Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Materials Science and Engineering

Alloying additions are employed in magnesium (Mg) to increase its corrosion performance, formability, and strength. Widely used commercial alloys such as the AZ series use Aluminum (Al) and Zinc (Zn) as the main alloying elements. The alloys used in this research contained 3, 6, or 9 wt. % Al with around 1 wt. % Zn in each alloy. This alloy system has been characterized as showing second phases forming at grain boundaries and interdendritic regions. Heterogeneities in the microstructure can vary the electrochemical potentials of the material, making them instrumental in understanding the corrosion behavior of this alloy system. From microstructural investigation, an increase in Al content increased the volume fraction and segregation of secondary phase, β. This change in microstructure showed a clear difference in corrosion morphology among alloys. Mg and its alloys form Mg oxide films in ambient conditions and Mg hydroxide in aqueous conditions. Studies have shown an inhibiting effect when Mg is in the presence of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). An increase in Al content has shown to have a positive effect on corrosion performance of Mg alloys. In laboratory conditions, most tests are done in bulk solution which can limit the access of CO2 at the surface of the alloy. A simple immersion experiment was conducted to demonstrate the effect that experimental set up can have on corrosion behavior. The amount of CO2 available at the surface of the alloy is changed by varying solution height. It was shown that the interfacial pH attained a high value due to the overwhelming effect of hydrogen evolution, while the bulk solution remained buffered by the CO2. The effect of CO2 on Mg alloys was studied by testing various AZ series alloys in the presence and absence of CO2. This study aimed to identify a possible interaction between Al content and CO2 that affects the corrosion rate. Electrochemical testing was done using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to und (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rudolph Buchheit (Advisor); Gerald Frankel (Advisor); Christopher Taylor (Committee Member) Subjects: Materials Science

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1924, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1965, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Nursing Practice , Case Western Reserve University, 2024, School of Nursing

Problem: Patients undergoing colorectal surgery experience moderate to severe levels of post-operative pain and were the initial group studied for enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) implementation in 2010. At the proposed study institution, the colorectal surgery ERAS protocol supports administration of intravenous (IV) magnesium sulfate for all appropriate patients. IV magnesium sulfate is a commonly used analgesic adjunct in both multi-modal anesthetic technique and ERAS protocols. Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine if IV magnesium administration is associated with post-operative pain scores and opioid requirements of colorectal surgical patients receiving general anesthesia. Methods. A retrospective chart review was completed to compare post-operative pain scores and opioid consumption, by morphine milli-equivalents (MME), of colorectal postoperative anesthesia care unit (PACU) patients that received IV magnesium sulfate intra-operatively with patients who did not. The study included a total sample size of 38 cases through convenience sampling. Data was collected through retrospective chart audits with all cases de-identified. Total opioid consumption was calculated for the patient's PACU stay and pain scores were compared at admission to PACU and after 1 hour in the PACU. Results: Patients who received magnesium sulfate intraoperatively had a mean MME of 6.19 mg, in contrast to patients who did not receive magnesium sulfate had an average of 5.25 mg. The magnesium group had a mean initial pain score of 3.17, on a scale of 1-10, in contrast to the non-magnesium group's mean initial pain score of 4.45. Mean pain scores after 1 hour in the PACU were 2.78 for the magnesium group and 4.0 for the non-magnesium group. Conclusion: Results showed no significant difference at any record point in the experience of post-operative pain and amount of opioid consumption in patients who received IV magnesium sulfate from the group of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jennifer Nicholson (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Demko (Committee Member); Lee Devinney-Boymel (Committee Member); Ethan Smith (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Health Sciences; Nursing

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Materials Science and Engineering

In the last 20 years, research in magnesium alloys has greatly expanded with demand for high-strength lightweight alloys in the transportation industry. Mg-RE (rare earth) alloys have been of particular interest due to the formation of two strengthening phase types: long period stacking order (LPSO) phases and β-series precipitates. This work focuses on the development of high-strength cast Mg-RE multicomponent alloys that combine LPSO and β-series phases using a CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams)-based design approach. This work began by using CALPHAD modeling to study the effects of maximizing the LPSO phase fractions. Experimental samples demonstrated there was a slight increase in mechanical properties with high LPSO volume fractions, but the properties were below those obtained through β' precipitation in the commercial alloy WE43 (Mg-4Y-3.4RE-0.7Zr, all in wt%). It was also found that the CALPHAD model was underpredicting the LPSO phase fractions by ~20 vol%. Improvements were made to the Pandat database to bring the predictions within ~5 vol% of experimental values. In the second stage of this work, small-angle scattering (SAS) was used to quantitatively explore the effects of micro-alloying in the Mg-Nd system on β-series precipitates. Two SAS techniques were used in addition to transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the effects of micro-alloying: small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). It was found SAXS was a better technique to quantify the change in precipitate size with micro-alloying and aging, but more understanding of the system is needed to extract phase fraction changes. In the final stage of this work, the LPSO and β-series strengthening mechanisms were combined in an attempt to produce an Mg-Y-Nd-Zn-Zr alloy with properties superior to WE43. Nd does not form any LPSO phase, so there is less competition between the phases during formation. CALPHAD modeling is used to tailor the phase fracti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Alan Luo (Advisor); Steve Niezgoda (Committee Member); Jenifer Locke (Committee Member) Subjects: Engineering; Materials Science

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Engineering and Applied Science: Materials Science

Magnesium has been considered an excellent candidate as lightweight structural material for many years, but the low ductility caused by its plastic deformation mechanism has always been a limitation of extensive application.In this work, we use molecular dynamics approach to simulate tensile test on single crystal and polycrystalline magnesium to investigate its tensile behavior and plastic deformation mechanism. In each tensile simulation on single crystal magnesium, we applied extensions with constant strain rate along each of the [1-210], [10-10] and [0001] direction at the temperature of 100 K, 200 K, 300 K, 400K and 500 K. From these simulation, magnesium nanocrystals has shown strong anisotropy that the loading direction significantly influence the tensile strength as well as the deformation mechanism. At the same time, temperature plays an important role during the plastic deformation of magnesium. We also performed tension simulations on polycrystalline magnesium nanocrystals with number of grains equal to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 which are randomly generated using Voronoi tessellation. These simulations prove that the grain boundaries in polycrystalline models play a dominant role affecting the tensile behavior of magnesium. Grain boundaries affect the tensile strength, the formation of cracks and they act as source for slips and deformation twins.

Committee: Woo Kyun Kim Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vesselin Shanov Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kumar Vemaganti Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Materials Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Mineralogy

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, Bioengineering

The focus of this dissertation is synthesis and biomedical applications of magnesium phosphate nanoparticles. Phosphates of alkaline earths such as calcium phosphates (CaPs; also synonymously referred to as apatites) have long been known as biocompatible orthopedic substituents. Like calcium, magnesium belongs to the alkaline earths. However, magnesium phosphates (MgPs) are not as well studied as the CaPs even though they are effective scaffold materials and potential nonviral DNA carriers. Hence, it is important to investigate MgPs in depth. Relatively open structures of apatites provide them with possibilities for various substitutions. Present research focuses on the applications of magnesium phosphate nanoparticles as promising biomaterials with a focus towards orthopedic uses. The relevance of these apatite nanoparticles in biomedical applications depends on the efficiency and speed of the synthesis process as well as the biocompatibility since the ease of production method and lack of cytotoxicity are some of the most crucial factors for mass production of biomaterials. Consequently, as explained below, the goal of this study is to provide an efficient production method for these apatites via a novel microwave assisted synthesis method (MAS), investigate their bioactivity, and examine their applications as scaffolds in orthopedics, and carriers in gene delivery. Amorphous magnesium phosphate nanoparticles were synthesized utilizing a novel, and rapid microwave assisted synthesis (MAS) method. In this methods, the household microwave generated rapid heating and cooling to promote generation of nanoparticles. The ability to control the heating time and power, and speed are some advantages of the applied methods for quick production of nanoparticles of interest. The as-synthesized materials were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarit B. Bhaduri (Committee Chair) Subjects: Biomedical Engineering

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2006, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1910, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Welding Engineering

Whether a vehicle runs on fossil fuel, electricity, or hydrogen, one method that increases the energy efficiency of any vehicle is to decrease the weight of the vehicle body structure by using multi-material design. Multi-material design uses strong materials such as advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) for high load bearing parts, and lightweight materials such as aluminum (Al) or magnesium (Mg) for parts that experience lower loads. Traditional resistance spot welding (RSW) is unable to create adequate dissimilar metal joints between Al and steel or Mg and steel because of the differences in physical properties and the formation of brittle intermetallics (IMCs). A variety of alternative processes have been developed to solve the dissimilar metal joining challenge, but many of them require the purchase of new machinery and use complex consumables for each joint. Ultrasonic interlayered Resistance Spot Welding (Ulti-RSW) is a recently developed joining process that uses existing RSW machinery and a cheap consumable interlayer. Ulti-RSW has proven feasibility in creating strong joints between dissimilar metals such as Al and press-hardened boron steel that are difficult to join using other joining processes. To date, the qualification of Ulti-RSW joints has been completed for quasi-static shear tension testing, but there are many other qualifications that need to be met before Ulti-RSW can be incorporated into the automotive industry. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to further qualify the Ulti-RSW process in the areas of fatigue, mode 1 loading, and corrosion, and to advance the fundamental understanding of joint microstructure and properties when joining aluminum and magnesium to steel. The specific research tasks and accomplishments are summarized as follows. The Ulti-RSW joints were fatigue tested and compared to other joining processes in the literature. Previously, there was no adequate method of comparing fatigue results across various joining (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Wei Zhang (Advisor); Xun Liu (Committee Member); Desmond Bourgeois (Committee Member) Subjects: Materials Science

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Engineering and Applied Science: Mechanical Engineering

This dissertation developed two devices based on ion exchange in electrolytic solutions. A magnesium biodegradable stent was designed to dissolve in blood vessels within a short period of time whereas a conventional stent stays in the body forever. Due to the brittleness of magnesium alloys, the major challenge was designing the geometry of the struts in the stent. The magnesium stent must expand in a blood vessel like a stainless-steel stent without fracturing. In this dissertation, the design of a balloon-expandable biodegradable stent was proposed. Design, simulation validation, prototype development, and in-vivo animal experimentation were performed. The stent had a maximum Von Mises stress of 279 MPa with plastic deformation strain of 9.6%. The recoiling ratio (percent the stent contracts after plastic expansion) of the stent was 5.27% and the radial stiffness at the recoiled state was 1.45 N/mm. The stent in the in-vivo animal experiment was characterized using ultrasound, CT scan, and micro-CT scan. The blood vessel in which the biodegradable stent was placed showed a larger lumen diameter and higher blood flow 4-weeks and 8-weeks after implantation. In addition, the stent design was optimized, and two new designs were proposed, a magnesium large coverage stent and a magnesium self-expanding stent. The large coverage stent covered the area the first-generation stent design could not reach in the Arteriovenous Fistula (AVF) application. The self-expandable stent was proposed for easy delivery and reducing neointimal hyperplasia. The unique design allows a magnesium stent to self-expand. However, the long stent length and limited crimping size restrict the range of self-expansion. The second device developed in the dissertation was a carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane to filter water. The CNT membrane was synthesized to adsorb particles, natural organic matter (NOM), and heavy metals from water. The filtering mechanism is based on removing multiple ions from soluti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark Schulz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ying Hong PhD (Committee Member); Zhangzhang Yin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jing Shi Ph.D. (Committee Member); Woo Kyun Kim Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Mechanical Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Horticulture and Crop Science

Many Midwestern organic farmers in their focus on improving soil quality for crop production attempt to balance their soil's calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) saturation levels by applying calcium-rich amendments. For most soils, this practice based on the base cation saturation ratio (BCSR) hypothesis, requires repeated applications of calcitic limestone and or gypsum to increase Ca to approximately 65% of a soil's saturation capacity and reduce Mg saturation to less than 20%. Expected and claimed benefits of this practice of soil balancing include improved soil structure, decreases in weed pressure, and increases in crop yield. We applied various Ca and Mg rich minerals in a corn-soybean-small grain rotation in two Ohio soils over several years. Our treatments were designed to contrast the effects of different Ca to Mg ratios on the weed community and on soil properties. Our research is the first to provide evidence that Ca:Mg ratios in the soil can reduce density of weed seeds found in the soil. At the silt loam soil, broadleaf and grass seedbank densities were on average about 25% and 40% lower after the second year of gypsum applications, respectively, across crops. Weed emergence for the same soil showed a similar response. At the clay loam soil, grass seedbank densities were on average about 40% higher after the third year of epsom application across crops. Our experimental design enabled us to also investigate the claim of soil balancing proponents and farmers that the increases in crop yield they experienced were due to higher Ca:Mg ratios rather than pH correction. We examined crop yield in response to both pH and Ca and Mg saturation levels over 6 years and concluded that balancing the soil Ca and Mg levels did not impact corn or soybean yields but managing soil acidity did. Our results confirm that correcting excess acidity remains the fundamental reason to apply limestone as a tool to improve crop yields. Previously reported research from our project had (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Douglas Doohan (Advisor); Christine Sprunger (Committee Member); John Cardina (Committee Member); Steve Culman (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Agronomy; Soil Sciences

Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2021, Honors Theses

There is not much research done regarding metal oxide and graphene composites. However, there have been some studies done regarding zinc oxide and graphene, and this paper delves into research done regarding tin (IV) oxide, magnesium oxide, and iron (III) oxide to add to the ever-growing body of scientific research. These metal oxides were synthesized from precursors in situ directly onto graphene. Each metal oxide and graphene composite was then analyzed using XPS, while tin (IV) oxide was analyzed using XRD as well. Due to the presence of metal to oxygen to carbon bridges, it has been shown that these composites were successfully synthesized.

Committee: Daniel Little Ph.D. (Advisor); Blake Mathys Ph.D. (Other); Kristall Day Ph.D. (Committee Member); John Marazita Ph.D. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2020, Chemical Engineering

Magnesium (Mg) has attracted significant attention for potential structural applications due to its high specific strength and lightweight. Being the lowest density structural metal, Mg seems promising for several fields such as automobiles, biomedical applications, and hydrogen storage for energy applications. A major obstacle is the limited attainment of properties via conventional techniques to produce Mg alloys. This work attempts to demarcate the advantage of using non-equilibrium techniques to achieve properties unreachable via conventional techniques. A promising non-equilibrium technique, high-energy ball milling (HEBM), is chosen for obtaining the preferred material structure. Binary Mg-M alloys were synthesized by HEBM for 100 h, where M was Aluminum (Al), Chromium (Cr), Germanium (Ge), Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), Tantalum (Ta), Tantalum (Ti), Vanadium (V) and Yttrium (Y). Nanocrystalline (grain size <100 nm) structure was obtained for all the milled powders. Milled materials and consolidated samples were studied as per need using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, density measurement, Vickers microhardness, and potentiodynamic polarization. The consolidation of samples was done by cold compaction and spark plasma sintering (SPS), from which SPS showed better consolidation. After initial screening, Al was selected for detailed study due to simultaneous improvement in strength and corrosion behavior of Mg. Ge was the next best addition showing a significant decrease in the cathodic current kinetics and corrosion current density (icorr) lower than the Mg-Al system. Further systematic work on binary Mg-Al alloy includes thermal stability studies by heat treatment at various temperatures up to the eutectic point of the alloy, a study on SPS of Mg-xAl alloys, and a study on Mg-10Al alloy with SPS up to 350 ºC. Thermal stability study showed the highest age hardening at 400 ºC, and Mg-10Al composition exhibited high hardness and lowest icorr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rajeev Kumar Gupta (Advisor); R S Lillard (Committee Member); Jiahua Zhu (Committee Member); Yalin Dong (Committee Member); Aliaksei Boika (Committee Member) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; Metallurgy

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2020, Physiology and Neuroscience

Humans are exposed daily to a variety of metals that can be harmful to our immune system. Although certain divalent metal cations are essential for numerous cellular functions and are critical trace elements in humans, the uptake mechanisms of these ions remain mostly unknown. Transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7), which is expressed in a variety of human cell types, including lymphocytes and macrophages, conducts many divalent metal cations. TRPM7 channels are largely inactive under normal physiological conditions due to cytoplasmic magnesium acting as a channel inhibitor. Magnesium is a cofactor for many biochemical reactions. Low serum levels of magnesium, hypomagnesemia, can occur from increased magnesium loss from renal or gastrointestinal systems, redistribution of magnesium across the cell membranes, and decreased magnesium intake. Magnesium depletion allows both physiological and non-physiological divalent metal cations to enter through TRPM7, which is highly expressed in T-lymphocytes. Alterations to TRPM7 channel activity by channel blockers were found to affect the cell viability sequence. Through the use of Jurkat, a leukemic T-lymphocyte cell line which expresses high levels of TRPM7, HAP1 cells, and a TRPM7 kinase-dead mouse model, the entry of both physiological and non-physiological cations can be quantitated by measuring cell toxicity. A cell toxicity/viability assessment in Jurkat T-lymphocytes provided the sequence of Cd2+ > Zn2+ > Co2+ > Ni2+ > Mn2+ >> Sr2+ ≈ Ba2+ ≈ Ca2+ ≈ Mg2. Homeostatic mechanisms alter the effects of divalent metal cation entry and viability of T-lymphocytes, suggesting that TRPM7 in part contributes to metal ion entry.

Committee: Juliusz Ashot Kozak Ph.D. (Advisor); Christopher N. Wyatt Ph.D. (Committee Member); David R. Ladle Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Cellular Biology; Immunology; Pharmacology; Physiology

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2020, Mechanical Engineering

Synthetic bone cements have been used as organic graft substitutes for since the early 20th century for multiple surgical procedures including orthopedic and dental applications. Ceramic bone cement can primarily consist of phosphate, magnesium, and calcium which are all completely biocompatible and have exceptional properties for bone growth. However, a few main issues with phosphate-based cements includes their poor mechanical and physical qualities such as compressive strength, crack propagation, injectability, and cell culturing. This limits the uses of the cement to non-load bearing bone filler. The other issue is the potential for phase separation during injection in surgery. This causes the liquid component of the cement to be filter pressed through the powder component, and making the cement not set and deteriorate before bone regeneration. However, this would be unacceptable for clinical use. Recent studies have shown that these properties can be better developed through the incorporation additives like fiber reinforcements and retarders, increasing the liquid to powder ratio (LPR), decreasing the particle size, and selecting an efficient syringe. These strategies were used to improve the injectability of the both calcium phosphate cement (CPC) and magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) while maintain the mechanical and biological properties. In the first study the CPC's LPR was increased to 0.4, their powder particle sizes were decreased to less than 90 μm, and a suitable amount of citric acid was added as a retarder. Also, in some of the composition of CPC newberyite (NB), a reinforcement platelet particle, was added in different amounts to test the strength of the cement. In the second study MPC's LPR was increased to 0.4, their powder particle sizes were decreased to less than 45 μm, and a suitable amount of boric acid was added as a retarder. All components of both the CPC and MPC have good biological properties and many papers have shown that changing these (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarit Bhaduri (Committee Chair); Matthew Franchetti (Committee Member); Vijay Goel (Committee Member) Subjects: Biomedical Engineering

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Geology

Annually, nearly 1.5 million tons of sediments are dredged from Lake Erie, Ohio. The main method of dredged sediment disposal is open lake disposal. Open lake disposal poses a threat to water quality by re-suspending nitrogen and phosphorus-rich sediments. The Ohio State Senate passed a bill to prohibit the practice of open water disposal after July 2020 and recommends finding alternatives uses of the dredged sediment. One alternative is to use the sediment as an amendment for farm soil. This research aimed to measure the health of soil amended with various dredged sediment ratios, determine nutrient dynamics when the soil blends were subjected to induced storm-events, and quantify the effect of dredged sediment on soybean belowground biomass and yield. We used de-watered dredged sediment from the Great Lakes Dredged Material Center for Innovation and farm soil from a legacy phosphorous (P) farm site in Oregon, Ohio. Soil analysis was conducted on the two soils for baseline data. The soils were thoroughly mixed and separated into four different soil blends; 100% farm soil, 90% farm soil to 10% dredged sediment, 80% farm soil to 20% dredged sediment, and 100% dredged sediment and placed into 32 mesocosms. Soybeans were planted in half of the mesocosms. Daily watering and five random seasonal storm events were conducted during the growing season using synthetic rainwater. After 123 days, the soybean plants were harvested, and soil cores were collected for analysis. Physico-chemical analyses were conducted on the soil, plant biomass, and percolated stormwater. Results showed that dredged sediment amendment improved the quality of the farm soil by providing additional soil organic matter, increasing the cation exchange capacity and decreased P concentration in the legacy P farm soil. Nutrient loss (phosphorous and nitrogen) in the percolated solutions showed no significant changes when compared to the percolated solutions in the 100% farm soil treatment, indicating no s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Angelica Vázquez-Ortega Ph.D. (Advisor); Andrew Kear Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shannon Pelini Ph.D. (Committee Member); Anita Simic Milas Ph.D. (Committee Member); Zhaohui Xu Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Environmental Science; Geochemistry; Geology; Soil Sciences

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Pharmacy: Pharmaceutical Sciences/Biopharmaceutics

Peripheral nerve injuries, caused mainly by traumas, affect over 200,000 people yearly in the US. There is a great need to find an alternative to autografts, the current clinical standard treatment, for the injuries, especially the ones resulting in long gaps (> 3 cm). In this research, we investigated on applying Magnesium (Mg) metal filaments as physical guidance to direct nerve regenerations in long-gap defects. Our overall hypothesis is that with the combination of porous conduits, Mg filaments, with additional factors like CNTF or Mg2+ are a promising method in treating long-gap peripheral nerve injuries. On the basis of our previous results, we first proposed that a novel polycaprolactone (PCL) mesh electrospun with Mg metal particles will be a promising candidate as a conduit material. Multiple mechanical and biological features of the mesh were characterized, as well as in vivo tissue response after subcutaneous implantation. The data revealed the presence of Mg metal was beneficial in immune-modulation and tissue repair. One mesh type, PM10, has the desirable properties and was then made into conduits. We hypothesized the conduits made from PM10 would support the repair and later tested it in the sciatic injured rats with stranded Mg Resoloy® wire inserted inside the conduits. The behaviors of the animals were monitored for 14 weeks before collecting the nerve tissues for histological assessments. Though histology shown that the regenerated tissue was healthy, no equivalent functional recovery has been observed compared to isografts. MicroCT scanning revealed that the conduits swelled and blocked the inner space for tissue growth. Besides altering to a more suitable conduit material (polysulfone), we proposed adding a growth factor, with or without the presence of Mg2+ salt solution, will improve the repair outcomes. The behavioral data indicated that empty polysulfone conduits with/without CNTF gave the best repairs. Only behavioral results were in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Pixley Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Narayan Bhattarai Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gary Gudelsky Ph.D. (Committee Member); John MacLennan Ph.D. (Committee Member); Matthew Robson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vesselin Shanov Ph.D. (Committee Member); Judith Strong Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biomedical Research