Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Electrospun Polycaprolactone Nanofiber Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering, Andreas Haukas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stem cell and tissue engineering offer us with a unique opportunity to research and develop new therapies for treating various diseases that are otherwise incurable using traditional medicines. However, development of these new therapies replies upon the establishment of in vitro cell culture and differentiation systems that mimic in vivo microenvironments required for cell-cell and cell-ECM interaction. The development of these cell culture systems depends upon the identification of appropriate biomaterials and cell sources. Biomaterials should be carefully selected and fabricated into scaffolds for supporting cell growth and differentiation. In this study, we explored the fabrication of 3D electrospun nanofiber …

Functionalized Nanoparticles For Biological Imaging And Detection Applications, Bing C Mei

Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have gained tremendous attention in the last decade as a result of their size-dependent spectroscopic properties. These nanoparticles have been a subject of intense study to bridge the gap between macroscopic and atomic behavior, as well as to generate new materials for novel applications in therapeutics, biological sensing, light emitting devices, microelectronics, lasers, and solar cells. One of the most promising areas for the use of these nanoparticles is in biotechnology, where their size-dependent optical properties are harnessed for imaging and sensing applications. However, these nanoparticles, as synthesized, are often not stable …

Effects Of Diabetes And Aging On Posture And Acceleration Thresholds During Lateral Translations, Samantha Jean Richerson

Doctoral Dissertations

Research objectives. One source of falls in the elderly may be an inability to sufficiently adjust to transient postural perturbations or slips. Identifying useful predictors of fall potential, as well as factors that affect the ability of an individual to detect a movement of the standing support surface may provide insight into postural stability and methods to increase stability in elders. To do this, acceleration thresholds to short, precise, lateral platform translations and the resultant psychophysical responses of adults with early Type 2 diabetes to age-matched controls and young adults were measured.

Methods. Using an innovative SLIP-FALLS platform, …