Pathogen-specific point-of-care (PoC) diagnostic tests have become an important need in the fight against infectious diseases and epidemics in recent years. PoC diagnostic tests are designed with the following parameters in mind: rapidity, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and ease of use. Molecular techniques are the gold standard for pathogen detection due to their accuracy and specificity. There are various limitations in adapting molecular diagnostic methods to PoC diagnostic tests. Efforts to overcome limitations are focused on the development of integrated molecular diagnostics by utilizing the latest technologies available to create the most successful PoC diagnostic platforms. With this point of view, a new generation technology was developed by combining loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated (CRISPR-Cas) technology. This integrated approach benefits from the properties of LAMP technology, namely its high efficiency, short turnaround time, and the lack of need for a complex device. It also makes use of the programmable function of CRISPR-Cas technology and the collateral cleavage activity of certain Cas proteins that allow for convenient reporter detection. Thus, this combined technology enables the development of PoC diagnostic tests with high sensitivity, specificity, and ease of use without the need for complicated devices. In this review, we discuss the advantages and limitations of the CRISPR/Cas combined LAMP technology. We review current limitations to convert CRISPR combined LAMP into pathogen-specific PoC platforms. Furthermore, we point out the need to design more useful PoC platforms using microfabrication technologies by developing strategies that overcome the limitations of this new technology, reduce its complexity, and reduce the risk of contamination.

Drug testing, either on animals or on 2D cell cultures, has its limitations due to inaccurate mimicking of human pathophysiology. The liver, as one of the key organs that filters and detoxifies the blood, is susceptible to drug-induced injuries. Integrating 3D bioprinting with microfluidic chips to fabricate organ-on-chip platforms for 3D liver cell cultures with continuous perfusion can offer a more physiologically relevant liver-mimetic platform for screening drugs and studying liver function. The development of organ-on-chip platforms may ultimately contribute to personalized medicine as well as body-on-chip technology that can test drug responses and organ–organ interactions on a single or linked chip model.

The Fourier Transform spectra of a Holmium hollow cathode discharge lamp have been investigated in the UV spectral range from 25,000 up to 31,530 cm⁻¹ (317 to 400 nm). Two Ho spectra have been measured with neon and argon as buffer gases. Based on the intensity ratios from these two spectra, a distinction was made between atomic and ionic lines (ionic lines are discussed in an accompanying paper). Using the known Ho i energy levels, 71 lines could be classified as transitions of atomic Ho, 34 of which have not been published previously. Another 32 lines, which could not be classified, are listed in the literature and assigned as atomic Ho. An additional 370 spectral lines have been assigned to atomic Ho based on the signal-to-noise ratio in the two spectra measured under different discharge conditions, namely with buffer gases argon and neon, respectively. These 370 lines have not been previously listed in the literature.

Spectra of a holmium hollow cathode discharge lamp with neon or argon as buffer gases have been measured with a Fourier Transform spectrometer. In the visible spectral range from 14,280 up to 25,000 cm⁻¹, or 400 to 700 nm, more than 4000 spectral lines were detected. Based on different signal-to-noise ratios in two spectra measured with different discharge conditions, we could distinguish between different elements and between different degrees of ionization of Ho. Altogether 2862 lines could be assigned to atomic Ho, 2417 of which had not been listed in literature up to now. Based on the known energy levels of atomic holmium, 987 lines have been classified, 627 of which have been classified for the first time.

Fourier Transform spectra of Holmium (Ho) in the visible spectral range from 14,280 up to 25,000 cm⁻¹, or 400 to 700 nm have been investigated, with a focus on the ionic lines. More than 500 spectral lines were assigned to singly ionized Ho (Ho ii), of which more than 400 were previously unknown. A further 21 lines were assigned to doubly ionized Ho (Ho iii), 1 of which was not reported previously. From among these lines, 60 Ho ii lines and 20 Ho iii lines were classified. A complete list of more than 4000 Ho lines observed in the recorded spectrum is supplied, even if they remain unclassified.