INTRODUCTION: Following damaging stimuli, skeletal muscle exhibits coordinated interplay between intra- and extra-cellular processes resulting in satellite cell (SC) recruitment. SCs are known to play a central role in muscle plasticity post-injury by differentiating into myoblasts (MBL) and fusing with damaged tissue to donate myonuclei. Yet, their role within skeletal muscle remodeling through paracrine signaling remains to be fully elucidated. Thus, the purpose of this project was two-fold: 1) develop an in vitro model of MBL intercellular communication following myotube damage and 2) to determine if MBL proximity alone is adequate for improving tissue repair and reducing cellular stress during recovery. METHODS: C2C12 myotubes were exposed to 1 hour of electrical pulse stimulation (EPS) with 15Hz pulse for 5s and 5Hz pulse for 5s, separated by a 5s break. Myotubes were then introduced to non-electrically stimulated (NS) MBL adhered to a porous cell insert to allow paracrine signaling and samples were collected at varying timepoints post-EPS. RESULTS: EPS induced Z line sarcomeric disorganization and creatine kinase release into the cell culture media, which was mitigated in MBL+ groups (p<0.05). A significant main effect of MBL exposure was observed in EPS myotubes where MBL+ myotubes had greater Hsp70 gene expression, calpain 3 protein and gene expression, and t-ACC, p-ACCSer79, t-ULK, p-ULKSer555 protein expression than MBL- myotubes when recovering from EPS (p<0.05). A main effect of time was observed where B-dystroglycan and p-mTORSer2448 protein expression decreased in the EPS myotubes, and myotube diameter only decreased in the MBL+ condition (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: MBL signaling to damaged myotubes is evident and may increase catabolic processes through upregulating contraction-mediated protease activity and autophagy, as well as increase ATP generation through oxidative phosphorylation during regeneration. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / When muscle damage occurs, whether through rigorous exercise or physical trauma, the muscle relies on a specific group of stem cells to help repair itself. These stem cells, termed satellite cells, can migrate to specific sites of muscle damage, differentiate into myoblasts, and donate nuclei and genetic material to the injured muscle. This increase in nuclear content helps the muscle synthesize more protein to rebuild and regenerate and promotes muscle growth. However, when the satellite cell becomes dysfunctional, as seen in aging muscle and certain genetic conditions, the muscle struggles to repair itself in response to damage and cannot grow in response to exercise. Satellite cell biology has clearly defined the role of nuclear donation in muscle function, however very little is known about how this stem cell ‘talks’ to the muscle through signaling molecules. As such, this thesis elucidates the effect of myoblast signaling on electrically stimulated damaged immature muscle fibers, otherwise known as myotubes, by preventing myoblast-myotube physical interactions in cell culture experimentation. Interestingly, the data presented here demonstrate that myoblast exposure to damaged myotubes may increase muscle protein breakdown as myotube diameters are reduced in size acutely post-damage, likely resulting from the increase in protease and autophagy protein expression markers. Additionally, myoblast exposure to damaged myotubes may increase mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation to generate energy, which is the fuel of choice during muscle regeneration.

[pt] Neste trabalho se estuda a propagação de pulsos elétricos curtos em linhas de transmissão impressas, uniformes e não- uniformes, através de simulação por computador. Como a faixa de freqüências associada a estes pulsos, com duração e picossegundos, extende-se até várias centenas de giga Hertz, a caracterização das linhas de transmissão ao longo das quais os pulsos se propagam exige o rigor dos métodos de onda completa. Com este propósito é utilizada a Abordagem de Domínio Espectral (ADE) para rigorosamente considerar as características dos materiais e a geometria das linhas, na faixa de freqüência requerida, no cálculo das constantes de fase e de atenuação. A resposta a transientes é analisada no domínio do tempo empregando-se a Transformada de Fourier. É observado que a principal causa da distorção dos pulsos é a característica dispersiva das linhas; enquanto as perdas, devido aos materiais ou pelo descasamento de impedância no caso de linhas não-uniformes, só atenuam os sinais, sem deformá- los significativamente. Isto foi observado em linhas microstrips isoladas. Entretanto, em linhas microstrips acopladas um outro mecanismo de distorção que se agrega, e que é o dominante, é a distorção por acoplamento modal. É comprovado também, que a natureza dispersiva das linhas de transmissão pode ser usada, favoravelmente, para reformar pulsos assimétricos. Este último resultado encontra interessantes aplicações em Óptica. / [en] In this work, the propagation of short electrical pulse on uniform and non-uniform planar transmission lines is studied by means of computer simulation. As the frequency band associated with electrical pulses with duration of pico-seconds extends up to several hundreds of giga Hertz, the characterization of the transmission lines along which the pulses propagate requires full waves methods. With this purpose the Spectral Domain Approach (SDA) is used to rigorously consider the effects of the line material and geometry, in the frequency band required, to calculate the phase and attenuation constants. A Fourier Transform is used to analyse the transient response in the time domain. It is observed that the tranmission line dispersion is the main cause for distortion fo the pulses, while the losses - due to the materials or mismatching on non-uniform lines - are mainly responsible for signal attenuation. However, in coupled microstrip lines, distortion due to mode coupling was the dominant distortion mechanism. It is also observed that the dispersive nature of the transmission line can be used with advantage, through carefull choice of geometry and composition, to reshape asymetrical pulses. The results fo this study find applications on quasi-optical circuits and optical circuits short pulse generation.

Adjacent precast, prestressed box beam bridges have a history of poor performance and have been observed to exhibit common types of deterioration including longitudinal cracking, concrete spalling, and deterioration of the concrete top flange. The nature of these types of deterioration leads to uncertainty of the extent and effect of deterioration on structural behavior. Due to limitations in previous research and understanding of the strength of deteriorated box beam bridges, conservative assumptions are being made for the assessment and load rating of these bridges. Furthermore, the design of new box beam bridges, which can offer an efficient and economical solution, is often discouraged due to poor past performance. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop improved recommendations for the inspection, load rating, and design of adjacent box beam bridges. Through a series of bridge inspections, deteriorated box beams were identified and acquired for experimental testing. The extent of corrosion was determined through visual inspection, non-destructive evaluation, and destructive evaluation. Non-destructive tests (NDT) included the use of connectionless electrical pulse response analysis (CEPRA), ground penetrating radar (GPR), and half-cell potentials. The deteriorated capacity was determined through structural testing, and an analysis procedure was developed to estimate deteriorated behavior. A rehabilitation procedure was also developed to restore load transfer of adjacent beams in cases where shear key failures are suspected. Based on the understanding of deterioration developed through study of deteriorated adjacent box beam bridges, improved inspection and load rating procedure are provided along with design recommendations for the next generation of box beam bridges.