Undifferentiated stem cells are being studied to obtain information on the therapeutic potential of isolates that are produced. Dental Pulp Stem Ccell (DPSC) may provide an abundant supply of highly proliferative, multipotent Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC), which are now known to be capable of regenerating a variety of human tissues including bone and other dental structures. Many factors influence DPSC quality and quantity, including the specific methods used to isolate, collect, concentrate, and store these isolates once they are removed. Ancillary factors, such as the choice of media, the selection of early versus late passage cells, and cryopreservation techniques may also influence the differentiation potential and proliferative capacity of DPSC isolates. This literature review concludes that due to the delicate nature of DPSC, more research is needed for dental researchers and clinicians to more fully explore the feasibility and potential for isolating and culturing DPSCs extracted from adult human teeth in order to provide more accurate and informed advice for this newly developing field of regenerative medicine.

A low-profile flow sensor has been designed, fabricated, and characterized to demonstrate the feasibility for monitoring hemodynamics in cerebral aneurysm. The prototype device is composed of three micro-membranes ($500-{\mu}m$-thick polyurethane film with $6-{\mu}m$-thick layers of nitinol above and below). A novel super-hydrophilic surface treatment offers excellent hemocompatibility for the thin nitinol electrode. A computational study of the deformable mechanics optimizes the design of the flow sensor and the analysis of computational fluid dynamics estimates the flow and pressure profiles within the simulated aneurysm sac. Experimental studies demonstrate the feasibility of the device to monitor intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics in a blood vessel. The mechanical compression test shows the linear relationship between the applied force and the measured capacitance change. Analytical calculation of the resonant frequency shift due to the compression force agrees well with the experimental results. The results have the potential to address important unmet needs in wireless monitoring of intra-aneurysm hemodynamic quiescence.

This study developed biodegradable bi-layered drug-eluting beads and investigated the in-vitro release of fluorouracil and cisplatin from the beads. To manufacture the drug-eluting beads, poly[(d,l)-lactide-co-glycolide] (PLGA) with lactide:glycolide ratios of 50:50 and 75:25 were mixed with fluorouracil or cisplatin. The mixture was compressed and sintered at $55^{\circ}C$ to form bi-layered beads. An elution method was employed to characterize the release characteristic of the pharmaceuticals over a 30-day period at $37^{\circ}C$. The influence of polymer type (i.e., 50:50 or 75:25 PLGA) and layer layout on the release characteristics was investigated. The experiment suggested that biodegradable beads released high concentrations of fluorouracil and cisplatin for more than 30 days. The 75:25 PLGA released the pharmaceuticals at a slower rate than the 50:50 PLGA. In addition, the bi-layered structure reduced the release rate of drugs from the core layer of the beads. By adopting the compression sintering technique, we will be able to manufacture biodegradable beads for long-term drug delivery of various anti-cancer pharmaceuticals.

A series of amphiphilic graft copolymers were synthesized by varying the number of graft chains and graft chain lengths. The polarity of the hydrophobic graft chain on the copolymers was varied their solution properties. The glass transition temperature of the copolymers was in the low-temperature region, because of the amorphous nature of poly (trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC). The surface morphology of the lyophilized colloid gel had a bundle structure, which was derived from the combination of poly(N-hydroxyethylacrylamide)( poly(HEAA)) and PTMC. The solution properties were evaluated using dynamic light scattering and fluorescence measurements. The particle size of the graft copolymers was about 30-300 nm. The graft copolymers with a higher number of repeating units attributed to the TMC (trimethylene carbonate) component and with a lower macromonomer ratio showed high thermal stability. The critical association concentration was estimated to be between $2.2{\times}10^{-3}$ and $8.9{\times}10^{-2}mg/mL$, using the pyrene-based fluorescence probe technique. These results showed that the hydrophobic chain of the graft copolymer having a long PTMC segment had a low polarity, dependent on the number of repeating units of TMC and the macromonomer composition ratio. These results demonstrated that a higher number of repeating units of TMC, with a lower macromonomer composition, was preferable for molecular encapsulation.

For engineers, generating a mesh in porous media (PMs) sometimes represents a smaller computational load than generating realistic stent geometries with computer fluid dynamics (CFD). For this reason, PMs have recently become attractive to mimic flow-diverter stents (FDs), which are used to treat intracranial aneurysms. PMs function by introducing a hydraulic resistance using Darcy's law; therefore, the pressure drop may be computed by test sections parallel and perpendicular to the main flow direction. However, in previous studies, the pressure drop parallel to the flow may have depended on the width of the gap between the stent and the wall of the test section. Furthermore, the influence of parameters such as the test section geometry and the distance over which the pressure drops was not clear. Given these problems, computing the pressure drop parallel to the flow becomes extremely difficult. The aim of the present study is to resolve this lack of information for stent modeling using PM and to compute the pressure drop using several methods to estimate the influence of the relevant parameters. To determine the pressure drop as a function of distance, an FD was placed parallel and perpendicular to the flow in test sections with rectangular geometries. The inclined angle method was employed to extrapolate the flow patterns in the parallel direction. A similar approach was applied with a cylindrical geometry to estimate loss due to pipe friction. Additionally, the pressure drops were computed by using CFD. To determine if the balance of pressure drops (parallel vs perpendicular) affects flow patterns, we calculated the flow patterns for an ideal aneurysm using PMs with various ratios of parallel pressure drop to perpendicular pressure drop. The results show that pressure drop in the parallel direction depends on test section. The PM thickness and the ratio of parallel permeability to perpendicular permeability affect the flow pattern in an ideal aneurysm. Based on the permeability ratio and the flow patterns, the pressure drop in the parallel direction can be determined.