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2020

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Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Biology and Biomimetic Materials

Bio-Binder—Innovative Asphalt Technology, Amir Tabakovic Dec 2020

Bio-Binder—Innovative Asphalt Technology, Amir Tabakovic

Articles

The global road network spans 16.3 million km [1], of which 5 million km is in the EU. These road networks fulfil major economic and social goals by facilitating the movement of goods and people throughout the EU, and are therefore of the utmost importance to the economic and social life of the EU [2]. National governments invest heavily in their road networks, e.g., in 2014, EUR 53.33 billion was invested in the development and maintenance of the EU road network [3]. Each year, the world produces 1.6 trillion tonnes of asphalt [4], of which 218 million tonnes is produced …

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Leveraging Biomimicry And Additive Manufacturing To Improve Load Transfer In Brittle Materials, Ana Paula Bernardo Dec 2020

Leveraging Biomimicry And Additive Manufacturing To Improve Load Transfer In Brittle Materials, Ana Paula Bernardo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the emergence of Additive Manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing) in construction, new strategically designed shapes can be created to improve load transfer through structural members and foundations. Cross-sections can be optimized to carry load using less material, or even using weaker constituent materials, like soils, which are cheap and abundant. The goal of this research is to investigate the benefits of using cellular patterns which leverage biomimicry in civil engineering applications, since nature has perfectly engineered materials and patterns which carry loads with the least amount of material possible. Most of the periodic cellular work to date has focused on …

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Urine Volume Reduction During Long-Duration Cave Exploration By A Light-Weight And Portable Forward Osmosis System, Sebastian Engelhardt, Katey E. Bender, Jörg Vogel, Stephen E. Duirk, Francisco B. Moore, Hazel A. Barton Nov 2020

Urine Volume Reduction During Long-Duration Cave Exploration By A Light-Weight And Portable Forward Osmosis System, Sebastian Engelhardt, Katey E. Bender, Jörg Vogel, Stephen E. Duirk, Francisco B. Moore, Hazel A. Barton

International Journal of Speleology

The preservation of caves is a challenge during long-duration cave expeditions where human waste can add significant nitrogen to the cave ecosystem. Since the removal of urine that accumulates during a multi-day caving trip is not always feasible due to weight and volume constraints, a light-weight and portable filtration system that is capable of reducing urine volume would be desirable. In this study we tested the Aquaporin Inside hollow fiber membrane in a forward osmosis (FO) setup to evaluate its capability to reduce urine volume while rejecting nitrogenous compounds using different draw solution chemistries and water recovery rates. As a …

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In Vivo Biosynthesis Of Inorganic Nanomaterials Using Eukaryotes - A Review, Ashiqur Rahman, Julia Lin, Francisco E. Jaramillo, Dennis A. Bazylinski, Clayton Jeffryes, Si Amar Dahoumane Jun 2020

In Vivo Biosynthesis Of Inorganic Nanomaterials Using Eukaryotes - A Review, Ashiqur Rahman, Julia Lin, Francisco E. Jaramillo, Dennis A. Bazylinski, Clayton Jeffryes, Si Amar Dahoumane

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Bionanotechnology, the use of biological resources to produce novel, valuable nanomaterials, has witnessed tremendous developments over the past two decades. This eco-friendly and sustainable approach enables the synthesis of numerous, diverse types of useful nanomaterials for many medical, commercial, and scientific applications. Countless reviews describing the biosynthesis of nanomaterials have been published. However, to the best of our knowledge, no review has been exclusively focused on the in vivo biosynthesis of inorganic nanomaterials. Therefore, the present review is dedicated to filling this gap by describing the many different facets of the in vivo biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) using living eukaryotic …

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Investigation Of Neoprene Medical Gloves: Analysis Of Material Properties, Durability, And Bacterial Barrier Efficacy, Amanda Agui Jun 2020

Investigation Of Neoprene Medical Gloves: Analysis Of Material Properties, Durability, And Bacterial Barrier Efficacy, Amanda Agui

Honors Scholar Theses

This work aims to investigate the material properties, durability, and bacterial barrier efficacy of neoprene for applications in the healthcare/medical field. A special focus on material stiffness and fatigue failure will be explored. Additionally, manufacturer regulations and testing will be inspected to ensure medical gloves made of neoprene blends have a proper lifespan for its desired application in the healthcare community. The resistance of protective gloves and its ability to withstand perforation failure will be investigated to guarantee the safety of users holds extreme importance. Lastly, an analysis of the bacterial barrier efficacy of neoprene gloves will be determined.

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Development Of Reduced Chemical Kinetic Models For The Numerical Simulation Of Combustion And Emissions Behavior Of Representative Conventional And Bio-Derived Fuels, Mazen A. Eldeeb Jun 2020

Development Of Reduced Chemical Kinetic Models For The Numerical Simulation Of Combustion And Emissions Behavior Of Representative Conventional And Bio-Derived Fuels, Mazen A. Eldeeb

Mineta Transportation Institute

The study addresses two of the main challenges facing combustion modeling for transportation fuels: simultaneous simulation of non-related combustion problems and reducing the computational cost of the modeling process itself. To address the first challenge, researchers determine a characteristic flame time from thermal diffusivity and laminar burning velocity. Researchers examine parametric dependence of flame time and ignition delay time on pressure, temperature and equivalence ratio for methane, based on validated chemical kinetic mechanisms. The study reveals flame time and ignition delay time show similar temperature dependence, flame time has stronger dependence on equivalence ratio and weaker dependence on pressure than …

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Size-Dependent Inhibitory Effects Of Antibiotic Nanocarriers On Filamentation Of E. Coli, Preeyaporn Songkiatisak, Feng Ding, Pavan Kumar Cherukuri, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu May 2020

Size-Dependent Inhibitory Effects Of Antibiotic Nanocarriers On Filamentation Of E. Coli, Preeyaporn Songkiatisak, Feng Ding, Pavan Kumar Cherukuri, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Multidrug membrane transporters exist in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and cause multidrug resistance (MDR), which results in an urgent need for new and more effective therapeutic agents. In this study, we used three different sized antibiotic nanocarriers to study their mode of action and their size-dependent inhibitory effects against Escherichia coli (E. coli). Antibiotic nanocarriers (AgMUNH–Oflx NPs) with 8.6 × 102, 9.4 × 103 and 6.5 × 105 Oflx molecules per nanoparticle (NP) were prepared by functionalizing Ag NPs (2.4 ± 0.7, 13.0 ± 3.1 and 92.6 ± 4.4 nm) with a monolayer …

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Co-Assembly Behavior Of Neutral And Zwitterionic Amphiphilic Block Copolymers In The Fabrication Of Glassy Polymer Vesicles, Elina Ghimire May 2020

Co-Assembly Behavior Of Neutral And Zwitterionic Amphiphilic Block Copolymers In The Fabrication Of Glassy Polymer Vesicles, Elina Ghimire

Honors Theses

Polymersomes, also known as polymer vesicles, are hollow capsules fabricated through the solution assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers. Polymer vesicles have garnered a great deal of interest in materials science because of their potential application in areas such as drug delivery, diagnostics and imaging, gene therapy, and as nanoreactors. The goal of this project is to understand the factors that affect the arrangement of triblocks in vesicle membrane via the study of the co-assembly behavior of linear amphiphilic triblocks with different hydrophilic blocks. We investigated the self- and co-assembly behavior of amphiphilic triblock copolymers with neutral hydrophilic blocks. Moreover, we …

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Quantifying Wicking In Functionlized Surfaces, Maureen Winter, Ryan Regan, Alfred Tsubaki, Craig Zuhlke, Dennis Alexander, George Gogos Apr 2020

Quantifying Wicking In Functionlized Surfaces, Maureen Winter, Ryan Regan, Alfred Tsubaki, Craig Zuhlke, Dennis Alexander, George Gogos

UCARE: Research Products

Wicking remains the enigmatic key factor in many research areas. From boiling in power plants, to anti-icing on plane wings, to medical instruments, to heat pipes, efficiency and safety depend on how quickly a surface becomes wet. Yet wicking remains difficult to quantify and define as a property of the surface. This experiment strives to measure the wicking property by examining the rate that a liquid can be pulled out of a container. A superhydrophilic surface is placed in contact with the liquid at the bottom of a tube so that the volume flow rate across the surface can be …

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A Novel Self-Healing System: Towards A Sustainable Porous Asphalt, Shi Xu, Xueyan Liu, Amir Tabakovic, Erik Schlangen Mar 2020

A Novel Self-Healing System: Towards A Sustainable Porous Asphalt, Shi Xu, Xueyan Liu, Amir Tabakovic, Erik Schlangen

Articles

Self-healing asphalt, aimed to produce a sustainable asphalt pavement using green technology, has been studied in the past two decades. Technologies including encapsulated rejuvenator and induction heating have been proposed, demonstrated in the laboratory, and gradually evaluated in field application. This paper looks into the synergy effect of the above two technologies, where induction heating serves as the asphalt damage repair mechanism, requiring just 2 min heating time and encapsulated rejuvenator will replenish (rejuvenate) aged asphalt binder and reinstate bitumen’s healing ability. Moreover, the increased temperature from induction heating could in turn accelerate the diffusion process of rejuvenator into aged …

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Biomimetic Metal-Organic Nanoparticles Prepared With A 3d-Printed Microfluidic Device As A Novel Formulation For Disulfiram-Based Therapy Against Breast Cancer, Ya Chang, Jizong Jiang, Wu Chen, Wen Yang, Lili Chen, Pengyu Chen, Jianzhong Shen, Shizhi Qian, Teng Zhou, Linfeng Wu, Liang Hong, Yongzhuo Huang, Feng Li Mar 2020

Biomimetic Metal-Organic Nanoparticles Prepared With A 3d-Printed Microfluidic Device As A Novel Formulation For Disulfiram-Based Therapy Against Breast Cancer, Ya Chang, Jizong Jiang, Wu Chen, Wen Yang, Lili Chen, Pengyu Chen, Jianzhong Shen, Shizhi Qian, Teng Zhou, Linfeng Wu, Liang Hong, Yongzhuo Huang, Feng Li

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Disulfiram (DSF) is currently tested in several clinical trials for cancer treatment in combination with cop-per (Cu) ions. Usually, DSF and Cu are administered in two separate formulations. In the body, DSF andCu ions form diethyldithiocarbamate copper complex [Cu(DDC)2] which has potent antitumor activities.However, the “two formulation” approach often achieved low Cu(DDC)2 concentration at tumor regions and resulted in compromised anticancer efficacy. Therefore, preformed Cu(DDC)2 complex administered in a single formulation will have better anticancer efficacy. However, the poor aqueous solubility of Cu(DDC)2 is a significant challenge for its clinical use. In this work, a …

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Electrospun Fibers With Smart Delivery Of Therapeutic Agents, Zahra Mahdieh Jan 2020

Electrospun Fibers With Smart Delivery Of Therapeutic Agents, Zahra Mahdieh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Electrospinning is the most widely studied technique of producing fibers. Delivery of nanoparticles and therapeutic agents from electrospun fibers have potential uses in various fields including drug delivery, filtration, and cosmetics. However, controlling the delivery rate remains the main challenge. In the current study, core-shell structure fibers were developed with zinc oxide nanoparticles applied in the shell composition to improve the pore structure (release pathway) and mechanical stability. Fine-tuned delivery rates were achieved via loading different sizes of silver nanoparticles (Ag NP) inside the fiber core. In vitro drug release assays showed fast, slow, and intermediate delivery rates of 20 …

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Development Of An Anatomically And Electrically Conductive Brain Phantom For Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Hamzah A. Magsood Jan 2020

Development Of An Anatomically And Electrically Conductive Brain Phantom For Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Hamzah A. Magsood

Theses and Dissertations

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique for diagnostics, prognostic, and treatments of various neurological diseases. However, the lack of anatomically realistic brain phantoms has made the experimental verification of stimulation strength in the form of induced electric fields/voltages in the brain tissues an impediment to developing new TMS coils, stimulators, and treatment protocols. There are significant technological, safety, and ethical limitations to test the potential TMS treatment procedures or develop enhancements and refine them on humans or animals. This work aims to bridge the gap by introducing and developing an innovative manufacturing and fabrications process to produce a …

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Development Of 3d Porous Chitosan-Based Platform For In Vitro Culture, Kailei Xu Jan 2020

Development Of 3d Porous Chitosan-Based Platform For In Vitro Culture, Kailei Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures have been widely used in biological research since two-dimensional (2D) cultures have many limitations including alteration of cell morphology, metabolic pathways and gene expression. Therefore, the application of 2D cell cultures in pharmaceutical companies for drug screening causes reproducibility issues in animal studies, which strongly influences the efficiency of drug development. The aim of my studies is to develop 3D cell culture models to better mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) in tumor microenvironment, not only for deeper understanding of interaction between cells and ECM, but also for the application in drug screening. Three different compositions of …

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Electrophoresis In Heterogeneous Hydrogels And Applications In Surface Patterning, Ning Ge Jan 2020

Electrophoresis In Heterogeneous Hydrogels And Applications In Surface Patterning, Ning Ge

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The creation of chemical micropatterns on surfaces makes it possible to add unique chemical functionality to surfaces, modifying properties such as wettability, or even adding the ability to selectively bind other molecules. The creation of biochemical surface patterning in particular is useful in a variety of fields including tissue engineering and highthroughput drug screening. There are many existing surface patterning techniques which focus on precise control over the patterned geometry, even down to submicron scale features, but they do not allow local control over chemical concentration. So the results are high resolution patterns with binary concentration. There are also existing …

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Artificial Synthetic Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering Application Emphasizing The Role Of Biophysical Cues, Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao Jan 2020

Artificial Synthetic Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering Application Emphasizing The Role Of Biophysical Cues, Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The mechanotransduction of cells is the intrinsic ability of cells to convert the mechanical signals provided by the surrounding matrix and other cells into biochemical signals that affect several distinct processes such as tumorigenesis, wound healing, and organ formation. The use of biomaterials as an artificial scaffold for cell attachment, differentiation and proliferation provides a tool to modulate and understand the mechanotransduction pathways, develop better in vitro models and clinical remedies. The effect of topographical cues and stiffness was investigated in fibroblasts using polycaprolactone (PCL)- Polyaniline (PANI) based scaffolds that were fabricated using a self-assembly method and electrospinning. Through this …

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Gravity-Drawing Flexible Silicone Filaments As Fiber Optics And Model Foldamers, Katherine Snell Jan 2020

Gravity-Drawing Flexible Silicone Filaments As Fiber Optics And Model Foldamers, Katherine Snell

CMC Senior Theses

Here, we present a method of gravity-drawing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone fibers with application as fiber optics and as model foldamers. Beginning as a viscous liquid, PDMS is cured using heat until its measured viscosity reaches 4000 mPa•s. The semi-cured elastomer is then extruded through a tube furnace to produce thin (diameters on the order of hundred micrometers) filaments with scalable lengths. PDMS is biocompatible, gas-permeable, flexible, and hydrophobic. Additionally, the PDMS surface hydrophobicity can be modified via UV exposure, O2 plasma, and corona discharge. We demonstrate the patternibility (i.e patterns of hydrophobicity) of PDMS fibers, adding complexity to potential foldamer …

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