Heat Stress as a Barrier to Successful Reproduction and Potential Alleviation Strategies in Cattle.

In recent decades, the adverse effects of global warming on all living beings have been unanimously recognized across the world. A high environmental temperature that increases the respiration and rectal temperature of cattle is called heat stress (HS), and it can affect both male and female reproductive functions. For successful reproduction and fertilization, mature and healthy oocytes are crucial; however, HS reduces the developmental competence of oocytes, which compromises reproduction.

Label-free electrochemical detection of glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

Measuring glucose together with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) could provide short-term and long-term information of blood glycemic condition after a single treatment. However, it has been a challenge to quantify glucose and HbA1c from single sample drop and strip of electrodes with suitable sensitivity, selectivity, and efficiency. In this paper, we demonstrated a label free & single sample drop electrochemical detection method of glucose and HbA1c by modifying carbon electrodes.

Optimization of a Single Substrate-Based Fluorometric Assay for Glucose and Lactate Measurement to Assess Preimplantation Single Embryo Quality and Blood in Obese Mouse and Clinical Human Samples.

A fluorometric assay for single substrate-based glucose and lactate measurements was demonstrated by adopting an already established protocol for glucose and by optimizing pH, enzyme concentration, substrate concentration, and types of buffers for lactate. Linear calibration curves for glucose and lactate concentrations from 1 to 100 μM were obtained with correlation coefficients () of 0.94 and 0.

A Dual Electrode Biosensor for Glucose and Lactate Measurement in Normal and Prolonged Obese Mice Using Single Drop of Whole Blood.

Understanding the levels of glucose (G) and lactate (L) in blood can help us regulate various chronic health conditions such as obesity. In this paper, we introduced an enzyme-based electrochemical biosensor adopting glucose oxidase and lactate oxidase on two working screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) to sequentially determine glucose and lactate concentrations in a single drop (~30 µL) of whole blood. We developed a diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model for 28 weeks and monitored the changes in blood glucose and lactate levels.

Optimized culture systems for the preimplantation ICR mouse embryos with wide range of EDTA concentrations.

In this study, preimplantation embryo culture media especially for outbred stock mice (Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)) were optimized with different concentrations of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). A plot with embryo development rates against EDTA concentrations ranging from 0 to 500 µM showed a unique pattern with two characteristic peaks. Two hundred micromolar was adopted as an optimal concentration of EDTA.

Sandwich ELISA-Based Electrochemical Biosensor for Leptin in Control and Diet-Induced Obesity Mouse Model.

Leptin is a peptide hormone produced primarily in adipose tissues. Leptin is considered a biomarker associated with obesity and obesity-mediated diseases. Biosensor detection of leptin in the blood may play a critical role as an indicator of dynamic pathological changes.

Flexible and highly ordered nanopillar electrochemical sensor for sensitive insulin evaluation.

In line with growing interest in obesity management, there has been an increase in the amount of research focused on highly sensitive analysis systems for a small number of biomarers. In this paper, we introduce the highly ordered nanopillar electrode, featuring a high aspect ratio surface area that enables enhanced electron transfer. For fabrication of the flexible electrode, gold was evaporated by electronic beam lithography on polyurethane (PU), which has high flexibility.

Features of Microsystems for Cultivation and Characterization of Stem Cells with the Aim of Regenerative Therapy.

Stem cells have infinite potential for regenerative therapy thanks to their advantageous ability which is differentiable to requisite cell types for recovery and self-renewal. The microsystem has been proved to be more helpful to stem cell studies compared to the traditional methods, relying on its advantageous feature of mimicking in vivo cellular environments as well as other profitable features such as minimum sample consumption for analysis and multiprocedures. A wide variety of microsystems were developed for stem cell studies; however, regenerative therapy-targeted applications of microtechnology should be more emphasized and gain more attractions since the regenerative therapy is one of ultimate goals of biologists and bioengineers.

"Universal" vitrification of cells by ultra-fast cooling.

Long-term preservation of live cells is critical for a broad range of clinical and research applications. With the increasing diversity of cells that need to be preserved (e.g.

Long-term outcomes of simple crossover stenting from the left main to the left anterior descending coronary artery.

Background/aims: Although complex bifurcation stenting in patients with non-left main (LM) bifurcation lesions has not yielded better clinical outcomes than simpler procedures, the utility of complex bifurcation stenting to treat LM bifurcation lesions has not yet been adequately explored.

Methods: In the present study, patients who underwent LM-to-left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery simple crossover stenting to treat significant de novo distal LM or ostial LAD disease, in the absence of angiographically significant ostial left circumflex (LCX) coronary artery disease, were consecutively enrolled. The frequencies of 3-year major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs; cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization), were analyzed.

Reconstituting vascular microenvironment of neural stem cell niche in three-dimensional extracellular matrix.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) reside in a vascular microenvironment termed the "NSC niche." Blood vessels in the NSC niche play an important role in maintaining an appropriate balance between NSC self-renewal and differentiation that serves to maintain homeostasis. Understanding the role of brain vessels in the NSC niche will facilitate basic research in neurogenesis and vasculogenesis as well as aid the development of potential therapies for degenerative disorders.

Real time culture and analysis of embryo metabolism using a microfluidic device with deformation based actuation.

We report a computerized microfluidic real time embryo culture and assay device that can perform automated periodic analyses of embryo metabolism. This automated program uses a modified "gated injection" scheme (sample injection, reagent mixing, enzyme reaction of 15 min incubation, and sample detection) to sequentially measure fluorescence from sample, reference, and background (without any analyte) every hour. Measurements assessed with reference solutions demonstrated the stability of these microfluidic measurements over a 24 h period.

Controlled loading of cryoprotectants (CPAs) to oocyte with linear and complex CPA profiles on a microfluidic platform.

Oocyte cryopreservation has become an essential tool in the treatment of infertility by preserving oocytes for women undergoing chemotherapy. However, despite recent advances, pregnancy rates from all cryopreserved oocytes remain low. The inevitable use of the cryoprotectants (CPAs) during preservation affects the viability of the preserved oocytes and pregnancy rates either through CPA toxicity or osmotic injury.

Ultra-rapid vitrification of mouse oocytes in low cryoprotectant concentrations.

The ideal cryopreservation protocol would combine the benefits of slow freezing with the benefits of vitrification. This report describes a method for the ultra-rapid vitrification of oocytes using slush nitrogen in quartz capillaries. The approach minimizes the thermal mass of the vitrification vessel by using open microcapillaries made of highly conductive quartz and achieves cooling rates of 250,000 degrees C/min.

Characterization and resolution of evaporation-mediated osmolality shifts that constrain microfluidic cell culture in poly(dimethylsiloxane) devices.

Evaporation is a critical problem when handling submicroliter volumes of fluids. This paper characterizes this problem as it applies to microfluidic cell culture in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) devices and provides a practical solution. Evaporation-mediated osmolality shifts through PDMS membranes with varying thicknesses (10, 1, 0.

Quantitative measurement and control of oxygen levels in microfluidic poly(dimethylsiloxane) bioreactors during cell culture.

Microfluidic bioreactors fabricated from highly gas-permeable poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) materials have been observed, somewhat unexpectedly, to give rise to heterogeneous long term responses along the length of a perfused mammalian cell culture channel, reminiscent of physiologic tissue zonation that arises at least in part due to oxygen gradients. To develop a more quantitative understanding and enable better control of the physical-chemical mechanisms underlying cell biological events in such PDMS reactors, dissolved oxygen concentrations in the channel system were quantified in real time using fluorescence intensity and lifetime imaging of an oxygen sensitive dye, ruthenium tris(2,2'-dipyridyl) dichloride hexahydrate (RTDP). The data indicate that despite oxygen diffusion through PDMS, uptake of oxygen by cells inside the perfused PDMS microchannels induces an axial oxygen concentration gradient, with lower levels recorded in downstream regions.

Effects of peak anomalies with the hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties of reservoirs during serial injection on a capillary electrophoresis microchip.

Several anomalies, e.g., in peak shape, migration time, and baseline drift, all due to pressure-driven backflow, were previously reported to occur during serial injection on capillary electrophoresis (CE) chips.