A robust paradigm for studying regeneration after traumatic spinal cord injury in zebrafish.

Background: Zebrafish are vertebrates with a high potential of regeneration after injury in the central nervous system. Therefore, they have emerged as a useful model system for studying traumatic spinal cord injuries.

New Method: Using larval zebrafish, we have developed a robust paradigm to model the effects of anterior spinal cord injury, which correspond to the debilitating injuries of the cervical and thoracic regions in humans.

Generation of Customizable Micro-wavy Pattern through Grayscale Direct Image Lithography.

With the increasing amount of research work in surface studies, a more effective method of producing patterned microstructures is highly desired due to the geometric limitations and complex fabricating process of current techniques. This paper presents an efficient and cost-effective method to generate customizable micro-wavy pattern using direct image lithography. This method utilizes a grayscale Gaussian distribution effect to model inaccuracies inherent in the polymerization process, which are normally regarded as trivial matters or errors.

Examination of hard segment and soft segment phase separation in polyurethane medical materials by electron microscopy techniques.

A combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and in situ tensile testing in an environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) was used to evaluate the static bulk and dynamic surface morphologies of medical polyurethanes. TEM results showed phase-separated hard segment and soft segment structures. Surface morphology as a function of strain was studied using ESEM in conjunction with a tensometer.

Effect of processing route and acetone pre-treatment on the biostability of pellethane materials used in medical device applications.

Thermoplastic polyurethanes, such as Pellethane 2363 80A (Pel80A) and Pellethane 2363 55D (Pel55D) are widely used in the medical device industry because of their biological and mechanical properties. However, premature failure in such devices has been observed and attributed to environmental stress cracking (ESC). The current work investigates the possibility of reducing ESC via bulk morphology manipulation.