Da-Jeng Yao

Preimplantation embryo development requires a tightly regulated microenvironment that is not fully reproduced by conventional static culture. We developed a polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic embryo co-culture platform integrating compartmentalized architecture with dynamic perfusion to simulate physiological conditions. The study included two stages. First, NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblasts were evaluated as helper cells under three culture conditions after transition to embryo culture medium. Helper-cell viability in the dynamic chip was 84.72%, compared with 71.91% after manual medium replacement in 24-well plates and 94.27% in the 24-well control group. Second, mouse embryos were cultured under four conditions: conventional 24-well plates, static microfluidic chip culture with co-culture, dynamic microfluidic chips without co-culture, and dynamic microfluidic chip co-culture. Blastocyst formation rates were 100.0% (9/9), 0.0% (0/6), 33.3% (3/9), and 55.5% (5/9), respectively. Because no inferential statistical analysis was performed, these proportions are interpreted descriptively. Nevertheless, the blastocyst formation in the microfluidic co-culture group supports the technical feasibility of integrating dynamic perfusion and helper-cell co-culture within a single platform. Further optimization and validation are required. This platform provides a foundation for future development of advanced embryo culture technologies including patient-specific endometrial co-culture systems in assisted reproduction, disease modeling, or drug development.

The rapid increase in computational power of next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) processors has driven thermal management requirements beyond the capability of conventional cooling technologies. Graphene nanofluids in pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) offer a promising approach by enhancing nucleation, promoting two-phase oscillatory flow, and delaying dry-out. However, optimization remains challenging due to strongly coupled nonlinear interactions, where excessive nanoparticle concentration or mismatched operating conditions can degrade thermal performance.,Here, we apply the Complex System Response (CSR) platform to efficiently identify optimal operating conditions within this high-dimensional parameter space. Using only 19 experimental datasets, CSR enables deterministic response surface analysis and identification of the optimal thermal resistance condition. Experimental results demonstrate that, at an optimal graphene concentration of 0.15 wt.%, the effective thermal conductivity of the PHPs is enhanced by more than one order of magnitude compared with pure water under the investigated operating conditions.,These results demonstrate that CSR provides a rapid and data-efficient approach for analyzing and optimizing complex thermal systems, offering a scalable solution for advanced AI thermal management applications.

This study presents a microfluidic platform for non-Newtonian fluid viscosity sensing, integrating a high-flow-rate flow field stabilizer to mitigate flow uniformity limitations under elevated flow rate conditions. Building upon an established dual-phase laminar flow principle that determines relative viscosity via channel occupancy, this research aimed to extend the measurable viscosity range from 1–10 cP to 1–50 cP, which covers viscosity regimes relevant to biomedical fluids, dairy products during gelation, and low-to-moderate viscosity industrial liquids. A flow stabilizer was developed through computational fluid dynamics simulations, optimizing three key design parameters: blocker position, porosity, and the number of outlet paths. The N5 design proved most effective, providing over 50% reduction in standard deviation for asymmetric velocity distribution in high-flow simulations. The system was validated using simulated blood and dairy samples, achieving over 95% viscosity accuracy with less than 5% sample volume error compared to conventional viscometers. The chip successfully captured viscosity transitions during milk acidification and gelation, demonstrating excellent agreement with standard measurements. This low-volume, high-precision platform offers promising potential for applications in food engineering, biomedical diagnostics, and industrial fluid monitoring, enhancing microfluidic rheometry capabilities.

This paper presents a resonant wireless power transfer method that leverages a 90-degree voltage phase shift between the transmitting and receiving coils to enhance efficiency and maximize power transfer. When the resonant coupling is achieved, the secondary coil with an adjustable capacitor forms a tuned LC circuit. If the primary coil is driven at the resonant frequency of both the primary and secondary sides, the system can transmit 250W of power between the coils over a distance of 50 cm. Using a single power transmitting unit (PTU) board with multiple paralleled gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistors (GaN HEMTs), the system achieves a maximum power transfer efficiency of 88%, highlighting the effectiveness of the design in high-efficiency, long-distance wireless power transmission. The key to the success of high-power, high-efficiency RWPT is in exhibiting the imaginary turn ratio presented on the air transformer. The imaginary turn ratio can realize the negative impedance conversion that converts the positive resistance on the power-receiving unit into a negative one, and thus, the damping of the resonance oscillation becomes negative and positively encourages more power to be delivered to the power-receiving unit (PRU) load. This paper derives the theory of the imaginary turn ratio and demonstrates the implementation of the RWPT system that exhibits the imaginary turn ratio effect.

The incidence of stroke is on the rise globally. This affects one in every four individuals each year, underscoring the urgent need for early warning and prevention systems. The existing research highlights the significance of monitoring blood viscosity in stroke risk evaluations. However, the current methods lack the precision to measure viscosity under low shear rate conditions (<100 s⁻¹), which are observed during pulsatility flow. This study addresses this gap by introducing a novel microfluidic platform designed to measure blood viscosity with high precision under pulsatility flow conditions. The systolic blood viscosity (SBV) and diastolic blood viscosity (DBV) can be differentiated and evaluated by using this system. The non-Newtonian behavior of blood is captured across specific shear rate conditions. The platform employs a meticulously designed microarray to simulate the variations in blood viscosity during pulsation within blood vessels.The results demonstrate an impressive accuracy of 95% and excellent reproducibility when compared to traditional viscometers and rheometers and are within the human blood viscosity range of 1–10 cP. This monitoring system holds promise as a valuable addition to stroke risk evaluation methods, with the potential to enhance prediction accuracy.