4,475 research outputs found

    Microspinning: Local Surface Mixing via Rotation of Magnetic Microparticles for Efficient Small-Volume Bioassays

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    The need for high-throughput screening has led to the miniaturization of the reaction volume of the chamber in bioassays. As the reactor gets smaller, surface tension dominates the gravitational or inertial force, and mixing efficiency decreases in small-scale reactions. Because passive mixing by simple diffusion in tens of microliter-scale volumes takes a long time, active mixing is needed. Here, we report an efficient micromixing method using magnetically rotating microparticles with patterned magnetization induced by magnetic nanoparticle chains. Because the microparticles have magnetization patterning due to fabrication with magnetic nanoparticle chains, the microparticles can rotate along the external rotating magnetic field, causing micromixing. We validated the reaction efficiency by comparing this micromixing method with other mixing methods such as simple diffusion and the use of a rocking shaker at various working volumes. This method has the potential to be widely utilized in suspension assay technology as an efficient mixing strategy

    Mind bomb 1 in the lymphopoietic niches is essential for T and marginal zone B cell development

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    Notch signaling regulates lineage decisions at multiple stages of lymphocyte development, and Notch activation requires the endocytosis of Notch ligands in the signal-sending cells. Four E3 ubiquitin ligases, Mind bomb (Mib) 1, Mib2, Neuralized (Neur) 1, and Neur2, regulate the Notch ligands to activate Notch signaling, but their roles in lymphocyte development have not been defined. We show that Mib1 regulates T and marginal zone B (MZB) cell development in the lymphopoietic niches. Inactivation of the Mib1 gene, but not the other E3 ligases, Mib2, Neur1, and Neur2, abrogated T and MZB cell development. Reciprocal bone marrow (BM) transplantation experiments revealed that Mib1 in the thymic and splenic niches is essential for T and MZB cell development. Interestingly, when BM cells from transgenic Notch reporter mice were transplanted into Mib1-null mice, the Notch signaling was abolished in the double-negative thymocytes. In addition, the endocytosis of Dll1 was impaired in the Mib1-null microenvironment. Moreover, the block in T cell development and the failure of Dll1 endocytosis were also observed in coculture system by Mib1 knockdown. Our study reveals that Mib1 is the essential E3 ligase in T and MZB cell development, through the regulation of Notch ligands in the thymic and splenic microenvironments

    Transcriptional profiling of host gene expression in chicken embryo lung cells infected with laryngotracheitis virus

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infection by infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV; <it>gallid herpesvirus 1</it>) causes acute respiratory diseases in chickens often with high mortality. To better understand host-ILTV interactions at the host transcriptional level, a microarray analysis was performed using 4 × 44 K Agilent chicken custom oligo microarrays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Microarrays were hybridized using the two color hybridization method with total RNA extracted from ILTV infected chicken embryo lung cells at 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 days post infection (dpi). Results showed that 789 genes were differentially expressed in response to ILTV infection that include genes involved in the immune system (cytokines, chemokines, MHC, and NF-κB), cell cycle regulation (cyclin B2, CDK1, and CKI3), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cellular metabolism. Differential expression for 20 out of 789 genes were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). A bioinformatics tool (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) used to analyze biological functions and pathways on the group of 789 differentially expressed genes revealed that 21 possible gene networks with intermolecular connections among 275 functionally identified genes. These 275 genes were classified into a number of functional groups that included cancer, genetic disorder, cellular growth and proliferation, and cell death.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study provide comprehensive knowledge on global gene expression, and biological functionalities of differentially expressed genes in chicken embryo lung cells in response to ILTV infections.</p

    A Spherical Hybrid Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Enhanced Water Wave Energy Harvesting

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    Water waves are a continuously generated renewable source of energy. However, their random motion and low frequency pose significant challenges for harvesting their energy. Herein, we propose a spherical hybrid triboelectric nanogenerator (SH-TENG) that efficiently harvests the energy of low frequency, random water waves. The SH-TENG converts the kinetic energy of the water wave into solid-solid and solid-liquid triboelectric energy simultaneously using a single electrode. The electrical output of the SH-TENG for six degrees of freedom of motion in water was investigated. Further, in order to demonstrate hybrid energy harvesting from multiple energy sources using a single electrode on the SH-TENG, the charging performance of a capacitor was evaluated. The experimental results indicate that SH-TENGs have great potential for use in self-powered environmental monitoring systems that monitor factors such as water temperature, water wave height, and pollution levels in oceans.11Ysciescopu

    Thermal and electric properties of Nd(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) and Pr(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y)

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    Electric resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, thermoelectric power, and Hall coefficient of Nd(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) and Pr(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) whose onset temperature of the superconductivity are 24 K and 23 K were measured. Experimental results show many interesting features. In particular, the Hall coefficients are negative and relatively flat as a function of temperature. However, the temperature dependence of the thermoelectric power (TEP) for these two samples shows the positive sign for both samples in contrast to the previous results. Moreover TEP for both samples remains flat in the normal state below 250 K, but decreases rapidly above 250 K. TEP of only Pr(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) shows a peak near 50 K. Finally onset temperatures of sudden drop of TEP are higher than those of resistance drop. The physical properties of these samples produced at different conditions such as different heat treatment temperatures, atmospheres were also measured. TEP and resistance measurement show that oxygen deficiency is essential to produce better superconducting samples. Correlation between TEP and superconductivity for these different samples will be discussed

    Thermal and electric properties of Nd(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) and Pr(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y)

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    Electric resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, thermoelectric power, and Hall coefficient of Nd(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) and Pr(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) whose onset temperature of the superconductivity are 24 and 23 K were measured. Experimental results show many interesting features. In particular, the Hall coefficients are negative and relatively flat as a function of temperature. However, the temperature dependence of the thermoelectric power (TEP) for these two samples shows the positive sign for both samples in contrast to the previous results. Moreover, TEP for both samples remains flat in the normal state below 250 K, but decreases rapidly above 250 K. TEP of only Pr(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) shows a peak near 50 K. Finally, onset temperatures of sudden drop of TEP are higher than those of resistance drop. The physical properties of these samples produced at different conditions such as different heat treatment temperatures, atmospheres were also measured. TEP and resistance measurement show that oxygen deficiency is essential to produce better superconducting samples. Correlation between TEP and superconductivity for these different samples are discussed
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