VHDL Implementation of High Performance and Dynamically Configured Multi-port Cache Memory

This project presents the implementation of 64x64 multi-port dynamically configured SRAM in VHDL (VHSIC hardware description language). It employs isolation nodes and dynamic memory partitioning algorithm to facilitate simultaneous multi-port accesses without duplicating bit-lines. VHDL test-bench is developed to verify the functionality of the dynamically configured memory. Results demonstrate that critical memory operations such as "read miss", "write miss" and "write bypass" can be performed using newly proposed low power, area efficient dynamically configured memory

Effect of Microgravity on Nanoparticle-Cellular Interaction

A cell contains numerous proteins on its surface and in the cytoplasm that carry out a variety of functions. Maleimide – functionalized Graphene quantum dots (m-GQDs) have the ability to attach or “tag” both cell surface and intracellular proteins in the gravitational setting. Such quantum dots have photoluminescent properties, which can be utilized for tagging the cysteine residue on the proteins and hence in the bio-imaging applications of these proteins. This experiment proposes whether m-GQDs will have a stable binding to cellular proteins on Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) mammalian cells under the influence of microgravity. If this occurs, it can provide a wide variety of applications for studying the effects of micro gravity on a physiological system in the way proteins behave compared to a gravitational setting. The basic principle of this procedure can be further utilized to study many more cellular processes under the influence of microgravity by simply tracking these “tagged” cellular proteins under a fluorescence microscope

Chirality Based Seperation of Carbon Nanotubes by Analyzing the Specific Interaction With the AMB-1 Flagellin Derived Tripeptide

Isaac et. al (2015) studied the interaction between the flagellum of AMB-1 and different chirality CNTs (m-CNT and s-CNT). The observations through Molecular Dynamics simulations demonstrated that the glycine residues in D3 domain of flagellum interacts with m-CNT whereas such an interaction with s-CNT is absent. The specific interaction of glycine with m-CNT can lead to the development of a biological method for chirality based CNT sorting. Hence, further studies were required to determine the effect of the residues flanking glycine on it’s interaction with m-CNT. The type of interactions and the extent of interaction of different combinations of polar and non-polar amino acid residues flanking glycine were conducted. Hence, the role of glycine with two flanking amino acid residues (tripeptide) is substantiated to determine it’s specific interaction with m-CNT through the study of interaction energy and RMSD of the middle glycine and the flanking residues towards the adsorption of the tripeptide onto m-CNT

Directed Self-Assembly of Magnetite Through Electrospinning With Potential Applications in Nanopatterning

Electrospinning is a unique method for producing micro and nano sized polymeric nanofibers consisting of high surface area, porosity and flexibility. It can further be utilized for producing nano-patterns in applications such as biosensors, magnetic recording and bioelectronics. Magnetite (Fe3O4) from the spinel group is the most magnetically natural mineral found on earth and it has been successfully used as a catalyst for the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This work focuses on a consistent synthesis of magnetite nanopatterns for selective growth of CNTs for potential applications in bioelectronics

Efficient Use of Bio-Inspired Nanofabrication in Soft Electronics

Self-assembly plays an important role in the formation of different nanostructures either organic or inorganic. Controlled assembly of molecules into higher ordered hierarchical structures on the other hand require a thorough insight into the interactive forces that lie behind such an assembly. The interface between organic and inorganic materials is thus of primary significance when it comes to the tasks of selective deposition and assembly of inorganic molecules through organic agents. One of the bacterial species that belong to the class α-proteobacteria called Magnetospirillum magneticum (classified as AMB-1) is investigated in this study and it is found that this species is able to fulfill the requirements that are imposed by the complexity of the selective deposition and controlled assembly tasks. AMB-1 contain single-domain crystals of magnetite (Fe3O4) called magnetosomes that sense the external magnetic field that is further utilized for cellular displacement (magnetotaxis) through lash-like cellular appendages called flagella. The two flagella located at the proximal and distal ends of the cell consists of a protein monomer flagellin. Individual flagellin in turn that are located on the periphery of each of the flagellum's central channel consists of four sub-domains, two inner domains (D0, D1) made up of alpha helices and two outer domains (D2, D3) made up of beta sheets. However, it is the domain D3 that is exposed to the surrounding micro-environment, thereby interacting with the components to be selectively deposited, in this case, carbon nanotubes (CNT). Based on the electromagnetic and molecular dynamics simulations and the real-time experimental analysis involving optical microscopy utilizing 50 micron diameter conductor (44AWG) magnetic coils as directional magnetic field generation centers to visualize the motion of free as well as loaded AMB-1 as well as electron microscopy (TEM & SEM) to analyze the interactive forces between CNT and AMB-1 flagellum, it is found that once the domain D3 is functionalized with either metallic (m-) or semiconducting (s-) carbon nanotubes (CNT), the AMB-1 cell can be used as an efficient carrier for selective deposition tasks. Two aspects that are of particular interest are the phenomenal control of direction exhibited by AMB-1 using locally generated magnetic field and the efficient interactive forces in the form of short range forces (van der Waals, hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds) and long range forces (electrostatic interactions) between m-CNT or s-CNT and D3. Thus, it is recognized that a compound semiconductor manufacturing technology involving bacterial carriers and carbon-based materials such as carbon nanotubes would be a desirable choice in the future

Role of Surface Proteins in Magnetotaxis-based Applications

Magnetospirillum magneticum (AMB-1) are a species of magnetotactic bacteria that are capable of orienting along the earth’s magnetic field lines through their organelles called magnetosomes. Many studies have shown that certain engineered-bacteria can infect the tumor cells resulting in a controlled death of a tumor. This work deals with a technique utilizing AMB-1 along a predefined path through magnetotaxis, which can pave a way for selective doping as well as isolation of the tumor cells from a group of healthy cells through a magnetic invasive assay (MIA). For such a control, tiny mesh of vertical electrical coils each having a diameter of ~ 5 mm is fabricated, which establishes the path for the bacteria to move along the magnetic field lines. The molecular dynamics simulations at the interface of the bacterial cell surface proteins (MSP-1 & flagellin) and Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell surface containing cytoplasmic and extracellular proteins (BSG, B2M, SDC1, AIMP1, and FOS) will establish an association between the invading AMB-1 and the host CHO cells. The experimental demonstration will involve the CHO invasion by the AMB-1 and isolation of selected CHO cells. Statistical analysis along with the relevant electron and force microscopy data will confirm the number of AMB-1 and CHO cells involved before and after invasion and the role of directional control

Molecular Dynamic Simulations of CRISPR and HIV

In the United States, there were 37,600 new HIV infections in 2014, with an estimated 1.1 million people living with the disease in 2015, according to the CDC. HIV targets the cell receptor CD4 and chemocine coreceptors CCR5 or CXCR5. Some individuals possess a mutation within CCR5 that causes a resistance to HIV-1. One HIV+ patient in Berlin, Timothy Brown, developed an immunity to the virus after a bone marrow transplant from a donor who possessed this CCR5 mutation. After this coincidence, researchers attempted a variety of gene therapies, such as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and Cas9. CRISPR/Cas9 is a promising new tool that scientists have been using to do direct editing of genomes with more ease and specificity than ever before. CRISPR stands for cluster of regularly interspaced palindromic repeats, which are segments of RNA that are found in many prokaryotes to defend the organism against viral infections and unwanted gene transfers. Cas is a gene cluster that mediates the response to the RNA encoded in the CRISPR segments. Cas are designated by the protein complex responsible for interference. Together, these molecules identify a segment of target RNA, extract it, and replace it with another segment. They make up part of the adaptive immune system of eukaryotic cells. This research hopes to create a predictive model by analyzing the existing gene therapy data from previous studies, and using numerical molecular dynamic simulation software to glean more information about those results. Previously published studies discuss how gene therapies such as ZFN and CRISPR are used to modify either the host genome or the viral genome3, and then experiments are performed to determine whether this therapy is effective at preventing viral infection. By analyzing the bonding characteristics of different strands of RNA, it may be possible to predict which RNA segments make the best candidates for gene therapies that will confer resistance to HIV infection

FPGA based Magnetic field control for guiding Magnetotactic bacteria

This poster describes a prototype for guiding the bacteria through the control of magnetic field along a known path. These bacteria can be used in applications like MEMS and Micro total analysis. FPGA is used for the control of magnetic field and ultimately bacteria is guided along the magnetic path

Graphene Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor

Manoj kumar Manimaran's, Isaac Macwan's, and Prabir Patra's poster on a Graphene Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor

A Novel Use of Electrospining for Nanopatterning of Bio-Sequestered Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

In this research on creating controlled nanopatterns, a novel technique using electrospinning of iron oxide nanoparticles is being investigated, where nanopatterns of biologically sequestered magnetite are proposed. This is because electrospinning is normally used in the fabrication of nanofibers governed by the electrical forces on the surface of the precursor organic fluids thereby producing polymer filaments using an electrostatic force. This electrospinning technique can serve various purposes such as the fine control of the fiber diameters, the production of a defect-free or defect-controllable fiber surface, and the formation of continuous single nanofibers. The electrospinning products are currently being used in applications such as fabrication of scaffolds in tissue engineering, substrates for culturing numerous biological cellular structures and various biosensing applications