Cells Of Different Sizes Research Articles

Influence of acoustic modes on resonance properties of a quartz tuning fork immersed in superfluid 4He and liquid mixtures 3He–4He

The oscillating quartz tuning fork method has been used to study resonance phenomena in experimental cells of different sizes filled with superfluid 4He and concentrated liquid mixtures of 3He–4He. An analysis of the temperature dependence of the resonance frequencies of the tuning forks showed that in a number of cases, the incompressible fluid model is not sufficient to interpret the experimental results and that acoustic processes in the cell should be taken into account. The frequencies of the resonances of the first sound in cylindrical geometry are estimated and their influence on the resonant frequencies of the tuning fork is shown, which can lead to a distortion of the shape of the resonant line. A comparison is made between experimental results for superfluid 4He and mixtures of 3He-4He with light isotope concentrations of 5% and 15%. It is shown that, in contrast to pure helium, the model of a viscous incompressible fluid cannot be applied to mixtures, even in the absence of first acoustic resonances. This can be explained by the fact that, when studying concentrated solutions, the excitation of the second sound along with the first can have a noticeable effect on the resonance characteristics of the tuning fork.

A Multi-Sized Unit Cell Method for the Design of LPBF Lattice Support Structures Concerning Complex Geometries

Abstract Composed of individual unit cells strategically arranged to achieve a desired function, lattices are a promising solution for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) support structure design in additive manufacturing. Despite their many advantages (e.g., multifunctionality and reduced material cost), prior work in lattice support structure design primarily focuses on horizontal support domains that are not translatable to support domains for complex geometries, thereby limiting their application. This work introduces a multi-sized unit cell design optimization (MSO) method to create lattice support structures (LSS) for parts with complex geometries. The proposed method utilizes voxelization to generate LSS using box-like unit cells of different sizes. It also allows for efficient, high-dimensional design optimization for the types and locations of user-specified unit cells through a modified simulated annealing-based optimization algorithm. The effectiveness and efficiency of the MSO method are demonstrated through the case study of an adapter pipe for a high-temperature heat exchanger. For this demonstration, LSS using multi-sized unit cells are designed to increase heat transfer rate while satisfying structural integrity and material cost constraints. The case study results indicate that the design of the LSS derived from the MSO method fulfills all constraints, including the design constraint of 50% material cost reduction, compared to the solid support structure. In contrast, the lattice support structure designs derived from equal-sized unit cell methods either cannot satisfy all design constraints or have a lower heat transfer rate than the design of the MSO method.

Dynamics of Nakaseomyces glabratus biofilm formation

Formation of biofilms of microorganisms, including those of Nakaseomyces glabratus, is responsible for the development of local and systemic pathologies in humans and animals. The system of gene expression coordination (quorum sensing) in the representation of signaling molecules allows regulation of the amount and composition of biofilm populations thus expanding the adaptive capacity of microorganisms. In the presence of gingivitis and odontolithiasis clinical signs in dogs, excessive growth of gram-positive yeast microorganisms is a differential sign of the decreased resistance of the digestive system mucous membranes to colonization. Examination of the densitometric and morphometric parameters revealed general patterns of biofilm formation, regardless of the source of Nakaseomyces glabratus isolates. Depending on the time of cultivation of the microorganisms, a gradual increase in the optic density absolute values was established. Intercellular communications were achieved by coaggregation of the heteromorphic structures, which formed clusters with rounded liquid-containing formations detected among them. The population immobilization of the architectonics of the mature three-dimensional biofilm, as consistent with cultivation conditions, was accompanied by the differentiation of numerous cells of different sizes and shapes depending on the stage of the cell cycle. Results of the examination of the general patterns of the heterogeneous micromycete population development are promising for expanding the boundaries of knowledge of the adaptation mechanisms of ubiquitous microorganisms to long-term in vivo and in vitro persistence. Methods for studying morphometric and densitometric indicators avoiding interfering into the natural biofilm architectonics are recommended to optimize the long-term and retrospective mycological studies, as well as to develop effective mycosis treatment and prevention regimens.

Effect of sample dimensions on the stiffness of PA12 Lattice materials fabricated using Powder Bed Fusion

Powder Bed Fusion fabrication techniques, including selective laser sintering, have made the fabrication of lattice meta-materials consisting of periodic cells formed by interconnected struts possible. It is generally observed that cell size has a strong influence on the lattice’s effective Young’s modulus, following in the case of typical polymers used for printing a trend of the smaller the softer. However, there is no clear understanding of the origin of the effective elastic modulus reduction with lattice cell size. In this paper, an integrated study is performed to unravel the reasons behind this effect. The analysis performed encompasses mechanical characterization (compression tests and nanoindentation), microstructure characterization (X-ray tomography, DSC, SAXS, and WAXS), and numerical analysis of the effect of defects (FFT and Finite element simulations of cells with roughness and defects) of PA12 printed single cells of different sizes and full lattice specimens containing many cells. It is found that the effect of porosity and roughness is not enough to explain the reduction of the effective elastic modulus with the cell size, suggesting that this effect is necessarily a combination of the defects, incomplete melting of particles and the changes of PA12 nanostructure induced by the different printing conditions as function of full specimen size . The results of the micro- and nanostructure characterization validate this assumption.

Numerical and experimental investigation of the gyroid heat exchanger

This paper presents a study of a novel type of heat exchanger (HE) whose core is built based on a Triply Periodic Minimal Surface structure. The core of this exchanger is built as a periodic structure based on a gyroid-type lattice and is manufactured by laser powder-bed fusion technology. This solution is distinguished not only by an exceptionally favorable ratio of the heat exchange surface area to the volume occupied but also by a unique geometry that additionally turbulates the flow and intensifies the heat exchange process. This article contains the results of numerical analyses of the entire exchanger under different operating conditions and the results of analyses of small fragments of the core filled with cells of different sizes. Numerical analyzes of the lattice-type exchanger are performed on the basis of the experimentally validated numerical model. The objective of the study is to determine the performance of the gyroid HE under different operational conditions and select the best elementary cell size per exchanger core for the assumed operating conditions. The printed HE was compared with a plate HE that was 30% larger, although the lattice one managed to achieve 10.5% higher values in on average Number of Transfer Units (NTU) and on average 5% higher temperature effectiveness (TE) in the studied range of flow parameters.

Human plasma-like medium (HPLM) induces Cryptococcus neoformans in vivo cell morphologies.

The fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) forms yeast cells of different sizes and morphological characteristics during infection. These features are usually not seen in standard laboratory in vitro conditions. Here, we describe in vivo cell morphologies when C. neoformans is grown in human plasma-like medium at 37°C, 5% CO2. We observed mixed-size populations of cells less than 1 µm up to 16.8 µm in cell diameter, increased capsule size, high chitin, and DNA content in larger cells. Our findings show that serum is not required for human plasma-like medium (HPLM)-induced C. neoformans cellular heterogeneity. Thus, this new method offers an opportunity to investigate factors of C. neoformans that mediate pathogenesis or host-pathogen interactions in a physiologically relevant setting.IMPORTANCEWe provide a description of new in vitro culture condition using the human plasma-like medium that supports the formation of the full range of in vivo cell morphologies of C. neoformans.

Image Data Stream Organization and Online Analysis Application Based on Data Cube Technology

Abstract. This study aims to explore the important role of data-like cube structures in modern remote sensing data processing and data analysis through ArcPy and Python multiprocessing techniques. A multi-scale spatial data cube is innovatively developed to improve the efficiency of remote sensing data management and optimize data analysis. The core of this study is to define and implement grid cells of different sizes that form the basis of data cube, and to quantify the efficient coverage of specific areas using Python multiprocessing techniques. Experiments were conducted in Hainan Province, and efficient data coverage of the whole Hainan Province was realized using the grid data method, which significantly reduced the amount of remote sensing data and processing time required. This shows that the method has successfully improving data coverage capacity and utilization efficiency. The results of this study not only demonstrate the effective application of data-like cubes in remote sensing data processing and analysis, but also provide new perspectives and methods for future complex spatial data analysis and large-scale remote sensing data processing.

The Effect of Comb Cell Size on the Development of Apis mellifera Drones.

The growth and development of honeybees are influenced by many factors, one of which is the cell size of the brood comb. Larger worker bees can be obtained by being raised in bigger cells. However, whether cell size has the same effect on drone development is still unknown. Here, using 3D-printed foundations, we observed the development of drones kept in comb cells of different sizes from the late larval stage through eclosion. The results showed that drones in larger cell-size combs had heavier body weights, longer body lengths, and larger head widths, thorax widths, and abdomen widths compared to those in smaller cell-size combs. Furthermore, regardless of developmental stages, the drones' body weights increased linearly with the comb's cell size. However, the other morphological changes of drones in different developmental stages were out of proportion to the cell-size changes, resulting in smaller cells with a higher fill factor (thorax width/cell width). Our findings confirm that comb cell size affects the development of honeybees; drones become bigger when raised in large cells.

The people behind the papers - Thomas Mullan and Richard Poole.

Asymmetric cell divisions can produce daughter cells of different sizes, but it is unclear whether unequal cell cleavage is important for cell fate decisions. A new paper in Development explores the role of unequal cleavages in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. To learn more about the story behind the paper, we caught up with first author Thomas Mullan and corresponding author Richard Poole, Associate Professor of Developmental Biology at University College London, UK.

Control of successive unequal cell divisions by neural cell fate regulators determines embryonic neuroblast cell size.

Asymmetric cell divisions often generate daughter cells of unequal size in addition to different fates. In some contexts, daughter cell size asymmetry is thought to be a key input to specific binary cell fate decisions. An alternative possibility is that unequal division is a mechanism by which a variety of cells of different sizes are generated during embryonic development. We show here that two unequal cell divisions precede neuroblast formation in the C lineage of Caenorhabditis elegans. The equalisation of these divisions in a pig-1/MELK mutant background has little effect on neuroblast specification. Instead, we demonstrate that let-19/MDT13 is a regulator of the proneural basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor hlh-14/ASCL1 and find that both are required to concomitantly regulate the acquisition of neuroblast identity and neuroblast cell size. Thus, embryonic neuroblast cell size in this lineage is progressively regulated in parallel with identity by key neural cell fate regulators. We propose that key cell fate determinants have a previously unappreciated function in regulating unequal cleavage, and therefore cell size, of the progenitor cells whose daughter cell fates they then go on to specify.

Morphology-based deep learning enables accurate detection of senescence in mesenchymal stem cell cultures.

Cell senescence is a sign of aging and plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of age-related disorders. For cell therapy, senescence may compromise the quality and efficacy of cells, posing potential safety risks. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are currently undergoing extensive research for cell therapy, thus necessitating the development of effective methods to evaluate senescence. Senescent MSCs exhibit distinctive morphology that can be used for detection. However, morphological assessment during MSC production is often subjective and uncertain. New tools are required for the reliable evaluation of senescent single cells on a large scale in live imaging of MSCs. We have developed a successful morphology-based Cascade region-based convolution neural network (Cascade R-CNN) system for detecting senescent MSCs, which can automatically locate single cells of different sizes and shapes in multicellular images and assess their senescence state. Additionally, we tested the applicability of the Cascade R-CNN system for MSC senescence and examined the correlation between morphological changes with other senescence indicators. This deep learning has been applied for the first time to detect senescent MSCs, showing promising performance in both chronic and acute MSC senescence. The system can be a labor-saving and cost-effective option for screening MSC culture conditions and anti-aging drugs, as well as providing a powerful tool for non-invasive and real-time morphological image analysis integrated into cell production.

Cross-Scale Fusion Transformer for Histopathological Image Classification.

Histopathological images provide the medical evidences to help the disease diagnosis. However, pathologists are not always available or are overloaded by work. Moreover, the variations of pathological images with respect to different organs, cell sizes and magnification factors lead to the difficulty of developing a general method to solve the histopathological image classification problems. To address these issues, we propose a novel cross-scale fusion (CSF) transformer which consists of the multiple field-of-view patch embedding module, the transformer encoders and the cross-fusion modules. Based on the proposed modules, the CSF transformer can effectively integrate patch embeddings of different field-of-views to learn cross-scale contextual correlations, which represent tissues and cells of different sizes and magnification factors, with less memory usage and computation compared with the state-of-the-art transformers. To verify the generalization ability of the CSF transformer, experiments are performed on four public datasets of different organs and magnification factors. The CSF transformer outperforms the state-of-the-art task specific methods, convolutional neural network-based methods and transformer-based methods. The source code will be available in our GitHub https://github.com/nchucvml/CSFT.

SINGLE-CELL TRANSCRIPTOME ANALYSIS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE.

The analysis of the single-cell transcriptome has emerged as a powerful tool to gain insights on the basic mechanisms of health and disease. It is widely used to reveal the cellular diversity and complexity of tissues at cellular resolution by RNA sequencing of the whole transcriptome from a single cell. Equally, it is applied to discover an unknown, rare population of cells in the tissue. The prime advantage of single-cell transcriptome analysis is the detection of stochastic nature of gene expression of the cell in tissue. Moreover, the availability of multiple platforms for the single-cell transcriptome has broadened its approaches to using cells of different sizes and shapes, including the capture of short or full-length transcripts, which is helpful in the analysis of challenging biological samples. And with the development of numerous packages in R and Python, new directions in the computational analysis of single-cell transcriptomes can be taken to characterize healthy versus diseased tissues to obtain novel pathological insights. Downstream analysis such as differential gene expression analysis, gene ontology term analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis, cell-cell interaction analysis, and trajectory analysis has become standard practice in the workflow of single-cell transcriptome analysis to further examine the biology of different cell types. Here, we provide a broad overview of single-cell transcriptome analysis in health and disease conditions currently applied in various studies.

Compact contactless conductometric, ultraviolet photometric and dual-detection cells for capillary electrophoresis via additive manufacturing

The growing demand for tailored detectors in capillary electrophoresis (CE), addressing tasks like field deployment or dual-detection analysis, emphasizes the necessity for compact detection cells. In this work, we propose cost-effective and user-friendly additive manufacturing (3D-printing) approaches to produce such miniaturized detection cells suitable for a range of CE applications. Firstly, capacitively-coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) cells of different sizes are fabricated by casting low-melting-point alloy into 3D-printed molds. Various designs of Faraday shields are integrated within the cells and compared. A mini-C4D cell (9.5×7.0×7.5 mm3) is produced, with limits of detection for alkaline cations ranging from 8-12 μM in a short–capillary based CE application. Secondly, ultraviolet photometric (UV-PD) detection cells are fabricated using 3D printing. These cells feature two narrow slits with a width of 60 μm, which are positioned along the path of incident and transmission light to facilitate collimation. A deep UV-LED (235 nm or 255 nm) is employed as the light source, and black resin is determined to be the optimal material for 3D printing the UV-PD cell, owing to its superior UV light absorption capabilities. The UV-PD cell is connected to the LED and photodetector through two optical fibers, making it easy to switch the light source and detector. The effective pathlength and stray light percentage for detecting on a 75 μm id capillary are 74 μm and 0.5 %, respectively. Thirdly, a dual-detection cell that combined C4D and UV-PD at a single detection point is proposed. The performance of direct detection by C4D and indirect detection by UV-PD is compared for detecting organic acids. The strategies for developing cost-effective compact detection cells facilitate the versatile integration of multiple detection methods in CE analysis.

Detection of Fat Cells in Uterine Scars During Normal Pregnancy and with Placenta Accreta Spectrum

The aim was to investigate the presence of fat cells (adipocytes) using morphological methods in the uterus of women without signs of scarring, with well–off scars after cesarean section (CS), as well as in a group of patients with different variants of atypical placentation.Material and methods. A retrospective histological and immunohistochemical study of the uterine wall material obtained during abdominal delivery in normal pregnancy without a previous CS in medical history (group 1, n=10), in normal pregnancy with a previous CS in anamnesis and the presence of a scar in the uterine wall (group 2, n=23) was performed, in pregnancy complicated by the ingrowth of placental villi (group 3, n=22).Results. In the uteroplacental region, the fat component was found in all three groups. No adipocytes were found in group 1 (0%). In group 2, fields of fat cells of different sizes were found in 19 cases out of 23 studied (83%) and only in the scar zone: in serosa 40%, in the perivascular zone 28%, among muscle bundles 15%. In the 3rd group with the ingrowth of placental villi into the scar zone, a “hernia” of the thinned uterine wall was detected in 68% of cases. The adipocytic component in this group was detected in 86% of cases (19 out of 22). Localization of adipocytes was observed in serosa (56%), in the perivascular zone (25%) and among muscle bundles (6%). No adipocytic component was found in the uterine wall outside the scar tissue.Conclusion. An adipocytic component was identified, undoubtedly associated with traumatic damage to the uterus and the presence of a scar in the wall. What are the relationships between the presence of fat cells in the scar tissue and its predisposition to the pathology of ingrowth of villi is unknown and requires further research.

Experimental study of quantitative and corpuscular properties of rat’s leukocytes under the influence of ore

Introduction. Mining industry workers are at risk, as heavy metal compounds that are part of copper-zinc pyrite ore can accumulate in their bodies. One of the sensitive parts of the body to the action of heavy metals is blood, in which leukocytes play a leading role.
 The study aims to explore the effect of copper-zinc pyrite ore on the quantitative and corpuscular properties of peripheral blood leukocytes.
 Materials and methods. A group of researchers have conducted an experimental study on 48 white mongrel male rats aged 3–4 months, weighing 210.5±10.5 g. For 30 days, an aqueous suspension of ore powder was orally administered to rats daily at a dose of 600 mg/kg of animal body weight. In the ore sample under study, the proportion of lead and cadmium was 0.060% and 0.009%, respectively. In accordance with the conditions of the experiment , the scientists have divided the rats into the following groups: a control group in which the rats did not receive ore; an experimental group in which rats received ore for 10 days; an experimental group in which rats received ore for 20 days; an experimental group in which rats received ore for 30 days. The researchers measured blood parameters using a veterinary semi-automatic hematology analyzer Vet Exigo 19 (Sweden), which determined the following parameters of leukocytes: total number of leukocytes, absolute number of lymphocytes, monocytes and granulocytes. We calculated the average volume of lymphocytes, granulocytes and monocytes based on histograms of the distribution of cells by volume issued by the device. To assess the statistical significance of the differences in variables, the authors used the Mann–Whitney U-test.
 Results. In the experimental group of animals after 30 days of ore intoxication, the average volume and number of granulocytes and monocytes increased statistically compared to the control. The authors have revealed a correlation between the parameters of cell distribution and the average volume in leukocyte populations at different times of ore intoxication.
 Conclusion. The effect of copper-zinc pyrite ore on the condition of the leukocyte link of peripheral blood was an increase in the average population volumes of all types of leukocytes by the 30th day of the experiment, due to a change in the ratio of the number of cells of different sizes and the degree of heterogeneity of the populations.
 Limitations. The limitation of this study is the model of oral administration of copper-zinc pyrite ore in the form of an aqueous suspension.
 Ethics. The authors have conducted the study in compliance with the "Rules of work using experimental animals". The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee of the Bashkir State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Protocol No. 5 of 13.09.2017.

Mathematical model for force and energy of virion-cell interactions during full engulfment in HIV: Impact of virion maturation and host cell morphology.

Viral endocytosis involves elastic cell deformation, driven by chemical adhesion energy, and depends on physical interactions between the virion and cell membrane. These interactions are not easy to quantify experimentally. Hence, this study aimed to develop a mathematical model of the interactions of HIV particles with host cells and explore the effects of mechanical and morphological parameters during full virion engulfment. The invagination force and engulfment energy were described as viscoelastic and linear-elastic functions of radius and elastic modulus of virion and cell, ligand-receptor energy density and engulfment depth. The influence of changes in the virion-cell contact geometry representing different immune cells and ultrastructural membrane features and the decrease in virion radius and shedding of gp120 proteins during maturation on invagination force and engulfment energy was investigated. A low invagination force and high ligand-receptor energy are associated with high virion entry ability. The required invagination force was the same for immune cells of different sizes but lower for a local convex geometry of the cell membrane at the virion length scale. This suggests that localized membrane features of immune cells play a role in viral entry ability. The available engulfment energy decreased during virion maturation, indicating the involvement of additional biological or biochemical changes in viral entry. The developed mathematical model offers potential for the mechanobiological assessment of the invagination of enveloped viruses towards improving the prevention and treatment of viral infections.

Microarray Chip and Method for Simultaneous and Highly Consistent Electroporation of Multiple Cells of Different Sizes.

Cell electroporation is an important cell manipulation technology to artificially transfer specific extracellular components into cells. However, the consistency of substance transport during the electroporation process is still an issue due to the wide size distribution of the natural cells. In this study, a cell electroporation microfluidic chip based on a microtrap array is proposed. The microtrap structure was optimized for single-cell capture and electric field focusing. The effects of the cell size on the cell electroporation in the microchip were investigated through simulation and experiment methods using the giant unilamellar vesicle as the simplified cell model, and a numerical model of a uniform electric field was used as a comparison. Compared with the uniform electric field, a lower threshold electric field is required to induce electroporation and produces a higher transmembrane voltage on the cell under a specific electric field in the microchip, showing an improvement in cell viability and electroporation efficiency. The larger perforated area produced on the cells in the microchip under a specific electric field allows a higher substance transfer efficiency, and the electroporation results are less affected by the cell size, which is beneficial for improving substance transfer consistency. Furthermore, the relative perforation area increases with the decrease of the cell diameter in the microchip, which is exactly opposite to that in a uniform electric field. By manipulating the electric field applied to the microtrap individually, a consistent proportion of substance transfer during electroporation of cells with different sizes can be achieved.

3D simulations of ultrasonic waves in plates using the scaled boundary finite element method and high-order transition elements

It can be difficult to efficiently model ultrasonic waves in 3D structures, especially when the computational model needs to account for complex geometries. This contribution presents a solution based on the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM). It is a numerical tool suitable for elastodynamic problems. A space-tree discretisation, namely quad-trees, is used. This technique allows the decomposition of an image into quadrilaterals or quads, which are extruded to generate the 3D plate geometry. In particular, small quads resolve regions with discontinuities, allowing them to represent fine details in the structure. Moreover, this meshing technique allows for exploiting cell similarities, making the calculation procedure more efficient. The space-tree discretisations are generated from a high-resolution image containing all the information about damaged regions or boundary conditions. The resulting SBFEM polyhedral domains employ transition elements to ensure correct coupling between cells of different sizes. The analytical solution of a cylindrical scatterer serves as a reference to validate the proposed approach. Other examples also demonstrate the validity of the methodology and its flexibility.

Analysis of Differences in Electrochemical Performance Between Coin and Pouch Cells for Lithium‐Ion Battery Applications

Small coin cell batteries are predominantly used for testing lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) in academia because they require small amounts of material and are easy to assemble. However, insufficient attention is given to difference in cell performance that arises from the differences in format between coin cells used by academic researchers and pouch or cylindrical cells which are used in industry. In this article, we compare coin cells and pouch cells of different size with exactly the same electrode materials, electrolyte, and electrochemical conditions. We show the battery impedance changes substantially depending on the cell format using techniques including Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Galvanostatic Intermittent Titration Technique (GITT). Using full cell NCA‐graphite LIBs, we demonstrate that this difference in impedance has important knock‐on effects on the battery rate performance due to ohmic polarization and the battery life time due to Li metal plating on the anode. We hope this work will help researchers getting a better idea of how small coin cell formats impact the cell performance and help predicting improvements that can be achieved by implementing larger cell formats.