Project Tree
Now limiting view to projects in the following categories:
All Topics :: Biological Applications :: Neuromuscular System [Remove This Filter]
All Topics > Biological Applications > Cell |
Browse By: |
5 projects in result set.
Practical Annotation and Exchange of Virtual Anatomy
- Representation of anatomy in a virtual form is at the heart of clinical decision making, biomedical research, and medical training. Virtual anatomy is not limited to description of geometry but also requires appropriate and efficient labeling of regions - to define spatial relationships and interactions between anatomical objects; effective strategies for pointwise operations - to define local properties, biological or otherwise; and support for diverse data formats and standards - to facilitate exchange between clinicians, scientists, engineers, and the general public. Development of aeva, a free and open source software package (library, user interfaces, extensions) capable of automated and interactive operations for virtual anatomy annotation and exchange, is in response to these currently unmet requirements. This site serves for aeva outreach, including dissemination the software and use cases. The use cases drive design and testing of aeva features and demonstrate various workflows that rely on virtual anatomy.
aeva downloads:
Downloads (https://simtk.org/frs/?group_id=1767)
Kitware data repository (https://data.kitware.com/#folder/5e7a4690af2e2eed356a17f2)
aeva documentation:
Guides and tutorials (https://aeva.readthedocs.io)
aeva videos:
Short instructions (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCubfUe40LXvBs86UyKci0Fw)
aeva source code:
Kitware source code repository (https://gitlab.kitware.com/aeva)
aeva forum:
Forums (https://simtk.org/plugins/phpBB/indexPhpbb.php?group_id=1767 ) | |
|
Registered: 2019-08-28 01:27 |
Statistical analysis of conformational ensembles
- This project provides computational tools and methods to analyze conformational ensembles of biomolecules, as well as their assemblies, such as those obtained from molecular simulations.
(A) PROTEINS: The molecular understanding of the functional regulation of proteins requires assessment of various states, including active and inactive states, as well as their interdependencies. For several proteins, their various states can be distinguished from each other on the basis of their minimum energy 3D structures. For many other proteins, like GPCRs, PDZ domains, nuclear transcription factors, heat shock proteins, T-cell receptors and viral attachment proteins, their states can be distinguished categorically from each other only when their finite-temperature conformational ensembles are considered alongside their minimum-energy structures. We are developing tools/methods for:
(A1) Direct comparison of conformational ensembles - The traditional approach to compare two or more conformational ensembles is to compare their respective summary statistics. This approach is, however, prone to artifactual bias, as data is compared after dimensionality reduction. The proper way to compare ensembles is to compare them directly with each other and prior to any dimensionality reduction. g_ensemble_comp is a tool we have developed that does just that and reports the difference between ensembles in terms of a true metric defined by the zeroth law of thermodynamics.
(A2) Prediction of allosteric signaling networks - method under development.
(B) LIPID MEMBRANES: The surface area of a lipid bilayer is related fundamentally to many other observables, such as thermal phase transitions and domain formation in mixed lipid bilayers. We have developed g_tessellate_area to compute the 3D surface area of a bilayer using Delunay tessellation. | |
|
Activity Percentile: 95.08 Registered: 2015-09-15 17:52 |
Predicting Cell Deformation from Body Level Mechanical Loads
- This project is a NIBIB/NIH funded study (1R01EB009643-01) to establish models and computational platforms to predict cellular deformations from joint level mechanical loading.
Collaborators:
Ahmet Erdemir (PI), Amit Vasanji, Jason Halloran (Cleveland Clinic)
Cees Oomens, Frank Baaijens (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Jeff Weiss (University of Utah)
Farshid Guilak (Duke University)
Summary (from grant proposal):
Cells of the musculoskeletal system are known to have a biological response to deformation. Deformations, when abnormal in magnitude, duration, and/or frequency content, can lead to cell damage and possible disruption in homeostasis of the extracellular matrix. These mechanisms can be studied in an isolated fashion but connecting mechanical cellular response to organ level mechanics and human movement requires a multiscale approach. At the organ level, physicians perform surgical procedures, investigators try to understand risk of injury, and clinicians prescribe preventive and therapeutic interventions. Many of these operations are aimed at management and prevention of cell damage, and to associate joint level mechanical markers of failure to cell level failure mechanisms. Through human movement, one explores neuromuscular control mechanisms and the influence of physical activity on musculoskeletal tissue properties. At a lower level, mechanical sensation of cell deformations regulate movement control. Physical rehabilitation and exercise regimens are prescribed to promote tissue healing and/or strengthening through cellular regeneration. The knowledge of the mechanical pathway, through which the body level loads are distributed between organs, then within the tissues and further along the extracellular matrix and the cells, is critical for the success of various interventions. However, this information is not established. The goal of this research proposal is to portray that prediction of cell deformations from loads acting on the human body, therefore a clear depiction of the mechanical pathway, is possible, if a multiscale simulation approach is used. Multiresolution models of the knee joint, representative of joint, tissue and cell structure and mechanics, will be developed for this purpose. The knee endures high rates of traumatic injury to its soft tissue structures and it is predominantly affected by osteoarthritis, chronically induced by abnormalities in mechanical loading or how it is transferred to the cartilage. Through multiscale mechanical coupling of these models, a map of cellular deformation in cartilage, ligaments and menisci under a variety of tibiofemoral joint loads will be obtained. Comprehensive mechanical testing at joint, tissue and cell levels will be conducted for parameter estimation and validation, including in vitro loading of the knee joint representative of lifelike loading scenarios. In addition, imaging modalities will capture joint and tissue anatomy, and spatial and deformation related information from cell and extracellular matrix. Advanced computational approaches will be used to obtain model properties and to facilitate multiscale simulations. The approach will combine the expertise of many investigators experienced in biomechanical modeling and experimentation at various biological scales, some with clinical expertise. In future, the research team will utilize this platform to establish the relationship between the structural and loading state of the knee and chondrocyte stresses to explore potential mechanisms of cartilage degeneration. Through documented dissemination of data and models, simulations of other pathologies and translation of the methodology to other organs can be carried out by any interested investigator. | |
|
Registered: 2009-07-23 17:33 |
FEBio: Finite Elements for Biomechanics
- FEBio is a nonlinear finite element solver that is specifically designed for biomechanical applications. It offers modeling scenarios, constitutive models, and boundary conditions that are relevant to many research areas in biomechanics and biophysics. All features can be used together seamlessly, giving the user a powerful tool for solving 3D problems in computational biomechanics. The software is open-source, and pre-compiled executables for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms are available.
Current modeling capabilities include:
* Large deformation quasi-static and dynamic structural mechanics analysis.
* Modeling of complex structures that contain a combination of deformable and rigid parts.
* Multiphasic modeling, where the solvent can contain any number of solutes that may undergo chemical reactions.
* Fluid mechanics analysis, both steady-state and transient
* Fluid-solid interaction (FSI), which combines the powerful solid and fluid solvers.
FEBio also supports a plugin framework that can be used to easily develop new features for FEBio, including new constitutive models, boundary conditions, and even entire new physics solvers.
For more information check out the FEBio website at http://www.febio.org | |
|
Registered: 2007-09-14 16:08 |
Optimal Control Workshop
- This project provides files distributed at the NSF-funded Optimal Control Workshop held on July 9, 2015 at the University of Edinburgh as part of the XV International Symposium on Computer Simulation in Biomechanics. The workshop material was organized into three sections: 1) Motivational material, 2) Technical material, and 3) Tutorial material. Slides from each section, along with all tutorial material (requires a license of GPOPS-II optimal control software), are included. | |
|
Activity Percentile: 0.00 Registered: 2015-08-01 16:35 |