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DEVELOPMENT OF MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION METHOD OF HYDROGEL SCAFFOLDS USING SYNCHROTRON PROPAGATION-BASED IMAGING
Get PDFHydrogel-based scaffolds have been widely used in soft tissue regeneration due to their biocompatible and tissue-like environment for maintaining cellular functions and tissue regeneration. Understanding the mechanical properties and internal microstructure of hydrogel-based scaffold, once implanted, is imperative in many tissue engineering applications and longitude studies. Notably, this has been challenging to date as various conventional characterization methods by, for example, mechanical testing (for mechanical properties) and microscope (for internal microstructure) are destructive as they require removing scaffolds from the implantation site and processing samples for characterization. Synchrotron propagation-based imaging – computed tomography (PBI-CT) is feasible and promising for non-destructive monitoring of hydrogel scaffolds. As inspired, this study aimed to perform a study on the characterization of mechanical properties and microstructure of hydrogel scaffolds based on the PBI-CT.
The hydrogel solutions were prepared from 3% w/v alginate + 1% w/v gelatin and then printed by using the needle with a diameter of 200 μm, to form scaffolds with a dimension of 10×10×5 mm3. After successfully crosslinking of scaffolds, some of the scaffolds were degraded in a 37 °C media of phosphate buffered saline over 3 days, for the subsequent examination, along with those without degradation. The scaffolds both with and without degradation were subject to compressive testing, where the compression speed was set at 0.1 mm/s to reach the strain of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%, respectively. Once reached, the strain was held for 5 minutes for measuring the force and thus the stress within scaffolds, yielding the stress–strain curves. After that, the scaffolds were imaged and examined by SR-PBI-CT at the BMIT-ID beamline at Canadian Light Source (CLS). During the imaging process, the scaffolds were mechanically loaded, respectively, with the strains same as the ones in the aforementioned compressive testing, and at each strain, the scaffold was imaged and scanned with a pixel size of 13 µm for analysis.
From the stress-strain curves obtained in the compression testing, the Young’s modulus was evaluated to characterize the elastic behavior of scaffolds: with the range between around 5-25 kPa; from the images captured by SR-PBI-CT, the scaffolds microstructures were examined in terms of the strand cross-section area, pore size, and hydrogel volume. Further, from the SR-PBI-CT images, the stress within hydrogel of scaffolds were evaluated, showing the agreement with those obtained from compression testing. These results have illustrated that the mechanical properties and microstructures of scaffolds, ether being degraded or not, can be examined and characterized by the SR-PBI-CT imaging, in a non-destructive manner. This would represent a significant advance for facilitating longitude studies on the scaffolds once implanted in-vivo
Archaeological Interpretive Design for Wanuskewin Heritage Park From The Indigenous Perspective: "astam api: Stories of Indigenous Archaeology"
Get PDFThe purpose of this thesis was to design an archaeological interpretive program for Wanuskewin Heritage Park from the Indigenous perspective, ninêhiyawiskwêwin. The final interpretive program titled, “âstam api: Stories of Indigenous Archaeology” further supports Wanuskewin as a centre of excellence by exploring the extensive archaeological record. This interpretive program was designed to meet Grade 4 Science and Grade 6 Social Studies Saskatchewan Curriculum utilizing two-eyed seeing which balances both Western and Indigenous knowledge systems. Program topics include: Indigenous Archaeology, the Opimihaw Creek Valley as a Refuge, Community and Stewardship, The Wanuskewin Story, Archaeology as a Storyteller, and Revitalization: Where do we go from here?
The research question: “How does archaeology with Indigenous ways of knowing impact reconciliation education?” provided direction when investigating the history of colonialism within archaeology and education, and its lasting impacts on Indigenous peoples for generations. The introduction of culturally relevant curriculum and archaeological programming can address the education gap affecting Indigenous youth and holds space for Indigenous knowledge and practice in academic spaces. The stories held within the archaeological record of the Opimihaw Creek Valley, and the establishment of Wanuskewin Heritage Park, highlight how archaeologists are storytellers, protectors of knowledge, and need to be active members in their local communities – especially regarding truth and reconciliation. Decolonizing academic spaces, the use of Indigenous methodology, and miyo-ohpikihâwasowin prove how archaeology can serve as an honorary witness to Indigenous peoples’ sacred relationship to land since time immemorial
The Effect of Diphenylethane Side-chain Substituents on Dibenzocyclohexadiene Formation and their Inhibition of α-Synuclein Aggregation in vitro
Get PDFNSERCPeer ReviewedThe naturally-occurring di-catechol lignan nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) and an analog without methyl groups on the butyl linker both undergo intramolecular cyclization at pH 7.4 to form dibenzocyclooctadienes. Both NDGA and these dibenzocyclooctadienes have been shown to prevent in vitro aggregation of α-synuclein, an intrinsically disordered protein associated with Parkinson's disease. NDGA possesses two vicinal methyl groups on the butyl linker and the presence of these methyl groups attenuates the rate of intramolecular cyclization versus the unsubstituted analog, in opposition to the anticipated Thorpe-Ingold effect, likely due to steric repulsions during cyclization. Numerous 1,2-bis-ethane di-catechols are known to inhibit α-synuclein aggregation in vitro and we hypothesize that these compounds undergo a similar intramolecular cyclization and the cyclized products may be responsible for the activity. To test this hypothesis we prepared a series of 1,2-bis-ethane di-catechols with 0, 2 and 4 methyl substituents on the linker. We have confirmed that these compounds undergo intramolecular cyclization to form dibenzocyclohexadienes and that steric interactions between the methyl substituents leads to an increase in the rate of intramolecular cyclization, which is in contrast to what was observed for lignan di-catechols. The rate of cyclization to form six-membered rings is 10-30 times more rapid than formation of eight membered rings and the dibenzocyclohexadienes also prevent in vitro aggregation of α-synuclein
Openness in Malting Barley Value Chains: the Case of Adoption of New Varieties in Canada and the United Kingdom
Get PDFDevelopment of new malting barley varieties depends crucially on value chain acceptance. In this thesis, factors that contribute to the rate of adoption of new malting barley varieties are evaluated, building upon existing research on open innovation and leveraging a framework of four degrees of openness across two dimensions: a firm's level of openness in innovation strategy, and its degree of openness with the rest of the industry. An analysis of the adoption of new varieties in malting barley value chains in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) was conducted using a case study approach, and the data indicates that openness in value chains is a major contributing factor to a faster adoption rate for new varieties, even if firms conduct R&D in-house
DNA BINDING AND STRUCTURAL ANALYSES OF FZF1 IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE
No full textThe abstract of this item is unavailable due to an embargo
Development of novel iron catalyst supported on carbon material for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis
No full textThe abstract of this item is unavailable due to an embargo
A 1000-Year Record of Temperature From Isotopic Analysis of the Deep Critical Zone in Central China
No full text© 2023. The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant to JJM), the Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Projects of Shandong Key R & D Plan (Grant 2019JZZY010710), and Shandong Province "International Research Team Building Plan" Program.Peer ReviewedTemperature proxies for paleoclimate reconstruction have been made typically via ice cores, tree rings, stalagmites, and lake sediments. While extremely useful, these proxies can be limited spatially. Here we sampled a 98 m “soil core” from Loess Plateau of China and examined the relationship between pore water isotopic values and hydroclimate history. We extracted soil pore water for δ 18O, δ 2H, and 3H and measured chloride concentration. The 3H-peak at 6 m and chloride mass balance were used to turn depth into calendar year. A 1000 year span was revealed. δ 18O and δ 2H values between 14–50 m were anomalously low—bracketing well the Little Ice Age period from 1420 to 1870. The identification was consistent with other standard proxies in the region and showed the same temporal dynamics of temperature anomalies. Our study shows the potential of stable isotopes of soil water for paleoclimate reconstruction in deep soils
Summary of Research Progress May 2023: “Partnerships and tools for water resilient prairie communities”
No full textGlobal Water Futures, Prairie Wate
Transcending the Surface
No full textThrough a collaborative process with the natural world, and by demonstrating how bodily knowledge and intuition can be used as praxis, the research presented in Transcending the Surface offers alternative and unconventional ways to participate in painting, pushing the boundaries of the medium from a Western modernist historical perspective. The imbalance of gender representation in museums and collections perceived to be historical is active and ongoing. Through my physical engagement with the world, I have come to understand myself as a being of nature, one who is not separate from the universe, but who is fully implicated within it. Not only does this embodied understanding of materiality make up the conceptual subject matter of my artwork, but it is also what motivates me to pursue artistic practice. This acknowledgment of our universal entanglement challenges the separation of the mind from the body, the dichotomies of logic and emotion, and of rationality and intuition. In my artistic research, I reclaim and re-present the characterization that has historically been used to delegitimize women’s artwork, that is women’s bodily nature. Through my personal practices of coming to know the physical world through my body and senses, I express through my artwork a form a knowledge that both works in tandem with historical painting processes and refuses the separation of the mind from the body in a way of demonstrating their reliance on one another
People You Grew Up With: A Novel
No full textPeople You Grew Up With is a coming-of-age novel. Told in the voice of its protagonist, Alma Montanya, the narrative begins in the near future on the picturesque coast of Italy where Alma is travelling as a newly single woman in her thirties. One morning, drinking a cappuccino and scrolling on her phone, she stumbles upon news of a devastating wildfire that struck the small prairie town of her childhood, Pheasant Creek, Alberta. As Alma is prompted to reckon with her memories of this place, the narrative shifts back in time to mid- to late-2000s when she was a teen in rural Alberta. By thus interweaving scenes from Alma’s present reality with scenes from her earliest experiences with love and loss, People You Grew Up With asks, how do the people and places that we know in our youth shape who we become? To what extent can we move on from these formative experiences and to what extent are we bound to them