During last decade, polyurethanes (PUs) which are able to degrade into harmless molecules upon implantation have received a significant level of attention as a biomaterial in tissue engineering applications. Many studies are focused especially on development of PUs based on amino acid derivatives / however, there are only few applications of amino acid based PUs in tissue engineering. In this study, a biocompatible and biodegradable thermoplastic poly(ester-urethane) (PEU) based on L-lysine diisocyanate (LDI) and polycaprolactone diol (PCL) was synthesized and used for the preparation of two dimensional (2D) films and three dimensional (3D) scaffolds. The resulting polymer was casted as 2D films for full characterization purpose and it was found that it is highly elastic with modulus of elasticity ~12 MPa. Surfaces of 2Ds were modified via micropatterning and fibrinogen coating to check the material-cell interaction. The 3D scaffolds were obtained by salt leaching and rapid prototyping (bioplotting) techniques. The 3D scaffolds had various pore size and porosity with different mechanical strength. The bioplotted scaffolds had uniform pore size of ~450 &micro / m and exhibited higher compressive modulus (~4.7 MPa) compared to those obtained by salt leaching (~147 kPa). Salt leached 3D scaffolds had inhomogenous pore size distribution in the range of 5 &micro / m - 350 &micro / m and demonstrated greatest degradation profile compared to 2D films and 3D bioplotted samples under enzymatic condition. Rat bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) were used to investigate the biocompatibility of the polymer and suitability of fabricated scaffolds for osteogenesis. Presence of micropatterns on 2D matrices did not show any influence on osteoblastic function, but presence of fibrinogen enhanced cell attachment and proliferation. All of the fabricated 3D PEU matrices supported proliferation, osteoblastic differentiation and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition with highest osteoblastic activity on bioplotted scaffolds which confirmed by von Kossa staining and EDX analysis. The results indicated that the synthesized PEU based scaffolds were able to induce osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization of BMSC and therefore these scaffolds can be good candidates to be used in bone tissue engineering

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. The following patent resulted from the dissertation research: Davis, V., Simonian, A.L., Nepal, D., Balasubramanian, S, "Preparation of Precisely Controlled Thin Film Nanocomposites of Carbon Nanotubes and Biomaterials", U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/000,938, filed on 30 October 2007. The following peer-reviewed publications resulted from the dissertation research: Dhriti Nepal, Shankar Balasubramanian, Aleksandr Simonian, and Virginia Davis, "Mechanically Strong Antibacterial Thin Film Based on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Armored with Biopolymers", Nano Letters ASAP article, May 2008 (# equal contribution) -- Shankar Balasubramanian, Iryna B. Sorokulova, Vitaly J. Vodyanoy, and Aleksandr L. Simonian, "Lytic Phage as a Specific and Selective Probe For Detection of Staphylococcus Aureus: A Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectroscopic Study", Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2007, 22, 948-955 -- Shankar Balasubramanian, Alexander Revzin, Aleksandr Simonian, "Electrochemical Desorption of Proteins from Gold Electrode Surface", Electroanalysis, 2006, 18, 1885-1892 (Invited article) -- Vishwaprakash Nanduri, Shankar Balasubramanian, Srinivas Sista, Vitaly J. Vodyanoy, and Aleksandr L. Simonian, "Highly Sensitive Phage-based Biosensor for the Detection of ß-galactosidase", Analytica Chimica Acta, 2007, 589, 166- 172 -- H. Luckarift, Shankar Balasubramanian, S. Paliwal, G. Johnson and A. Simonian, "Enzyme-Encapsulated Silica Monolayers For Rapid Functionalization of a Gold Surface", Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 2007, 58, 28-33 (Invited article) -- Dong Wei, Omar Oyarzabal, Tung-Shi Huang, Shankar Balasubramanian, Srinivas Sista, Aleksandr Simonian, "Development of Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor For The Identification of Campylobacter jejuni", Journal of Microbiological Methods, 2007, 69, 78-85. The following conferences presentations resulted from the dissertation research: Covalent Immobilization of Organophosphorus Hydrolase on Carbon Nanotubes for Biosensor Applications, accepted for oral presentation at 12th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors, Jul. 13-16, 2008, Columbus, OH -- Electrochemical characteristics of SWNT-biopolymer nanocomposites, accepted for 213th meeting of The Electrochemical Society, May 18-23, 2008, Phoenix, AR -- Mechanically Robust Antibacterial Thin Films Composed of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Biopolymers, 2008 AIChE Spring National Meeting, Apr. 6-10, New Orleans, LA -- Production and characterization of protein and DNA based single wall carbon nanocomposites by layer-by-layer assembly, MRS Fall Meeting, Nov. 26-30, 2007, Boston, MA -- Gold surface modified with enzyme-encapsulated silica monolayers for biosensor application, The 58th Southeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Nov. 1-4, 2006, Augusta, GA -- Electrochemical modulation of biological interfaces, 209th meeting of The Electrochemical Society, May 7-12, 2006, Denver, CO -- SPR based biosensor using lytic phage as a specific and selective probe for staphylococcus aureus detection, 57th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Mar. 12-17, 2006, Orlando, FL -- Specific & selective detection of staphylococcus aureus by lytic phage using SPR biosensor, 57th Southeast / 61st Southwest Joint Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Nov. 1-4, 2005, Memphis, TN -- Prevention of non-specific binding as a way to increase sensitivity of SPR-based sensors, 206th meeting of The Electrochemical Society, October 3-8, 2004, Honolulu, HI. Includes bibliographical references.

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No description available.

The objective of these studies was to determine the optimum standardized ileal digestible tryptophan to lysine (SID Trp:Lys) ratio for growing pigs fed both U.S.–type (corn–soybean meal) and non–U.S.–type (wheat–barley) diets. When feeding U.S.–type diets, average daily gain (ADG) and plasma urea nitrogen (PUN) concentrations improved as SID Trp:Lys ratios increased, yielding optimum ratios of 15.32% (P<0.001) and 15.25% (P<0.001), respectively. Averaging these resulted in an optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio of 15.29%. In non–U.S.–type diets, feeding increasing SID Trp:Lys ratios improved ADG and PUN, displaying optima of 15.99% (P=0.048) and 15.29% (P=0.054), respectively. This produced an average optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio of 15.64%. The final study included the other dietary essential amino acids (EAA) at a higher level, and ADG and PUN improved as SID Trp:Lys ratios increased, yielding optima of 17.93% (P<0.001) and 16.17% (P=0.009). This averaged to an optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio of 17.05%. Overall, diet composition did not affect the Trp:Lys requirement of growing pigs, however, feeding the other EAA at higher levels resulted in a higher estimated optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio. The optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio is estimated to lie between 15.29% and 17.05%.

Carboxypeptidase N (CPN) is a plasma carboxypeptidase that was discovered in the 1960s as a regulator of inflammation and vascular tone. Through the removal of carboxy-terminal basic residues, CPN alters the activity or binding specificity of inflammatory mediators and vasoactive peptides. CPN shares significant homology with carboxypeptidases known to mediate antifibrinolysis through the removal of basic residues from fibrin clots, which would otherwise stimulate fibrinolysis. Despite the similarity of these enzymes, CPN is generally regarded as lacking a role in fibrinolysis. This thesis demonstrates that CPN is indeed a capable antifibrinolytic enzyme, and that the antifibrinolytic activity of CPN was previously undisclosed due to the presence of a circulating CPN inhibitor, which is likely the free CPN2 subunit. This inhibitor is described for the first time here. Furthermore, potential mechanisms of inhibition and mechanisms of enhancing activity of CPN are proposed based upon the additional structural characterization of CPN presented here.

Thèse (M.Sc.)--Université Laval, 2008. / Bibliogr.: f. 47-55. Publié aussi en version électronique dans la Collection Mémoires et thèses électroniques.

Foram conduzidos dois experimentos para avaliar a prevalência e severidade das lesões de white striping (WS) e wooden breast (WB) em peitos de frangos alimentados com níveis crescentes de lisina digestível (Lis dig.) de 12 a 28 dias (Exp. 1) e de 28 a 42 dias (Exp. 2).Os testes foram conduzidos utilizando machos Cobb x Cobb 500 de empenamento lento com 1 dia de idade, ambos com 6 tratamentos e 8 repetições cada. O aumento da Lis dig. foi igualmente espaçado de 0,77 a 1,17% no Exp. 1 e de 0,68 a 1,07% no Exp. 2. A dieta com nível mais baixo de Lis dig. não foi suplementada com L-Lisina no experimentos e todos os outros aminoácidos (AA) essenciais estão de acordo ou excedem em até 5% as recomendações comerciais, a fim de não limitar o crescimento das aves. Foram selecionadas aleatóriamente quatro aves por repetição e processadas aos 35 e 42 dias nos Exp. 1 e 2, respectivamente. Os peitos desossados foram submetidos a avaliação de 3 pessoas para detectar a presença de WS e WB assim como fornecer os escores de WS (0-normal, 1-moderao, 2-severo) e WB (0-normal, 1-moderado leve, 2-moderado, 3-severo). O aumento da Lis dig. apresentou efeito positivo no peso vivo, peso da carcaça e peito bem como no rendimento de peito. A prevalência de WS e WB foi 32,3 e 85,9% no Exp. 1 e 87,1 e 89,1% no Exp. 2. Aves submetidas a dieta sem suplementação de Lis apresentaram os menores escores médios de WS e WB (0,22 e 0,78 no Exp. 1 e 0,61 e 068 no Exp. 2). Respostas lineares foram obtidas através das variáveis de desempenho para WS e WB no Exp. 1, enquanto que a resposta para as variáveis no Exp. 2 foram quadráticas. O aumento dos níveis de Lis melhora o desempenho zootécnico e as caracteristicas das carcaças, além de induzir a ocorrência e severidade das lesões de WS e WB, devido, provavelmente, aos níveis de Lis que maximizam o potencial genético para crescimento e rendimento de peito. / Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the prevalence and severity of white striping (WS) and wooden breast (WB) in breast fillets from broilers fed diets with increasing digestible lysine (dig. Lys) from 12 to 28 d (Exp. 1) and from 28 to 42 d (Exp. 2). Trials were sequentially conducted using 1-d-old slow feathering Cobb × Cobb 500 male broilers, both with 6 treatments and 8 replicates each. Increasing dig. Lys levels were equally spaced from 0.77 to 1.17% in Exp. 1 and from 0.68 to 1.07% in Exp. 2. The lowest dig. Lys diet was not supplemented with L-Lys in either one of the studies and all other essential amino acids (AA) met or exceeded current commercial recommendations such that their dietary concentrations did not limit broiler growth. Four birds per pen were randomly selected from each replication and processed at 35 and 42 d in Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, respectively. Deboned breast fillets were submitted to a 3 subject panel evaluation to detect the presence of WS and WB as well as to provide scores of WS (0-normal, 1-moderate, 2-severe) and WB (0-normal, 1-moderate light, 2-moderate, 3-severe). Increased dig. Lys had a positive effect on body weight, carcass and breast weight as well as breast yield. White striping and WB prevalences were 32.3 and 85.9% in Exp 1 and 87.1 and 89.2% in Exp 2. Birds fed diets not supplemented with Lys had the lowest average WS and WB scores (0.22 and 0.78 in Exp. 1 and 0.61 and 0.68 in Exp. 2). White striping and WB presented linear responses to performance variables in Exp 1, whereas quadratic responses were observed for all variables in Exp 2. In conclusion, increasing Lys levels improved growth performance and carcass traits and induced the occurrence and severity of WS and WB lesions probably due to dig. Lys dietary levels that maximized the genetic potential for growth and breast meat yields.

Foi conduzido um experimento com o objetivo de avaliar a formulação de dietas com diferentes perfis protéicos ideais para frangos de corte fêmeas. Foram usadas aves dos cruzamentos Cobb 500 e Ross 308. As dietas foram fornecidas em um programa alimentar de quatro fases: 1 a 7, 7 a 21, 21 a 31 e 31 a 37 dias de idade. Até os 21 dias de idade, as aves receberam dietas com perfis protéicos ideais altos (A), médios (M) e baixos (B). De 21 dias até o final do experimento, houve uma redistribuição dos tratamentos em que metade das aves recebendo dieta A passou a receber dieta B e metade daquelas recebendo dieta B passou a receber dieta A. As aves recebendo dieta M permaneceram com o mesmo perfil protéico por todo o período experimental. Foi utilizado um delineamento inteiramente casualizado em arranjo fatorial com três perfis protéicos e duas linhagens até os 21 dias de idade e cinco perfis protéicos ideais e duas linhagens dos 21 aos 37 dias de idade. As aves da linhagem Cobb apresentaram maior peso vivo aos 21 dias de idade e melhor conversão alimentar até o final do experimento, enquanto aves Ross apresentaram maior consumo de ração durante todo o período experimental. Ainda para frangos Ross, a proporção de carne de peito aos 31 dias de idade foi maior e a proporção de coxas + sobrecoxas, aos 31 e 37 dias de idade, menores em relação às aves Cobb. As aves recebendo as dietas A e M até os 21 dias de idade apresentaram respostas zootécnicas similares, ambas superiores às aves recebendo dieta B. A avaliação dos dados aos 31 e 37 dias de idade demonstrou que as aves do programa alimentar BB apresentaram peso vivo semelhante, maior consumo de ração e conversão alimentar pior na comparação com as aves dos demais tratamentos. Já na avaliação após o abate, as únicas diferenças observadas foram relativas à proporção de gordura abdominal aos 31 dias de idade. Frangos de corte fêmeas da linhagem Cobb apresentaram respostas produtivas superiores aos frangos da linhagem Ross. O fornecimento de dietas com perfil protéico ideal M foi suficiente para maximizar o desempenho zootécnico das duas linhagens estudadas. / This study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the performance of two broiler strain crosses fed diets having 3 different ideal protein profiles. One day old Cobb x Cobb 500 and Ross x Ross 308 broiler chicks were in a feeding program of 4 phases from 1 to 7, 7 to 21, 21 to 31 and 31 to 37 days of age and having high (H), medium (M) and low (L) ideal protein profiles. At 21 days of age, half of the replications fed H and L protein diets changed to L and H, respectively, whereas those receiving M remained all the way to the end in the same protein level. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial arrangement having 3 ideal protein levels and 2 strain crosses until 21 days of age and 5 ideal protein levels and 2 strains from 21 to 37 days old was used. Cobb broilers had higher body weight at 21 days of age and better feed conversion until the end of the experiment, whereas Ross broilers showed higher feed intake during all the experimental period. At processing, Ross broilers had higher breast meat yield at 31 days old, but Cobb broilers had higher yield of leg quarters both at 31 and 37 days. At 21 days, H and M diets presented similar live performance; however, both were superior when compared to L diets. Differences in body weigh at 31 and 37 days due to feeding programs were not apparent; however birds fed L diets in both periods had poorer feed conversion and higher feed intake than all the other treatments. The only processing difference due to feeding program was an increased proportion of abdominal fat when birds were fed L diets in one of the two periods. Cobb broilers had better performance than Ross broilers. Feeding program with M ideal protein levels were adequate to support maximum live performance and carcass yields for both strains.

Inúmeros trabalhos avaliando as exigências de lisina podem ser encontrados na literatura, mas seus resultados são heterogêneos. Revisões sistemáticas e a meta-análise permitem integrar diferentes variáveis, gerar novos resultados e obter respostas ajustadas a uma maior diversidade experimental. Objetivou-se explorar as relações da lisina digestível com as variáveis de desempenho, estabelecer a exigência e avaliar a eficiência marginal da lisina segundo a lei de rendimentos decrescentes para suínos em crescimento e terminação. Para os estudos I e II, foram compilados 36 artigos publicados entre 2002 e 2013 avaliando 2.399 suínos pesando entre 15-120 kg. Para o estudo III, foram utilizados 26 artigos que avaliaram 1.820 suínos pesando entre 20-120 kg. No estudo I, o consumo diário de lisina apresentou correlações maiores com a ingestão de energia metabolizável e proteína bruta e com as deposições de proteína e lipídios. O consumo diário de lisina apresentou melhor ajuste nas equações de variância-covariância do que o nível percentual de lisina. No estudo II, o aumento no consumo diário de lisina melhorou o ganho de peso e a deposição de proteína na fase de 70-120 kg. Nas fases de 15-30; 30-70 e 70-120 kg os níveis de lisina digestível determinados para obter as melhores respostas de ganho corresponderam ao consumo diário de 14,8; 20,2 e 18,3 g lisina/dia. Os níveis de lisina digestível determinados para obter as melhores respostas de deposição de proteína corresponderam ao consumo diário de 16,3 e 24,1 g lisina/dia nas fases 15-30 e 30-70 kg. No estudo III, observamos que a medida que o animal se aproxima ou atinge o ponto de máximo desempenho, a eficiência de uso da lisina digestível diminui segundo a lei de rendimentos decrescentes. Dietas formuladas para atender 95% da máxima resposta de ganho de peso permitem uma melhora na eficiência marginal de uso da lisina da ordem de 2,4; 2,5 e 1,5 g de ganho de peso para cada g de lisina ingerida nas faixas de peso vivo 20-50; 50-70 e 70-120 kg. Sugerimos a inclusão de variáveis como a eficiência alimentar e o ganho de peso nas análises de determinação de exigências de lisina, também a escolha de metodologias analíticas adequadas e a inclusão da lei de rendimentos decrescentes da eficiência marginal de uso da lisina nos atuais modelos de determinação de exigência para evitar a superestimação observada nas tabelas de recomendação nutricional. / Several studies evaluating the lysine requirements are avaible in the literature, but its results are heterogeneous. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis allows integrating different variables, generating new results and producing answers adjusted to experimental diversity. This objective of this study was to explore the relationship among dietary lysine and the performance variables, establishing the requirement and assessing the marginal efficiency of dietary lysine according to the law of diminishing returns for growing-finishing pigs. For studies I and II, 36 articles published from 2002 to 2013 evaluating 2399 pigs weighing between 15-120 kg were compiled. And for the study III 26 articles evaluating 1820 pigs weighing between 20-120 kg were used. In the study I, daily intake of lysine showed higher correlations with the metabolizable energy intake and crude protein, with the protein deposition and lipid deposition. The daily intake of lysine showed better adjustment in the variance-covariance equations than the dietary level of lysine. In Study II, increasing the daily intake of lysine improved the weight gain and protein deposition in the 70-120 kg phase. In 15-30; 30-70 and 70-120 kg phase the levels digestible lysine that maximized weight gain reponse corresponded to the daily intake of 14.8; 20.2 and 18.3 g lysine/day. Lysine levels that maximized protein deposition reponse corresponded to daily intake of 16.3 and 24.1 g lysine/day in the phases 15-30 and 30-70 kg. In the study III, it was observed that, as the animal approaches or reaches the maximum performance the efficiency of lysine use decreases according to the law of diminishing returns. Diets formulated to meet 95% of the maximal weight gain response permit a marginal improvement in efficiency of use of the lysine the order of 2.4; 2.5 and 1.5 grams of weight gain for each lysine grams ingested in live weight phases 20-50; 50-70 and 70-120 kg respectively. It suggest the inclusion of variables feed efficiency and weight gain in analysis for the determination of lysine requirements, also the choice of appropriate analytical methods and the inclusion of diminishing returns law of marginal efficiency the dietary lysine in current models for the determination of requirements to avoid the overestimation observed in nutritional recommendation tables.