Purpose: Heterozygous mutations in the insulin gene can give rise to a monogenic diabetes syndrome due to toxic misfolding of the variant proinsulin in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of pancreatic β-cells. Clinical mutations are widely distributed in the sequence (86 amino acids). Misfolding induces chronic ER stress and interferes in with wildtype biosynthesis and secretion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicromachines (Basel)
January 2025
The metal bipolar plate is a critical component of the hydrogen fuel cell stack used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Bipolar plates must have high accuracy micro-channels with a high aspect ratio () between the channel depth and the half periodic width to achieve optimal cell performance. Conventional forming methods, such as micro-stamping, hydroforming, and rubber pad forming, cannot achieve these high ARs given that in these processes, material deformation is dominated by stretch deformation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrofluidic droplet sorting has emerged as a powerful technique for a broad spectrum of biomedical applications ranging from single cell analysis to high-throughput drug screening, biomarker detection and tissue engineering. However, the controlled and reliable retrieval of selected droplets for further off-chip analysis and processing is a significant challenge in droplet sorting, particularly in high-throughput applications with low expected hit rates. In this study, we present a microfluidic platform capable of sorting and dispensing individual droplets with minimal loss rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Learning health networks (LHNs) improve clinical outcomes by applying core tenets of continuous quality improvements (QI) to reach community-defined outcomes, data-sharing, and empowered interdisciplinary teams including patients and caregivers. LHNs provide an ideal environment for the rapid adoption of evidence-based guidelines and translation of research and best practices at scale. When an LHN is established, it is critical to understand the needs of all stakeholders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) is essential for assessing vegetation's photosynthetic efficiency and ecosystem energy balance. While the MODIS FPAR product provides valuable global data, its reliability is compromised by noise, particularly under poor observation conditions like cloud cover. To solve this problem, we developed the Spatio-Temporal Information Composition Algorithm (STICA), which enhances MODIS FPAR by integrating quality control, spatio-temporal correlations, and original FPAR values, resulting in the High-Quality FPAR (HiQ-FPAR) product.
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