The Application of an Exogenous Linear and Radial Electrical Field to an In Vitro Chronic Diabetic Ulcer Model for Evaluation as a Potential Treatment

Chronic diabetic ulcers affect approximately 15% of patients with diabetes worldwide. Currently, applied electric fields are being investigated as a reliable and cost-effective treatment. This in vitro study aimed to determine the effects of a constant and spatially variable electric field on three factors: endothelial cell migration, proliferation, and angiogenic gene expression. Results for a constant electric field of 0.01 V demonstrated that migration at short time points increased 20-fold and proliferation at long time points increased by a factor of 1.40. Results for a spatially variable electric field did not increase directional migration, but increased proliferation by a factor of 1.39 and by a factor of 1.55 after application of 1.00 V and 0.01 V, respectively. Both constant and spatially variable applied fields increased angiogenic gene expression. Future research that explores a narrower range of intensity levels may more clearly identify the optimal design specifications of a spatially variable electric field.

Polymer waveguide and VCSEL array multi-physics modelling for OECB based optical backplanes [opto-electrical circuit boards]

The deployment of OECBs (opto-electrical circuit boards) is expected to make a significant impact in the telecomm switches arena within the next five years. This will create optical backplanes with high speed point-to-point optical interconnects. The crucial aspect in the manufacturing process of the optical backplane is the successful coupling between VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting laser) device and embedded waveguide in the OECB. The results from a thermo-mechanical analysis are being used in a purely optical model, which solves optical energy and attenuation from the VCSEL aperture into, and then through, the waveguide. Results from the modelling are being investigated using DOE analysis to identify packaging parameters that minimise misalignment. This is achieved via a specialist optimisation software package. Results from the thermomechanical and optical models are discussed as are experimental results from the DOE.

Communal larval rearing of European lobster (Homarus gammarus): family identification by microsatellite DNA profiling an offspring fitness.

Stock enhancement experiments of European lobster (Homarus gammarus) have been carried out around the Kvitsoy Islands in south-western Norway since 1990. In addition to releases of coded wire tagged lobster juveniles (cultured) and subsequent monitoring of commercial fishery, a lobster hatchery was established in 1997. Several experiments were made on the communal-rearing approach where the performance of mixed larval groups (families) was evaluated under identical conditions. Berried females of wild and cultured origin and their respective fertilised eggs were screened by using microsatellite DNA profiling involving a multiplex set of six lobster specific primers, thereby allowing determination of both parental genotypes. Each female were kept separately during hatching, and the offspring were later mixed and raised in a communal rearing system. The early-larval survival was estimated at stage IV (bottom stage), and the survivors were identified to family and group by microsatellite profiling. Five different communal experiments were conducted, representing offspring from 65 berried females. Of the surviving larvae, 6.3% could not be assigned to family due to degraded DNA and no PCR amplification. Significant differences in early survival between offspring of wild and cultured origin were found in the experiments. No differences between the groups were found in stage IV larval size. Based on the pooled data on survival (as a measure of early larvae fitness) offspring of cultured females displayed a relative fitness of 60% in comparison to offspring from wild females. Large variation in survival was also observed among families within the wild and cultured groups, suggesting a genetic component for these traits and a potential for selective breeding.