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Sample records for flow cell studies

  1. IB-LBM study on cell sorting by pinched flow fractionation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Jingtao; Xu, Yuanqing; Tian, Fangbao; Tang, Xiaoying

    2014-01-01

    Separation of two categories of cells in pinched flow fractionation(PFF) device is simulated by employing IB-LBM. The separation performances at low Reynolds number (about 1) under different pinched segment widths, flow ratios, cell features, and distances between neighboring cells are studied and the results are compared with those predicted by the empirical formula. The simulation indicates that the diluent flow rate should approximate to or more than the flow rate of particle solution in order to get a relatively ideal separation performance. The discrepancy of outflow position between numerical simulation and the empirical prediction enlarges, when the cells become more flexible. Too short distance between two neighboring cells could lead to cell banding which would result in incomplete separation, and the relative position of two neighboring cells influences the banding of cells. The present study will probably provide some new applications of PFF, and make some suggestions on the design of PFF devices.

  2. Experimental Study and Comparison of Various Designs of Gas Flow Fields to PEM Fuel Cells and Cell Stack Performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Hong; Li, Peiwen; Juarez-Robles, Daniel; Wang, Kai; Hernandez-Guerrero, Abel

    2014-01-01

    In this study, a significant number of experimental tests to proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells were conducted to investigate the effect of gas flow fields on fuel cell performance. Graphite plates with various flow field or flow channel designs, from literature survey and also novel designs by the authors, were used for the PEM fuel cell assembly. The fabricated fuel cells have an effective membrane area of 23.5 cm 2 . The results showed that the serpentine flow channel design is still favorable, giving the best single fuel cell performance amongst all the studied flow channel designs. A novel symmetric serpentine flow field was proposed for a relatively large sized fuel cell application. Four fuel cell stacks each including four cells were assembled using different designs of serpentine flow channels. The output power performances of fuel cell stacks were compared and the novel symmetric serpentine flow field design is recommended for its very good performance.

  3. Studying apoptotic cell death by flow cytometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ormerod, Michael G.

    1998-01-01

    Full text: Programmed cell death (PCD) is of fundamental importance in the normal development of an animal and also in tumour biology and radiation biology. During PCD a sequence of changes occurs in cells giving rise to an apoptotic cascade of events. The main elements of this cascade are rapidly being elucidated. Flow cytometry has been used to follow many of these changes. It also has been used to quantify the number of apoptotic cells in a culture and, more recently, in clinical samples. In this review, the properties of apoptotic cells and the main feature of apoptotic cascade will be described. How flow cytometry can be used to follow changes during the apoptotic cascade will be discussed

  4. Feasibility study of red blood cell debulking by magnetic field-flow fractionation with step-programmed flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Lee R; Williams, P Stephen; Nehl, Franziska; Abe, Koji; Chalmers, Jeffrey J; Zborowski, Maciej

    2014-02-01

    Emerging applications of rare cell separation and analysis, such as separation of mature red blood cells from hematopoietic cell cultures, require efficient methods of red blood cell (RBC) debulking. We have tested the feasibility of magnetic RBC separation as an alternative to centrifugal separation using an approach based on the mechanism of magnetic field-flow fractionation (MgFFF). A specially designed permanent magnet assembly generated a quadrupole field having a maximum field of 1.68 T at the magnet pole tips, zero field at the aperture axis, and a nearly constant radial field gradient of 1.75 T/mm (with a negligible angular component) inside a cylindrical aperture of 1.9 mm (diameter) and 76 mm (length). The cell samples included high-spin hemoglobin RBCs obtained by chemical conversion of hemoglobin to methemoglobin (met RBC) or by exposure to anoxic conditions (deoxy RBC), low-spin hemoglobin obtained by exposure of RBC suspension to ambient air (oxy RBC), and mixtures of deoxy RBC and cells from a KG-1a white blood cell (WBC) line. The observation that met RBCs did not elute from the channel at the lower flow rate of 0.05 mL/min applied for 15 min but quickly eluted at the subsequent higher flow rate of 2.0 mL/min was in agreement with FFF theory. The well-defined experimental conditions (precise field and flow characteristics) and a well-established FFF theory verified by studies with model cell systems provided us with a strong basis for making predictions about potential practical applications of the magnetic RBC separation.

  5. Responses of Cells to Flow in Vitro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shigehiro Hashimoto

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The response of cells to a flow has been studied in vitro. The response of cells was examined in two types of flow channels: a circumnutating flow in a donut-shaped open channel in a culture dish, and a one-way flow in a parallelepiped rhombus flow channel. Variation was made on the material of the parallelepiped channel to study on adhesion of cells to the plates: glass and polydimethylsiloxane. Behavior of cells on the plate was observed under a flow of a medium with an inverted phase-contrast-microscope. The shear stress on the plate is calculated with an estimated parabolic distribution of the velocity between the parallel plates. The adhesion of cells was evaluated with the cumulated shear, which is a product of the shear stress and the exposure time. The experimental results show that cells are responsive to the flow, which governs orientation, exfoliation, and differentiation. The response depends on the kinds of cells: endothelial cells orient along the stream line, although myocytes orient perpendicular to the stream line. The adhesion depends on the combination between scaffold and cell: myocytes are more adhesive to glass than cartilage cells, and fibroblasts are more adhesive to oxygenated polydimethylsiloxane than glass.

  6. Methods for studying biofilm formation: flow cells and confocal laser scanning microscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tolker-Nielsen, Tim; Sternberg, Claus

    2014-01-01

    In this chapter methods for growing and analyzing biofilms under hydrodynamic conditions in flow cells are described. Use of flow cells allows for direct microscopic investigation of biofilm formation. The flow in these chambers is essentially laminar, which means that the biofilms can be grown u......, inoculation of the flow cells, running of the system, confocal laser scanning microscopy and image analysis, and disassembly and cleaning of the system....

  7. Application of two-phase flow for cooling of hybrid microchannel PV cells: A comparative study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valeh-e-Sheyda, Peyvand; Rahimi, Masoud; Karimi, Ebrahim; Asadi, Masomeh

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Showing cooling potential of gas–liquid two-phase flow in microchannels for PV cell. ► Introducing the concept of using slug flow in microchannels for cooling of PV cells. ► In single-phase flow, increasing the liquid flow rate enhances the PV power. ► Showing that in two-phase flow the output power related the fluid flow regime. ► By coupling PV and microchannel an increase up to 38% in output power was observed. - Abstract: This paper reports the experimental data from performance of two-phase flows in a small hybrid microchannel solar cell. Using air and water as two-phase fluid, the experiments were conducted at indoor condition in an array of rectangular microchannels with a hydraulic diameter of 0.667 mm. The gas superficial velocity ranges were between 0 and 3.27 m s −1 while liquid flow rate was 0.04 m s −1 . The performance analysis of the PV cell at slug and transitional slug/annular flow regimes are the focus of this study. The influence of two-phase working fluid on PV cell cooling was compared with single-phase. In addition, the great potential of slug flow for heat removal enhancement in PV/T panel was investigated. The obtained data showed the proposed hybrid system could substantially increases the output power of PV solar cells

  8. A segmented cell approach for studying the effects of serpentine flow field parameters on PEMFC current distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reshetenko, Tatyana V.; Bender, Guido; Bethune, Keith; Rocheleau, Richard

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Effects of a flow field design on PEMFC were investigated. ► A segmented cell was used to study 6- and 10-channel serpentine flow fields. ► 10-Channel flow field improved a fuel cell's performance at high current. ► Performance distribution was more uniform for 10-channel than for 6-channel flow field. ► The performance improvement was due to an increased pressure drop. -- Abstract: A serpentine flow field is a commonly used design in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Consequently, optimization of the flow field parameters is critically needed. A segmented cell system was used to study the impact of the flow field's parameters on the current distribution in a PEMFC, and the data obtained were analyzed in terms of voltage overpotentials. 6-Channel and 10-channel serpentine flow field designs were investigated. At low current the segments performance was found to slightly decrease for a 10-channel serpentine flow field. However, increasing the number of channels increased the fuel cell performance when operating at high current and the cell performance became more uniform downstream. The observed improvement in fuel cell performance was attributed to a decrease in mass transfer voltage losses (permeability and diffusion), due to an increased pressure drop. Spatially distributed electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data showed differences in the local segment impedance response and confirmed the performance distribution and the impact of the flow field design

  9. CFD study of liquid-cooled heat sinks with microchannel flow field configurations for electronics, fuel cells, and concentrated solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramos-Alvarado, Bladimir; Li Peiwen; Liu Hong; Hernandez-Guerrero, Abel

    2011-01-01

    A study of the heat transfer performance of liquid-cooled heat sinks with conventional and novel micro-channel flow field configurations for application in electronic devices, fuel cells, and concentrated solar cells is presented in this paper. The analyses were based on computations using the CFD software ANSYS FLUENT. The flow regime in heat sinks is constrained to laminar flow in the study. Details of the heat transfer performance, particularly, the uniformity of temperature distribution on the heating surface, as well as the pressure losses and pumping power in the operation of the studied heat sinks were obtained. Comparisons of the flow distribution uniformity in multiple flow channels, temperature uniformity on heating surfaces, and pumping power consumption of heat sinks with novel flow field configurations and conventional flow field configurations were conducted. It was concluded that the novel flow field configurations studied in this work exhibit appreciable benefits for application in heat sinks. - Highlights: → We present novel designs of flow channel configurations in liquid cooled heat sinks. → The flow and heat transfer in heat sinks were simulated using CFD tool. → The temperature and pressure loss in novel and conventional heat sinks were studied. → Figure of merit of heat sinks in different flow channel configurations was presented. → The heat sinks having our novel design of flow channel configurations are excellent.

  10. Flow sorting in the study of teratocarcinoma cell differentiation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    G.H. Schaap (Gerard Hendrik)

    1984-01-01

    textabstractFlow cytometry is a technique by which particles (cells, subcellular fragments, bacteria) in aqueous suspension are passed one by one through a sensing region where optical (or electrical) signals are generated. These signals for each individual cell are collected and processed, and may

  11. The role of flow cytometry in the study of cell growth in the rat anterior pituitary gland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Vitale

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Flow cytometry is a suitable technique for studying in vivo and in vitro the cell cycle kinetics of different animal and human tissues, both in normal and tumoral conditions. The rat anterior pituitary gland is a model to investigate cell growth and replication of differentiated, neuroendocrine cells, and we report current evidence on its cell cycle kinetics as well as on the role played by flow cytometry in this type of study. The proliferation potential of normal anterior pituitary cells is related to a number of different conditions, including heterogeneity of cell types, age and sex of donors, and circadian influences. In addition, the trend of cell proliferation in both in vivo and in vitro studies is similar, suggesting that cultured anterior pituitary elements may, at least in parts, retain growth features analogous to those of the intact gland. Sorting of selective cell types and analysis of the relation between proliferating anterior pituitary cells and the light-dark cycle have shown that flow cytometry may be useful to investigate the replication process of the gland. By using a combination of flow cytometry, light microscopic immunocytochemistry and morphometry, we have reported a peculiar trend of proliferation in prima- ry monolayer cultures of rat anterior pituitary gland, characterized by a non-linear reduction in their proliferation rate with advancing age, primarily dependent on a reduced transition of cells from the G0/G1- to the early S-phase pool. These studies indicate that flow cytometry offers insights into cell cycle check points of anterior pituitary cells, and suggest that it might be applied to the study of growth of selective pituitary elements, both in normal and tumoral conditions.

  12. [Studies on a sequential injection renewable surface reflectance spectrophotometric system using a microchip flow cell].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jian-ya; Fang, Zhao-lun

    2002-02-01

    A microchip flow cell was developed for flow injection renewable surface assay by reflectance spectrophotometry. The flow cell was coupled to a sequential injection system and optical fiber photometric detection system. The flow cell featured a three-layer structure. The flow channel was cut into a silicone rubber membrance which formed the middle layer, and a porous filter was inlayed across a widened section of the channel to trap microbeads introduced into the flow cell. The area of the detection window of the flow cell was approximately 3.6 mm2, the volume of the bead trapped in the flow cell was 2.2 microL, the depth of the bead layer was 600 microns. A multistrand bifurcated optical fiber was coupled with incident light, detector and flow cell. The chromogenic reaction of Cr(VI) with 1,5-diphenylcarbohydrazide (DPC) which was adsorbed on trapped Polysorb C-18 beads was used as a model reaction to optimize the flow cell design and the experimental system. The reflectance of the renewable reaction surface was monitored at 540 nm. With 100 microL sample loaded and 1.0 mL.min-1 carrier flow rate, the linear response range was 0-0.6 microgram.mL-1 Cr(VI). A detection limit (3 sigma) of 6 ng.mL-1, precision of 1.5% RSD(n = 11), and a throughput of 64 samples per hour were achieved. Considerations in system and flow cell design, the influence of depth of the bead layer, weight of beads used, and the flow rates of carrier stream on the performance were discussed.

  13. Flow cytometric characterization of cerebrospinal fluid cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Graaf, Marieke T; de Jongste, Arjen H C; Kraan, Jaco; Boonstra, Joke G; Sillevis Smitt, Peter A E; Gratama, Jan W

    2011-09-01

    Flow cytometry facilitates the detection of a large spectrum of cellular characteristics on a per cell basis, determination of absolute cell numbers and detection of rare events with high sensitivity and specificity. White blood cell (WBC) counts in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are important for the diagnosis of many neurological disorders. WBC counting and differential can be performed by microscopy, hematology analyzers, or flow cytometry. Flow cytometry of CSF is increasingly being considered as the method of choice in patients suspected of leptomeningeal localization of hematological malignancies. Additionally, in several neuroinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis and paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, flow cytometry is commonly performed to obtain insight into the immunopathogenesis of these diseases. Technically, the low cellularity of CSF samples, combined with the rapidly declining WBC viability, makes CSF flow cytometry challenging. Comparison of flow cytometry with microscopic and molecular techniques shows that each technique has its own advantages and is ideally combined. We expect that increasing the number of flow cytometric parameters that can be simultaneously studied within one sample, will further refine the information on CSF cell subsets in low-cellular CSF samples and enable to define cell populations more accurately. Copyright © 2011 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

  14. Studying circulation times of liver cancer cells by in vivo flow cytometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, G; Li, Y; Fan, Z; Guo, J; Tan, X; Wei, X, E-mail: xwei@fudan.edu.cn [Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, 138 Yi Xue Yuan Road, Shanghai, 200032 (China)

    2011-02-01

    Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may metastasize to lung kidney and many other organs. The survival rate is almost zero for metastatic HCC patients. Molecular mechanisms of HCC metastasis need to be understood better and new therapies must be developed. A recently developed 'in vivo flow cytometer' combined with real-time confocal fluorescence imaging are used to assess spreading and the circulation kinetics of liver tumor cells. The in vivo flow cytometer has the capability to detect and quantify continuously the number and flow characteristics of fluorescently labeled cells in vivo in real time without extracting blood sample. We have measured the depletion kinetics of two related human HCC cell lines high-metastatic HCCLM3 cells and low-metastatic HepG2 cells which were from the same origin and obtained by repetitive screenings in mice. >60% HCCLM3 cells are depleted within the first hour. Interestingly the low-metastatic HepG2 cells possess noticeably slower depletion kinetics. In comparison <40% HepG2 cells are depleted within the first hour. The differences in depletion kinetics might provide insights into early metastasis processes.

  15. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Biofilm in Flow Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Weiss Nielsen, Martin; Sternberg, Claus; Molin, Søren

    2011-01-01

    well-defined conditions(2,3). The system consists of a flow cell that serves as growth chamber for the biofilm. The flow cell is supplied with nutrients and oxygen from a medium flask via a peristaltic pump and spent medium is collected in a waste container. This construction of the flow system allows......Many microbial cells have the ability to form sessile microbial communities defined as biofilms that have altered physiological and pathological properties compared to free living microorganisms. Biofilms in nature are often difficult to investigate and reside under poorly defined conditions(1...... a continuous supply of nutrients and administration of e.g. antibiotics with minimal disturbance of the cells grown in the flow chamber. Moreover, the flow conditions within the flow cell allow studies of biofilm exposed to shear stress. A bubble trapping device confines air bubbles from the tubing which...

  16. Influence of nanostructural environment and fluid flow on osteoblast-like cell behavior: a model for cell-mechanics studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prodanov, L; Semeins, C M; van Loon, J J W A; te Riet, J; Jansen, J A; Klein-Nulend, J; Walboomers, X F

    2013-05-01

    Introducing nanoroughness on various biomaterials has been shown to profoundly effect cell-material interactions. Similarly, physical forces act on a diverse array of cells and tissues. Particularly in bone, the tissue experiences compressive or tensile forces resulting in fluid shear stress. The current study aimed to develop an experimental setup for bone cell behavior, combining a nanometrically grooved substrate (200 nm wide, 50 nm deep) mimicking the collagen fibrils of the extracellular matrix, with mechanical stimulation by pulsatile fluid flow (PFF). MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells were assessed for morphology, expression of genes involved in cell attachment and osteoblastogenesis and nitric oxide (NO) release. The results showed that both nanotexture and PFF did affect cellular morphology. Cells aligned on nanotexture substrate in a direction parallel to the groove orientation. PFF at a magnitude of 0.7 Pa was sufficient to induce alignment of cells on a smooth surface in a direction perpendicular to the applied flow. When environmental cues texture and flow were interacting, PFF of 1.4 Pa applied parallel to the nanogrooves initiated significant cellular realignment. PFF increased NO synthesis 15-fold in cells attached to both smooth and nanotextured substrates. Increased collagen and alkaline phosphatase mRNA expression was observed on the nanotextured substrate, but not on the smooth substrate. Furthermore, vinculin and bone sialoprotein were up-regulated after 1 h of PFF stimulation. In conclusion, the data show that interstitial fluid forces and structural cues mimicking extracellular matrix contribute to the final bone cell morphology and behavior, which might have potential application in tissue engineering. Copyright © 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Separation of cancer cells using vortical microfluidic flows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haddadi, Hamed; Naghsh-Nilchi, Hamed; Di Carlo, Dino

    2018-01-01

    Label-free separation of viable cancer cells using vortical microfluidic flows has been introduced as a feasible cell collection method in oncological studies. Besides the clinical importance, the physics of particle interactions with the vortex that forms in a wall-confined geometry of a microchannel is a relatively new area of fluid dynamics. In our previous work [Haddadi and Di Carlo, J. Fluid. Mech. 811 , 436-467 (2017)], we have introduced distinct aspects of inertial flow of dilute suspensions over cavities in a microchannel such as breakdown of the separatrix and formation of stable limit cycle orbits for finite size polystyrene particles. In this work, we extend our experiments to address the engineering-physics of cancer cell entrapment in microfluidic cavities. We begin by studying the effects of the channel width and device height on the morphology of the vortex, which has not been discussed in our previous work. The stable limit cycle orbits of finite size cancer cells are then presented. We demonstrate effects of the separatrix breakdown and the limit cycle formation on the operation of the cancer cell separation platform. By studying the flow of dilute cell suspensions over the cavities, we further develop the notion of the cavity capacity and the relative rate of cell accumulation as optimization criteria which connect the device geometry with the flow. Finally, we discuss the proper placement of multiple cavities inside a microchannel for improved cell entrapment.

  18. Study of Paclitaxel-Treated HeLa Cells by Differential Electrical Impedance Flow Cytometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie Kirkegaard

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This work describes the electrical investigation of paclitaxel-treated HeLa cells using a custom-made microfluidic biosensor for whole cell analysis in continuous flow. We apply the method of differential electrical impedance spectroscopy to treated HeLa cells in order to elucidate the changes in electrical properties compared with non-treated cells. We found that our microfluidic system was able to distinguish between treated and non-treated cells. Furthermore, we utilize a model for electrical impedance spectroscopy in order to perform a theoretical study to clarify our results. This study focuses on investigating the changes in the electrical properties of the cell membrane caused by the effect of paclitaxel. We observe good agreement between the model and the obtained results. This establishes the proof-of-concept for the application in cell drug therapy.

  19. Fluorescent multiplex cell flow systems and methods

    KAUST Repository

    Merzaban, Jasmeen

    2017-06-01

    Systems and methods are provided for simultaneously assaying cell adhesion or cell rolling for multiple cell specimens. One embodiment provides a system for assaying adhesion or cell rolling of multiple cell specimens that includes a confocal imaging system containing a parallel plate flow chamber, a pump in fluid communication with the parallel plate flow chamber via a flow chamber inlet line and a cell suspension in fluid communication with the parallel plate flow chamber via a flow chamber outlet line. The system also includes a laser scanning system in electronic communication with the confocal imaging system, and a computer in communication with the confocal imaging system and laser scanning system. In certain embodiments, the laser scanning system emits multiple electromagnetic wavelengths simultaneously it cause multiple fluorescent labels having different excitation wavelength maximums to fluoresce. The system can simultaneously capture real-time fluorescence images from at least seven cell specimens in the parallel plate flow chamber.

  20. Fuel cell with internal flow control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haltiner, Jr., Karl J.; Venkiteswaran, Arun [Karnataka, IN

    2012-06-12

    A fuel cell stack is provided with a plurality of fuel cell cassettes where each fuel cell cassette has a fuel cell with an anode and cathode. The fuel cell stack includes an anode supply chimney for supplying fuel to the anode of each fuel cell cassette, an anode return chimney for removing anode exhaust from the anode of each fuel cell cassette, a cathode supply chimney for supplying oxidant to the cathode of each fuel cell cassette, and a cathode return chimney for removing cathode exhaust from the cathode of each fuel cell cassette. A first fuel cell cassette includes a flow control member disposed between the anode supply chimney and the anode return chimney or between the cathode supply chimney and the cathode return chimney such that the flow control member provides a flow restriction different from at least one other fuel cell cassettes.

  1. Study of flow behavior in all-vanadium redox flow battery using spatially resolved voltage distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattarai, Arjun; Wai, Nyunt; Schweiss, Rüdiger; Whitehead, Adam; Scherer, Günther G.; Ghimire, Purna C.; Nguyen, Tam D.; Hng, Huey Hoon

    2017-08-01

    Uniform flow distribution through the porous electrodes in a flow battery cell is very important for reducing Ohmic and mass transport polarization. A segmented cell approach can be used to obtain in-situ information on flow behaviour, through the local voltage or current mapping. Lateral flow of current within the thick felts in the flow battery can hamper the interpretation of the data. In this study, a new method of segmenting a conventional flow cell is introduced, which for the first time, splits up both the porous felt as well as the current collector. This dual segmentation results in higher resolution and distinct separation of voltages between flow inlet to outlet. To study the flow behavior for an undivided felt, monitoring the OCV is found to be a reliable method, instead of voltage or current mapping during charging and discharging. Our approach to segmentation is simple and applicable to any size of the cell.

  2. Partitioning of red blood cell aggregates in bifurcating microscale flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaliviotis, E.; Sherwood, J. M.; Balabani, S.

    2017-03-01

    Microvascular flows are often considered to be free of red blood cell aggregates, however, recent studies have demonstrated that aggregates are present throughout the microvasculature, affecting cell distribution and blood perfusion. This work reports on the spatial distribution of red blood cell aggregates in a T-shaped bifurcation on the scale of a large microvessel. Non-aggregating and aggregating human red blood cell suspensions were studied for a range of flow splits in the daughter branches of the bifurcation. Aggregate sizes were determined using image processing. The mean aggregate size was marginally increased in the daughter branches for a range of flow rates, mainly due to the lower shear conditions and the close cell and aggregate proximity therein. A counterintuitive decrease in the mean aggregate size was apparent in the lower flow rate branches. This was attributed to the existence of regions depleted by aggregates of certain sizes in the parent branch, and to the change in the exact flow split location in the T-junction with flow ratio. The findings of the present investigation may have significant implications for microvascular flows and may help explain why the effects of physiological RBC aggregation are not deleterious in terms of in vivo vascular resistance.

  3. Flow cytogenetic studies in chromosomes and whole cells for the detection of clastogenic effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Otto, F.J.; Oldiges, H.

    1980-01-01

    Flow cytometric measurements of the chromosomal DNA content have been used to develop a screening method for the detection of chemically- or physically-induced cytogenetic damage. The reproducibility of this flow cytogenetic assay was shown in a series of subcultures of a Chinese hamster cell clone. The accuracy and sensitivity was tested in cultures treated with chemical mutagens and x-rays. The clastogenic effectiveness was quantified and the dose-effect relationship was established by the increase of the coefficient of variation of the peak of the largest chromosome type in the flow histograms. Since structural chromosome aberrations cause an unequal division of the DNA at mitosis, it is expected that clastogenic effects can be detected also in whole cells of growing populations as an increased dispersion of the cellular DNA content. In order to test this feature, high resolution flow cytometric measurements were performed in x-irradiated hamster cells in vitro and mouse bone marrow cells in vivo

  4. Numerical Study of the Buoyancy-Driven Flow in a Four-Electrode Rectangular Electrochemical Cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Zhanyu; Agafonov, Vadim; Rice, Catherine; Bindler, Jacob

    2009-11-01

    Two-dimensional numerical simulation is done on the buoyancy-driven flow in a four-electrode rectangular electrochemical cell. Two kinds of electrode layouts, the anode-cathode-cathode-anode (ACCA) and the cathode-anode-anode-cathode (CAAC) layouts, are studied. In the ACCA layout, the two anodes are placed close to the channel outlets while the two cathodes are located between the two anodes. The CAAC layout can be converted from the ACCA layout by applying higher electric potential on the two middle electrodes. Density gradient was generated by the electrodic reaction I3^-+2e^- =3I^-. When the electrochemical cell is accelerated axially, buoyancy-driven flow occurs. In our model, electro-neutrality is assumed except at the electrodes. The Navier-Stokes equations with the Boussinesq approximation and the Nernst-Planck equations are employed to model the momentum and mass transports, respectively. It is found that under a given axial acceleration, the electrolyte density between the two middle electrodes determines the bulk flow through the electrochemical cell. The cathodic current difference is found to be able to measure the applied acceleration. Other important electro-hydrodynamic characteristics are also discussed.

  5. A flow-through hydrothermal cell for in situ neutron diffraction studies of phase transformations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Neill, Brian; Tenailleau, Christophe; Nogthai, Yung; Studer, Andrew; Brugger, Joel; Pring, Allan

    2006-01-01

    A flow-through hydrothermal cell for the in situ neutron diffraction study of crystallisation and phase transitions has been developed. It can be used for kinetic studies on materials that exhibit structural transformations under hydrothermal conditions. It is specifically designed for use on the medium-resolution powder diffractometer (MRPD) at ANSTO, Lucas Heights, Sydney. But it is planned to adapt the design for the Polaris beamline at ISIS and the new high-intensity powder diffractometer (Wombat) at the new Australian reactor Opal. The cell will operate in a flow-through mode over the temperature range from 25-300 deg. C and up to pressures of 100 bar. The first results of a successful transformation of pentlandite (Fe,Ni) 9 S 8 to violarite (Fe,Ni) 3 S 4 under mild conditions (pH∼4) at 120 deg. C and 3 bar using in situ neutron diffraction measurements are presented

  6. Molecular Characterization of Gastric Epithelial Cells Using Flow Cytometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin A. Bockerstett

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The ability to analyze individual epithelial cells in the gastric mucosa would provide important insight into gastric disease, including chronic gastritis and progression to gastric cancer. However, the successful isolation of viable gastric epithelial cells (parietal cells, neck cells, chief cells, and foveolar cells from gastric glands has been limited due to difficulties in tissue processing. Furthermore, analysis and interpretation of gastric epithelial cell flow cytometry data has been difficult due to the varying sizes and light scatter properties of the different epithelial cells, high levels of autofluorescence, and poor cell viability. These studies were designed to develop a reliable method for isolating viable single cells from the corpus of stomachs and to optimize analyses examining epithelial cells from healthy and diseased stomach tissue by flow cytometry. We performed a two stage enzymatic digestion in which collagenase released individual gastric glands from the stromal tissue of the corpus, followed by a Dispase II digestion that dispersed these glands into greater than 1 × 106 viable single cells per gastric corpus. Single cell suspensions were comprised of all major cell lineages found in the normal gastric glands. A method describing light scatter, size exclusion, doublet discrimination, viability staining, and fluorescently-conjugated antibodies and lectins was used to analyze individual epithelial cells and immune cells. This technique was capable of identifying parietal cells and revealed that gastric epithelial cells in the chronically inflamed mucosa significantly upregulated major histocompatibility complexes (MHC I and II but not CD80 or CD86, which are costimulatory molecules involved in T cell activation. These studies describe a method for isolating viable single cells and a detailed description of flow cytometric analysis of cells from healthy and diseased stomachs. These studies begin to identify effects of

  7. Blood cell interactions and segregation in flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munn, Lance L; Dupin, Michael M

    2008-04-01

    For more than a century, pioneering researchers have been using novel experimental and computational approaches to probe the mysteries of blood flow. Thanks to their efforts, we know that blood cells generally prefer to migrate to the axis of flow, that red and white cells segregate in flow, and that cell deformability and their tendency to reversibly aggregate contribute to the non-Newtonian nature of this unique fluid. All of these properties have beneficial physiological consequences, allowing blood to perform a variety of critical functions. Our current understanding of these unusual flow properties of blood have been made possible by the ingenuity and diligence of a number of researchers, including Harry Goldsmith, who developed novel technologies to visualize and quantify the flow of blood at the level of individual cells. Here we summarize efforts in our lab to continue this tradition and to further our understanding of how blood cells interact with each other and with the blood vessel wall.

  8. ETL 1 kW redox flow cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nozaki, K.; Ozawa, T.

    1984-01-01

    A 1 kW scale redox flow cell system was set up in the laboratory (ETL), while three different types of batteries were also assembled by private companies in early 1983. In this article, this cell system is described. The concept of a modern type redox flow cell is based on a couple of fully soluble redox ions and a highly selective ion-exchange membrane. In the cell, the redox ion stored in a tank is flowed to and reduced on the electrode, while the other ion is also flowed to and oxidized on the other electrode. This electrochemical reaction produces electronic current in the external circuit and ionic current through the membrane sandwiched as a separator between the two electrodes. The reverse reaction proceeds in the charging process. In ETL, the concept was preliminarily tested, and conceptual design and cost estimation of the redox flow cells were carried out to confirm the feasibility; the R and D started on these bases in 1975

  9. Flow regimes in a trapped vortex cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lasagna, D.; Iuso, G.

    2016-03-01

    This paper presents results of an experimental investigation on the flow in a trapped vortex cell, embedded into a flat plate, and interacting with a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer. The objective of the work is to describe the flow features and elucidate some of the governing physical mechanisms, in the light of recent investigations on flow separation control using vortex cells. Hot-wire velocity measurements of the shear layer bounding the cell and of the boundary layers upstream and downstream are reported, together with spectral and correlation analyses of wall-pressure fluctuation measurements. Smoke flow visualisations provide qualitative insight into some relevant features of the internal flow, namely a large-scale flow unsteadiness and possible mechanisms driving the rotation of the vortex core. Results are presented for two very different regimes: a low-Reynolds-number case where the incoming boundary layer is laminar and its momentum thickness is small compared to the cell opening, and a moderately high-Reynolds-number case, where the incoming boundary layer is turbulent and the ratio between the momentum thickness and the opening length is significantly larger than in the first case. Implications of the present findings to flow control applications of trapped vortex cells are also discussed.

  10. Measurement of current distribution in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with various flow arrangements – A parametric study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alaefour, Ibrahim; Karimi, G.; Jiao, Kui; Li, X.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Spatial local current distributions in a single PEMFC are measured. ► Effects of key operating conditions on the local current density are investigated. ► Increasing air and hydrogen stoichiometries improves local current density distributions. ► Operating pressure and temperature have negligible impact on local current distribution. - Abstract: Understanding of current distributions in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is crucial for designing cell components such as the flow field plates and the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). In this study, the spatial current density distributions in a single PEMFC with three serpentine flow channels are measured using a segmented bipolar plate and printed circuit board technique. The effects of key operating conditions such as stoichiometry ratios, inlet humidity levels, cell pressure and temperature on the local current density distributions for co-, counter-, and cross-flow arrangements are examined. It is observed that the local current density distribution over the MEA is directly affected by the cell operating conditions along with the configuration of the flow arrangement. It is also found that among the different flow configurations tested under the various operating conditions, the counter flow arrangement provides the optimum average current density and the lowest variations in the local current densities along the flow channels.

  11. A study of light scattering of mononuclear blood cells with scanning flow cytometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zharinov, Alexey; Tarasov, Peter; Shvalov, Alexander; Semyanov, Konstantin; Bockstaele, Dirk R. van; Maltsev, Valeri

    2006-01-01

    This study describes the measurement of light scattering of human mononuclear blood cells, the development of an appropriate optical model for those cells, and solution of the inverse light-scattering problem. The angular dependency of light-scattering intensity of mononuclear blood cells was experimentally measured by means of scanning flow cytometry. A sphere consisting of several concentric homogeneous layers with different refractive indices was tested as an optical model for mononuclear blood cells. A five-layer model has given the best agreement between experimental and theoretical light-scattering profiles. The inverse light-scattering problem was solved for a five-layer model with an optimization procedure that allows one to retrieve cell parameters: cell size relates to the outer diameter of the fifth layer; size of the nucleus relates to the outer diameter of the third layer. Mean values of cell size, nuclear size, refractive indices of nucleus and cellular cytoplasm were determined for blood monocytes and lymphocytes

  12. Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yao, Yixin [Department of Epidemiology, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Public Health (China); Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, NY 10987 (United States); Chen, Tingting [School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094 (China); Shen, Steven S. [Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmaceutical, New York University School of Medicine (United States); Niu, Yingmei; DesMarais, Thomas L.; Linn, Reka; Saunders, Eric; Fan, Zhihua [Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, NY 10987 (United States); Lioy, Paul [Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (United States); Kluz, Thomas; Chen, Lung-Chi [Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, NY 10987 (United States); Wu, Zhuangchun, E-mail: wuzhuangchun@mail.njust.edu.cn [College of Science, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Costa, Max, E-mail: max.costa@nyumc.org [Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, NY 10987 (United States)

    2015-10-01

    The rapid development of high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing for mining natural gas from shale has posed potential impacts on human health and biodiversity. The produced flow back waters after hydraulic stimulation are known to carry high levels of saline and total dissolved solids. To understand the toxicity and potential carcinogenic effects of these wastewaters, flow back waters from five Marcellus hydraulic fracturing oil and gas wells were analyzed. The physicochemical nature of these samples was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. A cytotoxicity study using colony formation as the endpoint was carried out to define the LC{sub 50} values of test samples using human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). The BEAS-2B cell transformation assay was employed to assess the carcinogenic potential of the samples. Barium and strontium were among the most abundant metals in these samples and the same metals were found to be elevated in BEAS-2B cells after long-term treatment. BEAS-2B cells treated for 6 weeks with flow back waters produced colony formation in soft agar that was concentration dependent. In addition, flow back water-transformed BEAS-2B cells show better migration capability when compared to control cells. This study provides information needed to assess the potential health impact of post-hydraulic fracturing flow back waters from Marcellus Shale natural gas mining. - Highlights: • This is the first report of potential cytotoxicity and transforming activity of Marcellus shale gas mining flow back to mammalian cells. • Barium and Strontium were elevated in flow back water exposed cells. • Flow back water malignantly transformed cells and formed tumor in athymic nude mice. • Flow back transformed cells exhibited altered transcriptome with dysregulated cell migration pathway and adherent junction pathway.

  13. Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yao, Yixin; Chen, Tingting; Shen, Steven S.; Niu, Yingmei; DesMarais, Thomas L.; Linn, Reka; Saunders, Eric; Fan, Zhihua; Lioy, Paul; Kluz, Thomas; Chen, Lung-Chi; Wu, Zhuangchun; Costa, Max

    2015-01-01

    The rapid development of high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing for mining natural gas from shale has posed potential impacts on human health and biodiversity. The produced flow back waters after hydraulic stimulation are known to carry high levels of saline and total dissolved solids. To understand the toxicity and potential carcinogenic effects of these wastewaters, flow back waters from five Marcellus hydraulic fracturing oil and gas wells were analyzed. The physicochemical nature of these samples was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. A cytotoxicity study using colony formation as the endpoint was carried out to define the LC 50 values of test samples using human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). The BEAS-2B cell transformation assay was employed to assess the carcinogenic potential of the samples. Barium and strontium were among the most abundant metals in these samples and the same metals were found to be elevated in BEAS-2B cells after long-term treatment. BEAS-2B cells treated for 6 weeks with flow back waters produced colony formation in soft agar that was concentration dependent. In addition, flow back water-transformed BEAS-2B cells show better migration capability when compared to control cells. This study provides information needed to assess the potential health impact of post-hydraulic fracturing flow back waters from Marcellus Shale natural gas mining. - Highlights: • This is the first report of potential cytotoxicity and transforming activity of Marcellus shale gas mining flow back to mammalian cells. • Barium and Strontium were elevated in flow back water exposed cells. • Flow back water malignantly transformed cells and formed tumor in athymic nude mice. • Flow back transformed cells exhibited altered transcriptome with dysregulated cell migration pathway and adherent junction pathway.

  14. Computational fluid dynamics simulations of single-phase flow in a filter-press flow reactor having a stack of three cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandoval, Miguel A.; Fuentes, Rosalba; Walsh, Frank C.; Nava, José L.; Ponce de León, Carlos

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Computational fluid dynamic simulations in a filter-press stack of three cells. • The fluid velocity was different in each cell due to local turbulence. • The upper cell link pipe of the filter press cell acts as a fluid mixer. • The fluid behaviour tends towards a continuous mixing flow pattern. • Close agreement between simulations and experimental data was achieved. - Abstract: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out for single-phase flow in a pre-pilot filter press flow reactor with a stack of three cells. Velocity profiles and streamlines were obtained by solving the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with a standard k − ε turbulence model. The flow behaviour shows the appearance of jet flow at the entrance to each cell. At lengths from 12 to 15 cm along the cells channels, a plug flow pattern is developed at all mean linear flow rates studied here, 1.2 ≤ u ≤ 2.1 cm s −1 . The magnitude of the velocity profiles in each cell was different, due to the turbulence generated by the change of flow direction in the last fluid manifold. Residence time distribution (RTD) simulations indicated that the fluid behaviour tends towards a continuous mixing flow pattern, owing to flow at the output of each cell across the upper cell link pipe, which acts as a mixer. Close agreement between simulations and experimental RTD was obtained.

  15. Blood Cell Interactions and Segregation in Flow

    OpenAIRE

    Munn, Lance L.; Dupin, Michael M.

    2008-01-01

    For more than a century, pioneering researchers have been using novel experimental and computational approaches to probe the mysteries of blood flow. Thanks to their efforts, we know that blood cells generally prefer to migrate to the axis of flow, that red and white cells segregate in flow, and that cell deformability and their tendency to reversibly aggregate contribute to the non-Newtonian nature of this unique fluid. All of these properties have beneficial physiological consequences, allo...

  16. Modeling studies of electrolyte flow and bubble behavior in advanced Hall cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shekhar, R.; Evans, J. W.

    Much research was performed in recent years by corporations and university/government labs on materials for use in advanced Hall-Heroult cells. Attention has focussed on materials for use as wettable cathodes and inert anodes and much was achieved in terms of material development. Comparatively less attention was devoted to how these materials might be incorporated in new or existing cells, i.e., to how the cells should be designed and redesigned, to take full advantage of these materials. The effort, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, to address this issue, is described. The primary objectives are cell design where electrolyte flow can be managed to promote both the removal of the anode gas bubbles and the convection of dissolved alumina in the inter-electrode region, under conditions where the anode-cathode distance is small. The principal experimental tool was a water model consisting of a large tank in which simulated anodes can be suspended in either the horizontal or vertical configurations. Gas generation was by forcing compressed air through porous graphite and the fine bubbles characteristic of inert anodes were produced by adding butanol to the water. Velocities were measured using a laser Doppler velocimeter. Velocity measurements with two different anode designs (one that is flat and the other that has grooves) are presented. The results show that the electrode configuration has a significant effect on the fluid flow pattern in the inter-electrode region. Furthermore, it is shown that rapid fluid flow is obtained when the cell is operated with a submerged anode.

  17. A microfluidic flow-cell for the study of the ultrafast dynamics of biological systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chauvet, Adrien, E-mail: adrien.chauvet@epfl.ch; Chergui, Majed [Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Laboratoire de Spectroscopie Ultrarapide, ISIC, Faculté des Sciences de Base, Station 6, 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Tibiletti, Tania; Caffarri, Stefano [Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, CEA, UMR 7265 Biologie Végétale et Microbiologie Environnementales, 13009 Marseille (France)

    2014-10-01

    The study of biochemical dynamics by ultrafast spectroscopic methods is often restricted by the limited amount of liquid sample available, while the high repetition rate of light sources can induce photodamage. In order to overcome these limitations, we designed a high flux, sub-ml, capillary flow-cell. While the 0.1 mm thin window of the 0.5 mm cross-section capillary ensures an optimal temporal resolution and a steady beam deviation, the cell-pump generates flows up to ~0.35 ml/s that are suitable to pump laser repetition rates up to ~14 kHz, assuming a focal spot-diameter of 100 μm. In addition, a decantation chamber efficiently removes bubbles and allows, via septum, for the addition of chemicals while preserving the closed atmosphere. The minimal useable amount of sample is ~250 μl.

  18. Design of experiment study of the parameters that affect performance of three flow plate configurations of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carton, J.G.; Olabi, A.G.

    2010-01-01

    Low temperature hydrogen fuel cells are electrochemical devices which offer a promising alternative to traditional power sources. Fuel cells produce electricity with a reaction of the fuel (hydrogen) and air. Fuel cells have the advantage of being clean; only producing water and heat as by products. The efficiency of a fuel cell varies depending on the type; SOFC with CHP for example, can have a system efficiency of up to 65%. What the Authors present here is a comparison between three different configurations of flow plates of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, the manufacturer's serpentine flow plate and two new configurations; the maze flow plate and the parallel flow plate. A study of the input parameters affecting output responses of voltage, current, power and efficiency of a fuel cell is performed through experimentation. The results were taken from direct readings of the fuel cell and from polarisation curves produced. This information was then analysed through a design of experiment to investigate the effects of the changing parameters on different configurations of the fuel cell's flow plates. The results indicate that, in relation to current and voltage response of the polarisation curve and the corresponding graphs produced from the DOE, the serpentine flow plate design is a much more effective design than the maze or parallel flow plate design. It was noted that the parallel flow plate performed reasonably well at higher pressures but over all statically the serpentine flow plate performed better.

  19. Flow field measurements in the cell culture unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Stephen; Wilder, Mike; Dimanlig, Arsenio; Jagger, Justin; Searby, Nancy

    2002-01-01

    The cell culture unit (CCU) is being designed to support cell growth for long-duration life science experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). The CCU is a perfused loop system that provides a fluid environment for controlled cell growth experiments within cell specimen chambers (CSCs), and is intended to accommodate diverse cell specimen types. Many of the functional requirements depend on the fluid flow field within the CSC (e.g., feeding and gas management). A design goal of the CCU is to match, within experimental limits, all environmental conditions, other than the effects of gravity on the cells, whether the hardware is in microgravity ( micro g), normal Earth gravity, or up to 2g on the ISS centrifuge. In order to achieve this goal, two steps are being taken. The first step is to characterize the environmental conditions of current 1g cell biology experiments being performed in laboratories using ground-based hardware. The second step is to ensure that the design of the CCU allows the fluid flow conditions found in 1g to be replicated from microgravity up to 2g. The techniques that are being used to take these steps include flow visualization, particle image velocimetry (PIV), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Flow visualization using the injection of dye has been used to gain a global perspective of the characteristics of the CSC flow field. To characterize laboratory cell culture conditions, PIV is being used to determine the flow field parameters of cell suspension cultures grown in Erlenmeyer flasks on orbital shakers. These measured parameters will be compared to PIV measurements in the CSCs to ensure that the flow field that cells encounter in CSCs is within the bounds determined for typical laboratory experiments. Using CFD, a detailed simulation is being developed to predict the flow field within the CSC for a wide variety of flow conditions, including microgravity environments. Results from all these measurements and analyses of the

  20. Multidimensional flow, thermal, and chemical behavior in solid-oxide fuel cell button cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goldin, Graham M. [Ansys Incorporated, 10 Cavendish Ct., Centerra Resource Park, Lebanon, NH 03766 (United States); Zhu, Huayang; Kee, Robert J. [Engineering Division, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401 (United States); Bierschenk, David; Barnett, Scott A. [Materials Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States)

    2009-02-01

    The quantitative analysis and interpretation of button-cell experiments usually depends upon assuming isothermal conditions together with uniform and known gas composition within the gas compartments. An objective of the present effort is to develop computational tools to study the validity of such assumptions. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed and applied to a particular SOFC button cell, characterizing the fluid flow, chemistry, and thermal transport. Results show that when inlet flow rates are sufficiently high, button-cell data can be interpreted using the commonly used assumptions. However, when flow rates are not sufficient, the assumptions of uniform composition can be significantly violated. Additionally, depending on operating conditions there can be significant temperature variations within the gas compartments and the membrane-electrode assembly. (author)

  1. Experimental study of two-phase flow in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell in short-term microgravity condition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Hang; Liu, Xuan; Zhao, Jian Fu; Ye, Fang; Ma, Chong Fang

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Two-phase flow in PEMFC cathode channels is observed in different gravity environments. • The PEMFC shows different operating behavior in normal and microgravity conditions. • Water tends can be removed in microgravity conditions at high water production regime. • Liquid aggregation occurs in microgravity conditions at low water production regime. • Effect of gravity on performance and two-phase flow at two operating regimes is studied. - Abstract: Water management is important for improving the performance and stability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for space applications. An in situ visual observation was conducted on the gas–liquid two-phase flow in the cathode channels of a PEMFC in short-term microgravity condition. The microgravity environment was supplied by a drop tower. A single serpentine flow channel with a depth of 2 mm and a width of 2 mm was applied as the cathode flow field. A membrane electrode assembly comprising of a Nafion 112 membrane sandwiched between gas diffusion layers was used. The anode and cathode were loaded with 1 mg cm −2 platinum. The PEMFC shows a distinct operating behavior in microgravity because of the effect of gravity on the two-phase flow. At a high water production regime, cell performance is enhanced by 4.6% and the accumulated liquid water in the flow channel tends can be removed in microgravity conditions to alleviate flooding. At a low water production regime, cell performance deteriorates by 6.6% and liquid aggregation occurs in the flow channel because of the coalescence of dispersed water droplets in microgravity conditions, thus squeezing the flow channel. The operating behavior of PEMFC in microgravity conditions is different from that in normal gravity conditions. Further studies are needed on PEMFC operating characteristics and liquid management for space applications

  2. Cytoplasmic Flow Enhances Organelle Dispersion in Eukaryotic Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koslover, Elena; Mogre, Saurabh; Chan, Caleb; Theriot, Julie

    The cytoplasm of a living cell is an active environment through which intracellular components move and mix. We explore, using theoretical modeling coupled with microrheological measurements, the efficiency of particle dispersion via different modes of transport within this active environment. In particular, we focus on the role of cytoplasmic flow over different scales in contributing to organelle transport within two different cell types. In motile neutrophil cells, we show that bulk fluid flow associated with rapid cell deformation enhances particle transport to and from the cell periphery. In narrow fungal hyphae, localized flows due to hydrodynamic entrainment are shown to contribute to optimally efficient organelle dispersion. Our results highlight the importance of non-traditional modes of transport associated with flow of the cytoplasmic fluid in the distribution of organelles throughout eukaryotic cells.

  3. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Biofilm in Flow Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Weiss Nielsen, Martin; Sternberg, Claus; Molin, Søren

    2011-01-01

    or proteins compatible with CLSM analysis. This enables online visualization and allows investigation of niches in the developing biofilm. Microbial interrelationship, investigation of antimicrobial agents or the expression of specific genes, are of the many experimental setups that can be investigated......). Using a transparent substratum it is possible to device a system where simple biofilms can be examined in a non-destructive way in real-time: here we demonstrate the assembly and operation of a flow cell model system, for in vitro 3D studies of microbial biofilms generating high reproducibility under...... well-defined conditions(2,3). The system consists of a flow cell that serves as growth chamber for the biofilm. The flow cell is supplied with nutrients and oxygen from a medium flask via a peristaltic pump and spent medium is collected in a waste container. This construction of the flow system allows...

  4. Method of detaching adherent cells for flow cytometry

    KAUST Repository

    Kaur, Mandeep

    2015-12-24

    In one aspect, a method for detaching adherent cells can include adding a cell lifting solution to the media including a sample of adherent cells and incubating the sample of adherent cells with the cell lifting solution. No scraping or pipetting is needed to facilitate cell detachment. The method do not require inactivation of cell lifting solution and no washing of detaching cells is required to remove cell lifting solution. Detached cells can be stained with dye in the presence of cell lifting solution and are further analyzed using flow cytometer. The method has been tested using 6 different cell lines, 4 different assays, two different plate formats (96 and 384 well plates) and two different flow cytometry instruments. The method is simple to perform, less time consuming, with no cell loss and makes high throughput flow cytometry on adherent cells a reality.

  5. Flow cytometry detection of planktonic cells with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sorbed to cell surfaces

    KAUST Repository

    Cerezo, Maria I.

    2017-02-17

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are very important components of oil pollution. These pollutants tend to sorb to cell surfaces, exerting toxic effects on organisms. Our study developed a flow cytometric method for the detection of PAHs sorbed to phytoplankton by exploiting their spectral characteristics. We discriminated between cells with PAHs from cells free of PAHs. Clear discrimination was observed with flow cytometer provided with 375 or 405nm lasers in addition to the standard 488nm laser necessary to identify phytoplankton. Using this method, we measured the relationship between the percentages of phytoplankton organisms with PAHs, with the decrease in the growth rate. Moreover, the development of this method could be extended to facilitate the study of PAHs impact on cell cultures from a large variety of organisms.

  6. Interstitial flows promote an amoeboid cell phenotype and motility of breast cancer cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tung, Chih-Kuan; Huang, Yu Ling; Zheng, Angela; Wu, Mingming

    2015-03-01

    Lymph nodes, the drainage systems for interstitial flows, are clinically known to be the first metastatic sites of many cancer types including breast and prostate cancers. Here, we demonstrate that breast cancer cell morphology and motility is modulated by interstitial flows in a cell-ECM adhesion dependent manner. The average aspect ratios of the cells are significantly lower (or are more amoeboid like) in the presence of the flow in comparison to the case when the flow is absent. The addition of exogenous adhesion molecules within the extracellular matrix (type I collagen) enhances the overall aspect ratio (or are more mesenchymal like) of the cell population. Using measured cell trajectories, we find that the persistence of the amoeboid cells (aspect ratio less than 2.0) is shorter than that of mesenchymal cells. However, the maximum speed of the amoeboid cells is larger than that of mesenchymal cells. Together these findings provide the novel insight that interstitial flows promote amoeboid cell morphology and motility and highlight the plasticity of tumor cell motility in response to its biophysical environment. Supported by NIH Grant R21CA138366.

  7. The study of sheath flow dark zone phenomenon in dynamic individual cells scattering measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lu; Zhao, Hong; Wang, Xiaopin; Zhang, Weiguang

    2008-09-01

    Dynamic cells scattering is one of the most efficient approaches exploring in measurements of cells size, morphology and growth states. This technique can be widely applied in real-time detection for pharmaceutical industry, food industry, liquor industry and other biological fields. A novel method named dynamic individual cells scattering measurement is designed in this paper, which can make cells pass through quartz glass measurement zone one by one with sheath flow driving force. During the experiments, an obvious phenomenon has been found which is called sheath flow dark zone phenomenon (SFDZ). Under the influence of SFDZ, sheath flow forming detection becomes very difficult. In this paper, the causes giving rise to SFDZ have been analyzed. And an improved method is put forward, in which the orifice inside the measurement zone is set as an optical system. Then the illuminating system is redesigned. In this way, almost all the illuminating light can enter orifice so that the total reflection energy decreases substantially. A comparison experiments have been done, which proves the efficiency of this redesigned optical system and its sound effects on SFDZ avoiding.

  8. An improved ghost-cell immersed boundary method for compressible flow simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Chi, Cheng

    2016-05-20

    This study presents an improved ghost-cell immersed boundary approach to represent a solid body in compressible flow simulations. In contrast to the commonly used approaches, in the present work ghost cells are mirrored through the boundary described using a level-set method to farther image points, incorporating a higher-order extra/interpolation scheme for the ghost cell values. A sensor is introduced to deal with image points near the discontinuities in the flow field. Adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) is used to improve the representation of the geometry efficiently in the Cartesian grid system. The improved ghost-cell method is validated against four test cases: (a) double Mach reflections on a ramp, (b) smooth Prandtl-Meyer expansion flows, (c) supersonic flows in a wind tunnel with a forward-facing step, and (d) supersonic flows over a circular cylinder. It is demonstrated that the improved ghost-cell method can reach the accuracy of second order in L1 norm and higher than first order in L∞ norm. Direct comparisons against the cut-cell method demonstrate that the improved ghost-cell method is almost equally accurate with better efficiency for boundary representation in high-fidelity compressible flow simulations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Numerical study on channel size effect for proton exchange membrane fuel cell with serpentine flow field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xiaodong; Yan Weimon; Duan Yuanyuan; Weng Fangbor; Jung Guobin; Lee Chiyuan

    2010-01-01

    This work numerically investigates the effect of the channel size on the cell performance of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells with serpentine flow fields using a three-dimensional, two-phase model. The local current densities in the PEM, oxygen mass flow rates and liquid water concentrations at the interface of the cathode gas diffusion layer and catalyst layer were analyzed to understand the channel size effect. The predictions show that smaller channel sizes enhance liquid water removal and increase oxygen transport to the porous layers, which improve cell performance. Additionally, smaller channel sizes also provide more uniform current density distributions in the cell. However, as the channel size decreases, the total pressure drops across the cell increases, which leads to more pump work. With taking into account the pressure losses, the optimal cell performance occurs for a cell with a flow channel cross-sectional area of 0.535 x 0.535 mm 2 .

  10. Development and Application of a Flow Reactor Cell for Studies of Surface Chemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Algrim, L. B.; Pagonis, D.; Price, D.; Day, D. A.; De Gouw, J. A.; Jimenez, J. L.; Ziemann, P. J.

    2017-12-01

    We have designed, constructed, characterized, and employed a flow reactor cell that can be used to investigate the interaction of gaseous species such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxidants, acids, and water vapor with authentic and model surfaces that are present in indoor and outdoor environments. The 3.9 L rectangular cell is made of FEP-coated aluminum and has one open face that can be sealed to the surface of interest. An internal plunger is raised (lowered) to expose (cover) the surface while various probe chemicals are added to the flow. To date we have exposed painted surfaces to O3, OH radicals (made from reaction of O3 with tetramethylethene and from photolysis of methyl nitrate/NO mixtures), and NO3 radicals (made from thermal decomposition N2O5) and analyzed the emitted oxidation products with a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) and chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS) equipped with an iodide reagent ion source. Further studies have included the reaction of oxidants with surfaces coated with organic films such as squalene and polyethylene glycol, as well as uptake of ketones and acids from the gas-phase to painted surfaces. The cell was also recently deployed at the University of Colorado-Boulder Art Museum during spring of 2017 to investigate the oxidation products released from the museum walls and floors. Results from all of these studies will be presented.

  11. Optimization of mass of plastic scintillator film for flow-cell based tritium monitoring: a Monte Carlo study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, Arup Singha; Palani Selvam, T.; Raman, Anand; Raja, V.; Chaudhury, Probal

    2014-01-01

    Over the years, various types of tritium-in-air monitors have been designed and developed based on different principles. Ionization chamber, proportional counter and scintillation detector systems are few among them. A plastic scintillator based, flow-cell type online tritium-in-air monitoring system was developed for online monitoring of tritium in air. The value of the scintillator mass inside the cell-volume, which maximizes the response of the detector system, should be obtained to get maximum efficiency. The present study is aimed to optimize the amount of mass of the plastic scintillator film for the flow-cell based tritium monitoring instrument so that maximum efficiency is achieved. The Monte Carlo based EGSnrc code system has been used for this purpose

  12. An Improved Ghost-cell Immersed Boundary Method for Compressible Inviscid Flow Simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Chi, Cheng

    2015-05-01

    This study presents an improved ghost-cell immersed boundary approach to represent a solid body in compressible flow simulations. In contrast to the commonly used approaches, in the present work ghost cells are mirrored through the boundary described using a level-set method to farther image points, incorporating a higher-order extra/interpolation scheme for the ghost cell values. In addition, a shock sensor is in- troduced to deal with image points near the discontinuities in the flow field. Adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) is used to improve the representation of the geometry efficiently. The improved ghost-cell method is validated against five test cases: (a) double Mach reflections on a ramp, (b) supersonic flows in a wind tunnel with a forward- facing step, (c) supersonic flows over a circular cylinder, (d) smooth Prandtl-Meyer expansion flows, and (e) steady shock-induced combustion over a wedge. It is demonstrated that the improved ghost-cell method can reach the accuracy of second order in L1 norm and higher than first order in L∞ norm. Direct comparisons against the cut-cell method demonstrate that the improved ghost-cell method is almost equally accurate with better efficiency for boundary representation in high-fidelity compressible flow simulations. Implementation of the improved ghost-cell method in reacting Euler flows further validates its general applicability for compressible flow simulations.

  13. Performance of PEM fuel cells stack as affected by number of cell and gas flow-rate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syampurwadi, A.; Onggo, H.; Indriyati; Yudianti, R.

    2017-03-01

    The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a promising technology as an alternative green energy due to its high power density, low operating temperatures, low local emissions, quiet operation and fast start up-shutdown. In order to apply fuel cell as portable power supply, the performance investigation of small number of cells is needed. In this study, PEMFC stacks consisting of 1, 3, 5 and 7-cells with an active area of 25 cm2 per cell have been designed and developed. Their was evaluated in variation of gas flow rate. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) was prepared by hot-pressing commercial gas diffusion electrodes (Pt loading 0.5 mg/cm2) on pre-treated Nafion 117 membrane. The stacks were constructed using bipolar plates in serpentine pattern and Z-type gas flow configuration. The experimental results were presented as polarization and power output curves which show the effects of varying number of cells and H2/O2 flow-rates on the PEMFC performance. The experimental results showed that not only number of cells and gas flow-rates affected the fuel cells performance, but also the operating temperature as a result of electrochemistry reaction inside the cell.

  14. Study of Paclitaxel-Treated HeLa Cells by Differential Electrical Impedance Flow Cytometry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirkegaard, Julie; Clausen, Casper Hyttel; Rodriguez-Trujíllo, Romén

    2014-01-01

    This work describes the electrical investigation of paclitaxel-treated HeLa cells using a custom-made microfluidic biosensor for whole cell analysis in continuous flow. We apply the method of differential electrical impedance spectroscopy to treated HeLa cells in order to elucidate the changes...... on investigating the changes in the electrical properties of the cell membrane caused by the effect of paclitaxel. We observe good agreement between the model and the obtained results. This establishes the proof-of-concept for the application in cell drug therapy....

  15. Novel thermosyphon driven hydrothermal flow-through cell for in situ and time resolved neutron diffraction studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia, Fang; Qian, Gujie; Etschmann, Barbara; University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Studer, Andrew; Olsen, Scott

    2009-01-01

    Full text: A flow-through cell for hydrothermal phase transformation studies by in situ and time-resolved neutron diffraction has been designed and constructed. The cell has a large internal volume of 320 m L and can work at up to 300 degree Centigrade under autogeneous vapour pressures (-85 bar). The fluid flow is driven by thermosyphon which is realized by the proper design of temperature difference around the closed loop[1,2). The main body of the cell is made of stainless steel (316 type), but the sample compartment is constructed from non-scattering Ti/Zr alloy. We have successfully commissioned the cell on Australia's new high intensity powder diffractometer WOMBAT in ANSTO, using a simple transformation reaction from leucite (KAISi 2 O 6 ) to analcime (NaAISi 2 O 6H2O ) and then back from analcime to leucite. The demonstration proved that the cell is an excellent tool for probing hydrothermal phase transformations. By collecting diffraction data every 5 min, it was clearly seen that leucite was progressively transformed to analcime in a NaCI solution, and the produced analcime was progressively transformed back to leucite in a K 2 CO 3 solution.

  16. Analytical and numerical study on cooling flow field designs performance of PEM fuel cell with variable heat flux

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afshari, Ebrahim; Ziaei-Rad, Masoud; Jahantigh, Nabi

    2016-06-01

    In PEM fuel cells, during electrochemical generation of electricity more than half of the chemical energy of hydrogen is converted to heat. This heat of reactions, if not exhausted properly, would impair the performance and durability of the cell. In general, large scale PEM fuel cells are cooled by liquid water that circulates through coolant flow channels formed in bipolar plates or in dedicated cooling plates. In this paper, a numerical method has been presented to study cooling and temperature distribution of a polymer membrane fuel cell stack. The heat flux on the cooling plate is variable. A three-dimensional model of fluid flow and heat transfer in cooling plates with 15 cm × 15 cm square area is considered and the performances of four different coolant flow field designs, parallel field and serpentine fields are compared in terms of maximum surface temperature, temperature uniformity and pressure drop characteristics. By comparing the results in two cases, the constant and variable heat flux, it is observed that applying constant heat flux instead of variable heat flux which is actually occurring in the fuel cells is not an accurate assumption. The numerical results indicated that the straight flow field model has temperature uniformity index and almost the same temperature difference with the serpentine models, while its pressure drop is less than all of the serpentine models. Another important advantage of this model is the much easier design and building than the spiral models.

  17. Whole cell quenched flow analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiang, Ya-Yu; Haeri, Sina; Gizewski, Carsten; Stewart, Joanna D; Ehrhard, Peter; Shrimpton, John; Janasek, Dirk; West, Jonathan

    2013-12-03

    This paper describes a microfluidic quenched flow platform for the investigation of ligand-mediated cell surface processes with unprecedented temporal resolution. A roll-slip behavior caused by cell-wall-fluid coupling was documented and acts to minimize the compression and shear stresses experienced by the cell. This feature enables high-velocity (100-400 mm/s) operation without impacting the integrity of the cell membrane. In addition, rotation generates localized convection paths. This cell-driven micromixing effect causes the cell to become rapidly enveloped with ligands to saturate the surface receptors. High-speed imaging of the transport of a Janus particle and fictitious domain numerical simulations were used to predict millisecond-scale biochemical switching times. Dispersion in the incubation channel was characterized by microparticle image velocimetry and minimized by using a horizontal Hele-Shaw velocity profile in combination with vertical hydrodynamic focusing to achieve highly reproducible incubation times (CV = 3.6%). Microfluidic quenched flow was used to investigate the pY1131 autophosphorylation transition in the type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R). This predimerized receptor undergoes autophosphorylation within 100 ms of stimulation. Beyond this demonstration, the extreme temporal resolution can be used to gain new insights into the mechanisms underpinning a tremendous variety of important cell surface events.

  18. Detection of bacteriophage-infected cells of Lactococcus lactis using flow cytometry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Michelsen, Ole; Cuesta-Dominguez, Álvaro; Albrektsen, Bjarne

    2007-01-01

    Bacteriophage infection in dairy fermentation constitutes a serious problem worldwide. We have studied bacteriophage infection in Lactococcus lactis by using the flow cytometer. The first effect of the infection of the bacterium is a change from cells in chains toward single cells. We interpret...... describe a new method for detection of phage infection in Lactococcus lactis dairy cultures. The method is based on flow cytometric detection of cells with low-density cell walls. The method allows fast and early detection of phage-infected bacteria, independently of which phage has infected the culture...

  19. Separation of platelets from other blood cells in continuous-flow by dielectrophoresis field-flow-fractionation

    OpenAIRE

    Piacentini, Niccolò; Mernier, Guillaume; Tornay, Raphaël; Renaud, Philippe

    2011-01-01

    We present a microfluidic device capable of separating platelets from other blood cells in continuous flow using dielectrophoresis field-flow-fractionation. The use of hydrodynamic focusing in combination with the application of a dielectrophoretic force allows the separation of platelets from red blood cells due to their size difference. The theoretical cell trajectory has been calculated by numerical simulations of the electrical field and flow speed, and is in agreement with the experiment...

  20. A numerical study of the gas-liquid, two-phase flow maldistribution in the anode of a high pressure PEM water electrolysis cell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Anders Christian; Rømer, Carsten; Kær, Søren Knudsen

    2016-01-01

    In this work, the use of a circular-planar, interdigitated flow field for the anode of a high pressure proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell is investigated in a numerical study. While PEM fuel cells have separated flow fields for reactant transport and coolant, it is possible...... causes maldistribution, if land areas of equal width are applied. Moreover, below a water stoichiometry of 350, and at a current density of 1 A/cm2, flow and temperature maldistribution is adversely affected by the presence of the gas phase; particularly gas hold-up near outlet channels can cause......-phase flow model for establishing the effect of geometry and a two-phase flow model for studying the effect of dispersed gas bubbles. Both models account for turbulence and heat transport. By means of the developed models, it is elucidated that the circular-planar shape of the interdigitated flow field...

  1. Flow rate dependency of critical wall shear stress in a radial-flow cell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Detry, J.G.; Jensen, Bo Boye Busk; Sindic, M.

    2009-01-01

    In the present work, a radial-flow cell was used to study the removal of starch particle aggregates from several solid substrates (glass, stainless steel, polystyrene and PTFE) in order to determine the critical wall shear stress value for each case. The particle aggregates were formed by aspersion...... of a water or ethanol suspension of starch granules on the surfaces. Depending on the substrate and on the suspending liquid, the aggregates differed in size and shape. Aggregate removal was studied at two flow rates. At the lower flow rate (Re-inlet = 955), the values of critical wall shear stress...... for the different surfaces suggested that capillary forces were, for all of them, playing an important role in aggregate adhesion since aqueous based aggregates were always more difficult to remove. At the higher flow rate (Re-inlet = 2016) the critical wall shear stress increased as a result of the change...

  2. Design of a miniature flow cell for in situ x-ray imaging of redox flow batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jervis, Rhodri; Brown, Leon D.; Neville, Tobias P.; Millichamp, Jason; Finegan, Donal P.; Heenan, Thomas M. M.; Brett, Dan J. L.; Shearing, Paul R.

    2016-11-01

    Flow batteries represent a possible grid-scale energy storage solution, having many advantages such as scalability, separation of power and energy capabilities, and simple operation. However, they can suffer from degradation during operation and the characteristics of the felt electrodes are little understood in terms of wetting, compression and pressure drops. Presented here is the design of a miniature flow cell that allows the use of x-ray computed tomography (CT) to study carbon felt materials in situ and operando, in both lab-based and synchrotron CT. Through application of the bespoke cell it is possible to observe felt fibres, electrolyte and pore phases and therefore enables non-destructive characterisation of an array of microstructural parameters during the operation of flow batteries. Furthermore, we expect this design can be readily adapted to the study of other electrochemical systems.

  3. Design of a miniature flow cell for in situ x-ray imaging of redox flow batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jervis, Rhodri; Brown, Leon D; Neville, Tobias P; Millichamp, Jason; Finegan, Donal P; Heenan, Thomas M M; Brett, Dan J L; Shearing, Paul R

    2016-01-01

    Flow batteries represent a possible grid-scale energy storage solution, having many advantages such as scalability, separation of power and energy capabilities, and simple operation. However, they can suffer from degradation during operation and the characteristics of the felt electrodes are little understood in terms of wetting, compression and pressure drops. Presented here is the design of a miniature flow cell that allows the use of x-ray computed tomography (CT) to study carbon felt materials in situ and operando , in both lab-based and synchrotron CT. Through application of the bespoke cell it is possible to observe felt fibres, electrolyte and pore phases and therefore enables non-destructive characterisation of an array of microstructural parameters during the operation of flow batteries. Furthermore, we expect this design can be readily adapted to the study of other electrochemical systems. (paper)

  4. Automated flow cytometric analysis across large numbers of samples and cell types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xiaoyi; Hasan, Milena; Libri, Valentina; Urrutia, Alejandra; Beitz, Benoît; Rouilly, Vincent; Duffy, Darragh; Patin, Étienne; Chalmond, Bernard; Rogge, Lars; Quintana-Murci, Lluis; Albert, Matthew L; Schwikowski, Benno

    2015-04-01

    Multi-parametric flow cytometry is a key technology for characterization of immune cell phenotypes. However, robust high-dimensional post-analytic strategies for automated data analysis in large numbers of donors are still lacking. Here, we report a computational pipeline, called FlowGM, which minimizes operator input, is insensitive to compensation settings, and can be adapted to different analytic panels. A Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)-based approach was utilized for initial clustering, with the number of clusters determined using Bayesian Information Criterion. Meta-clustering in a reference donor permitted automated identification of 24 cell types across four panels. Cluster labels were integrated into FCS files, thus permitting comparisons to manual gating. Cell numbers and coefficient of variation (CV) were similar between FlowGM and conventional gating for lymphocyte populations, but notably FlowGM provided improved discrimination of "hard-to-gate" monocyte and dendritic cell (DC) subsets. FlowGM thus provides rapid high-dimensional analysis of cell phenotypes and is amenable to cohort studies. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. Modeling two-phase flow in PEM fuel cell channels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Yun; Basu, Suman; Wang, Chao-Yang [Electrochemical Engine Center (ECEC), and Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)

    2008-05-01

    This paper is concerned with the simultaneous flow of liquid water and gaseous reactants in mini-channels of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Envisaging the mini-channels as structured and ordered porous media, we develop a continuum model of two-phase channel flow based on two-phase Darcy's law and the M{sup 2} formalism, which allow estimate of the parameters key to fuel cell operation such as overall pressure drop and liquid saturation profiles along the axial flow direction. Analytical solutions of liquid water saturation and species concentrations along the channel are derived to explore the dependences of these physical variables vital to cell performance on operating parameters such as flow stoichiometric ratio and relative humility. The two-phase channel model is further implemented for three-dimensional numerical simulations of two-phase, multi-component transport in a single fuel-cell channel. Three issues critical to optimizing channel design and mitigating channel flooding in PEM fuel cells are fully discussed: liquid water buildup towards the fuel cell outlet, saturation spike in the vicinity of flow cross-sectional heterogeneity, and two-phase pressure drop. Both the two-phase model and analytical solutions presented in this paper may be applicable to more general two-phase flow phenomena through mini- and micro-channels. (author)

  6. Pressure-driven occlusive flow of a confined red blood cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savin, Thierry; Bandi, M M; Mahadevan, L

    2016-01-14

    When red blood cells (RBCs) move through narrow capillaries in the microcirculation, they deform as they flow. In pathophysiological processes such as sickle cell disease and malaria, RBC motion and flow are severely restricted. To understand this threshold of occlusion, we use a combination of experiment and theory to study the motion of a single swollen RBC through a narrow glass capillary of varying inner diameter. By tracking the movement of the squeezed cell as it is driven by a controlled pressure drop, we measure the RBC velocity as a function of the pressure gradient as well as the local capillary diameter, and find that the effective blood viscosity in this regime increases with both decreasing RBC velocity and tube radius by following a power-law that depends upon the length of the confined cell. Our observations are consistent with a simple elasto-hydrodynamic model and highlight the role of lateral confinement in the occluded pressure-driven slow flow of soft confined objects.

  7. Interstitial Fluid Flow: The Mechanical Environment of Cells and Foundation of Meridians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Yao

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Using information from the deep dissection, microobservation, and measurement of acupoints in the upper and lower limbs of the human body, we developed a three-dimensional porous medium model to simulate the flow field using FLUENT software and to study the shear stress on the surface of interstitial cells (mast cells caused by interstitial fluid flow. The numerical simulation results show the following: (i the parallel nature of capillaries will lead to directional interstitial fluid flow, which may explain the long interstitial tissue channels or meridians observed in some experiments; (ii when the distribution of capillaries is staggered, increases in the velocity alternate, and the velocity tends to be uniform, which is beneficial for substance exchange; (iii interstitial fluid flow induces a shear stress, with magnitude of several Pa, on interstitial cell membranes, which will activate cells and lead to a biological response; (iv capillary and interstitial parameters, such as capillary density, blood pressure, capillary permeability, interstitial pressure, and interstitial porosity, affect the shear stress on cell surfaces. The numerical simulation results suggest that in vivo interstitial fluid flow constitutes the mechanical environment of cells and plays a key role in guiding cell activities, which may explain the meridian phenomena and the acupuncture effects observed in experiments.

  8. Sequential flow membraneless microfluidic fuel cell with porous electrodes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salloum, Kamil S.; Posner, Jonathan D. [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-6106 (United States); Hayes, Joel R.; Friesen, Cody A. [School of Materials, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-8706 (United States)

    2008-05-15

    A novel convective flow membraneless microfluidic fuel cell with porous disk electrodes is described. In this fuel cell design, the fuel flows radially outward through a thin disk shaped anode and across a gap to a ring shaped cathode. An oxidant is introduced into the gap between anode and cathode and advects radially outward to the cathode. This fuel cell differs from previous membraneless designs in that the fuel and the oxidant flow in series, rather than in parallel, enabling independent control over the fuel and oxidant flow rate and the electrode areas. The cell uses formic acid as a fuel and potassium permanganate as the oxidant, both contained in a sulfuric acid electrolyte. The flow velocity field is examined using microscale particle image velocimetry and shown to be nearly axisymmetric and steady. The results show that increasing the electrolyte concentration reduces the cell Ohmic resistance, resulting in larger maximum currents and peak power densities. Increasing the flow rate delays the onset of mass transport and reduces Ohmic losses resulting in larger maximum currents and peak power densities. An average open circuit potential of 1.2 V is obtained with maximum current and power densities of 5.35 mA cm{sup -2} and 2.8 mW cm{sup -2}, respectively (cell electrode area of 4.3 cm{sup 2}). At a flow rate of 100 {mu}L min{sup -1} a fuel utilization of 58% is obtained. (author)

  9. Modeling Bubble Flow and Current Density Distribution in an Alkaline Electrolysis Cell

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravichandra S. Jupudi

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The effect of bubbles on the current density distribution over the electrodes of an alkaline electrolyzer cell is studied using a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model. Model includes Eulerian-Eulerian two-phase flow methodology to model the multiphase flow of Hydrogen and Oxygen with water and the behavior of each phase is accounted for using first principle. Hydrogen/Oxygen evolution, flow field and current density distribution are incorporated in the model to account for the complicated physics involved in the process. Fluent 6.2 is used to solve two-phase flow and electrochemistry is incorporated using UDF (User Defined Function feature of Fluent. Model is validated with mesh refinement study and by comparison with experimental measurements. Model is found to replicate the effect of cell voltage and inter-electrode gap (distance between the electrodes on current density accurately. Further, model is found to capture the existence of optimum cell height. The validated model is expected to be a very useful tool in the design and optimization of alkaline electrolyzer cells.

  10. Interactions between cells and ionized dendritic biomaterials: Flow cytometry and fluorescence spectroscopic studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kannan, R. M.; Kolhe, Parag; Khandare, Jayant; Kannan, Sujatha; Lieh-Lai, Mary

    2004-03-01

    Dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers are a new class of macromolecules characterized by large density of "tunable" peripheral functional groups. Therefore dendrimers can serve as a model macromolecular system to study the influence of molecular geometry and charge density on transport across biological barriers, especially cellular interfaces. The effect of size, end-functionality, surface charge (pH), and the nature of the cell surface are expected to play an important role in transport, and are investigated using flow cytometry, fluorescene microscopy and UV/Vis spectroscopy. Our results suggest that at physiological pH, cationic polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers can enter the A549 cancer lung epithelial cells within 5 minutes, perhaps due to the favorable interaction between anionic surface receptors of cells and cationic PAMAM dendrimer, through adsorptive endocytosis. On the other hand, hyperbranched polyol, which is a neutral polymer at physiological pH, enters cells at a much slower rate. The entry of hyperbranched polyol may be because of fluid-phase pinocytosis. Our results also indicate that the dendritic polymers enter the cell surface much more rapidly than linear polymers, and some small drugs, suggesting that the high density of functional groups plays a key role in the interaction with the cell surface, and the subsequent transport inside.

  11. Microscopic and flow cytometric study of micronuclei in iododeoxyuridine labelled cells irradiated with soft X-rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ludwikow, G.; Staalnacke, C.G.; Johanson, K.J.; Sundell-Bergman, S.; Richter, S.; Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala; Uppsala Univ.

    1990-01-01

    Iododeoxyuridine labelled (IUdR(+)) and unlabelled (IUdR(-)) CHO cells irradiated with 2 Gy of soft X-rays showed only minor differences in the kinetics of micronuclei formation during the first 20 hours postirradiation period. Between 20 to 40 hours, the IUdR(-) cells showed approximately a constant number of micronuclei while the number of micronuclei in IUdR(+) cells was still increasing. The frequency of micronuclei was higher in IUdR(+) cells compared to IUdR(-) cells at 24 hours after irradiation with various doses up to 4.0 Gy. Dose modifying factors were found to be 1.3 (microscopic evaluation) and 1.8 (flow cytometric evaluation). Flow cytometry with use of two parameters, fluorescence from propidium iodide and light scattering, seems to be a good tool to estimate the frequency of micronuclei in CHO cells in the dose range up to about 4 Gy. At higher doses perturbation of the cell cycle and the appearance of dying cells will influence the results. (orig.)

  12. Full-angle tomographic phase microscopy of flowing quasi-spherical cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villone, Massimiliano M; Memmolo, Pasquale; Merola, Francesco; Mugnano, Martina; Miccio, Lisa; Maffettone, Pier Luca; Ferraro, Pietro

    2017-12-19

    We report a reliable full-angle tomographic phase microscopy (FA-TPM) method for flowing quasi-spherical cells along microfluidic channels. This method lies in a completely passive optical system, i.e. mechanical scanning or multi-direction probing of the sample is avoided. It exploits the engineered rolling of cells while they are flowing along a microfluidic channel. Here we demonstrate significant progress with respect to the state of the art of in-flow TPM by showing a general extension to cells having almost spherical shapes while they are flowing in suspension. In fact, the adopted strategy allows the accurate retrieval of rotation angles through a theoretical model of the cells' rotation in a dynamic microfluidic flow by matching it with phase-contrast images resulting from holographic reconstructions. So far, the proposed method is the first and the only one that permits to get in-flow TPM by probing the cells with full-angle, achieving accurate 3D refractive index mapping and the simplest optical setup, simultaneously. Proof of concept experiments were performed successfully on human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells, opening the way for the full characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the new paradigm of liquid biopsy.

  13. Analysis of the Budding Yeast Cell Cycle by Flow Cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosebrock, Adam P

    2017-01-03

    DNA synthesis is one of the landmark events in the cell cycle: G 1 cells have one copy of the genome, S phase cells are actively engaged in DNA synthesis, and G 2 cells have twice as much nuclear DNA as G 1 cells. Cellular DNA content can be measured by staining with a fluorescent dye followed by a flow-cytometric readout. This method provides a quantitative measurement of cell cycle position on a cell-by-cell basis at high speed. Using flow cytometry, tens of thousands of single-cell measurements can be generated in a few seconds. This protocol details staining of cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for flow cytometry using Sytox Green dye in a method that can be scaled widely-from one sample to many thousands and operating on inputs ranging from 1 million to more than 100 million cells. Flow cytometry is preferred over light microscopy or Coulter analyses for the analysis of the cell cycle as DNA content and cell cycle position are being directly measured. © 2017 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  14. Adhesion behavior of endothelial progenitor cells to endothelial cells in simple shear flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Xiao-Bo; Li, Yu-Qing; Gao, Quan-Chao; Cheng, Bin-Bin; Shen, Bao-Rong; Yan, Zhi-Qiang; Jiang, Zong-Lai

    2011-12-01

    The adhesion of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) on endothelial cells (ECs) is one of the critical physiological processes for the regenesis of vascular vessels and the prevention of serious cardiovascular diseases. Here, the rolling and adhesion behavior of EPCs on ECs was studied numerically. A two-dimensional numerical model was developed based on the immersed boundary method for simulating the rolling and adhesion of cells in a channel flow. The binding force arising from the catch bond of a receptor and ligand pair was modeled with stochastic Monte Carlo method and Hookean spring model. The effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- α) on the expression of the number of adhesion molecules in ECs was analyzed experimentally. A flow chamber system with CCD camera was set up to observe the top view of the rolling of EPCs on the substrate cultivated with ECs. Numerical results prove that the adhesion of EPC on ECs is closely related to membrane stiffness of the cell and shear rate of the flow. It also suggests that the adhesion force between EPC and EC by P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 only is not strong enough to bond the cell onto vessel walls unless contributions of other catch bond are considered. Experimental results demonstrate that TNF- α enhanced the expressions of VCAM, ICAM, P-selectin and E-selectin in ECs, which supports the numerical results that the rolling velocity of EPC on TNF- α treated EC substrate decreases obviously compared with its velocity on the untreated one. It is found that because the adhesion is affected by both the rolling velocity and the deformability of the cell, an optimal stiffness of EPC may exist at a given shear rate of flow for achieving maximum adhesion rates.

  15. In vitro toxicological nanoparticle studies under flow exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sambale, Franziska; Stahl, Frank; Bahnemann, Detlef; Scheper, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    The use of nanoparticles is becoming increasingly common in industry and everyday objects. Thus, extensive risk management concerning the potential health risk of nanoparticles is important. Currently, in vitro nanoparticle testing is mainly performed under static culture conditions without any shear stress. However, shear stress is an important biomechanical parameter. Therefore, in this study, a defined physiological flow to different mammalian cell lines such as A549 cells and NIH-3T3 cells has been applied. The effects of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 -NP), respectively, were investigated under both static and dynamic conditions. Cell viability, cell morphology, and adhesion were proven and compared to the static cell culture. Flow exposure had an impact on the cellular morphology of the cells. NIH-3T3 cells were elongated in the direction of flow and A549 cells exhibited vesicles inside the cells. Zinc oxide nanoparticles reduced the cell viability in the static and in the dynamic culture; however, the dynamic cultures were more sensitive. In the static culture and in the dynamic culture, TiO 2 -NP did not affect cell viability. In conclusion, dynamic culture conditions are important for further in vitro investigations and provide more relevant results than static culture conditions

  16. In vitro toxicological nanoparticle studies under flow exposure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sambale, Franziska, E-mail: sambale@iftc.uni-hannover.de; Stahl, Frank; Bahnemann, Detlef; Scheper, Thomas [Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hanover, Institute for Technical Chemistry (Germany)

    2015-07-15

    The use of nanoparticles is becoming increasingly common in industry and everyday objects. Thus, extensive risk management concerning the potential health risk of nanoparticles is important. Currently, in vitro nanoparticle testing is mainly performed under static culture conditions without any shear stress. However, shear stress is an important biomechanical parameter. Therefore, in this study, a defined physiological flow to different mammalian cell lines such as A549 cells and NIH-3T3 cells has been applied. The effects of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO{sub 2}-NP), respectively, were investigated under both static and dynamic conditions. Cell viability, cell morphology, and adhesion were proven and compared to the static cell culture. Flow exposure had an impact on the cellular morphology of the cells. NIH-3T3 cells were elongated in the direction of flow and A549 cells exhibited vesicles inside the cells. Zinc oxide nanoparticles reduced the cell viability in the static and in the dynamic culture; however, the dynamic cultures were more sensitive. In the static culture and in the dynamic culture, TiO{sub 2}-NP did not affect cell viability. In conclusion, dynamic culture conditions are important for further in vitro investigations and provide more relevant results than static culture conditions.

  17. In Situ Spatiotemporal Mapping of Flow Fields around Seeded Stem Cells at the Subcellular Length Scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Min Jae; Dean, David; Knothe Tate, Melissa L.

    2010-01-01

    A major hurdle to understanding and exploiting interactions between the stem cell and its environment is the lack of a tool for precise delivery of mechanical cues concomitant to observing sub-cellular adaptation of structure. These studies demonstrate the use of microscale particle image velocimetry (μ-PIV) for in situ spatiotemporal mapping of flow fields around mesenchymal stem cells, i.e. murine embryonic multipotent cell line C3H10T1/2, at the subcellular length scale, providing a tool for real time observation and analysis of stem cell adaptation to the prevailing mechanical milieu. In the absence of cells, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predicts flow regimes within 12% of μ-PIV measures, achieving the technical specifications of the chamber and the flow rates necessary to deliver target shear stresses at a particular height from the base of the flow chamber. However, our μ-PIV studies show that the presence of cells per se as well as the density at which cells are seeded significantly influences local flow fields. Furthermore, for any given cell or cell seeding density, flow regimes vary significantly along the vertical profile of the cell. Hence, the mechanical milieu of the stem cell exposed to shape changing shear stresses, induced by fluid drag, varies with respect to proximity of surrounding cells as well as with respect to apical height. The current study addresses a previously unmet need to predict and observe both flow regimes as well as mechanoadaptation of cells in flow chambers designed to deliver precisely controlled mechanical signals to live cells. An understanding of interactions and adaptation in response to forces at the interface between the surface of the cell and its immediate local environment may be key for de novo engineering of functional tissues from stem cell templates as well as for unraveling the mechanisms underlying multiscale development, growth and adaptation of organisms. PMID:20862249

  18. In situ spatiotemporal mapping of flow fields around seeded stem cells at the subcellular length scale.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Jae Song

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available A major hurdle to understanding and exploiting interactions between the stem cell and its environment is the lack of a tool for precise delivery of mechanical cues concomitant to observing sub-cellular adaptation of structure. These studies demonstrate the use of microscale particle image velocimetry (μ-PIV for in situ spatiotemporal mapping of flow fields around mesenchymal stem cells, i.e. murine embryonic multipotent cell line C3H10T1/2, at the subcellular length scale, providing a tool for real time observation and analysis of stem cell adaptation to the prevailing mechanical milieu. In the absence of cells, computational fluid dynamics (CFD predicts flow regimes within 12% of μ-PIV measures, achieving the technical specifications of the chamber and the flow rates necessary to deliver target shear stresses at a particular height from the base of the flow chamber. However, our μ-PIV studies show that the presence of cells per se as well as the density at which cells are seeded significantly influences local flow fields. Furthermore, for any given cell or cell seeding density, flow regimes vary significantly along the vertical profile of the cell. Hence, the mechanical milieu of the stem cell exposed to shape changing shear stresses, induced by fluid drag, varies with respect to proximity of surrounding cells as well as with respect to apical height. The current study addresses a previously unmet need to predict and observe both flow regimes as well as mechanoadaptation of cells in flow chambers designed to deliver precisely controlled mechanical signals to live cells. An understanding of interactions and adaptation in response to forces at the interface between the surface of the cell and its immediate local environment may be key for de novo engineering of functional tissues from stem cell templates as well as for unraveling the mechanisms underlying multiscale development, growth and adaptation of organisms.

  19. Go with the Flow: Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow Regulates Neural Stem Cell Proliferation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaneko, Naoko; Sawamoto, Kazunobu

    2018-06-01

    Adult neural stem cells in the wall of brain ventricles make direct contact with cerebrospinal fluid. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Petrik et al. (2018) demonstrate that these neural stem cells sense the flow of cerebrospinal fluid through a transmembrane sodium channel, ENaC, which regulates their proliferation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. The construction of a laminar-flow cell for neutron reflection studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haemers, S.; Efimova, Y.M.; Well, A.A. van

    2005-01-01

    The characteristic time scale of adsorption has an important contribution to the history of adsorbed protein layers. Control over this time scale is achieved by designing a measuring cell with well-defined laminar liquid flow in parallel plate geometry to be used on a neutron reflectometer. Results obtained from adsorption experiments with lysozyme clearly show that there is an effect of adsorption time scales on the properties of adsorbed layers

  1. Controlling flow time delays in flexible manufacturing cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slomp, J.; Caprihan, R.; Bokhorst, J. A. C.

    2009-01-01

    Flow time delays in Flexible Manufacturing Cells (FMCs) are caused by transport and clamping/reclamping activities. This paper shows how dynamic scheduling parameters may control the flow times of jobs and the available task windows for flow time delays.

  2. Identification of residual leukemic cells by flow cytometry in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia: verification of leukemic state by flow-sorting and molecular/cytogenetic methods

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Obro, Nina F; Ryder, Lars P; Madsen, Hans O

    2012-01-01

    Reduction in minimal residual disease, measured by real-time quantitative PCR or flow cytometry, predicts prognosis in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We explored whether cells reported as minimal residual disease by flow cytometry represent the malignant clone harboring...... clone-specific genomic markers (53 follow-up bone marrow samples from 28 children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia). Cell populations (presumed leukemic and non-leukemic) were flow-sorted during standard flow cytometry-based minimal residual disease monitoring and explored by PCR and....../or fluorescence in situ hybridization. We found good concordance between flow cytometry and genomic analyses in the individual flow-sorted leukemic (93% true positive) and normal (93% true negative) cell populations. Four cases with discrepant results had plausible explanations (e.g. partly informative...

  3. Effect of induced cross flow on flow pattern and performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiao, Kui; Bachman, John; Zhou, Yibo; Park, Jae Wan

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • 3D numerical works to study the effect of cross flow on the PEMFC performance. • The cross flow ensure more evenly distributed water and oxygen in the CL. • The optimal net power output can be identified by controlling the back pressure. • Results confirm that present design is effective in improving performance. - Abstract: The cross flow in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) plays an important role in changing the transport pattern and performance. In this study, three-dimensional numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of induced cross flow on the flow pattern and performance of a PEMFC with a previously proposed and experimentally studied novel parallel flow channel design. The numerical results indicate that the liquid water and oxygen become more evenly distributed in the catalyst layer (CL) as the pressure difference between the low-pressure and high-pressure flow channels increases. It has been found that, in the low-pressure channels, the cross flow drives a convective flow from the CL to the flow channel resulting in improved liquid water removal. The optimal net power output can be identified by controlling the back pressure on the high-pressure flow channels. The numerical results confirm that this novel parallel flow channel design is effective in improving PEMFC performance

  4. An improved ghost-cell immersed boundary method for compressible flow simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Chi, Cheng; Lee, Bok Jik; Im, Hong G.

    2016-01-01

    This study presents an improved ghost-cell immersed boundary approach to represent a solid body in compressible flow simulations. In contrast to the commonly used approaches, in the present work ghost cells are mirrored through the boundary

  5. Identification of residual leukemic cells by flow cytometry in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia: verification of leukemic state by flow-sorting and molecular/cytogenetic methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Øbro, Nina F; Ryder, Lars P; Madsen, Hans O; Andersen, Mette K; Lausen, Birgitte; Hasle, Henrik; Schmiegelow, Kjeld; Marquart, Hanne V

    2012-01-01

    Reduction in minimal residual disease, measured by real-time quantitative PCR or flow cytometry, predicts prognosis in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We explored whether cells reported as minimal residual disease by flow cytometry represent the malignant clone harboring clone-specific genomic markers (53 follow-up bone marrow samples from 28 children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia). Cell populations (presumed leukemic and non-leukemic) were flow-sorted during standard flow cytometry-based minimal residual disease monitoring and explored by PCR and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization. We found good concordance between flow cytometry and genomic analyses in the individual flow-sorted leukemic (93% true positive) and normal (93% true negative) cell populations. Four cases with discrepant results had plausible explanations (e.g. partly informative immunophenotype and antigen modulation) that highlight important methodological pitfalls. These findings demonstrate that with sufficient experience, flow cytometry is reliable for minimal residual disease monitoring in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia, although rare cases require supplementary PCR-based monitoring.

  6. Merging Mixture Components for Cell Population Identification in Flow Cytometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greg Finak

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a framework for the identification of cell subpopulations in flow cytometry data based on merging mixture components using the flowClust methodology. We show that the cluster merging algorithm under our framework improves model fit and provides a better estimate of the number of distinct cell subpopulations than either Gaussian mixture models or flowClust, especially for complicated flow cytometry data distributions. Our framework allows the automated selection of the number of distinct cell subpopulations and we are able to identify cases where the algorithm fails, thus making it suitable for application in a high throughput FCM analysis pipeline. Furthermore, we demonstrate a method for summarizing complex merged cell subpopulations in a simple manner that integrates with the existing flowClust framework and enables downstream data analysis. We demonstrate the performance of our framework on simulated and real FCM data. The software is available in the flowMerge package through the Bioconductor project.

  7. Applications of flow cytometry to toxicological mycotoxin effects in cultured mammalian cells: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juan-García, Ana; Manyes, Lara; Ruiz, María-José; Font, Guillermina

    2013-06-01

    This review gives an overview of flow cytometry applications to toxicological studies of several physiological target sites of mycotoxins on different mammalian cell lines. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi that may be present in food, feed, air and water. The increasing presence of mycotoxins in crops, their wide distribution in the food chain, and their potential for toxicity demonstrate the need for further knowledge. Flow cytometry has become a valuable tool in mycotoxin studies in recent years for the rapid analysis of single cells in a mixture. In toxicology, the power of these methods lies in the possibility of determining a wide range of cell parameters, providing valuable information to elucidate cell growth and viability, metabolic activity, mitochondrial membrane potential and membrane integrity mechanisms. There are studies using flow cytometry technique on Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium mycotoxins including information about cell type, assay conditions and functional parameters. Most of the studies collected in the literature are on deoxynivalenol and zearalenone mycotoxins. Cell cycle analysis and apoptosis are the processes more widely investigated. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. 3D-printed and CNC milled flow-cells for chemiluminescence detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spilstead, Kara B; Learey, Jessica J; Doeven, Egan H; Barbante, Gregory J; Mohr, Stephan; Barnett, Neil W; Terry, Jessica M; Hall, Robynne M; Francis, Paul S

    2014-08-01

    Herein we explore modern fabrication techniques for the development of chemiluminescence detection flow-cells with features not attainable using the traditional coiled tubing approach. This includes the first 3D-printed chemiluminescence flow-cells, and a milled flow-cell designed to split the analyte stream into two separate detection zones within the same polymer chip. The flow-cells are compared to conventional detection systems using flow injection analysis (FIA) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), with the fast chemiluminescence reactions of an acidic potassium permanganate reagent with morphine and a series of adrenergic phenolic amines. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. The dynamic behavior of chemically "stiffened" red blood cells in microchannel flows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forsyth, Alison M; Wan, Jiandi; Ristenpart, William D; Stone, Howard A

    2010-07-01

    The rigidity of red blood cells (RBCs) plays an important role in whole blood viscosity and is correlated with several cardiovascular diseases. Two chemical agents that are commonly used to study cell deformation are diamide and glutaraldehyde. Despite diamide's common usage, there are discrepancies in the literature surrounding diamide's effect on the deformation of RBCs in shear and pressure-driven flows; in particular, shear flow experiments have shown that diamide stiffens cells, while pressure-driven flow in capillaries did not give this result. We performed pressure-driven flow experiments with RBCs in a microfluidic constriction and quantified the cell dynamics using high-speed imaging. Diamide, which affects RBCs by cross-linking spectrin skeletal membrane proteins, did not reduce deformation and showed an unchanged effective strain rate when compared to healthy cells. In contrast, glutaraldehyde, which is a non-specific fixative that acts on all components of the cell, did reduce deformation and showed increased instances of tumbling, both of which are characteristic features of stiffened, or rigidified, cells. Because glutaraldehyde increases the effective viscosity of the cytoplasm and lipid membrane while diamide does not, one possible explanation for our results is that viscous effects in the cytoplasm and/or lipid membrane are a dominant factor in dictating dynamic responses of RBCs in pressure-driven flows. Finally, literature on the use of diamide as a stiffening agent is summarized, and provides supporting evidence for our conclusions. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Modeling two-phase flow in three-dimensional complex flow-fields of proton exchange membrane fuel cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jinyong; Luo, Gang; Wang, Chao-Yang

    2017-10-01

    3D fine-mesh flow-fields recently developed by Toyota Mirai improved water management and mass transport in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stacks, suggesting their potential value for robust and high-power PEM fuel cell stack performance. In such complex flow-fields, Forchheimer's inertial effect is dominant at high current density. In this work, a two-phase flow model of 3D complex flow-fields of PEMFCs is developed by accounting for Forchheimer's inertial effect, for the first time, to elucidate the underlying mechanism of liquid water behavior and mass transport inside 3D complex flow-fields and their adjacent gas diffusion layers (GDL). It is found that Forchheimer's inertial effect enhances liquid water removal from flow-fields and adds additional flow resistance around baffles, which improves interfacial liquid water and mass transport. As a result, substantial improvements in high current density cell performance and operational stability are expected in PEMFCs with 3D complex flow-fields, compared to PEMFCs with conventional flow-fields. Higher current density operation required to further reduce PEMFC stack cost per kW in the future will necessitate optimizing complex flow-field designs using the present model, in order to efficiently remove a large amount of product water and hence minimize the mass transport voltage loss.

  11. A multi-component parallel-plate flow chamber system for studying the effect of exercise-induced wall shear stress on endothelial cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yan-Xia; Xiang, Cheng; Liu, Bo; Zhu, Yong; Luan, Yong; Liu, Shu-Tian; Qin, Kai-Rong

    2016-12-28

    In vivo studies have demonstrated that reasonable exercise training can improve endothelial function. To confirm the key role of wall shear stress induced by exercise on endothelial cells, and to understand how wall shear stress affects the structure and the function of endothelial cells, it is crucial to design and fabricate an in vitro multi-component parallel-plate flow chamber system which can closely replicate exercise-induced wall shear stress waveforms in artery. The in vivo wall shear stress waveforms from the common carotid artery of a healthy volunteer in resting and immediately after 30 min acute aerobic cycling exercise were first calculated by measuring the inner diameter and the center-line blood flow velocity with a color Doppler ultrasound. According to the above in vivo wall shear stress waveforms, we designed and fabricated a parallel-plate flow chamber system with appropriate components based on a lumped parameter hemodynamics model. To validate the feasibility of this system, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) line were cultured within the parallel-plate flow chamber under abovementioned two types of wall shear stress waveforms and the intracellular actin microfilaments and nitric oxide (NO) production level were evaluated using fluorescence microscope. Our results show that the trends of resting and exercise-induced wall shear stress waveforms, especially the maximal, minimal and mean wall shear stress as well as oscillatory shear index, generated by the parallel-plate flow chamber system are similar to those acquired from the common carotid artery. In addition, the cellular experiments demonstrate that the actin microfilaments and the production of NO within cells exposed to the two different wall shear stress waveforms exhibit different dynamic behaviors; there are larger numbers of actin microfilaments and higher level NO in cells exposed in exercise-induced wall shear stress condition than resting wall shear stress condition

  12. Comparative study of incompressible and isothermal compressible flow solvers for cavitating flow dynamics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Sun Ho [Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Rhee, Shin Hyung [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-08-15

    Incompressible flow solvers are generally used for numerical analysis of cavitating flows, but with limitations in handling compressibility effects on vapor phase. To study compressibility effects on vapor phase and cavity interface, pressure-based incompressible and isothermal compressible flow solvers based on a cell-centered finite volume method were developed using the OpenFOAM libraries. To validate the solvers, cavitating flow around a hemispherical head-form body was simulated and validated against the experimental data. The cavity shedding behavior, length of a re-entrant jet, drag history, and the Strouhal number were compared between the two solvers. The results confirmed that computations of the cavitating flow including compressibility effects improved the reproduction of cavitation dynamics.

  13. Flow cytometry detection of planktonic cells with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sorbed to cell surfaces

    KAUST Repository

    Cerezo, Maria I.; Linden, Matthew; Agusti, Susana

    2017-01-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are very important components of oil pollution. These pollutants tend to sorb to cell surfaces, exerting toxic effects on organisms. Our study developed a flow cytometric method for the detection of PAHs sorbed

  14. Combined modeling of cell aggregation and adhesion mediated by receptor–ligand interactions under shear flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Du

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Blood cell aggregation and adhesion to endothelial cells under shear flow are crucial to many biological processes such as thrombi formation, inflammatory cascade, and tumor metastasis, in which these cellular interactions are mainly mediated by the underlying receptor–ligand bindings. While theoretical modeling of aggregation dynamics and adhesion kinetics of interacting cells have been well studied separately, how to couple these two processes remains unclear. Here we develop a combined model that couples cellular aggregation dynamics and adhesion kinetics under shear flow. The impacts of shear rate (or shear stress and molecular binding affinity were elucidated. This study provides a unified model where the action of a fluid flow drives cell aggregation and adhesion under the modulations of the mechanical shear flow and receptor–ligand interaction kinetics. It offers an insight into understanding the relevant biological processes and functions.

  15. Microfluidic Impedance Flow Cytometry Enabling High-Throughput Single-Cell Electrical Property Characterization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jian; Xue, Chengcheng; Zhao, Yang; Chen, Deyong; Wu, Min-Hsien; Wang, Junbo

    2015-01-01

    This article reviews recent developments in microfluidic impedance flow cytometry for high-throughput electrical property characterization of single cells. Four major perspectives of microfluidic impedance flow cytometry for single-cell characterization are included in this review: (1) early developments of microfluidic impedance flow cytometry for single-cell electrical property characterization; (2) microfluidic impedance flow cytometry with enhanced sensitivity; (3) microfluidic impedance and optical flow cytometry for single-cell analysis and (4) integrated point of care system based on microfluidic impedance flow cytometry. We examine the advantages and limitations of each technique and discuss future research opportunities from the perspectives of both technical innovation and clinical applications. PMID:25938973

  16. Influence of cathode flow pulsation on performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with interdigitated gas distributors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramiar, A.; Mahmoudi, A.H.; Esmaili, Q.; Abdollahzadeh, M.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, a numerical study is conducted in order to investigate the effect of pulsation of air flow at the cathode side of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell with interdigitated flow field. A two dimensional, isothermal, two-phase, unsteady multi-component transport model is used in order to simulate the transport phenomena. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the influence of flow pulsation on water management and cell performance. The results prove the effectiveness of flow pulsation on improving water removal from cell, enhancing reactants transports to the reaction sites, and increasing the cell performance expressed by increment in the cell limiting current density and maximum output power. The effects of pulsation frequency (f), amplitude (Amp), and mean inlet pressure (P_i_n) on the performance and the output power of the cell, are also investigated. The performance of the cell has no dependency on the frequency range considered in this study. However, as the pulsation amplitude increases the increment in the cell performance is more obvious. Moreover, applying flow pulsation at low flow rates leads to higher efficiency in water removal and performance enhancement. - Highlights: • Mechanism of water and oxygen transport under flow pulsation are discussed. • Pulsating cathode flow increases the limiting current density and output power. • The performance of cell has no significant dependency on pulsation frequency. • The performance and output power increase with the pulsation amplitude. • Using pulsating flow at lower average pressures leads to higher water removal rate.

  17. Flow Cells for Scalable Energy Conversion and Storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mukundan, Rangachary [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-10-26

    This project is a response to current flow systems that are V-aqueous and not cost effective. It will hopefully enable high energy/ power density flow cells through rational materials and system design.

  18. Upward swimming of a sperm cell in shear flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omori, Toshihiro; Ishikawa, Takuji

    2016-03-01

    Mammalian sperm cells are required to swim over long distances, typically around 1000-fold their own length. They must orient themselves and maintain a swimming motion to reach the ovum, or egg cell. Although the mechanism of long-distance navigation is still unclear, one possible mechanism, rheotaxis, was reported recently. This work investigates the mechanism of the rheotaxis in detail by simulating the motions of a sperm cell in shear flow adjacent to a flat surface. A phase diagram was developed to show the sperm's swimming motion under different shear rates, and for varying flagellum waveform conditions. The results showed that, under shear flow, the sperm is able to hydrodynamically change its swimming direction, allowing it to swim upwards against the flow, which suggests that the upward swimming of sperm cells can be explained using fluid mechanics, and this can then be used to further understand physiology of sperm cell navigation.

  19. Preparation of rat islet B-cell-enriched fractions by light-scatter flow cytometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rabinovitch, A.; Russell, T.; Shienvold, F.; Noel, J.; Files, N.; Patel, Y.; Ingram, M.

    1982-01-01

    Flow cytometry has been examined as a method to separate islet cells into homogeneous subpopulations. Collagenase-isolated rat islets were dissociated into single cells and these were analyzed and sorted according to their low forward angle light scattering properties by using automated flow cytometry. Light scatter histograms showed two peaks of viable cells. Radioimmunoassay of hormone content in cell fractions collected across the the two peaks showed that glucagon-containing cells were concentrated towards the left side of the left peak and somatostatin-containing cells were concentrated towards the right side of the left peak, whereas insulin-containing cells were clearly enriched in the right peak. The B-cell-enriched fraction (90% B cells, 3% A cells, 2% D cells) exhibited significant insulin secretory responses to glucose (16.7 mM), and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (0.1 mM), during a 24-h culture period, and these responses were slightly greater than those observed in the original mixed islet cell preparation (66% B cells, 14% A cells, and 4% D cells). These results indicate that flow cytometry can be applied to sort pancreatic islet cells into populations enriched in specific endocrine cell types for further study of the functions of individual cell types

  20. JNK2 promotes endothelial cell alignment under flow.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cornelia Hahn

    Full Text Available Endothelial cells in straight, unbranched segments of arteries elongate and align in the direction of flow, a feature which is highly correlated with reduced atherosclerosis in these regions. The mitogen-activated protein kinase c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK is activated by flow and is linked to inflammatory gene expression and apoptosis. We previously showed that JNK activation by flow is mediated by integrins and is observed in cells plated on fibronectin but not on collagen or basement membrane proteins. We now show thatJNK2 activation in response to laminar shear stress is biphasic, with an early peak and a later peak. Activated JNK localizes to focal adhesions at the ends of actin stress fibers, correlates with integrin activation and requires integrin binding to the extracellular matrix. Reducing JNK2 activation by siRNA inhibits alignment in response to shear stress. Cells on collagen, where JNK activity is low, align slowly. These data show that an inflammatory pathway facilitates adaptation to laminar flow, thereby revealing an unexpected connection between adaptation and inflammatory pathways.

  1. Effect of Flow on Cultured Cell at Micro-Pattern of Ridge Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haruka Hino

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available A flow channel with a micro-pattern of ridge lines of a scaffold has been designed to study quantitatively the effect of flow on an oriented cell in vitro. The lines of parallel micro ridges (0.001 mm height, 0.003 mm width, and 0.003 mm interval are made by the lithography technique on the lower surface of the channel as the scaffold to make orientation of each cell. Variation is made about the angle between the longitudinal direction of the ridge line and the direction of the flow: zero, 0.79 and 1.6 rad. The suspension of C2C12 (mouse myoblast cell line was injected to the channel, and incubated for two hours on the micro ridges before the flow test for four hours. The flow rate of 3/hour is controlled by a syringe pump to make variation of the wall shear stress of < 3 Pa. The action of each cell adhered on the micro pattern was analyzed at the time lapse images. The experimental results show that both the migration and the deformation of each myoblast along the micro ridge are restricted by the wall shear stress higher than 3 Pa.

  2. Optical tweezers for measuring the interaction of the two single red blood cells in flow condition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kisung; Muravyov, Alexei; Semenov, Alexei; Wagner, Christian; Priezzhev, Alexander

    2017-03-01

    Aggregation of red blood cells (RBCs) is an intrinsic property of blood, which has direct effect on the blood viscosity and therefore affects overall the blood circulation throughout the body. It is attracting interest for the research in both fundamental science and clinical application. Despite of the intensive research, the aggregation mechanism is remaining not fully clear. Recent advances in methods allowed measuring the interaction between single RBCs in a well-defined configuration leading the better understanding of the mechanism of the process. However the most of the studies were made on the static cells. Thus, the measurements in flow mimicking conditions are missing. In this work, we aim to study the interaction of two RBCs in the flow conditions. We demonstrate the characterization of the cells interaction strength (or flow tolerance) by measuring the flow velocity to be applied to separate two aggregated cells trapped by double channel optical tweezers in a desired configuration. The age-separated cells were used for this study. The obtained values for the minimum flow velocities needed to separate the two cells were found to be 78.9 +/- 6.1 μm/s and 110 +/- 13 μm/s for old and young cells respectively. The data obtained is in agreement with the observations reported by other authors. The significance of our results is in ability for obtaining a comprehensible and absolute physical value characterizing the cells interaction in flow conditions (not like the Aggregation Index measured in whole blood suspensions by other techniques, which is some abstract parameter)

  3. Measurement of blowdown flow rates using load cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dolas, P.K.; Venkat Raj, V.; Ghosh, A.K.; Murty, L.G.K.; Muralidhar Rao, S.

    1980-01-01

    To establish a reliable method for measuring two-phase flow, experiments were planned for measurement of transient single phase flow rates from vessels using load cells. Suitability of lead-zirconate-titanate piezoelectric ceramic discs was examined. Discharge time constant of the disc used was low, leading to large measurement errors. Subsequently, experiments were carried out using strain gauge load cells and these were found satisfactory. The unsteady flow equation has been derived for the system under investigation. The equation has been solved numerically using the fourth order Runge-Kutta method and also by integrating it analytically. The experimental results are compared with the theoretical results and presented in this report. (auth.)

  4. Study of the Behavior of the Mercury on Diverse Microelectrodes with Cell of Continuous Flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cruz Valldeperas, F

    2001-01-01

    A comparative study of six types of microelectrodes in two different support electrolytes was developed using a new analytic technique for analysis of mercury in liquid samples in the ambit of parts by million. For it, a new system of cell of continuous flow and platinum microelectrodes and of platinum with gold film was implemented using volt-amperemetry of anodized spoil with square wave. In a preliminary study, some parameters that characterize the analysis with this new cell were optimized, for example the sample's speed flow and the time of electrodeposition. The calibration curves were made for the different types of microelectrode that were used in an ambit of concentrations of 1-10 ppm. According to the obtained results, the microelectrode that better works is the platinum disk for possessing bigger superficial area exposed to the dissolution, which increases the analite's currents of pick. And as a support electrolyte, potassium tiocianato is recommended because of its effectiveness to solve the analytic sign of the mercury. Studies of answer of the current of mercury regarding the quantity of the placed sample and studies of interferences of the analysis with this type of microelectrode were also carried out. With regard to the study of the quantity of sample, it was obtained that the electrochemical answer of the cell is directly proportional to the concentration of the analite placed in it. In the study of interference, it was found that the copper, lead, and zinc ions affect the analysis of mercury in concentrations of 0.1 ppm and on in the case of the microelectrode of platinum disk. And in case that the same microelectrode is used recovered with gold, it only affects the copper in concentrations over 5 ppm, for what is necessary to take into account a previous treatment of the sample in the event of containing some of the interfering ions [es

  5. An Improved Ghost-cell Immersed Boundary Method for Compressible Inviscid Flow Simulations

    KAUST Repository

    Chi, Cheng

    2015-01-01

    This study presents an improved ghost-cell immersed boundary approach to represent a solid body in compressible flow simulations. In contrast to the commonly used approaches, in the present work ghost cells are mirrored through the boundary

  6. Polymer electrolyte fuel cells: flow field for efficient air operation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buechi, F N; Tsukada, A; Haas, O; Scherer, G G [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

    1997-06-01

    A new flow field was designed for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack with an active area of 200 cm{sup 2} for operation at low air stoichiometry and low air over pressure. Optimum of gas flow and channel dimensions were calculated based on the required pressure drop in the fluid. Single cells and a bi-cell stack with the new flow field show an improved current/voltage characteristic when operated at low air stoichiometries as compared to that of the previous non optimized design. (author) 4 figs., 3 refs.

  7. Comparison of Numerical and Experimental Studies for Flow-Field Optimization Based on Under-Rib Convection in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nguyen Duy Vinh

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The flow-field design based on under-rib convection plays an important role in enhancing the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs because it ensures the uniform distribution of the reacting gas and the facilitation of water. This research focused on developing suitable configurations of the anode and cathode bipolar plates to enhance the fuel cell performance based on under-rib convection. The work here evaluated the effects of flow-field designs, including a serpentine flow field with sub channel and by pass and a conventional serpentine flow-field on single-cell performance. Both the experiment and computer simulation indicated that the serpentine flow field with sub channel and by pass (SFFSB configuration enables more effective utilization of the electrocatalysts since it improves reactant transformation rate from the channel to the catalyst layer, thereby dramatically improving the fuel cell performance. The simulation and experimental results indicated that the power densities are increased by up to 16.74% and 18.21%, respectively, when applying suitable flow-field configurations to the anode and cathode bipolar plates. The findings in this are the foundation for enhancing efficient PEMFCs based on flow field design.

  8. Detection of circulating immune complexes by Raji cell assay: comparison of flow cytometric and radiometric methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kingsmore, S.F.; Crockard, A.D.; Fay, A.C.; McNeill, T.A.; Roberts, S.D.; Thompson, J.M.

    1988-01-01

    Several flow cytometric methods for the measurement of circulating immune complexes (CIC) have recently become available. We report a Raji cell flow cytometric assay (FCMA) that uses aggregated human globulin (AHG) as primary calibrator. Technical advantages of the Raji cell flow cytometric assay are discussed, and its clinical usefulness is evaluated in a method comparison study with the widely used Raji cell immunoradiometric assay. FCMA is more precise and has greater analytic sensitivity for AHG. Diagnostic sensitivity by the flow cytometric method is superior in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, and vasculitis patients: however, diagnostic specificity is similar for both assays, but the reference interval of FCMA is narrower. Significant correlations were found between CIC levels obtained with both methods in SLE, rheumatoid arthritis, and vasculitis patients and in longitudinal studies of two patients with cerebral SLE. The Raji cell FCMA is recommended for measurement of CIC levels to clinical laboratories with access to a flow cytometer

  9. Evaluation of CD307a expression patterns during normal B-cell maturation and in B-cell malignancies by flow cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auat, Mariangeles; Cardoso, Chandra Chiappin; Santos-Pirath, Iris Mattos; Rudolf-Oliveira, Renata Cristina Messores; Matiollo, Camila; Lange, Bárbara Gil; da Silva, Jessica Pires; Dametto, Gisele Cristina; Pirolli, Mayara Marin; Colombo, Maria Daniela Holthausen Perico; Santos-Silva, Maria Claudia

    2018-02-24

    Flow cytometric immunophenotyping is deemed a fundamental tool for the diagnosis of B-cell neoplasms. Currently, the investigation of novel immunophenotypic markers has gained importance, as they can assist in the precise subclassification of B-cell malignancies by flow cytometry. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the expression of CD307a during normal B-cell maturation and in B-cell malignancies as well as to investigate its potential role in the differential diagnosis of these entities. CD307a expression was assessed by flow cytometry in normal precursor and mature B cells and in 115 samples collected from patients diagnosed with precursor and mature B-cell neoplasms. CD307a expression was compared between neoplastic and normal B cells. B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases exhibited minimal expression of CD307a, displaying a similar expression pattern to that of normal B-cell precursors. Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cases showed the lowest levels of CD307a among mature B-cell neoplasms. CD307a expression was statistically lower in MCL cases than in chronic B lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) cases. No statistical differences were observed between CD307a expression in neoplastic and normal plasma cells. These results indicate that the assessment of CD307a expression by flow cytometry could be helpful to distinguish CLL from MCL, and the latter from MZL. Although these results are not entirely conclusive, they provide a basis for further studies in a larger cohort of patients. © 2018 International Clinical Cytometry Society. © 2018 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

  10. Numerical study of the bubbly flow regime in micro-channel flow boiling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhuvankar, Pramod; Dabiri, Sadegh

    2017-11-01

    Two-phase flow accompanied by boiling in micro-channel heat sinks is an effective means for heat removal from computer chips. We present a numerical study of flow boiling in micro-channels with conjugate heat transfer with a focus on the bubbly flow regime. The bubbles are assumed to nucleate at a pre-determined location and frequency. The Navier Stokes equations are solved using a single fluid formulation with the Front tracking method. Phase change is implemented using the deficit in heat flux across the bubble interface. The analytical solution for bubble growth in a superheated liquid is used as a benchmark to validate the mentioned numerical method. Water and FC-72 are studied as the operating fluids in a micro-channel made of Copper with a focus on hotspot mitigation. The micro-channel of cross-section 231 μm × 1000 μm , is used to study the effects of vertical up-flow, vertical down-flow and horizontal flow of the mentioned fluids on the heat transfer coefficients. A simple film model accounting for mass and energy conservation is applied wherever the bubble approaches closer than a cell width to the wall. The results of the simulation are compared with existing experimental data for bubble growth rates and heat transfer coefficients.

  11. A Novel Counter Sheet-flow Sandwich Cell Culture Device for Mammalian Cell Growth in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Shujin; Gao, Yuxin; Shu, Nanjiang; Tang, Zemei; Tao, Zulai; Long, Mian

    2008-08-01

    Cell culture and growth in space is crucial to understand the cellular responses under microgravity. The effects of microgravity were coupled with such environment restrictions as medium perfusion, in which the underlying mechanism has been poorly understood. In the present work, a customer-made counter sheet-flow sandwich cell culture device was developed upon a biomechanical concept from fish gill breathing. The sandwich culture unit consists of two side chambers where the medium flow is counter-directional, a central chamber where the cells are cultured, and two porous polycarbonate membranes between side and central chambers. Flow dynamics analysis revealed the symmetrical velocity profile and uniform low shear rate distribution of flowing medium inside the central culture chamber, which promotes sufficient mass transport and nutrient supply for mammalian cell growth. An on-orbit experiment performed on a recovery satellite was used to validate the availability of the device.

  12. Flow field bipolar plates in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Analysis & modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kahraman, Huseyin; Orhan, Mehmet F.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Covers a comprehensive review of available flow field channel configurations. • Examines the main design considerations and limitations for a flow field network. • Explores the common materials and material properties used for flow field plates. • Presents a case study of step-by-step modeling for an optimum flow field design. - Abstract: This study investigates flow fields and flow field plates (bipolar plates) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this regard, the main design considerations and limitations for a flow field network have been examined, along with a comprehensive review of currently available flow field channel configurations. Also, the common materials and material properties used for flow field plates have been explored. Furthermore, a case study of step-by-step modeling for an optimum flow field design has been presented in-details. Finally, a parametric study has been conducted with respect to many design and performance parameters in a flow field plate.

  13. Cross-flow electrochemical reactor cells, cross-flow reactors, and use of cross-flow reactors for oxidation reactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balachandran, Uthamalingam; Poeppel, Roger B.; Kleefisch, Mark S.; Kobylinski, Thaddeus P.; Udovich, Carl A.

    1994-01-01

    This invention discloses cross-flow electrochemical reactor cells containing oxygen permeable materials which have both electron conductivity and oxygen ion conductivity, cross-flow reactors, and electrochemical processes using cross-flow reactor cells having oxygen permeable monolithic cores to control and facilitate transport of oxygen from an oxygen-containing gas stream to oxidation reactions of organic compounds in another gas stream. These cross-flow electrochemical reactors comprise a hollow ceramic blade positioned across a gas stream flow or a stack of crossed hollow ceramic blades containing a channel or channels for flow of gas streams. Each channel has at least one channel wall disposed between a channel and a portion of an outer surface of the ceramic blade, or a common wall with adjacent blades in a stack comprising a gas-impervious mixed metal oxide material of a perovskite structure having electron conductivity and oxygen ion conductivity. The invention includes reactors comprising first and second zones seprated by gas-impervious mixed metal oxide material material having electron conductivity and oxygen ion conductivity. Prefered gas-impervious materials comprise at least one mixed metal oxide having a perovskite structure or perovskite-like structure. The invention includes, also, oxidation processes controlled by using these electrochemical reactors, and these reactions do not require an external source of electrical potential or any external electric circuit for oxidation to proceed.

  14. Experimental investigation two phase flow in direct methanol fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mat, M. D.; Kaplan, Y.; Celik, S.; Oeztural, A.

    2007-01-01

    Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) have received many attentions specifically for portable electronic applications since it utilize methanol which is in liquid form in atmospheric condition and high energy density of the methanol. Thus it eliminates the storage problem of hydrogen. It also eliminates humidification requirement of polymeric membrane which is a problem in PEM fuel cells. Some electronic companies introduced DMFC prototypes for portable electronic applications. Presence of carbon dioxide gases due to electrochemical reactions in anode makes the problem a two phase problem. A two phase flow may occur at cathode specifically at high current densities due to the excess water. Presence of gas phase in anode region and liquid phase in cathode region prevents diffusion of fuel and oxygen to the reaction sites thus reduces the performance of the system. Uncontrolled pressure buildup in anode region increases methanol crossover through membrane and adversely effect the performance. Two phase flow in both anode and cathode region is very effective in the performance of DMYC system and a detailed understanding of two phase flow for high performance DMFC systems. Although there are many theoretical and experimental studies available on the DMFC systems in the literature, only few studies consider problem as a two-phase flow problem. In this study, an experimental set up is developed and species distributions on system are measured with a gas chromatograph. System performance characteristics (V-I curves) is measured depending on the process parameters (temperature, fuel ad oxidant flow rates, methanol concentration etc)

  15. A flow-through cell with integrated coulometric pH actuator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bohm, S.; Olthuis, Wouter; Bergveld, Piet

    1998-01-01

    A flow-through cell with integrated coulometric actuator capable of controlling the pH of a flowing liquid is presented. The cell, consisting of a rectangular channel with a noble metal actuator electrode deposited on the bottom, enables the titration of a moving liquid without the need for pumps

  16. Modeling and simulation of PEM fuel cell's flow channels using CFD techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cunha, Edgar F.; Andrade, Alexandre B.; Robalinho, Eric; Bejarano, Martha L.M.; Linardi, Marcelo; Cekinski, Efraim

    2007-01-01

    Fuel cells are one of the most important devices to obtain electrical energy from hydrogen. The Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) consists of two important parts: the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA), where the reactions occur, and the flow field plates. The plates have many functions in a fuel cell: distribute reactant gases (hydrogen and air or oxygen), conduct electrical current, remove heat and water from the electrodes and make the cell robust. The cost of the bipolar plates corresponds up to 45% of the total stack costs. The Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) is a very useful tool to simulate hydrogen and oxygen gases flow channels, to reduce the costs of bipolar plates production and to optimize mass transport. Two types of flow channels were studied. The first type was a commercial plate by ELECTROCELL and the other was entirely projected at Programa de Celula a Combustivel (IPEN/CNEN-SP) and the experimental data were compared with modelling results. Optimum values for each set of variables were obtained and the models verification was carried out in order to show the feasibility of this technique to improve fuel cell efficiency. (author)

  17. Biology and flow cytometry of proangiogenic hematopoietic progenitors cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, Jonathan A; Erzurum, Serpil; Asosingh, Kewal

    2015-01-01

    During development, hematopoiesis and neovascularization are closely linked to each other via a common bipotent stem cell called the hemangioblast that gives rise to both hematopoietic cells and endothelial cells. In postnatal life, this functional connection between the vasculature and hematopoiesis is maintained by a subset of hematopoietic progenitor cells endowed with the capacity to differentiate into potent proangiogenic cells. These proangiogenic hematopoietic progenitors comprise a specific subset of bone marrow (BM)-derived cells that homes to sites of neovascularization and possess potent paracrine angiogenic activity. There is emerging evidence that this subpopulation of hematopoietic progenitors plays a critical role in vascular health and disease. Their angiogenic activity is distinct from putative "endothelial progenitor cells" that become structural cells of the endothelium by differentiation into endothelial cells. Proangiogenic hematopoietic progenitor cell research requires multidisciplinary expertise in flow cytometry, hematology, and vascular biology. This review provides a comprehensive overview of proangiogenic hematopoietic progenitor cell biology and flow cytometric methods to detect these cells in the peripheral blood circulation and BM. © 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

  18. Collision Based Blood Cell Distribution of the Blood Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cinar, Yildirim

    2003-11-01

    Introduction: The goal of the study is the determination of the energy transferring process between colliding masses and the application of the results to the distribution of the cell, velocity and kinetic energy in arterial blood flow. Methods: Mathematical methods and models were used to explain the collision between two moving systems, and the distribution of linear momentum, rectilinear velocity, and kinetic energy in a collision. Results: According to decrease of mass of the second system, the velocity and momentum of constant mass of the first system are decreased, and linearly decreasing mass of the second system captures a larger amount of the kinetic energy and the rectilinear velocity of the collision system on a logarithmic scale. Discussion: The cause of concentration of blood cells at the center of blood flow an artery is not explained by Bernoulli principle alone but the kinetic energy and velocity distribution due to collision between the big mass of the arterial wall and the small mass of blood cells must be considered as well.

  19. A 3D Culture Model to Study How Fluid Pressure and Flow Affect the Behavior of Aggregates of Epithelial Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piotrowski-Daspit, Alexandra S; Simi, Allison K; Pang, Mei-Fong; Tien, Joe; Nelson, Celeste M

    2017-01-01

    Cells are surrounded by mechanical stimuli in their microenvironment. It is important to determine how cells respond to the mechanical information that surrounds them in order to understand both development and disease progression, as well as to be able to predict cell behavior in response to physical stimuli. Here we describe a protocol to determine the effects of interstitial fluid flow on the migratory behavior of an aggregate of epithelial cells in a three-dimensional (3D) culture model. This protocol includes detailed methods for the fabrication of a 3D cell culture chamber with hydrostatic pressure control, the culture of epithelial cells as an aggregate in a collagen gel, and the analysis of collective cell behavior in response to pressure-driven flow.

  20. Flow cytometry total cell counts : A field study assessing microbiological water quality and growth in unchlorinated drinking water distribution systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Liu, G.; Van der Mark, E.J.; Verberk, J.Q.; Van Dijk, J.C.

    2013-01-01

    e objective of this study was to evaluate the application of flow cytometry total cell counts (TCCs) as a parameter to assess microbial growth in drinking water distribution systems and to determine the relationships between different parameters describing the biostability of treated water. A

  1. Development of a flow method for the determination of phosphate in estuarine and freshwaters-Comparison of flow cells in spectrophotometric sequential injection analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mesquita, Raquel B.R.; Ferreira, M. Teresa S.O.B.; Toth, Ildiko V.; Bordalo, Adriano A.; McKelvie, Ian D.; Rangel, Antonio O.S.S.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Sequential injection determination of phosphate in estuarine and freshwaters. → Alternative spectrophotometric flow cells are compared. → Minimization of schlieren effect was assessed. → Proposed method can cope with wide salinity ranges. → Multi-reflective cell shows clear advantages. - Abstract: A sequential injection system with dual analytical line was developed and applied in the comparison of two different detection systems viz; a conventional spectrophotometer with a commercial flow cell, and a multi-reflective flow cell coupled with a photometric detector under the same experimental conditions. The study was based on the spectrophotometric determination of phosphate using the molybdenum-blue chemistry. The two alternative flow cells were compared in terms of their response to variation of sample salinity, susceptibility to interferences and to refractive index changes. The developed method was applied to the determination of phosphate in natural waters (estuarine, river, well and ground waters). The achieved detection limit (0.007 μM PO 4 3- ) is consistent with the requirement of the target water samples, and a wide quantification range (0.024-9.5 μM) was achieved using both detection systems.

  2. Development of a flow method for the determination of phosphate in estuarine and freshwaters-Comparison of flow cells in spectrophotometric sequential injection analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mesquita, Raquel B.R. [CBQF/Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, R. Dr. Antonio Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto (Portugal); Laboratory of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS) and Institute of Marine Research (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Lg. Abel Salazar 2, 4099-003 Porto (Portugal); Ferreira, M. Teresa S.O.B. [CBQF/Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, R. Dr. Antonio Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto (Portugal); Toth, Ildiko V. [REQUIMTE, Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Farmacia, Universidade de Porto, Rua Anibal Cunha, 164, 4050-047 Porto (Portugal); Bordalo, Adriano A. [Laboratory of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS) and Institute of Marine Research (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Lg. Abel Salazar 2, 4099-003 Porto (Portugal); McKelvie, Ian D. [School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Rangel, Antonio O.S.S., E-mail: aorangel@esb.ucp.pt [CBQF/Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, R. Dr. Antonio Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto (Portugal)

    2011-09-02

    Highlights: {yields} Sequential injection determination of phosphate in estuarine and freshwaters. {yields} Alternative spectrophotometric flow cells are compared. {yields} Minimization of schlieren effect was assessed. {yields} Proposed method can cope with wide salinity ranges. {yields} Multi-reflective cell shows clear advantages. - Abstract: A sequential injection system with dual analytical line was developed and applied in the comparison of two different detection systems viz; a conventional spectrophotometer with a commercial flow cell, and a multi-reflective flow cell coupled with a photometric detector under the same experimental conditions. The study was based on the spectrophotometric determination of phosphate using the molybdenum-blue chemistry. The two alternative flow cells were compared in terms of their response to variation of sample salinity, susceptibility to interferences and to refractive index changes. The developed method was applied to the determination of phosphate in natural waters (estuarine, river, well and ground waters). The achieved detection limit (0.007 {mu}M PO{sub 4}{sup 3-}) is consistent with the requirement of the target water samples, and a wide quantification range (0.024-9.5 {mu}M) was achieved using both detection systems.

  3. Rapid assay for cell age response to radiation by electronic volume flow cell sorting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freyer, J.P.; Wilder, M.E.; Raju, M.R.

    1987-01-01

    A new technique is described for measuring cell survival as a function of cell cycle position using flow cytometric cell sorting on the basis of electronic volume signals. Sorting of cells into different cell age compartments is demonstrated for three different cell lines commonly used in radiobiological research. Using flow cytometric DNA content analysis and [ 3 H]thymidine autoradiography of the sorted cell populations, it is demonstrated that resolution of the age compartment separation is as good as or better than that reported for other cell synchronizing techniques. Variation in cell survival as a function of position in the cell cycle after a single dose of radiation as measured by volume cell sorting is similar to that determined by other cell synchrony techniques. Advantages of this method include: (1) no treatment of the cells is required, thus, this method is noncytotoxic; (2) no cell cycle progression is needed to obtain different cell age compartments; (3) the cell population can be held in complete growth medium at any desired temperature during sorting; (4) a complete radiation age - response assay can be plated in 2 h. Applications of this method are discussed, along with some technical limitations. (author)

  4. Cerebral blood flow in sickle cell cerebrovascular disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huttenlocher, P.R.; Moohr, J.W.; Johns, L.; Brown, F.D.

    1984-01-01

    Cerebral blood flow (CBF) has been studied by the xenon-133 ( 133 Xe) inhalation method in 16 children with suspected sickle cell cerebrovascular disease. Abnormalities consisting of decreases in total, hemispheral, or regional CBF were found in 17 of 26 studies. Eleven studies performed immediately after stroke, transient ischemic attack, or depression of state of alertness showed abnormalities. In addition to confirming regional cerebrovascular insufficiency in children with stroke due to major cerebral artery occlusion, the method detected diffuse decrease in CBF in children with stupor, coma, and seizures who had normal angiographic findings. In contrast, six of seven studies obtained after exchange transfusion or during maintenance on hypertransfusion therapy showed normal findings. The difference between results in patients with acute neurologic disturbances and those receiving transfusion therapy was statistically significant (P less than .005). The data indicate that the 133 Xe method reliably demonstrates cerebrovascular impairment in sickle cell disease. They also suggest that CBF changes in patients with sickle cell disease can be reversed by exchange transfusion and by hypertransfusion therapy. The 133 Xe CBF method may be useful for following up children with sickle cell disease who are at high risk for recurrent stroke

  5. Flow-Cell-Induced Dispersion in Flow-through Absorbance Detection Systems: True Column Effluent Peak Variance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dasgupta, Purnendu K; Shelor, Charles Phillip; Kadjo, Akinde Florence; Kraiczek, Karsten G

    2018-02-06

    Following a brief overview of the emergence of absorbance detection in liquid chromatography, we focus on the dispersion caused by the absorbance measurement cell and its inlet. A simple experiment is proposed wherein chromatographic flow and conditions are held constant but a variable portion of the column effluent is directed into the detector. The temporal peak variance (σ t,obs 2 ), which increases as the flow rate (F) through the detector decreases, is found to be well-described as a quadratic function of 1 / F . This allows the extrapolation of the results to zero residence time in the detector and thence the determination of the true variance of the peak prior to the detector (this includes contribution of all preceding components). This general approach should be equally applicable to detection systems other than absorbance. We also experiment where the inlet/outlet system remains the same but the path length is varied. This allows one to assess the individual contributions of the cell itself and the inlet/outlet system.to the total observed peak. The dispersion in the cell itself has often been modeled as a flow-independent parameter, dependent only on the cell volume. Except for very long path/large volume cells, this paradigm is simply incorrect.

  6. Two problems in multiphase biological flows: Blood flow and particulate transport in microvascular network, and pseudopod-driven motility of amoeboid cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagchi, Prosenjit

    2016-11-01

    In this talk, two problems in multiphase biological flows will be discussed. The first is the direct numerical simulation of whole blood and drug particulates in microvascular networks. Blood in microcirculation behaves as a dense suspension of heterogeneous cells. The erythrocytes are extremely deformable, while inactivated platelets and leukocytes are nearly rigid. A significant progress has been made in recent years in modeling blood as a dense cellular suspension. However, many of these studies considered the blood flow in simple geometry, e.g., straight tubes of uniform cross-section. In contrast, the architecture of a microvascular network is very complex with bifurcating, merging and winding vessels, posing a further challenge to numerical modeling. We have developed an immersed-boundary-based method that can consider blood cell flow in physiologically realistic and complex microvascular network. In addition to addressing many physiological issues related to network hemodynamics, this tool can be used to optimize the transport properties of drug particulates for effective organ-specific delivery. Our second problem is pseudopod-driven motility as often observed in metastatic cancer cells and other amoeboid cells. We have developed a multiscale hydrodynamic model to simulate such motility. We study the effect of cell stiffness on motility as the former has been considered as a biomarker for metastatic potential. Funded by the National Science Foundation.

  7. Peclet number analysis of cross-flow in porous gas diffusion layer of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suresh, P V; Jayanti, Sreenivas

    2016-10-01

    Adoption of hydrogen economy by means of using hydrogen fuel cells is one possible solution for energy crisis and climate change issues. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell, which is an important type of fuel cells, suffers from the problem of water management. Cross-flow is induced in some flow field designs to enhance the water removal. The presence of cross-flow in the serpentine and interdigitated flow fields makes them more effective in proper distribution of the reactants on the reaction layer and evacuation of water from the reaction layer than diffusion-based conventional parallel flow fields. However, too much of cross-flow leads to flow maldistribution in the channels, higher pressure drop, and membrane dehydration. In this study, an attempt has been made to quantify the amount of cross-flow required for effective distribution of reactants and removal of water in the gas diffusion layer. Unit cells containing two adjacent channels with gas diffusion layer (GDL) and catalyst layer at the bottom have been considered for the parallel, interdigitated, and serpentine flow patterns. Computational fluid dynamics-based simulations are carried out to study the reactant transport in under-the-rib area with cross-flow in the GDL. A new criterion based on the Peclet number is presented as a quantitative measure of cross-flow in the GDL. The study shows that a cross-flow Peclet number of the order of 2 is required for effective removal of water from the GDL. Estimates show that this much of cross-flow is not usually produced in the U-bends of Serpentine flow fields, making these areas prone to flooding.

  8. Quantitative analysis of gold and carbon nanoparticles in mammalian cells by flow cytometry light scattering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, Gang [Nanjing University, State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences (China); Liu, Naicheng; Wang, Zhenheng [Nanjing University, Department of Orthopedics, Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine (China); Shi, Tongguo; Gan, Jingjing; Wang, Zhenzhen; Zhang, Junfeng, E-mail: jfzhang@nju.edu.cn [Nanjing University, State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences (China)

    2017-02-15

    Nanoparticle-based applications for diagnostics and therapeutics have been extensively studied. These applications require a profound understanding of the fate of nanoparticles (NPs) in cellular environments. However, until now, few analytical methods are available and most of them rely on fluorescent properties or special elements of NPs; therefore, for NPs without observable optical properties or special elements, the existing methods are hardly applicable. In this study, we introduce a flow cytometry light scattering (FCLS)-based approach that quantifies in situ NPs accurately in mammalian cells. Continuous cells of heterogeneous human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2 cells), mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPM), and human adenocarcinomic alveolar basal epithelia (A549 cells) were cultured with NPs with certain concentrations and size. The intensity of the flow cytometric side scattered light, which indicates the quantity of NPs in the cells, was analyzed. The result shows an accurate size- and dose-dependent uptake of Au NPs (5, 30, 250 nm) in Caco-2 cells. The size- and dose- dependence of Au NPs (5, 30, 250 nm) and carbon NPs (50, 500 nm) in cells was validated by transmission electron microscope (TEM). This paper demonstrates the great potential of flow cytometry light scattering in the quantitative study of the size and dose effect on in situ metallic or non-metallic NPs in mammalian cells.

  9. Quantitative analysis of gold and carbon nanoparticles in mammalian cells by flow cytometry light scattering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Gang; Liu, Naicheng; Wang, Zhenheng; Shi, Tongguo; Gan, Jingjing; Wang, Zhenzhen; Zhang, Junfeng

    2017-02-01

    Nanoparticle-based applications for diagnostics and therapeutics have been extensively studied. These applications require a profound understanding of the fate of nanoparticles (NPs) in cellular environments. However, until now, few analytical methods are available and most of them rely on fluorescent properties or special elements of NPs; therefore, for NPs without observable optical properties or special elements, the existing methods are hardly applicable. In this study, we introduce a flow cytometry light scattering (FCLS)-based approach that quantifies in situ NPs accurately in mammalian cells. Continuous cells of heterogeneous human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2 cells), mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPM), and human adenocarcinomic alveolar basal epithelia (A549 cells) were cultured with NPs with certain concentrations and size. The intensity of the flow cytometric side scattered light, which indicates the quantity of NPs in the cells, was analyzed. The result shows an accurate size- and dose-dependent uptake of Au NPs (5, 30, 250 nm) in Caco-2 cells. The size- and dose- dependence of Au NPs (5, 30, 250 nm) and carbon NPs (50, 500 nm) in cells was validated by transmission electron microscope (TEM). This paper demonstrates the great potential of flow cytometry light scattering in the quantitative study of the size and dose effect on in situ metallic or non-metallic NPs in mammalian cells.

  10. Mechanical stimulation of bone cells using fluid flow

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huesa, C.; Bakker, A.D.

    2012-01-01

    This chapter describes several methods suitable for mechanically stimulating monolayers of bone cells by fluid shear stress (FSS) in vitro. Fluid flow is generated by pumping culture medium through two parallel plates, one of which contains a monolayer of cells. Methods for measuring nitric oxide

  11. Separation of cancer cells from white blood cells by pinched flow fractionation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Marie Pødenphant; Ashley, Neil; Koprowska, Kamila

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, the microfluidic size-separation technique pinched flow fractionation (PFF) is used to separate cancer cells from white blood cells (WBCs). The cells are separated at efficiencies above 90% for both cell types. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are found in the blood of cancer patients...... and can form new tumors. CTCs are rare cells in blood, but they are important for the understanding of metastasis. There is therefore a high interest in developing a method for the enrichment of CTCs from blood samples, which also enables further analysis of the separated cells. The separation...

  12. Use of Multicolor Flow Cytometry for Isolation of Specific Cell Populations Deriving from Differentiated Human Embryonic Stem Cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mengarelli, Isabella; Fryga, Andrew; Barberi, Tiziano

    2016-01-01

    Flow Cytometry-Sorting (FCM-Sorting) is a technique commonly used to identify and isolate specific types of cells from a heterogeneous population of live cells. Here we describe a multicolor flow cytometry technique that uses five distinct cell surface antigens to isolate four live populations with

  13. Photoacoustic-fluorescence in vitro flow cytometry for quantification of absorption, scattering and fluorescence properties of the cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nedosekin, D. A.; Sarimollaoglu, M.; Foster, S.; Galanzha, E. I.; Zharov, V. P.

    2013-03-01

    Fluorescence flow cytometry is a well-established analytical tool that provides quantification of multiple biological parameters of cells at molecular levels, including their functional states, morphology, composition, proliferation, and protein expression. However, only the fluorescence and scattering parameters of the cells or labels are available for detection. Cell pigmentation, presence of non-fluorescent dyes or nanoparticles cannot be reliably quantified. Herewith, we present a novel photoacoustic (PA) flow cytometry design for simple integration of absorbance measurements into schematics of conventional in vitro flow cytometers. The integrated system allow simultaneous measurements of light absorbance, scattering and of multicolor fluorescence from single cells in the flow at rates up to 2 m/s. We compared various combinations of excitation laser sources for multicolor detection, including simultaneous excitation of PA and fluorescence using a single 500 kHz pulsed nanosecond laser. Multichannel detection scheme allows simultaneous detection of up to 8 labels, including 4 fluorescent tags and 4 PA colors. In vitro PA-fluorescence flow cytometer was used for studies of nanoparticles uptake and for the analysis of cell line pigmentation, including genetically encoded melanin expression in breast cancer cell line. We demonstrate that this system can be used for direct nanotoxicity studies with simultaneous quantification of nanoparticles content and assessment of cell viability using a conventional fluorescent apoptosis assays.

  14. Data on flow cell optimization for membrane-based electrokinetic energy conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Nicolas Østedgaard-Munck

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This article elaborates on the design and optimization of a specialized flow cell for the measurement of direct conversion of pressure into electrical energy (Electrokinetic Energy Conversion, EKEC which has been presented in Østedgaard-Munck et al. (2017 [1]. Two main flow cell parameters have been monitored and optimized: A the hydraulic pressure profile on each side of the membrane introduced by pumps recirculating the electrolyte solution through the flow fields and B the electrical resistance between the current collectors across the combined flow cell. The latter parameter has been measured using four-point Electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy (EIS for different flow rates and concentrations. The total cell resistance consists of contributions from different components: the membrane (Rmem, anode charge transfer (RA, cathode charge transfer (RC, and ion diffusion in the porous electrodes (RD.The intrinsic membrane properties of Nafion 117 has been investigated experimentally in LiI/I2 solutions with concentrations ranging between 0.06 and 0.96 M and used to identify the preferred LiI/I2 solution concentration. This was achieved by measuring the solution uptake, internal solution concentration and ion exchange capacity. The membrane properties were further used to calculate the transport coefficients and electrokinetic Figure of merit in terms of the Uniform potential and Space charge models. Special attention has been put on the streaming potential coefficient which is an intrinsic property. Keywords: Electrokinetic energy conversion, Electrochemical flow cell, Conversion efficiency

  15. Laser flow microphotometry for rapid analysis and sorting of mammalian cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mullaney, P.F.; Steinkamp, J.A.; Crissman, H.A.; Cram, L.S.; Crowell, J.M.; Salzman, G.C.; Martin, J.C.; Price, B.

    1976-01-01

    Quantitative precision measurements can be made of the optical properties of individual mammalian cells using flow microphotometry. Suspended cells pass through a special flow chamber where they are lined up for exposure to blue light from an argon-ion laser. As each cell crosses the laser beam, it produces one or more optical pulses of a duration equal to cell transit time across the beam. These pulses are detected, amplified, and analyzed using the techniques of gamma ray spectroscopy. Quantitative DNA distributions made it possible to distinguish tumor cells from normal cells as well as to assay for radiation effects on tumor cells subjected to x and gamma radiation

  16. PolNet: A Tool to Quantify Network-Level Cell Polarity and Blood Flow in Vascular Remodeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernabeu, Miguel O; Jones, Martin L; Nash, Rupert W; Pezzarossa, Anna; Coveney, Peter V; Gerhardt, Holger; Franco, Claudio A

    2018-05-08

    In this article, we present PolNet, an open-source software tool for the study of blood flow and cell-level biological activity during vessel morphogenesis. We provide an image acquisition, segmentation, and analysis protocol to quantify endothelial cell polarity in entire in vivo vascular networks. In combination, we use computational fluid dynamics to characterize the hemodynamics of the vascular networks under study. The tool enables, to our knowledge for the first time, a network-level analysis of polarity and flow for individual endothelial cells. To date, PolNet has proven invaluable for the study of endothelial cell polarization and migration during vascular patterning, as demonstrated by two recent publications. Additionally, the tool can be easily extended to correlate blood flow with other experimental observations at the cellular/molecular level. We release the source code of our tool under the Lesser General Public License. Copyright © 2018 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Entropy production in a cell and reversal of entropy flow as an anticancer therapy

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Liao-fu LUO

    2009-01-01

    The entropy production rate of cancer cells is always higher than healthy cells in the case where no external field is applied. Different entropy production between two kinds of cells determines the direction of entropy flow among cells. The entropy flow is the carrier of information flow. The entropy flow from cancerous cells to healthy cells takes along the harmful information of cancerous cells, propagating its toxic action to healthy tissues. We demonstrate that a low-frequency and low- intensity electromagnetic field or ultrasound irradiation may increase the entropy production rate of a cell in normal tissue than that in cancer and consequently re- verse the direction of entropy current between two kinds of cells. The modification of the PH value of cells may also cause the reversal of the direction of entropy flow between healthy and cancerous cells. Therefore, the bio- logical tissue under the irradiation of an electromagnetic field or ultrasound or under the appropriate change of cell acidity can avoid the propagation of harmful infor- marion from cancer cells. We suggest that this entropy mechanism possibly provides a basis for a novel approach to anticancer therapy.

  18. Hierarchical Bayesian mixture modelling for antigen-specific T-cell subtyping in combinatorially encoded flow cytometry studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lin, Lin; Chan, Cliburn; Hadrup, Sine R

    2013-01-01

    subtype identification in this novel, general model framework, and provide a detailed example using simulated data. We then describe application to a data set from an experimental study of antigen-specific T-cell subtyping using combinatorially encoded assays in human blood samples. Summary comments...... profiling in many biological areas, traditional flow cytometry measures relative levels of abundance of marker proteins using fluorescently labeled tags that identify specific markers by a single-color. One specific and important recent development in this area is the use of combinatorial marker assays...

  19. Quantitative assessment of limb blood flow using Tc-99m labeled red blood cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, Kazuo; Shougase, Takashi; Kawamura, Naoyuki; Tsukamoto, Eriko; Nakada, Kunihiro; Sakuma, Makoto; Furudate, Masayori

    1987-01-01

    A quantitative assessment of limb blood flow using a non-diffusible radioindicator, Tc-99m labeled red blood cells, was reported. This was an application of venous occlusion plethysmography using radionuclide which was originally proposed by M. Fukuoka et al. The peripheral blood flow (mean ± s.e.) of 30 legs in a normal control group was 1.87 ± 0.08 ml/100 ml/min. In heart diseases (46 legs), it was 1.49 ± 0.13 ml/100 ml/min. The limb blood flow between a control group and heart diseases was statistically significant (p < 0.01) in the t-test. The peripheral blood flow at rest between diseased legs and normal legs in occlusive arterial disorders was also statistically significant (p < 0.01) in a paired t-test. RAVOP was done after the completion of objective studies such as radionuclide angiography or ventriculography. Technique and calculation of a blood flow were very easy and simple. RAVOP study which was originally proposed by Fukuoka et al. was reappraised to be hopeful for quantitative measurement of limb blood flow as a non-invasive technique using Tc-99m labeled red blood cells. (author)

  20. Factors Released from Endothelial Cells Exposed to Flow Impact Adhesion, Proliferation, and Fate Choice in the Adult Neural Stem Cell Lineage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumont, Courtney M; Piselli, Jennifer M; Kazi, Nadeem; Bowman, Evan; Li, Guoyun; Linhardt, Robert J; Temple, Sally; Dai, Guohao; Thompson, Deanna M

    2017-08-15

    The microvasculature within the neural stem cell (NSC) niche promotes self-renewal and regulates lineage progression. Previous work identified endothelial-produced soluble factors as key regulators of neural progenitor cell (NPC) fate and proliferation; however, endothelial cells (ECs) are sensitive to local hemodynamics, and the effect of this key physiological process has not been defined. In this study, we evaluated adult mouse NPC response to soluble factors isolated from static or dynamic (flow) EC cultures. Endothelial factors generated under dynamic conditions significantly increased neuronal differentiation, while those released under static conditions stimulated oligodendrocyte differentiation. Flow increases EC release of neurogenic factors and of heparin sulfate glycosaminoglycans that increase their bioactivity, likely underlying the enhanced neuronal differentiation. Additionally, endothelial factors, especially from static conditions, promoted adherent growth. Together, our data suggest that blood flow may impact proliferation, adhesion, and the neuron-glial fate choice of adult NPCs, with implications for diseases and aging that reduce flow.

  1. The reaction environment in a filter-press laboratory reactor: the FM01-LC flow cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivera, Fernando F.; León, Carlos Ponce de; Walsh, Frank C.; Nava, José L.

    2015-01-01

    A parallel plate cell facilitating controlled flow in a rectangular channel and capable of incorporating a wide range of electrode materials is important in studies of electrode reactions prior to process development and scale-up. The FM01-LC, a versatile laboratory-scale, plane parallel filter-press type electrochemical cell (having a projected electrode area of 64 cm 2 ) which is based on the larger FM21-SP electrolyser (2100 cm 2 area). Many laboratories have used this type of reactor to quantify the importance of reaction environment in fundamental studies and to prepare for industrial applications. A number of papers have concerned the experimental characterization and computational modelling of its reaction environment but the experimental and computational data has become dispersed. The cell has been used in a diverse range of synthesis and processing applications which require controlled flow and known reaction environment. In a previous review, the cell construction and reaction environment was summarised followed by the illustration of its use for a range of applications that include organic and inorganic electrosynthesis, metal ion removal, energy storage, environmental remediation (e.g., metal recycling or anodic destruction of organics) and drinking water treatment. This complementary review considers the characteristics of the FM01-LC electrolyser as an example of a well-engineered flow cell facilitating cell scale-up and provides a rigorous analysis of its reaction environment. Particular aspects include the influence of electrolyte velocity on mass transport rates, flow dispersion and current distribution

  2. Use of flow cytometry for high-throughput cell population estimates in fixed brain tissue

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole A Young

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The numbers and types of cells in an area of cortex define its function. Therefore it is essential to characterize the numbers and distributions of total cells in areas of the cortex, as well as to identify numbers of subclasses of neurons and glial cells. To date, the large size of the primate brain and the lack of innovation in cell counting methods have been a roadblock to obtaining high-resolution maps of cell and neuron density across the cortex in humans and non-human primates. Stereological counting methods and the isotropic fractionator are valuable tools for estimating cell numbers, but are better suited to smaller, well-defined brain structures or to cortex as a whole. In the present study, we have extended our flow-cytometry based counting method, the flow fractionator (Collins et al., 2010a, to include high-throughput total cell population estimates in homogenized cortical samples. We demonstrate that our method produces consistent, accurate and repeatable cell estimates quickly. The estimates we report are in excellent agreement with estimates for the same samples obtained using a Neubauer chamber and a fluorescence microscope. We show that our flow cytometry-based method for total cell estimation in homogenized brain tissue is more efficient and more precise than manual counting methods. The addition of automated nuclei counting to our flow fractionator method allows for a fully automated, rapid characterization of total cells and neuronal and non-neuronal populations in human and non-human primate brains, providing valuable data to further our understanding of the functional organization of normal, aging and diseased brains.

  3. Evaluation of cell proliferative activity after irradiation using immunohistochemical approach and flow cytometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tamada, Takashi (Okayama Univ. (Japan). School of Medicine)

    1992-06-01

    To evaluate a proliferative activity of post-irradiated malignant cells, we studied the kinetics of HeLa cells using immunohistochemical approach and flow cytometry. HeLa cells were stained with two proliferation-associated monoclonal antibodies, Ki-67 and anti-DNA polymerase {alpha} antibody. Nucleoli of non-irradiated cells were granularly stained with Ki-67. After irradiation, only the center of nuclei was diffusely stained with Ki-67. One hundred forty-four hours after low-dose irradiation, the staining patterns became the same as the control. On the other hand, after high-dose irradiation, the center of nuclei was weakly stained. DNA polymerase {alpha} was diffusely labelled with nuclei of the control. It was located around the border of nuclei of low-dose irradiated cells like a ring. But after high-dose irradiation, it was granularly distributed in the periphery of nuclei. FITC conjugated Ki-67/PI two parameter analysis was done by a single laser flow cytometer. Twenty-four hours after irradiation, DNA-histograms showed the accumulation to G{sub 2}/M phase and the increase of DNA content of G{sub 2}/M cells, as exposure dose was increased. Two parameter analysis showed the increase of FITC uptake of G{sub 2}/M phase as dose increased. These changes of flow cytometry were remarkably observed after 24 hours' incubation. It was shown that the difference of Ki-67 antigen and DNA polymerase {alpha} appearance depended on the irradiation dose. These findings suggest that immunohistochemical staining with Ki-67 or anti-DNA polymerase {alpha} antibody and flow cytometry using Ki-67 are available to evaluate cell damages after irradiation. (author).

  4. Performance Characteristics of a PEM Fuel Cell with Parallel Flow Channels at Different Cathode Relative Humidity Levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang Soon Hwang

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available In fuel cells flow configuration and operating conditions such as cell temperature, humidity at each electrode and stoichiometric number are very crucial for improving performance. Too many flow channels could enhance the performance but result in high parasite loss. Therefore a trade-off between pressure drop and efficiency of a fuel cell should be considered for optimum design. This work focused on numerical simulation of the effects of operating conditions, especially cathode humidity, with simple micro parallel flow channels. It is known that the humidity at the cathode flow channel becomes very important for enhancing the ion conductivity of polymer membrane because fully humidified condition was normally set at anode. To investigate the effect of humidity on the performance of a fuel cell, in this study humidification was set to 100% at the anode flow channel and was changed by 0–100% at the cathode flow channel. Results showed that the maximum power density could be obtained under 60% humidified condition at the cathode where oxygen concentration was moderately high while maintaining high ion conductivity at a membrane.

  5. Hot gas flow cell for optical measurements on reactive gases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grosch, Helge; Fateev, Alexander; Nielsen, Karsten Lindorff

    2013-01-01

    A new design is presented for a gas flow cell for reactive gases at high temperatures. The design features three heated sections that are separated by flow windows. This design avoids the contact of reactive gases with the material of the exchangeable optical windows. A gas cell with this design ......-resolution measurements are presented for the absorption cross-section of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the UV range up to 773 K (500 degrees C)...

  6. Analysis of cell flow and cell loss following X-irradiation using sequential investigation of the total number of cells in the various parts of the cell cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skog, S.; Tribukait, B.

    1985-01-01

    The cell flow and cell loss of an in vivo growing Ehrlich ascites tumour were calculated by sequential estimation of changes in total number of cells in the cell cycle compartments. Normal growth was compared with the grossly disturbed cell flow evident after a 5 Gy X-irradiation. The doubling time of normal, exponentially growing cells was 24 hr. The generation time was 21 hr and the potential doubling time was 21 hr. Thus, the growth fraction was 1.0 and the cell loss rate about 0.5%/hr. Following irradiation, a transiently increased relative outflow rate from all cell cycle compartments was found at about 3 and 40 hr, and from S phase at 24 hr after irradiation. Increase in cell loss as well as non-viable cells was observed at 24 hr after irradiation at the time of release of the irradiation-induced G 2 blockage. The experiments show the applicability and limitations of cell flow and cell loss calculations by sequential analysis of the total number of cells in the various parts of the cell cycle. (author)

  7. Flow Cytometric Analysis of T, B, and NK Cells Antigens in Patients with Mycosis Fungoides

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serkan Yazıcı

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological correlation and prognostic value of cell surface antigens expressed by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with mycosis fungoides (MF. 121 consecutive MF patients were included in this study. All patients had peripheral blood flow cytometry as part of their first visit. TNMB and histopathological staging of the cases were retrospectively performed in accordance with International Society for Cutaneous Lymphomas/European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer (ISCL/EORTC criteria at the time of flow cytometry sampling. To determine prognostic value of cell surface antigens, cases were divided into two groups as stable and progressive disease. 17 flow cytometric analyses of 17 parapsoriasis (PP and 11 analyses of 11 benign erythrodermic patients were included as control groups. Fluorescent labeled monoclonal antibodies were used to detect cell surface antigens: T cells (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, TCRαβ+, TCRγδ+, CD7+, CD4+CD7+, CD4+CD7−, and CD71+, B cells (HLA-DR+, CD19+, and HLA-DR+CD19+, NKT cells (CD3+CD16+CD56+, and NK cells (CD3−CD16+CD56+. The mean value of all cell surface antigens was not statistically significant between parapsoriasis and MF groups. Along with an increase in cases of MF stage statistically significant difference was found between the mean values of cell surface antigens. Flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood cell surface antigens in patients with mycosis fungoides may contribute to predicting disease stage and progression.

  8. Continuous flow electrophoretic separation of proteins and cells from mammalian tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hymer, W. C.; Barlow, Grant H.; Blaisdell, Steven J.; Cleveland, Carolyn; Farrington, Mary Ann; Feldmeier, Mary; Hatfield, J. Michael; Lanham, J. Wayne; Grindeland, Richard; Snyder, Robert S.

    1987-01-01

    This paper describes an apparatus for continuous flow electrophoresis (CFE), designed to separate macromolecules and cells at conditions of microgravity. In this CFE, buffer flows upward in a 120-cm long flow chamber, which is 16-cm wide x 3.0-mm thick in the microgravity version (and 6-cm wide x 1.5-mm thick in the unit-gravity laboratory version). Ovalbumin and rat serum albumin were separated in space (flight STS-4) with the same resolution of the two proteins achieved at 25 percent total w/v concentration that was obtained in the laboratory at 0.2 percent w/v concentration. Rat anterior pituitary cells, cultured human embryonic kidney cells, and canine Langerhans cells were separated into subpopulations (flight STS-8) more effectively than in unit gravity, with comparable resolution having been achieved at 100 times the concentration possible on earth.

  9. Novel quantitative autophagy analysis by organelle flow cytometry after cell sonication.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Degtyarev

    Full Text Available Autophagy is a dynamic process of bulk degradation of cellular proteins and organelles in lysosomes. Current methods of autophagy measurement include microscopy-based counting of autophagic vacuoles (AVs in cells. We have developed a novel method to quantitatively analyze individual AVs using flow cytometry. This method, OFACS (organelle flow after cell sonication, takes advantage of efficient cell disruption with a brief sonication, generating cell homogenates with fluorescently labeled AVs that retain their integrity as confirmed with light and electron microscopy analysis. These AVs could be detected directly in the sonicated cell homogenates on a flow cytometer as a distinct population of expected organelle size on a cytometry plot. Treatment of cells with inhibitors of autophagic flux, such as chloroquine or lysosomal protease inhibitors, increased the number of particles in this population under autophagy inducing conditions, while inhibition of autophagy induction with 3-methyladenine or knockdown of ATG proteins prevented this accumulation. This assay can be easily performed in a high-throughput format and opens up previously unexplored avenues for autophagy analysis.

  10. Flow cytometric techniques for detection of candidate cancer stem cell subpopulations in canine tumour models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blacking, T M; Waterfall, M; Samuel, K; Argyle, D J

    2012-12-01

    The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis proposes that tumour growth is maintained by a distinct subpopulation of 'CSC'. This study applied flow cytometric methods, reported to detect CSC in both primary and cultured cancer cells of other species, to identify candidate canine subpopulations. Cell lines representing diverse canine malignancies, and cells derived from spontaneous canine tumours, were evaluated for expression of stem cell-associated surface markers (CD34, CD44, CD117 and CD133) and functional properties [Hoecsht 33342 efflux, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity]. No discrete marker-defined subsets were identified within established cell lines; cells derived directly from spontaneous tumours demonstrated more heterogeneity, although this diminished upon in vitro culture. Functional assays produced variable results, suggesting context-dependency. Flow cytometric methods may be adopted to identify putative canine CSC. Whilst cell lines are valuable in assay development, primary cells may provide a more rewarding model for studying tumour heterogeneity in the context of CSC. However, it will be essential to fully characterize any candidate subpopulations to ensure that they meet CSC criteria. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. Structures, Compositions, and Activities of Live Shewanella Biofilms Formed on Graphite Electrodes in Electrochemical Flow Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitayama, Miho; Koga, Ryota; Kasai, Takuya; Kouzuma, Atsushi; Watanabe, Kazuya

    2017-09-01

    An electrochemical flow cell equipped with a graphite working electrode (WE) at the bottom was inoculated with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 expressing an anaerobic fluorescent protein, and biofilm formation on the WE was observed over time during current generation at WE potentials of +0.4 and 0 V (versus standard hydrogen electrodes), under electrolyte-flow conditions. Electrochemical analyses suggested the presence of unique electron-transfer mechanisms in the +0.4-V biofilm. Microscopic analyses revealed that, in contrast to aerobic biofilms, current-generating biofilm (at +0.4 V) was thin and flat (∼10 μm in thickness), and cells were evenly and densely distributed in the biofilm. In contrast, cells were unevenly distributed in biofilm formed at 0 V. In situ fluorescence staining and biofilm recovery experiments showed that the amounts of extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) in the +0.4-V biofilm were much smaller than those in the aerobic and 0-V biofilms, suggesting that Shewanella cells suppress the production of EPSs at +0.4 V under flow conditions. We suggest that Shewanella cells perceive electrode potentials and modulate the structure and composition of biofilms to efficiently transfer electrons to electrodes. IMPORTANCE A promising application of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is to save energy in wastewater treatment. Since current is generated in these MFCs by biofilm microbes under horizontal flows of wastewater, it is important to understand the mechanisms for biofilm formation and current generation under water-flow conditions. Although massive work has been done to analyze the molecular mechanisms for current generation by model exoelectrogenic bacteria, such as Shewanella oneidensis , limited information is available regarding the formation of current-generating biofilms over time under water-flow conditions. The present study developed electrochemical flow cells and used them to examine the electrochemical and structural features of current

  12. A ghost-cell immersed boundary method for flow in complex geometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tseng, Y.-H.; Ferziger, Joel H.

    2003-01-01

    An efficient ghost-cell immersed boundary method (GCIBM) for simulating turbulent flows in complex geometries is presented. A boundary condition is enforced through a ghost cell method. The reconstruction procedure allows systematic development of numerical schemes for treating the immersed boundary while preserving the overall second-order accuracy of the base solver. Both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions can be treated. The current ghost cell treatment is both suitable for staggered and non-staggered Cartesian grids. The accuracy of the current method is validated using flow past a circular cylinder and large eddy simulation of turbulent flow over a wavy surface. Numerical results are compared with experimental data and boundary-fitted grid results. The method is further extended to an existing ocean model (MITGCM) to simulate geophysical flow over a three-dimensional bump. The method is easily implemented as evidenced by our use of several existing codes

  13. Low stoichiometry operation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell employing the interdigitated flow field

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berning, Torsten; Kær, Søren Knudsen

    2012-01-01

    A multiphase fuel cell model based on computational fluid dynamics is used to investigate the possibility of operating a proton exchange membrane fuel cell at low stoichiometric flow ratios (ξ gases. A case study...

  14. Fully automatic flow-based device for monitoring of drug permeation across a cell monolayer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zelená, Lucie; Marques, Sara S; Segundo, Marcela A; Miró, Manuel; Pávek, Petr; Sklenářová, Hana; Solich, Petr

    2016-01-01

    A novel flow-programming setup based on the sequential injection principle is herein proposed for on-line monitoring of temporal events in cell permeation studies. The permeation unit consists of a Franz cell with its basolateral compartment mixed under mechanical agitation and thermostated at 37 °C. The apical compartment is replaced by commercially available Transwell inserts with a precultivated cell monolayer. The transport of drug substances across epithelial cells genetically modified with the P-glycoprotein membrane transporter (MDCKII-MDR1) is monitored on-line using rhodamine 123 as a fluorescent marker. The permeation kinetics of the marker is obtained in a fully automated mode by sampling minute volumes of solution from the basolateral compartment in short intervals (10 min) up to 4 h. The effect of a P-glycoprotein transporter inhibitor, verapamil as a model drug, on the efficiency of the marker transport across the cell monolayer is thoroughly investigated. The analytical features of the proposed flow method for cell permeation studies in real time are critically compared against conventional batch-wise procedures and microfluidic devices.

  15. Pressure drop and flow distribution characteristics of single and parallel serpentine flow fields for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baek, Seung Man; Kim, Charn Jung; Jeon, Dong Hyup; Nam, Jin Hyun

    2012-01-01

    This study numerically investigates pressure drop and flow distribution characteristics of serpentine flow fields (SFFs) that are designed for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, which consider the Poiseuille flow with secondary pressure drop in the gas channel (GC) and the Darcy flow in the porous gas diffusion layer (GDL). The numerical results for a conventional SFF agreed well with those obtained via computational fluid dynamics simulations, thus proving the validity of the present flow network model. This model is employed to characterize various single and parallel SFFs, including multi-pass serpentine flow fields (MPSFFs). Findings reveal that under rib convection (convective flow through GDL under an interconnector rib) is an important transport process for conventional SFFs, with its intensity being significantly enhanced as GDL permeability increases. The results also indicate that under rib convection can be significantly improved by employing MPSFFs as the reactant flow field, because of the closely interlaced structure of GC regions that have different path lengths from the inlet. However, reactant flow rate through GCs proportionally decreases as under rib convection intensity increases, suggesting that proper optimization is required between the flow velocity in GCs and the under rib convection intensity in GDLs

  16. VOF modelling of gas–liquid flow in PEM water electrolysis cell micro-channels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lafmejani, Saeed Sadeghi; Olesen, Anders Christian; Kær, Søren Knudsen

    2017-01-01

    In this study, the gaseliquid flow through an interdigitated anode flow field of a PEM water electrolysis cell (PEMEC) is analysed using a three-dimensional, transient, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. To account for two-phase flow, the volume of fluid (VOF) method in ANSYS Fluent 17...... of the channel. The model is capable of revealing effect of different bubble shapes/lengths in the outgoing channel. Shape and the sequence of the bubbles affect the water flow distribution in the ATL. The model presented in this work is the first step in the development of a comprehensive CFD model...

  17. Solid KHT tumor dispersal for flow cytometric cell kinetic analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pallavicini, M.G.; Folstad, L.J.; Dunbar, C.

    1981-01-01

    A bacterial neutral protease was used to disperse KHT solid tumors into single cell suspensions suitable for routine cell kinetic analysis by flow cytometry and for clonogenic cell survival. Neutral protease disaggregation under conditions which would be suitable for routine tumor dispersal was compared with a trypsin/DNase procedure. Cell yield, clonogenic cell survival, DNA distributions of untreated and drug-perturbed tumors, rates of radioactive precursor incorporation during the cell cycle, and preferential cell cycle phase-specific cell loss were investigated. Tumors dispersed with neutral protease yielded approximately four times more cells than those dispersed with trypsin/DNase and approximately a 1.5-fold higher plating efficiency in a semisolid agar system. Quantitative analysis of DNA distributions obtained from untreated and cytosine-arabinoside-perturbed tumors produced similar results with both dispersal procedures. The rates of incorporation of tritiated thymidine during the cell cycle were also similar with neutral protease and trypsin/DNase dispersal. Preferential phase-specific cell loss was not obseved with either technique. We find that neutral protease provides good single cell suspensions of the KHT tumor for cell survival measurements and for cell kinetic analysis of drug-induced perturbations by flow cytometry. In addition, the high cell yields facilitate electronic cell sorting where large numbers of cells are often required

  18. Pressure data for various flow channels in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Son Ah; Lee, Pil Hyong; Han, Sang Seok; Hwang, Sang Soon

    2008-01-01

    Micro flow channels in flow plates of fuel cells have become much narrower and longer to improve reactant flow distribution leading to increase of pumping power. Therefore it is very important to minimize the pressure drops in the flow channel because increased pumping power reduces overall efficiency. We investigated pressure drops in a micro flow channel at the anode and cathode compared to pressure losses for cold flow in straight, bended and serpentine channels. The results show that friction factors for cold flow channels could be used for parallel and bended flow channel designs for fuel cells. Pressure drop in the serpentine flow channel is the lowest among all flow channels due to bypass flow across the gas diffusion layer under reactive flow condition, although its pressure drop is highest for a cold flow condition. So the effect of bypass flow for serpentine flow channels should be considered when designing flow channels

  19. Effects of flow configuration on bone tissue engineering using human mesenchymal stem cells in 3D chitosan composite scaffolds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sellgren, Katelyn L; Ma, Teng

    2015-08-01

    Perfusion bioreactor plays important role in supporting 3D bone construct development. Scaffolds of chitosan composites have been studied to support bone tissue regeneration from osteogenic progenitor cells including human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). In this study, porous scaffolds of hydroxyapatite (H), chitosan (C), and gelatin (G) were fabricated by phase-separation and press-fitted in the perfusion bioreactor system where media flow is configured either parallel or transverse with respect to the scaffolds to investigate the impact of flow configuration on hMSC proliferation and osteogenic differentiation. The in vitro results showed that the interstitial flow in the transverse flow (TF) constructs reduced cell growth during the first week of culture but improved spatial cell distribution and early onset of osteogenic differentiation measured by alkaline phosphatase and expression of osteogenic genes. After 14 days of bioreactor culture, the TF constructs have comparable cell number but higher expression of bone markers genes and proteins compared to the parallel flow constructs. To evaluate ectopic bone formation, the HCG constructs seeded with hMSCs pre-cultured under two flow configurations for 7 days were implanted in CD-1 nude mice. While Masson's Trichrom staining revealed bone formation in both constructs, the TF constructs have improved spatial cell and osteoid distribution throughout the 2.0 mm constructs. The results highlight the divergent effects of media flow over the course of construct development and suggest that the flow configuration is an important parameter regulating the cellular events leading to bone construct formation in the HCG scaffolds. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Effect of humidity content and direction of the flow of reactant gases on water management in the 4-serpentine and 1-serpentine flow channel in a PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khazaee, I.; Sabadbafan, H.

    2016-01-01

    The performance of a PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell depends on design and operating parameters such as relative humidity, operation pressure, and number of channels and direction of the flow of reactant gases. In this study, a three-dimensional, two-phase model has been established to investigate the water management and performance of PEM fuel cell with rectangular geometry and 1-serpentine and 4-serpentine with parallel flow, counter flow and cross flow for hydrogen and oxygen. The numerical simulation was realized with a PEM fuel cell model based on the FLUENT. The active area of each cell is 24.8 cm 2 that its weight is 1300 gr. The material of the gas diffusion layer is carbon clothes, the membrane is nafion117 and the catalyst layer is a plane with 0.004 g cm −2 platinum. Pure hydrogen is used on the anode side and oxygen on the cathode side. Simulation results are obtained for voltage as a function of current density at different humidity. The simulation results are compared with the experimental data, and the agreement is found to be good. The results show that the cell performance at lower voltages increases with increasing humidity in cell with 4-Serpentine flow channel and also in cell with 1-Serpentine flow channel, cell performance at all voltages increases with increasing humidity. In cell with 4-Serpentine and parallel flow channel cell performance is better than counter and cross flow in low voltage and in cell with 1-Serpentine and parallel flow, performance is better than counter and cross flow in high voltage. - Highlights: • Investigation new geometries of a fuel cell. • The effect of geometry on current density, oxygen and water distribution. • The effect of humidity on current density, oxygen and water distribution. • Seeing the interacting and complex electrochemical phenomena.

  1. Motion of cells sedimenting on a solid surface in a laminar shear flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tissot, O; Pierres, A; Foa, C; Delaage, M; Bongrand, P

    1992-01-01

    Cell adhesion often occurs under dynamic conditions, as in flowing blood. A quantitative understanding of this process requires accurate knowledge of the topographical relationships between the cell membrane and potentially adhesive surfaces. This report describes an experimental study made on both the translational and rotational velocities of leukocytes sedimenting of a flat surface under laminar shear flow. The main conclusions are as follows: (a) Cells move close to the wall with constant velocity for several tens of seconds. (b) The numerical values of translational and rotational velocities are inconsistent with Goldman's model of a neutrally buoyant sphere in a laminar shear flow, unless a drag force corresponding to contact friction between cells and the chamber floor is added. The phenomenological friction coefficient was 7.4 millinewton.s/m. (c) Using a modified Goldman's theory, the width of the gap separating cells (6 microns radius) from the chamber floor was estimated at 1.4 micron. (d) It is shown that a high value of the cell-to-substrate gap may be accounted for by the presence of cell surface protrusions of a few micrometer length, in accordance with electron microscope observations performed on the same cell population. (e) In association with previously reported data (Tissot, O., C. Foa, C. Capo, H. Brailly, M. Delaage, and P. Bongrand. 1991. Biocolloids and Biosurfaces. In press), these results are consistent with the possibility that cell-substrate attachment be initiated by the formation of a single molecular bond, which might be considered as the rate limiting step.

  2. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans mediate interstitial flow mechanotransduction regulating MMP-13 expression and cell motility via FAK-ERK in 3D collagen.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhong-Dong Shi

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Interstitial flow directly affects cells that reside in tissues and regulates tissue physiology and pathology by modulating important cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, and migration. However, the structures that cells utilize to sense interstitial flow in a 3-dimensional (3D environment have not yet been elucidated. Previously, we have shown that interstitial flow upregulates matrix metalloproteinase (MMP expression in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs and fibroblasts/myofibroblasts via activation of an ERK1/2-c-Jun pathway, which in turn promotes cell migration in collagen. Herein, we focused on uncovering the flow-induced mechanotransduction mechanism in 3D.Cleavage of rat vascular SMC surface glycocalyx heparan sulfate (HS chains from proteoglycan (PG core proteins by heparinase or disruption of HS biosynthesis by silencing N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase 1 (NDST1 suppressed interstitial flow-induced ERK1/2 activation, interstitial collagenase (MMP-13 expression, and SMC motility in 3D collagen. Inhibition or knockdown of focal adhesion kinase (FAK also attenuated or blocked flow-induced ERK1/2 activation, MMP-13 expression, and cell motility. Interstitial flow induced FAK phosphorylation at Tyr925, and this activation was blocked when heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs were disrupted. These data suggest that HSPGs mediate interstitial flow-induced mechanotransduction through FAK-ERK. In addition, we show that integrins are crucial for mechanotransduction through HSPGs as they mediate cell spreading and maintain cytoskeletal rigidity.We propose a conceptual mechanotransduction model wherein cell surface glycocalyx HSPGs, in the presence of integrin-mediated cell-matrix adhesions and cytoskeleton organization, sense interstitial flow and activate the FAK-ERK signaling axis, leading to upregulation of MMP expression and cell motility in 3D. This is the first study to describe a flow-induced mechanotransduction

  3. Design of flow-field patterns for proton exchange membrane fuel cell application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosli, M.I.; Wan Ramli Wan Daud; Kamaruzzaman Sopian; Jaafar Sahari

    2006-01-01

    Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that produce electricity at high efficiency without combustion. Fuel cells are emerging as viable candidates as power sources in many applications, including road vehicles, small-scale power stations, and possibly even portable electronics. This paper addresses the design of flow-field patterns for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The PEMFC is a low-temperature fuel cell, in which a proton conductive polymer membrane is used as the electrolyte. In PEMFC, flow-field pattern is one important thing that effects the performance of PEMFC. This paper present three types of flow-field pattern that will be consider to be testing using CFD analysis and by experimental. The design look detail on to their shape and dimension to get the best pattern in term of more active electrode area compare to electrode area that will be used. Another advantage and disadvantage for these three type of flow-field patterns from literature also compared in this paper

  4. Development of a micro flow-through cell for high field NMR spectroscopy.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alam, Todd Michael; McIntyre, Sarah K.

    2011-05-01

    A highly transportable micro flow-through detection cell for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been designed, fabricated and tested. This flow-through cell allows for the direct coupling between liquid chromatography (LC) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) resulting in the possibility of hyphenated LC-NMR and GPC-NMR. The advantage of the present flow cell design is that it is independent and unconnected to the detection probe electronics, is compatible with existing commercial high resolution NMR probes, and as such can be easily implemented at any NMR facility. Two different volumes were fabricated corresponding to between {approx}3.8 and 10 {micro}L detection volume. Examples of the performance of the cell on different NMR instruments, and using different NMR detection probes were demonstrated.

  5. DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF A PARALLEL-PLATE FLOW CHAMBER FOR STUDYING CELLULAR ADHESION TO SOLID-SURFACES

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    VANKOOTEN, TG; SCHAKENRAAD, JM; VANDERMEI, HC; BUSSCHER, HJ

    A parallel-plate flow chamber is developed in order to study cellular adhesion phenomena. An image analysis system is used to observe individual cells exposed to flow in situ and to determine area, perimeter, and shape of these cells as a function of time and shear stress. With this flow system the

  6. A radio-high-performance liquid chromatography dual-flow cell gamma-detection system for on-line radiochemical purity and labeling efficiency determination

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindegren, S; Jensen, H; Jacobsson, L

    2014-01-01

    In this study, a method of determining radiochemical yield and radiochemical purity using radio-HPLC detection employing a dual-flow-cell system is evaluated. The dual-flow cell, consisting of a reference cell and an analytical cell, was constructed from two PEEK capillary coils to fit into the w...

  7. Modeling and simulation of PEM fuel cell's flow channels using CFD techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cunha, Edgar F.; Andrade, Alexandre B.; Robalinho, Eric; Bejarano, Martha L.M.; Linardi, Marcelo [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)]. E-mails: efcunha@ipen.br; abodart@ipen.br; eric@ipen.br; mmora@ipen.br; mlinardi@ipen.br; Cekinski, Efraim [Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnologicas (IPT-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)]. E-mail: cekinski@ipt.br

    2007-07-01

    Fuel cells are one of the most important devices to obtain electrical energy from hydrogen. The Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) consists of two important parts: the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA), where the reactions occur, and the flow field plates. The plates have many functions in a fuel cell: distribute reactant gases (hydrogen and air or oxygen), conduct electrical current, remove heat and water from the electrodes and make the cell robust. The cost of the bipolar plates corresponds up to 45% of the total stack costs. The Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) is a very useful tool to simulate hydrogen and oxygen gases flow channels, to reduce the costs of bipolar plates production and to optimize mass transport. Two types of flow channels were studied. The first type was a commercial plate by ELECTROCELL and the other was entirely projected at Programa de Celula a Combustivel (IPEN/CNEN-SP) and the experimental data were compared with modelling results. Optimum values for each set of variables were obtained and the models verification was carried out in order to show the feasibility of this technique to improve fuel cell efficiency. (author)

  8. Well-balanced compressible cut-cell simulation of atmospheric flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, R; Bates, K R; Nikiforakis, N

    2009-11-28

    Cut-cell meshes present an attractive alternative to terrain-following coordinates for the representation of topography within atmospheric flow simulations, particularly in regions of steep topographic gradients. In this paper, we present an explicit two-dimensional method for the numerical solution on such meshes of atmospheric flow equations including gravitational sources. This method is fully conservative and allows for time steps determined by the regular grid spacing, avoiding potential stability issues due to arbitrarily small boundary cells. We believe that the scheme is unique in that it is developed within a dimensionally split framework, in which each coordinate direction in the flow is solved independently at each time step. Other notable features of the scheme are: (i) its conceptual and practical simplicity, (ii) its flexibility with regard to the one-dimensional flux approximation scheme employed, and (iii) the well-balancing of the gravitational sources allowing for stable simulation of near-hydrostatic flows. The presented method is applied to a selection of test problems including buoyant bubble rise interacting with geometry and lee-wave generation due to topography.

  9. Localized Modeling of Biochemical and Flow Interactions during Cancer Cell Adhesion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie Behr

    Full Text Available This work focuses on one component of a larger research effort to develop a simulation tool to model populations of flowing cells. Specifically, in this study a local model of the biochemical interactions between circulating melanoma tumor cells (TC and substrate adherent polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN is developed. This model provides realistic three-dimensional distributions of bond formation and attendant attraction and repulsion forces that are consistent with the time dependent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD framework of the full system model which accounts local pressure, shear and repulsion forces. The resulting full dynamics model enables exploration of TC adhesion to adherent PMNs, which is a known participating mechanism in melanoma cell metastasis. The model defines the adhesion molecules present on the TC and PMN cell surfaces, and calculates their interactions as the melanoma cell flows past the PMN. Biochemical rates of reactions between individual molecules are determined based on their local properties. The melanoma cell in the model expresses ICAM-1 molecules on its surface, and the PMN expresses the β-2 integrins LFA-1 and Mac-1. In this work the PMN is fixed to the substrate and is assumed fully rigid and of a prescribed shear-rate dependent shape obtained from micro-PIV experiments. The melanoma cell is transported with full six-degrees-of-freedom dynamics. Adhesion models, which represent the ability of molecules to bond and adhere the cells to each other, and repulsion models, which represent the various physical mechanisms of cellular repulsion, are incorporated with the CFD solver. All models are general enough to allow for future extensions, including arbitrary adhesion molecule types, and the ability to redefine the values of parameters to represent various cell types. The model presented in this study will be part of a clinical tool for development of personalized medical treatment programs.

  10. Localized Modeling of Biochemical and Flow Interactions during Cancer Cell Adhesion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behr, Julie; Gaskin, Byron; Fu, Changliang; Dong, Cheng; Kunz, Robert

    2015-01-01

    This work focuses on one component of a larger research effort to develop a simulation tool to model populations of flowing cells. Specifically, in this study a local model of the biochemical interactions between circulating melanoma tumor cells (TC) and substrate adherent polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) is developed. This model provides realistic three-dimensional distributions of bond formation and attendant attraction and repulsion forces that are consistent with the time dependent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) framework of the full system model which accounts local pressure, shear and repulsion forces. The resulting full dynamics model enables exploration of TC adhesion to adherent PMNs, which is a known participating mechanism in melanoma cell metastasis. The model defines the adhesion molecules present on the TC and PMN cell surfaces, and calculates their interactions as the melanoma cell flows past the PMN. Biochemical rates of reactions between individual molecules are determined based on their local properties. The melanoma cell in the model expresses ICAM-1 molecules on its surface, and the PMN expresses the β-2 integrins LFA-1 and Mac-1. In this work the PMN is fixed to the substrate and is assumed fully rigid and of a prescribed shear-rate dependent shape obtained from micro-PIV experiments. The melanoma cell is transported with full six-degrees-of-freedom dynamics. Adhesion models, which represent the ability of molecules to bond and adhere the cells to each other, and repulsion models, which represent the various physical mechanisms of cellular repulsion, are incorporated with the CFD solver. All models are general enough to allow for future extensions, including arbitrary adhesion molecule types, and the ability to redefine the values of parameters to represent various cell types. The model presented in this study will be part of a clinical tool for development of personalized medical treatment programs.

  11. Accurate live and dead bacterial cell enumeration using flow cytometry (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ou, Fang; McGoverin, Cushla; Swift, Simon; Vanholsbeeck, Frédérique

    2017-03-01

    Flow cytometry (FCM) is based on the detection of scattered light and fluorescence to identify cells with particular characteristics of interest. However most FCM cannot precisely control the flow through its interrogation point and hence the volume and concentration of the sample cannot be immediately obtained. The easiest, most reliable and inexpensive way of obtaining absolute counts with FCM is by using reference beads. We investigated a method of using FCM with reference beads to measure live and dead bacterial concentration over the range of 106 to 108 cells/mL and ratio varying from 0 to 100%. We believe we are the first to use this method for such a large cell concentration range while also establishing the effect of varying the live/dead bacteria ratios. Escherichia coli solutions with differing ratios of live:dead cells were stained with fluorescent dyes SYTO 9 and propidium iodide (PI), which label live and dead cells, respectively. Samples were measured using a LSR II Flow Cytometer (BD Biosciences); using 488 nm excitation with 20 mW power. Both SYTO 9 and PI fluorescence were collected and threshold was set to side scatter. Traditional culture-based plate count was done in parallel to the FCM analysis. The concentration of live bacteria from FCM was compared to that obtained by plate counts. Preliminary results show that the concentration of live bacteria obtained by FCM and plate counts correlate well with each other and indicates this may be extended to a wider concentration range or for studying other cell characteristics.

  12. In-situ characterization of symmetric dual-pass architecture of microfluidic co-laminar flow cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ibrahim, Omar A.; Goulet, Marc-Antoni; Kjeang, Erik

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • An analytical cell design is proposed for characterization of dual-pass flow cells • High power density up to 0.75 W cm −2 is demonstrated • The performance contributions of the inlet and outlet passes are of the same order • Downstream crossover is analyzed as a function of cell current and flow rate - Abstract: Microfluidic co-laminar flow cells with dual-pass architecture enable fuel recirculation and in-situ regeneration, and offer improvements in performance characteristics. In this work, a unique analytical cell design is proposed, with two split portions having flow-through porous electrodes. Each cell portion is first tested individually with vanadium redox species and the results are used to quantify the previously unknown crossover losses at the downstream portion of the cell, shown here to be a strong function of the flow rate. Moreover, the upstream cell portion demonstrates impressive room-temperature power density up to 0.75 W cm −2 at 1.0 A cm −2 , which is the highest performance reported to date for a microfluidic vanadium redox battery. Next, the two cell portions are connected in parallel to resemble a complete cell with dual-pass architecture, thereby enabling novel in-situ diagnostics of the inlet and outlet passes of the cell. For instance, the reactant utilization efficiency of the downstream cell portion is shown to be on the same order as that of the upstream portion at both low and high flow rates. Furthermore, in-situ regeneration is also demonstrated. Overall, the present results provide a deeper understanding of dual-pass reactant conversion and crossover which will be useful for future device optimization.

  13. Development of Bubble Driven Flow CFD Model Applied for Aluminium Smelting Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y.Q. Feng

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the development of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD model for the study of bubble driven bath flow in aluminium reduction cells. For validation purposes, the model development was conducted using a full scale air -water model of part of an aluminium reduction cell as a test-bed. The bubble induced turbulence has been modelled by either modifying bubble induced turbulence viscosity directly or by modifying bubble induced turbulence kinetic energy in a standard k- ε turbulence model. The relative performance of the two modelling approaches has been examined through comparison with experimental data taken under similar conditions using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV. Detailed comparison has been conducted by point-wise comparison of liquid velocities to quantify the level of agreement between CFD simulation and PIV measurement. Both models can capture the key flow patterns determined by PIV measurement, while the modified turbulence kinetic energy model gives better agreement with flow patterns in the gap between anode and cathode.

  14. An assessment of the energetic flows in a commercial PEM fuel-cell system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jovan, Vladimir; Perne, Matija; Petrovcic, Janko

    2010-01-01

    Some primary issues have not yet been fully investigated on the way towards the commercialization of fuel-cell-based systems (FCS), e.g., their actual efficiency, reliability, safety, degradation, maintainability, etc. This article deals with an estimation of the real energetic flows and the corresponding electrical efficiency of a commercial proton-exchange-membrane fuel-cell hydrogen-fed generator set (PEMFCS). The fuel-cell power system considered here is planned to be the source of both electrical and thermal energy in a mobile dwelling container unit with in-built fuel-cell-based cogeneration system, and for the design of a cogeneration unit the actual amount of disposable energy from the PEMFC unit should be estimated. The assessment of the actual energetic flows, the disposable energy and the consequent electrical efficiency of the case-study PEMFCS is carried out using commercial technical data for the PEMFCS.

  15. Internalisation of polymeric nanosensors in mesenchymal stem cells: analysis by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coupland, Paul G; Fisher, Karen A; Jones, D Rhodri E; Aylott, Jonathan W

    2008-09-10

    The aim of this study was to demonstrate that flow cytometry and confocal microscopy could be applied in a complementary manner to analyse the internalisation of polymeric nanosensors in mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). The two techniques are able to provide en masse data analysis of nanosensors from large cell populations and detailed images of intracellular nanosensor localisation, respectively. The polyacrylamide nanosensors used in this investigation had been modified to contain free amine groups which were subsequently conjugated to Tat peptide, which acted as a delivery vector for nanosensor internalisation. Flow cytometry was used to confirm the health of MSC culture and assess the impact of nanosensor internalisation. MSC were characterised using fluorescently tagged CD cell surface markers that were also used to show that nanosensor internalisation did not negatively impact on MSC culture. Additionally it was shown that flow cytometry can be used to measure fluorophores located both on the cell surface and internalised within the cell. Complementary data was obtained using confocal microscopy to confirm nanosensor internalisation within MSC.

  16. Numerical Studies of Homogenization under a Fast Cellular Flow

    KAUST Repository

    Iyer, Gautam

    2012-09-13

    We consider a two dimensional particle diffusing in the presence of a fast cellular flow confined to a finite domain. If the flow amplitude A is held fixed and the number of cells L 2 →∞, then the problem homogenizes; this has been well studied. Also well studied is the limit when L is fixed and A→∞. In this case the solution averages along stream lines. The double limit as both the flow amplitude A→∞and the number of cells L 2 →∞was recently studied [G. Iyer et al., preprint, arXiv:1108.0074]; one observes a sharp transition between the homogenization and averaging regimes occurring at A = L 2. This paper numerically studies a few theoretically unresolved aspects of this problem when both A and L are large that were left open in [G. Iyer et al., preprint, arXiv:1108.0074] using the numerical method devised in [G. A. Pavliotis, A. M. Stewart, and K. C. Zygalakis, J. Comput. Phys., 228 (2009), pp. 1030-1055]. Our treatment of the numerical method uses recent developments in the theory of modified equations for numerical integrators of stochastic differential equations [K. C. Zygalakis, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 33 (2001), pp. 102-130]. © 2012 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

  17. Numerical Studies of Homogenization under a Fast Cellular Flow

    KAUST Repository

    Iyer, Gautam; Zygalakis, Konstantinos C.

    2012-01-01

    We consider a two dimensional particle diffusing in the presence of a fast cellular flow confined to a finite domain. If the flow amplitude A is held fixed and the number of cells L 2 →∞, then the problem homogenizes; this has been well studied. Also well studied is the limit when L is fixed and A→∞. In this case the solution averages along stream lines. The double limit as both the flow amplitude A→∞and the number of cells L 2 →∞was recently studied [G. Iyer et al., preprint, arXiv:1108.0074]; one observes a sharp transition between the homogenization and averaging regimes occurring at A = L 2. This paper numerically studies a few theoretically unresolved aspects of this problem when both A and L are large that were left open in [G. Iyer et al., preprint, arXiv:1108.0074] using the numerical method devised in [G. A. Pavliotis, A. M. Stewart, and K. C. Zygalakis, J. Comput. Phys., 228 (2009), pp. 1030-1055]. Our treatment of the numerical method uses recent developments in the theory of modified equations for numerical integrators of stochastic differential equations [K. C. Zygalakis, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 33 (2001), pp. 102-130]. © 2012 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

  18. MRI studies of the hydrodynamics in a USP 4 dissolution testing cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiko, G; Gladden, L F; Sederman, A J; Connolly, P C; Butler, J M

    2011-03-01

    We present a detailed study of hydrodynamics inside the flow-through dissolution apparatus when operated according to USP recommendations. The pulsatile flow inside the flow-through cell was measured quantitatively using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at a spatial resolution of 234 × 234 μm(2) and slice thickness of 1 mm. We report the experimental protocols developed for in situ MRI studies and the effect that the operating conditions and tablet orientation have on the hydrodynamics inside commercial flow cells. It was found that the flow field inside the dissolution cells was, at most operating conditions, heterogeneous, rather than fully developed laminar flow, and characterised by re-circulation and backward flow. A model tablet was shown to be contacted by a wide distribution of local velocities as a function of position and orientation in the flow cell. The use of 1 mm beads acted as a distributor of the flow but did not suffice to ensure a fully developed laminar flow profile. These results emphasise the necessity to understand the influence of test conditions on dissolution behaviour in defining robust flow-through dissolution methods. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  19. Interplay between cytoskeletal stresses and cell adaptation under chronic flow.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deepika Verma

    Full Text Available Using stress sensitive FRET sensors we have measured cytoskeletal stresses in α-actinin and the associated reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in cells subjected to chronic shear stress. We show that long-term shear stress reduces the average actinin stress and this effect is reversible with removal of flow. The flow-induced changes in cytoskeletal stresses are found to be dynamic, involving a transient decrease in stress (phase-I, a short-term increase (3-6 min (Phase-II, followed by a longer-term decrease that reaches a minimum in ~20 min (Phase-III, before saturating. These changes are accompanied by reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton from parallel F-actin bundles to peripheral bundles. Blocking mechanosensitive ion channels (MSCs with Gd(3+ and GsMTx4 (a specific inhibitor eliminated the changes in cytoskeletal stress and the corresponding actin reorganization, indicating that Ca(2+ permeable MSCs participate in the signaling cascades. This study shows that shear stress induced cell adaptation is mediated via MSCs.

  20. Flow-induced endothelial cell alignment requires the RhoGEF Trio as a scaffold protein to polarize active Rac1 distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroon, Jeffrey; Heemskerk, Niels; Kalsbeek, Martin J T; de Waard, Vivian; van Rijssel, Jos; van Buul, Jaap D

    2017-07-01

    Endothelial cells line the lumen of the vessel wall and are exposed to flow. In linear parts of the vessel, the endothelial cells experience laminar flow, resulting in endothelial cell alignment in the direction of flow, thereby protecting the vessel wall from inflammation and permeability. In order for endothelial cells to align, they undergo rapid remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton by local activation of the small GTPase Rac1. However, it is not clear whether sustained and local activation of Rac1 is required for long-term flow-induced cell alignment. Using a FRET-based DORA Rac1 biosensor, we show that local Rac1 activity remains for 12 h upon long-term flow. Silencing studies show that the RhoGEF Trio is crucial for keeping active Rac1 at the downstream side of the cell and, as a result, for long-term flow-induced cell alignment. Surprisingly, Trio appears to be not involved in flow-induced activation of Rac1. Our data show that flow induces Rac1 activity at the downstream side of the cell in a Trio-dependent manner and that Trio functions as a scaffold protein rather than a functional GEF under long-term flow conditions. © 2017 Kroon et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  1. Dissipative particle dynamics simulations of deformation and aggregation of healthy and diseased red blood cells in a tube flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Ting; Phan-Thien, Nhan; Khoo, Boo Cheong; Lim, Chwee Teck

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we report simulation results assessing the deformation and aggregation of mixed healthy and malaria-infected red blood cells (RBCs) in a tube flow. A three dimensional particle model based on Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) is developed to predict the tube flow containing interacting cells. The cells are also modelled by DPD, with a Morse potential to characterize the cell-cell interaction. As validation tests, a single RBC in a tube flow and two RBCs in a static flow are simulated to examine the cell deformation and intercellular interaction, respectively. The study of two cells, one healthy and the other malaria-infected RBCs in a tube flow demonstrates that the malaria-infected RBC (in the leading position along flow direction) has different effects on the healthy RBC (in the trailing position) at the different stage of parasite development or at the different capillary number. With parasitic development, the malaria-infected RBC gradually loses its deformability, and in turn the corresponding trailing healthy RBC also deforms less due to the intercellular interaction. With increasing capillary number, both the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are likely to undergo an axisymmetric motion. The minimum intercellular distance becomes small enough so that rouleaux is easily formed, i.e., the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are difficultly disaggregated

  2. Dissipative particle dynamics simulations of deformation and aggregation of healthy and diseased red blood cells in a tube flow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ye, Ting; Phan-Thien, Nhan, E-mail: Nhan@nus.edu.sg; Khoo, Boo Cheong; Lim, Chwee Teck [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260 (Singapore)

    2014-11-15

    In this paper, we report simulation results assessing the deformation and aggregation of mixed healthy and malaria-infected red blood cells (RBCs) in a tube flow. A three dimensional particle model based on Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) is developed to predict the tube flow containing interacting cells. The cells are also modelled by DPD, with a Morse potential to characterize the cell-cell interaction. As validation tests, a single RBC in a tube flow and two RBCs in a static flow are simulated to examine the cell deformation and intercellular interaction, respectively. The study of two cells, one healthy and the other malaria-infected RBCs in a tube flow demonstrates that the malaria-infected RBC (in the leading position along flow direction) has different effects on the healthy RBC (in the trailing position) at the different stage of parasite development or at the different capillary number. With parasitic development, the malaria-infected RBC gradually loses its deformability, and in turn the corresponding trailing healthy RBC also deforms less due to the intercellular interaction. With increasing capillary number, both the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are likely to undergo an axisymmetric motion. The minimum intercellular distance becomes small enough so that rouleaux is easily formed, i.e., the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are difficultly disaggregated.

  3. Wide-field fluorescent microscopy and fluorescent imaging flow cytometry on a cell-phone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Hongying; Ozcan, Aydogan

    2013-04-11

    Fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry are widely used tools in biomedical research and clinical diagnosis. However these devices are in general relatively bulky and costly, making them less effective in the resource limited settings. To potentially address these limitations, we have recently demonstrated the integration of wide-field fluorescent microscopy and imaging flow cytometry tools on cell-phones using compact, light-weight, and cost-effective opto-fluidic attachments. In our flow cytometry design, fluorescently labeled cells are flushed through a microfluidic channel that is positioned above the existing cell-phone camera unit. Battery powered light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are butt-coupled to the side of this microfluidic chip, which effectively acts as a multi-mode slab waveguide, where the excitation light is guided to uniformly excite the fluorescent targets. The cell-phone camera records a time lapse movie of the fluorescent cells flowing through the microfluidic channel, where the digital frames of this movie are processed to count the number of the labeled cells within the target solution of interest. Using a similar opto-fluidic design, we can also image these fluorescently labeled cells in static mode by e.g. sandwiching the fluorescent particles between two glass slides and capturing their fluorescent images using the cell-phone camera, which can achieve a spatial resolution of e.g. - 10 μm over a very large field-of-view of - 81 mm(2). This cell-phone based fluorescent imaging flow cytometry and microscopy platform might be useful especially in resource limited settings, for e.g. counting of CD4+ T cells toward monitoring of HIV+ patients or for detection of water-borne parasites in drinking water.

  4. Flow cytometric monitoring of influenza A virus infection in MDCK cells during vaccine production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reichl Udo

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In cell culture-based influenza vaccine production the monitoring of virus titres and cell physiology during infection is of great importance for process characterisation and optimisation. While conventional virus quantification methods give only virus titres in the culture broth, data obtained by fluorescence labelling of intracellular virus proteins provide additional information on infection dynamics. Flow cytometry represents a valuable tool to investigate the influences of cultivation conditions and process variations on virus replication and virus yields. Results In this study, fluorescein-labelled monoclonal antibodies against influenza A virus matrix protein 1 and nucleoprotein were used for monitoring the infection status of adherent Madin-Darby canine kidney cells from bioreactor samples. Monoclonal antibody binding was shown for influenza A virus strains of different subtypes (H1N1, H1N2, H3N8 and host specificity (human, equine, swine. At high multiplicity of infection in a bioreactor, the onset of viral protein accumulation in adherent cells on microcarriers was detected at about 2 to 4 h post infection by flow cytometry. In contrast, a significant increase in titre by hemagglutination assay was detected at the earliest 4 to 6 h post infection. Conclusion It is shown that flow cytometry is a sensitive and robust method for the monitoring of viral infection in fixed cells from bioreactor samples. Therefore, it is a valuable addition to other detection methods of influenza virus infection such as immunotitration and RNA hybridisation. Thousands of individual cells are measured per sample. Thus, the presented method is believed to be quite independent of the concentration of infected cells (multiplicity of infection and total cell concentration in bioreactors. This allows to perform detailed studies on factors relevant for optimization of virus yields in cell cultures. The method could also be used for process

  5. Evaluation of the effect of reactant gases mass flow rates on power density in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahveci, E. E.; Taymaz, I.

    2018-03-01

    In this study it was experimentally investigated the effect of mass flow rates of reactant gases which is one of the most important operational parameters of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell on power density. The channel type is serpentine and single PEM fuel cell has an active area of 25 cm2. Design-Expert 8.0 (trial version) was used with four variables to investigate the effect of variables on the response using. Cell temperature, hydrogen mass flow rate, oxygen mass flow rate and humidification temperature were selected as independent variables. In addition, the power density was used as response to determine the combined effects of these variables. It was kept constant cell and humidification temperatures while changing mass flow rates of reactant gases. From the results an increase occurred in power density with increasing the hydrogen flow rates. But oxygen flow rate does not have a significant effect on power density within determined mass flow rates.

  6. Experimental study on the start-up with dry gases from normal cell temperatures in self-humidified proton exchange membrane fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kong, Im Mo; Jung, Aeri; Kim, Beom Jun; Baik, Kyung Don; Kim, Min Soo

    2015-01-01

    In this study, the start-up characteristics of PEMFCs (proton exchange membrane fuel cells) was investigated with dry gases from normal cell temperatures above 0 °C. Firstly, the effects of flow arrangements (co-flow and counter-flow) were evaluated at a starting cell temperature of 25 °C. Then, the start-up was successful in both arrangements, but it showed better performance with counter-flow. In addition, the hydrogen concentration was measured and it showed that hydrogen crossover contributes to the membrane hydration and the first phase of dry start-up. However, although the cell temperature rose above 45 °C after start-up form 25 °C with counter-flow arrangement, the restart-up after shut-down failed at a starting cell temperature of 45 °C regardless of flow arrangements. Considering the needs of restart-up, the available starting cell temperature should be improved. For this, after first sub-step of start-up process, relatively low flow rates were maintained to retain produced water without purge so that the membrane can be hydrated sufficiently. With this modified process, denominated as WSP (water storage process) in this study, the dry start-up became successful at a starting cell temperature of 45 °C and the cell performance was remarkably improved especially with counter-flow arrangement. - Highlights: • Start-up with dry gases from normal cell temperatures was investigated. • Counter-flow arrangement showed better performance over co-flow arrangement. • Water is produced by hydrogen crossover and its direct reaction with oxygen at cathode side. • It prevents the membrane dehydration and helps the start-up during the first phase of the process. • Available starting cell temperature and cell performance could be improved with WSP.

  7. Comparison of Flow-Through Cell and Paddle Methods for Testing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of the flow-through cell apparatus for testing commercial vaginal tablets containing poorly water-soluble clotrimazole. Methods: The effect of experimental conditions (type of dissolution medium, flow rate and positioning of the tablet) on the dissolution profile of clotrimazole were ...

  8. High-speed cell recognition algorithm for ultrafast flow cytometer imaging system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Wanyue; Wang, Chao; Chen, Hongwei; Chen, Minghua; Yang, Sigang

    2018-04-01

    An optical time-stretch flow imaging system enables high-throughput examination of cells/particles with unprecedented high speed and resolution. A significant amount of raw image data is produced. A high-speed cell recognition algorithm is, therefore, highly demanded to analyze large amounts of data efficiently. A high-speed cell recognition algorithm consisting of two-stage cascaded detection and Gaussian mixture model (GMM) classification is proposed. The first stage of detection extracts cell regions. The second stage integrates distance transform and the watershed algorithm to separate clustered cells. Finally, the cells detected are classified by GMM. We compared the performance of our algorithm with support vector machine. Results show that our algorithm increases the running speed by over 150% without sacrificing the recognition accuracy. This algorithm provides a promising solution for high-throughput and automated cell imaging and classification in the ultrafast flow cytometer imaging platform.

  9. Affinity flow fractionation of cells via transient interactions with asymmetric molecular patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bose, Suman; Singh, Rishi; Hanewich-Hollatz, Mikhail; Shen, Chong; Lee, Chia-Hua; Dorfman, David M.; Karp, Jeffrey M.; Karnik, Rohit

    2013-07-01

    Flow fractionation of cells using physical fields to achieve lateral displacement finds wide applications, but its extension to surface molecule-specific separation requires labeling. Here we demonstrate affinity flow fractionation (AFF) where weak, short-range interactions with asymmetric molecular patterns laterally displace cells in a continuous, label-free process. We show that AFF can directly draw neutrophils out of a continuously flowing stream of blood with an unprecedented 400,000-fold depletion of red blood cells, with the sorted cells being highly viable, unactivated, and functionally intact. The lack of background erythrocytes enabled the use of AFF for direct enumeration of neutrophils by a downstream detector, which could distinguish the activation state of neutrophils in blood. The compatibility of AFF with capillary microfluidics and its ability to directly separate cells with high purity and minimal sample preparation will facilitate the design of simple and portable devices for point-of-care diagnostics and quick, cost-effective laboratory analysis.

  10. High-Throughput Flow Cytometric Method for the Simultaneous Measurement of CAR-T Cell Characterization and Cytotoxicity against Solid Tumor Cell Lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez, Emily M; Klebanoff, Samuel D; Secrest, Stephanie; Romain, Gabrielle; Haile, Samuel T; Emtage, Peter C R; Gilbert, Amy E

    2018-04-01

    High-throughput flow cytometry is an attractive platform for the analysis of adoptive cellular therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR-T) because it allows for the concurrent measurement of T cell-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (TDCC) and the functional characterization of engineered T cells with respect to percentage of CAR transduction, T cell phenotype, and measurement of T cell function such as activation in a single assay. The use of adherent tumor cell lines can be challenging in these flow-based assays. Here, we present the development of a high-throughput flow-based assay to measure TDCC for a CAR-T construct co-cultured with multiple adherent tumor cell lines. We describe optimal assay conditions (such as adherent cell dissociation techniques to minimize impact on cell viability) that result in robust cytotoxicity assays. In addition, we report on the concurrent use of T cell transduction and activation antibody panels (CD25) that provide further dissection of engineered T cell function. In conclusion, we present the development of a high-throughput flow cytometry method allowing for in vitro interrogation of solid tumor, targeting CAR-T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, CAR transduction, and engineered T cell characterization in a single assay.

  11. The absolute counting of red cell-derived microparticles with red cell bead by flow rate based assay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nantakomol, Duangdao; Imwong, Malika; Soontarawirat, Ingfar; Kotjanya, Duangporn; Khakhai, Chulalak; Ohashi, Jun; Nuchnoi, Pornlada

    2009-05-01

    Activation of red blood cell is associated with the formation of red cell-derived microparticles (RMPs). Analysis of circulating RMPs is becoming more refined and clinically useful. A quantitative Trucount tube method is the conventional method uses for quantitating RMPs. In this study, we validated a quantitative method called "flow rate based assay using red cell bead (FCB)" to measure circulating RMPs in the peripheral blood of healthy subjects. Citrated blood samples collected from 30 cases of healthy subjects were determined the RMPs count by using double labeling of annexin V-FITC and anti-glycophorin A-PE. The absolute RMPs numbers were measured by FCB, and the results were compared with the Trucount or with flow rate based calibration (FR). Statistical correlation and agreement were analyzed using linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis. There was no significant difference in the absolute number of RMPs quantitated by FCB when compared with those two reference methods including the Trucount tube and FR method. The absolute RMPs count obtained from FCB method was highly correlated with those obtained from Trucount tube (r(2) = 0.98, mean bias 4 cell/microl, limit of agreement [LOA] -20.3 to 28.3 cell/microl), and FR method (r(2) = 1, mean bias 10.3 cell/microl, and LOA -5.5 to 26.2 cell/microl). This study demonstrates that FCB is suitable and more affordable for RMPs quantitation in the clinical samples. This method is a low cost and interchangeable to latex bead-based method for generating the absolute counts in the resource-limited areas. (c) 2008 Clinical Cytometry Society.

  12. Effects of Red Blood Cell Aggregation on the Apparent Viscosity of Blood Flow in Tubes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hitt, Darren L.; Lowe, Mary L.

    1996-11-01

    In arterioles and venules (20-200μ diameter), the low shear rates enable red blood cells to form aggregate structures of varying sizes and morphology. The size and distribution of the aggregates affect the flow impedance within a microvascular network; this effect may be characterized by an "apparent viscosity". In this study, we measure the apparent viscosity of blood flow in 50μ glass tubes as a function of shear rate and red blood cell volume fraction (hematocrit); for a fixed tube geometry and an imposed flow rate, the viscosity is determined by measuring the pressure drop across the tube. To correlate the apparent viscosity with the size and spatial distribution of the aggregates in the flow, video images of the flow are recorded and analyzed using power spectral techniques. Pig blood and sheep blood are used as the models for aggregating and non-aggregating blood, respectively. Supported by NSF PFF Award CTS-9253633

  13. Experimental and numerical studies of two-phase microfluidic flows

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mbanjwa, MB

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Flow of immiscible fluids is important in microfluidics for applications such as generation of emulsions and vesicles, drug delivery capsules, cell encapsulation and chemical reactions. The behaviour of these flows differs from large scale flows...

  14. Flow rate calibration to determine cell-derived microparticles and homogeneity of blood components.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noulsri, Egarit; Lerdwana, Surada; Kittisares, Kulvara; Palasuwan, Attakorn; Palasuwan, Duangdao

    2017-08-01

    Cell-derived microparticles (MPs) are currently of great interest to screening transfusion donors and blood components. However, the current approach to counting MPs is not affordable for routine laboratory use due to its high cost. The current study aimed to investigate the potential use of flow-rate calibration for counting MPs in whole blood, packed red blood cells (PRBCs), and platelet concentrates (PCs). The accuracy of flow-rate calibration was investigated by comparing the platelet counts of an automated counter and a flow-rate calibrator. The concentration of MPs and their origins in whole blood (n=100), PRBCs (n=100), and PCs (n=92) were determined using a FACSCalibur. The MPs' fold-changes were calculated to assess the homogeneity of the blood components. Comparing the platelet counts conducted by automated counting and flow-rate calibration showed an r 2 of 0.6 (y=0.69x+97,620). The CVs of the within-run and between-run variations of flow-rate calibration were 8.2% and 12.1%, respectively. The Bland-Altman plot showed a mean bias of -31,142platelets/μl. MP enumeration revealed both the difference in MP levels and their origins in whole blood, PRBCs, and PCs. Screening the blood components demonstrated high heterogeneity of the MP levels in PCs when compared to whole blood and PRBCs. The results of the present study suggest the accuracy and precision of flow-rate calibration for enumerating MPs. This flow-rate approach is affordable for assessing the homogeneity of MPs in blood components in routine laboratory practice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Extended flow cytometry characterization of normal bone marrow progenitor cells by simultaneous detection of aldehyde dehydrogenase and early hematopoietic antigens: implication for erythroid differentiation studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pascariello Caterina

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH is a cytosolic enzyme highly expressed in hematopoietic precursors from cord blood and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor mobilized peripheral blood, as well as in bone marrow from patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia. As regards human normal bone marrow, detailed characterization of ALDH+ cells has been addressed by one single study (Gentry et al, 2007. The goal of our work was to provide new information about the dissection of normal bone marrow progenitor cells based upon the simultaneous detection by flow cytometry of ALDH and early hematopoietic antigens, with particular attention to the expression of ALDH on erythroid precursors. To this aim, we used three kinds of approach: i multidimensional analytical flow cytometry, detecting ALDH and early hematopoietic antigens in normal bone marrow; ii fluorescence activated cell sorting of distinct subpopulations of progenitor cells, followed by in vitro induction of erythroid differentiation; iii detection of ALDH+ cellular subsets in bone marrow from pure red cell aplasia patients. Results In normal bone marrow, we identified three populations of cells, namely ALDH+CD34+, ALDH-CD34+ and ALDH+CD34- (median percentages were 0.52, 0.53 and 0.57, respectively. As compared to ALDH-CD34+ cells, ALDH+CD34+ cells expressed the phenotypic profile of primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells, with brighter expression of CD117 and CD133, accompanied by lower display of CD38 and CD45RA. Of interest, ALDH+CD34- population disclosed a straightforward erythroid commitment, on the basis of three orders of evidences. First of all, ALDH+CD34- cells showed a CD71bright, CD105+, CD45- phenotype. Secondly, induction of differentiation experiments evidenced a clear-cut expression of glycophorin A (CD235a. Finally, ALDH+CD34- precursors were not detectable in patients with pure red cell aplasia (PRCA. Conclusion Our study, comparing surface antigen expression of

  16. Isolation of circulating tumor cells using photoacoustic flowmetry and two phase flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brien, Christine M.; Rood, Kyle D.; Gupta, Sagar K.; Mosley, Jeffrey D.; Goldschmidt, Benjamin S.; Sharma, Nikhilesh; Sengupta, Shramik; Viator, John A.

    2011-03-01

    Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, yet current diagnostic methods are inadequately sensitive. Patients must wait until secondary tumors form before malignancy can be diagnosed and treatment prescribed. Detection of cells that have broken off the original tumor and flow through the blood or lymph system can provide data for diagnosing and monitoring cancer. Our group utilizes the photoacoustic effect to detect metastatic melanoma cells, which contain the pigmented granule melanin. As a rapid laser pulse irradiates melanoma, the melanin undergoes thermo-elastic expansion and ultimately creates a photoacoustic wave. Thus, melanoma patient's blood samples can be enriched, leaving the melanoma in a white blood cell (WBC) suspension. Irradiated melanoma cells produce photoacoustic waves, which are detected with a piezoelectric transducer, while the optically transparent WBCs create no signals. Here we report an isolation scheme utilizing two-phase flow to separate detected melanoma from the suspension. By introducing two immiscible fluids through a t-junction into one flow path, the analytes are compartmentalized. Therefore, the slug in which the melanoma cell is located can be identified and extracted from the system. Two-phase immiscible flow is a label free technique, and could be used for other types of pathological analytes.

  17. Annular dispersed flow analysis model by Lagrangian method and liquid film cell method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuura, K.; Kuchinishi, M.; Kataoka, I.; Serizawa, A.

    2003-01-01

    A new annular dispersed flow analysis model was developed. In this model, both droplet behavior and liquid film behavior were simultaneously analyzed. Droplet behavior in turbulent flow was analyzed by the Lagrangian method with refined stochastic model. On the other hand, liquid film behavior was simulated by the boundary condition of moving rough wall and liquid film cell model, which was used to estimate liquid film flow rate. The height of moving rough wall was estimated by disturbance wave height correlation. In each liquid film cell, liquid film flow rate was calculated by considering droplet deposition and entrainment flow rate. Droplet deposition flow rate was calculated by Lagrangian method and entrainment flow rate was calculated by entrainment correlation. For the verification of moving rough wall model, turbulent flow analysis results under the annular flow condition were compared with the experimental data. Agreement between analysis results and experimental results were fairly good. Furthermore annular dispersed flow experiments were analyzed, in order to verify droplet behavior model and the liquid film cell model. The experimental results of radial distribution of droplet mass flux were compared with analysis results. The agreement was good under low liquid flow rate condition and poor under high liquid flow rate condition. But by modifying entrainment rate correlation, the agreement become good even under high liquid flow rate. This means that basic analysis method of droplet and liquid film behavior was right. In future work, verification calculation should be carried out under different experimental condition and entrainment ratio correlation also should be corrected

  18. In-vitro study on haemodiluted blood flow in a sinusoidal microstenosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, M J; Ji, H-S; Lee, S J

    2010-01-01

    In-vitro experiments were carried out to investigate the haemodynamic and haemorheological behaviours of haemodiluted blood flow through a microstenosis using a micro-particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. The micro-PIV system employed in this study consisted of a two-head neodymium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser, a cooled charge-coupled device camera, and a delay generator. To simulate blood flow in a stenosed vascular vessel, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel with a sinusoidal throat of 80 per cent severity was employed. The width and depth of the microchannel were 100 microm and 50 microm, respectively. To compare the flow characteristics in the microstenosis, the same experiments were repeated in a straight microchannel under the same flow conditions. Using a syringe pump, human blood with 5 per cent haematocrit was supplied into the microstenosis channel. The flow characteristics and transport of blood cells through the microstenosis were investigated with various flowrates. The mean velocity fields were nearly symmetric with respect to the channel centreline. In the contraction section, the oncoming blood flow was accelerated rapidly, and the maximum velocity at the throat was almost 4.99 times faster than that of the straight microchannel without stenosis. In the diffusion section, the blood cells show rolling, deformation, twisting, and tumbling motion due to the flow-choking characteristics at the stenotic region. The results from this study will provide useful basic data for comparison with those obtained by clinical researchers.

  19. A study of multi-phase flow through the cathode side of an interdigitated flow field using a multi-fluid model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berning, Torsten; Odgaard, Madeleine; Kær, Søren Knudsen

    2010-01-01

    This work presents a study of multi-phase flow through the cathode side of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell employing an interdigitated flow field plate. A previously published model has been extended in order to account for phase change kinetics, and a comparison between the interdigitated...... flow field design and a conventional straight channel design has been conducted. It is found that the parasitic pressure drop in the interdigitated design is in the range of a few thousand Pa and could be reduced to a few hundred Pa by choosing diffusion media with high in-plane permeability....... In the interdigitated design more product water is carried out of the cell in the vapor phase compared to the straight channel design which indicates that liquid water management might be less problematic. This effect also leads to the finding that in the interdigitated design more waste heat is carried out of the cell...

  20. A numerical study of blood flow using mixture theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Wei-Tao; Aubry, Nadine; Massoudi, Mehrdad; Kim, Jeongho; Antaki, James F

    2014-03-01

    In this paper, we consider the two dimensional flow of blood in a rectangular microfluidic channel. We use Mixture Theory to treat this problem as a two-component system: One component is the red blood cells (RBCs) modeled as a generalized Reiner-Rivlin type fluid, which considers the effects of volume fraction (hematocrit) and influence of shear rate upon viscosity. The other component, plasma, is assumed to behave as a linear viscous fluid. A CFD solver based on OpenFOAM ® was developed and employed to simulate a specific problem, namely blood flow in a two dimensional micro-channel, is studied. Finally to better understand this two-component flow system and the effects of the different parameters, the equations are made dimensionless and a parametric study is performed.

  1. Flow-cytometric measurement of CD4-8- T cells bearing T-cell receptor αβ chains, 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kusunoki, Yoichiro; Hirai, Yuko; Kyoizumi, Seishi; Akiyama, Mitoshi.

    1992-09-01

    In this study we detected rare, possibly abnormal, T cells bearing CD3 surface antigen and T-cell receptor (TCR) αβ chains but lacking both CD4 and CD8 antigens (viz., TCRαβ + CD4 - 8 - cells, as determined by flow cytometry). The TCRαβ + CD4 - 8 - T cells were detected at a mean frequency of 0.63 ± 0.35 % (mean ± standard deviation) in peripheral blood TCRαβ + cells of 119 normal persons. Two unusual cases besides the 119 normal persons showed extremely elevated frequencies of TCRαβ + CD4 - 8 - T cells, viz., approximately 5 % to 10 % and 14 % to 19 % in whole TCRαβ + cells. Both individuals were males who were otherwise physiologically quite normal with no history of severe illness, and these high frequencies were also observed in blood samples collected 2 or 8 years prior to the current measurements. The TCRαβ + CD4 - 8 - T cells of the two individuals were found to express mature T-cell markers such as CD2,3, and 5 antigens, as well as natural killer (NK) cell markers, viz., CD11b, 16, 56, and 57 antigens, when peripheral blood lymphocytes were subjected to three-color flow cytometry. Lectin-dependent or redirected antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicities were observed for both freshly sorted TCRαβ + CD4 - 8 - cells and in vitro established clones. Nevertheless, NK-like activity was not detected. Further, Southern blot analysis of TCRβ and γ genes revealed identical rearrangement patterns for all the TCRαβ + CD4 - 8 - clones established in vitro. These results suggest that the TCRαβ + CD4 - 8 - T cells from these two mean exhibit unique characteristics and proliferate clonally in vivo. (author)

  2. Study of operational parameters on the performance of micro PEMFCs with different flow fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsieh, S.-S.; Yang, S.-H.; Kuo, J.-K.; Huang, C.-F.; Tsai, H.-H.

    2006-01-01

    The effects of different operating parameters on micro PEMFC performances were experimentally studied for three different flow field configurations (interdigitated, mesh, and serpentine). Experiments with different cell operating temperatures and different backpressures on the H 2 flow channels, as well as various combinations of these parameters, have been conducted for three different flow geometries. The micro PEMFCs were designed and fabricated inhouse through a deep UV lithography technique and the SU-8 photoresist was used as microstructure material for the fuel cell flow field plates. Results are presented in the form of polarization VI curves and PI curves under different operating conditions. The possible transport mechanisms associated with the parametric effects were discussed. In addition, it was found that among the three flow patterns considered, significant improvements can be reached with a specified flow geometry

  3. Numerical investigation of flow field configuration and contact resistance for PEM fuel cell performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akbari, Mohammad Hadi; Rismanchi, Behzad [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71348-51154 (Iran)

    2008-08-15

    A steady-state three-dimensional non-isothermal computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is presented. Conservation of mass, momentum, species, energy, and charge, as well as electrochemical kinetics are considered. In this model, the effect of interfacial contact resistance is also included. The numerical solution is based on a finite-volume method. In this study the effects of flow channel dimensions on the cell performance are investigated. Simulation results indicate that increasing the channel width will improve the limiting current density. However, it is observed that an optimum shoulder size of the flow channels exists for which the cell performance is the highest. Polarization curves are obtained for different operating conditions which, in general, compare favorably with the corresponding experimental data. Such a CFD model can be used as a tool in the development and optimization of PEM fuel cells. (author)

  4. The effect of hypnosis on pain and peripheral blood flow in sickle-cell disease: a pilot study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatt, Ravi R; Martin, Sarah R; Evans, Subhadra; Lung, Kirsten; Coates, Thomas D; Zeltzer, Lonnie K; Tsao, Jennie C

    2017-01-01

    Background Vaso-occlusive pain crises (VOCs) are the “hallmark” of sickle-cell disease (SCD) and can lead to sympathetic nervous system dysfunction. Increased sympathetic nervous system activation during VOCs and/or pain can result in vasoconstriction, which may increase the risk for subsequent VOCs and pain. Hypnosis is a neuromodulatory intervention that may attenuate vascular and pain responsiveness. Due to the lack of laboratory-controlled pain studies in patients with SCD and healthy controls, the specific effects of hypnosis on acute pain-associated vascular responses are unknown. The current study assessed the effects of hypnosis on peripheral blood flow, pain threshold, tolerance, and intensity in adults with and without SCD. Subjects and methods Fourteen patients with SCD and 14 healthy controls were included. Participants underwent three laboratory pain tasks before and during a 30-minute hypnosis session. Peripheral blood flow, pain threshold, tolerance, and intensity before and during hypnosis were examined. Results A single 30-minute hypnosis session decreased pain intensity by a moderate amount in patients with SCD. Pain threshold and tolerance increased following hypnosis in the control group, but not in patients with SCD. Patients with SCD exhibited lower baseline peripheral blood flow and a greater increase in blood flow following hypnosis than controls. Conclusion Given that peripheral vasoconstriction plays a role in the development of VOC, current findings provide support for further laboratory and clinical investigations of the effects of cognitive–behavioral neuromodulatory interventions on pain responses and peripheral vascular flow in patients with SCD. Current results suggest that hypnosis may increase peripheral vasodilation during both the anticipation and experience of pain in patients with SCD. These findings indicate a need for further examination of the effects of hypnosis on pain and vascular responses utilizing a randomized

  5. Lattice Boltzmann modeling of transport phenomena in fuel cells and flow batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Ao; Shyy, Wei; Zhao, Tianshou

    2017-06-01

    Fuel cells and flow batteries are promising technologies to address climate change and air pollution problems. An understanding of the complex multiscale and multiphysics transport phenomena occurring in these electrochemical systems requires powerful numerical tools. Over the past decades, the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method has attracted broad interest in the computational fluid dynamics and the numerical heat transfer communities, primarily due to its kinetic nature making it appropriate for modeling complex multiphase transport phenomena. More importantly, the LB method fits well with parallel computing due to its locality feature, which is required for large-scale engineering applications. In this article, we review the LB method for gas-liquid two-phase flows, coupled fluid flow and mass transport in porous media, and particulate flows. Examples of applications are provided in fuel cells and flow batteries. Further developments of the LB method are also outlined.

  6. Effects of Flowing RBCs on Adhesion of a Circulating Tumor Cell in Microvessels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, L.L.; Liu, Y.; Chen, S.; Fu, B.M.

    2016-01-01

    Adhesion of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to the microvessel wall largely depends on the blood hydrodynamic conditions, one of which is the blood viscosity. Since blood is a non-Newtonian fluid, whose viscosity increases with hematocrit, in the microvessels at low shear rate. In this study, the effects of hematocrit, vessel size, flow rate and red blood cells (RBCs) aggregation on adhesion of a CTC in the microvessels were numerically investigated using dissipative particle dynamics. The membrane of cells was represented by a spring-based network connected by elastic springs to characterize its deformation. RBCs aggregation was modelled by a Morse potential function based on depletion-mediated assumption and the adhesion of the CTC to the vessel wall was achieved by the interactions between receptors and ligands at the CTC and those at the endothelial cells forming the vessel wall. The results demonstrated that in the microvessel of 15μm diameter, the CTC has an increasing probability of adhesion with the hematocrit due to a growing wall-directed force, resulting in a larger number of receptor-ligand bonds formed on the cell surface. However, with the increase in microvessel size, an enhanced lift force at higher hematocrit detaches the initial adherent CTC quickly. If the microvessel is comparable to the CTC in diameter, CTC adhesion is independent of Hct. In addition, the velocity of CTC is larger than the average blood flow velocity in smaller microvessels and the relative velocity of CTC decreases with the increase in microvessel size. An increased blood flow resistance in the presence of CTC was also found. Moreover, it was found that the large deformation induced by high flow rate and the presence of aggregation promote the adhesion of CTC. PMID:27738841

  7. Counter-flow elutriation of clinical peripheral blood mononuclear cell concentrates for the production of dendritic and T cell therapies

    OpenAIRE

    Stroncek, David F; Fellowes, Vicki; Pham, Chauha; Khuu, Hanh; Fowler, Daniel H; Wood, Lauren V; Sabatino, Marianna

    2014-01-01

    Introduction Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) concentrates collected by apheresis are frequently used as starting material for cellular therapies, but the cell of interest must often be isolated prior to initiating manufacturing. Study design and methods The results of enriching 59 clinical PBMC concentrates for monocytes or lymphocytes from patients with solid tumors or multiple myeloma using a commercial closed system semi-automated counter-flow elutriation instrument (Elutra, Teru...

  8. Phospho-specific flow cytometry identifies aberrant signaling in indolent B-cell lymphoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Blix Egil S

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Knowledge about signaling pathways in malignant cells may provide prognostic and diagnostic information in addition to identify potential molecular targets for therapy. B-cell receptor (BCR and co-receptor CD40 signaling is essential for normal B cells, and there is increasing evidence that signaling via BCR and CD40 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of B-cell lymphoma. The aim of this study was to investigate basal and induced signaling in lymphoma B cells and infiltrating T cells in single-cell suspensions of biopsies from small cell lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia (SLL/CLL and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL patients. Methods Samples from untreated SLL/CLL and MZL patients were examined for basal and activation induced signaling by phospho-specific flow cytometry. A panel of 9 stimulation conditions targeting B and T cells, including crosslinking of the B cell receptor (BCR, CD40 ligand and interleukins in combination with 12 matching phospho-protein readouts was used to study signaling. Results Malignant B cells from SLL/CLL patients had higher basal levels of phosphorylated (p-SFKs, p-PLCγ, p-ERK, p-p38, p-p65 (NF-κB, p-STAT5 and p-STAT6, compared to healthy donor B cells. In contrast, anti-BCR induced signaling was highly impaired in SLL/CLL and MZL B cells as determined by low p-SFK, p-SYK and p-PLCγ levels. Impaired anti-BCR-induced p-PLCγ was associated with reduced surface expression of IgM and CD79b. Similarly, CD40L-induced p-ERK and p-p38 were also significantly reduced in lymphoma B cells, whereas p-p65 (NF-κB was equal to that of normal B cells. In contrast, IL-2, IL-7 and IL-15 induced p-STAT5 in tumor-infiltrating T cells were not different from normal T cells. Conclusions BCR signaling and CD40L-induced p-p38 was suppressed in malignant B cells from SLL/CLL and MZL patients. Single-cell phospho-specific flow cytometry for detection of basal as well as activation

  9. Getting into the flow: Red cells go on a roll, two-component vesicles swing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viallat, Annie; Dupire, Jules; Khelloufi, Kamel; Al Halifa, Al Hair; Adhesion and Inflammation Team

    2013-11-01

    Red blood cells are soft capsules. Under shear flow, their two known motions were ``tumbling'' and ``swinging-tank treading,'' depending on cell mechanics and flow conditions. We reveal new wobbling regimes, among which the ``rolling'' regime, where red cells move as wheels on a road. We show, by coupling two video-microscopy approaches providing multi-directional cell pictures that the orientation of cells flipping into the flow is determined by the shear rate. Rolling permits to avoid energetically costly cellular deformations and is a true signature of the cytoskeleton elasticity. We highlight two transient dynamics: an intermittent regime during the ``tank-treading-to-flipping'' transition and a Frisbee-like ``spinning'' regime during the ``rolling-to-tank-treading'' transition. We find that the biconcave red cell shape is very stable under moderate shear stresses, and we interpret this result in terms of shape memory and elastic buckling. Finally, we generate lipid vesicles with a shape memory by using two lipids with different bending rigidities. These vesicles swing in shear flow similarly to red blood cells but their non-axisymmetric stress-free shape changes the periodicity of the motion and induces specific features.

  10. Feasibility study of stain-free classification of cell apoptosis based on diffraction imaging flow cytometry and supervised machine learning techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Jingwen; Feng, Tong; Yang, Chengwen; Wang, Wei; Sa, Yu; Feng, Yuanming

    2018-06-01

    This study was to explore the feasibility of prediction and classification of cells in different stages of apoptosis with a stain-free method based on diffraction images and supervised machine learning. Apoptosis was induced in human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells by cis-platinum (DDP). A newly developed technique of polarization diffraction imaging flow cytometry (p-DIFC) was performed to acquire diffraction images of the cells in three different statuses (viable, early apoptotic and late apoptotic/necrotic) after cell separation through fluorescence activated cell sorting with Annexin V-PE and SYTOX® Green double staining. The texture features of the diffraction images were extracted with in-house software based on the Gray-level co-occurrence matrix algorithm to generate datasets for cell classification with supervised machine learning method. Therefore, this new method has been verified in hydrogen peroxide induced apoptosis model of HL-60. Results show that accuracy of higher than 90% was achieved respectively in independent test datasets from each cell type based on logistic regression with ridge estimators, which indicated that p-DIFC system has a great potential in predicting and classifying cells in different stages of apoptosis.

  11. Determinants of resting cerebral blood flow in sickle cell disease

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bush, Adam M.; Borzage, Matthew T.; Choi, Soyoung; Václavů, Lena; Tamrazi, Benita; Nederveen, Aart J.; Coates, Thomas D.; Wood, John C.

    2016-01-01

    Stroke is common in children with sickle cell disease and results from an imbalance in oxygen supply and demand. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is increased in patients with sickle cell disease to compensate for their anemia, but adequacy of their oxygen delivery has not been systematically demonstrated.

  12. Oscillatory fluid flow elicits changes in morphology, cytoskeleton and integrin-associated molecules in MLO-Y4 cells, but not in MC3T3-E1 cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huiyun Xu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Interstitial fluid flow stress is one of the most important mechanical stimulations of bone cells under physiological conditions. Osteocytes and osteoblasts act as primary mechanosensors within bones, and in vitro are able to respond to fluid shear stress, both morphologically and functionally. However, there is little information about the response of integrin-associated molecules using both osteoblasts and osteocytes. In this study, we investigated the changes in response to 2 hours of oscillatory fluid flow stress in the MLO-Y4 osteocyte-like cell line and the MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cell line. MLO-Y4 cells exhibited a significant increase in the expression of integrin-associated molecules, including OPN, CD44, vinculin and integrin avp3. However, there was no or limited increase observed in MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells. Cell area and fiber stress formation were also markedly promoted by fluid flow only in MLO-Y4 cells. But the numbers of processes per cell remain unaffected in both cell lines.

  13. Flow-through electroporation based on constant voltage for large-volume transfection of cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geng, Tao; Zhan, Yihong; Wang, Hsiang-Yu; Witting, Scott R; Cornetta, Kenneth G; Lu, Chang

    2010-05-21

    Genetic modification of cells is a critical step involved in many cell therapy and gene therapy protocols. In these applications, cell samples of large volume (10(8)-10(9)cells) are often processed for transfection. This poses new challenges for current transfection methods and practices. Here we present a novel flow-through electroporation method for delivery of genes into cells at high flow rates (up to approximately 20 mL/min) based on disposable microfluidic chips, a syringe pump, and a low-cost direct current (DC) power supply that provides a constant voltage. By eliminating pulse generators used in conventional electroporation, we dramatically lowered the cost of the apparatus and improved the stability and consistency of the electroporation field for long-time operation. We tested the delivery of pEFGP-C1 plasmids encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells in the devices of various dimensions and geometries. Cells were mixed with plasmids and then flowed through a fluidic channel continuously while a constant voltage was established across the device. Together with the applied voltage, the geometry and dimensions of the fluidic channel determined the electrical parameters of the electroporation. With the optimal design, approximately 75% of the viable CHO cells were transfected after the procedure. We also generalize the guidelines for scaling up these flow-through electroporation devices. We envision that this technique will serve as a generic and low-cost tool for a variety of clinical applications requiring large volume of transfected cells. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Combining Cell Type-Restricted Adenoviral Targeting with Immunostaining and Flow Cytometry to Identify Cells-of-Origin of Lung Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Best, Sarah A; Kersbergen, Ariena; Asselin-Labat, Marie-Liesse; Sutherland, Kate D

    2018-01-01

    Lung cancers display considerable intertumoral heterogeneity, leading to the classification of distinct tumor subtypes. Our understanding of the genetic aberrations that underlie tumor subtypes has been greatly enhanced by recent genomic sequencing studies and state-of-the-art gene targeting technologies, highlighting evidence that distinct lung cancer subtypes may be derived from different "cells-of-origin". Here, we describe the intra-tracheal delivery of cell type-restricted Ad5-Cre viruses into the lungs of adult mice, combined with immunohistochemical and flow cytometry strategies for the detection of lung cancer-initiating cells in vivo.

  15. Bedrock refractive-flow cells: A passive treatment analog to funnel-and-gate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dick, V.; Edwards, D.

    1997-01-01

    Funnel-and-gate technology provides a mechanism to passively treat groundwater contaminant plumes, but depends on placement of a sufficient barrier (open-quotes funnelclose quotes) in the plume flow path to channel the plume to a pass-through treatment zone (open-quotes gateclose quotes). Conventional barrier technologies limit funnel-and-gate deployment to unconsolidated overburden applications. A method has been developed which allows similar passive treatment to be applied to bedrock plumes. Rather than use barriers as the funnel, the method uses engineered bedrock zones, installed via precision blasting or other means, to refract groundwater flow along a preferred path to treatment (gate). The method requires orienting the refractive cell based on the Tangent Law and extending refractive cell limbs down gradient of the gate to disperse head and control flow. A typical Refractive-Flow cell may be open-quotes Yclose quotesshaped, with each limb 3-10 ft [1-3 m] wide and several tens to a few hundred feet [10 - 100 m] in length. Treatment takes place at the center of the X. MODFLOW modeling has been used to successfully simulate desired flow. Engineered blasting has been used at full scale application to create bedrock rubble zones for active collection/flow control for several years. The method provides a previously unavailable method to passively treat contaminated groundwater in bedrock at low cost

  16. A Comparison of Flow-Through Versus Non-Flow-Through Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Systems for NASA's Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoberecht, Mark A.

    2010-01-01

    As part of the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) under the auspices of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), NASA is developing both primary fuel cell power systems and regenerative fuel cell (RFC) energy storage systems within the fuel cell portion of the Energy Storage Project. This effort is being led by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in partnership with the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and industrial partners. The development goals are to improve fuel cell and electrolysis stack electrical performance, reduce system mass, volume, and parasitic power requirements, and increase system life and reliability. A major focus of this effort has been the parallel development of both flow-through and non-flow-through proton exchange membrane (PEM) primary fuel cell power systems. The plan has been, at the appropriate time, to select a single primary fuel cell technology for eventual flight hardware development. Ideally, that appropriate time would occur after both technologies have achieved a technology readiness level (TRL) of six, which represents an engineering model fidelity PEM fuel cell system being successfully tested in a relevant environment. Budget constraints in fiscal year 2009 and beyond have prevented NASA from continuing to pursue the parallel development of both primary fuel cell options. Because very limited data exists for either system, a toplevel, qualitative assessment based on engineering judgement was performed expeditiously to provide guidance for a selection. At that time, the non-flow-through technology was selected for continued development because of potentially major advantages in terms of weight, volume, parasitic power, reliability, and life. This author believes that the advantages are significant enough, and the potential benefits great enough, to offset the higher state of technology readiness of flow-through technology. This paper

  17. Flow cytometric analysis of expression of interleukin-2 receptor beta chain (p70-75) on various leukemic cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoshino, S.; Oshimi, K.; Tsudo, M.; Miyasaka, M.; Teramura, M.; Masuda, M.; Motoji, T.; Mizoguchi, H.

    1990-01-01

    We analyzed the expression of the interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) beta chain (p70-75) on various leukemic cells from 44 patients by flow cytometric analysis using the IL-2R beta chain-specific monoclonal antibody, designated Mik-beta 1. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated the expression of the IL-2R beta chain on granular lymphocytes (GLs) from all eight patients with granular lymphocyte proliferative disorders (GLPDs), on adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) cells from all three patients with ATL, and on T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells from one of three patients with T-ALL. Although GLs from all the GLPD patients expressed the IL-2R beta chain alone and not the IL-2R alpha chain (Tac-antigen: p55), ATL and T-ALL cells expressing the beta chain coexpressed the alpha chain. In two of seven patients with common ALL (cALL) and in both patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the leukemic cells expressed the alpha chain alone. Neither the alpha chain nor the beta chain was expressed on leukemic cells from the remaining 28 patients, including all 18 patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, five of seven patients with cALL, all three patients with multiple myeloma, and two of three patients with T-ALL. These results indicate that three different forms of IL-2R chain expression exist on leukemic cells: the alpha chain alone; the beta chain alone; and both the alpha and beta chains. To examine whether the results obtained by flow cytometric analysis actually reflect functional aspects of the expressed IL-2Rs, we studied the specific binding of 125I-labeled IL-2 (125I-IL-2) to leukemic cells in 18 of the 44 patients. In addition, we performed 125I-IL-2 crosslinking studies in seven patients. The results of IL-2R expression of both 125I-IL-2 binding assay and crosslinking studies were in agreement with those obtained by flow cytometric analysis

  18. A zero-flow microfluidics for long-term cell culture and detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shengbo Sang

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available A zero-flow microfluidic design is proposed in this paper, which can be used for long-term cell culture and detection, especially for a lab-on-chip integrated with a biosensor. It consists of two parts: a main microchannel; and a circle microchamber. The Finite Element Method (FEM was employed to predict the fluid transport properties for a minimum fluid flow disturbance. Some commonly used microfluidic structures were also analysed systematically to prove the designed structure. Then the designed microfluidics was fabricated. Based on the simulations and experiments, this design provides a continuous flow environment, with a relatively stable and low shear stress atmosphere, similar to a zero-flow environment. Furthermore, the nutrients maintaining cells’ normal growth can be taken into the chamber through the diffusion effect. It also proves that the microfluidics can realize long-term cell culture and detection. The application of the structure in the field of biological microelectromechenical systems (BioMEMS will provide a research foundation for microfluidic technology.

  19. A microfluidic-structured flow field for passive direct methanol fuel cells operating with highly concentrated fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Q X; Zhao, T S; Chen, R; Yang, W W

    2010-01-01

    Conventional direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have to operate with excessively diluted methanol solutions to limit methanol crossover and its detrimental consequences. Operation with such diluted methanol solutions not only results in a significant penalty in the specific energy of the power pack, limiting the runtime of this type of fuel cell, but also lowers the cell performance and operating stability. In this paper, a microfluidic-structured anode flow field for passive DMFCs with neither liquid pumps nor gas compressors/blowers is developed. This flow field consists of plural micro flow passages. Taking advantage of the liquid methanol and gas CO 2 two-phase counter flow, the unique fluidic structure enables the formation of a liquid–gas meniscus in each flow passage. The evaporation from the small meniscus in each flow passage can lead to an extremely large interfacial mass-transfer resistance, creating a bottleneck of methanol delivery to the anode CL. The fuel cell tests show that the innovative flow field allows passive DMFCs to achieve good cell performance with a methanol concentration as high as 18.0 M, increasing the specific energy of the DMFC system by about five times compared with conventional designs.

  20. Investigation and visualization of liquid–liquid flow in a vertically mounted Hele-Shaw cell: flow regimes, velocity and shape of droplets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shad, S; Gates, I D; Maini, B B

    2009-01-01

    The motion and shape of a liquid drop flowing within a continuous, conveying liquid phase in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell were investigated experimentally. The continuous phase was more viscous and wetted the bounding walls of the Hele-Shaw cell. The gap between the Hele-Shaw plates was set equal to 0.0226 cm. Four different flow regimes were observed: (a) small-droplet flow, (b) elongated-droplet flow, (c) churn flow and (d) channel flow. At low capillary number, that is, when capillary forces are larger than viscous forces, the droplet shape was irregular and changed with time and distance, and it moved with lower velocity than that of the conveying phase. At higher capillary number, several different shapes of stabilized elongated and flattened drops were observed. In contrast to gas–liquid systems, the velocities of droplets are higher than that of conveying liquid. New correlations derived from dimensionless analysis and fitted to the experimental data were generated to predict the elongated-drop velocity and aspect ratio

  1. Investigation and visualization of liquid-liquid flow in a vertically mounted Hele-Shaw cell: flow regimes, velocity and shape of droplets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shad, S.; Gates, I. D.; Maini, B. B.

    2009-11-01

    The motion and shape of a liquid drop flowing within a continuous, conveying liquid phase in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell were investigated experimentally. The continuous phase was more viscous and wetted the bounding walls of the Hele-Shaw cell. The gap between the Hele-Shaw plates was set equal to 0.0226 cm. Four different flow regimes were observed: (a) small-droplet flow, (b) elongated-droplet flow, (c) churn flow and (d) channel flow. At low capillary number, that is, when capillary forces are larger than viscous forces, the droplet shape was irregular and changed with time and distance, and it moved with lower velocity than that of the conveying phase. At higher capillary number, several different shapes of stabilized elongated and flattened drops were observed. In contrast to gas-liquid systems, the velocities of droplets are higher than that of conveying liquid. New correlations derived from dimensionless analysis and fitted to the experimental data were generated to predict the elongated-drop velocity and aspect ratio.

  2. Microgravity and bone cell mechanosensitivity: FLOW experiment during the DELTA mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacabac, Rommel G.; Van Loon, Jack J. W. A.; de Blieck-Hogervorst, Jolanda M. A.; Semeins, Cor M.; Zandieh-Doulabi, Behrouz; Helder, Marco N.; Smit, Theo H.; Klein-Nulend, Jenneke

    2007-09-01

    The catabolic effects of microgravity on mineral metabolism in bone organ cultures might be explained as resulting from an exceptional form of disuse. It is possible that the mechanosensitivity of bone cells is altered under near weightlessness conditions, which likely contributes to disturbed bone metabolism observed in astronauts. In the experiment "FLOW", we tested whether the production of early signaling molecules that are involved in the mechanical load-induced osteogenic response by bone cells is changed under microgravity conditions. FLOW was one of the Biological experiment entries to the Dutch Soyuz Mission "DELTA" (Dutch Expedition for Life Science, Technology and Atmospheric Research). FLOW was flown by the Soyuz craft, launched on April 19, 2004, on its way to the International Space Station. Primary osteocytes, osteoblasts, and periosteal fibroblasts were incubated in plunger boxes, developed by Centre for Concepts in Mechatronics, using plunger activation events for single pulse fluid shear stress stimulations. Due to unforeseen hardware complications, results from in-flight cultures are considered lost. Ground control experiments showed an accumulative increase of NO in medium for osteocytes (as well as for osteoblasts and periosteal fibroblasts). Data from the online-NO sensor showed that the NO produced in medium by osteocytes increased sharply after pulse shear stress stimulations. COX-2 mRNA expression revealed high levels in osteoblasts compared to the other cell types tested. In conclusion, preparations for the FLOW experiment and preliminary ground results indicate that the FLOW setup is viable for a future flight opportunity.

  3. Visualization study of flow in axial flow inducer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lakshminarayana, B.

    1972-01-01

    A visualization study of the flow through a three ft dia model of a four bladed inducer, which is operated in air at a flow coefficient of 0.065, is reported in this paper. The flow near the blade surfaces, inside the rotating passages, downstream and upstream of the inducer is visualized by means of smoke, tufts, ammonia filament, and lampblack techniques. Flow is found to be highly three dimensional, with appreciable radial velocity throughout the entire passage. The secondary flows observed near the hub and annulus walls agree with qualitative predictions obtained from the inviscid secondary flow theory.

  4. Performance of the Subsurface Flow Wetland in Batch Flow for Municipal Wastewater Treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abolfazle Rahmani sani

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Subsurface flow wetlands are one of the natural treatment methods used for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment that are economical in terms of energy consumption and cost-effectiveness. Much research has been conducted on wetland operation with continuous flow but not enough information is available on batch flow. This study investigates wetland efficiency in batch flow. For the purposes of this research, two pretreatment units of the anaerobic pond type with digestion pits and two subsurface flow wetlands with a 2-day detention time were built on the pilot scale. The cells were charged with sand of 5 mm effective size, uniformity coefficient of 1.5, and a porosity of 35%. One wetland cell and one pretreatment unit were used as control. The municipal wastewater selected to be monitored for the one-year study period had a flow rate of 26 m3/day and average BOD5 of 250mg/l, TSS of 320mg/l, TKN of 35mg/l, TP of 12mg/l and TC of 2×108 MPN/100ml from Sabzevar Wastewater Treatment Plant. The average removal efficiencies of BOD5,TSS,TKN,TP, and TC in the continuous flow for the combined control pretreatment and wetland cell were 77.2%, 92%, 91%, 89%, 96.5% while the same values for the batch flow for the combined experimental pretreatment and wetland cell were 92%, 97%, 97.5%, 97%, and 99.75%, respectively. The removal efficiency in the subsurface flow wetlands in the batch flow was higher than that of the continuous flow. Thus, for wastewaters with a high pollution level, the batch flow can be used in cell operation in cases where there is not enough land for spreading the wetland cell.

  5. Microfluidic device to study cell transmigration under physiological shear stress conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kwasny, Dorota; Kiilerich-Pedersen, Katrine; Moresco, Jacob Lange

    2011-01-01

    The development of new drug therapies relies on studies of cell transmigration in in vitro systems. Migration has traditionally been studied using two methods, the Boyden chamber and a shear flow chamber assay. Though, commonly applied in cell transmigration studies, they are far from imitating a...... of the developed microfluidic migration assay. The presented device is inexpensive, easy to fabricate and disposable, having a potential to be applied in basic research as well as in the drug development process.......The development of new drug therapies relies on studies of cell transmigration in in vitro systems. Migration has traditionally been studied using two methods, the Boyden chamber and a shear flow chamber assay. Though, commonly applied in cell transmigration studies, they are far from imitating...

  6. Using a Microfluidic-Microelectric Device to Directly Separate Serum/Blood Cells from a Continuous Whole Bloodstream Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ming-Wen; Jeng, Kuo-Shyang; Yu, Ming-Che; Su, Jui-Chih

    2012-03-01

    To make the rapid separation of serum/blood cells possible in a whole bloodstream flow without centrifugation and Pasteur pipette suction, the first step is to use a microchannel to transport the whole bloodstream into a microdevice. Subsequently, the resulting serum/blood cell is separated from the whole bloodstream by applying other technologies. Creating the serum makes this subsequent separation possible. To perform the actual separation, a microchannel with multiple symmetric curvilinear microelectrodes has been designed on a glass substrate and fabricated with micro-electromechanical system technology. The blood cells can be observed clearly by black-field microscopy imaging. A local dielectrophoretic (DEP) force, obtained from nonuniform electric fields, was used for manipulating and separating the blood cells from a continuous whole bloodstream. The experimental studies show that the blood cells incur a local dielectrophoretic field when they are suspended in a continuous flow (v = 0.02-0.1 cm/s) and exposed to AC fields at a frequency of 200 kHz. Using this device, the symmetric curvilinear microelectrodes provide a local dielectrophoretic field that is sufficiently strong for separating nearby blood cells and purifying the serum in a continuous whole bloodstream flow.

  7. Endothelial cell capture of heparin-binding growth factors under flow.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bing Zhao

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Circulation is an important delivery method for both natural and synthetic molecules, but microenvironment interactions, regulated by endothelial cells and critical to the molecule's fate, are difficult to interpret using traditional approaches. In this work, we analyzed and predicted growth factor capture under flow using computer modeling and a three-dimensional experimental approach that includes pertinent circulation characteristics such as pulsatile flow, competing binding interactions, and limited bioavailability. An understanding of the controlling features of this process was desired. The experimental module consisted of a bioreactor with synthetic endothelial-lined hollow fibers under flow. The physical design of the system was incorporated into the model parameters. The heparin-binding growth factor fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2 was used for both the experiments and simulations. Our computational model was composed of three parts: (1 media flow equations, (2 mass transport equations and (3 cell surface reaction equations. The model is based on the flow and reactions within a single hollow fiber and was scaled linearly by the total number of fibers for comparison with experimental results. Our model predicted, and experiments confirmed, that removal of heparan sulfate (HS from the system would result in a dramatic loss of binding by heparin-binding proteins, but not by proteins that do not bind heparin. The model further predicted a significant loss of bound protein at flow rates only slightly higher than average capillary flow rates, corroborated experimentally, suggesting that the probability of capture in a single pass at high flow rates is extremely low. Several other key parameters were investigated with the coupling between receptors and proteoglycans shown to have a critical impact on successful capture. The combined system offers opportunities to examine circulation capture in a straightforward quantitative manner that

  8. A flow-cytometric NK-cytotoxicity assay adapted for use in rat repeated dose toxicity studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marcusson-Staahl, Maritha; Cederbrant, Karin

    2003-01-01

    A recent regulatory document for immunotoxicity testing of new pharmaceutical drugs includes cytotoxic natural killer (NK)-cell function as a required parameter in repeated dose toxicity studies. The classical 51 Cr-release assay is the conventional test for cytotoxicity testing but several drawbacks with this assay has increased the demand for new reliable test systems. Here, we describe the optimisation of a flow-cytometric cytotoxicity assay especially adapted for regulatory rat studies in drug development. The test principle is based on target cell labelling with 5-(6)-carboxy-fluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) and subsequent DNA-labelling with propidium iodide (PI) for identification of target cells with compromised cell membranes. The results are expressed as percentage of dead targets on a cell-to-cell basis. The final format of the assay includes 0.5 ml peripheral blood, 1.25x10 5 effector cells per sample, and collection of 500 target events by flow-cytometry. When NKR-P1+ cells were removed from the effector cell population by magnetic depletion the relative proportion decreased from 6 to 0.08%. The corresponding cytotoxic activity decreased from 68 to 8%. Also, the cytotoxic activity showed a significant and positive correlation with the proportion of NK-cells present in the effector cell suspension. Thus, the cytotoxicity measured is almost exclusively exerted by NK-cells. The current flow-cytometric test benefits from using peripheral blood as a source for effector cells since it will not conflict with the use of spleen for histopathological investigations in repeated dose toxicity studies. Additionally, since only a minimal number of effector cells are required per sample repeated testing of the same animal is enabled

  9. The Co-axial Flow of Injectable Solid Hydrogels with Encapsulated Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Brandon; Pochan, Darrin; Sathaye, Sameer

    2013-03-01

    Hydrogels are quickly becoming an important biomaterial that can be used for the safe, localized injection of cancer drugs, the injection of stem cells into areas of interest or other biological applications. Our peptides can be self-assembled in a syringe where they form a gel, sheared by injection and, once in the body, immediately reform a localized pocket of stiff gel. My project has been designed around looking at the possibility of having a co-axial strand, in which one gel can surround another. This co-axial flow can be used to change the physical properties of our gel during injection, such as stiffening our gel using hyaluronic acid or encapsulating cells in the gel and surrounding the gel with growth medium or other biological factors. Rheology on hyaluron stiffened gels and cells encapsulated in gels was performed for comparison to the results from co-axial flow. Confocal microscopy was used to examine the coaxial gels after flow and to determine how the co-axial nature of the gels is affected by the concentration of peptide.

  10. Embedded Disposable Functionalized Electrochemical Biosensor with a 3D-Printed Flow Cell for Detection of Hepatic Oval Cells (HOCs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samar Damiati

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Hepatic oval cells (HOCs are considered the progeny of the intrahepatic stem cells that are found in a small population in the liver after hepatocyte proliferation is inhibited. Due to their small number, isolation and capture of these cells constitute a challenging task for immunosensor technology. This work describes the development of a 3D-printed continuous flow system and exploits disposable screen-printed electrodes for the rapid detection of HOCs that over-express the OV6 marker on their membrane. Multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT electrodes have a chitosan film that serves as a scaffold for the immobilization of oval cell marker antibodies (anti-OV6-Ab, which enhance the sensitivity of the biomarker and makes the designed sensor specific for oval cells. The developed sensor can be easily embedded into the 3D-printed flow cell to allow cells to be exposed continuously to the functionalized surface. The continuous flow is intended to increase capture of most of the target cells in the specimen. Contact angle measurements were performed to characterize the nature and quality of the modified sensor surface, and electrochemical measurements (cyclic voltammetry (CV and square wave voltammetry (SWV were performed to confirm the efficiency and selectivity of the fabricated sensor to detect HOCs. The proposed method is valuable for capturing rare cells and could provide an effective tool for cancer diagnosis and detection.

  11. Embedded Disposable Functionalized Electrochemical Biosensor with a 3D-Printed Flow Cell for Detection of Hepatic Oval Cells (HOCs)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peacock, Martin; Leonhardt, Stefan; Damiati, Laila; Baghdadi, Mohammed A.; Schuster, Bernhard

    2018-01-01

    Hepatic oval cells (HOCs) are considered the progeny of the intrahepatic stem cells that are found in a small population in the liver after hepatocyte proliferation is inhibited. Due to their small number, isolation and capture of these cells constitute a challenging task for immunosensor technology. This work describes the development of a 3D-printed continuous flow system and exploits disposable screen-printed electrodes for the rapid detection of HOCs that over-express the OV6 marker on their membrane. Multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) electrodes have a chitosan film that serves as a scaffold for the immobilization of oval cell marker antibodies (anti-OV6-Ab), which enhance the sensitivity of the biomarker and makes the designed sensor specific for oval cells. The developed sensor can be easily embedded into the 3D-printed flow cell to allow cells to be exposed continuously to the functionalized surface. The continuous flow is intended to increase capture of most of the target cells in the specimen. Contact angle measurements were performed to characterize the nature and quality of the modified sensor surface, and electrochemical measurements (cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV)) were performed to confirm the efficiency and selectivity of the fabricated sensor to detect HOCs. The proposed method is valuable for capturing rare cells and could provide an effective tool for cancer diagnosis and detection. PMID:29443890

  12. Embedded Disposable Functionalized Electrochemical Biosensor with a 3D-Printed Flow Cell for Detection of Hepatic Oval Cells (HOCs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damiati, Samar; Peacock, Martin; Leonhardt, Stefan; Damiati, Laila; Baghdadi, Mohammed A; Becker, Holger; Kodzius, Rimantas; Schuster, Bernhard

    2018-02-14

    Hepatic oval cells (HOCs) are considered the progeny of the intrahepatic stem cells that are found in a small population in the liver after hepatocyte proliferation is inhibited. Due to their small number, isolation and capture of these cells constitute a challenging task for immunosensor technology. This work describes the development of a 3D-printed continuous flow system and exploits disposable screen-printed electrodes for the rapid detection of HOCs that over-express the OV6 marker on their membrane. Multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) electrodes have a chitosan film that serves as a scaffold for the immobilization of oval cell marker antibodies (anti-OV6-Ab), which enhance the sensitivity of the biomarker and makes the designed sensor specific for oval cells. The developed sensor can be easily embedded into the 3D-printed flow cell to allow cells to be exposed continuously to the functionalized surface. The continuous flow is intended to increase capture of most of the target cells in the specimen. Contact angle measurements were performed to characterize the nature and quality of the modified sensor surface, and electrochemical measurements (cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV)) were performed to confirm the efficiency and selectivity of the fabricated sensor to detect HOCs. The proposed method is valuable for capturing rare cells and could provide an effective tool for cancer diagnosis and detection.

  13. A coupled three dimensional model of vanadium redox flow battery for flow field designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yin, Cong; Gao, Yan; Guo, Shaoyun; Tang, Hao

    2014-01-01

    A 3D (three-dimensional) model of VRB (vanadium redox flow battery) with interdigitated flow channel design is proposed. Two different stack inlet designs, single-inlet and multi-inlet, are structured in the model to study the distributions of fluid pressure, electric potential, current density and overpotential during operation of VRB cell. Electrolyte flow rate and stack channel dimension are proved to be the critical factors affecting flow distribution and cell performance. The model developed in this paper can be employed to optimize both VRB stack design and system operation conditions. Further improvements of the model concerning current density and electrode properties are also suggested in the paper. - Highlights: • A coupled three-dimensional model of vanadium redox flow cell is proposed. • Interdigitated flow channels with two different manifold designs are simulated. • Manifold structure affects uniformity of distribution patterns significantly. • Increased electrolyte flow rate improves cell performance for both designs. • Decreased channel size and enlarged land width enhance cell voltage

  14. Membrane Separated Flow Cell for Parallelized Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy to Characterize Electro-Active Microorganisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stöckl, Markus; Schlegel, Christin; Sydow, Anne; Holtmann, Dirk; Ulber, Roland; Mangold, Klaus-Michael

    2016-01-01

    flow cell interpretation of EIS measurements is significantly improved by simultaneous CLSM imaging, leading to a wide range of attachment information and pointing to the investigation of less studied and less established electro-active bacteria.

  15. Myonecrosis in Sickle Cell Anemia: Case Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turaga, Lalita Prabha; Boddu, Prajwal; Kipferl, Steve; Basu, Anupam; Yorath, Martin

    2017-01-30

    BACKGROUND Myonecrosis is one of the more poorly studied, painful manifestations of sickle cell crisis. Medical literature is sparse detailing the manifestations and management of such symptoms. In myonecrosis, red cells containing sickle hemoglobin become rigid, resulting in reduced blood flow and myonecrosis. CASE REPORT We present a case study of a patient in sickle cell crisis with an episode of acute pain and swelling to the intrinsic muscles of the foot as a prominent feature of the crises. Although muscle biopsy is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of myositis or myonecrosis, a low intensity signal on T1 and high intensity signal on T2 at the affected muscle belly can be as conclusive as imaging studies. In an actively sickling patient any invasive intervention should be avoided as it can result in ischemic necrosis of the tissues, due to interruption of capillary flow in end-arteries. CONCLUSIONS Early recognition is critical in sickle cell disease management, allowing for prompt and aggressive fluid resuscitation which remains a cornerstone in the management of most sickle cell vaso-occlusive crises. In this instance, off loading the extremity and early fluid resuscitation resolved the pain and swelling and prevented myonecrosis.

  16. Electrochemical study of multi-electrode microbial fuel cells under fed-batch and continuous flow conditions

    KAUST Repository

    Ren, Lijiao

    2014-07-01

    Power production of four hydraulically connected microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was compared with the reactors operated using individual electrical circuits (individual), and when four anodes were wired together and connected to four cathodes all wired together (combined), in fed-batch or continuous flow conditions. Power production under these different conditions could not be made based on a single resistance, but instead required polarization tests to assess individual performance relative to the combined MFCs. Based on the power curves, power produced by the combined MFCs (2.12 ± 0.03 mW, 200 ω) was the same as the summed power (2.13 mW, 50 ω) produced by the four individual reactors in fed-batch mode. With continuous flow through the four MFCs, the maximum power (0.59 ± 0.01 mW) produced by the combined MFCs was slightly lower than the summed maximum power of the four individual reactors (0.68 ± 0.02 mW). There was a small parasitic current flow from adjacent anodes and cathodes, but overall performance was relatively unaffected. These findings demonstrate that optimal power production by reactors hydraulically and electrically connected can be predicted from performance by individual reactors. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Numerical Simulation of Multiphase Magnetohydrodynamic Flow and Deformation of Electrolyte-Metal Interface in Aluminum Electrolysis Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hua, Jinsong; Rudshaug, Magne; Droste, Christian; Jorgensen, Robert; Giskeodegard, Nils-Haavard

    2018-06-01

    A computational fluid dynamics based multiphase magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow model for simulating the melt flow and bath-metal interface deformation in realistic aluminum reduction cells is presented. The model accounts for the complex physics of the MHD problem in aluminum reduction cells by coupling two immiscible fluids, electromagnetic field, Lorentz force, flow turbulence, and complex cell geometry with large length scale. Especially, the deformation of bath-metal interface is tracked directly in the simulation, and the condition of constant anode-cathode distance (ACD) is maintained by moving anode bottom dynamically with the deforming bath-metal interface. The metal pad deformation and melt flow predicted by the current model are compared to the predictions using a simplified model where the bath-metal interface is assumed flat. The effects of the induced electric current due to fluid flow and the magnetic field due to the interior cell current on the metal pad deformation and melt flow are investigated. The presented model extends the conventional simplified box model by including detailed cell geometry such as the ledge profile and all channels (side, central, and cross-channels). The simulations show the model sensitivity to different side ledge profiles and the cross-channel width by comparing the predicted melt flow and metal pad heaving. In addition, the model dependencies upon the reduction cell operation conditions such as ACD, current distribution on cathode surface and open/closed channel top, are discussed.

  18. Ligament flow during drop-on-demand inkjet printing of bioink containing living cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Mengyun; Krishnamoorthy, Srikumar; Song, Hongtao; Zhang, Zhengyi; Xu, Changxue

    2017-03-01

    Organ printing utilizes tissue spheroids or filaments as building blocks to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) functional tissues and organs based on a layer-by-layer manufacturing mechanism. These fabricated tissues and organs are envisioned as alternatives to replace the damaged human tissues and organs, which is emerging as a promising solution to solve the organ donor shortage problem being faced all over the world. Inkjetting, one of the key technologies in organ printing, has been widely developed because of its moderate fabrication cost, good process controllability, and scale-up potentials. There are several key steps towards inkjet-based organ printing: generation of droplets from bioink, fabrication of 3D cellular structures, and post-printing tissue fusion and maturation. The droplet formation process is the first step, affecting the overall feasibility of the envisioned organ printing technology. This paper focuses on the ligament flow of the droplet formation process during inkjet printing of bioink containing living cells and its corresponding effect on post-printing cell viability and cell distribution. It is found that (1) two types of ligament flow are observed: at 30 V (Type I), the ligament flow has two different directions at the locations near the nozzle orifice and the forming droplet; at 60 V (Type II), the ligament flow directions are the same at both locations; (2) compared to Type II, fewer cells are ejected into the primary droplets in Type I, because some cells move back into the nozzle driven by the ligament flow in the positive z direction; and (3) cell viability in both Type I and Type II is around 90% without a significant difference. The resulting knowledge will benefit precise control of printing dynamics during inkjet printing of viscoelastic bioink for 3D biofabrication applications.

  19. Mimicking the Interfacial Dynamics of Flowing White Blood Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santore, Maria

    2015-03-01

    The rolling of particles on surfaces, facilitated by hydrodynamic forces combined with localized surface interactions of the appropriate strengths, spatial arrangements, and ranges, is a technologically useful means of transporting and manipulating particles. One's intuition for the rolling of a marble or a car tire cannot be extrapolated down to microparticle length scales because the microparticle interactions are dominated by electrostatic, van der Waals, and hydrogen bonding interactions rather than a friction that depends on an imposed normal force. Indeed, our microparticle rolling systems are inspired by the rolling of white blood cells on the inner walls of venules as part of the innate immune response: Selectin molecules engage with their counterparts on the opposing surfaces to slow cell motion relative to that for freely flowing cells. In the resulting rolling signature, ligand-receptor binding and crack closing on the front of the cell are balanced with molecular dis-bonding and crack opening at the rear. The contact region is relatively static, allowing other interactions (for instance signaling) to occur for a finite duration. Thus, achieving particle rolling in synthetic systems is important because it facilitates particle-surface interactions in a continuous nonfouling fashion where the contact surface is continually renewed. In developing a synthetic model for this system, we employ polymers to modify flowing particles and /or planar collectors, producing heterogeneous interfaces which can support rolling or produce other motion signatures such as skipping, arrest, or free flow. We identify, in the synthetic system, combinations of variables that produce rolling and demonstrate how the distinction between rolling and arrest is not a simple matter of the adhesion strength between the particles and the collector. Rolling is a cooperative process and the coordination of binding in one location with dis-bonding in another requires appropriate length

  20. Tracking by flow cytometry antigen-specific follicular helper T cells in wild-type animals after protein vaccination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakarov, Svetoslav; Fazilleau, Nicolas

    2015-01-01

    Flow cytometry is a valuable technology used in immunology to characterize and enumerate the different cell subpopulations specific for a nonself-antigen in the context of an ongoing immune response. Among them, follicular helper T cells are the cognate regulators of B cells in secondary lymphoid tissues. Thus, tracking them is of high interest especially in the context of protein vaccination. For this purpose, transgenic antigen-receptor mouse models have been largely used. It is now clear that transgenic models are not always the best means to study the dynamics of the immune response since they can modify the response. In this chapter, we describe how to track endogenous antigen-specific follicular helper T cells by flow cytometry after protein vaccination in nonmodified wild-type animals, which ultimately provides a comprehensive way to enumerate, characterize, and isolate these particular cells in vivo.

  1. Co-flow anode/cathode supply heat exchanger for a solid-oxide fuel cell assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haltiner, Jr., Karl J.; Kelly, Sean M.

    2005-11-22

    In a solid-oxide fuel cell assembly, a co-flow heat exchanger is provided in the flow paths of the reformate gas and the cathode air ahead of the fuel cell stack, the reformate gas being on one side of the exchanger and the cathode air being on the other. The reformate gas is at a substantially higher temperature than is desired in the stack, and the cathode gas is substantially cooler than desired. In the co-flow heat exchanger, the temperatures of the reformate and cathode streams converge to nearly the same temperature at the outlet of the exchanger. Preferably, the heat exchanger is formed within an integrated component manifold (ICM) for a solid-oxide fuel cell assembly.

  2. Interstitial Fluid Flow Increases Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Invasion through CXCR4/CXCL12 and MEK/ERK Signaling

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of liver cancer (~80%), and it is one of the few cancer types with rising incidence in the United States. This highly invasive cancer is very difficult to detect until its later stages, resulting in limited treatment options and low survival rates. There is a dearth of knowledge regarding the mechanisms associated with the effects of biomechanical forces such as interstitial fluid flow (IFF) on hepatocellular carcinoma invasion. We hypothesized that interstitial fluid flow enhanced hepatocellular carcinoma cell invasion through chemokine-mediated autologous chemotaxis. Utilizing a 3D in vitro invasion assay, we demonstrated that interstitial fluid flow promoted invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma derived cell lines. Furthermore, we showed that autologous chemotaxis influences this interstitial fluid flow-induced invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma derived cell lines via the C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4)/C-X-C motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12) signaling axis. We also demonstrated that mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling affects interstitial fluid flow-induced invasion; however, this pathway was separate from CXCR4/CXCL12 signaling. This study demonstrates, for the first time, the potential role of interstitial fluid flow in hepatocellular carcinoma invasion. Uncovering the mechanisms that control hepatocellular carcinoma invasion will aid in enhancing current liver cancer therapies and provide better treatment options for patients. PMID:26560447

  3. A microfluidic device for study of the effect of tumor vascular structures on the flow field and HepG2 cellular flow behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ke, Ming; Cai, Shaoxi; Zou, Misha; Zhao, Yi; Li, Bo; Chen, Sijia; Chen, Longcong

    2018-01-29

    To build a microfluidic device with various morphological features of the tumor vasculature for study of the effects of tumor vascular structures on the flow field and tumor cellular flow behaviors. The designed microfluidic device was able to approximatively simulate the in vivo structures of tumor vessels and the flow within it. In this models, the influences of the angle of bifurcation, the number of branches, and the narrow channels on the flow field and the influence of vorticity on the retention of HepG2 cells were significant. Additionally, shear stress below physiological conditions of blood circulation has considerable effect on the formation of the lumen-like structures (LLSs) of HepG2 cells. These results can provide some data and reference in the understanding of the interaction between hemorheological properties and tumor vascular structures in solid tumors. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  4. Magnetic manipulation of particles and cells in ferrofluid flow through straight microchannels using two magnets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Jian

    Microfluidic devices have been increasingly used in the past two decades for particle and cell manipulations in many chemical and biomedical applications. A variety of force fields have been demonstrated to control particle and cell transport in these devices including electric, magnetic, acoustic, and optical forces etc. Among these particle handling techniques, the magnetic approach provides clear advantages over others such as low cost, noninvasive, and free of fluid heating issues. However, the current knowledge of magnetic control of particle transport is still very limited, especially lacking is the handling of diamagnetic particle. This thesis is focused on the magnetic manipulation of diamagnetic particles and cells in ferrofluid flow through the use of a pair of permanent magnets. By varying the configuration of the two magnets, diverse operations of particles and cells is implemented in a straight microchannel that can potentially be integrated into lab-on-a-chip devices for various applications. First, an approach for embedding two, symmetrically positioned, repulsive permanent magnets about a straight rectangular microchannel in a PDMS-based microfluidic device is developed for particle focusing. Focusing particles and cells into a tight stream is often required in order for continuous detection, counting, and sorting. The closest distance between the magnets is limited only by the size of the magnets involved in the fabrication process. The device is used to implement and investigate the three-dimensional magnetic focusing of polystyrene particles in ferrofluid microflow with both top-view and side-view visualizations. The effects of flow speed and particle size on the particle focusing effectiveness are studied. This device is also applied to magnetically focus yeast cells in ferrofluid, which proves to be biocompatible as verified by cell viability test. In addition, an analytical model is developed and found to be able to predict the experimentally

  5. A three-dimensional model of PEM fuel cells with serpentine flow channels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, P.T.; Berning, T.; Bang, M.; Djilali, N.

    2003-01-01

    A three-dimensional computational model of PEM fuel cell with serpentine flow field channels is presented in this paper. This model presents a comprehensive account for all important transport phenomena in fuel cell such as heat transfer, mass transfer, electrode kinetics, and potential fields in the membrane and gas diffusion layers. A new approach of solving for the potential losses across the cell was also developed in this model. The dependency of local current density on oxygen concentration and activation overpotential is fully addressed in this model. The computational domain consists of serpentine gas flow channels, porous gas diffusion layers, catalyst layers, and a membrane. Results obtained from this model are in good agreement with experimental results. (author)

  6. Characterizing dynamic hysteresis and fractal statistics of chaotic two-phase flow and application to fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burkholder, Michael B.; Litster, Shawn

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we analyze the stability of two-phase flow regimes and their transitions using chaotic and fractal statistics, and we report new measurements of dynamic two-phase pressure drop hysteresis that is related to flow regime stability and channel water content. Two-phase flow dynamics are relevant to a variety of real-world systems, and quantifying transient two-phase flow phenomena is important for efficient design. We recorded two-phase (air and water) pressure drops and flow images in a microchannel under both steady and transient conditions. Using Lyapunov exponents and Hurst exponents to characterize the steady-state pressure fluctuations, we develop a new, measurable regime identification criteria based on the dynamic stability of the two-phase pressure signal. We also applied a new experimental technique by continuously cycling the air flow rate to study dynamic hysteresis in two-phase pressure drops, which is separate from steady-state hysteresis and can be used to understand two-phase flow development time scales. Using recorded images of the two-phase flow, we show that the capacitive dynamic hysteresis is related to channel water content and flow regime stability. The mixed-wettability microchannel and in-channel water introduction used in this study simulate a polymer electrolyte fuel cell cathode air flow channel.

  7. Characterizing dynamic hysteresis and fractal statistics of chaotic two-phase flow and application to fuel cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burkholder, Michael B.; Litster, Shawn, E-mail: litster@andrew.cmu.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 (United States)

    2016-05-15

    In this study, we analyze the stability of two-phase flow regimes and their transitions using chaotic and fractal statistics, and we report new measurements of dynamic two-phase pressure drop hysteresis that is related to flow regime stability and channel water content. Two-phase flow dynamics are relevant to a variety of real-world systems, and quantifying transient two-phase flow phenomena is important for efficient design. We recorded two-phase (air and water) pressure drops and flow images in a microchannel under both steady and transient conditions. Using Lyapunov exponents and Hurst exponents to characterize the steady-state pressure fluctuations, we develop a new, measurable regime identification criteria based on the dynamic stability of the two-phase pressure signal. We also applied a new experimental technique by continuously cycling the air flow rate to study dynamic hysteresis in two-phase pressure drops, which is separate from steady-state hysteresis and can be used to understand two-phase flow development time scales. Using recorded images of the two-phase flow, we show that the capacitive dynamic hysteresis is related to channel water content and flow regime stability. The mixed-wettability microchannel and in-channel water introduction used in this study simulate a polymer electrolyte fuel cell cathode air flow channel.

  8. Mass transport aspects of polymer electrolyte fuel cells under two-phase flow conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kramer, D.

    2007-03-15

    This well-illustrated, comprehensive dissertation by Dr. Ing. Denis Kramer takes an in-depth look at polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) and the possibilities for their application. First of all, the operating principles of polymer electrolyte fuel cells are described and discussed, whereby thermodynamics aspects and loss mechanisms are examined. The mass transport diagnostics made with respect to the function of the cells are discussed. Field flow geometry, gas diffusion layers and, amongst other things, liquid distribution, the influence of flow direction and the low-frequency behaviour of air-fed PEFCs are discussed. Direct methanol fuel cells are examined, as are the materials chosen. The documentation includes comprehensive mathematical and graphical representations of the mechanisms involved.

  9. All-Fullerene-Based Cells for Nonaqueous Redox Flow Batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedl, Jochen; Lebedeva, Maria A; Porfyrakis, Kyriakos; Stimming, Ulrich; Chamberlain, Thomas W

    2018-01-10

    Redox flow batteries have the potential to revolutionize our use of intermittent sustainable energy sources such as solar and wind power by storing the energy in liquid electrolytes. Our concept study utilizes a novel electrolyte system, exploiting derivatized fullerenes as both anolyte and catholyte species in a series of battery cells, including a symmetric, single species system which alleviates the common problem of membrane crossover. The prototype multielectron system, utilizing molecular based charge carriers, made from inexpensive, abundant, and sustainable materials, principally, C and Fe, demonstrates remarkable current and energy densities and promising long-term cycling stability.

  10. Laser flow microphotometry for rapid analysis and sorting of mammalian cells. [X and gamma radiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mullaney, P.F.; Steinkamp, J.A.; Crissman, H.A.; Cram, L.S.; Crowell, J.M.; Salzman, G.C.; Martin, J.C.; Price, B.

    1976-01-01

    Quantitative precision measurements can be made of the optical properties of individual mammalian cells using flow microphotometry. Suspended cells pass through a special flow chamber where they are lined up for exposure to blue light from an argon-ion laser. As each cell crosses the laser beam, it produces one or more optical pulses of a duration equal to cell transit time across the beam. These pulses are detected, amplified, and analyzed using the techniques of gamma ray spectroscopy. Quantitative DNA distributions made it possible to distinguish tumor cells from normal cells as well as to assay for radiation effects on tumor cells subjected to x and gamma radiation. (HLW)

  11. Comparative Photoelectrochemical Study of PEC Solar Cell Fabricated with n-TiO2 Photo-electrodes at Different Temperatures and under Different Oxygen Flow Rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mishra, P.R.; Srivastava, O.N.; Shukla, P.K.

    2006-01-01

    Photoelectrochemical splitting of water induced by solar energy for hydrogen production has been studied in the present investigation. PEC solar cell was fabricated with n-TiO 2 photo-electrodes synthesized at different oxidation temperatures e.g. 700 C, 750 C, 800 C and 850 C under oxygen flow rate 200 ml/min, 350 ml/min and 500 ml/min. The optimum oxygen flow rate for all the temperatures was found to be 350 ml/min. This is therefore kept invariant for synthesis of electrodes at different temperatures. The photo-electrochemical characterization of the PEC cell was done in the three-electrode configuration, i.e Ti/n-TiO 2 /1M-NaOH/Pt. It has been observed that the optimum values of the PEC solar cell parameters are exhibited by the solar cell employing the photo-electrodes prepared at ∼7500 C. The XRD and SEM explorations revealed that the TiO 2 prepared at ∼7500 C is in the nano-metric range (∼100-150 nm). The TiO 2 films formed at this temperature has been found to exhibit optimum PEC solar cell parameters. The PEC parameters, like photocurrent density, photo-conversion efficiency and hydrogen production rate, with this photo-electrode correspond to 0.93 mA/cm 2 , 0.472% and 4.00 l/hm 2 respectively. (authors)

  12. Cerebral blood flow mapping using stable xenon-enhanced CT in sickle cell cerebrovascular disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Numaguchi, Y.; Robinson, A.E.; Carey, J.E.

    1990-01-01

    The cerebral blood flow (CBF) of 25 patients with sickle cell cerebrovascular disease (SCCVD) was examined using a xenon-CT flow mapping method. Brain CT and MR findings were correlated with those of the xenon-CT flow studies. CBF defects on xenon-CT correlated reasonably well with the areas of cortical infarctions on the MR images, but in 27% of the cases, flow defects were slightly larger than the areas of infarctions on the MR images. In deep watershed or basal ganglia infarctions, abnormal CBF was noted about the cerebral cortex near infarctions in 72% of the patients, regardless of infarction sizes on the MR images. However, decreased CBF was recognized in 4 of the 9 children whose MR images were virtually normal. Thus, the extent of flow depletion cannot be predicted accurately by MR imaging alone. Xenon-CT flow mapping proved a safe and reliable procedure for evaluation of the CBF of patients with SCCVD. Although this study is preliminary, it may have a potential in selecting patients for hypertransfusion therapy, as a noninvasive test and for following children with SCCVD during their therapy. Careful correlation of results of CBF with those of MR imaging or of CT is important for objective interpretations of flow mapping images. (orig.)

  13. Improved Flow-Field Structures for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gurau, Bogdan [Nuvant Systems Inc., Crown Point, IN (United States)

    2013-05-31

    The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is ideal if high energy-density liquid fuels are required. Liquid fuels have advantages over compressed hydrogen including higher energy density and ease of handling. Although state-of-the-art DMFCs exhibit manageable degradation rates, excessive fuel crossover diminishes system energy and power density. Although use of dilute methanol mitigates crossover, the concomitant lowering of the gross fuel energy density (GFED) demands a complex balance-of-plant (BOP) that includes higher flow rates, external exhaust recirculation, etc. An alternative approach is redesign of the fuel delivery system to accommodate concentrated methanol. NuVant Systems Inc. (NuVant) will maximize the GFED by design and assembly of a DMFC that uses near neat methanol. The approach is to tune the diffusion of highly concentrated methanol (to the anode catalytic layer) to the back-diffusion of water formed at the cathode (i.e. in situ generation of dilute methanol at the anode layer). Crossover will be minimized without compromising the GFED by innovative integration of the anode flow-field and the diffusion layer. The integrated flow-field-diffusion-layers (IFDLs) will widen the current and potential DMFC operating ranges and enable the use of cathodes optimized for hydrogen-air fuel cells.

  14. The use of flow cytometry to examine calcium signalling by TRPV1 in mixed cell populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assas, Bakri M; Abdulaal, Wesam H; Wakid, Majed H; Zakai, Haytham A; Miyan, J; Pennock, J L

    2017-06-15

    Flow cytometric analysis of calcium mobilisation has been in use for many years in the study of specific receptor engagement or isolated cell:cell communication. However, calcium mobilisation/signaling is key to many cell functions including apoptosis, mobility and immune responses. Here we combine multiplex surface staining of whole spleen with Indo-1 AM to visualise calcium mobilisation and examine calcium signaling in a mixed immune cell culture over time. We demonstrate responses to a TRPV1 agonist in distinct cell subtypes without the need for cell separation. Multi parameter staining alongside Indo-1 AM to demonstrate calcium mobilization allows the study of real time calcium signaling in a complex environment. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  15. Integrating a dual-silicon photoelectrochemical cell into a redox flow battery for unassisted photocharging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liao, Shichao; Zong, Xu; Seger, Brian

    2016-01-01

    Solar rechargeable flow cells (SRFCs) provide an attractive approach for in situ capture and storage of intermittent solar energy via photoelectrochemical regeneration of discharged redox species for electricity generation. However, overall SFRC performance is restricted by inefficient photoelect......Solar rechargeable flow cells (SRFCs) provide an attractive approach for in situ capture and storage of intermittent solar energy via photoelectrochemical regeneration of discharged redox species for electricity generation. However, overall SFRC performance is restricted by inefficient...... photoelectrochemical reactions. Here we report an efficient SRFC based on a dual-silicon photoelectrochemical cell and a quinone/bromine redox flow battery for in situ solar energy conversion and storage. Using narrow bandgap silicon for efficient photon collection and fast redox couples for rapid interface charge...

  16. The Effect of Pulsatile Flow on bMSC-Derived Endothelial-Like Cells in a Small-Sized Artificial Vessel Made by 3-Dimensional Bioprinting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kang Woog Lee

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Replacement of small-sized vessels is still challenging. This study is aimed at investigating the possibility of small-sized artificial vessels made by 3-dimensional bioprinting and the effect of pulsatile flow on bMSC-derived endothelial-like cells. Cells were harvested from rabbit bone marrow and primary cultured with or without growth factors. Endothelial differentiation was confirmed by the Matrigel tube formation assay, Western blot, and qRT-PCR. In addition, embedment of endothelial-like cells in an artificial vessel was made by 3-dimensional bioprinting, and the pulsatile flow was performed. For pumped and nonpumped groups, qRT-PCR was performed on CD31 and VE-cadherin gene expression. Endothelial-like cells showed increased gene expression of CD31 and VE-cadherin, and tube formation is observed at each week. Endothelial-like cells grow well in a small-sized artificial vessel made by 3-dimensional bioprinting and even express higher endothelial cell markers when they undergo pulsatile flow condition. Moreover, the pulsatile flow condition gives a positive effect for cell observation not only on the sodium alginate hydrogel layer but also on the luminal surface of the artificial vessel wall. We have developed an artificial vessel, which is a mixture of cells and carriers using a 3-dimensional bioprinting method, and applied pulsatile flow using a peristaltic pump, and we also demonstrated cell growth and differentiation into endothelial cells. This study suggests guidelines regarding a small-sized artificial vessel in the field of tissue engineering.

  17. A new modified-serpentine flow field for application in high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Singdeo, Debanand; Dey, Tapobrata; Gaikwad, Shrihari

    2017-01-01

    field design is proposed and its usefulness for the fuel cell applications are evaluated in a high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The proposed geometry retains some of the features of serpentine flow field such as multiple bends, while modifications are made in its in-plane flow path...

  18. A key inactivation factor of HeLa cell viability by a plasma flow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sato, Takehiko; Yokoyama, Mayo [Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Johkura, Kohei, E-mail: sato@ifs.tohoku.ac.jp [Department of Histology and Embryology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621 (Japan)

    2011-09-21

    Recently, a plasma flow has been applied to medical treatment using effects of various kinds of stimuli such as chemical species, charged particles, heat, light, shock wave and electric fields. Among them, the chemical species are known to cause an inactivation of cell viability. However, the mechanisms and key factors of this event are not yet clear. In this study, we focused on the effect of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in plasma-treated culture medium because it is generated in the culture medium and it is also chemically stable compared with free radicals generated by the plasma flow. To elucidate the significance of H{sub 2}O{sub 2}, we assessed the differences in the effects of plasma-treated medium and H{sub 2}O{sub 2}-added medium against inactivation of HeLa cell viability. These two media showed comparable effects on HeLa cells in terms of the survival ratios, morphological features of damage processes, permeations of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} into the cells, response to H{sub 2}O{sub 2} decomposition by catalase and comprehensive gene expression. The results supported that among chemical species generated in a plasma-treated culture medium, H{sub 2}O{sub 2} is one of the main factors responsible for inactivation of HeLa cell viability. (fast track communication)

  19. Dynamics of polymers in elongational flow studied by the neutron spin-echo technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rheinstaedter, Maikel C.; Sattler, Rainer; Haeussler, Wolfgang; Wagner, Christian

    2010-01-01

    The nanoscale fluctuation dynamics of semidilute high molecular weight polymer solutions of polyethylenoxide (PEO) in D 2 O under non-equilibrium flow conditions were studied by the neutron spin-echo technique. The sample cell was in contraction flow geometry and provided a pressure driven flow with a high elongational component that stretched the polymers most efficiently. Neutron scattering experiments in dilute polymer solutions are challenging because of the low polymer concentration and corresponding small quasi-elastic signals. A relaxation process with relaxation times of about 10 ps was observed, which shows anisotropic dynamics with applied flow.

  20. Selective particle and cell capture in a continuous flow using micro-vortex acoustic streaming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, David J; Khoo, Bee Luan; Ma, Zhichao; Winkler, Andreas; Weser, Robert; Schmidt, Hagen; Han, Jongyoon; Ai, Ye

    2017-05-16

    Acoustic streaming has emerged as a promising technique for refined microscale manipulation, where strong rotational flow can give rise to particle and cell capture. In contrast to hydrodynamically generated vortices, acoustic streaming is rapidly tunable, highly scalable and requires no external pressure source. Though streaming is typically ignored or minimized in most acoustofluidic systems that utilize other acoustofluidic effects, we maximize the effect of acoustic streaming in a continuous flow using a high-frequency (381 MHz), narrow-beam focused surface acoustic wave. This results in rapid fluid streaming, with velocities orders of magnitude greater than that of the lateral flow, to generate fluid vortices that extend the entire width of a 400 μm wide microfluidic channel. We characterize the forces relevant for vortex formation in a combined streaming/lateral flow system, and use these acoustic streaming vortices to selectively capture 2 μm from a mixed suspension with 1 μm particles and human breast adenocarcinoma cells (MDA-231) from red blood cells.

  1. Detection of Intracellular Factor VIII Protein in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells by Flow Cytometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gouri Shankar Pandey

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Flow cytometry is widely used in cancer research for diagnosis, detection of minimal residual disease, as well as immune monitoring and profiling following immunotherapy. Detection of specific host proteins for diagnosis predominantly uses quantitative PCR and western blotting assays. In this study, we optimized a flow cytometry-based detection assay for Factor VIII protein in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs. An indirect intracellular staining (ICS method was standardized using monoclonal antibodies to different domains of human Factor VIII protein. The FVIII protein expression level was estimated by calculating the mean and median fluorescence intensities (MFI values for each monoclonal antibody. ICS staining of transiently transfected cell lines supported the method's specificity. Intracellular FVIII protein expression was also detected by the monoclonal antibodies used in the study in PBMCs of five blood donors. In summary, our data suggest that intracellular FVIII detection in PBMCs of hemophilia A patients can be a rapid and reliable method to detect intracellular FVIII levels.

  2. Quantitative analysis of optical properties of flowing blood using a photon-cell interactive Monte Carlo code: effects of red blood cells' orientation on light scattering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakota, Daisuke; Takatani, Setsuo

    2012-05-01

    Optical properties of flowing blood were analyzed using a photon-cell interactive Monte Carlo (pciMC) model with the physical properties of the flowing red blood cells (RBCs) such as cell size, shape, refractive index, distribution, and orientation as the parameters. The scattering of light by flowing blood at the He-Ne laser wavelength of 632.8 nm was significantly affected by the shear rate. The light was scattered more in the direction of flow as the flow rate increased. Therefore, the light intensity transmitted forward in the direction perpendicular to flow axis decreased. The pciMC model can duplicate the changes in the photon propagation due to moving RBCs with various orientations. The resulting RBC's orientation that best simulated the experimental results was with their long axis perpendicular to the direction of blood flow. Moreover, the scattering probability was dependent on the orientation of the RBCs. Finally, the pciMC code was used to predict the hematocrit of flowing blood with accuracy of approximately 1.0 HCT%. The photon-cell interactive Monte Carlo (pciMC) model can provide optical properties of flowing blood and will facilitate the development of the non-invasive monitoring of blood in extra corporeal circulatory systems.

  3. Design of a microfluidic device with a non-traditional flow profile for on-chip damage to zebrafish sensory cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, Hyuck-Jin; Xu, Yuhao; Solovitz, Stephen A; Xue, Wei; Xu, Jie; Dimitrov, Alexander G; Coffin, Allison B

    2014-01-01

    Hearing loss affects millions of people worldwide and often results from the death of the sensory hair cells in the inner ear, and exposure to intense noise is one of the leading causes of hair cell damage. Recently, the zebrafish lateral line system has emerged as a powerful in vivo model for real-time studies of hair cell damage and protection. In this research, we designed a microfluidic device for inducing noise damage in hair cells of the zebrafish lateral line. As the first step, a 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was utilized to predict the flow pattern inside the device. An ideal flow pattern for our application should feature higher velocity near the sidewalls to over-stimulate the externally located hair cells, and minimum flow in the middle of the channel to protect the fish from high pressure on the head. Flow induced from ordinary channel geometry with a single inlet/outlet pair would not work because the parabolic velocity profile features the maximum flow speed in the middle of the channel. In order to achieve the desired flow pattern, sidewall inlet/outlet pairs were used to suppress the growth of boundary layers. CFD simulation was used to design parameters such as the dimensions of the microfluidic channel and the angle of the inlets and outlets. It was found that in the case of an empty 2.0 mm wide channel with the inlet/outlet pairs set to 45°, the flow velocity at the side of the channel would be 6.7 times faster than the velocity in the middle, approaching the optimal flow characteristics. In the case of a fish-loaded channel, simulation shows that a 1.0 mm wide channel with a 60° inlet/outlet angle creates the lowest pressure (0.3 Pa) on the fish head while maintaining a reasonably strong shear stress (1.9 Pa) on the lateral line hair cells. (technical note)

  4. An All-vanadium Continuous-flow Photoelectrochemical Cell for Extending State-of-charge in Solar Energy Storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Zi; Shen, Yi; Liu, Dong; Liu, Fuqiang

    2017-04-04

    Greater levels of solar energy storage provide an effective solution to the inherent nature of intermittency, and can substantially improve reliability, availability, and quality of the renewable energy source. Here we demonstrated an all-vanadium (all-V) continuous-flow photoelectrochemical storage cell (PESC) to achieve efficient and high-capacity storage of solar energy, through improving both photocurrent and photocharging depth. It was discovered that forced convective flow of electrolytes greatly enhanced the photocurrent by 5 times comparing to that with stagnant electrolytes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) study revealed a great reduction of charge transfer resistance with forced convective flow of electrolytes as a result of better mass transport at U-turns of the tortuous serpentine flow channel of the cell. Taking advantage of the improved photocurrent and diminished charge transfer resistance, the all-V continuous-flow PESC was capable of producing ~20% gain in state of charge (SOC) under AM1.5 illumination for ca. 1.7 hours without any external bias. This gain of SOC was surprisingly three times more than that with stagnant electrolytes during a 25-hour period of photocharge.

  5. DPD simulation on the dynamics of a healthy and infected red blood cell in flow through a constricted channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoque, Sazid Zamal; Anand, D. Vijay; Patnaik, B. S. V.

    2017-11-01

    The state of the red blood cell (either healthy or infected RBC) will influence its deformation dynamics. Since the pathological condition related to RBC, primarily originates from a single cell infection, therefore, it is important to relate the deformation dynamics to the mechanical properties (such as, bending rigidity and membrane elasticity). In the present study, numerical simulation of a healthy and malaria infected RBC in a constricted channel is analyzed. The flow simulations are carried out using finite sized dissipative particle dynamics (FDPD) method in conjunction with a discrete model that represents the membrane of the RBC. The numerical equivalent of optical tweezers test is validated against the experimental studies. Two different types of constrictions, viz., a converging-diverging type tapered channel and a stenosed microchannel are considered for the simulation. The effect of degree of constriction and the flow rate effect on the RBC is investigated. It was observed that, as the flow rate decreases, the infected RBC completely blocks the micro vessel. The transit time for infected cell drastically increases compared to healthy RBC. Our simulations indicate that, there is a critical flow rate below which infected RBC cannot pass through the micro capillary.

  6. Performance of a vanadium redox flow battery with tubular cell design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ressel, Simon; Laube, Armin; Fischer, Simon; Chica, Antonio; Flower, Thomas; Struckmann, Thorsten

    2017-07-01

    We present a vanadium redox flow battery with a tubular cell design which shall lead to a reduction of cell manufacturing costs and the realization of cell stacks with reduced shunt current losses. Charge/discharge cycling and polarization curve measurements are performed to characterize the single test cell performance. A maximum current density of 70 mAcm-2 and power density of 142 Wl-1 (per cell volume) is achieved and Ohmic overpotential is identified as the dominant portion of the total cell overpotential. Cycling displays Coulomb efficiencies of ≈95% and energy efficiencies of ≈55%. During 113 h of operation a stable Ohmic cell resistance is observed.

  7. Effects of resource supplements on mature ciliate biofilms: an empirical test using a new type of flow cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norf, Helge; Arndt, Hartmut; Weitere, Markus

    2009-11-01

    Biofilm-dwelling consumer communities play an important role in the matter flux of many aquatic ecosystems. Due to their poor accessibility, little is as yet known about the regulation of natural biofilms. Here, a new type of flow cell is presented which facilitates both experimental manipulation and live observation of natural, pre-grown biofilms. These flow cells were used to study the dynamics of mature ciliate biofilms in response to supplementation of planktonic bacteria. The results suggest that enhanced ciliate productivity could be quickly transferred to micrometazoans (ciliate grazers), making the effects on the standing stock of the ciliates detectable only for a short time. Likewise, no effect on ciliates appeared when micrometazoan consumers were ab initio abundant. This indicates the importance of 'top-down' control of natural ciliate biofilms. The flow cells used here offer great potential for experimentally testing such control mechanisms within naturally cultivated biofilms.

  8. Improved Diffuse Fluorescence Flow Cytometer Prototype for High Sensitivity Detection of Rare Circulating Cells In Vivo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pestana, Noah Benjamin

    Accurate quantification of circulating cell populations is important in many areas of pre-clinical and clinical biomedical research, for example, in the study of cancer metastasis or the immune response following tissue and organ transplants. Normally this is done "ex-vivo" by drawing and purifying a small volume of blood and then analyzing it with flow cytometry, hemocytometry or microfludic devices, but the sensitivity of these techniques are poor and the process of handling samples has been shown to affect cell viability and behavior. More recently "in vivo flow cytometry" (IVFC) techniques have been developed where fluorescently-labeled cells flowing in a small blood vessel in the ear or retina are analyzed, but the sensitivity is generally poor due to the small sampling volume. To address this, our group recently developed a method known as "Diffuse Fluorescence Flow Cytometry" (DFFC) that allows detection and counting of rare circulating cells with diffuse photons, offering extremely high single cell counting sensitivity. In this thesis, an improved DFFC prototype was designed and validated. The chief improvements were three-fold, i) improved optical collection efficiency, ii) improved detection electronics, and iii) development of a method to mitigate motion artifacts during in vivo measurements. In combination, these improvements yielded an overall instrument detection sensitivity better than 1 cell/mL in vivo, which is the most sensitive IVFC system reported to date. Second, development and validation of a low-cost microfluidic device reader for analysis of ocular fluids is described. We demonstrate that this device has equivalent or better sensitivity and accuracy compared a fluorescence microscope, but at an order-of-magnitude reduced cost with simplified operation. Future improvements to both instruments are also discussed.

  9. Routine detection of Epstein-Barr virus specific T-cells in the peripheral blood by flow cytometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crucian, B. E.; Stowe, R. P.; Pierson, D. L.; Sams, C. F.

    2001-01-01

    The ability to detect cytomegalovirus-specific T-cells (CD4(+)) in the peripheral blood by flow cytometry has been recently described by Picker et al. In this method, cells are incubated with viral antigen and responding (cytokine producing) T-cells are then identified by flow cytometry. To date, this technique has not been reliably used to detect Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific T-cells primarily due to the superantigen/mitogenic properties of the virus which non-specifically activate T-cells. By modifying culture conditions under which the antigens are presented, we have overcome this limitation and developed an assay to detect and quantitate EBV-specific T-cells. The detection of cytokine producing T-cells by flow cytometry requires an extremely strong signal (such as culture in the presence of PMA and ionomycin). Our data indicate that in modified culture conditions (early removal of viral antigen) the non-specific activation of T-cells by EBV is reduced, but antigen presentation will continue uninhibited. Using this method, EBV-specific T-cells may be legitimately detected using flow cytometry. No reduction in the numbers of antigen-specific T-cells was observed by the early removal of target antigen when verified using cytomegalovirus antigen (a virus with no non-specific T-cell activation properties). In EBV-seropositive individuals, the phenotype of the EBV-specific cytokine producing T-cells was evaluated using four-color flow cytometry and found to be CD45(+), CD3(+), CD4(+), CD45RA(-), CD69(+), CD25(-). This phenotype indicates the stimulation of circulating previously unactivated memory T-cells. No cytokine production was observed in CD4(+) T-cells from EBV-seronegative individuals, confirming the specificity of this assay. In addition, the use of four color cytometry (CD45, CD3, CD69, IFNgamma/IL-2) allows the total quantitative assessment of EBV-specific T-cells while monitoring the interference of EBV non-specific mitogenic activity. This method may

  10. Non-Flow-Through Fuel Cell System Test Results and Demonstration on the SCARAB Rover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheidegger, Brianne, T.; Burke, Kenneth A.; Jakupca, Ian J.

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes the results of the demonstration of a non-flow-through PEM fuel cell as part of a power system on the SCARAB rover. A 16-cell non-flow-through fuel cell stack from Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen, Inc. was incorporated into a power system designed to act as a range extender by providing power to the rover s hotel loads. This work represents the first attempt at a ground demonstration of this new technology aboard a mobile test platform. Development and demonstration were supported by the Office of the Chief Technologist s Space Power Systems Project and the Advanced Exploration System Modular Power Systems Project.

  11. Vortex-dislodged cells from bone marrow trephine biopsy yield satisfactory results for flow cytometric immunophenotyping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bommannan, K; Sachdeva, M U S; Gupta, M; Bose, P; Kumar, N; Sharma, P; Naseem, S; Ahluwalia, J; Das, R; Varma, N

    2016-10-01

    A good bone marrow (BM) sample is essential in evaluating many hematologic disorders. An unsuccessful BM aspiration (BMA) procedure precludes a successful flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCI) in most hematologic malignancies. Apart from FCI, most ancillary diagnostic techniques in hematology are less informative. We describe the feasibility of FCI in vortex-dislodged cell preparation obtained from unfixed trephine biopsy (TB) specimens. In pancytopenic patients and dry tap cases, routine diagnostic BMA and TB samples were complemented by additional trephine biopsies. These supplementary cores were immediately transferred into sterile tubes filled with phosphate-buffered saline, vortexed, and centrifuged. The cell pellet obtained was used for flow cytometric immunophenotyping. Of 7955 BMAs performed in 42 months, 34 dry tap cases were eligible for the study. Vortexing rendered a cell pellet in 94% of the cases (32 of 34), and FCI rendered a rapid diagnosis in 100% of the cases (32 of 32) where cell pellets were available. We describe an efficient procedure which could be effectively utilized in resource-limited centers and reduce the frequency of repeat BMA procedures. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Comparative exploration of multidimensional flow cytometry software: a model approach evaluating T cell polyfunctional behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spear, Timothy T; Nishimura, Michael I; Simms, Patricia E

    2017-08-01

    Advancement in flow cytometry reagents and instrumentation has allowed for simultaneous analysis of large numbers of lineage/functional immune cell markers. Highly complex datasets generated by polychromatic flow cytometry require proper analytical software to answer investigators' questions. A problem among many investigators and flow cytometry Shared Resource Laboratories (SRLs), including our own, is a lack of access to a flow cytometry-knowledgeable bioinformatics team, making it difficult to learn and choose appropriate analysis tool(s). Here, we comparatively assess various multidimensional flow cytometry software packages for their ability to answer a specific biologic question and provide graphical representation output suitable for publication, as well as their ease of use and cost. We assessed polyfunctional potential of TCR-transduced T cells, serving as a model evaluation, using multidimensional flow cytometry to analyze 6 intracellular cytokines and degranulation on a per-cell basis. Analysis of 7 parameters resulted in 128 possible combinations of positivity/negativity, far too complex for basic flow cytometry software to analyze fully. Various software packages were used, analysis methods used in each described, and representative output displayed. Of the tools investigated, automated classification of cellular expression by nonlinear stochastic embedding (ACCENSE) and coupled analysis in Pestle/simplified presentation of incredibly complex evaluations (SPICE) provided the most user-friendly manipulations and readable output, evaluating effects of altered antigen-specific stimulation on T cell polyfunctionality. This detailed approach may serve as a model for other investigators/SRLs in selecting the most appropriate software to analyze complex flow cytometry datasets. Further development and awareness of available tools will help guide proper data analysis to answer difficult biologic questions arising from incredibly complex datasets. © Society

  13. An imaging flow cytometry method to assess ricin trafficking in A549 human lung epithelial cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenner, Dominic; Chong, Damien; Walker, Nicola; Green, A Christopher

    2018-02-01

    The endocytosis and trafficking of ricin in mammalian cells is an important area of research for those producing ricin anti-toxins and other ricin therapeutics. Ricin trafficking is usually observed by fluorescence microscopy techniques. This gives good resolution and leads to a detailed understanding of the internal movement of ricin within cells. However, microscopy techniques are often hampered by complex analysis and quantification techniques, and the inability to look at ricin trafficking in large populations of cells. In these studies we have directly labelled ricin and assessed if its trafficking can be observed using Imaging Flow Cytometry (IFC) both to the cytoplasmic region of cells and specifically to the Golgi apparatus. Using IDEAS® data analysis software the specific fluorescence location of the ricin within the cells was analysed. Then, using cytoplasmic masking techniques to quantify the number of cells with endocytosed cytoplasmic ricin or cells with Golgi-associated ricin, kinetic endocytosis curves were generated. Here we present, to the authors' knowledge, the first example of using imaging flow cytometry for evaluating the subcellular transport of protein cargo, using the trafficking of ricin toxin in lung cells as a model. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Opto-fluidics based microscopy and flow cytometry on a cell phone for blood analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Hongying; Ozcan, Aydogan

    2015-01-01

    Blood analysis is one of the most important clinical tests for medical diagnosis. Flow cytometry and optical microscopy are widely used techniques to perform blood analysis and therefore cost-effective translation of these technologies to resource limited settings is critical for various global health as well as telemedicine applications. In this chapter, we review our recent progress on the integration of imaging flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy on a cell phone using compact, light-weight and cost-effective opto-fluidic attachments integrated onto the camera module of a smartphone. In our cell-phone based opto-fluidic imaging cytometry design, fluorescently labeled cells are delivered into the imaging area using a disposable micro-fluidic chip that is positioned above the existing camera unit of the cell phone. Battery powered light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are butt-coupled to the sides of this micro-fluidic chip without any lenses, which effectively acts as a multimode slab waveguide, where the excitation light is guided to excite the fluorescent targets within the micro-fluidic chip. Since the excitation light propagates perpendicular to the detection path, an inexpensive plastic absorption filter is able to reject most of the scattered light and create a decent dark-field background for fluorescent imaging. With this excitation geometry, the cell-phone camera can record fluorescent movies of the particles/cells as they are flowing through the microchannel. The digital frames of these fluorescent movies are then rapidly processed to quantify the count and the density of the labeled particles/cells within the solution under test. With a similar opto-fluidic design, we have recently demonstrated imaging and automated counting of stationary blood cells (e.g., labeled white blood cells or unlabeled red blood cells) loaded within a disposable cell counting chamber. We tested the performance of this cell-phone based imaging cytometry and blood analysis platform

  15. Internal Flow of a High Specific-Speed Diagonal-Flow Fan (Rotor Outlet Flow Fields with Rotating Stall

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norimasa Shiomi

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available We carried out investigations for the purpose of clarifying the rotor outlet flow fields with rotating stall cell in a diagonal-flow fan. The test fan was a high–specific-speed (ns=1620 type of diagonal-flow fan that had 6 rotor blades and 11 stator blades. It has been shown that the number of the stall cell is 1, and its propagating speed is approximately 80% of its rotor speed, although little has been known about the behavior of the stall cell because a flow field with a rotating stall cell is essentially unsteady. In order to capture the behavior of the stall cell at the rotor outlet flow fields, hot-wire surveys were performed using a single-slant hotwire probe. The data obtained by these surveys were processed by means of a double phase-locked averaging technique, which enabled us to capture the flow field with the rotating stall cell in the reference coordinate system fixed to the rotor. As a result, time-dependent ensemble averages of the three-dimensional velocity components at the rotor outlet flow fields were obtained. The behavior of the stall cell was shown for each velocity component, and the flow patterns on the meridional planes were illustrated.

  16. Modeling of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with variable distance gas flow in anode and cathode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Shahbudin Masdar; Wan Ramli Wan Daud; Kamaruzzaman Sopian; Jaafar Sahari

    2006-01-01

    A number of fundamental studies have been directed towards increasing our understanding of PEM fuel cell and their performance. Mathematical modeling is one of the way and very essential component in the development of this fuel cell. Model validation is presented, the validated model is then used to investigate the behavior of mole fraction of gases, current density, and the performances of stack using polarization curve depending on distance gases flow in channel. The model incorporates a complete cell with both the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and the serpentine gas distributor channel. Finally, the parametric studies in single stack design are illustrated

  17. Flow-induced endothelial cell alignment requires the RhoGEF Trio as a scaffold protein to polarize active Rac1 distribution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kroon, Jeffrey; Heemskerk, Niels; Kalsbeek, Martin J. T.; de Waard, Vivian; van Rijssel, Jos; van Buul, Jaap D.

    2017-01-01

    Endothelial cells line the lumen of the vessel wall and are exposed to flow. In linear parts of the vessel, the endothelial cells experience laminar flow, resulting in endothelial cell alignment in the direction of flow, thereby protecting the vessel wall from inflammation and permeability. In order

  18. Disruption of TGF-β signaling in smooth muscle cell prevents flow-induced vascular remodeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gao, Fu [Department of Vascular Surgery, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing (China); Chambon, Pierre [Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (CNRS UMR7104, INSERM U596, ULP, Collége de France) and Institut Clinique de la Souris, ILLKIRCH, Strasbourg (France); Tellides, George [Department of Surgery, Interdepartmental Program in Vascular Biology and Therapeutics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Kong, Wei [Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Basic Medical College of Peking University, Beijing (China); Zhang, Xiaoming, E-mail: rmygxgwk@163.com [Department of Vascular Surgery, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing (China); Li, Wei [Department of Vascular Surgery, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing (China)

    2014-11-07

    Highlights: • TGF-β signaling in SMC contributes to the flow-induced vascular remodeling. • Disruption of TGF-β signaling in SMC can prevent this process. • Targeting SM-specific Tgfbr2 could be a novel therapeutic strategy for vascular remodeling. - Abstract: Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling has been prominently implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular remodeling, especially the initiation and progression of flow-induced vascular remodeling. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are the principal resident cells in arterial wall and are critical for arterial remodeling. However, the role of TGF-β signaling in SMC for flow-induced vascular remodeling remains unknown. Therefore, the goal of our study was to determine the effect of TGF-β pathway in SMC for vascular remodeling, by using a genetical smooth muscle-specific (SM-specific) TGF-β type II receptor (Tgfbr2) deletion mice model. Mice deficient in the expression of Tgfbr2 (MyhCre.Tgfbr2{sup f/f}) and their corresponding wild-type background mice (MyhCre.Tgfbr2{sup WT/WT}) underwent partial ligation of left common carotid artery for 1, 2, or 4 weeks. Then the carotid arteries were harvested and indicated that the disruption of Tgfbr2 in SMC provided prominent inhibition of vascular remodeling. And the thickening of carotid media, proliferation of SMC, infiltration of macrophage, and expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) were all significantly attenuated in Tgfbr2 disruption mice. Our study demonstrated, for the first time, that the TGF-β signaling in SMC plays an essential role in flow-induced vascular remodeling and disruption can prevent this process.

  19. Artificial fish skin of self-powered micro-electromechanical systems hair cells for sensing hydrodynamic flow phenomena.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asadnia, Mohsen; Kottapalli, Ajay Giri Prakash; Miao, Jianmin; Warkiani, Majid Ebrahimi; Triantafyllou, Michael S

    2015-10-06

    Using biological sensors, aquatic animals like fishes are capable of performing impressive behaviours such as super-manoeuvrability, hydrodynamic flow 'vision' and object localization with a success unmatched by human-engineered technologies. Inspired by the multiple functionalities of the ubiquitous lateral-line sensors of fishes, we developed flexible and surface-mountable arrays of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) artificial hair cell flow sensors. This paper reports the development of the MEMS artificial versions of superficial and canal neuromasts and experimental characterization of their unique flow-sensing roles. Our MEMS flow sensors feature a stereolithographically fabricated polymer hair cell mounted on Pb(Zr(0.52)Ti(0.48))O3 micro-diaphragm with floating bottom electrode. Canal-inspired versions are developed by mounting a polymer canal with pores that guide external flows to the hair cells embedded in the canal. Experimental results conducted employing our MEMS artificial superficial neuromasts (SNs) demonstrated a high sensitivity and very low threshold detection limit of 22 mV/(mm s(-1)) and 8.2 µm s(-1), respectively, for an oscillating dipole stimulus vibrating at 35 Hz. Flexible arrays of such superficial sensors were demonstrated to localize an underwater dipole stimulus. Comparative experimental studies revealed a high-pass filtering nature of the canal encapsulated sensors with a cut-off frequency of 10 Hz and a flat frequency response of artificial SNs. Flexible arrays of self-powered, miniaturized, light-weight, low-cost and robust artificial lateral-line systems could enhance the capabilities of underwater vehicles. © 2015 The Author(s).

  20. Flow visualisation study of spiral flow in the aorta-renal bifurcation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fulker, David; Javadzadegan, Ashkan; Li, Zuming; Barber, Tracie

    2017-10-01

    The aim of this study was to analyse the flow dynamics in an idealised model of the aorta-renal bifurcation using flow visualisation, with a particular focus on the effect of aorta-to-renal flow ratio and flow spirality. The recirculation length was longest when there was low flow in the renal artery and smaller in the presence of spiral flow. The results also indicate that patients without spiral flow or who have low flow in the renal artery due to the presence of stenosis may be susceptible to heightened development of atherosclerotic lesions.

  1. Chemosensitivity of human small cell carcinoma of the lung detected by flow cytometric DNA analysis of drug-induced cell cycle perturbations in vitro

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engelholm, S A; Spang-Thomsen, M; Vindeløv, L L

    1986-01-01

    A method based on detection of drug-induced cell cycle perturbation by flow cytometric DNA analysis has previously been described in Ehrlich ascites tumors as a way to estimate chemosensitivity. The method is extended to test human small-cell carcinoma of the lung. Three tumors with different...... sensitivities to melphalan in nude mice were used. Tumors were disaggregated by a combined mechanical and enzymatic method and thereafter have incubated with different doses of melphalan. After incubation the cells were plated in vitro on agar, and drug induced cell cycle changes were monitored by flow...

  2. Large-Scale mRNA Transfection of Dendritic Cells by Electroporation in Continuous Flow Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Selmeczi, Dávid; Hansen, Thomas Steen; Met, Özcan

    2016-01-01

    with high cell survival. Continuous flow of suspended dendritic cells through a channel incorporating spatially separated microporous meshes with a synchronized electrical pulsing sequence can yield dendritic cell transfection rates of >75 % with survival rates of >90 %. This chapter describes...

  3. Numerical study of the effect of relative humidity and stoichiometric flow ratio on PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell performance with various channel lengths: An anode partial flooding modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xing, Lei; Cai, Qiong; Xu, Chenxi; Liu, Chunbo; Scott, Keith; Yan, Yongsheng

    2016-01-01

    A two dimensional, along the channel, non-isothermal, two-phase flow, anode partial flooding model was developed to investigate the effects of relative humidity, stoichiometric flow ratio and channel length, as well as their interactive influence, on the performance of a PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell. Liquid water formation and transport at the anode due to the condensation of supersaturated anode gas initiated by hydrogen consumption was considered. The model considered the heat source/sink in terms of electrochemical reaction, Joule heating and latent heat due to water phase-transfer. The non-uniform temperature distributions inside the MEA (membrane electrode assembly) and channels at various stoichiometric flow ratios were demonstrated. The Peclet number was used to evaluate the contributions of advection and diffusion on liquid water and heat transport. Results indicated that higher anode relative humidity is required to the improved cell performance. As the decrease in the anode relative humidity and increase in channel length, the optimal cathode relative humidity was increased. The initial increase in stoichiometric flow ratio improved the limiting current densities. However, the further increases led to limited contributions. The Peclet number indicated that the liquid water transport through the electrode was mainly determined by the capillary diffusion mechanism. - Highlights: • Interactive effects of RH, stoichiometric flow ratio, channel length are studied. • Fully humidified anode is required to maintain the good cell performance. • Optimal RH_c is 30–40% for channel length of 1–10 cm at high current density. • Effect of stoichiometric flow ratio is more significant for longer channels. • Both liquid water and heat transport are diffusion dominated rather than advection.

  4. Growth-direction dependence of steady-state Saffman-Taylor flow in an anisotropic Hele-Shaw cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCloud, K.V.; Maher, J.V.

    1996-01-01

    Selection of steady-state fingers has been measured in a Hele-Shaw cell perturbed by having a square lattice etched onto one of the plates. Flows at different orientations θ between the direction of flow and the lattice axes have been studied, in a wide range of observable tip velocities where the perturbation was made microscopic in the sense that the capillary length of the flow was much greater than the etched lattice cell size. The full range of dynamically interesting angles for the square lattice was examined, and above a threshold, the microscopic perturbation always results in wider fingers than are selected in the unperturbed case. There is some dependence of the width of the fingers on the orientation of the flow, with fingers at θ=0 degree being the widest with respect to the unperturbed fingers, and fingers at 45 degree being the least wide, although still wider than the unperturbed fingers. All observed solutions are symmetric, centered in the channel, and have the relation between tip-curvature and finger width expected of members of the Saffman-Taylor family of solutions. Selected solutions narrow again at tip velocities where the perturbation can no longer be considered microscopic. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

  5. Cortical Actin Flow in T Cells Quantified by Spatio-temporal Image Correlation Spectroscopy of Structured Illumination Microscopy Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashdown, George; Pandžić, Elvis; Cope, Andrew; Wiseman, Paul; Owen, Dylan

    2015-12-17

    Filamentous-actin plays a crucial role in a majority of cell processes including motility and, in immune cells, the formation of a key cell-cell interaction known as the immunological synapse. F-actin is also speculated to play a role in regulating molecular distributions at the membrane of cells including sub-membranous vesicle dynamics and protein clustering. While standard light microscope techniques allow generalized and diffraction-limited observations to be made, many cellular and molecular events including clustering and molecular flow occur in populations at length-scales far below the resolving power of standard light microscopy. By combining total internal reflection fluorescence with the super resolution imaging method structured illumination microscopy, the two-dimensional molecular flow of F-actin at the immune synapse of T cells was recorded. Spatio-temporal image correlation spectroscopy (STICS) was then applied, which generates quantifiable results in the form of velocity histograms and vector maps representing flow directionality and magnitude. This protocol describes the combination of super-resolution imaging and STICS techniques to generate flow vectors at sub-diffraction levels of detail. This technique was used to confirm an actin flow that is symmetrically retrograde and centripetal throughout the periphery of T cells upon synapse formation.

  6. Effect of flow field with converging and diverging channels on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zehtabiyan-Rezaie, Navid; Arefian, Amir; Kermani, Mohammad J.; Noughabi, Amir Karimi; Abdollahzadeh, M.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Effect of converging and diverging channels on fuel cell performance. • Over rib flow is observed from converging channels to neighbors. • Proposed flow field enriches oxygen level and current density in catalyst layer. • Net output power is enhanced more than 16% in new flow field. - Abstract: In this study, a novel bipolar flow field design is proposed. This new design consists of placed sequentially converging and diverging channels. Numerical simulation of cathode side is used to investigate the effects of converging and diverging channels on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Two models of constant and variable sink/source terms were implemented to consider species consumption and production. The distribution of oxygen mole fraction in gas diffusion and catalyst layers as a result of transverse over rib velocity is monitored. The results indicate that the converging channels feed two diverging neighbors. This phenomenon is a result of the over rib velocity which is caused by the pressure difference between the neighboring channels. The polarization curves show that by applying an angle of 0.3° to the channels, the net electrical output power increases by 16% compared to the base case.

  7. Injection molded pinched flow fractionation device for enrichment of somatic cells in cow milk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Marie Pødenphant; Marie, Rodolphe; Olesen, Tom

    2014-01-01

    In this paper the continuous microfluidic separation technique pinched flow fractionation is applied to the enrichment of somatic cells from cow milk. Somatic cells were separated from the smallest fat particles and proteins thus better imaging and analysis of the cells can be achieved...

  8. Disturbed flow mediated modulation of shear forces on endothelial plane: A proposed model for studying endothelium around atherosclerotic plaques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balaguru, Uma Maheswari; Sundaresan, Lakshmikirupa; Manivannan, Jeganathan; Majunathan, Reji; Mani, Krishnapriya; Swaminathan, Akila; Venkatesan, Saravanakumar; Kasiviswanathan, Dharanibalan; Chatterjee, Suvro

    2016-06-01

    Disturbed fluid flow or modulated shear stress is associated with vascular conditions such as atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and aneurysm. In vitro simulation of the fluid flow around the plaque micro-environment remains a challenging approach. Currently available models have limitations such as complications in protocols, high cost, incompetence of co-culture and not being suitable for massive expression studies. Hence, the present study aimed to develop a simple, versatile model based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. Current observations of CFD have shown the regions of modulated shear stress by the disturbed fluid flow. To execute and validate the model in real sense, cell morphology, cytoskeletal arrangement, cell death, reactive oxygen species (ROS) profile, nitric oxide production and disturbed flow markers under the above condition were assessed. Endothelium at disturbed flow region which had been exposed to low shear stress and swirling flow pattern showed morphological and expression similarities with the pathological disturbed flow environment reported previously. Altogether, the proposed model can serve as a platform to simulate the real time micro-environment of disturbed flow associated with eccentric plaque shapes and the possibilities of studying its downstream events.

  9. Dynamic measurements of flowing cells labeled by gold nanoparticles using full-field photothermal interferometric imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turko, Nir A.; Roitshtain, Darina; Blum, Omry; Kemper, Björn; Shaked, Natan T.

    2017-06-01

    We present highly dynamic photothermal interferometric phase microscopy for quantitative, selective contrast imaging of live cells during flow. Gold nanoparticles can be biofunctionalized to bind to specific cells, and stimulated for local temperature increase due to plasmon resonance, causing a rapid change of the optical phase. These phase changes can be recorded by interferometric phase microscopy and analyzed to form an image of the binding sites of the nanoparticles in the cells, gaining molecular specificity. Since the nanoparticle excitation frequency might overlap with the sample dynamics frequencies, photothermal phase imaging was performed on stationary or slowly dynamic samples. Furthermore, the computational analysis of the photothermal signals is time consuming. This makes photothermal imaging unsuitable for applications requiring dynamic imaging or real-time analysis, such as analyzing and sorting cells during fast flow. To overcome these drawbacks, we utilized an external interferometric module and developed new algorithms, based on discrete Fourier transform variants, enabling fast analysis of photothermal signals in highly dynamic live cells. Due to the self-interference module, the cells are imaged with and without excitation in video-rate, effectively increasing signal-to-noise ratio. Our approach holds potential for using photothermal cell imaging and depletion in flow cytometry.

  10. Flow cytometric DNA ploidy analysis of ovarian granulosa cell tumors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D. Chadha; C.J. Cornelisse; A. Schabert (A.)

    1990-01-01

    textabstractAbstract The nuclear DNA content of 50 ovarian tumors initially diagnosed as granulosa cell tumors was measured by flow cytometry using paraffin-embedded archival material. The follow-up period of the patients ranged from 4 months to 19 years. Thirty-eight tumors were diploid or

  11. Convective flows of colloidal suspension in an inclined closed cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smorodin, Boris; Ishutov, Sergey [Department of Physics of Phase Transitions, Perm State University, Perm (Russian Federation); Cherepanov, Ivan, E-mail: bsmorodin@yandex.ru [Department of Radio Electronics and Information Security, Perm State University, Perm (Russian Federation)

    2016-12-15

    The nonlinear spatiotemporal evolution of convective flows is numerically investigated in the case of colloidal suspension filling an inclined closed cell heated from below. The bifurcation diagram (the dependency of the Nusselt number on the Rayleigh number) is obtained. The characteristics of the wave and steady patterns are investigated depending on heat intensity. The travelling wave changing travel direction and the non-regular oscillatory flow are found to be stable solutions within a certain interval of the Rayleigh number. Temporal Fourier decomposition is used together with other diagnostic tools to analyse the complex bifurcation and spatiotemporal properties caused by the interplay of the gravity-induced gradient of concentration and convective mixing of the fluid. It is shown that a more complex flow structure exists at a lower heating intensity (Rayleigh number). (paper)

  12. Cerebral blood flow mapping in children with sickle cell disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Numaguchi, Y.; Humbert, J.R.; Robinson, A.E.; Lindstrom, W.W.; Gruenauer, L.M.

    1988-01-01

    A cerebral blood flow mapping system was applied to the evaluation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) in 21 patients with sickle cell cerebrovascular disease, by means of a Picker xenon computed tomographic (CT) scanner. Results indicate that (1) xenon CT is a safe and reliable procedure in children with cerebrovascular diseases; (2) CBF in the gray matter of children seems to be higher than in previously reported data obtained with use of isotopes; and (3) regional CBF can be altered significantly by changing the size of the region of interest (ROI). The term regional CBF probably has to be carefully defined in xenon CT flow mapping. Correlation with anatomy by means of CT or magnetic resonance imaging and comparison with the ROI of the contralateral side and/or adjacent sections is important

  13. Investigation of gas flow characteristics in proton exchange membrane fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwac, Lee Ku; Kim, Hong Gun

    2008-01-01

    An investigation of electrochemical behavior of PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) is performed by using a single-phase two-dimensional finite element analysis. Equations of current balance, mass balance, and momentum balance are implemented to simulate the behavior of PEMFC. The analysis results for the co-flow and counterflow mode of gas flow direction are examined in detail in order to compare how the gas flow direction affects quantitatively. The characteristics of internal properties, such as gas velocity distribution, mass fraction of the reactants, fraction of water and current density distribution in PEMFC are illustrated in the electrode and GDL (gas diffusion layer). It is found that the dry reactant gases can be well internally humidified and maintain high performance in the case of the counter-flow mode without external humidification while it is not advantageous for highly humidified or saturated reactant gases. It is also found that the co-flow mode improves the current density distribution with humidified normal condition compared to the counter-flow mode

  14. Quantum dots as chemiluminescence enhancers tested by sequential injection technique: Comparison of flow and flow-batch conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sklenářová, Hana, E-mail: sklenarova@faf.cuni.cz [Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Hradec Králové (Czech Republic); Voráčová, Ivona [Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the CAS, v. v. i., Brno (Czech Republic); Chocholouš, Petr; Polášek, Miroslav [Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Hradec Králové (Czech Republic)

    2017-04-15

    The effect of 0.01–100 µmol L{sup −1} Quantum Dots (QDs) with different emission wavelengths (520–640 nm) and different surface modifications (mercaptopropionic, mercaptoundecanoic, thioglycolic acids and mercaptoethylamine) on permanganate-induced and luminol–hydrogen peroxide chemiluminescence (CL) was studied in detail by a sequential injection technique using a spiral detection flow cell and a flow-batch detection cell operated in flow and stop-flow modes. In permanganate CL system no significant enhancement of the CL signal was observed while for the luminol–hydrogen peroxide CL substantial increase (>100% and >90% with the spiral detection cell in flow and stop-flow modes, respectively) was attained for CdTe QDs. Enhancement exceeding 120% was observed for QDs with emissions at 520, 575 and 603 nm (sizes of 2.8 nm, 3.3 nm and 3.6 nm) using the flow-batch detection cell in the stop-flow mode. Pronounced effect was noted for surface modifications while mercaptoethylamine was the most efficient in CL enhancement compared to mercaptopropionic acid the most commonly applied coating. Significant difference between results obtained in flow and flow-batch conditions based on the entire kinetics of the extremely fast CL reaction was discussed. The increase of the CL signal was always accompanied by reduced lifetime of the CL emission thus application of QDs in flow techniques should be always coupled with the study of the CL lifetime.

  15. Numerical predictions of a PEM fuel cell performance enhancement by a rectangular cylinder installed transversely in the flow channel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perng, Shiang-Wuu; Wu, Horng-Wen; Jue, Tswen-Chyuan; Cheng, Kuo-Chih

    2009-01-01

    This paper numerically investigates the installation of the transverse rectangular cylinder along the gas diffusion layer (GDL) in the flow channel for the cell performance enhancement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The effects of the blockage at various gap sizes and the width of the cylinder on the cell performance enhancement have been studied with changing the gap ratios λ = 0.05-0.3, for the same cylinder) and the width-to-height ratios (WR = 0.66-1.66, for the same cylinder height and gap ratio). The results show that the transverse installation of a rectangular cylinder in the fuel flow channel effectively enhances the cell performance of a PEMFC. In addition, the influence of the width of the cylinder on the cell performance is obvious, and the best cell performance enhancement occurs at the gap ratio 0.2 among the gap ratios of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3.

  16. Assembly and Stacking of Flow-through Enzymatic Bioelectrodes for High Power Glucose Fuel Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abreu, Caroline; Nedellec, Yannig; Gross, Andrew J; Ondel, Olivier; Buret, Francois; Goff, Alan Le; Holzinger, Michael; Cosnier, Serge

    2017-07-19

    Bioelectrocatalytic carbon nanotube based pellets comprising redox enzymes were directly integrated in a newly conceived flow-through fuel cell. Porous electrodes and a separating cellulose membrane were housed in a glucose/oxygen biofuel cell design with inlets and outlets allowing the flow of electrolyte through the entire fuel cell. Different flow setups were tested and the optimized single cell setup, exploiting only 5 mmol L -1 glucose, showed an open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.663 V and provided 1.03 ± 0.05 mW at 0.34 V. Furthermore, different charge/discharge cycles at 500 Ω and 3 kΩ were applied to optimize long-term stability leading to 3.6 J (1 mW h) of produced electrical energy after 48 h. Under continuous discharge at 6 kΩ, about 0.7 mW h could be produced after a 24 h period. The biofuel cell design further allows a convenient assembly of several glucose biofuel cells in reduced volumes and their connection in parallel or in series. The configuration of two biofuel cells connected in series showed an OCV of 1.35 V and provided 1.82 ± 0.09 mW at 0.675 V, and when connected in parallel, showed an OCV of 0.669 V and provided 1.75 ± 0.09 mW at 0.381 V. The presented design is conceived to stack an unlimited amount of biofuel cells to reach the necessary voltage and power for portable electronic devices without the need for step-up converters or energy managing systems.

  17. A three-dimensional model for negative half cell of the vanadium redox flow battery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma Xiangkun; Zhang Huamin; Xing Feng

    2011-01-01

    A stationary, isothermal, three-dimensional model for negative half cell of the vanadium redox flow battery is developed, which is based on the comprehensive conservation laws, such as charge, mass and momentum, together with a kinetic model for reaction involving vanadium species. The model is validated against the results calculated by the available two-dimensional model. With the given geometry of the negative half cell, the distributions of velocity, concentration, overpotential and transfer current density in the sections that are perpendicular and parallel to the applied current are studied. It is shown that the distribution of the electrolyte velocity in the electrode has significant impact on the distribution of concentration, overpotential and transfer current density. The lower velocity in the electrode will cause the higher overpotential, further result in the side reaction and corrosion of key materials locally. The development of the design of the vanadium redox flow battery is discussed, and the further research is proposed.

  18. An Integrated Workflow To Assess Technical and Biological Variability of Cell Population Frequencies in Human Peripheral Blood by Flow Cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burel, Julie G; Qian, Yu; Lindestam Arlehamn, Cecilia; Weiskopf, Daniela; Zapardiel-Gonzalo, Jose; Taplitz, Randy; Gilman, Robert H; Saito, Mayuko; de Silva, Aruna D; Vijayanand, Pandurangan; Scheuermann, Richard H; Sette, Alessandro; Peters, Bjoern

    2017-02-15

    In the context of large-scale human system immunology studies, controlling for technical and biological variability is crucial to ensure that experimental data support research conclusions. In this study, we report on a universal workflow to evaluate both technical and biological variation in multiparameter flow cytometry, applied to the development of a 10-color panel to identify all major cell populations and T cell subsets in cryopreserved PBMC. Replicate runs from a control donation and comparison of different gating strategies assessed the technical variability associated with each cell population and permitted the calculation of a quality control score. Applying our panel to a large collection of PBMC samples, we found that most cell populations showed low intraindividual variability over time. In contrast, certain subpopulations such as CD56 T cells and Temra CD4 T cells were associated with high interindividual variability. Age but not gender had a significant effect on the frequency of several populations, with a drastic decrease in naive T cells observed in older donors. Ethnicity also influenced a significant proportion of immune cell population frequencies, emphasizing the need to account for these covariates in immune profiling studies. We also exemplify the usefulness of our workflow by identifying a novel cell-subset signature of latent tuberculosis infection. Thus, our study provides a universal workflow to establish and evaluate any flow cytometry panel in systems immunology studies. Copyright © 2017 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

  19. Measuring cell cycle progression kinetics with metabolic labeling and flow cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleisig, Helen; Wong, Judy

    2012-05-22

    Precise control of the initiation and subsequent progression through the various phases of the cell cycle are of paramount importance in proliferating cells. Cell cycle division is an integral part of growth and reproduction and deregulation of key cell cycle components have been implicated in the precipitating events of carcinogenesis. Molecular agents in anti-cancer therapies frequently target biological pathways responsible for the regulation and coordination of cell cycle division. Although cell cycle kinetics tend to vary according to cell type, the distribution of cells amongst the four stages of the cell cycle is rather consistent within a particular cell line due to the consistent pattern of mitogen and growth factor expression. Genotoxic events and other cellular stressors can result in a temporary block of cell cycle progression, resulting in arrest or a temporary pause in a particular cell cycle phase to allow for instigation of the appropriate response mechanism. The ability to experimentally observe the behavior of a cell population with reference to their cell cycle progression stage is an important advance in cell biology. Common procedures such as mitotic shake off, differential centrifugation or flow cytometry-based sorting are used to isolate cells at specific stages of the cell cycle. These fractionated, cell cycle phase-enriched populations are then subjected to experimental treatments. Yield, purity and viability of the separated fractions can often be compromised using these physical separation methods. As well, the time lapse between separation of the cell populations and the start of experimental treatment, whereby the fractionated cells can progress from the selected cell cycle stage, can pose significant challenges in the successful implementation and interpretation of these experiments. Other approaches to study cell cycle stages include the use of chemicals to synchronize cells. Treatment of cells with chemical inhibitors of key

  20. Effects of local single and fractionated X-ray doses on rat bone marrow blood flow and red blood cell volume

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pitkaenen, M.A.; Hopewell, J.W.

    1985-01-01

    Time and dose dependent changes in blood flow and red blood cell volume were studied in the locally irradiated bone marrow of the rat femur after single and fractionated doses of X-rays. With the single dose of 10 Gy the bone marrow blood flow although initially reduced returned to the control levels by seven months after irradiation. With doses >=15 Gy the blood flow was still significantly reduced at seven months. The total dose levels predicted by the nominal standard dose equation for treatments in three, six or nine fractions produced approximately the same degree of reduction in the bone marrow blood flow seven months after the irradiation. However, the fall in the red blood cell volume was from 23 to 37% greater in the three fractions groups compared with that in the nine fractions groups. Using the red blood cell volume as a parameter the nominal standard dose formula underestimated the severity of radiation damage in rat bone marrow at seven months for irradiation with small numbers of large dose fractions. (orig.) [de

  1. Detection of endogenous alkaline phosphatase activity in intact cells by flow cytometry using the fluorogenic ELF-97 phosphatase substrate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telford, W. G.; Cox, W. G.; Stiner, D.; Singer, V. L.; Doty, S. B.

    1999-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The alkaline phosphatase (AP) substrate 2-(5'-chloro-2'-phosphoryloxyphenyl)-6-chloro-4-(3H)-quinazolinone (ELF((R))-97 for enzyme-labeled fluorescence) has been found useful for the histochemical detection of endogenous AP activity and AP-tagged proteins and oligonucleotide probes. In this study, we evaluated its effectiveness at detecting endogenous AP activity by flow cytometry. METHODS: The ELF-97 phosphatase substrate was used to detect endogenous AP activity in UMR-106 rat osteosarcoma cells and primary cultures of chick chondrocytes. Cells were labeled with the ELF-97 reagent and analyzed by flow cytometry using an argon ultraviolet (UV) laser. For comparison purposes, cells were also assayed for AP using a Fast Red Violet LB azo dye assay previously described for use in detecting AP activity by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The ELF-97 phosphatase substrate effectively detected endogenous AP activity in UMR-106 cells, with over 95% of the resulting fluorescent signal resulting from AP-specific activity (as determined by levamisole inhibition of AP activity). In contrast, less than 70% of the fluorescent signal from the Fast Red Violet LB (FRV) assay was AP-dependent, reflecting the high intrinsic fluorescence of the unreacted components. The ELF-97 phosphatase assay was also able to detect very low AP activity in chick chondrocytes that was undetectable by the azo dye method. CONCLUSIONS: The ELF-97 phosphatase assay was able to detect endogenous AP activity in fixed mammalian and avian cells by flow cytometry with superior sensitivity to previously described assays. This work also shows the applicability of ELF-97 to flow cytometry, supplementing its previously demonstrated histochemical applications. Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  2. Probing the cytoadherence of malaria infected red blood cells under flow.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaofeng Xu

    Full Text Available Malaria is one of the most widespread and deadly human parasitic diseases caused by the Plasmodium (P. species with the P. falciparum being the most deadly. The parasites are capable of invading red blood cells (RBCs during infection. At the late stage of parasites' development, the parasites export proteins to the infected RBCs (iRBC membrane and bind to receptors of surface proteins on the endothelial cells that line microvasculature walls. Resulting adhesion of iRBCs to microvasculature is one of the main sources of most complications during malaria infection. Therefore, it is important to develop a versatile and simple experimental method to quantitatively investigate iRBCs cytoadhesion and binding kinetics. Here, we developed an advanced flow based adhesion assay to demonstrate that iRBC's adhesion to endothelial CD36 receptor protein coated channels is a bistable process possessing a hysteresis loop. This finding confirms a recently developed model of cell adhesion which we used to fit our experimental data. We measured the contact area of iRBC under shear flow at different stages of infection using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF, and also adhesion receptor and ligand binding kinetics using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM. With these parameters, we reproduced in our model the experimentally observed changes in adhesion properties of iRBCs accompanying parasite maturation and investigated the main mechanisms responsible for these changes, which are the contact area during the shear flow as well as the rupture area size.

  3. Novel Strategy for Phenotypic Characterization of Human B Lymphocytes from Precursors to Effector Cells by Flow Cytometry.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanna Clavarino

    Full Text Available A precise identification and phenotypic characterization of human B-cell subsets is of crucial importance in both basic research and medicine. In the literature, flow cytometry studies for the phenotypic characterization of B-lymphocytes are mainly focused on the description of a particular cell stage, or of specific cell stages observed in a single type of sample. In the present work, we propose a backbone of 6 antibodies (CD38, CD27, CD10, CD19, CD5 and CD45 and an efficient gating strategy to identify, in a single analysis tube, a large number of B-cell subsets covering the whole B-cell differentiation from precursors to memory and plasma cells. Furthermore, by adding two antibodies in an 8-color combination, our approach allows the analysis of the modulation of any cell surface marker of interest along B-cell differentiation. We thus developed a panel of seven 8-colour antibody combinations to phenotypically characterize B-cell subpopulations in bone marrow, peripheral blood, lymph node and cord blood samples. Beyond qualitative information provided by biparametric representations, we also quantified antigen expression on each of the identified B-cell subsets and we proposed a series of informative curves showing the modulation of seventeen cell surface markers along B-cell differentiation. Our approach by flow cytometry provides an efficient tool to obtain quantitative data on B-cell surface markers expression with a relative easy-to-handle technique that can be applied in routine explorations.

  4. Feasibility Studies of Vortex Flow Impact On the Proliferation of Algae in Hydrogen Production for Fuel Cell Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miskon, Azizi; A/L Thanakodi, Suresh; Shiema Moh Nazar, Nazatul; Kit Chong, Marcus Wai; Sobri Takriff, Mohd; Fakir Kamarudin, Kamrul; Aziz Norzali, Abdul; Nooraya Mohd Tawil, Siti

    2016-11-01

    The instability of crude oil price in global market as well as the sensitivity towards green energy increases, more research works being carried out to find alternative energy replacing the depleting of fossil fuels. Photobiological hydrogen production system using algae is one of the promising alternative energy source. However, the yield of hydrogen utilizing the current photobioreactor (PBR) is still low for commercial application due to restricted light penetration into the deeper regions of the reactor. Therefore, this paper studies the feasibility of vortex flow impact utilizing magnetic stirring in hydrogen production for fuel cell applications. For comparison of results, a magnetic stirrer is placed under a PBR of algae to stir the algae to obtain an even distribution of sunlight to the algae while the controlled PBR of algae kept in static. The produced hydrogen level was measured using hydrogen sensor circuit and the data collected were communicated to laptop using Arduino Uno. The results showed more cell counts and hydrogen produced in the PBR under the influence of magnetic stirring compared to static PBR by an average of 8 percent in 4 days.

  5. Prolonged effect of fluid flow stress on the proliferative activity of mesothelial cells after abrupt discontinuation of fluid streaming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Shigehisa; Ikeda, Satoshi; Takezawa, Toshiaki; Kishi, Tomoya; Makino, Junichi; Uchihashi, Kazuyoshi; Matsunobu, Aki; Noguchi, Mitsuru; Sugihara, Hajime; Toda, Shuji

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: ► Late-onset peritoneal fibrosis leading to EPS remains to be elucidated. ► Fluid streaming is a potent factor for peritoneal fibrosis in PD. ► We focused on the prolonged effect of fluid streaming on mesothelial cell kinetics. ► A history of fluid streaming exposure promoted mesothelial proliferative activity. ► We have thus identified a potent new factor for late-onset peritoneal fibrosis. -- Abstract: Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) often develops after transfer to hemodialysis and transplantation. Both termination of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and transplantation-related factors are risks implicated in post-PD development of EPS, but the precise mechanism of this late-onset peritoneal fibrosis remains to be elucidated. We previously demonstrated that fluid flow stress induced mesothelial proliferation and epithelial–mesenchymal transition via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Therefore, we speculated that the prolonged bioactive effect of fluid flow stress may affect mesothelial cell kinetics after cessation of fluid streaming. To investigate how long mesothelial cells stay under the bioactive effect brought on by fluid flow stress after removal of the stress, we initially cultured mesothelial cells under fluid flow stress and then cultured the cells under static conditions. Mesothelial cells exposed to fluid flow stress for a certain time showed significantly high proliferative activity compared with static conditions after stoppage of fluid streaming. The expression levels of protein phosphatase 2A, which dephosphorylates MAPK, in mesothelial cells changed with time and showed a biphasic pattern that was dependent on the duration of exposure to fluid flow stress. There were no differences in the fluid flow stress-related bioactive effects on mesothelial cells once a certain time had passed. The present findings show that fluid flow stress exerts a prolonged bioactive effect on mesothelial cells after termination

  6. Use of flow cytometry for the possible identification of radio-induced changes in DNA of animal cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spano, M.; Leonardi, M.; Cordelli, E.

    1991-01-01

    Since DNA is the main cellular target of ionizing irradiation, methods fit for analyzing DNA alterations should be able to discern irradiated versus control cells. Flow cytometry allows the rapid measurement of DNA content of single chromosomes or cell nuclei at very high resolution on a statistically significant sample. Alterations of chromatine structure can also be analyzed by flow cytometry. Briefly, evaluation of in situ DNA resistance to denaturation can be evaluated by flow cytometric analysis of different staining pattern of single versus double strange regions of DNA. In the present work both approaches were used with the aim to recognize cells derived from an irradiated sample of breast chicken. Although flow cytometry has been demonstrated to be a useful tool to detect DNA alterations and has been widely used to detect damages on DNA induced by several physical and chemical agents, it was unable to detect clastogenic effects induced by electrons on DNA of chicken breast cells. Heavily irradiated nuclei, even if challenged by denaturating treatments that partially collapse chromatine organization, do not present differences from non irradiated samples after flow cytometric DNA content measurement. (16 refs)

  7. Comparison of plateletpheresis on three continuous flow cell separators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tendulkar Anita

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Platelet concentrate (PC remains one of the most important support measures in thrombocytopenic patients. An efficient cell separator is a prerequisite for an optimally functioning apheresis setup. Donor blood count may undergo a temporary reduction after the procedure. Aim: The aim was to find the extent of reduction in donor blood count (hemoglobin, hematocrit, white blood cell, and platelet after plateletpheresis and to evaluate the cell separator for collection efficiency, processing time, and leukoreduction. Study Design and Methods: Two hundred and thirty seven procedures performed on the Amicus (N = 121, Fenwal CS-3000 Plus (N = 50 and Cobe spectra (N = 66 in a one year period were evaluated. The procedures performed on the continuous flow centrifugation (CFC cell separators and donor blood counts (pre and post donation done were included in the study. Results: The percent reduction in hemoglobin (HB, hematocrit (HCT, white blood cell (WBC and platelet count ((PLT ct was 2.9, 3.1, 9, 30.7 (Mean, N = 237 respectively after the procedure. The post donation PLT ct reduced to < 100x109/L (range 80-100 in five donors (N = 5/237, Amicus. The pre donation PLT ct in them was 150-200x109/L. Collection efficiency (percent of Amicus (79.3 was better as compared to the other two machines (CS: 62.5, Cobe: 57.5. PC collected on Cobe spectra had < 1x106 WBC. The donor pre donation PLT levels had a positive correlation to the product PLT yield (r = 0.30, P = 0.000. Conclusion: Monitoring donor blood counts helps to avoid pheresis induced adverse events. A cautious approach is necessary in donors whose pre donation PLT ct is 150-200x109/L. The main variable in PLT yield is donor PLT ct (pre donation. High collection efficiency is a direct measure of an optimally functioning cell separator.

  8. Flow channel shape optimum design for hydroformed metal bipolar plate in PEM fuel cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng, Linfa; Lai, Xinmin; Liu, Dong' an; Hu, Peng [State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Ni, Jun [Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)

    2008-03-15

    Bipolar plate is one of the most important and costliest components of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Micro-hydroforming is a promising process to reduce the manufacturing cost of PEM fuel cell bipolar plates made of metal sheets. As for hydroformed bipolar plates, the main defect is the rupture because of the thinning of metal sheet during the forming process. The flow channel section decides whether high quality hydroformed bipolar plates can be successively achieved or not. Meanwhile, it is also the key factor that is related with the reaction efficiency of the fuel cell stacks. In order to obtain the optimum flow channel section design prior the experimental campaign, some key geometric dimensions (channel depth, channel width, rib width and transition radius) of flow channel section, which are related with both reaction efficiency and formability, are extracted and parameterized as the design variables. By design of experiments (DOE) methods and an adoptive simulated annealing (ASA) optimization method, an optimization model of flow channel section design for hydroformed metal bipolar plate is proposed. Optimization results show that the optimum dimension values for channel depth, channel width, rib width and transition radius are 0.5, 1.0, 1. 6 and 0.5 mm, respectively with the highest reaction efficiency (79%) and the acceptable formability (1.0). Consequently, their use would lead to improved fuel cell efficiency for low cost hydroformed metal bipolar plates. (author)

  9. Numerical analysis of a red blood cell flowing through a thin micropore.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omori, Toshihiro; Hosaka, Haruki; Imai, Yohsuke; Yamaguchi, Takami; Ishikawa, Takuji

    2014-01-01

    Red blood cell (RBC) deformability plays a key role in microcirculation, especially in vessels that have diameters even smaller than the nominal cell size. In this study, we numerically investigate the dynamics of an RBC in a thin micropore. The RBC is modeled as a capsule with a thin hyperelastic membrane. In a numerical simulation, we employ a boundary element method for fluid mechanics and a finite element method for membrane mechanics. The resulting RBC deformation towards the flow direction is suppressed considerably by increased cytoplasm viscosity, whereas the gap between the cell membrane and solid wall becomes smaller with higher cytoplasm viscosity. We also measure the transit time of the RBC and find that nondimensional transit time increases nonlinearly with respect to the viscosity ratio, whereas it is invariant to the capillary number. In conclusion, cytoplasmic viscosity plays a key role in the dynamics of an RBC in a thin pore. The results of this study will be useful for designing a microfluidic device to measure cytoplasmic viscosity.

  10. Advanced porous electrodes with flow channels for vanadium redox flow battery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattarai, Arjun; Wai, Nyunt; Schweiss, Ruediger; Whitehead, Adam; Lim, Tuti M.; Hng, Huey Hoon

    2017-02-01

    Improving the overall energy efficiency by reducing pumping power and improving flow distribution of electrolyte, is a major challenge for developers of flow batteries. The use of suitable channels can improve flow distribution through the electrodes and reduce flow resistance, hence reducing the energy consumption of the pumps. Although several studies of vanadium redox flow battery have proposed the use of bipolar plates with flow channels, similar to fuel cell designs, this paper presents the use of flow channels in the porous electrode as an alternative approach. Four types of electrodes with channels: rectangular open channel, interdigitated open cut channel, interdigitated circular poked channel and cross poked circular channels, are studied and compared with a conventional electrode without channels. Our study shows that interdigitated open channels can improve the overall energy efficiency up to 2.7% due to improvement in flow distribution and pump power reduction while interdigitated poked channel can improve up to 2.5% due to improvement in flow distribution.

  11. Three-Dimensional Transport Modeling for Proton Exchange Membrane(PEM Fuel Cell with Micro Parallel Flow Field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang Soon Hwang

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Modeling and simulation for heat and mass transport in micro channel are beingused extensively in researches and industrial applications to gain better understanding of thefundamental processes and to optimize fuel cell designs before building a prototype forengineering application. In this study, we used a single-phase, fully three dimensionalsimulation model for PEMFC that can deal with both anode and cathode flow field forexamining the micro flow channel with electrochemical reaction. The results show thathydrogen and oxygen were solely supplied to the membrane by diffusion mechanism ratherthan convection transport, and the higher pressure drop at cathode side is thought to becaused by higher flow rate of oxygen at cathode. And it is found that the amount of water incathode channel was determined by water formation due to electrochemical reaction pluselectro-osmotic mass flux directing toward the cathode side. And it is very important tomodel the back diffusion and electro-osmotic mass flux accurately since the two flux wasclosely correlated each other and greatly influenced for determination of ionic conductivityof the membrane which directly affects the performance of fuel cell.

  12. Three-Dimensional Transport Modeling for Proton Exchange Membrane(PEM) Fuel Cell with Micro Parallel Flow Field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Pil Hyong; Han, Sang Seok; Hwang, Sang Soon

    2008-03-03

    Modeling and simulation for heat and mass transport in micro channel are beingused extensively in researches and industrial applications to gain better understanding of thefundamental processes and to optimize fuel cell designs before building a prototype forengineering application. In this study, we used a single-phase, fully three dimensionalsimulation model for PEMFC that can deal with both anode and cathode flow field forexamining the micro flow channel with electrochemical reaction. The results show thathydrogen and oxygen were solely supplied to the membrane by diffusion mechanism ratherthan convection transport, and the higher pressure drop at cathode side is thought to becaused by higher flow rate of oxygen at cathode. And it is found that the amount of water incathode channel was determined by water formation due to electrochemical reaction pluselectro-osmotic mass flux directing toward the cathode side. And it is very important tomodel the back diffusion and electro-osmotic mass flux accurately since the two flux wasclosely correlated each other and greatly influenced for determination of ionic conductivityof the membrane which directly affects the performance of fuel cell.

  13. Online traffic flow model applying dynamic flow-density relation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Y.

    2002-01-01

    This dissertation describes a new approach of the online traffic flow modelling based on the hydrodynamic traffic flow model and an online process to adapt the flow-density relation dynamically. The new modelling approach was tested based on the real traffic situations in various homogeneous motorway sections and a motorway section with ramps and gave encouraging simulation results. This work is composed of two parts: first the analysis of traffic flow characteristics and second the development of a new online traffic flow model applying these characteristics. For homogeneous motorway sections traffic flow is classified into six different traffic states with different characteristics. Delimitation criteria were developed to separate these states. The hysteresis phenomena were analysed during the transitions between these traffic states. The traffic states and the transitions are represented on a states diagram with the flow axis and the density axis. For motorway sections with ramps the complicated traffic flow is simplified and classified into three traffic states depending on the propagation of congestion. The traffic states are represented on a phase diagram with the upstream demand axis and the interaction strength axis which was defined in this research. The states diagram and the phase diagram provide a basis for the development of the dynamic flow-density relation. The first-order hydrodynamic traffic flow model was programmed according to the cell-transmission scheme extended by the modification of flow dependent sending/receiving functions, the classification of cells and the determination strategy for the flow-density relation in the cells. The unreasonable results of macroscopic traffic flow models, which may occur in the first and last cells in certain conditions are alleviated by applying buffer cells between the traffic data and the model. The sending/receiving functions of the cells are determined dynamically based on the classification of the

  14. Model for adhesion clutch explains biphasic relationship between actin flow and traction at the cell leading edge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craig, Erin M.; Stricker, Jonathan; Gardel, Margaret L.; Mogilner, Alex

    2015-01-01

    Cell motility relies on the continuous reorganization of a dynamic actin-myosin-adhesion network at the leading edge of the cell, in order to generate protrusion at the leading edge and traction between the cell and its external environment. We analyze experimentally measured spatial distributions of actin flow, traction force, myosin density, and adhesion density in control and pharmacologically perturbed epithelial cells in order to develop a mechanical model of the actin-adhesion-myosin self-organization at the leading edge. A model in which the F-actin network is treated as a viscous gel, and adhesion clutch engagement is strengthened by myosin but weakened by actin flow, can explain the measured molecular distributions and correctly predict the spatial distributions of the actin flow and traction stress. We test the model by comparing its predictions with measurements of the actin flow and traction stress in cells with fast and slow actin polymerization rates. The model predicts how the location of the lamellipodium-lamellum boundary depends on the actin viscosity and adhesion strength. The model further predicts that the location of the lamellipodium-lamellum boundary is not very sensitive to the level of myosin contraction. PMID:25969948

  15. Hyperspectral imaging flow cytometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinclair, Michael B.; Jones, Howland D. T.

    2017-10-25

    A hyperspectral imaging flow cytometer can acquire high-resolution hyperspectral images of particles, such as biological cells, flowing through a microfluidic system. The hyperspectral imaging flow cytometer can provide detailed spatial maps of multiple emitting species, cell morphology information, and state of health. An optimized system can image about 20 cells per second. The hyperspectral imaging flow cytometer enables many thousands of cells to be characterized in a single session.

  16. Use of LysoTracker dyes: a flow cytometric study of autophagy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chikte, Shaheen; Panchal, Neelam; Warnes, Gary

    2014-02-01

    The flow cytometric use of LysoTracker dyes was employed to investigate the autophagic process and to compare this with the upregulation of autophagy marker, the microtubule-associated protein LC3B. Although the mechanism of action of LysoTracker dyes is not fully understood, they have been used in microscopy to image acidic spherical organelles, and their use in flow cytometry has not been thoroughly investigated in the study of autophagy. This investigation uses numerous autophagy-inducing agents including chloroquine (CQ), rapamycin, low serum (used to analyze patient cells as well as easier to use and significantly less costly. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

  17. Effect of flow on vascular endothelial cells grown in tissue culture on polytetrafluoroethylene grafts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sentissi, J.M.; Ramberg, K.; O'Donnell, T.F. Jr.; Connolly, R.J.; Callow, A.D.

    1986-01-01

    Vascular grafts lined with endothelial cells (EC) grown to confluence in culture before implantation may provide a thromboresistant flow surface. Growth of EC on and their adherence to currently available prosthetic materials under conditions of flow are two impediments remaining in the development of such a graft. To address these problems, 22 polytetrafluoroethylene grafts (PTFE) (5 cm by 4 mm inside diameter) were pretreated with collagen and fibronectin, seeded with 2 to 3 X 10(6) bovine aortic EC per graft, and placed in tissue culture (seeded grafts). Twenty-two grafts pretreated with collagen and fibronectin alone served as controls. After 2 weeks morphologic studies revealed that 20/22 seeded grafts were lined with a confluent endothelial layer. Indium 111-oxine was then used to label the EC-seeded grafts. After exposure to either low (25 ml/min) or high (200 ml/min) flow rates for 60 minutes in an in vitro circuit, examination of the luminal surface of the graft by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed minimal loss of EC. These findings were corroborated by radionuclide scans that showed an insignificant loss of the EC-associated indium label during exposure to flow (7% low flow, 11% high flow). Pretreatment of PTFE grafts with collagen and fibronectin thus promotes both attachment and adherence of EC even under flow conditions

  18. Experimental and theoretical study of hydrodynamic cell lysing of cancer cells in a high-throughput Circular Multi-Channel Microfiltration device

    KAUST Repository

    Ma, W.; Liu, D.; Shagoshtasbi, H.; Shukla, A.; Nugroho, E. S.; Zohar, Y.; Lee, Y.-K.

    2013-01-01

    Microfiltration is an important microfluidic technique suitable for enrichment and isolation of cells. However, cell lysing could occur due to hydrodynamic damage that may be detrimental for medical diagnostics. Therefore, we conducted a systematic study of hydrodynamic cell lysing in a high-throughput Circular Multi-Channel Microfiltration (CMCM) device integrated with a polycarbonate membrane. HeLa cells (cervical cancer cells) were driven into the CMCM at different flow rates. The viability of the cells in the CMCM was examined by fluorescence microscopy using Acridine Orange (AO)/Ethidium Bromide (EB) as a marker for viable/dead cells. A simple analytical cell viability model was derived and a 3D numerical model was constructed to examine the correlation of between cell lysing and applied shear stress under varying flow rate and Reynolds number. The measured cell viability as a function of the shear stress was consistent with theoretical and numerical predictions when accounting for cell size distribution. © 2013 IEEE.

  19. Experimental and theoretical study of hydrodynamic cell lysing of cancer cells in a high-throughput Circular Multi-Channel Microfiltration device

    KAUST Repository

    Ma, W.

    2013-04-01

    Microfiltration is an important microfluidic technique suitable for enrichment and isolation of cells. However, cell lysing could occur due to hydrodynamic damage that may be detrimental for medical diagnostics. Therefore, we conducted a systematic study of hydrodynamic cell lysing in a high-throughput Circular Multi-Channel Microfiltration (CMCM) device integrated with a polycarbonate membrane. HeLa cells (cervical cancer cells) were driven into the CMCM at different flow rates. The viability of the cells in the CMCM was examined by fluorescence microscopy using Acridine Orange (AO)/Ethidium Bromide (EB) as a marker for viable/dead cells. A simple analytical cell viability model was derived and a 3D numerical model was constructed to examine the correlation of between cell lysing and applied shear stress under varying flow rate and Reynolds number. The measured cell viability as a function of the shear stress was consistent with theoretical and numerical predictions when accounting for cell size distribution. © 2013 IEEE.

  20. Numerical and experimental investigation on effects of inlet humidity and fuel flow rate and oxidant on the performance on polymer fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takalloo, Pourya Karimi; Nia, Ehsan Shabahang; Ghazikhani, Mohsen

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The impact of alteration in humidification on performance of fuel cell. • The impact of variation of temperature on performance of fuel cell. • The effects of using pure oxygen on the polarity curve are studied. • Fuel cell has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. - Abstract: Considering the importance of water management in a fuel cell and in order to increase the rate of the electro-chemical process in fuel cells with polymer membrane, it is required to optimize the humidity and inlet flow rates on anode and cathode sides. In this study, the impact of alteration in humidification and inlet flow rates on performance improvements for polymer membrane fuel cells is investigated both experimentally and numerically. To obtain the objective, employing the results from experiments and simulations, polarity curve and power density are produced and further used to conduct the desired investigations. In addition, through the conducted simulations the effects of using pure oxygen in the cathode side and inlet gas temperatures on the polarity curve is studied. The results demonstrate that an increase in humidity of the inlet gases will lead to performance amelioration in the cell, due to reduction in ionic resistance at the membrane. Furthermore, with the aforementioned increment; molar fractions of hydrogen and oxygen are decreased through the channel which results in produced water increment. Amplification in inlet flow rates to a certain level will improve the penetration possibility for gaseous forms leading to betterment of the cell performance in this specified range. Performance improvements with inlet gases temperature increment conclude other results of this study.

  1. Flow through internal elastic lamina affects shear stress on smooth muscle cells (3D simulations).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tada, Shigeru; Tarbell, John M

    2002-02-01

    We describe a three-dimensional numerical simulation of interstitial flow through the medial layer of an artery accounting for the complex entrance condition associated with fenestral pores in the internal elastic lamina (IEL) to investigate the fluid mechanical environment around the smooth muscle cells (SMCs) right beneath the IEL. The IEL was modeled as an impermeable barrier to water flow except for the fenestral pores, which were assumed to be uniformly distributed over the IEL. The medial layer was modeled as a heterogeneous medium composed of a periodic array of cylindrical SMCs embedded in a continuous porous medium representing the interstitial proteoglycan and collagen matrix. Depending on the distance between the IEL bottom surface and the upstream end of the proximal layer of SMCs, the local shear stress on SMCs right beneath the fenestral pore could be more than 10 times higher than that on the cells far removed from the IEL under the conditions that the fenestral pore diameter and area fraction of pores were kept constant at 1.4 microm and 0.05, respectively. Thus these proximal SMCs may experience shear stress levels that are even higher than endothelial cells exposed to normal blood flow (order of 10 dyn/cm(2)). Furthermore, entrance flow through fenestral pores alters considerably the interstitial flow field in the medial layer over a spatial length scale of the order of the fenestral pore diameter. Thus the spatial gradient of shear stress on the most superficial SMC is noticeably higher than computed for endothelial cell surfaces.

  2. Studies of non-isothermal flow in saturated and partially saturated porous media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ho, C.K.; Maki, K.S.; Glass, R.J.

    1993-01-01

    Physical and numerical experiments have been performed to investigate the behavior of nonisothermal flow in two-dimensional saturated and partially saturated porous media. The physical experiments were performed to identify non-isothermal flow fields and temperature distributions in fully saturated, half-saturated, and residually saturated two-dimensional porous media with bottom heating and top cooling. Two counter-rotating liquid-phase convective cells were observed to develop in the saturated regions of all three cases. Gas-phase convection was also evidenced in the unsaturated regions of the partially saturated experiments. TOUGH2 numerical simulations of the saturated case were found to be strongly dependent on the assumed boundary conditions of the physical system. Models including heat losses through the boundaries of the test cell produced temperature and flow fields that were in better agreement with the observed temperature and flow fields than models that assumed insulated boundary conditions. A sensitivity analysis also showed that a reduction of the bulk permeability of the porous media in the numerical simulations depressed the effects of convection, flattening the temperature profiles across the test cell

  3. Detection of circulating breast cancer cells using photoacoustic flow cytometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharyya, Kiran

    According to the American Cancer Society, more than 200,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year. Moreover, about 40,000 women died from breast cancer last year alone. As breast cancer progresses in an individual, it can transform from a localized state to a metastatic one with multiple tumors distributed through the body, not necessarily contained within the breast. Metastasis is the spread of cancer through the body by circulating tumor cells (CTCs) which can be found in the blood and lymph of the diagnosed patient. Diagnosis of a metastatic state by the discovery of a secondary tumor can often come too late and hence, significantly reduce the patient's chance of survival. There is a current need for a CTC detection method which would diagnose metastasis before the secondary tumor occurs or reaches a size resolvable by current imaging systems. Since earlier detection would improve prognosis, this study proposes a method of labeling of breast cancer cells for detection with a photoacoustic flow cytometry system as a model for CTC detection in human blood. Gold nanoparticles and fluorescent polystyrene nanoparticles are proposed as contrast agents for T47D, the breast cancer cell line of choice. The labeling, photoacoustic detection limit, and sensitivity are first characterized and then applied to a study to show detection from human blood.

  4. Glycocalyx Degradation Induces a Proinflammatory Phenotype and Increased Leukocyte Adhesion in Cultured Endothelial Cells under Flow.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karli K McDonald

    Full Text Available Leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium is an early step in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Effective adhesion requires the binding of leukocytes to their cognate receptors on the surface of endothelial cells. The glycocalyx covers the surface of endothelial cells and is important in the mechanotransduction of shear stress. This study aimed to identify the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of the glycocalyx in leukocyte adhesion under flow. We performed experiments using 3-D cell culture models, exposing human abdominal aortic endothelial cells to steady laminar shear stress (10 dynes/cm2 for 24 hours. We found that with the enzymatic degradation of the glycocalyx, endothelial cells developed a proinflammatory phenotype when exposed to uniform steady shear stress leading to an increase in leukocyte adhesion. Our results show an up-regulation of ICAM-1 with degradation compared to non-degraded controls (3-fold increase, p<0.05 and we attribute this effect to a de-regulation in NF-κB activity in response to flow. These results suggest that the glycocalyx is not solely a physical barrier to adhesion but rather plays an important role in governing the phenotype of endothelial cells, a key determinant in leukocyte adhesion. We provide evidence for how the destabilization of this structure may be an early and defining feature in the initiation of atherosclerosis.

  5. The utility of flow cytometry in differentiating NK/T cell lymphoma from indolent and reactive NK cell proliferations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Mel, Sanjay; Li, Jenny Bei; Abid, Muhammad Bilal; Tang, Tiffany; Tay, Hui Ming; Ting, Wen Chang; Poon, Li Mei; Chung, Tae Hoon; Mow, Benjamin; Tso, Allison; Ong, Kiat Hoe; Chng, Wee Joo; Liu, Te Chih

    2018-01-01

    The WHO defines three categories of NK cell malignancies; extra nodal NK/T cell lymphoma (NKTCL), aggressive NK cell leukemia, and the provisional entity chronic lymphoproliferative disorder of NK cells (CLPD-NK). Although the flow cytometric (FC) phenotype of CLPD-NK has been described, studies on FC phenotype of NKTCL are limited. To the best of our knowledge ours is the first study to compare the phenotype of NKTCL, CLPD-NK, reactive NK lymphocytosis (RNKL), and normal NK cells using eight color (8C) FC. Specimens analyzed using the Euroflow8C NK Lymphoproliferative Disorder (NKLPD) panel between 2011 and 2014 were identified from our database. All samples were analyzed on the FACSCantoII cytometer. NK cells were identified as CD45+, smCD3-, CD19-, CD56+ and normal T-cells served as internal controls. The majority of NKTCL were CD56 bright, CD16 dim, CD57-, and CD94+. CLPD-NK and RNKL were predominantly CD56+ or dim with positive expression of CD16 and CD57 and weak CD94 expression. Antigen based statistical analyses showed robust division of samples along the NKTCL/normal CD56 bright NK cell and CLPD-NK/RNKL/normal CD56 positive NK cell groups. It was concluded that FC can reliably distinguish NKTCL from CLPD-NK, normal NK cells of CD56+ phenotype, and RNKL. It was proposed that the typical phenotype for NKTCL is: CD56 bright, CD16 dim with positive CD2, CD7, CD94, HLADR, CD25, CD26, and absent CD57. This resembles the phenotype of the CD56 bright immunoregulatory subset of NK cells which we therefore hypothesize is the cell of origin of NKTCL. © 2017 International Clinical Cytometry Society. © 2017 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

  6. Study of surface damage on cell envelope assessed by AFM and flow cytometry of Lactobacillus plantarum exposed to ethanol and dehydration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bravo-Ferrada, B M; Gonçalves, S; Semorile, L; Santos, N C; Tymczyszyn, E E; Hollmann, A

    2015-06-01

    In this work, we evaluated freeze-drying damage at the surface level of oenological strain Lactobacillus plantarum UNQLp155, as well as its ability to grow in a synthetic wine with and without pre-acclimation. Damage on cell surface was studied by flow cytometry, zeta potential and atomic force microscopy, and cell survival was analysed by plate count. Results showed that beside cells acclimated at lower ethanol concentration (6% v/v) became more susceptible to drying than nonacclimated ones, after rehydration they maintain their increased ability to grow in a synthetic wine. Acclimation at a higher ethanol concentration (10% v/v) produces several damages on the cell surface losing its ability to grow in a synthetic wine. In this work, we showed for the first time that sublethal alterations on bacterial surface induced by a pre-acclimation with a low ethanol concentration (6%), upon a freeze-drying process, result in a better bacterial adaptation to the stress conditions of wine-like medium, as well as to the preservation process. Understanding the adaptation to ethanol of oenological strains and their effects on the preservation process has a strong impact on winemaking process and allows to define the most appropriate conditions to obtain malolactic starters cultures. © 2015 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  7. The study on flow characteristics of butterfly valve using flow visualization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, S. M.; Hong, S. D.; Song, D. S.; Park, J. K.; Park, J. I.; Shin, S. K.; Kim, H. J.

    2005-01-01

    Flow visualization of butterfly valve is tested for four types(15 deg., 30 .deg., 45 .deg., and 90 .deg.) of valve opening angle. The inner flow characteristics of valve are studied. The flow variation was measured using a high speed camera which takes 500 frames per second with 1024 x 1024 pixels. These captured images were used for calculation to analyze two dimensional flow velocity of the valve. The smaller opening angle, the more increasing the differential pressure of a butterfly valve. Therefore, we know that the complex flow is occurred by increasing the differential pressure. And it is found that the flowing backward is more increased according to the increase of the opening angle of a butterfly valve. However, its flow pattern is similar to a simple pipe flow when the opening angle is 90 .deg.

  8. Osteopontin adsorption to Gram-positive cells reduces adhesion forces and attachment to surfaces under flow

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, M F; Zeng, G; Neu, T R

    2017-01-01

    caries or medical device-related infections. It further investigated if OPN's effect on adhesion is caused by blocking the accessibility of glycoconjugates on bacterial surfaces. Bacterial adhesion was determined in a shear-controlled flow cell system in the presence of different concentrations of OPN......The bovine milk protein osteopontin (OPN) may be an efficient means to prevent bacterial adhesion to dental tissues and control biofilm formation. This study sought to determine to what extent OPN impacts adhesion forces and surface attachment of different bacterial strains involved in dental......, and interaction forces of single bacteria were quantified using single-cell force spectroscopy before and after OPN exposure. Moreover, the study investigated OPN's effect on the accessibility of cell surface glycoconjugates through fluorescence lectin-binding analysis. OPN strongly affected bacterial adhesion...

  9. Discrimination of bromodeoxyuridine labelled and unlabelled mitotic cells in flow cytometric bromodeoxyuridine/DNA analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, P O; Larsen, J K; Christensen, I J

    1994-01-01

    Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) labelled and unlabelled mitotic cells, respectively, can be discriminated from interphase cells using a new method, based on immunocytochemical staining of BrdUrd and flow cytometric four-parameter analysis of DNA content, BrdUrd incorporation, and forward and orthogona...

  10. Mathematical modeling of a zinc/bromine flow cell and a lithium/thionyl chloride primary cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Evans, T.I.

    1988-01-01

    Three mathematical models are presented, one for the secondary zinc/bromine flow cell and two for the lithium/thionyl chloride primary cell. The objectives in this modeling work are to aid in understanding the physical phenomena affecting cell performance, determine methods of improving cell performance and safety, and reduce the experimental efforts needed to develop these electrochemical systems. The zinc/bromine cell model is the first such model to include a porous layer on the bromine electrode and to predict discharge behavior. The model is used to solve simultaneously the component material balances and the electroneutrality condition for the unknowns, species concentrations and the solution potential. Two models are presented for the lithium/thionyl chloride cell. The first model is a detailed one-dimensional model which is used to solve simultaneously the component material balances, Ohm's law relations, and current balance. The independent design criteria are identified from the model development. The second model presented here is a two-dimensional thermal model for the spirally would configuration of the lithium/thionyl chloride cell. This is the first model to address the effects of the spiral geometry on heat transfer in the cell.

  11. DETECTION OF EQUATORWARD MERIDIONAL FLOW AND EVIDENCE OF DOUBLE-CELL MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION INSIDE THE SUN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Junwei; Bogart, R. S.; Kosovichev, A. G.; Hartlep, Thomas; Duvall, T. L. Jr.

    2013-01-01

    Meridional flow in the solar interior plays an important role in redistributing angular momentum and transporting magnetic flux inside the Sun. Although it has long been recognized that the meridional flow is predominantly poleward at the Sun's surface and in its shallow interior, the location of the equatorward return flow and the meridional flow profile in the deeper interior remain unclear. Using the first 2 yr of continuous helioseismology observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic Magnetic Imager, we analyze travel times of acoustic waves that propagate through different depths of the solar interior carrying information about the solar interior dynamics. After removing a systematic center-to-limb effect in the helioseismic measurements and performing inversions for flow speed, we find that the poleward meridional flow of a speed of 15 m s –1 extends in depth from the photosphere to about 0.91 R ☉ . An equatorward flow of a speed of 10 m s –1 is found between 0.82 and 0.91 R ☉ in the middle of the convection zone. Our analysis also shows evidence of that the meridional flow turns poleward again below 0.82 R ☉ , indicating an existence of a second meridional circulation cell below the shallower one. This double-cell meridional circulation profile with an equatorward flow shallower than previously thought suggests a rethinking of how magnetic field is generated and redistributed inside the Sun

  12. DETECTION OF EQUATORWARD MERIDIONAL FLOW AND EVIDENCE OF DOUBLE-CELL MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION INSIDE THE SUN

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao Junwei; Bogart, R. S.; Kosovichev, A. G.; Hartlep, Thomas [W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4085 (United States); Duvall, T. L. Jr. [Solar Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

    2013-09-10

    Meridional flow in the solar interior plays an important role in redistributing angular momentum and transporting magnetic flux inside the Sun. Although it has long been recognized that the meridional flow is predominantly poleward at the Sun's surface and in its shallow interior, the location of the equatorward return flow and the meridional flow profile in the deeper interior remain unclear. Using the first 2 yr of continuous helioseismology observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic Magnetic Imager, we analyze travel times of acoustic waves that propagate through different depths of the solar interior carrying information about the solar interior dynamics. After removing a systematic center-to-limb effect in the helioseismic measurements and performing inversions for flow speed, we find that the poleward meridional flow of a speed of 15 m s{sup -1} extends in depth from the photosphere to about 0.91 R{sub Sun }. An equatorward flow of a speed of 10 m s{sup -1} is found between 0.82 and 0.91 R{sub Sun} in the middle of the convection zone. Our analysis also shows evidence of that the meridional flow turns poleward again below 0.82 R{sub Sun }, indicating an existence of a second meridional circulation cell below the shallower one. This double-cell meridional circulation profile with an equatorward flow shallower than previously thought suggests a rethinking of how magnetic field is generated and redistributed inside the Sun.

  13. Flow cytometry as a rapid test for detection of penicillin resistance directly in bacterial cells in Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarzembowski, T; Wiśniewska, K; Józwik, A; Bryl, E; Witkowski, J

    2008-08-01

    We studied the usefulness of flow cytometry for detection of penicillin resistance in E. faecalis and S. aureus by direct binding of commercially available fluorescent penicillin, Bocillin FL, to cells obtained from culture. There were significantly lower percentages of fluorescent cells and median and mean fluorescence values per particle in penicillin-resistant than in penicillin-sensitive strains of both species observed. The method allows rapid detection of penicillin resistance in S. aureus and E. faecalis. The results encourage further investigations on the detection of antibiotic resistance in bacteria using flow cytometry.

  14. Identification and Characterization of Plasma Cells in Normal Human Bone Marrow by High-Resolution Flow Cytometry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Terstappen, Leonardus Wendelinus Mathias Marie; Johnsen, Steen; Segers-Nolten, Gezina M.J.; Loken, Michael R.

    1990-01-01

    The low frequency of plasma cells and the lack of specific cell surface markers has been a major obstacle for a detailed characterization of plasma cells in normal human bone marrow. Multiparameter flow cytometry enabled the identification of plasma cells in normal bone marrow aspirates. The plasma

  15. Arterio-venous flow between monochorionic twins determined during intra-uterine transfusion. Nonlinear decay of adult red blood cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gemert, Martin J C van; Wijngaard, Jeroen P H M van den [Laser Centre and Department of Obstetrics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam (Netherlands); Pasman, Suzanne A; Vandenbussche, Frank P H A [Division of Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden (Netherlands); Lopriore, Enrico [Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden (Netherlands)], E-mail: m.j.vangemert@amc.uva.nl

    2008-07-07

    Recently, we derived equations relating the flow of adult red blood cells through a placental arterio-venous anastomosis with intra-uterine and post-natal measured adult hemoglobin concentrations. In this letter, we re-derived the equations, now including a more realistic nonlinear decay of adult red blood cells, and re-evaluated the measurement accuracy of the arterio-venous flow and the lifetime of the red blood cells. (letter to the editor)

  16. Real rock-microfluidic flow cell: A test bed for real-time in situ analysis of flow, transport, and reaction in a subsurface reactive transport environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Rajveer; Sivaguru, Mayandi; Fried, Glenn A; Fouke, Bruce W; Sanford, Robert A; Carrera, Martin; Werth, Charles J

    2017-09-01

    Physical, chemical, and biological interactions between groundwater and sedimentary rock directly control the fundamental subsurface properties such as porosity, permeability, and flow. This is true for a variety of subsurface scenarios, ranging from shallow groundwater aquifers to deeply buried hydrocarbon reservoirs. Microfluidic flow cells are now commonly being used to study these processes at the pore scale in simplified pore structures meant to mimic subsurface reservoirs. However, these micromodels are typically fabricated from glass, silicon, or polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and are therefore incapable of replicating the geochemical reactivity and complex three-dimensional pore networks present in subsurface lithologies. To address these limitations, we developed a new microfluidic experimental test bed, herein called the Real Rock-Microfluidic Flow Cell (RR-MFC). A porous 500μm-thick real rock sample of the Clair Group sandstone from a subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir of the North Sea was prepared and mounted inside a PDMS microfluidic channel, creating a dynamic flow-through experimental platform for real-time tracking of subsurface reactive transport. Transmitted and reflected microscopy, cathodoluminescence microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and confocal laser microscopy techniques were used to (1) determine the mineralogy, geochemistry, and pore networks within the sandstone inserted in the RR-MFC, (2) analyze non-reactive tracer breakthrough in two- and (depth-limited) three-dimensions, and (3) characterize multiphase flow. The RR-MFC is the first microfluidic experimental platform that allows direct visualization of flow and transport in the pore space of a real subsurface reservoir rock sample, and holds potential to advance our understandings of reactive transport and other subsurface processes relevant to pollutant transport and cleanup in groundwater, as well as energy recovery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Temperature and flow distribution in planar SOFC stacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica Østenstad

    1995-07-01

    Full Text Available Simulation of a planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell stack requires the solution of the mass balances of the chemical species, the energy balances, the charge balance and the channel flow equations in order to compute the species concentrations, the temperature distributions, the current density and the channel flows. The unit cell geometry can be taken into account by combining detailed modeling of a unit cell with a homogenized model of a whole stack. In this study the effect of the asymmetric temperature distribution on the channel flows in a conventional cross-flow design has been investigated. The bidirectional cross-flow design is introduced, for which we can show more directional temperature and flow distributions.

  18. Inverted annular flow experimental study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Jarlais, G.; Ishii, M.

    1985-04-01

    Steady-state inverted annular flow of Freon 113 in up flow was established in a transparent test section. Using a special inlet configuration consisting of long aspect-ratio liquid nozzles coaxially centered within a heated quartz tube, idealized inverted annular flow initial geometry (cylindrical liquid core surrounded by coaxial annulus of gas) could be established. Inlet liquid and gas flowrates, liquid subcooling, and gas density (using various gas species) were measured and varied systematically. The hydrodynamic behavior of the liquid core, and the subsequent downstream break-up of this core into slugs, ligaments and/or droplets of various sizes, was observed. In general, for low inlet liquid velocities it was observed that after the initial formation of roll waves on the liquid core surface, an agitated region of high surface area, with attendant high momentum and energy transfers, occurs. This agitated region appears to propagate downsteam in a quasi-periodic pattern. Increased inlet liquid flow rates, and high gas annulus flow rates tend to diminish the significance of this agitated region. Observed inverted annular flow (and subsequent downstream flow pattern) hydrodynamic behavior is reported, and comparisons are drawn to data generated by previous experimenters studying post-CHF flow

  19. What is the relationship between free flow and pressure flow studies in women?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duckett, Jonathan; Cheema, Katherine; Patil, Avanti; Basu, Maya; Beale, Sian; Wise, Brian

    2013-03-01

    The relationship between free flow (FFS) and pressure flow (PFS) voiding studies remains uncertain and the effect of a urethral catheter on flow rates has not been determined. The relationship between residuals obtained at FF and PFS has yet to be established. This was a prospective cohort study based on 474 consecutive women undergoing cystometry using different sized urethral catheters at different centres. FFS and PFS data were compared for different conditions and the relationship of residuals analysed for FFS and PFS. The null hypothesis was that urethral catheters do not produce an alteration in maximum flow rates for PFS and FF studies. Urethral catheterisation results in lower flow rates (p flows are corrected for voided volume (p flow rates are lower in women with DO than USI (p flow rates and vice versa. There was no significant difference between the mean residuals of the two groups (FFS vs PFS-two-tailed t = 0.54, p = 0.59). Positive residuals in FFS showed a good association with positive residuals in the PFS (r = 0.53, p flow rates. The relationship can be compared mathematically. The null hypothesis can be rejected.

  20. Mapping cell populations in flow cytometry data for cross‐sample comparison using the Friedman–Rafsky test statistic as a distance measure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiao, Chiaowen; Liu, Mengya; Stanton, Rick; McGee, Monnie; Qian, Yu

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Flow cytometry (FCM) is a fluorescence‐based single‐cell experimental technology that is routinely applied in biomedical research for identifying cellular biomarkers of normal physiological responses and abnormal disease states. While many computational methods have been developed that focus on identifying cell populations in individual FCM samples, very few have addressed how the identified cell populations can be matched across samples for comparative analysis. This article presents FlowMap‐FR, a novel method for cell population mapping across FCM samples. FlowMap‐FR is based on the Friedman–Rafsky nonparametric test statistic (FR statistic), which quantifies the equivalence of multivariate distributions. As applied to FCM data by FlowMap‐FR, the FR statistic objectively quantifies the similarity between cell populations based on the shapes, sizes, and positions of fluorescence data distributions in the multidimensional feature space. To test and evaluate the performance of FlowMap‐FR, we simulated the kinds of biological and technical sample variations that are commonly observed in FCM data. The results show that FlowMap‐FR is able to effectively identify equivalent cell populations between samples under scenarios of proportion differences and modest position shifts. As a statistical test, FlowMap‐FR can be used to determine whether the expression of a cellular marker is statistically different between two cell populations, suggesting candidates for new cellular phenotypes by providing an objective statistical measure. In addition, FlowMap‐FR can indicate situations in which inappropriate splitting or merging of cell populations has occurred during gating procedures. We compared the FR statistic with the symmetric version of Kullback–Leibler divergence measure used in a previous population matching method with both simulated and real data. The FR statistic outperforms the symmetric version of KL‐distance in distinguishing

  1. Mapping cell populations in flow cytometry data for cross-sample comparison using the Friedman-Rafsky test statistic as a distance measure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiao, Chiaowen; Liu, Mengya; Stanton, Rick; McGee, Monnie; Qian, Yu; Scheuermann, Richard H

    2016-01-01

    Flow cytometry (FCM) is a fluorescence-based single-cell experimental technology that is routinely applied in biomedical research for identifying cellular biomarkers of normal physiological responses and abnormal disease states. While many computational methods have been developed that focus on identifying cell populations in individual FCM samples, very few have addressed how the identified cell populations can be matched across samples for comparative analysis. This article presents FlowMap-FR, a novel method for cell population mapping across FCM samples. FlowMap-FR is based on the Friedman-Rafsky nonparametric test statistic (FR statistic), which quantifies the equivalence of multivariate distributions. As applied to FCM data by FlowMap-FR, the FR statistic objectively quantifies the similarity between cell populations based on the shapes, sizes, and positions of fluorescence data distributions in the multidimensional feature space. To test and evaluate the performance of FlowMap-FR, we simulated the kinds of biological and technical sample variations that are commonly observed in FCM data. The results show that FlowMap-FR is able to effectively identify equivalent cell populations between samples under scenarios of proportion differences and modest position shifts. As a statistical test, FlowMap-FR can be used to determine whether the expression of a cellular marker is statistically different between two cell populations, suggesting candidates for new cellular phenotypes by providing an objective statistical measure. In addition, FlowMap-FR can indicate situations in which inappropriate splitting or merging of cell populations has occurred during gating procedures. We compared the FR statistic with the symmetric version of Kullback-Leibler divergence measure used in a previous population matching method with both simulated and real data. The FR statistic outperforms the symmetric version of KL-distance in distinguishing equivalent from nonequivalent cell

  2. Flow cytometric analysis of regulatory T cells during hyposensitization of acquired allergic contact dermatitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraser, Kathleen; Abbas, Mariam; Hull, Peter R

    2014-01-01

    We previously demonstrated that repeated intradermal steroid injections administered at weekly intervals into positive patch-test sites induce hyposensitization and desensitization. To examine changes in CD4CD25CD127lo/ regulatory T cells during the attenuation of the patch-test response. Ten patients with known allergic contact dermatitis were patch tested weekly for 10 weeks. The patch-test site was injected intradermally with 2 mg triamcinolone. At weeks 1 and 7, a biopsy was performed on the patch-test site in 6 patients, and flow cytometry was performed assessing CD4CD25CD127lo/ regulatory T cells. Secondary outcomes were clinical score, reaction size, erythema, and temperature. Statistical analysis included regression, correlation, and repeated-measures analysis of variance. The percentage of CD4CD25CD127lo/ regulatory T cells, measured by flow cytometry, increased from week 1 to week 7 by an average of 19.2%. The average grade of patch-test reaction decreased from +++ (vesicular reaction) to ++ (palpable erythema). The mean drop in temperature following treatment was 0.28°C per week. The mean area decreased 8.6 mm/wk over 10 weeks. Intradermal steroid injections of weekly patch-test reactions resulted in hyposensitization of the allergic contact dermatitis reaction. CD4CD25CD127lo/ regulatory T cells showed a tendency to increase; however, further studies are needed to determine if this is significant.

  3. Highly conductive composites for fuel cell flow field plates and bipolar plates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Bor Z; Zhamu, Aruna; Song, Lulu

    2014-10-21

    This invention provides a fuel cell flow field plate or bipolar plate having flow channels on faces of the plate, comprising an electrically conductive polymer composite. The composite is composed of (A) at least 50% by weight of a conductive filler, comprising at least 5% by weight reinforcement fibers, expanded graphite platelets, graphitic nano-fibers, and/or carbon nano-tubes; (B) polymer matrix material at 1 to 49.9% by weight; and (C) a polymer binder at 0.1 to 10% by weight; wherein the sum of the conductive filler weight %, polymer matrix weight % and polymer binder weight % equals 100% and the bulk electrical conductivity of the flow field or bipolar plate is at least 100 S/cm. The invention also provides a continuous process for cost-effective mass production of the conductive composite-based flow field or bipolar plate.

  4. 1D + 3D two-phase flow numerical model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferreira, Rui B.; Falcão, D.S.; Oliveira, V.B.; Pinto, A.M.F.R.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: •A 1D + 3D model of a PEM fuel cell is described and experimentally validated. •VOF method tracks the two-phase flow and electrochemical reactions are considered. •Water dynamics inside a serpentine channel is analyzed for different voltages. •Water content in different regions of channel is quantified. •Important issues on coupling of the VOF model with electrochemical reactions are addressed. -- Abstract: In this work, a numerical model of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is presented. The volume of fluid (VOF) method is employed to simulate the air-water two-phase flow in the cathode gas channel, at the same time that the cell electrochemical performance is predicted. The model is validated against an experimental polarization curve and through the visualization of water distribution inside a transparent fuel cell. The water dynamics inside a serpentine gas channel is numerically analyzed under different operating voltages. Moreover, water content in different regions of the channel is quantified. Current density and water generation rate spatial distributions are also displayed and it is shown how they affect the process of water emergence into the gas channel. Important issues on the simulation of the PEM fuel cells two-phase flow are addressed, especially concerning the coupling of the VOF technique with electrochemical reactions. Both the model and the numerical results aim to contribute to a better understanding of the two-phase flow phenomenon that occurs in these devices.

  5. Flow perfusion culture of human mesenchymal stem cells on silicate-substituted tricalcium phosphate scaffolds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjerre, Lea; Bünger, Cody E; Kassem, Moustapha

    2008-01-01

    Autologous bone grafts are currently the gold standard for treatment of large bone defects, but their availability is limited due to donor site morbidity. Different substitutes have been suggested to replace these grafts, and this study presents a bone tissue engineered alternative using silicate......-substituted tricalcium phosphate (Si-TCP) scaffolds seeded with human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). The cells were seeded onto the scaffolds and cultured either statically or in a perfusion bioreactor for up to 21 days and assessed for osteogenic differentiation by alkaline phosphatase activity...... assays and by quantitative real-time RT-PCR on bone markers. During culture, cells from the flow cultured constructs demonstrated improved proliferation and osteogenic differentiation verified by a more pronounced expression of several bone markers, e.g. alkaline phosphatase, osteopontin, Runx2, bone...

  6. New Method to Disaggregate and Analyze Single Isolated Helminthes Cells Using Flow Cytometry: Proof of Concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen Nava-Castro

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In parasitology, particularly in helminthes studies, several methods have been used to look for the expression of specific molecules, such as RT-PCR, western blot, 2D-electrophoresis, and microscopy, among others. However, these methods require homogenization of the whole helminth parasite, preventing evaluation of individual cells or specific cell types in a given parasite tissue or organ. Also, the extremely high interaction between helminthes and host cells (particularly immune cells is an important point to be considered. It is really hard to obtain fresh parasites without host cell contamination. Then, it becomes crucial to determine that the analyzed proteins are exclusively from parasitic origin, and not a consequence of host cell contamination. Flow cytometry is a fluorescence-based technique used to evaluate the expression of extra-and intracellular proteins in different type cells, including protozoan parasites. It also allows the isolation and recovery of single-cell populations. Here, we describe a method to isolate and obtain purified helminthes cells.

  7. Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in children with sickle cell anemia: Clinical and laboratory correlates for elevated blood flow velocities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagunju, IkeOluwa; Sodeinde, Olugbemiro; Brown, Biobele; Akinbami, Felix; Adedokun, Babatunde

    2014-02-01

    Transcranial Doppler (TCD) sonography of major cerebral arteries is now recommended for routine screening for stroke risk in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). We performed TCD studies on children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) seen at the pediatric hematology clinic over a period of 2 years. TCD scans were repeated yearly in children with normal flow velocities and every 3 months in children with elevated velocities. Findings were correlated with clinical variables, hematologic indices, and arterial oxygen saturation. Predictors of elevated velocities were identified by multiple linear regressions. We enrolled 237 children and performed a total of 526 TCD examinations. Highest time-averaged maximum flow velocities were ≥170 cm/s in 72 (30.3%) cases and ≥200 cm/s in 20 (8.4%). Young age, low hematocrit, low hemoglobin, and arterial oxygen desaturation <95% showed significant correlations with presence of increased cerebral flow velocities. Low hematocrit, low hemoglobin concentration, young age, and low arterial oxygen desaturation predicted elevated cerebral blood flow velocities and, invariably, increased stroke risk, in children with SCA. Children who exhibit these features should be given high priority for TCD examination in the setting of limited resources. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. S phase entry of neural progenitor cells correlates with increased blood flow in the young subventricular zone.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin Lacar

    Full Text Available The postnatal subventricular zone (SVZ contains proliferating neural progenitor cells in close proximity to blood vessels. Insults and drug treatments acutely stimulate cell proliferation in the SVZ, which was assessed by labeling cells entering S phase. Although G1-to-S progression is metabolically demanding on a minute-to-hour time scale, it remains unknown whether increased SVZ cell proliferation is accompanied by a local hemodynamic response. This neurovascular coupling provides energy substrates to active neuronal assemblies. Transcardial dye perfusion revealed the presence of capillaries throughout the SVZ that constrict upon applications of the thromboxane A(2 receptor agonist U-46119 in acute brain slice preparations. We then monitored in vivo blood flow using laser Doppler flowmetry via a microprobe located either in the SVZ or a mature network. U-46119 injections into the lateral ventricle decreased blood flow in the SVZ and the striatum, which are near the ventricle. A 1-hour ventricular injection of epidermal and basic fibroblast growth factor (EGF and bFGF significantly increased the percentage of Sox2 transcription factor-positive cells in S phase 1.5 hours post-injection. This increase was accompanied by a sustained rise in blood flow in the SVZ but not in the striatum. Direct growth factor injections into the cortex did not alter local blood flow, ruling out direct effects on capillaries. These findings suggest that an acute increase in the number of G1-to-S cycling SVZ cells is accompanied by neurometabolic-vascular coupling, which may provide energy and nutrient for cell cycle progression.

  9. Finite element modeling of melting and fluid flow in the laser-heated diamond-anvil cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez-Perez, N.; Rodriguez, J. F.; McWilliams, R. S.

    2017-04-01

    The laser-heated diamond anvil cell is widely used in the laboratory study of materials behavior at high-pressure and high-temperature, including melting curves and liquid properties at extreme conditions. Laser heating in the diamond cell has long been associated with fluid-like motion in samples, which is routinely used to determine melting points and is often described as convective in appearance. However, the flow behavior of this system is poorly understood. A quantitative treatment of melting and flow in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell is developed here to physically relate experimental motion to properties of interest, including melting points and viscosity. Numerical finite-element models are used to characterize the temperature distribution, melting, buoyancy, and resulting natural convection in samples. We find that continuous fluid motion in experiments can be explained most readily by natural convection. Fluid velocities, peaking near values of microns per second for plausible viscosities, are sufficiently fast to be detected experimentally, lending support to the use of convective motion as a criterion for melting. Convection depends on the physical properties of the melt and the sample geometry and is too sluggish to detect for viscosities significantly above that of water at ambient conditions, implying an upper bound on the melt viscosity of about 1 mPa s when convective motion is detected. A simple analytical relationship between melt viscosity and velocity suggests that direct viscosity measurements can be made from flow speeds, given the basic thermodynamic and geometric parameters of samples are known.

  10. Flow visualization study of post-critical heat flux in inverted flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Babelli, I.; Revankar, S.T.; Ishii, M.

    1994-01-01

    A visual study of film boiling was carried out to determine the flow regime transition in the post-CHF region for a transient bottom reflooding of a hot transparent test section. The effect of test liquid subcooling and inlet velocity on flow transition as well as on the quench front propagation was investigated. The respective ranges for liquid velocity and subcooling were 1.8-26.8 cm/s, and 20-45 C, respectively. The test liquid was Freon 113 which was introduced into the bottom of the quartz test section whose walls were maintained well above the film boiling temperature of the test liquid, via a transparent heat transfer fluid. The flow regimes observed down stream of the upward moving quench front were the rough wavy, the agitated, and the dispersed droplet/ligaments in agreement with a steady state, two-phase core injection study carried on recently by one of the authors. A correlation for the flow regime transition between the inverted annular and the dispersed droplet/ligament flow patterns was developed. The correlation showed a marked dependence on the void fraction at the CHF location and hence on the flow regime encountered in the pre-CHF region. (orig.)

  11. Simulation of moving boundaries interacting with compressible reacting flows using a second-order adaptive Cartesian cut-cell method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muralidharan, Balaji; Menon, Suresh

    2018-03-01

    A high-order adaptive Cartesian cut-cell method, developed in the past by the authors [1] for simulation of compressible viscous flow over static embedded boundaries, is now extended for reacting flow simulations over moving interfaces. The main difficulty related to simulation of moving boundary problems using immersed boundary techniques is the loss of conservation of mass, momentum and energy during the transition of numerical grid cells from solid to fluid and vice versa. Gas phase reactions near solid boundaries can produce huge source terms to the governing equations, which if not properly treated for moving boundaries, can result in inaccuracies in numerical predictions. The small cell clustering algorithm proposed in our previous work is now extended to handle moving boundaries enforcing strict conservation. In addition, the cell clustering algorithm also preserves the smoothness of solution near moving surfaces. A second order Runge-Kutta scheme where the boundaries are allowed to change during the sub-time steps is employed. This scheme improves the time accuracy of the calculations when the body motion is driven by hydrodynamic forces. Simple one dimensional reacting and non-reacting studies of moving piston are first performed in order to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed method. Results are then reported for flow past moving cylinders at subsonic and supersonic velocities in a viscous compressible flow and are compared with theoretical and previously available experimental data. The ability of the scheme to handle deforming boundaries and interaction of hydrodynamic forces with rigid body motion is demonstrated using different test cases. Finally, the method is applied to investigate the detonation initiation and stabilization mechanisms on a cylinder and a sphere, when they are launched into a detonable mixture. The effect of the filling pressure on the detonation stabilization mechanisms over a hyper-velocity sphere launched into a hydrogen

  12. Coupling Bacterial Activity Measurements with Cell Sorting by Flow Cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Servais; Courties; Lebaron; Troussellier

    1999-08-01

    > Abstract A new procedure to investigate the relationship between bacterial cell size and activity at the cellular level has been developed; it is based on the coupling of radioactive labeling of bacterial cells and cell sorting by flow cytometry after SYTO 13 staining. Before sorting, bacterial cells were incubated in the presence of tritiated leucine using a procedure similar to that used for measuring bacterial production by leucine incorporation and then stained with SYTO 13. Subpopulations of bacterial cells were sorted according to their average right-angle light scatter (RALS) and fluorescence. Average RALS was shown to be significantly related to the average biovolume. Experiments were performed on samples collected at different times in a Mediterranean seawater mesocosm enriched with nitrogen and phosphorus. At four sampling times, bacteria were sorted in two subpopulations (cells smaller and larger than 0.25 µm(3)). The results indicate that, at each sampling time, the growth rate of larger cells was higher than that of smaller cells. In order to confirm this tendency, cell sorting was performed on six subpopulations differing in average biovolume during the mesocosm follow-up. A clear increase of the bacterial growth rates was observed with increasing cell size for the conditions met in this enriched mesocosm.http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00248/bibs/38n2p180.html

  13. Flow cytometric assessment of chicken T cell-mediated immune responses after Newcastle disease virus vaccination and challenge

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dalgaard, T. S.; Norup, L. R.; Pedersen, A.R.

    2010-01-01

    . Despite a delayed NDV-specific antibody response to vaccination, L133 appeared to be better protected than L130 in the subsequent infection challenge as determined by the presence of viral genomes. Peripheral blood was analyzed by flow cytometry and responses in vaccinated/challenged birds were studied...... by 5-color immunophenotyping as well as by measuring the proliferative capacity of NDV-specific T cells after recall stimulation. Immunophenotyping identified L133 as having a significantly lower CD4/CD8 ratio and a lower frequency of γδ T cells than L130 in the peripheral T cell compartment...

  14. Reversible logic gates based on enzyme-biocatalyzed reactions and realized in flow cells: a modular approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fratto, Brian E; Katz, Evgeny

    2015-05-18

    Reversible logic gates, such as the double Feynman gate, Toffoli gate and Peres gate, with 3-input/3-output channels are realized using reactions biocatalyzed with enzymes and performed in flow systems. The flow devices are constructed using a modular approach, where each flow cell is modified with one enzyme that biocatalyzes one chemical reaction. The multi-step processes mimicking the reversible logic gates are organized by combining the biocatalytic cells in different networks. This work emphasizes logical but not physical reversibility of the constructed systems. Their advantages and disadvantages are discussed and potential use in biosensing systems, rather than in computing devices, is suggested. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Practical flow cytometry

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Shapiro, Howard M

    2003-01-01

    ... ... Conflict: Resolution ... 1.3 Problem Number One: Finding The Cell(s) ... Flow Cytometry: Quick on the Trigger ... The Main Event ... The Pulse Quickens, the Plot Thickens ... 1.4 Flow Cytometry: ...

  16. The developments and challenges of cerium half-cell in zinc–cerium redox flow battery for energy storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie, Zhipeng; Liu, Qingchao; Chang, Zhiwen; Zhang, Xinbo

    2013-01-01

    Zinc–cerium redox flow batteries (ZCBs) are emerging as a very promising new technology with the potential to store a large amount of energy economically and efficiently, thanking to its highest thermodynamic open-circuit cell voltage among all the currently studied aqueous redox flow batteries. However, there are numerous scientific and technical challenges that must be overcome if this alluring promise is to turn into reality, from designing the battery structure, to optimizing the electrolyte compositions and elucidating the complex chemical reactions that occur during charge and discharge. This review article is the first summary of the most significant developments and challenges of cerium half-cell and the current understanding of their chemistry. We are certain that this review will be of great interest to audience over a broad range, especially in fields of energy storage, electrochemistry, and chemical engineering

  17. Inertia-dependent dynamics of three-dimensional vesicles and red blood cells in shear flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Zheng Yuan; Wang, Shu Qi; He, Long; Xu, Feng; Bai, Bo Feng

    2013-10-28

    A three-dimensional (3D) simulation study of the effect of inertia on the dynamics of vesicles and red blood cells (RBCs) has not been reported. Here, we developed a 3D model based on the front tracking method to investigate how inertia affects the dynamics of spherical/non-spherical vesicles and biconcave-shaped RBCs with the Reynolds number ranging from 0.1 to 10. The results showed that inertia induced non-spherical vesicles transitioned from tumbling to swinging, which was not observed in previous 2D models. The critical viscosity ratio of inner/outer fluids for the tumbling–swinging transition remarkably increased with an increasing Reynolds number. The deformation of vesicles was greatly enhanced by inertia, and the frequency of tumbling and tank-treading was significantly decreased by inertia. We also found that RBCs can transit from tumbling to steady tank-treading through the swinging regime when the Reynolds number increased from 0.1 to 10. These results indicate that inertia needs to be considered at moderate Reynolds number (Re ~ 1) in the study of blood flow in the human body and the flow of deformable particle suspension in inertial microfluidic devices. The developed 3D model provided new insights into the dynamics of RBCs under shear flow, thus holding great potential to better understand blood flow behaviors under normal/disease conditions.

  18. The influence of venous blood flow on the retinal ganglion cell complex in patients with primary open angle glaucoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. I. Kurysheva

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: To study the influence of venous blood flow on the ganglion cell complex (GCC in patients with preperimetric and perimetric open angle glaucoma.Methods: 74 patients were included in the research. 59 eyes and 62 eyes were diagnosed with preperimetric and perimetric open angle glaucoma respectively. The mean age was 56.5±10.5 years. 22 (12 female and 10 male healthy individuals constituted the control group. The ganglion cell complex and retinal nerve fibre layer were evaluated with the help of optical coherence tomography (RTVue-100 OCT, Optovue, Inc., Fremont, CA. Ocular blood flow was measured by Color Doppler Imaging (multifunctional VOLUSON 730 ProSystem. The statistical analysis included correlation between GCC and RNFL thickness in both glaucoma groups.Results: The results showed a statistically significant reduction of venous blood flow velocity in both glaucoma groups compared to the control group. No difference in venous blood flow parameters between two glaucoma groups was found, except resistance index, which was higher in perimetric group in comparison to preperimetric group. A correlation was also obtained between venous blood flow parameters and GCC and RNFL thickness in both glaucoma groups.Conclusion: Early GCC damage in glaucoma might occur due to venous blood flow reduction. This fact may be of great value in understanding glaucoma pathogenesis and search for novel treatment options.

  19. A hydrogen-ferric ion rebalance cell operating at low hydrogen concentrations for capacity restoration of iron-chromium redox flow batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Y. K.; Zhao, T. S.; Zhou, X. L.; Zou, J.; Ren, Y. X.

    2017-06-01

    To eliminate the adverse impacts of hydrogen evolution on the capacity of iron-chromium redox flow batteries (ICRFBs) during the long-term operation and ensure the safe operation of the battery, a rebalance cell that reduces the excessive Fe(III) ions at the positive electrolyte by using the hydrogen evolved from the negative electrolyte is designed, fabricated and tested. The effects of the flow field, hydrogen concentration and H2/N2 mixture gas flow rate on the performance of the hydrogen-ferric ion rebalance cell have been investigated. Results show that: i) an interdigitated flow field based rebalance cell delivers higher limiting current densities than serpentine flow field based one does; ii) the hydrogen utilization can approach 100% at low hydrogen concentrations (≤5%); iii) the apparent exchange current density of hydrogen oxidation reaction in the rebalance cell is proportional to the square root of the hydrogen concentration at the hydrogen concentration from 1.3% to 50%; iv) a continuous rebalance process is demonstrated at the current density of 60 mA cm-2 and hydrogen concentration of 2.5%. Moreover, the cost analysis shows that the rebalance cell is just approximately 1% of an ICRFB system cost.

  20. Automated Analysis of Flow Cytometry Data to Reduce Inter-Lab Variation in the Detection of Major Histocompatibility Complex Multimer-Binding T Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Natasja Wulff; Chandran, P. Anoop; Qian, Yu

    2017-01-01

    Manual analysis of flow cytometry data and subjective gate-border decisions taken by individuals continue to be a source of variation in the assessment of antigen-specific T cells when comparing data across laboratories, and also over time in individual labs. Therefore, strategies to provide...... automated analysis of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) multimer-binding T cells represent an attractive solution to decrease subjectivity and technical variation. The challenge of using an automated analysis approach is that MHC multimer-binding T cell populations are often rare and therefore...... laboratories. We used three different methods, FLOw Clustering without K (FLOCK), Scalable Weighted Iterative Flow-clustering Technique (SWIFT), and ReFlow to analyze flow cytometry data files from 28 laboratories. Each laboratory screened for antigen-responsive T cell populations with frequency ranging from 0...

  1. Measurement of separase proteolytic activity in single living cells by a fluorogenic flow cytometry assay.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wiltrud Haaß

    Full Text Available ESPL1/Separase, an endopeptidase, is required for centrosome duplication and separation of sister-chromatides in anaphase of mitosis. Overexpression and deregulated proteolytic activity of Separase as frequently observed in human cancers is associated with the occurrence of supernumerary centrosomes, chromosomal missegregation and aneuploidy. Recently, we have hypothesized that increased Separase proteolytic activity in a small subpopulation of tumor cells may serve as driver of tumor heterogeneity and clonal evolution in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML. Currently, there is no quantitative assay to measure Separase activity levels in single cells. Therefore, we have designed a flow cytometry-based assay that utilizes a Cy5- and rhodamine 110 (Rh110-biconjugated Rad21 cleavage site peptide ([Cy5-D-R-E-I-M-R]2-Rh110 as smart probe and intracellular substrate for detection of Separase enzyme activity in living cells. As measured by Cy5 fluorescence the cellular uptake of the fluorogenic peptide was fast and reached saturation after 210 min of incubation in human histiocytic lymphoma U937 cells. Separase activity was recorded as the intensity of Rh110 fluorescence released after intracellular peptide cleavage providing a linear signal gain within a 90-180 min time slot. Compared to conventional cell extract-based methods the flow cytometric assay delivers equivalent results but is more reliable, bypasses the problem of vague loading controls and unspecific proteolysis associated with whole cell extracts. Especially suited for the investigaton of blood- and bone marrow-derived hematopoietic cells the flow cytometric Separase assay allows generation of Separase activity profiles that tell about the number of Separase positive cells within a sample i.e. cells that currently progress through mitosis and about the range of intercellular variation in Separase activity levels within a cell population. The assay was used to quantify Separase proteolytic

  2. Autocrine EGF receptor activation mediates endothelial cell migration and vascular morphogenesis induced by VEGF under interstitial flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semino, Carlos E.; Kamm, Roger D.; Lauffenburger, Douglas A.

    2006-01-01

    We show here that autocrine ligand activation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor in combination with interstitial flow is critically involved in the morphogenetic response of endothelial cells to VEGF stimulation. Human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) monolayers cultured on a collagen gel and exposed to low interstitial flow in the absence of EGF and VEGF remained viable and mitotic but exhibited little evidence of vascular morphogenesis. Addition of VEGF produced a flow-dependent morphogenetic response within 48 to 72 h, characterized by branched capillary-like structures. The response was substantially abolished by inhibitors related to the autocrine EGF receptor pathway including Galardin, AG1478, PD98059, and an EGF receptor-blocking antibody, indicating that regulation of the morphogenetic process operates via autocrine EGF receptor activation. Moreover, we observed that in our system the EGF receptor was always activated independently of the interstitial flow, and, in addition, the EGF receptor inhibitors used above reduced the phosphorylation state of the receptor, correlating with inhibition of capillary morphogenesis. Finally, 5'bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling identified dividing cells at the monolayer but not in the extending capillary-like structures. EGF pathway inhibitors Galardin and AG1478 did not reduce BrdU incorporation in the monolayer, indicating that the EGF-receptor-mediated morphogenetic behavior is mainly due to cell migration rather than proliferation. Based on these results, we propose a two-step model for in vitro capillary morphogenesis in response to VEGF stimulation with interstitial fluid flow: monolayer maintenance by mitotic activity independent of EGF receptors and a migratory response mediated by autocrine EGF receptor activation wherein cells establish capillary-like structures

  3. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) flow field plate: design, materials and characterisation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamilton, P.J.; Pollet, B.G. [PEM Fuel Cell Research Group, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT (United Kingdom)

    2010-08-15

    This review describes some recent developments in the area of flow field plates (FFPs) for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The function, parameters and design of FFPs in PEM fuel cells are outlined and considered in light of their performance. FFP materials and manufacturing methods are discussed and current in situ and ex situ characterisation techniques are described. (Abstract Copyright [2010], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

  4. Flow Cytometric Quantification of Peripheral Blood Cell β-Adrenergic Receptor Density and Urinary Endothelial Cell-Derived Microparticles in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, Jonathan A; Wanner, Nicholas; Cheong, Hoi I; Queisser, Kimberly; Barrett, Patrick; Park, Margaret; Hite, Corrine; Naga Prasad, Sathyamangla V; Erzurum, Serpil; Asosingh, Kewal

    2016-01-01

    Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by severe angiogenic remodeling of the pulmonary artery wall and right ventricular hypertrophy. Thus, there is an increasing need for novel biomarkers to dissect disease heterogeneity, and predict treatment response. Although β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) dysfunction is well documented in left heart disease while endothelial cell-derived microparticles (Ec-MPs) are established biomarkers of angiogenic remodeling, methods for easy large clinical cohort analysis of these biomarkers are currently absent. Here we describe flow cytometric methods for quantification of βAR density on circulating white blood cells (WBC) and Ec-MPs in urine samples that can be used as potential biomarkers of right heart failure in PAH. Biotinylated β-blocker alprenolol was synthesized and validated as a βAR specific probe that was combined with immunophenotyping to quantify βAR density in circulating WBC subsets. Ec-MPs obtained from urine samples were stained for annexin-V and CD144, and analyzed by a micro flow cytometer. Flow cytometric detection of alprenolol showed that βAR density was decreased in most WBC subsets in PAH samples compared to healthy controls. Ec-MPs in urine was increased in PAH compared to controls. Furthermore, there was a direct correlation between Ec-MPs and Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) in PAH patients. Therefore, flow cytometric quantification of peripheral blood cell βAR density and urinary Ec-MPs may be useful as potential biomarkers of right ventricular function in PAH.

  5. Measurement of radionuclides using ion chromatography and flow-cell scintillation counting with pulse shape discrimination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeVol, T.A.; Fjeld, R.A.

    1995-01-01

    A project has been initiated at Clemson Univ. to develop a HPLC/flow- cell system for analysis of non-gamma emitting radionuclides in environmental samples; an important component is development of a low background flow-cell detector that counts alpha and beta particles separately through pulse shape discrimination. Objective of the work presented here is to provide preliminary results of an evaluation of the following scintillators: CaF 2 :Eu, scintillating glass, and BaF 2 . Slightly acidic aqueous solutions of the alpha emitter 233 U and the beta emitter 45 Ca were used. Detection efficiencies and minimum detectable activities were determined

  6. Cell kinetics of hypoxic cells in a murine tumour in vivo: flow cytometric determination of the radiation-induced blockage of cell cycle progression

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rutgers, D.H.; Niessen, D.P.P.; Linden, P.M. van der

    1987-01-01

    Cells from the small cell population of viable cells in the large necrotic centre of murine M8013 tumours were investigated with respect to their cell kinetics. Flow cytometry (FCM) of this part of subcutaneously transplanted tumours revealed the presence of tumour cells with G1,S and G2 + M phase DNA-contents. These severely hypoxic cells could have stopped cell cycle progression due to the nutritional deprivation, irrespective of their position within the cell cycle. Labelling methods, used to disclose the cell kinetics of this cell population, are hampered by the absence of a transport system in these large necrotic areas. Therefore FCM was used to monitor radiation induced changes in the cell cycle distribution. From this investigation it was concluded that hypoxic cells in the necrotic centre of the M8013 tumour progress through the cell cycle. As well as a cell population with a cell cycle time (Tsub(c)) of approximately 84 hr, a subpopulation with a Tsub(c) of approximately 21 hr occurred. (author)

  7. Neutronics of a mixed-flow gas-core reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soran, P.D.; Hansen, G.E.

    1977-11-01

    The study was made to investigate the neutronic feasibility of a mixed-flow gas-core reactor. Three reactor concepts were studied: four- and seven-cell radial reactors and a seven-cell scallop reactor. The reactors were fueled with UF 6 (either U-233 or U-235) and various parameters were varied. A four-cell reactor is not practical nor is the U-235 fueled seven-cell radial reactor; however, the 7-cell U-233 radial and scallop reactors can satisfy all design criteria. The mixed flow gas core reactor is a very attractive reactor concept and warrants further investigation

  8. Physics and (patho)physiology in confined flows: from colloidal patterns to cytoplasmic rheology and sickle cell anemia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahadevan, L.

    2015-03-01

    I will discuss a few problems that involve the interaction of fluids and solids in confined spaces. (i) Jamming in pressure-driven suspension flows that show a transition from Stokes flows to Darcy flows as the solids start to lock, as in evaporative patterning in colloids (e.g. coffee stain formation) .(ii) Jamming and clogging of red blood cells, as in sickle-cell pathophysiology, with implications for other diseases that involve jamming. (iii) The mechanical response of crowded networks of filaments bathed in a fluid, as in the cytoskeleton, that can be described by poroelasticity theory. In each case, I will show how simple theories of multiphase flow and deformation can be used to explain a range of experimental observations, while failing to account for others, along with some thoughts on how to improve them.

  9. A High-Current, Stable Nonaqueous Organic Redox Flow Battery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wei, Xiaoliang; Duan, Wentao; Huang, Jinhua; Zhang, Lu; Li, Bin; Reed, David; Xu, Wu; Sprenkle, Vincent; Wang, Wei

    2016-10-14

    Nonaqueous redox flow batteries are promising in pursuit of high-energy storage systems owing to the broad voltage window, but currently are facing key challenges such as poor cycling stability and lack of suitable membranes. Here we report a new nonaqueous all-organic flow chemistry that demonstrates an outstanding cell cycling stability primarily because of high chemical persistency of the organic radical redox species and their good compatibility with the supporting electrolyte. A feasibility study shows that Daramic® and Celgard® porous separators can lead to high cell conductivity in flow cells thus producing remarkable cell efficiency and material utilization even at high current operations. This result suggests that the thickness and pore size are the key performance-determining factors for porous separators. With the greatly improved flow cell performance, this new flow system largely addresses the above mentioned challenges and the findings may greatly expedite the development of durable nonaqueous flow batteries.

  10. The art and science of flow control - case studies using flow visualization methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alvi, F. S.; Cattafesta, L. N., III

    2010-04-01

    Active flow control (AFC) has been the focus of significant research in the last decade. This is mainly due to the potentially substantial benefits it affords. AFC applications range from the subsonic to the supersonic (and beyond) regime for both internal and external flows. These applications are wide and varied, such as controlling flow transition and separation over various external components of the aircraft to active management of separation and flow distortion in engine components and over turbine and compressor blades. High-speed AFC applications include control of flow oscillations in cavity flows, supersonic jet screech, impinging jets, and jet-noise control. In this paper we review some of our recent applications of AFC through a number of case studies that illustrate the typical benefits as well as limitations of present AFC methods. The case studies include subsonic and supersonic canonical flowfields such as separation control over airfoils, control of supersonic cavity flows and impinging jets. In addition, properties of zero-net mass-flux (ZNMF) actuators are also discussed as they represent one of the most widely studied actuators used for AFC. In keeping with the theme of this special issue, the flowfield properties and their response to actuation are examined through the use of various qualitative and quantitative flow visualization methods, such as smoke, shadowgraph, schlieren, planar-laser scattering, and Particle image velocimetry (PIV). The results presented here clearly illustrate the merits of using flow visualization to gain significant insight into the flow and its response to AFC.

  11. Disodium cromoglycate, a mast-cell stabilizer, alters postradiation regional cerebral blood flow in primates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cockerham, L.G.; Doyle, T.F.; Pautler, E.L.; Hampton, J.D.

    1986-01-01

    Early transient incapacitation (ETI) is the complete cessation of performance during the first 30 min after radiation exposure, and performance decrement (PD) is a reduction in performance at the same time. Supralethal doses of radiation have been shown to produce a marked decrease in regional cerebral blood flow in primates concurrent with systemic hypotension and a dramatic release of mast-cell histamine. In an attempt to elucidate mechanisms underlying the radiation-induced ETI/PD phenomena and the postradiation decrease in cerebral blood flow, primates were given the mast-cell stabilizers disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) or BRL 22321 before exposure to 100 Gy whole-body gamma radiation. Hypothalamic and cortical blood flows were measured by hydrogen clearance, before and after radiation exposure. Systemic blood pressures were determined simultaneously. The data indicated that DSCG was successful in diminishing postradiation decrease in cerebral blood flow. Irradiated animals pretreated with DSCG, showed only a 10% decrease in hypothalamic blood flow 60 min postradiation, while untreated, irradiated animals showed a 57% decrease. The cortical blood flow of DSCG treated, irradiated animals showed a triphasic response, with a decrease of 38% at 10 min postradiation, then a rise to 1% below baseline at 20 min, followed by a fall to 42% below baseline by 50 min postradiation. In contrast, the untreated, irradiated animals showed a steady decrease in cortical blood flow to 79% below baseline by 50 min postradiation. There was no significant difference in blood-pressure response between the treated and untreated, irradiated animals. Systemic blood pressure showed a 60% decrease at 10 min postradiation, falling to a 71% decrease by 60 min

  12. FLOCK cluster analysis of mast cell event clustering by high-sensitivity flow cytometry predicts systemic mastocytosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorfman, David M; LaPlante, Charlotte D; Pozdnyakova, Olga; Li, Betty

    2015-11-01

    In our high-sensitivity flow cytometric approach for systemic mastocytosis (SM), we identified mast cell event clustering as a new diagnostic criterion for the disease. To objectively characterize mast cell gated event distributions, we performed cluster analysis using FLOCK, a computational approach to identify cell subsets in multidimensional flow cytometry data in an unbiased, automated fashion. FLOCK identified discrete mast cell populations in most cases of SM (56/75 [75%]) but only a minority of non-SM cases (17/124 [14%]). FLOCK-identified mast cell populations accounted for 2.46% of total cells on average in SM cases and 0.09% of total cells on average in non-SM cases (P < .0001) and were predictive of SM, with a sensitivity of 75%, a specificity of 86%, a positive predictive value of 76%, and a negative predictive value of 85%. FLOCK analysis provides useful diagnostic information for evaluating patients with suspected SM, and may be useful for the analysis of other hematopoietic neoplasms. Copyright© by the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

  13. Flow Cytometric Detection of PrPSc in Neurons and Glial Cells from Prion-Infected Mouse Brains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamasaki, Takeshi; Suzuki, Akio; Hasebe, Rie; Horiuchi, Motohiro

    2018-01-01

    In prion diseases, an abnormal isoform of prion protein (PrP Sc ) accumulates in neurons, astrocytes, and microglia in the brains of animals affected by prions. Detailed analyses of PrP Sc -positive neurons and glial cells are required to clarify their pathophysiological roles in the disease. Here, we report a novel method for the detection of PrP Sc in neurons and glial cells from the brains of prion-infected mice by flow cytometry using PrP Sc -specific staining with monoclonal antibody (MAb) 132. The combination of PrP Sc staining and immunolabeling of neural cell markers clearly distinguished neurons, astrocytes, and microglia that were positive for PrP Sc from those that were PrP Sc negative. The flow cytometric analysis of PrP Sc revealed the appearance of PrP Sc -positive neurons, astrocytes, and microglia at 60 days after intracerebral prion inoculation, suggesting the presence of PrP Sc in the glial cells, as well as in neurons, from an early stage of infection. Moreover, the kinetic analysis of PrP Sc revealed a continuous increase in the proportion of PrP Sc -positive cells for all cell types with disease progression. Finally, we applied this method to isolate neurons, astrocytes, and microglia positive for PrP Sc from a prion-infected mouse brain by florescence-activated cell sorting. The method described here enables comprehensive analyses specific to PrP Sc -positive neurons, astrocytes, and microglia that will contribute to the understanding of the pathophysiological roles of neurons and glial cells in PrP Sc -associated pathogenesis. IMPORTANCE Although formation of PrP Sc in neurons is associated closely with neurodegeneration in prion diseases, the mechanism of neurodegeneration is not understood completely. On the other hand, recent studies proposed the important roles of glial cells in PrP Sc -associated pathogenesis, such as the intracerebral spread of PrP Sc and clearance of PrP Sc from the brain. Despite the great need for detailed analyses

  14. Groundwater flow through a natural fracture. Flow experiments and numerical modelling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larsson, Erik [Chalmers Univ. of Technology, Goeteborg (Sweden). Dept of Geology

    1997-09-01

    Groundwater flow and transport play an important role not only for groundwater exploration but also in environmental engineering problems. This report considers how the hydraulic properties of fractures in crystalline rock depend on the fracture aperture geometry. Different numerical models are discussed and a FDM computer code for two- and three- dimensional flow-modelling has been developed. Different relations between the cells in the model are tested and compared with results in the literature. A laboratory experimental work has been done to carry out flow experiments and aperture measurements on the same specimen of a natural fracture. The drilled core sample had fractures parallel to the core axis and was placed inside a biaxial cell during the experiments. The water pressure gradient and the compression stress were varied during the experiments and also a tracer test was done. After the flow experiments, the aperture distribution for a certain compression was measured by injecting an epoxy resin into the fracture. The thickness of the resin layer was then studied in saw cut sections of the sample. The results from the experiments were used to validate numerical and analytical models, based on aperture distribution, for flow and transport simulations. In the disturbed zone around a drift both water and air are present in the fractures. The gas will go to the most wide part of the fracture because the capillarity and the conductivity decrease. The dependence of the effective conductivity on the variance of the conductivity and the effect of extinction of highly conductive cells has also been studied. A discussion of how gas in fractures around a drift can cause a skin effect is modelled and an example is given of what a saturation depending on the magnitude of the flow causes. 25 refs, 17 tabs, 43 figs.

  15. Groundwater flow through a natural fracture. Flow experiments and numerical modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larsson, Erik

    1997-09-01

    Groundwater flow and transport play an important role not only for groundwater exploration but also in environmental engineering problems. This report considers how the hydraulic properties of fractures in crystalline rock depend on the fracture aperture geometry. Different numerical models are discussed and a FDM computer code for two- and three- dimensional flow-modelling has been developed. Different relations between the cells in the model are tested and compared with results in the literature. A laboratory experimental work has been done to carry out flow experiments and aperture measurements on the same specimen of a natural fracture. The drilled core sample had fractures parallel to the core axis and was placed inside a biaxial cell during the experiments. The water pressure gradient and the compression stress were varied during the experiments and also a tracer test was done. After the flow experiments, the aperture distribution for a certain compression was measured by injecting an epoxy resin into the fracture. The thickness of the resin layer was then studied in saw cut sections of the sample. The results from the experiments were used to validate numerical and analytical models, based on aperture distribution, for flow and transport simulations. In the disturbed zone around a drift both water and air are present in the fractures. The gas will go to the most wide part of the fracture because the capillarity and the conductivity decrease. The dependence of the effective conductivity on the variance of the conductivity and the effect of extinction of highly conductive cells has also been studied. A discussion of how gas in fractures around a drift can cause a skin effect is modelled and an example is given of what a saturation depending on the magnitude of the flow causes

  16. Screening of carcinoma metastasis by flow cytometry: A study of 238 cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acosta, Maria; Pereira, José; Arroz, Maria

    2016-05-01

    Malignant epithelial cells may be detected in different specimens, by immunophenotyping using flow cytometry (FCM). CD326 (epithelial-specific antigen, clone Ber-Ep4) was used to identify epithelial cells, CD45 to discriminate between leucocytes (positive for this antigen) and non-hematological cells (negative for this antigen), and CD33 to identify monocytes/macrophages. This combination is particularly useful in effusions to characterize large cells and distinguish between monocyte/macrophages (CD45+ CD33+ CD326-), mesothelial cells (CD45 ± (dim) CD33 - CD326-) and epithelial cells (CD45 - CD33 - CD326 +). We evaluated the efficiency of flow cytometry to detect malignant epithelial cells in 238 fresh samples, including effusions, lymph node biopsies, fine needle aspirates, bone marrow aspirates, cerebrospinal fluid, among others. These are specimens expected to lack epithelial cells. FCM results were then compared to the results of smear and cell block morphology, as well as immunocytochemistry on paraffin wax embedded cell blocks, when available. Final diagnosis was the gold standard and a very good sensitivity (96.7%) and specificity (99.3%) were obtained. We concluded that the detection of CD326 positive cells using FCM is strongly indicative of the presence of carcinoma cells. © 2015 International Clinical Cytometry Society. © 2015 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

  17. Influence of beta blockade on gastric acid secretion and changes in gastric mucosal blood flow before and after parietal cell vagotomy in dogs and man

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hovendal, C P; Bech, K; Bekker, C

    1983-01-01

    The aim of the present study was, in paired experiments in dogs, to examine the effect of beta-receptor blockade on gastric acid secretion and mucosal blood flow before and after parietal cell vagotomy (PCV). The secretory response to pentagastrin was reduced after vagotomy. beta-Adrenergic block......The aim of the present study was, in paired experiments in dogs, to examine the effect of beta-receptor blockade on gastric acid secretion and mucosal blood flow before and after parietal cell vagotomy (PCV). The secretory response to pentagastrin was reduced after vagotomy. beta...

  18. Novel biometric flow slab design for improvement of PEMFC performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Chin-Tsan; Hu, Yuh-Chung; Zheng, Pei-Lun [Department of Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering, Center of Green Technology, National I Lan University, I Lan 26047 (China)

    2010-04-15

    Designing a better flow slab is important to cell performance because of its significant influence on the total pressure drop and flow uniformity. Two novel biometric flow slabs, BFF1 and BFF2, which are addressed in this study, are believed to enhance the capability of oxygen transportation and promote the liquid water removal. Hence, its possession of a higher flow uniformity and lower pressure drop would produce a better power performance than the serpentine and parallel flow. These findings with respect to the design of biometric flow slab could be useful to promote the cell performance of PEMFC, and could even be expanded to other cell types. (author)

  19. Fluorescent genetic barcoding in mammalian cells for enhanced multiplexing capabilities in flow cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smurthwaite, Cameron A; Hilton, Brett J; O'Hanlon, Ryan; Stolp, Zachary D; Hancock, Bryan M; Abbadessa, Darin; Stotland, Aleksandr; Sklar, Larry A; Wolkowicz, Roland

    2014-01-01

    The discovery of the green fluorescent protein from Aequorea victoria has revolutionized the field of cell and molecular biology. Since its discovery a growing panel of fluorescent proteins, fluorophores and fluorescent-coupled staining methodologies, have expanded the analytical capabilities of flow cytometry. Here, we exploit the power of genetic engineering to barcode individual cells with genes encoding fluorescent proteins. For genetic engineering, we utilize retroviral technology, which allows for the expression of ectopic genetic information in a stable manner in mammalian cells. We have genetically barcoded both adherent and nonadherent cells with different fluorescent proteins. Multiplexing power was increased by combining both the number of distinct fluorescent proteins, and the fluorescence intensity in each channel. Moreover, retroviral expression has proven to be stable for at least a 6-month period, which is critical for applications such as biological screens. We have shown the applicability of fluorescent barcoded multiplexing to cell-based assays that rely themselves on genetic barcoding, or on classical staining protocols. Fluorescent genetic barcoding gives the cell an inherited characteristic that distinguishes it from its counterpart. Once cell lines are developed, no further manipulation or staining is required, decreasing time, nonspecific background associated with staining protocols, and cost. The increasing number of discovered and/or engineered fluorescent proteins with unique absorbance/emission spectra, combined with the growing number of detection devices and lasers, increases multiplexing versatility, making fluorescent genetic barcoding a powerful tool for flow cytometry-based analysis. © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

  20. Differentiation of human-induced pluripotent stem cell under flow conditions to mature hepatocytes for liver tissue engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Starokozhko, Viktoriia; Hemmingsen, Mette; Larsen, Layla

    2018-01-01

    Hepatic differentiation of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) under flow conditions in a 3D scaffold is expected to be a major step forward for construction of bioartificial livers. The aims of this study were to induce hepatic differentiation of hiPSCs under perfusion conditions...... and to perform functional comparisons with fresh human precision-cut liver slices (hPCLS), an excellent benchmark for the human liver in vivo. The majority of the mRNA expression of CYP isoenzymes and transporters and the tested CYP activities, Phase II metabolism, and albumin, urea, and bile acid synthesis...... in the hiPSC-derived cells reached values that overlap those of hPCLS, which indicates a higher degree of hepatic differentiation than observed until now. Differentiation under flow compared with static conditions had a strong inducing effect on Phase II metabolism and suppressed AFP expression but resulted...

  1. Performance evaluation of thermally treated graphite felt electrodes for vanadium redox flow battery and their four-point single cell characterization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazúr, P.; Mrlík, J.; Beneš, J.; Pocedič, J.; Vrána, J.; Dundálek, J.; Kosek, J.

    2018-03-01

    In our contribution we study the electrocatalytic effect of oxygen functionalization of thermally treated graphite felt on kinetics of electrode reactions of vanadium redox flow battery. Chemical and morphological changes of the felts are analysed by standard physico-chemical characterization techniques. A complex method four-point method is developed and employed for characterization of the felts in a laboratory single-cell. The method is based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and load curves measurements of positive and negative half-cells using platinum wire pseudo-reference electrodes. The distribution of ohmic and faradaic losses within a single-cell is evaluated for both symmetric and asymmetric electrode set-up with respect to the treatment conditions. Positive effect of oxygen functionalization is observed only for negative electrode, whereas kinetics of positive electrode reaction is almost unaffected by the treatment. This is in a contradiction to the results of typically employed cyclovoltammetric characterization which indicate that both electrodes are enhanced by the treatment to a similar extent. The developed four-point characterization method can be further used e.g., for the component screening and in-situ durability studies on single-cell scale redox flow batteries of various chemistries.

  2. Continuous flow microfluidic separation and processing of rare cells and bioparticles found in blood – A review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Antfolk, Maria; Laurell, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    conventional cell separation methods, such as flow cytometry or magnetic activated cell sorting, have fallen short other methods are desperately sought for. Microfluidics have been extensively used towards isolating and processing rare cells as it offers possibilities not present in the conventional systems...

  3. Effect of sulphuric acid concentration on electroosmotic flow through polymer electrolyte membranes in PEM fuel cells. Paper no. IGEC-1-061

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karimi, G.; Li, X.

    2005-01-01

    Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are highly efficient and environmentally clean, and hence one of the most promising power sources for both stationary and mobile applications. The operations of PEM fuel cells are complicated by the electroosmotic flow of water from anode to cathode through the polymer electrolyte membrane leading to the membrane dehydration and fuel cell performance degradations. In this study, electro osmotic flow in polymer electrolyte membranes is modeled by incorporating the electro kinetic effects in the presence of euphoric acid. The governing Poisson-Boatman and the Nervier-Stokes equations were solved numerically for a single membrane pore to determine the electro osmotic flow distributions through the membrane over a wide range of acid concentrations. The presence of euphoric acid modifies the protons distribution in the membrane and hence alters the driving force for electroosmotic drag. Numerical results indicate that the electro osmotic flow increases steadily with acid concentration. The water transport due to electro osmosis is almost doubled at 2 M acid concentration compared with that of non-doped membrane. The value of electroosmotic drag coefficient however falls steadily with acid concentration due to the presence of a larger number of protons in the electrolyte. (author)

  4. Discrimination of bromodeoxyuridine labelled and unlabelled mitotic cells in flow cytometric bromodeoxyuridine/DNA analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, P O; Larsen, J K; Christensen, I J

    1994-01-01

    Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) labelled and unlabelled mitotic cells, respectively, can be discriminated from interphase cells using a new method, based on immunocytochemical staining of BrdUrd and flow cytometric four-parameter analysis of DNA content, BrdUrd incorporation, and forward and orthogonal...... light scatter. The method was optimized using the human leukemia cell lines HL-60 and K-562. Samples of 10(5) ethanol-fixed cells were treated with pepsin/HCl and stained as a nuclear suspension with anti-BrdUrd antibody, FITC-conjugated secondary antibody, and propidium iodide. Labelled mitoses could...

  5. Contribution to the study of critical flow rates in a water-vapour two-phase flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reocreux, Michel

    1974-01-01

    This research thesis aims at studying and analysing mechanisms involved in critical flows by adopting a theoretical and an experimental approach. After a recall of previous theoretical results and a discussion of their comparison with experimental results, the author outlines the main problems: the flow representation by a realistic model which takes all factors on which depend critical flow as well as many non critical flows into account, and the formulation of conditions to be met for a flow to be critical. Then, after a recall of the properties of critical single-phase flows, the author proposes an equation system. In the next part, he reports the development of an equation system for two-phase flows. The properties of the solutions of this system are studied to establish the general conditions required for a flow described by this system to be critical. These results are then applied to the equation system describing two-phase flows, and results are interpreted and discussed. In a second part, the author reports the experimental study by addressing experimental devices which could well produce the studied phenomenon, instrumentation and measurements, and the presentation and analysis of results [fr

  6. The wall traction induced by flowing red blood cells in model microvessels and its potential mechanotransduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freund, Jonathan; Vermot, Julien

    2013-11-01

    There is evidence in early embryonic development, even well before advective oxygen transport is important, that the presence of red bloods cells per se trigger essential steps of normal vascular development. For example, showed that sequestration of blood cells early in the development of a mouse, such that the hematocrit is reduced, suppresses normal vascular network development. Vascular development also provides a model for remodeling and angiogenesis. We consider the transient stresses associated with blood cells flowing in model microvessels of comparable diameter to those at early stages of development (6 μm to 12 μm). A detailed simulation tool is used to show that passing blood cells present a significant fluctuating traction signature on the vessel wall, well above the mean stresses. This is particularly pronounced for slow flows (layer is also considered. NSF supported.

  7. A versatile mathematical work-flow to explore how Cancer Stem Cell fate influences tumor progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fornari, Chiara; Balbo, Gianfranco; Halawani, Sami M; Ba-Rukab, Omar; Ahmad, Ab Rahman; Calogero, Raffaele A; Cordero, Francesca; Beccuti, Marco

    2015-01-01

    Nowadays multidisciplinary approaches combining mathematical models with experimental assays are becoming relevant for the study of biological systems. Indeed, in cancer research multidisciplinary approaches are successfully used to understand the crucial aspects implicated in tumor growth. In particular, the Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) biology represents an area particularly suited to be studied through multidisciplinary approaches, and modeling has significantly contributed to pinpoint the crucial aspects implicated in this theory. More generally, to acquire new insights on a biological system it is necessary to have an accurate description of the phenomenon, such that making accurate predictions on its future behaviors becomes more likely. In this context, the identification of the parameters influencing model dynamics can be advantageous to increase model accuracy and to provide hints in designing wet experiments. Different techniques, ranging from statistical methods to analytical studies, have been developed. Their applications depend on case-specific aspects, such as the availability and quality of experimental data, and the dimension of the parameter space. The study of a new model on the CSC-based tumor progression has been the motivation to design a new work-flow that helps to characterize possible system dynamics and to identify those parameters influencing such behaviors. In detail, we extended our recent model on CSC-dynamics creating a new system capable of describing tumor growth during the different stages of cancer progression. Indeed, tumor cells appear to progress through lineage stages like those of normal tissues, being their division auto-regulated by internal feedback mechanisms. These new features have introduced some non-linearities in the model, making it more difficult to be studied by solely analytical techniques. Our new work-flow, based on statistical methods, was used to identify the parameters which influence the tumor growth. The

  8. A comparative study of U937 cell size changes during apoptosis initiation by flow cytometry, light scattering, water assay and electronic sizing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yurinskaya, Valentina; Aksenov, Nikolay; Moshkov, Alexey; Model, Michael; Goryachaya, Tatyana; Vereninov, Alexey

    2017-10-01

    A decrease in flow cytometric forward light scatter (FSC) is commonly interpreted as a sign of apoptotic cell volume decrease (AVD). However, the intensity of light scattering depends not only on the cell size but also on its other characteristics, such as hydration, which may affect the scattering in the opposite way. That makes estimation of AVD by FSC problematic. Here, we aimed to clarify the relationship between light scattering, cell hydration (assayed by buoyant density) and cell size by the Coulter technique. We used human lymphoid cells U937 exposed to staurosporine, etoposide or hypertonic stress as an apoptotic model. An initial increase in FSC was found to occur in apoptotic cells treated with staurosporine and hypertonic solutions; it is accompanied by cell dehydration and is absent in apoptosis caused by etoposide that is consistent with the lack of dehydration in this case. Thus, the effect of dehydration on the scattering signal outweighs the effect of reduction in cell size. The subsequent FSC decrease, which occurred in parallel to accumulation of annexin-positive cells, was similar in apoptosis caused by all three types of inducers. We conclude that an increase, but not a decrease in light scattering, indicates the initial cell volume decrease associated with apoptotic cell dehydration.

  9. Retrospective Analysis of T and B Cells Flow-Cross Matches in Renal Transplant Recipients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lakshmi Kiran C

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Complement-mediated cytotoxic antibodies in conventional cross match, often result in misappropriation of true positives and borderline positives which are detrimental to allograft survival. Flow cross matches (FCXM are sensitive to capture even non comple-ment fixing cytotoxic antibodies. This retrospective study evaluates the utility of FCXM in effectively predicting acute allograft rejection. A total of 17 cases were processed for FCXM (T and B cell of whom seven had no rejection episodes, while the remaining 11 had acute rejection despite negative cross match and panel reacting antibodies being ne-gative (less than 20%. The sensitivity and specificity of the FCXM outcome demons-trated that positive B-cell FCXM has potential to be a good tool in pre-transplant scree-ning. The current analysis proposes the possible utility of B-cell positive FCXM as a more sensitive parameter in predicting acute allograft rejection prior to transplantation.

  10. Influence of flow direction and flow rate on the initial adhesion of seven Listeria monocytogenes strains to fine polished stainless steel

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skovager, Anne; Whitehead, Kathryn; Siegumfeldt, Henrik

    2012-01-01

    The effects of flow direction and shear stress on the adhesion of different strains of Listeria monocytogenes to fine polished stainless steel under liquid flow conditions were investigated. Furthermore, the relationship between cell surface properties and cell size and the initial adhesion rate...... (IAR) was studied. A method, including fluorescence microscopy and a flow perfusion system, was developed and used to examine the real-time initial cell adhesion of different L. monocytogenes species in situ to opaque surfaces under flow conditions. The results demonstrated that shear stress...... was the determining factor for the initial adhesion of L. monocytogenes under flow conditions. The flow direction in relation to the orientation of surface features (the scratches) could be disregarded. IARs were dependent on the shear stress and strain type. The strain EGDe, which had the lowest IAR, had the largest...

  11. A flow cell for transient voltammetry and in situ grazing incidence X-ray diffraction characterization of electrocrystallized cadmium(II) tetracyanoquinodimethane

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veder, Jean-Pierre [Nanochemistry Research Institute, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845 (Australia); Nafady, Ayman [School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800 (Australia); Clarke, Graeme [Nanochemistry Research Institute, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845 (Australia); Williams, Ross P. [Centre for Materials Research, Department of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845 (Australia); De Marco, Roland, E-mail: r.demarco@curtin.edu.a [Nanochemistry Research Institute, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845 (Australia); Bond, Alan M. [School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800 (Australia)

    2011-01-01

    An easy to fabricate and versatile cell that can be used with a variety of electrochemical techniques, also meeting the stringent requirement for undertaking cyclic voltammetry under transient conditions in in situ electrocrystallization studies and total external reflection X-ray analysis, has been developed. Application is demonstrated through an in situ synchrotron radiation-grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (SR-GIXRD) characterization of electrocrystallized cadmium (II)-tetracyanoquinodimethane material, Cd(TCNQ){sub 2}, from acetonitrile (0.1 mol dm{sup -3} [NBu{sub 4}][PF{sub 6}]). Importantly, this versatile cell design makes SR-GIXRD suitable for almost any combination of total external reflection X-ray analysis (e.g., GIXRF and GIXRD) and electrochemical perturbation, also allowing its application in acidic, basic, aqueous, non-aqueous, low and high flow pressure conditions. Nevertheless, the cell design separates the functions of transient voltammetry and SR-GIXRD measurements, viz., voltammetry is performed at high flow rates with a substantially distended window to minimize the IR (Ohmic) drop of the electrolyte, while SR-GIXRD is undertaken using stop-flow conditions with a very thin layer of electrolyte to minimize X-ray absorption and scattering by the solution.

  12. Flow Cytometric Quantification of Peripheral Blood Cell β-Adrenergic Receptor Density and Urinary Endothelial Cell-Derived Microparticles in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan A Rose

    Full Text Available Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH is a heterogeneous disease characterized by severe angiogenic remodeling of the pulmonary artery wall and right ventricular hypertrophy. Thus, there is an increasing need for novel biomarkers to dissect disease heterogeneity, and predict treatment response. Although β-adrenergic receptor (βAR dysfunction is well documented in left heart disease while endothelial cell-derived microparticles (Ec-MPs are established biomarkers of angiogenic remodeling, methods for easy large clinical cohort analysis of these biomarkers are currently absent. Here we describe flow cytometric methods for quantification of βAR density on circulating white blood cells (WBC and Ec-MPs in urine samples that can be used as potential biomarkers of right heart failure in PAH. Biotinylated β-blocker alprenolol was synthesized and validated as a βAR specific probe that was combined with immunophenotyping to quantify βAR density in circulating WBC subsets. Ec-MPs obtained from urine samples were stained for annexin-V and CD144, and analyzed by a micro flow cytometer. Flow cytometric detection of alprenolol showed that βAR density was decreased in most WBC subsets in PAH samples compared to healthy controls. Ec-MPs in urine was increased in PAH compared to controls. Furthermore, there was a direct correlation between Ec-MPs and Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE in PAH patients. Therefore, flow cytometric quantification of peripheral blood cell βAR density and urinary Ec-MPs may be useful as potential biomarkers of right ventricular function in PAH.

  13. Hydrodynamic analysis and simulation of a flow cell ammonia electrolyzer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diaz, Luis A.; Botte, Gerardine G.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • NH_3 electrooxidation mechanism was validated in a bench scale electrolyzer. • All kinetic parameters for NH_3 electro-oxidation were calculated and verified. • Hydrodynamic behavior of the NH_3 electrolyzer was properly described as a CSTR. • CSTR model was successfully applied to simulate a flow ammonia electrolyzer. - Abstract: The hydrodynamic analysis and simulation of a non-ideal single pass flow cell alkaline ammonia electrolyzer was performed after the scale-up of a well-characterized deposited polycrystalline Pt on Ni anode. The hydrodynamic analysis was performed using the residence time distribution (RTD) test. The results of the hydrodynamic investigation provide additional insights for the kinetic analysis of the ammonia electrooxidation reaction on polycrystalline Pt electrocatalysts -which are typically obtained under controlled flow regime, e.g., rotating disk electrode- by including the flow non-uniformity present in the electrolyzer. Based on the RTD function, the ammonia electrolyzer performance was simulated as a non-steady stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and the unknown kinetic parameters were obtained by fitting the simulation results with an experimental current profile, obtaining an adequate prediction of the ammonia conversion. This simplified approach for the simulation of the ammonia electrolyzer could be implemented in process simulation packages and could be used for the design and scale-up of the process for hydrogen production and wastewater remediation.

  14. Hybrid Graphene-Polyoxometalates Nanofluids as Liquid Electrodes for Dual Energy Storage in Novel Flow Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubal, Deepak P; Rueda-Garcia, Daniel; Marchante, Carlos; Benages, Raul; Gomez-Romero, Pedro

    2018-02-22

    Solid Hybrid materials abound. But flowing versions of them are new actors in the materials science landscape and in particular for energy applications. This paper presents a new way to deliver nanostructured hybrid materials for energy storage, namely, in the form of nanofluids. We present here the first example of a hybrid electroactive nanofluid (HENFs) combining capacitive and faradaic energy storage mechanisms in a single fluid material. This liquid electrode is composed of reduced graphene oxide and polyoxometalates (rGO-POMs) forming a stable nanocomposite for electrochemical energy storage in novel Nanofluid Flow Cells. Two graphene based hybrid materials (rGO-phosphomolybdate, rGO-PMo 12 and rGO-phosphotungstate, rGO-PW 12 ) were synthesized and dispersed with the aid of a surfactant in 1 M H 2 SO 4 aqueous electrolyte to yield highly stable hybrid electroactive nanofluids (HENFs) of low viscosity which were tested in a home-made flow cell under static and continuous flowing conditions. Remarkably, even low concentration rGO-POMs HENFs (0.025 wt%) exhibited high specific capacitances of 273 F/g(rGO-PW 12 ) and 305 F/g(rGO-PMo 12 ) with high specific energy and specific power. Moreover, rGO-POM HENFs show excellent cycling stability (∼95 %) as well as Coulombic efficiency (∼77-79 %) after 2000 cycles. Thus, rGO-POM HENFs effectively behave as real liquid electrodes with excellent properties, demonstrating the possible future application of HENFs for dual energy storage in a new generation of Nanofluid Flow Cells. © 2018 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Numerical simulations of carbon monoxide poisoning in high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells with various flow channel designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiao, Kui; Zhou, Yibo; Du, Qing; Yin, Yan; Yu, Shuhai; Li, Xianguo

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Simulations of CO poisoning in HT-PEMFC with different flow channels are conducted. ► Parallel and serpentine designs result in least and most CO effects, respectively. ► General CO distributions in CLs are similar with different flow channel designs. - Abstract: The performance of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) is significantly affected by the carbon monoxide (CO) in hydrogen fuel, and the flow channel design may influence the CO poisoning characteristics by changing the reactant flow. In this study, three-dimensional non-isothermal simulations are carried out to investigate the comprehensive flow channel design and CO poisoning effects on the performance of HT-PEMFCs. The numerical results show that when pure hydrogen is supplied, the interdigitated design produces the highest power output, the power output with serpentine design is higher than the two parallel designs, and the parallel-Z and parallel-U designs have similar power outputs. The performance degradation caused by CO poisoning is the least significant with parallel flow channel design, but the most significant with serpentine and interdigitated designs because the cross flow through the electrode is stronger. At low cell voltages (high current densities), the highest power outputs are with interdigitated and parallel flow channel designs at low and high CO fractions in the supplied hydrogen, respectively. The general distributions of absorbed hydrogen and CO coverage fractions in anode catalyst layer (CL) are similar for the different flow channel designs. The hydrogen coverage fraction is higher under the channel than under the land, and is also higher on the gas diffusion layer (GDL) side than on the membrane side; and the CO coverage distribution is opposite to the hydrogen coverage distribution

  16. Paper-based enzymatic microfluidic fuel cell: From a two-stream flow device to a single-stream lateral flow strip

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Guerrero, Maria José; del Campo, F. Javier; Esquivel, Juan Pablo; Giroud, Fabien; Minteer, Shelley D.; Sabaté, Neus

    2016-09-01

    This work presents a first approach towards the development of a cost-effective enzymatic paper-based glucose/O2 microfluidic fuel cell in which fluid transport is based on capillary action. A first fuel cell configuration consists of a Y-shaped paper device with the fuel and the oxidant flowing in parallel over carbon paper electrodes modified with bioelectrocatalytic enzymes. The anode consists of a ferrocenium-based polyethyleneimine polymer linked to glucose oxidase (GOx/Fc-C6-LPEI), while the cathode contains a mixture of laccase, anthracene-modified multiwall carbon nanotubes, and tetrabutylammonium bromide-modified Nafion (MWCNTs/laccase/TBAB-Nafion). Subsequently, the Y-shaped configuration is improved to use a single solution containing both, the anolyte and the catholyte. Thus, the electrolytes pHs of the fuel and the oxidant solutions are adapted to an intermediate pH of 5.5. Finally, the fuel cell is run with this single solution obtaining a maximum open circuit of 0.55 ± 0.04 V and a maximum current and power density of 225 ± 17 μA cm-2 and 24 ± 5 μW cm-2, respectively. Hence, a power source closer to a commercial application (similar to conventional lateral flow test strips) is developed and successfully operated. This system can be used to supply the energy required to power microelectronics demanding low power consumption.

  17. Laminar shear flow increases hydrogen sulfide and activates a nitric oxide producing signaling cascade in endothelial cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Bin; Chen, Chang-Ting; Chen, Chi-Shia; Wang, Yun-Ming; Hsieh, Hsyue-Jen; Wang, Danny Ling

    2015-09-04

    Laminar shear flow triggers a signaling cascade that maintains the integrity of endothelial cells (ECs). Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a new gasotransmitter is regarded as an upstream regulator of nitric oxide (NO). Whether the H2S-generating enzymes are correlated to the enzymes involved in NO production under shear flow conditions remains unclear as yet. In the present study, the cultured ECs were subjected to a constant shear flow (12 dyn/cm(2)) in a parallel flow chamber system. We investigated the expression of three key enzymes for H2S biosynthesis, cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE), cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS), and 3-mercapto-sulfurtransferase (3-MST). Shear flow markedly increased the level of 3-MST. Shear flow enhanced the production of H2S was determined by NBD-SCN reagent that can bind to cysteine/homocystein. Exogenous treatment of NaHS that can release gaseous H2S, ECs showed an increase of phosphorylation in Akt(S473), ERK(T202/Y204) and eNOS(S1177). This indicated that H2S can trigger the NO-production signaling cascade. Silencing of CSE, CBS and 3-MST genes by siRNA separately attenuated the phosphorylation levels of Akt(S473) and eNOS(S1177) under shear flow conditions. The particular mode of shear flow increased H2S production. The interplay between H2S and NO-generating enzymes were discussed in the present study. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Label-free cell-cycle analysis by high-throughput quantitative phase time-stretch imaging flow cytometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mok, Aaron T. Y.; Lee, Kelvin C. M.; Wong, Kenneth K. Y.; Tsia, Kevin K.

    2018-02-01

    Biophysical properties of cells could complement and correlate biochemical markers to characterize a multitude of cellular states. Changes in cell size, dry mass and subcellular morphology, for instance, are relevant to cell-cycle progression which is prevalently evaluated by DNA-targeted fluorescence measurements. Quantitative-phase microscopy (QPM) is among the effective biophysical phenotyping tools that can quantify cell sizes and sub-cellular dry mass density distribution of single cells at high spatial resolution. However, limited camera frame rate and thus imaging throughput makes QPM incompatible with high-throughput flow cytometry - a gold standard in multiparametric cell-based assay. Here we present a high-throughput approach for label-free analysis of cell cycle based on quantitative-phase time-stretch imaging flow cytometry at a throughput of > 10,000 cells/s. Our time-stretch QPM system enables sub-cellular resolution even at high speed, allowing us to extract a multitude (at least 24) of single-cell biophysical phenotypes (from both amplitude and phase images). Those phenotypes can be combined to track cell-cycle progression based on a t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) algorithm. Using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) discriminant analysis, cell-cycle phases can also be predicted label-free with high accuracy at >90% in G1 and G2 phase, and >80% in S phase. We anticipate that high throughput label-free cell cycle characterization could open new approaches for large-scale single-cell analysis, bringing new mechanistic insights into complex biological processes including diseases pathogenesis.

  19. Optimization of a new flow design for solid oxide cells using computational fluid dynamics modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Duhn, Jakob Dragsbæk; Jensen, Anker Degn; Wedel, Stig

    2016-01-01

    Design of a gas distributor to distribute gas flow into parallel channels for Solid Oxide Cells (SOC) is optimized, with respect to flow distribution, using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling. The CFD model is based on a 3d geometric model and the optimized structural parameters include...... the width of the channels in the gas distributor and the area in front of the parallel channels. The flow of the optimized design is found to have a flow uniformity index value of 0.978. The effects of deviations from the assumptions used in the modelling (isothermal and non-reacting flow) are evaluated...... and it is found that a temperature gradient along the parallel channels does not affect the flow uniformity, whereas a temperature difference between the channels does. The impact of the flow distribution on the maximum obtainable conversion during operation is also investigated and the obtainable overall...

  20. The effect of channel flow pattern on internal properties distribution of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell for cathode starvation conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ko, Dong Soo; Kang, Young Min; Yang, Jang Sik; Jeong, Ji Hwan; Choi, Gyung Min; Kim, Duck Jool

    2010-01-01

    The effect of channel flow pattern on the internal properties distribution of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for cathode starvation conditions in a unit cell was investigated through numerical studies and experiments. The polarization curves of a lab-scale mixed serpentine PEMFC were measured with increasing current loads for different cell temperatures (40, 50, and 60 .deg. C) at a relative humidity of 100%. To study the local temperature on the membrane, the water content in the MEA, and the gas velocity in terms of the channel type of the PEMFC with operating characteristics, numerical studies using the es-pemfc module of STAR-CD, which have been matched to the experimental data, were conducted in detail. The water content and velocity at the cathode channel bend of the mixed serpentine channel were relatively higher than those at the single and double channels. Conversely, the local temperature and mean temperature on the membrane of a single serpentine channel were the highest among all channels. These results can be used to design the PEMFC system, the channel flow field, and the cooling device

  1. Flow velocity-driven differentiation of human mesenchymal stromal cells in silk fibroin scaffolds: A combined experimental and computational approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jolanda Rita Vetsch

    Full Text Available Mechanical loading plays a major role in bone remodeling and fracture healing. Mimicking the concept of mechanical loading of bone has been widely studied in bone tissue engineering by perfusion cultures. Nevertheless, there is still debate regarding the in-vitro mechanical stimulation regime. This study aims at investigating the effect of two different flow rates (vlow = 0.001m/s and vhigh = 0.061m/s on the growth of mineralized tissue produced by human mesenchymal stromal cells cultured on 3-D silk fibroin scaffolds. The flow rates applied were chosen to mimic the mechanical environment during early fracture healing or during bone remodeling, respectively. Scaffolds cultured under static conditions served as a control. Time-lapsed micro-computed tomography showed that mineralized extracellular matrix formation was completely inhibited at vlow compared to vhigh and the static group. Biochemical assays and histology confirmed these results and showed enhanced osteogenic differentiation at vhigh whereas the amount of DNA was increased at vlow. The biological response at vlow might correspond to the early stage of fracture healing, where cell proliferation and matrix production is prominent. Visual mapping of shear stresses, simulated by computational fluid dynamics, to 3-D micro-computed tomography data revealed that shear stresses up to 0.39mPa induced a higher DNA amount and shear stresses between 0.55mPa and 24mPa induced osteogenic differentiation. This study demonstrates the feasibility to drive cell behavior of human mesenchymal stromal cells by the flow velocity applied in agreement with mechanical loading mimicking early fracture healing (vlow or bone remodeling (vhigh. These results can be used in the future to tightly control the behavior of human mesenchymal stromal cells towards proliferation or differentiation. Additionally, the combination of experiment and simulation presented is a strong tool to link biological responses to

  2. Numerical studies of carbon paper-based vanadium redox flow batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Won, Seongyeon; Oh, Kyeongmin; Ju, Hyunchul

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT: This study analyzed theoretically the effects of a carbon paper (CP)-based electrode on the performance of a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). Compared to conventional carbon felt-based electrode materials, the CP-based electrode showed superior characteristics in facilitating the redox reactions of VO"2"+/VO_2"+ and V"2"+/V"3"+ couples, such as better electrochemical activity and higher electronic conductivity. A three-dimensional, non-isothermal VRFB model developed in a previous study was applied to a range of single cell structures equipped with CP-based electrodes and flow channels in the current collectors. The model was then validated using the experimental data measured under the CP- and channel-based VRFB geometries. The model successfully captured the experimental trend that showed a higher discharging performance with increasing number of CP layers used for each electrode. The simulation results clearly showed that the activation overpotentials in the electrodes were reduced significantly using more CP layers, which dominated over the effects of increased mass transport limitation of vanadium ions due to the thicker electrode.

  3. A small-scale flow alkaline fuel cell for on-site production of hydrogen peroxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brillas, Enric; Alcaide, Francisco; Cabot, Pere-Lluis

    2002-01-01

    The behavior of a small-scale flow alkaline fuel cell (AFC) built-up for on-site production of HO 2 - using commercial gas-diffusion electrodes has been studied. It produces a spontaneous current due to the oxidation of H 2 to H 2 O at the H 2 -diffusion anode and the reduction of O 2 to HO 2 - at the O 2 -diffusion cathode, while a fresh 1.0-6.0 mol dm -3 KOH electrolyte at 15.0-45.0 deg. C is injected through it. Under circulation of HO 2 - +KOH solutions in open circuit, the flow AFC behaves as a two-electron reversible system. When it is shorted with an external load (R ext ), steady cell voltage-current density curves are found. The use of O 2 /N 2 mixtures to fed the cathode causes a loss of its performance, being required to supply pure O 2 to yield a maximum HO 2 - electrogeneration. The current density and HO 2 - productivity increase with raising OH - concentration, temperature and pressure of O 2 fed. At R ext =0.10 Ω, a current efficiency close to 100% is obtained, and current densities >100 mA cm -2 are achieved for 1.0 mol dm -3 KOH at 45.0 deg. C and for higher KOH concentrations at 25.0 deg. C. The flow AFC can work under optimum conditions up to 6.0 mol dm -3 KOH and 45.0 deg. C for possible industrial applications

  4. Improved flow cytometric assessment reveals distinct microvesicle (cell-derived microparticle signatures in joint diseases.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bence György

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Microvesicles (MVs, earlier referred to as microparticles, represent a major type of extracellular vesicles currently considered as novel biomarkers in various clinical settings such as autoimmune disorders. However, the analysis of MVs in body fluids has not been fully standardized yet, and there are numerous pitfalls that hinder the correct assessment of these structures. METHODS: In this study, we analyzed synovial fluid (SF samples of patients with osteoarthritis (OA, rheumatoid arthritis (RA and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA. To assess factors that may confound MV detection in joint diseases, we used electron microscopy (EM, Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA and mass spectrometry (MS. For flow cytometry, a method commonly used for phenotyping and enumeration of MVs, we combined recent advances in the field, and used a novel approach of differential detergent lysis for the exclusion of MV-mimicking non-vesicular signals. RESULTS: EM and NTA showed that substantial amounts of particles other than MVs were present in SF samples. Beyond known MV-associated proteins, MS analysis also revealed abundant plasma- and immune complex-related proteins in MV preparations. Applying improved flow cytometric analysis, we demonstrate for the first time that CD3(+ and CD8(+ T-cell derived SF MVs are highly elevated in patients with RA compared to OA patients (p=0.027 and p=0.009, respectively, after Bonferroni corrections. In JIA, we identified reduced numbers of B cell-derived MVs (p=0.009, after Bonferroni correction. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that improved flow cytometric assessment of MVs facilitates the detection of previously unrecognized disease-associated vesicular signatures.

  5. Studying shocks in model astrophysical flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chakrabarti, S.K.

    1989-01-01

    We briefly discuss some properties of the shocks in the existing models for quasi two-dimensional astrophysical flows. All of these models which allow the study of shock analytically have some unphysical characteristics due to inherent assumptions made. We propose a hybrid model for a thin flow which has fewer unpleasant features and is suitable for the study of shocks. (author). 5 refs

  6. Rayleigh-Benard convection in a Hele-Shaw cell - a numerical study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guenther, C.; Mueller, U.

    1987-05-01

    Free convection in narrow vertical gaps heated from below gives rise to several different flow patterns as has been demonstrated by previous experimental investigations. A numerical study is presented aimed at simulating the observed flow phenomena in Hele-Shaw cells of small lateral extend. The numerical study is based on the assumption that the flow is essentially two-dimensional. This allows an approach using a one-term Galerkin approximation with respect to the direction perpendicular to the gap and a finite difference scheme with regard to the coordinates in the plane of the gap. The calculations result in realistic values of the critical Rayleigh numbers for the onset of steady and oscillatory convection. Most of the observed unsteady flow patterns can be simulated numerically. It is shown that five different stable flow patterns can occur at one particular Rayleigh number. The different stable flow patterns are coupled by a variety of complex transitions. Moreover the calculations show that a realistic description of the observed flow phenomena can not be obtained by a simplified model using the Darcy law in the momentum equation and implying slip flow at the small confining boundaries. (orig.) [de

  7. Cr(VI) induces DNA damage, cell cycle arrest and polyploidization: a flow cytometric and comet assay study in Pisum sativum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, Eleazar; Azevedo, Raquel; Fernandes, Pedro; Santos, Conceição

    2011-07-18

    Chromium(VI) is recognized as the most toxic valency of Cr, but its genotoxicity and cytostaticity in plants is still poorly studied. In order to analyze Cr(VI) cyto- and gentotoxicity, Pisum sativum L. plants were grown in soil and watered with solutions with different concentrations of Cr up to 2000 mg/L. After 28 days of exposure, leaves showed no significant variations in either cell cycle dynamics or ploidy level. As for DNA damage, flow cytometric (FCM) histograms showed significant differences in full peak coefficient of variation (FPCV) values, suggesting clastogenicity. This is paralleled by the Comet assay results, showing an increase in DNA damage for 1000 and 2000 mg/L. In roots, exposure to 2000 mg/L resulted in cell cycle arrest at the G(2)/M checkpoint. It was also verified that under the same conditions 40% of the individuals analyzed suffered polyploidization having both 2C and 4C levels. DNA damage analysis by the Comet assay and FCM revealed dose-dependent increases in DNA damage and FPCV. Through this, we have unequivocally demonstrated for the first time in plants that Cr exposure can result in DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and polyploidization. Moreover, we critically compare the validity of the Comet assay and FCM in evaluating cytogenetic toxicity tests in plants and demonstrate that the data provided by both techniques complement each other and present high correlation levels. In conclusion, the data presented provides new insight on Cr effects in plants in general and supports the use of the parameters tested in this study as reliable endpoints for this metal toxicity in plants. © 2011 American Chemical Society

  8. Revelation of Different Nanoparticle-Uptake Behavior in Two Standard Cell Lines NIH/3T3 and A549 by Flow Cytometry and Time-Lapse Imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    André Jochums

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The uptake of nanomaterials into different cell types is a central pharmacological issue for the determination of nanotoxicity as well as for the development of drug delivery strategies. Most responses of the cells depend on their intracellular interactions with nanoparticles (NPs. Uptake behavior can be precisely investigated in vitro, with sensitive high throughput methods such as flow cytometry. In this study, we investigated two different standard cell lines, human lung carcinoma (A549 and mouse fibroblast (NIH/3T3 cells, regarding their uptake behavior of titanium dioxide NPs. Cells were incubated with different concentrations of TiO2 NPs and samples were taken at certain time points to compare the uptake kinetics of both cell lines. Samples were analyzed with the help of flow cytometry by studying changes in the side and forward scattering signal. To additionally enable a detection via fluorescence, NPs were labeled with the fluorescent dye fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC and propidium iodide (PI. We found that NIH/3T3 cells take up the studied NPs more efficiently than A549 cells. These findings were supported by time-lapse microscopic imaging of the cells incubated with TiO2 NPs. Our results confirm that the uptake behavior of individual cell types has to be considered before interpreting any results of nanomaterial studies.

  9. Water flow induced transport of Pseudomonas fluorescens cells through soil columns as affected by inoculant treatment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hekman, W.E.; Heijnen, C.E.; Trevors, J.T.; Elsas, van J.D.

    1994-01-01

    Water flow induced transport of Pseudomonas fluorescens cells through soil columns was measured as affected by the inoculant treatment. Bacterial cells were introduced into the topsoil of columns, either encapsulated in alginate beads of different types or mixed with bentonite clay in concentrations

  10. Asymmetry of blood flow and cancer cell adhesion in a microchannel with symmetric bifurcation and confluence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishikawa, Takuji; Fujiwara, Hiroki; Matsuki, Noriaki; Yoshimoto, Takefumi; Imai, Yohsuke; Ueno, Hironori; Yamaguchi, Takami

    2011-02-01

    Bifurcations and confluences are very common geometries in biomedical microdevices. Blood flow at microchannel bifurcations has different characteristics from that at confluences because of the multiphase properties of blood. Using a confocal micro-PIV system, we investigated the behaviour of red blood cells (RBCs) and cancer cells in microchannels with geometrically symmetric bifurcations and confluences. The behaviour of RBCs and cancer cells was strongly asymmetric at bifurcations and confluences whilst the trajectories of tracer particles in pure water were almost symmetric. The cell-free layer disappeared on the inner wall of the bifurcation but increased in size on the inner wall of the confluence. Cancer cells frequently adhered to the inner wall of the bifurcation but rarely to other locations. Because the wall surface coating and the wall shear stress were almost symmetric for the bifurcation and the confluence, the result indicates that not only chemical mediation and wall shear stress but also microscale haemodynamics play important roles in the adhesion of cancer cells to the microchannel walls. These results provide the fundamental basis for a better understanding of blood flow and cell adhesion in biomedical microdevices.

  11. Flow-cytometric analysis of mouse embryonic stem cell lipofection using small and large DNA constructs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLenachan, Samuel; Sarsero, Joseph P; Ioannou, Panos A

    2007-06-01

    Using the lipofection reagent LipofectAMINE 2000 we have examined the delivery of plasmid DNA (5-200 kb) to mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells by flow cytometry. To follow the physical uptake of lipoplexes we labeled DNA molecules with the fluorescent dye TOTO-1. In parallel, expression of an EGFP reporter cassette in constructs of different sizes was used as a measure of nuclear delivery. The cellular uptake of DNA lipoplexes is dependent on the uptake competence of mES cells, but it is largely independent of DNA size. In contrast, nuclear delivery was reduced with increasing plasmid size. In addition, linear DNA is transfected with lower efficiency than circular DNA. Inefficient cytoplasmic trafficking appears to be the main limitation in the nonviral delivery of large DNA constructs to the nucleus of mES cells. Overcoming this limitation should greatly facilitate functional studies with large genomic fragments in embryonic stem cells.

  12. A Protocol for the Comprehensive Flow Cytometric Analysis of Immune Cells in Normal and Inflamed Murine Non-Lymphoid Tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yen-Rei A.; O’Koren, Emily G.; Hotten, Danielle F.; Kan, Matthew J.; Kopin, David; Nelson, Erik R.; Que, Loretta; Gunn, Michael D.

    2016-01-01

    Flow cytometry is used extensively to examine immune cells in non-lymphoid tissues. However, a method of flow cytometric analysis that is both comprehensive and widely applicable has not been described. We developed a protocol for the flow cytometric analysis of non-lymphoid tissues, including methods of tissue preparation, a 10-fluorochrome panel for cell staining, and a standardized gating strategy, that allows the simultaneous identification and quantification of all major immune cell types in a variety of normal and inflamed non-lymphoid tissues. We demonstrate that our basic protocol minimizes cell loss, reliably distinguishes macrophages from dendritic cells (DC), and identifies all major granulocytic and mononuclear phagocytic cell types. This protocol is able to accurately quantify 11 distinct immune cell types, including T cells, B cells, NK cells, neutrophils, eosinophils, inflammatory monocytes, resident monocytes, alveolar macrophages, resident/interstitial macrophages, CD11b- DC, and CD11b+ DC, in normal lung, heart, liver, kidney, intestine, skin, eyes, and mammary gland. We also characterized the expression patterns of several commonly used myeloid and macrophage markers. This basic protocol can be expanded to identify additional cell types such as mast cells, basophils, and plasmacytoid DC, or perform detailed phenotyping of specific cell types. In examining models of primary and metastatic mammary tumors, this protocol allowed the identification of several distinct tumor associated macrophage phenotypes, the appearance of which was highly specific to individual tumor cell lines. This protocol provides a valuable tool to examine immune cell repertoires and follow immune responses in a wide variety of tissues and experimental conditions. PMID:26938654

  13. Use of multi-functional flexible micro-sensors for in situ measurement of temperature, voltage and fuel flow in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Chi-Yuan; Chan, Pin-Cheng; Lee, Chung-Ju

    2010-01-01

    Temperature, voltage and fuel flow distribution all contribute considerably to fuel cell performance. Conventional methods cannot accurately determine parameter changes inside a fuel cell. This investigation developed flexible and multi-functional micro sensors on a 40 μm-thick stainless steel foil substrate by using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and embedded them in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) to measure the temperature, voltage and flow. Users can monitor and control in situ the temperature, voltage and fuel flow distribution in the cell. Thereby, both fuel cell performance and lifetime can be increased.

  14. Numerical and experimental studies of stack shunt current for vanadium redox flow battery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yin, Cong; Guo, Shaoyun; Fang, Honglin; Liu, Jiayi; Li, Yang; Tang, Hao

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A coupled three-dimensional model of VRB cell stack is developed. • Shunt current of the stack is studied with the model and experiment. • Increased electrolyte resistance in channel and manifold lowers the shunt current. • Shunt current loss increases with stack cell number nonlinearly. - Abstract: The stack shunt current of VRB (vanadium redox flow battery) was investigated with experiments and 3D (three-dimensional) simulations. In the proposed model, cell voltages and electrolyte conductivities were calculated based on electrochemical reaction distributions and SOC (state of charge) values, respectively, while coulombic loss was estimated according to shunt current and vanadium ionic crossover through membrane. Shunt current distributions and coulombic efficiency are analyzed in terms of electrolyte conductivities and stack cell numbers. The distributions of cell voltages and shunt currents calculated with proposed model are validated with single cell and short stack tests. The model can be used to optimize VRB stack manifold and channel designs to improve VRB system efficiency

  15. Online recognition of the multiphase flow regime and study of slug flow in pipeline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Liejin; Bai Bofeng; Zhao Liang; Wang Xin; Gu Hanyang

    2009-01-01

    sensor performance. Among various flow patterns of gas-liquid flow, slug flow occurs frequently in the petroleum, chemical, civil and nuclear industries. In the offshore oil and gas field, the maximum slug length and its statistical distribution are very important for the design of separator and downstream processing facility at steady state operations. However transient conditions may be encountered in the production, such as operational upsets, start-up, shut-down, pigging and blowdown, which are key operational and safety issues related to oil field development. So it is necessary to have an understanding the flow parameters under transient conditions. In this paper, the evolution of slug length along a horizontal pipe in gas-liquid flow is also studied in details and then an experimental study of flowrate transients in slug flow is provided. Also, the special gas-liquid flow phenomena easily encountered in the life span of offshore oil fields, called severe slugging, is studied experimentally and some results are presented.

  16. Mathematical modeling of cell adhesion in shear flow: application to targeted drug delivery in inflammation and cancer metastasis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jadhav, Sameer; Eggleton, Charles D; Konstantopoulos, Konstantinos

    2007-01-01

    Cell adhesion plays a pivotal role in diverse biological processes that occur in the dynamic setting of the vasculature, including inflammation and cancer metastasis. Although complex, the naturally occurring processes that have evolved to allow for cell adhesion in the vasculature can be exploited to direct drug carriers to targeted cells and tissues. Fluid (blood) flow influences cell adhesion at the mesoscale by affecting the mechanical response of cell membrane, the intercellular contact area and collisional frequency, and at the nanoscale level by modulating the kinetics and mechanics of receptor-ligand interactions. Consequently, elucidating the molecular and biophysical nature of cell adhesion requires a multidisciplinary approach involving the synthesis of fundamentals from hydrodynamic flow, molecular kinetics and cell mechanics with biochemistry/molecular cell biology. To date, significant advances have been made in the identification and characterization of the critical cell adhesion molecules involved in inflammatory disorders, and, to a lesser degree, in cancer metastasis. Experimental work at the nanoscale level to determine the lifetime, interaction distance and strain responses of adhesion receptor-ligand bonds has been spurred by the advent of atomic force microscopy and biomolecular force probes, although our current knowledge in this area is far from complete. Micropipette aspiration assays along with theoretical frameworks have provided vital information on cell mechanics. Progress in each of the aforementioned research areas is key to the development of mathematical models of cell adhesion that incorporate the appropriate biological, kinetic and mechanical parameters that would lead to reliable qualitative and quantitative predictions. These multiscale mathematical models can be employed to predict optimal drug carrier-cell binding through isolated parameter studies and engineering optimization schemes, which will be essential for developing

  17. Note: Real-time monitoring via second-harmonic interferometry of a flow gas cell for laser wakefield acceleration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandi, F; Giammanco, F; Conti, F; Sylla, F; Lambert, G; Gizzi, L A

    2016-08-01

    The use of a gas cell as a target for laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) offers the possibility to obtain stable and manageable laser-plasma interaction process, a mandatory condition for practical applications of this emerging technique, especially in multi-stage accelerators. In order to obtain full control of the gas particle number density in the interaction region, thus allowing for a long term stable and manageable LWFA, real-time monitoring is necessary. In fact, the ideal gas law cannot be used to estimate the particle density inside the flow cell based on the preset backing pressure and the room temperature because the gas flow depends on several factors like tubing, regulators, and valves in the gas supply system, as well as vacuum chamber volume and vacuum pump speed/throughput. Here, second-harmonic interferometry is applied to measure the particle number density inside a flow gas cell designed for LWFA. The results demonstrate that real-time monitoring is achieved and that using low backing pressure gas (<1 bar) and different cell orifice diameters (<2 mm) it is possible to finely tune the number density up to the 10(19) cm(-3) range well suited for LWFA.

  18. Note: Real-time monitoring via second-harmonic interferometry of a flow gas cell for laser wakefield acceleration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brandi, F., E-mail: fernando.brandi@ino.it [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL), Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO-CNR), Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa (Italy); Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova (Italy); Giammanco, F.; Conti, F. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa (Italy); Plasma Diagnostics and Technologies Ltd., via Matteucci n.38/D, 56124 Pisa (Italy); Sylla, F. [SourceLAB SAS, 86 Rue de Paris, 91400 Orsay (France); Lambert, G. [LOA, ENSTA ParisTech, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 bd des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex (France); Gizzi, L. A. [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL), Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO-CNR), Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa (Italy)

    2016-08-15

    The use of a gas cell as a target for laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) offers the possibility to obtain stable and manageable laser-plasma interaction process, a mandatory condition for practical applications of this emerging technique, especially in multi-stage accelerators. In order to obtain full control of the gas particle number density in the interaction region, thus allowing for a long term stable and manageable LWFA, real-time monitoring is necessary. In fact, the ideal gas law cannot be used to estimate the particle density inside the flow cell based on the preset backing pressure and the room temperature because the gas flow depends on several factors like tubing, regulators, and valves in the gas supply system, as well as vacuum chamber volume and vacuum pump speed/throughput. Here, second-harmonic interferometry is applied to measure the particle number density inside a flow gas cell designed for LWFA. The results demonstrate that real-time monitoring is achieved and that using low backing pressure gas (<1 bar) and different cell orifice diameters (<2 mm) it is possible to finely tune the number density up to the 10{sup 19} cm{sup −3} range well suited for LWFA.

  19. Note: Real-time monitoring via second-harmonic interferometry of a flow gas cell for laser wakefield acceleration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandi, F.; Giammanco, F.; Conti, F.; Sylla, F.; Lambert, G.; Gizzi, L. A.

    2016-08-01

    The use of a gas cell as a target for laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) offers the possibility to obtain stable and manageable laser-plasma interaction process, a mandatory condition for practical applications of this emerging technique, especially in multi-stage accelerators. In order to obtain full control of the gas particle number density in the interaction region, thus allowing for a long term stable and manageable LWFA, real-time monitoring is necessary. In fact, the ideal gas law cannot be used to estimate the particle density inside the flow cell based on the preset backing pressure and the room temperature because the gas flow depends on several factors like tubing, regulators, and valves in the gas supply system, as well as vacuum chamber volume and vacuum pump speed/throughput. Here, second-harmonic interferometry is applied to measure the particle number density inside a flow gas cell designed for LWFA. The results demonstrate that real-time monitoring is achieved and that using low backing pressure gas (<1 bar) and different cell orifice diameters (<2 mm) it is possible to finely tune the number density up to the 1019 cm-3 range well suited for LWFA.

  20. Clonal heterogeneity of small-cell anaplastic carcinoma of the lung demonstrated by flow-cytometric DNA analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vindeløv, L L; Hansen, H H; Christensen, I J

    1980-01-01

    Flow-cytometric DNA analysis yields information on ploidy and proliferative characteristics of a cell population. The analysis was implemented on small-cell anaplastic carcinoma of the lung using a rapid detergent technique for the preparation of fine-needle aspirates for DNA determination and a ...

  1. CFD study on the effects of boundary conditions on air flow through an air-cooled condenser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumara, Zdeněk; Šochman, Michal

    2018-06-01

    This study focuses on the effects of boundary conditions on effectiveness of an air-cooled condenser (ACC). Heat duty of ACC is very often calculated for ideal uniform velocity field which does not correspond to reality. Therefore, this study studies the effect of wind and different landscapes on air flow through ACC. For this study software OpenFOAM was used and the flow was simulated with the use of RANS equations. For verification of numerical setup a model of one ACC cell with dimensions of platform 1.5×1.5 [m] was used. In this experiment static pressures behind fan and air flows through a model of surface of condenser for different rpm of fan were measured. In OpenFOAM software a virtual clone of this experiment was built and different meshes, turbulent models and numerical schemes were tested. After tuning up numerical setup virtual model of real ACC system was built. Influence of wind, landscape and height of ACC on air flow through ACC has been investigated.

  2. A feasability study of color flow doppler vectorization for automated blood flow monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schorer, R; Badoual, A; Bastide, B; Vandebrouck, A; Licker, M; Sage, D

    2017-12-01

    An ongoing issue in vascular medicine is the measure of the blood flow. Catheterization remains the gold standard measurement method, although non-invasive techniques are an area of intense research. We hereby present a computational method for real-time measurement of the blood flow from color flow Doppler data, with a focus on simplicity and monitoring instead of diagnostics. We then analyze the performance of a proof-of-principle software implementation. We imagined a geometrical model geared towards blood flow computation from a color flow Doppler signal, and we developed a software implementation requiring only a standard diagnostic ultrasound device. Detection performance was evaluated by computing flow and its determinants (flow speed, vessel area, and ultrasound beam angle of incidence) on purposely designed synthetic and phantom-based arterial flow simulations. Flow was appropriately detected in all cases. Errors on synthetic images ranged from nonexistent to substantial depending on experimental conditions. Mean errors on measurements from our phantom flow simulation ranged from 1.2 to 40.2% for angle estimation, and from 3.2 to 25.3% for real-time flow estimation. This study is a proof of concept showing that accurate measurement can be done from automated color flow Doppler signal extraction, providing the industry the opportunity for further optimization using raw ultrasound data.

  3. Flowing together : a longitudinal study of collective efficacy and collective flow among workgroups.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Salanova, Marisa; Rodríguez-Sánchez, Alma M.; Schaufeli, Wilmar B.; Cifre, Eva

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study is to extend the Channel Model of Flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990) at the collective level (workgroups) by including collective efficacy beliefs as a predictor of collective flow based on the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1997, 2001). A two-wave longitudinal lab study

  4. Mutant spectra of irradiated CHO AL cells determined with multiple markers analyzed by flow cytometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ross, Carley D.; French, C. Tenley; Keysar, Stephen B.; Fox, Michael H.

    2007-01-01

    We have previously developed a sensitive and rapid mammalian cell mutation assay which is based on a Chinese hamster ovary cell line that stably incorporates human chromosome 11 (CHO A L ) and uses flow cytometry to measure mutations in CD59. We now show that multiparameter flow cytometry may be used to simultaneously analyze irradiated CHO A L cells for mutations in five CD genes along chromosome 11 (CD59, CD44, CD90, CD98, CD151) and also a GPI-anchor gene. Using this approach, 19 different mutant clones derived from individual sorted mutant cells were analyzed to determine the mutant spectrum induced by ionizing radiation. All clones analyzed were negative for CD59 expression and PCR confirmed that at least CD59 exon 4 was also absent. As expected, ionizing radiation frequently caused large deletions along chromosome 11. This technology can readily be used to rapidly analyze the mutant yield as well as the spectrum of mutations caused by a variety of genotoxic agents and provide greater insight into the mechanisms of mutagenesis

  5. Convection flow study within a horizontal fluid layer under the action of gas flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kreta Aleksei

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Experimental investigation of convective processes within horizontal evaporating liquid layer under shear–stress of gas flow is presented. It is found the structures of the convection, which move in opposite direction relative to each other. First convective structure moves in reverse direction with the flow of gas, and the second convective structure moves towards the gas flow. Convection flow within the liquid layer is registered with help of PIV technique. Average evaporation flow rate of Ethanol liquid layer under Air gas flow is measured. Influence of the gas velocity, at a constant temperature of 20 °C, on the evaporation flow rate has been studied.

  6. Flow cytometry with gold nanoparticlesand their clusters as scattering contrast agents: FDTD simulation of light-cell interaction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tanev, Stoyan; Sun, Wenbo; Pond, James

    2009-01-01

    refractive index matching conditions and by cells labeled by gold nanoparticles. The optical schematics including phase contrast (OPCM) microscopy as a prospective modality for in vivo flow cytometry is also analyzed. The validation of the FDTD approach for the simulation of flow cytometry may open a new...

  7. Theoretical and Experimental Flow Cell Studies of a Hydrogen-Bromine Fuel Cell, Part 1. M.S. Thesis. Final Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Savinell, R. F.; Fritts, S. D.

    1986-01-01

    There is increasing interest in hydrogen-bromine fuel cells as both primary and regenerative energy storage systems. One promising design for a hydrogen-bromine fuel cell is a negative half cell having only a gas phase, which is separated by a cationic exchange membrane from a positive half cell having an aqueous electrolyte. The hydrogen gas and the aqueous bromide solution are stored external to the cell. In order to calculate the energy storage capacity and to predict and assess the performance of a single cell, the open circuit potential (OCV) must be estimated for different states of change, under various conditions. Theoretical expressions were derived to estimate the OCV of a hydrogen-bromine fuel cell. In these expressions temperature, hydrogen pressure, and bromine and hydrobromic acid concentrations were taken into consideration. Also included are the effects of the Nafion membrance separator and the various bromide complex species. Activity coefficients were taken into account in one of the expressions. The sensitivity of these parameters on the calculated OCV was studied.

  8. Comparison of blood flow and cell function in ischemic skin flaps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bean, D.; Rees, R.S.; O'Leary, J.P.; Lynch, J.B.

    1984-01-01

    Cellular function and blood flow in acute, steroid-treated, and surgically delayed random skin flaps have been examined. In these studies, the period following flap elevation could be divided into early (0-2 hr), intermediate (4-6 hr), and late (12 hr) periods of ischemia, based on the cutaneous blood flow and cellular function measured by thallium-201 uptake. There was a close correlation between blood flow and cellular function during the early period of ischemia which became worse with time. Blood flow studies demonstrated a significant difference between the early and intermediate periods of ischemia which was abolished by surgical delay. Improvement in cellular function was accomplished by improved blood flow in the surgically delayed flaps, while steroid-treated flaps enhanced cellular metabolism by another mechanism. Cellular function approximated blood flow during the early and immediate period of ischemia. Steroids may augment cellular function without improving blood flow, while surgical delay improves cellular function by improving blood flow

  9. Method for controlling power flow between an electrochemical cell and a power grid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coleman, A. K.

    1981-01-01

    A method is disclosed for controlling a force-commutated inverter coupled between an electrochemical cell and a power grid for adjusting the magnitude and direction of the electrical energy flowing therebetween. Both the real power component and the reactive power component of ac electrical energy flow can be independently VARied through the switching waveform presented to the intermediately coupled inverter. A VAR error signal is derived from a comparison of a var command signal with a signal proportional to the actual reactive power circulating between the inverter and the power grid. This signal is presented to a voltage controller which essentially varies only the effective magnitude of the fundamental voltage waveform out of the inverter , thereby leaving the real power component substantially unaffected. In a similar manner, a power error signal is derived by a comparison of a power command signal with a signal proportional to the actual real power flowing between the electrochemical cell and the power grid. This signal is presented to a phase controller which varies only the phase of the fundamental component of the voltage waveform out of the inverter relative to that of the power grid and changes only the real power in proportion thereto, thus leaving the reactive power component substantially unaffected

  10. Performance assessment of mass flow rate measurement capability in a large scale transient two-phase flow test system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nalezny, C.L.; Chapman, R.L.; Martinell, J.S.; Riordon, R.P.; Solbrig, C.W.

    1979-01-01

    Mass flow is an important measured variable in the Loss-of-Fluid Test (LOFT) Program. Large uncertainties in mass flow measurements in the LOFT piping during LOFT coolant experiments requires instrument testing in a transient two-phase flow loop that simulates the geometry of the LOFT piping. To satisfy this need, a transient two-phase flow loop has been designed and built. The load cell weighing system, which provides reference mass flow measurements, has been analyzed to assess its capability to provide the measurements. The analysis consisted of first performing a thermal-hydraulic analysis using RELAP4 to compute mass inventory and pressure fluctuations in the system and mass flow rate at the instrument location. RELAP4 output was used as input to a structural analysis code SAPIV which is used to determine load cell response. The computed load cell response was then smoothed and differentiated to compute mass flow rate from the system. Comparison between computed mass flow rate at the instrument location and mass flow rate from the system computed from the load cell output was used to evaluate mass flow measurement capability of the load cell weighing system. Results of the analysis indicate that the load cell weighing system will provide reference mass flows more accurately than the instruments now in LOFT

  11. Studies of thermal-hydrodynamic flow instability, (3)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuoki, Akira

    1978-01-01

    In the flow system in which large density change occurs midway, sometimes steady flow cannot be maintained according to the conditions, and pulsating flow or the scamper of flow occurs. This phenomenon is called flow instability, and is noticed as one of the causes to obstruct the normal operation in boilers, BWRs and the steam generators for FBRs with parallel evaporating tube system. In the pulsating instability, there are density wave oscillation and pressure wave oscillation. The author has studied the density wave oscillation occurring in the steam generators for FBRs and in this paper, the role played by two-phase flow regarding the occurrence of flow instability, and the effect of the existence of interphase slip on the role played by two-phase flow are reported. The theoretical analysis and the results of the analysis taking a steam generator heated with sodium as the example are described. Regarding flow stability, two-phase flow part generates the variation of weight velocity with different phase in steam single phase part, accepting enthalpy variation in water single phase part. In this action, the effect of interphase slip was observed, and the variation of reverse phase is apt to occur in slip flow as compared with homogeneous flow. Accordingly, flow instability is apt to occur in slip flow. (Kako, I.)

  12. In situ diagnostic of two-phase flow phenomena in polymer electrolyte fuel cells by neutron imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Jianbo; Kramer, Denis; Shimoi, Ryoichi; Ono, Yoshitaka; Lehmann, Eberhard; Wokaun, Alexander; Shinohara, Kazuhiko; Scherer, Guenther G.

    2006-01-01

    The formation of liquid water in operating polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) of industrial and laboratory size has been investigated by in situ neutron imaging. The influence of the materials chosen for the structural components of the cell on droplet formation and transport in flow fields and on liquid formation in gas diffusion layers has been studied. The changing of the cathodic gas diffusion layer material allowed the relationship between materials, liquid accumulation, and electrochemical performance to be examined. It has been shown that material choice has considerable bearing on the presence of liquid inside the porous structures and the electrochemical characteristics. A simplified quasi one-dimensional cell with an active area of 25 cm 2 was used for materials comparison, and the results were related to technically relevant operating conditions - where inhomogeneities have to be considered - by subsequent examination of cells with an active area of 100 cm 2

  13. Flow cytometric measurement of the metabolism of benzo[a]pyrene by mouse liver cells in culture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartholomew, J.C.; Wade, C.G.; Dougherty, K.K.

    1984-01-01

    The metabolism of benzo[a]pyrene in individual cells was monitored by flow cytometry. The measurements are based on the alterations that occur in the fluorescence emission spectrum of benzo[a]pyrene when it is converted to various metabolites. Using present instrumentation the technique could easily detect 1x10 6 molecules per cells of benzo[a]pyrene and 1x10 7 molecules per cell of the diol epoxide. The analysis of C3H IOT 1/2 mouse fibroblasts growing in culture indicated that there was heterogeneity in the conversion of the parent compound into diol epoxide derivatives suggesting that some variation in sensitivity to transformation by benzo[a]pyrene may be due to differences in cellular metabolism. The technique allows sensitive detection of metabolites in viable cells, and provides a new approach to the study of factors that influence both metabolism and transformation. (orig.)

  14. A Raman Flow Cytometer: An Innovative Microfluidic Approach for Continuous Label-Free Analysis of Cells via Raman Spectroscopy

    KAUST Repository

    De Grazia, Antonio

    2015-05-05

    In this work a Raman flow cytometer is presented. It is a whole new microfluidic device that takes advantage of basic principles of Raman spectroscopy and fluorescent flow cytometry mixed together in a system of particularly shaped channels. These are indeed composed by specific shape and sizes – thanks to which cells can flow one-by-one – and a trap by means of which cells are trapped in order to perform Raman analysis on single ones in a constant and passive way. In this sense the microfluidic device promotes a fast method to look for single cells in a whole multicellular sample. It is a label-free analysis and this means that, on the contrary of what happens with fluorescent flow cytometry, the sample does not need to undergo any particular time-consuming pretreatment before being analyzed. Moreover it gives a complete information about the biochemical content of the sample thanks to the involvement of Raman spectroscopy as method of analysis. Many thought about a device like this, but eventually it is the first one being designed, fabricated and tested. The materials involved in the production of the Raman flow cytometer are chosen wisely. In particular the chip – the most important component of the device – is multilayered, being composed by a slide of calcium fluoride (which gives a negligible signal in Raman analyses), a photosensitive resist containing a pattern with channels and another slide of calcium fluoride in order for the channels to be sealed on both sides. The chip is, in turn, connected to gaskets and external frames. Several fabrication processes are followed to ultimately get the complete Raman flow cytometer and experiments on red blood cells demonstrate its validity in this field.

  15. A Study of Laminar Backward-Facing Step Flow

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Davidson, Lars; Nielsen, Peter V.

    The laminar flow for a backwards facing step is studied. This work was initially part of the work presented in. In that work low-Reynolds number effects was studied, and the plan was also to include laminar flow. However, it turned out that when the numerical predictions of the laminar flow (Re...

  16. Studies of Redox Equilibria at Elevated Temperatures 2. An Automatic Divided-Function Autoclave and Cell with Flowing Liquid Junction for Electrochemical Measurements on Aqueous Systems.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnsson, Kerstin; Lewis, Derek; Pourbaix, Marian de

    1970-10-15

    An apparatus is described that has been developed for electrochemical studies of aqueous systems at temperatures above 100 deg C. It consists essentially of an electrically heated experimental cell enclosed by a separate pressure-vessel the walls of which are kept cool. This construction eliminates or reduces the problems of sealing electrical connections and of the corrosion of the pressure vessel, that commonly arise with conventional, externally-heated autoclaves. Pressure is applied to the cell by means of compressed air, diaphragm valves at the electrolyte outlet automatically maintaining the pressure in the cell about 1 atm lower than that in the pressure vessel. Two independent streams of electrolyte can be pumped into the experimental cell a special form of which has been developed in which may be formed a galvanic cell with a continuously regenerated flowing-liquid junction. In this form the apparatus enables experiments with, for example, one molal chloride solutions with pH 1-10, at temperatures up to about 250 deg C and under pressures up to about 40 atm. The apparatus has been tested in experiments in which classical measurements of the conductance of some aqueous electrolytes have been repeated. Good agreement with the earlier results has been obtained

  17. Transport Studies and Modeling in PEM Fuel Cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mittelsteadt, Cortney K. [Giner, Inc., Auburndale, MA (United States); Xu, Hui [Giner, Inc., Auburndale, MA (United States); Brawn, Shelly [Giner, Inc., Auburndale, MA (United States)

    2014-07-30

    This project’s aim was to develop fuel cell components (i.e. membranes, gas-diffusion media (GDM), bipolar plates and flow fields) that possess specific properties (i.e. water transport and conductivity). A computational fluid dynamics model was developed to elucidate the effect of certain parameters on these specific properties. Ultimately, the model will be used to determine sensitivity of fuel cell performance to component properties to determine limiting components and to guide research. We have successfully reached our objectives and achieved most of the milestones of this project. We have designed and synthesized a variety of hydrocarbon block polymer membranes with lower equivalent weight, structure, chemistry, phase separation and process conditions. These membranes provide a broad selection with optimized water transport properties. We have also designed and constructed a variety of devices that are capable of accurately measuring the water transport properties (water uptake, water diffusivity and electro-osmatic drag) of these membranes. These transport properties are correlated to the membranes’ structures derived from X-ray and microscopy techniques to determine the structure-property relationship. We successfully integrated hydrocarbon membrane MEAs with a current distribution board (CBD) to study the impact of hydrocarbon membrane on water transport in fuel cells. We have designed and fabricated various GDM with varying substrate, diffusivity and micro-porous layers (MPL) and characterized their pore structure, tortuosity and hydrophobicity. We have derived a universal chart (MacMullin number as function of wet proofing and porosity) that can be used to characterize various GDM. The abovementioned GDMs have been evaluated in operating fuel cells; their performance is correlated to various pore structure, tortuosity and hydrophobicity of the GDM. Unfortunately, determining a universal relationship between the MacMullin number and these properties

  18. Flow cytometric analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chain expression in B-cell lymphoma and reactive lymphoid hyperplasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grier, David D; Al-Quran, Samer Z; Cardona, Diana M; Li, Ying; Braylan, Raul C

    2012-01-01

    The diagnosis of B-cell lymphoma (BCL) is often dependent on the detection of clonal immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain expression. In some BCLs, the determination of clonality based on Ig light chain restriction may be difficult. The aim of our study was to assess the utility of flow cytometric analysis of surface Ig heavy chain (HC) expression in lymphoid tissues in distinguishing lymphoid hyperplasias from BCLs, and also differentiating various BCL subtypes. HC expression on B-cells varied among different types of hyperplasias. In follicular hyperplasia, IgM and IgD expression was high in mantle cells while germinal center cells showed poor HC expression. In other hyperplasias, B cell compartments were blurred but generally showed high IgD and IgM expression. Compared to hyperplasias, BCLs varied in IgM expression. Small lymphocytic lymphomas had lower IgM expression than mantle cell lymphomas. Of importance, IgD expression was significantly lower in BCLs than in hyperplasias, a finding that can be useful in differentiating lymphoma from reactive processes. PMID:22400070

  19. Use of Flow Focusing Technique for Microencapsulation of Myoblasts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciriza, J; Saenz del Burgo, L; Hernández, R M; Orive, G; Pedraz, J L

    2017-01-01

    Alginate cell microencapsulation implies the immobilization of cells within a polymeric membrane that allows the bidirectional diffusion of nutrients and oxygen inside the microcapsules and the release of waste and therapeutic molecules outside them. This technology has been applied to several cell types and it has been extensively described with pancreatic islets. However, other cells such as myoblasts are being currently studied and showing high interest. Moreover, different systems and approaches have been developed for cell encapsulation such as electrostatic extrusion and Flow focusing technology. When Flow focusing technology is applied for myoblast encapsulation, several factors should be considered, such as the pressure, the flow of the system, or the diameter size of the nebulizer, which will determine the final diameter size and shape of the microcapsules containing the myoblasts. Finally, viability of encapsulated myoblasts needs to be assessed before further studies are performed.

  20. Contribution to the study of recirculating flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grand, Dominique

    1975-01-01

    The technology of the integrated primary circuit of French LMFBR type reactors involves many difficulties relating to heat transfer and hydraulics of the sodium masses inside the reactor. The work reported was a basic research supporting said reactor type development. Recirculating flows were studied inside a rectangular cavity, in the presence of body forces. Results given were obtained from numerical simulation, experimental investigation and a formal theoretical analysis. Solutions were obtained using the numerical integration of the conservation equation for a planar isothermal laminar flow driven by a mobile wall. The turbulent flow was experimentally investigated, the fluid being then driven through a mixing layer in common with a channel flow. Local velocity measurements in isothermal flow were effected using a laser-anemometer. In the occurrence of heat transfer, the temperature field only was scanned; complementary data were also obtained from color Schlieren vizualisation. A theoretical study of the flow was done at high Reynolds number. The flow inside the cavity was then separated in two parts: an external part (the non-viscous core) located at the center of the cavity and an internal part, the shear region, about the walls. An inclusive solution connecting both parts was developed in the framework of the laminar flow; results obtained are in good agreement with the numerical data. (author) [fr

  1. Automatic analysis of flow cytometric DNA histograms from irradiated mouse male germ cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lampariello, F.; Mauro, F.; Uccelli, R.; Spano, M.

    1989-01-01

    An automatic procedure for recovering the DNA content distribution of mouse irradiated testis cells from flow cytometric histograms is presented. First, a suitable mathematical model is developed, to represent the pattern of DNA content and fluorescence distribution in the sample. Then a parameter estimation procedure, based on the maximum likelihood approach, is constructed by means of an optimization technique. This procedure has been applied to a set of DNA histograms relative to different doses of 0.4-MeV neutrons and to different time intervals after irradiation. In each case, a good agreement between the measured histograms and the corresponding fits has been obtained. The results indicate that the proposed method for the quantitative analysis of germ cell DNA histograms can be usefully applied to the study of the cytotoxic and mutagenic action of agents of toxicological interest such as ionizing radiations.18 references

  2. Approaches for cytogenetic and molecular analyses of small flow-sorted cell populations from childhood leukemia bone marrow samples

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Obro, Nina Friesgaard; Madsen, Hans O.; Ryder, Lars Peter

    2011-01-01

    defined cell populations with subsequent analyses of leukemia-associated cytogenetic and molecular marker. The approaches described here optimize the use of the same tube of unfixed, antibody-stained BM cells for flow-sorting of small cell populations and subsequent exploratory FISH and PCR-based analyses....

  3. Flow cytometry with gold nanoparticles and their clusters as scattering contrast agents: FDTD simulation of light-cell interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanev, Stoyan; Sun, Wenbo; Pond, James; Tuchin, Valery V; Zharov, Vladimir P

    2009-09-01

    The formulation of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) approach is presented in the framework of its potential applications to in-vivo flow cytometry based on light scattering. The consideration is focused on comparison of light scattering by a single biological cell alone in controlled refractive-index matching conditions and by cells labeled by gold nanoparticles. The optical schematics including phase contrast (OPCM) microscopy as a prospective modality for in-vivo flow cytometry is also analyzed. The validation of the FDTD approach for the simulation of flow cytometry may open up a new avenue in the development of advanced cytometric techniques based on scattering effects from nanoscale targets. 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

  4. Identification of microbes from the surfaces of food-processing lines based on the flow cytometric evaluation of cellular metabolic activity combined with cell sorting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juzwa, W; Duber, A; Myszka, K; Białas, W; Czaczyk, K

    2016-09-01

    In this study the design of a flow cytometry-based procedure to facilitate the detection of adherent bacteria from food-processing surfaces was evaluated. The measurement of the cellular redox potential (CRP) of microbial cells was combined with cell sorting for the identification of microorganisms. The procedure enhanced live/dead cell discrimination owing to the measurement of the cell physiology. The microbial contamination of the surface of a stainless steel conveyor used to process button mushrooms was evaluated in three independent experiments. The flow cytometry procedure provided a step towards monitoring of contamination and enabled the assessment of microbial food safety hazards by the discrimination of active, mid-active and non-active bacterial sub-populations based on determination of their cellular vitality and subsequently single cell sorting to isolate microbial strains from discriminated sub-populations. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.97; p vitality and the identification of species from defined sub-populations, although the identified microbes were limited to culturable cells.

  5. Flow assurance studies for CO2 transport

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veltin, J.; Belfroid, S.P.C.

    2013-01-01

    In order to compensate for the relative lack of experience of the CCTS community, Flow Assurance studies of new CO2 pipelines and networks are a very important step toward reliable operation. This report details a typical approach for Flow Assurance study of CO2 transport pipeline. Considerations to

  6. Laboratory and field evaluation of the Partec CyFlow miniPOC for absolute and relative CD4 T-cell enumeration.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Djibril Wade

    Full Text Available A new CD4 point-of-care instrument, the CyFlow miniPOC, which provides absolute and percentage CD4 T-cells, used for screening and monitoring of HIV-infected patients in resource-limited settings, was introduced recently. We assessed the performance of this novel instrument in a reference laboratory and in a field setting in Senegal.A total of 321 blood samples were obtained from 297 adults and 24 children, all HIV-patients attending university hospitals in Dakar, or health centers in Ziguinchor. Samples were analyzed in parallel on CyFlow miniPOC, FACSCount CD4 and FACSCalibur to assess CyFlow miniPOC precision and accuracy.At the reference lab, CyFlow miniPOC, compared to FACSCalibur, showed an absolute mean bias of -12.6 cells/mm3 and a corresponding relative mean bias of -2.3% for absolute CD4 counts. For CD4 percentages, the absolute mean bias was -0.1%. Compared to FACSCount CD4, the absolute and relative mean biases were -31.2 cells/mm3 and -4.7%, respectively, for CD4 counts, whereas the absolute mean bias for CD4 percentages was 1.3%. The CyFlow miniPOC was able to classify HIV-patients eligible for ART with a sensitivity of ≥ 95% at the different ART-initiation thresholds (200, 350 and 500 CD4 cells/mm3. In the field lab, the room temperature ranged from 30 to 35°C during the working hours. At those temperatures, the CyFlow miniPOC, compared to FACSCount CD4, had an absolute and relative mean bias of 7.6 cells/mm3 and 2.8%, respectively, for absolute CD4 counts, and an absolute mean bias of 0.4% for CD4 percentages. The CyFlow miniPOC showed sensitivity equal or greater than 94%.The CyFlow miniPOC showed high agreement with FACSCalibur and FACSCount CD4. The CyFlow miniPOC provides both reliable absolute CD4 counts and CD4 percentages even under the field conditions, and is suitable for monitoring HIV-infected patients in resource-limited settings.

  7. Design of a Single-Cell Positioning Controller Using Electroosmotic Flow and Image Processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jhong-Yin Chen

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the current research was not only to provide a fast and automatic positioning platform for single cells, but also improved biomolecular manipulation techniques. In this study, an automatic platform for cell positioning using electroosmotic flow and image processing technology was designed. The platform was developed using a PCI image acquisition interface card for capturing images from a microscope and then transferring them to a computer using human-machine interface software. This software was designed by the Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench, a graphical language for finding cell positions and viewing the driving trace, and the fuzzy logic method for controlling the voltage or time of an electric field. After experiments on real human leukemic cells (U-937, the success of the cell positioning rate achieved by controlling the voltage factor reaches 100% within 5 s. A greater precision is obtained when controlling the time factor, whereby the success rate reaches 100% within 28 s. Advantages in both high speed and high precision are attained if these two voltage and time control methods are combined. The control speed with the combined method is about 5.18 times greater than that achieved by the time method, and the control precision with the combined method is more than five times greater than that achieved by the voltage method.

  8. In situ diagnostic of two-phase flow phenomena in polymer electrolyte fuel cells by neutron imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kramer, Denis; Zhang, Jianbo; Shimoi, Ryoichi; Lehmann, Eberhard; Wokaun, Alexander; Shinohara, Kazuhiko; Scherer, Guenther G.

    2005-01-01

    Neutron radiographical measurements have been performed on operating hydrogen-fueled polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). With the successful detection of liquid accumulation in flow field and gas diffusion layer (GDL) under various operating conditions a unique experimental approach for the investigation of two-phase flow phenomena in technical PEFC has been realized. The experimental setup will be described in detail. Algorithms for an enhanced quantitative evaluation of the obtained images are presented and successful application to the data demonstrated. Finally, results from PEFC investigations will be given. Different flow field geometries and their implications for liquid accumulation inside flow field and GDL are discussed

  9. Numerical modeling of an all vanadium redox flow battery.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clausen, Jonathan R.; Brunini, Victor E.; Moffat, Harry K.; Martinez, Mario J.

    2014-01-01

    We develop a capability to simulate reduction-oxidation (redox) flow batteries in the Sierra Multi-Mechanics code base. Specifically, we focus on all-vanadium redox flow batteries; however, the capability is general in implementation and could be adopted to other chemistries. The electrochemical and porous flow models follow those developed in the recent publication by [28]. We review the model implemented in this work and its assumptions, and we show several verification cases including a binary electrolyte, and a battery half-cell. Then, we compare our model implementation with the experimental results shown in [28], with good agreement seen. Next, a sensitivity study is conducted for the major model parameters, which is beneficial in targeting specific features of the redox flow cell for improvement. Lastly, we simulate a three-dimensional version of the flow cell to determine the impact of plenum channels on the performance of the cell. Such channels are frequently seen in experimental designs where the current collector plates are borrowed from fuel cell designs. These designs use a serpentine channel etched into a solid collector plate.

  10. Surface roughness effects on heat transfer in Couette flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elia, G.G.

    1981-01-01

    A cell theory for viscous flow with rough surfaces is applied to two basic illustrative heat transfer problems which occur in Couette flow. Couette flow between one adiabatic surface and one isothermal surface exhibits roughness effects on the adiabatic wall temperature. Two types of rough cell adiabatic surfaces are studied: (1) perfectly insulating (the temperature gradient vanishes at the boundary of each cell); (2) average insulating (each cell may gain or lose heat but the total heat flow at the wall is zero). The results for the roughness on a surface in motion are postulated to occur because of fluid entrainment in the asperities on the moving surface. The symmetry of the roughness effects on thermal-viscous dissipation is discussed in detail. Explicit effects of the roughness on each surface, including combinations of roughness values, are presented to enable the case where the two surfaces may be from different materials to be studied. The fluid bulk temperature rise is also calculated for Couette flow with two ideal adiabatic surfaces. The effect of roughness on thermal-viscous dissipation concurs with the viscous hydrodynamic effect. The results are illustrated by an application to lubrication. (Auth.)

  11. Effect of oxygen to argon flow ratio on the properties of Al-doped ZnO films for amorphous silicon thin film solar cell applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Yang-Shih [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan, ROC (China); Lien, Shui-Yang, E-mail: syl@mdu.edu.tw [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MingDao University, ChangHua 52345, Taiwan, ROC (China); Huang, Yung-Chuan [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MingDao University, ChangHua 52345, Taiwan, ROC (China); Wang, Chao-Chun [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan, ROC (China); Liu, Chueh-Yang [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MingDao University, ChangHua 52345, Taiwan, ROC (China); Nautiyal, Asheesh [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Chungli, 320 Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC (China); Wuu, Dong-Sing [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan, ROC (China); Lee, Shuo-Jun [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Chungli, 320 Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2013-02-01

    Transparent conductive oxide thin films in solar cell fabrication have attracted much attention due to their high conductivity and transmittance. In this paper, we have investigated the aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films prepared by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering on Asahi U-type SnO{sub 2} glass with different O{sub 2}/Ar flow ratios in vacuum chamber. Furthermore, the micro-structural, electrical, and optical properties of AZO/SnO{sub 2} films were studied. The change in O{sub 2}/Ar flow ratios is found to significantly affect the haze value, and slightly affect electrical resistivity and transmittance of the films. Afterward, the fabricated AZO thin films with different O{sub 2}/Ar flow ratios were used for building the solar cell devices. The current–voltage and external quantum efficiency characteristics were investigated for the solar cell devices. The optimized O{sub 2}/Ar flow ratio of 3 for solar device shows the best efficiency of 10.41%, and a 20% increase in short-circuit current density compared to typical Asahi solar cells. - Highlights: ► A thin Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) film has been deposited on SnO{sub 2} substrates. ► The AZO film deposited at an O{sub 2}/Ar ratio of 3 shows low resistivity and high haze. ► The AZO film contains tiny grains that enhance light scattering. ► The amorphous silicon solar cell with the AZO layer shows a 20% increase in Jsc.

  12. Flow cytometry analysis of T-cell subsets in cerebrospinal fluid of narcolepsy type 1 patients with long-lasting disease

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moresco, Monica; Lecciso, Mariangela; Ocadlikova, Darina

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Type 1 narcolepsy (NT1) is a central hypersomnia linked to the destruction of hypocretin-producing neurons. A great body of genetic and epidemiological data points to likely autoimmune disease aetiology. Recent reports have characterized peripheral blood T-cell subsets in NT1, whereas...... data regarding the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) immune cell composition are lacking. The current study aimed to characterize the T-cell and natural killer (NK) cell subsets in NT1 patients with long disease course. METHODS: Immune cell subsets from CSF and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples...... were analysed by flow cytometry in two age-balanced and sex-balanced groups of 14 NT1 patients versus 14 healthy controls. The frequency of CSF cell groups was compared with PBMCs. Non-parametric tests were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: The NT1 patients did not show significant differences...

  13. Numerical study on flow rate limitation of open capillary channel flow through a wedge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ting-Ting Zhang

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The flow characteristics of slender-column flow in wedge-shaped channel under microgravity condition are investigated in this work. The one-dimensional theoretical model is applied to predict the critical flow rate and surface contour of stable flow. However, the one-dimensional model overestimates the critical flow rate for not considering the extra pressure loss. Then, we develop a three-dimensional simulation method with OpenFOAM, a computational fluid dynamics tool, to simulate various phenomena in wedge channels with different lengths. The numerical results are verified with the capillary channel flow experimental data on the International Space Station. We find that the three-dimensional simulation perfectly predicts the critical flow rates and surface contours under various flow conditions. Meanwhile, the general behaviors in subcritical, critical, and supercritical flow are studied in three-dimensional simulation considering variations of flow rate and open channel length. The numerical techniques for three-dimensional simulation is validated for a wide range of configurations and is hopeful to provide valuable guidance for capillary channel flow experiment and efficient liquid management in space.

  14. The effect of membrane-regulated actin polymerization on a two-phase flow model for cell motility

    KAUST Repository

    Kimpton, L. S.

    2014-07-23

    Two-phase flow models have been widely used to model cell motility and we have previously demonstrated that even the simplest, stripped-down, 1D model displays many observed features of cell motility [Kimpton, L.S., Whiteley, J.P., Waters, S.L., King, J.R. & Oliver, J.M. (2013) Multiple travelling-wave solutions in a minimal model for cell motility. Math. Med. Biol. 30, 241 - 272]. In this paper, we address a limitation of the previous model.We show that the two-phase flow framework can exhibit travelling-wave solutions with biologically plausible actin network profiles in two simple models that enforce polymerization or depolymerization of the actin network at the ends of the travelling, 1D strip of cytoplasm. © 2014 The authors 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. All rights reserved.

  15. High throughput single-cell and multiple-cell micro-encapsulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagus, Todd P; Edd, Jon F

    2012-06-15

    Microfluidic encapsulation methods have been previously utilized to capture cells in picoliter-scale aqueous, monodisperse drops, providing confinement from a bulk fluid environment with applications in high throughput screening, cytometry, and mass spectrometry. We describe a method to not only encapsulate single cells, but to repeatedly capture a set number of cells (here we demonstrate one- and two-cell encapsulation) to study both isolation and the interactions between cells in groups of controlled sizes. By combining drop generation techniques with cell and particle ordering, we demonstrate controlled encapsulation of cell-sized particles for efficient, continuous encapsulation. Using an aqueous particle suspension and immiscible fluorocarbon oil, we generate aqueous drops in oil with a flow focusing nozzle. The aqueous flow rate is sufficiently high to create ordering of particles which reach the nozzle at integer multiple frequencies of the drop generation frequency, encapsulating a controlled number of cells in each drop. For representative results, 9.9 μm polystyrene particles are used as cell surrogates. This study shows a single-particle encapsulation efficiency P(k=1) of 83.7% and a double-particle encapsulation efficiency P(k=2) of 79.5% as compared to their respective Poisson efficiencies of 39.3% and 33.3%, respectively. The effect of consistent cell and particle concentration is demonstrated to be of major importance for efficient encapsulation, and dripping to jetting transitions are also addressed. Continuous media aqueous cell suspensions share a common fluid environment which allows cells to interact in parallel and also homogenizes the effects of specific cells in measurements from the media. High-throughput encapsulation of cells into picoliter-scale drops confines the samples to protect drops from cross-contamination, enable a measure of cellular diversity within samples, prevent dilution of reagents and expressed biomarkers, and amplify

  16. Design of State-of-the-art Flow Cells for Energy Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Ping [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2018-01-29

    The worldwide energy demand is increasing every day and it necessitates rational and efficient usage of renewable energy. Undoubtedly, utilization of renewable energy can address various environmental challenges. However, all current renewable energy resources (wind, solar, and hydroelectric power) are intermittent and fluctuating in their nature that raises an important question of introducing effective energy storage solutions. Utilization of redox flow cells (RFCs) has recently been recognized as a viable technology for large-scale energy storage and, hence, is well suited for integrating renewable energy and balancing electricity grids. In brief, RFC is an electrochemical storage device (Fig. 1), where energy is stored in chemical bonds, similar to a battery, but with reactants external to the cell. The state-of-the-art in flow cell technology uses an aqueous acidic electrolyte and simple metal redox couples. Several of these systems have been commercialized although current technologies, such as vanadium (V) and zinc-bromine (Zn-Br2) RFCs, for grid level energy storage, suffer from a number of drawbacks, i.e. expensive and resource-limited active materials (vanadium RFCc), and low current performance (Zn-Br2 RFCs due to Zn dendrite formation). Thus, there is an urgent call to develop efficient (high-energy density) and low-cost RFCs to meet the efflorescent energy storage demands. Approach: To address the first challenge of achieving high-energy density, we plan to design and further modify complexes composed of bifunctional multidentate ligands and specific metal centers, capable of storing as many electrons as possible.

  17. Hierarchical modeling for rare event detection and cell subset alignment across flow cytometry samples.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Cron

    Full Text Available Flow cytometry is the prototypical assay for multi-parameter single cell analysis, and is essential in vaccine and biomarker research for the enumeration of antigen-specific lymphocytes that are often found in extremely low frequencies (0.1% or less. Standard analysis of flow cytometry data relies on visual identification of cell subsets by experts, a process that is subjective and often difficult to reproduce. An alternative and more objective approach is the use of statistical models to identify cell subsets of interest in an automated fashion. Two specific challenges for automated analysis are to detect extremely low frequency event subsets without biasing the estimate by pre-processing enrichment, and the ability to align cell subsets across multiple data samples for comparative analysis. In this manuscript, we develop hierarchical modeling extensions to the Dirichlet Process Gaussian Mixture Model (DPGMM approach we have previously described for cell subset identification, and show that the hierarchical DPGMM (HDPGMM naturally generates an aligned data model that captures both commonalities and variations across multiple samples. HDPGMM also increases the sensitivity to extremely low frequency events by sharing information across multiple samples analyzed simultaneously. We validate the accuracy and reproducibility of HDPGMM estimates of antigen-specific T cells on clinically relevant reference peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC samples with known frequencies of antigen-specific T cells. These cell samples take advantage of retrovirally TCR-transduced T cells spiked into autologous PBMC samples to give a defined number of antigen-specific T cells detectable by HLA-peptide multimer binding. We provide open source software that can take advantage of both multiple processors and GPU-acceleration to perform the numerically-demanding computations. We show that hierarchical modeling is a useful probabilistic approach that can provide a

  18. Experimental study of unsteady thermally stratified flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sang Jun; Chung, Myung Kyoon

    1985-01-01

    Unsteady thermally stratified flow caused by two-dimensional surface discharge of warm water into a oblong channel was investigated. Experimental study was focused on the rapidly developing thermal diffusion at small Richardson number. The basic objectives were to study the interfacial mixing between a flowing layer of warm water and an underlying body of cold water and to accumulate experimental data to test computational turbulence models. Mean velocity field measurements were carried out by using NMR-CT(Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Computerized Tomography). It detects quantitative flow image of any desired section in any direction of flow in short time. Results show that at small Richardson number warm layer rapidly penetrates into the cold layer because of strong turbulent mixing and instability between the two layers. It is found that the transfer of heat across the interface is more vigorous than that of momentum. It is also proved that the NMR-CT technique is a very valuable tool to measure unsteady three dimensional flow field. (Author)

  19. Proteomic analysis of barley cell nuclei purified by flow sorting

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Petrovská, Beáta; Jeřábková, Hana; Chamrád, I.; Vrána, Jan; Lenobel, R.; Uřinovská, J.; Šebela, M.; Doležel, Jaroslav

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 143, 1-3 (2014), s. 78-86 ISSN 1424-8581 R&D Projects: GA ČR GBP501/12/G090; GA ČR(CZ) GA14-28443S; GA MŠk(CZ) LO1204 Institutional support: RVO:61389030 Keywords : Cell cycle * Chromatin * Flow cytometry Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 1.561, year: 2014 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=MEDLINE&DestLinkType=FullRecord&UT=25059295

  20. Flow cytometric determination of radiation-induced chromosome damage and its correlation with cell survival

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welleweerd, J.; Wilder, M.E.; Carpenter, S.G.; Raju, M.R.

    1984-01-01

    Chinese hamster M3-1 cells were irradiated with several doses of x rays or α particles from 238 Pu. Propidium iodide-stained chromosome suspensions were prepared at different times after irradiation; cells were also assayed for survival. The DNA histograms of these chromosomes showed increased background counts with increased doses of radiation. This increase in background was cell-cycle dependent and was correlated with cell survival. The correlation between radiation-induced chromosome damage and cell survival was the same for X rays and α particles. Data are presented which indicate that flow cytometric analysis of chromosomes of irradiated cell populations can be a useful adjunct to classical cytogenic analysis of irradiation-induced chromosomal damage by virtue of its ability to express and measure chromosomal damage not seen by classical cytogenic methods

  1. Ruthenium cluster-like chalcogenide as a methanol tolerant cathode catalyst in air-breathing laminar flow fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whipple, Devin T.; Jayashree, Ranga S.; Egas, Daniela; Alonso-Vante, Nicolas; Kenis, Paul J.A.

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports the incorporation of a cluster-like Ru x Se y as a methanol tolerant cathode catalyst in a laminar flow fuel cell. The effect on cell performance of several concentrations of methanol in the cathode stream was investigated for the Ru x Se y catalyst and compared to a conventional platinum catalyst. While the Pt catalyst exhibited up to ∼80% drop in power density, the Ru x Se y catalyst showed no decrease in performance when the cathode was exposed to methanol. At several methanol concentrations the Ru x Se y catalyst performed better than the Pt catalyst. This demonstration of a methanol tolerant catalyst in a laminar flow fuel cell opens up the way for further miniaturization of the cell design and simplification of its operation as the need for an electrolyte stream to prevent fuel crossover has been eliminated.

  2. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Arterio-venous flow between monochorionic twins determined during intra-uterine transfusion. Nonlinear decay of adult red blood cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Gemert, Martin J. C.; Pasman, Suzanne A.; van den Wijngaard, Jeroen P. H. M.; Lopriore, Enrico; Vandenbussche, Frank P. H. A.

    2008-07-01

    Recently, we derived equations relating the flow of adult red blood cells through a placental arterio-venous anastomosis with intra-uterine and post-natal measured adult hemoglobin concentrations. In this letter, we re-derived the equations, now including a more realistic nonlinear decay of adult red blood cells, and re-evaluated the measurement accuracy of the arterio-venous flow and the lifetime of the red blood cells.

  3. Local Nusselt number enhancement during gas-liquid Taylor bubble flow in a square mini-channel: An experimental study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Majumder, Abhik; Mehta, Balkrishna; Khandekar, Sameer

    2013-01-01

    Taylor bubble flow takes place when two immiscible fluids (liquid-liquid or gas-liquid) flow inside a tube of capillary dimensions within specific range of volume flow ratios. In the slug flows where gas and liquid are two different phases, liquid slugs are separated by elongated Taylor bubbles. This singular flow pattern is observed in many engineering mini-/micro-scale devices like pulsating heat pipes, gas-liquid-solid monolithic reactors, micro-two-phase heat exchangers, digital micro-fluidics, micro-scale mass transfer process, fuel cells, etc. The unique and complex flow characteristics require understanding on local, as well as global, spatio-temporal scales. In the present work, the axial stream-wise profile of the fluid and wall temperature for air-water (i) isolated single Taylor bubble and, (ii) a train of Taylor bubbles, in a horizontal square channel of size 3.3 mm x 3.3 mm x 350 mm, heated from the bottom (heated length = 175 mm), with the other three sides kept insulated, are reported at different gas volume flow ratios. The primary aim is to study the enhancement of heat transfer due to the Taylor bubble train flow, in comparison with thermally developing single-phase flows. Intrusion of a bubble in the liquid flow drastically changes the local temperature profiles. The axial distribution of time-averaged local Nusselt number (Nu z ) shows that Taylor bubble train regime increases the transport of heat up to 1.2-1.6 times more as compared with laminar single-phase liquid flow. In addition, for a given liquid flow Reynolds number, the heat transfer enhancement is a function of the geometrical parameters of the unit cell, i.e., the length of adjacent gas bubble and water plug. (authors)

  4. Cell and nuclear enlargement of SW480 cells induced by a plant lignan, arctigenin: evaluation of cellular DNA content using fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Kyungsu; Lee, Hee Ju; Yoo, Ji-Hye; Jho, Eun Hye; Kim, Chul Young; Kim, Minkyun; Nho, Chu Won

    2011-08-01

    Arctigenin is a natural plant lignan previously shown to induce G(2)/M arrest in SW480 human colon cancer cells as well as AGS human gastric cancer cells, suggesting its use as a possible cancer chemopreventive agent. Changes in cell and nuclear size often correlate with the functionality of cancer-treating agents. Here, we report that arctigenin induces cell and nuclear enlargement of SW480 cells. Arctigenin clearly induced the formation of giant nuclear shapes in SW480, as demonstrated by fluorescence microscopic observation and quantitative determination of nuclear size. Cell and nuclear size were further assessed by flow cytometric analysis of light scattering and fluorescence pulse width after propidium iodide staining. FSC-H and FL2-W values (parameters referring to cell and nuclear size, respectively) significantly increased after arctigenin treatment; the mean values of FSC-H and FL2-W in arctigenin-treated SW480 cells were 572.6 and 275.1, respectively, whereas those of control cells were 482.0 and 220.7, respectively. Our approach may provide insights into the mechanism behind phytochemical-induced cell and nuclear enlargement as well as functional studies on cancer-treating agents.

  5. On-line study of fungal morphology during submerged growth in a small flow-through cell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Spohr, Anders Bendsen; Dam Mikkelsen, C.; Carlsen, Morten

    1998-01-01

    A flow-through cell is designed to measure the growth kinetics of hyphae of Aspergillus oryzae grown submerged in a well controlled environment. The different stages of the growth process are characterized, from the spore to the fully developed hyphal element with up to 60 branches and a total...... is determined. After about 10 h growth at a glucose concentration of 250 mg L-1, 6-7 branches have been set, and both the total hyphal length l(t) and the number of tips increase exponentially with time. The specific growth rate of the hyphae is 0.33 h(-1) while the average rate of the extension of the growing...... tips approaches 55 mu m h(-1). The growth kinetics for all the branches on the main hypha have also been found. The main hypha and all the branches grow at a rate which can be modeled by saturation kinetics with respect to the branch length and with nearly equal final tip speeds (160 mu m h(-1...

  6. Experimental studies of rotating exchange flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabe, B.; Smeed, D. A.; Dalziel, S. B.; Lane-Serff, G. F.

    2007-02-01

    Ocean basins are connected by straits and passages, geometrically limiting important heat and salt exchanges which in turn influence the global thermohaline circulation and climate. Such exchange can be modeled in an idealized way by taking into consideration the density-driven two-layer flow along a strait under the influence of rotation. We use a laboratory model of a lock exchange between two reservoirs of different density through a flat-bottom channel with a horizontal narrows, set up on two different platforms: a 1 m diameter turntable, where density interface position was measured by dye attenuation, and the 14 m diameter turntable at Coriolis/LEGI (Grenoble, France), where correlation imaging velocimetry, a particle imaging technique, allowed us to obtain for the first time detailed measurements of the velocity fields in these flows. The influence of rotation is studied by varying a parameter, Bu, a type of Burger number given by the ratio of the Rossby radius to the channel width at the narrows. In addition, a two-layer version of the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Model (MICOM) is used, to study the cases with low Burger number. Results from experiments by Dalziel [1988. Two-layer hydraulics: maximal exchange flows. Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, see also people/sd103/papers/1988/Thesis_Dalziel.pdf>] are also included for comparison. Time-mean exchange fluxes for any Bu are in close agreement with the inviscid zero-potential vorticity theory of Dalziel [1990. Rotating two-layer sill flows. In: Pratt, L.J. (Ed.), The Physical Oceanography of Sea Straits. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, pp. 343-371] and Whitehead et al. [1974. Rotating hydraulics of strait and sill flows. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics 6, 101-125], who found that fluxes for Bu>1 mainly vary with channel width, similar to non-rotating flow, but for Bu1 a steady, two-layer flow was observed that persisted across the channel at the narrows

  7. Feasibly study of gas-cooled test cell for material testing in IFMIF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yonemoto, Yukihiro; Maki, Eiji; Ebara, Shinji; Yokomine, Takehiko; Shimizu, Akihiko; Korenaga, Tadashi

    2002-01-01

    Temperature control performance of test pieces enclosed in IFMIF capsule by using single phase gas was estimated experimentally. The key issue of this study is to obtain the definite value of dimension of test facility and flow conditions of coolant and to clarify the temperature response of test piece to the beam-off scenario. Firstly, we have examined the cooling performance of the test cell originally proposed in IFMIF-KEP and from results of this calculation performed in three dimensional system by using brand-new turbulence model for flow and thermal fields, it is concluded that the drastical change of design of test cell is needed in order to obtain the unformity of temperature of test piece, to improve the responsibility of temperature measurement of test piece, and to relieve the coolant flow condition, especially for inlet pressure value. Thus, we have proposed new design of test cell and test piece arrangement. A mock-up experimental facility was made based on our design and preliminary experiments for temperature control were performed. As a result, we have verified the cooling performance at the case that corresponds to two beam-off scenario by using mock-up facility

  8. Particle-in-Cell Modeling of Magnetized Argon Plasma Flow Through Small Mechanical Apertures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adam B. Sefkow and Samuel A. Cohen

    2009-04-09

    Motivated by observations of supersonic argon-ion flow generated by linear helicon-heated plasma devices, a three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) code is used to study whether stationary electrostatic layers form near mechanical apertures intersecting the flow of magnetized plasma. By self-consistently evaluating the temporal evolution of the plasma in the vicinity of the aperture, the PIC simulations characterize the roles of the imposed aperture and applied magnetic field on ion acceleration. The PIC model includes ionization of a background neutral-argon population by thermal and superthermal electrons, the latter found upstream of the aperture. Near the aperture, a transition from a collisional to a collisionless regime occurs. Perturbations of density and potential, with mm wavelengths and consistent with ion acoustic waves, propagate axially. An ion acceleration region of length ~ 200-300 λD,e forms at the location of the aperture and is found to be an electrostatic double layer, with axially-separated regions of net positive and negative charge. Reducing the aperture diameter or increasing its length increases the double layer strength.

  9. Particle-in-Cell Modeling of Magnetized Argon Plasma Flow Through Small Mechanical Apertures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sefkow, Adam B.; Cohen, Samuel A.

    2009-01-01

    Motivated by observations of supersonic argon-ion flow generated by linear helicon-heated plasma devices, a three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) code is used to study whether stationary electrostatic layers form near mechanical apertures intersecting the flow of magnetized plasma. By self-consistently evaluating the temporal evolution of the plasma in the vicinity of the aperture, the PIC simulations characterize the roles of the imposed aperture and applied magnetic field on ion acceleration. The PIC model includes ionization of a background neutral-argon population by thermal and superthermal electrons, the latter found upstream of the aperture. Near the aperture, a transition from a collisional to a collisionless regime occurs. Perturbations of density and potential, with mm wavelengths and consistent with ion acoustic waves, propagate axially. An ion acceleration region of length ∼ 200-300 λ D,e forms at the location of the aperture and is found to be an electrostatic double layer, with axially-separated regions of net positive and negative charge. Reducing the aperture diameter or increasing its length increases the double layer strength

  10. Experimental study on downward two-phase flow in narrow rectangular channel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, T.H.; Jeong, J.H. [Pusan National Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-07-01

    Adiabatic vertical two-phase flow of air and water through narrow rectangular channels was investigated. This study involved the observation of flow using a high speed camera and flow regimes were determined by image processing program using a MATLAB. The flows regimes in channel with downward flow are similar to those found by previous studies with upward flow. The flow regimes in downward flow at low liquid velocity are different from the previous studies in upward flow. The flow regimes can be classified into bubbly, cap-bubbly, slug and churn flow. (author)

  11. Numerical study on the complete blood cell sorting using particle tracing and dielectrophoresis in a microfluidic device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Haider; Park, Cheol Woo

    2016-11-01

    In this study, a numerical model of a microfluidic device with particle tracing and dielectrophoresis field-flow fractionation was employed to perform a complete and continuous blood cell sorting. A low voltage was applied to electrodes to separate the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets based on their cell size. Blood cell sorting and counting were performed by evaluating the cell trajectories, displacements, residence times, and recovery rates in the device. A novel numerical technique was used to count the number of separated blood cells by estimating the displacement and residence time of the cells in a microfluidic device. For successful blood cell sorting, the value of cells displacement must be approximately equal to or higher than the corresponding maximum streamwise distance. The study also proposed different outlet designs to improve blood cell separation. The basic outlet design resulted in a higher cells recovery rate than the other outlets design. The recovery rate decreased as the number of inlet cells and flow rates increased because of the high particle-particle interactions and collisions with walls. The particle-particle interactions significantly affect blood cell sorting and must therefore be considered in future work.

  12. Use of internal control T-cell populations in the flow cytometric evaluation for T-cell neoplasms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Alicia M; Shallenberger, Wendy; Ten Eyck, Stephen P; Craig, Fiona E

    2016-09-01

    Flow cytometry is an important tool for identification of neoplastic T-cells, but immunophenotypic abnormalities are often subtle and must be distinguished from nonneoplastic subsets. Use of internal control (IC) T-cells in the evaluation for T-cell neoplasms was explored, both as a quality measure and as a reference for evaluating abnormal antigen expression. All peripheral blood specimens (3-month period), or those containing abnormal T-cells (29-month period), stained with CD45 V500, CD2 V450, CD3 PE-Cy7, CD7 PE, CD4 Per-CP-Cy5.5, CD8 APC-H7, CD56 APC, CD16&57 FITC, were evaluated. IC T-cells were identified (DIVA, BD Biosciences) and median fluorescence intensity (MFI) recorded. Selected files were merged and reference templates generated (Infinicyt, Cytognos). IC T-cells were present in all specimens, including those with abnormal T-cells, but subsets were less well-represented. IC T-cell CD3 MFI differed between instruments (p = 0.0007) and subsets (p < 0.001), but not specimen categories, and served as a longitudinal process control. Merged files highlighted small unusual IC-T subsets: CD2+(dim) (0.25% total), CD2- (0.03% total). An IC reference template highlighted neoplastic T-cells, but was limited by staining variability (IC CD3 MFI reference samples different from test (p = 0.003)). IC T-cells present in the majority of specimens can serve as positive and longitudinal process controls. Use of IC T-cells as an internal reference is limited by variable representation of subsets. Analysis of merged IC T-cells from previously analyzed patient samples can alert the interpreter to less-well-recognized non-neoplastic subsets. However, application of a merged file IC reference template was limited by staining variability. © 2016 Clinical Cytometry Society. © 2016 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

  13. Modelling multiphase flow inside the porous media of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berning, Torsten; Kær, Søren Knudsen

    2011-01-01

    Transport processes inside polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC’s) are highly complex and involve convective and diffusive multiphase, multispecies flow through porous media along with heat and mass transfer and electrochemical reactions in conjunction with water transport through...... an electrolyte membrane. We will present a computational model of a PEMFC with focus on capillary transport of water through the porous layers and phase change and discuss the impact of the liquid phase boundary condition between the porous gas diffusion layer and the flow channels, where water droplets can...

  14. A Study on the Uncertainty of Flow-Induced Vibration in a Cross Flow over Staggered Tubes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Ji-Su; Park, Jong-Woon [Dongguk univ, Gyeong Ju (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Hyeon-Kyeong [HanNam University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    Cross-flow in many support columns of very high temperature reactor (VHTR) lower plenum would have FIV issues under high speed flow jetting from the core. For a group of multiple circular cylinders subjected to a cross-flow, three types of potential vibration mechanisms may exist: (1) Vortex-induced vibration (VIV), (2) Fluid-elastic vibration (FEV) and (3) Turbulence-induced vibration (TIV). Kevalahan studied the free vibration of circular cylinders in a tightly packed periodic square inline array of cylinders. Pandey et al. studied the flue gas flow distribution in the Low Temperature Super Heater (LTSH) tube bundles situated in second pass of a utility boiler and the phenomenon of flow induced vibration. Nakamura et al. studied flow instability of cylinder arrays resembling U-bend tubes in steam generators. The FIV evaluation is usually performed with computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis to obtain unknown frequency of oscillation of the multiple objects under turbulent flow and thus the uncertainty residing in the turbulence model used should be quantified. In this paper, potential FIV uncertainty arising from the turbulence phenomena are evaluated for a typical cross flow through staggered tube bundles resembling the VHTR lower plenum support columns. Flow induced vibration (FIV) is one of the important mechanical and fatigue issues in nuclear systems. Especially, cross-flow in many support structures of VHTR lower plenum would have FIV issues under highly turbulent jet flows from the core. The results show that the effect of turbulence parameters on FIV is not negligible and the uncertainty is 5 to 10%. Present method can be applied to future FIV evaluations of nuclear systems. More extensive studies on flow induced vibration in a plant scale by using more rigorous computational methods are under way.

  15. Cerebral blood flow and red cell delivery in normal subjects and in multiple sclerosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swank, R.L.; Roth, J.G.; Woody, D.C. Jr.

    1983-01-01

    Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was determined in 77 normal females and 53 normal males of different ages and in 26 men and 45 women with multiple sclerosis by the inhalation of radioactive Xe133 method. In the normal subjects the CBF was relatively high in the teens and fell, at first rapidly and then slowly in both sexes with age. During adult life the flow in females was significantly higher than in males. The delivery of packed red cells (RCD) was determined by multiplying the CBF by the percentage concentration of red cells (HCT). The RCD for both sexes was nearly the same. In the patients with multiple sclerosis there occurred a progressive generalized decrease in CBF and in RCD with age which was significantly greater than observed in normal subjects. The rate of decrease in CBF and RCD correlated directly with the rate of progress of the disease

  16. A flow-through column electrolytic cell for supercritical fluid chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Kazuhiro; Ueki, Tatsuya; Higuchi, Naoyuki; Takahashi, Kouji; Kotani, Akira; Hakamata, Hideki

    2017-10-01

    A novel flow-through column electrolytic cell was proposed as a detector to obtain current signals for supercritical fluid chromatography. The electrochemical cell consisted of two electrodes and its holder, and a working and a counter electrode were fabricated from 192 carbon strings, which were composed of 400 carbon fibers of 10 μm in diameter filled into a heat-shrinkable tube. These electrodes were placed in the center of a holder made from polyether ether ketone blocks and they were separated by polytetrafluoroethylene membrane filters. To evaluate the sensitivity of this cell, a standard solution of ferrocene was injected into the supercritical fluid chromatography system connected to the electrolytic cell. The ferrocene was eluted through a silica gel column using a mixture of a mobile phase of supercritical CO 2 and a modifier of methanol containing ammonium acetate. The current peak area of ferrocene correlated to the ferrocene concentration in the range of 10-400 μmol/L (r = 0.999). Moreover, the limit of detection on the column estimated from a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 was 9.8  × 10 -13  mol. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Numerical Analysis of Hydrodynamic Flow in Microfluidic Biochip for Single-Cell Trapping Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amelia Ahmad Khalili

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Single-cell analysis has become the interest of a wide range of biological and biomedical engineering research. It could provide precise information on individual cells, leading to important knowledge regarding human diseases. To perform single-cell analysis, it is crucial to isolate the individual cells before further manipulation is carried out. Recently, microfluidic biochips have been widely used for cell trapping and single cell analysis, such as mechanical and electrical detection. This work focuses on developing a finite element simulation model of single-cell trapping system for any types of cells or particles based on the hydrodynamic flow resistance (Rh manipulations in the main channel and trap channel to achieve successful trapping. Analysis is carried out using finite element ABAQUS-FEA™ software. A guideline to design and optimize single-cell trapping model is proposed and the example of a thorough optimization analysis is carried out using a yeast cell model. The results show the finite element model is able to trap a single cell inside the fluidic environment. Fluid’s velocity profile and streamline plots for successful and unsuccessful single yeast cell trapping are presented according to the hydrodynamic concept. The single-cell trapping model can be a significant important guideline in designing a new chip for biomedical applications.

  18. Flow maldistribution in the anode of a polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis cell employing interdigitated channels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Anders Christian; Kær, Søren Knudsen

    2014-01-01

    of liquid water towards the catalytic layer of the electrode. As opposed to the more common serpentine and parallel channels, interdigitated channels force liquid water through the porous gas diffusion layer (GDL) of the electrode. This improves the supply of water, however it increases pressure losses......-circular cell design on the distribution of water in the anode. In the electrolysis of water using PEMEC the anode is fed by demineralized water. Throughout the anode, oxygen is produced and a two-phase flow develops. Interdigitated channels assist in avoiding that gaseous oxygen obstructs the transport......: water stoichiometry, temperature, GDL permeability and thickness. In conclusion, it is found that the interdigitated flow field results in an uneven distribution across the cell and that the extent depends strongly on the permeability and weaker on the remaining parameters....

  19. Measurement of limb blood flow using technetium-labelled red blood cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parkin, A; Robinson, P.J.; Wiggins, P.A.; Leveson, S.H.; Salter, M.C.P.; Matthews, I.F.; Ware, F.M.

    1986-05-01

    A method for measuring blood flow below the knee during reactive hyperaemia induced by 3 min of arterial occlusion has been developed. Subjects are positioned with lower limbs within the field of view of a gamma camera and pneumatic cuffs are placed below the knees to isolate the blood and induce a hyperaemic response. The remaining blood pool is labelled with /sup 99/Tcsup(m)-labelled red cells. Blood flows have been derived from the initial gradients of time-activity curves and from equilibrium blood sampling. The technique has been validated using a tissue-equivalent leg phantom and peristaltic pump. The method has been applied to a small group of patients with peripheral vascular disease and to normal controls. The mean value (+-SD) of limb perfusion for normal controls was found to be 16.4 +- 3.0 ml/100 ml/min and for patients with intermittent claudication was 5.1 +- 2.6 ml/100 ml/min. Flow measurements are found to correlate with clinical findings and with symptoms. Reproducibility (established by repeated measurements) is high. The method is well tolerated even by patients suffering from rest pain.

  20. Enhanced heat transfer with corrugated flow channel in anode side of direct methanol fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heidary, H.; Abbassi, A.; Kermani, M.J.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Effect of corrugated flow channel on the heat exchange of DMFC is studied. • Corrugated boundary (except rectangular type) increase heat transfer up to 90%. • Average heat transfer in rectangular-corrugated boundary is less than straight one. • In Re > 60, wavy shape boundary has highest heat transfer. • In Re < 60, triangular shape boundary has highest heat transfer. - Abstract: In this paper, heat transfer and flow field analysis in anode side of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is numerically studied. To enhance the heat exchange between bottom cold wall and core flow, bottom wall of fluid delivery channel is considered as corrugated boundary instead of straight (flat) one. Four different shapes of corrugated boundary are recommended here: rectangular shape, trapezoidal shape, triangular shape and wavy (sinusoidal) shape. The top wall of the channel (catalyst layer boundary) is taken as hot boundary, because reaction occurs in catalyst layer and the bottom wall of the channel is considered as cold boundary due to coolant existence. The governing equations are numerically solved in the domain by the control volume approach based on the SIMPLE technique (1972). A wide spectrum of numerical studies is performed over a range of various shape boundaries, Reynolds number, triangle block number, and the triangle block amplitude. The performed parametric studies show that corrugated channel with trapezoidal, triangular and wavy shape enhances the heat exchange up to 90%. With these boundaries, cooling purpose of reacting flow in anode side of DMFCs would be better than straight one. Also, from the analogy between the heat and mass transfer problems, it is expected that the consumption of reacting species within the catalyst layer of DMFCs enhance. The present work provides helpful guidelines to the bipolar plate manufacturers of DMFCs to considerably enhance heat transfer and performance of the anode side of DMFC

  1. Inferences of the deep solar meridional flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Böning, Vincent G. A.

    2017-10-01

    from earlier studies leads to errors in the inverted flows being underestimated by a factor of about two to four. The inverted meridional flow above about 0.85 solar radii confirms the earlier results from ray theory regarding the general pattern of the flow, especially regarding a shallow return flow at about 0.9 solar radii, with some differences in the magnitude of the flow. Below about 0.85 solar radii, the inversion result depends on the thresholds used in the singular value decomposition. One result is again similar to the original regarding its general single-cell shape. Other results show a multi-cell structure in the southern hemisphere with two or three cells stacked radially. However, both the single-cell and the multi-cell flow profiles are consistent with the measured travel times within the measurement errors. To reach an unambiguous conclusion on the meridional flow below about 0.85 solar radii, the errors in the measured travel times have to be decreased considerably in future studies. For now, I conclude that the existing controversy of recent measurements of the deep meridional flow is relaxed by properly taking the associated errors into account.

  2. Foam flows through a local constriction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevalier, T.; Koivisto, J.; Shmakova, N.; Alava, M. J.; Puisto, A.; Raufaste, C.; Santucci, S.

    2017-11-01

    We present an experimental study of the flow of a liquid foam, composed of a monolayer of millimetric bubbles, forced to invade an inhomogeneous medium at a constant flow rate. To model the simplest heterogeneous fracture medium, we use a Hele-Shaw cell consisting of two glass plates separated by a millimetric gap, with a local constriction. This single defect localized in the middle of the cell reduces locally its gap thickness, and thus its local permeability. We investigate here the influence of the geometrical property of the defect, specifically its height, on the average steady-state flow of the foam. In the frame of the flowing foam, we can observe a clear recirculation around the obstacle, characterized by a quadrupolar velocity field with a negative wake downstream the obstacle, which intensity evolves systematically with the obstacle height.

  3. Patterns of a slow air-water flow in a semispherical container

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Balci, Adnan; Brøns, Morten; Herrada, Miguel A.

    2016-01-01

    This numerical study analyzes the development of eddies in a slow steady axisymmetric air-water flow in a sealed semispherical container, driven by a rotating top disk. As the water height, Hw, increases, new flow cells emerge in both water and air. First, an eddy emerges near the axis-bottom int......This numerical study analyzes the development of eddies in a slow steady axisymmetric air-water flow in a sealed semispherical container, driven by a rotating top disk. As the water height, Hw, increases, new flow cells emerge in both water and air. First, an eddy emerges near the axis...... on the air flow. In contrast to flows in cylindrical and conical containers, there is no interaction with Moffatt corner vortices here....

  4. Paired single cell co-culture microenvironments isolated by two-phase flow with continuous nutrient renewal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yu-Chih; Cheng, Yu-Heng; Kim, Hong Sun; Ingram, Patrick N; Nor, Jacques E; Yoon, Euisik

    2014-08-21

    Cancer-stromal cell interactions are a critical process in tumorigenesis. Conventional dish-based assays, which simply mix two cell types, have limitations in three aspects: 1) limited control of the cell microenvironment; 2) inability to study cell behavior in a single-cell manner; and 3) have difficulties in characterizing single cell behavior within a highly heterogeneous cell population (e.g. tumor). An innovative use of microfluidic technology is for improving the spatial resolution for single cell assays. However, it is challenging to isolate the paired interacting cells while maintaining nutrient renewal. In this work, two-phase flow was used as a simple isolation method, separating the microenvironment of each individual chamber. As nutrients in an isolated chamber are consumed by cells, media exchange is required. To connect the cell culture chamber to the media exchange layer, we demonstrated a 3D microsystem integration technique using vertical connections fabricated by deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE). Compared to previous approaches, the presented process allows area reduction of vertical connections by an order of magnitude, enabling compact 3D integration. A semi-permeable membrane was sandwiched between the cell culture layer and the media exchange layer. The selectivity of the semi-permeable membrane results in the retention of the signaling proteins within the chamber while allowing free diffusion of nutrients (e.g., glucose and amino acids). Thus, paracrine signals are accumulated inside the chamber without cross-talk between cells in other chambers. Utilizing these innovations, we co-cultured UM-SCC-1 (head and neck squamous cell carcinoma) cells and endothelial cells to simulate tumor proliferation enhancement in the vascular endothelial niche.

  5. Numerical investigation of flow parameters for solid rigid spheroidal particle in a pulsatile pipe flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varghese, Joffin; Jayakumar, J. S.

    2017-09-01

    Quantifying, forecasting and analysing the displacement rates of suspended particles are essential while discussing about blood flow analysis. Because blood is one of the major organs in the body, which enables transport phenomena, comprising of numerous blood cells. In order to model the blood flow, a flow domain was created and numerically simulated. Flow field velocity in the stream is solved utilizing Finite Volume Method utilizing FVM unstructured solver. In pulsatile flow, the effect of parameters such as average Reynolds number, tube radius, particle size and Womersley number are taken into account. In this study spheroidal particle trajectory in axial direction is simulated at different values of pulsating frequency including 1.2 Hz, 3.33 Hz and 4.00 Hz and various densities including 1005 kg/m3 and 1025 kg/m3 for the flow domain. The analysis accomplishes the interaction study of blood constituents for different flow situations which have applications in diagnosis and treatment of cardio vascular related diseases.

  6. Design of State-of-the-art Flow Cells for Energy Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Ping [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2018-01-31

    The worldwide energy demand is increasing every day and it necessitates rational and efficient usage of renewable energy. Undoubtedly, utilization of renewable energy can address various environmental challenges. However, all current renewable energy resources (wind, solar, and hydroelectric power) are intermittent and fluctuating in their nature that raises an important question of introducing effective energy storage solutions. Utilization of redox flow cells (RFCs) has recently been recognized as a viable technology for large-scale energy storage and, hence, is well suited for integrating renewable energy and balancing electricity grids. In brief, RFC is an electrochemical storage device where energy is stored in chemical bonds, similar to a battery, but with reactants external to the cell. The state-of-the-art in flow cell technology uses an aqueous acidic electrolyte and simple metal redox couples. Thus, there is an urgent call to develop efficient (high-energy density) and low-cost RFCs to meet the efflorescent energy storage demands. To address the first challenge of achieving high-energy density, we plan to design and further modify complexes composed of bifunctional multidentate ligands and specific metal centers, capable of storing as many electrons as possible. In order to address the second challenge of reducing cost of the RFCs, we plan to use iron (Fe) metal as it regularly occupies multiple oxidation states and is the second most abundant metal in the earth’s crust that makes it an ideal metal for improved energy densities, higher potentials, and numbers of electrons per molecule while maintaining potential cost competitiveness. Density functional theory calculations considering solvation effects will be performed to yield accurate predictions of redox potentials.

  7. Study of gas-water flow in horizontal rectangular channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chinnov, E. A.; Ron'shin, F. V.; Kabov, O. A.

    2015-09-01

    The two-phase flow in the narrow short horizontal rectangular channels 1 millimeter in height was studied experimentally. The features of formation of the two-phase flow were studied in detail. It is shown that with an increase in the channel width, the region of the churn and bubble regimes increases, compressing the area of the jet flow. The areas of the annular and stratified flow patterns vary insignificantly.

  8. Information flow during gene activation by signaling molecules: ethylene transduction in Arabidopsis cells as a study system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Díaz José

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We study root cells from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the communication channel conformed by the ethylene signal transduction pathway. A basic equation taken from our previous work relates the probability of expression of the gene ERF1 to the concentration of ethylene. Results The above equation is used to compute the Shannon entropy (H or degree of uncertainty that the genetic machinery has during the decoding of the message encoded by the ethylene specific receptors embedded in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and transmitted into the nucleus by the ethylene signaling pathway. We show that the amount of information associated with the expression of the master gene ERF1 (Ethylene Response Factor 1 can be computed. Then we examine the system response to sinusoidal input signals with varying frequencies to determine if the cell can distinguish between different regimes of information flow from the environment. Our results demonstrate that the amount of information managed by the root cell can be correlated with the frequency of the input signal. Conclusion The ethylene signaling pathway cuts off very low and very high frequencies, allowing a window of frequency response in which the nucleus reads the incoming message as a sinusoidal input. Out of this window the nucleus reads the input message as an approximately non-varying one. From this frequency response analysis we estimate: a the gain of the system during the synthesis of the protein ERF1 (~-5.6 dB; b the rate of information transfer (0.003 bits during the transport of each new ERF1 molecule into the nucleus and c the time of synthesis of each new ERF1 molecule (~21.3 s. Finally, we demonstrate that in the case of the system of a single master gene (ERF1 and a single slave gene (HLS1, the total Shannon entropy is completely determined by the uncertainty associated with the expression of the master gene. A second proposition shows that the Shannon entropy

  9. A review of cell-scale multiphase flow modeling, including water management, in polymer electrolyte fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersson, M.; Beale, S.B.; Espinoza, M.; Wu, Z.; Lehnert, W.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The transport expressions inside PEFC GDLs are developed to describe significantly different systems. • Insight into the fundamental processes of liquid water evolution and transport in the GDL and GC is still lacking. • One important feature is the possibility to track the front between the liquid and the gas phases. • The two phase micro channels pressure drop correlations may not be applicable for GCs since one wall being porous. - Abstract: The PEFC has emerged as the most viable fuel cell type for automotive and some portable applications, and also has potential back-up power unit applications due to its low operating temperature, comparative simplicity of construction, high power density, and ease of operation. In spite of tremendous scientific advances, as well as engineering progress over the last few decades, the commercialization of PEFCs remains unrealized, owing primarily to economic viability associated with the high prices of materials and components and technical problems relating primarily to water management. The difficulty in addressing the water management issues lies mostly in the two-phase multi-component flow involving phase-change in porous media, coupled heat and mass transfer, interactions between the porous layers and gas channel (GC) and the complex relationship between water content and cell performance. Due to the low temperature of operation, water generated by the electrochemical reactions often condenses into liquid form, potentially flooding the gas diffusion layer (GDL), GC or other components. Insight into the fundamental processes of liquid water evolution and transport is still lacking, preventing further enhanced PEFC development. The aim of this paper is to give a comprehensive introduction to PEFC modeling inside GCs and GDLs, with a focus on two-phase flow and related phase-change and transport processes. Relevant momentum, mass and heat transport processes are introduced and the microstructural effects

  10. Modelling of groundwater flow and flow paths for a large regional domain in northeast Uppland. A three-dimensional, mathematical modelling of groundwater flows and flow paths on a super-regional scale, for different complexity levels of the flow domain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holmen, Johan G.; Stigsson, Martin; Marsic, Niko; Gylling, Bjoern

    2003-12-01

    The general purpose of this study is to estimate the groundwater flow for a large regional domain by use of groundwater models; and to do that with such a resolution (degree of detail) that important local properties of the flow system studied is represented in the established models. Based on the results of the groundwater modelling, we have compared different theoretical locations of a repository for nuclear waste, considering length and breakthrough time (advective flow) for flow paths from such a repository. The area studied is located in Sweden, in the Northeast of the Uppland province. The area has a maximum horizontal extension of 90 km by 50 km, and the size of the area is approximately 2,000 km 2 . The study is based on a system analysis approach. The studied system is the groundwater flow in the rock mass of Northeast Uppland. To reach the objectives of the study, different mathematical models were devised of the studied domain; these models will, in an idealised and simplified way, reproduce the groundwater movements at the area studied. The formal models (the mathematical models) used for simulation of the groundwater flow are three dimensional mathematical descriptions of the studied hydraulic system. For establishment of the formal models we used two different numerical codes GEOAN, which is based on the finite difference method and NAMMU, which is based on the finite element method. Considering flow path lengths and breakthrough times from a theoretical repository, we have evaluated the following: Importance of the local and regional topography; Importance of cell size in the numerical model; Importance of depth of domain represented in the numerical model; Importance of regional fracture zones; Importance of local lakes; Importance of areas covered by a clay layer; Importance of a modified topography; Importance of the shore level progress. Importance of density dependent flow. The results of the study includes: Length and breakthrough time of flow

  11. Modelling of groundwater flow and flow paths for a large regional domain in northeast Uppland. A three-dimensional, mathematical modelling of groundwater flows and flow paths on a super-regional scale, for different complexity levels of the flow domain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holmen, Johan G.; Stigsson, Martin [Golder Associates, Stockholm (Sweden); Marsic, Niko; Gylling, Bjoern [Kemakta Konsult AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

    2003-12-01

    The general purpose of this study is to estimate the groundwater flow for a large regional domain by use of groundwater models; and to do that with such a resolution (degree of detail) that important local properties of the flow system studied is represented in the established models. Based on the results of the groundwater modelling, we have compared different theoretical locations of a repository for nuclear waste, considering length and breakthrough time (advective flow) for flow paths from such a repository. The area studied is located in Sweden, in the Northeast of the Uppland province. The area has a maximum horizontal extension of 90 km by 50 km, and the size of the area is approximately 2,000 km{sup 2}. The study is based on a system analysis approach. The studied system is the groundwater flow in the rock mass of Northeast Uppland. To reach the objectives of the study, different mathematical models were devised of the studied domain; these models will, in an idealised and simplified way, reproduce the groundwater movements at the area studied. The formal models (the mathematical models) used for simulation of the groundwater flow are three dimensional mathematical descriptions of the studied hydraulic system. For establishment of the formal models we used two different numerical codes GEOAN, which is based on the finite difference method and NAMMU, which is based on the finite element method. Considering flow path lengths and breakthrough times from a theoretical repository, we have evaluated the following: Importance of the local and regional topography; Importance of cell size in the numerical model; Importance of depth of domain represented in the numerical model; Importance of regional fracture zones; Importance of local lakes; Importance of areas covered by a clay layer; Importance of a modified topography; Importance of the shore level progress. Importance of density dependent flow. The results of the study includes: Length and breakthrough time of

  12. Hydrodynamic characteristics of the two-phase flow field at gas-evolving electrodes: numerical and experimental studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Cheng-Lin; Sun, Ze; Lu, Gui-Min; Yu, Jian-Guo

    2018-05-01

    Gas-evolving vertical electrode system is a typical electrochemical industrial reactor. Gas bubbles are released from the surfaces of the anode and affect the electrolyte flow pattern and even the cell performance. In the current work, the hydrodynamics induced by the air bubbles in a cold model was experimentally and numerically investigated. Particle image velocimetry and volumetric three-component velocimetry techniques were applied to experimentally visualize the hydrodynamics characteristics and flow fields in a two-dimensional (2D) plane and a three-dimensional (3D) space, respectively. Measurements were performed at different gas rates. Furthermore, the corresponding mathematical model was developed under identical conditions for the qualitative and quantitative analyses. The experimental measurements were compared with the numerical results based on the mathematical model. The study of the time-averaged flow field, three velocity components, instantaneous velocity and turbulent intensity indicate that the numerical model qualitatively reproduces liquid motion. The 3D model predictions capture the flow behaviour more accurately than the 2D model in this study.

  13. Study of transient burnout under flow reduction condition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iwamura, Takamichi

    1986-09-01

    Transient burnout characteristics of a fuel rod under a rapid flow reduction condition of a light water reactor were experimentally and analytically studied. The test sections were uniformly heated vertical tube and annulus with the heated length of 800 mm. Test pressures ranged 0.5 ∼ 3.9 MPa, heat fluxes 2,160 ∼ 3,860 KW/m 2 , and flow reduction rates 0.44 ∼ 770 %/s. The local flow condition during flow reduction transients were calculated with a separate flow model. The two-fluid/three-field thermal-hydraulic code, COBRA/TRAC, was also used to investigate the liquid film behavior on the heated surface. The major results obtained in the present study are as follows: The onset of burnout under a rapid flow reduction condition was caused by a liquid film dryout on the heated surface. With increasing flow reduction rate beyond a threshold, the burnout mass velocity at the inlet became lower than the steady-state burnout mass velocity. This is explained by the fact that the vapor flow rate continues to increase due to the delay of boiling boundary movement and the resultant high vapor velocity sustains the liquid film flow after the inlet flow rate reaches the steady-state burnout flow rate. The ratio of inlet burnout mass velocities between flow reduction transient and steady-state became smaller with increasing system pressure because of the lower vapor velocity due to the lower vapor specific volume. Flow reduction burnout occurred when the outlet quality agreed with the steady-state burnout quality within 10 %, suggesting that the local condition burnout model can be used for flow reduction transients. Based on this model, a method to predict the time to burnout under a flow reduction condition in a uniformly heated tube was developed. The calculated times to burnout agreed well with some experimental results obtained by the Author, Cumo et al., and Moxon et al. (author)

  14. Flow cytometry analysis of inflammatory cells isolated from the sciatic nerve and DRG after chronic constriction injury in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Liping; Yin, Yan; Li, Fei; Malhotra, Charvi; Cheng, Jianguo

    2017-06-01

    Cellular responses to nerve injury play a central role in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. However, the analysis of site specific cellular responses to nerve injury and neuropathic pain is limited to immunohistochemistry staining with numerous limitations. We proposed to apply flow cytometry to overcome some of the limitations and developed two protocols for isolation of cells from small specimens of the sciatic nerve and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in mice. RESULTS AND COMPARASION WITH EXISTING: methods We found that both the non-enzymatic and enzymatic approaches were highly effective in harvesting a sufficient number of cells for flow cytometry analysis in normal and pathological conditions. The total number of cells in the injury site of the sciatic and its DRGs increased significantly 14days after chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve, compared to sham surgery control or the contralateral control. The enzymatic approach yielded a significantly higher total number of cells and CD45 negative cells, suggesting that this approach allows for harvest of more resident cells, compared to the non-enzymatic method. The percentage of CD45 + /CD11b + cells was significantly increased in the sciatic nerve but not in the DRG. These results were consistent with both protocols. We thus offer two simple and effective protocols that allow for application of flow cytometry to the investigation of cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuropathic pain. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Driving gradual endogenous c-myc overexpression by flow-sorting: intracellular signaling and tumor cell phenotype correlate with oncogene expression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Kasper Jermiin; Holm, G.M.N.; Krabbe, J.S.

    2009-01-01

    Insulin-exposed rat mammary cancer cells were flow sorted based on a c-myc reporter plasmid encoding a destabilized green fluorescent protein. Sorted cells exhibited gradual increases in c-myc levels. Cells overexpressing c-myc by only 10% exhibited phenotypic changes attributable to c-myc overex...

  16. Distribution of microspheres to regions of dog lung compares well with regional flow of red blood cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beck, K.C.; Rehder, K.

    1986-01-01

    Dorso-caudal areas of dog lungs are better perfused than ventral regions, independent of gravity. Could this be an artifact due to regional bias in lodging of MS. The costal surfaces of 5 isolated blood perfused left lungs of dogs [constant blood flow (F), Ppa, Ppv and Palv] were imaged (gamma camera) first after injection of 141 Ce-labeled MS (15 μ), then in 0.4 sec intervals after a bolus injection of 99 Tc-labeled red blood cells (RBC). Count rates were analyzed in 6 regions. Regional flow measured by MS (flowMS) is F times regional counts divided by total counts in the first image. Regional flow measured by RBC (flowRBC) is F times peak regional counts divided by peak total counts in the 0.4 sec images. The ratio flowMS/flow RBC was greater than 1.0 (P<0.001), suggesting a systematic difference between 1.0 (P<0.001), suggesting a systematic difference between flowMS and flow RBC. More importantly, there was no difference in flowMS/flow RBC among lung regions, allowing the authors to conclude there was no regional bias of flows

  17. Colonization and biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus on endothelial cell layers under flow

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grønnemose, Rasmus Birkholm; Antoinette Asferg, Cecilie; Kolmos, Hans Jørn

    Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen and known for causing vascular infections such as sepsis and infective endocarditis. It has previously been proposed that S. aureus succeed in colonization of the endothelial wall by specific surface attachment likely followed by biofilm formation....... Furthermore, S. aureus is known to invade human cells, which has been proposed to promote persistence through immune and antibiotic evasion. In the current study, we sought to investigate endothelial colonization, invasion, and biofilm formation by S. aureus using a newly developed in vitro flow chamber model....... We show that under physiological shear rates, S. aureus utilizes cellular invasion to enable the following surface colonization and biofilm formation. These observations might help explain the success of S. aureus as a bloodstream pathogen and guide further studies in S. aureus pathogenesis...

  18. Assessment of Surface Markers Derived from Human Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells: An In Vitro Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zainab Kadkhoda

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Periodontal tissue regeneration for treatment of periodontal disease has not yet been mastered in tissue engineering. Stem cells, scaffold, and growth factors are the three main basic components of tissue engineering. Periodontal ligament (PDL contains stem cells; however, the number, potency and features of these cells have not yet been understood. This study aimed to isolate and characterize the properties of PDL stem cells. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, samples were isolated from the PDL of extracted teeth of five patients and then stained immunohistochemically for detection of cell surface markers. Cells were then examined by immuno-flow cytometry for mesenchymal markers as well as for osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation.Results: The isolated cell population had fibroblast-like morphology and flow cytometry revealed that the mesenchymal surface markers were (means: CD90 (84.55, CD31 (39.97, CD166 (33.77, CD105 (31.19, CD45 (32/44, CD44 (462.11, CD34 (227.33, CD38 (86.94, CD13 (34.52 and CD73 (50.39. The PDL stem cells also differentiated into osteoblasts and adipocytes in osteogenic and adipogenic media, respectively.Conclusions: PDL stem cells expressed mesenchymal stem cell (MSC markers and differentiated into osteoblasts and adipocytes in osteogenic and adipogenic media, respectively.Keywords: Adipocytes; Antigens; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells; Osteoblasts; Periodontal Ligament

  19. Integrating a dual-silicon photoelectrochemical cell into a redox flow battery for unassisted photocharging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Shichao; Zong, Xu; Seger, Brian; Pedersen, Thomas; Yao, Tingting; Ding, Chunmei; Shi, Jingying; Chen, Jian; Li, Can

    2016-05-04

    Solar rechargeable flow cells (SRFCs) provide an attractive approach for in situ capture and storage of intermittent solar energy via photoelectrochemical regeneration of discharged redox species for electricity generation. However, overall SFRC performance is restricted by inefficient photoelectrochemical reactions. Here we report an efficient SRFC based on a dual-silicon photoelectrochemical cell and a quinone/bromine redox flow battery for in situ solar energy conversion and storage. Using narrow bandgap silicon for efficient photon collection and fast redox couples for rapid interface charge injection, our device shows an optimal solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency of ∼5.9% and an overall photon-chemical-electricity energy conversion efficiency of ∼3.2%, which, to our knowledge, outperforms previously reported SRFCs. The proposed SRFC can be self-photocharged to 0.8 V and delivers a discharge capacity of 730 mAh l(-1). Our work may guide future designs for highly efficient solar rechargeable devices.

  20. Experimental study for flow regime of downward air-water two-phase flow in a vertical narrow rectangular channel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, T. H.; Yun, B. J.; Jeong, J. H. [Pusan National University, Geunjeong-gu, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    Studies were mostly about flow in upward flow in medium size circular tube. Although there are great differences between upward and downward flow, studies on vertical upward flow are much more active than those on vertical downward flow in a channel. In addition, due to the increase of surface forces and friction pressure drop, the pattern of gas-liquid two-phase flow bounded to the gap of inside the rectangular channel is different from that in a tube. The downward flow in a rectangular channel is universally applicable to cool the plate type nuclear fuel in research reactor. The sub-channel of the plate type nuclear fuel is designed with a few millimeters. Downward air-water two-phase flow in vertical rectangular channel was experimentally observed. The depth, width, and length of the rectangular channel is 2.35 mm, 66.7 mm, and 780 mm, respectively. The test section consists of transparent acrylic plates confined within a stainless steel frame. The flow patterns of the downward flow in high liquid velocity appeared to be similar to those observed in previous studies with upward flow. In downward flow, the transition lines for bubbly-slug and slug-churn flow shift to left in the flow regime map constructed with abscissa of the superficial gas velocity and ordinate of the superficial liquid velocity. The flow patterns observed with downward flow at low liquid velocity are different from those with upward flow.