August 2014: This Month in JoVE - Chemical Sensing Robots, Tracking Blood Cell Development, Rodents on the Treadmill, and Simulating Urban Runoff

Summary

Here's a look at what's coming up in the August 2014 issue of JoVE.

Protocol

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Martinez, D., Arhidi, L., Demondion, E., Masson, J. B., Lucas, P.

UMR 7503, Laboratoire Lorrain de Recherche en Informatique et ses Applications (LORIA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 1392 iEES-Paris, Institut d'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Physics of Biological Systems, Institut Pasteur

We describe a protocol for using insect antennae in the form of electroantennograms (EAGs) on autonomous robots. Our experimental design allows stable recordings within a day and resolves individual odor patches up to 10 Hz. The efficiency of EAG sensors for olfactory searches is demonstrated in driving a robot toward an odor source.

Assessment of Murine Exercise Endurance Without the Use of a Shock Grid: An Alternative to Forced Exercise

Conner, J. D., Wolden-Hanson, T., Quinn, L. S.

Research Service, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research, Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System

A method to assess exercise endurance in laboratory mice without the use of a shock grid is demonstrated. This method is a humane refinement that can decrease the confounding effects of stress on experimental parameters.

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

Wherley, B. G., White, R. H., McInnes, K. J., Fontanier, C. H., Thomas, J. C., Aitkenhead-Peterson, J. A., et al.

Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Texas A#&M University, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

This paper describes the design, construction, and function of a 1,000 m2 facility containing 24 individual 33.6 m2 field plots equipped for measuring total runoff volumes with time and collection of runoff subsamples at selected intervals for quantification of chemical constituents in the runoff water from simulated home lawns.

In vivo Clonal Tracking of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells Marked by Five Fluorescent Proteins using Confocal and Multiphoton Microscopy

Malide, D., Me'tais, J. Y., Dunbar, C. E.

Light Microscopy Core Facility, NHLBI/NIH, Hematology Branch, NHLBI/NIH

Combinatorial 5 fluorescent proteins marking of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells allows in vivo clonal tracking via confocal and two-photon microscopy, providing insights into bone marrow hematopoietic architecture during regeneration. This method allows non-invasive fate mapping of spectrally-coded HSPCs-derived cells in intact tissues for extensive periods of time following transplantation.