A High Throughput Lab-On-A-Chip System for Label Free Quantification of Breast Cancer Cells under Continuous Flow

This paper presents an LOC system combining microfluidic DEP channel with a CMOS image sensor for label and lens free detection and real-time counting of MCF-7 cells under continuous flow. Trapped and then released MCF-7 cells are accurately detected and counted under flow with a CMOS image sensor integrated underneath the DEP channel, for the first time in the literature. CMOS image sensor can capture 391 frames per second (fps) that allows detection of the released cells flowing through the channel with a flow rate up to 130 mu l/min (0.468 m/s). Therefore, the proposed system is able to detect the cells under high flow where conventional techniques for cell quantification such as fluorescent tagging become unusable. Detected cells are automatically counted with a computer program and the counting accuracy of the whole system is 95%. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Design and Characterization of a High Resolution Microfluidic Heat Flux Sensor with Thermal Modulation

A complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-compatible process was used in the design and fabrication of a suspended membrane microfluidic heat flux sensor with a thermopile for the purpose of measuring the heat flow rate. The combination of a thirty-junction gold and nickel thermoelectric sensor with an ultralow noise preamplifier, a low pass filter, and a lock-in amplifier can yield a resolution 20 nW with a sensitivity of 461 V/W. The thermal modulation method is used to eliminate low-frequency noise from the sensor output, and various amounts of fluidic heat were applied to the sensor to investigate its suitability for microfluidic applications. For sensor design and analysis of signal output, a method of modeling and simulating electro-thermal behavior in a microfluidic heat flux sensor with an integrated electronic circuit is presented and validated. The electro-thermal domain model was constructed by using system dynamics, particularly the bond graph. The electro-thermal domain system model in which the thermal and the electrical domains are coupled expresses the heat generation of samples and converts thermal input to electrical output. The proposed electro-thermal domain system model is in good agreement with the measured output voltage response in both the transient and the steady state

Can We Modify the Intrauterine Environment to Halt the Intergenerational Cycle of Obesity?

Child obesity is a global epidemic whose development is rooted in complex and multi-factorial interactions. Once established, obesity is difficult to reverse and epidemiological, animal model, and experimental studies have provided strong evidence implicating the intrauterine environment in downstream obesity. This review focuses on the interplay between maternal obesity, gestational weight gain and lifestyle behaviours, which may act independently or in combination, to perpetuate the intergenerational cycle of obesity. The gestational period, is a crucial time of growth, development and physiological change in mother and child. This provides a window of opportunity for intervention via maternal nutrition and/or physical activity that may induce beneficial physiological alternations in the fetus that are mediated through favourable adaptations to in utero environmental stimuli. Evidence in the emerging field of epigenetics suggests that chronic, sub-clinical perturbations during pregnancy may affect fetal phenotype and long-term human data from ongoing randomized controlled trials will further aid in establishing the science behind ones predisposition to positive energy balance

A New Model for Wind Turbine Systems

WOS: 000273716100008In this article, a new model for wind turbine systems with asynchronous generator is proposed. The model is developed by using the steady-state model of an induction machine. It is validated with an experimental setup composed by an induction generator coupled with an induction motor as a prime mover, and it is also tested on a simulation system. Results are also compared with the results of the other models reported in the literature for both systems. It is concluded that the developed model is comparable with the existing ones. The main advantage of the model is that it facilitates the computation of real and reactive power outputs for a specified mechanical power input and terminal voltages in a simple way such that it does not require computation of any system parameters (i.e., rotor slip and/or current), which causes computational complexity

An energy cost minimization algorithm for wind turbine system design

Optimal Wind Turbine System (WTS) design for one location is not necessarily the optimal design for another location because the wind speed distribution may wary between locations. For wind turbine design, the most important design variables may be listed as generator capacity, rotor diameter and hub height. This is due to the fact that a larger rotor captures more energy and a larger generator can capture more energy as well but also costs more. Moreover, the wind speed increase with hub height but so does the tower cost. They must match one another and the optimal match is dependent on the site's wind conditions. Accordingly, this paper introduces a design optimization algorithm based on minimizing the cost of energy of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) to be operated at a specific wind site. The algorithm uses probability distributions of wind speed and computes optimal values of HAWTs' design parameters such as generator capacity, rotor diameter and hub height by taking into account site's wind condition to generate electrical energy in minimum cost. © 2011 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved