Evidence for engraftment of human bone marrow cells in non-lethally irradiated baboons

Background. Prior to organ harvesting, an attempt was made to modulate the donor's immune responses against prospective xenogeneic recipients by infusion of 'recipient-type' bone marrow. Methods. For this purpose, baboons conditioned with total lymphoid irradiation were given 6x108 unmodified human bone marrow cells/kg body weight with no subsequent treatment. Results. Animals survived until they were euthanized at 18 months. Using primers specific for human chorionic gonadotrophin gene, the presence of human DNA was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in the blood of one animal for up to 18 months after cell transplantation; in the other animal, xenogeneic chimerism became undetectable in the blood at 6 months after bone marrow infusion. However, tissue samples obtained from both animals at the time they were euthanized bad evidence of donor (human) DNA. Additionally, the presence of donor DNA in individually harvested colonies of erythroid and myeloid lineages suggested that infused human bone marrow cells had engrafted across the xenogeneic barrier in both baboons. Conclusions. Bone marrow transplantation from human to baboon leads to establishment of chimerism and modulation of donor-specific immune reactivity, which suggests that this strategy could be reproducibly employed to crease 'surrogate' tolerogenesis in prospective donors for subsequent organ transplantation across xenogeneic barriers

What do researchers do? Career profiles of doctoral graduates

Research Councils UK (RCUK

Immunogene therapy with fusogenic nanoparticles modulates macrophage response to Staphylococcus aureus.

The incidence of adverse effects and pathogen resistance encountered with small molecule antibiotics is increasing. As such, there is mounting focus on immunogene therapy to augment the immune system's response to infection and accelerate healing. A major obstacle to in vivo gene delivery is that the primary uptake pathway, cellular endocytosis, results in extracellular excretion and lysosomal degradation of genetic material. Here we show a nanosystem that bypasses endocytosis and achieves potent gene knockdown efficacy. Porous silicon nanoparticles containing an outer sheath of homing peptides and fusogenic liposome selectively target macrophages and directly introduce an oligonucleotide payload into the cytosol. Highly effective knockdown of the proinflammatory macrophage marker IRF5 enhances the clearance capability of macrophages and improves survival in a mouse model of Staphyloccocus aureus pneumonia

Harnessing Openness to Transform American Health Care

The Digital Connections Council (DCC) of the Committee for Economic Development (CED) has been developing the concept of openness in a series of reports. It has analyzed information and processes to determine their openness based on qualities of "accessibility" and "responsiveness." If information is not available or available only under restrictive conditions it is less accessible and therefore less "open." If information can be modified, repurposed, and redistributed freely it is more responsive, and therefore more "open." This report looks at how "openness" is being or might usefully be employed in the healthcare arena. This area, which now constitutes approximately 16-17 percent of GDP, has long frustrated policymakers, practitioners, and patients. Bringing greater openness to different parts of the healthcare production chain can lead to substantial benefits by stimulating innovation, lowering costs, reducing errors, and closing the gap between discovery and treatment delivery. The report is not exhaustive; it focuses on biomedical research and the disclosure of research findings, processes of evaluating drugs and devices, the emergence of electronic health records, the development and implementation of treatment regimes by caregivers and patients, and the interdependence of the global public health system and data sharing and worldwide collaboration

Manned Venus Flyby

This study is one of several being conducted at Bellcomm and in Manned Space Flight whose purpose is to give guidance to the Apollo Applications Program's technical objectives by focusing on a longer range goal. The assumed mission in this case is a three-man flyby of Venus launched in November, 1973 on a single standard Saturn V. The selected flight configuration includes a Command and Service Module similar in some respects to Apollo, an Environmental Support Module which occupies the adapter area and a spent S-IVB stage which is utilized for habitable volume and structural support of a solar cell electrical power system. The total injected weight, 106,775 lbs., is within the capability of a single Saturn V of the early 1970's. The study is focused on the selection of subsystem technologies appropriate to long duration flight. The conclusions are reported in terms of the technical characteristics to be achieved as part of the Apollo Applications Program's long duration objectives

Special Libraries, October 1964

Volume 55, Issue 8https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1964/1007/thumbnail.jp

Femtosecond photonic viral inactivation probed using solid-state nanopores

We report on detection of virus inactivation using femtosecond laser radiation by measuring the conductance of a solid state nanopore designed for detecting single particles. Conventional methods of assaying for viral inactivation based on plaque forming assays require 24–48 h for bacterial growth. Nanopore conductance measurements provide information on morphological changes at a single virion level.We show that analysis of a time series of nanopore conductance can quantify the detection of inactivation, requiring only a few minutes from collection to analysis. Morphological changes were verified by dynamic light scattering. Statistical analysis maximizing the information entropy provides a measure of the log reduction value. This work provides a rapid method for assaying viral inactivation with femtosecond lasers using solid-state nanopores.First author draf

Statistical mechanics of neocortical interactions: High resolution path-integral calculation of short-term memory

We present high-resolution path-integral calculations of a previously developed model of short-term memory in neocortex. These calculations, made possible with supercomputer resources, supplant similar calculations made in L. Ingber, Phys. Rev. E 49, 4652 (1994), and support coarser estimates made in L. Ingber, Phys. Rev. A 29, 3346 (1984). We also present a current experimental context for the relevance of these calculations using the approach of statistical mechanics of neocortical interactions, especially in the context of electroencephalographic data.Comment: 35 PostScript pages, including 14 figure