A wide range of fiber types was tested in two in vitro assays: toxicity to A549 epithelial cells, as detachment from substrate, and the production of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by rat alveolar macrophages. Three of the fibers were also studied in vivo, using short-term inhalation followed by a) bronchoalveolar lavage to assess the inflammatory response and b) measu...

The emergence of three-dimensional (3D) printing promises a disruption in the design and on-demand fabrication smart structures applications ranging from functional devices to human organs. However, scale at which 3D excels is within macro- microlevels principally lacks spatial ordering building blocks nanolevels, vital for most multifunctional devices. Herein, we employ liquid crystal (LC) ink...

Many mammals forage and burrow in dark constrained spaces. Touch through facial whiskers is important during these activities, but the close quarters makes whisker deployment challenging. The diverse shapes of facial whiskers reflect distinct ecological niches. Rodent whiskers are conical, often with a remarkably linear taper. Here we use theoretical and experimental methods to analyze interact...

Context and objective: A novel method of fabricating probiotic nanowhiskers—using pure cheese as a source probiotics, sans metal/chemical surfactants—is reported in the present study. Materials methods: This was followed by an extensive characterization; FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, particle size measurements, transmission electron microscopy. Thermal analysis via differential scanning...

The titanium powder embedded with 2.5 vol% TiB was in-situ fabricated by gas atomization and applied for direct laser deposited (DLD) matrix composites. Consistent the network distributed boron-rich zone in composite powder, a three-dimensional (3D) ultrafine structure, consisting of nano-TiB whiskers (TiBw), characterized throughout as-fabricated (DLDed TiB–Ti). Both dendritic equiaxed network...