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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Injectable Immunomodulatory Strategies To Enhance Muscle Recovery Following Injury, Tai Huu Huynh Aug 2023

Injectable Immunomodulatory Strategies To Enhance Muscle Recovery Following Injury, Tai Huu Huynh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although skeletal muscle displays an astonishing regenerative capacity, injuries or diseases that resulted in bedridden or chronic muscle wasting can overwhelm this intrinsic feature of skeletal muscle and lead to functional deficit (range of motion and/or strength) and overall reduction in quality of life. Microenvironmental cues within injured skeletal muscle dictate regenerative and repair process which are tightly coordinated interplay among resident cells, cells recruitment and immune response following an assault in the muscle extracellular matrix (ECM). The successful regeneration of functional tissues requires both appropriate modulation of the inflammatory response, and activation of a variety of cell populations. Biomaterials …


Dpd Guided Insight On The Formation Process Of Polyethersulfone Membranes By Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation And The Effects Of Additives, Eric Ledieu May 2023

Dpd Guided Insight On The Formation Process Of Polyethersulfone Membranes By Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation And The Effects Of Additives, Eric Ledieu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a coarse grain simulation method, was applied to the membrane formation process of non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) to gain further insight on the mechanism of certain variables and how they affect the final morphology. NIPS involves two solutions, an organic polymer dissolved in an organic solvent colloquially called the dope and an aqueous coagulation bath, brought into contact with one another. The solvents then mix, causing the polymer to fall out of solution as an asymmetric membrane with a dense surface layer and a more open subsurface layer in response to the decreasing solubility. Polyethersulfone …


Polymeric Biomaterials Approaches For Engineering The In Vitro Cellular Microenvironment For Mscs, Mahsa Letter-Mahsa Haseli May 2023

Polymeric Biomaterials Approaches For Engineering The In Vitro Cellular Microenvironment For Mscs, Mahsa Letter-Mahsa Haseli

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cell therapy is a technology that relies on replacing diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy functioning ones. One of the cells used for such advanced therapies are stem cells, owing to their ability to differentiate into specific cells required for repairing damaged or defective tissues or cells. The majority of cell-based products are intended to transiently persist in the patient, secreting factors which then allow the patient’s body to heal; in these products, the cells are subsequently eliminated from the body. Furthermore, unique manufacturing platforms, in addition to novel commercialization strategies, will be required to create a successful, sustainable cell …


Automation Of Life Cycle Assessment, Jacob Hickman May 2023

Automation Of Life Cycle Assessment, Jacob Hickman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An automation program, named Jacob LCA, was created to help perform life cycle assessment (LCA). The program uses a template file to perform controlled and consistently ordered actions with the LCA program, SimaPro, and effectively removes the need for manual user input. It can be set to run using data from one or more life cycle inventory (LCI) files, which allows for rapid iteration and testing of data. It also partially addresses some of the limitations of LCA by establishing a procedure through which temporal and spatial variations in data can be integrated into LCI files and then passed to …


Mitral Valve Imaging And Biomechanics: A Workflow Towards Computational Modeling And Validation, Sam Stephens May 2023

Mitral Valve Imaging And Biomechanics: A Workflow Towards Computational Modeling And Validation, Sam Stephens

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The mitral valve serves a critical role in healthy cardiac function by ensuring the unidirectional flow of oxygenated blood from the left atrium into the left ventricle. It experiences the highest pressures found within the heart and its closure is the result of a complex interaction of several different structures that, furthermore, are unique to each individual. Despite the valve’s vital role however, the specific function of these constituent structures is not fully understood. This, confounded by its asymmetric, personalized nature, make surgical interventions for the mitral valve far less effective than for its neighboring aortic valve. Efforts to overcome …


The Influence Of Pesticides On Us Corn Production Environmental Impact: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Dominant Production Practices, Kyle Marinoni Lawrence May 2023

The Influence Of Pesticides On Us Corn Production Environmental Impact: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Of Dominant Production Practices, Kyle Marinoni Lawrence

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years there has been increasing interest in reducing agricultural environmental footprints in the United States, particularly for commodity crops like corn grain. Pest management is one aspect of agricultural production that is often identified as having potential for improvement with regard to environmental impact, but there is not a robust body of literature to identify the wide-scale influence of pesticides on yield and environmental impact. In this study, we hypothesized that the use of different classifications of pesticides has a significant impact on the overall environmental impact. To test this, agricultural models were created to represent the dominant …


Effect Of Human Decellularized Skeletal Muscle On Recovery From Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury, Jacob Schluns May 2023

Effect Of Human Decellularized Skeletal Muscle On Recovery From Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury, Jacob Schluns

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) overwhelms muscle’s robust capacity for regeneration. A key event in the etiology of VML injury is the bulk loss of structural cues provided by the underlying extracellular matrix (ECM). While muscle is a highly structured tissue, with cell and ECM alignment in the direction of contractile force production, the impact of scaffold alignment on recovery remains unclear. Bulk human decellularized skeletal muscle (DSM) tissues were sectioned into 10 x 1-2 mm fibers. VML defects were repaired using multi-fiber implants consisting of approximately 8 fibers per defect arranged into two layers. Fibers were oriented 1) to the …