Retrograde Analysis of Calcium Signaling by CaMPARI2 Shows Cytosolic Calcium in Chondrocytes Is Unaffected by Parabolic Flights

Calcium (Ca2+) elevation is an essential secondary messenger in many cellular processes, including disease progression and adaptation to external stimuli, e.g., gravitational load. Therefore, mapping and quantifying Ca2+ signaling with a high spatiotemporal resolution is a key challenge. However, particularly on microgravity platforms, experiment time is limited, allowing only a small number of replicates. Furthermore, experiment hardware is exposed to changes in gravity levels, causing experimental artifacts unless appropriately controlled. We introduce a new experimental setup based on the fluorescent Ca2+ reporter CaMPARI2, onboard LED arrays, and subsequent microscopic analysis on the ground. This setup allows for higher throughput and accuracy due to its retrograde nature. The excellent performance of CaMPARI2 was demonstrated with human chondrocytes during the 75th ESA parabolic flight campaign. CaMPARI2 revealed a strong Ca2+ response triggered by histamine but was not affected by the alternating gravitational load of a parabolic flight.

Continuous Fabrication of Ti3C2Tx MXene-Based Braided Coaxial Zinc-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitors with Improved Performance

Highlights Ti3C2Tx MXene-based coaxial zinc-ion hybrid fiber supercapacitors (FSCs) were fabricated with braided structure, which can be prepared continuously and present excellent flexibility and ultrastability. A sports watch driven by the watch belts which weaved uses the obtained zinc-ion hybrid FSC and LED arrays lighted by the FSCs under embedding into textiles, demonstrating the great potential application in smart wearable textiles. Abstract Zinc-ion hybrid fiber supercapacitors (FSCs) are promising energy storages for wearable electronics owing to their high energy density, good flexibility, and weavability. However, it is still a critical challenge to optimize the structure of the designed FSC to improve energy density and realize the continuous fabrication of super-long FSCs. Herein, we propose a braided coaxial zinc-ion hybrid FSC with several meters of Ti3C2Tx MXene cathode as core electrodes, and shell zinc fiber anode was braided on the surface of the Ti3C2Tx MXene fibers across the solid electrolytes. According to the simulated results using ANSYS Maxwell software, the braided structures revealed a higher capacitance compared to the spring-like structures. The resulting FSCs exhibited a high areal capacitance of 214 mF cm–2, the energy density of 42.8 μWh cm−2 at 5 mV s−1, and excellent cycling stability with 83.58% capacity retention after 5000 cycles. The coaxial FSC was tied several kinds of knots, proving a shape-controllable fiber energy storage. Furthermore, the knitted FSC showed superior stability and weavability, which can be woven into watch belts or embedded into textiles to power smart watches and LED arrays for a few days.

32 × 32 Pixelated High-Power Flip-Chip Blue Micro-LED-on-HFET Arrays for Submarine Optical Communication

This work proposes the use of integrated high-power InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well flip-chip blue micro light-emitting diode (μ-LED) arrays on an AlGaN/GaN-based heterojunction field-effect transistor (HFET), also known as a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), for various applications: underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) and smart lighting. Therefore, we demonstrate high-power μ-LED-on-HEMT arrays that consist of 32 × 32 pixelated μ-LED arrays and 32 × 32 pixelated HEMT arrays and that are interconnected by a solder bump bonding technique. Each pixel of the μ-LED arrays emits light in the HEMT on-state. The threshold voltage, the off-state leakage current, and the drain current of the HEMT arrays are −4.6 V, <~1.1 × 10−9 A at gate-to-source voltage (VGS) = −10 V, and 21 mA at VGS = 4 V, respectively. At 12 mA, the forward voltage and the light output power (LOP) of μ-LED arrays are ~4.05 V and ~3.5 mW, respectively. The LOP of the integrated μ-LED-on-HEMT arrays increases from 0 to ~4 mW as the VGS increases from −6 to 4 V at VDD = 10 V. Each pixel of the integrated μ-LEDs exhibits a modulated high LOP at a peak wavelength of ~450 nm, showing their potential as candidates for use in UWOC.

PSI Open Fluor CAM script for measuring qE component of NPQ in Chlorella vulgaris v1

This is a simple protocol that consists of 1) 10 minutes preillumination with far red light 2) 5 minutes of illumination with actinic light 3) 5 minutes of dark adaptation with far red light qE is calculated as the differe between NPQ_Lss and NPQ_D5 qE=NPQ_Lss-NPQ_D5 qI=NPQ_D5 Protocol to be used with FluorCAM 7.0 on a PSI Open FC 800-O/1010-S. Act 2 - are the white light LED arrays ADD2 - is the far red LED array Camera is placed at ~20 cm above the measured sample. Light intensity uniformity across the 96 well plate was measured according to manufacturer instructions. !Important - protocol only works under weak far red light. Intense far red will interfere with the fluorescence measurement.

Individually Switchable InGaN/GaN Nano-LED Arrays as Highly Resolved Illumination Engines

GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been shown to effectively operate down to nanoscale dimensions, which allows further downscaling the chip-based LED display technology from micro- to nanoscale. This brings up the question of what resolution limit of the illumination pattern can be obtained. We show two different approaches to achieve individually switchable nano-LED arrays. We evaluated both designs in terms of near-field spot size and optical crosstalk between neighboring pixels by using finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations. The numerical results were compared with the performance data from a fabricated nano-LED array. The outcome underlines the influence of geometry of the LED array and materials used in contact lines on the final illumination spot size and shape.

Lau Effect Using LED Array for Lithography

Illumination with LEDs is of increasing interest in imaging and lithography. In particular, compared to lasers, LEDs are temporally and spatially incoherent, so that speckle effects can be avoided by the application of LEDs. Besides, LED arrays are qualified due to their high optical output power. However, LED arrays have not been widely used for investigating optical effects, e.g., the Lau effect. In this paper, we propose the application of an LED array for realizing the Lau effect by taking into account the influence of the coherence properties of illumination on the Lau effect. Using spatially incoherent illumination with the LED array or a single LED, triangular distributed Lau fringes can be obtained. We apply the obtained Lau fringes in the optical lithography to produce analog structures. Compared to a single LED, the Lau fringes using the LED array have significantly higher intensities. Hence, the exposure time in the lithography process is largely reduced.

Effects of LED and HPS lighting on the growth, seedling morphology and yield of greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers

In an experiment with tomato and cucumber transplants, light units equipped with purpose-built LED arrays were compared with HPS sodium lamps with a power of 600 W and a voltage of 230 V. For both the LED and HPS lamps, the same PAR radiation level was used at the plant height, which was about 70–80 μmol/m2/s in conditions without daylight. The supplementary lighting was carried out for 8 to 24 hours and was switched on during the day when the solar radiation outside the greenhouse was lower than 200 W/m2. The supplementary lighting with the LED and HPS lamps did not have a significant impact on the growth of the tomato and cucumber seedlings and the fresh and dry mass of the tomato and cucumber plants. The plants grown without the additional artificial lighting were significantly smaller in height, had fewer leaves, a smaller spread and produced lower fresh and dry weights. The tomato and cucumber plants grown under the LED lamps had a higher chlorophyll index than those grown under the HPS lamps and without any lighting. The supplementary lighting with the LED lamps increased the early yield of the tomatoes compared to the HPS and control plants but has no effect on the early yield of the cucumbers. Both the LED and HPS lighting significantly increased the total and marketable yield of the tomatoes and cucumbers.