Nonlinear Free and Forced Vibrations of a Hyperelastic Micro/Nanobeam Considering Strain Stiffening Effect

In recent years, the static and dynamic response of micro/nanobeams made of hyperelasticity materials received great attention. In the majority of studies in this area, the strain-stiffing effect that plays a major role in many hyperelastic materials has not been investigated deeply. Moreover, the influence of the size effect and large rotation for such a beam that is important for the large deformation was not addressed. This paper attempts to explore the free and forced vibrations of a micro/nanobeam made of a hyperelastic material incorporating strain-stiffening, size effect, and moderate rotation. The beam is modelled based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, and strains are obtained via an extended von Kármán theory. Boundary conditions and governing equations are derived by way of Hamilton’s principle. The multiple scales method is applied to obtain the frequency response equation, and Hamilton’s technique is utilized to obtain the free undamped nonlinear frequency. The influence of important system parameters such as the stiffening parameter, damping coefficient, length of the beam, length-scale parameter, and forcing amplitude on the frequency response, force response, and nonlinear frequency is analyzed. Results show that the hyperelastic microbeam shows a nonlinear hardening behavior, which this type of nonlinearity gets stronger by increasing the strain-stiffening effect. Conversely, as the strain-stiffening effect is decreased, the nonlinear frequency is decreased accordingly. The evidence from this study suggests that incorporating strain-stiffening in hyperelastic beams could improve their vibrational performance. The model proposed in this paper is mathematically simple and can be utilized for other kinds of micro/nanobeams with different boundary conditions

Picomolar Fingerprinting of Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles Using Solid-State Nanopores

Nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) are an emerging class of programmable structures with tunable shape and function. Their promise as tools for fundamental biophysics studies, molecular sensing, and therapeutic applications necessitates methods for their detection and characterization at the single-particle level. In this work, we study electrophoretic transport of individual ring-shaped and cube-shaped NANPs through solid-state nanopores. In the optimal nanopore size range, the particles must deform to pass through, which considerably increases their residence time within the pore. Such anomalously long residence times permit detection of picomolar amounts of NANPs when nanopore measurements are carried out at a high transmembrane bias. In the case of a NANP mixture, the type of individual particle passing through nanopores can be efficiently determined from analysis of a single electrical pulse. Molecular dynamics simulations provide insight into the mechanical barrier to transport of the NANPs and corroborate the difference in the signal amplitudes observed for the two types of particles. Our study serves as a basis for label-free analysis of soft programmable-shape nanoparticles

Chitosan-intercalated montmorillonite/Poly (Vinyl alcohol) nanofibers as a platform to guide neuron-like differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells

In this study, we present a novel chitosan-intercalated montmorillonite/poly(vinyl alcohol) (OMMT/PVA) nanofibrous mesh as a microenvironment for guiding differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) toward neuronlike cells. The OMMT was prepared through ion exchange reaction between the montmorillonite (MMT) and chitosan. The PVA solutions containing various concentrations of OMMT were electrospun to form 3D OMMT-PVA nanofibrous meshes. The biomechanical and biological characteristics of the nanofibrous meshes were evaluated by ATR-FTIR, XRD, SEM, MTT, and LDH specific activity, contact angle, and DAPI staining. They were carried out for mechanical properties, overall viability, and toxicity of the cells. The hDPSCs were seeded on the prepared scaffolds and induced with neuronal specific differentiation media at two differentiation stages (2 days at preinduction stage and 6 days at induction stage). The neural differentiation of the cells cultured on the meshes was evaluated by determining the expression of Oct-4, Nestin, NF-M, NF-H, MAP2, and βIII-tubulin in the cells after preinduction, at induction stages by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and immunostaining. All the synthesized nanofibers exhibited a homogeneous morphology with a favorable mechanical behavior. The population of the cells differentiated into neuronlike cells in all the experimental groups was significantly higher than that in control group. The expression level of the neuronal specific markers in the cells cultured on 5% OMMT/PVA meshes was significantly higher than the other groups. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the OMMT/PVA artificial nerve graft cultured with hDPSCs for regeneration of damaged neural tissues. These fabricated matrices may have a potential in neural tissue engineering applications.We express our sincere thanks to Dr. Ali Samadikuchaksaraei for providing helpful comments on this work. The project was funded by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (Grant No. 2580). S.C.K. presently holds ERA Chair Full Professor position at the 3B’s Research Group, University of Minho, Portugal, supported by the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 under grant agreement n° 668983 − FoReCaST.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio