A wide range of fiber types was tested in two in vitro assays: toxicity to A549 epithelial cells, as detachment from substrate, and the production of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by rat alveolar macrophages. Three of the fibers were also studied in vivo, using short-term inhalation followed by a) bronchoalveolar lavage to assess the inflammatory response and b) measu...

The effect of fiber orientation on the toughening of polymers by short glass fibers generally below their critical length was investigated using specimens with either well-aligned or randomly oriented fibers. The fibers were aligned by an electric field in a photopolymerizable monomer, which was polymerized while the field was still being applied. These materials were fractured with the aligned...

We have developed a new method allowing the study of the thermodynamic phase behavior of mesoscopic colloidal systems consisting of amyloid protein fibers in water, obtained by heat denaturation and aggregation of beta-lactoglobulin, a dairy protein. The fibers have a cross section of about 5.2 nm and two groups of polydisperse contour lengths: (i) long fibers of 1-20 microm, showing semiflexib...

Large-core silica multimode fibers, whose core diameters are generally 50 μm or 62.5 μm, form the bulk of short and medium haul optical fiber links in existence today, owing to their low cost and ease of deployment. However, modal dispersion significantly limits the maximum data rates that they support. Recently, the ability to multiplex several streams of data through optical fibers has spawne...

We have developed new procedures to examine the early steps in fibrin polymerization. First, we isolated fibrinogen monomers from plasma fibrinogen by gel filtration. Polymerization of fibrinogen monomers differed from that of plasma fibrinogen. The formation of protofibrils was slower and the transformation of protofibrils to fibers faster for the fibrinogen monomers. Second, we used formaldeh...

Studies on skinned fibers and single motor units have indicated that slow-twitch fibers are stiffer than fast-twitch fibers. This suggests that skeletal muscles with different motor unit compositions may have different short-range stiffness (SRS) properties. Furthermore, the natural recruitment of slow before fast motor units may result in an SRS-force profile that is different from electrical ...

Carbon nanotube (CNT) based continuous fiber, a CNT assembly that could retain the superb properties of individual CNTs on a macroscopic scale, has emerged as a promising candidate for reinforcement in multifunctional composites. While existing research has extensively examined their short-term mechanical properties based upon quasi-static measurements, the long-term durability of CNT fibers ha...

The main aim of this work was to study the effect of sisal fiber surface treatments on water uptake behavior of composites based on untreated and treated fibers. For this purpose, sisal fibers were treated with different chemical treatments. All surface treatments delayed the water absorption of fibers only for a short time of period. No significant differences were observed in water uptake pro...

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is widely used to non-invasively study neural tissue micro-structure. While DTI tractography of large nerve fibers is well accepted, visualization of smaller fibers and resolution of branching fibers is challenging. Sensitivity of DTI to diffusion anisotropy can be further enhanced using long diffusion time that can provide a more accurate representation of the ti...

Natural fibers can be attractive reinforcing materials in thermosetting polymers due to their low density and high specific mechanical properties. Although the research effort in this area has grown substantially over the last 20 years, manufacturing technologies to make use of short natural fibers in high volume fraction composites; are still limited. Natural fibers, after retting and preproce...