Suspended Cell Patterning for Automatic Microrobotic Cell Injection

Microinjection of DNA/mRNA/morpholinos is a critical technology for molecular biology and drug discovery. When dealing with suspended cells, state-of-the-art manual injection involves a time-consuming and tedious sample preparation procedure, to accurately align cells. To enable automatic microrobotic cell injection, this paper reports on two inexpensive, reusable, biocompatible, and easy-to-make devices that are capable of patterning a large number of cells in 10-30 seconds. One device is based on negative air pressure and made of polycarbonate using a conventional micro-machining process. It is particularly suitable for cells larger than 100¿m, such as the zebrafish embryo patterning and successful gene 'knock-down' products of the morpholino-injected embryos. The other device is based on dielectrophoresis and suitable for cells smaller than 100¿m, demonstrated by successful trapping of pituitary cells. These devices offer a complete solution for suspended cells in all size spectrums to be prepared up to 10 times faster than manual human preparation. Furthermore, this approach can facilitate high-throughput automatic microrobotic cell injection, for injection applications such as the injection of zebrafish embryos, mouse oocytes/embryos, Drosophila embryos, and other types of suspended cells

A habitat network for terrestrial wildlife in the Interior Columbia Basin

Habitat managers need information about landscape conditions in relation to the composite requirements of species that deserve attention in conservation planning. Consequently, we characterized and mapped a broad-scale network of habitats for five suites of terrestrial vertebrates in the 58 million-ha Interior Columbia Basin (Basin). These five suites, referred to as Families, are composed of 44 species whose habitats have declined strongly from historical (circa 1850-1890) to current periods in the Basin, and thus are of conservation focus. Two of the five Families consist of species that depend on old forests. Species in another Family depend on early-seral forests. Species in the remaining Families depend on sagebrush-steppe or open canopy sagebrush and grasslands. For each Family, we characterized current habitat conditions at the scale of the watershed (mean size of 22 500 ha). Each watershed was classified as one of three conditions. Watersheds in Condition 1 contained habitats whose quality or abundance have changed little since the historical period. By contrast, watersheds in Condition 2 or 3 contained habitats that have changed from historical conditions, but in different ways. Watersheds in Condition 2 had habitats of high abundance but moderate resiliency and quality, whereas watersheds in Condition 3 contained habitats of low abundance or low resiliency and quality. The majority of watersheds (59-80%) were in Condition 3 for all five Families, whereas the lowest percentage (5-25%) of watersheds was in Condition 2 for four of five Families. Connectivity among watersheds for all Families appeared low in many parts of the Basin due to spatial gaps associated with areas of habitat extirpation. Our condition maps constitute a broad-scale network of habitats that could be useful for developing multi-species research hypotheses and management strategies for the Basin.Wisdom et al "A habitat network for terrestrial wildlife in the Interior Columbia Basin." Northwest Science. 2002; 76(1): 1-1

Bioelectronic medicines: past, present and future. Highlights from The Society for Medicines Research Symposium. London, UK - October 1, 2019

On October 1, 2019, the Society for Medicines Research (SMR) held its first symposium on "Bioelectronic medicines, past, present and future" at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London. The meeting was attended by 145 participants and was supported by Galvani Bioelectronics, IEEE-CAS Society, IEEE-Brain Initiative, BIOS, Heraeus, CorTec and the IT'IS Foundation

Concurrent left ventricular myocardial diffuse fibrosis and left atrial dysfunction strongly predicts incident heart failure and all-cause mortality

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): British Heart Foundation Academy of Medical Sciences Background LV myocardial interstitial fibrosis has been reported to influence LA morphology and function via LV remodelling and diastolic dysfunction. However, this association, as well as their combined influence on clinical outcomes remains poorly characterised. Aim To evaluate the relationship between left ventricular (LV) fibrosis quantified by native T1 times and left atrial (LA) global and phasic function and their impact on clinical outcomes. Methods A total of 40,818 UK Biobank participants with cardiovascular magnetic resonance data were included. Native T1 mapping was performed using Shortened Modified Look-Locker Inversion recovery sequence with global myocardial T1 estimated by an automatic segmentation framework. Ten parameters of LA phasic function were calculated from normalised LA volume-time curves derived by a three-dimensional sparse active shape model. LV parameters (mass, end-diastolic volume, and ejection fraction) were extracted by a fully convolutional neural network. Multivariable regression models were used to assess the associations between T1 and LA parameters. Lastly, survival analysis was performed to assess the interplay between T1, LA function and incident heart failure, atrial fibrillation, major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) and all-cause mortality. Results The mean age of study population was 64.0 ± 7.7 years; 47.8% were men. Higher T1 values were associated with larger LA minimum size (Beta= 0.89ml per 100ms; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.62, 1.17), and lower LA global emptying fraction (Beta= -0.012 per 100ms; CI= -0.015, -0.010), LA reservoir function (Beta= -0.060 per 100ms; CI= -0.083, -0.037) and LA booster function (Beta= -0.014 per 100ms; CI= -0.017, -0.011). Among LA phasic functional parameters, LA booster function is most strongly associated with T1. Survival analysis revealed concurrent high T1 and low LA function had a significant influence on incident heart failure (Hazard Ratio [HR] = 2.99; CI=1.91,2.01), atrial fibrillation (HR = 4.86; CI=3.51-6.54), MACE (HR = 1.86; CI = 1.36-2.54) and all-cause mortality (HR = 1.86; CI=1.22-2.82) compared to either parameter alone, even after accounting for LV parameters (Figure 1). Conclusion This is the first study to robustly demonstrate the associations between myocardial diffuse fibrosis and reduced LA global and phasic functional measurements. We reveal the independent prognostic role of high T1 values accompanied by low LA function in predicting adverse clinical outcomes in a general population. These findings advance our understanding of the relationships between myocardial fibrosis and LA biomechanics at an early, subclinical stage, and highlight the additive value of incorporating these biomarkers into clinical decision making

Central Bank Learning and Taylor Rules with Sticky Import Prices

inflation targeting, Taylor rules, learning, exchange rate pass-through,