The present invention discloses methods of analyzing the immune reactive status of human tumors using zebrafish xenografts.

By analyzing the engraftment/clearance profiles in zebrafish xenografts, the present invention aims to identify new mechanisms of innate immune evasion/suppression and consequent biomarkers for immunotherapy; innate immunomodulator molecules that can be used in combination with established cancer immunotherapies, therefore engaging both arms of the immune system.

Further, the present invention allows the discovery of compounds with capacity to increase engraftment and, therefore, find immunomodulator molecules that can be used in transplantation procedures. Finally, this in vivo method will allow to select eligible patients for immunotherapy treatment.

An object of the present invention is to provide a convenient sampling method and kit for histamine measurement. The present invention provides a method and a kit which involve non-invasively sampling a specimen, and detecting histamine from the obtained sample.

Compositions and methods for treatment of mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction and other mitochondrial disorders are provided. Also disclosed are a number of screening assays having utility for the identification of agents which modulate the phenotype associated with mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction.

A method for producing a library for use in prediction of the action of a substance of interest on a living organism, the library having a large number of numerical data obtained based on change in a behavioral parameter of zebrafish and a large number of numerical data representing change in expression levels of genes integrated and recorded therein.

Methods and systems for detecting environmental contaminants is described. In an embodiment, a method includes macerating and extracting a sample; reacting a first polymerizable compound with the sample to form a second mixture comprising a second polymerizable compound; adding an initiator to the second mixture comprising the second polymerizable compound; performing a polymerization reaction on the second mixture comprising the second polymerizable compound to form a third mixture comprising a precipitate; and performing a turbidimetric analysis on the third mixture comprising the precipitate. In another embodiment, a method includes macerating and extracting a sample; reacting a first mixture comprising the functionalized polythiophene compound and the sample to form a second mixture comprising a second functionalized polythiophene compound; performing a colorimetric analysis on the second mixture comprising the second functionalized polythiophene compound.

A method of preparing an aesculin sturgeon skin gelatin with antioxidant activity and Enterococcus faecalis detection ability includes: 1) mixing a sturgeon skin gelatin and distilled water in a ratio of 1:15-1:25 (w/v) at 50-70 C. and filtering to obtain a sturgeon skin gelatin solution; 2) adding aesculin and a glycerin solution to the sturgeon skin gelatin solution, stirring the resulted sturgeon skin gelatin solution at 30-50 C. for 30 minutes, and filtering; and 3) removing air bubbles from the sturgeon skin gelatin solution of step 2) under reduced pressure, placing the sturgeon skin gelatin solution on an acrylic glass, and drying the sturgeon skin gelatin solution at in a vented oven 25 C. and 45-55% relative humidity for 24 hours to obtain the aesculin sturgeon skin gelatin film.

The present invention provides a test method for toxicity of raw dinotefuran drug on early life stage of fish. The method includes: preparing a standard diluent, preparing test drug liquids, selecting a test organism, toxicant exposure of the embryos, toxicant exposure of larvae, monitoring and controlling test conditions, observation in the test, and statistically analyzing data and drawing results.

A test method for the combined toxicity of chlorpyrifos and butachlor, which comprises the following steps: A. Experimental organisms: The zebrafish wild type AB strain is used in the experiment. After the purchase, it is domesticated in the laboratory, and the experimental fishes for collecting fish eggs have been kept in this laboratory for more than 1 month. Through the combined toxicity test and single pesticide test, it is convenient to increase the reference data and improve the mutual comparison of the data according to the impact of different environments and different agents on the animals. Better balance and offset the effects of irrelevant variables, making the experimental results more convincing. The probit analysis method is used to calculate the pesticides on larvae based on the number and the time of death of fish larvae, and the data is reasonably analyzed and processed to avoid reliance on single effect.

Methods for identifying animals that are genetically superior, drugs, nutritional strategies, or physiological manipulations that improve feed efficiency or productivity of animals, e.g., selecting animals that are genetically superior for feed efficiency or productivity based on metabolic rates of particular tissues, wherein metabolic rates of certain tissues such as skeletal muscle are inversely proportional to feed efficiency, while metabolic rates of other tissues such as mammary gland are directly proportional to milk production. Thus, animals with low skeletal muscle metabolic rates are generally more feed efficient, e.g., gain more weight per unit of food. The methods herein may be used to improve the genetics, nutrition, and handling or animals more efficiently produced animal products, e.g., meat production, milk, production, egg production, wool production, etc. The methods herein may also be used to determine estimated breeding values of animals for feed efficiency, growth, or production.

This disclosure provides fluidic devices and methods for performing a bioassay, for example bioassays performed on zebrafish. The disclosure provides various fluidic devices for performing a bioassay that include a sample chamber in fluid communication with an air valve; and a bioassay channel that can include a first bioassay region, for example for studying zebrafish in early stages of development and a second bioassay region, for studying zebrafish in later stages of development. The first bioassay region and second bioassay region can be defined using pillars, such as a first and second array of pillars. The fluidic device can have additional structures that are provided herein. Also provided herein are sample loading manifold devices for loading zebrafish embryos into fluidic devices and reagent delivery manifold devices for delivering reagents to fluidic devices. Furthermore, methods using any or all of the devices are provided.