Author Correction: A cartridge based Point-of-Care device for complete blood count.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

A cartridge based Point-of-Care device for complete blood count.

We demonstrate a proprietary lab-on-chip/µ TAS technology platform for a regulatory grade portable instrument for complete blood count (CBC) hematology tests including 3 part differential WBCs, RBCs, platelet and hemoglobin for rapid diagnostics at the point of care in resource-poor settings. Presently, diagnostics based on blood tests are confined to centralized laboratory settings, dependent on large footprint and expensive cytometers or on a microscope, requiring trained laboratory technicians. Consequently, such facilities are not present in rural and semi-urban settings, where there are opportunities and challenges in delivering efficient healthcare infrastructure at an affordable cost in resource-challenged environments. Our proposed design leverages advances in microfluidics and lab-on-chip fabrication techniques to miniaturize the conventional cytometer and bring down the cost significantly. The device can be operated autonomously, without skilled manpower, by primary healthcare professionals in the field and by patients (like glucose self-test devices). The instrument consists of a single-use chip, the size of a credit card, pre-loaded with reagents, in which the sample is loaded, and which is fluidically insulated from the environment. The controller, the size of a toaster, performs the necessary fluid handling and the impedance measurements to deliver the results in minutes.

Anomalous enhancement in interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy through uphill diffusion.

We observed interfacial chemical sharpening due to uphill diffusion in post annealed ultrathin multilayer stack of Co and Pt, which leads to enhanced interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). This is surprising as these elements are considered as perfectly miscible. This chemical sharpening was confirmed through quantitative energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and intensity distribution of images taken on high angle annular dark field (HAADF) detector in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopic (STEM) mode. This observation demonstrates an evidence of miscibility gap in ultrathin coherent Co/Pt multilayer stacks.

Kinetic modeling on drug release from controlled drug delivery systems.

In this paper we review the mathematical models used to determine the kinetics of drug release from drug delivery systems. The quantitative analysis of the values obtained in dissolution/release rates is easier when mathematical formulae are used to describe the process. The mathematical modeling can ultimately help to optimize the design of a therapeutic device to yield information on the efficacy of various release models.