Fibrillar Elastomeric Micropatterns Create Tunable Adhesion Even to Rough Surfaces

Acknowledgements V.B., N.K.G., and E.A. contributed with conception and experimental design. V.B. performed the experiments. V.B., R.H., A.G., and R.M.M. carried out analysis and interpretation of data. V.B., R.H., A.G., and E.A. wrote the manuscript. V.B. and R.H. contributed equally to this work. V.B. acknowledges funding by SPP 1420 of the German Science Foundation DFG. E.A., N.K.G., and R.H. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council under the European Union/ERC Advanced Grant “Switch2Stick,” Agreement No. 340929.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Strain bursts in plastically deforming Molybdenum micro- and nanopillars

Plastic deformation of micron and sub-micron scale specimens is characterized by intermittent sequences of large strain bursts (dislocation avalanches) which are separated by regions of near-elastic loading. In the present investigation we perform a statistical characterization of strain bursts observed in stress-controlled compressive deformation of monocrystalline Molybdenum micropillars. We characterize the bursts in terms of the associated elongation increments and peak deformation rates, and demonstrate that these quantities follow power-law distributions that do not depend on specimen orientation or stress rate. We also investigate the statistics of stress increments in between the bursts, which are found to be Weibull distributed and exhibit a characteristic size effect. We discuss our findings in view of observations of deformation bursts in other materials, such as face-centered cubic and hexagonal metals.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phil Ma

Functional surface microstructures inspired by nature : From adhesion and wetting principles to sustainable new devices

In the course of evolution nature has arrived at startling materials solutions to ensure survival. Investigations into biological surfaces, ranging from plants, insects and geckos to aquatic animals, have inspired the design of intricate surface patterns to create useful functionalities. This paper reviews the fundamental interaction mechanisms of such micropatterns with liquids, solids, and soft matter such as skin for control of wetting, self-cleaning, anti-fouling, adhesion, skin adherence, and sensing. Compared to conventional chemical strategies, the paradigm of micropatterning enables solutions with superior resource efficiency and sustainability. Associated applications range from water management and robotics to future health monitoring devices. We finally provide an overview of the relevant patterning methods as an appendix

Functional surface microstructures inspired by nature – From adhesion and wetting principles to sustainable new devices

In the course of evolution nature has arrived at startling materials solutions to ensure survival. Investigations into biological surfaces, ranging from plants, insects and geckos to aquatic animals, have inspired the design of intricate surface patterns to create useful functionalities. This paper reviews the fundamental interaction mechanisms of such micropatterns with liquids, solids, and soft matter such as skin for control of wetting, self-cleaning, anti-fouling, adhesion, skin adherence, and sensing. Compared to conventional chemical strategies, the paradigm of micropatterning enables solutions with superior resource efficiency and sustainability. Associated applications range from water management and robotics to future health monitoring devices. We finally provide an overview of the relevant patterning methods as an appendix

Molecular interaction of BMP-4, TGF-β, and estrogens in lactotrophs: Impact on the PRL promoter

The regulatory role of estrogen, bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4), and TGF-β has a strong impact on hormone secretion, gene transcription, and cellular growth of prolactin (PRL)-producing cells. In contrast to TGF-β, BMP-4 induces the secretion of PRL in GH3 cells. Therefore, we studied the mechanism of their transcriptional regulation. Both BMP-4 and TGF-β inhibited the transcriptional activity of the estrogen receptor (ER). Estrogens had no effect on TGF-β-specific Smad protein transcriptional activity but presented a stimulatory action on the transcriptional activity of the BMP-4-specific Smads. BMP-4/estrogen cross talk was observed both on PRL hormone secretion and on the PRL promoter. This cross talk was abolished by the expression of a dominant-negative form for Smad-1 and treatment with ICI 182780 but not by point mutagenesis of the estrogen response element site within the promoter, suggesting that Smad/ER interaction might be dependent on the ER and a Smad binding element. By serial deletions of the PRL promoter, we observed that indeed a region responsive to BMP-4 is located between -2000 and -1500 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site. Chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed Smad-4 binding to this region, and by specific mutation and gel shift assay, a Smad binding element responsible site was characterized. These results demonstrate that the different transcriptional factors involved in the Smad/ER complexes regulate their transcriptional activity in differential ways and may account for the different regulatory roles of BMP-4, TGF-β, and estrogens in PRL-producing cells. Copyright © 2009 by The Endocrine Society.Fil:Giacomini, D. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Páez-Pereda, M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

A Model-independent Description of New Physics effects in e+e- to t tbar

We study the potential of a future $e^+e^-$ collider for the search of anomalous gamma t t bar and Z t t bar couplings, assuming that CP-invariance holds. This is done in a model-independent way, considering that all six possible couplings do appear. Two experimental situations are envisaged, with and without electron beam polarization. Observability limits in the form of domains in the 6-dimensional parameter space are established. Illustrations for specific constrained models are also presented and implications for new physics searches are discussed.Comment: 26 pages and 5 figures. e-mail: [email protected]

Proposing "b-Parity" - a New Approximate Quantum Number in Inclusive b-jet Production - as an Efficient Probe of New Flavor Physics

We consider the inclusive reaction \ell^+ \ell^- -> nb +X (n = number of b-jets) in lepton colliders for which we propose a useful approximately conserved quantum number b_P=(-1)^n that we call b-Parity (b_P). We make the observation that the Standard Model (SM) is essentially b_P-even since SM b_P-violating signals are necessarily CKM suppressed. In contrast new flavor physics can produce b_P=-1 signals whose only significant SM background is due to b-jet misidentification. Thus, we show that b-jet counting, which relies primarily on b-tagging, becomes a very simple and sensitive probe of new flavor physics (i.e., of b_P-violation).Comment: 5 pages using revtex, 2 figures embadded in the text using epsfig. As will appear in Phys.Rev.Lett.. Considerable improvement was made in the background calculation as compared to version 1, by including purity parameters, QCD effects and 4-jets processe

Temperature-dependent size effects on the strength of Ta and W micropillars

The strength of metals increases with decreasing sample size, a trend known as the size effect. In particular, focused ion beam-milled body-centered cubic (BCC) micropillars exhibit a size effect known to scale with the ratio of the test temperature to the critical temperature (Tc) of the BCC metal, a measure of how much the yield stress is governed by the lattice resistance. In this paper, this effect is systematically studied by performing high-temperature compression tests on focused ion beam-manufactured Ta and W single crystal pillars ranging in diameter from 500 nm to 5 μm at temperatures up to 400 °C, and discussed in the context of bulk strength and size dependent stresses. Both metals show larger size effects at higher temperatures, reaching values that are in the range of FCC metals at temperatures near Tc. However, it is demonstrated that size effects can be considerably affected by material parameters such as dislocation density and lattice friction, as well as by the yield criterion used. Furthermore, for W, a change from uniform wavy deformation to localized deformation is observed with increasing temperature and pillar size, further indicating that the temperature ratio strongly influences the relative motion of screw and edge dislocations