Testing microelectronic biofluidic systems

According to the 2005 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the integration of emerging nondigital CMOS technologies will require radically different test methods, posing a major challenge for designers and test engineers. One such technology is microelectronic fluidic (MEF) arrays, which have rapidly gained importance in many biological, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications. The advantages of these systems, such as operation speed, use of very small amounts of liquid, on-board droplet detection, signal conditioning, and vast digital signal processing, make them very promising. However, testable design of these devices in a mass-production environment is still in its infancy, hampering their low-cost introduction to the market. This article describes analog and digital MEF design and testing method

Stochastic modelling, Bayesian inference, and new in vivo measurements elucidate the debated mtDNA bottleneck mechanism

Dangerous damage to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can be ameliorated during mammalian development through a highly debated mechanism called the mtDNA bottleneck. Uncertainty surrounding this process limits our ability to address inherited mtDNA diseases. We produce a new, physically motivated, generalisable theoretical model for mtDNA populations during development, allowing the first statistical comparison of proposed bottleneck mechanisms. Using approximate Bayesian computation and mouse data, we find most statistical support for a combination of binomial partitioning of mtDNAs at cell divisions and random mtDNA turnover, meaning that the debated exact magnitude of mtDNA copy number depletion is flexible. New experimental measurements from a wild-derived mtDNA pairing in mice confirm the theoretical predictions of this model. We analytically solve a mathematical description of this mechanism, computing probabilities of mtDNA disease onset, efficacy of clinical sampling strategies, and effects of potential dynamic interventions, thus developing a quantitative and experimentally-supported stochastic theory of the bottleneck.Comment: Main text: 14 pages, 5 figures; Supplement: 17 pages, 4 figures; Total: 31 pages, 9 figure

Family of 2-simplex cognitive tools and their application for decision-making and its justifications

Urgency of application and development of cognitive graphic tools for usage in intelligent systems of data analysis, decision making and its justifications is given. Cognitive graphic tool "2-simplex prism" and examples of its usage are presented. Specificity of program realization of cognitive graphics tools invariant to problem areas is described. Most significant results are given and discussed. Future investigations are connected with usage of new approach to rendering, cross-platform realization, cognitive features improving and expanding of n-simplex family.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, conferenc

Vertical wind profile characterization and identification of patterns based on a shape clustering algorithm

Wind power plants are becoming a generally accepted resource in the generation mix of many utilities. At the same time, the size and the power rating of individual wind turbines have increased considerably. Under these circumstances, the sector is increasingly demanding an accurate characterization of vertical wind speed profiles to estimate properly the incoming wind speed at the rotor swept area and, consequently, assess the potential for a wind power plant site. The present paper describes a shape-based clustering characterization and visualization of real vertical wind speed data. The proposed solution allows us to identify the most likely vertical wind speed patterns for a specific location based on real wind speed measurements. Moreover, this clustering approach also provides characterization and classification of such vertical wind profiles. This solution is highly suitable for a large amount of data collected by remote sensing equipment, where wind speed values at different heights within the rotor swept area are available for subsequent analysis. The methodology is based on z-normalization, shape-based distance metric solution and the Ward-hierarchical clustering method. Real vertical wind speed profile data corresponding to a Spanish wind power plant and collected by using a commercialWindcube equipment during several months are used to assess the proposed characterization and clustering process, involving more than 100000 wind speed data values. All analyses have been implemented using open-source R-software. From the results, at least four different vertical wind speed patterns are identified to characterize properly over 90% of the collected wind speed data along the day. Therefore, alternative analytical function criteria should be subsequently proposed for vertical wind speed characterization purposes.The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness and the European Union —ENE2016-78214-C2-2-R—and the Spanish Education, Culture and Sport Ministry —FPU16/042

Catalyzed bimolecular reactions in responsive nanoreactors

We describe a general theory for surface-catalyzed bimolecular reactions in responsive nanoreactors, catalytically active nanoparticles coated by a stimuli-responsive 'gating' shell, whose permeability controls the activity of the process. We address two archetypal scenarios encountered in this system: The first, where two species diffusing from a bulk solution react at the catalyst's surface; the second where only one of the reactants diffuses from the bulk while the other one is produced at the nanoparticle surface, e.g., by light conversion. We find that in both scenarios the total catalytic rate has the same mathematical structure, once diffusion rates are properly redefined. Moreover, the diffusional fluxes of the different reactants are strongly coupled, providing a richer behavior than that arising in unimolecular reactions. We also show that in stark contrast to bulk reactions, the identification of a limiting reactant is not simply determined by the relative bulk concentrations but controlled by the nanoreactor shell permeability. Finally, we describe an application of our theory by analyzing experimental data on the reaction between hexacyanoferrate (III) and borohydride ions in responsive hydrogel-based core-shell nanoreactors.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Pumps condition assessment in water distribution networks

Postprint (published version