As typical anchorage-dependent cells myocytes must balance contractility against adequate adhesion. Skeletal myotubes grown as isolated strips from myoblasts on micropatterned glass exhibited spontaneous peeling after one end of the myotube was mechanically detached. Such results indicate the development of a prestress in the cells. To assess this prestress and study the dynamic adhesion streng...

The distinctive color of red grapefruits is due to lycopene, an unusual carotene in citrus. It has been observed that red 'Star Ruby' (SR) grapefruits grown inside the tree canopy develop a more intense red coloration than those exposed to higher light intensities. To investigate the effect of light on SR peel pigmentation, fruit were bagged or exposed to normal photoperiodic conditions, and ch...

A series of polyimidesiloxane (SIM) copolymers, based on a.co-aminopropylpoly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS),2,2-bis(4-[4-aminophenoxyl]phenyl)propane(BAPP)and 4,4'-oxydiphthalic-anhydride(ODPA) was synthesized in our laboratories. We investigated the effect of siloxane segment length on the surface composition of the SIM copolymers and its role in adhesion. The aim is to elucidate the correlation bet...

Response surface methodology was used to optimize preparation of biocomposites based on poly(lactic acid) and durian peel cellulose. The effects of cellulose loading, mixing temperature, and mixing time on tensile strength and impact strength were investigated. A central composite design was employed to determine the optimum preparation condition of the biocomposites to obtain the highest tensi...

Heat treatment of persimmon peel (PP) increased the antioxidative activity of the 70% ethanolic extract (EE) and water extract (WE) from PP. EE and WE both prevented H2O2-induced DNA damage to human peripheral lymphocytes. The antioxidative and antigenotoxic activities of the PP extracts were significantly affected by heating.

Ultrasonic spot welds have been used as a model system to investigate how to determine the mode-I cohesive parameters associated with interfacial fracture of a spot weld. Numerical analyses indicated that, while multiple combinations of the two cohesive parameters (characteristic strength, σ̂ , and toughness, I ) could result in virtually indistinguishable behaviors for individual geometries, on...

The production of starch based bioplastics from cassava peel reeinforced with microcrystalline cellulose using sorbitol as plasticizer were investigated. Physical properties of bioplastics were determined by density, water uptake, tensile strength and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Bioplastics were prepared from cassava peel starch plasticized using sorbitol with variation of 20; 25; ...

Layered alloys and composite materials have become an increasingly popular in industrial development. The roll bonding (RB) process, as a solid phase method of bonding, has been widely used in manufacturing large layered strips. In this study, aluminum alloy (AA 5083) strips were roll bonded at warm and cold temperatures. The effects of the rolling parameters such as the amount of plastic deform...

A cohesive zone model is proposed and analyzed for steady-state peeling of a thin rate-independent, elastic-plastic film bonded to an elastic substrate. A traction-separation description of the interface is embedded within continuum characterizations of the film and substrate. The primary parameters characterizing the tractionseparation relation are the work of adhesion and the peak separation ...