Influence of porosity and fibre diameter on the degradation of chitosan fibre-mesh scaffolds and cell adhesion

The state of the art approaches for tailoring the degradation of chitosan scaffolds are based on altering the chemical structure of the polymer. Nevertheless, such alterations may lead to changes in other properties of scaffolds, such as the ability to promote cell adhesion. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of physical parameters such as porosity and fibre diameter on the degradation of chitosan fibre-mesh scaffolds, as a possible way of tailoring the degradation of such scaffolds. Four sets of scaffolds with distinct fibre diameter and porosity were produced and their response to degradation and cell adhesion was studied. The degradation study was carried out at 37"C in a lysozyme solution for five weeks. The extent of degradation was expressed as percentage of weight loss of the dried scaffolds after lysozyme treatment. Cell adhesion was assessed by Confocal Microscopy. The results have shown that the scaffolds with higher porosity degrade faster and that, within the same range of porosity, the fibres with smaller diameter degrade slightly faster. Furthermore, the morphological differences between the scaffolds did not affect the degree of cell adhesion, and the cells were observed throughout the thickness of all four types of scaffold

Caracterização morfológica de nanocristais de celulose por microscopia de força atômica

RESUMO O isolamento de nanocristais de celulose (CNCs) de fibras vegetais é uma alternativa promissora para sua aplicação como reforço em matrizes poliméricas. A caracterização dos CNCs é fundamental para a confiabilidade da técnica, além de determinar as aplicações possíveis a partir de cada tipo de fibra. A partir da técnica de microscopia de força atômica, um estudo da morfologia e distribuição dos CNCs de semente de manga, vagem de algaroba, pseudocaule da bananeira e fibra do mesocarpo de dendê foi realizado neste trabalho. Os CNCs foram obtidos via reação hidrolítica com ácido sulfúrico em concentrações que variaram de acordo com a fonte da fibra. Os resultados obtidos revelaram dimensões variando de 300 a 500 nm em comprimento e 4 a 16 nm em diâmetro. A apresentação morfológica em forma de agulha demonstrou que o isolamento das fibras de celulose em CNCs foi efetiva. A razão de aspecto associada à formação cilíndrica em agulha dos CNCs isolados evidenciou o alto potencial das fontes de dendê e de vagem de algaroba para o reforço de bionanocompósitos

Toward osteogenic differentiation of marrow stromal cells and in vitro production of mineralized extracellular matrix onto natural scaffolds

Uncorrected proofTissue engineering has emerged as a new interdisciplinary field for the repair of various tissues, restoring their functions by using scaffolds, cells, and/or bioactive factors. A temporary scaffold acts as an extracellular matrix analog to culture cells and guide the development of new tissue. In this chapter, we discuss the preparation of naturally derived scaffolds of polysaccharide origin, the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells cultured on biomimetic calcium phosphate coatings, and the delivery of biomolecules associated with extracellular matrix mineralization

DNA-Associated Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes as a Platform for Drug Delivery

Poster from Birck Nanotechnology Center\u27s 2008 Research Revie

A wideband CMOS distributed amplifier with slow-wave shielded transmission lines

A four-stage distributed amplifier utilizing low-loss slow-wave shielded (SWS) transmission lines is implemented in a standard 0.13 mm Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The amplifier when biased in its high current operating mode of I-Dtotal = 46 mA (at V-dd = 2.2 V, P-diss = 101 mW) provides a forward transmission gain of 11.3 +/- 1.5 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth of 17 GHz and a gain-bandwidth product of 74 GHz. The noise figure (NF) under the same bias condition is better than 8.5 dB up to 10 GHz. The measured output-referred 1-dB compression point is higher than +2 dBm. The amplifier is also measured under low-bias condition of I-Dtotal 18 mA (at V-dd = 1.15 V, P-diss = 20.7 mW). It provides a transmission gain of 6.6 +/- 1 dB, a 3-dB bandwidth of 14.8 GHz, a gain-bandwidth product of 35.5 GHz, and a NF of better than 8.6 dB up to 10 GHz. Despite using a simple four-stage cascode design, this distributed amplifier achieves very high-gain-bandwidth product at a relatively low DC power compared to the state of the art CMOS distributed amplifiers reported in the literature. This is due to the incorporation of low-loss SWS coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines with a loss factor of nearly 50% of that of standard transmission lines on CMOS-grade Si substrate

Adhesive surface interactions of cellulose nanocrystals from different sources

Adhesion plays an important role in the final properties of nanocomposites. This study explored the surface interaction of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and the effect of CNC sources on adhesion between individual CNCs and the Si tip of an AFM cantilever using a force mapping technique called FMap. The adhesion between CNCs and a Si tip from five different sources has been studied: cotton, Whatman filter paper, hemp, softwood chemical kraft pulp, and softwood-dissolving pulp (alistaple). Mica was used as the background substrate to act as an internal standard. This study\u2019s findings suggest that adhesion is not the same for all CNCs. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to determine the size and shape of each CNC. The experimental quantitative data showed that adhesion between CNCs and the Si tip has a close correlation with the diameter of the CNCs. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the presence of sulfate groups on the surface of the CNCs and a correlation between adhesion and surface chemistry of the CNCs was observed.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Influence of Er,Cr:YSGG Laser Surface Treatments on Micro Push-Out Bond Strength of Fiber Posts to Composite Resin Core Materials

Statement of problem: The bonding of fiber post to resin core or root dentin is challenged by limited penetration of resin material to the polymeric matrix of fiber posts. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Er,Cr:YSGG on micro push-out bond strength of glass fiber posts to resin core material. Materials and Methods: We used 2 commercially available fiber posts, Exacto (Angelus) and White Post DC (FGM), which had similar coronal diameters. Specimens of each fiber post (n=36) were randomly divided into three subgroups (n=12 posts per group) according to different surface treatment methods: control (no surface treatment), irradiation by 1W Er,Cr:YSGG, and irradiation by 1.5W Er,Cr:YSGG. A cylindrical plastic tube was placed around the post. Resin core material was filled into the tube and cured. Coronal portions of the posts were sectioned into 1-mm-thick slices. Then, the specimens were subjected to a thermocyling device for 3000 cycles. The micro push-out test was carried out using a Universal Testing Machine. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD post hoc test to investigate the effect of different surface treatments on each type of fiber post. Results: The 1.5W Er,Cr:YSGG laser statistically reduced micro push-out bond strength values in the Exacto groups (P0.05). Mode of failure analysis showed that mixed failure was the predominant failure type for all surface treatment groups. Conclusions: The beneficial effect of Er,Cr:YSGG laser application could not be confirmed based on the results of this in vitro study. Er,Cr:YSGG laser could not significantly enhance the bond strength values. However, the 1.5W laser statistically decreased micro push-out bond strength in the Exacto fiber posts