Many high-throughput analytical platforms, from next-generation DNA sequencing to drug discovery, rely on beads as carriers of molecular diversity. Microfluidic systems are ideally suited to handle and analyze such bead libraries with high precision and at minute volume scales; however, the challenge of introducing bead suspensions into devices before they sediment usually confounds microfluidi...

We present an exact solution to the problem of the global shape description of a spherical vesicle distorted by a grafted latex bead. This solution is derived by treating the nonlinearity in bending elasticity through the (topological) Bogomol'nyi decomposition technique and elastic compatibility. We recover the "hat-model" approximation in the limit of a small latex bead and find that the regi...

We study theoretically the capturing of paramagnetic beads by a magnetic field gradient in a microfluidic channel treating the beads as a continuum. Bead motion is affected by both fluidic and magnetic forces. The transfer of momentum from beads to the fluid creates an effective bead-bead interaction that greatly aids capturing. We demonstrate that for a given inlet flow speed a critical densit...

Triple-wire gas indirect arc welding (TW-GIA) is a new technology with the advantages of low heat input and high deposition rate. However, humping bead restricts improvement efficiency. In this article, high-speed cameras infrared thermal imaging system were used to characterize formation mechanism TW-GIA bead. The physical model was established discuss force weld poor. And influence process pa...

Collagen phagocytosis is a crucial alpha2beta1-integrin-dependent process that mediates extracellular matrix remodeling by fibroblasts. We showed previously that after initial contact with collagen, activated Rac1 accelerates collagen phagocytosis but the Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) that regulate Rac are not defined. We examined here the GEFs that regulate collagen phagocytos...