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Abstract Pancreatic islet transplantation can cure diabetes but requires accessible, high-quality islets in sufficient quantities. Cryopreservation could solve islet supply chain challenges by enabling quality-controlled banking and pooling of donor islets. Unfortunately, cryopreservation has not succeeded in this objective, as it must simultaneously provide high recovery, viability, function and scalability. Here, we achieve this goal in mouse, porcine, human and human stem cell (SC)-derived beta cell (SC-beta) islets by comprehensive optimization of cryoprotectant agent (CPA) composition, CPA loading and unloading conditions and methods for vitrification and rewarming (VR). Post-VR islet viability, relative to control, was 90.5% for mouse, 92.1% for SC-beta, 87.2% for porcine and 87.4% for human islets, and it remained unchanged for at least 9 months of cryogenic storage. VR islets had normal macroscopic, microscopic, and ultrastructural morphology. Mitochondrial membrane potential and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels were slightly reduced, but all other measures of cellular respiration, including oxygen consumption rate (OCR) to produce ATP, were unchanged. VR islets had normal glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) function in vitro and in vivo. Porcine and SC-beta islets made insulin in xenotransplant models, and mouse islets tested in a marginal mass syngeneic transplant model cured diabetes in 92% of recipients within 24–48 h after transplant. Excellent glycemic control was seen for 150 days. Finally, our approach processed 2,500 islets with >95% islets recovery at >89% post-thaw viability and can readily be scaled up for higher throughput. These results suggest that cryopreservation can now be used to supply needed islets for improved transplantation outcomes that cure diabetes. 

Measurements of droplet phase and interfacial tension (IFT) are important in the fields of atmospheric aerosols and emulsion science. Bulk macroscale property measurements with similar constituents cannot capture the effect of microscopic length scales and highly curved surfaces on the transport characteristics and heterogeneous chemistry typical in these applications. Instead, microscale droplet measurements ensure properties are measured at the relevant length scale. With recent advances in microfluidics, customized multiphase fluid flows can be created in channels for the manipulation and observation of microscale droplets in an enclosed setting without the need for large and expensive control systems. In this review, we discuss the applications of different physical principles at the microscale and corresponding microfluidic approaches for the measurement of droplet phase state, viscosity, and IFT. 

Polyelectrolyte-driven flocculation of suspended particulate in solution is an important process in a variety of industrial processes such as drinking water treatment and composite material synthesis. Flocculation depends on a wide variety of physicochemical and hydrodynamic properties, which affect floc size, growth rate, and floc morphology. Floc formation and growth behavior is explored here using two different molecular weights of a cationic polyacrylamide flocculant and anisotropic Na-bentonite clay particles under a variety of solution ionic strengths. A Taylor–Couette cell with radial injection capabilities was used to study the effects of solution ionic strength and polyelectrolyte molecular weight on floc size, growth rate, and floc morphology during the flocculation process with a constant global velocity gradient. The floc size generally decreased with increasing ionic strength whereas the floc growth rate initially increased then decreased. This likely occurred due to charge screening effects, where increased bentonite aggregate size and a less expanded polyelectrolyte conformation at higher ionic strengths results in a decreased ability for the polyelectrolyte to bridge multiple bentonite aggregates. The densification of bentonite aggregates at higher ionic strengths resulted in floc morphologies that were more resistant to shear-induced breakage. With the exceptions of optimal dose concentration and dispersion coefficients, there were no clear differences in the floc growth rate behaviors for the two molecular weights studied. This work contributes to an improved understanding of the physicochemical complexities of polyelectrolyte-driven flocculation that can inform dosing requirements for more efficient industrial operations.