These are low burst results but samples have lots of pinholes on them many of which are on the edges.
I also checked porosity of the wafers 338 and 340. They indeed have porosities close to 7%.
Wafer 340 (0,5) 0.0656 porosity
I briefly experimented with the track-etched membranes this morning and found that they are extremely fragile and near impossible to cut. I disassembled a few of the microcons and found that a circular piece of paper the size of a hole punch (like the one on the bench by the mac) fits perfectly into the…
As we make larger and larger pores, we see that they are becoming more convoluted and have stopped looking like circles or ellipse. In order to try describing these shapes, they were given a “roundness” number which was calculated by taking the minor axis and dividing it by the major axis. However this often fails…
Note: A postscript regarding a gelatin assay to determine MMP-9 activity was added to this post on Feb 25, 2021. Introduction The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays an important role in maintaining brain chemistry by restricting the permeability of undesirable small molecules and cells. Inflammatory diseases may disrupt the BBB and promote the development of neurological…
I first reported the crystallization of free-standing amorphous silicon membranes in this post in January. The last experiment was done inside the susceptor (top and bottom piece). This week, I annealed a set of amorphous 15 nm and 30 nm with the susceptor top off. This allowed for the direct heating of the films. One…
Hi all, Recently we finished drafting the manuscript titled “Porous substrates promote early endothelial migration at the expense of fibronectin fibrillogenesis.” This manuscript will feature the cover illustrated by Brad (our new medical illustrator in the Gaborski Lab): Long story short (another illustration by Brad): Left (nonporous control substrate): cell traveled slower, covered smaller…
Introduction As part of my thesis, I have been working on developing an assay for measuring vascular barrier properties within our microfluidic devices. Traditionally, small molecule permeability measurements are performed on cells plated in a Transwell cup. The basic protocol for these assays is initiated by introducing FITC-dextran in cell culture media into the apical…