Bone is a specialized tissue formed by different cell types and multiscale, complex mineralized matrix. The architecture the surface chemistry of this microenvironment can be factors considerable influence on biology, affect proliferation, commitment to differentiation, gene expression, matrix production and/or composition. It has been shown that osteoblasts encounter natural motifs in vivo, wi...

A two-dimensional continuum model of epithelial tissue mechanics was formulated using cellular-level mechanical ingredients and cell morphogenetic processes, including cellular shape changes and cellular rearrangements. This model incorporates stress and deformation tensors, which can be compared with experimental data. Focusing on the interplay between cell shape changes and cell rearrangement...

Enzymatic-detergent decellularization treatments may use a combination of chemical reagents to reduce vascular tissue to sterilized scaffolds, which may be seeded with endothelial cells and implanted with a low risk of rejection. However, these chemicals may alter the mechanical properties of the native tissue and contribute to graft compliance mismatch. Uniaxial tensile data obtained from nati...

Optical elastography is an imaging modality that relies on variations in the local mechanical properties of biological tissues as the contrast mechanism for image formation. Skin lesions, such as melanomas and other invasive conditions, are known to alter the arrangement of collagen fibers in the skin and thus should lead to alterations in local skin mechanical properties. We report on an acous...

Mechanical information is an important contributor to cell polarity in uni- and multicellular systems [1-3]. In planar tissues like the Drosophila wing, cell polarity reorients during growth as cells divide and reorganize [4]. In another planar tissue, the Arabidopsis leaf epidermis [5], polarized, asymmetric divisions of stomatal stem cells (meristemoid mother cells [MMCs]) are fundamental for...

In this study, physical vapor deposition (PVD) Ti-Cr-N coatings were deposited at two different temperatures 100 and 400ºC on hardened and tempered tool steel substrates. The influence of the applied deposition temperature on the physical and mechanical properties of coatings such as roughness, thickness, phase composition, hardness and Young’s modulus were evaluated. Phase compositions were st...

How the collective motion of cells in a biological tissue originates in the behavior of a collection of individuals, each of which responds to the chemical and mechanical signals it receives from neighbors, is still poorly understood. Here we study this question for a particular system, the slug stage of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum (Dd). We investigate how cells in the inte...

Mathematically describing the mechanical behavior of soft tissues under large deformations is of paramount interest to the medical simulation community. Most of the data available in the literature apply small strains (<10%) to the tissue of interest to assume a linearly elastic behavior. This paper applies a nonlinear hyperelastic 8-chain network constitutive law to model soft tissues undergoi...

The periodontal ligament (PDL) is a soft biological tissue which shows a strongly nonlinear and time dependent mechanical behavior. Recent experiments on rabbit PDL revealed that the rate of stress relaxation is strain dependent. This nonlinear behavior of PDL cannot be described well by the separable quasi linear viscoelasticity theory which is usually used in tissue biomechanics. Therefore, P...

Considerable progress has been made in recent years toward elucidating a conceptual framework that integrates the dynamic functional structure, mechanical properties, and pathobiological behavior of the cardiac valves. This communication reviews the evolving paradigm of a continuum of heart valve structure, function, and pathobiology and explores its implications. Specifically, we discuss (1) t...