Although self-assembly (SA) in two dimensions (2D) is highly developed (especially using surfaces as a templates), SA in three dimensions (3D) has been more difficult. This paper describes a strategy for SA in 3D of diamagnetic plastic objects (mmto cm-sized in this work, but in principle in sizes from 10 mm to m) supported in a paramagnetic fluid by a non-uniform magnetic field. The magnetic f...

Poly(terephthalamide) microcapsules can be reproducibly and easily prepared by interfacial polycondensation around emulsion droplets in water. Oil drops of cyclohexane/chloroform mixture stabilized with poly(vinyl alcohol) containing terephthaloylchloride serve as soft template. The interfacial polycondensation starts immediately after addition of an amine mixture (hexamethylenediamine/diethyle...

Single crystalline indium nanowires were prepared on Zn substrate which had been treated in concentrated sulphuric acid by galvanic displacement in the 0.002 mol L-1In2(SO4)3-0.002 mol L-1SeO2-0.02 mol L-1SDS-0.01 mol L-1citric acid aqueous solution. The typical diameter of indium nanowires is 30 nm and most of the nanowires are over 30 μm in length. XRD, HRTEM, SAED and structural simulation c...

This paper reports the synthetic route of 3-D network shape α-Fe2O3 from aqueous solutions of iron precursor using a non-ionic polymeric soft-template, Pluronic P123. During the synthesis of α-Fe2O3, particle sizes, crystal phases and morphologies were significantly influenced by pH, concentrations of precursor and template. The unique shape of worm-like hematite was obtained only when a starti...

A novel synthetic approach was developed for creating versatile hollow Au nanostructures by stepwise reductions of Au(III) upon the use of cationic gemini surfactant hexamethylene-1,6-bis(dodecyl dimethylammonium bromide) (C12C6C12Br2) as a template agent. It was observed that the Au(I) ions obtained from the reduction of Au(III) by ascorbic acid can assist the gemini surfactant to form vesicle...

BACKGROUND Electroencephalography (EEG) can capture the cortical response evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The TMS pulse provokes a large artefact, which obscures the cortical response in the first milliseconds after TMS. Removing this artefact remains a challenge. METHODS We delivered monophasic and biphasic TMS to a melon as head phantom and to four healthy participants an...

As major experimental modeling methods, static soft-sensing methods have been widely used in modern chemical production process now. In fact, for the sampling frequency to output variable by laboratory analyzer off-line is rather low and uniform, the computed results, which gained from those methods or the existed major dynamic methods such as neural networks, are difficult to satisfy the requi...

OBJECTIVE This paper details the development and application of a Virtual Environment for Reconstructive Surgery (VERS). It addresses the technical and user-interface challenges in developing such a system, and the lessons learned during application of the system in the case of a 17-year-old boy with a severe facial defect arising from the removal of a soft-tissue sarcoma. MATERIALS AND METHO...

What are the common design and control principles of legged locomotion? To approach this question we ask about the internal leg function, e.g. the number of leg segments, the arrangements of muscles, ligaments and other soft tissue within the leg and the appropriate muscle activation patterns in order to generate a desired leg behavior. On the other hand we need to integrate the leg into an ove...

In the context of medicine cutting is one of the most important operations. Many surgical tasks start with an incision, allowing the surgeon to access the region of interest, using either conventional or minimal invasive surgery techniques. The work presented herein should be seen in the context of surgical training and preoperative planning using computer assisted medical simulation systems. T...