Proper material constitutive models for concrete-filled tube ͑CFT͒ columns are proposed and verified by the nonlinear finite element program ABAQUS against experimental data. The cross sections of the CFT columns in the numerical analysis are categorized into three groups, i.e., circular section, square section, and square section stiffened by reinforcing ties. Via the numerical analyses, it is shown that for circular CFT columns, the tubes can provide a good confining effect to the concrete especially when the width-to-thickness ratio D/t is small ͑say D/tϽ40). For square CFT columns, the tubes do not provide a large confining effect to the concrete especially when the width-to-thickness ratio B/t is large ͑say B/tϾ30). The confining effect of square CFT columns with reinforcing ties is enhanced by the use of reinforcing ties especially when the tie spacing is small and the tie number ͑or tie diameter͒ is large.

We report on the use of photonic crystal surfaces as a high-sensitivity platform for detection of a panel of cancer biomarkers in a protein microarray format. The photonic crystal surface is designed to provide an optical resonance at the excitation wavelength of cyanine-5 (Cy5), thus providing an increase in fluorescent intensity for Cy5-labeled analytes measured with a confocal microarray scanner, compared to a glass surface. The sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is undertaken on a microarray platform to undertake a simultaneous, multiplex analysis of 24 antigens on a single chip. Our results show that the resonant excitation effect increases the signal-to-noise ratio by 3.8- to 6.6-fold, resulting in a decrease in detection limits of 5–90%, with the exact enhancement dependent upon the antibody-antigen interaction. Dose-response characterization of the photonic crystal antibody microarrays shows the capability to detect common cancer biomarkers in the < 2 pg/ml concentration range within a mixed sample.

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This study investigates the axial load behavior of concrete-filled steel tubular ͑CFT͒ columns with the width-to-thickness ratios between 40 and 150, and proposes an effective stiffening scheme to improve the mechanical properties of square cross-sectional CFT columns. Seventeen specimens were tested to examine the effects of cross-sectional shapes, width-to-thickness ratios, and stiffening arrangements on the ultimate strength, stiffness, and ductility of CFT columns. Moreover, nonlinear finite element analysis was also conducted to investigate cross-sectional axial stress distribution at the ultimate strength. Comparing the measured ultimate strength with estimates by using some current specifications suggested that current specifications may considerably underestimate the ultimate strength of circular CFT columns, particularly for columns with a small width-to-thickness ratio. Results in this study demonstrate that the proposed stiffening scheme can significantly enhance the ultimate strength and ductility of square CFT columns.

A Photonic Crystal (PC) surface fabricated upon a quartz substrate using nanoimprint lithography has been demonstrated to enhance light emission from fluorescent molecules in close proximity to the PC surface. Quartz was selected for its low autofluorescence characteristics compared to polymer-based PCs, improving the detection sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of PC Enhanced Fluorescence (PCEF). Nanoimprint lithography enables economical fabrication of the subwavelength PCEF surface structure over entire 1x3 in2 quartz slides. The demonstrated PCEF surface supports a transverse magnetic (TM) resonant mode at a wavelength of λ = 632.8 nm and an incident angle of θ = 11°, which amplifies the electric field magnitude experienced by surface-bound fluorophores. Meanwhile, another TM mode at a wavelength of λ = 690 nm and incident angle of θ = 0° efficiently directs the fluorescent emission toward the detection optics. An enhancement factor as high as 7500 × was achieved for the detection of LD-700 dye spin-coated upon the PC, compared to detecting the same material on an unpatterned glass surface. The detection of spotted Alexa-647 labeled polypeptide on the PC exhibits a 330 × SNR improvement. Using dose-response characterization of deposited fluorophore-tagged protein spots, the PCEF surface demonstrated a 140 × lower limit of detection compared to a conventional glass substrate.

A general strategy for fabricating a double layer self-deformed shape memory hydrogel which includes a thermo-responsive actuating layer and a pH-responsive memorizing layer is presented. Compared with traditional shape memory polymer systems, the temporary shape of the hydrogel could be generated by a thermo-responsive actuating layer upon the trigger of heat without the need for an external force, which could be further memorized by the pH-responsive memorizing layer.

Two different molecular weights of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and PMMA containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (PMMA-POSS) homopolymers have been prepared via the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. The miscibility and specific interaction behaviors of PMMA-POSS and PMMA with phenolic resin were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR results reveal that at least three competing equilibriums are present in the phenolic/PMMA-POSS blend: self-association of phenolic (hydroxyl-hydroxyl), hydroxyl-siloxane interassociation between phenolic and POSS, and hydroxyl-carbonyl interassociation between phenolic and PMMA. Among these blends, single and higher T g s of these phenolic/PMMA-POSS blends were observed than the corresponding phenolic/PMMA blends at same composition, revealing that a stronger interassociation interaction of hydroxyl-siloxane than the hydroxyl-carbonyl interaction. Furthermore, we also found the screening effect in phenolic/LPMMA-POSS blends that tends to significantly decrease the hydrogen bond formation of the hydroxyl-carbonyl interassociation.

The MMOC procedure for approximating the solutions of transport-dominated diffusion problems does not automatically preserve integral conservation laws, leading to (mass) balance errors in many kinds of flow problems. The variant, called the MMOCAA, discussed herein preserves the conservation law at a minor additional computational cost. It is shown that its solution, in either Galerkin or finite difference form, converges at the same rates as were proved earlier by Douglas and Russell for the standard MMOC procedure. Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 65M25