Biomechanics and Biotransport Commons^™

High-Resolution Thin-Film Device To Sense Texture By Touch, Vivek C. Maheshwari, Ravi F. Saraf

Ravi Saraf Publications

Touch (or tactile) sensors are gaining renewed interest as the level of sophistication in the application of minimum invasive surgery and humanoid robots increases. The spatial resolution of current large-area (greater than 1 cm²) tactile sensor lags by more than an order of magnitude compared with the human finger. By using metal and semiconducting nanoparticles, a ~100-nm-thick, large-area thin-film device is self-assembled such that the change in current density through the film and the electroluminescent light intensity are linearly proportional to the local stress. A stress image is obtained by pressing a copper grid and a United States …

The Effect Of Physiological Cyclic Stretch On The Cell Morphology, Cell Orientation And Protein Expression Of Endothelial Cells, V. Barron, Claire Brougham, K. Coghlan, C. Stenson-Cox, D. O'Mahoney, P.E. Mchugh

Articles

In vivo, endothelial cells are constantly exposed to pulsatile shear and tensile stresses. The main aim of this study was to design and build a physiological simulator, which reproduced homogenous strain profiles of the tensile strain experienced in vivo, and to investigate the effect of this cyclic tensile strain on the cell morphology, cell orientation and protein expression of endothelial cells. The biological response of human umbilical vein endothelial cells to a uniaxial cyclic stretch, in this newly developed simulator, was examined experimentally using immunohistostaining and confocal imaging and it was

found that the cells elongated and oriented at 58.9± …

Intracellular Signaling Networks In The Immune Response: Pathways Activated By Interleukin-2 And-4 Receptors And Their Roles In T Cell Proliferation, Kristen K. Comfort

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Cells sense and respond to chemical and physical stimuli through signal transduction pathways, which mediate cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and survival. The cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) are key regulators of the adaptive immune system, particularly influencing the clonal expansion and differentiation of T cells. At least in culture, both synergistic and antagonistic effects of IL-2 and -4 co-stimulation have been reported; the antagonism, when observed, is thought to arise from the utilization of a common subunit shared by IL-2 and IL-4 receptors. We have sought to characterize IL-2 and IL-4 signaling at the level of intracellular pathways activated …