Microfluidics: reframing biological enquiry

The underlying physical properties of microfluidic tools have led to new biological insights through the development of microsystems that can manipulate, mimic and measure biology at a resolution that has not been possible with macroscale tools. Microsystems readily handle sub-microlitre volumes, precisely route predictable laminar fluid flows and match both perturbations and measurements to the length scales and timescales of biological systems. The advent of fabrication techniques that do not require highly specialized engineering facilities is fuelling the broad dissemination of microfluidic systems and their adaptation to specific biological questions. We describe how our understanding of molecular and cell biology is being and will continue to be advanced by precision microfluidic approaches and posit that microfluidic tools - in conjunction with advanced imaging, bioinformatics and molecular biology approaches - will transform biology into a precision science

Big Potential for Small-Satellite Students

Small satellites aren’t just enablers of new technologies and systems. They’re enabling a whole new generation of students for whom traditional educational methods don’t seem to work. These students find open-ended, discoverybased, group learning to be more effective than the traditional blackboard-and-textbook educational paradigm. In addition, small-satellite project-based learning not only emphasizes the multidisciplinary aspect of engineering, but also integrates life experiences that result in a different kind of engineer that is more adaptable in today’s rapidly changing work environment

The acid-dissociation equilibria of hydrous ferric oxides (HFO) in various supporting electrolyte solutions

Abstract not available

Active Antennas for Cubesat Applications

An active antenna known as a grid oscillator is presented for use onboard the University of Hawaii’s CubeSat. It operates at high frequencies that will be able to facilitate future, more data-intensive missions. The device uses an efficient power-combining scheme packaged in a compact, low-profile structure that can be mounted on the side of a cube. The active antenna consists of an array of transistors directly embedded into a planar radiating structure. An infinitearray approximation is used to simulate the grid design in CAD programs. Various mounting schematics are presented for the grid oscillator that is currently being fabricated with a desired oscillation frequency of 5.85 GHz

The genomic basis of trophic strategy in marine bacteria

Many marine bacteria have evolved to grow optimally at either high (copiotrophic) or low (oligotrophic) nutrient concentrations, enabling different species to colonize distinct trophic habitats in the oceans. Here, we compare the genome sequences of two bacteria, Photobacterium angustum S14 and Sphingopyxis alaskensis RB2256, that serve as useful model organisms for copiotrophic and oligotrophic modes of life and specifically relate the genomic features to trophic strategy for these organisms and define their molecular mechanisms of adaptation. We developed a model for predicting trophic lifestyle from genome sequence data and tested >400,000 proteins representing >500 million nucleotides of sequence data from 126 genome sequences with metagenome data of whole environmental samples. When applied to available oceanic metagenome data (e.g., the Global Ocean Survey data) the model demonstrated that oligotrophs, and not the more readily isolatable copiotrophs, dominate the ocean's free-living microbial populations. Using our model, it is now possible to define the types of bacteria that specific ocean niches are capable of sustaining