University Of California, Santa Barbara View Institution's Website 9 articles published in JoVE Chemistry Precise Electrochemical Sizing of Individual Electro-Inactive Particles Julia Chung1, Kevin W. Plaxco1,2, Lior Sepunaru2 1Interdepartmental Program in Biomedical Science and Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Santa Barbara As an analytical technique, nanoimpact electrochemistry, an increasingly important approach to counting and characterizing nanometer-scale, electro-inactive particles, suffers from poor precision due to the heterogeneous current distributions that arise from its use of ultramicroelectrodes. Outlined here is a generalized approach, termed "electrocatalytic interruption," that enhances precision in such measurements. Editorial Endless Worms Most Beautiful: Current Methods For Using Nematodes To Study Evolutionary Developmental Biology Chee Kiang Ewe1, Pradeep M. Joshi2, Joel H. Rothman2 1Department of Neurobiology, Tel Aviv University, 2Department of Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara Biology Nitroreductase/Metronidazole-Mediated Ablation and a MATLAB Platform (RpEGEN) for Studying Regeneration of the Zebrafish Retinal Pigment Epithelium Lyndsay L. Leach1, G. Burch Fisher2, Jeffrey M. Gross1,3 1Department of Ophthalmology, Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, 3Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine This protocol describes the methodology to genetically ablate the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) using a transgenic zebrafish model. Adapting the protocol to incorporate signaling pathway modulation using pharmacological compounds is extensively detailed. A MATLAB platform for quantifying RPE regeneration based on pigmentation was developed and is presented and discussed. Neuroscience A Temperature Gradient Assay to Determine Thermal Preferences of Drosophila Larvae Jiangqu Liu*1, Takaaki Sokabe*2,3, Craig Montell1 1Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2Division of Cell Signaling, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 3Thermal Biology Group, Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences Here, we present a protocol to determine the preferred environmental temperature of Drosophila larvae using a continuous thermal gradient. Chemistry Elemental-sensitive Detection of the Chemistry in Batteries through Soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering Jinpeng Wu1,2, Shawn Sallis2,3, Ruimin Qiao2, Qinghao Li2,4, Zengqing Zhuo2,5, Kehua Dai2,6, Zixuan Guo2,7, Wanli Yang2 1Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, 2Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Binghamton University, 4School of Physics, National Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, 5School of Advanced Materials, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, 6School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, 7Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California-Santa Barbara Here, we present a protocol for typical experiments of soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (sXAS) and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) with applications in battery material studies. Developmental Biology Rapid, Directed Differentiation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from Human Embryonic or Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Leah P. Foltz1, Dennis O. Clegg1 1Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara This protocol describes how to produce retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE) from pluripotent stem cells. The method uses a combination of growth factors and small molecules to direct the differentiation of stem cells into immature RPE in fourteen days and mature, functional RPE after three months. Biology Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation Otto C. Guedelhoefer IV1,2, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado3,4 1Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah School of Medicine, 2Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, UCSB, 3Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 4Stowers Institute for Medical Research An effective method for grafting tissue of defined and consistent size between planaria is described. Also included is a description of how the immobilization technique used for transplantation can be adapted, in conjunction with lead shields, for the partial irradiation of live animals. Bioengineering Planar and Three-Dimensional Printing of Conductive Inks Bok Yeop Ahn1, Steven B. Walker1, Scott C. Slimmer1, Analisa Russo1, Ashley Gupta1, Steve Kranz1, Eric B. Duoss1,2, Thomas F. Malkowski1,3, Jennifer A. Lewis1 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2Center for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 3Presently at the Interdisciplinary Center for Wide Band-gap Semiconductors, University Of California Santa Barbara Planar and three-dimensional printing of conductive metallic inks is described. Our approach provides new avenues for fabricating printed electronic, optoelectronic, and biomedical devices in unusual layouts at the microscale. Bioengineering Fabrication of Electrochemical-DNA Biosensors for the Reagentless Detection of Nucleic Acids, Proteins and Small Molecules Aaron A. Rowe1, Ryan J. White1, Andrew J. Bonham1, Kevin W. Plaxco2 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University Of California Santa Barbara, 2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Program in BioMolecular Science and Engineering, University Of California Santa Barbara "E-DNA" sensors, reagentless, electrochemical biosensors that perform well even when challenged directly in blood and other complex matrices, have been adapted to the detection of a wide range of nucleic acid, protein and small molecule analytes. Here we present a general procedure for the fabrication and use of such sensors.