Vascular stiffness is a mechanical property of the vessel wall that affects blood pressure, permeability, and inflammation. As a result, vascular stiffness is a key driver of (chronic) human disorders, including pulmonary arterial hypertension, kidney disease, and atherosclerosis. Responses of the endothelium to stiffening involve integration of mechanical cues from various sources, including t...

Chemical crosslinks in collagens resulting from binding of advanced glycation end-products, have long been presumed to alter the stiffness and permeability of glycated tissues. Recently, we developed a stochastic mechanical model for the response and failure of uniaxially deformed sciatic nerve tissue from diabetic and control rats. Here, we use our model to determine the likely correlation of ...

Blends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and thermoplastic starch (TPS) plasticized with adipate esters (diisodecyl adipate and diethyl adipate) having different molecular weight were used to produce sheets. The calendering-extrusion process at a pilot scale was used, and the mechanical, barrier, and morphological characterization of the obtained materials were performed. The increase in the TPS conte...

In this paper, we studied a new preparation method of microcapsules for entrapment of genetically engineered cells. Polyvinyl alcohol microcapsules having well defined shape, high mechanical strength, good biochemical and permeability properties were prepared by using low temperature physical cross-linking method. Comparing with currently used alginate-polylysine-alginate microcapsules, polyvin...

The determination of lacunar-canalicular permeability is essential for understanding local fluid flow in bone, which may indicate how bone senses changes in the mechanical environment to regulate mechano-adaptation. The estimates of lacunar-canalicular permeability found in the literature vary by up to eight orders of magnitude, and age-related permeability changes have not been measured in non...