Integrated sensor system for DNA amplification and separation based on thin film technology

This paper presents the development of a lab-on-chip, based on thin-film sensors, suitable for DNA treatments. In particular, the system performs on-chip DNA amplification and separation of double-strand DNA into single-strand DNA, combining a polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic network, thin-film electronic devices, and surface chemistry. Both the analytical procedures rely on the integration on the same glass substrate of thin-film metal heaters and amorphous silicon temperature sensors to achieve a uniform temperature distribution (within ±1 °C) in the heated area and a precise temperature control (within ±0.5 °C). The DNA separation also counts on the binding between biotinylated dsDNA and a layer of streptavidin immobilized into a microfluidic channel through polymer-brushes-based layer. This approach results in a fast and low reagents consumption system. The tested DNA treatments can be applied for carrying out the on-chip systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment process, a chemistry technique for the selection of aptamers

Design of RFIC's in 0.35um Si/SiGe BiCMOS Technology for a 5GHz Domotic Transmitter

The work deals with the basic building blocks of a 5GHz WLAN transmitter for domotic applications. These building blocks have been designed exploiting a commercial 0.35um Si/SiGe BiCMOS technology with the purpose to avoid the necessity of external components. On-wafer measurements have been carried-out on the realized prototypes showing a good agreement with simulatedperformances

Evaluation of MOX Sensor Characteristics in Ultra-Low Power Operation Modes: Application to a Semi-Passive RFID Tag for Food Logistics

Most of the battery powered systems with integrated sensors need low power consumption modes to enlarge the operation time. In the case of the fruit logistic chain, the fruit quality may be controlled by the detection of some gases as ethylene, acetaldehyde and ammonia, that are related to maturation, oxygen stress and refrigeration leakage. We report the integration of an ultra-low power (ULP) metal oxide (MOX) sensor array inside a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) 13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 15693 compliant tag with temperature, humidity and light sensors and data logging capabilities. Pulsed Temperature Operation (PTO), which consists in switching on and off the sensor heater, was used to reduce power consumption more than three orders of magnitude, from 14 mW down to 7 μW. The sensor behavior was characterized in terms sensitivity for ammonia

3D Detectors on Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon for particle tracking in high radiation environment

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. The vertex detectors for the future hadronic colliders will operate under proton fluencies above 1016 p/cm2. Crystalline Silicon detector technology, up to now, has kept the pace of the increasing fluencies in the LHC era and it is still the prevalent vertex detector material for the present and for the immediate future. Looking ahead in time, an alternative solution for such a detector has to be found because for the future there is no guarantee that Crystalline Silicon will hold this challenge. For this reason the development of hydrogenated amorphous silicon vertex detectors based on 3D-technology have been proposed and the technological solutions in order to build these detectors are described in this paper

Modeling a Thick Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Substrate for Ionizing Radiation Detectors

© Copyright © 2020 Davis, Boscardin, Crivellari, Fanò, Large, Menichelli, Morozzi, Moscatelli, Movileanu-Ionica, Passeri, Petasecca, Piccini, Rossi, Scorzoni, Thompson, Verzellesi and Wyrsch. There is currently a renewed interest in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) for use in particle detection applications. Whilst this material has been comprehensively investigated from a numerical perspective within the context of photovoltaic and imaging applications, the majority of work related to its application in particle detection has been limited to experimental studies. In this study, a material model to mimic the electrical and charge collection behavior of a-Si:H is developed using the SYNOPSYS©Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulation tool Sentaurus. The key focus of the model is concerned with the quasi-continuous defect distribution of acceptor and donor defects near the valence and conduction bands (tails states) and a Gaussian distribution of acceptor and donor defects within the mid-gap with the main parameters being the defect energy level, capture cross-section, and trap density. Currently, Sentaurus TCAD offers Poole-Frenkel mobility and trap models, however, these were deemed to be incompatible with thick a-Si:H substrates. With the addition of a fitting function, the model was able to provide acceptable agreement (within 10 nA cm−2) between simulated and experimental leakage current density for a-Si:H substrates with thicknesses of 12 and 30 μm. Additional transient simulations performed to mimic the response of the 12 μm thick device demonstrated excellent agreement (1%) with experimental data found in the literature in terms of the operating voltage required to deplete thick a-Si:H devices. The a-Si:H model developed in this work provides a method of optimizing a-Si:H based devices for particle detection applications

Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Cholangiocarcinoma: Current Knowledge and Possible Implications for Therapy

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an aggressive neoplasia with an increasing incidence and mortality. It is characterized by a strong desmoplastic stroma surrounding cancer cells. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the main cell type of CCA stroma and they have an important role in modulating cancer microenvironments. CAFs originate from multiple lines of cells and mainly consist of fibroblasts and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) positive myofibroblast-like cells. The continuous cross-talking between CCA cells and desmoplastic stroma is permitted by CAF biochemical signals, which modulate a number of pathways. Stromal cell-derived factor-1 expression increases CAF recruitment to the tumor reactive stroma and influences apoptotic pathways. The Bcl-2 family protein enhances susceptibility to CAF apoptosis and PDGFRβ induces fibroblast migration and stimulates tumor lymphangiogenesis. Many factors related to CAFs may influence CCA prognosis. For instance, a better prognosis is associated with IL-33 expression and low stromal IL-6 (whose secretion is stimulated by microRNA). In contrast, a worst prognosis is given by the expression of PDGF-D, podoplanin, SDF-1, α-SMA high expression, and periostin. The maturity phenotype has a prognostic relevance too. New therapeutic strategies involving CAFs are currently under study. Promising results are obtained with anti-PlGF therapy, nintedanib (BIBF1120), navitoclax, IPI-926, resveratrol, and controlled hyperthermia

Evaluation of MOX sensor characteristics in ultra-low power operation modes: Application to a semi-passive RFID tag for food logistics

Most of the battery powered systems with integrated sensors need low power consumption modes to enlarge the operation time. In the case of the fruit logistic chain, the fruit quality may be controlled by the detection of some gases as ethylene, acetaldehyde and ammonia, that are related to maturation, oxygen stress and refrigeration leakage. We report the integration of an ultra-low power (ULP) metal oxide (MOX) sensor array inside a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) 13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 15693 compliant tag with temperature, humidity and light sensors and data logging capabilities. Pulsed Temperature Operation (PTO), which consists in switching on and off the sensor heater, was used to reduce power consumption more than three orders of magnitude, from 14 mW down to 7 μW. The sensor behavior was characterized in terms sensitivity for ammonia

Integrated Sensor System for DNA Amplification and Separation Based on Thin Film Technology

This paper presents the development of a lab-on-chip, based on thin-film sensors, suitable for DNA treatments. In particular, the system performs on-chip DNA amplification and separation of double-strand DNA into single-strand DNA, combining a polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic network, thin-film electronic devices, and surface chemistry. Both the analytical procedures rely on the integration on the same glass substrate of thin-film metal heaters and amorphous silicon temperature sensors to achieve a uniform temperature distribution (within ± 1 °C) in the heated area and a precise temperature control (within ± 0.5 °C). The DNA separation also counts on the binding between biotinylated dsDNA and a layer of streptavidin immobilized into a microfluidic channel through polymer-brushes-based layer. This approach results in a fast and low reagents consumption system. The tested DNA treatments can be applied for carrying out the on-chip systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment process, a chemistry technique for the selection of aptamers