Nanomagnetic Elastomers for Realizing Highly Responsive Micro- and Nanosystems.

Evolution has produced natural systems that generate motion and sense external stimuli at the micro- and nanoscales. At extremely small scales, the intricate motions and large deformations shown by these biosystems are due to a tipping balance between their structural compliance and the actuating force generated in them. Artificially mimicking such ingenious systems for scientific and engineering applications has been approached through the development and use of different smart materials mostly limited to microscale dimensions.

Highly motile nanoscale magnetic artificial cilia.

Among the many complex bioactuators functioning at different scales, the organelle cilium represents a fundamental actuating unit in cellular biology. Producing motions at submicrometer scales, dominated by viscous forces, cilia drive a number of crucial bioprocesses in all vertebrate and many invertebrate organisms before and after their birth. Artificially mimicking motile cilia has been a long-standing challenge while inspiring the development of new materials and methods.

Analysis of 9-1-1 call data from an emergency management perspective: A case study of the city of Lethbridge.

This article examines 9-1-1 call data of the City of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada over a year to find discernible spatial and temporal trends that may be useful to emergency response or better delivery of emergency management services. The spatial analysis includes Geographic Information Systems hotspot analysis of cellular and landline emergency calls with respect to critical (emergency and healthcare) facilities as well as emergency calls from residential landlines. The temporal analysis looks at hourly, daily, and monthly patterns of emergency calls and the factors driving up the call volumes in certain periods.

Viscous Fingering in Multiport Hele Shaw Cell for Controlled Shaping of Fluids.

The pursuit of mimicking complex multiscale systems has been a tireless effort with many successes but a daunting task ahead. A new perspective to engineer complex cross-linked meshes and branched/tree-like structures at different scales is presented here. Control over Saffman-Taylor instability which otherwise randomly rearranges viscous fluid in a 'lifted Hele-Shaw cell' is proposed for the same.

Fabrication of Multscale Fractal-Like Structures by Controlling Fluid Interface Instability.

Nature, in quest for the best designs has shaped its vital systems into fractal geometries. Effectual way of spontaneous fabrication of scalable, ordered fractal-like structures by controlling Saffman-Taylor instability in a lifted Hele-Shaw cell is deployed here. In lifted Hele-Shaw cell uncontrolled penetration of low-viscosity fluid into its high-viscosity counterpart is known to develop irregular, non-repeatable, normally short-lived, branched patterns.

Social media best practices in emergency management.

Social media platforms have become popular as means of communications in emergency management. Many people use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis including during disaster events. Emergency management agencies (EMAs) need to recognize the value of not only having a presence on social media but also actively engaging stakeholders and the public on these sites.