 200 words) Soil biota are essential for many soil processes and functions, yet there is an increasing pressure on soil biodiversity and soil degradation remains a pertinent issue. Therefore, the sustainable management of soils requires soil monitoring, including biological indicators able to relate land use and management to soil functioning and ecosystem services. Since the 1990’s, biologi...

A biological monitoring programme has been developed for assessing occupational exposure to 4,4'-methylenebis (2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA) in a factory which manufactures polyurethane elastomers. In a systematic programme of biological monitoring over a five year period urinary MBOCA concentrations have been used to provide evidence of absorption of MBOCA. Improvements in the handling and use of M...