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The overall objective of our work is to develop a system-level model and simulation framework for investigating the liquid filling process (including the filling time, filling pattern/status, flow velocity/pressure etc.) in complex microfluidic networks with order-of-magnitude speedup over the high-fidelity simulations and without appreciably compromising analysis accuracy.

In mid-2009 The Nickerson Lab in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington faced the daunting task of rapidly scaling up their next generation sequencing laboratory. Given the enormous amount of data to be generated, a critical part of this scale-up was picking the right LIMS solution. This system needed to handle data flow from sample submission to results reporting.

A method based on magnetic forces to reversibly bond glass slides to PDMS microfluidic devices has been developed and experimentally characterized. Results show a reliable tightness in normal laboratory applications.

Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethyl xanthine), known to have sensory and stimulatory effects, causes adverse effects on health which has resulted in an increased demand for de-caffeinated tea. The transformants obtained by RNAi are being analysed for partial and complete knockdown of one or both the genes using RT-PCR and reduction in caffeine production estimated by HPLC.

Tea Mosquito Bug (Helopeltis theivora Waterhouse) is one of the most dreaded tea pests of NE India causing a loss of 15-20 lakh kgs of made tea per year. SSR markers derived from stress associated ESTs were evaluated in a segregating population showing variable resistance to Helopeltis infestation. This approach would facilitate new methods of marker assisted selection (MAS) to efficiently breed superior Helopeltis resistant varieties.

Blister blight (caused by Exobasidium vexans) is a destructive disease of tea (Camellia sinensis) in tea growing countries worldwide, that causes substantial losses. More than 10% of the transcripts were specifically induced in defence and/or signal transduction including master switch genes (transcription factors, kinases), R genes (NBS-LRR), phytohormone biosynthesis pathway genes, pathogenesis related genes and genes for antifungal peptides (chitinase, glucanase).

To increase drought tolerance of potato, transgenic plants expressing the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS1) gene of yeast were isolated. The transgenic potato plants exhibited improved drought tolerance, however, grow slower than the wild-type. To understand the molecular basis of this phenomenon, transcriptomes of the leaves of wild-type and TPS1-transgenic plants were analysed using a potato microarray. In addition, protein, starch, and sugar content of the leaves were investigated.

This study is aimed to characterize basic aminoacids profiles from liver tissues of primary hepatocarcinoma (HCC) and metastases from colorectalcarcinomas (MET), and from adjacent cirrhotic related hepatitis-C-virus (CIRR) and non-cirrhotic normal liver (NT). Arginine levels in MET are significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to NT, CIRR and HCC. Although our preliminary data should be validated, profiling of basic aminoacids could allow a better classification of liver malignancies in humans.

An atmospheric pressure thermal desorption chemical ionization MS/MS method to quantify cholesterol and 7- and 8-dehydrocholesterols directly in dried blood/plasma spots, is reported. Cholesterol levels from dried plasma spots of 23 unaffected subjects and 9 Smith-Lemli-Opitz patients by APTDCI-MS/MS method and by enzymatic method were correlated (y=0.9166x + 0.3811; r= 0.8831) as well as dehydrocholesterol levels obtained by APTDCI-MS/MS method and by GC-FID method (y=0.8214x + 0.7388; r= 0.828

Antimicrobial activity of Irish Brassica vegetables were evaluated against a number of food spoilage and pathogenic micro-organisms. Methanolic extracts from York Cabbage showed the best activity against Listeria monocyotgenes and Salmonella abony.