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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

High-Throughput Nanoliter Dispensing Device For Biological Applications, Cole Reynolds, Euiwon Bae Dr., J Paul Robinson Dr. Aug 2018

High-Throughput Nanoliter Dispensing Device For Biological Applications, Cole Reynolds, Euiwon Bae Dr., J Paul Robinson Dr.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Pathogen identification is a field that can contribute largely to the prevention of the spreading of illness and disease. In the past, pathogen identification has been a long and arduous process due to the time-consuming processes and steps that requires technician’s time and effort. With new technologies emerging however, screening of bacteria colonies can be done in a quick and high-throughput way. The problem is that using the current methods, bacteria cannot be transferred to petri dishes fast enough to keep up with the new screening methods. The current study focuses on exploring different methods to create an ergonomic device …


Bacterial Motility And Its Role In Biofilm Formation, Clayton J. Culp, Arezoo M. Ardekani, Adib Ahmadzadegan Aug 2017

Bacterial Motility And Its Role In Biofilm Formation, Clayton J. Culp, Arezoo M. Ardekani, Adib Ahmadzadegan

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Bacterial biofilms are known to cause millions of dollars in damage in the medical industry per year via infection of central venous catheters, urinary catheters, and mechanical heart valves. Unfortunately, there are some characteristics of biofilm formation that are yet to be fully understood. Recently much work has been done to investigate the motility characteristics of bacteria with hopes of better understanding the phenomena of biofilm formation. Still, one of the least understood stages is bacterial attachment or adhesion, a process designed to anchor bacteria in an advantageous environment. Providing a better understanding of bacterial motility near solid interfaces will …


Mechanical Reliability Of Implantable Polyimide-Based Magnetic Microactuators For Biofouling Removal, Christian G. Figueroa-Espada, Qi Yang, Hyowon Lee Aug 2016

Mechanical Reliability Of Implantable Polyimide-Based Magnetic Microactuators For Biofouling Removal, Christian G. Figueroa-Espada, Qi Yang, Hyowon Lee

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hydrocephalus is a neurological disorder that typically requires a long-term implantation of a shunt system to manage its symptoms. These shunt systems are notorious for their extremely high failure rate. More than 40% of all implanted shunt systems fail within the first year of implantation. On average, 85% of all hydrocephalus patients with shunt systems undergo at least two shunt-revision surgeries within 10 years of implantation. A large portion of this high failure rate can be attributed to biofouling-related obstructions and infections. Previously, we developed flexible polyimide-based magnetic microactuators to remove obstructions formed on hydrocephalus shunts. To test the long-term …


Synthesis And Characterization Of Nucleic Acid-Functionalized Nanomaterials, Brianna S. Carroll, Jong Hyun Choi Oct 2013

Synthesis And Characterization Of Nucleic Acid-Functionalized Nanomaterials, Brianna S. Carroll, Jong Hyun Choi

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Motor proteins such as kinesin move along microtubules in order to transport cellular cargos throughout the cell by obtaining energy from RNA hydrolysis which allows the cell to complete the tasks needed to stay alive. In this work, we developed synthetic molecular motors using DNA enzymes (DNAzyme) and fluorescent nanomaterials which mimic the functions and structures of motor proteins. A DNAzyme-capped CdS nanoparticle and a RNA-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) were used as a walker and a track in the motor platform, respectively. As a walking mechanism, the DNAzyme cleaved the RNA substrates in the presence of metal cations. The …