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Dendrimers in Diagnostics Application
Published in Neelesh Kumar Mehra, Keerti Jain, Dendrimers in Nanomedicine, 2021
Biplab Sikdar, Gagandeep Maan, Awanish Mishra
Dendrimers are the synthesised hyper-grafted polymer systems that can be combined to different chemical agents for various biomedical applications such as diagnostic agents, imaging agents, targeting therapeutic agents, etc. Other applications of dendrimers include as a carrier for drug targeting, for gene delivery, in cancer therapy, as RNA interference transporters, in targeting the central nervous system, in bacterial and viral infections, in other neglected tropical diseases, etc. (Mintzer and Grinstaff 2011; Ray and Khan 2018; Lyu et al. 2019).
Introduction
Published in Sudip Poddar, Bhargab B. Bhattacharya, Error-Tolerant Biochemical Sample Preparation with Microfluidic Lab-on-Chip, 2022
Sudip Poddar, Bhargab B. Bhattacharya
Microfluidics, a technology that enables precise manipulation of small amount of fluid on a tiny chip, has evolved as low-cost and reliable platform for implementing several biochemical protocols, e.g., chemical synthesis, in-vitro diagnostics, drug discovery, and environmental and food toxicity monitoring [138]. Such “micro total analysis systems” (μTAS), also known as “lab-on-chips (LoC)” or “biochips”, offer automation, miniaturization, and integration of complex assays, and were fabricated using fluidic components such as microchannels, micropumps, and microvalves, in the nineties. Originally developed by the semiconductor industry, these devices were later used extensively to build a wider class of Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). LoCs can replace expensive and bulky biochemical instruments, and perform clinical diagnosis, massively parallel DNA analysis, protein crystallization, real-time bio-molecular detection, recognition of pathogens, and immunoassays, in much faster and cheaper ways [158]. They are useful for rapid diagnosis of various diseases including malaria, HIV/AIDS, and neglected tropical diseases (NTD) prevalent in developing countries [88, 116, 145, 152]. These devices can also be deployed for providing immediate point-of-care (PoC) health services [139, 143] and for the management of bio-terrorism threats [63, 170]. Microfluidic technology has recently led to the development of synthetic biology and micro-engineered cell culture platforms, known as organ-on-chip (OoC), that mimics in-vivo environments of living organs[8]. OoCs offer more realistic ambience for modeling diseases, testing the efficacy of drugs, and for the study of prognosis. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors predicted as early in 2007 that medical science would likely to serve as a major driving force in the future [1]. According to a report released by Research and Markets, the global market revenue of in-vitro diagnostics grew from USD 55.8 billion in 2014 to USD 62.6 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach USD 113.1 billion by 2026 from USD 98.2 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 2.9% during the forecast period [108], a major share of which can possibly be attributed to the emergence of microfluidic LoCs.
Immunology research in Latin American countries: a bibliometric analysis of scientific productivity and collaboration covering the period 2000–2017
Published in Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society, 2021
Luis Humberto Fabila-Castillo, Ruy Fabila-Monroy, Ana Alejandra Morales-Rodríguez
Historically, one of the most significant impacts of immunology on public health has been the development of vaccines, which have saved countless lives since the nineteenth century. One of the most devastating diseases known to humanity, smallpox, was declared eradicated from the world in 1980 thanks to vaccination, and polio is close to following the same fate. Although a couple of dozen vaccines are currently in use, many millions of individuals, mainly in underdeveloped or developing countries, continue to suffer from infectious diseases for which there are no effective vaccines. That is particularly important for a group of tropical diseases caused by microorganisms that affect a high proportion of the most impoverished populations living in developing countries. Called neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), they receive much less attention from developed countries regarding scientific research, or the development of vaccines or pharmaceuticals in relation to diseases that affect developed countries. Many of these NTDs are a severe burden in Latin American countries (Hotez et al. 2008).
21st century research in urban WASH and health in sub-Saharan Africa: methods and outcomes in transition
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2019
Eve Mackinnon, Richard Ayah, Richard Taylor, Michael Owor, John Ssempebwa, l Daniel Olago, Robinah Kubalako, Anta Tal Dia, Cheikh Gaye, Luiza C. Campos, Edward Fottrell
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse sub-group of communicable diseases that prevail in tropical and sub-tropical conditions and disproportionately affect populations living in poverty and, as such, are largely attributable to poor access to safe water or sanitation and poor hygiene conditions (Feasey et al. 2010). A total of 38 papers researched NTDs and WASH factors in urban SSA contexts. These included infections from Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) including intestinal parasites such as Schistosomiasis and Ascaris and vector-transmitted diseases such as Trachoma. The study design typically used cross-sectional or case-control data that described the prevalence of STH in populations exposed to different WASH variables.