Development of carbon nanoparticles-based soluble solid-phase immune sensor for the quantitative diagnosis of inflammation

Quantitative immunodiagnosis is one of the most commonly used methods for in vitro diagnostics. Various bioanalytical methods have been developed to quantitatively diagnose immune analytes; however, they require blood dilution pretreatment, reaction mixing, complicated experimental steps, and can cause diagnostic errors due to the hook effect. To address this issue, we introduced a simple immunoassay based on carbon nanoparticles (CNPs). The assay was designed to have high flexibility for use in various in vitro diagnostic devices by constructing a soluble solid-phase immune sensor with high solubility using antibody-conjugated CNPs and polymer materials. Excellent performance was achieved using a free-antibody system with dual calibration. To verify the performance of this method with high reliability, canine C-reactive protein was selected as the immune analyte. Interestingly, our method efficiently mitigated the hook effect with outstanding performance in a one-step reaction without blood dilution or reaction mixing. The detection range of the target can be effectively controlled using free antibodies. Therefore, our CNP-based immunodiagnosis method may advance the commercialization of point-of-care immune biosensors.

Testing theoretical explanations of mammography use

The theory of care-seeking behavior was tested in the context of mammography use among midwestern women (N = 178). In multivariate logistic regressions, mammography adherence in the past 5 years was related to habit, the interaction of anxiety and barriers, belief in one's risk of breast cancer, age, and family history of breast cancer. Recent use of mammograms (i.e., in the past 1 or 2 years, depending on age) was related to norm and habit. Intention was related to utility beliefs regarding mammography, norm, habit, and belief in one's risk of breast cancer. As proposed from theory, anxiety and barriers interacted to influence adherence, the variables of habit, utility beliefs, and norm were related to either recent use or intention. Contrary to theory, belief in one's risk of breast cancer, age, and family history of breast cancer were related to adherence or intention after controlling for theoretically derived variables. The explanatory variables for each outcome were not identical, indicating that these mammography-related outcomes are characteristically different.

Optimism and coping with a breast cancer symptom

This study was conducted to assess whether optimism was associated with less delay and anxiety in seeking care for breast cancer symptoms, expectations about such care seeking, and the likelihood of having breast cancer. The influence of optimism on delay and anxiety through expectations about care seeking or likelihood of breast cancer was also examined. Participants (N = 135) with breast cancer symptoms and no history of cancer were interviewed at a surgery clinic. Optimism was associated with less delay and anxiety in care seeking and with expectations of desirable outcomes of care seeking. After controlling for expectations about care seeking, the relationship of optimism and anxiety became nonsignificant. Adjusting for differences in occupational status, the relationship of optimism and delay was nonsignificant. Thus, optimism may influence anxiety in care seeking for breast cancer symptoms through situation-specific expectations. The influence of optimism on delay may be confounded with socioeconomic factors.