Micro/nanoscale friction behavior has drawn a great deal of attention because it can reveal friction behavior at the interface level and ultimately lead to the discovery of the origin or real mechanism of friction. Surface wettability is an important property of solid surfaces and has been widely used in fundamental...
This thesis deals with three problems encountered in micro- and nano-fluidics: linear stability analysis of electrokinetic mixing in icrochannels, development of a general purpose numerical technique for fully resolved simulation of electrohydrodynamic particulate flows, and studying the phenomenon of molecular scale slip next to boundaries in micro- and nano-channels.
Mixing...
As in other parts of the global south, economic difficulties in rural areas of Bolivia have forced many of Bolivia's indigenous people to migrate to urban areas such as El Alto, where formal employment and access to services are limited. Women are particularly vulnerable as they must balance economic activities...
Phagocytosis is an essential mechanism for clearance of pathogens, dying cells, and other unwanted debris in order to maintain tissue health in the body. Macrophages execute this process in the peripheral immune system, but in the brain microglia act as resident macrophages to accomplish this function. In the peripheral immune...
The Witten Laplacian corresponding to a Morse function on the circle is studied using methods of complex WKB and resurgent analysis. It is shown that under certain assumptions the low-lying eigenvalues of the Witten Laplacian are resurgent.
Gonadotropins LH and FSH are secreted by the pituitary in response to hypothalamic GnRH and act to stimulate ovarian follicle development, steroid production and ovulation. Gonadal steroids, including estrogen, enter the circulation and provide neuroendocrine feedback at the hypothalamus and/or pituitary. Estrogen provides negative feedback to suppress gonadotropin release throughout...
The semiconductor-based Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) offers several key advantages over gas lasers, solid-state lasers, and other semiconductor-based mid-infrared lasers. While the QCL has historically operated best in the λ ~ 7-9 μm range using InP-based materials, a major challenge has been to achieve a high-power, room-temperature continuous-wave (CW) operation...
Cells are regulated by a combination of soluble stimuli and adhesive interactions with other cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). We are developing systems to present ECM and cytokine receptor ligands in a defined manner for applications in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) culture. We hypothesize that the controlled,...
In this thesis we study protein folding with external force. In Part I we simulate the folding or unfolding procedure based on the two-state model. For constant-velocity experiments, the simulation results fit the experimental results. For constant-force experiments, we introduce cooperativity between domains to explain the different behavior between single...
Kinesin-1 is a motor protein that transports cargo along microtubules. Inside cells, the majority of kinesin-1 is regulated to conserve ATP and ensure its proper intracellular distribution and coordination with other motors. Regulated kinesin-1 is folded in half, and interactions between coiled-coil regions near the N-terminal enzymatically active heads and...