Myofibrils are functional contractile elements in skeleton and cardiac muscle cells of vertebrates and in skeleton muscle cells of invertebrates. ach myofibril consists of parallel filaments, allowing maximal contraction performance. When these muscle cells are cultured in vitro, this parallel rrangement is often disrupted due to cell remodeling. The contractile performance of the muscle cells ...

Bone mass distribution and structure are dependent on mechanical stress and adaptive response at cellular and tissue levels. Mechanical stimulation of bone induces new bone formation in vivo and increases the metabolic activity and gene expression of osteoblasts in culture. A wide variety of devices have been tested for mechanical stimulation of cells and tissues in vitro. The aim of this work ...

A novel method for the direct fabrication of arrays of micropatterned polymeric and carbon nanofiber structures on any substrate is developed. First SU-8, an epoxy-based negative photoresist, is electrospun under optimized conditions to produce a layer of polymeric nanofibers. Next, this nanofibrous mat is micropatterned using photolithography, and finally, pyrolysis produces ordered arrays of ...

We propose that chemically inert polymeric films can enhance van der Waals (vdW) forces in the same way as nanofabrication of biomimetic adhesive materials. For the vdW adhesion of an ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE) film on rough metal and dielectric substrates, we present a model that combines microscopic quantum-chemistry simulations of the polymer response functions and the equilibr...

An innovative atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition method toward the deposition of polymeric layers has been developed. This latter involves the use of a nanopulsed plasma discharge to initiate the free-radical polymerization of an allyl monomer containing phosphorus (diethylallylphosphate, DEAP) at atmospheric pressure. The polymeric structure of the film is evidence by mass spectrom...

In one design of flexible electronics, thin-film islands of a stiff material are fabricated on a polymeric substrate, and functional materials are grown on these islands. When the substrate is stretched, the deformation is mainly accommodated by the substrate, and the islands and functional materials experience relatively small strains. Experiments have shown that, however, for a given amount o...

Some applications in microelectronics call for freestanding polyimide films with fine metallic wiring patterns that are thinner than commercially available copper-clad polyimide sheets, which are typically greater than 25 pm in thickness. This work describes a laserassisted technique to fabricate freestanding multilayer thin-film wiring with polyimide dielectric insulating layers that are less ...