Polyelectrolyte hydrogel is a three dimensional networks forming by charged polymer chains. The hydrophilic networks capable of imbibing large amount of water or biological fluids, mimics biological tissues. Because of this nature, great attention was devoted to these systems for biomedical applications by tuning the physicochemical properties with varying the degree of crosslinking either by physical or chemical or physical-chemical means. Numerous approaches have been investigated for formulation of polyelectrolyte hydrogels. In this chapter, an attempt was made to narrate the synthetic and natural materials and their mechanism to form cross-linked polyelectrolyte hydrogels. It was also tried to explain the importance of ionotropic gelation and polyelectrolyte complexation approaches, as these methods show great promise as a tool for the development in their application process. For further understanding in this area, a mathematical model was introduced to describe the thermodynamic behavior of polyelectrolyte hydrogels and derives conditions for thermodynamic phase equilibrium; the physical and chemical characterization of hydrogels, as well as special considerations that need to be made when characterizing polyelectrolyte hydrogels, were also discussed. In the end, a number of biomedical applications of polyelectrolyte hydrogel were given, such as in controlled release systems, different types of tissue reconstitution, for the enzyme and protein separations, etc.

关键词：聚电解质水凝胶；三维网络；生物医学

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Hearing loss can render a soldier less able to detect and identify the enemy, less able to understand commands, particularly in background noise typical on the battlefield, and may permanently reduce quality of life. Currently, no FDA approved pharmacolog.

关键词：听力损失；噪音；临床试验

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The study was designed to identify clinically accessible molecular biomarkers of traumatic brain injury (TBI) prior to definitive clinical diagnosis using high throughput microRNA technology. Specifically, these studies were meant to identify, characterize, and validate microRNA biomarker species whose content in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) could help to distinguish TBI cases from the Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veteran population. During the past years, we conducted a Biomarker Discovery study using a high-throughput Array chip platform and identified 18 candidate TBI small RNA biomarkers. Using independent Q-PCR assays, we confirmed that 13 of these candidate small RNA biomarker species are, indeed, significantly down-regulated in PBMC of TBI compared to non-TBI control veteran cases. Additionally, we used unsupervised clustering analysis and demonstrated that the differential regulation of these small RNA biomarkers in clinically accessible blood cells is capable of distinguishing between TBI and non-TBI OEF/OIF veteran cases. Lastly, we identified a 3-biomarker panel capable of distinguishing TBI from non-TBI control veteran cases with 89% accuracy 82% selectivity and 78% specificity. The majority of TBI cases in our biomarker study were co-morbid with PTSD, and our non-TBI control cases were selected to match for PTSD diagnosis. Thus, our identified panel of 13 small RNA biomarkers likely represents biological indices selective for TBI. During the past year, we recruited 13 new cases (6 TBI and 7 non-TBI cases). Together with the cases recruited in previous years, we currently have a total of 83 cases, comprised of 17 TBI and 66 non-TBI control cases, which are available for Biomarker Validation studies.

关键词：创伤性脑损伤；退伍军人（军事人员）；医药

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The purpose of this project is to help prevent psychological disorders in high-risk individuals with early symptoms of stress, depression, substance use, and other health problems. Military medicine is increasingly concerned with the incidence of psychological casualties and the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning personnel. This incidence increases the need for medical care and reduces operational readiness. Few preventive methods are available to mitigate subclinical psychological health issues upon the return of personnel from deployment. The PHIT for Duty system is a personal health intervention tool (PHIT) using mobile smartphone technology to integrate personal health assessment with targeted self-help intervention for the mitigation of psychological symptoms, modification of risky behaviors, and provision of cognitive support. The study will identify self-help interventions to assist individuals in dealing with combat and operational stress; develop smartphone applications for health assessment and self-help intervention; and evaluate the PHIT methodology for prevention of psychological disorders in post-deployed personnel. Improvements in patient- related outcomes are expected to be demonstrated in 2-3 years. The PHIT for Duty mobile health approach can be transitioned for chronic disease management, obesity prevention, substance use intervention, and other domains where better personal health management could improve wellness and clinical outcomes.

关键词：心理健康；创伤后应激障碍；创伤性脑损伤

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We have now shown that Trop2 is a new regulator of stem/progenitor activity in the prostate. Trop2 controls self-renewal, proliferation and tissue hyperplasia through two cleavage products (ICD and ECD) generated by RIP. The intracellular domain of Trop2 is released from the membrane and accumulates in the nucleus. Nuclear ICD is found in human prostate cancer but not in the cancer-adjacent benign tissue, suggesting a role for Trop2 cleavage in tumorigenesis. Heightened expression of Trop2 intracellular or extracellular domains are sufficient to initiate precursor lesions to prostate cancer in vivo. Importantly, we demonstrate that Trop2 loss of function cleavage mutants are deficient in inducing self-renewal and tumorigenesis in the prostate. These findings suggest that heightened expression of Trop2 is selected for in epithelial cancers to enhance the stemlike properties of self-renewal and proliferation. Identifying the factors that regulate self-renewal will enhance our understanding of the tumorigenic process and lead to the design of novel cancer therapies.

关键词：乳沟；前列腺癌；细胞（生物学）；体内分析

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The Neuroepithelioma transforming gene 1 (Net1) is a RhoA specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) that is frequently overexpressed in human cancer, including breast cancer.

关键词：乳腺癌；脱氧核糖核酸；基因细胞

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关键词：汽车；交叉研究；交通安全

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An adolescent's perception of the risks associated with substance use is an important determinant of whether he or she engages in substance use. For example, youths who perceive high risk of harm are less likely to use drugs than youths who perceive low risk of harm. Thus, providing adolescents with credible, accurate, and age-appropriate information about the harm associated with substance use is a key component in prevention programming. Expanding upon research that shows the predictive nature of risk perceptions to subsequent substance use among adolescents, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides an opportunity to conduct a cross-sectional analysis of the changes over time in the prevalence of substance use and perceptions of risk. Although cross-sectional analysis cannot confirm that increases in substance use are a direct result of decreases in perceptions of risk, this report examines how rates of substance use and perceived risk vary over time and in relation to each other. Understanding the relationship between risk perception and substance use during adolescence may help to better target health promotion messages and increase the effectiveness of prevention and intervention programs.

关键词：物质滥用；青少年；危险因素；医药

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Hybridoma cell lines were developed against ricin toxin B (RTB) chain and ovalbumin. These cells were then grown in culture and purified for characterization and possible placement in the Critical Reagents Program repository. From the cell culture medium, antibodies were purified using protein A purification, desalted in 1 phosphate buffered saline using Sephadex G-25 columns, and then filtered with a 0.2 m filter. Twenty-seven purified clones were characterized against their respective immunogens using a Bio-Rad ProteOn XPR36 high-throughput surface plasmon resonance instrument. RTB clones were also characterized against ricin holotoxin. Using an indirect assay format, we estimated kinetic data and toxin reactivity in 14 h. Data were collected and analyzed using Scrubber Pro software. Two clones were found to bind ricin holotoxin in addition to the RTB. Kinetic constants for the ovalbumin clones were also obtained. In the future, this highthroughput screening method can be applied to other purified antibody clones to rank their utility in downstream field assay applications.

关键词：抗体；动力学；等离激；蓖麻毒素；生物制剂

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How leukemia stem cells gained resistance to radiation and chemotherapy is poorly defined, yet critically determines how leukemia cells tolerate conventional leukemia therapy. Normal hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia initiating cells are known to share.

关键词：白血病；干细胞；老化（生理）

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