R. Vignjevic¹, T. De Vuyst², J. C. Campbell¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.13, No.1, pp. 35-48, 2006, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2006.013.035

Abstract An approach to the treatment of contact problems involving frictionless sliding and separation under large deformations in meshless methods is proposed. The method is specially suited for non-structured spatial discretisation. The contact conditions are imposed using a contact potential for particles in contact. Inter-penetration is checked as a part of the neighbourhood search. In the case of conventional SPH contact conditions are enforced on the boundary layer 2h thick while in the case of the normalized SPH contact conditions are enforced for the particles lying on the contact surface. The implementation of the penalty based More >

Kyle Kurpinski^1,2,3, Jennifer Park^1,2,3, Rahul G. Thakar^1,2,3, Song Li^1,2

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 21-34, 2006, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2006.003.021

Abstract Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) populate in the media of the blood vessel, and play an important role in the control of vasoactivity and the remodeling of the vessel wall. Blood vessels are constantly subjected to hemodynamic stresses, and the pulsatile nature of the blood flow results in a cyclic mechanical strain in the vessel walls. Accumulating evidence in the past two decades indicates that mechanical strain regulates vascular SMC phenotype, function and matrix remodeling. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) is a potential cell source for vascular regeneration therapy, and may be used to More >

S. Deguchi^1,2, T. Ohashi², M. Sato²

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.4, pp. 205-216, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.205

Abstract Intracellular stress transmission through subcellular structural components has been proposed to affect activation of localized mechano-sensing sites such as focal adhesions in adherent cells. Previous studies reported that physiological extracellular forces produced heterogeneous spatial distributions of cytoplasmic strain. However, mechanical signaling pathway involved in intracellular force transmission through basal actin stress fibers (SFs), a mechano-responsive cytoskeletal structure, remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated force balance within the basal SFs of cultured smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells by (i) removing the cell membrane and cytoplasmic constituents except for materials physically attaching to the… More >

Norma Risler, Claudia Castro, Montserrat Cruzado, Susana González, Roberto Miatello

BIOCELL, Vol.27, No.2, pp. 189-196, 2003, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2003.27.189

Abstract Remodeling of large and small arteries contributes to the development and complications of hypertension. Artery structural changes in chronic sustained hypertension include vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) modifications. Extracellular constituents such as proteoglycans (PGs), may modulate vascular stiffness and VSMC growth and differentiation. We examined the effect of growth factors on secreted and membrane-bound PGs synthesis by cultured aortic smooth muscle cells (SMC) from 12- to 14- week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and age-matched Wistar rats. After stimulation with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB), 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) or 0.1%… More >

A. VIGLIOCCO^*, B. BONAMICO^*, S. ALEMANO^*, O. MIERSCH^**, G. ABDALA^*

BIOCELL, Vol.26, No.3, pp. 369-374, 2002, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2002.26.369

Abstract In the present paper we study the possible biological relevance of endogenous jasmonic acid (JA) and exogenous salicylic acid (SA) in a plant-microbial system maize-virus. The virus disease "Mal de Río Cuarto" is caused by the maize rough dwarf virus - Río Cuarto. The characteristic symptoms are the appearance of galls or "enations" in leaves, shortening of the stem internodes, poor radical system and general stunting. Changes in JA and protein pattern in maize control and infected plants of a virus-tolerant cultivar were investigated. Healthy and infected-leaf discs were collected for JA measurement at… More >

M. Cruzado, C. Castro, N. Risler, R. Miatello

BIOCELL, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 61-67, 2002, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2002.26.061

Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) generation by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), may play a role in blood vessel tone regulation. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced iNOS activity and subsequent nitrite production by cultured aortic VSMC, from SHR with an established chronic blood pressure elevation (adult SHR) or during the period preceding the development of hypertension (young SHR) and from age-matched normotensive Wistar (W) rats were compared. Angiotensin II (Ang II) effect was also evaluated. Both basal LPS-induced iNOS activity and nitrite accumulation were significantly lower in young SHR VSMC compared… More >

Paulo Santos, Julieta António, António Tadeu¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.1, No.4, pp. 79-98, 2000, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2000.001.531

Abstract This paper presents the three-dimensional scattering field obtained when 2D smooth topographical deformations are subjected to a dilatational point load placed at some point in the medium. The solution is formulated using boundary elements for a wide range of frequencies and spatially harmonic line loads, which are then used to obtain time series by means of (fast) inverse Fourier transforms into space-time. The topographical surface is modeled with a number of boundary elements, defined according to the excitation frequency of the harmonic source, and in such a way that the free surface can be discretized More >