Browsing by Author "Veiga, Anabela"
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- Continuous production of highly tuned silk/calcium-based composites: exploring new pathways for skin regenerationPublication . Veiga, Anabela; Magalhaes, Rui; Duarte, Marta M.; Dias, Juliana R.; Alves, Nuno M.; Costa-Pinto, Ana Rita; Castro, Filipa; Rocha, Fernando; Oliveira, Ana L.Calcium plays an important role in barrier function repair and skin homeostasis. In particular, calcium phosphates (CaPs) are well established materials for biomedical engineering due to their biocompatibility. To generate biomaterials with a more complete set of biological properties, previously discarded silk sericin (SS) has been recovered and used as a template to grow CaPs. Crucial characteristics for skin applications, such as antibacterial activity, can be further enhanced by doping CaPs with cerium (Ce) ions. The effectiveness of cell attachment and growth on the materials highly depends on their morphology, particle size distribution, and chemical composition. These characteristics can be tailored through the application of oscillatory flow technology, which provides precise mixing control of the reaction medium. Thus, in the present work, CaP/SS and CaP/SS/Ce particles were fabricated for the first time using a modular oscillatory flow plate reactor (MOFPR) in a continuous mode. Furthermore, the biological behavior of both these composites and of previously produced pure CaPs was assessed using human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). It was demonstrated that both CaP based with plate-shaped nanoparticles and CaP-SS-based composites significantly improved cell viability and proliferation over time. The results obtained represent a first step towards the reinvention of CaPs for skin engineering.
- Geostatistical analysis of settlements induced by liquefaction: case study river Lis Alluviums, PortugalPublication . Veiga, Anabela; Mourato, Sandra; Rodrigues, HugoIn the present work the result of the application of geostatistical methods to soil settlement data is presented. The settlements are induced by liquefaction as a result of an earthquake of magnitude 5.5. In the present paper the ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst software was used, where a number of Kriging methods are available. Geostatistical analysis was performed on two phases: (i) modelling the semivariogram to analyse the surface properties and; (ii) application of a Kriging method. The best adjustment was obtained with a Gaussian model with a first order function trend removal. The settlement values were obtained from the analysis and treatment of results of SPT tests carried out on soils corresponding to alluvial soils in the urban centre of Leiria, Portugal. The results show a significant area where are expected large settlements that can generate significant damages in the building stock and infrastructures.