Search Results
Improved imaging of magnetically labeled cells using rotational magnetomotive optical coherence tomography
2017, Cimalla, P., Walther, J., Mueller, C., Almedawar, S., Rellinghaus, B., Wittig, D., Ader, M., Karl, M.O., Funk, R.H.W., Brand, M., Koch, E.
In this paper, we present a reliable and robust method for magnetomotive optical coherence tomography (MM-OCT) imaging of single cells labeled with iron oxide particles. This method employs modulated longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields to evoke alignment and rotation of anisotropic magnetic structures in the sample volume. Experimental evidence suggests that magnetic particles assemble themselves in elongated chains when exposed to a permanent magnetic field. Magnetomotion in the intracellular space was detected and visualized by means of 3D OCT as well as laser speckle reflectometry as a 2D reference imaging method. Our experiments on mesenchymal stem cells embedded in agar scaffolds show that the magnetomotive signal in rotational MM-OCT is significantly increased by a factor of ˜3 compared to previous pulsed MM-OCT, although the solenoid's power consumption was 16 times lower. Finally, we use our novel method to image ARPE-19 cells, a human retinal pigment epithelium cell line. Our results permit magnetomotive imaging with higher sensitivity and the use of low power magnetic fields or larger working distances for future three-dimensional cell tracking in target tissues and organs.
The challenges of applying planetary boundaries as a basis for strategic decision-making in companies with global supply chains
2017, Clift, R., Sim, S., King, H., Chenoweth, J.L., Christie, I., Clavreul, J., Mueller, C., Posthuma, L., Boulay, A.-M., Chaplin-Kramer, R., Chatterton, J., DeClerck, F., Druckman, A., France, C., Franco, A., Gerten, D., Goedkoop, M., Hauschild, M.Z., Huijbregts, M.A.J., Koellner, T., Lambin, E.F., Lee, J., Mair, S., Marshall, S., McLachlan, M.S., Milà i Canals, L., Mitchell, C., Price, E., Rockström, J., Suckling, J., Murphy, R.
The Planetary Boundaries (PB) framework represents a significant advance in specifying the ecological constraints on human development. However, to enable decision-makers in business and public policy to respect these constraints in strategic planning, the PB framework needs to be developed to generate practical tools. With this objective in mind, we analyse the recent literature and highlight three major scientific and technical challenges in operationalizing the PB approach in decision-making: first, identification of thresholds or boundaries with associated metrics for different geographical scales; second, the need to frame approaches to allocate fair shares in the 'safe operating space' bounded by the PBs across the value chain and; third, the need for international bodies to co-ordinate the implementation of the measures needed to respect the Planetary Boundaries. For the first two of these challenges, we consider how they might be addressed for four PBs: climate change, freshwater use, biosphere integrity and chemical pollution and other novel entities. Four key opportunities are identified: (1) development of a common system of metrics that can be applied consistently at and across different scales; (2) setting 'distance from boundary' measures that can be applied at different scales; (3) development of global, preferably open-source, databases and models; and (4) advancing understanding of the interactions between the different PBs. Addressing the scientific and technical challenges in operationalizing the planetary boundaries needs be complemented with progress in addressing the equity and ethical issues in allocating the safe operating space between companies and sectors.