Tunable particle separation in a hybrid dielectrophoresis (DEP)- inertial microfluidic device

Particle separation is indispensable in many microfluidic systems and holds a broad range of biomedical applications. Inertial microfluidic devices that work solely on intrinsic hydrodynamic forces and inertial effects can offer label-free, high throughput and high efficiency separation performance. However, the working range of the current inertial microfluidic systems is obtained by tailoring the inertial lift forces and secondary flow drag through flow speed. Each channel design is normally effective for specific target particles, which inevitably lacks the flexibility for various particle mixtures. Redesigning the structure and dimension of microchannels for new sets of particle mixtures is often time-consuming and expensive. In this work, by introducing an external dielectrophoretic force field and coupling it with inertial forces, we proposed here an innovative hybrid DEP-inertial microfluidic platform for particle tunable separation. The working principle of the device was explained and its functionality was validated by experiments. In addition, the dimension of target particle mixture can be varied by adjusting the electrical voltage without redesigning the channel structure or dimensions. It is expected that the proposed DEP-inertial concept can work as a flexible platform for a wide range of biomedical applications

Overview of Viral Pneumonia Associated With Influenza Virus, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, and Coronavirus, and Therapeutics Based on Natural Products of Medicinal Plants

Viral pneumonia has been a serious threat to global health, especially now we have dramatic challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately six million cases of community-acquired pneumonia occur every year, and over 20% of which need hospital admission. Influenza virus, respiratory virus, and coronavirus are the noteworthy causative agents to be investigated based on recent clinical research. Currently, anaphylactic reaction and inflammation induced by antiviral immunity can be incriminated as causative factors for clinicopathological symptoms of viral pneumonia. In this article, we illustrate the structure and related infection mechanisms of these viruses and the current status of antiviral therapies. Owing to a set of antiviral regiments with unsatisfactory clinical effects resulting from side effects, genetic mutation, and growing incidence of resistance, much attention has been paid on medicinal plants as a natural source of antiviral agents. Previous research mainly referred to herbal medicines and plant extracts with curative effects on viral infection models of influenza virus, respiratory virus, and coronavirus. This review summarizes the results of antiviral activities of various medicinal plants and their isolated substances, exclusively focusing on natural products for the treatment of the three types of pathogens that elicit pneumonia. Furthermore, we have introduced several useful screening tools to develop antiviral lead compounds

Genome Wide Identification and Expression Profiling of Ethylene Receptor Genes during Soybean Nodulation

It has long been known that the gaseous plant hormone ethylene plays a key role in nodulation in legumes. The perception of ethylene by a family of five membrane-localized receptors is necessary to trigger the ethylene signaling pathway, which regulates various biological responses in Arabidopsis. However, a systematic analysis of the ethylene receptors in leguminous plants and their roles in nodule development is lacking. In this study, we performed a characterization of ethylene receptor genes based on the latest Glycine max genome sequence and a public microarray database. Eleven ethylene receptor family genes were identified in soybean through homology searches, and they were divided into two subgroups. Exon–intron analysis showed that the gene structures are highly conserved within each group. Further analysis of their expression patterns showed that these ethylene receptor genes are differentially expressed in various soybean tissues and organs, including functional nodules. Notably, the ethylene receptor genes showed different responses to rhizobial infection and Nod factors, suggesting a possible role for ethylene receptors and ethylene signaling in rhizobia–host cell interactions and nodulation in soybean. Together, these data indicate the functional divergence of ethylene receptor genes in soybean, and that some of these receptors mediate nodulation, including rhizobial infection, nodule development, and nodule functionality. These findings provide a foundation for further elucidation of the molecular mechanism by which the ethylene signaling pathway regulates nodulation in soybean, as well as other legumes

Similarity Criterion of Freezing Model Test considering Nonlinear Variation of Thermal Parameters with Temperature

The significant differences in specific heat and thermal conductivity of ice and water lead to the changes of specific heat and thermal conductivity of soil during the freezing process. This makes it hard for the temperature field similarity criterion based on constant thermal parameters to accurately reflect the temperature field evolution of soil mass caused by nonlinearity of thermal parameters in the process. Based on heat conduction differential equation considering nonlinear changes of thermal parameters, this paper uses similarity transformation method to derive the similarity criterion of the temperature field in the frozen soil model test and arrives at the conclusion that the prototype soil and model soil should meet when the original soil is used for the model test. At the same time, given the impact of the third boundary condition on the similarity criterion, the thermal physical similarity conditions for the model soil are derived. On this basis, ABAQUS finite element software is used to numerically simulate the linear and nonlinear prototype and model temperature fields. The third boundary condition considered the temperature evolution of the characteristic points during the freezing process is analyzed. The calculation results indicate that the nonlinear thermal conductivity similarity criterion established herein can correctly reflect the evolution process of the prototype frozen soil temperature field. It is also suggested that the model soil thermal parameters are reasonably calculated. At the same time, it shows that the nonlinear freezing similarity criterion of the soil, when the third boundary condition is satisfied, has clear physical meaning and higher practical value. The research results provide a practical and reasonable parameter calculation method for the model soil preparation in the frozen soil model test and a theoretical basis and technical support for the design and implementation of the water-heat-force coupling model test on frozen soil

Shaking Table Test and Numerical Verification for Free Ground Seismic Response of Saturated Soft Soil

This paper investigates shaking table test (1g) and numerical simulation (fully coupled) of vertically propagating shear waves for saturated soft free field. A large-scale shaking table model test was performed to study seismic response characteristics of saturated soft soil free field. According to test results of seismic response features of free field system in saturated soft soil, the free field nonlinearity fully coupled numerical model of dynamical effective stress of saturated soft soil was established using OpenSEES, based on the u-p formulations of dynamic consolidation equation as well as effective stress solution method for saturated two-phase media. The numerical simulation of the free field seismic response of saturated soft soil under various test conditions was performed and the calculated results were compared with the shaking table test results. The results show the following. (1) With the increase of input ground motion intensity, the characteristic frequency of the saturated soft free ground decreases and the damping ratio increases gradually. (2) The saturated soft soil ground has short period filtering and long period amplification effect on the horizontal input seismic loads. The failure foundation takes on the isolation and shock absorption under strong ground motions. (3) The peak pore pressure ratio of the saturated soft soil ground is located in the shallow buried soil layer, and with the increase of the input ground motion intensity, the advantage of dynamic pore pressure ratio in this area is gradually weakened. (4) The numerical simulation results are consistent with the results of the shaking table test. This fully coupled effective stress numerical method can reasonably simulate the seismic response characteristics of free field in saturated soft soil, which lay the foundation for other more complex parameter extrapolation models of saturated soft soil sites. This research can provide the necessary technical experience for experimental study on non-free field

An Effective Kalman Filter-Based Method for Groundwater Pollution Source Identification and Plume Morphology Characterization

The identification of unknown groundwater pollution sources and the characterization of pollution plume remains a challenging problem. In this study, we addressed this problem by a linked simulation-optimization approach. This approach couples a contaminant transport simulation model with a Kalman filter-based method to identify groundwater pollution source and characterize plume morphology. In the proposed methodology, the concentration field library, the covariance reduction with a Kalman filter, an alpha-cut technique of fuzzy set, and a linear programming model are integrated for solving this inverse problem. The performance of this methodology is evaluated on an illustrative groundwater pollution source identification problem. The evaluation considered the random hydraulic conductivity filed, erroneous monitoring data, a prior information shortage of potential pollution sources, and an unexpected and unknown pumping well. The identified results indicate that, under these conditions, the proposed Kalman filter-based optimization model can give satisfactory estimations to pollution sources and plume morphology for domains with small and moderate heterogeneity but cannot validate the transport in the relatively high heterogeneous field

Research on the Ground Subsidence Mechanism of Cross Passage Caused by Freezing Method Construction

At present, the built or newly built underground structures are mostly concentrated in developed areas along the coast, lakes, and rivers, while deep soft soil is widely distributed in these areas. The cold heat treatment method is one of the advanced foundation treatments and has broad application prospect. However, geothermal exchange and temperature field change are complex Stefan problems with mobile boundaries, internal heat sources, and phase changes. It is important to determine the freezing area and freezing temperature reasonably under the premise of ensuring the safety of the frozen construction. Therefore, this paper summarizes the research methods of freezing method construction of cross passage and introduces the research on the constitutive model of freezing undisturbed soil, the theory of freezing wall calculation, and the evolution mechanism of the temperature field. Then, a brief evaluation is made in view of the lack of research, and the development direction of this field is put forward with the research characteristics. It is to deepen the understanding of the deformation mechanism of cross passage embedded in soft soil caused by the freezing and melting

Controlling factors of volcanic hydrocarbon reservoirs in Bohai Bay Basin, China

Volcanic hydrocarbon reservoirs are developed in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata in Bohai Bay Basin in China. There is more than one hundred million tons of proven oil reserves in the said reservoir. They performed different actors for oil and gas accumulation in the basin. Faults controlled the distribution and accumulation of oil and gas related to volcanic rocks in Bohai Bay Basin. Not to mention, the zone near the faults is favorable for the development of good reservoirs. Volcanic rocks and volcanism can serve several roles during the course of hydrocarbon generation and accumulation. Volcanism can promote hydrocarbon generation from source rocks. Simultaneously, volcanic activity can damage petroleum reservoirs. Volcanic rocks can be both the reservoirs and the cap-rocks or obscured layer in the basin. The occurrence of volcanic rocks in source rocks can form fractures more easily compared to that in sandstones. Finally, volcanic rocks also control the distribution of mantle-derived CO2 gas reservoirs in the basin

Diacylglycerol kinase zeta positively controls the development of iNKT-17 cells.

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells play important roles in bridging innate and adaptive immunity via rapidly producing a variety of cytokines. A small subset of iNKT cells produces IL-17 and is generated in the thymus during iNKT-cell ontogeny. The mechanisms that control the development of these IL-17-producing iNKT-17 cells (iNKT-17) are still not well defined. Diacylglycerol kinase ζ (DGKζ) belongs to a family of enzymes that catalyze the phosphorylation and conversion of diacylglycerol to phosphatidic acid, two important second messengers involved in signaling from numerous receptors. We report here that DGKζ plays an important role in iNKT-17 development. A deficiency of DGKζ in mice causes a significant reduction of iNKT-17 cells, which is correlated with decreased RORγt and IL-23 receptor expression. Interestingly, iNKT-17 defects caused by DGKζ deficiency can be corrected in chimeric mice reconstituted with mixed wild-type and DGKζ-deficient bone marrow cells. Taken together, our data identify DGKζ as an important regulator of iNKT-17 development through iNKT-cell extrinsic mechanisms