University Of Alaska Anchorage: TODAY: Public Thesis Defenses By Evelina Natekin And Kenneth Sparks

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

July 28, 2021

Thesis defense: "Medical implants bioinspired by shark cartilage"

Please join M.S. candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies, Evelina Natekin, for a public thesis defense via Zoom beginning at 8 a.m. July 28.

Description: Using biomimetics and 3-material 3D printing, we set out to create the first tessellated
intervertebral disc implant prototype based on a self-stiffening structure found in
shark cartilage. Our prototypes increased in stiffness with increasing load, similarly
to shark cartilage, proving that artificial tessellated material may be a viable option
for nonmetallic implants.

Thesis defense: "Gene expression of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1a), its regulators,
and its putative downstream targets in ventricle and telencephalon of the anoxia-tolerant
turtle (Trachemys scripta)"

Please join M.S. candidate in Biological Sciences, Kenneth Sparks, for a public thesis defense via Zoom beginning at 1 p.m. July 28.

Description: This thesis assessed the role of HIF-1α in ventricle and telencephalon of one of
the vertebrate champions of anoxia survival, the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys
scripta). Turtles acclimated to 21°C or 5°C were exposed to either normoxia, anoxia
(24 h at 21°C; 24 h or 14 d at 5°C) or anoxia + reoxygenation and the effects of oxygenation
state, as well as cold acclimation in normoxia, on HIF-1α and HIF-2α gene expression,
some HIF regulators and eleven putative downstream targets of HIF were quantified
by qPCR.

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.