Human cell types important for Hepatitis C Virus replication in vivo and in vitro. Old assertions and current evidence

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a single stranded RNA virus which produces negative strand RNA as a replicative intermediate. We analyzed 75 RT-PCR studies that tested for negative strand HCV RNA in liver and other human tissues. 85% of the studies that investigated extrahepatic replication of HCV found one or more samples positive for replicative RNA. Studies using in situ hybridization, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and quasispecies analysis also demonstrated the presence of replicating HCV in various extrahepatic human tissues, and provide evidence that HCV replicates in macrophages, B cells, T cells, and other extrahepatic tissues. We also analyzed both short term and long term in vitro systems used to culture HCV. These systems vary in their purposes and methods, but long term culturing of HCV in B cells, T cells, and other cell types has been used to analyze replication. It is therefore now possible to study HIV-HCV co-infections and HCV replication in vitro

The potential utility of B cell-directed biologic therapy in autoimmune diseases

Increasing awareness of the importance of aberrant B cell regulation in autoimmunity has driven the clinical development of novel B cell-directed biologic therapies with the potential to treat a range of autoimmune disorders. The first of these drugs—rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against the B cell-specific surface marker CD20—was recently approved for treating rheumatoid arthritis in patients with an inadequate response to other biologic therapies. The aim of this review is to discuss the potential use of rituximab in the management of other autoimmune disorders. Results from early phase clinical trials indicate that rituximab may provide clinical benefit in systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren’s syndrome, vasculitis, and thrombocytopenic purpura. Numerous case reports and several small pilot studies have also been published reporting the use of rituximab in conditions such as myositis, antiphospholipid syndrome, Still’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. In general, the results from these preliminary studies encourage further testing of rituximab therapy in formalized clinical trials. Based on results published to date, it is concluded that rituximab, together with other B cell-directed therapies currently under clinical development, is likely to provide an important new treatment option for a number of these difficult-to-treat autoimmune disorders

Zero carbon building assessment for UM Chancellery Building and other UM office buildings

The purpose of this study is to evaluate University of Malaya (UM) Chancellery building in terms of energy usage and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). A triangulation research method was used to achieve this objective. The data was collected using physical measurements of thermal comfort and electricity consumption in the building. In addition, a questionnaire survey licensed by the Building Use Studies (BUS) was distributed to all staff in the building to obtain their perception of the building conditions including comfort, productivity, and health. The last method included a validation of the results using the Integrated Environmental Solutions-Virtual Environment (IES-VE) simulation. The results of a typical floor of the building indicated variability of indoor air temperatures and high levels of relative humidity (between 55% to 85%). Besides, the results of the BUS survey identified the critical conditions that need attention including temperature range (colder), temperature stability (unstable), artificial light (too much), air humidity (humid), air freshness (stuffy), glare from lights (too much), and glare from sun and sky (too much). These conditions have an influence on staff health and productivity as shown by further analysis of the data. Based on these findings, it is recommended to change the operation time of the a/c, increase temperature, enhance ventilation and restrict humid air in AHUs to reduce humidity, install internal sun-shading screen with light shelves to bring more daylight, and coat the internal side of curtain wall glazing with low U-value material to reduce infrared and internal cooling load. The recommendations, although are restricted by the building conditions, can contribute to energy reduction and achieving better internal comfort for occupants in the Chancellery building

RedWater: A Rodwell System to Extract Water from Martian Ice Deposits

The ability to mine ice water in situ is of vital importance to enable future manned exploration of the solar system. In the past decade, orbital measurements have revealed that a third of the Martian surface contains shallow ground ice. Mars reconnaissance orbiter (MRO) shallow subsurface radar (SHARAD) data indicates the presence of debris-covered glaciers as well as buried ice sheets in the Arcadia Planitia (30°N–45°N) that are up to 170 m thick, consist of nearly pure ice, and are covered by at most 20 m of overburden. This data supports the implementation of two proven terrestrial technologies—coiled tube (CT) drilling and a Rodriguez well (RodWell)—for drilling and water extraction on Mars. Honeybee’s RedWater system combines these two technologies into one by first using a CT drilling approach to create a hole, and then, once the hole is made to depth, using the coiled tubing left in the hole as a conduit for water extraction. Models for system performance in this mode have been refined from a combination of U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) research, data collected from Antarctic RodWells, and Honeybee testing. Honeybee plans to validate RedWater’s mechanism designs and extraction models through thermal-vacuum testing to TRL5 in 2020