Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is a major factor in development of atherosclerosis. Our earlier studies have shown that exposure of endothelial cells (EC) to oxLDL increases EC stiffness, facilitates the ability of the cells to generate force, and facilitates EC network formation in three-dimensional collagen gels. In this study, we show that oxLDL induces a decrease in lipid order of...

Objective This study aimed to investigate the damage mechanism of nanosized hydroxyapatite (nano-HAp) on mouse aortic smooth muscle cells (MOVASs) and the injury-inhibiting effects of diethyl citrate (Et2Cit) and sodium citrate (Na3Cit) to develop new drugs that can simultaneously induce anticoagulation and inhibit vascular calcification. Methods The change in cell viability was evaluated usi...

Cell stiffness or deformability is a fundamental property that is expected to play a major role in multiple cellular functions. It is well known that cell stiffness is dominated by the intracellular cytoskeleton that, together with the plasma membrane, forms a membrane-cytoskeleton envelope. However, our understanding of how lipid composition of plasma membrane regulates physical properties of ...

A novel TiO(2) nano-thorn membrane was assembled for concurrent filtration and photocatalytic oxidization to remove pollutants in water. This membrane has hierarchical porous and multifunctional properties, which provide these advantages: (1) producing water with high quality; (2) increasing water flux; and (3) eliminating membrane fouling.

Optical vortex trapping can allow the capture and manipulation of micro- and nanometre-sized objects such as damageable biological particles or particles with a refractive index lower than the surrounding material. However, the quest for nanometric optical vortex trapping that overcomes the diffraction limit remains. Here we demonstrate the first experimental implementation of low-power nano-op...

Micro and nano-scale hydrogel lines can be fabricated on substrates by top-down approaches such as lithography and micro/nano-imprint. When in contact with a solvent, the hydrogel lines swell under the constraint of the substrate, often resulting in distorted shapes or instability patterns. In this paper, using a nonlinear finite element method, the effects of material and geometry on swell ind...

Large quantities of wastewater are generated by the petroleum refining process. Micron-scale emulsion droplets and submicron difficult to remove from oil-refined wastewater, addressing these issues has been a major challenge for researchers. Membrane technology is widely used in water treatment because it very selective effective filtration his research focuses on oil refinery using polysulfone...

BACKGROUND Large bone defects resulting from trauma or disease pose a threat to humans. Thus far, tissue engineering as an important clinical approach uses cells, growth factors and scaffolds to regenerate large areas of damaged bone tissue. Since bone is a nanocomposite structure, it is assumed that nanomaterial scaffolds can induce or promote osteogenesis by mimicking the cell niche at nano l...

Plastics occupy wide place in the applications of automotive, electronics and house goods. Especially reinforced plastics become popular because of their high strength besides their advantages of low weight and easy manufacturability. In this study, mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix composites reinforced with surface modifi...