Cutting and Bonding Parafilm to Fast Prototyping Flexible Hanging Drop Chips for 3D Spheroid Cultures.

A fast and low-cost fabrication process of flexible hanging drop chips for 3D spheroid cultures was proposed by cutting and bonding Parafilm, a cohesive thermoplastic. The Parafilm Hanging Drop Chip (PHDC) was assembled by two-layer of Parafilm sheet with different sizes of holes. The hole on the upper layer of the Parafilm is smaller than the hole on the bottom layer.

One-Step Dip-Coating-Fabricated Core-Shell Silk Fibroin Rice Paper Fibrous Scaffolds for 3D Tumor Spheroid Formation.

Bioscaffolds are important substrates for supporting three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures. Silk fibroin (SF) is an attractive biomaterial in tissue engineering because of its good biocompatibility and mechanical properties. Electrospinning is one of the most often used approaches to fabricate SF fibrous scaffolds; yet, this technique still faces many challenges, such as low yield, residual organic solvents, limited extensibility of fibers, and a lack of spatial control over pore size.

On-chip RT-LAMP and colorimetric detection of the prostate cancer 3 biomarker with an integrated thermal and imaging box.

To achieve low-cost, compact, and portable nucleic acid testing, an integrated device containing a three-dimensional printing fabricated reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) chip, a thermal module, and an imaging module was developed. Samples and RT-LAMP reagents were loaded on a sponge-like polyvinyl alcohol pad on a chip, whereas the colorimetric detection zone was a dry paper pre-loaded with Calcine. The sealed chip was incubated on the integrated thermal module, and the RT-LAMP products were pressed into the Calcine pre-loaded dry paper by a stick.

Separation and Characterization of Prostate Cancer Cell Subtype according to Their Motility Using a Multi-Layer CiGiP Culture.

Cancer cell metastasis has been recognized as one hallmark of malignant tumor progression; thus, measuring the motility of cells, especially tumor cell migration, is important for evaluating the therapeutic effects of anti-tumor drugs. Here, we used a paper-based cell migration platform to separate and isolate cells according to their distinct motility. A multi-layer cells-in-gels-in-paper (CiGiP) stack was assembled.

[Preparation and luminescence of down-conversion material beta--NaYF4 : Tb3+, Yb3+].

NaYF4 : Tb3+, Yb3+ down-conversion (DC) phosphors were synthesized by hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra were used to characterize the samples. Experiment results revealed that samples of NaYF4 : Tb3+, Yb3+ crystallized in hexagonal shape without cubic shape.

Synthesis and luminescent properties of LuAG : Ce3+ transparent ceramics by solvo-thermal method.

The precursor powders of LuAG : Ce3+ transparent ceramics were synthesized by solvo-thermal method. The crystal structure and morphology of powders were analyzed by means of Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The precursor powders were sintered into transparent ceramics in vacuum and then in nitrogen without any additive.

[Analysis of mannoligosaccharides by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry].

Oligosaccharide characterization has been of utmost interest in various areas such as medicine, biochemistry, and food chemistry. These biologically relevant molecules are ideally suited for mass spectrometric investigation, because of the capability of this technique in offering structure and relative molecular mass information. Therefore, liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) was applied to characterize the acetolysis of mannan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.