Proteomics-on-a-chip: the challenge to couple lab-on-a-chip unit operations

This review describes a vision of a proteomics-on-a-chip device to separate, detect and identify the proteome. It guides the reader towards a development strategy, avoiding some of the pitfalls. It also describes the current state-of-the-art developments in proteomic analysis including available technologies, current market issues, the elements of an envisaged proteomics-on-a-chip device, the required microfabrication processes and the integration of the elements into one device. Address-flow microfluidics is a tool for connecting separation and detection platforms. The final section contains an expert opinion on the recommended development strategies, benefits of proteomics-on-a-chip in the life sciences and the anticipated market.     

Prospects for genetically modified crops

Genetically modified (GM) crops have been in use commercially around the world for almost a decade. This review covers the successes and failures of GM crop varieties in that time, the current status of GM crop adoption and the traits that are being used. It also describes some of the GM crops that might come on to the market in the next decade. The barriers in the way of GM crop development in Europe, including consumer hostility, the difficulty in gaining official approval and discriminatory labelling laws are discussed.     

The impact of standards

The development of standards in the field of PACS is essential. This paper explains why and describes the current activities in this field. Special emphasis is put on the European activities, i.e. the CEN/TC251 committee. The impact of standards is given on the relation between the Information Technology and Medical Imaging market.     

Reconnoitring the current characteristics of the double C<Subscript>20</Subscript> fullerene molecular device in two probe configuration

It is worth remarking that the C₂₀ cage like isomer has been the topic of concentrated theoretical research. C₂₀ single fullerene molecular devices gained a lot of popularity in the field of nano research due to their superlative doping dependent conductive properties. In this work, the double fullerene device has been considered. Here double fullerene molecular junction is created when two C₂₀ fullerene molecules, one in pristine form and other in doped form, are positioned between gold electrodes. Doping was done firstly by second period elements, boron, nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine and then by group 14 tetragens, silicon, germanium, tin, and lead. For both the cases current characteristics were investigated. Superior conductivity was observed in the boron doped double C₂₀ molecular device while the fluorine doped device was the least conducting. Further for group 14 doping, the silicon doped double C₂₀ device showed maximum current carrying feature, whereas, least value of current was noted in tin doped C₂₀ device.     

An overview of the South Korean edible insect food industry: challenges and future pricing/promotion strategies

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the edible insect industry in South Korea and present suggestions for future pricing and promotion strategies. In the first section of this paper, this study outlines the current status and challenges of the edible insect industry in the food market, the material market, the animal feed market, and the medicinal market. The second section of this paper suggests different pricing and promotion strategies for each market segment. This study describes how the consideration of personal traits, information framing, and increasing familiarity can enhance consumer consumption of insect‐based foods.     

中国碳交易市场的特征、动力机制与趋势——基于国际经验比较

建立和完善碳交易市场是目前各国政府控制温室气体排放、积极应对全球气候变化的重要途径之一,厘清其发展特征和动力是推动碳交易的前提。将碳交易市场作为自然-经济-社会复合生态系统反馈机制的一环,从国际、国内两个尺度对碳交易市场的特征、动力机制和趋势做了分析,发现国际气候谈判的核心利益、减排的融资需求、货币霸权是碳交易市场全球化和金融化的主要驱动力。中国碳交易市场发展具有分阶段、市场规模大、发展不平衡、试点区域构建了碳交易政策体系等特征。鉴于中国经济增速快、碳排放增量大、能源依赖性大、区域发展不平衡、政府主导经济发展和外围保障体系不够完善等因素影响下,国内减排压力和国际声誉作为内在驱动机制,与国际相通的驱动机制共同促使形成具有中国特色的全国统一碳交易市场。同时,中国碳交易市场存在规模和业务扩大、制度更加完善、成为有世界话语权的碳交易市场等发展趋势。     

Guidelines for the development and validation of new potency assays for the evaluation of umbilical cord blood

The following commentary was developed by the National Marrow Donor Program Cord Blood Advisory Group and is intended to provide an overview of umbilical cord blood (UCB) processing, summarize the current state of potency assays used to characterize UCB, and define limitations of the assays and future needs of the cord blood banking and transplant community. The UCB banking industry is eager to participate in the development of standardized assays to uniformly characterize cellular therapy products that are manufactured in a variety of ways. This paper describes the desired qualities of these assays and how the industry proposes to co-operate with developers to bring relevant assays to market. To that end, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Cord Blood Bank Network is available to serve as a resource for UCB testing material, research and development consulting, and product/assay testing in an accredited UCB manufacturing environment.     

Optical immunosensing systems--meeting the market needs

Optical immunosensors and sensing systems are biosensors which produce a quantitative measure of the amount of antibody, antigen or hapten present in a complex sample such as serum or whole blood. The market needs for such devices and their associated instrumentation are reviewed. A brief history of the development of optical immunosensors is presented and the performance of the most well-developed optical immunosensors for meeting these market needs is reviewed. One device, the fluorescent capillary fill device (FCFD) is reviewed in detail with respect to it fulfilling the market needs for an optical immunosensor. Areas for the future development of such sensing systems are also discussed.     

区域农业生态旅游发展模式研究

农业生态旅游是一种新型农业生产经营形式 ,也是一种新型旅游活动项目 ,是在发展农业生产的基础上有机地附加了生态旅游观光功能的交叉性产业 ,是当今旅游新需求的必然产物。本文在分析陕西农业生态旅游现状及存在问题的基础上 ,从旅游者需求心理、市场需求等方面分析研究了陕西省农业生态旅游巨大的市场潜力 ,并提出了相应的发展对策及可持续发展模式。对区域农业生态旅游发展具有重要的促进作用和参考价值     

Numerical Investigation of the Instability-Based Power Emission from an Ungated Plasmonic HEMT Using Complete Hydrodynamic Model

The full-wave analysis of the Dyakonov–Shur instability in an ungated short-channel high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is investigated in this paper. This mechanism causes the emission of electromagnetic radiations by the device. The accurate analysis of the device is important especially when large electric fields are present. Herein, to analyze such structures, the complete hydrodynamic model, which is the simultaneous solution of Maxwell’s equations and the first three moments of the Boltzmann transport equation, is used. This model well describes the electron-wave interactions by considering the transport parameter variations with the electron energy and temperature. These variations are especially considerable when the emitter operates at high electromagnetic fields and were not considered in previous studies. The obtained results demonstrate the oscillation current along the channel and consequently the radiated power of the device are severely influenced by the transport parameter variations. The developed analysis method describes the behavior of the device as a terahertz emitter more accurately than the available ones.

     

Biological laser printing of genetically modified Escherichia coli for biosensor applications

One of the primary requirements of cell- or tissue-based sensors is the placement of cells and cellular material at or near the sensing elements of the device. The ability to achieve precise, reproducible and rapid placement of cells is the focus of this study. We have developed a technique, biological laser printing or BioLP, which satisfies these requirements and has advantages over current technologies. BioLP is capable of rapidly depositing patterns of active biomolecules and living cells onto a variety of material surfaces. Unlike ink jet or manual spotting techniques, this process delivers small volume (nl to fl) aliquots of biomaterials without the use of an orifice, thus eliminating potential clogging issues and enabling diverse classes of biomaterials to be deposited. This report describes the use of this laser-based printing method to transfer genetically-modified bacteria capable of responding to various chemical stressors onto agar-coated slides and into microtiter plates. The BioLP technology enables smaller spot sizes, increased resolution, and improved reproducibility compared to related technologies.     

Multi-sample acoustic biosensing microsystem for protein interaction analysis

The current work describes a novel setup for multi-sample biomolecular analysis. It is based on the assembly of a dual acoustic device chip with a four-channel microfluidic module, forming an array of eight available domains for experiments. Initially, multiple detection was demonstrated via the specific interaction of neutravidin with four different biotinylated proteins, namely protein G, protein A, bovine serum albumin, and immunoglobulin G; results revealed a reproducibility between the microchannel domains better than 90%. Real-time analysis of the binding interactions was used to calculate the affinity and kinetic constants of the four biotinylated molecules binding to surface-immobilized neutravidin; this was the first time that this information was derived using a biosensing device and four biotinylated molecules. Interestingly, all calculated kinetic and affinity constants resemble those typical of antibody-antigen interactions, although the investigated specific binding was of avidin-biotin nature. Finally, under device pre-functionalization conditions, it was possible to probe eight interactions all together, exploiting the full capacity of the microsystem and reducing significantly the analysis time, contrary to the use of the standard acoustic device configuration. The outcome of this full-scale validation opens the way for the integrated acoustic platform to be implemented in even higher throughput detection for future diagnostic/biomedical applications, as well as in fundamental research studies regarding biomolecular interaction investigation and characterization.     

集群式院外高危心脏病患者远程实时连续监护系统

设计了一种针对院外心血管病患者的远程心电监护系统,包括便携式监护终端和医院监护中心。其特点在于可对身处院外、自由活动的心血管病患者进行远程、实时、连续的监护,同时获得被监护患者的地理位置信息。已完成的整体调试结果表明,本系统不仅能及时发现异常心电图并进行干预,而且还可根据地理位置信息对突发急病的患者进行快速救治。该系统是院内监护系统功能的延伸,有良好的临床应用前景。     

MitraClip step by step; how to simplify the procedure

The MitraClip system is a device for percutaneous edge-to-edge reconstruction of the mitral valve in patients with severe mitral regurgitation who are deemed at high risk for surgery. Studies have underlined the therapeutic benefit of the MitraClip system for patients at extreme and high risk for mitral valve surgery, suffering from either degenerative or functional mitral regurgitation. The MitraClip procedure shows low peri-procedural complication rates, and a significant reduction in mitral regurgitation, as well as an improvement in functional capacity and most importantly quality of life. It hereby widens the spectrum of mitral valve repair for the Heart Team. The current review underscores the efficacy of the procedure and describes the technique to simplify the procedure.     

城市森林研究进展

城市森林是一门正在形成和发展的新兴学科 ,它从森林学的角度 ,对城市这一人类活动的中心进行研究探讨 ,为我们认识和解决当代城市问题 ,开辟了新的思路。随着城市人口剧增 ,工业化进程加速发展 ,城市环境质量迅速下降 ,造成了大气、水、土壤、噪声等污染 ,而且使城市热岛效应不断加剧 ,严重损害了人类的身心健康。我国已经开始关注和探讨城市森林建设 ,但目前多局限于理论研究上 ,具体实践还刚起步 ,对城市森林的概念、范畴、原则、标准和实施措施还有不同的理解 ,并且许多研究还囿于林业的范畴 ,如何真正与城市有机结合还有待于进一步探讨…     

The fungal biocontrol agent Coniothyrium minitans: production by solid-state fermentation, application and marketing

Biological control agents (BCAs) are potential alternatives for the chemical fungicides presently used in agriculture to fight plant diseases. Coniothyrium minitans is an example of a promising fungal BCA. It is a naturally occurring parasite of the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a wide-spread pathogen which substantially reduces the yield of many crops. This review describes, exemplified by C. minitans, the studies that need to be carried out before a fungal BCA is successfully introduced into the market. The main aspects considered are the biology of C. minitans, the development of a product by mass production of spores using solid-state fermentation technology, its biocontrol activity and marketing of the final product.     

THE SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM OF THE BAT CRICOTHYROID MUSCLE

The bat cricothyroid muscle is believed to participate in the production of the short bursts of frequency modulated ultrasound which these animals use as an echolocation device. The evidence seems to indicate that this muscle must be extremely fast acting. It possesses a very well developed sarcoplasmic reticulum, consisting of intercommunicating longitudinal and transverse tubular elements. The transverse elements, situated at the level of the junction between the A and the I bands, are tripartite complexes of tubules called triads, and these are sometimes replaced by more complex structures, the pentads. The intermediate element of the triad appears as a slender continuous tubule, which can be shown to come into close contact with the sarcolemma and also to share with it certain common staining properties. The longitudinal components of the reticulum consist of very numerous tubules which link successive triads to each other and anastomose to form multiple layers of close-meshed reticula in the interfibrillar sarcoplasm. Both the longitudinal and the transverse elements of the sarcoplasmic reticulum form a continuous network across the muscle fiber. It is suggested that the extraordinary development of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the bat cricothyroid is related to the unusual physiological properties of this muscle.     

Plant nutrition for sustainable development and global health

Background

Plants require at least 14 mineral elements for their nutrition. These include the macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulphur (S) and the micronutrients chlorine (Cl), boron (B), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and molybdenum (Mo). These are generally obtained from the soil. Crop production is often limited by low phytoavailability of essential mineral elements and/or the presence of excessive concentrations of potentially toxic mineral elements, such as sodium (Na), Cl, B, Fe, Mn and aluminium (Al), in the soil solution.

Scope

This article provides the context for a Special Issue of the Annals of Botany on ‘Plant Nutrition for Sustainable Development and Global Health’. It provides an introduction to plant mineral nutrition and explains how mineral elements are taken up by roots and distributed within plants. It introduces the concept of the ionome (the elemental composition of a subcellular structure, cell, tissue or organism), and observes that the activities of key transport proteins determine species-specific, tissue and cellular ionomes. It then describes how current research is addressing the problems of mineral toxicities in agricultural soils to provide food security and the optimization of fertilizer applications for economic and environmental sustainability. It concludes with a perspective on how agriculture can produce edible crops that contribute sufficient mineral elements for adequate animal and human nutrition.     

Device for measuring soft tissue interface pressures

This paper describes the construction and performance of a simple pressure sensing device with a continuous electrical output. It was constructed utilizing a commercially available transducer, an electropneumatic sensor capsule and a 1 m long tube. The transducer used was a piezo-resistive pressure-sensitive device producing an output voltage proportional to the applied pressure. This low cost, high accuracy device is temperature compensated and shows good linearity and negligible hysteresis. The sensor cell has a good thickness-to-diameter ratio and is sufficiently flexible to conform to most contours of the body. The tubing that conveys the pressure transmitting fluid also serves as a means of keeping the transducer distant from the measuring site. The device showed a highly satisfactory performance under laboratory conditions and has proven to be robust and reliable when used for clinical studies.     

DuctOcclud--implant for transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus.

The DuctOcclud implant is a metal coil device designed for transcatheter closure of small to moderate size patent ductus arteriosus, a Congenital Heart Disease in which a vessel-like communication between the aorta and the pulmonary artery persists after birth. The paper describes the design of the device, its delivery system, and the implant procedure. It also reviews and reports the experimental and the clinical experiences accumulated utilizing the device for occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus.