No abstract

We report a new method to display the minute fluctuations induced by syringe pumps on microfluidic flows by using a liquid-liquid system with an ultralow interfacial tension. We demonstrate that the stepper motor inside the pump is a source of fluctuations in microfluidic flows by comparing the frequencies of the ripples observed at the interface to that of the pulsation of the stepper motor. We also quantify the fluctuations induced at different flow rates, using syringes of different diameters, and using different syringe pumps with different advancing distances per step. Our work provides a way to predict the frequency of the fluctuation that the driving syringe pump induces on a microfluidic system and suggests that syringe pumps can be a source of fluctuations in microfluidic flows, thus contributing to the polydispersity of the resulting droplets.

Emerging health monitoring bioelectronics require energy storage units with improved stretchability, biocompatibility, and self‐charging capability. Stretchable supercapacitors hold great potential for such systems due to their superior specific capacitances, power densities, and tissue‐conforming properties, as compared to both batteries and conventional capacitors. Despite the rapid progress that has been made in supercapacitor research, practical applications in health monitoring bioelectronics have yet to be achieved, requiring innovations in materials, device configurations, and fabrications tailored for such applications. In this review, the progress in stretchable supercapacitor‐powered health monitoring bioelectronics is summarized and the required specifications of supercapacitors for different types of application settings with varying demands on biocompatibility are discussed, including nontouching wearables, skin‐touching wearables, skin‐conforming wearables, and implantables. The perspective of this review is then broadened to focus on integration of stretchable supercapacitors in bioelectronics and aspects of energy harvesting and sensing. Finally further insights on the existing challenges in this developing field and potential solutions are provided.

Despite its importance in central nervous system development, development of the human neural tube (NT) remains poorly understood, given the challenges of studying human embryos, and the developmental divergence between humans and animal models. We report a human NT development model, in which NT-like tissues, neuroepithelial (NE) cysts, are generated in a bioengineered neurogenic environment through self-organization of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). NE cysts correspond to the neural plate in the dorsal ectoderm and have a default dorsal identity. Dorsal-ventral (DV) patterning of NE cysts is achieved using retinoic acid and/or sonic hedgehog and features sequential emergence of the ventral floor plate, P3, and pMN domains in discrete, adjacent regions and a dorsal territory progressively restricted to the opposite dorsal pole. This hPSC-based, DV patterned NE cyst system will be useful for understanding the self-organizing principles that guide NT patterning and for investigations of neural development and neural disease.

Our results suggest that iPS cells are able to differentiate into male germ cells in vitro and that reconstituted seminiferous tubules may provide a functional niche for exogenous iPS cell-derived male germ cells. Derivation of male germ cells from iPS cells has potential application for treating male infertility and provides an ideal platform for elucidating molecular mechanisms of male germ-cell development.