Structural DNA nanotechnology is a rapidly emerging field that has demonstrated great potential for applications such as single molecule sensing, drug delivery, and templating molecular components. As the applications of DNA nanotechnology expand, a consideration of their mechanical behavior is becoming essential to understand how these structures will respond to physical interactions. This rev...

A millimeter thin rubber-like solid-state lighting module is reported. The fabrication of the lighting module incorporates assembly and electrical connection of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The assembly is achieved using a roll-to-roll fluidic self-assembly. The LEDs are sandwiched in-between a stretchable top and bottom electrode to relieve the mechanical stress. The top contact is realized u...

Topological properties of DNA influence its mechanical and biochemical interactions. Genomic DNA is maintained in a state of topological homeostasis by topoisomerases and is subjected to mechanical stress arising from replication and segregation. Despite their fundamental roles, the effects of topology and force have been difficult to ascertain. Developments in single-molecule manipulation tech...

Our aim is to transpose the polarization control by mechanical stress, usually applied to single-mode fibers, to the (TM(01), TE(01), HE(21)(ev), HE(21)(od)) annular mode family. Nevertheless, the quasi-degeneracy of these four modes makes the situation more complex than with the fundamental mode HE(11). We propose a simple device based on periodic perturbation and mode coupling to produce the ...

Biofilms, sticky conglomerations of microorganisms and extracellular polymers, are among the Earth's most common life forms. One component for their survival is an ability to withstand external mechanical stress. Measurements indicate that biofilm elastic relaxation times are approximately the same (about 18 min) over a wide sample of biofilms though other material properties vary significantly...

Stretchable and transparent electrodes have been developed for applications in flexible and wearable electronics. For customer-oriented practical applications, the electrical and optical properties of stretchable electrodes should be independent of the directions of the applied stress, and such electrodes are called omnidirectionally stretchable electrodes. Herein, we report a simple and cost-e...

Besides experimental methods, numerical simulations bring benefits and great opportunities to characterize and predict mechanical behaviors of materials especially at nanoscale. In this study, a nano-single crystal aluminum (Al) as a typical face centered cubic (FCC) metal was modeled based on molecular dynamics (MD) method and by applying tensile and compressive strain loadings its mechanical ...

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001 The long term performance of polymers and their composites is an important aspect of their increasing use in engineering applications. Temporal, thermal, and mechanical stresses can all contribute to the deterioration of performance. Here we examine the concepts of the physics of glassy polymers and how they are importa...

Morphogenesis is the dynamic and regulated change in tissue form that leads to creation of the body plan and development of mature organs. Research over the past several decades has uncovered a multitude of genetic factors required for morphogenesis in animals. The behaviors of individual cells within a developing tissue are determined by combining these genetic signals with information from th...

Microencapsulation techniques are widely applied in the field of pharmaceutical production to control drugs release in time and in physiological environments. Ultrasonic-assisted atomization is a new technique to produce microencapsulated systems by a mechanical approach. Interest in this technique is due to the advantages evidenceable (low level of mechanical stress in materials, reduced energ...