ApoStream?, a new dielectrophoretic device for antibody independent isolation and recovery of viable cancer cells from blood

Isolation and enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are used to monitor metastatic disease progression and guide cancer therapy. However, currently available technologies are limited to cells expressing specific cell surface markers, such as epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) or have limited specificity because they are based on cell size alone. We developed a device, ApoStream^™ that overcomes these limitations by exploiting differences in the biophysical characteristics between cancer cells and normal, healthy blood cells to capture CTCs using dielectrophoretic technology in a microfluidic flow chamber. Further, the system overcomes throughput limitations by operating in continuous mode for efficient isolation and enrichment of CTCs from blood. The performance of the device was optimized using a design of experiment approach for key operating parameters such as frequency, voltage and flow rates, and buffer formulations. Cell spiking studies were conducted using SKOV3 or MDA-MB-231 cell lines that have a high and low expression level of EpCAM, respectively, to demonstrate linearity and precision of recovery independent of EpCAM receptor levels. The average recovery of SKOV3 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells spiked into approximately 12 × 10⁶ peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 7.5 ml normal human donor blood was 75.4% ± 3.1% (n = 12) and 71.2% ± 1.6% (n = 6), respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision coefficients of variation of the device were both less than 3%. Linear regression analysis yielded a correlation coefficient (R²) of more than 0.99 for a spiking range of 4–2600 cells. The viability of MDA-MB-231 cancer cells captured with ApoStream was greater than 97.1% and there was no difference in cell growth up to 7 days in culture compared to controls. The ApoStream device demonstrated high precision and linearity of recovery of viable cancer cells independent of their EpCAM expression level. Isolation and enrichment of viable cancer cells from ApoStream enables molecular characterization of CTCs from a wide range of cancer types.     

自血疗法治疗HIV湿疹患者临床观察及对CD4~+T淋巴细胞的影响

目的:观察自血疗法对HIV湿疹患者临床症状体征的影响及CD4~+T淋巴细胞计数的改变。方法:选择HAART治疗1年以上的HIV湿疹患者,随机分入治疗组及对照组。最终完成治疗者30例,其中治疗组15例,对照组15例;治疗组抽取肘部静脉血约4m L注射至单侧曲池穴和足三里穴,每侧穴位约2m L;对照组患者在单侧曲池穴、足三里穴每个穴位注射生理盐水约2m L。所有患者均3天注射1次,两侧穴位交替进行,共治疗90天。两组患者均给予HAART治疗。分别在治疗前后,比较两组患者临床症状、体征积分,CD4~+T淋巴细胞绝对计数和血常规等指标变化。结果:两组患者治疗后,皮损情况较治疗前均有不同程度改善,治疗组总有效率高于对照组,两组总有效率比较没有差异(P0.05)。其中,治疗组脾虚湿阻证和血虚风燥证两种证型皮损改善明显;治疗后,治疗组与治疗前相比,红斑、丘疹、脱屑、苔癣化、瘙痒症状体征改善明显。对照组与治疗前相比,红斑、脱屑、苔癣化、瘙痒等症状体征有改善;治疗后,治疗组与治疗前比较,CD4~+T淋巴细胞绝对计数比较有差异(P0.05),未发现明显不良反应。结论:穴位注射能改善HIV湿疹患者的临床症状和体征。在皮疹改善方面,自血穴位注射在以虚证为主的证型方面较普通穴位注射明显,且自血穴位注射能提高CD4~+T淋巴细胞绝对计数。     

Greetings from the President of the Federal Republic of Germany

At all times and in all countries of the world, people have been fascinated by obtaining deeper insights into life and have eagerly absorbed new knowledge from around the globe. Thus in addition to trade, the sciences early on became one of the most fruitful areas of worldwide exchange and international communication. Today, it is still often the sciences that bridge national and cultural differences between countries. The Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Max Planck Society can proudly look back on     

Greetings from State Councillor of the People''''s Republic of China

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, 1 hope that the scientific and technological cooperation between the two organizations can be continu-     

Greetings from the President of the People''''s Republic of China

For centuries, the continuous development of science and technology has greatly promoted the process of mankind's understanding and utilization of nature, and at the same time strongly enhanced exchanges and cooperation between various nationalities and different civilizations. In the modern era, science and technology are developing vigorously and changing with each passing day. Strengthening international scientific cooperation is invaluable in helping     

Reduction of gross hemolysis in catheter-drawn blood using Greiner Holdex? tube holder

Introduction:

Blood collection through intravenous lines frequently causes spurious hemolysis. Due to specific structure, the tube holder Holdex^® (Greiner Bio-One GmbH, Kremsmuenster, Austria) is supposed to prevent erythrocyte injury in samples collected from catheters, so that we planned a specific study to support this hypothesis.

Materials and methods:

Blood was collected from emergency department (ED) patients with 20-gauge catheter. In patients with odd order numbers, first and second tubes were collected with conventional holder (BD Vacutainer One Use Holder, Becton Dickinson, Milan, Italy) and the third with Holdex, whereas in even patients first and second tubes were drawn with Holdex and the third using BD Vacutainer One Use Holder. The first tube was discarded, whereas the second and third were centrifuged and serum was tested for potassium, lactate dehydrogenase (LD) and hemolysis index.

Results:

The final study population consisted in 60 ED patients. Concentrations of potassium (4.25 vs. 4.16 mmol/L; P = 0.031), LD (498 vs. 459 U/L; P = 0.039) and cell-free hemoglobin (0.42 vs. 0.22 g/L; P = 0.042) were higher in samples collected with BD Vacutainer One Use Holder than with Holdex. The mean bias of cell-free hemoglobin was −0.4 g/L in samples collected with Holdex. Although the frequency of samples with cell-free hemoglobin > 0.5 g/L was identical (17/60 vs. 17/60; P = 1.00), the frequency of those with concentrations >3.0 g/L was higher using BD Vacutainer One Use Holder than Holdex (4/60 vs. 0/60; P = 0.042).

Conclusions:

The use of Holdex for drawing blood from intravenous lines may be effective for reducing gross hemolysis.     

On legal value of mediation——from the view of jurisprudence

Mediation is becoming more and more important in the process of settling conflict nowadays, so it＇s quite necessary to explain the legal value of mediation from the view of jurisprudence.     

Study of the Case of Dispute Arising from Infringement of STARBUCKS Trademarks and Unfair Competition

This is the case in which the court in Shanghai has es- tablished the very first well-kown mark since the amended Trademark Law entered into force in 2001.On 31 December 2005,the Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court ren- dered the ruling of first instance,establishing that the"STARBUCKS"and"星巴克"(the Chinese translation of"STARBUCKS"pronounced as"xingbake") trademarks as well-known marks and deciding that the defendant's act con- stituted trademark infringement and unfair competition.Dis- satisfied with the ruling the defendants appealed to the Shanghai Higher People's Court,which made the ruling to have upheld the former ruling.In this article an in-depth study is presented of the establishment of the well-known marks in suit and the decision on the trademark infringement and unfair competition and on the amount of damages.     

Flora of China Gets Financial Support from National Foundation

An international researchproject to produce Chinasfirst English-language cor-pus of plant life, Flora of China,has just received four million yuan($480,000) from the National Natu-ral Science Foundation of China(NSFC) for an executive period offive years from January 2003 toDecember 2008.Flora of China is a revision ofthe Chinese language FloraReipublicae Popularis Sinicae,the first volume of which was pub-lished in 1959 and the final volumesof which are to be completed soon.Since 1989…     

Determination of “average particle size” from the screen-analysis of non-uniform particulate substances

The size distribution data obtained by screen analysis of a non-uniform substance cannot be used directly in calculating the various average diameters of the material since this method of analysis gives the distribution in terms of weight rather than count. The distribution curve by weight however bears a definite relation to the regular size-frequency curve and suitable transformation equations are presented by means of which one is able to calculate the various average diameters from the parameters of the curve given by the screen analysis. The screens are calibrated in terms of the actual size of the material retained rather than the dimensions of the screen openings or an arbitrary method of calculating the “size of separation.”     

4/3系统的旗手：T3专访奥林巴斯

作为老牌的光学相机厂商．无论是率先提出的生活防水。还是到最新的相机防震，每一个细节都显示出奥林巴斯公司以拍摄为本的创新精神。如今数码行业竞争异常激烈．众商家都在不断谋求创新思路。以求能在行业中得以领先。鉴于对奥林巴斯产品的种种新特性的疑问，我们采访了奥林巴斯的杨文蕾。