INTRODUCTION: Degenerative changes in the structure and composition of articular cartilage in osteoarthritis, such as collagen fibrillation, proteoglycan depletion and increased water fraction, alter the mechanical behavior of cartilage [1, 2]. It has been shown that the collagen fibrils primarily modulate cartilage mechanical response under dynamic and impact loading [3]. This emphasizes the r...

This research aims to develop an alternative method to osteochondral articular transfer using decellularized, crosslinked porcine osteochondral xenografts (OCXGs). Crosslinking collagenous tissue results in greater mechanical strength, more resistance to enzymatic degradation, and reduced immunogenicity. This study used genipin, a chemical substance from the Gardenia jasminoides Ellis fruit. Ge...

Elastin fibers are major extracellular matrix macromolecules that are critical in maintaining the elasticity and resilience of tissues such as blood vessels, lungs and skins. However, the role of elastin in articular cartilage is poorly defined. The present study investigated the organization of elastin fiber in articular cartilage, its relationship to collagen fibers and the architecture of el...

Osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease of the load-bearing joints, greatly reduces quality of life for millions of Americans and places a tremendous cost on the American healthcare system. Due to limitations of current treatments, tissue engineering of articular cartilage may provide a promising therapeutic option to treat cartilage defects. However, cartilage tissue engineering has yet to reca...

The fibril reinforced poroelastic models have been found successful in describing some mechanical behaviors of articular cartilage in unconfined compression that were not understood previously, including the strong and nonlinear transient response, the strain-magnitude and strain-rate dependent cartilage stiffness and the depth-varying stresses and strains. It has been demonstrated that a bette...

INTRODUCTION: The topographic analysis of cartilage mechanical properties has been of particular interest since it is known that physiological loading patterns differ with location in a synovial joint. Site-specific in vivo material characterization of articular cartilage has previously been performed using both ultrasound and indentation techniques [1-3]. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) uses hi...

OBJECTIVE Significant collagen content and tensile properties are difficult to achieve in tissue-engineered articular cartilage. The aim of this study was to investigate whether treating developing tissue-engineered cartilage constructs with modulators of intracellular Na(+) or Ca(2+) could increase collagen concentration and construct tensile properties. METHODS Inhibitors of Na(+) ion trans...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the moisture effect on the strength of concrete specimens that has completely cured. This study is also aimed to develop relations that can be used to determine the properties of concrete with different moisture contents that are normally experienced in outside conditions. Numerous compressions and split tensile tests are performed. In order to better unders...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Few quantitative studies have investigated the temperature dependent viscoelastic properties of cartilage tissue. Cartilage softens and can be reshaped when heated using laser, RF, or contact heating sources. The objectives of this study were to: (1) measure temperature dependent flexural storage moduli and mechanical relaxation in cartilage, (2) determine the impact o...