Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Scaling Reversible Adhesion In Synthetic And Biological Systems, Michael David Bartlett
Scaling Reversible Adhesion In Synthetic And Biological Systems, Michael David Bartlett
Open Access Dissertations
Geckos and other insects have fascinated scientists and casual observers with their ability to effortlessly climb up walls and across ceilings. This capability has inspired high capacity, easy release synthetic adhesives, which have focused on mimicking the fibrillar features found on the foot pads of these climbing organisms. However, without a fundamental framework that connects biological and synthetic adhesives from nanoscopic to macroscopic features, synthetic mimics have failed to perform favorably at large contact areas. In this thesis, we present a scaling approach which leads to an understanding of reversible adhesion in both synthetic and biological systems over multiple length …
Application Of Finite Element Method In Protein Normal Mode Analysis, Chiung-Fang Hsu
Application Of Finite Element Method In Protein Normal Mode Analysis, Chiung-Fang Hsu
Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014
This study proposed a finite element procedure for protein normal mode analysis (NMA). The finite element model adopted the protein solvent-excluded surface to generate a homogeneous and isotropic volume. A simplified triangular approximation of coarse molecular surface was generated from the original surface model by using the Gaussian-based blurring technique. Similar to the widely adopted elastic network model, the finite element model holds a major advantage over standard all-atom normal mode analysis: the computationally expensive process of energy minimization that may distort the initial protein structure has been eliminated. This modification significantly increases the efficiency of normal mode analysis. In …