Hybrid Macro-Micro Fluidics System for a Chip-Based Biosensor

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tamanaha, C. R; Whitman, L. J; Colton, R.J

2002-01-01

We describe the engineering of a hybrid fluidics platform for a chip-based biosensor system that combines high-performance microfluidics components with powerful, yet compact, millimeter-scale pump and valve actuators...

Application of bioassays to evaluate a copper contaminated soil before and after a pilot-scale electrokinetic remediation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Quanying [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China); Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Zhou Dongmei [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)], E-mail: dmzhou@issas.ac.cn; Cang Long [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China); Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Sun Tianran [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)

2009-02-15

Remediation programmes are considered to be complete when human risk-based criteria are met. However, these targets are often unsatisfied with the ecological parameters that may be important with regard to future soil use. Five soil subsamples, collecting along a pilot-scale soil column after electrokinetic treatment, were studied, from which about 42.0%-93.3% soil Cu had been successfully removed. A series of biological assays including soil microbial biomass carbon, basal soil respiration, soil urease activity, earthworm assays, and seed assays were used to evaluate their ecological risks. The results showed that the bioassay data from the treatment variants did not supposedly reflecting the decreased soil Cu concentrations after the electrokinetic treatment, but were highly correlated with some soil physicochemical characteristics. It suggests that bioassays are necessary to assess the ecotoxicity of soil after electrokinetic treatment. - There has been a motivation towards using biological indicators for risk assessment of contaminated soil after electrokinetic remediation.

Application of bioassays to evaluate a copper contaminated soil before and after a pilot-scale electrokinetic remediation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Quanying; Zhou Dongmei; Cang Long; Sun Tianran

2009-01-01

Remediation programmes are considered to be complete when human risk-based criteria are met. However, these targets are often unsatisfied with the ecological parameters that may be important with regard to future soil use. Five soil subsamples, collecting along a pilot-scale soil column after electrokinetic treatment, were studied, from which about 42.0%-93.3% soil Cu had been successfully removed. A series of biological assays including soil microbial biomass carbon, basal soil respiration, soil urease activity, earthworm assays, and seed assays were used to evaluate their ecological risks. The results showed that the bioassay data from the treatment variants did not supposedly reflecting the decreased soil Cu concentrations after the electrokinetic treatment, but were highly correlated with some soil physicochemical characteristics. It suggests that bioassays are necessary to assess the ecotoxicity of soil after electrokinetic treatment. - There has been a motivation towards using biological indicators for risk assessment of contaminated soil after electrokinetic remediation

Paper-based chromatic toxicity bioassay by analysis of bacterial ferricyanide reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Pujol-Vila, F; Vigués, N; Guerrero-Navarro, A; Jiménez, S; Gómez, D; Fernández, M; Bori, J; Vallès, B; Riva, M C; Muñoz-Berbel, X; Mas, J

2016-03-03

Water quality assessment requires a continuous and strict analysis of samples to guarantee compliance with established standards. Nowadays, the increasing number of pollutants and their synergistic effects lead to the development general toxicity bioassays capable to analyse water pollution as a whole. Current general toxicity methods, e.g. Microtox(®), rely on long operation protocols, the use of complex and expensive instrumentation and sample pre-treatment, which should be transported to the laboratory for analysis. These requirements delay sample analysis and hence, the response to avoid an environmental catastrophe. In an attempt to solve it, a fast (15 min) and low-cost toxicity bioassay based on the chromatic changes associated to bacterial ferricyanide reduction is here presented. E. coli cells (used as model bacteria) were stably trapped on low-cost paper matrices (cellulose-based paper discs, PDs) and remained viable for long times (1 month at -20 °C). Apart from bacterial carrier, paper matrices also acted as a fluidic element, allowing fluid management without the need of external pumps. Bioassay evaluation was performed using copper as model toxic agent. Chromatic changes associated to bacterial ferricyanide reduction were determined by three different transduction methods, i.e. (i) optical reflectometry (as reference method), (ii) image analysis and (iii) visual inspection. In all cases, bioassay results (in terms of half maximal effective concentrations, EC50) were in agreement with already reported data, confirming the good performance of the bioassay. The validation of the bioassay was performed by analysis of real samples from natural sources, which were analysed and compared with a reference method (i.e. Microtox). Obtained results showed agreement for about 70% of toxic samples and 80% of non-toxic samples, which may validate the use of this simple and quick protocol in the determination of general toxicity. The minimum instrumentation

Lab-on-a-Chip Based Protein Crystallization

Science.gov (United States)

vanderWoerd, Mark J.; Brasseur, Michael M.; Spearing, Scott F.; Whitaker, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We are developing a novel technique with which we will grow protein crystals in very small volumes, utilizing chip-based, microfluidic ("LabChip") technology. This development, which is a collaborative effort between NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Caliper Technologies Corporation, promises a breakthrough in the field of protein crystal growth. Our initial results obtained from two model proteins, Lysozyme and Thaumatin, show that it is feasible to dispense and adequately mix protein and precipitant solutions on a nano-liter scale. The mixtures have shown crystal growth in volumes in the range of 10 nanoliters to 5 microliters. In addition, large diffraction quality crystals were obtained by this method. X-ray data from these crystals were shown to be of excellent quality. Our future efforts will include the further development of protein crystal growth with LabChip(trademark) technology for more complex systems. We will initially address the batch growth method, followed by the vapor diffusion method and the liquid-liquid diffusion method. The culmination of these chip developments is to lead to an on orbit protein crystallization facility on the International Space Station. Structural biologists will be invited to utilize the on orbit Iterative Biological Crystallization facility to grow high quality macromolecular crystals in microgravity.

Experience from large scale use of the EuroGenomics custom SNP chip in cattle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boichard, Didier A; Boussaha, Mekki; Capitan, Aurélien

2018-01-01

This article presents the strategy to evaluate candidate mutations underlying QTL or responsible for genetic defects, based upon the design and large-scale use of the Eurogenomics custom SNP chip set up for bovine genomic selection. Some variants under study originated from mapping genetic defect...

Network Partitioning Domain Knowledge Multiobjective Application Mapping for Large-Scale Network-on-Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yin Zhen Tei

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a multiobjective application mapping technique targeted for large-scale network-on-chip (NoC. As the number of intellectual property (IP cores in multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC increases, NoC application mapping to find optimum core-to-topology mapping becomes more challenging. Besides, the conflicting cost and performance trade-off makes multiobjective application mapping techniques even more complex. This paper proposes an application mapping technique that incorporates domain knowledge into genetic algorithm (GA. The initial population of GA is initialized with network partitioning (NP while the crossover operator is guided with knowledge on communication demands. NP reduces the large-scale application mapping complexity and provides GA with a potential mapping search space. The proposed genetic operator is compared with state-of-the-art genetic operators in terms of solution quality. In this work, multiobjective optimization of energy and thermal-balance is considered. Through simulation, knowledge-based initial mapping shows significant improvement in Pareto front compared to random initial mapping that is widely used. The proposed knowledge-based crossover also shows better Pareto front compared to state-of-the-art knowledge-based crossover.

RF-Interrogated End-State Chip-Scale Atomic Clock

Science.gov (United States)

2007-11-01

coherent population trapping,” Electronics Letters 37, (24), 1449-1451. [2] R. Lutwak , P. Vlitas, M. Varghese, M. Mescher, D. K. Serkland, and G. M...367. [9] R. Lutwak , D. Emmons, T. English, W. Riley, A. Duwel, M. Varghese, D. K. Serland, and G. M. Peake, 2003, “Chip-Scale Atomic Clock, Recent

On-chip concentration of bacteria using a 3D dielectrophoretic chip and subsequent laser-based DNA extraction in the same chip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Yoon-Kyoung; Kim, Tae-hyeong; Lee, Jeong-Gun

2010-01-01

We report the on-chip concentration of bacteria using a dielectrophoretic (DEP) chip with 3D electrodes and subsequent laser-based DNA extraction in the same chip. The DEP chip has a set of interdigitated Au post electrodes with 50 µm height to generate a network of non-uniform electric fields for the efficient trapping by DEP. The metal post array was fabricated by photolithography and subsequent Ni and Au electroplating. Three model bacteria samples (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus mutans) were tested and over 80-fold concentrations were achieved within 2 min. Subsequently, on-chip DNA extraction from the concentrated bacteria in the 3D DEP chip was performed by laser irradiation using the laser-irradiated magnetic bead system (LIMBS) in the same chip. The extracted DNA was analyzed with silicon chip-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The total process of on-chip bacteria concentration and the subsequent DNA extraction can be completed within 10 min including the manual operation time.

Development of bacteria-based bioassays for arsenic detection in natural waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Diesel, Elizabeth; Schreiber, Madeline; van der Meer, Jan Roelof

2009-06-01

Arsenic contamination of natural waters is a worldwide concern, as the drinking water supplies for large populations can have high concentrations of arsenic. Traditional techniques to detect arsenic in natural water samples can be costly and time-consuming; therefore, robust and inexpensive methods to detect arsenic in water are highly desirable. Additionally, methods for detecting arsenic in the field have been greatly sought after. This article focuses on the use of bacteria-based assays as an emerging method that is both robust and inexpensive for the detection of arsenic in groundwater both in the field and in the laboratory. The arsenic detection elements in bacteria-based bioassays are biosensor-reporter strains; genetically modified strains of, e.g., Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Rhodopseudomonas palustris. In response to the presence of arsenic, such bacteria produce a reporter protein, the amount or activity of which is measured in the bioassay. Some of these bacterial biosensor-reporters have been successfully utilized for comparative in-field analyses through the use of simple solution-based assays, but future methods may concentrate on miniaturization using fiberoptics or microfluidics platforms. Additionally, there are other potential emerging bioassays for the detection of arsenic in natural waters including nematodes and clams.

Development of bacteria-based bioassays for arsenic detection in natural waters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diesel, Elizabeth; Schreiber, Madeline [Virginia Tech, Department of Geosciences, Blacksburg, VA (United States); Meer, Jan Roelof van der [University of Lausanne, Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Lausanne (Switzerland)

2009-06-15

Arsenic contamination of natural waters is a worldwide concern, as the drinking water supplies for large populations can have high concentrations of arsenic. Traditional techniques to detect arsenic in natural water samples can be costly and time-consuming; therefore, robust and inexpensive methods to detect arsenic in water are highly desirable. Additionally, methods for detecting arsenic in the field have been greatly sought after. This article focuses on the use of bacteria-based assays as an emerging method that is both robust and inexpensive for the detection of arsenic in groundwater both in the field and in the laboratory. The arsenic detection elements in bacteria-based bioassays are biosensor-reporter strains; genetically modified strains of, e.g., Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Rhodopseudomonas palustris. In response to the presence of arsenic, such bacteria produce a reporter protein, the amount or activity of which is measured in the bioassay. Some of these bacterial biosensor-reporters have been successfully utilized for comparative in-field analyses through the use of simple solution-based assays, but future methods may concentrate on miniaturization using fiberoptics or microfluidics platforms. Additionally, there are other potential emerging bioassays for the detection of arsenic in natural waters including nematodes and clams. (orig.)

Development by flow cytometry of bioassays based on chlorella for environmental monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrescu C-M,

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In ecotoxicological assessments, bioassays (ecotoxicity tests or biotests are one of the main tools, defined as methods which use living cells, tissues, organism or communities to assess exposure-related effects of chemicals. The increasing complexity of environmental degradation requires an increase in the capacity of scientific approach in monitoring and notification as early as possible risks. Our own objective concerns the detection of aquatic environment pollution in Romania and particularly in the Danube basin. For assessing aquatic environment pollution degree or for assessing cytotoxicity or ecotoxicity of pollutants (heavy metals, nanoparticles, pesticides, etc. we developed news experimental bioassays based on the use of viability and apoptosis biomarkers of Chlorella cells by flow cytometry. Our proposed bioassays could be rapid and very sensitive tests for in laboratory aquatic risk assessment and biomonitoring.

Multimedia-Based Chip Design Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Catalkaya, Tamer; Golze, Ulrich

This paper focuses on multimedia computer-based training programs on chip design. Their development must be fast and economical, in order to be affordable by technical university institutions. The self-produced teaching program Illusion, which demonstrates a monitor controller as an example of a small but complete chip design, was implemented to…

Magnetic actuator for the control and mixing of magnetic bead-based reactions on-chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Berenguel-Alonso, Miguel; Granados, Xavier; Faraudo, Jordi; Alonso-Chamarro, Julián; Puyol, Mar

2014-10-01

While magnetic bead (MB)-based bioassays have been implemented in integrated devices, their handling on-chip is normally either not optimal--i.e. only trapping is achieved, with aggregation of the beads--or requires complex actuator systems. Herein, we describe a simple and low-cost magnetic actuator to trap and move MBs within a microfluidic chamber in order to enhance the mixing of a MB-based reaction. The magnetic actuator consists of a CD-shaped plastic unit with an arrangement of embedded magnets which, when rotating, generate the mixing. The magnetic actuator has been used to enhance the amplification reaction of an enzyme-linked fluorescence immunoassay to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7 whole cells, an enterohemorrhagic strain, which have caused several outbreaks in food and water samples. A 2.7-fold sensitivity enhancement was attained with a detection limit of 603 colony-forming units (CFU) /mL, when employing the magnetic actuator.

Neural Cell Chip Based Electrochemical Detection of Nanotoxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kafi, Md Abdul; Cho, Hyeon-Yeol; Choi, Jeong Woo

2015-07-02

Development of a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective method for toxicity assessment of commonly used nanoparticles is urgently needed for the sustainable development of nanotechnology. A neural cell with high sensitivity and conductivity has become a potential candidate for a cell chip to investigate toxicity of environmental influences. A neural cell immobilized on a conductive surface has become a potential tool for the assessment of nanotoxicity based on electrochemical methods. The effective electrochemical monitoring largely depends on the adequate attachment of a neural cell on the chip surfaces. Recently, establishment of integrin receptor specific ligand molecules arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) or its several modifications RGD-Multi Armed Peptide terminated with cysteine (RGD-MAP-C), C(RGD)₄ ensure farm attachment of neural cell on the electrode surfaces either in their two dimensional (dot) or three dimensional (rod or pillar) like nano-scale arrangement. A three dimensional RGD modified electrode surface has been proven to be more suitable for cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation as well as electrochemical measurement. This review discusses fabrication as well as electrochemical measurements of neural cell chip with particular emphasis on their use for nanotoxicity assessments sequentially since inception to date. Successful monitoring of quantum dot (QD), graphene oxide (GO) and cosmetic compound toxicity using the newly developed neural cell chip were discussed here as a case study. This review recommended that a neural cell chip established on a nanostructured ligand modified conductive surface can be a potential tool for the toxicity assessments of newly developed nanomaterials prior to their use on biology or biomedical technologies.

Neural Cell Chip Based Electrochemical Detection of Nanotoxicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Abdul Kafi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Development of a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective method for toxicity assessment of commonly used nanoparticles is urgently needed for the sustainable development of nanotechnology. A neural cell with high sensitivity and conductivity has become a potential candidate for a cell chip to investigate toxicity of environmental influences. A neural cell immobilized on a conductive surface has become a potential tool for the assessment of nanotoxicity based on electrochemical methods. The effective electrochemical monitoring largely depends on the adequate attachment of a neural cell on the chip surfaces. Recently, establishment of integrin receptor specific ligand molecules arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD or its several modifications RGD-Multi Armed Peptide terminated with cysteine (RGD-MAP-C, C(RGD4 ensure farm attachment of neural cell on the electrode surfaces either in their two dimensional (dot or three dimensional (rod or pillar like nano-scale arrangement. A three dimensional RGD modified electrode surface has been proven to be more suitable for cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation as well as electrochemical measurement. This review discusses fabrication as well as electrochemical measurements of neural cell chip with particular emphasis on their use for nanotoxicity assessments sequentially since inception to date. Successful monitoring of quantum dot (QD, graphene oxide (GO and cosmetic compound toxicity using the newly developed neural cell chip were discussed here as a case study. This review recommended that a neural cell chip established on a nanostructured ligand modified conductive surface can be a potential tool for the toxicity assessments of newly developed nanomaterials prior to their use on biology or biomedical technologies.

The Advances, Challenges and Future Possibilities of Millimeter-Wave Chip-to-Chip Interconnections for Multi-Chip Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amlan Ganguly

2018-02-01

Full Text Available With aggressive scaling of device geometries, density of manufacturing faults is expected to increase. Therefore, yield of complex Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chips (MP-SoCs will decrease due to higher probability of manufacturing defects especially, in dies with large area. Therefore, disintegration of large SoCs into smaller chips called chiplets will improve yield and cost of complex platform-based systems. This will also provide functional flexibility, modular scalability as well as the capability to integrate heterogeneous architectures and technologies in a single unit. However, with scaling of the number of chiplets in such a system, the shared resources in the system such as the interconnection fabric and memory modules will become performance bottlenecks. Additionally, the integration of heterogeneous chiplets operating at different frequencies and voltages can be challenging. State-of-the-art inter-chip communication requires power-hungry high-speed I/O circuits and data transfer over long wired traces on substrates. This increases energy consumption and latency while decreasing data bandwidth for chip-to-chip communication. In this paper, we explore the advances and the challenges of interconnecting a multi-chip system with millimeter-wave (mm-wave wireless interconnects from a variety of perspectives spanning multiple aspects of the wireless interconnection design. Our discussion on the recent advances include aspects such as interconnection topology, physical layer, Medium Access Control (MAC and routing protocols. We also present some potential paradigm-shifting applications as well as complementary technologies of wireless inter-chip communications.

Chip-scale fluorescence microscope based on a silo-filter complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Ah Lee, Seung; Ou, Xiaoze; Lee, J Eugene; Yang, Changhuei

2013-06-01

We demonstrate a silo-filter (SF) complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor for a chip-scale fluorescence microscope. The extruded pixel design with metal walls between neighboring pixels guides fluorescence emission through the thick absorptive filter to the photodiode of a pixel. Our prototype device achieves 13 μm resolution over a wide field of view (4.8 mm × 4.4 mm). We demonstrate bright-field and fluorescence longitudinal imaging of living cells in a compact, low-cost configuration.

Chip-scale white flip-chip light-emitting diode containing indium phosphide/zinc selenide quantum dots

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Bingfeng; Yan, Linchao; Lao, Yuqin; Ma, Yanfei; Chen, Zimin; Ma, Xuejin; Zhuo, Yi; Pei, Yanli; Wang, Gang

2017-08-01

A method for preparing a quantum dot (QD)-white light-emitting diode (WLED) is reported. Holes were etched in the SiO2 layer deposited on the sapphire substrate of the flip-chip LED by inductively coupled plasma, and these holes were then filled with QDs. An ultraviolet-curable resin was then spin-coated on top of the QD-containing SiO2 layer, and the resin was cured to act as a protecting layer. The reflective sidewall structure minimized sidelight leakage. The fabrication of the QD-WLED is simple in preparation and compatible with traditional LED processes, which was the minimum size of the WLED chip-scale integrated package. InP/ZnS core-shell QDs were used as the converter in the WLED. A blue light-emitting diode with a flip-chip structure was used as the excitation source. The QD-WLED exhibited color temperatures from 5900 to 6400 K and Commission Internationale De L'Elcairage color coordinates from (0.315, 0.325) to (0.325, 0.317), under drive currents from 100 to 400 mA. The QD-WLED exhibited stable optoelectronic properties.

Development of a small-scale protope of the GOSSIPO-2 chip in 0.13 um CMOS technology

CERN Document Server

Kluit, R; Gromov, V

2007-01-01

The GOSSIP (Gas On Slimmed Silicon Pixel) detector is a proposed alternative for silicon based pixel detectors. The Gossip Prototype (GOSSIPO) chip is being developed to serve as a prototype read-out chip for such a gas-filled detector. Thanks to the very low capacitance at the preamplifier input, the front-end of the chip demonstrates low-noise performance in combination with a fast peaking time and low analog power dissipation. Measurement of the drift time of every primary electron in the gas volume enables 3D reconstruction of the particle tracks. For this purpose a Time-to- Digital converter must be placed in each pixel. A small-scale prototype of the GOSSIP chip has been developed in the 0.13 μm CMOS technology. The prototype includes a 16 by 16 pixel array where each pixel is equipped with a front-end circuit, threshold DAC, and a 4-bit TDC. The chip is available for testing in May 2007 and after initial tests it will be postprocessed to build a prototype detector. This paper describes the detector de...

Small-scale, self-propagating combustion realized with on-chip porous silicon.

Science.gov (United States)

Piekiel, Nicholas W; Morris, Christopher J

2015-05-13

For small-scale energy applications, energetic materials represent a high energy density source that, in certain cases, can be accessed with a very small amount of energy input. Recent advances in microprocessing techniques allow for the implementation of a porous silicon energetic material onto a crystalline silicon wafer at the microscale; however, combustion at a small length scale remains to be fully investigated, particularly with regards to the limitations of increased relative heat loss during combustion. The present study explores the critical dimensions of an on-chip porous silicon energetic material (porous silicon + sodium perchlorate (NaClO4)) required to propagate combustion. We etched ∼97 μm wide and ∼45 μm deep porous silicon channels that burned at a steady rate of 4.6 m/s, remaining steady across 90° changes in direction. In an effort to minimize the potential on-chip footprint for energetic porous silicon, we also explored the minimum spacing between porous silicon channels. We demonstrated independent burning of porous silicon channels at a spacing of 0.5 m on a chip surface area of 1.65 cm(2). Smaller porous silicon channels of ∼28 μm wide and ∼14 μm deep were also utilized. These samples propagated combustion, but at times, did so unsteadily. This result may suggest that we are approaching a critical length scale for self-propagating combustion in a porous silicon energetic material.

Single-core magnetic markers in rotating magnetic field based homogeneous bioassays and the law of mass action

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dieckhoff, Jan, E-mail: j.dieckhoff@tu-bs.de [Institut fuer Elektrische Messtechnik und Grundlagen der Elektrotechnik, TU Braunschweig, Braunschweig (Germany); Schrittwieser, Stefan; Schotter, Joerg [Molecular Diagnostics, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna (Austria); Remmer, Hilke; Schilling, Meinhard; Ludwig, Frank [Institut fuer Elektrische Messtechnik und Grundlagen der Elektrotechnik, TU Braunschweig, Braunschweig (Germany)

2015-04-15

In this work, we report on the effect of the magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) concentration on the quantitative detection of proteins in solution with a rotating magnetic field (RMF) based homogeneous bioassay. Here, the phase lag between 30 nm iron oxide single-core particles and the RMF is analyzed with a fluxgate-based measurement system. As a test analyte anti-human IgG is applied which binds to the protein G functionalized MNP shell and causes a change of the phase lag. The measured phase lag changes for a fixed MNP and a varying analyte concentration are modeled with logistic functions. A change of the MNP concentration results in a nonlinear shift of the logistic function with the analyte concentration. This effect results from the law of mass action. Furthermore, the bioassay results are used to determine the association constant of the binding reaction. - Highlights: • A rotating magnetic field based homogeneous bioassay concept was presented. • Here, single-core iron oxide nanoparticles are applied as markers. • The impact of the particle concentration on the bioassay results is investigated. • The relation between particle concentration and bioassay sensitivity is nonlinear. • This finding can be reasonably explained by the law of mass action.

Hybrid macro-micro fluidics system for a chip-based biosensor

Science.gov (United States)

Tamanaha, C. R.; Whitman, L. J.; Colton, R. J.

2002-03-01

We describe the engineering of a hybrid fluidics platform for a chip-based biosensor system that combines high-performance microfluidics components with powerful, yet compact, millimeter-scale pump and valve actuators. The microfluidics system includes channels, valveless diffuser-based pumps, and pinch-valves that are cast into a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membrane and packaged along with the sensor chip into a palm-sized plastic cartridge. The microfluidics are driven by pump and valve actuators contained in an external unit (with a volume ~30 cm3) that interfaces kinematically with the PDMS microelements on the cartridge. The pump actuator is a simple-lever, flexure-hinge displacement amplifier that increases the motion of a piezoelectric stack. The valve actuators are an array of cantilevers operated by shape memory alloy wires. All components can be fabricated without the need for complex lithography or micromachining, and can be used with fluids containing micron-sized particulates. Prototypes have been modeled and tested to ensure the delivery of microliter volumes of fluid and the even dispersion of reagents over the chip sensing elements. With this hybrid approach to the fluidics system, the biochemical assay benefits from the many advantages of microfluidics yet we avoid the complexity and unknown reliability of immature microactuator technologies.

Fluorescence lifetime based bioassays

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer-Almes, Franz-Josef

2017-12-01

Fluorescence lifetime (FLT) is a robust intrinsic property and material constant of fluorescent matter. Measuring this important physical indicator has evolved from a laboratory curiosity to a powerful and established technique for a variety of applications in drug discovery, medical diagnostics and basic biological research. This distinct trend was mainly driven by improved and meanwhile affordable laser and detection instrumentation on the one hand, and the development of suitable FLT probes and biological assays on the other. In this process two essential working approaches emerged. The first one is primarily focused on high throughput applications employing biochemical in vitro assays with no requirement for high spatial resolution. The second even more dynamic trend is the significant expansion of assay methods combining highly time and spatially resolved fluorescence data by fluorescence lifetime imaging. The latter approach is currently pursued to enable not only the investigation of immortal tumor cell lines, but also specific tissues or even organs in living animals. This review tries to give an actual overview about the current status of FLT based bioassays and the wide range of application opportunities in biomedical and life science areas. In addition, future trends of FLT technologies will be discussed.

Adjunctive Effects of A Piscean Collagen-Based Controlled-Release Chlorhexidine Chip in the Treatment of Chronic Periodontitis: A Clinical and Microbiological Study

Science.gov (United States)

John, Priya; Lazarus, Flemingson; Selvam, Arul; Prabhuji, Munivenkatappa Lakshmaiah Venkatesh

2015-01-01

Introduction PerioChip a bovine origin gelatine based CHX chip has shown beneficial effects in the management of Chronic Periodontitis. A new fish collagen based CHX chip similar to PerioChip is currently available; however this product has not been thoroughly researched. Aim The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a new Piscean collagen-based controlled-release chlorhexidine chip (CHX chip) as an adjunctive therapy to scaling and root planing (SRP). Settings and Design The study was conducted as a randomised, split-mouth, controlled clinical trial at Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bangalore, India. Materials and Methods In a split–mouth study involving 20 sites in 10 patients with chronic periodontitis, control sites received scaling and root planing and test sites received scaling and root planing (SRP) and the intrapocket CHX chip placement as an adjunct. Subgingival plaque samples were collected from both control and test sites at baseline, 11 days and 11 weeks and the anaerobic colony count were assessed. Clinical parameters that were recorded at baseline and 11 weeks were gingival index, Plaque index, Probing pocket depth (PPD), and Clinical attachment level (CAL). Plaque index was recorded additionally at 11 days. Results In the test group there was a statistically significant reduction in the total anaerobic colony count, gingival index and plaque scores from baseline as compared to control sites at all time intervals. An additional 0.8mm reduction in mean probing pocket depth was noted in the test group. Gain in Clinical attachment level was comparable in both groups. Conclusion The adjunctive use of the new collagen-based CHX chip yielded significant antimicrobial benefit accompanied by a reduction in probing depth and a clinical attachment level gain as compared to SRP alone. This suggests that it may be a useful treatment option of nonsurgical periodontal treatment of chronic periodontitis. PMID:26155567

Bioassay-based risk assessment of hazardous waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donnelly, K.C.; Brown, K.W.; He, L.Y. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

1994-12-31

Microbial bioassays have been used to assess the genotoxic hazard at more than 30 different hazardous waste sites. Environmental samples were extracted with dichloromethane and methanol, and the resulting residue tested using GC/MS analysis as well as the Salmonella Microsomal and E. coli Prophage Induction assays. At a munitions wastewater contaminated site, there was no correlation between mutagenicity in bacteria, and the risk as estimated from chemical analysis data of trinitrotoluene. Samples 202 and 204 from a coal gasification site contained 72 mg/kg and 9 mg/kg benzo(a)pyrene, whereas the mutagenic responses of these samples were 231 net revertants/mg and 902 revertants/mg, respectively. The data suggest that microbial bioassays provide a valuable tool for monitoring the interactions of the components of a complex mixture.

Characterization of AGIPD1.0: The full scale chip

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mezza, D., E-mail: davide.mezza@psi.ch [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Allahgholi, A.; Arino-Estrada, G.; Bianco, L.; Delfs, A. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Dinapoli, R. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Goettlicher, P. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Graafsma, H. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall (Sweden); Greiffenberg, D. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Hirsemann, H.; Jack, S. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Klanner, R. [University of Hamburg, Hamburg (Germany); Klyuev, A. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Krueger, H. [University of Bonn, Bonn (Germany); Marras, A. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Mozzanica, A. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Poehlsen, J. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Schmitt, B. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Schwandt, J. [University of Hamburg, Hamburg (Germany); Sheviakov, I. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); and others

2016-12-01

The AGIPD (adaptive gain integrating pixel detector) detector is a high frame rate (4.5 MHz) and high dynamic range (up to 10{sup 4} ·12.4 keV photons) detector with single photon resolution (down to 4 keV taking 5σ as limit and lowest noise settings) developed for the European XFEL (XFEL.EU). This work is focused on the characterization of AGIPD1.0, which is the first full scale version of the chip. The chip is 64×64 pixels and each pixel has a size of 200×200 μm{sup 2}. Each pixel can store up to 352 images at a rate of 4.5 MHz (corresponding to 220 ns). A detailed characterization of the AGIPD1.0 chip has been performed in order to assess the main performance of the ASIC in terms of gain, noise, speed and dynamic range. From the measurements presented in this paper a good uniformity of the gain, a noise around 320 e{sup −} (rms) in standard mode and around 240 e{sup −} (rms) in high gain mode has been measured. Furthermore a detailed discussion about the non-linear behavior after the gain switching is presented with both experimental results and simulations.

Development and psychometric properties of the Carer - Head Injury Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale (C-HINAS) and the Carer - Head Injury Participation Scale (C-HIPS): patient and family determined outcome scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Deb, Shoumitro; Bryant, Eleanor; Morris, Paul G; Prior, Lindsay; Lewis, Glyn; Haque, Sayeed

2007-06-01

Develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Carer - Head Injury Participation Scale (C-HIPS) and its biggest factor the Carer - Head Injury Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale (C-HINAS). Furthermore, the aim was to examine the inter-informant reliability by comparing the self reports of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the carer reports on the C-HIPS and the C-HINAS. Thirty-two TBI individuals and 27 carers took part in in-depth qualitative interviews exploring the consequences of the TBI. Interview transcripts were analysed and key themes and concepts were used to construct a 49-item and 58-item patient (Patient - Head Injury Participation Scale [P-HIPS]) and carer outcome measure (C-HIPS) respectively, of which 49 were parallel items and nine additional items were used to assess carer burden. Postal versions of the P-HIPS, C-HIPS, Mayo Portland Adaptability Inventory-3 (MPAI-3), and the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) were completed by a cohort of 113 TBI individuals and 80 carers. Data from a sub-group of 66 patient/carer pairs were used to compare inter-informant reliability between the P-HIPS and the C-HIPS, and the P-HINAS and the C-HINAS respectively. All individual 49 items of the C-HIPS and their total score showed good test-retest reliability (0.95) and internal consistency (0.95). Comparisons with the MPAI-3 and GOSE found a good correlation with the MPAI-3 (0.7) and a moderate negative correlation with the GOSE (-0.6). Factor analysis of these items extracted a 4-factor structure which represented the domains 'Emotion/Behavior' (C-HINAS), 'Independence/Community Living', 'Cognition', and 'Physical'. The C-HINAS showed good internal consistency (0.92), test-retest reliability (0.93), and concurrent validity with one MPAI subscale (0.7). Assessment of inter-informant reliability revealed good correspondence between the reports of the patients and the carers for both the C-HIPS (0.83) and the C-HINAS (0.82). Both the C

[Investigation on pattern of quality control for Chinese materia medica based on famous-region drug and bioassay--the work reference].

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Dan; Xiao, Xiaohe

2011-05-01

Selection and standardization of the work reference are the technical issues to be faced with in the bioassay of Chinese materia medica. Taking the bioassay of Coptis chinensis. as an example, the manufacture process of the famous-region drugs extraction was explained from the aspects of original identification, routine examination, component analysis and bioassay. The common technologies were extracted, and the selection and standardization procedures of the work reference for the bioassay of Chinese materia medica were drawn up, so as to provide technical support for constructing a new mode and method of the quality control of Chinese materia medica based on the famous-region drugs and bioassay.

Bioassay guideline 1: general guidlines for bioassay programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

This guideline is the first of a series of documents which elaborate criteria for bioassay programs, to be presented as recommendations to the Atomic Energy Control Board. It specifies which workers require routine bioassays, the accuracy and frequency of measurements, the dose levels at which specific actions must be taken, and the documentation required

The composing technique of fast and large scale nuclear data acquisition and control system with single chip microcomputers and PC computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Zurun; Wu Shiying; Liu Haitao; Yao Yangsen; Wang Yingguan; Yang Chaowen

1998-01-01

The technique of employing single-chip microcomputers and PC computers to compose a fast and large scale nuclear data acquisition and control system was discussed in detail. The optimum composition mode of this kind of system, the acquisition and control circuit unit based on single-chip microcomputers, the real-time communication methods and the software composition under the Windows 3.2 were also described. One, two and three dimensional spectra measured by this system were demonstrated

The composing technique of fast and large scale nuclear data acquisition and control system with single chip microcomputers and PC computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Zurun; Wu Shiying; Liu Haitao; Yao Yangsen; Wang Yingguan; Yang Chaowen

1997-01-01

The technique of employing single-chip microcomputers and PC computers to compose a fast and large scale nuclear data acquisition and control system was discussed in detail. The optimum composition mode of this kind of system, the acquisition and control circuit unit based on single-chip microcomputers, the real-time communication methods and the software composition under the Windows 3.2 were also described. One, two and three dimensional spectra measured by this system were demonstrated

Addressing On-Chip Power Converstion and Dissipation Issues in Many-Core System-on-a-Chip Based on Conventional Silicon and Emerging Nanotechnologies

Science.gov (United States)

Ashenafi, Emeshaw

Integrated circuits (ICs) are moving towards system-on-a-chip (SOC) designs. SOC allows various small and large electronic systems to be implemented in a single chip. This approach enables the miniaturization of design blocks that leads to high density transistor integration, faster response time, and lower fabrication costs. To reap the benefits of SOC and uphold the miniaturization of transistors, innovative power delivery and power dissipation management schemes are paramount. This dissertation focuses on on-chip integration of power delivery systems and managing power dissipation to increase the lifetime of energy storage elements. We explore this problem from two different angels: On-chip voltage regulators and power gating techniques. On-chip voltage regulators reduce parasitic effects, and allow faster and efficient power delivery for microprocessors. Power gating techniques, on the other hand, reduce the power loss incurred by circuit blocks during standby mode. Power dissipation (Ptotal = Pstatic and Pdynamic) in a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuit comes from two sources: static and dynamic. A quadratic dependency on the dynamic switching power and a more than linear dependency on static power as a form of gate leakage (subthreshold current) exist. To reduce dynamic power loss, the supply power should be reduced. A significant reduction in power dissipation occurs when portions of a microprocessor operate at a lower voltage level. This reduction in supply voltage is achieved via voltage regulators or converters. Voltage regulators are used to provide a stable power supply to the microprocessor. The conventional off-chip switching voltage regulator contains a passive floating inductor, which is difficult to be implemented inside the chip due to excessive power dissipation and parasitic effects. Additionally, the inductor takes a very large chip area while hampering the scaling process. These limitations make passive inductor based on-chip

Microfluidic 3D cell culture: potential application for tissue-based bioassays

Science.gov (United States)

Li, XiuJun (James); Valadez, Alejandra V.; Zuo, Peng; Nie, Zhihong

2014-01-01

Current fundamental investigations of human biology and the development of therapeutic drugs, commonly rely on two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture systems. However, 2D cell culture systems do not accurately recapitulate the structure, function, physiology of living tissues, as well as highly complex and dynamic three-dimensional (3D) environments in vivo. The microfluidic technology can provide micro-scale complex structures and well-controlled parameters to mimic the in vivo environment of cells. The combination of microfluidic technology with 3D cell culture offers great potential for in vivo-like tissue-based applications, such as the emerging organ-on-a-chip system. This article will review recent advances in microfluidic technology for 3D cell culture and their biological applications. PMID:22793034

Effect-based trigger values for in vitro bioassays: Reading across from existing water quality guideline values.

Science.gov (United States)

Escher, Beate I; Neale, Peta A; Leusch, Frederic D L

2015-09-15

Cell-based bioassays are becoming increasingly popular in water quality assessment. The new generations of reporter-gene assays are very sensitive and effects are often detected in very clean water types such as drinking water and recycled water. For monitoring applications it is therefore imperative to derive trigger values that differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable effect levels. In this proof-of-concept paper, we propose a statistical method to read directly across from chemical guideline values to trigger values without the need to perform in vitro to in vivo extrapolations. The derivation is based on matching effect concentrations with existing chemical guideline values and filtering out appropriate chemicals that are responsive in the given bioassays at concentrations in the range of the guideline values. To account for the mixture effects of many chemicals acting together in a complex water sample, we propose bioanalytical equivalents that integrate the effects of groups of chemicals with the same mode of action that act in a concentration-additive manner. Statistical distribution methods are proposed to derive a specific effect-based trigger bioanalytical equivalent concentration (EBT-BEQ) for each bioassay of environmental interest that targets receptor-mediated toxicity. Even bioassays that are indicative of the same mode of action have slightly different numeric trigger values due to differences in their inherent sensitivity. The algorithm was applied to 18 cell-based bioassays and 11 provisional effect-based trigger bioanalytical equivalents were derived as an illustrative example using the 349 chemical guideline values protective for human health of the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling. We illustrate the applicability using the example of a diverse set of water samples including recycled water. Most recycled water samples were compliant with the proposed triggers while wastewater effluent would not have been compliant with a few

The BIDAS: bioassay data analysis software for evaluating radionuclide intake and dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Tae Young; Lee, Jong Il; Chang, Si Young

2003-01-01

The BIDAS (BIoassay Data Analysis Software) computer code was developed for the interpretation of bioassay measurements in terms of the intake and dose using the International Commission on Radiological Protection's(ICRP's) currently recommended respiratory tract, GI-tract and biokinetic models to describe the behavior of the radioactive materials within the body. The code consists of a data base module to the manage bioassay data, a data base module containing the predicted bioassay quantities of each radionuclide, and a computational module to the estimate radionuclide intake and dose from either an acute or a chronic exposure based on the measured bioassay quantities. This paper describes the features of the code as well as the results of the BIDAS validation

Opto-electronic DNA chip-based integrated card for clinical diagnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchand, Gilles; Broyer, Patrick; Lanet, Véronique; Delattre, Cyril; Foucault, Frédéric; Menou, Lionel; Calvas, Bernard; Roller, Denis; Ginot, Frédéric; Campagnolo, Raymond; Mallard, Frédéric

2008-02-01

Clinical diagnostics is one of the most promising applications for microfluidic lab-on-a-chip or lab-on-card systems. DNA chips, which provide multiparametric data, are privileged tools for genomic analysis. However, automation of molecular biology protocol and use of these DNA chips in fully integrated systems remains a great challenge. Simplicity of chip and/or card/instrument interfaces is amongst the most critical issues to be addressed. Indeed, current detection systems for DNA chip reading are often complex, expensive, bulky and even limited in terms of sensitivity or accuracy. Furthermore, for liquid handling in the lab-on-cards, many devices use complex and bulky systems, either to directly manipulate fluids, or to ensure pneumatic or mechanical control of integrated valves. All these drawbacks prevent or limit the use of DNA-chip-based integrated systems, for point-of-care testing or as a routine diagnostics tool. We present here a DNA-chip-based protocol integration on a plastic card for clinical diagnostics applications including: (1) an opto-electronic DNA-chip, (2) fluid handling using electrically activated embedded pyrotechnic microvalves with closing/opening functions. We demonstrate both fluidic and electric packaging of the optoelectronic DNA chip without major alteration of its electronical and biological functionalities, and fluid control using novel electrically activable pyrotechnic microvalves. Finally, we suggest a complete design of a card dedicated to automation of a complex biological protocol with a fully electrical fluid handling and DNA chip reading.

Flip-chip bonded optoelectronic integration based on ultrathin silicon (UTSi) CMOS

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Sunkwang; Ho, Tawei; Zhang, Liping; Sawchuk, Alexander A.

2003-06-01

We describe the design and test of flip-chip bonded optoelectronic CMOS devices based on Peregrine Semiconductor's 0.5 micron Ultra-Thin Silicon on sapphire (UTSi) technology. The UTSi process eliminates the substrate leakage that typically results in crosstalk and reduces parasitic capacitance to the substrate, providing many benefits compared to bulk silicon CMOS. The low-loss synthetic sapphire substrate is optically transparent and has a coefficient of thermal expansion suitable for flip-chip bonding of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and detectors. We have designed two different UTSi CMOS chips. One contains a flip-chip bonded 1 x 4 photodiode array, a receiver array, a double edge triggered D-flip flop-based 2047-pattern pseudo random bit stream (PRBS) generator and a quadrature-phase LC-voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). The other chip contains a flip-chip bonded 1 x 4 VCSEL array, a driver array based on high-speed low-voltage differential signals (LVDS) and a full-balanced differential LC-VCO. Each VCSEL driver and receiver has individual input and bias voltage adjustments. Each UTSi chip is mounted on different printed circuit boards (PCBs) which have holes with about 1 mm radius for optical output and input paths through the sapphire substrate. We discuss preliminary testing of these chips.

Development and psychometric properties of the Carer – Head Injury Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale (C-HINAS) and the Carer – Head Injury Participation Scale (C-HIPS): patient and family determined outcome scales

Science.gov (United States)

Deb, Shoumitro; Bryant, Eleanor; Morris, Paul G; Prior, Lindsay; Lewis, Glyn; Haque, Sayeed

2007-01-01

Objective Develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Carer – Head Injury Participation Scale (C-HIPS) and its biggest factor the Carer – Head Injury Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale (C-HINAS). Furthermore, the aim was to examine the inter-informant reliability by comparing the self reports of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the carer reports on the C-HIPS and the C-HINAS. Method Thirty-two TBI individuals and 27 carers took part in in-depth qualitative interviews exploring the consequences of the TBI. Interview transcripts were analysed and key themes and concepts were used to construct a 49-item and 58-item patient (Patient – Head Injury Participation Scale [P-HIPS]) and carer outcome measure (C-HIPS) respectively, of which 49 were parallel items and nine additional items were used to assess carer burden. Postal versions of the P-HIPS, C-HIPS, Mayo Portland Adaptability Inventory-3 (MPAI-3), and the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) were completed by a cohort of 113 TBI individuals and 80 carers. Data from a sub-group of 66 patient/carer pairs were used to compare inter-informant reliability between the P-HIPS and the C-HIPS, and the P-HINAS and the C-HINAS respectively. Results All individual 49 items of the C-HIPS and their total score showed good test-retest reliability (0.95) and internal consistency (0.95). Comparisons with the MPAI-3 and GOSE found a good correlation with the MPAI-3 (0.7) and a moderate negative correlation with the GOSE (−0.6). Factor analysis of these items extracted a 4-factor structure which represented the domains ‘Emotion/Behavior’ (C-HINAS), ‘Independence/Community Living’, ‘Cognition’, and ‘Physical’. The C-HINAS showed good internal consistency (0.92), test-retest reliability (0.93), and concurrent validity with one MPAI subscale (0.7). Assessment of inter-informant reliability revealed good correspondence between the reports of the patients and the carers for both the C-HIPS

Wafer Scale Integration of CMOS Chips for Biomedical Applications via Self-Aligned Masking.

Science.gov (United States)

Uddin, Ashfaque; Milaninia, Kaveh; Chen, Chin-Hsuan; Theogarajan, Luke

2011-12-01

This paper presents a novel technique for the integration of small CMOS chips into a large area substrate. A key component of the technique is the CMOS chip based self-aligned masking. This allows for the fabrication of sockets in wafers that are at most 5 µm larger than the chip on each side. The chip and the large area substrate are bonded onto a carrier such that the top surfaces of the two components are flush. The unique features of this technique enable the integration of macroscale components, such as leads and microfluidics. Furthermore, the integration process allows for MEMS micromachining after CMOS die-wafer integration. To demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed technology, a low-power integrated potentiostat chip for biosensing implemented in the AMI 0.5 µm CMOS technology is integrated in a silicon substrate. The horizontal gap and the vertical displacement between the chip and the large area substrate measured after the integration were 4 µm and 0.5 µm, respectively. A number of 104 interconnects are patterned with high-precision alignment. Electrical measurements have shown that the functionality of the chip is not affected by the integration process.

Manipulating Neutral Atoms in Chip-Based Magnetic Traps

Science.gov (United States)

Aveline, David; Thompson, Robert; Lundblad, Nathan; Maleki, Lute; Yu, Nan; Kohel, James

2009-01-01

Several techniques for manipulating neutral atoms (more precisely, ultracold clouds of neutral atoms) in chip-based magnetic traps and atomic waveguides have been demonstrated. Such traps and waveguides are promising components of future quantum sensors that would offer sensitivities much greater than those of conventional sensors. Potential applications include gyroscopy and basic research in physical phenomena that involve gravitational and/or electromagnetic fields. The developed techniques make it possible to control atoms with greater versatility and dexterity than were previously possible and, hence, can be expected to contribute to the value of chip-based magnetic traps and atomic waveguides. The basic principle of these techniques is to control gradient magnetic fields with suitable timing so as to alter a trap to exert position-, velocity-, and/or time-dependent forces on atoms in the trap to obtain desired effects. The trap magnetic fields are generated by controlled electric currents flowing in both macroscopic off-chip electromagnet coils and microscopic wires on the surface of the chip. The methods are best explained in terms of examples. Rather than simply allowing atoms to expand freely into an atomic waveguide, one can give them a controllable push by switching on an externally generated or a chip-based gradient magnetic field. This push can increase the speed of the atoms, typically from about 5 to about 20 cm/s. Applying a non-linear magnetic-field gradient exerts different forces on atoms in different positions a phenomenon that one can exploit by introducing a delay between releasing atoms into the waveguide and turning on the magnetic field.

Initial sample extract stock concentration affects in vitro bioassay-based toxicological risk characterization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Montano, M.; Loffmann, L.; Murk, A.J.; Gutleb, A.C.

2014-01-01

Purpose Bioassays have become an alternative for sediment risk profiling, including potential compliance with sediment quality criteria (SQC). In vitro functional bioassays have evolved through standardization and validation towards a confident toxicological hazard estimate of sediments. Sample

Solid state silicon based condenser microphone for hearing aid, has transducer chip and IC chip between intermediate chip and openings on both sides of intermediate chip, to allow sound towards diaphragm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2000-01-01

towards diaphragm. Surface of the chip (2) has electrical conductors (14) to connect chip with IC chip (3). USE - For use in miniature electroacoustic devices such as hearing aid. ADVANTAGE - Since sound inlet is covered by filter, dust, moisture and other impurities do not obstruct interior and sound...... inlet of microphone. External electrical connection can be made economically reliable and the thermal stress is avoided with the small size solid state silicon based condenser microphone....

Comparison of five bioassay techniques for assessing sediment-bound contaminants

OpenAIRE

Ahlf, Wolfgang; Calmano, Wolfgang; Erhard, Judith; Förstner, Ulrich

1989-01-01

Biological response could not be predicted based on chemical concentration of the sediment contaminants. Bioassays integrate the response of test organisms to contaminants and nutrients. Comparative results of five acute bioassays indicated that Neubauer phytoassay was the most sensitive. The mircobial biomass and algal growth tests indicated a response to the availability of contaminants and nutrients. These results suggest the usefulness of a diversity of bioassays in toxicity testing of se...

Integrated potentiometric detector for use in chip-based flow cells

Science.gov (United States)

Tantra; Manz

2000-07-01

A new kind of potentiometric chip sensor for ion-selective electrodes (ISE) based on a solvent polymeric membrane is described. The chip sensor is designed to trap the organic cocktail inside the chip and to permit sample solution to flow past the membrane. The design allows the sensor to overcome technical problems of ruggedness and would therefore be ideal for industrial processes. The sensor performance for a Ba2+-ISE membrane based on a Vogtle ionophore showed electrochemical behavior similar to that observed in conventional electrodes and microelectrode arrangements.

Development and validation of a quantitative, high-throughput, fluorescent-based bioassay to detect schistosoma viability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Peak

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Schistosomiasis, caused by infection with the blood fluke Schistosoma, is responsible for greater than 200,000 human deaths per annum. Objective high-throughput screens for detecting novel anti-schistosomal targets will drive 'genome to drug' lead translational science at an unprecedented rate. Current methods for detecting schistosome viability rely on qualitative microscopic criteria, which require an understanding of parasite morphology, and most importantly, must be subjectively interpreted. These limitations, in the current state of the art, have significantly impeded progress into whole schistosome screening for next generation chemotherapies.We present here a microtiter plate-based method for reproducibly detecting schistosomula viability that takes advantage of the differential uptake of fluorophores (propidium iodide and fluorescein diacetate by living organisms. We validate this high-throughput system in detecting schistosomula viability using auranofin (a known inhibitor of thioredoxin glutathione reductase, praziquantel and a range of small compounds with previously-described (gambogic acid, sodium salinomycin, ethinyl estradiol, fluoxetidine hydrochloride, miconazole nitrate, chlorpromazine hydrochloride, amphotericin b, niclosamide or suggested (bepridil, ciclopirox, rescinnamine, flucytosine, vinblastine and carbidopa anti-schistosomal activities. This developed method is sensitive (200 schistosomula/well can be assayed, relevant to industrial (384-well microtiter plate compatibility and academic (96-well microtiter plate compatibility settings, translatable to functional genomics screens and drug assays, does not require a priori knowledge of schistosome biology and is quantitative.The wide-scale application of this fluorescence-based bioassay will greatly accelerate the objective identification of novel therapeutic lead targets/compounds to combat schistosomiasis. Adapting this bioassay for use with other parasitic worm species

Development and characterization of a green fluorescent protein-based rat cell bioassay system for detection of AH receptor ligands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao Bin; Denison, M. [California Univ., Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Environmental Toxicology

2004-09-15

Proper epidemiological, risk assessment and exposure analysis of TCDD and related HAHs requires accurate measurements of these chemicals both in the species of interest and in various exposure matrices (i.e. biological, environmental, food and feed). While high-resolution instrumental analysis techniques are established for these chemicals, these procedures are very costly, time-consuming and are impractical for large scale sampling studies. Accordingly, numerous bioanalytical methods have been developed for the detection of these chemicals in extracts from a variety of matrices, the majority of which take the advantage of the ability of these chemicals to activate one or more aspects of the AhR-dependent mechanism of action. One of the most sensitive bioassay systems developed to date is the so-called CALUX (Chemically Activated Luciferase Expression) assay, which is based on novel recombinant cell lines that contain a stably transfected dioxin (AhR)-responsive firefly luciferase gene. Treatment of these cells with TCDD and related HAHs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as well as other AhR ligands, results in induction of reporter gene expression in a time-, dose-, AhR-, and chemical-specific manner. The level of reporter gene expression correlates with the total concentration of the TCDD-like AhR inducers (agonists) present in the sample. Although the firefly luciferase reporter gene contributes to the high degree of sensitivity of the assay, it also has limitations with respect to our need for a rapid and inexpensive bioassay for high-throughput screening analysis. Accordingly, we previously developed a stably transfected murine cell line containing an AhRresponsive enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter gene. This cell line provided us with a high-throughput cell bioassay system for identification and characterization of AhR agonists and antagonists. Here we have extended these studies and describe the development, optimization, and

Bioassay of naturally occurring allelochemicals for phytotoxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Leather, G R; Einhellig, F A

1988-10-01

The bioassay has been one of the most widely used tests to demonstrate allelopathic activity. Often, claims that a particular plant species inhibits the growth of another are based entirely on the seed germination response to solvent extracts of the suspected allelopathic plant; few of these tests are of value in demonstrating allelopathy under natural conditions. The veracity of the bioassay for evaluating naturally occurring compounds for phytotoxicity depends upon the physiological and biochemical response capacity of the bioassay organism and the mechanism(s) of action of the allelochemicals. The possibility that more than one allelochemical, acting in concert at very low concentrations, may be responsible for an observed allelopathic effect makes it imperative that bioassays be extremely sensitive to chemical growth perturbation agents. Among the many measures of phytotoxicity of allelochemicals, the inhibition (or stimulation) of seed germination, radicle elongation, and/or seedling growth have been the parameters of choice for most investigations. Few of these assays have been selected with the view towards the possible mechanism of the allelopathic effect.

VLSI Design of SVM-Based Seizure Detection System With On-Chip Learning Capability.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Lichen; Li, Zunchao; Wang, Yuanfa

2018-02-01

Portable automatic seizure detection system is very convenient for epilepsy patients to carry. In order to make the system on-chip trainable with high efficiency and attain high detection accuracy, this paper presents a very large scale integration (VLSI) design based on the nonlinear support vector machine (SVM). The proposed design mainly consists of a feature extraction (FE) module and an SVM module. The FE module performs the three-level Daubechies discrete wavelet transform to fit the physiological bands of the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal and extracts the time-frequency domain features reflecting the nonstationary signal properties. The SVM module integrates the modified sequential minimal optimization algorithm with the table-driven-based Gaussian kernel to enable efficient on-chip learning. The presented design is verified on an Altera Cyclone II field-programmable gate array and tested using the two publicly available EEG datasets. Experiment results show that the designed VLSI system improves the detection accuracy and training efficiency.

Herbicide impact on Hormosira banksii gametes measured by fluorescence and germination bioassays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seery, Cliff R.; Gunthorpe, Leanne; Ralph, Peter J.

2006-01-01

The innovative bioassay described here involves chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements of gametes from the macroalgae, Hormosira banksii, where gametes (eggs) were exposed to Diuron, Irgarol and Bromacil. Response was assessed as percent inhibition from control of effective quantum yield (ΔF/Fm') of photosystem II, herein referred to as % PSII Inhibition. This was measured with the dual-channelled pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer, ToxY-PAM. The fluorescence bioassay was run simultaneously with an established H. banksii germination bioassay to compare sensitivity, precision, and time-to-result. The fluorescence bioassay gave highly sensitive results evidenced by EC 5 s (% PSII Inhibition) for Diuron, Irgarol and Bromacil being three, four and three orders of magnitude (respectively) lower than EC 5 s generated from the germination bioassays. Precision of the fluorescence bioassay was demonstrated with low coefficient of variations (<30%) for all three toxicants. With regard to time, the fluorescence bioassay gave results within 6 h, as opposed to more than 50 h for the germination bioassay. - Chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements form the basis of a macroalgal bioassay with many advantages over germination-based methods

Fishing on chips: up-and-coming technological advances in analysis of zebrafish and Xenopus embryos.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Feng; Skommer, Joanna; Huang, Yushi; Akagi, Jin; Adams, Dany; Levin, Michael; Hall, Chris J; Crosier, Philip S; Wlodkowic, Donald

2014-11-01

Biotests performed on small vertebrate model organisms provide significant investigative advantages as compared with bioassays that employ cell lines, isolated primary cells, or tissue samples. The main advantage offered by whole-organism approaches is that the effects under study occur in the context of intact physiological milieu, with all its intercellular and multisystem interactions. The gap between the high-throughput cell-based in vitro assays and low-throughput, disproportionally expensive and ethically controversial mammal in vivo tests can be closed by small model organisms such as zebrafish or Xenopus. The optical transparency of their tissues, the ease of genetic manipulation and straightforward husbandry, explain the growing popularity of these model organisms. Nevertheless, despite the potential for miniaturization, automation and subsequent increase in throughput of experimental setups, the manipulation, dispensing and analysis of living fish and frog embryos remain labor-intensive. Recently, a new generation of miniaturized chip-based devices have been developed for zebrafish and Xenopus embryo on-chip culture and experimentation. In this work, we review the critical developments in the field of Lab-on-a-Chip devices designed to alleviate the limits of traditional platforms for studies on zebrafish and clawed frog embryo and larvae. © 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. © 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Enhancing the response of CALUX and CAFLUX cell bioassays for quantitative detection of dioxin-like compounds

Science.gov (United States)

ZHAO, Bin; BASTON, David S.; KHAN, Elaine; SORRENTINO, Claudio; DENISON, Michael S.

2011-01-01

Reporter genes produce a protein product in transfected cells that can be easily measured in intact or lysed cells and they have been extensively used in numerous basic and applied research applications. Over the past 10 years, reporter gene assays have been widely accepted and used for analysis of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and related dioxin-like compounds in various types of matrices, such as biological, environmental, food and feed samples, given that high-resolution instrumental analysis techniques are impractical for large-scale screening analysis. The most sensitive cell-based reporter gene bioassay systems developed are the mechanism-based CALUX (Chemically Activated Luciferase Expression) and CAFLUX (Chemically Activated Fluorescent Expression) bioassays, which utilize recombinant cell lines containing stably transfected dioxin (AhR)-responsive firefly luciferase or enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter genes, respectively. While the current CALUX and CAFLUX bioassays are very sensitive, increasing their lower limit of sensitivity, magnitude of response and dynamic range for chemical detection would significantly increase their utility, particularly for those samples that contain low levels of dioxin-like HAHs (i.e., serum). In this study, we report that the addition of modulators of cell signaling pathways or modification of cell culture conditions results in significant improvement in the magnitude and overall responsiveness of the existing CALUX and CAFLUX cell bioassays. PMID:21394221

An aggregated perylene-based broad-spectrum, efficient and label-free quencher for multiplexed fluorescent bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tao; Hu, Rong; Lv, Yi-Fan; Wu, Yuan; Liang, Hao; Huan, Shuang-Yan; Zhang, Xiao-Bing; Tan, Weihong; Yu, Ru-Qin

2014-08-15

Fluorescent sensing systems based on the quenching of fluorophores have found wide applications in bioassays. An efficient quencher will endow the sensing system a high sensitivity. The frequently used quenchers are based on organic molecules or nanomaterials, which usually need tedious synthesizing and modifying steps, and exhibit different quenching efficiencies to different fluorophores. In this work, we for the first time report that aggregated perylene derivative can serve as a broad-spectrum and label-free quencher that is able to efficiently quench a variety of fluorophores, such as green, red and far red dyes labeled on DNA. By choosing nucleases as model biomolecules, such a broad-spectrum quencher was then employed to construct a multiplexed bioassay platform through a label-free manner. Due to the high quenching efficiency of the aggregated perylene, the proposed platform could detect nuclease with high sensitivity, with a detection limit of 0.03U/mL for EcoRV, and 0.05U/mL for EcoRI. The perylene quencher does not affect the activity of nuclease, which makes it possible to design post-addition type bioassay platform. Moreover, the proposed platform allows simultaneous and multicolor analysis of nucleases in homogeneous solution, demonstrating its value of potential application in rapid screening of multiple bio-targets. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Internal dosimetry performing dose assessments via bioassay measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, K.M.

1993-01-01

The Internal Dosimetry Department at the Y-12 Plant maintains a state-of-the-art bioassay program managed under the guidance and regulations of the Department of Energy. The two major bioassay techniques currently used at Y-12 are the in vitro (urinalysis) and in vivo (lung counting) programs. Fecal analysis (as part of the in vitro program) is another alternative; however, since both urine and fecal analysis provide essentially the same capabilities for detecting exposures to uranium, the urinalysis is the main choice primarily for aesthetic reasons. The bioassay frequency is based on meeting NCRP 87 objectives which are to monitor the accumulation of radioactive material in exposed individuals, and to ensure that significant depositions are detected

Proof of concept for a novel insecticide bioassay based on sugar feeding by adult Aedes aegypti (Stegomyia aegypti).

Science.gov (United States)

Stell, F M; Roe, R M; Arellano, C; Kennedy, L; Thornton, H; Saavedra-Rodriguez, K; Wesson, D M; Black, W C; Apperson, C S

2013-09-01

Aedes aegypti L. (Stegomyia aegypti) (Diptera: Culicidae) is the principal vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Disease management is largely based on mosquito control achieved by insecticides applied to interior resting surfaces and through space sprays. Population monitoring to detect insecticide resistance is a significant component of integrated disease management programmes. We developed a bioassay method for assessing insecticide susceptibility based on the feeding activity of mosquitoes on plant sugars. Our prototype sugar-insecticide feeding bioassay system was composed of inexpensive, disposable components, contained minimal volumes of insecticide, and was compact and highly transportable. Individual mosquitoes were assayed in a plastic cup that contained a sucrose-permethrin solution. Trypan blue dye was added to create a visual marker in the mosquito's abdomen for ingested sucrose-permethrin solution. Blue faecal spots provided further evidence of solution ingestion. With the sugar-insecticide feeding bioassay, the permethrin susceptibility of Ae. aegypti females from two field-collected strains was characterized by probit analysis of dosage-response data. The field strains were also tested by forced contact of females with permethrin residues on filter paper. Dosage-response patterns were similar, indicating that the sugar-insecticide feeding bioassay had appropriately characterized the permethrin susceptibility of the two strains. © 2012 The Royal Entomological Society.

On-chip dual comb source for spectroscopy

OpenAIRE

Dutt, Avik; Joshi, Chaitanya; Ji, Xingchen; Cardenas, Jaime; Okawachi, Yoshitomo; Luke, Kevin; Gaeta, Alexander L.; Lipson, Michal

2016-01-01

Dual-comb spectroscopy is a powerful technique for real-time, broadband optical sampling of molecular spectra which requires no moving components. Recent developments with microresonator-based platforms have enabled frequency combs at the chip scale. However, the need to precisely match the resonance wavelengths of distinct high-quality-factor microcavities has hindered the development of an on-chip dual comb source. Here, we report the first simultaneous generation of two microresonator comb...

Hierarchical responses to organic contaminants in aquatic ecotoxicological bioassays: from microcystins to biodegradation

OpenAIRE

Montenegro, Katia

2008-01-01

In this thesis I explore the ecotoxicological responses of aquatic organisms at different hierarchical levels to organic contaminants by means of bioassays. The bioassays use novel endpoints or approaches to elucidate the effects of exposure to contaminants and attempt to give mechanistic explanations that could be used to interpret effects at higher hierarchical scales. The sensitivity of population growth rate in the cyanobacteria species Microcystis aeruginosa to the herbicide glyp...

Translating bioassay results to field population responses using a Leslie-matrix model for the marine amphipod Corophium volutator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, M.G.D.; Kater, B.J.; Jak, R.G.; Heuvel-Greve, van den M.J.

2006-01-01

Bioassays can be used for the assessment of sediment contamination. The response is classified based on a statistical scale indicating a certain effect percentage being significantly different from the controls (e.g. mortality classes of 0¿10%, 10¿20% etc.). The ecological relevance of this

Herbicide impact on Hormosira banksii gametes measured by fluorescence and germination bioassays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seery, Cliff R. [Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Westbourne Street, Gore Hill, 2065 NSW (Australia); Gunthorpe, Leanne [Primary Industries Research Victoria (PIRVic), VIC (Australia); Ralph, Peter J. [Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Westbourne Street, Gore Hill, 2065 NSW (Australia)]. E-mail: peter.ralph@uts.edu.au

2006-03-15

The innovative bioassay described here involves chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements of gametes from the macroalgae, Hormosira banksii, where gametes (eggs) were exposed to Diuron, Irgarol and Bromacil. Response was assessed as percent inhibition from control of effective quantum yield ({delta}F/Fm') of photosystem II, herein referred to as % PSII Inhibition. This was measured with the dual-channelled pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer, ToxY-PAM. The fluorescence bioassay was run simultaneously with an established H. banksii germination bioassay to compare sensitivity, precision, and time-to-result. The fluorescence bioassay gave highly sensitive results evidenced by EC{sub 5}s (% PSII Inhibition) for Diuron, Irgarol and Bromacil being three, four and three orders of magnitude (respectively) lower than EC{sub 5}s generated from the germination bioassays. Precision of the fluorescence bioassay was demonstrated with low coefficient of variations (<30%) for all three toxicants. With regard to time, the fluorescence bioassay gave results within 6 h, as opposed to more than 50 h for the germination bioassay. - Chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements form the basis of a macroalgal bioassay with many advantages over germination-based methods.

Comparison of solid and liquid-phase bioassays using ecoscores to assess contaminated soils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lors, Christine [Universite Lille Nord de France, 1bis rue Georges Lefevre, 59044 Lille Cedex (France); Ecole des Mines de Douai, LGCgE-MPE-GCE, 941 rue Charles-Bourseul, 59500 Douai (France); Centre National de Recherche sur les Sites et Sols Pollues, 930 Boulevard Lahure, BP 537, 59505 Douai Cedex (France); Ponge, Jean-Francois, E-mail: ponge@mnhn.fr [Museum National d' Histoire Naturelle, Departement Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversite, CNRS UMR 7179, 4 Avenue du Petit-Chateau, 91800 Brunoy (France); Martinez Aldaya, Maite [Museum National d' Histoire Naturelle, Departement Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversite, CNRS UMR 7179, 4 Avenue du Petit-Chateau, 91800 Brunoy (France); Damidot, Denis [Universite Lille Nord de France, 1bis rue Georges Lefevre, 59044 Lille Cedex (France); Ecole des Mines de Douai, LGCgE-MPE-GCE, 941 rue Charles-Bourseul, 59500 Douai (France)

2011-10-15

Bioassays on aqueous and solid phases of contaminated soils were compared, belonging to a wide array of trophic and response levels and using ecoscores for evaluating ecotoxicological and genotoxicological endpoints. The method was applied to four coke factory soils contaminated mainly with PAHs, but also to a lesser extent by heavy metals and cyanides. Aquatic bioassays do not differ from terrestrial bioassays when scaling soils according to toxicity but they are complementary from the viewpoint of ecological relevance. Both aquatic and terrestrial endpoints are strongly correlated with concentrations of 3-ring PAHs. This evaluation procedure allows us to propose a cost-effective battery which embraces a wide array of test organisms and response levels: it includes two rapid bioassays (Microtox) and springtail avoidance), a micronucleus test and three bioassays of a longer duration (algal growth, lettuce germination and springtail reproduction). This battery can be recommended for a cost-effective assessment of polluted/remediated soils. - Highlights: > Comparison of liquid- and solid-phase bioassays on contaminated soils, using ecoscores. > Complementarity of liquid- and solid-phase bioassays for the evaluation of environmental hazards. > Proposal for a restricted battery of 5 most sensitive tests. > Use of this restricted battery for a cost-effective assessment of polluted/remediated soils. - Aqueous and solid phases of contaminated soils give similar results in terms of toxicity but are complementary for the evaluation of environmental hazards by ecoscores.

Rapid bioassay for oil-contaminated soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashworth, J. [ALS Environmental, Edmonton, AB (Canada); Oosterbroek, L. [HydroQual, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

This PowerPoint presentation described a study conducted to develop a rapid bioassay for soils contaminated with oil. The bioassay method was designed for a weight of evidence (WoE) approach and eco-contact guideline derivation protocol. Microtox bioassays were conducted on cyclodextrin extracts of soil quantified by solvent extraction and gas chromatography. The method was demonstrated using straight {beta}-cyclodextrin soil extracts and activated {beta}-cyclodextrin soil extracts. An analysis of the methods showed that the activation step weakens or breaks the cyclodextrin and polycyclic hydrocarbon (PHC) inclusion complex. The released PHC became toxic to the microtox organism. Results from the bioassays were then correlated with earthworm reproduction bioassay results. tabs., figs.

GaN-based integrated photonics chip with suspended LED and waveguide

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xin; Wang, Yongjin; Hane, Kazuhiro; Shi, Zheng; Yan, Jiang

2018-05-01

We propose a GaN-based integrated photonics chip with suspended LED and straight waveguide with different geometric parameters. The integrated photonics chip is prepared by double-side process. Light transmission performance of the integrated chip verse current is quantitatively analyzed by capturing light transmitted to waveguide tip and BPM (beam propagation method) simulation. Reduction of the waveguide width from 8 μm to 4 μm results in an over linear reduction of the light output power while a doubling of the length from 250 μm to 500 μm only results in under linear decrease of the output power. Free-space data transmission with 80 Mbps random binary sequence of the integrated chip is capable of achieving high speed data transmission via visible light. This study provides a potential approach for GaN-based integrated photonics chip as micro light source and passive optical device in VLC (visible light communication).

Bioassay Phantoms Using Medical Images and Computer Aided Manufacturing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, X. Geroge

2011-01-01

A radiation bioassay program relies on a set of standard human phantoms to calibrate and assess radioactivity levels inside a human body for radiation protection and nuclear medicine imaging purposes. However, the methodologies in the development and application of anthropomorphic phantoms, both physical and computational, had mostly remained the same for the past 40 years. We herein propose a 3-year research project to develop medical image-based physical and computational phantoms specifically for radiation bioassay applications involving internally deposited radionuclides. The broad, long-term objective of this research was to set the foundation for a systematic paradigm shift away from the anatomically crude phantoms in existence today to realistic and ultimately individual-specific bioassay methodologies. This long-term objective is expected to impact all areas of radiation bioassay involving nuclear power plants, U.S. DOE laboratories, and nuclear medicine clinics.

A new approach for bioassays based on frequency- and time-domain measurements of magnetic nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Oisjöen, Fredrik; Schneiderman, Justin F; Astalan, Andrea Prieto; Kalabukhov, Alexey; Johansson, Christer; Winkler, Dag

2010-01-15

We demonstrate a one-step wash-free bioassay measurement system capable of tracking biochemical binding events. Our approach combines the high resolution of frequency- and high speed of time-domain measurements in a single device in combination with a fast one-step bioassay. The one-step nature of our magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) based assay reduces the time between sample extraction and quantitative results while mitigating the risks of contamination related to washing steps. Our method also enables tracking of binding events, providing the possibility of, for example, investigation of how chemical/biological environments affect the rate of a binding process or study of the action of certain drugs. We detect specific biological binding events occurring on the surfaces of fluid-suspended MNPs that modify their magnetic relaxation behavior. Herein, we extrapolate a modest sensitivity to analyte of 100 ng/ml with the present setup using our rapid one-step bioassay. More importantly, we determine the size-distributions of the MNP systems with theoretical fits to our data obtained from the two complementary measurement modalities and demonstrate quantitative agreement between them. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Field-programmable lab-on-a-chip based on microelectrode dot array architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gary; Teng, Daniel; Lai, Yi-Tse; Lu, Yi-Wen; Ho, Yingchieh; Lee, Chen-Yi

2014-09-01

The fundamentals of electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) digital microfluidics are very strong: advantageous capability in the manipulation of fluids, small test volumes, precise dynamic control and detection, and microscale systems. These advantages are very important for future biochip developments, but the development of EWOD microfluidics has been hindered by the absence of: integrated detector technology, standard commercial components, on-chip sample preparation, standard manufacturing technology and end-to-end system integration. A field-programmable lab-on-a-chip (FPLOC) system based on microelectrode dot array (MEDA) architecture is presented in this research. The MEDA architecture proposes a standard EWOD microfluidic component called 'microelectrode cell', which can be dynamically configured into microfluidic components to perform microfluidic operations of the biochip. A proof-of-concept prototype FPLOC, containing a 30 × 30 MEDA, was developed by using generic integrated circuits computer aided design tools, and it was manufactured with standard low-voltage complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology, which allows smooth on-chip integration of microfluidics and microelectronics. By integrating 900 droplet detection circuits into microelectrode cells, the FPLOC has achieved large-scale integration of microfluidics and microelectronics. Compared to the full-custom and bottom-up design methods, the FPLOC provides hierarchical top-down design approach, field-programmability and dynamic manipulations of droplets for advanced microfluidic operations.

Developing technology for large-scale production of forest chips. Wood Energy Technology Programme 1999-2003. Interim report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakkila, P.

2003-01-01

Finland is enhancing its use of renewable sources in energy production. From the 1995 level, the use of renewable energy is to be increased by 50 % by 2010, and 100 % by 2025. Wood-based fuels will play a leading role in this development. The main source of wood-based fuels is processing residues from the forest industries. However, as all processing residues are already in use, an increase is possible only as far as the capacity and wood consumption of the forest industries grow. Energy policy affects the production and availability of processing residues only indirectly. Another large source of wood-based energy is forest fuels, consisting of traditional firewood and chips comminuted from low-quality biomass. It is estimated that the reserve of technically harvest-able forest biomass is 10-16 Mm' annually, when no specific cost limit is applied. This corresponds to 2-3 Mtoe or 6-9 % of the present consumption of primary energy in Finland. How much of this re-serve it will actually be possible to harvest and utilize depends on the cost competitiveness of forest chips against alternative sources of energy. A goal of Finnish energy and climate strategies is to use 5 Mm' forest chips annually by 2010. The use of wood fuels is being promoted by means of taxation, investment aid and support for chip production from young forests. Furthermore, research and development is being supported in order to create techno-economic conditions for the competitive production of forest chips. In 1999, the National Technology Agency Tekes established the five-year Wood Energy Technology Programme to stimulate the development of efficient systems for the large-scale production of forest chips. Key tar-gets are competitive costs, reliable supply and good quality chips. The two guiding principles of the programme are: (1) close cooperation between researchers and practitioners and (2) to apply research and development to the practical applications and commercialization. As of November

Comparison of solid and liquid-phase bioassays using ecoscores to assess contaminated soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lors, Christine; Ponge, Jean-Francois; Martinez Aldaya, Maite; Damidot, Denis

2011-01-01

Bioassays on aqueous and solid phases of contaminated soils were compared, belonging to a wide array of trophic and response levels and using ecoscores for evaluating ecotoxicological and genotoxicological endpoints. The method was applied to four coke factory soils contaminated mainly with PAHs, but also to a lesser extent by heavy metals and cyanides. Aquatic bioassays do not differ from terrestrial bioassays when scaling soils according to toxicity but they are complementary from the viewpoint of ecological relevance. Both aquatic and terrestrial endpoints are strongly correlated with concentrations of 3-ring PAHs. This evaluation procedure allows us to propose a cost-effective battery which embraces a wide array of test organisms and response levels: it includes two rapid bioassays (Microtox) and springtail avoidance), a micronucleus test and three bioassays of a longer duration (algal growth, lettuce germination and springtail reproduction). This battery can be recommended for a cost-effective assessment of polluted/remediated soils. - Highlights: → Comparison of liquid- and solid-phase bioassays on contaminated soils, using ecoscores. → Complementarity of liquid- and solid-phase bioassays for the evaluation of environmental hazards. → Proposal for a restricted battery of 5 most sensitive tests. → Use of this restricted battery for a cost-effective assessment of polluted/remediated soils. - Aqueous and solid phases of contaminated soils give similar results in terms of toxicity but are complementary for the evaluation of environmental hazards by ecoscores.

On-chip dual-comb source for spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutt, Avik; Joshi, Chaitanya; Ji, Xingchen; Cardenas, Jaime; Okawachi, Yoshitomo; Luke, Kevin; Gaeta, Alexander L; Lipson, Michal

2018-03-01

Dual-comb spectroscopy is a powerful technique for real-time, broadband optical sampling of molecular spectra, which requires no moving components. Recent developments with microresonator-based platforms have enabled frequency combs at the chip scale. However, the need to precisely match the resonance wavelengths of distinct high quality-factor microcavities has hindered the development of on-chip dual combs. We report the simultaneous generation of two microresonator combs on the same chip from a single laser, drastically reducing experimental complexity. We demonstrate broadband optical spectra spanning 51 THz and low-noise operation of both combs by deterministically tuning into soliton mode-locked states using integrated microheaters, resulting in narrow (lasers or microwave oscillators. We demonstrate high signal-to-noise ratio absorption spectroscopy spanning 170 nm using the dual-comb source over a 20-μs acquisition time. Our device paves the way for compact and robust spectrometers at nanosecond time scales enabled by large beat-note spacings (>1 GHz).

Hardware support for CSP on a Java chip multiprocessor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gruian, Flavius; Schoeberl, Martin

2013-01-01

Due to memory bandwidth limitations, chip multiprocessors (CMPs) adopting the convenient shared memory model for their main memory architecture scale poorly. On-chip core-to-core communication is a solution to this problem, that can lead to further performance increase for a number of multithreaded...... applications. Programmatically, the Communicating Sequential Processes (CSPs) paradigm provides a sound computational model for such an architecture with message based communication. In this paper we explore hardware support for CSP in the context of an embedded Java CMP. The hardware support for CSP are on......-chip communication channels, implemented by a ring-based network-on-chip (NoC), to reduce the memory bandwidth pressure on the shared memory.The presented solution is scalable and also specific for our limited resources and real-time predictability requirements. CMP architectures of three to eight processors were...

Effect of on-chip filter on Coulomb blockade thermometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roschier, L; Penttilä, J S; Gunnarsson, D; Prunnila, M; Meschke, M; Savin, A

2012-01-01

Coulomb Blockade Thermometer (CBT) is a primary thermometer based on electric conductance of normal tunnel junction arrays. One limitation for CBT use at the lowest temperatures has been due to environmental noise heating. To improve on this limitation, we have done measurements on CBT sensors fabricated with different on-chip filtering structures in a dilution refrigerator with a base temperature of 10 mK. The CBT sensors were produced with a wafer scale tunnel junction process. We present how the different on-chip filtering schemes affect the limiting saturation temperatures and show that CBT sensors with proper on-chip filtering work at temperatures below 20 mK and are tolerant to noisy environment.

Efficient algal bioassay based on short-term photosynthetic response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giddings, J.M.; Stewart, A.J.; O'Neill, R.V.; Gardner, R.H.

1983-01-01

A procedure is described for measuring the effects of toxicants on algal photosynthesis (carbon-14 bicarbonate (H 14 CO 3 )uptake) in 4-h experiments. The results for individual aromatic compounds and the water-soluble fraction (WSF) of a synthetic oil are presented as examples of applications of the bioassay. The toxicity of the WSF varied among the seven algal species tested, and the responses of some species were pH-dependent. With Selenastrum capricornutum as the test organism, the bioassay results were unaffected by variations in pH from 7.0 to 9.0, light intensity from 40 to 200 μeinsteins m -2 s -1 , culture density up to 0.5 mg chlorophyll a per litre, and agitation up to 100 rpm. The photosynthesis bioassay is simpler and faster (4 h versus 4 to 14 days), uses smaller culture volumes, and requires less space than static culture-growth tests. One person can conveniently test four materials per day, and the entire procedure, including preparation, exposure, and analysis, takes less than two days. The short incubation time reduces bottle effects such as pH changes, accumulation of metabolic products, nutrient depletion, and bacterial growth. Processes that remove or alter the test materials are also minimized. The data presented here indicate that algal photosynthesis is inhibited at toxicant concentrations similar to those that cause acute effects in aquatic animals. A model of a pelagic ecosystem is used to demonstrate that even temporary (seven-day) inhibition of algal photosynthesis can have a measurable impact on other trophic levels, particularly if the other trophic levels are also experiencing toxic effects. 25 references, 6 figures, 1 table

Bioassay Laboratory

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Bioassay Laboratory is an accredited laboratory capable of conducting standardized and innovative environmental testing in the area of aquatic ecotoxicology. The...

US Army Radiological Bioassay and Dosimetry: The RBD software package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eckerman, K.F.; Ward, R.C.; Maddox, L.B.

1993-01-01

The RBD (Radiological Bioassay and Dosimetry) software package was developed for the U. S. Army Material Command, Arlington, Virginia, to demonstrate compliance with the radiation protection guidance 10 CFR Part 20 (ref. 1). Designed to be run interactively on an IBM-compatible personal computer, RBD consists of a data base module to manage bioassay data and a computational module that incorporates algorithms for estimating radionuclide intake from either acute or chronic exposures based on measurement of the worker's rate of excretion of the radionuclide or the retained activity in the body. In estimating the intake,RBD uses a separate file for each radionuclide containing parametric representations of the retention and excretion functions. These files also contain dose-per-unit-intake coefficients used to compute the committed dose equivalent. For a given nuclide, if measurements exist for more than one type of assay, an auxiliary module, REPORT, estimates the intake by applying weights assigned in the nuclide file for each assay. Bioassay data and computed results (estimates of intake and committed dose equivalent) are stored in separate data bases, and the bioassay measurements used to compute a given result can be identified. The REPORT module creates a file containing committed effective dose equivalent for each individual that can be combined with the individual's external exposure

77 FR 14837 - Bioassay at Uranium Mills

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-13

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2012-0057] Bioassay at Uranium Mills AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory..., ``Bioassay at Uranium Mills.'' This guide describes a bioassay program acceptable to the NRC staff for uranium mills and applicable portions of uranium conversion facilities where the possibility of exposure...

A low-frequency chip-scale optomechanical oscillator with 58 kHz mechanical stiffening and more than 100th-order stable harmonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yongjun; Flores, Jaime Gonzalo Flor; Cai, Ziqiang; Yu, Mingbin; Kwong, Dim-Lee; Wen, Guangjun; Churchill, Layne; Wong, Chee Wei

2017-06-29

For the sensitive high-resolution force- and field-sensing applications, the large-mass microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and optomechanical cavity have been proposed to realize the sub-aN/Hz 1/2 resolution levels. In view of the optomechanical cavity-based force- and field-sensors, the optomechanical coupling is the key parameter for achieving high sensitivity and resolution. Here we demonstrate a chip-scale optomechanical cavity with large mass which operates at ≈77.7 kHz fundamental mode and intrinsically exhibiting large optomechanical coupling of 44 GHz/nm or more, for both optical resonance modes. The mechanical stiffening range of ≈58 kHz and a more than 100 th -order harmonics are obtained, with which the free-running frequency instability is lower than 10 -6 at 100 ms integration time. Such results can be applied to further improve the sensing performance of the optomechanical inspired chip-scale sensors.

Multiple plasmonically induced transparency for chip-scale bandpass filters in metallic nanowaveguides

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Hua; Yue, Zengqi; Zhao, Jianlin

2018-05-01

We propose and investigate a new kind of bandpass filters based on the plasmonically induced transparency (PIT) effect in a special metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide system. The finite element method (FEM) simulations illustrate that the obvious PIT response can be generated in the metallic nanostructure with the stub and coupled cavities. The lineshape and position of the PIT peak are particularly dependent on the lengths of the stub and coupled cavities, the waveguide width, as well as the coupling distance between the stub and coupled cavities. The numerical simulations are in accordance with the results obtained by the temporal coupled-mode theory. The multi-peak PIT effect can be achieved by integrating multiple coupled cavities into the plasmonic waveguide. This PIT response contributes to the flexible realization of chip-scale multi-channel bandpass filters, which could find crucial applications in highly integrated optical circuits for signal processing.

Bioassay-based risk assessment of complex mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donnelly, K.C.; Huebner, H.J.

1996-01-01

The baseline risk assessment often plays an integral role in various decision-making processes at Superfund sites. The present study reports on risk characterizations prepared for seven complex mixtures using biological and chemical analysis. Three of the samples (A, B, and C) were complex mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) extracted from coal tar; while four samples extracted from munitions-contaminated soil contained primarily nitroaromatic hydrocarbons. The chemical-based risk assessment ranked sample C as least toxic, while the risk associated with samples A and B was approximately equal. The microbial bioassay was in general agreement for the coal tar samples. The weighted activity of the coal tar extracts in Salmonella was 4,960 for sample C, and 162,000 and 206,000 for samples A and B, respectively. The bacterial mutagenicity of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene contaminated soils exhibited an indirect correlation with chemical-based risk assessment. The aqueous extract of sample 004 induced 1,292 net revertants in Salmonella, while the estimated risk to ingestion and dermal adsorption was 2E-9. The data indicate that the chemical-based risk assessment accurately predicted the genotoxicity of the PAHs, while the accuracy of the risk assessment for munitions contaminated soils was limited due to the presence of metabolites of TNT degradation. The biological tests used in this research provide a valuable compliment to chemical analysis for characterizing the genotoxic risk of complex mixtures

Submission of the First Full Scale Prototype Chip for Upgraded ATLAS Pixel Detector at LHC, FE-I4A

CERN Document Server

Barbero, M; The ATLAS collaboration; Beccherle, R; Darbo, G; Dube, S; Elledge, D; Fleury, J; Fougeron, D; Garcia-Sciveres, M; Gensolen, F; Gnani, D; Gromov, V; Jensen, F; Hemperek, T; Karagounis, M; Kluit, R; Kruth, A; Mekkaoui, A; Menouni, M; Schipper, JD; Wermes, N; Zivkovic, V

2010-01-01

A new ATLAS pixel chip FE-I4 is being developed for use in upgraded LHC luminosity environments, including the near-term Insertable B-Layer (IBL) upgrade. FE-I4 is designed in a 130nm CMOS technology, presenting advantages in terms of radiation tolerance and digital logic density compared to the 250nm CMOS technology used for the current ATLAS pixel IC, FE-I3. The FE-I4 architecture is based on an array of 80x336 pixels, each 50x250um^2, consisting of analog and digital sections. In the summer 2010, a first full scale prototype FE-I4A was submitted for an engineering run. This IC features the full scale pixel array as well as the complex periphery of the future full-size FE-I4. The FE-I4A contains also various extra test features which should prove very useful for the chip characterization, but deviate from the needs for standard operation of the final FE-I4 for IBL. In this paper, focus will be brought to the various features implemented in the FE-I4A submission, while also underlining the main differences b...

Silicon based cryogenic platform for the integration of qubit and classical control chips

Science.gov (United States)

Leonhardt, T.; Hollmann, A.; Jirovec, D.; Neumann, R.; Klemt, B.; Kindel, S.; Kucharski, M.; Fischer, G.; Bougeard, D.; Bluhm, H.; Schreiber, L. R.

Electrostatically confined electron-spin-qubits proved viable for quantum information processing. Yet their up-scaling not only demands improvement of physical qubits, but also the development and cryogenic integration of classical control hardware. Therefore, we created a platform to integrate quantum chips and classical electronics. These multilayer interposer chips incorporate passive circuit elements, high bandwidth coplanar wave guides and interconnects for electron spin resonant qubit control as well as low impedance DC microstrips reducing EM-crosstalk from AC to DC lines. We used the interposer for measurements of a Si/SiGe quantum dot at 30 mK. We also characterized a commercial voltage controlled oszillator (VCO) based on hetero-bipolar transistors. Tunable about 30 GHz it is ideal for electron spin resonant qubit control. Cooled from 300 to 4 K it exhibits a slightly increased output power and frequency, while the phase noise level is constant. The device remains functional up to magnetic fields of 6 T.

Chip based electroanalytical systems for cell analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spegel, C.; Heiskanen, A.; Skjolding, L.H.D.

2008-01-01

' measurements of processes related to living cells, i.e., systems without lysing the cells. The focus is on chip based amperometric and impedimetric cell analysis systems where measurements utilizing solely carbon fiber microelectrodes (CFME) and other nonchip electrode formats, such as CFME for exocytosis...

Bioassay criteria for environmental restoration workers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carbaugh, E.H.; Bihl, D.E.

1993-01-01

Environmental restoration (ER) work at the U. S. Department of Energy Hanford Site posed questions concerning when to perform bioassay monitoring of workers for potential intakes of radioactivity. Application of criteria originally developed for use inside radionuclide processing facilities to ER work resulted in overly restrictive bioassay requirements. ER work typically involves site characterization or, excavating large quantities of potentially contaminated soil, rather than working with concentrated quantities of radioactivity as in a processing facility. An improved approach, tailored to ER work, provided soil contamination concentrations above which worker bioassay would be required. Soil concentrations were derived assuming acute or chronic intakes of 2% of an Annual Limit on Intake (ALI), or a potential committed effective dose equivalent of 100 mrem, and conservative dust loading of air from the work. When planning ER work, the anticipated soil concentration and corresponding need for bioassay could be estimated from work-site historical records. Once site work commenced, soil sampling and work-place surveys could be used to determine bioassay needs. This approach substantially reduced the required number of bioassay samples with corresponding reductions in analytical costs, schedules, and more flexible work-force management. (Work supported by the US Department of Energy under contract DOE-AC06-76RLO 1830.)

Bioassay programs for radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-01-01

This report discusses the rationale for the establishment of bioassay programs as a means of protection for radiation workers in the nuclear industry. The bioassay program of the Radiation Protection Bureau is described for the years 1966-1978 and plans for future changes are outlined. (auth)

Characterizing Rat PNS Electrophysiological Response to Electrical Stimulation Using in vitro Chip-Based Human Investigational Platform (iCHIP)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khani, Joshua [Georgetown Univ., Washington, DC (United States); Prescod, Lindsay [Georgetown Univ., Washington, DC (United States); Enright, Heather [Georgetown Univ., Washington, DC (United States); Felix, Sarah [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Osburn, Joanne [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Wheeler, Elizabeth [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Kulp, Kris [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2015-08-18

Ex vivo systems and organ-on-a-chip technology offer an unprecedented approach to modeling the inner workings of the human body. The ultimate goal of LLNL’s in vitro Chip-based Human Investigational Platform (iCHIP) is to integrate multiple organ tissue cultures using microfluidic channels, multi-electrode arrays (MEA), and other biosensors in order to effectively simulate and study the responses and interactions of the major organs to chemical and physical stimulation. In this study, we focused on the peripheral nervous system (PNS) component of the iCHIP system. Specifically we sought to expound on prior research investigating the electrophysiological response of rat dorsal root ganglion cells (rDRGs) to chemical exposures, such as capsaicin. Our aim was to establish a protocol for electrical stimulation using the iCHIP device that would reliably elicit a characteristic response in rDRGs. By varying the parameters for both the stimulation properties – amplitude, phase width, phase shape, and stimulation/ return configuration – and the culture conditions – day in vitro and neural cell types - we were able to make several key observations and uncover a potential convention with a minimal number of devices tested. Future work will seek to establish a standard protocol for human DRGs in the iCHIP which will afford a portable, rapid method for determining the effects of toxins and novel therapeutics on the PNS.

Self-corrected chip-based dual-comb spectrometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Hébert, Nicolas Bourbeau; Genest, Jérôme; Deschênes, Jean-Daniel; Bergeron, Hugo; Chen, George Y; Khurmi, Champak; Lancaster, David G

2017-04-03

We present a dual-comb spectrometer based on two passively mode-locked waveguide lasers integrated in a single Er-doped ZBLAN chip. This original design yields two free-running frequency combs having a high level of mutual stability. We developed in parallel a self-correction algorithm that compensates residual relative fluctuations and yields mode-resolved spectra without the help of any reference laser or control system. Fluctuations are extracted directly from the interferograms using the concept of ambiguity function, which leads to a significant simplification of the instrument that will greatly ease its widespread adoption and commercial deployment. Comparison with a correction algorithm relying on a single-frequency laser indicates discrepancies of only 50 attoseconds on optical timings. The capacities of this instrument are finally demonstrated with the acquisition of a high-resolution molecular spectrum covering 20 nm. This new chip-based multi-laser platform is ideal for the development of high-repetition-rate, compact and fieldable comb spectrometers in the near- and mid-infrared.

Improving the scaling normalization for high-density oligonucleotide GeneChip expression microarrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Chao

2004-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Normalization is an important step for microarray data analysis to minimize biological and technical variations. Choosing a suitable approach can be critical. The default method in GeneChip expression microarray uses a constant factor, the scaling factor (SF, for every gene on an array. The SF is obtained from a trimmed average signal of the array after excluding the 2% of the probe sets with the highest and the lowest values. Results Among the 76 U34A GeneChip experiments, the total signals on each array showed 25.8% variations in terms of the coefficient of variation, although all microarrays were hybridized with the same amount of biotin-labeled cRNA. The 2% of the probe sets with the highest signals that were normally excluded from SF calculation accounted for 34% to 54% of the total signals (40.7% ± 4.4%, mean ± sd. In comparison with normalization factors obtained from the median signal or from the mean of the log transformed signal, SF showed the greatest variation. The normalization factors obtained from log transformed signals showed least variation. Conclusions Eliminating 40% of the signal data during SF calculation failed to show any benefit. Normalization factors obtained with log transformed signals performed the best. Thus, it is suggested to use the mean of the logarithm transformed data for normalization, rather than the arithmetic mean of signals in GeneChip gene expression microarrays.

A chip-scale, telecommunications-band frequency conversion interface for quantum emitters.

Science.gov (United States)

Agha, Imad; Ates, Serkan; Davanço, Marcelo; Srinivasan, Kartik

2013-09-09

We describe a chip-scale, telecommunications-band frequency conversion interface designed for low-noise operation at wavelengths desirable for common single photon emitters. Four-wave-mixing Bragg scattering in silicon nitride waveguides is used to demonstrate frequency upconversion and downconversion between the 980 nm and 1550 nm wavelength regions, with signal-to-background levels > 10 and conversion efficiency of ≈ -60 dB at low continuous wave input pump powers ( 25 % in existing geometries. Finally, we present waveguide designs that can be used to connect shorter wavelength (637 nm to 852 nm) quantum emitters with 1550 nm.

Internalization of subcellular-scale microfabricated chips by healthy and cancer cells

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, H.-S. Philip

2018-01-01

Continuous monitoring of physiological parameters inside a living cell will lead to major advances in our understanding of biology and complex diseases, such as cancer. It also enables the development of new medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Progress in nanofabrication and wireless communication has opened up the potential of making a wireless chip small enough that it can be wholly inserted into a living cell. To investigate how such chips could be internalized into various types of living single cells and how this process might affect cells’ physiology, we designed and fabricated a series of multilayered micron-scale tag structures with different sizes as potential RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) cell trackers. While the present structures are test structures that do not resonate, the tags that do resonate have similar structure from device fabrication, material properties, and device size point of view. The structures are in four different sizes, the largest with the lateral dimension of 9 μm × 21 μm. The thickness for these structures is kept constant at 1.5 μm. We demonstrate successful delivery of our fabricated chips into various types of living cells, such as melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and healthy/normal fibroblast skin cells. To our surprise, we observed a remarkable internalization rate difference between each cell type; the uptake rate was faster for more aggressive cancer cells than the normal/healthy cells. Cell viability before and after tag cellular internalization and persistence of the internalized tags have also been recorded over the course of five days of incubation. These results establish the foundations of the possibility of long term, wireless, intracellular physiological signal monitoring. PMID:29601607

Silicon-Chip-Based Optical Frequency Combs

Science.gov (United States)

2015-10-26

fiber-based polarization controllers and a polarization beam splitter , and the output power is monitored with a sensitive photodiode. We use a...a single CW laser beam coupled to a microresonators can produce stabilized, octave-spanning combs through highly cascaded four-wave mixing (FWM...resonator designs , the resonator and the coupling waveguide are monolithically integrated. Thus, the entire on-chip configuration of CMOS-compatible

A Choline Oxidase Amperometric Bioassay for the Detection of Mustard Agents Based on Screen-Printed Electrodes Modified with Prussian Blue Nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabiana Arduini

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this work a novel bioassay for mustard agent detection was proposed. The bioassay is based on the capability of these compounds to inhibit the enzyme choline oxidase. The enzymatic activity, which is correlated to the mustard agents, was electrochemically monitored measuring the enzymatic product, hydrogen peroxide, by means of a screen-printed electrode modified with Prussian Blue nanoparticles. Prussian Blue nanoparticles are able to electrocatalyse the hydrogen peroxide concentration reduction at low applied potential (−50 mV vs. Ag/AgCl, thus allowing the detection of the mustard agents with no electrochemical interferences. The suitability of this novel bioassay was tested with the nitrogen mustard simulant bis(2-chloroethylamine and the sulfur mustard simulants 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide and 2-chloroethyl phenyl sulfide. The bioassay proposed in this work allowed the detection of mustard agent simulants with good sensitivity and fast response, which are excellent premises for the development of a miniaturised sensor well suited for an alarm system in case of terrorist attacks.

A missing factor in chip-based patch clamp assay: gigaseal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ong, W-L; Yobas, L; Ong, W-Y

2006-01-01

The 'gold' standard in the study of ionic currents across biological membranes is the Patch Clamp method. However, this is a slow, labor and skill intensive process. High throughput patch clamp devices are mainly chip-based. A major challenge in these miniaturized devices is the low rate of 'Gigaseal' formation which is critical in the study of Single Channel effect. In a conventional patch clamp, a pipette moves and patches a fixed cell (cell-adhered patch) which is grown on the bottom of a Petri dish. In the chip-based case, the cells are in suspension and move towards the fixed patch clamp sites (cell-suspended patch). In this study, using the proven conventional patch clamp setup, we investigated the effect of the differences in the cell configurations between the convention patch clamp and cell-based patch clamp. It is shown that adhered cells (as used in the conventional setup) have a much higher rate of gigaseal formation as compared to the cells in suspension (as used in chip-based devices). We postulate that the arrangement of the cytoskeleton within the cell plays a major part in the formation of the gigaseal

SU-8 as a material for lab-on-a-chip-based mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Arscott, Steve

2014-10-07

This short review focuses on the application of SU-8 for the microchip-based approach to the miniaturization of mass spectrometry. Chip-based mass spectrometry will make the technology commonplace and bring benefits such as lower costs and autonomy. The chip-based miniaturization of mass spectrometry necessitates the use of new materials which are compatible with top-down fabrication involving both planar and non-planar processes. In this context, SU-8 is a very versatile epoxy-based, negative tone resist which is sensitive to ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and electron beam exposure. It has a very wide thickness range, from nanometres to millimetres, enabling the formation of mechanically rigid, very high aspect ratio, vertical, narrow width structures required to form microfluidic slots and channels for laboratory-on-a-chip design. It is also relatively chemically resistant and biologically compatible in terms of the liquid solutions used for mass spectrometry. This review looks at the impact and potential of SU-8 on the different parts of chip-based mass spectrometry - pre-treatment, ionization processes, and ion sorting and detection.

Effect-based trigger values for in vitro and in vivo bioassays performed on surface water extracts supporting the environmental quality standards (EQS) of the European Water Framework Directive

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Escher, Beate I.; Aїt-Aїssa, Selim; Behnisch, Peter A.; Brack, Werner; Brion, François; Brouwer, Abraham; Buchinger, Sebastian; Crawford, Sarah E.; Du Pasquier, David; Hamers, Timo; Hettwer, Karina; Hilscherová, Klára; Hollert, Henner; Kase, Robert; Kienle, Cornelia; Tindall, Andrew J.; Tuerk, Jochen; van der Oost, Ron; Vermeirssen, Etienne; Neale, Peta A.

Effect-based methods including cell-based bioassays, reporter gene assays and whole-organism assays have been applied for decades in water quality monitoring and testing of enriched solid-phase extracts. There is no common EU-wide agreement on what level of bioassay response in water extracts is

An AES chip with DPA resistance using hardware-based random order execution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Bo; Li Xiangyu; Chen Cong; Sun Yihe; Wu Liji; Zhang Xiangmin

2012-01-01

This paper presents an AES (advanced encryption standard) chip that combats differential power analysis (DPA) side-channel attack through hardware-based random order execution. Both decryption and encryption procedures of an AES are implemented on the chip. A fine-grained dataflow architecture is proposed, which dynamically exploits intrinsic byte-level independence in the algorithm. A novel circuit called an HMF (Hold-Match-Fetch) unit is proposed for random control, which randomly sets execution orders for concurrent operations. The AES chip was manufactured in SMIC 0.18 μm technology. The average energy for encrypting one group of plain texts (128 bits secrete keys) is 19 nJ. The core area is 0.43 mm 2 . A sophisticated experimental setup was built to test the DPA resistance. Measurement-based experimental results show that one byte of a secret key cannot be disclosed from our chip under random mode after 64000 power traces were used in the DPA attack. Compared with the corresponding fixed order execution, the hardware based random order execution is improved by at least 21 times the DPA resistance. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

An AES chip with DPA resistance using hardware-based random order execution

Science.gov (United States)

Bo, Yu; Xiangyu, Li; Cong, Chen; Yihe, Sun; Liji, Wu; Xiangmin, Zhang

2012-06-01

This paper presents an AES (advanced encryption standard) chip that combats differential power analysis (DPA) side-channel attack through hardware-based random order execution. Both decryption and encryption procedures of an AES are implemented on the chip. A fine-grained dataflow architecture is proposed, which dynamically exploits intrinsic byte-level independence in the algorithm. A novel circuit called an HMF (Hold-Match-Fetch) unit is proposed for random control, which randomly sets execution orders for concurrent operations. The AES chip was manufactured in SMIC 0.18 μm technology. The average energy for encrypting one group of plain texts (128 bits secrete keys) is 19 nJ. The core area is 0.43 mm2. A sophisticated experimental setup was built to test the DPA resistance. Measurement-based experimental results show that one byte of a secret key cannot be disclosed from our chip under random mode after 64000 power traces were used in the DPA attack. Compared with the corresponding fixed order execution, the hardware based random order execution is improved by at least 21 times the DPA resistance.

On-chip plasmon-induced transparency based on plasmonic coupled nanocavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yu; Hu, Xiaoyong; Yang, Hong; Gong, Qihuang

2014-01-17

On-chip plasmon-induced transparency offers the possibility of realization of ultrahigh-speed information processing chips. Unfortunately, little experimental progress has been made to date because it is difficult to obtain on-chip plasmon-induced transparency using only a single meta-molecule in plasmonic circuits. Here, we report a simple and efficient strategy to realize on-chip plasmon-induced transparency in a nanoscale U-shaped plasmonic waveguide side-coupled nanocavity pair. High tunability in the transparency window is achieved by covering the pair with different organic polymer layers. It is possible to realize ultrafast all-optical tunability based on pump light-induced refractive index change of a graphene cover layer. Compared with previous reports, the overall feature size of the plasmonic nanostructure is reduced by more than three orders of magnitude, while ultrahigh tunability of the transparency window is maintained. This work also provides a superior platform for the study of the various physical effects and phenomena of nonlinear optics and quantum optics.

Ceramic thermal wind sensor based on advanced direct chip attaching package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Lin; Qin Ming; Chen Shengqi; Chen Bei

2014-01-01

An advanced direct chip attaching packaged two-dimensional ceramic thermal wind sensor is studied. The thermal wind sensor chip is fabricated by metal lift-off processes on the ceramic substrate. An advanced direct chip attaching (DCA) packaging is adopted and this new packaged method simplifies the processes of packaging further. Simulations of the advanced DCA packaged sensor based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model show the sensor can detect wind speed and direction effectively. The wind tunnel testing results show the advanced DCA packaged sensor can detect the wind direction from 0° to 360° and wind speed from 0 to 20 m/s with the error less than 0.5 m/s. The nonlinear fitting based least square method in Matlab is used to analyze the performance of the sensor. (semiconductor devices)

Research Progress of Microfluidic Chips Preparation and its Optical Element

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng WANG

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Microfluidic technology is the emerging technologies in researching fluid channel and related applications in the micro and nano-scale space. Microfluidic chip is a new miniaturized rapid analysis platform by microfluidic technology, it has many characteristics such as liquid flow control, minimal reagent consumption, rapid analysis, which is widely used in physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering science and other fields, it has strong interdisciplinary. This paper mainly discusses research progress of materials used for microfluidic chips and the devices based on microfluidic technology, including microfluidic chip, microfluidic optical devices, microfluidic laser preparation, microfluidic chip applications, focusing on the quasi-molecular laser processing technology and femtosecond laser processing technology in the microfluidic devices preparation, and make development prospects for it.

A multiple biomarker assay for quality assessment of botanical drugs using a versatile microfluidic chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhen-Hao; Ai, Ni; Yu, Lawrence X; Qian, Zhong-Zhi; Cheng, Yi-Yu

2017-09-25

Quality control is critical for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs. Current quality control method for botanical drugs is mainly based on chemical testing. However, chemical testing alone may not be sufficient as it may not capture all constituents of botanical drugs. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a bioassay correlating with the drug's known mechanism of action to ensure its potency and activity. Herein we developed a multiple biomarker assay to assess the quality of botanicals using microfluidics, where enzyme inhibition was employed to indicate the drug's activity and thereby evaluate biological consistency. This approach was exemplified on QiShenYiQi Pills using thrombin and angiotensin converting enzyme as "quality biomarkers". Our results demonstrated that there existed variations in potency across different batches of the intermediates and preparations. Compared with chromatographic fingerprinting, the bioassay provided better discrimination ability for some abnormal samples. Moreover, the chip could function as "affinity chromatography" to identify bioactive phytochemicals bound to the enzymes. This work proposed a multiple-biomarker strategy for quality assessment of botanical drugs, while demonstrating for the first time the feasibility of microfluidics in this field.

Cost calculation model concerning small-scale production of chips and split firewood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryynaenen, S.; Naett, H.; Valkonen, J.

1995-01-01

The TTS-Institute's Forestry Department has developed a computer-based cost calculation model for the production of wood chips and split firewood. This development work was carried out in conjunction with the nation-wide BIOENERGY -research programme. The said calculation model eases and speeds up the calculation of unit costs and resource needs in harvesting systems for wood chips and split firewood. The model also enables the user to find out how changes in the productivity and costs bases of different harvesting chains influences the unit costs of the system as a whole. The undertaking was composed of the following parts: clarification and modification of productivity bases for application in the model as mathematical models, clarification of machine and device costs bases, designing of the structure and functions of the calculation model, construction and testing of the model's 0-version, model calculations concerning typical chains, review of calculation bases, and charting of development needs focusing on the model. The calculation model was developed to serve research needs, but with further development it could be useful as a tool in forestry and agricultural extension work, related schools and colleges, and in the hands of firewood producers. (author)

Chip compacting press; Jido kirikuzu asshukuki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oura, K. [Yuken Kogyo Co. Ltd., Kanagawa (Japan)

1998-08-15

The chips exhausted from various machine tools are massy, occupy much space and make working environment worse by staying added cutting oil to lower part. The chips are exhausted as a result of machining and have not constant quality. Even if used material is same the chips have various shapes and properties by kinds and machining methods of used machine tools, and are troublesome materials from a standpoint of their treatment. Pressing and solidification of the chips have frequently been tried. A chip compacting press introduced in this paper, a relatively cheap chip compacting press aimed for relatively small scale chip treatment, and has such characteristics and effects as follows. Chips are pressed and solidified by each raw material, so fractional management can be easily conducted. As casting metal chips and curled chips of iron and aluminum can be pressed to about 1/3 to 1/5 and about 1/40, respectively, space saving can be conducted. Chip compacting pressing upgrades its transporting efficiency to make possible to reduce its transporting cost. As chip solidification controls its oxidation and most cutting oil are removed, chips are easy to recycle. 2 figs., 1 tab.

Bioassay guideline 2: guidelines for tritium bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

This guideline is one of a series under preparation by the Federal-Provincial Working Group on Bioassay and In Vivo Monitoring Criteria. In this report tritium compounds have been grouped into four categories for the purpose of calculating Annual Limits on Intake and Investigation Levels: tritium gas, tritiated water, tritium-labelled compounds and nucleic acid precursors

Bioassay method for Uranium in urine by Delay Neutron counting; Metoda Bioassay Uranium dalam urin dengan pencacahan Netron Kasip

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suratman,; Purwanto,; Sukarman-Aminjoyo, [Yogyakarta Nuclear Research Centre, National Atomic Energy Agency, Yogyakarta (Indonesia)

1996-04-15

A bioassay method for uranium in urine by neutron counting has been studied. The aim of this research is to obtain a bioassay method for uranium in urine which is used for the determination of internal dose of radiation workers. The bioassay was applied to the artificially uranium contaminated urine. The weight of the contaminant was varied. The uranium in the urine was irradiated in the Kartini reactor core, through pneumatic system. The delayed neutron was counted by BF3 neutron counter. Recovery of the bioassay was between 69.8-88.8 %, standard deviation was less than 10 % and the minimum detection was 0.387 {mu}g.

Benchmarking organic micropollutants in wastewater, recycled water and drinking water with in vitro bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Escher, Beate I; Allinson, Mayumi; Altenburger, Rolf; Bain, Peter A; Balaguer, Patrick; Busch, Wibke; Crago, Jordan; Denslow, Nancy D; Dopp, Elke; Hilscherova, Klara; Humpage, Andrew R; Kumar, Anu; Grimaldi, Marina; Jayasinghe, B Sumith; Jarosova, Barbora; Jia, Ai; Makarov, Sergei; Maruya, Keith A; Medvedev, Alex; Mehinto, Alvine C; Mendez, Jamie E; Poulsen, Anita; Prochazka, Erik; Richard, Jessica; Schifferli, Andrea; Schlenk, Daniel; Scholz, Stefan; Shiraishi, Fujio; Snyder, Shane; Su, Guanyong; Tang, Janet Y M; van der Burg, Bart; van der Linden, Sander C; Werner, Inge; Westerheide, Sandy D; Wong, Chris K C; Yang, Min; Yeung, Bonnie H Y; Zhang, Xiaowei; Leusch, Frederic D L

2014-01-01

Thousands of organic micropollutants and their transformation products occur in water. Although often present at low concentrations, individual compounds contribute to mixture effects. Cell-based bioassays that target health-relevant biological endpoints may therefore complement chemical analysis for water quality assessment. The objective of this study was to evaluate cell-based bioassays for their suitability to benchmark water quality and to assess efficacy of water treatment processes. The selected bioassays cover relevant steps in the toxicity pathways including induction of xenobiotic metabolism, specific and reactive modes of toxic action, activation of adaptive stress response pathways and system responses. Twenty laboratories applied 103 unique in vitro bioassays to a common set of 10 water samples collected in Australia, including wastewater treatment plant effluent, two types of recycled water (reverse osmosis and ozonation/activated carbon filtration), stormwater, surface water, and drinking water. Sixty-five bioassays (63%) showed positive results in at least one sample, typically in wastewater treatment plant effluent, and only five (5%) were positive in the control (ultrapure water). Each water type had a characteristic bioanalytical profile with particular groups of toxicity pathways either consistently responsive or not responsive across test systems. The most responsive health-relevant endpoints were related to xenobiotic metabolism (pregnane X and aryl hydrocarbon receptors), hormone-mediated modes of action (mainly related to the estrogen, glucocorticoid, and antiandrogen activities), reactive modes of action (genotoxicity) and adaptive stress response pathway (oxidative stress response). This study has demonstrated that selected cell-based bioassays are suitable to benchmark water quality and it is recommended to use a purpose-tailored panel of bioassays for routine monitoring.

Embedded Processor Based Automatic Temperature Control of VLSI Chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narasimha Murthy Yayavaram

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents embedded processor based automatic temperature control of VLSI chips, using temperature sensor LM35 and ARM processor LPC2378. Due to the very high packing density, VLSI chips get heated very soon and if not cooled properly, the performance is very much affected. In the present work, the sensor which is kept very near proximity to the IC will sense the temperature and the speed of the fan arranged near to the IC is controlled based on the PWM signal generated by the ARM processor. A buzzer is also provided with the hardware, to indicate either the failure of the fan or overheating of the IC. The entire process is achieved by developing a suitable embedded C program.

Facile synthesis of Prussian blue nanocubes/silver nanowires network as a water-based ink for the direct screen-printed flexible biosensor chips.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Pengqi; Peng, Jingmeng; Chu, Zhenyu; Jiang, Danfeng; Jin, Wanqin

2017-06-15

The large-scale fabrication of nanocomposite based biosensors is always a challenge in the technology commercialization from laboratory to industry. In order to address this issue, we have designed a facile chemical method of fabricated nanocomposite ink applied to the screen-printed biosensor chip. This ink can be derived in the water through the in-situ growth of Prussian blue nanocubes (PBNCs) on the silver nanowires (AgNWs) to construct a composite nanostructure by a facile chemical method. Then a miniature flexible biosensor chip was screen-printed by using the prepared nanocomposite ink. Due to the synergic effects of the large specific surface area, high conductivity and electrocatalytic activity from AgNWs and PBNCs, the as-prepared biosensor chip exhibited a fast response (biosensor chip exhibited excellent stability, good reproducibility and high anti-interference ability towards physiological substances under a very low working potential of -0.05. Hence, the proposed biosensor chip also showed a promising potential for the application in practical analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Physics-based process modeling, reliability prediction, and design guidelines for flip-chip devices

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelides, Stylianos

Flip Chip on Board (FCOB) and Chip-Scale Packages (CSPs) are relatively new technologies that are being increasingly used in the electronic packaging industry. Compared to the more widely used face-up wirebonding and TAB technologies, flip-chips and most CSPs provide the shortest possible leads, lower inductance, higher frequency, better noise control, higher density, greater input/output (I/O), smaller device footprint and lower profile. However, due to the short history and due to the introduction of several new electronic materials, designs, and processing conditions, very limited work has been done to understand the role of material, geometry, and processing parameters on the reliability of flip-chip devices. Also, with the ever-increasing complexity of semiconductor packages and with the continued reduction in time to market, it is too costly to wait until the later stages of design and testing to discover that the reliability is not satisfactory. The objective of the research is to develop integrated process-reliability models that will take into consideration the mechanics of assembly processes to be able to determine the reliability of face-down devices under thermal cycling and long-term temperature dwelling. The models incorporate the time and temperature-dependent constitutive behavior of various materials in the assembly to be able to predict failure modes such as die cracking and solder cracking. In addition, the models account for process-induced defects and macro-micro features of the assembly. Creep-fatigue and continuum-damage mechanics models for the solder interconnects and fracture-mechanics models for the die have been used to determine the reliability of the devices. The results predicted by the models have been successfully validated against experimental data. The validated models have been used to develop qualification and test procedures for implantable medical devices. In addition, the research has helped develop innovative face

Development of androgen-and estrogen-responsive bioassays, members of a panel of human cell line-based highly selective steroid-responsive bioassays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sonneveld, E.; Jansen, H.J..; Riteco, J.A.C.; Brouwer, A.

2005-01-01

We have established highly sensitive and specific androgen and estrogen reporter cell lines which we have named AR (androgen receptor) and ERα (estrogen receptor alpha) CALUX® (Chemically Activated LUciferase eXpression), respectively. Both bioassays are member of a panel of CALUX reporter cell

In vitro bioassays to evaluate complex chemical mixtures in recycled water

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Ai; Escher, Beate I.; Leusch, Frederic D.L.; Tang, Janet Y.M.; Prochazka, Erik; Dong, Bingfeng; Snyder, Erin M.; Snyder, Shane A.

2016-01-01

With burgeoning population and diminishing availability of freshwater resources, the world continues to expand the use of alternative water resources for drinking, and the quality of these sources has been a great concern for the public as well as public health professionals. In vitro bioassays are increasingly being used to enable rapid, relatively inexpensive toxicity screening that can be used in conjunction with analytical chemistry data to evaluate water quality and the effectiveness of water treatment. In this study, a comprehensive bioassay battery consisting of 36 bioassays covering 18 biological endpoints was applied to screen the bioactivity of waters of varying qualities with parallel treatments. Samples include wastewater effluent, ultraviolet light (UV) and/or ozone advanced oxidation processed (AOP) recycled water, and infiltrated recycled groundwater. Based on assay sensitivity and detection frequency in the samples, several endpoints were highlighted in the battery, including assays for genotoxicity, mutagenicity, estrogenic activity, glucocorticoid activity, aryl hydrocarbon receptor activity, oxidative stress response, and cytotoxicity. Attenuation of bioactivity was found to be dependent on the treatment process and bioassay endpoint. For instance, ozone technology significantly removed oxidative stress activity, while UV based technologies were most efficient for the attenuation of glucocorticoid activity. Chlorination partially attenuated genotoxicity and greatly decreased herbicidal activity, while groundwater infiltration efficiently attenuated most of the evaluated bioactivity with the exception of genotoxicity. In some cases, bioactivity (e.g., mutagenicity, genotoxicity, and arylhydrocarbon receptor) increased following water treatment, indicating that transformation products of water treatment may be a concern. Furthermore, several types of bioassays with the same endpoint were compared in this study, which could help guide the selection

New Generation GridPix: Development and characterisation of pixelated gaseous detectors based on the Timepix3 chip

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2082958; Hessey, Nigel

Due to the increasing demands of high energy physics experiments there is a need for particle detectors which enable high precision measurements. In this regard, the GridPix detector is a novel detector concept which combines the benefits of a pixel chip with an integrated gas amplification structure. The resulting unit is a detector sensitive to single electrons with a great potential for particle tracking and energy loss measurements. This thesis is focusing on the development of a new generation of GridPix detectors based on the Timepix3 chip, which implements a high resolution Time to Digital Converter (TDC) in each pixel. After an introductory chapter describing the motivation behind GridPix, the manuscript presents the physics of gaseous detectors in chapter 2 along with the gaseous detectors used for particle tracking in chapter 3. Chapters 4 and 5 are focusing on the tracking performance of GridPix detectors. Chapter 4 presents results obtained with a GridPix detector based on a small scale prototy...

Circular Bioassay Platforms for Applications in Microwave-Accelerated Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammed, Muzaffer; Clement, Travis C; Aslan, Kadir

2014-12-02

In this paper, we present the design of four different circular bioassay platforms, which are suitable for homogeneous microwave heating, using theoretical calculations (i.e., COMSOL™ multiphysics software). Circular bioassay platforms are constructed from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) for optical transparency between 400-800 nm, has multiple sample capacity (12, 16, 19 and 21 wells) and modified with silver nanoparticle films (SNFs) to be used in microwave-accelerated bioassays (MABs). In addition, a small monomode microwave cavity, which can be operated with an external microwave generator (100 W), for use with the bioassay platforms in MABs is also developed. Our design parameters for the circular bioassay platforms and monomode microwave cavity during microwave heating were: (i) temperature profiles, (ii) electric field distributions, (iii) location of the circular bioassay platforms inside the microwave cavity, and (iv) design and number of wells on the circular bioassay platforms. We have also carried out additional simulations to assess the use of circular bioassay platforms in a conventional kitchen microwave oven (e.g., 900 W). Our results show that the location of the circular bioassay platforms in the microwave cavity was predicted to have a significant effect on the homogeneous heating of these platforms. The 21-well circular bioassay platform design in our monomode microwave cavity was predicted to offer a homogeneous heating pattern, where inter-well temperature was observed to be in between 23.72-24.13°C and intra-well temperature difference was less than 0.21°C for 60 seconds of microwave heating, which was also verified experimentally.

Avaliação da aceitação de "chips" de mandioca Acceptance evaluation of cassava chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Regina Kitagawa Grizotto

2003-12-01

Full Text Available Pré-tratamentos como o cozimento, a fermentação natural e a secagem parcial foram aplicados em raízes de mandioca, visando a obtenção de "chips" comestíveis. A avaliação sensorial foi feita com base na aceitação e aparência dos "chips" das variedades IAC Mantiqueira e IAC 576.70. Trinta consumidores potenciais do produto foram selecionados em função da disponibilidade e interesse em participar dos testes. Foi utilizada escala hedônica de 7 pontos, onde os provadores avaliaram as amostras delineadas em blocos casualizados. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que os "chips" controle e pré-cozidos foram aceitos sensorialmente, apresentado médias de 5,1 (gostei ligeiramente para IAC Mantiqueira e 6,0 (gostei moderadamente para IAC 576.70. Os "chips" pré-fermentados de ambas variedades foram rejeitados. Os termos de agrado mais comentados pelos provadores foram "sabor de mandioca", "crocância" e "textura". Os termos de desagrado mais citados incluem "textura dura", "falta sabor de mandioca" e "gosto de óleo". Os provadores consideraram adequada a aparência dos "chips" de ambas variedades, sendo ligeiramente preferida a aparência dos "chips" da IAC 576.70, com exceção dos "chips" cozidos por 8 minutos e os fermentados, rejeitados pelos consumidores. A cor amarela da polpa pode ter influenciado a aceitação da variedade IAC 576.70. A composição centesimal e o teor de fibras na mandioca in natura e, o teor de lipídeos em "chips" de mandioca, também foram apresentados.Pre-treatments such as cooking, natural fermentation and partial drying were applied to cassava roots, aimed at obtaining edible cassava chips. The sensory evaluation was based on the acceptance and appearance of the chips, using the varieties IAC Mantiqueira and IAC 576.70. Thirty potential consumers of the product were selected based on their availability and interest. A 7-point hedonic scale was used, all the judges evaluating all the samples using a randomised

An innovative container supply chain for forest chips

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karttunen, Kalle; Korpinen, Olli-Jussi; Laettilae, Lauri; Foehr, Jarno; Ranta, Tapio [Lappeenranta Univ. of Technology, Mikkeli (Finland)], e-mail: kalle.karttunen@lut.fi

2012-11-01

Most forest chips are transported by trucks with a solid frame. Forest-chip volumes will at least double before 2020, which means longer transport distances from the supply areas to the largest demand sites in Finland. The study concentrates on an innovative container solution based on a channel composite structure, creating a lighter, temperature-isolated, and more durable structure. In addition to the structural benefits, the container includes an innovative supply chain with a beneficial handling operation, interchangeability and maximising of the payload capacity, resulting in an energy- and cost-efficient solution. This innovative-container-based supply chain for forest chips has been studied via cost analysis, GIS analysis, and discrete-event simulation methods. The purpose of the study was to compare a truck of interchangeable containers with solid-frame trucks. The option of interchangeable containers allows combining truck logistics with other modes of transport, such as trains and waterways. The study showed the cost-efficiency potential of container truck logistics, stemming from the cost and payload savings and the supply-chain productivity advantages over solid-frame trucks. The innovative solution for interchangeable-container logistics is an option for large-scale supply of forest chips.

Large-scale analysis of antisense transcription in wheat using the Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Settles Matthew L

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Natural antisense transcripts (NATs are transcripts of the opposite DNA strand to the sense-strand either at the same locus (cis-encoded or a different locus (trans-encoded. They can affect gene expression at multiple stages including transcription, RNA processing and transport, and translation. NATs give rise to sense-antisense transcript pairs and the number of these identified has escalated greatly with the availability of DNA sequencing resources and public databases. Traditionally, NATs were identified by the alignment of full-length cDNAs or expressed sequence tags to genome sequences, but an alternative method for large-scale detection of sense-antisense transcript pairs involves the use of microarrays. In this study we developed a novel protocol to assay sense- and antisense-strand transcription on the 55 K Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array, which is a 3' in vitro transcription (3'IVT expression array. We selected five different tissue types for assay to enable maximum discovery, and used the 'Chinese Spring' wheat genotype because most of the wheat GeneChip probe sequences were based on its genomic sequence. This study is the first report of using a 3'IVT expression array to discover the expression of natural sense-antisense transcript pairs, and may be considered as proof-of-concept. Results By using alternative target preparation schemes, both the sense- and antisense-strand derived transcripts were labeled and hybridized to the Wheat GeneChip. Quality assurance verified that successful hybridization did occur in the antisense-strand assay. A stringent threshold for positive hybridization was applied, which resulted in the identification of 110 sense-antisense transcript pairs, as well as 80 potentially antisense-specific transcripts. Strand-specific RT-PCR validated the microarray observations, and showed that antisense transcription is likely to be tissue specific. For the annotated sense

Application of the CALUX bioassay for epidemiological study. Analyses of Belgian human plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wouwe, N. van; Debacker, N.; Sasse, A. [Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels (BE)] (and others)

2004-09-15

The CALUX bioassay is a promising screening method for the detection of dioxin-like compounds. The observed good sensitivity, low number of false negative results as well as the good correlations with the GC-HRMS TEQ-values in case of feed and food analyses allow this method to climb in the first assessment methods' scale. The low amount of sample needed in addition to those latest advantages suggest that the CALUX bioassay could be a good screening method for epidemiological studies. The Belgian epidemiological study concerning the possible effect of the dioxin incident on the body burden of the Belgian population was an opportunity to test this method in comparison to the gold reference one: the GC-HRMS. The first part of this abstract presents epidemiological parameters (sensibility, specificity,) of the CALUX bioassay using CALUX TEQ-values as estimators of the TEQ-values of the 17 PCDD/Fs. The second part examines epidemiological determinants observed for CALUX and GCHRMS TEQ-values.

[Quality evaluation of rhubarb dispensing granules based on multi-component simultaneous quantitative analysis and bioassay].

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Peng; Zhang, Hai-Zhu; Zhang, Ding-Kun; Wu, Shan-Na; Niu, Ming; Wang, Jia-Bo; Xiao, Xiao-He

2017-07-01

This study attempts to evaluate the quality of Chinese formula granules by combined use of multi-component simultaneous quantitative analysis and bioassay. The rhubarb dispensing granules were used as the model drug for demonstrative study. The ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) method was adopted for simultaneously quantitative determination of the 10 anthraquinone derivatives (such as aloe emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside) in rhubarb dispensing granules; purgative biopotency of different batches of rhubarb dispensing granules was determined based on compound diphenoxylate tablets-induced mouse constipation model; blood activating biopotency of different batches of rhubarb dispensing granules was determined based on in vitro rat antiplatelet aggregation model; SPSS 22.0 statistical software was used for correlation analysis between 10 anthraquinone derivatives and purgative biopotency, blood activating biopotency. The results of multi-components simultaneous quantitative analysisshowed that there was a great difference in chemical characterizationand certain differences inpurgative biopotency and blood activating biopotency among 10 batches of rhubarb dispensing granules. The correlation analysis showed that the intensity of purgative biopotency was significantly correlated with the content of conjugated anthraquinone glycosides (Panalysis and bioassay can achieve objective quantification and more comprehensive reflection on overall quality difference among different batches of rhubarb dispensing granules. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Comparison of ICRP Publication 30 lung model-based predictions with measured bioassay data for airborne natural UO2 exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thind, K.S.

1987-01-01

In this paper a comparison is made between the build-up of U thorax burdens and the predicted total lung (lung and lymph) burden, based on the lung model provided in ICRP Publication 30 for a group of 29 atomic radiation workers at a Canadian fuel fabrication facility. A similar comparison is made between the predicted ratio of the total lung burden to urinary excretion and the ratio obtained from bioassay data. The study period for the comparison is 5 y. The inhalation input for the lung model calculations was derived from air-sampling data and the choice of particle size activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) was guided by particle size measurements made at representative work locations. The pulmonary clearance half-times studied were 100, 250 and 500 d. For the purpose of this comparison, averaged exposure and averaged bioassay data for the group were used. This comparison indicates that for the conditions of this facility, the assumption of a 500-d pulmonary clearance half-time and a particle size of 1 micron (AMAD) may be too conservative. It is suggested that measurements of air concentrations and particle size used as input parameters for the ICRP Publication 30 lung model may be used to calculate bioassay parameters which may then be tested against bioassay data obtained as part of an operational health physics program, thereby giving a useful step towards defining a derived air concentration value for U in the workplace

Titanium based flat heat pipes for computer chip cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Soni, Gaurav; Ding, Changsong; Sigurdson, Marin; Bozorgi, Payam; Piorek, Brian; MacDonald, Noel; Meinhart, Carl

2008-11-01

We are developing a highly conductive flat heat pipe (called Thermal Ground Plane or TGP) for cooling computer chips. Conventional heat pipes have circular cross sections and thus can't make good contact with chip surface. The flatness of our TGP will enable conformal contact with the chip surface and thus enhance cooling efficiency. Another limiting factor in conventional heat pipes is the capillary flow of the working fluid through a wick structure. In order to overcome this limitation we have created a highly porous wick structure on a flat titanium substrate by using micro fabrication technology. We first etch titanium to create very tall micro pillars with a diameter of 5 μm, a height of 40 μm and a pitch of 10 μm. We then grow a very fine nano structured titania (NST) hairs on all surfaces of the pillars by oxidation in H202. In this way we achieve a wick structure which utilizes multiple length scales to yield high performance wicking of water. It's capable of wicking water at an average velocity of 1 cm/s over a distance of several cm. A titanium cavity is laser-welded onto the wicking substrate and a small quantity of water is hermetically sealed inside the cavity to achieve a TGP. The thermal conductivity of our preliminary TGP was measured to be 350 W/m-K, but has the potential to be several orders of magnitude higher.

Worldwide bioassay data resources for plutonium/americium internal dosimetry studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, G.; Bertelli, L.; Little, T.; Guilmette, R.; Riddell, T.; Filipy, R.

2005-01-01

Full text: Biokinetic models are the scientific underpinning of internal dosimetry. These models describe how materials of interest taken into the body by various routes (for example inhalation) are transported through the body, allowing the modelling of bioassay measurements and the estimation of radiation dose. The International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) publishes biokinetic models for use in internal dosimetry. These models represent the consensus judgement of a committee of experts, based on human and animal data. Nonetheless, it is important to validate biokinetic models using directly applicable data, in a scientifically transparent manner, especially for internal dosimetry research purposes (as opposed to radiation protection), as in epidemiology studies. Two major goals would be to determine individual variations of model parameters for the purpose of assessing this source of uncertainty in internal dose calculations, and to determine values of workplace specific parameters (such as particle solubility in lung fluids) for different representative workplaces. Furthermore, data on the observed frequency of intakes under various conditions can be used in the interpretation of bioassay data. All of the above may be couched in the terminology of Bayesian statistical analysis and amount to the determination of the Bayesian prior probability distributions needed in a Bayesian interpretation of bioassay data. The authors have direct knowledge of several significant databases of plutonium/americium bioassay data (including autopsy data). The purpose of this paper is to acquaint the worldwide community with these resources and to invite others who may know of other such databases to participate with us in a publication that would document the content, form, and the procedures for seeking access to these databases. These databases represent a tremendous scientific resource in this field. Examples of databases known to the authors include: the

Tractor performance monitor based on a single-chip microcomputer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bedri, A.R.; Marley, S.J.; Buchelle, W.F.; Smay, T.A.

1981-01-01

A tractor performance monitor based on a single-chip microcomputer was developed to measure ground speed, slip, fuel consumption (rate and total), total area, theoretical time, and total time. Transducers used are presented in detail. 5 refs.

Development of Androgen- and Estrogen-Responsive bio-assays, members of a panel of human cell line-based highly selective steroid-responsive bioassays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sonneveld, E.; Jansen, H.J.

2004-01-01

We have established highly sensitive and specific androgen and estrogen reporter cell lines which we have named AR (androgen receptor) and ERα (estrogen receptor alpha) CALUX® (Chemically Activated LUciferase eXpression), respectively. Both bioassays are member of a panel of CALUX reporter cell

An automatic single channel analyzer based on single-chip microcomputer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Xuekun; Jia Mingchun; Zhang Yan; Liu Mingjian; Luo Ming

2008-01-01

The hardware and software of an automatic single channel analyzer based on AT89C51RC single-chip microcomputer is described in this paper. The equipment takes a method of channel-width-adjusting symmetrically, and makes use of single-chip microcomputer to control the two DAC0832 so as to adjust the discriminating threshold and channel-width automatically. As a result, the auto-measuring of the single channel analyzer is realized. Its circuit configuration is simple, and the uniformity of its channel-width is well, too. (authors)

Studies on Erythropoietin Bioassay Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Kyoung Sam; Ro, Heung Kyu; Lee, Mun Ho [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1975-09-15

It is the purpose of this paper to design the most preferable method of erythropoietin bioassay in Korea. Bioassay utilizing polycythemic mice are currently in general use for the indirect determination of erythropoietin. Assay animals are usually prepared either by transfusion or by exposure to reduced oxygen tension in specially constructed chamber. We prepared the polycythemic mice by the specially constructed hypobaric chamber. We observed weights and hematocrits of the mice in the hypobaric chamber, then hematocrits and 72 hours {sup 59}Fe red cell uptake ratio of the polycythemic mice induced by hypoxia after removal from the hypobaric chamber. We designed the method of erythropoietin bioassay according to the results obtained by above experiments. Then we measured the 72 hours {sup 59}Fe red cell uptake ratio of the polycythemic mice with normal saline, normal plasma and anemic plasma according to the method we designed. The results are followed:1) The hematocrits of the mice in hypobaric chamber increased to 74% in 11 days. It is preferable to maintain the pressure of the chamber to 400 mmHg for first 4 days then 300 mmHg for last 10 days to reduce the death rate and time consuming in hypobaric chamber. 2) After removal from the hypobaric chamber, the 72 hours {sup 59}Fe red cell uptake ratio decreased rapidly and maintained the lowest level from the fourth day to tenth day. 3) We design the method of erythropoietin bioassay according to the results of above experiment and to the half life of erythropoietin. 4) The Korean product {sup 59}Fe is mixture of {sup 55}Fe and {sup 59}Fe. And the {sup 59}Fe red cell uptake ratio in normal mice was far less with Korean product {sup 59}Fe than with pure {sup 59}Fe of foreign product. So it is desirable to use pure {sup 59}Fe in this method of erythropoietin bioassay. 5) Considering the cost, the technique, the time consuming and the sensitivity it is the most preferable method of erythropoietin bioassay in Korea

Test-Access Planning and Test Scheduling for Embedded Core-Based System Chips

OpenAIRE

Goel, Sandeep Kumar

2005-01-01

Advances in the semiconductor process technology enable the creation of a complete system on one single die, the so-called system chip or SOC. To reduce time-to-market for large SOCs, reuse of pre-designed and pre-veried blocks called cores is employed. Like the design style, testing of SOCs can be best approached in a core-based fashion. In order to enable core-based test development, an embedded core should be isolated from its surrounding circuitry and electrical test access from chip pins...

In vitro bioassays to evaluate complex chemical mixtures in recycled water.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Ai; Escher, Beate I; Leusch, Frederic D L; Tang, Janet Y M; Prochazka, Erik; Dong, Bingfeng; Snyder, Erin M; Snyder, Shane A

2015-09-01

With burgeoning population and diminishing availability of freshwater resources, the world continues to expand the use of alternative water resources for drinking, and the quality of these sources has been a great concern for the public as well as public health professionals. In vitro bioassays are increasingly being used to enable rapid, relatively inexpensive toxicity screening that can be used in conjunction with analytical chemistry data to evaluate water quality and the effectiveness of water treatment. In this study, a comprehensive bioassay battery consisting of 36 bioassays covering 18 biological endpoints was applied to screen the bioactivity of waters of varying qualities with parallel treatments. Samples include wastewater effluent, ultraviolet light (UV) and/or ozone advanced oxidation processed (AOP) recycled water, and infiltrated recycled groundwater. Based on assay sensitivity and detection frequency in the samples, several endpoints were highlighted in the battery, including assays for genotoxicity, mutagenicity, estrogenic activity, glucocorticoid activity, arylhydrocarbon receptor activity, oxidative stress response, and cytotoxicity. Attenuation of bioactivity was found to be dependent on the treatment process and bioassay endpoint. For instance, ozone technology significantly removed oxidative stress activity, while UV based technologies were most efficient for the attenuation of glucocorticoid activity. Chlorination partially attenuated genotoxicity and greatly decreased herbicidal activity, while groundwater infiltration efficiently attenuated most of the evaluated bioactivity with the exception of genotoxicity. In some cases, bioactivity (e.g., mutagenicity, genotoxicity, and arylhydrocarbon receptor) increased following water treatment, indicating that transformation products of water treatment may be a concern. Furthermore, several types of bioassays with the same endpoint were compared in this study, which could help guide the selection

Advanced chip designs and novel cooling techniques for brightness scaling of industrial, high power diode laser bars

Science.gov (United States)

Heinemann, S.; McDougall, S. D.; Ryu, G.; Zhao, L.; Liu, X.; Holy, C.; Jiang, C.-L.; Modak, P.; Xiong, Y.; Vethake, T.; Strohmaier, S. G.; Schmidt, B.; Zimer, H.

2018-02-01

The advance of high power semiconductor diode laser technology is driven by the rapidly growing industrial laser market, with such high power solid state laser systems requiring ever more reliable diode sources with higher brightness and efficiency at lower cost. In this paper we report simulation and experimental data demonstrating most recent progress in high brightness semiconductor laser bars for industrial applications. The advancements are in three principle areas: vertical laser chip epitaxy design, lateral laser chip current injection control, and chip cooling technology. With such improvements, we demonstrate disk laser pump laser bars with output power over 250W with 60% efficiency at the operating current. Ion implantation was investigated for improved current confinement. Initial lifetime tests show excellent reliability. For direct diode applications 96% polarization are additional requirements. Double sided cooling deploying hard solder and optimized laser design enable single emitter performance also for high fill factor bars and allow further power scaling to more than 350W with 65% peak efficiency with less than 8 degrees slow axis divergence and high polarization.

Verifying Identities of Plant-Based Multivitamins Using Phytochemical Fingerprinting in Combination with Multiple Bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Yeni; Ahn, Yoon Hee; Yoo, Jae Keun; Park, Kyoung Sik; Kwon, Oran

2017-09-01

Sales of multivitamins have been growing rapidly and the concept of natural multivitamin, plant-based multivitamin, or both has been introduced in the market, leading consumers to anticipate additional health benefits from phytochemicals that accompany the vitamins. However, the lack of labeling requirements might lead to fraudulent claims. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a strategy to verify identity of plant-based multivitamins. Phytochemical fingerprinting was used to discriminate identities. In addition, multiple bioassays were performed to determine total antioxidant capacity. A statistical computation model was then used to measure contributions of phytochemicals and vitamins to antioxidant activities. Fifteen multivitamins were purchased from the local markets in Seoul, Korea and classified into three groups according to the number of plant ingredients. Pearson correlation analysis among antioxidant capacities, amount phenols, and number of plant ingredients revealed that ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) assay results had the highest correlation with total phenol content. This suggests that FRAP and DPPH assays are useful for characterizing plant-derived multivitamins. Furthermore, net effect linear regression analysis confirmed that the contribution of phytochemicals to total antioxidant capacities was always relatively higher than that of vitamins. Taken together, the results suggest that phytochemical fingerprinting in combination with multiple bioassays could be used as a strategy to determine whether plant-derived multivitamins could provide additional health benefits beyond their nutritional value.

Chip-based microtrap arrays for cold polar molecules

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Shunyong; Wei, Bin; Deng, Lianzhong; Yin, Jianping

2017-12-01

Compared to the atomic chip, which has been a powerful platform to perform an astonishing range of applications from rapid Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) production to the atomic clock, the molecular chip is only in its infant stages. Recently a one-dimensional electric lattice was demonstrated to trap polar molecules on a chip. This excellent work opens up the way to building a molecular chip laboratory. Here we propose a two-dimensional (2D) electric lattice on a chip with concise and robust structure, which is formed by arrays of squared gold wires. Arrays of microtraps that originate in the microsize electrodes offer a steep gradient and thus allow for confining both light and heavy polar molecules. Theoretical analysis and numerical calculations are performed using two types of sample molecules, N D3 and SrF, to justify the possibility of our proposal. The height of the minima of the potential wells is about 10 μm above the surface of the chip and can be easily adjusted in a wide range by changing the voltages applied on the electrodes. These microtraps offer intriguing perspectives for investigating cold molecules in periodic potentials, such as quantum computing science, low-dimensional physics, and some other possible applications amenable to magnetic or optical lattice. The 2D adjustable electric lattice is expected to act as a building block for a future gas-phase molecular chip laboratory.

Absolute quantification of DNA methylation using microfluidic chip-based digital PCR.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zhenhua; Bai, Yanan; Cheng, Zule; Liu, Fangming; Wang, Ping; Yang, Dawei; Li, Gang; Jin, Qinghui; Mao, Hongju; Zhao, Jianlong

2017-10-15

Hypermethylation of CpG islands in the promoter region of many tumor suppressor genes downregulates their expression and in a result promotes tumorigenesis. Therefore, detection of DNA methylation status is a convenient diagnostic tool for cancer detection. Here, we reported a novel method for the integrative detection of methylation by the microfluidic chip-based digital PCR. This method relies on methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme HpaII, which cleaves the unmethylated DNA strands while keeping the methylated ones intact. After HpaII treatment, the DNA methylation level is determined quantitatively by the microfluidic chip-based digital PCR with the lower limit of detection equal to 0.52%. To validate the applicability of this method, promoter methylation of two tumor suppressor genes (PCDHGB6 and HOXA9) was tested in 10 samples of early stage lung adenocarcinoma and their adjacent non-tumorous tissues. The consistency was observed in the analysis of these samples using our method and a conventional bisulfite pyrosequencing. Combining high sensitivity and low cost, the microfluidic chip-based digital PCR method might provide a promising alternative for the detection of DNA methylation and early diagnosis of epigenetics-related diseases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adaptive WTA with an analog VLSI neuromorphic learning chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Häfliger, Philipp

2007-03-01

In this paper, we demonstrate how a particular spike-based learning rule (where exact temporal relations between input and output spikes of a spiking model neuron determine the changes of the synaptic weights) can be tuned to express rate-based classical Hebbian learning behavior (where the average input and output spike rates are sufficient to describe the synaptic changes). This shift in behavior is controlled by the input statistic and by a single time constant. The learning rule has been implemented in a neuromorphic very large scale integration (VLSI) chip as part of a neurally inspired spike signal image processing system. The latter is the result of the European Union research project Convolution AER Vision Architecture for Real-Time (CAVIAR). Since it is implemented as a spike-based learning rule (which is most convenient in the overall spike-based system), even if it is tuned to show rate behavior, no explicit long-term average signals are computed on the chip. We show the rule's rate-based Hebbian learning ability in a classification task in both simulation and chip experiment, first with artificial stimuli and then with sensor input from the CAVIAR system.

A survey of research and practices of network-on-chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerregaard, Tobias; Mahadevan, Shankar

2006-01-01

The scaling of microchip technologies has enabled large scale systems-on-chip (SoC). Network-on-chip (NoC) research addresses global communication in SoC, involving (i) a move from computation-centric to communication-centric design and (ii) the implementation of scalable communication structures...

Organ/body-on-a-chip based on microfluidic technology for drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Hiroshi; Sakai, Yasuyuki; Fujii, Teruo

2018-02-01

Although animal experiments are indispensable for preclinical screening in the drug discovery process, various issues such as ethical considerations and species differences remain. To solve these issues, cell-based assays using human-derived cells have been actively pursued. However, it remains difficult to accurately predict drug efficacy, toxicity, and organs interactions, because cultivated cells often do not retain their original organ functions and morphologies in conventional in vitro cell culture systems. In the μTAS research field, which is a part of biochemical engineering, the technologies of organ-on-a-chip, based on microfluidic devices built using microfabrication, have been widely studied recently as a novel in vitro organ model. Since it is possible to physically and chemically mimic the in vitro environment by using microfluidic device technology, maintenance of cellular function and morphology, and replication of organ interactions can be realized using organ-on-a-chip devices. So far, functions of various organs and tissues, such as the lung, liver, kidney, and gut have been reproduced as in vitro models. Furthermore, a body-on-a-chip, integrating multi organ functions on a microfluidic device, has also been proposed for prediction of organ interactions. We herein provide a background of microfluidic systems, organ-on-a-chip, Body-on-a-chip technologies, and their challenges in the future. Copyright © 2017 The Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving global laboratory capabilities for emergency radionuclide bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, C.; Jourdain, J.; Kramer, G. H.

2012-01-01

During a radiological or nuclear emergency, first-responders and the general public may be internally contaminated with the radionuclide(s) involved. A timely radionuclide bioassay provides important information about contamination, for subsequent dose assessment and medical management. Both technical and operational gaps are discussed in this paper. As many people may need to be assessed in a short period of time, any single laboratory may find its capabilities insufficient. Laboratories from other regions or other countries may be called upon for assistance. This paper proposes a road-map to improve global capabilities in emergency radionuclide bioassay, suggesting a phased approach for establishing a global laboratory network. Existing international collaboration platforms could provide the base on which to build such a network. (authors)

Determination of Apparent Amylose Content in Rice by Using Paper-Based Microfluidic Chips.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xianqiao; Lu, Lin; Fang, Changyun; Duan, Binwu; Zhu, Zhiwei

2015-11-11

Determination of apparent amylose content in rice is a key function for rice research and the rice industry. In this paper, a novel approach with paper-based microfluidic chip is reported to determine apparent amylose content in rice. The conventional color reaction between amylose and iodine was employed. Blue color of amylose-iodine complex generated on-chip was converted to gray and measured with Photoshop after the colored chip was scanned. The method for preparation of the paper chip is described. In situ generation of iodine for on-chip color reaction was designed, and factors influencing color reaction were investigated in detail. Elimination of yellow color interference of excess iodine by exploiting color removal function of Photoshop was presented. Under the optimized conditions, apparent amylose content in rice ranging from 1.5 to 26.4% can be determined, and precision was 6.3%. The analytical results obtained with the developed approach were in good agreement with those with the continuous flow analyzer method.

Wood chip delivery and research project at Mikkeli region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saksa, T.; Auvinen, P.

1995-01-01

In 1994, a large-scale energywood production chain was started as a co-operation project by the Mikkeli city forest office and local forestry societies. Over 60 000 m 3 (about 46 000 MWh of energy) of forest processed chips were delivered to Pursiala heat and power plant in Mikkeli. About 60 % of these chips was whole tree chips from improvement cuttings of young forest stands and the rest was logging waste chips from regeneration cutting areas. The average total delivery costs of forest processed chips after reduction of energywood and other subsidies were approximately 51 FIM/m 3 (68 FIM/MWh) for the whole tree chips and 40 FIM/m 3 (53 FIM/MWh) for logging waste chips. The delivery costs of wood chips could compete with those of fuel peat only in the most favourable cases. The resources of forest processed chips were studied on the basis of forestry plans. According to the study, there is enough raw material for permanent, large-scale delivery of forest processed chips (up to 250 000 m 3 /a) in the forests located at a distance of under 40 road kilometers from the Pursiala heat and power plant. The following project stages will involve further development of the wood chip delivery chain logistics, as well as improvement of logging and chipping equipment and methods in energywood and logging waste production. Also the effects of wood energy production on the economy and environment of the whole Mikkeli region will be studied. (author)

Nanoliter Centrifugal Liquid Dispenser Coupled with Superhydrophobic Microwell Array Chips for High-Throughput Cell Assays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuyi Wang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Microfluidic systems have been regarded as a potential platform for high-throughput screening technology in drug discovery due to their low sample consumption, high integration, and easy operation. The handling of small-volume liquid is an essential operation in microfluidic systems, especially in investigating large-scale combination conditions. Here, we develop a nanoliter centrifugal liquid dispenser (NanoCLD coupled with superhydrophobic microwell array chips for high-throughput cell-based assays in the nanoliter scale. The NanoCLD consists of a plastic stock block with an array of drilled through holes, a reagent microwell array chip (reagent chip, and an alignment bottom assembled together in a fixture. A simple centrifugation at 800 rpm can dispense ~160 nL reagents into microwells in 5 min. The dispensed reagents are then delivered to cells by sandwiching the reagent chip upside down with another microwell array chip (cell chip on which cells are cultured. A gradient of doxorubicin is then dispensed to the cell chip using the NanoCLD for validating the feasibility of performing drug tests on our microchip platform. This novel nanoliter-volume liquid dispensing method is simple, easy to operate, and especially suitable for repeatedly dispensing many different reagents simultaneously to microwells.

Debugging systems-on-chip communication-centric and abstraction-based techniques

CERN Document Server

Vermeulen, Bart

2014-01-01

This book describes an approach and supporting infrastructure to facilitate debugging the silicon implementation of a System-on-Chip (SOC), allowing its associated product to be introduced into the market more quickly.  Readers learn step-by-step the key requirements for debugging a modern, silicon SOC implementation, nine factors that complicate this debugging task, and a new debug approach that addresses these requirements and complicating factors.  The authors’ novel communication-centric, scan-based, abstraction-based, run/stop-based (CSAR) debug approach is discussed in detail, showing how it helps to meet debug requirements and address the nine, previously identified factors that complicate debugging silicon implementations of SOCs. The authors also derive the debug infrastructure requirements to support debugging of a silicon implementation of an SOC with their CSAR debug approach. This debug infrastructure consists of a generic on-chip debug architecture, a configurable automated design-for-debug ...

Low-Power, Chip-Scale, Carbon Dioxide Gas Sensors for Spacesuit Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Rani, Asha; Shi, Chen; Thomson, Brian; Debnath, Ratan; Wen, Boamei; Motayed, Abhishek; Chullen, Cinda

2018-01-01

N5 Sensors, Inc. through a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract award has been developing ultra-small, low-power carbon dioxide (CO2) gas sensors, suited for monitoring CO2 levels inside NASA spacesuits. Due to the unique environmental conditions within the spacesuits, such as high humidity, large temperature swings, and operating pressure swings, measurement of key gases relevant to astronaut's safety and health such as(CO2), is quite challenging. Conventional non-dispersive infrared absorption based CO2 sensors present challenges inside the spacesuits due to size, weight, and power constraints, along with the ability to sense CO2 in a high humidity environment. Unique chip-scale, nanoengineered chemiresistive gas-sensing architecture has been developed for this application, which can be operated in a typical space-suite environmental conditions. Unique design combining the selective adsorption properties of the nanophotocatalytic clusters of metal-oxides and metals, provides selective detection of CO2 in high relative humidity conditions. All electronic design provides a compact and low-power solution, which can be implemented for multipoint detection of CO2 inside the spacesuits. This paper will describe the sensor architecture, development of new photocatalytic material for better sensor response, and advanced structure for better sensitivity and shorter response times.

An SOI CMOS-Based Multi-Sensor MEMS Chip for Fluidic Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Mansoor, Mohtashim; Haneef, Ibraheem; Akhtar, Suhail; Rafiq, Muhammad Aftab; De Luca, Andrea; Ali, Syed Zeeshan; Udrea, Florin

2016-11-04

An SOI CMOS multi-sensor MEMS chip, which can simultaneously measure temperature, pressure and flow rate, has been reported. The multi-sensor chip has been designed keeping in view the requirements of researchers interested in experimental fluid dynamics. The chip contains ten thermodiodes (temperature sensors), a piezoresistive-type pressure sensor and nine hot film-based flow rate sensors fabricated within the oxide layer of the SOI wafers. The silicon dioxide layers with embedded sensors are relieved from the substrate as membranes with the help of a single DRIE step after chip fabrication from a commercial CMOS foundry. Very dense sensor packing per unit area of the chip has been enabled by using technologies/processes like SOI, CMOS and DRIE. Independent apparatuses were used for the characterization of each sensor. With a drive current of 10 µA-0.1 µA, the thermodiodes exhibited sensitivities of 1.41 mV/°C-1.79 mV/°C in the range 20-300 °C. The sensitivity of the pressure sensor was 0.0686 mV/(V excit kPa) with a non-linearity of 0.25% between 0 and 69 kPa above ambient pressure. Packaged in a micro-channel, the flow rate sensor has a linearized sensitivity of 17.3 mV/(L/min) -0.1 in the tested range of 0-4.7 L/min. The multi-sensor chip can be used for simultaneous measurement of fluid pressure, temperature and flow rate in fluidic experiments and aerospace/automotive/biomedical/process industries.

Preservation of forest wood chips

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kofman, P.D.; Thomsen, I.M.; Ohlsson, C.; Leer, E.; Ravn Schmidt, E.; Soerensen, M.; Knudsen, P.

1999-01-01

As part of the Danish Energy Research Programme on biomass utilisation for energy production (EFP), this project concerns problems connected to the handling and storing of wood chips. In this project, the possibility of preserving wood chips of the Norway Spruce (Picea Abies) is addressed, and the potential improvements by anaerobic storage are tested. Preservation of wood chips aims at reducing dry matter losses from extensive heating during storage and to reduce production of fungal spores. Fungal spores pose a health hazards to workers handling the chips. Further the producers of wood chips are interested in such a method since it would enable them to give a guarantee for the delivery of homogeneous wood chips also during the winter period. Three different types of wood chips were stored airtight and further one of these was stored in accordance with normal practise and use as reference. The results showed that airtight storage had a beneficial impact on the quality of the chips: no redistribution of moisture, low dry matter losses, unfavourable conditions for microbial activity of most fungi, and the promotion of yeasts instead of fungi with airborne spores. Likewise the firing tests showed that no combustion problems, and no increased risk to the environment or to the health of staff is caused by anaerobic storage of wood chips. In all, the tests of the anaerobic storage method of forest wood chips were a success and a large-scale test of the method will be carried out in 1999. (au)

Simultaneous detection of lactate and glucose by integrated printed circuit board based array sensing chip

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Xuelian [Institute for Clean Energy and Advanced Materials, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715 (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715 (China); Zang, Jianfeng [Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Liu, Yingshuai; Lu, Zhisong [Institute for Clean Energy and Advanced Materials, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715 (China); Li, Qing, E-mail: Qli@swu.edu.cn [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715 (China); Li, Chang Ming, E-mail: ecmli@swu.edu.cn [Institute for Clean Energy and Advanced Materials, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715 (China)

2013-04-10

Highlights: ► An integrated printed circuit board (PCB) based array sensing chip was developed. ► Simultaneous detection of lactate and glucose in serum has been demonstrated. ► The array electronic biochip has high signal to noise ratio and high sensitivity. ► Additional electrodes were designed on the chip to correct interferences. -- Abstract: An integrated printed circuit board (PCB) based array sensing chip was developed to simultaneously detect lactate and glucose in mouse serum. The novelty of the chip relies on a concept demonstration of inexpensive high-throughput electronic biochip, a chip design for high signal to noise ratio and high sensitivity by construction of positively charged chitosan/redox polymer Polyvinylimidazole-Os (PVI-Os)/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite sensing platform, in which the positively charged chitosan/PVI-Os is mediator and electrostatically immobilizes the negatively charged enzyme, while CNTs function as an essential cross-linker to network PVI-Os and chitosan due to its negative charged nature. Additional electrodes on the chip with the same sensing layer but without enzymes were prepared to correct the interferences for high specificity. Low detection limits of 0.6 μM and 5 μM were achieved for lactate and glucose, respectively. This work could be extended to inexpensive array sensing chips with high sensitivity, good specificity and high reproducibility for various sensor applications.

Bioassay-based risk assessment of complex mixtures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donnelly, K.C.; Safe, S.H. [Texas A& M Univ., Houston, TX (United States); Randerath, K.; Randerath, E. [College Station and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (United States)

1994-12-31

To compare the standard chemical-based risk assessment with in vitro genotoxicity assays, two complex environmental mixtures from a wood preserving site were analyzed in the Salmonella/microsome and E. coli prophage induction assays. Using GC/MS, sample 003 was found to contain relatively low levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs) and elevated levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), while sample 005 had higher levels of PNAs and relatively low levels of PCDDs. The complex mixtures were sequentially extracted with methylene chloride and methanol for analysis in Salmonella, or extracted with 1:1 hexane: acetone mixture for analysis in the prophage induction assay. At a dose of 1.0 mg/plate in Salmonella strain TA98 with metabolic activation, the methanol extract of sample 003 induced 197 net revertants, while sample 005 induced 436 net revertants. In the prophage induction assay, with activation, the hexane:acetone extract of sample 003 induced a fold increase that was slightly lower than that observed with sample 005. The estimated incremental carcinogenic risk for dermal adsorption and ingestion was 1.5E-3 for sample 003, while for sample 005 the estimated risk was 1.5E-2. Thus, the sample which induced the maximum response in both bioassays also had the highest estimated cancer risk. However, the frequency of PNA-DNA adducts in both skin and liver tissues was appreciably higher with sample 005 than with sample 003.

Droplet-based Biosensing for Lab-on-a-Chip, Open Microfluidics Platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piyush Dak

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Low cost, portable sensors can transform health care by bringing easily available diagnostic devices to low and middle income population, particularly in developing countries. Sample preparation, analyte handling and labeling are primary cost concerns for traditional lab-based diagnostic systems. Lab-on-a-chip (LoC platforms based on droplet-based microfluidics promise to integrate and automate these complex and expensive laboratory procedures onto a single chip; the cost will be further reduced if label-free biosensors could be integrated onto the LoC platforms. Here, we review some recent developments of label-free, droplet-based biosensors, compatible with “open” digital microfluidic systems. These low-cost droplet-based biosensors overcome some of the fundamental limitations of the classical sensors, enabling timely diagnosis. We identify the key challenges that must be addressed to make these sensors commercially viable and summarize a number of promising research directions.

Exposure dose assessment using bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suga, Shinichi

1994-01-01

Bioassay involves following steps: sampling, pre-treatment, chemical separation and counting of radioactivity. As bioassay samples, urines are usually used, although faecal analysis may be required in some occasions for example to assess intake of non-transferable radioactive materials. Nasal smear is a useful indicator of an inhalation case. Exhalation air is used to estimate the intake of tritiated water. Sample pre-treatment includes evaporation for concentration, wet ashing, dry ashing and co-precipitation. After adding small amount of nitric acid, the sample can be concentrated by 1/10 of initial volume, which may be used to identify γ-emitters. As the pre-treatment of urine, wet ashing is used for example for analysis of Pu, and co-precipitation is used for example for analysis of Sr. Dry ashing by electric furnace is usually adopted for faecal samples. Methods of chemical separation depend on the radionuclide(s) to be analysed. The detection limit depends also on radionuclide, and for example typical detection limits are 0.4Bq / l (volume of urine sample) for 89 Sr or 90 Sr, and 0.01 Bq / l with urine and 0.01 Bq per sample with faeces for 238 Pu, 239 Pu or 241 Am. Simpler methods can be used for some radionuclides: For example, radioactivity concentration of tritium can be determined by liquid scintillation counting of urine or condensed water from exhaled air, and natural uranium in urine can be quantified by using fluorometric method. In some circumstances, gross-α or gross-β analyses are useful for quick estimation. To estimate intakes by inhalation or by ingestion from bioassay results and to assess the committed dose equivalent, commonly available bases are the relevant publications by the ICRP and domestic guides and manuals that conform to the radiation protection regulations. (author)

Development of a chip-based ingroove microplasma source: Design, characterization, and diagnostics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Xuemei; Meng, Fanying; Yuan, Xin; Yan, Yanyue; Zhao, Zhongjun; Duan, Yixiang, E-mail: yduan@scu.edu.cn [Research Center of Analytical Instrumentation, College of Chemistry and College of Life Science Sichuan University, Chengdu (China); Tang, Jie [State Key Laboratory of Transient Optics and Photonics, Xi' an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi' an (China)

2014-03-10

A chip-based ingroove microplasma source was designed for molecular emission spectrometry by using a space-confined direct current duct in air. The voltage-current characteristics of different size generators, emission spectroscopy of argon were discussed, respectively. It is found that the emission intensity of excited Ar and N{sub 2} approaches its maximum near the cathode, while OH and O peaks most likely appear close to the anode. The electron density, electronic excitation temperature, rotational temperature, and vibrational temperature of the argon plasma were also calculated. More importantly, the chip-based ingroove microplasma shows much better stability compared with its counterparts.

Real-time tunability of chip-based light source enabled by microfluidic mixing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Brian Bilenberg; Rasmussen, Torben; Balslev, Søren

2006-01-01

We demonstrate real-time tunability of a chip-based liquid light source enabled by microfluidic mixing. The mixer and light source are fabricated in SU-8 which is suitable for integration in SU-8-based laboratory-on-a-chip microsystems. The tunability of the light source is achieved by changing...... the concentration of rhodamine 6G dye inside two integrated vertical resonators, since both the refractive index and the gain profile are influenced by the dye concentration. The effect on the refractive index and the gain profile of rhodamine 6G in ethanol is investigated and the continuous tuning of the laser...

Study of cutting speed on surface roughness and chip formation when machining nickel-based alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khidhir, Basim A.; Mohamed, Bashir

2010-01-01

Nickel- based alloy is difficult-to-machine because of its low thermal diffusive property and high strength at higher temperature. The machinability of nickel- based Hastelloy C-276 in turning operations has been carried out using different types of inserts under dry conditions on a computer numerical control (CNC) turning machine at different stages of cutting speed. The effects of cutting speed on surface roughness have been investigated. This study explores the types of wear caused by the effect of cutting speed on coated and uncoated carbide inserts. In addition, the effect of burr formation is investigated. The chip burr is found to have different shapes at lower speeds. Triangles and squares have been noticed for both coated and uncoated tips as well. The conclusion from this study is that the transition from thick continuous chip to wider discontinuous chip is caused by different types of inserts. The chip burr has a significant effect on tool damage starting in the line of depth-of-cut. For the coated insert tips, the burr disappears when the speed increases to above 150 m/min with the improvement of surface roughness; increasing the speed above the same limit for uncoated insert tips increases the chip burr size. The results of this study showed that the surface finish of nickel-based alloy is highly affected by the insert type with respect to cutting speed changes and its effect on chip burr formation and tool failure

A specific bioassay for the inhibition of flowering.

Science.gov (United States)

Blake, J

1972-06-01

A bioassay for the inhibition of flowering involving the in vitro culture of excised, partially-induced, apices of Viscaria candida is described. This bioassay has been used to detect flowering inhibition in extracts from Kalanchoe blossfeldiana.

Building bio-assays with magnetic particles on a digital microfluidic platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Kokalj, Tadej; Pérez-Ruiz, Elena; Lammertyn, Jeroen

2015-09-25

Digital microfluidics (DMF) has emerged as a promising liquid handling technology for a variety of applications, demonstrating great potential both in terms of miniaturization and automation. DMF is based on the manipulation of discrete, independently controllable liquid droplets, which makes it highly reconfigurable and reprogrammable. One of its most exclusive advantages, compared to microchannel-based microfluidics, is its ability to precisely handle solid nano- and microsized objects, such as magnetic particles. Magnetic particles have become very popular in the last decade, since their high surface-to-volume ratio and the possibility to magnetically separate them from the matrix make them perfect suitable as a solid support for bio-assay development. The potential of magnetic particles in DMF-based bio-assays has been demonstrated for various applications. In this review we discuss the latest developments of magnetic particle-based DMF bio-assays with the aim to present, identify and analyze the trends in the field. We also discuss the state-of-the art of device integration, current status of commercialization and issues that still need to be addressed. With this paper we intend to stimulate researchers to exploit and unveil the potential of these exciting tools, which will shape the future of modern biochemistry, microbiology and biomedical diagnostics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental and Computational Characterization of Biological Liquid Crystals: A Review of Single-Molecule Bioassays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sungsoo Na

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Quantitative understanding of the mechanical behavior of biological liquid crystals such as proteins is essential for gaining insight into their biological functions, since some proteins perform notable mechanical functions. Recently, single-molecule experiments have allowed not only the quantitative characterization of the mechanical behavior of proteins such as protein unfolding mechanics, but also the exploration of the free energy landscape for protein folding. In this work, we have reviewed the current state-of-art in single-molecule bioassays that enable quantitative studies on protein unfolding mechanics and/or various molecular interactions. Specifically, single-molecule pulling experiments based on atomic force microscopy (AFM have been overviewed. In addition, the computational simulations on single-molecule pulling experiments have been reviewed. We have also reviewed the AFM cantilever-based bioassay that provides insight into various molecular interactions. Our review highlights the AFM-based single-molecule bioassay for quantitative characterization of biological liquid crystals such as proteins.

An FPGA bridge preserving traffing quality of service for on-chip network-based systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nejad, A.B.; Escudero Martinez, M.; Goossens, K.G.W.

2011-01-01

FPGA prototyping of recent large Systems on Chip (SoCs) is very challenging due to the resource limitation of a single FPGA. Moreover, having external access to SoCs for verification and debug purposes is essential. In this paper, we suggest to partition a network-on-chip (NoC) based system into

Dye-based coatings for hydrophobic valves and their application to polymer labs-on-a-chip

Science.gov (United States)

Riegger, L.; Mielnik, M. M.; Gulliksen, A.; Mark, D.; Steigert, J.; Lutz, S.; Clad, M.; Zengerle, R.; Koltay, P.; Hoffmann, J.

2010-04-01

We provide a method for the selective surface patterning of microfluidic chips with hydrophobic fluoropolymers which is demonstrated by the fabrication of hydrophobic valves via dispensing. It enables efficient optical quality control for the surface patterning thus permitting the low-cost production of highly reproducible hydrophobic valves. Specifically, different dyes for fluoropolymers enabling visual quality control (QC) are investigated, and two fluoropolymer-solvent-dye solutions based on fluorescent quantum dots (QD) and carbon black (CB) are presented in detail. The latter creates superhydrophobic surfaces on arbitrary substrates, e.g. chips made from cyclic olefin copolymer (COC, water contact angle = 157.9°), provides good visibility for the visual QC in polymer labs-on-a-chip and increases the burst pressures of the hydrophobic valves. Finally, an application is presented which aims at the on-chip amplification of mRNA based on defined flow control by hydrophobic valves is presented. Here, the optimization based on QC in combination with the Teflon-CB coating improves the burst pressure reproducibility from 14.5% down to 6.1% compared to Teflon-coated valves.

Control Synthesis for the Flow-Based Microfluidic Large-Scale Integration Biochips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minhass, Wajid Hassan; Pop, Paul; Madsen, Jan

2013-01-01

In this paper we are interested in flow-based microfluidic biochips, which are able to integrate the necessary functions for biochemical analysis on-chip. In these chips, the flow of liquid is manipulated using integrated microvalves. By combining severalmicrovalves, more complex units, such asmi......In this paper we are interested in flow-based microfluidic biochips, which are able to integrate the necessary functions for biochemical analysis on-chip. In these chips, the flow of liquid is manipulated using integrated microvalves. By combining severalmicrovalves, more complex units...

Chip-to-Chip Half Duplex Spiking Data Communication over Power Supply Rails

Science.gov (United States)

Hashida, Takushi; Nagata, Makoto

Chip-to-chip serial data communication is superposed on power supply over common Vdd/Vss connections through chip, package, and board traces. A power line transceiver demonstrates half duplex spiking communication at more than 100Mbps. A pair of transceivers consumes 1.35mA from 3.3V, at 130Mbps. On-chip power line LC low pass filter attenuates pseudo-differential communication spikes by 30dB, purifying power supply current for internal circuits. Bi-directional spiking communication was successfully examined in a 90-nm CMOS prototype setup of on-chip waveform capturing. A micro controller forwards clock pulses to and receives data streams from a comparator based waveform capturer formed on a different chip, through a single pair of power and ground traces. The bit error rate is small enough not to degrade waveform acquisition capability, maintaining the spurious free dynamic range of higher than 50dB.

Comparative susceptibility of bemisia tabaci to imidacloprid in field- and laboratory-based bioassays

Science.gov (United States)

Bemisia tabaci biotype B is a resistance-prone pest of protected and open agriculture. Systemic uptake bioassays used in resistance monitoring programs have provided important information on susceptibility to neonicotinoid insecticides, but have remained decoupled from field performance. Simultaneou...

Digitized molecular diagnostics: reading disk-based bioassays with standard computer drives.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yunchao; Ou, Lily M L; Yu, Hua-Zhong

2008-11-01

We report herein a digital signal readout protocol for screening disk-based bioassays with standard optical drives of ordinary desktop/notebook computers. Three different types of biochemical recognition reactions (biotin-streptavidin binding, DNA hybridization, and protein-protein interaction) were performed directly on a compact disk in a line array format with the help of microfluidic channel plates. Being well-correlated with the optical darkness of the binding sites (after signal enhancement by gold nanoparticle-promoted autometallography), the reading error levels of prerecorded audio files can serve as a quantitative measure of biochemical interaction. This novel readout protocol is about 1 order of magnitude more sensitive than fluorescence labeling/scanning and has the capability of examining multiplex microassays on the same disk. Because no modification to either hardware or software is needed, it promises a platform technology for rapid, low-cost, and high-throughput point-of-care biomedical diagnostics.

An economic evaluation of a chlorhexidine chip for treating chronic periodontitis: the CHIP (chlorhexidine in periodontitis) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Henke, C J; Villa, K F; Aichelmann-Reidy, M E; Armitage, G C; Eber, R M; Genco, R J; Killoy, W J; Miller, D P; Page, R C; Polson, A M; Ryder, M I; Silva, S J; Somerman, M J; Van Dyke, T E; Wolff, L F; Evans, C J; Finkelman, R D

2001-11-01

The authors previously suggested that an adjunctive, controlled-release chlorhexidine, or CHX, chip may reduce periodontal surgical needs at little additional cost. This article presents an economic analysis of the CHX chip in general dental practice. In a one-year prospective clinical trial, 484 chronic periodontitis patients in 52 general practices across the United States were treated with either scaling and root planing, or SRP, plus any therapy prescribed by treating, unblinded dentists; or SRP plus other therapy as above but including the CHX chip. Economic data were collected from bills, case report forms and 12-month treatment recommendations from blinded periodontist evaluators. Total dental charges were higher for SRP + CHX chip patients vs. SRP patients when CHX chip costs were included (P = .027) but lower when CHX chip costs were excluded (P = .012). About one-half of the CHX chip acquisition cost was offset by savings in other charges. SRP + CHX chip patients were about 50 percent less likely to undergo surgical procedures than were SRP patients (P = .021). At the end of the trial, periodontist evaluators recommended similar additional procedures for both groups: SRP, about 46 percent; maintenance, about 37 percent; surgery, 56 percent for SRP alone and 63 percent for SRP + CHX chip. Adjunctive CHX chip use for general-practice patients with periodontitis increased costs but reduced surgeries over one year. At study's end, periodontists recommended similar additional surgical treatment for both groups. In general practice, routine use of the CHX chip suggests that costs will be partially offset by reduced surgery over at least one year.

Activities of Jatropha curcas phorbol esters in various bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Devappa, Rakshit K; Rajesh, Sanjay K; Kumar, Vikas; Makkar, Harinder P S; Becker, Klaus

2012-04-01

Jatropha curcas seeds contain 30-35% oil, which can be converted to high quality biodiesel. However, Jatropha oil is toxic, ascribed to the presence of phorbol esters (PEs). In this study, isolated phorbol ester rich fraction (PEEF) was used to evaluate the activity of PEs using three aquatic species based bioassays (snail (Physa fontinalis), brine shrimp (Artemeia salina), daphnia (Daphnia magna)) and microorganisms. In all the bioassays tested, increase in concentration of PEs increased mortality with an EC(50) (48 h) of 0.33, 26.48 and 0.95 mg L(-1) PEs for snail, artemia and daphnia, respectively. The sensitivity of various microorganisms for PEs was also tested. Among the bacterial species tested, Streptococcus pyogenes and Proteus mirabilis were highly susceptible with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 215 mg L(-1) PEs; and Pseudomonas putida were also sensitive with MIC of 251 mg L(-1) PEs. Similarly, Fusarium species of fungi exhibited EC(50) of 58 mg L(-1) PEs, while Aspergillus niger and Curvularia lunata had EC(50) of 70 mg L(-1). The snail bioassay was most sensitive with 100% snail mortality at 1 μg of PEs mL(-1). In conclusion, snail bioassay could be used to monitor PEs in Jatropha derived products such as oil, biodiesel, fatty acid distillate, kernel meal, cake, glycerol or for contamination in soil or other environmental matrices. In addition, PEs with molluscicidal/antimicrobial activities could be utilized for agricultural and pharmaceutical applications. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The 10th Annual Bioassays and Bioanalytical Method Development Conference.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Mark; Tudan, Christopher; Koltchev, Dolly

2015-01-01

The 10th Annual Bioassays and Bioanalytical Method Development Conference was hosted in Boston, MA, USA on 20-22 October 2014. This meeting brought together scientists from the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries, the regulatory agency and academia to share and discuss current trends in cell-based assays and bioanalysis, challenges and ideas for the future of the bioassays and bioanalytical method development. The experiences associated with new and innovative technologies were evaluated as well as their impact on the current bioassays methodologies and bioanalysis workflow, including quality, feasibility, outsourcing strategies and challenges, productivity and compliance. Several presentations were also provided by members of the US FDA, sharing both scientific and regulatory paradigms including a most recent update on the position of the FDA with specific aspects of the draft Bioanalytical Method Validation guidance following its review of the industry's responses. The meeting was jointly coincided with the 15th Annual Immunogenicity for Biotherapeutics meeting, allowing for attendees to also familiarize themselves with new and emerging approaches to overcome the effect of immunogenicity, in addition to investigative strategies.

Low Loss Nanostructured Polymers for Chip-scale Waveguide Amplifiers.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, George F R; Zhao, Xinyu; Sun, Yang; He, Chaobin; Tan, Mei Chee; Tan, Dawn T H

2017-06-13

On-chip waveguide amplifiers offer higher gain in small device sizes and better integration with photonic devices than the commonly available fiber amplifiers. However, on-chip amplifiers have yet to make its way into the mainstream due to the limited availability of materials with ideal light guiding and amplification properties. A low-loss nanostructured on-chip channel polymeric waveguide amplifier was designed, characterized, fabricated and its gain experimentally measured at telecommunication wavelength. The active polymeric waveguide core comprises of NaYF 4 :Yb,Er,Ce core-shell nanocrystals dispersed within a SU8 polymer, where the nanoparticle interfacial characteristics were tailored using hydrolyzed polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-graft-poly(methyl methacrylate) to improve particle dispersion. Both the enhanced IR emission intensity from our nanocrystals using a tri-dopant scheme and the reduced scattering losses from our excellent particle dispersion at a high solid loading of 6.0 vol% contributed to the outstanding optical performance of our polymeric waveguide. We achieved one of the highest reported gain of 6.6 dB/cm using a relatively low coupled pump power of 80 mW. These polymeric waveguide amplifiers offer greater promise for integrated optical circuits due to their processability and integration advantages which will play a key role in the emerging areas of flexible communication and optoelectronic devices.

Fiber‐free coupling between bulk laser beams and on‐chip polymer‐based multimode waveguides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Thomas Glasdam; Nielsen, Lars Bue; Kutter, Jörg Peter

2011-01-01

light from a bulk beam to on‐chip waveguides and back into a bulk beam again. Using this setup, as much as 20% of the light coming from the source can be retrieved after passing through the on‐chip waveguides. The proposed setup is based on a pin‐aided alignment system that makes it possible to change...

An SOI CMOS-Based Multi-Sensor MEMS Chip for Fluidic Applications †

Science.gov (United States)

Mansoor, Mohtashim; Haneef, Ibraheem; Akhtar, Suhail; Rafiq, Muhammad Aftab; De Luca, Andrea; Ali, Syed Zeeshan; Udrea, Florin

2016-01-01

An SOI CMOS multi-sensor MEMS chip, which can simultaneously measure temperature, pressure and flow rate, has been reported. The multi-sensor chip has been designed keeping in view the requirements of researchers interested in experimental fluid dynamics. The chip contains ten thermodiodes (temperature sensors), a piezoresistive-type pressure sensor and nine hot film-based flow rate sensors fabricated within the oxide layer of the SOI wafers. The silicon dioxide layers with embedded sensors are relieved from the substrate as membranes with the help of a single DRIE step after chip fabrication from a commercial CMOS foundry. Very dense sensor packing per unit area of the chip has been enabled by using technologies/processes like SOI, CMOS and DRIE. Independent apparatuses were used for the characterization of each sensor. With a drive current of 10 µA–0.1 µA, the thermodiodes exhibited sensitivities of 1.41 mV/°C–1.79 mV/°C in the range 20–300 °C. The sensitivity of the pressure sensor was 0.0686 mV/(Vexcit kPa) with a non-linearity of 0.25% between 0 and 69 kPa above ambient pressure. Packaged in a micro-channel, the flow rate sensor has a linearized sensitivity of 17.3 mV/(L/min)−0.1 in the tested range of 0–4.7 L/min. The multi-sensor chip can be used for simultaneous measurement of fluid pressure, temperature and flow rate in fluidic experiments and aerospace/automotive/biomedical/process industries. PMID:27827904

Estimate the thermomechanical fatigue life of two flip chip packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pash, R.A.; Ullah, H.S.; Khan, M.Z.

2005-01-01

The continuing demand towards high density and low profile integrated circuit packaging has accelerated the development of flip chip structures as used in direct chip attach (DCA) technology, ball grid array (BOA) and chip scale package (CSP). In such structures the most widely used flip chip interconnects are solder joints. The reliability of flip chip structures largely depends on the reliability of solder joints. In this work solder joint fatigue life prediction for two chip scale packages is carried out. Elasto-plastic deformation behavior of the solder was simulated using ANSYS. Two dimensional plain strain finite element models were developed for each package to numerically compute the stress and total strain of the solder joints under temperature cycling. These stress and strain values are then used to predict the solder joint lifetime through modified Coffin Manson equation. The effect of solder joint's distance from edge of silicon die on life of the package is explored. The solder joint fatigue response is modeled for a typical temperature cycling of -60 to 140 degree C. (author)

Experience with NQA-1 quality assurance standards applied to in vitro bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bihl, D.E.; MacLellan, J.A.

1991-10-01

On June 1, 1990, the large (about 4000 samples per year) excreta bioassay program at the Hanford Site ceased abruptly when the contract with the bioassay laboratory was terminated. An intense, high-priority effort was begun to replace the services on an interim basis until a new contract could be procured. Despite the urgency to get the excreta bioassay program going again, the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program was constrained to use only labs that could meet stringent quality assurance (QA) requirements, even during the interim period. The QA requirements were based on NQA-1 with selected additions from the Environmental Protection Agency's QAMS 005/80 (EPA 1983) and the American Society for Testing and Materials' C 1009-83 (ASTM 1984). This constraint was driven both by legal reasons and by the Hanford Site contractors and workers not wanting the quality of the data to be sacrificed. Finding labs that could (1) handle the large throughput, (2) meet the technical requirements, and (3) pass the QA audit proved more difficult than first anticipated. This presentation focuses on the QA requirements that the labs had to meet and how those very broad requirements were applied specifically to excreta bioassay. 5 refs

Experience with NQA-1 quality assurance standards applied to in vitro bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bihl, D.E.; MacLellan, J.A.

1991-01-01

On June 1, 1990, the large (about 4,000 samples per year) excreta bioassay program at the Hanford Site ceased abruptly when the contract with the bioassay laboratory was terminated. An intense, high-priority effort was begun to replace the services on an interim basis until a new contract could be procured. Despite the urgency to get the excreta bioassay program going again, the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program was constrained to use only labs that could meet stringent quality assurance (QA) requirements, even during the interim period. The QA requirements were based on NQA-1 with selected additions from the Environmental Protection Agency's QAMS 005/80 (EPA 1983) and the American Society for Testing and Materials' C 1009-83 (ASTM 1984). This constraint was driven both by legal reasons and by the Hanford Site contractors and workers not wanting the quality of the data to be sacrificed. Finding labs that could (1) handle the large throughput, (2) meet the technical requirements, and (3) pass the QA audit proved more difficult than first anticipated. This presentation focuses on the QA requirements that the labs had to meet and how those very broad requirements were applied specifically to excreta bioassay

Low-Cost Energy-Efficient 3-D Nano-Spikes-Based Electric Cell Lysis Chips

KAUST Repository

Riaz, Kashif

2017-05-04

Electric cell lysis (ECL) is a promising technique to be integrated with portable lab-on-a-chip without lysing agent due to its simplicity and fast processing. ECL is usually limited by the requirements of high power/voltage and costly fabrication. In this paper, we present low-cost 3-D nano-spikes-based ECL (NSP-ECL) chips for efficient cell lysis at low power consumption. Highly ordered High-Aspect-Ratio (HAR). NSP arrays with controllable dimensions were fabricated on commercial aluminum foils through scalable and electrochemical anodization and etching. The optimized multiple pulse protocols with minimized undesirable electrochemical reactions (gas and bubble generation), common on micro parallel-plate ECL chips. Due to the scalability of fabrication process, 3-D NSPs were fabricated on small chips as well as on 4-in wafers. Phase diagram was constructed by defining critical electric field to induce cell lysis and for cell lysis saturation Esat to define non-ECL and ECL regions for different pulse parameters. NSP-ECL chips have achieved excellent cell lysis efficiencies ηlysis (ca 100%) at low applied voltages (2 V), 2~3 orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional systems. The energy consumption of NSP-ECL chips was 0.5-2 mJ/mL, 3~9 orders of magnitude lower as compared with the other methods (5J/mL-540kJ/mL). [2016-0305

Applied in vitro radio bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaburo, J.C.G.; Sordi, G.M.A.A.

1992-11-01

The aim of this publication is to show the concepts and in vitro bioassay techniques as well as experimental procedures related with internal contamination evaluation. The main routes of intake, metabolic behavior, and the possible types of bioassay samples that can be collected for radionuclides analysis are described. Both biological processes and the chemical and physical behavior of the radioactive material of interest are considered and the capabilities of analytical techniques to detect and quantify the radionuclides are discussed. Next, the need of quality assurance throughout procedures are considered and finally a summary of the techniques applied to the internal routine monitoring of IPEN workers is given. (author)

A PDMS-Based Microfluidic Hanging Drop Chip for Embryoid Body Formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Huei-Wen; Hsiao, Yi-Hsing; Chen, Chih-Chen; Yet, Shaw-Fang; Hsu, Chia-Hsien

2016-07-06

The conventional hanging drop technique is the most widely used method for embryoid body (EB) formation. However, this method is labor intensive and limited by the difficulty in exchanging the medium. Here, we report a microfluidic chip-based approach for high-throughput formation of EBs. The device consists of microfluidic channels with 6 × 12 opening wells in PDMS supported by a glass substrate. The PDMS channels were fabricated by replicating polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) from SU-8 mold. The droplet formation in the chip was tested with different hydrostatic pressures to obtain optimal operation pressures for the wells with 1000 μm diameter openings. The droplets formed at the opening wells were used to culture mouse embryonic stem cells which could subsequently developed into EBs in the hanging droplets. This device also allows for medium exchange of the hanging droplets making it possible to perform immunochemistry staining and characterize EBs on chip.

A PDMS-Based Microfluidic Hanging Drop Chip for Embryoid Body Formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huei-Wen Wu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The conventional hanging drop technique is the most widely used method for embryoid body (EB formation. However, this method is labor intensive and limited by the difficulty in exchanging the medium. Here, we report a microfluidic chip-based approach for high-throughput formation of EBs. The device consists of microfluidic channels with 6 × 12 opening wells in PDMS supported by a glass substrate. The PDMS channels were fabricated by replicating polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS from SU-8 mold. The droplet formation in the chip was tested with different hydrostatic pressures to obtain optimal operation pressures for the wells with 1000 μm diameter openings. The droplets formed at the opening wells were used to culture mouse embryonic stem cells which could subsequently developed into EBs in the hanging droplets. This device also allows for medium exchange of the hanging droplets making it possible to perform immunochemistry staining and characterize EBs on chip.

Androgenic and Estrogenic Response of Green Mussel Extracts from Singapore’s Coastal Environment Using a Human Cell-Based Bioassay

Science.gov (United States)

Bayen, Stéphane; Gong, Yinhan; Chin, Hong Soon; Lee, Hian Kee; Leong, Yong Eu; Obbard, Jeffrey Philip

2004-01-01

In the last decade, evidence of endocrine disruption in biota exposed to environmental pollutants has raised serious concern. Human cell-based bioassays have been developed to evaluate induced androgenic and estrogenic activities of chemical compounds. However, bioassays have been sparsely applied to environmental samples. In this study we present data on sex hormone activities in the green mussel, Perna viridis, in Singapore’s coastal waters. P. viridis is a common bioindicator of marine contamination, and this study is a follow-up to an earlier investigation that reported the presence of sex hormone activities in seawater samples from Singapore’s coastal environment. Specimens were collected from eight locations around the Singapore coastline and analyzed for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals. Tissue extracts were then screened for activities on androgen receptors (ARs) and estrogen receptors (ER-α and ER-β) using a reporter gene bio-assay based on a HeLa human cell line. Mussel extracts alone did not exhibit AR activity, but in the presence of the reference androgenic hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), activities were up to 340% higher than those observed for DHT alone. Peak activities were observed in locations adjacent to industrial and shipping activities. Estrogenic activities of the mussel extract both alone and in the presence of reference hormone were positive. Correlations were statistically investigated between sex hormone activities, levels of pollutants in the mussel tissues, and various biological parameters (specimen size, sex ratio, lipid and moisture content). Significant correlations exist between AR activities, in the presence of DHT, and total concentration of POPs (r = 0.725, p < 0.05). PMID:15531429

Laser Light-field Fusion for Wide-field Lensfree On-chip Phase Contrast Microscopy of Nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Kazemzadeh, Farnoud; Wong, Alexander

2016-12-01

Wide-field lensfree on-chip microscopy, which leverages holography principles to capture interferometric light-field encodings without lenses, is an emerging imaging modality with widespread interest given the large field-of-view compared to lens-based techniques. In this study, we introduce the idea of laser light-field fusion for lensfree on-chip phase contrast microscopy for detecting nanoparticles, where interferometric laser light-field encodings acquired using a lensfree, on-chip setup with laser pulsations at different wavelengths are fused to produce marker-free phase contrast images of particles at the nanometer scale. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate, for the first time, a wide-field lensfree on-chip instrument successfully detecting 300 nm particles across a large field-of-view of ~30 mm2 without any specialized or intricate sample preparation, or the use of synthetic aperture- or shift-based techniques.

Bioassay method for Uranium in urine by Delay Neutron counting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suratman; Purwanto; Sukarman-Aminjoyo

1996-01-01

A bioassay method for uranium in urine by neutron counting has been studied. The aim of this research is to obtain a bioassay method for uranium in urine which is used for the determination of internal dose of radiation workers. The bioassay was applied to the artificially uranium contaminated urine. The weight of the contaminant was varied. The uranium in the urine was irradiated in the Kartini reactor core, through pneumatic system. The delayed neutron was counted by BF3 neutron counter. Recovery of the bioassay was between 69.8-88.8 %, standard deviation was less than 10 % and the minimum detection was 0.387 μg

Considerations for potency equivalent calculations in the Ah receptor-based CALUX bioassay: normalization of superinduction results for improved sample potency estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Baston, David S; Denison, Michael S

2011-02-15

The chemically activated luciferase expression (CALUX) system is a mechanistically based recombinant luciferase reporter gene cell bioassay used in combination with chemical extraction and clean-up methods for the detection and relative quantitation of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and related dioxin-like halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons in a wide variety of sample matrices. While sample extracts containing complex mixtures of chemicals can produce a variety of distinct concentration-dependent luciferase induction responses in CALUX cells, these effects are produced through a common mechanism of action (i.e. the Ah receptor (AhR)) allowing normalization of results and sample potency determination. Here we describe the diversity in CALUX response to PCDD/Fs from sediment and soil extracts and not only report the occurrence of superinduction of the CALUX bioassay, but we describe a mechanistically based approach for normalization of superinduction data that results in a more accurate estimation of the relative potency of such sample extracts. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimization of a PCRAM Chip for high-speed read and highly reliable reset operations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaoyun; Chen, Houpeng; Li, Xi; Wang, Qian; Fan, Xi; Hu, Jiajun; Lei, Yu; Zhang, Qi; Tian, Zhen; Song, Zhitang

2016-10-01

The widely used traditional Flash memory suffers from its performance limits such as its serious crosstalk problems, and increasing complexity of floating gate scaling. Phase change random access memory (PCRAM) becomes one of the most potential nonvolatile memories among the new memory techniques. In this paper, a 1M-bit PCRAM chip is designed based on the SMIC 40nm CMOS technology. Focusing on the read and write performance, two new circuits with high-speed read operation and highly reliable reset operation are proposed. The high-speed read circuit effectively reduces the reading time from 74ns to 40ns. The double-mode reset circuit improves the chip yield. This 1M-bit PCRAM chip has been simulated on cadence. After layout design is completed, the chip will be taped out for post-test.

A multi-chip data acquisition system based on a heterogeneous system-on-chip platform

CERN Document Server

Fiergolski, Adrian

2017-01-01

The Control and Readout Inner tracking BOard (CaRIBOu) is a versatile readout system targeting a multitude of detector prototypes. It profits from the heterogeneous platform of the Zynq System-on-Chip (SoC) and integrates in a monolithic device front-end FPGA resources with a back-end software running on a hard-core ARM-based processor. The user-friendly Linux terminal with the pre-installed DAQ software is combined with the efficiency and throughput of a system fully implemented in the FPGA fabric. The paper presents the design of the SoC-based DAQ system and its building blocks. It also shows examples of the achieved functionality for the CLICpix2 readout ASIC.

UW VLSI chip tester

Science.gov (United States)

McKenzie, Neil

1989-12-01

We present a design for a low-cost, functional VLSI chip tester. It is based on the Apple MacIntosh II personal computer. It tests chips that have up to 128 pins. All pin drivers of the tester are bidirectional; each pin is programmed independently as an input or an output. The tester can test both static and dynamic chips. Rudimentary speed testing is provided. Chips are tested by executing C programs written by the user. A software library is provided for program development. Tests run under both the Mac Operating System and A/UX. The design is implemented using Xilinx Logic Cell Arrays. Price/performance tradeoffs are discussed.

Effect-based trigger values for in vitro and in vivo bioassays performed on surface water extracts supporting the environmental quality standards (EQS) of the European Water Framework Directive.

Science.gov (United States)

Escher, Beate I; Aїt-Aїssa, Selim; Behnisch, Peter A; Brack, Werner; Brion, François; Brouwer, Abraham; Buchinger, Sebastian; Crawford, Sarah E; Du Pasquier, David; Hamers, Timo; Hettwer, Karina; Hilscherová, Klára; Hollert, Henner; Kase, Robert; Kienle, Cornelia; Tindall, Andrew J; Tuerk, Jochen; van der Oost, Ron; Vermeirssen, Etienne; Neale, Peta A

2018-07-01

Effect-based methods including cell-based bioassays, reporter gene assays and whole-organism assays have been applied for decades in water quality monitoring and testing of enriched solid-phase extracts. There is no common EU-wide agreement on what level of bioassay response in water extracts is acceptable. At present, bioassay results are only benchmarked against each other but not against a consented measure of chemical water quality. The EU environmental quality standards (EQS) differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable surface water concentrations for individual chemicals but cannot capture the thousands of chemicals in water and their biological action as mixtures. We developed a method that reads across from existing EQS and includes additional mixture considerations with the goal that the derived effect-based trigger values (EBT) indicate acceptable risk for complex mixtures as they occur in surface water. Advantages and limitations of various approaches to read across from EQS are discussed and distilled to an algorithm that translates EQS into their corresponding bioanalytical equivalent concentrations (BEQ). The proposed EBT derivation method was applied to 48 in vitro bioassays with 32 of them having sufficient information to yield preliminary EBTs. To assess the practicability and robustness of the proposed approach, we compared the tentative EBTs with observed environmental effects. The proposed method only gives guidance on how to derive EBTs but does not propose final EBTs for implementation. The EBTs for some bioassays such as those for estrogenicity are already mature and could be implemented into regulation in the near future, while for others it will still take a few iterations until we can be confident of the power of the proposed EBTs to differentiate good from poor water quality with respect to chemical contamination. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Light-Addressed Electrodeposition of Enzyme-Entrapped Chitosan Membranes for Multiplexed Enzyme-Based Bioassays Using a Digital Micromirror Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yeu-Long Jiang

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a light-addressed electrolytic system used to perform an electrodeposition of enzyme-entrapped chitosan membranes for multiplexed enzyme-based bioassays using a digital micromirror device (DMD. In this system, a patterned light illumination is projected onto a photoconductive substrate serving as a photo-cathode to electrolytically produce hydroxide ions, which leads to an increased pH gradient. The high pH generated at the cathode can cause a local gelation of chitosan through sol-gel transition. By controlling the illumination pattern on the DMD, a light-addressed electrodeposition of chitosan membranes with different shapes and sizes, as well as multiplexed micropatterning, was performed. The effect of the illumination time of the light pattern on the dimensional resolution of chitosan membrane formation was examined experimentally. Moreover, multiplexed enzyme-based bioassay of enzyme-entrapped chitosan membranes was also successfully demonstrated through the electrodeposition of the chitosan membranes with various shapes/sizes and entrapping different enzymes. As a model experiment, glucose and ethanol were simultaneously detected in a single detection chamber without cross-talk using shape-coded chitosan membranes entrapped with glucose oxidase (GOX, peroxidase (POD, and Amplex Red (AmR or alcohol oxidase (AOX, POD, and AmR by using same fluorescence indicator (AmR.

Qubit entanglement between ring-resonator photon-pair sources on a silicon chip

Science.gov (United States)

Silverstone, J. W.; Santagati, R.; Bonneau, D.; Strain, M. J.; Sorel, M.; O'Brien, J. L.; Thompson, M. G.

2015-01-01

Entanglement—one of the most delicate phenomena in nature—is an essential resource for quantum information applications. Scalable photonic quantum devices must generate and control qubit entanglement on-chip, where quantum information is naturally encoded in photon path. Here we report a silicon photonic chip that uses resonant-enhanced photon-pair sources, spectral demultiplexers and reconfigurable optics to generate a path-entangled two-qubit state and analyse its entanglement. We show that ring-resonator-based spontaneous four-wave mixing photon-pair sources can be made highly indistinguishable and that their spectral correlations are small. We use on-chip frequency demultiplexers and reconfigurable optics to perform both quantum state tomography and the strict Bell-CHSH test, both of which confirm a high level of on-chip entanglement. This work demonstrates the integration of high-performance components that will be essential for building quantum devices and systems to harness photonic entanglement on the large scale. PMID:26245267

Quantum Dot-Based Luminescent Oxygen Channeling Assay for Potential Application in Homogeneous Bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Si-Hui; Guo, Xin-Xin; Wu, Ying-Song; Chen, Zhen-Hua; Chen, Yao; Ren, Zhi-Qi; Liu, Tian-Cai

2016-01-01

The unique photoproperties of quantum dots are promising for potential application in bioassays. In the present study, quantum dots were applied to a luminescent oxygen channeling assay. The reaction system developed in this study was based on interaction of biotin with streptavidin. Carboxyl-modified polystyrene microspheres doped with quantum dots were biotinylated and used as acceptors. Photosensitizer-doped carboxyl-modified polystyrene microspheres were conjugated with streptavidin and used as donors. The results indicated that the singlet oxygen that was released from the donor beads diffused into the acceptor beads. The acceptor beads were then exited via thioxene, and were subsequently fluoresced. To avoid generating false positives, a high concentration (0.01 mg/mL) of quantum dots is required for application in homogeneous immunoassays. Compared to a conventional luminescent oxygen channeling assay, this quantum dots-based technique requires less time, and would be easier to automate and miniaturize because it requires no washing to remove excess labels.

Calculating with light using a chip-scale all-optical abacus.

Science.gov (United States)

Feldmann, J; Stegmaier, M; Gruhler, N; Ríos, C; Bhaskaran, H; Wright, C D; Pernice, W H P

2017-11-02

Machines that simultaneously process and store multistate data at one and the same location can provide a new class of fast, powerful and efficient general-purpose computers. We demonstrate the central element of an all-optical calculator, a photonic abacus, which provides multistate compute-and-store operation by integrating functional phase-change materials with nanophotonic chips. With picosecond optical pulses we perform the fundamental arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, including a carryover into multiple cells. This basic processing unit is embedded into a scalable phase-change photonic network and addressed optically through a two-pulse random access scheme. Our framework provides first steps towards light-based non-von Neumann arithmetic.

In Vitro Androgen Bioassays as a Detection Method for Designer Androgens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alison K. Heather

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Androgens are the class of sex steroids responsible for male sexual characteristics, including increased muscle mass and decreased fat mass. Illicit use of androgen doping can be an attractive option for those looking to enhance sporting performance and/or physical appearance. The use of in vitro bioassays to detect androgens, especially designer or proandrogens, is becoming increasingly important in combating androgen doping associated with nutritional supplements. The nutritional sports supplement market has grown rapidly throughout the past decade. Many of these supplements contain androgens, designer androgens or proandrogens. Many designer or proandrogens cannot be detected by the standard highly-sensitive screening methods such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry because their chemical structure is unknown. However, in vitro androgen bioassays can detect designer and proandrogens as these assays are not reliant on knowing the chemical structure but instead are based on androgen receptor activation. For these reasons, it may be advantageous to use routine androgen bioassay screening of nutraceutical samples to help curb the increasing problem of androgen doping.

Adiabatic shear banding and scaling laws in chip formation with application to cutting of Ti-6Al-4V

Science.gov (United States)

Molinari, A.; Soldani, X.; Miguélez, M. H.

2013-11-01

The phenomenon of adiabatic shear banding is analyzed theoretically in the context of metal cutting. The mechanisms of material weakening that are accounted for are (i) thermal softening and (ii) material failure related to a critical value of the accumulated plastic strain. Orthogonal cutting is viewed as a unique configuration where adiabatic shear bands can be experimentally produced under well controlled loading conditions by individually tuning the cutting speed, the feed (uncut chip thickness) and the tool geometry. The role of cutting conditions on adiabatic shear banding and chip serration is investigated by combining finite element calculations and analytical modeling. This leads to the characterization and classification of different regimes of shear banding and the determination of scaling laws which involve dimensionless parameters representative of thermal and inertia effects. The analysis gives new insights into the physical aspects of plastic flow instability in chip formation. The originality with respect to classical works on adiabatic shear banding stems from the various facets of cutting conditions that influence shear banding and from the specific role exercised by convective flow on the evolution of shear bands. Shear bands are generated at the tool tip and propagate towards the chip free surface. They grow within the chip formation region while being convected away by chip flow. It is shown that important changes in the mechanism of shear banding take place when the characteristic time of shear band propagation becomes equal to a characteristic convection time. Application to Ti-6Al-4V titanium are considered and theoretical predictions are compared to available experimental data in a wide range of cutting speeds and feeds. The fundamental knowledge developed in this work is thought to be useful not only for the understanding of metal cutting processes but also, by analogy, to similar problems where convective flow is also interfering with

Wax-bonding 3D microfluidic chips

KAUST Repository

Gong, Xiuqing; Yi, Xin; Xiao, Kang; Li, Shunbo; Kodzius, Rimantas; Qin, Jianhua; Wen, Weijia

2013-01-01

We report a simple, low-cost and detachable microfluidic chip incorporating easily accessible paper, glass slides or other polymer films as the chip materials along with adhesive wax as the recycling bonding material. We use a laser to cut through the paper or film to form patterns and then sandwich the paper and film between glass sheets or polymer membranes . The hot-melt adhesive wax can realize bridge bonding between various materials, for example, paper, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) film, glass sheets, or metal plate. The bonding process is reversible and the wax is reusable through a melting and cooling process. With this process, a three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic chip is achievable by vacuating and venting the chip in a hot-water bath. To study the biocompatibility and applicability of the wax-based microfluidic chip, we tested the PCR compatibility with the chip materials first. Then we applied the wax-paper based microfluidic chip to HeLa cell electroporation (EP ). Subsequently, a prototype of a 5-layer 3D chip was fabricated by multilayer wax bonding. To check the sealing ability and the durability of the chip, green fluorescence protein (GFP) recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria were cultured, with which the chemotaxis of E. coli was studied in order to determine the influence of antibiotic ciprofloxacin concentration on the E. coli migration.

Wax-bonding 3D microfluidic chips

KAUST Repository

Gong, Xiuqing

2013-10-10

We report a simple, low-cost and detachable microfluidic chip incorporating easily accessible paper, glass slides or other polymer films as the chip materials along with adhesive wax as the recycling bonding material. We use a laser to cut through the paper or film to form patterns and then sandwich the paper and film between glass sheets or polymer membranes . The hot-melt adhesive wax can realize bridge bonding between various materials, for example, paper, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) film, glass sheets, or metal plate. The bonding process is reversible and the wax is reusable through a melting and cooling process. With this process, a three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic chip is achievable by vacuating and venting the chip in a hot-water bath. To study the biocompatibility and applicability of the wax-based microfluidic chip, we tested the PCR compatibility with the chip materials first. Then we applied the wax-paper based microfluidic chip to HeLa cell electroporation (EP ). Subsequently, a prototype of a 5-layer 3D chip was fabricated by multilayer wax bonding. To check the sealing ability and the durability of the chip, green fluorescence protein (GFP) recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria were cultured, with which the chemotaxis of E. coli was studied in order to determine the influence of antibiotic ciprofloxacin concentration on the E. coli migration.

Effect of the Changes of Respiratory Tract Model on the Uranium Bioassay Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Taeeun; Noh, Siwan; Kim, Meeryeong; Lee, Jaiki [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jongil; Kim, Jang Lyul [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

The HRTM, however, was revised based on the recent experimental data in OIR (Occupational Intakes of Radionuclides) draft report of ICRP. The changes of respiratory tract model are predicted to directly affect bioassay data like retention and excretion functions. Lung retention function is especially important to internal exposure assessment for workers related to fuel manufacturing because the place could be contaminated by uranium. In addition, faecel samples are recommended to be used for in-vitro bioassay of uranium because of very slow excretion via urine. More reliable assessments for the workers in fuel manufacturing could be achieved by recalculation of bioassay data for uranium and the comparing study using original and revised HRTM. In this study, therefore, the lung retention and faecal excretion functions for inhalation of UO{sub 2} and U{sub 3}O{sub 8} were recalculated using revised HRTM and the results were compared with those of original HRTM. In this study the lung retention and faecal excretion functions for inhalation of UO{sub 2} and U{sub 3}O{sub 8} were calculated based on original and revised HRTM. The results show that the revised HRTM increases lung retention and uptakes to alimentary tract which cause the more faecal excretion. The results in this study confirm the effect of the changes of respiratory tract model on the uranium bioassay data although the more study is needed to apply to practical fields.

On-chip signal amplification of magnetic bead-based immunoassay by aviating magnetic bead chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Jalal, Uddin M; Jin, Gyeong Jun; Eom, Kyu Shik; Kim, Min Ho; Shim, Joon S

2017-11-06

In this work, a Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) platform is used to electromagnetically actuate magnetic bead chains for an enhanced immunoassay. Custom-made electromagnets generate a magnetic field to form, rotate, lift and lower the magnetic bead chains (MBCs). The cost-effective, disposable LOC platform was made with a polymer substrate and an on-chip electrochemical sensor patterned via the screen-printing process. The movement of the MBCs is controlled to improve the electrochemical signal up to 230% when detecting beta-type human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG). Thus, the proposed on-chip MBC-based immunoassay is applicable for rapid, qualitative electrochemical point-of-care (POC) analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Collection and control of tritium bioassay samples at Pantex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fairrow, N.L.; Ivie, W.E.

1992-01-01

Pantex is the final assembly/disassembly point for US nuclear weapons. The Pantex internal dosimetry section monitors radiation workers once a month for tritium exposure. In order to manage collection and control of the bioassay specimens efficiently, a bar code system for collection of samples was developed and implemented to speed up the process and decrease the number of errors probable when transferring data. In the past, all the bioassay data from samples were entered manually into a computer database. Transferring the bioassay data from the liquid scintillation counter to each individual's dosimetry record required as much as two weeks of concentrated effort

Chip-to-chip SnO2 nanowire network sensors for room temperature H2 detection

Science.gov (United States)

Köck, A.; Brunet, E.; Mutinati, G. C.; Maier, T.; Steinhauer, S.

2012-06-01

The employment of nanowires is a very powerful strategy to improve gas sensor performance. We demonstrate a gas sensor device, which is based on silicon chip-to-chip synthesis of ultralong tin oxide (SnO2) nanowires. The sensor device employs an interconnected SnO2 nanowire network configuration, which exhibits a huge surface-to-volume ratio and provides full access of the target gas to the nanowires. The chip-to-chip SnO2 nanowire device is able to detect a H2 concentration of only 20 ppm in synthetic air with ~ 60% relative humidity at room temperature. At an operating temperature of 300°C a concentration of 50 ppm H2 results in a sensitivity of 5%. At this elevated temperature the sensor shows a linear response in a concentration range between 10 ppm and 100 ppm H2. The SnO2-nanowire fabrication procedure based on spray pyrolysis and subsequent annealing is performed at atmospheric pressure, requires no vacuum and allows upscale of the substrate to a wafer size. 3D-integration with CMOS chips is proposed as viable way for practical realization of smart nanowire based gas sensor devices for the consumer market.

Multifrequency Excitation Method for Rapid and Accurate Dynamic Test of Micromachined Gyroscope Chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Deng

2014-10-01

Full Text Available A novel multifrequency excitation (MFE method is proposed to realize rapid and accurate dynamic testing of micromachined gyroscope chips. Compared with the traditional sweep-frequency excitation (SFE method, the computational time for testing one chip under four modes at a 1-Hz frequency resolution and 600-Hz bandwidth was dramatically reduced from 10 min to 6 s. A multifrequency signal with an equal amplitude and initial linear-phase-difference distribution was generated to ensure test repeatability and accuracy. The current test system based on LabVIEW using the SFE method was modified to use the MFE method without any hardware changes. The experimental results verified that the MFE method can be an ideal solution for large-scale dynamic testing of gyroscope chips and gyroscopes.

Bioassays for risk assessment of coal conversion products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schacht, S.; Sinder, C.; Pfeifer, F.; Klein, J. [DMT-Gesellschaft fuer Forschung und Pruefung mbH, Essen (Germany)

1999-07-01

Traditional as well as biotechnological processing coal leads to complex mixtures of products. Besides chemical and physical characterization, which provides the information for product application, there is a need for bioassays to monitor properties that are probably toxic, mutagenic or cancerogenic. Investigations carried out focused on the selection, adaptation and validation of bioassays for the sensitive estimation of toxic effects. Organisms like bacteria, Daphnia magna and Scenedesmus subspicatus, representing different complexities in the biosphere, were selected as test systems for ecotoxicological and mutagenicity studies. The results obtained indicate that bioassays are, in principle, suitable tools for characterization and evaluation of coal-derived substances and bioconversion products. Using coal products, coal-relevant model compounds and bioconversion products, data for risk assessment are presented. (orig.)

Implementation of Guaranteed Services in the MANGO Clockless Network-on-Chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerregaard, Tobias; Sparsø, Jens

2006-01-01

(clockless implementation, standard socket access points, and guaranteed communication services) make MANGO suitable for a modular SoC design flow is explained. Among the advantages of using clockless circuit techniques are inherent global timing closure, low forward latency in pipelines, and zero dynamic......Shared, segmented, on-chip interconnection networks, known as networks-on-chip (NoC), may become the preferred way of interconnecting intellectual property (IP) cores in future giga-scale system-on-chip (SoC) designs. A NoC can provide the required communication bandwidth while accommodating...... the effects of scaling microchip technologies. Equally important, a NoC facilitates a truly modular and scalable design flow. The MANGO (message-passing asynchronous network-on-chip providing guaranteed services over open core protocol (OCP) interfaces) NoC is presented, and how its key characteristics...

Recent advances in graphene-based planar micro-supercapacitors for on-chip energy storage

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhong-Shuai Wu; Xinliang Feng; Hui-Ming Cheng

2014-01-01

The current development trend towards miniaturized portable electronic devices has signiicantly increased the demand for ultrathin, lexible and sustainable on-chip micro-supercapacitors that have enormous potential to complement, or even to replace, micro-bateries and electrolytic capacitors. In this regard,graphene-based micro-supercapacitors with a planar geometry are promising micro-electrochemical energy-storage devices that can take full advantage of planar coniguration and unique features of graphene.his review summarizes the latest advances in on-chip graphene-based planar interdigital micro-supercapacitors, from the history of their development, representative graphene-based materials(graphene sheets, graphene quantum dots and graphene hybrids) for their manufacture, typical microfabrication strategies(photolithography techniques, electrochemical methods, laser writing, etc.),electrolyte(aqueous, organic, ionic and gel), to device coniguration(symmetric and asymmetric). Finally,the perspectives and possible development directions of future graphene-based micro-supercapacitors are briely discussed.

Single-Chip Computers With Microelectromechanical Systems-Based Magnetic Memory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carley, L. Richard; Bain, James A.; Fedder, Gary K.; Greve, David W.; Guillou, David F.; Lu, Michael S.C.; Mukherjee, Tamal; Santhanam, Suresh; Abelmann, Leon; Min, Seungook

This article describes an approach for implementing a complete computer system (CPU, RAM, I/O, and nonvolatile mass memory) on a single integrated-circuit substrate (a chip)—hence, the name "single-chip computer." The approach presented combines advances in the field of microelectromechanical

Requirements for radiation emergency urine bioassay techniques for the public and first responders.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chunsheng; Vlahovich, Slavica; Dai, Xiongxin; Richardson, Richard B; Daka, Joseph N; Kramer, Gary H

2010-11-01

Following a radiation emergency, the affected public and the first responders may need to be quickly assessed for internal contamination by the radionuclides involved. Urine bioassay is one of the most commonly used methods for assessing radionuclide intake and radiation dose. This paper attempts to derive the sensitivity requirements (from inhalation exposure) for the urine bioassay techniques for the top 10 high-risk radionuclides that might be used in a terrorist attack. The requirements are based on a proposed reference dose to adults of 0.1 Sv (CED, committed effective dose). In addition, requirements related to sample turnaround time and field deployability of the assay techniques are also discussed. A review of currently available assay techniques summarized in this paper reveals that method development for ²⁴¹Am, ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁸Pu, and ⁹⁰Sr urine bioassay is needed.

Towards Chip Scale Liquid Chromatography and High Throughput Immunosensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ni, Jing [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2000-09-21

This work describes several research projects aimed towards developing new instruments and novel methods for high throughput chemical and biological analysis. Approaches are taken in two directions. The first direction takes advantage of well-established semiconductor fabrication techniques and applies them to miniaturize instruments that are workhorses in analytical laboratories. Specifically, the first part of this work focused on the development of micropumps and microvalves for controlled fluid delivery. The mechanism of these micropumps and microvalves relies on the electrochemically-induced surface tension change at a mercury/electrolyte interface. A miniaturized flow injection analysis device was integrated and flow injection analyses were demonstrated. In the second part of this work, microfluidic chips were also designed, fabricated, and tested. Separations of two fluorescent dyes were demonstrated in microfabricated channels, based on an open-tubular liquid chromatography (OT LC) or an electrochemically-modulated liquid chromatography (EMLC) format. A reduction in instrument size can potentially increase analysis speed, and allow exceedingly small amounts of sample to be analyzed under diverse separation conditions. The second direction explores the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a signal transduction method for immunoassay analysis. It takes advantage of the improved detection sensitivity as a result of surface enhancement on colloidal gold, the narrow width of Raman band, and the stability of Raman scattering signals to distinguish several different species simultaneously without exploiting spatially-separated addresses on a biochip. By labeling gold nanoparticles with different Raman reporters in conjunction with different detection antibodies, a simultaneous detection of a dual-analyte immunoassay was demonstrated. Using this scheme for quantitative analysis was also studied and preliminary dose-response curves from an immunoassay of a

In vitro bioassays for detecting dioxin-like activity--application potentials and limits of detection, a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Eichbaum, Kathrin; Brinkmann, Markus; Buchinger, Sebastian; Reifferscheid, Georg; Hecker, Markus; Giesy, John P; Engwall, Magnus; van Bavel, Bert; Hollert, Henner

2014-07-15

Use of in vitro assays as screening tool to characterize contamination of a variety of environmental matrices has become an increasingly popular and powerful toolbox in the field of environmental toxicology. While bioassays cannot entirely substitute analytical methods such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the increasing improvement of cell lines and standardization of bioassay procedures enhance their utility as bioanalytical pre-screening tests prior to more targeted chemical analytical investigations. Dioxin-receptor-based assays provide a holistic characterization of exposure to dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) by integrating their overall toxic potential, including potentials of unknown DLCs not detectable via e.g. GC-MS. Hence, they provide important additional information with respect to environmental risk assessment of DLCs. This review summarizes different in vitro bioassay applications for detection of DLCs and considers the comparability of bioassay and chemical analytically derived toxicity equivalents (TEQs) of different approaches and various matrices. These range from complex samples such as sediments through single reference to compound mixtures. A summary of bioassay derived detection limits (LODs) showed a number of current bioassays to be equally sensitive as chemical methodologies, but moreover revealed that most of the bioanalytical studies conducted to date did not report their LODs, which represents a limitation with regard to low potency samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrated lasers for polymer Lab-on-a-Chip systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mappes, Timo; Vannahme, Christoph; Grosmann, Tobias

2012-01-01

We develop optical Lab-on-a-Chips on different platforms for marker-based and label-free biophotonic sensor applications. Our chips are based on polymers and fabricated by mass production technologies to integrate microfluidic channels, optical waveguides and miniaturized lasers.......We develop optical Lab-on-a-Chips on different platforms for marker-based and label-free biophotonic sensor applications. Our chips are based on polymers and fabricated by mass production technologies to integrate microfluidic channels, optical waveguides and miniaturized lasers....

Analysing traces of autoinducer-2 requires standardization of the Vibrio harveyi bioassay.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilchez, Ramiro; Lemme, André; Thiel, Verena; Schulz, Stefan; Sztajer, Helena; Wagner-Döbler, Irene

2007-01-01

Autoinducer-2 (furanosyl borate diester) is a biologically active compound whose role as a universal bacterial signalling molecule is currently under intense investigation. Because of its instability and the low concentrations of it found in biological samples, its detection relies at present on a bioassay that measures the difference in the timing of the luminescence of the Vibrio harveyi BB170 sensor strain with and without externally added AI-2. Here we systematically investigated which parameters affected the fold induction values of luminescence obtained in the bioassay and developed a modified protocol. Our experiments showed that growth and luminescence of V. harveyi BB170 are strongly influenced by trace elements. In particular, addition of Fe(3+) within a certain concentration range to the growth medium of the preinoculum culture improved the reproducibility and reduced the variance of the bioassay. In contrast, trace elements and vitamins introduced directly into the bioassay caused inhibitory effects. The initial density and luminescence of the sensor strain are very important and the values required for these parameters were defined. Borate interferes with the detection of AI-2 by giving false positive results. The response of V. harveyi BB170 to chemically synthesized AI-2 in the bioassay is nonlinear except over a very small concentration range; it is maximum over three orders of magnitude and shows inhibition above 35 microM. Based on the modified protocol, we were able to detect AI-2 in the absence of inhibitors with maximum fold induction values for the positive control (chemically synthesized AI-2) of >120 with a standard deviation of approximately 30% in a reliable and reproducible way.

On-chip magnetic bead-based DNA melting curve analysis using a magnetoresistive sensor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rizzi, Giovanni; Østerberg, Frederik Westergaard; Henriksen, Anders Dahl

2014-01-01

We present real-time measurements of DNA melting curves in a chip-based system that detects the amount of surface-bound magnetic beads using magnetoresistive magnetic field sensors. The sensors detect the difference between the amount of beads bound to the top and bottom sensor branches....... The beads are magnetized by the field arising from the bias current passed through the sensors. We demonstrate the first on-chip measurements of the melting of DNA hybrids upon a ramping of the temperature. This overcomes the limitation of using a single washing condition at constant temperature. Moreover...

Strategies for Transferring Mixtures of Organic Contaminants from Aquatic Environments into Bioassays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jahnke, Annika; Mayer, Philipp; Schäfer, Sabine

2016-01-01

and monitoring of such mixtures, a variety of cell-based in vitro and low-complexity in vivo bioassays based on algae, daphnids or fish embryos are available. A very important and sometimes unrecognized challenge is how to combine sampling, extraction and dosing to transfer the mixtures from the environment...

arXiv Characterization and Verification Environment for the RD53A Pixel Readout Chip in 65 nm CMOS

CERN Document Server

Vogt, M.; Hemperek, T.; Janssen, J.; Pohl, D.L.; Daas, M.

2018-02-02

The RD53 collaboration is currently designing a large scale prototype pixel readout chip in 65 nm CMOS technology for the phase 2 upgrades at the HL-LHC. The RD53A chip will be available by the end of the year 2017 and will be extensively tested to confirm if the circuit and the architecture make a solid foundation for the final pixel readout chips for the experiments at the HL-LHC. A test and data acquisition system for the RD53A chip is currently under development to perform single-chip and multi-chip module measurements. In addition, the verification of the RD53A design is performed in a dedicated simulation environment. The concept and the implementation of the test and data acquisition system and the simulation environment, which are based on a modular data acquisition and system testing framework, are presented in this work.

A flip chip process based on electroplated solder bumps

Science.gov (United States)

Salonen, J.; Salmi, J.

1994-01-01

Compared to wire bonding and TAB, flip chip technology using solder joints offers the highest pin count and packaging density and superior electrical performance. The chips are mounted upside down on the substrate, which can be made of silicon, ceramic, glass or - in some cases - even PCB. The extra processing steps required for chips are the deposition of a suitable thin film metal layer(s) on the standard Al pad and the formation of bumps. Also, the development of new fine line substrate technologies is required to utilize the full potential of the technology. In our bumping process, bump deposition is done by electroplating, which was chosen for its simplicity and economy. Sputter deposited molybdenum and copper are used as thin film layers between the aluminum pads and the solder bumps. A reason for this choice is that the metals can be selectively etched after bumping using the bumps as a mask, thus circumventing the need for a separate mask for etching the thin film metals. The bumps are electroplated from a binary Pb-Sn bath using a thick liquid photoresist. An extensively modified commercial flip chip bonder is used for alignment and bonding. Heat assisted tack bonding is used to attach the chips to the substrate, and final reflow joining is done without flux in a vacuum furnace.

Design of a current based readout chip and development of a DEPFET pixel prototype system for the ILC vertex detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trimpl, M.

2005-12-01

The future TeV-scale linear collider ILC (International Linear Collider) offers a large variety of precision measurements complementary to the discovery potential of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). To fully exploit its physics potential, a vertex detector with unprecedented performance is needed. One proposed technology for the ILC vertex detector is the DEPFET active pixel sensor. The DEPFET sensor offers particle detection with in-pixel amplification by incorporating a field effect transistor into a fully depleted high-ohmic silicon substrate. The device provides an excellent signal-to-noise ratio and a good spatial resolution at the same time. To establish a very fast readout of a DEPFET pixel matrix with row rates of 20 MHz and more, the 128 channel CURO II ASIC has been designed and fabricated. The architecture of the chip is completely based on current mode techniques (SI) perfectly adapted to the current signal of the sensor. For the ILC vertex detector a prototype system with a 64 x 128 DEPFET pixel matrix read out by the CURO II chip has been developed. The design issues and the standalone performance of the readout chip as well as first results with the prototype system will be presented. (orig.)

Design of a current based readout chip and development of a DEPFET pixel prototype system for the ILC vertex detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trimpl, M.

2005-12-15

The future TeV-scale linear collider ILC (International Linear Collider) offers a large variety of precision measurements complementary to the discovery potential of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). To fully exploit its physics potential, a vertex detector with unprecedented performance is needed. One proposed technology for the ILC vertex detector is the DEPFET active pixel sensor. The DEPFET sensor offers particle detection with in-pixel amplification by incorporating a field effect transistor into a fully depleted high-ohmic silicon substrate. The device provides an excellent signal-to-noise ratio and a good spatial resolution at the same time. To establish a very fast readout of a DEPFET pixel matrix with row rates of 20 MHz and more, the 128 channel CURO II ASIC has been designed and fabricated. The architecture of the chip is completely based on current mode techniques (SI) perfectly adapted to the current signal of the sensor. For the ILC vertex detector a prototype system with a 64 x 128 DEPFET pixel matrix read out by the CURO II chip has been developed. The design issues and the standalone performance of the readout chip as well as first results with the prototype system will be presented. (orig.)

Rapid and Low-Cost CRP Measurement by Integrating a Paper-Based Microfluidic Immunoassay with Smartphone (CRP-Chip)

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Meili; Wu, Jiandong; Ma, Zimin; Peretz-Soroka, Hagit; Zhang, Michael; Komenda, Paul; Tangri, Navdeep; Liu, Yong; Rigatto, Claudio; Lin, Francis

2017-01-01

Traditional diagnostic tests for chronic diseases are expensive and require a specialized laboratory, therefore limiting their use for point-of-care (PoC) testing. To address this gap, we developed a method for rapid and low-cost C-reactive protein (CRP) detection from blood by integrating a paper-based microfluidic immunoassay with a smartphone (CRP-Chip). We chose CRP for this initial development because it is a strong biomarker of prognosis in chronic heart and kidney disease. The microfluidic immunoassay is realized by lateral flow and gold nanoparticle-based colorimetric detection of the target protein. The test image signal is acquired and analyzed using a commercial smartphone with an attached microlens and a 3D-printed chip–phone interface. The CRP-Chip was validated for detecting CRP in blood samples from chronic kidney disease patients and healthy subjects. The linear detection range of the CRP-Chip is up to 2 μg/mL and the detection limit is 54 ng/mL. The CRP-Chip test result yields high reproducibility and is consistent with the standard ELISA kit. A single CRP-Chip can perform the test in triplicate on a single chip within 15 min for less than 50 US cents of material cost. This CRP-Chip with attractive features of low-cost, fast test speed, and integrated easy operation with smartphones has the potential to enable future clinical PoC chronic disease diagnosis and risk stratification by parallel measurements of a panel of protein biomarkers. PMID:28346363

Urine sample collection protocols for bioassay samples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MacLellan, J.A.; McFadden, K.M.

1992-11-01

In vitro radiobioassay analyses are used to measure the amount of radioactive material excreted by personnel exposed to the potential intake of radioactive material. The analytical results are then used with various metabolic models to estimate the amount of radioactive material in the subject`s body and the original intake of radioactive material. Proper application of these metabolic models requires knowledge of the excretion period. It is normal practice to design the bioassay program based on a 24-hour excretion sample. The Hanford bioassay program simulates a total 24-hour urine excretion sample with urine collection periods lasting from one-half hour before retiring to one-half hour after rising on two consecutive days. Urine passed during the specified periods is collected in three 1-L bottles. Because the daily excretion volume given in Publication 23 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP 1975, p. 354) for Reference Man is 1.4 L, it was proposed to use only two 1-L bottles as a cost-saving measure. This raised the broader question of what should be the design capacity of a 24-hour urine sample kit.

Urine sample collection protocols for bioassay samples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MacLellan, J.A.; McFadden, K.M.

1992-11-01

In vitro radiobioassay analyses are used to measure the amount of radioactive material excreted by personnel exposed to the potential intake of radioactive material. The analytical results are then used with various metabolic models to estimate the amount of radioactive material in the subject's body and the original intake of radioactive material. Proper application of these metabolic models requires knowledge of the excretion period. It is normal practice to design the bioassay program based on a 24-hour excretion sample. The Hanford bioassay program simulates a total 24-hour urine excretion sample with urine collection periods lasting from one-half hour before retiring to one-half hour after rising on two consecutive days. Urine passed during the specified periods is collected in three 1-L bottles. Because the daily excretion volume given in Publication 23 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP 1975, p. 354) for Reference Man is 1.4 L, it was proposed to use only two 1-L bottles as a cost-saving measure. This raised the broader question of what should be the design capacity of a 24-hour urine sample kit.

Chip-integrated optical power limiter based on an all-passive micro-ring resonator

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Siqi; Dong, Jianji; Zheng, Aoling; Zhang, Xinliang

2014-10-01

Recent progress in silicon nanophotonics has dramatically advanced the possible realization of large-scale on-chip optical interconnects integration. Adopting photons as information carriers can break the performance bottleneck of electronic integrated circuit such as serious thermal losses and poor process rates. However, in integrated photonics circuits, few reported work can impose an upper limit of optical power therefore prevent the optical device from harm caused by high power. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate a feasible integrated scheme based on a single all-passive micro-ring resonator to realize the optical power limitation which has a similar function of current limiting circuit in electronics. Besides, we analyze the performance of optical power limiter at various signal bit rates. The results show that the proposed device can limit the signal power effectively at a bit rate up to 20 Gbit/s without deteriorating the signal. Meanwhile, this ultra-compact silicon device can be completely compatible with the electronic technology (typically complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology), which may pave the way of very large scale integrated photonic circuits for all-optical information processors and artificial intelligence systems.

Bioassay of Lake Onego bottom sediments toxicity based on their chemical composition and deepwater macrozoobenthos state

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalinkina Nataliya Michailovna

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The bioassay of the toxicity of bottom sediments sampled in different areas of Lake Onega was carried out by crustaceans biotesting (Ceriodaphnia affinis Lillijeborg. It was shown that in the most areas of Lake Onega there are non-toxic bottom sediments. Toxic bottom sediments were found in Kondopogskaya Bay, intensively polluted with pulp-and-paper mill wastewaters. For the first time in the deep central part of Lake Onega the area was revealed where the toxic bottom sediments contain a high content of iron, manganese and other trace elements typical for the central areas of the lake. The mapping of the bottom of Lake Onega was accomplished, and three zones were identified based on the analysis of the data concerning the chemical composition of bottom sediments, bioassay toxicity data and the results of the deepwater macrozoobenthos assessment. For each zone the parameters of the main groups of benthos (Amphipoda, Oligochaeta, Chironomidae were defined. The first zone is located in the area of intensive anthropogenic influence (Kondopogskaya Bay, Petrozavodskaya Bay, Povenets Bay, Kizhi Skerries. The second zone is located mostly in the deep part of Petrozavodskaya Bay, where the most intensive development of amphipods is observed. The third area is identified for the first time: it is located in the central deep part of Lake Onega, where the communities of macrozoobenthos are limited by a natural toxic factor.

The use of forest chips in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakkila, P.

2001-01-01

International commitments require the industrial world to restrict their greenhouse gas emissions. In Finland, where the annual timber cut per capita is more than ten times the average cut in the other EU countries, the primary means to reduce CO 2 emissions is to replace fossil fuels with forest biomass. The annual consumption of wood-based energy corresponds to 6 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) or almost 20% of the total primary energy consumption. The goal is to rise the annual production of wood-based energy to 7.8 million toe by 2010. Substantial part of the targeted increase could be obtained by forest chips produced of unmerchantable small-diameter trees and logging residues. The goal for 2010 is to use 5 million solid m 3 of forest chips, which equals to 0.9 million toe. The use of forest chips is increasing. About 474 000 solid m 3 of forest chips were used as fuel in 1999. At the moment, the growth is rapid especially in cogeneration plants producing both heat and electricity. The growth is based primarily on chips obtained from logging residues. The price of forest chips decreased considerably during the 1990s but the price range remained wide. Chips made of logging residues are cheaper than those made of small trees. The average price of forest chips at the plant, VAT excluded, is about 53 FIM per MWh. In Sweden, the average price is more than 40% higher

Three-dimensional spheroid culture targeting versatile tissue bioassays using a PDMS-based hanging drop array.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Ching-Te; Wang, Jong-Yueh; Lin, Yu-Fen; Wo, Andrew M; Chen, Benjamin P C; Lee, Hsinyu

2017-06-29

Biomaterial-based tissue culture platforms have emerged as useful tools to mimic in vivo physiological microenvironments in experimental cell biology and clinical studies. We describe herein a three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture platform using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based hanging drop array (PDMS-HDA) methodology. Multicellular spheroids can be achieved within 24 h and further boosted by incorporating collagen fibrils in PDMS-HDA. In addition, the spheroids generated from different human tumor cells exhibited distinct sensitivities toward drug chemotherapeutic agents and radiation as compared with two-dimensional (2D) cultures that often lack in vivo-like biological insights. We also demonstrated that multicellular spheroids may enable key hallmarks of tissue-based bioassays, including drug screening, tumor dissemination, cell co-culture, and tumor invasion. Taken together, these results offer new opportunities not only to achieve the active control of 3D multicellular spheroids on demand, but also to establish a rapid and cost-effective platform to study anti-cancer therapeutics and tumor microenvironments.

Energy Harvesting Chip and the Chip Based Power Supply Development for a Wireless Sensor Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Dasheng

2008-12-02

In this study, an energy harvesting chip was developed to scavenge energy from artificial light to charge a wireless sensor node. The chip core is a miniature transformer with a nano-ferrofluid magnetic core. The chip embedded transformer can convert harvested energy from its solar cell to variable voltage output for driving multiple loads. This chip system yields a simple, small, and more importantly, a battery-less power supply solution. The sensor node is equipped with multiple sensors that can be enabled by the energy harvesting power supply to collect information about the human body comfort degree. Compared with lab instruments, the nodes with temperature, humidity and photosensors driven by harvested energy had variation coefficient measurement precision of less than 6% deviation under low environmental light of 240 lux. The thermal comfort was affected by the air speed. A flow sensor equipped on the sensor node was used to detect airflow speed. Due to its high power consumption, this sensor node provided 15% less accuracy than the instruments, but it still can meet the requirement of analysis for predicted mean votes (PMV) measurement. The energy harvesting wireless sensor network (WSN) was deployed in a 24-hour convenience store to detect thermal comfort degree from the air conditioning control. During one year operation, the sensor network powered by the energy harvesting chip retained normal functions to collect the PMV index of the store. According to the one month statistics of communication status, the packet loss rate (PLR) is 2.3%, which is as good as the presented results of those WSNs powered by battery. Referring to the electric power records, almost 54% energy can be saved by the feedback control of an energy harvesting sensor network. These results illustrate that, scavenging energy not only creates a reliable power source for electronic devices, such as wireless sensor nodes, but can also be an energy source by building an energy efficient

Energy Harvesting Chip and the Chip Based Power Supply Development for a Wireless Sensor Network

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Dasheng

2008-01-01

In this study, an energy harvesting chip was developed to scavenge energy from artificial light to charge a wireless sensor node. The chip core is a miniature transformer with a nano-ferrofluid magnetic core. The chip embedded transformer can convert harvested energy from its solar cell to variable voltage output for driving multiple loads. This chip system yields a simple, small, and more importantly, a battery-less power supply solution. The sensor node is equipped with multiple sensors that can be enabled by the energy harvesting power supply to collect information about the human body comfort degree. Compared with lab instruments, the nodes with temperature, humidity and photosensors driven by harvested energy had variation coefficient measurement precision of less than 6% deviation under low environmental light of 240 lux. The thermal comfort was affected by the air speed. A flow sensor equipped on the sensor node was used to detect airflow speed. Due to its high power consumption, this sensor node provided 15% less accuracy than the instruments, but it still can meet the requirement of analysis for predicted mean votes (PMV) measurement. The energy harvesting wireless sensor network (WSN) was deployed in a 24-hour convenience store to detect thermal comfort degree from the air conditioning control. During one year operation, the sensor network powered by the energy harvesting chip retained normal functions to collect the PMV index of the store. According to the one month statistics of communication status, the packet loss rate (PLR) is 2.3%, which is as good as the presented results of those WSNs powered by battery. Referring to the electric power records, almost 54% energy can be saved by the feedback control of an energy harvesting sensor network. These results illustrate that, scavenging energy not only creates a reliable power source for electronic devices, such as wireless sensor nodes, but can also be an energy source by building an energy efficient

Energy Harvesting Chip and the Chip Based Power Supply Development for a Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dasheng Lee

2008-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, an energy harvesting chip was developed to scavenge energy from artificial light to charge a wireless sensor node. The chip core is a miniature transformer with a nano-ferrofluid magnetic core. The chip embedded transformer can convert harvested energy from its solar cell to variable voltage output for driving multiple loads. This chip system yields a simple, small, and more importantly, a battery-less power supply solution. The sensor node is equipped with multiple sensors that can be enabled by the energy harvesting power supply to collect information about the human body comfort degree. Compared with lab instruments, the nodes with temperature, humidity and photosensors driven by harvested energy had variation coefficient measurement precision of less than 6% deviation under low environmental light of 240 lux. The thermal comfort was affected by the air speed. A flow sensor equipped on the sensor node was used to detect airflow speed. Due to its high power consumption, this sensor node provided 15% less accuracy than the instruments, but it still can meet the requirement of analysis for predicted mean votes (PMV measurement. The energy harvesting wireless sensor network (WSN was deployed in a 24-hour convenience store to detect thermal comfort degree from the air conditioning control. During one year operation, the sensor network powered by the energy harvesting chip retained normal functions to collect the PMV index of the store. According to the one month statistics of communication status, the packet loss rate (PLR is 2.3%, which is as good as the presented results of those WSNs powered by battery. Referring to the electric power records, almost 54% energy can be saved by the feedback control of an energy harvesting sensor network. These results illustrate that, scavenging energy not only creates a reliable power source for electronic devices, such as wireless sensor nodes, but can also be an energy source by building an

Extraction, amplification and detection of DNA in microfluidic chip-based assays

KAUST Repository

Wu, Jinbo

2013-12-20

This review covers three aspects of PCR-based microfluidic chip assays: sample preparation, target amplification, and product detection. We also discuss the challenges related to the miniaturization and integration of each assay and make a comparison between conventional and microfluidic schemes. In order to accomplish these essential assays without human intervention between individual steps, the micro-components for fluid manipulation become critical. We therefore summarize and discuss components such as microvalves (for fluid regulation), pumps (for fluid driving) and mixers (for blending fluids). By combining the above assays and microcomponents, DNA testing of multi-step bio-reactions in microfluidic chips may be achieved with minimal external control. The combination of assay schemes with the use of micro-components also leads to rapid methods for DNA testing via multi-step bioreactions. Contains 259 references.

Newborn screening by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry based on parylene-matrix chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jo-Il; Noh, Joo-Yoon; Kim, Mira; Park, Jong-Min; Song, Hyun-Woo; Kang, Min-Jung; Pyun, Jae-Chul

2017-08-01

Newborn screening for diagnosis of phenylketonuria, homocystinuria, and maple syrup urine disease have been conducted by analyzing the concentration of target amino acids using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS) based on parylene-matrix chip. Parylene-matrix chip was applied to MALDI-ToF MS analysis reducing the matrix peaks significantly at low mass-to-charge ratio range (m/z  0.98) and the LODs were ranging from 9.0 to 22.9 μg/mL. Effect of proteins in serum was estimated by comparing MALDI-ToF mass spectra of amino acids-spiked serum before and after the methanol extraction. Interference of other amino acids on analysis of target analyte was determined to be insignificant. From these results, MALDI-ToF MS based on parylene-matrix chip could be applicable to medical diagnosis of neonatal metabolic disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High-throughput tri-colour flow cytometry technique to assess Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia in bioassays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tiendrebeogo, Regis W; Adu, Bright; Singh, Susheel K

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Unbiased flow cytometry-based methods have become the technique of choice in many laboratories for high-throughput, accurate assessments of malaria parasites in bioassays. A method to quantify live parasites based on mitotracker red CMXRos was recently described but consistent...... distinction of early ring stages of Plasmodium falciparum from uninfected red blood cells (uRBC) remains a challenge. METHODS: Here, a high-throughput, three-parameter (tri-colour) flow cytometry technique based on mitotracker red dye, the nucleic acid dye coriphosphine O (CPO) and the leucocyte marker CD45...... for enumerating live parasites in bioassays was developed. The technique was applied to estimate the specific growth inhibition index (SGI) in the antibody-dependent cellular inhibition (ADCI) assay and compared to parasite quantification by microscopy and mitotracker red staining. The Bland-Altman analysis...

Generation of segmental chips in metal cutting modeled with the PFEM

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez Prieto, J. M.; Carbonell, J. M.; Cante, J. C.; Oliver, J.; Jonsén, P.

2017-09-01

The Particle Finite Element Method, a lagrangian finite element method based on a continuous Delaunay re-triangulation of the domain, is used to study machining of Ti6Al4V. In this work the method is revised and applied to study the influence of the cutting speed on the cutting force and the chip formation process. A parametric methodology for the detection and treatment of the rigid tool contact is presented. The adaptive insertion and removal of particles are developed and employed in order to sidestep the difficulties associated with mesh distortion, shear localization as well as for resolving the fine-scale features of the solution. The performance of PFEM is studied with a set of different two-dimensional orthogonal cutting tests. It is shown that, despite its Lagrangian nature, the proposed combined finite element-particle method is well suited for large deformation metal cutting problems with continuous chip and serrated chip formation.

Intemational collaborative study on the preparation of 1st international standard for rhTSH for bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Ying; Shen Hongzheng; Yu Ting; Xu Ligen

2007-01-01

The history of the international collaborative studies on the preparation of standards of TSH for bioassay and immunoassay was reviewed. The result of collaborative study on the 1st international standard for thyroid-stimulating hormone, recombinant, human, for bioassay was reported in detail in this article. Based on the results of this collaborative study, it is proposed that the candidate standard be established as the international standard for rhTSH for bioassay, and be assigned an activity of 9.5 IU per ampoule. The national standard preparation of TSH for immunoassay was also reassayed, revealing the potency to be 0.557 mIU/ampoule, i.e. 92. 8% of the labelled value of 0.600mIU/ampoule, a reasonable consistency. (authors)

Development of gold based solder candidates for flip chip assembly

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chidambaram, Vivek; Hald, John; Hattel, Jesper Henri

2009-01-01

Flip chip technology is now rapidly replacing the traditional wire bonding interconnection technology in the first level packaging applications due to the miniaturization drive in the microelectronics industry. Flip chip assembly currently involves the use of high lead containing solders...

X-CHIP: an integrated platform for high-throughput protein crystallization and on-the-chip X-ray diffraction data collection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisselman, Gera; Qiu, Wei; Romanov, Vladimir; Thompson, Christine M.; Lam, Robert; Battaile, Kevin P.; Pai, Emil F.; Chirgadze, Nickolay Y.

2011-01-01

The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallography High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallization High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The system has been designed for crystallization condition screening, visual crystal inspection, initial X-ray screening and data collection in a high-throughput fashion. X-ray diffraction data acquisition can be performed directly on-the-chip at room temperature using an in situ approach. The capabilities of the chip eliminate the necessity for manual crystal handling and cryoprotection of crystal samples, while allowing data collection from multiple crystals in the same drop. This technology would be especially beneficial for projects with large volumes of data, such as protein-complex studies and fragment-based screening. The platform employs hydrophilic and hydrophobic concentric ring surfaces on a miniature plate transparent to visible light and X-rays to create a well defined and stable microbatch crystallization environment. The results of crystallization and data-collection experiments demonstrate that high-quality well diffracting crystals can be grown and high-resolution diffraction data sets can be collected using this technology. Furthermore, the quality of a single-wavelength anomalous dispersion data set collected with the X-CHIP at room temperature was sufficient to generate interpretable electron-density maps. This technology is highly resource-efficient owing to the use of nanolitre-scale drop volumes. It does not require any modification for most in-house and synchrotron beamline systems and offers

X-CHIP: an integrated platform for high-throughput protein crystallization and on-the-chip X-ray diffraction data collection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kisselman, Gera; Qiu, Wei; Romanov, Vladimir; Thompson, Christine M.; Lam, Robert [Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 (Canada); Battaile, Kevin P. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Pai, Emil F.; Chirgadze, Nickolay Y., E-mail: nchirgad@uhnresearch.ca [Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 (Canada); University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8 (Canada)

2011-06-01

The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallography High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallization High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The system has been designed for crystallization condition screening, visual crystal inspection, initial X-ray screening and data collection in a high-throughput fashion. X-ray diffraction data acquisition can be performed directly on-the-chip at room temperature using an in situ approach. The capabilities of the chip eliminate the necessity for manual crystal handling and cryoprotection of crystal samples, while allowing data collection from multiple crystals in the same drop. This technology would be especially beneficial for projects with large volumes of data, such as protein-complex studies and fragment-based screening. The platform employs hydrophilic and hydrophobic concentric ring surfaces on a miniature plate transparent to visible light and X-rays to create a well defined and stable microbatch crystallization environment. The results of crystallization and data-collection experiments demonstrate that high-quality well diffracting crystals can be grown and high-resolution diffraction data sets can be collected using this technology. Furthermore, the quality of a single-wavelength anomalous dispersion data set collected with the X-CHIP at room temperature was sufficient to generate interpretable electron-density maps. This technology is highly resource-efficient owing to the use of nanolitre-scale drop volumes. It does not require any modification for most in-house and synchrotron beamline systems and offers

A rapid bioassay for detecting saxitoxins using a Daphnia acute toxicity test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrao-Filho, Aloysio da S., E-mail: aloysio@ioc.fiocruz.b [Laboratorio de Avaliacao e Promocao da Saude Ambiental, Departamento de Biologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21045-900 (Brazil); Soares, Maria Carolina S., E-mail: mcarolsoares@gmail.co [Departamento de Engenharia Sanitaria e Ambiental Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG 36036-900 (Brazil); Freitas de Magalhaes, Valeria, E-mail: valeria@biof.ufrj.b [Laboratorio de Ecofisiologia e Toxicologia de Cianobacterias, Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, CCS, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fundao, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21949-900 (Brazil); Azevedo, Sandra M.F.O., E-mail: sazevedo@biof.ufrj.b [Laboratorio de Ecofisiologia e Toxicologia de Cianobacterias, Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, CCS, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fundao, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21949-900 (Brazil)

2010-06-15

Bioassays using Daphnia pulex and Moina micrura were designed to detect cyanobacterial neurotoxins in raw water samples. Phytoplankton and cyanotoxins from seston were analyzed during 15 months in a eutrophic reservoir. Effective time to immobilize 50% of the exposed individuals (ET{sub 50}) was adopted as the endpoint. Paralysis of swimming movements was observed between approx0.5-3 h of exposure to lake water containing toxic cyanobacteria, followed by an almost complete recovery of the swimming activity within 24 h after being placed in control water. The same effects were observed in bioassays with a saxitoxin-producer strain of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii isolated from the reservoir. Regression analysis showed significant relationships between ET{sub 50}vs. cell density, biomass and saxitoxins content, suggesting that the paralysis of Daphnia in lake water samples was caused by saxitoxins found in C. raciborskii. Daphnia bioassay was found to be a sensitive method for detecting fast-acting neurotoxins in natural samples, with important advantages over mouse bioassays. - A new Daphnia bioassay, as an alternative to the mouse bioassay, is able to detect effects of fast-acting, potent neurotoxins in raw water.

A rapid bioassay for detecting saxitoxins using a Daphnia acute toxicity test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrao-Filho, Aloysio da S.; Soares, Maria Carolina S.; Freitas de Magalhaes, Valeria; Azevedo, Sandra M.F.O.

2010-01-01

Bioassays using Daphnia pulex and Moina micrura were designed to detect cyanobacterial neurotoxins in raw water samples. Phytoplankton and cyanotoxins from seston were analyzed during 15 months in a eutrophic reservoir. Effective time to immobilize 50% of the exposed individuals (ET 50 ) was adopted as the endpoint. Paralysis of swimming movements was observed between ∼0.5-3 h of exposure to lake water containing toxic cyanobacteria, followed by an almost complete recovery of the swimming activity within 24 h after being placed in control water. The same effects were observed in bioassays with a saxitoxin-producer strain of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii isolated from the reservoir. Regression analysis showed significant relationships between ET 50 vs. cell density, biomass and saxitoxins content, suggesting that the paralysis of Daphnia in lake water samples was caused by saxitoxins found in C. raciborskii. Daphnia bioassay was found to be a sensitive method for detecting fast-acting neurotoxins in natural samples, with important advantages over mouse bioassays. - A new Daphnia bioassay, as an alternative to the mouse bioassay, is able to detect effects of fast-acting, potent neurotoxins in raw water.

Tunable on chip optofluidic laser

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bakal, Avraham; Vannahme, Christoph; Kristensen, Anders

2015-01-01

A chip scale tunable laser in the visible spectral band is realized by generating a periodic droplet array inside a microfluidic channel. Combined with a gain medium within the droplets, the periodic structure provides the optical feedback of the laser. By controlling the pressure applied to two...

ReseqChip: Automated integration of multiple local context probe data from the MitoChip array in mitochondrial DNA sequence assembly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spang Rainer

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Affymetrix MitoChip v2.0 is an oligonucleotide tiling array for the resequencing of the human mitochondrial (mt genome. For each of 16,569 nucleotide positions of the mt genome it holds two sets of four 25-mer probes each that match the heavy and the light strand of a reference mt genome and vary only at their central position to interrogate all four possible alleles. In addition, the MitoChip v2.0 carries alternative local context probes to account for known mtDNA variants. These probes have been neglected in most studies due to the lack of software for their automated analysis. Results We provide ReseqChip, a free software that automates the process of resequencing mtDNA using multiple local context probes on the MitoChip v2.0. ReseqChip significantly improves base call rate and sequence accuracy. ReseqChip is available at http://code.open-bio.org/svnweb/index.cgi/bioperl/browse/bioperl-live/trunk/Bio/Microarray/Tools/. Conclusions ReseqChip allows for the automated consolidation of base calls from alternative local mt genome context probes. It thereby improves the accuracy of resequencing, while reducing the number of non-called bases.

Silicon Chip-to-Chip Mode-Division Multiplexing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baumann, Jan Markus; Porto da Silva, Edson; Ding, Yunhong

2018-01-01

A chip-to-chip mode-division multiplexing connection is demonstrated using a pair of multiplexers/demultiplexers fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator platform. Successful mode multiplexing and demultiplexing is experimentally demonstrated, using the LP01, LP11a and LP11b modes.......A chip-to-chip mode-division multiplexing connection is demonstrated using a pair of multiplexers/demultiplexers fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator platform. Successful mode multiplexing and demultiplexing is experimentally demonstrated, using the LP01, LP11a and LP11b modes....

Inherent polarization entanglement generated from a monolithic semiconductor chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Horn, Rolf T.; Kolenderski, Piotr; Kang, Dongpeng

2013-01-01

Creating miniature chip scale implementations of optical quantum information protocols is a dream for many in the quantum optics community. This is largely because of the promise of stability and scalability. Here we present a monolithically integratable chip architecture upon which is built...... a photonic device primitive called a Bragg reflection waveguide (BRW). Implemented in gallium arsenide, we show that, via the process of spontaneous parametric down conversion, the BRW is capable of directly producing polarization entangled photons without additional path difference compensation, spectral...... as a serious contender on which to build large scale implementations of optical quantum processing devices....

Error Control for Network-on-Chip Links

CERN Document Server

Fu, Bo

2012-01-01

As technology scales into nanoscale regime, it is impossible to guarantee the perfect hardware design. Moreover, if the requirement of 100% correctness in hardware can be relaxed, the cost of manufacturing, verification, and testing will be significantly reduced. Many approaches have been proposed to address the reliability problem of on-chip communications. This book focuses on the use of error control codes (ECCs) to improve on-chip interconnect reliability. Coverage includes detailed description of key issues in NOC error control faced by circuit and system designers, as well as practical error control techniques to minimize the impact of these errors on system performance. Provides a detailed background on the state of error control methods for on-chip interconnects; Describes the use of more complex concatenated codes such as Hamming Product Codes with Type-II HARQ, while emphasizing integration techniques for on-chip interconnect links; Examines energy-efficient techniques for integrating multiple error...

Recent advances in particle and droplet manipulation for lab-on-a-chip devices based on surface acoustic waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhuochen; Zhe, Jiang

2011-04-07

Manipulation of microscale particles and fluid liquid droplets is an important task for lab-on-a-chip devices for numerous biological researches and applications, such as cell detection and tissue engineering. Particle manipulation techniques based on surface acoustic waves (SAWs) appear effective for lab-on-a-chip devices because they are non-invasive, compatible with soft lithography micromachining, have high energy density, and work for nearly any type of microscale particles. Here we review the most recent research and development of the past two years in SAW based particle and liquid droplet manipulation for lab-on-a-chip devices including particle focusing and separation, particle alignment and patterning, particle directing, and liquid droplet delivery.

Chip-based human liver-intestine and liver-skin co-cultures--A first step toward systemic repeated dose substance testing in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Maschmeyer, Ilka; Hasenberg, Tobias; Jaenicke, Annika; Lindner, Marcus; Lorenz, Alexandra Katharina; Zech, Julie; Garbe, Leif-Alexander; Sonntag, Frank; Hayden, Patrick; Ayehunie, Seyoum; Lauster, Roland; Marx, Uwe; Materne, Eva-Maria

2015-09-01

Systemic repeated dose safety assessment and systemic efficacy evaluation of substances are currently carried out on laboratory animals and in humans due to the lack of predictive alternatives. Relevant international regulations, such as OECD and ICH guidelines, demand long-term testing and oral, dermal, inhalation, and systemic exposure routes for such evaluations. So-called "human-on-a-chip" concepts are aiming to replace respective animals and humans in substance evaluation with miniaturized functional human organisms. The major technical hurdle toward success in this field is the life-like combination of human barrier organ models, such as intestine, lung or skin, with parenchymal organ equivalents, such as liver, at the smallest biologically acceptable scale. Here, we report on a reproducible homeostatic long-term co-culture of human liver equivalents with either a reconstructed human intestinal barrier model or a human skin biopsy applying a microphysiological system. We used a multi-organ chip (MOC) platform, which provides pulsatile fluid flow within physiological ranges at low media-to-tissue ratios. The MOC supports submerse cultivation of an intact intestinal barrier model and an air-liquid interface for the skin model during their co-culture with the liver equivalents respectively at (1)/100.000 the scale of their human counterparts in vivo. To increase the degree of organismal emulation, microfluidic channels of the liver-skin co-culture could be successfully covered with human endothelial cells, thus mimicking human vasculature, for the first time. Finally, exposure routes emulating oral and systemic administration in humans have been qualified by applying a repeated dose administration of a model substance - troglitazone - to the chip-based co-cultures. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Ultrahigh-speed hybrid laser for silicon photonic integrated chips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chung, Il-Sug; Park, Gyeong Cheol; Ran, Qijiang

2013-01-01

Increasing power consumption for electrical interconnects between and inside chips is posing a real challenge to continue the performance scaling of processors/computers as predicted by D. Moore. In recent processors, energy consumption for electrical interconnects is half of power supplied...... and will be 80% in near future. This challenge strongly has motivated replacing electrical interconnects with optical ones even in chip level communications [1]. This chip-level optical interconnects need quite different performance of optoelectronic devices than required for conventional optical communications....... For a light source, the energy consumption per sending a bit is required to be

Validation of a Novel Bioassay for Low-level Perchlorate Determination

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-01

was not attractive, since these reduce PMS2 , and it was thought they would interfere with the stoichiometry of NADH and perchlorate in the bioassay...these reduce PMS2 directly, and would interfere with the stoichiometry of NADH and perchlorate in the bioassay. Thus the only approach that could be

Monolithic Chip System with a Microfluidic Channel for In Situ Electron Microscopy of Liquids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Eric; Burrows, Andrew; Mølhave, Kristian

2014-01-01

sandwiched microchips with thin membranes. We report on a new microfabricated chip system based on a monolithic design that enables membrane geometry on the scale of a few micrometers. The design is intended to reduce membrane deflection when the system is under pressure, a micro fluidic channel for improved...

The application of bioassays as indicators of petroleum-contaminated soil remediation.

Science.gov (United States)

Płaza, Grazyna; Nałecz-Jawecki, Grzegorz; Ulfig, Krzysztof; Brigmon, Robin L

2005-04-01

Bioremediation has proven successful in numerous applications to petroleum contaminated soils. However, questions remain as to the efficiency of bioremediation in lowering long-term soil toxicity. In the present study, the bioassays Spirotox, Microtox, Ostracodtoxkit F, umu-test with S-9 activation, and plant assays were applied, and compared to evaluate bioremediation processes in heavily petroleum contaminated soils. Six higher plant species (Secale cereale L., Lactuca sativa L., Zea mays L., Lepidium sativum L., Triticum vulgare L., Brassica oleracea L.) were used for bioassay tests based on seed germination and root elongation. The ecotoxicological analyses were made in DMSO/H2O and DCM/DMSO soil extracts. Soils were tested from two biopiles at the Czechowice oil refinery, Poland, that have been subjected to different bioremediation applications. In biopile 1 the active or engineered bioremediation process lasted four years, while biopile 2 was treated passively or non-engineered for eight months. The test species demonstrated varying sensitivity to soils from both biopiles. The effects on test organisms exposed to biopile 2 soils were several times higher compared to those in biopile 1 soils, which correlated with the soil contaminants concentration. Soil hydrocarbon concentrations indeed decreased an average of 81% in biopile 1, whereas in biopile 2 TPH/TPOC concentrations only decreased by 30% after eight months of bioremediation. The bioassays were presented to be sensitive indicators of soil quality and can be used to evaluate the quality of bioremediated soil. The study encourages the need to combine the bioassays with chemical monitoring for evaluation of the bioremediation effectiveness and assessing of the contaminated/remediated soils.

Design of Water Temperature Control System Based on Single Chip Microcomputer

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Hanhong; Yan, Qiyan

2017-12-01

In this paper, we mainly introduce a multi-function water temperature controller designed with 51 single-chip microcomputer. This controller has automatic and manual water, set the water temperature, real-time display of water and temperature and alarm function, and has a simple structure, high reliability, low cost. The current water temperature controller on the market basically use bimetal temperature control, temperature control accuracy is low, poor reliability, a single function. With the development of microelectronics technology, monolithic microprocessor function is increasing, the price is low, in all aspects of widely used. In the water temperature controller in the application of single-chip, with a simple design, high reliability, easy to expand the advantages of the function. Is based on the appeal background, so this paper focuses on the temperature controller in the intelligent control of the discussion.

"Hook"-calibration of GeneChip-microarrays: Chip characteristics and expression measures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krohn Knut

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microarray experiments rely on several critical steps that may introduce biases and uncertainty in downstream analyses. These steps include mRNA sample extraction, amplification and labelling, hybridization, and scanning causing chip-specific systematic variations on the raw intensity level. Also the chosen array-type and the up-to-dateness of the genomic information probed on the chip affect the quality of the expression measures. In the accompanying publication we presented theory and algorithm of the so-called hook method which aims at correcting expression data for systematic biases using a series of new chip characteristics. Results In this publication we summarize the essential chip characteristics provided by this method, analyze special benchmark experiments to estimate transcript related expression measures and illustrate the potency of the method to detect and to quantify the quality of a particular hybridization. It is shown that our single-chip approach provides expression measures responding linearly on changes of the transcript concentration over three orders of magnitude. In addition, the method calculates a detection call judging the relation between the signal and the detection limit of the particular measurement. The performance of the method in the context of different chip generations and probe set assignments is illustrated. The hook method characterizes the RNA-quality in terms of the 3'/5'-amplification bias and the sample-specific calling rate. We show that the proper judgement of these effects requires the disentanglement of non-specific and specific hybridization which, otherwise, can lead to misinterpretations of expression changes. The consequences of modifying probe/target interactions by either changing the labelling protocol or by substituting RNA by DNA targets are demonstrated. Conclusion The single-chip based hook-method provides accurate expression estimates and chip-summary characteristics

The effect of pesticide residue on caged mosquito bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Barber, J A S; Greer, Mike; Coughlin, Jamie

2006-09-01

Wind tunnel experiments showed that secondary pickup of insecticide residue by mosquitoes in cage bioassays had a significant effect on mortality. Cage bioassays using adult Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann) investigated the effect of exposure time to a contaminated surface. Cages were dosed in a wind tunnel using the LC50 for naled (0.124 mg a.i./ml) and an LC25 (0.0772 mg a.i./ml) for naled. Half of the bioassay mosquitoes were moved directly into clean cages with the other half remaining in the sprayed, hence contaminated, cage. Treatment mortality was assessed at 8, 15, 30, 60, 120, 240, and 1,440 min postapplication. Cage contamination had a significant effect on mosquito mortality for both the LC25 and LC50 between 15 and 30 min postapplication.

A monolithic glass chip for active single-cell sorting based on mechanical phenotyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Faigle, Christoph; Lautenschläger, Franziska; Whyte, Graeme; Homewood, Philip; Martín-Badosa, Estela; Guck, Jochen

2015-03-07

The mechanical properties of biological cells have long been considered as inherent markers of biological function and disease. However, the screening and active sorting of heterogeneous populations based on serial single-cell mechanical measurements has not been demonstrated. Here we present a novel monolithic glass chip for combined fluorescence detection and mechanical phenotyping using an optical stretcher. A new design and manufacturing process, involving the bonding of two asymmetrically etched glass plates, combines exact optical fiber alignment, low laser damage threshold and high imaging quality with the possibility of several microfluidic inlet and outlet channels. We show the utility of such a custom-built optical stretcher glass chip by measuring and sorting single cells in a heterogeneous population based on their different mechanical properties and verify sorting accuracy by simultaneous fluorescence detection. This offers new possibilities of exact characterization and sorting of small populations based on rheological properties for biological and biomedical applications.

Cleavable DNA-protein hybrid molecular beacon: A novel efficient signal translator for sensitive fluorescence anisotropy bioassay.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Pan; Yang, Bin

2016-01-15

Due to its unique features such as high sensitivity, homogeneous format, and independence on fluorescent intensity, fluorescence anisotropy (FA) assay has become a hotspot of study in oligonucleotide-based bioassays. However, until now most FA probes require carefully customized structure designs, and thus are neither generalizable for different sensing systems nor effective to obtain sufficient signal response. To address this issue, a cleavable DNA-protein hybrid molecular beacon was successfully engineered for signal amplified FA bioassay, via combining the unique stable structure of molecular beacon and the large molecular mass of streptavidin. Compared with single DNA strand probe or conventional molecular beacon, the DNA-protein hybrid molecular beacon exhibited a much higher FA value, which was potential to obtain high signal-background ratio in sensing process. As proof-of-principle, this novel DNA-protein hybrid molecular beacon was further applied for FA bioassay using DNAzyme-Pb(2+) as a model sensing system. This FA assay approach could selectively detect as low as 0.5nM Pb(2+) in buffer solution, and also be successful for real samples analysis with good recovery values. Compatible with most of oligonucleotide probes' designs and enzyme-based signal amplification strategies, the molecular beacon can serve as a novel signal translator to expand the application prospect of FA technology in various bioassays. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and validation of microbial bioassay for quantification of Levofloxacin in pharmaceutical preparations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nishant A. Dafale

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple, sensitive, precise and cost-effective one-level agar diffusion (5+1 bioassay for estimation of potency and bioactivity of Levofloxacin in pharmaceutical preparation which has not yet been reported in any pharmacopoeia. Among 16 microbial strains, Bacillus pumilus ATCC-14884 was selected as the most significant strain against Levofloxacin. Bioassay was optimized by investigating several factors such as buffer pH, inoculums concentration and reference standard concentration. Identification of Levofloxacin in commercial sample Levoflox tablet was done by FTIR spectroscopy. Mean potency recovery value for Levofloxacin in Levoflox tablet was estimated as 100.90%. A validated bioassay method showed linearity (r2=0.988, precision (Interday RSD=1.05%, between analyst RSD=1.02% and accuracy (101.23%, RSD=0.72%. Bioassay was correlated with HPLC using same sample and estimated potencies were 100.90% and 99.37%, respectively. Results show that bioassay is a suitable method for estimation of potency and bioactivity of Levofloxacin pharmaceutical preparations. Keywords: Levofloxacin, Antibiotic resistance, Microbiological bioassay, HPLC, Pharmacopoeia

Avoiding Message-Dependent Deadlock in Network-Based Systems on Chip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hansson, A.; Goossens, K.; Rãdulescu, A.

2007-01-01

Networks on chip (NoCs) are an essential component of systems on chip (SoCs) and much research is devoted to deadlock avoidance in NoCs. Prior work focuses on the router network while protocol interactions between NoC and intellectual property (IP) modules are not considered. These interactions

Scalable on-chip quantum state tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Titchener, James G.; Gräfe, Markus; Heilmann, René; Solntsev, Alexander S.; Szameit, Alexander; Sukhorukov, Andrey A.

2018-03-01

Quantum information systems are on a path to vastly exceed the complexity of any classical device. The number of entangled qubits in quantum devices is rapidly increasing, and the information required to fully describe these systems scales exponentially with qubit number. This scaling is the key benefit of quantum systems, however it also presents a severe challenge. To characterize such systems typically requires an exponentially long sequence of different measurements, becoming highly resource demanding for large numbers of qubits. Here we propose and demonstrate a novel and scalable method for characterizing quantum systems based on expanding a multi-photon state to larger dimensionality. We establish that the complexity of this new measurement technique only scales linearly with the number of qubits, while providing a tomographically complete set of data without a need for reconfigurability. We experimentally demonstrate an integrated photonic chip capable of measuring two- and three-photon quantum states with statistical reconstruction fidelity of 99.71%.

Invited Article: Terahertz microfluidic chips sensitivity-enhanced with a few arrays of meta-atoms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazunori Serita

2018-05-01

Full Text Available We present a nonlinear optical crystal (NLOC-based terahertz (THz microfluidic chip with a few arrays of split ring resonators (SRRs for ultra-trace and quantitative measurements of liquid solutions. The proposed chip operates on the basis of near-field coupling between the SRRs and a local emission of point like THz source that is generated in the process of optical rectification in NLOCs on a sub-wavelength scale. The liquid solutions flowing inside the microchannel modify the resonance frequency and peak attenuation in the THz transmission spectra. In contrast to conventional bio-sensing with far/near-field THz waves, our technique can be expected to compactify the chip design as well as realize high sensitive near-field measurement of liquid solutions without any high-power optical/THz source, near-field probes, and prisms. Using this chip, we have succeeded in observing the 31.8 fmol of ion concentration in actual amount of 318 pl water solutions from the shift of the resonance frequency. The technique opens the door to microanalysis of biological samples with THz waves and accelerates development of THz lab-on-chip devices.

Invited Article: Terahertz microfluidic chips sensitivity-enhanced with a few arrays of meta-atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Serita, Kazunori; Matsuda, Eiki; Okada, Kosuke; Murakami, Hironaru; Kawayama, Iwao; Tonouchi, Masayoshi

2018-05-01

We present a nonlinear optical crystal (NLOC)-based terahertz (THz) microfluidic chip with a few arrays of split ring resonators (SRRs) for ultra-trace and quantitative measurements of liquid solutions. The proposed chip operates on the basis of near-field coupling between the SRRs and a local emission of point like THz source that is generated in the process of optical rectification in NLOCs on a sub-wavelength scale. The liquid solutions flowing inside the microchannel modify the resonance frequency and peak attenuation in the THz transmission spectra. In contrast to conventional bio-sensing with far/near-field THz waves, our technique can be expected to compactify the chip design as well as realize high sensitive near-field measurement of liquid solutions without any high-power optical/THz source, near-field probes, and prisms. Using this chip, we have succeeded in observing the 31.8 fmol of ion concentration in actual amount of 318 pl water solutions from the shift of the resonance frequency. The technique opens the door to microanalysis of biological samples with THz waves and accelerates development of THz lab-on-chip devices.

MEMS-based wavelength and orbital angular momentum demultiplexer for on-chip applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyubopytov, Vladimir; Porfirev, Alexey P.; Gurbatov, Stanislav O.

2017-01-01

Summary form only given. We demonstrate a new tunable MEMS-based WDM&OAM Fabry-Pérot filter for simultaneous wavelength (WDM) and Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) (de)multiplexing. The WDM&OAM filter is suitable for dense on-chip integration and dedicated for the next generation of optical...

Nanoscale on-chip all-optical logic parity checker in integrated plasmonic circuits in optical communication range

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Feifan; Gong, Zibo; Hu, Xiaoyong; Yang, Xiaoyu; Yang, Hong; Gong, Qihuang

2016-01-01

The nanoscale chip-integrated all-optical logic parity checker is an essential core component for optical computing systems and ultrahigh-speed ultrawide-band information processing chips. Unfortunately, little experimental progress has been made in development of these devices to date because of material bottleneck limitations and a lack of effective realization mechanisms. Here, we report a simple and efficient strategy for direct realization of nanoscale chip-integrated all-optical logic parity checkers in integrated plasmonic circuits in the optical communication range. The proposed parity checker consists of two-level cascaded exclusive-OR (XOR) logic gates that are realized based on the linear interference of surface plasmon polaritons propagating in the plasmonic waveguides. The parity of the number of logic 1s in the incident four-bit logic signals is determined, and the output signal is given the logic state 0 for even parity (and 1 for odd parity). Compared with previous reports, the overall device feature size is reduced by more than two orders of magnitude, while ultralow energy consumption is maintained. This work raises the possibility of realization of large-scale integrated information processing chips based on integrated plasmonic circuits, and also provides a way to overcome the intrinsic limitations of serious surface plasmon polariton losses for on-chip integration applications. PMID:27073154

Nanoscale on-chip all-optical logic parity checker in integrated plasmonic circuits in optical communication range.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Feifan; Gong, Zibo; Hu, Xiaoyong; Yang, Xiaoyu; Yang, Hong; Gong, Qihuang

2016-04-13

The nanoscale chip-integrated all-optical logic parity checker is an essential core component for optical computing systems and ultrahigh-speed ultrawide-band information processing chips. Unfortunately, little experimental progress has been made in development of these devices to date because of material bottleneck limitations and a lack of effective realization mechanisms. Here, we report a simple and efficient strategy for direct realization of nanoscale chip-integrated all-optical logic parity checkers in integrated plasmonic circuits in the optical communication range. The proposed parity checker consists of two-level cascaded exclusive-OR (XOR) logic gates that are realized based on the linear interference of surface plasmon polaritons propagating in the plasmonic waveguides. The parity of the number of logic 1s in the incident four-bit logic signals is determined, and the output signal is given the logic state 0 for even parity (and 1 for odd parity). Compared with previous reports, the overall device feature size is reduced by more than two orders of magnitude, while ultralow energy consumption is maintained. This work raises the possibility of realization of large-scale integrated information processing chips based on integrated plasmonic circuits, and also provides a way to overcome the intrinsic limitations of serious surface plasmon polariton losses for on-chip integration applications.

Bioassay for aquatic ecosystems review and classification; Rassegna dei principali test di ecotossicologia acquatica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanci, Antonella; Rosa, Silvia [ENEA, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy). Dipt. Ambiente

1997-09-01

Bioassay play a crucial role in assessing the actual or potential impacts of anthropogenic agents on the natural environment. In this technical report, literature on bioassays for aquatic ecosystems has been reviewed and classified. Problems associated with the choice and application of bioassays are discussed.

Soil bioassays as tools for sludge compost quality assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domene, Xavier; Sola, Laura; Ramirez, Wilson; Alcaniz, Josep M.; Andres, Pilar

2011-01-01

Composting is a waste management technology that is becoming more widespread as a response to the increasing production of sewage sludge and the pressure for its reuse in soil. In this study, different bioassays (plant germination, earthworm survival, biomass and reproduction, and collembolan survival and reproduction) were assessed for their usefulness in the compost quality assessment. Compost samples, from two different composting plants, were taken along the composting process, which were characterized and submitted to bioassays (plant germination and collembolan and earthworm performance). Results from our study indicate that the noxious effects of some of the compost samples observed in bioassays are related to the low organic matter stability of composts and the enhanced release of decomposition endproducts, with the exception of earthworms, which are favored. Plant germination and collembolan reproduction inhibition was generally associated with uncomposted sludge, while earthworm total biomass and reproduction were enhanced by these materials. On the other hand, earthworm and collembolan survival were unaffected by the degree of composting of the wastes. However, this pattern was clear in one of the composting procedures assessed, but less in the other, where the release of decomposition endproducts was lower due to its higher stability, indicating the sensitivity and usefulness of bioassays for the quality assessment of composts.

Least cost supply strategies for wood chips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Möller, Bernd

The abstract presents a study based on a geographical information system, which produce  cost-supply curves by location for forest woods chips in Denmark.......The abstract presents a study based on a geographical information system, which produce  cost-supply curves by location for forest woods chips in Denmark....

Biomonitoring of cyanotoxins in two tropical reservoirs by cladoceran toxicity bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

da S Ferrão-Filho, Aloysio; Soares, Maria Carolina S; de Freitas Magalhães, Valeria; Azevedo, Sandra M F O

2009-02-01

This study evaluates the potential for the use of cladocerans in biomonitoring of cyanobacterial toxins. Two zooplankton species (Daphnia gessneri and Moina micrura) were cultivated in the laboratory for use in acute (48 h) and chronic (10 days) bioassays. Water samples were collected from two reservoirs and diluted in mineral water at four concentrations. Survivorship in the acute bioassays was used to calculate LC50, and survivorship and fecundity in chronic bioassays were used to calculate the intrinsic population growth rate (r) and the EC50. Analysis of phytoplankton in the water samples from one reservoir revealed that cyanobacteria were the dominant group, represented by the genera Anabaena, Cylindrospermopsis, and Microcystis. Results of bioassays showed adverse effects including death, paralysis, and reduced population growth rate, generally proportional to the reservoir water concentration. These effects may be related to the presence of cyanobacteria toxins (microcystins or saxitoxins) in the water.

Flip chip assembly of thinned chips for hybrid pixel detector applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fritzsch, T; Zoschke, K; Rothermund, M; Oppermann, H; Woehrmann, M; Ehrmann, O; Lang, K D; Huegging, F

2014-01-01

There is a steady trend to ultra-thin microelectronic devices. Especially for future particle detector systems a reduced readout chip thickness is required to limit the loss of tracking precision due to scattering. The reduction of silicon thickness is performed at wafer level in a two-step thinning process. To minimize the risk of wafer breakage the thinned wafer needs to be handled by a carrier during the whole process chain of wafer bumping. Another key process is the flip chip assembly of thinned readout chips onto thin sensor tiles. Besides the prevention of silicon breakage the minimization of chip warpage is one additional task for a high yield and reliable flip chip process. A new technology using glass carrier wafer will be described in detail. The main advantage of this technology is the combination of a carrier support during wafer processing and the chip support during flip chip assembly. For that a glass wafer is glue-bonded onto the backside of the thinned readout chip wafer. After the bump deposition process the glass-readout chip stack is diced in one step. Finally the glass carrier chip is released by laser illumination after flip chip assembly of the readout chip onto sensor tile. The results of the flip chip assembly process development for the ATLAS IBL upgrade are described more in detail. The new ATLAS FEI4B chip with a size of 20 × 19 mm 2 is flip chip bonded with a thickness of only 150 μm, but the capability of this technology has been demonstrated on hybrid modules with a reduced readout chip thickness of down to 50 μm which is a major step for ultra-thin electronic systems

Development of based on 89S51 single-chip microcomputer electronic dosimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Junhua; Zhou Jiachao; Sun Jianghan; Du Xiao

2009-01-01

It describes the main design features and basic properties of based on 89S51 single-chip microcomputer electronic dosimeter with wide range and multi purposes. The dosimeter can display dose rate or accumulative dose or the maximum dose rate, record accumulative dose, the maximum dose rate and classes. (authors)

VLSI design of an RSA encryption/decryption chip using systolic array based architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Chi-Chia; Lin, Bor-Shing; Jan, Gene Eu; Lin, Jheng-Yi

2016-09-01

This article presents the VLSI design of a configurable RSA public key cryptosystem supporting the 512-bit, 1024-bit and 2048-bit based on Montgomery algorithm achieving comparable clock cycles of current relevant works but with smaller die size. We use binary method for the modular exponentiation and adopt Montgomery algorithm for the modular multiplication to simplify computational complexity, which, together with the systolic array concept for electric circuit designs effectively, lower the die size. The main architecture of the chip consists of four functional blocks, namely input/output modules, registers module, arithmetic module and control module. We applied the concept of systolic array to design the RSA encryption/decryption chip by using VHDL hardware language and verified using the TSMC/CIC 0.35 m 1P4 M technology. The die area of the 2048-bit RSA chip without the DFT is 3.9 × 3.9 mm2 (4.58 × 4.58 mm2 with DFT). Its average baud rate can reach 10.84 kbps under a 100 MHz clock.

HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION OF PIPELINE BASED ROUTER DESIGN FOR ON-CHIP NETWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Saravanakumar

2012-12-01

Full Text Available As the feature size is continuously decreasing and integration density is increasing, interconnections have become a dominating factor in determining the overall quality of a chip. Due to the limited scalability of system bus, it cannot meet the requirement of current System-on-Chip (SoC implementations where only a limited number of functional units can be supported. Long global wires also cause many design problems, such as routing congestion, noise coupling, and difficult timing closure. Network-on-Chip (NoC architectures have been proposed to be an alternative to solve the above problems by using a packet-based communication network. In this paper, the Circuit-Switched (CS Router was designed and analysed the various parameters such as power, timing and area. The CS router has taken more number of cycles to transfer the data from source to destination. So the pipelining concept was implemented by adding registers in the CS router architecture. The proposed architecture increases the speed of operation and reduces the critical path of the circuit. The router has been implemented using Verilog HDL. The parameters area, power and timing were calculated in 130 nm CMOS technology using Synopsys tool with nominal operating voltage of 1V and packet size is 39 bits. Finally power, area and time of these two routers have been analysed and compared.

NI Based System for Seu Testing of Memory Chips for Avionics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boruzdina Anna

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of implementation of National Instrument based system for Single Event Upset testing of memory chips into neutron generator experimental facility, which used for SEU tests for avionics purposes. Basic SEU testing algorithm with error correction and constant errors detection is presented. The issues of radiation shielding of NI based system are discussed and solved. The examples of experimental results show the applicability of the presented system for SEU memory testing under neutrons influence.

A new technique to detect antibody-antigen reaction (biological interactions) on a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) based nano ripple gold chip

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saleem, Iram, E-mail: iiram.qau@gmail.com [Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204 (United States); Widger, William, E-mail: widger@uh.edu [Department of Biology and Biochemistry and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204 (United States); Chu, Wei-Kan, E-mail: wkchu@uh.edu [Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204 (United States)

2017-07-31

Highlights: • The nano ripple LSPR chip has monolayer molecule-coating sensitivity and specific selectivity. • Gold nano-ripple sensing chip is a low cost, and a label-free method for detecting the antibody-antigen reaction. • The plasmonic resonance shift depends upon the concentration of the biomolecules attached on the surface of the nano ripple pattern. - Abstract: We demonstrate that the gold nano-ripple localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) chip is a low cost and a label-free method for detecting the presence of an antigen. A uniform stable layer of an antibody was coated on the surface of a nano-ripple gold pattern chip followed by the addition of different concentrations of the antigen. A red shift was observed in the LSPR spectral peak caused by the change in the local refractive index in the vicinity of the nanostructure. The LSPR chip was fabricated using oblique gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) irradiation. The plasmon-resonance intensity of the scattered light was measured by a simple optical spectroscope. The gold nano ripple chip shows monolayer scale sensitivity and high selectivity. The LSPR substrate was used to detect antibody-antigen reaction of rabbit X-DENTT antibody and DENTT blocking peptide (antigen).

Systems for animal exposure in full-scale fire tests

Science.gov (United States)

Hilado, C. J.; Cumming, H. J.; Kourtides, D. A.; Parker, J. A.

1977-01-01

Two systems for exposing animals in full-scale fire tests are described. Both systems involve the simultaneous exposure of two animal species, mice and rats, in modular units; determination of mortality, morbidity, and behavioral response; and analysis of the blood for carboxyhemoglobin. The systems described represent two of many possible options for obtaining bioassay data from full-scale fire tests. In situations where the temperatures to which the test animals are exposed can not be controlled, analytical techniques may be more appropriate than bioassay techniques.

Space division multiplexing chip-to-chip quantum key distribution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bacco, Davide; Ding, Yunhong; Dalgaard, Kjeld

2017-01-01

nodes of the quantum keys to their respective destinations. In this paper we present an experimental demonstration of a photonic integrated silicon chip quantum key distribution protocols based on space division multiplexing (SDM), through multicore fiber technology. Parallel and independent quantum...

Establishment of a bioassay for the toxicity evaluation and quality control of Aconitum herbs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin, Yi; Wang, Jia-bo; Zhao, Yan-ling; Shan, Li-mei; Li, Bao-cai; Fang, Fang; Jin, Cheng; Xiao, Xiao-he

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A new bioassay was optimized to evaluate the toxicity of Aconitum herbs. ► Characterizing total toxicity is its unique advantage over chemical analysis methods. ► The application of this bioassay promotes the safe use of Aconitum herbs in clinic. - Abstract: Currently, no bioassay is available for evaluating the toxicity of Aconitum herbs, which are well known for their lethal cardiotoxicity and neurotoxicity. In this study, we established a bioassay to evaluate the toxicity of Aconitum herbs. Test sample and standard solutions were administered to rats by intravenous infusion to determine their minimum lethal doses (MLD). Toxic potency was calculated by comparing the MLD. The experimental conditions of the method were optimized and standardized to ensure the precision and reliability of the bioassay. The application of the standardized bioassay was then tested by analyzing 18 samples of Aconitum herbs. Additionally, three major toxic alkaloids (aconitine, mesaconitine, and hypaconitine) in Aconitum herbs were analyzed using a liquid chromatographic method, which is the current method of choice for evaluating the toxicity of Aconitum herbs. We found that for all Aconitum herbs, the total toxicity of the extract was greater than the toxicity of the three alkaloids. Therefore, these three alkaloids failed to account for the total toxicity of Aconitum herbs. Compared with individual chemical analysis methods, the chief advantage of the bioassay is that it characterizes the total toxicity of Aconitum herbs. An incorrect toxicity evaluation caused by quantitative analysis of the three alkaloids might be effectively avoided by performing this bioassay. This study revealed that the bioassay is a powerful method for the safety assessment of Aconitum herbs.

The limits of two-year bioassay exposure regimens for identifying chemical carcinogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Huff, James; Jacobson, Michael F; Davis, Devra Lee

2008-11-01

Chemical carcinogenesis bioassays in animals have long been recognized and accepted as valid predictors of potential cancer hazards to humans. Most rodent bioassays begin several weeks after birth and expose animals to chemicals or other substances, including workplace and environmental pollutants, for 2 years. New findings indicate the need to extend the timing and duration of exposures used in the rodent bioassay. In this Commentary, we propose that the sensitivity of chemical carcinogenesis bio-assays would be enhanced by exposing rodents beginning in utero and continuing for 30 months (130 weeks) or until their natural deaths at up to about 3 years. Studies of three chemicals of different structures and uses-aspartame, cadmium, and toluene-suggest that exposing experimental animals in utero and continuing exposure for 30 months or until their natural deaths increase the sensitivity of bioassays, avoid false-negative results, and strengthen the value and validity of results for regulatory agencies. Government agencies, drug companies, and the chemical industry should conduct and compare the results of 2-year bioassays of known carcinogens or chemicals for which there is equivocal evidence of carcinogenicity with longer-term studies, with and without in utero exposure. If studies longer than 2 years and/or with in utero exposure are found to better identify potential human carcinogens, then regulatory agencies should promptly revise their testing guidelines, which were established in the 1960s and early 1970s. Changing the timing and dosing of the animal bioassay would enhance protection of workers and consumers who are exposed to potentially dangerous workplace or home contaminants, pollutants, drugs, food additives, and other chemicals throughout their lives.

Washing scaling of GeneChip microarray expression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krohn Knut

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Post-hybridization washing is an essential part of microarray experiments. Both the quality of the experimental washing protocol and adequate consideration of washing in intensity calibration ultimately affect the quality of the expression estimates extracted from the microarray intensities. Results We conducted experiments on GeneChip microarrays with altered protocols for washing, scanning and staining to study the probe-level intensity changes as a function of the number of washing cycles. For calibration and analysis of the intensity data we make use of the 'hook' method which allows intensity contributions due to non-specific and specific hybridization of perfect match (PM and mismatch (MM probes to be disentangled in a sequence specific manner. On average, washing according to the standard protocol removes about 90% of the non-specific background and about 30-50% and less than 10% of the specific targets from the MM and PM, respectively. Analysis of the washing kinetics shows that the signal-to-noise ratio doubles roughly every ten stringent washing cycles. Washing can be characterized by time-dependent rate constants which reflect the heterogeneous character of target binding to microarray probes. We propose an empirical washing function which estimates the survival of probe bound targets. It depends on the intensity contribution due to specific and non-specific hybridization per probe which can be estimated for each probe using existing methods. The washing function allows probe intensities to be calibrated for the effect of washing. On a relative scale, proper calibration for washing markedly increases expression measures, especially in the limit of small and large values. Conclusions Washing is among the factors which potentially distort expression measures. The proposed first-order correction method allows direct implementation in existing calibration algorithms for microarray data. We provide an experimental

A fast template matching method for LED chip Localization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhong Fuqiang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Efficiency determines the profits of the semiconductor producers. So the producers spare no effort to enhance the efficiency of every procedure. The purpose of the paper is to present a method to shorten the time to locate the LED chips on wafer. The method consists of 3 steps. Firstly, image segmentation and blob analyzation are used to predict the positions of potential chips. Then predict the orientations of potential chips based on their dominant orientations. Finally, according to the positions and orientations predicted above, locate the chips precisely based on gradient orientation features. Experiments show that the algorithm is faster than the traditional method we choose to locate the LED chips. Besides, even the orientations of the chips on wafer are of big deviation to the orientation of the template, the efficiency of this method won't be affected.

Are bioassays useful tools to assess redox processes and biodegradation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albrechtsen, Hans-Jørgen; Pedersen, Philip Grinder; Ludvigsen, L.

2002-01-01

sensitive hydrochemical or geochemical parameters, levels of hydrogen, and redox potential. However, all these approaches have to be evaluated against TEAP-bioassays as the most direct measure. We assessed successfully ongoing microbial-mediated redox processes by TEAP-bioassays in degradation studies...... of aromatic and chlorinated aliphatic compounds in landfill leachate plumes, and of pesticides in aquifers with various redox conditions....

An FPGA design flow for reconfigurable network-based multi-processor systems on chip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kumar, A.; Hansson, M.A; Huisken, J.; Corporaal, H.

2007-01-01

Multi-processor systems on chip (MPSoC) platforms are becoming increasingly more heterogeneous and are shifting towards a more communication-centric methodology. Networks on chip (NoC) have emerged as the design paradigm for scalable on-chip communication architectures. As the system complexity

Optimization of Reliability and Power Consumption in Systems on a Chip

OpenAIRE

Simunic, Tajana; Mihic, Kresimir; De Micheli, Giovanni

2005-01-01

Aggressive transistor scaling, decreased voltage margins and increased processor power and temperature, have made reliability assessment a much more significant issue in design. Although reliability of devices and interconnect has been broadly studied, here we characterize reliability at the system level. Thus we consider component-based System on Chip designs. Reliability is strongly affected by system temperature, which is in turn driven by power consumption. Thus, component reliability and...

From bioseparation to artificial micro-organs: microfluidic chip based particle manipulation techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Stelzle, Martin

2010-02-01

Microfluidic device technology provides unique physical phenomena which are not available in the macroscopic world. These may be exploited towards a diverse array of applications in biotechnology and biomedicine ranging from bioseparation of particulate samples to the assembly of cells into structures that resemble the smallest functional unit of an organ. In this paper a general overview of chip-based particle manipulation and separation is given. In the state of the art electric, magnetic, optical and gravitational field effects are utilized. Also, mechanical obstacles often in combination with force fields and laminar flow are employed to achieve separation of particles or molecules. In addition, three applications based on dielectrophoretic forces for particle manipulation in microfluidic systems are discussed in more detail. Firstly, a virus assay is demonstrated. There, antibody-loaded microbeads are used to bind virus particles from a sample and subsequently are accumulated to form a pico-liter sized aggregate located at a predefined position in the chip thus enabling highly sensitive fluorescence detection. Secondly, subcellular fractionation of mitochondria from cell homogenate yields pure samples as was demonstrated by Western Blot and 2D PAGE analysis. Robust long-term operation with complex cell homogenate samples while avoiding electrode fouling is achieved by a set of dedicated technical means. Finally, a chip intended for the dielectrophoretic assembly of hepatocytes and endothelial cells into a structure resembling a liver sinusoid is presented. Such "artificial micro organs" are envisioned as substance screening test systems providing significantly higher predictability with respect to the in vivo response towards a substance under test.

Design of analog front-ends for the RD53 demonstrator chip

CERN Document Server

Gaioni, L; Nodari, B; Manghisoni, M; Re, V; Traversi, G; Barbero, M B; Fougeron, D; Gensolen, F; Godiot, S; Menouni, M; Pangaud, P; Rozanov, A; Wang, A; Bomben, M; Calderini, G; Crescioli, F; Le Dortz, O; Marchiori, G; Dzahini, D; Rarbi, F E; Gaglione, R; Gonella, L; Hemperek, T; Huegging, F; Karagounis, M; Kishishita, T; Krueger, H; Rymaszewski, P; Wermes, N; Ciciriello, F; Corsi, F; Marzocca, C; De Robertis, G; Loddo, F; Licciulli, F; Andreazza, A; Liberali, V; Shojaii, S; Stabile, A; Bagatin, M; Bisello, D; Mattiazzo, S; Ding, L; Gerardin, S; Giubilato, P; Neviani, A; Paccagnella, A; Vogrig, D; Wyss, J; Bacchetta, N; Della Casa, G; Demaria, N; Mazza, G; Rivetti, A; Da Rocha Rolo, M D; Comotti, D; Ratti, L; Vacchi, C; Beccherle, R; Bellazzini, R; Magazzu, G; Minuti, M; Morsani, F; Palla, F; Poulios, S; Fanucci, L; Rizzi, A; Saponara, S; Androsov, K; Bilei, G M; Menichelli, M; Conti, E; Marconi, S; Passeri, D; Placidi, P; Monteil, E; Pacher, L; Paternò, A; Gajanana, D; Gromov, V; Hessey, N; Kluit, R; Zivkovic, V; Havranek, M; Janoska, Z; Marcisovsky, M; Neue, G; Tomasek, L; Kafka, V; Sicho, P; Vrba, V; Vila, I; Lopez-Morillo, E; Aguirre, M A; Palomo, F R; Muñoz, F; Abbaneo, D; Christiansen, J; Dannheim, D; Dobos, D; Linssen, L; Pernegger, H; Valerio, P; Alipour Tehrani, N; Bell, S; Prydderch, M L; Thomas, S; Christian, D C; Fahim, F; Hoff, J; Lipton, R; Liu, T; Zimmerman, T; Garcia-Sciveres, M; Gnani, D; Mekkaoui, A; Gorelov, I; Hoeferkamp, M; Seidel, S; Toms, K; De Witt, J N; Grillo, A

2017-01-01

The RD53 collaboration is developing a large scale pixel front-end chip, which will be a tool to evaluate the performance of 65 nm CMOS technology in view of its application to the readout of the innermost detector layers of ATLAS and CMS at the HL-LHC. Experimental results of the characterization of small prototypes will be discussed in the frame of the design work that is currently leading to the development of the large scale demonstrator chip RD53A to be submitted in early 2017. The paper is focused on the analog processors developed in the framework of the RD53 collaboration, including three time over threshold front-ends, designed by INFN Torino and Pavia, University of Bergamo and LBNL and a zero dead time front-end based on flash ADC designed by a joint collaboration between the Fermilab and INFN. The paper will also discuss the radiation tolerance features of the front-end channels, which were exposed to up to 800 Mrad of total ionizing dose to reproduce the system operation in the actual experiment.

Transportable GPU (General Processor Units) chip set technology for standard computer architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Fosdick, R. E.; Denison, H. C.

1982-11-01

The USAFR-developed GPU Chip Set has been utilized by Tracor to implement both USAF and Navy Standard 16-Bit Airborne Computer Architectures. Both configurations are currently being delivered into DOD full-scale development programs. Leadless Hermetic Chip Carrier packaging has facilitated implementation of both architectures on single 41/2 x 5 substrates. The CMOS and CMOS/SOS implementations of the GPU Chip Set have allowed both CPU implementations to use less than 3 watts of power each. Recent efforts by Tracor for USAF have included the definition of a next-generation GPU Chip Set that will retain the application-proven architecture of the current chip set while offering the added cost advantages of transportability across ISO-CMOS and CMOS/SOS processes and across numerous semiconductor manufacturers using a newly-defined set of common design rules. The Enhanced GPU Chip Set will increase speed by an approximate factor of 3 while significantly reducing chip counts and costs of standard CPU implementations.

Functional diagnostics for thyrotropin hormone receptor autoantibodies: bioassays prevail over binding assays.

Science.gov (United States)

Lytton, Simon David; Schluter, Anke; Banga, Paul J

2018-06-01

Autoantibodies to the thyrotropin hormone receptor (TSH-R) are directly responsible for the hyperthyroidism in Graves' disease and mediate orbital manifestations in Graves' orbitopathy (otherwise known as thyroid eye disease). These autoantibodies are heterogeneous in their function and collectively referred to as TRAbs. Measurement of TRAbs is clinically important for diagnosis of a variety of conditions and different commercial assays with high sensitivity and specificity are available for diagnostic purposes. This review provides overwhelming evidence that the TRAbs detected in binding assays by mainly the automated electrochemical luminescence immunoassays (ECLIA) do not distinguish TRAbs that stimulate the TSH-R (called TSIs or TSAbs) and TRAbs that just inhibit the binding of TSH without stimulating the TSH-R (called TBAbs). However, TSAbs and TBAbs have divergent pathogenic roles, and depending which fraction predominates cause different clinical symptoms and engender different therapeutic regimen. Therefore, diagnostic distinction of TSAbs and TBAbs is of paramount clinical importance. To date, only bioassays such as the Mc4 TSH-R bioassay (Thyretain TM , Quidel) and the Bridge assay (Immulite 2000, Siemens) can measure TSAbs, with only the former being able to distinguish between TSAbs and TBAbs. On this note, it is strongly recommended to only use the term TSI or TSAb when reporting the results of bioassays, whereas the results of automated TRAb binding assays should be reported as TRAbs (of undetermined functional significance). This review aims to present a technical and analytical account of leading commercial diagnostic methods of anti-TSH-R antibodies, a metaanalysis of their clinical performance and a perspective for the use of cell based TSH-R bioassays in the clinical diagnostics of Graves' disease.

Simulation and experimental validation of a SU-8 based PCR thermocycler chip with integrated heaters and temperature sensor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

El-Ali, Jamil; Perch-Nielsen, Ivan R.; Poulsen, Claus Riber

2004-01-01

We present a SU-8 based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chip with integrated platinum thin film heaters and temperature sensor. The device is fabricated in SU-8 on a glass substrate. The use of SU-8 provides a simple microfabrication process for the PCR chamber, controllable surface properties......C/s, respectively, the performance of the chip is comparable with the best silicon micromachined PCR chips presented in the literature. The SU-8 chamber surface was found to be PCR compatible by amplification of yeast gene ribosomal protein S3 and Campylobacter gene cadF. The PCR compatibility of the chamber...

Manual on theory and practical aspects of bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nuraini Hambali.

1985-06-01

This manual is set to provide necessary basic guidance on theory and practical aspects of bioassay specially for the newcomer in this field and the man in the laboratory. The first part is a brief information on the entry of radionuclides into the body, the metabolism and the programs of bioassay. All other factors to be considered in assessing internal contamination in man have also been brought up. In the second part, various procedures of radiochemical separations, detection and measurements are abstracted from journals and other revisions. Some methods have been attempted and to be followed where appropriate. (author)

Review of literature on bioassay methods for estimating radionuclides in urine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, M.V.R.; Surya Narayana, D.S.; Jeevanram, R.K.; Sundarajan, A.R.

1991-01-01

Bioassay methods of certain important radionuclides encountered in the nuclear fuel cycle operations, viz., thorium, uranium, sup(239)Pu, sup(241)Am, sup(90)Sr, sup(99)Tc, sup(106)Ru, sup(137)Cs are reviewed, with special emphasis on urinalysis. Since the preconcentration is an important prerequisite for bioassay, various preconcentration methods are also discussed. Brief account of various instruments both nuclear and analytical used in the bioassay programme is included. The sensitivities of the methods cited in the literature vis-a-vis the derived recording levels indicated in ICRP recommendations are compared. Literature surveyed up to 1990 is tabulated. (author). 96 refs., 1 fig ., 3 tabs

Cancer risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminated soils determined using bioassay-derived levels of benzo[a]pyrene equivalents.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemieux, Christine L; Long, Alexandra S; Lambert, Iain B; Lundstedt, Staffan; Tysklind, Mats; White, Paul A

2015-02-03

Here we evaluate the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) posed by 10 PAH-contaminated soils using (i) the currently advocated, targeted chemical-specific approach that assumes dose additivity for carcinogenic PAHs and (ii) a bioassay-based approach that employs the in vitro mutagenic activity of the soil fractions to determine levels of benzo[a]pyrene equivalents and, by extension, ELCR. Mutagenic activity results are presented in our companion paper.1 The results show that ELCR values for the PAH-containing fractions, determined using the chemical-specific approach, are generally (i.e., 8 out of 10) greater than those calculated using the bioassay-based approach; most are less than 5-fold greater. Only two chemical-specific ELCR estimates are less than their corresponding bioassay-derived values; differences are less than 10%. The bioassay-based approach, which permits estimation of ELCR without a priori knowledge of mixture composition, proved to be a useful tool to evaluate the chemical-specific approach. The results suggest that ELCR estimates for complex PAH mixtures determined using a targeted, chemical-specific approach are reasonable, albeit conservative. Calculated risk estimates still depend on contentious PEFs and cancer slope factors. Follow-up in vivo mutagenicity assessments will be required to validate the results and their relevance for human health risk assessment of PAH-contaminated soils.

Rapid screening of aquatic toxicity of several metal-based nanoparticles using the MetPLATE™ bioassay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pokhrel, Lok R.; Silva, Thilini; Dubey, Brajesh; El Badawy, Amro M.; Tolaymat, Thabet M.; Scheuerman, Phillip R.

2012-01-01

Current understanding of potential toxicity of engineered nanomaterials to aquatic microorganisms is limited for risk assessment and management. Here we evaluate if the MetPLATE™ test can be used as an effective and rapid screening tool to test for potential aquatic toxicity of various metal-based nanoparticles (NPs). The MetPLATE bioassay is a heavy metal sensitive test based on β-galactosidase activity in Escherichia coli. Five different types of metal-based NPs were screened for toxicity: (1) citrate coated nAg (Citrate-nanosilver), (2) polyvinylpyrrolidone coated nAg (PVP-nAg), (3) uncoated nZnO, (4) uncoated nTiO 2 and (5) 1-Octadecylamine coated CdSe Quantum Dots (CdSe QDs); and compared with their corresponding ionic salt toxicity. Citrate-nAg was further fractionated into clean Citrate-nAg, unclean Citrate-nAg and permeate using a tangential flow filtration (TFF) system to eliminate residual ions and impurities from the stock Citrate-nAg suspension and also to differentiate between ionic- versus nano-specific toxicity. Our results showed that nAg, nZnO and CdSe QDs were less toxic than their corresponding ionic salts tested, while nano- or ionic form of TiO 2 was not toxic as high as 2.5 g L −1 to the MetPLATE™ bacteria. Although coating-dependent toxicity was noticeable between two types of Ag NPs evaluated, particle size and surface charge were not adequate to explain the observed toxicity; hence, the toxicity appeared to be material-specific. Overall, the toxicity followed the trend: CdCl 2 > AgNO 3 > PVP-nAg > unclean Citrate-nAg > clean Citrate-nAg > ZnSO 4 > nZnO > CdSe QDs > nTiO 2 /TiO 2 . These results indicate that an evaluation of β-galactosidase inhibition in MetPLATE™ E. coli can be an important consideration for rapid screening of metal-based NP toxicity, and should facilitate ecological risk assessment of these emerging contaminants. - Highlights: ► MetPLATE bioassay was evaluated as a rapid screening tool for nanotoxicity. �

Simulating the Effect of Modulated Tool-Path Chip Breaking On Surface Texture and Chip Length

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, K.S.; McFarland, J.T.; Tursky, D. A.; Assaid, T. S.; Barkman, W. E.; Babelay, Jr., E. F.

2010-04-30

One method for creating broken chips in turning processes involves oscillating the cutting tool in the feed direction utilizing the CNC machine axes. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Y-12 National Security Complex have developed and are refining a method to reliably control surface finish and chip length based on a particular machine's dynamic performance. Using computer simulations it is possible to combine the motion of the machine axes with the geometry of the cutting tool to predict the surface characteristics and map the surface texture for a wide range of oscillation parameters. These data allow the selection of oscillation parameters to simultaneously ensure broken chips and acceptable surface characteristics. This paper describes the machine dynamic testing and characterization activities as well as the computational method used for evaluating and predicting chip length and surface texture.

Highly Sensitive and Selective Sensor Chips with Graphene-Oxide Linking Layer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stebunov, Yury V.; Aftenieva, Olga A.; Arsenin, Aleksey V.

2015-01-01

sensor chip for SPR biosensors based on graphene-oxide linking layers. The biosensing assay model was based on a graphene oxide film containing streptavidin. The proposed sensor chip has three times higher sensitivity than the carboxymethylated dextran surface of a commercial sensor chip. Moreover...

In situ TEM/SEM electronic/mechanical characterization of nano material with MEMS chip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yuelin; Li Tie; Zhang Xiao; Zeng Hongjiang; Jin Qinhua

2014-01-01

Our investigation of in situ observations on electronic and mechanical properties of nano materials using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM) with the help of traditional micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology has been reviewed. Thanks to the stability, continuity and controllability of the loading force from the electrostatic actuator and the sensitivity of the sensor beam, a MEMS tensile testing chip for accurate tensile testing in the nano scale is obtained. Based on the MEMS chips, the scale effect of Young's modulus in silicon has been studied and confirmed directly in a tensile experiment using a transmission electron microscope. Employing the nanomanipulation technology and FIB technology, Cu and SiC nanowires have been integrated into the tensile testing device and their mechanical, electronic properties under different stress have been achieved, simultaneously. All these will aid in better understanding the nano effects and contribute to the designation and application in nano devices. (invited papers)

A Microfluidic Chip Based on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance for Real-Time Monitoring of Antigen-Antibody Reactions

Science.gov (United States)

Hiep, Ha Minh; Nakayama, Tsuyoshi; Saito, Masato; Yamamura, Shohei; Takamura, Yuzuru; Tamiya, Eiichi

2008-02-01

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) connecting to noble metal nanoparticles is an important issue for many analytical and biological applications. Therefore, the development of microfluidic LSPR chip that allows studying biomolecular interactions becomes an essential requirement for micro total analysis systems (µTAS) integration. However, miniaturized process of the conventional surface plasmon resonance system has been faced with some limitations, especially with the usage of Kretschmann configuration in total internal reflection mode. In this study, we have tried to solve this problem by proposing a novel microfluidic LSPR chip operated with a simple collinear optical system. The poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) based microfluidic chip was fabricated by soft-lithography technique and enables to interrogate specific insulin and anti-insulin antibody reaction in real-time after immobilizing antibody on its surface. Moreover, the sensing ability of microfluidic LSPR chip was also evaluated with various glucose concentrations. The kinetic constant of insulin and anti-insulin antibody was determined and the detection limit of 100 ng/mL insulin was archived.

Comprehensive Investigation on Current Imbalance among Parallel Chips inside MW-Scale IGBT Power Modules

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Rui; Smirnova, Liudmila; Wang, Huai

2015-01-01

With the demands for increasing the power rating and improving reliability level of the high power IGBT modules, there are further needs of understanding how to achieve stable paralleling and identical current sharing between the chips. This paper investigates the stray parameters imbalance among...... parallel chips inside the 1.7 kV/1 kA high power IGBT modules at different frequencies by Ansys Q3D parastics extractor. The resulted current imbalance is further confirmed by experimental measurement....

[Application of bioassay in quality control of Chinese materia medica-taking Radix Isatidis as an example].

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Dan; Ren, Yongshen; Luo, Jiaoyang; Li, Hanbing; Feng, Xue; Xiao, Xiaohe

2010-10-01

Bioassay, which construct the characteristics consistents with Chinese medical science, is the core mode and methods for the quality control of Chinese materia medica. Taking the bioassay of Radix Isatidis as an example, the contribution, status and application of bioassay in the quality control of Chinese materia medica were introduced in this article, and two key issue (the selection of reference and measurement methods) in the process of establishing bioassay were also explained. This article expects to provide a reference for the development and improvement of the bioassay of Chinese materia medica in a practical manipulation level.

CMOS Image Sensors: Electronic Camera On A Chip

Science.gov (United States)

Fossum, E. R.

1995-01-01

Recent advancements in CMOS image sensor technology are reviewed, including both passive pixel sensors and active pixel sensors. On- chip analog to digital converters and on-chip timing and control circuits permit realization of an electronic camera-on-a-chip. Highly miniaturized imaging systems based on CMOS image sensor technology are emerging as a competitor to charge-coupled devices for low cost uses.

Energy Model of Networks-on-Chip and a Bus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolkotte, P.T.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Kavaldjiev, N.K.; Becker, Jens E.; Becker, Jürgen; Nurmi, J.; Takala, J.; Hamalainen, T.D.

2005-01-01

A Network-on-Chip (NoC) is an energy-efficient onchip communication architecture for Multi-Processor Systemon-Chip (MPSoC) architectures. In earlier papers we proposed two Network-on-Chip architectures based on packet-switching and circuit-switching. In this paper we derive an energy model for both

Study of a Microfluidic Chip Integrating Single Cell Trap and 3D Stable Rotation Manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Huang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Single cell manipulation technology has been widely applied in biological fields, such as cell injection/enucleation, cell physiological measurement, and cell imaging. Recently, a biochip platform with a novel configuration of electrodes for cell 3D rotation has been successfully developed by generating rotating electric fields. However, the rotation platform still has two major shortcomings that need to be improved. The primary problem is that there is no on-chip module to facilitate the placement of a single cell into the rotation chamber, which causes very low efficiency in experiment to manually pipette single 10-micron-scale cells into rotation position. Secondly, the cell in the chamber may suffer from unstable rotation, which includes gravity-induced sinking down to the chamber bottom or electric-force-induced on-plane movement. To solve the two problems, in this paper we propose a new microfluidic chip with manipulation capabilities of single cell trap and single cell 3D stable rotation, both on one chip. The new microfluidic chip consists of two parts. The top capture part is based on the least flow resistance principle and is used to capture a single cell and to transport it to the rotation chamber. The bottom rotation part is based on dielectrophoresis (DEP and is used to 3D rotate the single cell in the rotation chamber with enhanced stability. The two parts are aligned and bonded together to form closed channels for microfluidic handling. Using COMSOL simulation and preliminary experiments, we have verified, in principle, the concept of on-chip single cell traps and 3D stable rotation, and identified key parameters for chip structures, microfluidic handling, and electrode configurations. The work has laid a solid foundation for on-going chip fabrication and experiment validation.

Multi-function nuclear weight scale system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Mingquan; Sun Jinhua; Jia Changchun; Wang Mingqian; Tang Ke

1998-01-01

The author introduces the methods to contrive the hardware and software of a Multi-function Nuclear Weight Scale System based on the communication contract in compliance with RS485 between a master (industrial control computer 386) and a slave (single chip 8098) and its main functions

Wood chips procurement and research project at the Mikkeli region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saksa, T.; Auvinen, P.

1996-01-01

In 1993-94, a large-scale energywood production chain started as a co-operation project by the Mikkeli city forest office and local forestry societies. In 1995 over 115 000 m 3 (about 85 000 MWh of energy) of wood chips were delivered to Pursiala heat and power plant in Mikkeli. About 75 % of these chips was forest processed chips. About 70 % of the forest processed chips was whole tree chips from improvement cuttings of young forest stands and the rest was logging waste chips from regeneration cutting areas. The average total delivery costs of forest processed chips after reduction of energywood and other subsidies were approximately 45 FIM/m 3 (60 FIM/MWh) for the whole tree chips and 38 FIM/m 3 (50 FIM/MWh) for logging waste chips. The delivery costs of forest processed chips could meet the target of Bioenergy Research Programme (45 FIM/MWh) only in the most favourable cases. In an average the delivery costs were about 9 FIM/MWh more than the price obtained when sold to the heat and power plant. However the wood chip production created 27 new jobs and the increase of income to the local economy was about 2.2 milj. FIM /year. The local communities got new tax revenue about 3 FIM/MWh. The gain for the forestry was approximated to be 5 - 6 FIM/MWh. The resources of forest processed chips were studied on the basis of stand measurements. According to the study the most remarkable energywood resources were in young thinning stands on Oxalis-Myrtillus and Myrtillus forest site types. On Oxalis-Myrtillus type almost every and on Myrtillus type every second stand included energywood more than 40 m 3 /ha

Standardization of a fluconazole bioassay and correlation of results with those obtained by high-pressure liquid chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Rex, J H; Hanson, L H; Amantea, M A; Stevens, D A; Bennett, J E

1991-01-01

An improved bioassay for fluconazole was developed. This assay is sensitive in the clinically relevant range (2 to 40 micrograms/ml) and analyzes plasma, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid specimens; bioassay results correlate with results obtained by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Bioassay and HPLC analyses of spiked plasma, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid samples (run as unknowns) gave good agreement with expected values. Analysis of specimens from patients gave equivalent results by both HPLC and bioassay. HPLC had a lower within-run coefficient of variation (less than 2.5% for HPLC versus less than 11% for bioassay) and a lower between-run coefficient of variation (less than 5% versus less than 12% for bioassay) and was more sensitive (lower limit of detection, 0.1 micrograms/ml [versus 2 micrograms/ml for bioassay]). The bioassay is, however, sufficiently accurate and sensitive for clinical specimens, and its relative simplicity, low sample volume requirement, and low equipment cost should make it the technique of choice for analysis of routine clinical specimens. PMID:1854166

Bioassays for TSH Receptor Autoantibodies, from FRTL-5 Cells to TSH Receptor-LH/CG Receptor Chimeras: The Contribution of Leonard D. Kohn.

Science.gov (United States)

Giuliani, Cesidio; Saji, Motoyasu; Bucci, Ines; Napolitano, Giorgio

2016-01-01

Since the discovery 60 years ago of the "long-acting thyroid stimulator" by Adams and Purves, great progress has been made in the detection of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor (TSHR) autoantibodies (TRAbs) in Graves' disease. Today, commercial assays are available that can detect TRAbs with high accuracy and provide diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of patients with Graves' disease. The present review focuses on the development of TRAbs bioassays, and particularly on the role that Leonard D. Kohn had in this. Indeed, 30 years ago, the Kohn group developed a bioassay based on the use of FRTL-5 cells that was characterized by high reproducibility, feasibility, and diagnostic accuracy. Using this FRTL-5 bioassay, Kohn and his colleagues were the first to develop monoclonal antibodies (moAbs) against the TSHR. Furthermore, they demonstrated the multifaceted functional nature of TRAbs in patients with Graves' disease, with the identification of stimulating and blocking TRAbs, and even antibodies that activated pathways other than cAMP. After the cloning of the TSHR, the Kohn laboratory constructed human TSHR-rat luteinizing hormone/chorionic gonadotropin receptor chimeras. This paved the way to a new bioassay based on the use of non-thyroid cells transfected with the Mc4 chimera. The new Mc4 bioassay is characterized by high diagnostic and prognostic accuracy, greater than for other assays. The availability of a commercial kit based on the Mc4 chimera is spreading the use of this assay worldwide, indicating its benefits for these patients with Graves' disease. This review also describes the main contributions made by other researchers in TSHR molecular biology and TRAbs assay, especially with the development of highly potent moAbs. A comparison of the diagnostic accuracies of the main TRAbs assays, as both immunoassays and bioassays, is also provided.

BioAssay templates for the semantic web

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex M. Clark

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Annotation of bioassay protocols using semantic web vocabulary is a way to make experiment descriptions machine-readable. Protocols are communicated using concise scientific English, which precludes most kinds of analysis by software algorithms. Given the availability of a sufficiently expressive ontology, some or all of the pertinent information can be captured by asserting a series of facts, expressed as semantic web triples (subject, predicate, object. With appropriate annotation, assays can be searched, clustered, tagged and evaluated in a multitude of ways, analogous to other segments of drug discovery informatics. The BioAssay Ontology (BAO has been previously designed for this express purpose, and provides a layered hierarchy of meaningful terms which can be linked to. Currently the biggest challenge is the issue of content creation: scientists cannot be expected to use the BAO effectively without having access to software tools that make it straightforward to use the vocabulary in a canonical way. We have sought to remove this barrier by: (1 defining a BioAssay Template (BAT data model; (2 creating a software tool for experts to create or modify templates to suit their needs; and (3 designing a common assay template (CAT to leverage the most value from the BAO terms. The CAT was carefully assembled by biologists in order to find a balance between the maximum amount of information captured vs. low degrees of freedom in order to keep the user experience as simple as possible. The data format that we use for describing templates and corresponding annotations is the native format of the semantic web (RDF triples, and we demonstrate some of the ways that generated content can be meaningfully queried using the SPARQL language. We have made all of these materials available as open source (http://github.com/cdd/bioassay-template, in order to encourage community input and use within diverse projects, including but not limited to our own

Application of Bioassays for the Ecotoxicity Assessment of Contaminated Soils

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández, María D.; Babín, Mar; Tarazona, José V.

The use of bioassays for soil characterization is receiving significant attention as a complementary tool to chemical analysis. Bioassays consist of direct toxicity assays of environmental samples that are transferred to the laboratory and analyzed for toxicity against selected organisms. Such soil samples contain the combination of the different pollutants present in situ and enable factors such as the bioavailability of contaminants or the interactions (synergic and antagonic) between them to be simultaneously studied.

Crosstalk in modern on-chip interconnects a FDTD approach

CERN Document Server

Kaushik, B K; Patnaik, Amalendu

2016-01-01

The book provides accurate FDTD models for on-chip interconnects, covering most recent advancements in materials and design. Furthermore, depending on the geometry and physical configurations, different electrical equivalent models for CNT and GNR based interconnects are presented. Based on the electrical equivalent models the performance comparison among the Cu, CNT and GNR-based interconnects are also discussed in the book. The proposed models are validated with the HSPICE simulations. The book introduces the current research scenario in the modeling of on-chip interconnects. It presents the structure, properties, and characteristics of graphene based on-chip interconnects and the FDTD modeling of Cu based on-chip interconnects. The model considers the non-linear effects of CMOS driver as well as the transmission line effects of interconnect line that includes coupling capacitance and mutual inductance effects. In a more realistic manner, the proposed model includes the effect of width-dependent MFP of the ...

7 Vascular Hydrophytes for Bioassay.cdr

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

4 water (see Table 1). tool. The greater extension growth of macrophyte shoots in water from downstream of STWs (Fig. 1) was supported by both chemical analysis, which showed increased phosphate concentration (Table 1), and by conventional Selenastrum bioassay in which higher cell concentrations were achieved.

Flip chip assembly of thinned chips for hybrid pixel detector applications

CERN Document Server

Fritzsch, T; Woehrmann, M; Rothermund, M; Huegging, F; Ehrmann, O; Oppermann, H; Lang, K.D

2014-01-01

There is a steady trend to ultra-thin microelectronic devices. Especially for future particle detector systems a reduced readout chip thickness is required to limit the loss of tracking precision due to scattering. The reduction of silicon thickness is performed at wafer level in a two-step thinning process. To minimize the risk of wafer breakage the thinned wafer needs to be handled by a carrier during the whole process chain of wafer bumping. Another key process is the flip chip assembly of thinned readout chips onto thin sensor tiles. Besides the prevention of silicon breakage the minimization of chip warpage is one additional task for a high yield and reliable flip chip process. A new technology using glass carrier wafer will be described in detail. The main advantage of this technology is the combination of a carrier support during wafer processing and the chip support during flip chip assembly. For that a glass wafer is glue-bonded onto the backside of the thinned readout chip wafer. After the bump depo...

Moving-part-free microfluidic systems for lab-on-a-chip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, J K; Fu, Y Q; Du, X Y; Flewitt, A J; Milne, W I; Li, Y; Walton, A J

2009-01-01

Microfluidic systems are part of an emerging technology which deals with minute amounts of liquids (biological samples and reagents) on a small scale. They are fast, compact and can be made into a highly integrated system to deliver sample purification, separation, reaction, immobilization, labelling, as well as detection, thus are promising for applications such as lab-on-a-chip and handheld healthcare devices. Miniaturized micropumps typically consist of a moving-part component, such as a membrane structure, to deliver liquids, and are often unreliable, complicated in structure and difficult to be integrated with other control electronics circuits. The trend of new-generation micropumps is moving-part-free micropumps operated by advanced techniques, such as electrokinetic force, surface tension/energy, acoustic waves. This paper reviews the development and advances of relevant technologies, and introduces electrowetting-on-dielectrics and acoustic wave-based microfluidics. The programmable electrowetting micropump has been realized to dispense and manipulate droplets in 2D with up to 1000 addressable electrodes and electronics built underneath. The acoustic wave-based microfluidics can be used not only for pumping, mixing and droplet generation but also for biosensors, suitable for single-mechanism-based lab-on-a-chip applications

Integrated sample-to-detection chip for nucleic acid test assays.

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash, R; Pabbaraju, K; Wong, S; Tellier, R; Kaler, K V I S

2016-06-01

Nucleic acid based diagnostic techniques are routinely used for the detection of infectious agents. Most of these assays rely on nucleic acid extraction platforms for the extraction and purification of nucleic acids and a separate real-time PCR platform for quantitative nucleic acid amplification tests (NATs). Several microfluidic lab on chip (LOC) technologies have been developed, where mechanical and chemical methods are used for the extraction and purification of nucleic acids. Microfluidic technologies have also been effectively utilized for chip based real-time PCR assays. However, there are few examples of microfluidic systems which have successfully integrated these two key processes. In this study, we have implemented an electro-actuation based LOC micro-device that leverages multi-frequency actuation of samples and reagents droplets for chip based nucleic acid extraction and real-time, reverse transcription (RT) PCR (qRT-PCR) amplification from clinical samples. Our prototype micro-device combines chemical lysis with electric field assisted isolation of nucleic acid in a four channel parallel processing scheme. Furthermore, a four channel parallel qRT-PCR amplification and detection assay is integrated to deliver the sample-to-detection NAT chip. The NAT chip combines dielectrophoresis and electrostatic/electrowetting actuation methods with resistive micro-heaters and temperature sensors to perform chip based integrated NATs. The two chip modules have been validated using different panels of clinical samples and their performance compared with standard platforms. This study has established that our integrated NAT chip system has a sensitivity and specificity comparable to that of the standard platforms while providing up to 10 fold reduction in sample/reagent volumes.

Piezoresistive microcantilever based lab-on-a-chip system for detection of macronutrients in the soil

Science.gov (United States)

Patkar, Rajul S.; Ashwin, Mamta; Rao, V. Ramgopal

2017-12-01

Monitoring of soil nutrients is very important in precision agriculture. In this paper, we have demonstrated a micro electro mechanical system based lab-on-a-chip system for detection of various soil macronutrients which are available in ionic form K+, NO3-, and H2PO4-. These sensors are highly sensitive piezoresistive silicon microcantilevers coated with a polymer matrix containing methyltridodecylammonium nitrate ionophore/ nitrate ionophore VI for nitrate sensing, 18-crown-6 ether for potassium sensing and Tributyltin chloride for phosphate detection. A complete lab-on-a-chip system integrating a highly sensitive current excited Wheatstone's bridge based portable electronic setup along with arrays of microcantilever devices mounted on a printed circuit board with a liquid flow cell for on the site experimentation for soil test has been demonstrated.

Wirebond crosstalk and cavity modes in large chip mounts for superconducting qubits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wenner, J; Neeley, M; Bialczak, Radoslaw C; Lenander, M; Lucero, Erik; O' Connell, A D; Sank, D; Wang, H; Weides, M; Cleland, A N; Martinis, John M, E-mail: martinis@physics.ucsb.edu [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)

2011-06-15

We analyze the performance of a microwave chip mount that uses wirebonds to connect the chip and mount grounds. A simple impedance ladder model predicts that transmission crosstalk between two feedlines falls off exponentially with distance at low frequencies, but rises to near unity above a resonance frequency set by the chip to ground capacitance. Using SPICE simulations and experimental measurements of a scale model, the basic predictions of the ladder model were verified. In particular, by decreasing the capacitance between the chip and box grounds, the resonance frequency increased and transmission decreased. This model then influenced the design of a new mount that improved the isolation to - 65 dB at 6 GHz, even though the chip dimensions were increased to 1 cm x 1 cm, three times as large as our previous devices. We measured a coplanar resonator in this mount as preparation for larger qubit chips, and were able to identify cavity, slotline, and resonator modes.

Wirebond crosstalk and cavity modes in large chip mounts for superconducting qubits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenner, J; Neeley, M; Bialczak, Radoslaw C; Lenander, M; Lucero, Erik; O'Connell, A D; Sank, D; Wang, H; Weides, M; Cleland, A N; Martinis, John M

2011-01-01

We analyze the performance of a microwave chip mount that uses wirebonds to connect the chip and mount grounds. A simple impedance ladder model predicts that transmission crosstalk between two feedlines falls off exponentially with distance at low frequencies, but rises to near unity above a resonance frequency set by the chip to ground capacitance. Using SPICE simulations and experimental measurements of a scale model, the basic predictions of the ladder model were verified. In particular, by decreasing the capacitance between the chip and box grounds, the resonance frequency increased and transmission decreased. This model then influenced the design of a new mount that improved the isolation to - 65 dB at 6 GHz, even though the chip dimensions were increased to 1 cm x 1 cm, three times as large as our previous devices. We measured a coplanar resonator in this mount as preparation for larger qubit chips, and were able to identify cavity, slotline, and resonator modes.

Fully Automated On-Chip Imaging Flow Cytometry System with Disposable Contamination-Free Plastic Re-Cultivation Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomoyuki Kaneko

2011-06-01

Full Text Available We have developed a novel imaging cytometry system using a poly(methyl methacrylate (PMMA based microfluidic chip. The system was contamination-free, because sample suspensions contacted only with a flammable PMMA chip and no other component of the system. The transparency and low-fluorescence of PMMA was suitable for microscopic imaging of cells flowing through microchannels on the chip. Sample particles flowing through microchannels on the chip were discriminated by an image-recognition unit with a high-speed camera in real time at the rate of 200 event/s, e.g., microparticles 2.5 μm and 3.0 μm in diameter were differentiated with an error rate of less than 2%. Desired cells were separated automatically from other cells by electrophoretic or dielectrophoretic force one by one with a separation efficiency of 90%. Cells in suspension with fluorescent dye were separated using the same kind of microfluidic chip. Sample of 5 μL with 1 × 106 particle/mL was processed within 40 min. Separated cells could be cultured on the microfluidic chip without contamination. The whole operation of sample handling was automated using 3D micropipetting system. These results showed that the novel imaging flow cytometry system is practically applicable for biological research and clinical diagnostics.

Microfluidics without channels: highly-flexible synthesis on a digital-microfluidic chip for production of diverse PET tracers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Dam, Robert Michael [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2010-09-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is used for fundamental studies of living biological organisms and microbial ecosystems in applications ranging from biofuel production to environmental remediation to the study, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring of human disease. Routine access to PET imaging, to monitor biochemical reactions in living organisms in real time, could accelerate a broad range of research programs of interest to DOE. Using PET requires access to short-lived radioactive-labeled compounds that specifically probe the desired living processes. The overall aims of this project were to develop a miniature liquid-handling technology platform (called “microfluidics”) that increases the availability of diverse PET probes by reducing the cost and complexity of their production. Based on preliminary experiments showing that microfluidic chips can synthesis such compounds, we aimed to advance this technology to improve its robustness, increase its flexibility for a broad range of probes, and increase its user-friendliness. Through the research activities of this project, numerous advances were made; Tools were developed to enable the visualization of radioactive materials within microfluidic chips; Fundamental advances were made in the microfluidic chip architecture and fabrication process to increase its robustness and reliability; The microfluidic chip technology was shown to produce useful quantities of an example PET probes, and methods to further increase the output were successfully pursued; A “universal” chip was developed that could produce multiple types of PET probes, enabling the possibility of “on demand” synthesis of different probes; and Operation of the chip was automated to ensure minimal radiation exposure to the operator Based on the demonstrations of promising technical feasibility and performance, the microfluidic chip technology is currently being commercialized. It is anticipated that costs of microfluidic chips can be

Comparison of solid-phase bioassays and ecoscores to evaluate the toxicity of contaminated soils.

OpenAIRE

Lors , Christine; Ponge , Jean-François; Martínez Aldaya , Maite; Damidot , Denis

2010-01-01

International audience; Five bioassays (inhibition of lettuce germination and growth, earthworm mortality, inhibition of springtail population growth, avoidance by springtails) were compared, using four coke factory soils contaminated by PAHs and trace elements, before and after biotreatment. For each bioassay, several endpoints were combined in an 'ecoscore', a measure of test sensitivity. Ecoscores pooled over all tested bioassays revealed that most organisms were highly sensitive to the co...

On-chip integrated lasers for biophotonic applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mappes, Timo; Wienhold, Tobias; Bog, Uwe

Meeting the need of biomedical users, we develop disposable Lab-on-a-Chip systems based on commercially available polymers. We are combining passive microfluidics with active optical elements on-chip by integrating multiple solid-state and liquid-core lasers. While covering a wide range of laser ...

Quantifying Asphalt Emulsion-Based Chip Seal Curing Times Using Electrical Resistance Measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-15

Chip sealing typically consists of covering a pavement surface with asphalt emulsion into which aggregate chips are embedded. The asphalt emulsion cures through the evaporation of water, thus providing mechanical strength to adhere to the pavement wh...

Optimization and field use of a bioassay to monitor sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis sensitivity to emamectin benzoate.

Science.gov (United States)

Westcott, Jillian D; Stryhn, Henrik; Burka, John F; Hammell, K Larry

2008-04-01

A bioassay for sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis sensitivity towards emamectin benzoate (EMB) was validated for field use. A probit regression model with natural responsiveness was used for the number of affected (moribund or dead) sea lice in bioassays involving different concentrations of EMB. Bioassay optimization included an evaluation of the inter-rater reliability of sea lice responsiveness to EMB and an evaluation of gender-related differences in susceptibility. Adoption of a set of bioassay response criteria improved the concordance (evaluated using the concordance correlation coefficient) between raters' assessments and the model estimation of EC50 values (the 'effective concentration' leading to a response of 50% of the lice not prone to natural response). An evaluation of gender-related differences in EMB susceptibility indicated that preadult stage female sea lice exhibited a significantly larger sensitivity towards EMB in 12 of 19 bioassays compared to preadult males. In order to evaluate sea lice sensitivity to EMB in eastern Canada, the intensive salmon farming area in the Bay of Fundy in southwestern New Brunswick was divided into 4 distinct regions based on industry health management practices and hydrographics. A total of 38 bioassays were completed from 2002 to 2005 using populations of preadult stage sea lice collected from Atlantic salmon Salmo salar farms within the 4 described regions. There was no significant overall effect of region or year on EC50 values; however, analysis of variance indicated a significant effect of time of year on EC50 values in 2002 and a potential effect in 2004 to 2005. Although the range of EC50 values obtained in this 3 yr study did not appear sufficient to affect current clinical success in the control of sea lice, the results suggest a seasonal- or temperature-associated variation in sensitivity to EMB. This will need to be considered if changes in EMB efficacy occur in the future.

Interpretation of thorium bioassay data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juliao, L.M.Q.C.; Azeredo, A.M.G.F.; Santos, M.S.; Melo, D.R.; Dantas, B.M.; Lipsztein, J.L.

1994-01-01

A comparison have been made between bioassay data of thorium-exposed workers from two different facilities. The first of these facilities is a monazite sand extraction plant. Isotopic equilibrium between 232 Th and 238 Th was not observed in excreta samples of these workers. The second facility is a gas mantle factory. An isotopic equilibrium between 232 Th and 228 Th was observed in extra samples. Whole body counter measurements have indicated a very low intake of thorium through inhalation. As the concentration of thorium in feces was very high it was concluded that the main pathway of entrance of the nuclide was ingestion, mainly via contamination through dirty hands. The comparison between the bioassay results of workers from the two facilities shows that the lack of Th isotopic equilibrium observed in the excretion from the workers at the monazite sand plant possibly occurred due to an additional Th intake by ingestion of contaminated fresh food. This is presumably because 228 Ra is more efficiently taken up from the soil by plants, in comparison to 228 Th or 232 Th, and subsequently, 228 Th grows in from its immediate parent, 228 Ra. (author) 5 refs.; 3 tabs

Micro-organism distribution sampling for bioassays

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, B. A.

1975-01-01

Purpose of sampling distribution is to characterize sample-to-sample variation so statistical tests may be applied, to estimate error due to sampling (confidence limits) and to evaluate observed differences between samples. Distribution could be used for bioassays taken in hospitals, breweries, food-processing plants, and pharmaceutical plants.

Integrated three-dimensional optical MEMS for chip-based fluorescence detection

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Kuo-Yung; Tseng, Fan-Gang; Khoo, Hwa-Seng

2009-04-01

This paper presents a novel fluorescence sensing chip for parallel protein microarray detection in the context of a 3-in-1 protein chip system. This portable microchip consists of a monolithic integration of CMOS-based avalanche photo diodes (APDs) combined with a polymer micro-lens, a set of three-dimensional (3D) inclined mirrors for separating adjacent light signals and a low-noise transformer-free dc-dc boost mini-circuit to power the APDs (ripple below 1.28 mV, 0-5 V input, 142 V and 12 mA output). We fabricated our APDs using the planar CMOS process so as to facilitate the post-CMOS integration of optical MEMS components such as the lenses. The APD arrays were arranged in unique circular patterns appropriate for detecting the specific fluorescently labelled protein spots in our study. The array-type APDs were designed so as to compensate for any alignment error as detected by a positional error signal algorithm. The condenser lens was used as a structure for light collection to enhance the fluorescent signals by about 25%. This element also helped to reduce the light loss due to surface absorption. We fabricated an inclined mirror to separate two adjacent fluorescent signals from different specimens. Excitation using evanescent waves helped reduce the interference of the excitation light source. This approach also reduced the number of required optical lenses and minimized the complexity of the structural design. We achieved detection floors for anti-rabbit IgG and Cy5 fluorescent dye as low as 0.5 ng/µl (~3.268 nM). We argue that the intrinsic nature of point-to-point and batch-detection methods as showcased in our chip offers advantages over the serial-scanning approach used in traditional scanner systems. In addition, our system is low cost and lightweight.

Field and Bioassay Indicators for Internal Dose Intervention Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carbaugh, Eugene H.

2007-01-01

Guidance is presented that is used at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site to identify the potential need for medical intervention in response to intakes of radioactivity. The guidance, based on ICRP Publication 30 models and committed effective dose equivalents of 20 mSv and 200 mSv, is expressed as numerical workplace measurements and derived first-day bioassay results for large intakes. It is used by facility radiation protection staff and on-call dosimetry support staff during the first few days following an intake

Ion Chromatography-on-a-chip for Water Quality Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, R. D.; Noell, A.; Kazarians, G.; Aubrey, A. D.; Scianmarello, N.; Tai, Y.-C.

2015-01-01

We report progress towards developing a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)- based ion chromatograph (IC) for crewed spacecraft water analysis. This IC-chip is an offshoot of a NASA-funded effort to produce a high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC)-chip. This HPLC-chip system would require a desalting (i.e. ion chromatography) step. The complete HPLC instrument consists of the Jet Propulsion Labortory's (JPL's) quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer integrated with a state-of-the-art MEMS liquid chromatograph (LC) system developed by the California Institute of Technology's (Caltech's) Micromachining Laboratory. The IC version of the chip consist of an electrolysis-based injector, a separation column, two electrolysis pumps for gradient generation, mixer, and a built-in conductivity detector. The HPLC version of the chip also includes a nanospray tip. The low instrument mass, coupled with its high analytical capabilities, makes the LC chip ideally suitable for wide range of applications such as trace contaminant, inorganic analytical science and, when coupled to a mass spectrometer, a macromolecular detection system for either crewed space exploration vehicles or robotic planetary missions.

A simple clockless Network-on-Chip for a commercial audio DSP chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stensgaard, Mikkel Bystrup; Bjerregaard, Tobias; Sparsø, Jens

2006-01-01

We design a very small, packet-switched, clockless Network-on-Chip (NoC) as a replacement for the existing crossbar-based communication infrastructure in a commercial audio DSP chip. Both solutions are laid out in a 0.18 um process, and compared in terms of area, power consumption and routing...... to the existing crossbar, it allows all blocks to communicate. The total wire length is decreased by 22% which eases the layout process and makes the design less prone to routing congestion. Not least, the communicating blocks are decoupled by means of the NoC, providing a Globally-Asynchronous, Locally...

Investigation of independence in inter-animal tumor-type occurrences within the NTP rodent-bioassay database

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bogen, K.T. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Seilkop, S. [Analytical Sciences, Inc., Durham, NC (United States)

1993-05-01

Statistically significant elevation in tumor incidence at multiple histologically distinct sites is occasionally observed among rodent bioassays of chemically induced carcinogenesis. If such data are to be relied on (as they have, e.g., by the US EPA) for quantitative cancer potency assessment, their proper analysis requires a knowledge of the extent to which multiple tumor-type occurrences are independent or uncorrelated within individual bioassay animals. Although difficult to assess in a statistically rigorous fashion, a few significant associations among tumor-type occurrences in rodent bioassays have been reported. However, no comprehensive studies of animal-specific tumor-type occurrences at death or sacrifice have been conducted using the extensive set of available NTP rodent-bioassay data, on which most cancer-potency assessment for environmental chemicals is currently based. This report presents the results of such an analysis conducted on behalf of the National Research Council`s Committee on Risk Assessment for Hazardous Air Pollutants. Tumor-type associations among individual animals were examined for {approximately}2500 to 3000 control and {approximately}200 to 600 treated animals using pathology data from 62 B6C3F1 mouse studies and 61 F/344N rat studies obtained from a readily available subset of the NTP carcinogenesis bioassay database. No evidence was found for any large correlation in either the onset probability or the prevalence-at-death or sacrifice of any tumor-type pair investigated in control and treated rats and niece, although a few of the small correlations present were statistically significant. Tumor-type occurrences were in most cases nearly independent, and departures from independence, where they did occur, were small. This finding is qualified in that tumor-type onset correlations were measured only indirectly, given the limited nature of the data analyzed.

Support for Programming Models in Network-on-Chip-based Many-core Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Morten Sleth

This thesis addresses aspects of support for programming models in Network-on- Chip-based many-core architectures. The main focus is to consider architectural support for a plethora of programming models in a single system. The thesis has three main parts. The first part considers parallelization...... models to be supported by a single architecture. The architecture features a specialized network interface processor which allows extensive configurability of the memory system. Based on this architecture, a detailed implementation of the cache coherent shared memory programming model is presented...

TrackCC: A Practical Wireless Indoor Localization System Based on Less-Expensive Chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaolong Li

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at proposing a new wireless indoor localization system (ILS, called TrackCC, based on a commercial type of low-power system-on-chip (SoC, nRF24LE1. This type of chip has only l output power levels and acute fluctuation for a received minimum power level in operation, which give rise to many practical challenges for designing localization algorithms. In order to address these challenges, we exploit the Markov theory to construct a ( l + 1 × ( l + 1 -sized state transition matrix to remove the fluctuation, and then propose a priority-based pattern matching algorithm to search for the most similar match in the signal map to estimate the real position of unknown nodes. The experimental results show that, compared to two existing wireless ILSs, LANDMARC and SAIL, which have meter level positioning accuracy, the proposed TrackCC can achieve the decimeter level accuracy on average in both line-of-sight (LOS and non-line-of-sight (NLOS senarios.

A 3D Microfluidic Chip for Electrochemical Detection of Hydrolysed Nucleic Bases by a Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana Vlachova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Modification of carbon materials, especially graphene-based materials, has wide applications in electrochemical detection such as electrochemical lab-on-chip devices. A glassy carbon electrode (GCE modified with chemically alternated graphene oxide was used as a working electrode (glassy carbon modified by graphene oxide with sulphur containing compounds and Nafion for detection of nucleobases in hydrolysed samples (HCl pH = 2.9, 100 °C, 1 h, neutralization by NaOH. It was found out that modification, especially with trithiocyanuric acid, increased the sensitivity of detection in comparison with pure GCE. All processes were finally implemented in a microfluidic chip formed with a 3D printer by fused deposition modelling technology. As a material for chip fabrication, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene was chosen because of its mechanical and chemical stability. The chip contained the one chamber for the hydrolysis of the nucleic acid and another for the electrochemical detection by the modified GCE. This chamber was fabricated to allow for replacement of the GCE.

A 3D microfluidic chip for electrochemical detection of hydrolysed nucleic bases by a modified glassy carbon electrode.

Science.gov (United States)

Vlachova, Jana; Tmejova, Katerina; Kopel, Pavel; Korabik, Maria; Zitka, Jan; Hynek, David; Kynicky, Jindrich; Adam, Vojtech; Kizek, Rene

2015-01-22

Modification of carbon materials, especially graphene-based materials, has wide applications in electrochemical detection such as electrochemical lab-on-chip devices. A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with chemically alternated graphene oxide was used as a working electrode (glassy carbon modified by graphene oxide with sulphur containing compounds and Nafion) for detection of nucleobases in hydrolysed samples (HCl pH = 2.9, 100 °C, 1 h, neutralization by NaOH). It was found out that modification, especially with trithiocyanuric acid, increased the sensitivity of detection in comparison with pure GCE. All processes were finally implemented in a microfluidic chip formed with a 3D printer by fused deposition modelling technology. As a material for chip fabrication, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene was chosen because of its mechanical and chemical stability. The chip contained the one chamber for the hydrolysis of the nucleic acid and another for the electrochemical detection by the modified GCE. This chamber was fabricated to allow for replacement of the GCE.

Chip-scale pattern modification method for equalizing residual layer thickness in nanoimprint lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Youn, Sung-Won; Suzuki, Kenta; Hiroshima, Hiroshi

2018-06-01

A software program for modifying a mold design to obtain a uniform residual layer thickness (RLT) distribution has been developed and its validity was verified by UV-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) simulation. First, the effects of granularity (G) on both residual layer uniformity and filling characteristics were characterized. For a constant complementary pattern depth and a granularity that was sufficiently larger than the minimum pattern width, filling time decreased with the decrease in granularity. For a pattern design with a wide density range and an irregular distribution, the choice of a small granularity was not always a good strategy since the etching depth required for a complementary pattern occasionally exceptionally increased with the decrease in granularity. On basis of the results obtained, the automated method was applied to a chip-scale pattern modification. Simulation results showed a marked improvement in residual layer thickness uniformity for a capacity-equalized (CE) mold. For the given conditions, the standard deviation of RLT decreased in the range from 1/3 to 1/5 in accordance with pattern designs.

Chips 2020

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

The release of this second volume of CHIPS 2020 coincides with the 50th anniversary of Moore’s Law, a critical year marked by the end of the nanometer roadmap and by a significantly reduced annual rise in chip performance. At the same time, we are witnessing a data explosion in the Internet, which is consuming 40% more electrical power every year, leading to fears of a major blackout of the Internet by 2020. The messages of the first CHIPS 2020, published in 2012, concerned the realization of quantum steps for improving the energy efficiency of all chip functions. With this second volume, we review these messages and amplify upon the most promising directions: ultra-low-voltage electronics, nanoscale monolithic 3D integration, relevant-data, brain- and human-vision-inspired processing, and energy harvesting for chip autonomy. The team of authors, enlarged by more world leaders in low-power, monolithic 3D, video, and Silicon brains, presents new vistas in nanoelectronics, promising  Moore-like exponential g...

Quantum interference in heterogeneous superconducting-photonic circuits on a silicon chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuck, C; Guo, X; Fan, L; Ma, X; Poot, M; Tang, H X

2016-01-21

Quantum information processing holds great promise for communicating and computing data efficiently. However, scaling current photonic implementation approaches to larger system size remains an outstanding challenge for realizing disruptive quantum technology. Two main ingredients of quantum information processors are quantum interference and single-photon detectors. Here we develop a hybrid superconducting-photonic circuit system to show how these elements can be combined in a scalable fashion on a silicon chip. We demonstrate the suitability of this approach for integrated quantum optics by interfering and detecting photon pairs directly on the chip with waveguide-coupled single-photon detectors. Using a directional coupler implemented with silicon nitride nanophotonic waveguides, we observe 97% interference visibility when measuring photon statistics with two monolithically integrated superconducting single-photon detectors. The photonic circuit and detector fabrication processes are compatible with standard semiconductor thin-film technology, making it possible to implement more complex and larger scale quantum photonic circuits on silicon chips.

Soil plate bioassay: an effective method to determine ecotoxicological risks.

Science.gov (United States)

Boluda, R; Roca-Pérez, L; Marimón, L

2011-06-01

Heavy metals have become one of the most serious anthropogenic stressors for plants and other living organisms. Having efficient and feasible bioassays available to assess the ecotoxicological risks deriving from soil pollution is necessary. This work determines pollution by Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V and Zn in two soils used for growing rice from the Albufera Natural Park in Valencia (Spain). Both were submitted to a different degree of anthropic activity, and their ecotoxicological risk was assessed by four ecotoxicity tests to compare their effectiveness: Microtox test, Zucconi test, pot bioassay (PB) and soil plate bioassay (SPB). The sensitivity of three plant species (barley, cress and lettuce) was also assessed. The results reveal a different degree of effectiveness and level of inhibition in the target organisms' growth depending on the test applied, to such an extent that the one-way analysis of variance showed significant differences only for the plate bioassay results, with considerable inhibition of root and shoot elongation in seedlings. Of the three plant species selected, lettuce was the most sensitive species to toxic effects, followed by cress and barley. Finally, the results also indicate that the SPB is an efficient, simple and economic alternative to other ecotoxicological assays to assess toxicity risks deriving from soil pollution. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated, Miniaturized and Integrated Quality Control-on-Chip (QC-on-a-Chip for Advanced Cell Therapy Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David eWartmann

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The combination of microfabrication-based technologies with cell biology has laid the foundation for the development of advanced in vitro diagnostic systems capable of evaluating cell cultures under defined, reproducible and standardizable measurement conditions. In the present review we describe recent lab-on-a-chip developments for cell analysis and how these methodologies could improve standard quality control in the field of manufacturing cell-based vaccines for clinical purposes. We highlight in particular the regulatory requirements for advanced cell therapy applications using as an example dendritic cell-based cancer vaccines to describe the tangible advantages of microfluidic devices that overcome most of the challenges associated with automation, miniaturization and integration of cell-based assays. As its main advantage lab-on-a-chip technology allows for precise regulation of culturing conditions, while simultaneously monitoring cell relevant parameters using embedded sensory systems. State-of-the-art lab-on-a-chip platforms for in vitro assessment of cell cultures and their potential future applications for cell therapies and cancer immunotherapy are discussed in the present review.

On-chip photonic interconnects a computer architect's perspective

CERN Document Server

Nitta, Christopher J; Akella, Venkatesh

2013-01-01

As the number of cores on a chip continues to climb, architects will need to address both bandwidth and power consumption issues related to the interconnection network. Electrical interconnects are not likely to scale well to a large number of processors for energy efficiency reasons, and the problem is compounded by the fact that there is a fixed total power budget for a die, dictated by the amount of heat that can be dissipated without special (and expensive) cooling and packaging techniques. Thus, there is a need to seek alternatives to electrical signaling for on-chip interconnection appli

A novel gold nanoparticle-DNA aptamer-based plasmonic chip for rapid and sensitive detection of bacterial pathogens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sun, Yi; Phuoc Long, Truong; Wolff, Anders

2016-01-01

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-based biosensors are emerging technologies for rapid detection of pathogens. However, it is very challenging to develop chip-based AuNP-biosensors for whole cells. This paper describes a novel AuNPs-DNA aptamer-based plasmonic assay which allows DNA aptamers...

Adaptive Code Division Multiple Access Protocol for Wireless Network-on-Chip Architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Vijayakumaran, Vineeth

outperformed the wired counterparts and several other wireless architectures proposed in literature in terms of bandwidth and packet energy dissipation. Significant gains were observed in packet energy dissipation and bandwidth even with scaling the system to higher number of cores. Non-uniform traffic simulations showed that the proposed CDMA-WiNoC was consistent in bandwidth across all traffic patterns. It is also shown that the CDMA based MAC scheme does not introduce additional reliability concerns in data transfer over the on-chip wireless interconnects.

On-Chip Magnetic Bead Manipulation and Detection Using a Magnetoresistive Sensor-Based Micro-Chip: Design Considerations and Experimental Characterization

KAUST Repository

Gooneratne, Chinthaka Pasan; Kodzius, Rimantas; Li, Fuquan; Foulds, Ian G.; Kosel, Jü rgen

2016-01-01

The remarkable advantages micro-chip platforms offer over cumbersome, time-consuming equipment currently in use for bio-analysis are well documented. In this research, a micro-chip that includes a unique magnetic actuator (MA) for the manipulation of superparamagnetic beads (SPBs), and a magnetoresistive sensor for the detection of SPBs is presented. A design methodology, which takes into account the magnetic volume of SPBs, diffusion and heat transfer phenomena, is presented with the aid of numerical analysis to optimize the parameters of the MA. The MA was employed as a magnetic flux generator and experimental analysis with commercially available COMPEL™ and Dynabeads® demonstrated the ability of the MA to precisely transport a small number of SPBs over long distances and concentrate SPBs to a sensing site for detection. Moreover, the velocities of COMPEL™ and Dynabead® SPBs were correlated to their magnetic volumes and were in good agreement with numerical model predictions. We found that 2.8 μm Dynabeads® travel faster, and can be attracted to a magnetic source from a longer distance, than 6.2 μm COMPEL™ beads at magnetic flux magnitudes of less than 10 mT. The micro-chip system could easily be integrated with electronic circuitry and microfluidic functions, paving the way for an on-chip biomolecule quantification device

On-Chip Magnetic Bead Manipulation and Detection Using a Magnetoresistive Sensor-Based Micro-Chip: Design Considerations and Experimental Characterization

KAUST Repository

Gooneratne, Chinthaka Pasan

2016-08-26

The remarkable advantages micro-chip platforms offer over cumbersome, time-consuming equipment currently in use for bio-analysis are well documented. In this research, a micro-chip that includes a unique magnetic actuator (MA) for the manipulation of superparamagnetic beads (SPBs), and a magnetoresistive sensor for the detection of SPBs is presented. A design methodology, which takes into account the magnetic volume of SPBs, diffusion and heat transfer phenomena, is presented with the aid of numerical analysis to optimize the parameters of the MA. The MA was employed as a magnetic flux generator and experimental analysis with commercially available COMPEL™ and Dynabeads® demonstrated the ability of the MA to precisely transport a small number of SPBs over long distances and concentrate SPBs to a sensing site for detection. Moreover, the velocities of COMPEL™ and Dynabead® SPBs were correlated to their magnetic volumes and were in good agreement with numerical model predictions. We found that 2.8 μm Dynabeads® travel faster, and can be attracted to a magnetic source from a longer distance, than 6.2 μm COMPEL™ beads at magnetic flux magnitudes of less than 10 mT. The micro-chip system could easily be integrated with electronic circuitry and microfluidic functions, paving the way for an on-chip biomolecule quantification device

On-Chip Magnetic Bead Manipulation and Detection Using a Magnetoresistive Sensor-Based Micro-Chip: Design Considerations and Experimental Characterization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chinthaka P. Gooneratne

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The remarkable advantages micro-chip platforms offer over cumbersome, time-consuming equipment currently in use for bio-analysis are well documented. In this research, a micro-chip that includes a unique magnetic actuator (MA for the manipulation of superparamagnetic beads (SPBs, and a magnetoresistive sensor for the detection of SPBs is presented. A design methodology, which takes into account the magnetic volume of SPBs, diffusion and heat transfer phenomena, is presented with the aid of numerical analysis to optimize the parameters of the MA. The MA was employed as a magnetic flux generator and experimental analysis with commercially available COMPEL™ and Dynabeads® demonstrated the ability of the MA to precisely transport a small number of SPBs over long distances and concentrate SPBs to a sensing site for detection. Moreover, the velocities of COMPEL™ and Dynabead® SPBs were correlated to their magnetic volumes and were in good agreement with numerical model predictions. We found that 2.8 μm Dynabeads® travel faster, and can be attracted to a magnetic source from a longer distance, than 6.2 μm COMPEL™ beads at magnetic flux magnitudes of less than 10 mT. The micro-chip system could easily be integrated with electronic circuitry and microfluidic functions, paving the way for an on-chip biomolecule quantification device.

Design and Proof-of-Concept Use of a Circular PMMA Platform with 16-Well Sample Capacity for Microwave-Accelerated Bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammed, Muzaffer; Aslan, Kadir

2013-01-01

We demonstrate the design and the proof-of-concept use of a new, circular poly(methyl methacrylate)-based bioassay platform (PMMA platform), which affords for the rapid processing of 16 samples at once. The circular PMMA platform (5 cm in diameter) was coated with a silver nanoparticle film to accelerate the bioassay steps by microwave heating. A model colorimetric bioassay for biotinylated albumin (using streptavidin-labeled horse radish peroxidase) was performed on the PMMA platform coated with and without silver nanoparticles (a control experiment), and at room temperature and using microwave heating. It was shown that the simulated temperature profile of the PMMA platform during microwave heating were comparable to the real-time temperature profile during actual microwave heating of the constructed PMMA platform in a commercial microwave oven. The model colorimetric bioassay for biotinylated albumin was successfully completed in ~2 min (total assay time) using microwave heating, as compared to 90 min at room temperature (total assay time), which indicates a ~45-fold decrease in assay time. Our PMMA platform design afforded for significant reduction in non-specific interactions and low background signal as compared to non-silvered PMMA surfaces when employed in a microwave-accelerated bioassay carried out in a conventional microwave cavity.

A 1,000 Frames/s Programmable Vision Chip with Variable Resolution and Row-Pixel-Mixed Parallel Image Processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nanjian Wu

2009-07-01

Full Text Available A programmable vision chip with variable resolution and row-pixel-mixed parallel image processors is presented. The chip consists of a CMOS sensor array, with row-parallel 6-bit Algorithmic ADCs, row-parallel gray-scale image processors, pixel-parallel SIMD Processing Element (PE array, and instruction controller. The resolution of the image in the chip is variable: high resolution for a focused area and low resolution for general view. It implements gray-scale and binary mathematical morphology algorithms in series to carry out low-level and mid-level image processing and sends out features of the image for various applications. It can perform image processing at over 1,000 frames/s (fps. A prototype chip with 64 × 64 pixels resolution and 6-bit gray-scale image is fabricated in 0.18 mm Standard CMOS process. The area size of chip is 1.5 mm × 3.5 mm. Each pixel size is 9.5 μm × 9.5 μm and each processing element size is 23 μm × 29 μm. The experiment results demonstrate that the chip can perform low-level and mid-level image processing and it can be applied in the real-time vision applications, such as high speed target tracking.

On-chip spectroscopy with thermally tuned high-Q photonic crystal cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liapis, Andreas C., E-mail: andreas.liapis@gmail.com; Gao, Boshen; Siddiqui, Mahmudur R. [The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States); Shi, Zhimin [Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620 (United States); Boyd, Robert W. [The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States); Department of Physics and School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 (Canada)

2016-01-11

Spectroscopic methods are a sensitive way to determine the chemical composition of potentially hazardous materials. Here, we demonstrate that thermally tuned high-Q photonic crystal cavities can be used as a compact high-resolution on-chip spectrometer. We have used such a chip-scale spectrometer to measure the absorption spectra of both acetylene and hydrogen cyanide in the 1550 nm spectral band and show that we can discriminate between the two chemical species even though the two materials have spectral features in the same spectral region. Our results pave the way for the development of chip-size chemical sensors that can detect toxic substances.

A rapid bioassay for detecting saxitoxins using a Daphnia acute toxicity test.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrão-Filho, Aloysio da S; Soares, Maria Carolina S; de Magalhães, Valéria Freitas; Azevedo, Sandra M F O

2010-06-01

Bioassays using Daphnia pulex and Moina micrura were designed to detect cyanobacterial neurotoxins in raw water samples. Phytoplankton and cyanotoxins from seston were analyzed during 15 months in a eutrophic reservoir. Effective time to immobilize 50% of the exposed individuals (ET50) was adopted as the endpoint. Paralysis of swimming movements was observed between approximately 0.5-3 h of exposure to lake water containing toxic cyanobacteria, followed by an almost complete recovery of the swimming activity within 24 h after being placed in control water. The same effects were observed in bioassays with a saxitoxin-producer strain of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii isolated from the reservoir. Regression analysis showed significant relationships between ET50 vs. cell density, biomass and saxitoxins content, suggesting that the paralysis of Daphnia in lake water samples was caused by saxitoxins found in C. raciborskii. Daphnia bioassay was found to be a sensitive method for detecting fast-acting neurotoxins in natural samples, with important advantages over mouse bioassays. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

X-γ dose rate continuous monitor with wide range based on single-chip microcomputer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Debo; Ling Qiu; Guo Lanying; Yang Binhua

2007-01-01

This paper describes a concept about circuit designing of X-γ dose rate continuous monitor with wide range based on single-chip microcomputer, and also presents the design procedure of hardware and software, and gives several methods for solving the design procedure of hardware and software with emphasis. (authors)

Fabrication and characterization of SPR chips with the modified bovine serum albumin

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xing; Zhang, Lu-lu; Cui, Da-fu

2016-03-01

A facile surface plasmon resonance (SPR) chip is developed for small molecule determination and analysis. The SPR chip was prepared based on a self assembling principle, in which the modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) was directly self-assembled onto the bare gold surface. The surface morphology of the chip with the modified BSA was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and its optical properties were characterized. The surface binding capacity of the bare facile SPR chip with a uniform morphology is 8 times of that of the bare control SPR chip. Based on the experiments of immune reaction between cortisol antibody and cortisol derivative, the sensitivity of the facile SPR chip with the modified BSA is much higher than that of the control SPR chip with the un-modified BSA. The facile SPR chip has been successfully used to detect small molecules. The lowest detection limit is 5 ng/mL with a linear range of 5—100 ng/mL for cortisol analysis. The novel facile SPR chip can also be applied to detect other small molecules.

Mission Profile Based Sizing of IGBT Chip Area for PV Inverter Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Yanfeng; Wang, Huai; Yang, Yongheng

2016-01-01

Maximizing the total energy generation is of importance for Photovoltaic (PV) plants. This paper proposes a method to optimize the IGBT chip area for PV inverters to minimize the annual energy loss of the active switches based on long-term operation conditions (i.e., mission profile). The design...... yearly mission profile. Simulation results are given to verify the thermal characteristics. Furthermore, a Monte Carlo based lifetime evaluation is presented to check the IGBT reliability. The proposed design method enables a reliability-oriented energy optimized sizing of active switches for PV inverter...

On-chip growth of semiconductor metal oxide nanowires for gas sensors: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chu Manh Hung

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Semiconductor metal oxide nanowires (SMO-NWs show great potential for novel gas sensor applications because of their distinct properties, such as a high surface area to volume aspect ratio, high crystallinity and perfect pathway for electron transfer (length of NW. SMO-NW sensors can be configured as resistors or field-effect transistors for gas detection and different configurations, such as a single NW, multiple NWs, and networked NW films, have been established. Surface-functionalizing NWs with catalyst elements and self-heating NWs provide additional advantages for highly selective and low-power consumption gas sensors. However, an appropriate design of SMO-NWs is of practical importance in enhancing the gas-sensing performance of SMO-NW sensors. The on-chip growth of SMO-NWs possesses many advantages which can thus be effectively used for the large-scale fabrication of SMO-NW sensors with improved gas response and stability. This review aims to provide up-to-date information on the on-chip fabrication of SnO2, ZnO, WO3, CuO, and other SMO-NW sensors. It also discusses a variety of promising approaches that help advance the on-chip fabrication of SMO-NW-based gas sensors and other NW-based devices.

Evaluation of the toxicity of two soils from Jales Mine (Portugal) using aquatic bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Loureiro, Susana; Ferreira, Abel L G; Soares, Amadeu M V M; Nogueira, António J A

2005-10-01

Soil contamination can be one path for streams and groundwater contamination. As a complement of chemical analysis and total contaminants determination, bioassays can provide information on the bioavailable fraction of chemical compounds, focusing on the retention and habitat function of soils. In this study the evaluation of the toxicity of two soils from the abandoned Jales Mine (Portugal) regarded both functions. The buffer capacity of soils was tested with bioassays carried out using the cladoceran Daphnia magna and the marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri. The habitat function of soils was evaluated with the reproduction bioassay with the collembolan Folsomia candida. The Microtox solid-phase test was performed with V. fischeri using soil as test medium, and soil elutriates were extracted to perform the Microtox basic test, and an immobilization and reproduction bioassay with D. magna. The marine bacteria showed high sensitivity to the soil with low heavy metal content (JNC soil) and to JNC soil elutriates, while the soil with highest heavy metal content (JC soil) or soil elutriates exposure did not cause any toxic effect. In the bioassays with D. magna, organisms showed sensitivity to JNC and also to JC soil elutriates. Both mobilization and reproduction features were inhibited. The bioassay with F. candida did not reflect any influence of the contaminants on their reproduction. Although JNC soil presented lower heavy metal contents, elutriates showed different patterns of contamination when compared to JC soil and elutriates, which indicates different retention and buffer capacities between soils. Results obtained in this study underlined the sensitivity and importance of soil elutriate bioassays with aquatic organisms in the evaluation strategy in soil ERA processes.

Price of forest chips decreasing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakkila, P.

2001-01-01

Use of forest chips was studied in 1999 in the national Puuenergia (Wood Energy) research program. Wood combusting heating plants were questioned about are the main reasons restricting the increment of the use of forest chips. Heating plants, which did not use forest chips at all or which used less than 250 m 3 (625 bulk- m 3 ) in 1999 were excluded. The main restrictions for additional use of forest chips were: too high price of forest chips; lack of suppliers and/or uncertainty of deliveries; technical problems of reception and processing of forest chips; insufficiency of boiler output especially in winter; and unsatisfactory quality of chips. The price of forest chips becomes relatively high because wood biomass used for production of forest chips has to be collected from wide area. Heavy equipment has to be used even though small fragments of wood are processed, which increases the price of chips. It is essential for forest chips that the costs can be pressed down because competition with fossil fuels, peat and industrial wood residues is hard. Low market price leads to the situation in which forest owner gets no price of the raw material, the entrepreneurs operate at the limit of profitability and renovation of machinery is difficult, and forest chips suppliers have to sell the chips at prime costs. Price of forest chips has decreased significantly during the past decade. Nominal price of forest chips is now lower than two decades ago. The real price of chips has decreased even more than the nominal price, 35% during the past decade and 20% during the last five years. Chips, made of small diameter wood, are expensive because the price includes the felling costs and harvesting is carried out at thinning lots. Price is especially high if chips are made of delimbed small diameter wood due to increased the work and reduced amount of chips. The price of logging residue chips is most profitable because cutting does not cause additional costs. Recovery of chips is

An integrated one-chip-sensor system for microRNA quantitative analysis based on digital droplet polymerase chain reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Tsukuda, Masahiko; Wiederkehr, Rodrigo Sergio; Cai, Qing; Majeed, Bivragh; Fiorini, Paolo; Stakenborg, Tim; Matsuno, Toshinobu

2016-04-01

A silicon microfluidic chip was developed for microRNA (miRNA) quantitative analysis. It performs sequentially reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction in a digital droplet format. Individual processes take place on different cavities, and reagent and sample mixing is carried out on a chip, prior to entering each compartment. The droplets are generated on a T-junction channel before the polymerase chain reaction step. Also, a miniaturized fluorescence detector was developed, based on an optical pick-up head of digital versatile disc (DVD) and a micro-photomultiplier tube. The chip integrated in the detection system was tested using synthetic miRNA with known concentrations, ranging from 300 to 3,000 templates/µL. Results proved the functionality of the system.

Development and application of bioassays for a site-specific risk assessment of contaminated soil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rila, J.-P.

2008-01-01

Soil risk assessment based on generic approaches is accompanied by a large number of uncertainties. In site-specific risk assessment aimed at identifying the actual effects on the ecosystem by using e.g. bioassays in soil elutriates and taking into account land-use these uncertainties can be largely

Rapid fabrication of microfluidic chips based on the simplest LED lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yue; Wu, Ping; Luo, Zhaofeng; Ren, Yuxuan; Liao, Meixiang; Feng, Lili; Li, Yuting; He, Liqun

2015-05-01

Microfluidic chips are generally fabricated by a soft lithography method employing commercial lithography equipment. These heavy machines require a critical room environment and high lamp power, and the cost remains too high for most normal laboratories. Here we present a novel microfluidics fabrication method utilizing a portable ultraviolet (UV) LED as an alternative UV source for photolithography. With this approach, we can repeat several common microchannels as do these conventional commercial exposure machines, and both the verticality of the channel sidewall and lithography resolution are proved to be acceptable. Further microfluidics applications such as mixing, blood typing and microdroplet generation are implemented to validate the practicability of the chips. This simple but innovative method decreases the cost and requirement of chip fabrication dramatically and may be more popular with ordinary laboratories.

Rapid fabrication of microfluidic chips based on the simplest LED lithography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Yue; Wu, Ping; Liao, Meixiang; Feng, Lili; Li, Yuting; He, Liqun; Luo, Zhaofeng; Ren, Yuxuan

2015-01-01

Microfluidic chips are generally fabricated by a soft lithography method employing commercial lithography equipment. These heavy machines require a critical room environment and high lamp power, and the cost remains too high for most normal laboratories. Here we present a novel microfluidics fabrication method utilizing a portable ultraviolet (UV) LED as an alternative UV source for photolithography. With this approach, we can repeat several common microchannels as do these conventional commercial exposure machines, and both the verticality of the channel sidewall and lithography resolution are proved to be acceptable. Further microfluidics applications such as mixing, blood typing and microdroplet generation are implemented to validate the practicability of the chips. This simple but innovative method decreases the cost and requirement of chip fabrication dramatically and may be more popular with ordinary laboratories. (paper)

High temperature coatings from post processing Fe-based chips and Ni-based alloys as a solution for critical raw materials

Science.gov (United States)

Dudziak, T.; Olbrycht, A.; Polkowska, A.; Boron, L.; Skierski, P.; Wypych, A.; Ambroziak, A.; Krezel, A.

2018-03-01

Due to shortage of natural resources worldwide, it is a need to develop innovative technologies, to save natural resources and secure Critical Raw Materials (CRM). On the other hand, these new technologies should move forward materials engineering in order to develop better materials for extreme conditions. One way to develop new materials is to use post processing chips of austenitic steels (i.e. 304L stainless steel: 18/10 Cr/Ni) and other materials such as Ni-based alloy with high Cr content. In this work, the results of the preliminary study on the High Velocity Oxy Fuel (HVOF) coatings developed from 304L stainless steel chips and Haynes® 282® Ni- based alloys are shown. The study obeys development of the powder for HVOF technology. The produced coatings were exposed at high temperature at 500 and 700 °C for 100 and 300 hours respectively to assess corrosion behaviour.

Reliability, Availability and Serviceability of Networks-on-Chip

CERN Document Server

Cota, Érika; Soares Lubaszewski, Marcelo

2012-01-01

This book presents an overview of the issues related to the test, diagnosis and fault-tolerance of Network on Chip-based systems. It is the first book dedicated to the quality aspects of NoC-based systems and will serve as an invaluable reference to the problems, challenges, solutions, and trade-offs related to designing and implementing state-of-the-art, on-chip communication architectures.

The use of bioassays to assess the toxicity of sediment in an acid ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Exposure of river sediment from 7 sampling sites to these bioassays provided an eco-toxicological estimation of the acute toxicity and chronic toxicity emanating from the contaminated sediments. Physico-chemical analyses revealed higher levels of sediment contamination closer to the mine. The bioassays displayed a ...

Sample preparation for combined chemical analysis and bioassay application in water quality assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kolkman, A.; Schriks, M.; Brand, W; Bäuerlein, P.S.; van der Kooi, M.M.E.; van Doorn, R.H.; Emke, E.; Reus, A.; van der Linden, S.; de Voogt, P.; Heringa, M.B.

2013-01-01

The combination of in vitro bioassays and chemical screening can provide a powerful toolbox to determine biologically relevant compounds in water extracts. In this study, a sample preparation method is evaluated for the suitability for both chemical analysis and in vitro bioassays. A set of 39

The CALUX bioassay: current status of its application to screening food and feed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogenboom, L.A.P.; Goeyens, L.; Carbonnelle, S.; Loco, van J.; Beernaert, H.; Baeyens, W.; Traag, W.A.; Bovee, T.F.H.; Jacobs, G.; Schoeters, G.

2006-01-01

The CALUX bioassay is at present the best screening method for dioxins and dioxin-like (dl) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in food and feed, and the only assay used in routine monitoring and during larger incidents. Furthermore, the use of bioassays in addition to chemical reference methods allows

Assessment of acrylamide toxicity using a battery of standardised bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Zovko, Mira; Vidaković-Cifrek, Željka; Cvetković, Želimira; Bošnir, Jasna; Šikić, Sandra

2015-12-01

Acrylamide is a monomer widely used as an intermediate in the production of organic chemicals, e.g. polyacrylamides (PAMs). Since PAMs are low cost chemicals with applications in various industries and waste- and drinking water treatment, a certain amount of non-polymerised acrylamide is expected to end up in waterways. PAMs are non-toxic but acrylamide induces neurotoxic effects in humans and genotoxic, reproductive, and carcinogenic effects in laboratory animals. In order to evaluate the effect of acrylamide on freshwater organisms, bioassays were conducted on four species: algae Desmodesmus subspicatus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, duckweed Lemna minor and water flea Daphnia magna according to ISO (International Organization for Standardisation) standardised methods. This approach ensures the evaluation of acrylamide toxicity on organisms with different levels of organisation and the comparability of results, and it examines the value of using a battery of low-cost standardised bioassays in the monitoring of pollution and contamination of aquatic ecosystems. These results showed that EC50 values were lower for Desmodesmus subspicatus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata than for Daphnia magna and Lemna minor, which suggests an increased sensitivity of algae to acrylamide. According to the toxic unit approach, the values estimated by the Lemna minor and Daphnia magna bioassays, classify acrylamide as slightly toxic (TU=0-1; Class 1). The results obtained from algal bioassays (Desmodesmus subspicatus and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) revealed the toxic effect of acrylamide (TU=1-10; Class 2) on these organisms.

A superhydrophobic chip based on SU-8 photoresist pillars suspended on a silicon nitride membrane

KAUST Repository

Marinaro, Giovanni; Accardo, Angelo; De Angelis, Francesco; Dane, Thomas; Weinhausen, Britta; Burghammer, Manfred; Riekel, Christian

2014-01-01

We developed a new generation of superhydrophobic chips optimized for probing ultrasmall sample quantities by X-ray scattering and fluorescence techniques. The chips are based on thin Si3N4 membranes with a tailored pattern of SU-8 photoresist pillars. Indeed, aqueous solution droplets can be evaporated and concentrated at predefined positions using a non-periodic pillar pattern. We demonstrated quantitatively the deposition and aggregation of gold glyconanoparticles from the evaporation of a nanomolar droplet in a small spot by raster X-ray nanofluorescence. Further, raster nanocrystallography of biological objects such as rod-like tobacco mosaic virus nanoparticles reveals crystalline macro-domain formation composed of highly oriented nanorods. © 2014 the Partner Organisations.

A superhydrophobic chip based on SU-8 photoresist pillars suspended on a silicon nitride membrane

KAUST Repository

Marinaro, Giovanni

2014-07-28

We developed a new generation of superhydrophobic chips optimized for probing ultrasmall sample quantities by X-ray scattering and fluorescence techniques. The chips are based on thin Si3N4 membranes with a tailored pattern of SU-8 photoresist pillars. Indeed, aqueous solution droplets can be evaporated and concentrated at predefined positions using a non-periodic pillar pattern. We demonstrated quantitatively the deposition and aggregation of gold glyconanoparticles from the evaporation of a nanomolar droplet in a small spot by raster X-ray nanofluorescence. Further, raster nanocrystallography of biological objects such as rod-like tobacco mosaic virus nanoparticles reveals crystalline macro-domain formation composed of highly oriented nanorods. © 2014 the Partner Organisations.

Chip cleaning and regeneration for electrochemical sensor arrays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bhalla, Vijayender [Biochemistry Department ' G.Moruzzi' , University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, 40126 Bologna (Italy); Carrara, Sandro, E-mail: sandro.carrara@epfl.c [Biochemistry Department ' G.Moruzzi' , University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, 40126 Bologna (Italy); Stagni, Claudio [Department DEIS, University of Bologna, viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna (Italy); Samori, Bruno [Biochemistry Department ' G.Moruzzi' , University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, 40126 Bologna (Italy)

2010-04-02

Sensing systems based on electrochemical detection have generated great interest because electronic readout may replace conventional optical readout in microarray. Moreover, they offer the possibility to avoid labelling for target molecules. A typical electrochemical array consists of many sensing sites. An ideal micro-fabricated sensor-chip should have the same measured values for all the equivalent sensing sites (or spots). To achieve high reliability in electrochemical measurements, high quality in functionalization of the electrodes surface is essential. Molecular probes are often immobilized by using alkanethiols onto gold electrodes. Applying effective cleaning methods on the chip is a fundamental requirement for the formation of densely-packed and stable self-assembly monolayers. However, the available well-known techniques for chip cleaning may not be so reliable. Furthermore, it could be necessary to recycle the chip for reuse. Also in this case, an effective recycling technique is required to re-obtain well cleaned sensing surfaces on the chip. This paper presents experimental results on the efficacy and efficiency of the available techniques for initial cleaning and further recycling of micro-fabricated chips. Piranha, plasma, reductive and oxidative cleaning methods were applied and the obtained results were critically compared. Some interesting results were attained by using commonly considered cleaning methodologies. This study outlines oxidative electrochemical cleaning and recycling as the more efficient cleaning procedure for electrochemical based sensor arrays.

STUDY OF CHIP IGNITION AND CHIP MORPHOLOGY AFTER MILLING OF MAGNESIUM ALLOYS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ireneusz Zagórski

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the impact of specified technological parameters of milling (vc, fz, ap on time to ignition. Stages leading to chip ignition were analysed. Metallographic images of magnesium chip were presented. No significant difference was observed in time to ignition in different chip fractions. Moreover, the surface of chips was free of products of ignition and signs of strong oxidation.

Comparison of solid-phase bioassays and ecoscores to evaluate the toxicity of contaminated soils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lors, Christine [Universite Lille Nord de France, 1bis rue Georges Lefevre, 59044 Lille Cedex (France); Ecole des Mines de Douai, MPE-GCE, 941 rue Charles-Bourseul, 59500 Douai (France); Centre National de Recherche sur les Sites et Sols Pollues, 930 Boulevard Lahure, BP 537, 59505 Douai Cedex (France); Ponge, Jean-Francois, E-mail: ponge@mnhn.f [Museum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 7179, 4 Avenue du Petit-Chateau, 91800 Brunoy (France); Martinez Aldaya, Maite [Museum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 7179, 4 Avenue du Petit-Chateau, 91800 Brunoy (France); Damidot, Denis [Universite Lille Nord de France, 1bis rue Georges Lefevre, 59044 Lille Cedex (France); Ecole des Mines de Douai, MPE-GCE, 941 rue Charles-Bourseul, 59500 Douai (France)

2010-08-15

Five bioassays (inhibition of lettuce germination and growth, earthworm mortality, inhibition of springtail population growth, avoidance by springtails) were compared, using four coke factory soils contaminated by PAHs and trace elements, before and after biotreatment. For each bioassay, several endpoints were combined in an 'ecoscore', a measure of test sensitivity. Ecoscores pooled over all tested bioassays revealed that most organisms were highly sensitive to the concentration of 3-ring PAHs. When four soils were combined, behavioural tests using the springtail Folsomia candida showed higher ecoscores, i.e. they were most sensitive to soil contamination. However, despite overall higher sensitivity of behavioural tests, which could be used for cheap and rapid assessment of soil toxicity, especially at low levels of contamination, some test endpoints were more sensitive than others, and this may differ from a soil to another, pointing to the need for a battery of bioassays when more itemized results are expected. - The avoidance test using the soil springtail Folsomia candida is globally more sensitive to PAH contamination than acute and chronic toxicity bioassays using plants and animals but a battery of tests could reveal better in detail.

Comparison of solid-phase bioassays and ecoscores to evaluate the toxicity of contaminated soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lors, Christine; Ponge, Jean-Francois; Martinez Aldaya, Maite; Damidot, Denis

2010-01-01

Five bioassays (inhibition of lettuce germination and growth, earthworm mortality, inhibition of springtail population growth, avoidance by springtails) were compared, using four coke factory soils contaminated by PAHs and trace elements, before and after biotreatment. For each bioassay, several endpoints were combined in an 'ecoscore', a measure of test sensitivity. Ecoscores pooled over all tested bioassays revealed that most organisms were highly sensitive to the concentration of 3-ring PAHs. When four soils were combined, behavioural tests using the springtail Folsomia candida showed higher ecoscores, i.e. they were most sensitive to soil contamination. However, despite overall higher sensitivity of behavioural tests, which could be used for cheap and rapid assessment of soil toxicity, especially at low levels of contamination, some test endpoints were more sensitive than others, and this may differ from a soil to another, pointing to the need for a battery of bioassays when more itemized results are expected. - The avoidance test using the soil springtail Folsomia candida is globally more sensitive to PAH contamination than acute and chronic toxicity bioassays using plants and animals but a battery of tests could reveal better in detail.

Rapid bioassay method for estimation of 90Sr in urine samples by liquid scintillation counting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wankhede, Sonal; Chaudhary, Seema; Sawant, Pramilla D.

2018-01-01

Radiostrontium (Sr) is a by-product of the nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear reactors and is an important radionuclide in spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. Rapid bioassay methods are required for estimating Sr in urine following internal contamination. Decision regarding medical intervention, if any can be based upon the results of urinalysis. The present method used at Bioassay Laboratory, Trombay is by Solid Extraction Chromatography (SEC) technique. The Sr separated from urine sample is precipitated as SrCO 3 and analyzed gravimetrically. However, gravimetric procedure is time consuming and therefore, in the present study, feasibility of Liquid Scintillation Counting for direct detection of radiostrontium in effluent was explored. The results obtained in the present study were compared with those obtained using gravimetric method

Miniaturized bioactivity assessment coupled to mass spectrometry for guided purification of bioactives from toad and cone snail

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heus, F.A.H.; Otvos, R.A.; Aspers, R.L.E.G.; van Elk, R.; Halff, J.I.; Ehlers, A.W.; Duterte, S.; Lewis, R.J.; Wijmenga, S; Smit, A.B.; Niessen, W.M.A.; Kool, J.

2014-01-01

A nano-flow high-resolution screening platform, featuring a parallel chip-based microfluidic bioassay and mass spectrometry coupled to nano-liquid chromatography, was applied to screen animal venoms for nicotinic acetylcholine receptor like (nAChR) affinity by using the acetylcholine binding

Technology Development of Salak (Salacca Zalacca) Chips With Vacuum Frying Machine Base On Expert System In Kramat-Bangkalan Regency

Science.gov (United States)

Rosida, D. F.; Happyanto; Anggraeni; Sugiarto; Hapsari

2018-01-01

Agropolitan Program is one form of regional development to improve agribusiness system and effort to improve the welfare of the community. One of the leading commodities in Bangkalan agroclimates is salak which is a potentially very large commodity to be developed. Salak commodities in Kramat Bangkalan Indonesia have developed varous salak produced such as dates of salak, syrup and dodol salak. Salak chips was the target of innovation from processed salak. The Production of salak chips using frying technology with vacuum system to obtain crunchy chips. To get the results need to be developed synergy technology to combine the process conditions and the right system in producing good quality salak chips. Bangkalan Regency is the potential to continue to develop products using a variety of salak to the processed form of vacuum frying machine based on expert system so that the resulting product would be great texture, aroma and taste. This will make the area of Bangkalan, Indonesia be more independent in producing and increasing revenue.

On-Chip Scan-Based Test Strategy for a Dependable Many-Core Processor Using a NoC as a Test Access Mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, X.; Kerkhoff, Hans G.; Vermeulen, Bart

2010-01-01

Periodic on-chip scan-based tests have to be applied to a many-core processor SoC to improve its dependability. An infrastructural IP module has been designed and incorporated into the SoC to function as an ATE. This paper introduces the reuse of a Network-on-Chip as a test access mechanism. Since

Sediment toxicity assessment in the Lagoon of Venice (Italy) using Paracentrotus lividus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) fertilization and embryo bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Volpi Ghirardini, A; Arizzi Novelli, A; Tagliapietra, D

2005-09-01

The capacity of two toxicity bioassays (fertilization and embryo toxicity tests) to discriminate sediment toxicity using the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus was tested in five stations with different levels of pollution in the Lagoon of Venice. Two stations were located in estuarine sites, two in the industrial zone, and one in a site at the top of our quality gradient (reference). Elutriate was chosen as sediment matrix to assess the potential effects of bioavailable pollutants in the water column as a consequence of sediment resuspension (dredging and dumping, fishing gear, etc.). An experimental design based on Quality Assurance/Quality Control procedures (QA/QC) was adopted in order to set the methodological basis for an effective use of these bioassays in monitoring programs. Results revealed both higher embriotoxicity than spermiotoxicity in all stations and the efficacy of combined use of both toxicity bioassays in discriminating differing pollution/bioavailability between stations and periods. The good representativeness of the integrated sampling scheme and the standardization of all experimental phases yielded high precision of results. Clear Toxicity Fingerprints were evidenced for the investigated sites through the combined use of both bioassays. A good fit between ecotoxicological data and chemical contamination levels was found, except for unnatural sediment texture.

SAD-Based Stereo Vision Machine on a System-on-Programmable-Chip (SoPC)

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiang; Chen, Zhangwei

2013-01-01

This paper, proposes a novel solution for a stereo vision machine based on the System-on-Programmable-Chip (SoPC) architecture. The SOPC technology provides great convenience for accessing many hardware devices such as DDRII, SSRAM, Flash, etc., by IP reuse. The system hardware is implemented in a single FPGA chip involving a 32-bit Nios II microprocessor, which is a configurable soft IP core in charge of managing the image buffer and users' configuration data. The Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD) algorithm is used for dense disparity map computation. The circuits of the algorithmic module are modeled by the Matlab-based DSP Builder. With a set of configuration interfaces, the machine can process many different sizes of stereo pair images. The maximum image size is up to 512 K pixels. This machine is designed to focus on real time stereo vision applications. The stereo vision machine offers good performance and high efficiency in real time. Considering a hardware FPGA clock of 90 MHz, 23 frames of 640 × 480 disparity maps can be obtained in one second with 5 × 5 matching window and maximum 64 disparity pixels. PMID:23459385

Label-free detection of protein biomolecules secreted from a heart-on-a-chip model for drug cardiotoxicity evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

DeLuna, Frank; Zhang, Yu Shrike; Bustamante, Gilbert; Li, Le; Lauderdale, Matthew; Dokmeci, Mehmet R.; Khademhosseini, Ali; Ye, Jing Yong

2018-02-01

Efficient methods for the accurate analysis of drug toxicities are in urgent demand as failures of newly discovered drug candidates due to toxic side effects have resulted in about 30% of clinical attrition. The high failure rate is partly due to current inadequate models to study drug side effects, i.e., common animal models may fail due to its misrepresentation of human physiology. Therefore, much effort has been allocated in the development of organ-on-a-chip models which offer a variety of human organ models mimicking a multitude of human physiological conditions. However, it is extremely challenging to analyze the transient and long-term response of the organ models to drug treatments during drug toxicity tests, as the proteins secreted from the organ-on-a-chip model are minute due to its volumetric size, and current methods for detecting said biomolecules are not suitable for real-time monitoring. As protein biomolecules are being continuously secreted from the human organ model, fluorescence techniques are practically impossible to achieve real-time fluorescence labeling in the dynamically changing environment, thus making a label-free approach highly desirable for the organ-on-achip applications. In this paper, we report the use of a photonic-crystal biosensor integrated with a microfluidic system for sensitive label-free bioassays of secreted protein biomolecules from a heart-on-the-chip model created with cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Atom-chip-based quantum gravimetry for the precise determination of absolute gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Abend, Sven; Schubert, Christian; Ertmer, Wolfgang; Rasel, Ernst

2017-04-01

We present a novel technique for the precise measurement of absolute local gravity with a quantum gravimeter based on an atom chip. Atom interferometry utilizes the interference of matter waves interrogated by laser light to read out inertial forces. Today's generation of these devices typically operate with test mass samples, that consists of ensembles of laser cooled atoms. Their performance is limited by the velocity spread and finite-size of the test masses that impose systematic uncertainties at the level of a few μGal [1]. Rather than laser cooled atoms we employ quantum degenerate ensembles, so called Bose-Einstein condensates [2], as ultra-sensitive probes for gravity. These sources offer unique properties that will allow to overcome the current limitations in the next generation of sensors. Furthermore, atom-chip technology offers the possibility to generate Bose-Einstein condensates in a fast and reliable way. We present a lab-based prototype that uses the atom chip itself to retro-reflect the interrogation laser and thus serves as inertial reference inside the vacuum [3]. With this setup, it is possible to demonstrate all necessary steps to measure gravity, including the preparation of the source, spanning an interferometer as well as the detection of the output signal. All steps are pursued on a baseline of 1 cm right below the atom chip and to analyze relevant systematic effects. In the framework of the center of excellence geoQ a next generation device is under construction at the Institut für Quantenoptik, that will target for in-field measurements. This device will feature a state-of-the-art atom-chip source with a high-flux of ultra-cold atoms at a repetition rate of 1-2 Hz [4]. The device will be characterized in cooperation with the Müller group at the Institut für Erdmessung the sensor and finally employed in a campaign to measure the Fennoscandian uplift at the level of 1 μGal. The presented work is supported by the CRC 1227 DQ-mat, the

Power and Thermal Management of System-on-Chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Wei

, are necessary at the chip design level. In this work, we investigate the power and thermal management of System-on- Chips (SoCs). Thermal analysis is performed in a SPICE simulation approach based on the electrical-thermal analogy. We investigate the impact of inter- connects on heat distribution...

Management of Chronic Periodontitis Using Chlorhexidine Chip and Diode Laser-A Clinical Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jose, Kachapilly Arun; Ambooken, Majo; Mathew, Jayan Jacob; Issac, Annie Valayil; Kunju, Ajithkumar Parachalil; Parameshwaran, Renjith Athirkandathil

2016-04-01

The use of adjuncts like chlorhexidine local delivery and diode laser decontamination have been found to improve the clinical outcomes of scaling and root planing in non-surgical periodontal therapy in patients with chronic periodontitis. To evaluate the effects of diode laser and chlorhexidine chip as adjuncts to scaling and root planing in the management of chronic periodontitis. The objective is to evaluate the outcome of chlorhexidine chip and diode laser as adjuncts to scaling and root planing on clinical parameters like Plaque Index, Gingival Index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level. Department of Periodontics. Randomized clinical trial with split mouth design. Fifteen chronic periodontitis patients having a probing pocket depth of 5mm-7mm on at least one interproximal site in each quadrant of the mouth were included in the study. After initial treatment, four sites in each patient were randomly subjected to scaling and root planing (control), chlorhexidine chip application (CHX chip group), diode laser (810 nm) decontamination (Diode laser group) or combination of both (Diode laser and chip group). Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Index (GI), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) were assessed at baseline, one month and three months. Results were statistically analysed using paired T test, one-way ANOVA, Tukey's HSD test and repeated measure ANOVA. Post-treatment, the test and control sites showed a statistically significant reduction in PI, GI, PPD, and CAL. After three months, a mean PPD reduction of 1.47±0.52 mm in control group, 1.40±0.83 mm in diode laser group, 2.67±0.62 mm in CHX group, and 2.80± 0.77 mm in combination group was seen. The mean gain in CAL were 1.47±0.52 mm in the control group, 1.40±0.83 mm in diode laser group, 2.67± 0.49 mm in CHX group and 2.67± 0.82 mm in combination group respectively. The differences in PPD reduction and CAL gain between control group and CHX chip and combination

Management of Chronic Periodontitis Using Chlorhexidine Chip and Diode Laser-A Clinical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Ambooken, Majo; Mathew, Jayan Jacob; Issac, Annie Valayil; Kunju, Ajithkumar Parachalil; Parameshwaran, Renjith Athirkandathil

2016-01-01

Introduction The use of adjuncts like chlorhexidine local delivery and diode laser decontamination have been found to improve the clinical outcomes of scaling and root planing in non-surgical periodontal therapy in patients with chronic periodontitis. Aim To evaluate the effects of diode laser and chlorhexidine chip as adjuncts to scaling and root planing in the management of chronic periodontitis. The objective is to evaluate the outcome of chlorhexidine chip and diode laser as adjuncts to scaling and root planing on clinical parameters like Plaque Index, Gingival Index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level. Study and Design Department of Periodontics. Randomized clinical trial with split mouth design. Materials and Methods Fifteen chronic periodontitis patients having a probing pocket depth of 5mm-7mm on at least one interproximal site in each quadrant of the mouth were included in the study. After initial treatment, four sites in each patient were randomly subjected to scaling and root planing (control), chlorhexidine chip application (CHX chip group), diode laser (810 nm) decontamination (Diode laser group) or combination of both (Diode laser and chip group). Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Index (GI), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) were assessed at baseline, one month and three months. Statistical analysis Results were statistically analysed using paired T test, one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD test and repeated measure ANOVA. Results Post-treatment, the test and control sites showed a statistically significant reduction in PI, GI, PPD, and CAL. After three months, a mean PPD reduction of 1.47±0.52 mm in control group, 1.40±0.83 mm in diode laser group, 2.67±0.62 mm in CHX group, and 2.80± 0.77 mm in combination group was seen. The mean gain in CAL were 1.47±0.52 mm in the control group, 1.40±0.83 mm in diode laser group, 2.67± 0.49 mm in CHX group and 2.67± 0.82 mm in combination group respectively. The

Use of plant and earthworm bioassays to evaluate remediation of soil from a site contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meier, J.R.; Chang, L.W.; Meckes, M.C.; Smith, M.K. [Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Jacobs, S. [DynCorp, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Torsella, J. [Oak Ridge Inst. of Science and Education, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

1997-05-01

Soil from a site heavily contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was treated with a pilot-scale, solvent extraction technology. Bioassays in earthworms and plants were used to examine the efficacy of the remediation process for reducing the toxicity of the soil. The earthworm toxicity bioassays were the 14-d survival test and 21-d reproduction test, using Lumbricus terrestris and Eisenia fetida andrei. The plant bioassays included phytotoxicity tests for seed germination and root elongation in lettuce and oats, and a genotoxicity test (anaphase aberrations) in Allium cepa (common onion). Although the PCB content of the soil was reduced by 99% (below the remediation goal), toxicity to earthworm reproduction remained essentially unchanged following remediation. Furthermore, phytotoxicity and genotoxicity were higher for the remediated soil compared to the untreated soil. The toxicity remaining after treatment appeared to be due to residual solvent introduced during the remediation process, and/or to heavy metals or other inorganic contaminants not removed by the treatment. Mixture studies involving isopropanol and known toxicants indicated possible synergistic effects of the extraction solvent and soil contaminants. The toxicity in plants was essentially eliminated by a postremediation, water-rinsing step. These results demonstrate a need for including toxicity measurements in the evaluation of technologies used in hazardous waste site remediations, and illustrate the potential value of such measurements for making modifications to remediation processes.

Development of a Metal Cutting Tool Fase in Order to Create the Conditions of Ringed Chips Wrapping

OpenAIRE

Korchuganova, Mariya Anatolievna; Syrbakov, Andrey Pavlovich; Chernysheva, Tatiana Yurievna; Ivanov, G.; Korchuganov, Maksim Anatolievich

2016-01-01

When processing ductile metals with high cutting speed, there is a need to take additional measures for a comfortable and safe formation and removal of chips. In the conditions of large-scale manufacture, it is recommended to produce flow chips in the form of short fragments, while in the conditions of small-lot and single-piece manufacture, it is reasonable to wrap the chips spirally with a rather small turn radius. Such way of chips formation reduces the time of its removal from the working...

A primary battery-on-a-chip using monolayer graphene

Science.gov (United States)

Iost, Rodrigo M.; Crespilho, Frank N.; Kern, Klaus; Balasubramanian, Kannan

2016-07-01

We present here a bottom-up approach for realizing on-chip on-demand batteries starting out with chemical vapor deposition-grown graphene. Single graphene monolayers contacted by electrode lines on a silicon chip serve as electrodes. The anode and cathode are realized by electrodeposition of zinc and copper respectively onto graphene, leading to the realization of a miniature graphene-based Daniell cell on a chip. The electrolyte is housed partly in a gel and partly in liquid form in an on-chip enclosure molded using a 3d printer or made out of poly(dimethylsiloxane). The realized batteries provide a stable voltage (∼1.1 V) for many hours and exhibit capacities as high as 15 μAh, providing enough power to operate a pocket calculator. The realized batteries show promise for deployment as on-chip power sources for autonomous systems in lab-on-a-chip or biomedical applications.

Forecasting forest chip energy production in Finland 2008-2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linden, Mikael

2011-01-01

Energy policy measures aim to increase energy production from forest chips in Finland to 10 TWh by year 2010. However, on the regional level production differences are large, and the regional estimates of the potential base of raw materials for the production of forest chips are heterogeneous. In order to analyse the validity of the above target, two methods are proposed to derive forecasts for region-level energy production from forest chips in Finland in the years 2008-2014. The plant-level data from 2003-2007 gives a starting point for a detailed statistical analysis of present and future region-level forest chip production. Observed 2008 regional levels are above the estimated prediction 95% confidence intervals based on aggregation of plant-level time averages. A simple time trend model with fixed-region effects provides accurate forecasts for the years 2008-2014. Forest chip production forecast confidence intervals cover almost all regions for the 2008 levels and the estimates of potential production levels for 2014. The forecast confidence intervals are also derived with re-sampling methods, i.e. with bootstrap methods, to obtain more reliable results. Results confirm that a general materials shortfall is not expected in the near future for forest chip energy production in Finland.

Low temperature fluidized wood chip drying with monoterpene analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bridget N. Bero; Alarick Reiboldt; Ward Davis; Natalie Bedard; Evan Russell

2011-01-01

This paper describes the drying of ponderosa pine wood chips at low (20°C and 50°C) temperatures using a bench-scale batch pulsed fluidizer to evaluate both volatile pine oils (monoterpenes) and moisture losses during drying.

Embedded 3D Graphics Core for FPGA-based System-on-Chip Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holten-Lund, Hans Erik

2005-01-01

This paper presents a 3D graphics accelerator core for an FPGA based system, and illustrates how to build a System-on-Chip containing a Xilinx MicroBlaze soft-core CPU and our 3D graphics accelerator core. The system is capable of running uClinux and hardware accelerated 3D graphics applications......, and the video display which periodically reads from memory to display the final rendered graphics. The graphics core uses internal scratch-pad memory to reduce its external bandwidth requirement, this is achieved by implementing a tile-based rendering algorithm. Reduced external bandwidth means that the power...

Fundulus heteroclitus gonadotropins.5: Small scale chromatographic fractionation of pituitary extracts into components with different steroidogenic activities using homologous bioassays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrino Teresa R

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Fractionation and characterization of gonadotropins (GtH from Fundulus heteroclitus pituitary extracts were carried out using a biocompatible liquid chromatographic procedure (Pharmacia FPLC system. Chromatographic fractions were monitored for gonadotropic activities (induction of oocyte maturation and steroid production using homologous follicle bioassays in vitro. Size-exclusion chromatography eluted gonadotropic activity in one major protein peak (Mr ~ 30,000. Anion-exchange and hydrophobic-interaction chromatography (HIC yielded two distinct peaks of 17beta-estradiol (E2- and 17alpha-hydroxy,20beta-dihydroprogesterone (DHP-promoting activity with associated oocyte maturation. Two-dimensional chromatography (chromatofocusing followed by HIC resolved pituitary extracts into two active fractions; both induced E2 synthesis, but one was relatively poor in eliciting DHP and testosterone production. Thus, using homologous bioassays, at least two quantitatively different gonadotropic (steroidogenic activities: an E2-promoting gonadotropin (GtH I-like and a DHP-promoting gonadotropin (GtH II-like, which has a lower isoelectric point but greater hydrophobicity than the former, can be distinguished from F. heteroclitus pituitaries by a variety of chromatographic procedures. This study complements previous biochemical and molecular data in F. heteroclitus and substantiates the duality of GtH function in a multiple-spawning teleost.

9 CFR 147.16 - Procedure for the evaluation of mycoplasma reactors by in vivo bio-assay (enrichment).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... mycoplasma reactors by in vivo bio-assay (enrichment). 147.16 Section 147.16 Animals and Animal Products... the evaluation of mycoplasma reactors by in vivo bio-assay (enrichment). This procedure has been shown... publications: (a) Bigland, C. H. and A. J. DaMassa, “A Bio-Assay for Mycoplasma Gallisepticum.” In: United...

Comparison of a Ring On-Chip Network and a Code-Division Multiple-Access On-Chip Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Wang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Two network-on-chip (NoC designs are examined and compared in this paper. One design applies a bidirectional ring connection scheme, while the other design applies a code-division multiple-access (CDMA connection scheme. Both of the designs apply globally asynchronous locally synchronous (GALS scheme in order to deal with the issue of transferring data in a multiple-clock-domain environment of an on-chip system. The two NoC designs are compared with each other by their network structures, data transfer principles, network node structures, and their asynchronous designs. Both the synchronous and the asynchronous designs of the two on-chip networks are realized using a hardware-description language (HDL in order to make the entire designs suit the commonly used synchronous design tools and flow. The performance estimation and comparison of the two NoC designs which are based on the HDL realizations are addressed. By comparing the two NoC designs, the advantages and disadvantages of applying direct connection and CDMA connection schemes in an on-chip communication network are discussed.

Remote monitor used on the 13N leak rate measurement system based on single-chip microcomputer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Rulong; Qiu Xiaoping; Guo Lanying

2012-01-01

It describes a design on Remote Monitor based on single-chip microcomputer, and also presents the design procedure of hardware and software for circuit design, and gives some of specific instructions about the important parts of the design. (authors)

Measuring the attenuation length of water in the CHIPS-M water Cherenkov detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amat, F.; Bizouard, P. [Aix Marseille University Saint-Jerome, 13013 Marseille (France); Bryant, J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Carroll, T.J.; Rijck, S. De [Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Germani, S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Joyce, T. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Kriesten, B. [Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187 (United States); Marshak, M.; Meier, J. [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Nelson, J.K. [Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187 (United States); Perch, A.J.; Pfützner, M.M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Salazar, R. [Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Thomas, J., E-mail: jennifer.thomas@ucl.ac.uk [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Trokan-Tenorio, J. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Vahle, P. [Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187 (United States); Wade, R. [Avenir Consulting, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Wendt, C. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Whitehead, L.H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); and others

2017-02-01

The water at the proposed site of the CHIPS water Cherenkov detector has been studied to measure its attenuation length for Cherenkov light as a function of filtering time. A scaled model of the CHIPS detector filled with water from the Wentworth 2W pit, proposed site of the CHIPS deployment, in conjunction with a 3.2 m vertical column filled with this water, was used to study the transmission of 405 nm laser light. Results consistent with attenuation lengths of up to 100 m were observed for this wavelength with filtration and UV sterilization alone.

Efficient large volume electroporation of dendritic cells through micrometer scale manipulation of flow in a disposable polymer chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Selmeczi, David; Hansen, Thomas; Met, Özcan

2011-01-01

We present a hybrid chip of polymer and stainless steel designed for high-throughput continuous electroporation of cells in suspension. The chip is constructed with two parallel stainless steel mesh electrodes oriented perpendicular to the liquid flow. The relatively high hydrodynamic resistance ...

Pavement system with rubber tire chips in subgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashtakala, B.; Hoque, A.K.M.M. [Concordia Univ., Montreal, PQ (Canada). Dept. of Civil Engineering

1995-12-31

A pavement design method was developed in which shredded rubber tire chips mixed with sand were used as a material for pavement subgrade. Rubber tire chips are highly compressible and produce both elastic and plastic deformations under the application of loads. Sand was added to fill the void between the tire chips and make the mixture a strong material. The design method considered the vertical compressive strain produced by the design life traffic load 18k (80 KN) repetitions. The equivalent thicknesses of the layers above the subgrade corresponding to this vertical compressive strain were determined using contour charts. From this equivalent thickness, the thicknesses for asphalt pavement, base, and sub-base were determined by Odemark`s method. 3 refs., 1 tab., 3 figs.

Biomarkers and bioassays as alternative screening methods for the presence and effects of PCDD, PCDF and PCB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bosveld, A.T.C.B.; Berg, M.V.

1994-01-01

Polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAH) are wide spread, highly toxic, environmental contaminants. As such they pose risks for both humans and wildlife. For risk assessment purposes, concentrations are generally analyzed by HRGC-HR/LRMS. With the analytical data, mixture toxicity is calculated using the TEF concept. With this method only the defined congeners are taken into account and additivity for all congeners is assumed, whereas synergistic and antagonistic effects for several PCDD/F in combination with PCB have also been reported. To avoid these problems and high analytical costs, bioassays can be used for screening purposes. Cytochrome P 450 1 A 1 induction and vitamin A and thyroid hormone levels are shown to be useful markers for PHAH exposure. When bioassays based on cytochrome P 450 1 A 1 induction, in cultured cells, in multi-well culturing plates, are used, 2,3,7,8-TCDD detection limits <0.2 pg are possible. As such these bioassays are highly sensitive, cost effective and time saving. This application can be used as a pre-screening method to determine total ''dioxin'' content of environmental samples. (orig.)

Integration of microelectronic chips in microfluidic systems on printed circuit board

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burdallo, I; Jimenez-Jorquera, C; Fernández-Sánchez, C; Baldi, A

2012-01-01

A new scheme for the integration of small semiconductor transducer chips with microfluidic structures on printed circuit board (PCB) is presented. The proposed approach is based on a packaging technique that yields a large and flat area with small and shallow (∼44 µm deep) openings over the chips. The photocurable encapsulant material used, based on a diacrylate bisphenol A polymer, enables irreversible bonding of polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic structures at moderate temperatures (80 °C). This integration scheme enables the insertion of transducer chips in microfluidic systems with a lower added volume than previous schemes. Leakage tests have shown that the bonded structures withstand more than 360 kPa of pressure. A prototype microfluidic system with two detection chips, including one inter-digitated electrode (IDE) chip for conductivity and one ion selective field effect transistor (ISFET) chip for pH, has been implemented and characterized. Good electrical insulation of the chip contacts and silicon edge surfaces from the solution in the microchannels has been achieved. This integration procedure opens the door to the low-cost fabrication of complex analytical microsystems that combine the extraordinary potential of both the microfluidics and silicon microtechnology fields. (paper)

A rapid and inexpensive bioassay to evaluate the decontamination of organophosphates.

Science.gov (United States)

Claborn, David M; Martin-Brown, Skylar A; Sagar, Sanjay Gupta; Durham, Paul

2012-01-01

An inexpensive and rapid bioassay using adult red flour beetles was developed for use in assessing the decontamination of environments containing organophosphates and related chemicals. A decontamination protocol was developed which demonstrated that 2 to 3 applications of 5% bleach solution were required to obtain nearly complete decontamination of malathion. The bioassay was also used to screen common household cleaners as potential decontaminating agents, but only 5% bleach was effective at improving survival of insects on steel plates treated with 25% malathion. A toxic degradation product (malaoxon) was detected using gas chromatography/mass spectrophotometry; this toxin affected the decontamination efficacy and resulted in continued toxicity to the beetles until subsequent decontaminations. The bioassay provides evidence to support the use of red flour beetles as a sensitive, less expensive method for determining safety levels of environments contaminated with malathion and other toxins, and may have application in the study of chemical warfare agents.

On-chip magnetic bead-based DNA melting curve analysis using a magnetoresistive sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rizzi, Giovanni; Østerberg, Frederik W.; Henriksen, Anders D.; Dufva, Martin; Hansen, Mikkel F.

2015-01-01

We present real-time measurements of DNA melting curves in a chip-based system that detects the amount of surface-bound magnetic beads using magnetoresistive magnetic field sensors. The sensors detect the difference between the amount of beads bound to the top and bottom sensor branches of the differential sensor geometry. The sensor surfaces are functionalized with wild type (WT) and mutant type (MT) capture probes, differing by a single base insertion (a single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP). Complementary biotinylated targets in suspension couple streptavidin magnetic beads to the sensor surface. The beads are magnetized by the field arising from the bias current passed through the sensors. We demonstrate the first on-chip measurements of the melting of DNA hybrids upon a ramping of the temperature. This overcomes the limitation of using a single washing condition at constant temperature. Moreover, we demonstrate that a single sensor bridge can be used to genotype a SNP. - Highlights: • We apply magnetoresistive sensors to study solid-surface hybridization kinetics of DNA. • We measure DNA melting profiles for perfectly matching DNA duplexes and for a single base mismatch. • We present a procedure to correct for temperature dependencies of the sensor output. • We reliably extract melting temperatures for the DNA hybrids. • We demonstrate direct measurement of differential binding signal for two probes on a single sensor

A proposed holistic approach to on-chip, off-chip, test, and package interconnections

Science.gov (United States)

Bartelink, Dirk J.

1998-11-01

The term interconnection has traditionally implied a `robust' connection from a transistor or a group of transistors in an IC to the outside world, usually a PC board. Optimum system utilization is done from outside the IC. As an alternative, this paper addresses `unimpeded' transistor-to-transistor interconnection aimed at reaching the high circuit densities and computational capabilities of neighboring IC's. In this view, interconnections are not made to some human-centric place outside the IC world requiring robustness—except for system input and output connections. This unimpeded interconnect style is currently available only through intra-chip signal traces in `system-on-a-chip' implementations, as exemplified by embedded DRAMs. Because the traditional off-chip penalty in performance and wiring density is so large, a merging of complex process technologies is the only option today. It is suggested that, for system integration to move forward, the traditional robustness requirement inherited from conventional packaging interconnect and IC manufacturing test must be discarded. Traditional system assembly from vendor parts requires robustness under shipping, inspection and assembly. The trend toward systems on a chip signifies willingness by semiconductor companies to design and fabricate whole systems in house, so that `in-house' chip-to-chip assembly is not beyond reach. In this scenario, bare chips never leave the controlled environment of the IC fabricator while the two major contributors to off-chip signal penalty, ESD protection and the need to source a 50-ohm test head, are avoided. With in-house assembly, ESD protection can be eliminated with the precautions already familiar in plasma etching. Test interconnection impacts the fundamentals of IC manufacturing, particularly with clock speeds approaching 1GHz, and cannot be an afterthought. It should be an integral part of the chip-to-chip interconnection bandwidth optimization, because—as we must

Reagent-loaded plastic microfluidic chips for detecting homocysteine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suk, Ji Won; Jang, Jae-Young; Cho, Jun-Hyeong

2008-01-01

This report describes the preliminary study on plastic microfluidic chips with pre-loaded reagents for detecting homocysteine (Hcy). All reagents needed in an Hcy immunoassay were included in a microfluidic chip to remove tedious assay steps. A simple and cost-effective bonding method was developed to realize reagent-loaded microfluidic chips. This technique uses an intermediate layer between two plastic substrates by selectively patterning polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on the embossed surface of microchannels and fixing the substrates under pressure. Using this bonding method, the competitive immunoassay for SAH, a converted form of Hcy, was performed without any damage to reagents in chips, and the results showed that the fluorescent signal from antibody antigen binding decreased as the SAH concentration increased. Based on the SAH immunoassay, whole immunoassay steps for Hcy detection were carried out in plastic microfluidic chips with all necessary reagents. These experiments demonstrated the feasibility of the Hcy immunoassay in microfluidic devices

Comparison of solid-phase bioassays and ecoscores to evaluate the toxicity of contaminated soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Lors, Christine; Ponge, Jean-François; Martínez Aldaya, Maite; Damidot, Denis

2010-08-01

Five bioassays (inhibition of lettuce germination and growth, earthworm mortality, inhibition of springtail population growth, avoidance by springtails) were compared, using four coke factory soils contaminated by PAHs and trace elements, before and after biotreatment. For each bioassay, several endpoints were combined in an 'ecoscore', a measure of test sensitivity. Ecoscores pooled over all tested bioassays revealed that most organisms were highly sensitive to the concentration of 3-ring PAHs. When four soils were combined, behavioural tests using the springtail Folsomia candida showed higher ecoscores, i.e. they were most sensitive to soil contamination. However, despite overall higher sensitivity of behavioural tests, which could be used for cheap and rapid assessment of soil toxicity, especially at low levels of contamination, some test endpoints were more sensitive than others, and this may differ from a soil to another, pointing to the need for a battery of bioassays when more itemized results are expected. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A scalable single-chip multi-processor architecture with on-chip RTOS kernel

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Theelen, B.D.; Verschueren, A.C.; Reyes Suarez, V.V.; Stevens, M.P.J.; Nunez, A.

2003-01-01

Now that system-on-chip technology is emerging, single-chip multi-processors are becoming feasible. A key problem of designing such systems is the complexity of their on-chip interconnects and memory architecture. It is furthermore unclear at what level software should be integrated. An example of a

Silicon Nanophotonics for Many-Core On-Chip Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, Moustafa

Number of cores in many-core architectures are scaling to unprecedented levels requiring ever increasing communication capacity. Traditionally, architects follow the path of higher throughput at the expense of latency. This trend has evolved into being problematic for performance in many-core architectures. Moreover, the trends of power consumption is increasing with system scaling mandating nontraditional solutions. Nanophotonics can address these problems, offering benefits in the three frontiers of many-core processor design: Latency, bandwidth, and power. Nanophotonics leverage circuit-switching flow control allowing low latency; in addition, the power consumption of optical links is significantly lower compared to their electrical counterparts at intermediate and long links. Finally, through wave division multiplexing, we can keep the high bandwidth trends without sacrificing the throughput. This thesis focuses on realizing nanophotonics for communication in many-core architectures at different design levels considering reliability challenges that our fabrication and measurements reveal. First, we study how to design on-chip networks for low latency, low power, and high bandwidth by exploiting the full potential of nanophotonics. The design process considers device level limitations and capabilities on one hand, and system level demands in terms of power and performance on the other hand. The design involves the choice of devices, designing the optical link, the topology, the arbitration technique, and the routing mechanism. Next, we address the problem of reliability in on-chip networks. Reliability not only degrades performance but can block communication. Hence, we propose a reliability-aware design flow and present a reliability management technique based on this flow to address reliability in the system. In the proposed flow reliability is modeled and analyzed for at the device, architecture, and system level. Our reliability management technique is

System-on-a-Chip Based Nano Star Tracker and Its Real-Time Image Processing Approach

OpenAIRE

Wei, Minsong; Bao, Jingyu; Xing, Fei; Liu, Zengyi; Sun, Ting; You, Zheng

2016-01-01

The star tracker is one of the most accurate components for satellite attitude determination. With the development of the nano star tracker, it is compatible for application on small satellites. However, the drawback in dynamic property of nano star tracker has limited its extensive applications. The principal objective of this study is to introduce a system-on-a-chip (SOC) based nano star tracker with enhanced dynamic property. A morphology based image processing approach was realized based ...

'In-vivo' and bioassay results from two contrasting cases of plutonium-239 inhalation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramsden, D.; Bains, M.E.D.; Fraser, D.C.

1969-06-01

'In-vivo' and bioassay measurements following two incidents involving plutonium-239 inhalation are described and contrasted. Incident 1, involving the inhalation of insoluble plutonium oxide, resulted in a lung content of about 20 nCi after the initial clearance. Urine excretion was negligible and the estimation of exposure was based on 'in-vivo' data and faecal excretion. Incident,2, involving the inhalation of soluble plutonium, proved negligible and the estimation of exposure, based on urinary excretion, was 0.6 nCi. (author)

WDM-Coherent OCDMA over one single device based on short chip Super Structured Fiber Bragg Gratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Amaya, Waldimar; Pastor, Daniel; Baños, Rocio; Garcia-Munoz, Victor

2011-11-21

We theoretically propose and demonstrate experimentally a Coherent Direct Sequence OCDMA en/decoder for multi-channel WDM operation based on a single device. It presents a broadband spectral envelope and a periodic spectral pattern that can be employed for en/decoding multiple sub-bands simultaneously. Multi-channel operation is verified experimentally by means of Multi-Band Super Structured Fiber Bragg Gratings with binary phase encoded chips fabricated with 1mm inter-chip separation that provides 4x100 GHz ITU sub-band separation at 1.25 Gbps. The WDM-OCDMA system verification was carried out employing simultaneous encoding of four adjacent sub-bands and two different OCDMA codes. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Redox-flexible NADH oxidase biosensor: A platform for various dehydrogenase bioassays and biosensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serban, Simona; El Murr, Nabil

2006-01-01

A generic amperometric bioassay based on the enzymatic oxidation catalysed by the stable NADH oxidase (NAox) from Thermus thermophilus has been developed for NADH measurements. The NAox uses O 2 as its natural electron acceptor and produces H 2 O 2 in a two-electron process. Electrochemical and spectrophotometric experiments showed that the NAox used in this work, presents a very good activity towards its substrate and, in contrary to previously mentioned NADH oxidases, does not require the addition of any exogenous flavin cofactor neither to promote nor to maintain its activity. In addition, the NAox used also works with artificial electron acceptors like ferrocene derivatives. O 2 was successfully replaced by redox mediators such as hydroxymethyl ferrocene (FcCH 2 OH) for the regeneration of the active enzyme. Combining the NAox with the mediator and the horseradish peroxidase we developed an original, high sensitive 'redox-flexible' NADH amperometric bioassay working in a large window of applied potentials in both oxidation and reduction modes. The biosensor has a continuous and complementary linearity range permitting to measure NADH concentrations starting from 5 x 10 -6 M in reduction until 2 x 10 3 M in oxidation. This redox-flexibility allows choosing the applied potential in order to avoid electrochemical interferences. The association of the 'redox-flexible' concept with NADH dependent enzymes opens a novel strategy for dehydrogenases based bioassays and biosensors. The great number of dehydrogenases available makes the concept applicable for numerous substrates to analyse. Moreover it allows the development of a wide range of biosensors on the basis of a generic platform. This gives several advantages over the previous manufacturing techniques and offers a general and flexible scheme for the fabrication of biosensors presenting high sensitivities, wide calibration ranges and less affected by electrochemical interferences

Atom-chip based quantum gravimetry for the precise determination of absolute local gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Abend, S.

2015-12-01

We present a novel technique for the precise measurement of absolute local gravity based on cold atom interferometry. Atom interferometry utilizes the interference of matter waves interrogated by laser light to read out inertial forces. Today's generation of these devices typically operate with test mass samples, that consists of ensembles of laser cooled atoms. Their performance is limited by the velocity spread and finite-size of the test masses that impose systematic uncertainties at the level of a few μGal. Rather than laser cooled atoms we employ quantum degenerate ensembles, so called Bose-Einstein condensates, as ultra-sensitive probes for gravity. These sources offer unique properties in temperature as well as in ensemble size that will allow to overcome the current limitations with the next generation of sensors. Furthermore, atom-chip technologies offer the possibility to generate Bose-Einstein condensates in a fast and reliable way. We show a lab-based prototype that uses the atom-chip itself to retro-reflect the interrogation laser and thus serving as inertial reference inside the vacuum. With this setup it is possible to demonstrate all necessary steps to measure gravity, including the preparation of the source, spanning an interferometer as well as the detection of the output signal, within an area of 1 cm3 right below the atom-chip and to analyze relevant systematic effects. In the framework of the center of excellence geoQ a next generation device is under construction at the Institut für Quantenoptik, that will allow for in-field measurements. This device will feature a state-of-the-art atom-chip source with a high-flux of ultra-cold atoms at a repetition rate of 1-2 Hz. In cooperation with the Müller group at the Institut für Erdmessung the sensor will be characterized in the laboratory first, to be ultimately employed in campaigns to measure the Fennoscandian uplift at the level of 1 μGal. The presented work is part of the center of

Chipping operations and efficiency in different operational environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roeser, D.; Mola-Yudego, B.; Prinz, R.; Emer, B.; Sikanen, L., e-mail: dominik.roser@metla.fi

2012-11-01

This research analyses the productivity of energy wood chipping operations at several sites in Austria and Finland. The aim of the work is to examine the differences in productivity and the effects of the operational environment for the chipping of bioenergy at the roadside. Furthermore, the study quantifies the effects of different variables such as forest energy assortments, tree species, sieve size and machines on the overall productivity of chipping. The results revealed that there are significant differences in the chipping productivity in Austria and Finland which are largely based on the use of different sieve sizes. Furthermore, the different operational environments in both countries, as well as the characteristics of the raw material also seem to have an effect on productivity. In order to improve the chipping productivity, particularly in Central European conditions, all relevant stakeholders need to work jointly to find solutions that will allow a greater variation of chip size. Furthermore, in the future more consideration has to be given to the close interlinkage between the chipper, crane and grapple. As a result, investments costs can be optimized and operational costs and stress on the machines reduced. (orig.)

Lab-on-a-chip devices and micro-total analysis systems a practical guide

CERN Document Server

Svendsen, Winnie

2015-01-01

This book covers all the steps in order to fabricate a lab-on-a-chip device starting from the idea, the design, simulation, fabrication and final evaluation. Additionally, it includes basic theory on microfluidics essential to understand how fluids behave at such reduced scale. Examples of successful histories of lab-on-a-chip systems that made an impact in fields like biomedicine and life sciences are also provided.

Routing algorithms in networks-on-chip

CERN Document Server

Daneshtalab, Masoud

2014-01-01

This book provides a single-source reference to routing algorithms for Networks-on-Chip (NoCs), as well as in-depth discussions of advanced solutions applied to current and next generation, many core NoC-based Systems-on-Chip (SoCs). After a basic introduction to the NoC design paradigm and architectures, routing algorithms for NoC architectures are presented and discussed at all abstraction levels, from the algorithmic level to actual implementation.  Coverage emphasizes the role played by the routing algorithm and is organized around key problems affecting current and next generation, many-core SoCs. A selection of routing algorithms is included, specifically designed to address key issues faced by designers in the ultra-deep sub-micron (UDSM) era, including performance improvement, power, energy, and thermal issues, fault tolerance and reliability.   ·         Provides a comprehensive overview of routing algorithms for Networks-on-Chip and NoC-based, manycore systems; ·         Describe...

An automatic system for elaboration of chip breaking diagrams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Jan Lasson; De Chiffre, Leonardo

1998-01-01

A laboratory system for fully automatic elaboration of chip breaking diagrams has been developed and tested. The system is based on automatic chip breaking detection by frequency analysis of cutting forces in connection with programming of a CNC-lathe to scan different feeds, speeds and cutting...

Advances in OLED/OPD-based sensors and spectrometer-on-a-chip (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Shinar, Joseph; Kaudal, Rajiv; Manna, Eeshita; Fungura, Fadzai; Shinar, Ruth

2016-09-01

We describe ongoing advances toward achieving all-organic optical sensors and a spectrometer on a chip. Two-dimensional combinatorial arrays of microcavity OLEDs (μcOLEDs) with systematically varying optical cavity lengths are fabricated on a single chip by changing the thickness of different organic and/or spacer layers sandwiched between two metal electrodes (one very thin) that form the cavity. The broad spectral range is achieved by utilizing materials that result in white OLEDs (WOLEDs) when fabricated on a standard ITO substrate. The tunable and narrower emissions from the μcOLEDs serve as excitation sources in luminescent sensors and in monitoring light absorption. For each wavelength, the light from the μcOLED is partially absorbed by a sample under study and the light emitted by an electronically excited sample, or the transmitted light is detected by a photodetector (PD). To obtain a compact monitor, an organic PD (OPD) or a perovskite-based PD is integrated with the μcOLED array. We show the potential of encompassing a broader wavelength range by using WOLED materials to fabricate the μcOLEDs. The utility of the all-organic analytical devices is demonstrated by monitoring oxygen, and bioanalytes based on oxygen detection, as well as the absorption spectra of dyes.

An Integrated Microfabricated Chip with Double Functions as an Ion Source and Air Pump Based on LIGA Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hua Li

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The injection and ionization of volatile organic compounds (VOA by an integrated chip is experimentally analyzed in this paper. The integrated chip consists of a needle-to-cylinder electrode mounting on the Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA substrate. The needle-to-cylinder electrode is designed and fabricated by Lithographie, Galvanoformung and Abformung (LIGA technology. In this paper, the needle is connected to a negative power supply of −5 kV and used as the cathode; the cylinder electrodes are composed of two arrays of cylinders and serve as the anode. The ionic wind is produced based on corona and glow discharges of needle-to-cylinder electrodes. The experimental setup is designed to observe the properties of the needle-to-cylinder discharge and prove its functions as an ion source and air pump. In summary, the main results are as follows: (1 the ionic wind velocity produced by the chip is about 0.79 m/s at an applied voltage of −3300 V; (2 acetic acid and ammonia water can be injected through the chip, which is proved by pH test paper; and (3 the current measured by a Faraday cup is about 10 pA for acetic acid and ammonia with an applied voltage of −3185 V. The integrated chip is promising for portable analytical instruments, such as ion mobility spectrometry (IMS, field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS, and mass spectrometry (MS.

Seasonal changes in food quantity and quality of the common North Sea copepods Temora longicornis and Pseudocalanus elongatus: a bioassay approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koski, Marja; Dutz, Jörg; Klein Breteler, W.

2010-01-01

We evaluated the food quantity and quality over a seasonal cycle for the development and egg production of the common North Sea copepods Temora longicornis and Pseudocalanus elongatus, using a bioassay approach. Seston was sampled from December to October from a well-mixed water column of the Mar......We evaluated the food quantity and quality over a seasonal cycle for the development and egg production of the common North Sea copepods Temora longicornis and Pseudocalanus elongatus, using a bioassay approach. Seston was sampled from December to October from a well-mixed water column...... with the seston from the spring bloom in March-April. The juveniles of both species were able to complete their development only in spring experiments. A multiple regression analyses and comparison to a good-quality standard food of the same concentration suggested that, in an annual scale, the egg production...

The extended Beer-Lambert theory for ray tracing modeling of LED chip-scaled packaging application with multiple luminescence materials

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Cadmus C. A.

2015-12-01

Optical ray tracing modeling applied Beer-Lambert method in the single luminescence material system to model the white light pattern from blue LED light source. This paper extends such algorithm to a mixed multiple luminescence material system by introducing the equivalent excitation and emission spectrum of individual luminescence materials. The quantum efficiency numbers of individual material and self-absorption of the multiple luminescence material system are considered as well. By this combination, researchers are able to model the luminescence characteristics of LED chip-scaled packaging (CSP), which provides simple process steps and the freedom of the luminescence material geometrical dimension. The method will be first validated by the experimental results. Afterward, a further parametric investigation has been then conducted.

An examination of the analysis of radiostrontiums in bioassay applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linauskas, S.H.; Leon, J.W.

1993-05-01

Radiostrontiums are among the most radiologically significant radionuclides in the nuclear reactor environment due to their relatively high fission yield, long physical half-life, volatility and mobility in the workplace, and long retention times in tissues such as bone. Effective bioassay programs include analytical processes that consider prospective monitoring requirements provided by screening measurements, as well as the retrospective monitoring requirements provided by screening measurements following an intake. Chromatography using crown ethers as well as the use of spectrometry techniques with advanced liquid-scintillation counters or solid-state surface-barrier detectors appear to have significant benefits for Sr bioassay programs. (author). 90 refs., 2 tabs., 3 figs

An examination of the analysis of radiostrontiums in bioassay applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Linauskas, S H; Leon, J W

1993-05-01

Radiostrontiums are among the most radiologically significant radionuclides in the nuclear reactor environment due to their relatively high fission yield, long physical half-life, volatility and mobility in the workplace, and long retention times in tissues such as bone. Effective bioassay programs include analytical processes that consider prospective monitoring requirements provided by screening measurements, as well as the retrospective monitoring requirements provided by screening measurements following an intake. Chromatography using crown ethers as well as the use of spectrometry techniques with advanced liquid-scintillation counters or solid-state surface-barrier detectors appear to have significant benefits for Sr bioassay programs. (author). 90 refs., 2 tabs., 3 figs.

On-chip electrochromic micro display for a disposable bio-sensor chip

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yanjun; Tsukamoto, Takashiro; Tanaka, Shuji

2017-12-01

This paper reports an on-chip electrochromic micro display made of polyaniline (PANi) which can be easily made on a CMOS chip. Micro-patterned PANi thin films were selectively deposited on pre-patterned microelectrodes by using electrodeposition. The optimum conditions for deposition and electrochromism were investigated. An 8-pixel on-chip micro display was made on a Si chip. The color of each PANi film could be independently but simultaneously controlled, which means any 1-byte digital data could be displayed on the display. The PANi display had a response time as fast as about 100 ms, which means the transfer data rate was as fast as 80 bits per second.

The IMBA suite: integrated modules for bioassay analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birchall, A.; Jarvis, N.S.; Peace, M.S.; Riddell, A.E.; Battersby, W.P

1998-07-01

The increasing complexity of models representing the biokinetic behaviour of radionuclides in the body following intake poses problems for people who are required to implement these models. The problem is exacerbated by the current paucity of suitable software. In order to remedy this situation, a collaboration between British Nuclear Fuels, Westlakes Research Institute and the National Radiological Protection Board has started with the aim of producing a suite of modules for estimating intakes and doses from bioassay measurements using the new ICRP models. Each module will have a single purpose (e.g. to calculate respiratory tract deposition) and will interface with other software using data files. The elements to be implemented initially are plutonium, uranium, caesium, iodine and tritium. It is intended to make the software available to other parties under terms yet to be decided. This paper describes the proposed suite of integrated modules for bioassay analysis, IMBA. (author)

On-Chip Microwave Quantum Hall Circulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. C. Mahoney

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Circulators are nonreciprocal circuit elements that are integral to technologies including radar systems, microwave communication transceivers, and the readout of quantum information devices. Their nonreciprocity arises from the interference of microwaves over the centimeter scale of the signal wavelength, in the presence of bulky magnetic media that breaks time-reversal symmetry. Here, we realize a completely passive on-chip microwave circulator with size 1/1000th the wavelength by exploiting the chiral, “slow-light” response of a two-dimensional electron gas in the quantum Hall regime. For an integrated GaAs device with 330  μm diameter and about 1-GHz center frequency, a nonreciprocity of 25 dB is observed over a 50-MHz bandwidth. Furthermore, the nonreciprocity can be dynamically tuned by varying the voltage at the port, an aspect that may enable reconfigurable passive routing of microwave signals on chip.

A Bioassay System Using Bioelectric Signals from Small Fish

Science.gov (United States)

Terawaki, Mitsuru; Soh, Zu; Hirano, Akira; Tsuji, Toshio

Although the quality of tap water is generally examined using chemical assay, this method cannot be used for examination in real time. Against such a background, the technique of fish bioassay has attracted attention as an approach that enables constant monitoring of aquatic contamination. The respiratory rhythms of fish are considered an efficient indicator for the ongoing assessment of water quality, since they are sensitive to chemicals and can be indirectly measured from bioelectric signals generated by breathing. In order to judge aquatic contamination accurately, it is necessary to measure bioelectric signals from fish swimming freely as well as to stably discriminate measured signals, which vary between individuals. However, no bioassay system meeting the above requirements has yet been established. This paper proposes a bioassay system using bioelectric signals generated from small fish in free-swimming conditions. The system records signals using multiple electrodes to cover the extensive measurement range required in a free-swimming environment, and automatically discriminates changes in water quality from signal frequency components. This discrimination is achieved through an ensemble classification method using probability neural networks to solve the problem of differences between individual fish. The paper also reports on the results of related validation experiments, which showed that the proposed system was able to stably discriminate between water conditions before and after bleach exposure.

Methodology for estimation of 32P in bioassay samples by Cerenkov counting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wankhede, Sonal; Sawant, Pramilla D.; Yadav, R.K.B.; Rao, D.D.

2016-01-01

Radioactive phosphorus ( 32 P) as phosphate is used to effectively reduce bone pain in terminal cancer patients. Several hospitals in India carry out this palliative care procedure on a regular basis. Thus, production as well as synthesis of 32 P compounds has increased over the years to meet this requirement. Monitoring of radiation workers handling 32 P compounds is important for further strengthening of radiological protection program at processing facility. 32 P being a pure beta emitter (β max = 1.71 MeV, t 1/2 = 14.3 d), bioassay is the preferred individual monitoring technique. Method standardized at Bioassay Lab, Trombay, includes estimation of 32 P in urine by co-precipitation with ammonium phosphomolybdate (AMP) followed by gross beta counting. In the present study, feasibility of Cerenkov counting for detection of 32 P in bioassay samples was explored and the results obtained were compared with the gross beta counting technique

An amplified graphene oxide-based fluorescence aptasensor based on target-triggered aptamer hairpin switch and strand-displacement polymerization recycling for bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Kun; Liu, Jinwen; Chen, Jia; Huang, Yong; Zhao, Shulin; Tian, Jianniao; Zhang, Guohai

2013-04-15

An amplified graphene oxide (GO) based fluorescence aptasensor based on target-triggered aptamer hairpin switch and strand-displacement polymerization recycling is developed for bioassays. The dye-labeled single-strand DNA (aptamer hairpin) was adsorbed on the surface of GO, which result in the fluorescence quenching of dye, and exhibiting minimal background fluorescence. Upon the target, primer and polymerase, the stem of the aptamer hairpin was opened, and binds with the primer to triggers the circular target strand-displacement polymerization reaction, which produces huge amounts of duplex helixes DNA and lead to strong fluorescence emission due to shielding of nucelobases within its double-helix structure. During the polymerization reaction, the primer was extended, and target was displaced. And the displaced target recognizes and hybridizes with another hairpin probe, triggering the next round of polymerization reaction, and the circle process induces fluorescence signal amplification for the detection of analyte. To test the feasibility of the aptasensor systems, interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) was employed as a model analyte. A detection limit as low as 1.5 fM is obtained based on the GO aptasensor with a linear range of three orders of magnitude. The present method was successfully applied for the detection of IFN-γ in human plasma. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel conductive-polymer-based integration process for high-performance flip-chip packages

Science.gov (United States)

Lohokare, Saurabh

Conductive polymers have recently attracted considerable attention for low-temperature fabrication of lead-free, reworkable, and flexible flip-chip interconnects. Using these materials, I demonstrate in this thesis a process that enables low-cost and high-resolution flip-chip interconnects using conventional micro-fabrication techniques. This fabrication process offers improved performance as compared to conventional flip-chip techniques, such as screen-printing, and allows for definition of interconnects with excellent surface uniformity and control over the bump profile. In order to demonstrate the utility and wide applicability of this process, several test implementations that serve as case studies were investigated. Specifically, novel InGaAsSb avalanche photodiodes (APDs), operating around lambda = 2m and targeted for free-space communication and biomedical spectroscopy applications, were fabricated and flip-chip-integrated to test the static electrical characteristics of the polymer bumps. Additionally, the dynamic electrical performance characteristics of the polymer bumps were studied by using AlGaAsSb/AlGaSb p-i-n photodetectors as a case study. The fabrication of these photodetectors, operating around lambda = 1.55mum and targeted for optical communication applications, was accomplished using a customized inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch process that resulted in a low dark current and excellent speed (3dB bandwidth of 10GHz) and, responsivity (60% external quantum efficiency) characteristics. Furthermore, flip-chip integration was used to demonstrate a three-dimensional, point-to-point micro-optical interconnect, which was 2.33mm-long in a system 15.27mm3 in volume. Lastly, high-speed parallel optical interconnects were demonstrated using polymer-flip-chip-integrated 10GHz vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and DOEs. Such interconnects offer the ability to alleviate the communication bottleneck that is projected to occur in future, high

Application of electronic speckle-pattern interferometry to measure in-plane thermal displacement in flip-chip packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Baik-Woo; Jang, Woosoon; Kim, Dong-Won; Jeong, Jeung-hyun; Nah, Jae-Woong; Paik, Kyung-Wook; Kwon, Dongil

2004-01-01

Electronic speckle-pattern interferometry (ESPI) was applied for noncontact, real-time evaluation of thermal deformation in a flip-chip package. The spatial resolution of ESPI was increased to submicron scale by magnifying the areas studied in order to measure the deformation of such small-scale components as the solder in the flip-chip package. Thermal deformation in the horizontal and vertical directions around the solder joints was measured as two-dimensional mappings during heating from 25 to 125 deg. C. ESPI was successful in obtaining information on the complicated deformation field around the solder joints. Furthermore, the shear strain could also be calculated using the measured thermal deformation around each solder joint. The applicability of ESPI to flip-chip packages was verified by comparing the ESPI results with those of finite-element analysis (FEA)

Improved liquid chromatography-MS/MS of heparan sulfate oligosaccharides via chip-based pulsed makeup flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yu; Shi, Xiaofeng; Yu, Xiang; Leymarie, Nancy; Staples, Gregory O; Yin, Hongfeng; Killeen, Kevin; Zaia, Joseph

2011-11-01

Microfluidic chip-based hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) is a useful separation system for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in compositional profiling of heparan sulfate (HS) oligosaccharides; however, ions observed using HILIC LC-MS are low in charge. Tandem MS of HS oligosaccharide ions with low charge results in undesirable losses of SO(3) from precursor ions during collision induced dissociation. One solution is to add metal cations to stabilize sulfate groups. Another is to add a nonvolatile, polar compound such as sulfolane, a molecule known to supercharge proteins, to produce a similar effect for oligosaccharides. We demonstrate use of a novel pulsed makeup flow (MUF) HPLC-chip. The chip enables controlled application of additives during specified chromatographic time windows and thus minimizes the extent to which nonvolatile additives build up in the ion source. The pulsed MUF system was applied to LC-MS/MS of HS oligosaccharides. Metal cations and sulfolane were tested as additives. The most promising results were obtained for sulfolane, for which supercharging of the oligosaccharide ions increased their signal strengths relative to controls. Tandem MS of these supercharged precursor ions showed decreased abundances of product ions from sulfate losses yet more abundant product ions from backbone cleavages.

An automatic chip structure optical inspection system for electronic components

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zhichao; Xue, Bindang; Liang, Jiyuan; Wang, Ke; Chen, Junzhang; Liu, Yunhe

2018-01-01

An automatic chip structure inspection system based on machine vision is presented to ensure the reliability of electronic components. It consists of four major modules, including a metallographic microscope, a Gigabit Ethernet high-resolution camera, a control system and a high performance computer. An auto-focusing technique is presented to solve the problem that the chip surface is not on the same focusing surface under the high magnification of the microscope. A panoramic high-resolution image stitching algorithm is adopted to deal with the contradiction between resolution and field of view, caused by different sizes of electronic components. In addition, we establish a database to storage and callback appropriate parameters to ensure the consistency of chip images of electronic components with the same model. We use image change detection technology to realize the detection of chip images of electronic components. The system can achieve high-resolution imaging for chips of electronic components with various sizes, and clearly imaging for the surface of chip with different horizontal and standardized imaging for ones with the same model, and can recognize chip defects.

Phonon-based scalable platform for chip-scale quantum computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles M. Reinke

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We present a scalable phonon-based quantum computer on a phononic crystal platform. Practical schemes involve selective placement of a single acceptor atom in the peak of the strain field in a high-Q phononic crystal cavity that enables coupling of the phonon modes to the energy levels of the atom. We show theoretical optimization of the cavity design and coupling waveguide, along with estimated performance figures of the coupled system. A qubit can be created by entangling a phonon at the resonance frequency of the cavity with the atom states. Qubits based on this half-sound, half-matter quasi-particle, called a phoniton, may outcompete other quantum architectures in terms of combined emission rate, coherence lifetime, and fabrication demands.

Chip-based generation of carbon nanodots via electrochemical oxidation of screen printed carbon electrodes and the applications for efficient cell imaging and electrochemiluminescence enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yuanhong; Liu, Jingquan; Zhang, Jizhen; Zong, Xidan; Jia, Xiaofang; Li, Dan; Wang, Erkang

2015-06-07

A portable lab-on-a-chip methodology to generate ionic liquid-functionalized carbon nanodots (CNDs) was developed via electrochemical oxidation of screen printed carbon electrodes. The CNDs can be successfully applied for efficient cell imaging and solid-state electrochemiluminescence sensor fabrication on the paper-based chips.

Development of K-bioassay for the efficient potassium fertilization of citrus tree

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

U, Jang Kual [Cheju National University, Cheju (Korea, Republic of); Han, Hae Ryong [Cheju National University, Cheju (Korea, Republic of); Moon, Duk Young; Kim, Chang Myung; Lim, Han Cheol; Moon, Do Kyung [Cheju Citrus Research Institute, Cheju (Korea, Republic of); Song, Sung Jun [Cheju National Univerisity, Cheju (Korea, Republic of)

1994-12-31

a Similar to the {sup 42} K uptake, {sup 86} Rb uptake by the roots of Hordeum distichum grown in the hydroponic culture was negatively correlated with the concentration of K supplied previously, showing that {sup 86} Rb can be used for the K-bioassay. {sup 86} Rb having longer half life(18.86 day) than {sup 42} K(12.36 hr) allowed the use of larger number of root samples. {sup 86} Rb uptake of 3 years old Citrus unshiu Marc. grown in water culture decreased drastically with the increase of K concentration of the culture solution, thus demonstrating that the nutrition status of K for citrus trees can be diagnosed by K-bioassay using {sup 86} Rb tracer. {sup 86} Rb uptake by the excised roots of Hordeum distichum correlated with the exchangeable K in soil. The amount of exchangeable K in soil for the optimal plant growth can be determined by its relationship. {sup 42} K- and {sup 86} Rb-uptake by the Hordeum distichum roots were markedly inhibited by 5 x 10{sup -3} M KCN in the bioassay solution, indicating that uptake is metabolically controlled. There was no significant relationship between K content in citrus leaves and K concentration in the water-culture medium. It is concluded that K-bioassay is a potentially useful tool for determining of K requirement in citrus trees. (author)

A Transcriptome—Targeting EcoChip for Assessing Functional Mycodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derek Peršoh

2011-10-01

Full Text Available A functional biodiversity microarray (EcoChip prototype has been developed to facilitate the analysis of fungal communities in environmental samples with broad functional and phylogenetic coverage and to enable the incorporation of nucleic acid sequence data as they become available from large-scale (next generation sequencing projects. A dual probe set (DPS was designed to detect a functional enzyme transcripts at conserved protein sites and b phylogenetic barcoding transcripts at ITS regions present in precursor rRNA. Deviating from the concept of GeoChip-type microarrays, the presented EcoChip microarray phylogenetic information was obtained using a dedicated set of barcoding microarray probes, whereas functional gene expression was analyzed by conserved domain-specific probes. By unlinking these two target groups, the shortage of broad sequence information of functional enzyme-coding genes in environmental communities became less important. The novel EcoChip microarray could be successfully applied to identify specific degradation activities in environmental samples at considerably high phylogenetic resolution. Reproducible and unbiased microarray signals could be obtained with chemically labeled total RNA preparations, thus avoiding the use of enzymatic labeling steps. ITS precursor rRNA was detected for the first time in a microarray experiment, which confirms the applicability of the EcoChip concept to selectively quantify the transcriptionally active part of fungal communities at high phylogenetic resolution. In addition, the chosen microarray platform facilitates the conducting of experiments with high sample throughput in almost any molecular biology laboratory.

'Dose per unit content' functions: A robust tool for the interpretation of bioassay data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berkovski, V.; Bonchuk, Y.; Ratia, G.

2003-01-01

The purposes of this study were to investigate the influence of the consequences of the lack of primary bioassay information and to elaborate approaches which could improve the reliability of dose assessments. The aggregated time-dependent functions 'dose per unit organ (excretion) content' z(t) have been proposed in this study as a convenient and reliable tool for bioassay. The analysis of the variation of z with changes of AMAD has demonstrated the existence of areas of the relative invariance of z, which permits the selection of one (reference) function z for the whole area of stability. Within the framework of such an approach an arbitrary set of bioassay data can be approximated by the linear combination F(t) S i E/ i z(t-t i ), whereI> F(t) function of time t, which approximates the observed bioassay time trend; t i = time shift of the acute intake i; E i effective dose, associated with the acute intake i (the two last parameters are results of the approximation procedure). (author)

Direct current insulator based dielectrophoresis (DC-iDEP) microfluidic chip for blood plasma separation

OpenAIRE

Mohammadi, Mahdi

2015-01-01

Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) integrated microfluidics has been a powerful tool for new developments in analytical chemistry. These microfluidic systems enable the miniaturization, integration and automation of complex biochemical assays through the reduction of reagent use and enabling portability.Cell and particle separation in microfluidic systems has recently gained significant attention in many sample preparations for clinical procedures. Direct-current insulator-based dielectrophoresis (DC-iDEP) ...

High-performance, scalable optical network-on-chip architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Xianfang

The rapid advance of technology enables a large number of processing cores to be integrated into a single chip which is called a Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) or a Multiprocessor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) design. The on-chip interconnection network, which is the communication infrastructure for these processing cores, plays a central role in a many-core system. With the continuously increasing complexity of many-core systems, traditional metallic wired electronic networks-on-chip (NoC) became a bottleneck because of the unbearable latency in data transmission and extremely high energy consumption on chip. Optical networks-on-chip (ONoC) has been proposed as a promising alternative paradigm for electronic NoC with the benefits of optical signaling communication such as extremely high bandwidth, negligible latency, and low power consumption. This dissertation focus on the design of high-performance and scalable ONoC architectures and the contributions are highlighted as follow: 1. A micro-ring resonator (MRR)-based Generic Wavelength-routed Optical Router (GWOR) is proposed. A method for developing any sized GWOR is introduced. GWOR is a scalable non-blocking ONoC architecture with simple structure, low cost and high power efficiency compared to existing ONoC designs. 2. To expand the bandwidth and improve the fault tolerance of the GWOR, a redundant GWOR architecture is designed by cascading different type of GWORs into one network. 3. The redundant GWOR built with MRR-based comb switches is proposed. Comb switches can expand the bandwidth while keep the topology of GWOR unchanged by replacing the general MRRs with comb switches. 4. A butterfly fat tree (BFT)-based hybrid optoelectronic NoC (HONoC) architecture is developed in which GWORs are used for global communication and electronic routers are used for local communication. The proposed HONoC uses less numbers of electronic routers and links than its counterpart of electronic BFT-based NoC. It takes the advantages of

Design of an Enterobacteriaceae Pan-genome Microarray Chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lukjancenko, Oksana; Ussery, David

2010-01-01

-density microarray chip has been designed, using 116 Enterobacteriaceae genome sequences, taking into account the enteric pan-genome. Probes for the microarray were checked in silico and performance of the chip, based on experimental strains from four different genera, demonstrate a relatively high ability...... to distinguish those strains on genus, species, and pathotype/serovar levels. Additionally, the microarray performed well when investigating which genes were found in a given strain of interest. The Enterobacteriaceae pan-genome microarray, based on 116 genomes, provides a valuable tool for determination...

Toxicity assessment using different bioassays and microbial biosensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Sedky H A; Van Ginkel, Steven W; Hussein, Mohamed A M; Abskharon, Romany; Oh, Sang-Eun

2016-01-01

Toxicity assessment of water streams, wastewater, and contaminated sediments, is a very important part of environmental pollution monitoring. Evaluation of biological effects using a rapid, sensitive and cost effective method can indicate specific information on ecotoxicity assessment. Recently, different biological assays for toxicity assessment based on higher and lower organisms such as fish, invertebrates, plants and algal cells, and microbial bioassays have been used. This review focuses on microbial biosensors as an analytical device for environmental, food, and biomedical applications. Different techniques which are commonly used in microbial biosensing include amperometry, potentiometry, conductometry, voltammetry, microbial fuel cells, fluorescence, bioluminescence, and colorimetry. Examples of the use of different microbial biosensors in assessing a variety of environments are summarized. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of a CMOS readout circuit on ultra-thin flexible silicon chip for printed strain gauges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Elsobky

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Flexible electronics represents an emerging technology with features enabling several new applications such as wearable electronics and bendable displays. Precise and high-performance sensors readout chips are crucial for high quality flexible electronic products. In this work, the design of a CMOS readout circuit for an array of printed strain gauges is presented. The ultra-thin readout chip and the printed sensors are combined on a thin Benzocyclobutene/Polyimide (BCB/PI substrate to form a Hybrid System-in-Foil (HySiF, which is used as an electronic skin for robotic applications. Each strain gauge utilizes a Wheatstone bridge circuit, where four Aerosol Jet® printed meander-shaped resistors form a full-bridge topology. The readout chip amplifies the output voltage difference (about 5 mV full-scale swing of the strain gauge. One challenge during the sensor interface circuit design is to compensate for the relatively large dc offset (about 30 mV at 1 mA in the bridge output voltage so that the amplified signal span matches the input range of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC. The circuit design uses the 0. 5 µm mixed-signal GATEFORESTTM technology. In order to achieve the mechanical flexibility, the chip fabrication is based on either back thinned wafers or the ChipFilmTM technology, which enables the manufacturing of silicon chips with a thickness of about 20 µm. The implemented readout chip uses a supply of 5 V and includes a 5-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC, a differential difference amplifier (DDA, and a 10-bit successive approximation register (SAR ADC. The circuit is simulated across process, supply and temperature corners and the simulation results indicate excellent performance in terms of circuit stability and linearity.

A single-walled carbon nanotube thin film-based pH-sensing microfluidic chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Cheng Ai; Han, Kwi Nam; Pham, Xuan-Hung; Seong, Gi Hun

2014-04-21

A novel microfluidic pH-sensing chip was developed based on pH-sensitive single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). In this study, the SWCNT thin film acted both as an electrode and a pH-sensitive membrane. The potentiometric pH response was observed by electronic structure changes in the semiconducting SWCNTs in response to the pH level. In a microfluidic chip consisting of a SWCNT pH-sensing working electrode and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode, the calibration plot exhibited promising pH-sensing performance with an ideal Nernstian response of 59.71 mV pH(-1) between pH 3 and 11 (standard deviation of the sensitivity is 1.5 mV pH(-1), R(2) = 0.985). Moreover, the SWCNT electrode in the microfluidic device showed no significant variation at any pH value in the range of the flow rate between 0.1 and 15 μl min(-1). The selectivity coefficients of the SWCNT electrode revealed good selectivity against common interfering ions.

Development of a chick bioassay for determination of infectivity of viral pathogens in poultry litter.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, A F M F; Walkden-Brown, S W; Groves, P J; Wells, B

2013-01-01

To develop a chicken bioassay to detect infective viral pathogens in poultry litter and to determine the effects of type of chicken and age of exposure, as well as the effect of simulated litter transportation, on the level of viral infectivity detected. A 5 × 2 × 2 factorial design, plus negative controls. Five chicken litters, including two with deliberate contamination (one transported and one not), two chicken types (specific-pathogen-free (SPF) Leghorns and Cobb broilers) and two ages at initial exposure (days 1 and 8). Two replicates of each treatment combination. The 10 chickens in each of 22 isolators were either exposed (20 isolators) or not (2 isolators) to 8 L of previously used or deliberately contaminated poultry litter in two deep scratch trays. At day 35 post-exposure, sera were assayed for antibodies against chicken anaemia virus (CAV), infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and fowl adenovirus (FAV). Spleen samples were tested for Marek's disease virus (MDV) using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The bioassay detected CAV, IBDV and FAV, but not NDV, IBV or MDV, in chickens exposed to infected litters. Infection in SPF chickens was detected with greater sensitivity than in the broiler chickens. Sensitivity increased with age at exposure in broiler but not SPF chickens. Simulated transportation for 24 h had little effect on pathogen detection. A bioassay based on the exposure of day-old SPF chickens to poultry litter and measurement of seroconversion at day 35 post-exposure is a useful semi-quantitative assay for viral infectivity in poultry litter, with overnight transportation of litter having little effect on the level of viral infectivity detected. This bioassay has applications in research on litter treatment protocols. © 2013 The Authors. Australian Veterinary Journal © 2013 Australian Veterinary Association.

BIOSAY: a computer program to store and report bioassay data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, G.E.; Parlagreco, J.R.

1978-12-01

BIOSAY is a computer program designed to manipulate bioassay data. Using BIOSAY, the Dosimetry Group can generate a report suitable for an individual's dosimetry record. A second copy of this report may be mailed to the individual who provided the sample or the area health physicist for review. BIOSAY also contains a data sorting option which allows all the results for particular individuals, or groups of individuals with common attributes, to be separated from the data base. The computer code is written in a conversational tone with aids which make it usable by even casual users of the computer system

Generation and manipulation of entangled photons on silicon chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matsuda Nobuyuki

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Integrated quantum photonics is now seen as one of the promising approaches to realize scalable quantum information systems. With optical waveguides based on silicon photonics technologies, we can realize quantum optical circuits with a higher degree of integration than with silica waveguides. In addition, thanks to the large nonlinearity observed in silicon nanophotonic waveguides, we can implement active components such as entangled photon sources on a chip. In this paper, we report recent progress in integrated quantum photonic circuits based on silicon photonics. We review our work on correlated and entangled photon-pair sources on silicon chips, using nanoscale silicon waveguides and silicon photonic crystal waveguides. We also describe an on-chip quantum buffer realized using the slow-light effect in a silicon photonic crystal waveguide. As an approach to combine the merits of different waveguide platforms, a hybrid quantum circuit that integrates a silicon-based photon-pair source and a silica-based arrayed waveguide grating is also presented.

Issues in weighting bioassay data for use in regressions for internal dose assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strom, D.J.

1992-11-01

For use of bioassay data in internal dose assessment, research should be done to clarify the goal desired, the choice of method to achieve the goal, the selection of adjustable parameters, and on the ensemble of information that is available. Understanding of these issues should determine choices of weighting factors for bioassay data used in regression models. This paper provides an assessment of the relative importance of the various factors

Changes in chemical composition and bioassay assessment of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Changes in chemical composition and bioassay assessment of nutritional potentials of almond fruit waste as an alternative feedstuff for livestock. ... AFW using day-old cockerels and considering performance parameters showed that treated AFW improved feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio even better ...

The use of cultivars of Raphanus sativus for cytokinin bioassay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorota Kubowicz

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Six cultivars of radish (Raphanus sativus were tested for their usefulness in radish cytokinin bioassay by the method of Letham (1971. The best cultivar was found to be 'Sopel Lodu' which responds well to both zeatin and 2iP over a wide range of concentrations. The fresh weight of cotyledons increased at most by 71.5% (if treated with zeatin or 101.0% (if treated with 2iP compared to untreated cotyledons. This cultivar is also sensitive to the partially purified cytokinin-like fraction isolated from the pine (Pinus silvestris cambial region. The cultivar 'Sopel Lodu' is therefore proposed to be a suitable plant for cytokinin bioassays.

Design and Analysis of Delayed Chip Slope Modulation in Optical Wireless Communication

KAUST Repository

Park, Kihong

2015-08-23

In this letter, we propose a novel slope-based binary modulation called delayed chip slope modulation (DCSM) and develop a chip-based hard-decision receiver to demodulate the resulting signal, detect the chip sequence, and decode the input bit sequence. Shorter duration of chips than bit duration are used to represent the change of state in an amplitude level according to consecutive bit information and to exploit the trade-off between bandwidth and power efficiency. We analyze the power spectral density and error rate performance of the proposed DCSM. We show from numerical results that the DCSM scheme can exploit spectrum density more efficiently than the reference schemes while providing an error rate performance comparable to conventional modulation schemes.

Design and Analysis of Delayed Chip Slope Modulation in Optical Wireless Communication

KAUST Repository

Park, Kihong; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

In this letter, we propose a novel slope-based binary modulation called delayed chip slope modulation (DCSM) and develop a chip-based hard-decision receiver to demodulate the resulting signal, detect the chip sequence, and decode the input bit sequence. Shorter duration of chips than bit duration are used to represent the change of state in an amplitude level according to consecutive bit information and to exploit the trade-off between bandwidth and power efficiency. We analyze the power spectral density and error rate performance of the proposed DCSM. We show from numerical results that the DCSM scheme can exploit spectrum density more efficiently than the reference schemes while providing an error rate performance comparable to conventional modulation schemes.

Harshlight: a "corrective make-up" program for microarray chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wittkowski Knut M

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microscopists are familiar with many blemishes that fluorescence images can have due to dust and debris, glass flaws, uneven distribution of fluids or surface coatings, etc. Microarray scans do show similar artifacts, which might affect subsequent analysis. Although all but the starkest blemishes are hard to find by the unaided eye, particularly in high-density oligonucleotide arrays (HDONAs, few tools are available to help with the detection of those defects. Results We develop a novel tool, Harshlight, for the automatic detection and masking of blemishes in HDONA microarray chips. Harshlight uses a combination of statistic and image processing methods to identify three different types of defects: localized blemishes affecting a few probes, diffuse defects affecting larger areas, and extended defects which may invalidate an entire chip. Conclusion We demonstrate the use of Harshlight can materially improve analysis of HDONA chips, especially for experiments with subtle changes between samples. For the widely used MAS5 algorithm, we show that compact blemishes cause an average of 8 gene expression values per chip to change by more than 50%, two of them by more than twofold; our masking algorithm restores about two thirds of this damage. Large-scale artifacts are successfully detected and eliminated.

Natural products phytotoxicity A bioassay suitable for small quantities of slightly water-soluble compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Dornbos, D L; Spencer, G F

1990-02-01

A large variety of secondary metabolites that can inhibit germination and/or seedling growth are produced by plants in low quantities. The objective of this study was to develop a bioassay capable of reliably assessing reductions in germination percentage and seedling length of small-seeded plant species caused by exposure to minute quantities of these compounds. The germination and growth of alfalfa (Medicago saliva), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti) were evaluated against six known phytotoxins from five chemical classes; cinmethylin (a herbicidal cineole derivative) was selected as a comparison standard. Each phytotoxin, dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, was placed on water-agar in small tissue culture wells. After the solvent evaporated, imbibed seeds were placed on the agar; after three days, germination percentages and seedling lengths were measured. Compared to a commonly used filter paper procedure, this modified agar bioassay required smaller quantities of compound per seed for comparable bioassay results. This bioassay also readily permitted the measurement of seedling length, a more sensitive indicator of phytotoxicity than germination. Seedling length decreased sigmoidally as the toxin concentration increased logarithmically. Phytotoxicity was a function of both compound and plant species. Cinmethylin, a grass herbicide, reduced the length of annual ryegrass seedlings by 90-100%, whereas that of alfalfa and velvetleaf was inhibited slightly. The agar bioassay facilitated the rapid and reliable testing of slightly water-soluble compounds, requiring only minute quantities of each compound to give reproducible results.

Pixel detector readout chip

CERN Multimedia

1991-01-01

Close-up of a pixel detector readout chip. The photograph shows an aera of 1 mm x 2 mm containing 12 separate readout channels. The entire chip contains 1000 readout channels (around 80 000 transistors) covering a sensitive area of 8 mm x 5 mm. The chip has been mounted on a silicon detector to detect high energy particles.

Chip-Level Electromigration Reliability for Cu Interconnects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gall, M.; Oh, C.; Grinshpon, A.; Zolotov, V.; Panda, R.; Demircan, E.; Mueller, J.; Justison, P.; Ramakrishna, K.; Thrasher, S.; Hernandez, R.; Herrick, M.; Fox, R.; Boeck, B.; Kawasaki, H.; Haznedar, H.; Ku, P.

2004-01-01

Even after the successful introduction of Cu-based metallization, the electromigration (EM) failure risk has remained one of the most important reliability concerns for most advanced process technologies. Ever increasing operating current densities and the introduction of low-k materials in the backend process scheme are some of the issues that threaten reliable, long-term operation at elevated temperatures. The traditional method of verifying EM reliability only through current density limit checks is proving to be inadequate in general, or quite expensive at the best. A Statistical EM Budgeting (SEB) methodology has been proposed to assess more realistic chip-level EM reliability from the complex statistical distribution of currents in a chip. To be valuable, this approach requires accurate estimation of currents for all interconnect segments in a chip. However, no efficient technique to manage the complexity of such a task for very large chip designs is known. We present an efficient method to estimate currents exhaustively for all interconnects in a chip. The proposed method uses pre-characterization of cells and macros, and steps to identify and filter out symmetrically bi-directional interconnects. We illustrate the strength of the proposed approach using a high-performance microprocessor design for embedded applications as a case study

The Intersection of CMOS Microsystems and Upconversion Nanoparticles for Luminescence Bioimaging and Bioassays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liping Wei

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Organic fluorophores and quantum dots are ubiquitous as contrast agents for bio-imaging and as labels in bioassays to enable the detection of biological targets and processes. Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs offer a different set of opportunities as labels in bioassays and for bioimaging. UCNPs are excited at near-infrared (NIR wavelengths where biological molecules are optically transparent, and their luminesce in the visible and ultraviolet (UV wavelength range is suitable for detection using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS technology. These nanoparticles provide multiple sharp emission bands, long lifetimes, tunable emission, high photostability, and low cytotoxicity, which render them particularly useful for bio-imaging applications and multiplexed bioassays. This paper surveys several key concepts surrounding upconversion nanoparticles and the systems that detect and process the corresponding luminescence signals. The principle of photon upconversion, tuning of emission wavelengths, UCNP bioassays, and UCNP time-resolved techniques are described. Electronic readout systems for signal detection and processing suitable for UCNP luminescence using CMOS technology are discussed. This includes recent progress in miniaturized detectors, integrated spectral sensing, and high-precision time-domain circuits. Emphasis is placed on the physical attributes of UCNPs that map strongly to the technical features that CMOS devices excel in delivering, exploring the interoperability between the two technologies.

Lab-on-a-Chip Systems for Biomedical and Environmental Monitoring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gardeniers, Johannes G.E.; van den Berg, Albert

2003-01-01

During the last decade, pocket-size analytical equipment based on the "lab-on-a-chip" approach has become available. These chips, in combination with portable electronic equipment, are applicable in e.g. "point-of-care" ion analysis of body fluids, forensics, identification of explosives, tracking

Lab-on-a-Chip systems for biomedical and environmental monitoring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gardeniers, Johannes G.E.; van den Berg, Albert

2004-01-01

During the last decade, pocket-sized analytical equipment based on the lab-on-a-chip approach has become available. These chips, in combination with portable electronic equipment, are applicable in, for example, point-of-care ion analysis of body fluids, forensics, identification of explosives,

Mixture effects in samples of multiple contaminants - An inter-laboratory study with manifold bioassays.

Science.gov (United States)

Altenburger, Rolf; Scholze, Martin; Busch, Wibke; Escher, Beate I; Jakobs, Gianina; Krauss, Martin; Krüger, Janet; Neale, Peta A; Ait-Aissa, Selim; Almeida, Ana Catarina; Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Brion, François; Hilscherová, Klára; Hollert, Henner; Novák, Jiří; Schlichting, Rita; Serra, Hélène; Shao, Ying; Tindall, Andrew; Tolefsen, Knut-Erik; Umbuzeiro, Gisela; Williams, Tim D; Kortenkamp, Andreas

2018-05-01

Chemicals in the environment occur in mixtures rather than as individual entities. Environmental quality monitoring thus faces the challenge to comprehensively assess a multitude of contaminants and potential adverse effects. Effect-based methods have been suggested as complements to chemical analytical characterisation of complex pollution patterns. The regularly observed discrepancy between chemical and biological assessments of adverse effects due to contaminants in the field may be either due to unidentified contaminants or result from interactions of compounds in mixtures. Here, we present an interlaboratory study where individual compounds and their mixtures were investigated by extensive concentration-effect analysis using 19 different bioassays. The assay panel consisted of 5 whole organism assays measuring apical effects and 14 cell- and organism-based bioassays with more specific effect observations. Twelve organic water pollutants of diverse structure and unique known modes of action were studied individually and as mixtures mirroring exposure scenarios in freshwaters. We compared the observed mixture effects against component-based mixture effect predictions derived from additivity expectations (assumption of non-interaction). Most of the assays detected the mixture response of the active components as predicted even against a background of other inactive contaminants. When none of the mixture components showed any activity by themselves then the mixture also was without effects. The mixture effects observed using apical endpoints fell in the middle of a prediction window defined by the additivity predictions for concentration addition and independent action, reflecting well the diversity of the anticipated modes of action. In one case, an unexpectedly reduced solubility of one of the mixture components led to mixture responses that fell short of the predictions of both additivity mixture models. The majority of the specific cell- and organism-based

Development of a millimetrically scaled biodiesel transesterification device that relies on droplet-based co-axial fluidics