Characterization of femtosecond laser written waveguides for integrated biochemical sensing

Fluorescence detection is known to be one of the most sensitive among the different optical sensing techniques. This work focuses on excitation and detection of fluorescence emitted by DNA strands labeled with fluorescent dye molecules that can be excited at a specific wavelength. Excitation occurs via optical channel waveguides written with femtosecond laser pulses applied coplanar with a microfluidic channel on a glass chip. The waveguides are optically characterized in order to facilitate the design of sensing structures which can be applied for monitoring the spatial separation of biochemical\ud species as a result of capillary electrophoresis

The Effects of Media Campaigns on Individual Attitudes towards Tax Compliance; Quasi-Experimental evidence from survey data in Pakistan

Pakistan has consistently performed low on taxation, with revenue collection hovering around 10 percent of GDP. Tax reforms have been attempted but without significant gains in revenue collection. Due to the recalcitrance of tax revenues, the tax authority attempted to enlist voluntary compliance as one of the avenues for its efforts to increase collections. This paper examines the effectiveness of media campaigns in the TV and national newspapers used by the Federal Board of Revenues of Pakistan to increase awareness, tax filing, and, ultimately, tax morale. We use survey data that were collected in 2014 immediately after a communication campaign by Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue. Using coarsened exact matching, we construct treatment and control groups that are nearly identical in terms of pretreatment balance of demographic and behavioral predictors of high tax morale. We find improved perceptions towards tax compliance in Pakistan for respondents exposed to the TV and newspaper advertisements. The choice of the advertisement’s delivery device is important since the latter is more effective. Our findings provide empirical evidence that well timed campaigns can enhance voluntary compliance in tax filing

Terminal Antennas in ACE2

The ACE Network of Excellence was a European Commission funded Network of Excellence, which lasted from 2004 to 2007. One of the activities performed by this Network was in the frame of terminal antennas. In this activity, three aspects were covered in three projects: Small antenna technologies, small terminal antenna technologies and benchmarking of small terminal antennas measurement facilities. The overall aim was to identify the newest trends in antenna design and measurement for personal communications devices, and suggest novel solutions and design methodologies for various applications. The results of this work are presented in this paper

Fluorescence monitoring of capilarry electrophoresis separation in a lab-on-a-chip with monolithically integrated waveguides

Femtosecond-laser-written optical waveguides were monolithically integrated into a commercial lab-on-a-chip to intersect a microfluidic channel. Laser excitation through these waveguides confines the excitation window to a width of 12 μm, enabling high-spatial-resolution monitoring of different fluorescent analytes, during their migration/separation in the microfluidic channel by capillary electrophoresis. Wavelength-selective monitoring of the on-chip separation of fluorescent dyes is implemented as a proof-of-principle. We envision well-controlled microfluidic plug formation, waveguide excitation, and a low limit of detection to enable monitoring of extremely small quantities with high spatial resolution

Contamination des moules (Mytilus galloprovincialis) des côtes de la région de Dakar par les Hydrocarbures Aromatiques Polycycliques (HAPs)

Dans ce travail, nous avons etudie la contamination par les Hydrocarbures Aromatiques Polycycliques des moules recoltees au niveau des cotes de la region de Dakar. Les sites ont ete choisis en fonction des activites qui y sont developpees. Lfextraction des HAPs a ete faite au moyen dfun extracteur Soxhlet avec un melange hexane/acetone et la purification est realisee avec lfoxyde dfaluminium. Nous avons analyse lfextraitpar un chromatographe de gaz couple a un spectrographe de masse (GC/MS). Les resultats montrent que les teneurs en hydrocarbures evoluent de facon croissante en fonction du temps. Au port de Dakar, lesconcentrations passent de 5308,67 en 2007 a 17973,37 ƒÊg/kg de poids sec, en 2008. Lfevolution des hydrocarbures suit la meme tendance dans les differents sites. Ainsi, le Port concentre la plus forte teneur, ensuite suivent les sites de Mbao et de Hann. Au niveau du port, la contamination proviendrait des depots de stockages des hydrocarbures mais egalement des operations de transbordement du petrole. La zone de Mbao estpolluee par la presence de nombreuses usines dont une raffinerie qui a ces canaux directement ouvert sur la plage. Le site de Hann abrite un canal qui draine les eaux usees domestiques mais aussi les huiles de rejet des stations services. Ainsi, les moules deviennent un bon indicateur de la qualite des eaux mais egalement un danger pour la population, grande consommatrice de cette espece. Ces etudes qui constituent un etat de lieu doivent etre poursuivies afin de fournir des donnees scientifiques de base aux decideurs politiques pour la recherche de solutions durables a la pollution de notre environnement

Multi-color fluorescent DNA analysis in an integrated optofluidic lab-on-a-chip

Sorting and sizing of DNA molecules within the human genome project has enabled the genetic mapping of various illnesses. By employing tiny lab-on-a-chip devices for such DNA analysis, integrated DNA sequencing and genetic diagnostics have become feasible. However, such diagnostic chips typically lack integrated sensing capability. We address this issue by combining microfluidic capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection resulting in optofluidic integration towards an on-chip bio-analysis tool [1,2]. We achieve a spatial separation resolution of 12 μm, which can enable a 20-fold enhancement in electropherogram peak resolution, leading to plate numbers exceeding one million. We demonstrate a high sizing/calibration accuracy of 99% [3], and ultrasensitive fluorescence detection (limit of detection = 65 femtomolar, corresponding to merely 2-3 molecules in the excitation/detection volume) of diagnostically relevant double-stranded DNA molecules by integrated-waveguide laser excitation. Subsequently, we introduce a principle of parallel optical processing to this optofluidic lab-on-a-chip. Different sets of exclusively color-labeled DNA fragments – otherwise rendered indistinguishable by their spatio-temporal coincidence – are traced back to their origin by modulation-frequency-encoded multi-wavelength laser excitation, fluorescence detection with a color-blind photomultiplier, and Fourier-analysis decoding. As a proof of principle, fragments from independent human genomic segments, associated with genetic predispositions to breast cancer and anemia, are extracted by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, and simultaneously analyzed. Such multiple yet unambiguous optical identification of biomolecules opens new horizons for “enlightened” lab-on-a-chip devices

Multi-point, multi-wavelength fluorescence monitoring of DNA separation in a lab-on-a-chip with monolithically integrated femtosecond-laser-written waveguides

Electrophoretic separation of fluorescently labeled DNA molecules in on-chip microfluidic channels was monitored by integrated waveguide arrays, with simultaneous spatial and wavelength resolution. This is an important step toward point-of-care diagnostics with multiplexed DNA assays

Fluorescence monitoring of capillary electrophoresis separation of biomolecules with monolithically integrated optical waveguides

Monolithic integration of optical waveguides in a commercial lab-on-a-chip by femtosecond-laser material processing enables arbitrary 3D geometries of optical sensing structures in combination with fluidic microchannels. Integrated fluorescence monitoring of molecular separation, as applicable in point-of-care diagnostic bioassays is demonstrated

Femtosecond laser fabrication for the integration of optical sensors in microfluidic lab-on-chip devices

Femtosecond lasers enable the fabrication of both optical waveguides and buried microfluidic channels on a glass substrate. The waveguides are used to integrate optical detection in a commercial microfluidic lab-on-chip for capillary electrophoresis

Identification of circulating miRNA profiles that distinguish malignant pleural mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma

Accurate diagnosis of malignant pleura mesothelioma (MPM) is challenging. Differential diagnosis of MPM versus lung adenocarcinoma (AD) is particularly difficult, yet clinically important since the two neoplasias call for different treatment approaches. Circulating miRNA-profiling to identify miRNAs that can be used to distinguish MPM from AD has not been reported. We conducted a wide screening study of miRNA profiles in serum pools of MPM patients (N = 11), AD patients (N = 36), and healthy subjects (N = 45) to identify non-invasive biomarkers for differential diagnosis of MPM and AD, using deep sequencing. Sequencing detected up to 300 known miRNAs and up to 25 novel miRNAs species in the serum samples. Among known miRNAs, 7 were upregulated in MPM and 12 were upregulated in AD compared to healthy controls. Of these, eight were distinctive for AD and three were unique for MPM. Direct comparison of the miRNA profiles for MPM and AD revealed differences in miRNA levels that could be useful for differential diagnosis. No differentially expressed novel miRNAs were found. Further bioinformatics analysis indicated that three upregulated miRNAs in MPM are associated with the p38 pathway. There are unique alterations in serum miRNAs in MPM and AD compared to healthy controls, as well as differences between MPM and AD profiles. Differing miRNA levels between MPM and AD may be useful for differential diagnosis. A potential association to p38 pathway of three upregulated miRNAs in MPM was revealed