MEMS Electrostatic Actuation in Conducting Biological Media

We present design and experimental implementation of electrostatic comb-drive actuators in solutions of high conductivity relevant for biological cells. The actuators are operated in the frequency range 1-10 MHz in ionic and biological cell culture media, with ionic strengths up to 150 mmol/L. Typical displacement is 3.5 mum at an applied peak-to-peak signal of 5 V. Two different actuation schemes are presented and tested for performance at high frequency. A differential drive design is demonstrated to overcome the attenuation due to losses in parasitic impedances. The frequency dependence of the electrostatic force has been characterized in media of different ionic strengths. Circuit models for the electric double layer phenomena are used to understand and predict the actuator behavior. The actuator is integrated into a planar force sensing system to measure the stiffness of cells cultured on suspended structures.     

Development of an interlocked nail for segmental defects in the rabbit tibia

Previous animal models have been developed to study intramedullary nailing for challenging segmental defects in the tibia. In large animals, interlocked nail fixation created a stable environment suitable to study new bone growth technologies placed in the defect. To our knowledge, there are no comparable interlocked tibial defect models for the rabbit in which new technologies could be evaluated. Such a model would be helpful since the rabbit is a popular initial model for orthopedic research studies owing to its wide availability and low cost. While numerous studies have nailed the rabbit tibia, all were non-locked implants that allowed some degree of instability between the fracture fragments. In addition, the non-locked nails were constructed of stainless steel, whereas human nails are increasingly made from titanium alloy. In the current study, an interlocked titanium nail was developed for the rabbit tibia. It was implanted in cadaver tibiae and subjected to fatigue cycling in combined compression and bending at physiologic levels to 21,061 cycles. This duration is estimated to represent 12 weeks of gait by the animal. Before and after fatigue cycling, monotonic testing was performed in compression and bending at physiologic levels. The intact contralateral limbs served as controls. All limbs completed the cycling; the instrumented limbs exhibited interfragmentary cyclic strain amplitudes during fatigue (616 +/- 139 micro-strain), which was significantly greater than the control limbs (136 +/- 35 microstrain). Monotonic strain amplitudes for the test limbs in bending and compression were 4839 +/- 1028 and 542 +/- 122 microstrain, respectively; corresponding values for the control bones were 407 +/- 118 and 95 +/- 38 microstrain, respectively. These data are similar to those presented in prior studies in larger bone models. The current study presents one method for interlocked nail fixation for this complex tibial shaft fracture in a small animal.     

Design of XNBR nanocomposites for underwater acoustic sensor applications: Effect of MWNT on dynamic mechanical properties and morphology

In this work, application of rubber‐MWNT nanocomposite for underwater acoustic sensors is explored. The nanocomposite is developed by incorporating multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) into carboxylated nitrile rubber by mechanical mixing. The addition of MWNT up to 10 phr is found to result in about 330% increase in tensile strength, 140% increase in modulus, and 160% increase in tear strength. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses indicate uniform dispersion of nanotubes in the rubber matrix. Dynamic mechanical analysis shows that damping at ambient temperature gradually increases with increasing filler content. This is attributed to the augmented frictional energy loss at the interface. The damping peak position shifts upward with increase in MWNT concentration, which may be gainfully used to tune to the operational frequency range of underwater acoustic sensors. Payne effect is observed at higher filler concentration due to the breakage of aggregates formed by filler–filler interaction. The nanocomposite may find application for damping structural vibrations and thus to improve the performance of underwater acoustic sensors. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40752.     

Independent testing and validation of prototype hydrogen sensors

In this article, the independent testing and validation of a packaged, electrochemical prototype hydrogen sensor at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is reported. Custom electronics were developed to be compatible with the data acquisition system at NREL. The specialized hydrogen sensor-testing laboratory at NREL used a variety of standardized test protocols to assess sensor performance. The system controlled and monitored humidity, pressure, and hydrogen gas concentration and introduced interference gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia.     

Some computational aspects of discrete orthonormal moments

Discrete orthogonal moments have several computational advantages over continuous moments. However, when the moment order becomes large, discrete orthogonal moments (such as the Tchebichef moments) tend to exhibit numerical instabilities. This paper introduces the orthonormal version of Tchebichef moments, and analyzes some of their computational aspects. The recursive procedure used for polynomial evaluation can be suitably modified to reduce the accumulation of numerical errors. The proposed set of moments can be used for representing image shape features and for reconstructing an image from its moments with a high degree of accuracy.