December 2013: This Month in JoVE

Summary

Here's a look at what's coming up in the December 2013 issue of JoVE.

Protocol

Microfluidic Picoliter Bioreactor for Microbial Single-cell Analysis: Fabrication, System Setup and Operation

Alexander Gruenberger, Christopher Probst, Antonia Heyer, Wolfgang Wiechert, Julia Frunkze, Dietrich Kohlheyer

In this protocol the fabrication, setup and basic operation of a microfluidic picoliter bioreactor (PLBR) for single-cell analysis of prokaryotic microorganisms is introduced. Industrially relevant microorganisms were analyzed as proof of principle allowing insights into growth rate, morphology and phenotypic heterogeneity over certain time periods, hardly possible with conventional methods.

Surface Renewal: An Advanced Micrometeorological Method for Measuring and Processing Field-Scale Energy Flux Density Data

Andrew J. McElrone^1,2, Thomas M. Shapland², Arturo Calderon^2,3, Li Fitzmaurice^4,5, Kyaw Tha Paw U⁴, Richard L. Snyder⁴

¹Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, ²Department of Viticulture & Enology, University of California, Davis, ³Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Chile, ⁴Atmospheric Science, University of California, Davis, ⁵URS Corporation Australia Pty. Ltd.

Surface renewal is a micrometeorological method that is being used increasingly to determine energy fluxes, but its technical complexity makes it inaccessible to a broad audience. We describe the steps needed to set up and calibrate a surface renewal field station, to acquire and process data, and to correctly interpret results.

Isolation of Viable Multicellular Glands from Tissue of the Carnivorous Plant, Nepenthes

Sandy Rottloff¹, Axel Mithöfer², Ute Müller³, Roland Kilper³

¹Laboratoire Agronomie et Environnement, Université de Lorraine, ²Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, ³aura optik

Plants glands are specialized structures responsible for the biosynthesis and secretion of many compounds involved in interactions with the biotic environment. To enable studies on their molecular and biochemical features, a mechanical micropreparation technique was established in order to isolate single metabolically active glands, here from the carnivorous plant Nepenthes.

Dual-phase Cone-beam Computed Tomography to See, Reach, and Treat Hepatocellular Carcinoma during Drug-eluting Beads Transarterial Chemo-embolization

Vania Tacher¹, MingDe Lin², Nikhil Bhagat¹, Nadine Abi Jaoudeh³, Alessandro Radaelli⁴, Niels Noordhoek⁴, Bart Carelsen⁴, Bradford J. Wood³, Jean-François Geschwind¹

¹Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, ²Clinical Informatics, Interventional, and Translational Solutions (CIITS), Philips Research North America, ³Center for Interventional Oncology, Interventional Radiology Section, National Institutes of Health, ⁴Interventional X-ray, Philips Healthcare

Dual-phase cone-beam computed tomography (DP-CBCT) is a useful intraprocedural imaging technique for transarterial chemo-embolization treatment with drug-eluting beads of hepatocellular carcinoma. DP-CBCT has been used to perform three major steps in oncologic interventional radiology: tumor localization (see), navigation and intraprocedural catheter guidance (reach), and intraprocedural evaluation of treatment success (treat).

High-resolution, High-speed, Three-dimensional Video Imaging with Digital Fringe Projection Techniques

Laura Ekstrand, Nikolaus Karpinsky, Yajun Wang, Song Zhang

3D Machine Vision Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University

This video describes the fundamentals of digital fringe projection techniques, which provide dense 3D measurements of dynamically changing surfaces. It also demonstrates the design and operation of a high-speed binary defocusing system based on these techniques.