The attachment and detachment of circulating tumor cells in a functionalized microchannel under hydrodynamic loading have been studied. For the cell attachment experiments, EpCAM antibodies are immobilized on the microchannel surface to capture either PC3N prostate or MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells from homogeneous cell suspensions. Using the same protocol, N-Cadherin antibodies are immoblilzed and used to study the detachment of target cancer cells captured in the microchannels.A critical flow rate Qc has been identified to characterize the kinetics of cell capture in a functionalized microchannel. Approaching one limit, when the receptor-ligand interaction dominates, more than 90% of moving cells can be captured and a sharp peak is observed in the spatial distribution of the captured cells. Approaching another limit, when hydrodynamic loading dominates, almost all cells cannot be captured in the channel. Between these two limits, there is a transition region in which both capture efficiency and cell distribution are sensitive to the flow parameters. Proper characteristic time and length scales have been identified to describe the cell spatial distribution using a log-normal statistical model. The kinetic details of cell capture are determined by the competition between the flow rate and the ligand-receptor association/dissociation rates.Additionally, the attachment dynamics of circulating tumor cells in a bio-functionalized microchannel under hydrodynamic loading has been explored. The target cells initially role along the microchannel with fluctuating velocity prior to firm adhesion. When a successful bond is established, the cancer cells require a certain length to come to a complete stop; this stopping length is found to depend linearly on the applied hydrodynamic flow rate. The force balance in the vertical cross stream direction is dominated by the gravitational force; as a result, all cells loaded into a microchannel intimately contact the functionalized channel bottom surface within a short time. The streamwise horizontal motion of the cells on the surface is dominated by the balance between the shear flow hydrodynamic loading and the receptor-ligand binding interaction. A linear spring element is incorporated in the physical model to represent the dynamics of a cancer cell captured by immobilized antibodies. Featuring a mobility matrix, a proposed theoretical model is utilized to estimate the binding and hydrodynamic forces acting on the cell in a microchannel. Inserting certain fitting parameters, the time evolution of a stopping cell is successfully predicted by a simplified exponential function.The mechanical response of a captured cancer cell to a hydrodynamic flow field is investigated and, in particular, the effect of flow acceleration is examined. The observed cell deformation is dramatic under low acceleration, but is negligible under high acceleration. Consequently, the detachment of captured cells depends on both flow rate and flow acceleration. The flow rate required for cell detachment is a random variable that can be described by a log-normal distribution. Two flow acceleration limits have been identified for proper scaling of the flow rate required to detach captured cells. A time constant on the order of 1min for the mechanical response of a captured cell has been identified for scaling the flow acceleration. Based on these acceleration limits and the time constant, an exponential-like empirical model is proposed to predict the flow rate required for cell detachment as a function of flow acceleration.

The objective of this master thesis was to investigate the possibility to measure the gain in stiffness of the dry coating due to film formation of latex with a Dynamic Mechanic Thermal Analyzer (DMTA). This could tell when and to which extent the latex forms a film after the drying process. Two latices with different Tg was used for the experiments, one with a Tg of 36°C, denoted hard, and the one with a Tg of 8°C, denoted soft. The hard latex was used to make coating samples that would not form a film when dried at room temperature and the soft latex was used as a reference to the coating with hard latex since it would form a film at room temperature. It was shown that a gain in stiffness due to film formation of latex in coating can be measured with a DMTA. It was also shown that that the film forming of latex in coatings depend on time, temperature and the history of the sample. Further investigations were carried out to try to determine the time for film formation to be completed at a certain temperature.. These investigations showed that this type of trials cannot be carried out in a DMTA directly since the stiffness seemed to increase monotonically during a very ling time. This might be due to the rearrangements in the pigment structure that might affect the gain in stiffness. Therefore, a method involving oven curing was developed. Only one series of test were performed with this method due to lack of time but the method showed promising results. / Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka möjligheten att använda en Dynamic Mechanic Thermal Analyzer (DMTA) för att mäta ökningen av styvhet som följd av filmbildning av latex i en torr bestrykning. Två olika latexer användes för experimenten, en med Tg = 36°C (hård) och en med Tg = 8°C (mjuk). Den hårda latexen användes för att kunna göra tester på prover som ännu inte filmbildat när de torkat vid rumstemperatur och den mjuka latexen användes för att göra referens prover mot bestrykningen med hård latex. Resultaten visade att det går att mäta styvhetsökning i bestrykningen som en följd av filmformation med DMTA och filmformation av latex i bestrykningen troligtvis beror på både tid, temperatur och provets historia. Ett försök att mäta vilken uppehålls tid vid en specifik temperatur som krävs för att filmbildningen skall fulländas genomfördes. Dessa försök visade att DMTA:n inte var en lämplig metod för att mäta denna tid då styvheten verkade öka under en längre tid. Detta kan bero på att pigment partiklarna packade sig tätare och på så sätt orsakade en ökning av styvheten. Därför gjordes ett annat försök som involverar ugns härdning, men på grund av tidsbrist blev det bara en mätserie utförd. Den sist nämnda metoden visade dock goda resultat och måste därför bedömas ha en potential.

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The 7th German-Japanese Bridge Symposium, July 30-August 1, 2007 Osaka, JAPAN (GJBS07)

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The aim of the final prepared master work is to analyse technologies for painting of agricultural machinery, evaluate their influence on quality of coatings and offer quality improvement suggestions to agricultural machinery manufacturers. Quality of coatings of agricultural machinery is influenced by many factors, therefore resistance of coatings only to the main factors was investigated – water and abrasive particles. The results showed, that the most resistant for the impact of both factors are electrostatically applied coatings, in comparison with conventional and dip coatings. It was determined, that the water absorption by coatings process is described by polynomial equations, while the wear process mostly by power, linear and logarithmic as well. It was observed, that the thermodynamic parameters of the system, properties of coatings, number of layers and thickness, surface preparation method have the most significant influence on the water absorption level. Using the results of the research, one may evaluate and predict the influence of different painting technologies on quality and durability of coatings.

The objective of the investigation is to analyze effect of surface layer on mechanical properties of metal.

No description available.

No description available.

Microstructural comparison of the isothermal oxidation performance of an experimental Ni-5Cr-15Al overlay coating applied to CMSX-4 and CMSX-486 was performed at 1100 ℃. High temperature oxidation was carried out in a box furnace for a maximum duration of 192 hrs. Samples were periodically removed and the oxide, coating and substrates microstructurally analyzed using SEM, EDS and XRD equipment. Uncoated CMSX-4 and CMSX-486 were also oxidized using the same conditions in an attempt to understand how the coating affected oxidation performance based on microstructural changes. Results show that both CMSX-4 and CMSX-486 have unacceptable oxidation characteristics in the un-coated condition, where CMSX-486 had significantly better performance than CMSX-4. However, in the coated condition, both CMSX-4 and CMSX-486 had no significant difference in oxidation performance. It was found, in the un-coated and coated conditions, that the role of Hf in CMSX-486 played a significant role in determining oxidation performance of the material.