Exploring the cellular accumulation of metal complexes

Transition metal complexes offer great potential as diagnostic and therapeutic agents, and a growing number of biological applications have been explored. To be effective, these complexes must reach their intended target inside the cell. Here we review the cellular accumulation of metal complexes, including their uptake, localization, and efflux. Metal complexes are taken up inside cells through various mechanisms, including passive diffusion and entry through organic and metal transporters. Emphasis is placed on the methods used to examine cellular accumulation, to identify the mechanism(s) of uptake, and to monitor possible efflux. Conjugation strategies that have been employed to improve the cellular uptake characteristics of metal complexes are also described

Development of resins for composites by resin transfer molding

Designed to cover a wide range of resin technology and to meet the near-term and long-term needs of the aircraft industry, this research has three objectives: to produce resin transfer molding (RES) resins with improved processability, to produce prepreg systems with high toughness and service temperature, and to produce new resin systems. Progress on reaching the objectives is reported

Greater osteoblast and endothelial cell adhesion on nanostructured polyethylene and titanium

Mostly due to desirable mechanical properties (such as high durability and low wear), certain synthetic polymers (such as polyethylene) and metals (such as titanium) have found numerous applications in the medical device arena from orthopedics to the vasculature, yet frequently, they do not proactively encourage desirable cell responses. In an effort to improve the efficacy of such traditional materials for various implant applications, this study used electron beam evaporation to create nanostructured surface features that mimic those of natural tissue on polyethylene and titanium. For other materials, it has been shown that the creation of nanorough surfaces increases surface energy leading to greater select protein (such as vitronectin and fibronectin) interactions to increase specific cell adhesion. Here, osteoblast (bone forming cells) and endothelial cell (cells that line the vasculature) adhesion was determined on nanostructured compared to conventional, nano-smooth polyethylene and titanium. Results demonstrated that nanorough surfaces created by electron beam evaporation increased the adhesion of both cells markedly better than conventional smooth surfaces. In summary, this study provided evidence that electron beam evaporation can modify implant surfaces (specifically, polyethylene and titanium) to have nanostructured surface features to improve osteoblast and endothelial cell adhesion. Since the adhesion of anchorage dependent cells (such as osteoblasts and endothelial cells) is a prerequisite for their long-term functions, this study suggests that electron beam evaporation should be further studied for improving materials for various biomedical applications

Polarization transfer in e⃗+p→e+p⃗\vec{e}^+p \rightarrow e^+ \vec{p} scattering using the Super BigBite Spectrometer

The effects of multi-photon-exchange and other higher-order QED corrections on elastic electron-proton scattering have been a subject of high experimental and theoretical interest since the polarization transfer measurements of the proton electromagnetic form factor ratio $G_E^p/G_M^p$ at large momentum transfer $Q^2$ conclusively established the strong decrease of this ratio with $Q^2$ for $Q^2 \gtrsim 1$ GeV$^2$. This result is incompatible with previous extractions of this quantity from cross section measurements using the Rosenbluth Separation technique. Much experimental attention has been focused on extracting the two-photon exchange (TPE) effect through the unpolarized $e^+p/e^-p$ cross section ratio, but polarization transfer in polarized elastic scattering can also reveal evidence of hard two-photon exchange. Furthermore, it has a different sensitivity to the generalized TPE form factors, meaning that measurements provide new information that cannot be gleaned from unpolarized scattering alone. Both $\epsilon$-dependence of polarization transfer at fixed $Q^2$, and deviations between electron-proton and positron-proton scattering are key signatures of hard TPE. A polarized positron beam at Jefferson Lab would present a unique opportunity to make the first measurement of positron polarization transfer, and comparison with electron-scattering data would place valuable constraints on hard TPE. Here, we propose a measurement program in Hall A that combines the Super BigBite Spectrometer for measuring recoil proton polarization, with a non-magnetic calorimetric detector for triggering on elastically scattered positrons. Though the reduced beam current of the positron beam will restrict the kinematic reach, this measurement will have very small systematic uncertainties, making it a clean probe of TPE.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the EPJA topical issue, "An Experimental Program with Positron Beams at Jefferson Lab." arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2007.15081, arXiv:1906.0941

Anterior segment photography - An evaluation of the various techniques and films

This paper investigates some of the various methods of photographing the anterior segment of the eye. It deals with slit lamp photography, macrophotography, and hand-held photography and points out the advantages and disadvantages of each. Various films including color negative, color slide, and infra-red film were also employed in order to determine the benefits of each. The Hentor slit lamp is dealt with in particular in order to develop photographic attachments for it. This paper also explains why ocular photography is important and how to do it

MATERIALIZING MAKERSPACES: QUEERLY COMPOSING SPACE, TIME, AND (WHAT) MATTERS

This dissertation project explores makerspaces as non-traditional composing networks where makers work with (and against) unconventional digital and physical materials such as vinyl, cut paper, plastic filament, insects, Xacto blades, pipe cleaners, reclaimed wicker baskets, DNA, Python code, memes, and Raspberry Pi’s. Choosing materiality over multimodality as the best frame for understanding the material-discursive composing practices of makers, I build a queer- and feminist-inflected new materialist research methodology that orients attention toward embodiment, affect, and the production of difference in composing networks. Using playful, game-based data collection protocols, in conjunction with more traditional data sources, as well as three-dimensional analysis models crafted from foam board, yarn, safety pins, and paper, I document and analyze the material and affective dimensions of composing to build case studies around two diverse maker networks. The first case details participants’ making and composing experiences as part of a connectivist MOOC designed to increase STEM/STEAM literacies for underserved youth and youth educators. The second explores high school students’ experiences in “pop-up� makerspaces that are oriented toward 3D fabrication and prototyping; circuitry, robotics, and computer coding; and upcycling discarded objects and everyday waste for new audiences, purposes, and contexts. Both case studies address the following research questions: Who and what gets to make? Who and what gets made? What drives composition (as process and product) in the network? These questions are essential for understandings issues of representation, access, and equity in contemporary maker networks. The findings of this dissertation materialize “making� as more than a boot-strapping rhetoric that sponsors middle class white male literacies. They underscore the collective values, stances, and practices that are necessary for composing networks to become networkings which are capable of materializing a diversity of bodies and objects. This project turns Writing Studies toward a more material, embodied, and affective understanding of composing, and points to the need to rethink normative composition pedagogies that work to foreclose diversity, creativity, and experimentation. I conclude this project by articulating a queer material rhetoric I call composing sideways: this rhetoric makes space for lateral thinking, feeling, and composing practices which focus on composing the here and the now, and resisting vertical transfer as the most important pedagogical outcome for a writing classroom