Search

Spinal cord injury (SCI) often results in irreversible loss of sensory and motor functions, and most SCIs are incurable with current medical practice. One of the hardest challenges in treating SCI is the development of a dysfunctional pathological microenvironment, which mainly comprises excessive inflammation, deposition of inhibitory molecules, neurotrophic factor deprivation, glial scar formation, and imbalance of vascular function. To overcome this challenge, implantation of functional biomaterials at the injury site has been regarded as a potential treatment for modulating the dysfunctional microenvironment to support axon regeneration, remyelination at injury site, and functional recovery after SCI. This review summarizes characteristics of dysfunctional pathological microenvironment and recent advances in biomaterials as well as the technologies used to modulate inflammatory microenvironment, regulate inhibitory microenvironment, and reshape revascularization microenvironment. Moreover, technological limitations, challenges, and future prospects of functional biomaterials to promote efficient repair of SCI are also discussed. This review will aid further understanding and development of functional biomaterials to regulate pathological SCI microenvironment.

In this study, 145 poplar (Populus × euramericana cv.’74/76’) seedlings, a common plantation tree species in China, were selected and their ultrasonic velocities were measured at four timepoints during the first growth year. After that, 60 poplar seedlings were randomly selected and cut down to determine their acoustic velocity, using the acoustic resonance method. The effects of influencing factors such as wood green density, microfibril angle, growth days, and root-collar diameter on acoustic speed in seedlings and the relationship between ultrasonic speed and acoustic resonance speed were investigated and analyzed in this work. The number of specimens used for investigating growth days and root-collar diameter was 145 in both cases, while 60 and two specimens were used for investigating wood density and the microfibril angle, respectively. The results of this study showed that the ultrasonic speed of poplar seedlings significantly and linearly increased with growth days, within 209 growing days. The ultrasonic velocity of poplar seedlings has a high and positive correlation with growth days, and the correlation was 0.99. However, no significant relationship was found between the ultrasonic velocity and root-collar diameter of poplar seedlings. Furthermore, a low and negative relationship was found between wood density and ultrasonic speed (R2 = 0.26). However, ultrasonic velocity significantly decreased with increasing microfibril angle (MFA) in two seedlings, and thus MFA may have an impact on ultrasonic speed in poplar seedlings. In addition, ultrasonic velocity was found to have a strong correlation with acoustic resonance velocity (R2 = 0.81) and a good correlation, R2 = 0.75, was also found between the dynamic moduli of elasticity from ultrasonic and acoustic resonance tests. The results of this study indicate that the ultrasonic technique can possibly be used to measure the ultrasound speed of young seedlings, and thus early screen seedlings for their stiffness properties in the future.

Full sets of elastic constants of green Chinese larch (Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr) with 95% moisture content at four different cross-section sampling positions (from pith to sapwood) were determined in this work using three-point bending and compression tests. Variations in the material constants of green Chinese larch from pith to sapwood were investigated and analyzed. The results showed that the sensitivity of each elastic constant to the sampling position was different, and the coefficient of variation ranged from 4.3% to 48.7%. The Poisson’s ratios νRT measured at four different sampling positions were similar and the differences between them were not significant. The coefficient of variation for Poisson’s ratio νRT was only 4.3%. The four sampling positions had similar Poisson’s ratios νTL, though the coefficient of variation was 11.7%. The Poisson’s ratio νLT had the greatest variation in all elastic constants with a 48.7% coefficient of variation. A good linear relationship was observed between the longitudinal modulus of elastic EL, shear modulus of elasticity GRT, Poisson’s ratio νRT, and sampling distance. EL, GRT, and νRT all increased with sampling distance R. However, a quadratic relationship existed with the tangential modulus of elasticity ET, radial modulus of elasticity ER, shear modulus of elasticity GLT, and shear modulus of elasticity GLR. A discrete relationship was found in the other five Poisson’s ratios. The results of this study provide the factual changes in the elastic constants of green wood from pith to sapwood for numerical modelling of stress wave propagation in trees or logs.