Integrating droplet and digital microfluidics for single-cell analysis

The motivation to engineer biological systems through standardization and abstraction sparked the development of technological advances in automation of life sciences since the early 2000’s. Now, robotics are performing high-throughput tasks with increasingly higher precision and control over the environment of precious biological samples. At the same time, a different set of hardware has emerged in the life-sciences: while robotics enable for high-throughput automation, microfluidics - the discipline of handling fluids on a micro scale - allows researchers and clinicians to perform experiments they could not have imagined before. These highly controlled devices can purify proteins, engineer cells, gain insights to single-cell ‘omic’ information, or filter out a patient’s cancer cells in a fully automated fashion. In this work, we are focused on designing novel microfluidic devices for single-cell analysis. Currently, the use of single-cell analysis microfluidic devices open up the possibility of gaining detailed insights in heterozygosity of cell populations when coupled with next-generation sequencing technologies. We propose the design of a microfluidic setup that has improved control over single-cell operations within droplet-in-channel microfluidic architectures compared to current systems. Expanding these ’droplet digital’ tools, we have developed a microfluidic system for binary sorting of droplet libraries, on-demand droplet generation, droplet mixing, droplet storage and release, and deterministic encapsulation of single-cells . We propose new methods to sort cells, such as filamentous fungi libraries based on enzyme production, yeast based on growth rate and mammalian cell single-clones based on gene-editing efficiency. This work involves the development of novel hardware and software, and the integration of our microfluidic device within an automation system to operate dropletdigital microfluidics. Such systems are expanding the toolbox of those who are ‘engineering biology’

A review of the international early recommendations for departments organization and cancer management priorities during the global COVID-19 pandemic: applicability in low- and middle-income countries.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that has never been identified in humans before. COVID-19 caused at the time of writing of this article, 2.5 million cases of infections in 193 countries with 165,000 deaths, including two-third in Europe. In this context, Oncology Departments of the affected countries had to adapt quickly their health system care and establish new organizations and priorities. Thus, numerous recommendations and therapeutic options have been reported to optimize therapy delivery to patients with chronic disease and cancer. Obviously, while these cancer care recommendations are immediately applicable in Europe, they may not be applicable in certain emerging and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this review, we aimed to summarize these international guidelines in accordance with cancer types, making a synthesis for daily practice to protect patients, staff and tailor anti-cancer therapy delivery taking into account patients/tumour criteria and tools availability. Thus, we will discuss their applicability in the LMICs with different organizations, limited means and different constraints

Exploring the dietary niche of Atlantolacerta andreanskyi (Lacertidae) using DNA metabarcoding

Determining the dietary niche is an essential part of any conservation strategy, and for modeling the community responses to climate change. DNA metabarcoding methods are revolutionizing such approaches, allowing higher taxonomic resolution than typically possible using microscopy. However, few studies have compared directly the approaches to evaluate the differences in methodology. Here we assess the dietary niches of two genetically diverse populations of Atlantolacerta andreanskyi, a lizard endemic to the Atlas Mountains, Morocco, using DNA metabarcoding of faecal samples, and for one of these we compared the results to two previously published assessments of diets obtained using microscopy of pellets and stomach contents respectively. While results at the Order level were similar, the higher taxonomic resolution obtained in this study provided new insights into the dietary niche of this species. Comparisons between the two populations further highlighted how ecologically distinct these are

Potential valorisation of steel slag waste as an alternative material for pavement layers

Cilj ovog rada istražiti izvedivost korištenja otpadne čelične zgure kao zamjenskog materijala za slojeve kolničke konstrukcije (nosive slojeve). Ovaj se otpad skladišti i odlaže na odlagalište na lokaciji za proizvodnju čelika u JORF LASFAR-u, u gradu El Jadida, Maroko. Prikupljeni su uzorci otpada koji su podvrgnuti standardnim ispitivanjima kako bi se utvrdila njihova fizikalna, kemijska, mineraloška i geotehnička svojstva. Nadalje, otpadna čelična zgura ne može se koristiti samostalno u slojevima kolničke konstrukcije zbog niskog udjela sitnog agregata. Prirodni materijal (otpad od drobljenja kamena) upotrijebljen je s otpadnom čeličnom zgurom kako bi se postigla zahtijevana granulometrijska krivulja. Napravljeno je ukupno pet različitih mješavina čelične zgure (SS) i prirodnog agregata (ST) u sljedećim omjerima (% SS: % ST): M1 (30:70), M2 (40:60), M3 (50:50), M4 (60:40), i M5 (70:30). Provedena su geotehnička i mehanička ispitivanja svake pojedinačne mješavine, uključujući i mješavine M4 i M5, kako bi se utvrdilo ispunjavaju li te mješavine uvjete da bi se koristile u gornjim nosivim slojevima. Mješavine oznaka od M2 do M5 također su imale svojstva koja su potrebna za materijal donjih nosivih slojeva. Na kraju je provedena analiza dimenzioniranja kolničke konstrukcije kako bi se dobila debljina slojeva koji sadrže formulirane mješavine, za koje je utvrđeno da su slične debljinama konvencionalnih materijala.This paper aims to investigate the feasibility of using steel slag waste as an alternative material for pavement layers (sub-base and base layers). This waste is stored and landfilled at a steel production site in JORF LASFAR, city of El Jadida, Morocco. Samples of the waste were collected and underwent standard tests to determine its physical, chemical, mineralogical, and geotechnical properties. Furthermore, the steel slag waste cannot be used alone in pavement layers because of the low fraction of fine aggregates. Additionally, a sterile raw material (rock crushing waste) was used with the steel slag waste to obtain the required particle size distribution. Five mixtures of steel slag (SS) and sterile (ST) were formulated using the following proportions (% SS: % ST): M1 (30:70), M2 (40:60), M3 (50:50), M4 (60:40), and M5 (70:30). Geotechnical and mechanical standard tests were conducted on each mixture, including the M4 and M5 mixtures, to determine whether they met the required properties for a material used in the base layer. M2 to M5 mixtures also had the necessary properties for the sub-base layer. Finally, a sizing study was performed to obtain the thickness of pavement layers containing the formulated mixtures, which were found to be close to those of conventional materials

Release calls of Moroccan spadefoot toad, Pelobates varaldii (Anura, Pelobatidae)

Release calls of Pelobates varaldii Pasteur and Bons (1959) are described quantitatively based on airborne recordings obtained from 4 males and 12 females from a population of the extreme north of its range. The calls are sequences of pulsed notes with a variable number of pulses per note. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on the acoustic repertoire of this endemic endangered species from Morocco.This work was supported by the Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Technics-Morocco (ICGVSA project. PI. T. Slimani).Peer Reviewe

Dalaïl al-khaïrat wa shawarik al-anwar fi zikr al-salat ʿala al-nabi al-moukhtar, prières pour le Prophète, description de son tombeau, etc, par Abou ʿAbd Allah Sayyid Mohammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Solaïman al-Djouzouli.

Dalaïl al-khaïrat wa shawarik al-anwar fizikr al-salatʿ ala al-Nabi al-moukhtarNumérisation effectuée à partir d'un document de substitution

The first reintroduction project for mhorr gazelle (Nanger dama mhorr) into the wild: Knowledge and experience gained to support future conservation actions

Reintroductions continue to be an important conservation action for endangered species. Until this, all reintroduction projects for Mhorr gazelle (Nanger dama mhorr) had remained at the stage where the animals live in fenced protected areas of different sizes. This study describes the first experience of reintroduction of a group of 24 Mhorr gazelle into the wild in the Safia Reserve, in Southern Morocco. The reintroduction was carried out in two phases: in the first one, the entire group was released; then, after an unexpected dogs attack event, part of them were kept safe until this problem was solved. Seven of the gazelles were monitored with telemetry collars, providing previously unavailable data on time allocation, daily rhythm of activity and social organization for the species in the wild. In addition, post-release movements revealed three patterns: during the first few days after release, small daily movements (average 2.78 km) close to the fence, followed by long-distance exploratory movements (up to 50 km) until establish territories; and finally, daily movements between established territories (average 8.39 km). Exceptional long distances (>50 km/day) were traveled after a poaching event. The study has also revealed the ability of the species to select and settle territories in favorable areas, after being kept for generations under captive or semi-captive conditions. However, their inability to recognize predators was demonstrated in an unexpected attack by dogs, resulting in the death of seven released gazelles. This mortality following the dog attack was favored, in part, because the released gazelle remained close to the fence, and therefore suggests that the release procedure should be revised, especially when there are predators in the release site. This study has confirmed that dogs as predators and poaching continue to be the main threat to reintroduction projects in Southern Morocco.This project has been funded by UNESCO/MaB (no 4500261532), HCEFLCD and the National Spanish Research Council (CSIC OTT 2005X0269). Emilio Rodriguez Caballero would like to acknowledge the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness for the Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación grant (IJCI-2016-29274) and the University of Almeria for the Hipatia-UAL postdoctoral fellowshi