Active Self-Assembly of Algorithmic Shapes and Patterns in Polylogarithmic Time

We describe a computational model for studying the complexity of self-assembled structures with active molecular components. Our model captures notions of growth and movement ubiquitous in biological systems. The model is inspired by biology's fantastic ability to assemble biomolecules that form systems with complicated structure and dynamics, from molecular motors that walk on rigid tracks and proteins that dynamically alter the structure of the cell during mitosis, to embryonic development where large-scale complicated organisms efficiently grow from a single cell. Using this active self-assembly model, we show how to efficiently self-assemble shapes and patterns from simple monomers. For example, we show how to grow a line of monomers in time and number of monomer states that is merely logarithmic in the length of the line. Our main results show how to grow arbitrary connected two-dimensional geometric shapes and patterns in expected time that is polylogarithmic in the size of the shape, plus roughly the time required to run a Turing machine deciding whether or not a given pixel is in the shape. We do this while keeping the number of monomer types logarithmic in shape size, plus those monomers required by the Kolmogorov complexity of the shape or pattern. This work thus highlights the efficiency advantages of active self-assembly over passive self-assembly and motivates experimental effort to construct general-purpose active molecular self-assembly systems

Research of Cranberry Main Indicators of Chemical Composition and Its Processing Products

It is well–known that cranberry is an especially rich and heterogenic source of phytochemical substances. Modern technologies allow to produce food products of wild fruits and berries, but they use their diverse and useful chemical composition insufficiently. The aim of the work was in studying features of the chemical composition and content of biologically active substances in cranberries, harvested at the territory of Ukraine, and the influence of processing technologies of cranberry on main indicators of its chemical composition at producing juices.It was established, that the maximal extraction of biologically active substances is possible at juices production using biocatalysis method, because the essential part of functional elements in the raw material is in the bound condition and is a base of cellular walls that is why it is expedient to disturb nativity and integrity of these natural biopolymers.There was experimentally grounded the influence of a processing technology on the quality of cranberry juice. There was studied the phenol composition of cranberry composition and influence of different ways of fermentolysis on PS extraction.It was confirmed by results of the study of the fraction composition of phenol substances, that their maximal extraction is achieved after the enzymatic processing of pulp and momentary heating to inactivate the effect of enzymatic preparations.It was proved, that enzymatic biocatalysis of cranberry pulp also favors the essential increase of the output of organic acids (lemon, apple, amber), sugars (fructose, glucose), sorbite polyalcohol and also phenol substances of cranberries. The mechanism of the enzymatic complex influence on cranberry pulp at fermentolysis was demonstrated.The use of products of cranberries processing at food products manufacturing will allow: to enrich the chemical composition, to compensate deviations of functional–technical properties of the raw material and to introduce resource–saving technologies. Based on the researches there were substantiated perspectives of using juices and marc of cranberry in different branches of the food industry: non–alcoholic, meat processing and at manufacturing products of the restaurant industry

Impregnant formulation to the preservation, protection and consolidation of wood heritage assets

The protection of cultural heritage is an integral part of the world´s material wealth. The cultural heritage, movable and immovable, together with the natural environment, represents values that contribute to the education and social culture of the community. It also has a significant economic impact because, it represents the basic prerequisite for a tourism industry. Therefore, the modern developing based on non-polluting technological products for the protection of patrimonial is needed. Also, it is necessary to build a bridge between the basic knowledge generated as a product of scientific research and applied science. The knowing of what kind of deterioration occurs and how it impacts the physical-mechanical properties of the materials are important issues and, that must be considered so that the constructions made can be adequately conserved and/or consolidated. Wood was treated with an innovate formulation based on silanes (methyltriethoxysilane, MTES and noctyltryethoxysilane, OTES) to achieve the protection and the consolidation of the heritage assets. The performance of treatment about dimensional stability, fire and biodeterioration/biodegradation resistance was investigated. It was concluded that the treatment resulted effective as a protective and consolidate lasur system based on silanes by surface treatment for wood heritage assets.Fil: Alfieri, Paula Vanesa. Laboratorio de Entrenamiento Multidisciplinario para la Investigación Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Lofeudo, Rosana. Laboratorio de Entrenamiento Multidisciplinario para la Investigación Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Canosa, Guadalupe. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Tecnología de Pinturas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones en Tecnología de Pinturas; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentin

Spong3d: 3D printed facade system enabling movable fluid heat storage

Spong3D is an adaptive 3D printed facade system that integrates multiple functions to optimize thermal performances according to the different environmental conditions throughout the year. The proposed system incorporates air cavities to provide thermal insulation and a movable liquid (water plus additives) to provide heat storage where and whenever needed. The air cavities have various dimensions and are located in the inner part of the system. The movable liquid provides heat storage as it flows through channels located along the outer surfaces of the system (on the indoor and outdoor faces of the façade). Together, the composition of the channels and the cavities form a complex structure, integrating multiple functions into a singular component, which can only be produced by using an Additive Manufacturing (AM; like 3D printing) technology

Perfusion Bioreactor for the Development of Tissue-Engineered Blood Vessels

The purpose of this project was to design a perfusion bioreactor to nourish the lumen of a tissue tube comprised of rat smooth muscle cells in order to eliminate luminal cell necrosis. Once the bioreactor was deemed suitable for living tissue, a 19-day old tissue tube was mounted inside the bioreactor and the bioreactor ran for 3 days inside an incubator. Control tissue tubes were grown statically on silicone mandrels for 3 days. Tissue tubes preserved on the same day that the bioreactor was put in the incubator also served as control tissues to compare the size and morphology of tissue tube cultured in the bioreactor with tissue tubes harvested prior to incubation. The bioreactor was designed to provide an innovative way to mount tissue tubes to introduce luminal perfusion

Spong3d: 3D printed facade system enabling movable fluid heat storage

Spong3D is an adaptive 3D printed facade system that integrates multiple functions to optimize thermal performances according to the different environmental conditions throughout the year. The proposed system incorporates air cavities to provide thermal insulation and a movable liquid (water plus additives) to provide heat storage where and whenever needed. The air cavities have various dimensions and are located in the inner part of the system. The movable liquid provides heat storage as it flows through channels located along the outer surfaces of the system (on the indoor and outdoor faces of the façade). Together, the composition of the channels and the cavities form a complex structure, integrating multiple functions into a singular component, which can only be produced by using an Additive Manufacturing (AM; like 3D printing) technology

Modeling and simulation of surface profile forming process of microlenses and their application in optical interconnection devices

Free space micro-optical systems require to integrate microlens array, micromirrors, optical waveguides, beam splitter, etc. on a single substrate. Out-of-plane microlens array fabricated by direct lithography provides pre-alignment during mask fabrication stage and has the advantage of mass manufacturing at low cost. However, this technology requires precise control of the surface profile of microlenses, which is a major technical challenge. The quality control of the surface profile of microlenses limits their applications. In this dissertation, the surface forming process of the out-of-plane microlenses in UV-lithography fabrication was modeled and simulated using a simplified cellular automata model. The microlens array was integrated with micromirrors on a single silicon substrate to form a free space interconnect system. The main contributions of this dissertation include: (1) The influences of different processing parameters on the final surface profiles of microlenses were thoroughly analyzed and discussed. A photoresist etching model based on a simplified cellular automata algorithm was established and tested. The forming process and mechanism of the microlens surface profile were explained based on the established model. (2) Microlens arrays with different parameters were designed, fabricated, and tested. The experiment results were compared with the simulation results. The possible causes for the deviation were discussed. (3) A microlens array based beam relay for optical interconnection application was proposed. A sequence of identical microlens array was fabricated on a single silicon substrate simultaneously and its optical performance was tested. A fast replication method for the microlens optical interconnects using PDMS and UV curable polymer was developed. A selective deposition method of micro-optical elements using PDMS ‘lift-off’ technique was realized. No shadow mask was needed during deposition process. With the continuous advances in the integration of micro-optical systems, direct lithography of micro-optical elements will be a potential technology to provide both precision alignment and low cost in manufacturing process. Microlenses and microlens array with precisely controlled surface profiles will be an important part in the micro-optical system

Skeletal Muscle Tissue Engineering System to Mimic In Vivo Development

Skeletal muscle atrophy can occur for a number of reasons including degenerative diseases and age-related sarcopenia. Current pre-clinical studies for regeneration therapies are solely reliant on animal models, which do not accurately mimic human tissue and chemistry. The purpose of developing this device was to provide a reproducible manner of creating an in vitro skeletal muscle model that will aid in preclinical therapy testing. The device was designed to maintain a sterile environment for tissue culture, which provides anchorage, periodic strain, and generates an electric field to stimulate contraction. The intended output of the device is the controlled culture of a minimal functional unit of skeletal muscle that surpasses current standards of in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical models

Pentamode metamaterials under dynamic loading

The field of metamaterials has grown considerably in the last few decades due to the advances in new manufacturing technologies. Metamaterials currently are of interest for a wide variety of applications including damping systems. This work is aimed to evaluate dissipative effect of pentamode metamaterials subjected to dynamic loading. The results of numerical modelling of the mechanical behavior of pentamode metamaterials from alpha titanium alloys are received and compared with available experimental data. The model of inelastic deformation and ductile damage criterion are used to describe the ductility of the unit cell of metamaterials in a wide range of strain rates, temperature and stress triaxiality. A methodology for analyzing the energy dissipation due to inelastic deformation of metamaterials at high strain rates is presented. It is shown that the values of the energy dissipation coefficient during uniaxial dynamic compression of the pentamode metamaterial are 1.5 times higher than for the bulk alloy counterpart