Nature vs. Nurture: Defining the Effects of Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Isolation and Culture Conditions on Resiliency to Palmitate Challenge

As MSC products move from early development to clinical translation, culture conditions shift from xeno- to xeno-free systems. However, the impact of isolation and culture-expansion methods on the long-term resiliency of MSCs within challenging transplant environments is not fully understood. Recent work in our lab has shown that palmitate, a saturated fatty acid elevated in the serum of patients with obesity, causes MSCs to convert from an immunosuppressive to an immunostimulatory state at moderate to high physiological levels. This demonstrated that metabolically-diseased environments, like obesity, alter the immunomodulatory efficacy of healthy donor MSCs. In addition, it highlighted the need to test MSC efficacy not only in ideal conditions, but within challenging metabolic environments. To determine how the choice of xeno- vs. xeno-free media during isolation and expansion would affect future immunosuppressive function, umbilical cord explants from seven donors were subdivided and cultured within xeno- (fetal bovine serum, FBS) or xeno-free (human platelet lysate, PLT) medias, creating 14 distinct MSC preparations. After isolation and primary expansion, umbilical cord MSCs (ucMSC) were evaluated according to the ISCT minimal criteria for MSCs. Following baseline characterization, ucMSC were exposed to physiological doses of palmitate and analyzed for metabolic health, apoptotic induction, and immunomodulatory potency in co-cultures with stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The paired experimental design (each ucMSC donor grown in two distinct culture environments) allowed us to delineate the contribution of inherent (nature) vs. environmentally-driven (nurture) donor characteristics to the phenotypic response of ucMSC during palmitate exposure. Culturing MSCs in PLT-media led to more consistent growth characteristics during the isolation and expansion for all donors, resulting in faster doubling times and higher cell yields compared to FBS. Upon palmitate challenge, PLT-ucMSCs showed a higher susceptibility to palmitate-induced metabolic disturbance, but less susceptibility to palmitate-induced apoptosis. Most striking however, was that the PLT-ucMSCs resisted the conversion to an immunostimulatory phenotype better than their FBS counterparts. Interestingly, examining MSC suppression of PBMC proliferation at physiologic doses of palmitate magnified the differences between donors, highlighting the utility of evaluating MSC products in stress-based assays that reflect the challenges MSCs may encounter post-transplantation

An instrument to measure job satisfaction of nursing home administrators

BACKGROUND: The psychometric properties of the nursing home administrator job satisfaction questionnaire (NHA-JSQ) are presented, and the steps used to develop this instrument. METHODS: The NHA-JSQ subscales were developed from pilot survey activities with 93 administrators, content analysis, and a research panel. The resulting survey was sent to 1,000 nursing home administrators. Factor analyses were used to determine the psychometric properties of the instrument. RESULTS: Of the 1,000 surveys mailed, 721 usable surveys were returned (72 percent response rate). The factor analyses show that the items were representative of six underlying factors (i.e., coworkers, work demands, work content, work load, work skills, and rewards). CONCLUSION: The NHA-JSQ represents a short, psychometrically sound job satisfaction instrument for use in nursing homes

Reduced phosphorylation of brain insulin receptor substrate and Akt proteins in apolipoprotein-E4 targeted replacement mice

10.1038/srep03754Scientific Reports4

Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals

What purpose is served by renovation or redesign of professionalism, and how successful a process is it likely to be? This article addresses these questions by examining the effectiveness as a professional development mechanism of the imposition of changes to policy and/or practice that require modification or renovation of professionalism. The ‘new’ professionalisms purported to have been fashioned over the last two or three decades across the spectrum of UK education sectors and contexts have been the subject of extensive analysis, and this article avoids going over old ground and revisiting issues that have already been much debated. Nevertheless, the example of UK government education policy during this period is used as a basis for considering the pitfalls associated with mechanisms for modifying professionalism through a reform and standards agenda. The article’s analysis incorporates redefinition and examination of the concept and substance of professionalism and offers new perspectives in the form of three distinct conceptions: demanded, prescribed and enacted professionalism. Exploring the existentialist status of ‘new’ or ‘modified’ professionalisms and the relationship between professionality, professional culture and professionalism, it examines how professionalism may be interpreted and utilized for the development of education professionals

Market research for servitized offerings: A case study in the chinese province of Guangdong

Servitization has already diffused to a reasonable extent in European manufacturing industries. While several studies have shown and analyzed this development, little is known about the needs and behaviour of manufacturers with regard to services in emerging industries, e.g., in the so-called BRIC countries. Consequently, service providers have to conduct their own market analysis to obtain a deeper understanding of the target foreign market. However, in reality, manufacturers are uncertain of how to conduct this type of service market research. Therefore, this study presents a typical market research analysis for servitized offerings in emerging manufacturing industries. This work entails a study of the demand of manufacturers for services in emerging markets based on a quantitative survey that was conducted in the Chinese province of Guangdong. To obtain a deeper understanding of the existing service needs in emerging industries, we conducted market research for manufacturers that offer services abroad. On the basis of our experiences with this study in China, we describe the challenges for manufacturers in conducting market research analysis and the managerial implications of designing a suitable market entry mode. Consequently, this article aims to support industrial firms in conducting their own market research and in developing individual market entry modes, with a focus on BRIC countries

Subcortical serotonin 5HT2c receptor-containing neurons sex-specifically regulate binge-like alcohol consumption, social, and arousal behaviors in mice

The neurobiological mechanisms by which binge alcohol consumption disrupts social and emotional functioning are unknown. Here, the authors demonstrate that sex-specific social and arousal disturbances induced by binge alcohol consumption are driven by dysregulation of serotonergic signaling and activation of 5HT2c receptor-containing neurons in the lateral habenula in mice