Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Integrating Shear Flow And Trypsin Treatment To Assess Cell Adhesion Strength, Antra Patel, Bhavana Bhavanam, Trevor Keenan, Venkat Maruthamuthu

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Cell adhesion is of fundamental importance in cell and tissue organization and for designing cell-laden constructs for tissue engineering. Prior methods to assess cell adhesion strength for strongly adherent cells using hydrodynamic shear flow either involved the use of specialized flow devices to generate high shear stress or used simpler implementations like larger height parallel plate chambers that enable multihour cell culture but generate low wall shear stress and are, hence, more applicable for weakly adherent cells. Here, we propose a shear flow assay for adhesion strength assessment of strongly adherent cells that employs off-the-shelf parallel plate chambers for shear …

Synthesis Of A Series Of Trimeric Branched Glycoconjugates And Their Applications For Supramolecular Gels And Catalysis, Jonathan Bietsch, Anji Chen, Dan Wang, Guijun Wang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Carbohydrate-derived molecular gelators have found many practical applications as soft materials. To better understand the structure and molecular gelation relationship and further explore the applications of sugar-based gelators, we designed and synthesized eight trimeric branched sugar triazole derivatives and studied their self-assembling properties. These included glucose, glucosamine, galactose, and maltose derivatives. Interestingly, the gelation properties of these compounds exhibited correlations with the peripheral sugar structures. The maltose derivative did not form gels in the tested solvents, but all other compounds exhibited gelation properties in at least one of the solvents. Glucose derivatives showed superior performance, followed by glucosamine derivatives. They …

Reduced Metal Nanocatalysts For Selective Electrochemical Hydrogenation Of Biomass-Derived 5-(Hydroxymethyl)Furfural To 2, 5-Bis(Hydroxymethyl)Furan In Ambient Conditions, Baleeswaraiah Muchharla, Moumita Dikshit, Ujjwal Pokharel, Ravindranath Garimella, Adetayo Adedeji, Kapil Kumar, Wei Cao, Hani Elsayed-Ali, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Naif Abdullah Al-Dhabi, Sandeep Kumar, Bijandra Kumar

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Selective electrochemical hydrogenation (ECH) of biomass-derived unsaturated organic molecules has enormous potential for sustainable chemical production. However, an efficient catalyst is essential to perform an ECH reaction consisting of superior product selectivity and a higher conversion rate. Here, we examined the ECH performance of reduced metal nanostructures i.e., reduced Ag (rAg) and reduced copper (rCu) prepared via electrochemical or thermal oxidation and electrochemical reduction process, respectively. Surface morphological analysis suggests formation of nanocoral and entangled nanowire structure formation for rAg and rCu catalysts. rCu exhibits slight enhancement in ECH reaction performance in comparison to the pristine Cu. However, the rAg …

Calpains In The Peripheral Nerve And During Demyelination And Degeneration In Rodents, John A. Miller

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Myelin formed around axons ensures rapid and efficient action potential propagation. Disruption of myelinated axons in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) often causes nerve conduction failure, neurological symptoms and can lead to long-term disability. Calpains are calcium dependent cysteine proteases that play many roles during both normal physiology and pathogenesis. Calpain-1 (CAPN1) and calpain-2 (CAPN2) are key calpain paralogs found in the nervous system and potentially have opposing roles, with CAPN2 having a more neurodegenerative function. In the central nervous system (CNS), calpains have a role in developmental myelination as well as in the pathological demyelination of multiple sclerosis and …

Mouthpiece For Patients With Neuromuscular Disorders, Rebekah Starkey, Carissa Thompson, Michael Dickens, Andrew Pero

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Neuromuscular Disorders (NMDs) impact people throughout the world. An early hallmark of these disorders includes some degree of facial muscle weakness. Respiratory testing is important to evaluate the progression of these patients’ NMDs. However, these tests require that the patient purses their lips around a mouthpiece to create a tight seal. This is a difficult task for one with facial muscle degeneration. This often leads to results that fail to reflect the patient’s true respiratory ability and prevents their physician from providing the appropriate degree of care. The objective of this project was to develop a face mask or mouthpiece …

Verification Of Proton Range Predictions In Proton Treatment Planning Using X-Ray Ct Or Proton Ct Imaging, Nicholas S. Yee

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this paper is to compare the range errors for two treatment plans; one using x-ray CT and the other using proton CT for calculating dose distributions in an animal tissue phantom. We shot 150 MeV proton beam through a meat phantom to a film stack to measure the exponential drop of dose at the Bragg peak until zero dose remained. Plotting the depth dose curves and performing gamma analyses are two ways to quantify the proton range errors when comparing them to depth dose curves from film measurements in the phantom. The depth dose curves give us …

Neonatal Intraocular Injection And Delivery System, Nina Treacher, Cory Ramsey, Marie Kosco, Jackson Carrell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The proposed project is a way to deliver liquid medicine into the neonatal eye to prevent retinal detachment with lower risk for bacterial infection and drug misplacement. Currently, ophthalmologists use diabetic needles to introduce medication to the neonate eye. They estimate the injection location with hand-held calipers. This may allow the medicine to be misplaced from poor needle placement and introduce preventable error. The goal is to improve the delivery system ophthalmologists currently use by investigating ways to alter or enhance commonly used injection systems to make the procedure safer and more effective.

Side Cutting Biopsy Needle For Endoscopes, Cade Smarr, Ella B. Brinkman, Christine Skakun, Vincent Grosso

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Develop a side cutting biopsy needle that fits through the working channel of the endoscope similar to stereotactic needle with syringe suction to overcome the small biopsy samples due to instrument size limitations. The problem users are facing is that the biopsy samples through the endoscope are small secondary to instrument size limitations. The idea for this problem is to develop a side cutting biopsy needle that fits through the working channel of the endoscope similar to stereotactic needle, syringe suction.

Enhancing Dental Aligners With Direct 3d Printing Manufacturing, Erin Clark, Lauren Ickes, Tyler Madison

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Replacement of thermoforming with direct 3d printed aligners, molding appliances for dental and alveolar movement. Currently the process involved requires 3d printing models and plastic thermoforming, trimming and polishing to fabricate the end product. If possible a product that could be 3d printed that had stress retention, crack resistance, and stain resistance properties delivered in thickness between .030 and .040 inches.

Frostflex, Isaac Edmondson, Caleb Edmondson, Joey Esker, Nadine Salem

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Research has shown that the majority of heat lost during physical exercise leaves the body through the hands, feet, and the face. Our design project seeks to develop cooling glove technology to increase the rate at which heat leaves the body during recovery from physical exertion. The goal of this project was to investigate different ways in which heat absorption through various mediums can be manipulated and scaled into an adaptable, flexible design in which athletes of all levels, from recreational to professional, can improve their physical performance with the use of our gloves. Deliverables include a functional prototype, product …

Kv2.1 Dysfunction Underlies The Onset Of Symptoms In Sod1-G93a Mouse Model Of Als, Andrew J. Deutsch

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease which targets motoneurons (MNs), yet underlying disease mechanisms are not well understood. Evaluating the intrinsic excitability of MNs in ALS could lead to a better understanding of mechanisms causing neurodegeneration. The SOD1-G93A (SOD) model is the most commonly studied animal model of ALS. However, past studies have shown highly conflicting results on SOD MN excitability. Interestingly, I show that depending on the level of membrane depolarization, SOD MNs show opposite results of both hyper- and hypo-excitability. This reveals that differences in the methodology of measuring excitability can heavily impact the study results. …

Lipin1 Improves Membrane Integrity In Dystrophic Muscles Of Mdx Mice, Abdulrahman Jama

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked genetic disorder that affects 1 in 3500 male births worldwide. It is characterized by mutations in the dystrophin gene that results in the loss of functional dystrophin. Dystrophin deficiency leads to instability of the sarcolemma alongside increased inflammation, necrosis and fibrosis resulting in membrane rupture and eventual muscle fiber death. There are currently no effective treatments for DMD. Here we show that Lipin1 expression is significantly downregulated at the mRNA and protein levels in gastrocnemius muscle of mdx mice, the DMD mouse model. Lipin1 has a dual function as a phosphatidic acid phosphatase …

Dna Instability At (Attct) Microsatellites In Human Cells, Venicia Alhawach

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Microsatellites are short tandem repeats of DNA (1-9 nucleotides) that are unstable in the genome. They can expand and contract which leads to mutations and rearrangements that jeopardize genomic integrity. When encountered by a replication fork, repeats of these microsatellites can form non-B DNA structures which cause replication forks to stall and collapse eventually leading to double stranded breaks (DSBs) and replication stress. One form of repair of replication dependent DSBs happens via break induced replication (BIR), a highly mutagenic repair pathway. The main objective of this study is to understand how ATTCT pentanucleotide repeats affect replication and chromosomal instability …

Microsatellite Induced Genomic Instability And Mutagenesis Through Break Induced Replication, Rujuta Yashodhan Gadgil

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Faithful DNA replication is essential to maintain genomic integrity. Compromises in this process are among the prime causes of cancer and other genetic disorders. Among several factors that can interfere with error-free DNA replication, the formation of non-B DNA structures by microsatellite sequences is critical. Microsatellites are 1-9 bp long tandem repetitive regions that can form secondary structures like hairpins, triplex, Gquadruplex etc. and undergo expansions due to replication fork stalling to cause several diseases. Hairpin forming microsatellites have been shown to induce DNA DSBs and lead to genetic instability and mutagenesis. The goal of this study is to understand …

Increased Liver Stiffness Promotes Hepatitis B Progression By Impairing Innate Immunity In Ccl4-Induced Fibrotic Hbv+ Transgenic Mice, Grace Bybee, Youra Moeun, Weimin Wang, Kusum K. Kharbanda, Larisa Y. Poluektova, Srivatsan Kidambi, Natalia A. Osna, Murali Ganesan

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection develops as an acute or chronic liver disease, which progresses from steatosis, hepatitis, and fibrosis to end-stage liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). An increased stromal stiffness accompanies fibrosis in chronic liver diseases and is considered a strong predictor for disease progression. The goal of this study was to establish the mechanisms by which enhanced liver stiffness regulates HBV infectivity in the fibrotic liver tissue. Methods: For in vitro studies, HBV-transfected HepG2.2.15 cells were cultured on polydimethylsiloxane gels coated by polyelectrolyte multilayer films of 2 kPa (soft) or 24 kPa (stiff) …

Mesenchymal Stromal Cells And Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Have A Strong Synergy In Modulating Inflammation And Its Resolution, Li Han, Xinran Wu, Ou Wang, Xiao Luan, William Velander, Michael Aynardi, E. Scott Halstead, Anthony S. Bonavia, Rong Jin, Guohong Li, Yulong Li, Yong Wang, Cheng Dong, Yuguo Lei

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Rationale: Trauma, surgery, and infection can cause severe inflammation. Both dysregulated inflammation intensity and duration can lead to significant tissue injuries, organ dysfunction, mortality, and morbidity. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as steroids and immunosuppressants can dampen inflammation intensity, but they derail inflammation resolution, compromise normal immunity, and have significant adverse effects. The natural inflammation regulator mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have high therapeutic potential because of their unique capabilities to mitigate inflammation intensity, enhance normal immunity, and accelerate inflammation resolution and tissue healing. Furthermore, clinical studies have shown that MSCs are safe and effective. However, they are not potent enough, alone, to …

An Investigation Of The Effect Of Cyclic Loading Of Bone On Osteocyte Processes Spanning Micro-Cracks As A Driver Of Targeted Remodelling Of Bone, Morgana Pires Afonso Shirsath

Doctoral

Bone remodelling is essential to maintain and improve the quality of bones. This occurs with the action of specialised cells - osteoclasts and osteoblasts - which replace the old bone tissue with new in regions where damage has occurred. Osteocytes are responsible for signalling the presence of damage and trigger the bone remodelling response. According to the Scissors Model, the presence of micro-cracks causes rupture of the osteocyte processes by fatigue because of the repeated stretching resulting from the relative movement of micro-crack faces, when bone is subjected to cyclic loads.

Fusarium Graminearum Effector Fgnls1 Targets Plant Nuclei To Induce Wheat Head Blight, Guixia Hao, Todd A. Naumann, Hui Chen, Guihua Bai, Susan Mccormick, Hye-Seon Kim, Bin Tian, Harold N. Trick, Michael J. Naldrett, Robert Proctor

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat and barley worldwide. Effectors suppress host immunity and promote disease development. The genome of F. graminearum contains hundreds of effectors with unknown function. Therefore, investigations of the functions of these effectors will facilitate developing novel strategies to enhance wheat resistance to FHB. We characterized a F. graminearum effector, FgNls1, containing a signal peptide and multiple eukaryotic nuclear localization signals. A fusion protein of green fluorescent protein and FgNls1 accumulated in plant cell nucleiwhen transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. FgNls1 suppressed …

Brain Activity Associated With Taste Stimulation: A Mechanism For Neuroplastic Change?, Angela M. Dietsch, Ross M. Westemeyer, Douglas H. Schultz

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: Neuroplasticity may be enhanced by increasing brain activation and bloodflow in neural regions relevant to the target behavior.We administered precisely formulated and dosed taste stimuli to determine whether the associated brain activity patterns included areas that underlie swallowing control.

Methods: Five taste stimuli (unflavored, sour, sweet-sour, lemon, and orange suspensions) were administered in timing-regulated and temperature-controlled 3 mL doses via a customized pump/tubing system to 21 healthy adults during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain analyses of fMRI data assessed main effects of taste stimulation as well as differential effects of taste profile.

Results: Differences in …

การพัฒนาไฮโดรเจลเจลาตินที่มีอนุภาคนาโนทองคำ สำหรับการวัดปริมาณรังสี, ภาวิณี ชูสินธ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ปัจจุบันรังสีรักษามีบทบาทสำคัญในการช่วยรักษาโรคมะเร็ง โดยการให้ปริมาณรังสีสูงสุดที่เนื้อเยื่อมะเร็ง และก่อให้เกิดผลกระทบต่อเนื้อปกติน้อยที่สุด ดังนั้นความถูกต้องของปริมาณรังสีจึงเป็นสิ่งสำคัญ การวัดปริมาณรังสีเป็นสิ่งหนึ่งที่ช่วยยืนยันและสร้างความมั่นใจให้ผู้ป่วยได้ การศึกษาวิจัยนี้ได้พัฒนาอุปกรณ์การวัดปริมาณรังสีในรูปแบบไฮโดรเจลชนิดใหม่ สำหรับการวัดปริมาณรังสี ที่มีคุณลักษณะเฉพาะตัวในการขึ้นรูปได้หลายมิติ และมีความเข้ากันได้ทางชีวภาพจากพอลิเมอร์ธรรมชาติ เช่น เจลาตินและอะกราโรส ผสมกับสารละลายทองคำ โดยอาศัยนวัตกรรมนาโนเทคโนโลยี และการเปลี่ยนแปลงปฏิกิริยาทางเคมีของไฮโดรเจลเมื่อมีการฉายรังสี ทำให้เกิดการสังเคราะห์อนุภาคนาโนทองคำที่มีคุณสมบัติทางแสงที่โดดเด่นและเฉพาะตัวเชิงพื้นผิว ทำให้มองเห็นการเกิดการเปลี่ยนแปลงสีของไฮโดรเจลด้วยสายตาเปล่าได้อย่างรวดเร็วภายใน 10 นาที ภายหลังจากการได้รับรังสี รวมทั้งวัดค่าการดูดกลืนแสงในช่วงปริมาณรังสี 0-5 Gy ด้วยเทคนิคสเปกโตรโฟโตเมตรีที่ความยาวคลื่นดูดกลืนสูงสุดที่ 540 nm พบว่า ปฏิกิริยาทางเคมีภายในไฮโดรเจลเกิดขึ้นได้สมบูรณ์เมื่อได้รับรังสีผ่านไปแล้ว 2 ชั่วโมง โดยมีขีดความสามารถในวัดต่ำสุด คือ 0.37 Gy โดยมีความคงตัวของค่าการดูดกลืนแสงหลังจากได้รับรังสีไปแล้วนานถึง 7-14 วัน รวมทั้งให้ค่าความสัมพันธ์เชิงเส้นตรงของไฮโดรเจลเจลาตินและไฮโดรเจลเจลาตินผสมอะกราโรส เท่ากับ 0.9996 และ 0.9994 ตามลำดับ จากผลการทดลองนี้แสดงให้เห็นถึงความสามารถของไฮโดรเจลชนิดนี้ในการตอบสนองต่อรังสีที่รวดเร็ว ในช่วงปริมาณรังสีต่ำที่ใช้ทางคลินิค ที่มีความคงตัวและความถูกต้องแม่นยำสูง เหมาะสำหรับการนำไปประยุกต์ใช้ในงานรังสีรักษาต่อไป