Mesenchymal Stem Cell Responses to Bone-Mimetic Electrospun Matrices Composed of Polycaprolactone, Collagen I and Nanoparticulate Hydroxyapatite

The performance of biomaterials designed for bone repair depends, in part, on the ability of the material to support the adhesion and survival of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In this study, a nanofibrous bone-mimicking scaffold was electrospun from a mixture of polycaprolactone (PCL), collagen I, and hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles with a dry weight ratio of 50/30/20 respectively (PCL/col/HA). The cytocompatibility of this tri-component scaffold was compared with three other scaffold formulations: 100% PCL (PCL), 100% collagen I (col), and a bi-component scaffold containing 80% PCL/20% HA (PCL/HA). Scanning electron microscopy, fluorescent live cell imaging, and MTS assays showed that MSCs adhered to the PCL, PCL/HA and PCL/col/HA scaffolds, however more rapid cell spreading and significantly greater cell proliferation was observed for MSCs on the tri-component bone-mimetic scaffolds. In contrast, the col scaffolds did not support cell spreading or survival, possibly due to the low tensile modulus of this material. PCL/col/HA scaffolds adsorbed a substantially greater quantity of the adhesive proteins, fibronectin and vitronectin, than PCL or PCL/HA following in vitro exposure to serum, or placement into rat tibiae, which may have contributed to the favorable cell responses to the tri-component substrates. In addition, cells seeded onto PCL/col/HA scaffolds showed markedly increased levels of phosphorylated FAK, a marker of integrin activation and a signaling molecule known to be important for directing cell survival and osteoblastic differentiation. Collectively these results suggest that electrospun bone-mimetic matrices serve as promising degradable substrates for bone regenerative applications

Novel strategies in tendon and ligament tissue engineering: Advanced biomaterials and regeneration motifs

Tendon and ligaments have poor healing capacity and when injured often require surgical intervention. Tissue replacement via autografts and allografts are non-ideal strategies that can lead to future problems. As an alternative, scaffold-based tissue engineering strategies are being pursued. In this review, we describe design considerations and major recent advancements of scaffolds for tendon/ligament engineering. Specifically, we outline native tendon/ligament characteristics critical for design parameters and outcome measures, and introduce synthetic and naturally-derived biomaterials used in tendon/ligament scaffolds. We will describe applications of these biomaterials in advanced tendon/ligament engineering strategies including the utility of scaffold functionalization, cyclic strain, growth factors, and interface considerations. The goal of this review is to compile and interpret the important findings of recent tendon/ligament engineering research in an effort towards the advancement of regenerative strategies

Modelling of gas–solid turbulent channel flow with non-spherical particles with large Stokes numbers

AbstractThis paper describes a complete framework to predict the behaviour of interacting non-spherical particles with large Stokes numbers in a turbulent flow. A summary of the rigid body dynamics of particles and particle collisions is presented in the framework of Quaternions. A particle-rough wall interaction model to describe the collisions between non-spherical particles and a rough wall is put forward as well. The framework is coupled with a DNS-LES approach to simulate the behaviour of horizontal turbulent channel flow with 5 differently shaped particles: a sphere, two types of ellipsoids, a disc, and a fibre. The drag and lift forces and the torque on the particles are computed from correlations which are derived using true DNS.The simulation results show that non-spherical particles tend to locally maximise the drag force, by aligning their longest axis perpendicular to the local flow direction. This phenomenon is further explained by performing resolved direct numerical simulations of an ellipsoid in a flow. These simulations show that the high pressure region on the acute sides of a non-spherical particle result in a torque if an axis of the non-spherical particle is not aligned with the flow. This torque is only zero if the axis of the particle is perpendicular to the local direction of the flow. Moreover, the particle is most stable when the longest axis is aligned perpendicular to the flow.The alignment of the longest axis of a non-spherical particle perpendicular to the local flow leads to non-spherical particles having a larger average velocity compared to spherical particles with the same equivalent diameter. It is also shown that disc-shaped particles flow in a more steady trajectory compared to elongated particles, such as elongated ellipsoids and fibres. This is related to the magnitude of the pressure gradient on the acute side of the non-spherical particles. Finally, it is shown that the effect of wall roughness affects non-spherical particles differently than spherical particles. Particularly, a collision of a non-spherical particle with a rough wall induces a significant amount of rotational energy, whereas a corresponding collision with a spherical particle results in mostly a change in translational motion

Modelling of gas–solid turbulent channel flow with non-spherical particles with large Stokes numbers

AbstractThis paper describes a complete framework to predict the behaviour of interacting non-spherical particles with large Stokes numbers in a turbulent flow. A summary of the rigid body dynamics of particles and particle collisions is presented in the framework of Quaternions. A particle-rough wall interaction model to describe the collisions between non-spherical particles and a rough wall is put forward as well. The framework is coupled with a DNS-LES approach to simulate the behaviour of horizontal turbulent channel flow with 5 differently shaped particles: a sphere, two types of ellipsoids, a disc, and a fibre. The drag and lift forces and the torque on the particles are computed from correlations which are derived using true DNS.The simulation results show that non-spherical particles tend to locally maximise the drag force, by aligning their longest axis perpendicular to the local flow direction. This phenomenon is further explained by performing resolved direct numerical simulations of an ellipsoid in a flow. These simulations show that the high pressure region on the acute sides of a non-spherical particle result in a torque if an axis of the non-spherical particle is not aligned with the flow. This torque is only zero if the axis of the particle is perpendicular to the local direction of the flow. Moreover, the particle is most stable when the longest axis is aligned perpendicular to the flow.The alignment of the longest axis of a non-spherical particle perpendicular to the local flow leads to non-spherical particles having a larger average velocity compared to spherical particles with the same equivalent diameter. It is also shown that disc-shaped particles flow in a more steady trajectory compared to elongated particles, such as elongated ellipsoids and fibres. This is related to the magnitude of the pressure gradient on the acute side of the non-spherical particles. Finally, it is shown that the effect of wall roughness affects non-spherical particles differently than spherical particles. Particularly, a collision of a non-spherical particle with a rough wall induces a significant amount of rotational energy, whereas a corresponding collision with a spherical particle results in mostly a change in translational motion

CFD modeling of gas-fluidized beds with a bimodal particle mixture

A computational fluid dynamics model was developed for gas-solid fluidized beds containing a mixture of two particle species. To calculate stresses of the solid phase, the kinetic theory of granular flow was extended to consider a binary mixture of smooth, nearly elastic, spheres. The developed model was simulated to demonstrate key features of binary mixture fluidization. Bed expansion with a binary mixture of different size particles, but with identical densities, was much higher than that of a system consisting of mono-sized particles of the same mean size as the bimodal mixture. Minimum fluidization velocity for the binary particle system was significantly lowered. The mixing behavior of the binary mixture of particles, characterized by the mixing index, increased with increasing superficial gas velocity. For a binary mixture of particles of larger size with lower density and smaller size with higher density, larger, lighter particles segregated to the top of the fluid bed, while smaller, heavier particles segregated to the bottom. With increasing fluidization velocity, this segregation pattern reversed and "inversion" occurred. The drag and gravity force difference between small, heavy particles and large, light particles was dominant at low gas velocities. With an increase in gas velocity, however, the gradients in granular temperature and pressure became dominant terms in the equations for the relative force and thus velocity between two different particle species

Effect of drag models on residence time distributions of particles in a wurster fluidized bed: A DEM-CFD study

Fluidized bed coating has been used to coat pellets or tablets with functional substances for a number of purposes. In this coating process, particle wetting, drying and film formation are coupled to particle motion. It is therefore of interest to study particle motion in such fluidized beds and to use the results to develop a model for predicting the quality of the final product. In this paper, we present results from DEM-CFD simulations, i.e. discrete element method and computational fluid dynamics simulations of particle motion in a laboratory-scale Wurster fluidized bed that was also employed in positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) experiments. As the drag force is the dominant interaction between the gas flow and the particle motion in this type of fluidized bed, the effect of drag models on the particle motion is investigated. More specifically, the particle velocity and residence time distributions of particles in different regions calculated from five different drag models are presented. It is found that the Gidaspow and Tang drag models predict both particle cycle and residence times well. The HKL and Beetstra drag models somewhat overestimate the particle velocity in the Wurster tube and therefore predict a reduced number of recirculations and a significantly shorter cycle time

Comparative analysis of CFD models of dense gas-solid systems

Many gas-solid CFD models have been put forth by academic researchers, government laboratories, and commercial vendors. These models often differ in terms of both the form of the governing equations and the closure relations, resulting in much confusion in the literature. These various forms in the literature and in commercial codes are reviewed and the resulting hydrodynamics through CFD simulations of fluidized beds compared. Experimental data on fluidized beds of Hilligardt and Werther (1986), Kehoe and Davidson (1971), Darton et al.(1977), and Kuipers (1990) are used to quantitatively assess the various treatments. Predictions based on the commonly used governing equations of Ishii (1975) do not differ from those of Anderson and Jackson (1967) in terms of macroscopic flow behavior, but differ on a local scale. Flow predictions are not sensitive to the use of different solid stress models or radial distribution functions, as different approaches are very similar in dense flow regimes. The application of a different drag model, however, significantly impacts the flow of the solids phase. A simplified algebraic granular energy-balance equation is proposed for determining the granular temperature, instead of solving the full granular energy balance. This simplification does not lead to significantly different results, but it does reduce the computational effort of the simulations by about 20%