Optofluidics is a rapidly growing versatile branch of adaptive optics including a wide variety of applications such as tunable beam shaping tools, mirrors, apertures, and lenses. In this review, we focus on recent developments in optofluidic lenses, which arguably forms the most important part of optofluidics devices. We report first on a number of general characteristics and characterization m...

Patterned structures of flexible, stretchable, electrically conductive materials on soft substrates could lead to novel electronic devices with unique mechanical properties allowing them to bend, fold, stretch or conform to their environment. For the last decade, research on improving the stretchability of circuits on elastomeric substrates has made significant progresses but designing printed ...

BACKGROUND Managing "spaghetti syndrome," the tangle of therapeutic cables, tubes, and cords at patients' bedsides, can be challenging. OBJECTIVES To assess nurses' perceptions of the effectiveness of a novel banding device in management of spaghetti syndrome. METHODS A simple color-coded elastomeric banding strap with ribbed flaps was attached to bed rails of adult critical care patients t...

Several strategies have been developed for the control of DNA translocation in nanopores and nanochannels. However, the possibility to reduce the molecule speed is still challenging for applications in the field of single molecule analysis, such as ultra-rapid sequencing. This paper demonstrates the possibility to alter the DNA translocation process through an elastomeric nanochannel device by ...

In this work the effect of the γ-radiation dose on ageing of carbon black reinforced elastomeric materials was studied. The compounds based on natural rubber/chlorosulfonated rubber blend (NR/CSM) and butadiene acrylonitrile rubber/chlorosulfonated rubber blend (NBR/CSM) (50:50, w/w) with different loadings (0, 20, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100 phr) of the filler with the average particle size of 40 n...

The ability to create architected materials that possess both high stiffness and toughness remains an elusive goal, since these properties are often mutually exclusive. Natural materials, such as bone, overcome such limitations by combining different toughening mechanisms across multiple length scales. Here, a new method for creating architected lattices composed of core-shell struts that are b...

A hybrid beam with a gel layer bonded on the top of an elastic non-swellable substrate has been commonly adopted to make various sensors and actuators. Usually, different models need to be developed for the hybrid beam when different gels are used in the system. In this article, based on the generalized ideal elastomeric gel model, we formulate a unified relationship between the swelling of hyd...

Increased production and assembly of extracellular matrix proteins during transdifferentiation of epithelial cells to a mesenchymal phenotype contributes to diseases such as renal and pulmonary fibrosis. TGF-β and hypoxia, two cues that initiate injury-induced fibrosis, caused human kidney cells to develop a mesenchymal phenotype, including increased fibronectin expression and secretion. Howeve...