Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Histomechanical Compatibility Of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts, Colton J. Kostelnik

Theses and Dissertations

Coronary artery disease is a localized form of atherosclerosis that can severely restrict blood flow to the heart often requiring a surgical intervention known as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to reestablish perfusion to this essential circulation. To some extent, the selection of the autograft tissue is at the surgeon’s discretion with factors such as stenosis location and the existing tissue’s pathological state contributing to a choice that could be deterministic in surgical outcomes. Many post-operative complications and premature graft failures originate from graft-target tissue incompatibilities and altered blood flow patterns. We hypothesize that mechanical mismatching between the graft material …

Investigating The Impact Of Endothelial Dysfunction And Aging On Vascular Remodeling Using Mouse Models, Liya Du

Theses and Dissertations

Endothelial dysfunction, characterized by a reduction in the bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO), is a major factor in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, an age-related chronic inflammatory process in the arterial wall and the leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally. A better understanding of alterations in vascular structure and function associated with endothelial dysfunction can facilitate the early detection of atherosclerosis and the development of potential pharmaceutical interventions. This study aims to clarify the impact of endothelial dysfunction in conjunction with aging on the microstructure of aortic extracellular matrix (ECM) and to elucidate the relationship between microstructural adaptation …

Neurochemical, Molecular, And Behavioral Effects Of Intranasal Insulin, Jennifer Marie Erichsen

Theses and Dissertations

Age-related cognitive decline (ARCD) is one of the most dreaded aspects of growing old and a public health concern. Unfortunately, there is currently no treatment that effectively ameliorates ARCD. In recent decades, intranasal insulin (INI) has demonstrated promising memory enhancements for rodents and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, both in basic science research laboratories and multi-center clinical trials. Other studies have shown INI improves memory and cognition in healthy rodents and humans, indicating that INI may hold promise as a successful ARCD therapeutic. However, there is a glaring lack of evidence regarding how INI produces these effects. The goal of these …

Long Non-Coding Rna Pvt1 – An Exploratory Study In Ovarian And Endometrial Cancer, Kevin Tabury

Theses and Dissertations

Gynecological cancers, ovarian and endometrial cancer, are still leading causes of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Early detection methods as well as treatment resistance remain a challenge. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as therapeutic targets with diagnostic and prognostic potential with lncRNA PVT1 being one of them.

Here I test and demonstrate the role of PVT1 in ovarian cancer growth and metastasis. PVT1 is amplified and overexpressed in ovarian cancer and has predictive value for survival and response to targeted therapeutics. We find that expression of PVT1 is regulated by tumor cells in response to cellular stress, particularly loss …

The Effect Of Pulsed Field Dc Electrophoresis And Field Amplified Sample Stacking On The Microchip Electrophoretic Separation Of Organic Dyes, Travis Geoffrey Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

The utility of field amplified sample stacking and pulsed field electrophoresis toward improving electrophoretic outcomes was studied with regards to the electrophoretic separation of three organic dyes rhodamine B, 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescein, and fluorescein salt in microchip electrophoresis conditions. In this study, there were four experimental groups: nonstacking nonpulsed, nonstacking pulsed, sample stacking nonpulsed, and sample stacking pulsed.

Electrophoretic outcomes were evaluated by examining the electrophoretic separations under an epifluoresence detection method, plotting the signal intensities vs. time, and comparing separation resolutions and signal-to-noise ratios between experimental groups. From this it was shown that sample stacking nonpulsed conditions yielded the best outcome …

Editorial For Gels 6th Anniversary Special Issue, Esmaiel Jabbari, Gulden Camci-Unal

Faculty Publications

Note: In lieu of an abstract, this is an excerpt from the first page.

This Special Issue celebrates many outstanding quality papers published in Gels over the past six years since its first issue was published in 2015 [...]

Antiviral Polymers: A Review, Ali Akbari, Ashkan Bigham, Vahid Rahimkhoei, Sina Sharifi, Esmaiel Jabbari

Faculty Publications

Polymers, due to their high molecular weight, tunable architecture, functionality, and buffering effect for endosomal escape, possess unique properties as a carrier or prophylactic agent in preventing pandemic outbreak of new viruses. Polymers are used as a carrier to reduce the minimum required dose, bioavailability, and therapeutic effectiveness of antiviral agents. Polymers are also used as multifunctional nanomaterials to, directly or indirectly, inhibit viral infections. Multifunctional polymers can interact directly with envelope glycoproteins on the viral surface to block fusion and entry of the virus in the host cell. Polymers can indirectly mobilize the immune system by activating macrophages and …

The Submission Of A Section 513(G) Request For Information, Morgan Ashley Lano

Theses and Dissertations

The Food and Drug Administration designates all medical devices into one of three general classes contingent on their intended use, indications for use, and potential risk to the user. This classification dictates the further path the device must take to be approved for the commercial market. Section 513(g) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360c(g)) is submitted in order to gain the agency’s unofficial classification and suggested regulatory requirements. The Coagulation Companion (MicroVide) is a device designed to fluorescently quantify a key enzyme involved in the coagulation cascade, plasmin, in pediatric patients. clot formation and degradation …

Decellularized Articular Cartilage Microgels As Microcarriers For Expansion Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Esmaiel Jabbari, Azadeh Sepahvandi

Faculty Publications

Conventional microcarriers used for expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) require detachment and separation of the cells from the carrier prior to use in clinical applications for regeneration of articular cartilage, and the carrier can cause undesirable phenotypic changes in the expanded cells. This work describes a novel approach to expand hMSCs on biomimetic carriers based on adult or fetal decellularized bovine articular cartilage that supports tissue regeneration without the need to detach the expanded cells from the carrier. In this approach, the fetal or adult bovine articular cartilage was minced, decellularized, freeze-dried, ground, and sieved to produce articular …