By depositing molten plastic layer upon layer, threedimensional (3-D) printers can crank out almost anything, from toys to guns to artificial limbs. The surging 3-D printer market has made desktop versions affordable for schools and libraries. But the printers’ growing prevalence has raised concerns about potential negative health effects from inhaling toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) an...

To overcome the challenge of upcycling plastic waste into 3-D printing filament in distributed recycling and additive manufacturing systems, this study designs, builds, tests validates an open source diameter sensor for winding machines. The modular system multi-axis optical control recycled 3-D-printer makes it possible to analyze surface structure processed filament, save history measurements...

Rat mesothelial cells co-express vimentin and the simple epithelial cytokeratins. While cytokeratins predominate in situ, under most culture conditions vimentin is the major intermediate filament protein of the cells. This loss of cytokeratin production upon culture can be partly prevented by growing mesothelial cells on a basement membrane matrix. However, the basement membrane-promoted persis...

Airway smooth muscle is able to adapt and maintain a nearly constant maximal force generation over a large length range. This implies that a fixed filament lattice such as that found in striated muscle may not exist in this tissue and that plastic remodeling of its contractile and cytoskeletal filaments may be involved in the process of length adaptation that optimizes contractile filament over...

Additive manufacturing through material extrusion, often termed three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a burgeoning method for manufacturing thermoplastic components. However, a key obstacle facing 3D-printed plastic parts in engineering applications is the weak weld between successive filament traces, which often leads to delamination and mechanical failure. This is the chief obstacle to the use ...