scholarly journals A Review on Theory and Modelling of Nanomechanical Sensors for Biological Applications

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
Jose Jaime Ruz ◽  
Oscar Malvar ◽  
Eduardo Gil-Santos ◽  
Daniel Ramos ◽  
Montserrat Calleja ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Biological Applications ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Fundamental Limits ◽  
Static Mode ◽  
Nano Fabrication ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Biological Entities ◽  
Nanomechanical Sensors

Over the last decades, nanomechanical sensors have received significant attention from the scientific community, as they find plenty of applications in many different research fields, ranging from fundamental physics to clinical diagnosis. Regarding biological applications, nanomechanical sensors have been used for characterizing biological entities, for detecting their presence, and for characterizing the forces and motion associated with fundamental biological processes, among many others. Thanks to the continuous advancement of micro- and nano-fabrication techniques, nanomechanical sensors have rapidly evolved towards more sensitive devices. At the same time, researchers have extensively worked on the development of theoretical models that enable one to access more, and more precise, information about the biological entities and/or biological processes of interest. This paper reviews the main theoretical models applied in this field. We first focus on the static mode, and then continue on to the dynamic one. Then, we center the attention on the theoretical models used when nanomechanical sensors are applied in liquids, the natural environment of biology. Theory is essential to properly unravel the nanomechanical sensors signals, as well as to optimize their designs. It provides access to the basic principles that govern nanomechanical sensors applications, along with their intrinsic capabilities, sensitivities, and fundamental limits of detection.

scholarly journals Engineering motile aqueous phase-separated droplets via liposome stabilisation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaobin Zhang ◽  
Claudia Contini ◽  
James W. Hindley ◽  
Guido Bolognesi ◽  
Yuval Elani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aqueous Phase ◽  
Marangoni Effect ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Biological Applications ◽  
Emulsion System ◽  
Biotechnological Potential ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Directional Motion ◽  
The Stability

AbstractThere are increasing efforts to engineer functional compartments that mimic cellular behaviours from the bottom-up. One behaviour that is receiving particular attention is motility, due to its biotechnological potential and ubiquity in living systems. Many existing platforms make use of the Marangoni effect to achieve motion in water/oil (w/o) droplet systems. However, most of these systems are unsuitable for biological applications due to biocompatibility issues caused by the presence of oil phases. Here we report a biocompatible all aqueous (w/w) PEG/dextran Pickering-like emulsion system consisting of liposome-stabilised cell-sized droplets, where the stability can be easily tuned by adjusting liposome composition and concentration. We demonstrate that the compartments are capable of negative chemotaxis: these droplets can respond to a PEG/dextran polymer gradient through directional motion down to the gradient. The biocompatibility, motility and partitioning abilities of this droplet system offers new directions to pursue research in motion-related biological processes.

scholarly journals A Rational Model for Agroecology as a Science

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Luis Fernando Gómez-Echeverri ◽  
Leonardo Alberto Ríos-Osorio ◽  
María Luisa Eschenhagen-Durán
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Scientific Change ◽  
Rational Model ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Organic Theory

Agroecology was born as a competing theory to sciences derived from the Green Revolution like conventional agronomy or modernized animal husbandry. In recent years, several theoretical models or approaches have been developed in order to explain this science. However, any of them can explain its change or difference with its rival theories in a rational manner that allows assessment of its success. As a result, the aim of this study was to propose a rational model of scientific change based on main and auxiliary hypotheses. We found that seven basic principles have been formulated throughout theoretical books and papers as well as several auxiliary hypotheses that can be derived from them. These principles are as follows: (1) characteristic systemic principle of agroecology, (2) principle of biomimicry, (3) principle of biodiversity, (4) principle of specificity of agroecosystems, (5) principle of governance, (6) principle of socioecological resilience, and (7) principle of vulnerability. Also, three principles for food systems approach were retrieved. This model shows agroecology more like an organic theory that moves in different scales than a set of rival theories competing for success. However, a proper articulation and discussion of these basic principles is yet to be done.

scholarly journals Single cell ecology

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1786) ◽  
pp. 20190076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Richards ◽  
Ramon Massana ◽  
Stefano Pagliara ◽  
Neil Hall
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
New Methodologies ◽  
Biological Entities ◽  
The Way

Cells are the building blocks of life, from single-celled microbes through to multi-cellular organisms. To understand a multitude of biological processes we need to understand how cells behave, how they interact with each other and how they respond to their environment. The use of new methodologies is changing the way we study cells allowing us to study them on minute scales and in unprecedented detail. These same methods are allowing researchers to begin to sample the vast diversity of microbes that dominate natural environments. The aim of this special issue is to bring together research and perspectives on the application of new approaches to understand the biological properties of cells, including how they interact with other biological entities. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Single cell ecology’.

scholarly journals Aerobiology: Experimental Considerations, Observations, and Future Tools

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen E. Haddrell ◽  
Richard J. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Atmospheric Transport ◽  
Method Comparison ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Single Droplet ◽  
Aerosol Generation ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Molecular Microbiology ◽  
Modeling Techniques

ABSTRACT Understanding airborne survival and decay of microorganisms is important for a range of public health and biodefense applications, including epidemiological and risk analysis modeling. Techniques for experimental aerosol generation, retention in the aerosol phase, and sampling require careful consideration and understanding so that they are representative of the conditions the bioaerosol would experience in the environment. This review explores the current understanding of atmospheric transport in relation to advances and limitations of aerosol generation, maintenance in the aerosol phase, and sampling techniques. Potential tools for the future are examined at the interface between atmospheric chemistry, aerosol physics, and molecular microbiology where the heterogeneity and variability of aerosols can be explored at the single-droplet and single-microorganism levels within a bioaerosol. The review highlights the importance of method comparison and validation in bioaerosol research and the benefits that the application of novel techniques could bring to increasing the understanding of aerobiological phenomena in diverse research fields, particularly during the progression of atmospheric transport, where complex interdependent physicochemical and biological processes occur within bioaerosol particles.

scholarly journals From imaging to understanding: Frontiers in Live Cell Imaging, Bethesda, MD, April 19–21, 2006

2006 ◽  
Vol 174 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-li Wang ◽  
Klaus M. Hahn ◽  
Robert F. Murphy ◽  
Alan F. Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Cell Biology ◽  
Live Cell Imaging ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Cell Imaging ◽  
Live Cell ◽  
The Other ◽  
Biological Applications ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Recent Meeting ◽  
The One

A recent meeting entitled Frontiers in Live Cell Imaging was attended by more than 400 cell biologists, physicists, chemists, mathematicians, and engineers. Unlike typical special topics meetings, which bring together investigators in a defined field primarily to review recent progress, the purpose of this meeting was to promote cross-disciplinary interactions by introducing emerging methods on the one hand and important biological applications on the other. The goal was to turn live cell imaging from a “technique” used in cell biology into a new exploratory science that combines a number of research fields.

Traitement de l'air par biofiltration

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasnaa Jorio ◽  
Michèle Heitz
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Operational Conditions ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Treatment Technologies ◽  
Expensive Process

During several decades, there have been numerous studies and attempts in the field of the treatment of volatile organic solvent contaminated air, with the aim of finding a more efficient and less expensive process. In parallel with the traditional air treatment technologies, biological processes have emerged in recent years. Biofiltration appears to be a particularly preferred path due to its efficiency, its environmental aspects, and its lower costs. In this paper, the biofiltration technology is positioned in relation to conventional techniques and other biological air treatments. Subsequently, after a short historical account of biofiltration, the focus is put on the main objective of this literature review, presenting the current knowledge about the basic principles of the process, its applicability, operational conditions that influence performance and reliability of this process, and recent developments in mathematical biofilter modeling. Finally, industrial applications and biofiltration processing costs are briefly discussed.Key words: biofilter, VOC, biodegradation, modeling, kinetics, humidity, temperature, pH, nutrients, oxygen.[Journal translation]

scholarly journals How receptor diffusion influences gradient sensing

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (102) ◽  
pp. 20141097 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Nguyen ◽  
P. Dayan ◽  
G. J. Goodhill
Keyword(s):  
Fisher Information ◽  
Diffusion Constant ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Eukaryotic Cells ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Directed Motion ◽  
Gradient Sensing ◽  
Chemical Gradients ◽  
Physical Limit ◽  
Spatial Differences

Chemotaxis, or directed motion in chemical gradients, is critical for various biological processes. Many eukaryotic cells perform spatial sensing, i.e. they detect gradients by comparing spatial differences in binding occupancy of chemosensory receptors across their membrane. In many theoretical models of spatial sensing, it is assumed, for the sake of simplicity, that the receptors concerned do not move. However, in reality, receptors undergo diverse modes of diffusion, and can traverse considerable distances in the time it takes such cells to turn in an external gradient. This sets a physical limit on the accuracy of spatial sensing, which we explore using a model in which receptors diffuse freely over the membrane. We find that the Fisher information carried in binding and unbinding events decreases monotonically with the diffusion constant of the receptors.

Proteome Organization in a Genome-Reduced Bacterium

Science ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 326 (5957) ◽  
pp. 1235-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Kühner ◽  
Vera van Noort ◽  
Matthew J. Betts ◽  
Alejandra Leo-Macias ◽  
Claire Batisse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Affinity Purification ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Multiprotein Complex ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Structural Details ◽  
Cellular Machinery ◽  
Affinity Purification Mass Spectrometry

The genome of Mycoplasma pneumoniae is among the smallest found in self-replicating organisms. To study the basic principles of bacterial proteome organization, we used tandem affinity purification–mass spectrometry (TAP-MS) in a proteome-wide screen. The analysis revealed 62 homomultimeric and 116 heteromultimeric soluble protein complexes, of which the majority are novel. About a third of the heteromultimeric complexes show higher levels of proteome organization, including assembly into larger, multiprotein complex entities, suggesting sequential steps in biological processes, and extensive sharing of components, implying protein multifunctionality. Incorporation of structural models for 484 proteins, single-particle electron microscopy, and cellular electron tomograms provided supporting structural details for this proteome organization. The data set provides a blueprint of the minimal cellular machinery required for life.

Capturing Processes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Nuño de la Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Biology ◽  
Quantitative Imaging ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
First Century ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
In Vivo Microscopy ◽  
Developmental Processes ◽  
Biological Entities ◽  
Time Lapse Imaging

While a processual view of biological entities might be said to be congenial to embryologists, the intractability and speed of developmental processes traditionally led to an epistemological abandon of processes in favour of the advantages of discretizing ontogenies in arrays of patterns. It is not until the turn of the twenty-first century that the digital embryos obtained from in vivo microscopy have started to replace developmental series as the reference representations of development. This chapter looks at how new microscopy, molecular, and computer technologies for reconstructing biological processes are contributing to a processual understanding of development. First it investigates how time-lapse imaging has brought with it a radical dynamization, not only of the images, but also of the theories of development themselves. Next it explores the role that imaging technologies have played in the return of organicism in developmental biology. Finally, it focuses on how quantitative imaging contributes to the explanatory modelling of developmental processes.

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