Biomedical informatics is a relatively new field; sustainability of information technology applications has not been studied in detail. We examined what factors contribute to sustainability in other fields (ecology, construction materials, business, primary health care, and environment and development). We describe some aspects of sustainability that can be applied to biomedical informatics: ef...

Histone proteins are not only important due to their vital role in cellular processes such as DNA compaction, replication and repair but also show intriguing structural properties that might be exploited for bioengineering purposes such as the development of nano-materials. Based on their biological and technological implications, it is interesting to investigate the structural properties of pr...

Hierarchical self-assembly is a fundamental principle in nature, which gives rise to astonishing supramolecular architectures that offer an inspiration for the development of innovative materials in nanotechnology. Here we present the unique structure of a cone-shaped amphiphilic designer peptide. When tracking its concentration-dependent morphologies, we observed elongated bilayered single tap...

A novel origami cellular material based on a deployable cellular origami structure is described. The structure is bi-directionally flat-foldable in two orthogonal (x and y) directions and is relatively stiff in the third orthogonal (z) direction. While such mechanical orthotropicity is well known in cellular materials with extruded two dimensional geometry, the interleaved tube geometry present...

Titanium and its alloy are known as important load-bearing biomaterials. The major drawbacks of these metals are fibrous formation and low corrosion rate after implantation. The surface modification of biomedical implants through various methods such as plasma spray improves their osseointegration and clinical lifetime. Different materials have been already used as coatings on biomedical implan...

Graphene materials have entered a phase of maturity in their development that is characterized by their explorative utilization in various types of applications and fields from electronics to biomedicine. Herein, we describe the recent advances made with graphene-related materials in the biomedical field and the challenges facing these exciting new tools both in terms of biological activity and...

We describe an innovative aspirator gun designed to transfer individual anesthetized mosquitoes directly into glass bioassay tubes. The gun has been used for thousands of transfers with extremely low associated mortality and is the central component of a high-throughput bioassay system. The gun is constructed using readily obtainable materials and can be modified for a range of insects.

RNA nanotechnology is attracting a great deal of attention recently. As the multiple roles that RNA plays in molecular biology and physiological regulation become clearer, there are many opportunities for engineering RNA-Nanoparticle Complexes (RNA-NPCs). The high "engineerability" of RNA-NPCs comes from the ability to modify the RNA and NP chemistry. For example, the NP can be derived from mat...

Xuan Zhang Advisor: Prof. Kim R. Dunbar Apr. 16, 2012 Room 2102 Ever since its appearance about 17 years ago, 1 the term Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) has been gaining tremendous attention in chemistry and crystal engineering because of the fascinating solid state materials it pertains to. These MOFs, also known as porous coordination polymers (PCPs) are characterized by their high porosity, ...

Moth-eye nanostructures are a well-known example of biological antireflective surfaces formed by pseudoregular arrays of nipples and are often used as a template for biomimetic materials. Here, we provide morphological characterization of corneal nanostructures of moths from the Bombycidae family, including strains of domesticated Bombyx mori silk-moth, its wild ancestor Bombyx mandarina, and a...