A Third Measure-Metastable State in the Dynamics of Spontaneous Shape Change in Healthy Human's White Cells

Human polymorphonuclear leucocytes, PMN, are highly motile cells with average 12-15 µm diameters and prominent, loboid nuclei. They are produced in the bone marrow, are essential for host defense, and are the most populous of white blood cell types. PMN also participate in acute and chronic inflammatory processes, in the regulation of the immune response, in angiogenesis, and interact with tumors. To accommodate these varied functions, their behavior is adaptive, but still definable in terms of a set of behavioral states. PMN morphodynamics have generally involved a non-equilibrium stationary, spheroid Idling state that transitions to an activated, ellipsoid translocating state in response to chemical signals. These two behavioral shape-states, spheroid and ellipsoid, are generally recognized as making up the vocabulary of a healthy PMN. A third, “random” state has occasionally been reported as associated with disease states. I have observed this third, Treadmilling state, in PMN from healthy subjects, the cells demonstrating metastable dynamical behaviors known to anticipate phase transitions in mathematical, physical, and biological systems. For this study, human PMN were microscopically imaged and analyzed as single living cells. I used a microscope with a novel high aperture, cardioid annular condenser with better than 100 nanometer resolution of simultaneous, mixed dark field and intrinsic fluorescent images to record shape changes in 189 living PMNs. Relative radial roundness, R(t), served as a computable order parameter. Comparison of R(t) series of 10 cells in the Idling and 10 in the Treadmilling state reveals the robustness of the “random” appearing Treadmilling state, and the emergence of behaviors observed in the neighborhood of global state transitions, including increased correlation length and variance (divergence), sudden jumps, mixed phases, bimodality, power spectral scaling and temporal slowing. Wavelet transformation of an R(t) series of an Idling to Treadmilling state change, demonstrated behaviors concomitant with the observed transition

Best practice for motor imagery: a systematic literature review on motor imagery training elements in five different disciplines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The literature suggests a beneficial effect of motor imagery (MI) if combined with physical practice, but detailed descriptions of MI training session (MITS) elements and temporal parameters are lacking. The aim of this review was to identify the characteristics of a successful MITS and compare these for different disciplines, MI session types, task focus, age, gender and MI modification during intervention.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An extended systematic literature search using 24 databases was performed for five disciplines: Education, Medicine, Music, Psychology and Sports. References that described an MI intervention that focused on motor skills, performance or strength improvement were included. Information describing 17 MITS elements was extracted based on the PETTLEP (physical, environment, timing, task, learning, emotion, perspective) approach. Seven elements describing the MITS temporal parameters were calculated: study duration, intervention duration, MITS duration, total MITS count, MITS per week, MI trials per MITS and total MI training time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both independent reviewers found 96% congruity, which was tested on a random sample of 20% of all references. After selection, 133 studies reporting 141 MI interventions were included. The locations of the MITS and position of the participants during MI were task-specific. Participants received acoustic detailed MI instructions, which were mostly standardised and live. During MI practice, participants kept their eyes closed. MI training was performed from an internal perspective with a kinaesthetic mode. Changes in MI content, duration and dosage were reported in 31 MI interventions. Familiarisation sessions before the start of the MI intervention were mentioned in 17 reports. MI interventions focused with decreasing relevance on motor-, cognitive- and strength-focused tasks. Average study intervention lasted 34 days, with participants practicing MI on average three times per week for 17 minutes, with 34 MI trials. Average total MI time was 178 minutes including 13 MITS. Reporting rate varied between 25.5% and 95.5%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MITS elements of successful interventions were individual, supervised and non-directed sessions, added after physical practice. Successful design characteristics were dominant in the Psychology literature, in interventions focusing on motor and strength-related tasks, in interventions with participants aged 20 to 29 years old, and in MI interventions including participants of both genders. Systematic searching of the MI literature was constrained by the lack of a defined MeSH term.</p

Effects of Wharton&#39;s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells on neonatal neutrophils

Imteyaz Khan,1 Liying Zhang,2 Moiz Mohammed,1 Faith E Archer,1 Jehan Abukharmah,1 Zengrong Yuan,2 S Saif Rizvi,1 Michael G Melek,1 Arnold B Rabson,1,2 Yufang Shi,2 Barry Weinberger,1 Anna M Vetrano1,21Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 2Rutgers Child Health Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USABackground: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been proposed as autologous therapy for inflammatory diseases in neonates. MSCs from umbilical cord Wharton&#39;s jelly (WJ-MSCs) are accessible, with high proliferative capacity. The effects of WJ-MSCs on neutrophil activity in neonates are not known. We compared the effects of WJ-MSCs on apoptosis and the expression of inflammatory, oxidant, and antioxidant mediators in adult and neonatal neutrophils.Methods: WJ-MSCs were isolated, and their purity and function were confirmed by flow cytometry. Neutrophils were isolated from cord and adult blood by density centrifugation. The effects of neutrophil/WJ-MSC co-culture on apoptosis and gene and protein expression were measured.Results: WJ-MSCs suppressed neutrophil apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. WJ-MSCs decreased gene expression of NADPH oxidase-1 in both adult and neonatal neutrophils, but decreased heme oxygenase-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor and increased catalase and cyclooxygenase-2 in the presence of lipopolysaccharide only in adult cells. Similarly, generation of interleukin-8 was suppressed in adult but not neonatal neutrophils. Thus, WJ-MSCs dampened oxidative, vascular, and inflammatory activity by adult neutrophils, but neonatal neutrophils were less responsive. Conversely, Toll-like receptor-4, and cyclooxygenase-2 were upregulated in WJ-MSCs only in the presence of adult neutrophils, suggesting an inflammatory MSC phenotype that is not induced by neonatal neutrophils.Conclusion: Whereas WJ-MSCs altered gene expression in adult neutrophils in ways suggesting anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, these responses were attenuated in neonatal cells. In contrast, inflammatory gene expression in WJ-MSCs was increased in the presence of adult but not neonatal neutrophils. These effects should be considered in clinical trial design before WJ-MSC-based therapy is used in infants.Keywords: inflammation, umbilical cord, apoptosis, neutrophil, mesenchymal stem cell

Human endogenous retrovirus-like sequences.

One of the most salient features of the replication strategy used by retroviruses is the transcription of the retroviral (RNA) genome into DNA followed by integration of this DNA product into the host cell genome. The integrated viral DNA copy, termed &ldquo;provirus&rdquo;, can then serve as a template for the synthesis of further infectious virus particles. Stably integrated proviruses have been found to also persist in the germ line of animal cells. In this case, they have become an endogenous constituent of their host cell&rsquo;s genome and are passed on as stable Mendelian genes from one generation to the next. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp