Gastric pentadecapeptide body protection compound BPC 157 and its role in accelerating musculoskeletal soft tissue healing.

There is a current need for a therapy that can alleviate the social and economic burden that presents itself with debilitating and recurring musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries and disorders. Currently, several therapies are emerging and undergoing trials in animal models; these focus on the manipulation and administration of several growth factors implicated with healing. However, limitations include in vivo instability, reliance on biocompatible and robust carriers and restricted application procedures (local and direct). The aim of this paper is therefore to critically review the current literature surrounding the use of BPC 157, as a feasible therapy for healing and functional restoration of soft tissue damage, with a focus on tendon, ligament and skeletal muscle healing. Currently, all studies investigating BPC 157 have demonstrated consistently positive and prompt healing effects for various injury types, both traumatic and systemic and for a plethora of soft tissues. However, to date, the majority of studies have been performed on small rodent models and the efficacy of BPC 157 is yet to be confirmed in humans. Further, over the past two decades, only a handful of research groups have performed in-depth studies regarding this peptide. Despite this, it is apparent that BPC 157 has huge potential and following further development has promise as a therapy to conservatively treat or aid recovery in hypovascular and hypocellular soft tissues such as tendon and ligaments. Moreover, skeletal muscle injury models have suggested a beneficial effect not only for disturbances that occur as a result of direct trauma but also for systemic insults including hyperkalamia and hypermagnesia. Promisingly, there are few studies reporting any adverse reactions to the administration of BPC 157, although there is still a need to understand the precise healing mechanisms for this therapy to achieve clinical realisation

Java binary computability is almost correct version 2∝

The Java language description is unusual in that it defines the effect of interleaving separate compilation and source code modifications. In Java, certain source code modifications, such as adding a method to a class, are defined as binary compatible. The Java language description does not require the re-compilation of programs importing classes or interfaces which were modified in binary compatible ways, and it claims that successful linking and execution of the altered program is guaranteed. In this paper we show that Java binary compatibility does not actually guarantee successful linking and execution. We then suggest a framework in which we formalize the requirement of safe linking and execution without re-compilation and we propose a more modest definition of binary compatibility. We prove for a substantial subset of Java, that our definition guarantees safe linking and execution

Agent based modelling : initial assessment for use on soil bioaccessibility

This report describes the testing of Agent Based Modelling implementations in three different software packages: Repast-simphony, NetLogo and Insight-maker. These software have been evaluated against their capability to simulate the exposure of people as agents moving across Arsenic contaminated soils. Two of the three tested software (Repast-simphony and NetLogo) are recommended for assessment on more complex problems. An outline work plan is presented for future work

The Jahn-Teller active fluoroperovskites ACrF3A\mathrm{CrF_3} A=Na+,K+A=\mathrm{Na^+},\mathrm{K^+}: thermo- and magneto optical correlations as function of the AA-site

Chromium (II) fluoroperovskites $A\mathrm{CrF_3}(A\mathrm{=Na^+,K^+})$ are strongly correlated Jahn-Teller active materials at low temperatures. In this paper, we examine the role that the $A$-site ion plays in this family of fluoroperovskites using both experimental methods (XRD, optical absorption spectroscopy and magnetic fields) and DFT simulations. Temperature-dependent optical absorption experiments show that the spin-allowed transitions $E_2$ and $E_3$ only merge completely for $A$= Na at 2 K. Field-dependent optical absorption measurements at 2 K show that the oscillating strength of the spin-allowed transitions in $\mathrm{NaCrF_3}$ increases with increasing applied field. Direct magneto-structural correlations which suppress the spin-flip transitions are observed for ${\rm KCrF_3}$ below its Ne\'el temperature. In ${\rm NaCrF_3}$ the spin-flip transitions vanish abruptly below 9 K revealing magneto-optical correlations not linked to crystal structure changes. This suggests that as the long range ordering is reduced local JT effects in the individual ${\rm CrF_6^{4-}}$ octahedra take control of the observed behavior. Our results show clear deviation from the pattern found for the isoelectronic $A_x{\rm MnF}_{3+x}$ system. The size of the $A$-site cation is shown to be central in dictating the physical properties and phase transitions in $A{\rm CrF}_3$, opening up the possibility of varying the composition to create novel states of matter with tuneable properties

Software for Sharing and Management of Information

DIAMS is a set of computer programs that implements a system of collaborative agents that serve multiple, geographically distributed users communicating via the Internet. DIAMS provides a user interface as a Java applet that runs on each user s computer and that works within the context of the user s Internet-browser software. DIAMS helps all its users to manage, gain access to, share, and exchange information in databases that they maintain on their computers. One of the DIAMS agents is a personal agent that helps its owner find information most relevant to current needs. It provides software tools and utilities for users to manage their information repositories with dynamic organization and virtual views. Capabilities for generating flexible hierarchical displays are integrated with capabilities for indexed- query searching to support effective access to information. Automatic indexing methods are employed to support users queries and communication between agents. The catalog of a repository is kept in object-oriented storage to facilitate sharing of information. Collaboration between users is aided by matchmaker agents and by automated exchange of information. The matchmaker agents are designed to establish connections between users who have similar interests and expertise

AmelHap: Leveraging drone whole-genome sequence data to create a honey bee HapMap

Honey bee, Apis mellifera, drones are typically haploid, developing from an unfertilized egg, inheriting only their queen’s alleles and none from the many drones she mated with. Thus the ordered combination or ‘phase’ of alleles is known, making drones a valuable haplotype resource. We collated whole-genome sequence data for 1,407 drones, including 45 newly sequenced Scottish drones, collectively representing 19 countries, 8 subspecies and various hybrids. Following alignment to Amel_HAv3.1, variant calling and quality filtering, we retained 17.4 M high quality variants across 1,328 samples with a genotyping rate of 98.7%. We demonstrate the utility of this haplotype resource, AmelHap, for genotype imputation, returning >95% concordance when up to 61% of data is missing in haploids and up to 12% of data is missing in diploids. AmelHap will serve as a useful resource for the community for imputation from low-depth sequencing or SNP chip data, accurate phasing of diploids for association studies, and as a comprehensive reference panel for population genetic and evolutionary analyses.For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. This work was supported by a grant from the CB Dennis British Beekeepers’ Research Trust awarded to MB and DW, and through strategic investment funding to the Roslin Institute from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBS/E/D/30002276). MP was supported by a Basque Government grant (IT1233-19)

Determination of the nature of the Cu coordination complexes formed in the presence of NO and NH3 within SSZ-13

Ammonia-selective catalytic reduction (NH3-SCR) using Cu zeolites is a well-established strategy for the abatement of NOx gases. Recent studies have demonstrated that Cu is particularly active when exchanged into the SSZ-13 zeolite, and its location in either the 6r or 8r renders it an excellent model system for fundamental studies. In this work, we examine the interaction of NH3-SCR relevant gases (NO and NH3) with the Cu2+ centers within the SSZ-13 structure, coupling powder diffraction (PD), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAFS), and density functional theory (DFT). This combined approach revealed that, upon calcination, cooling and gas exposure Cu ions tend to locate in the 8r window. After NO introduction, Cu-ions are seen to coordinate to two framework oxygens and one NO molecule, resulting in a bent Cu-nitrosyl complex with a Cu-N-O bond angle of similar to 150 degrees. Whilst Cu seems to be partially reduced/changed in coordination state, NO is partially oxidized. On exposure to NH3 while the PD data suggest the Cu2+ ion occupies a similar position, simulation and XAFS pointed toward the formation of a Jahn-Teller distorted hexaamine complex [Cu(NH3)(6)](2+) in the center of the cha cage. These results have important implications in terms of uptake and storage of these reactive gases and potentially for the mechanisms involved in the NH3-SCR process

Cryopreservation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Using Medical Grade Ice Nucleation Inducer.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into multiple different tissue lineages and have favourable immunogenic potential making them an attractive prospect for regenerative medicine. As an essential part of the manufacturing process, preservation of these cells whilst maintaining potential is of critical importance. An uncontrolled area of storage remains the rate of change of temperature during freezing and thawing. Controlled-rate freezers attempted to rectify this; however, the change of phase from liquid to solid introduces two extreme phenomena; a rapid rise and a rapid fall in temperature in addition to the intended cooling rate (normally -1 °C/min) as a part of the supercooling event in cryopreservation. Nucleation events are well known to initiate the freezing transition although their active use in the form of ice nucleation devices (IND) are in their infancy in cryopreservation. This study sought to better understand the effects of ice nucleation and its active instigation with the use of an IND in both a standard cryotube with MSCs in suspension and a high-throughput adhered MSC 96-well plate set-up. A potential threshold nucleation temperature for best recovery of dental pulp MSCs may occur around -10 °C and for larger volume cell storage, IND and fast thaw creates the most stable process. For adhered cells, an IND with a slow thaw enables greatest metabolic activity post-thaw. This demonstrates a necessity for a medical grade IND to be used in future regenerative medicine manufacturing with the parameters discussed in this study to create stable products for clinical cellular therapies

UK perspective on the changing landscape of non-invasive cardiac testing.

Objective: To document UK rates of exercise treadmill testing, functional stress testing and CT coronary angiography (CTCA). Specific aims were to determine how rates have changed in the context of changing guideline recommendations within the UK and to identify regional inequalities in the utilisation of testing modalities. Secondary objectives were to compare these trends with national data on revascularisation. Methods: 159 acute National Health Service trusts were served Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to provide total numbers of CTCA and functional imaging tests for each financial year from 2011-2012 to 2016-2017. Results: The FOI requests yielded data from 88% of Trusts, increasing from 81.9% in 2011-2012% to 92.1% in 2016-2017. Exercise treadmill tests (ETTs) were performed by over 97% of Trusts. ETT was the most commonly performed diagnostic test in the UK across the study period despite declining by 8.4%. Utilisation of non-invasive stress imaging tests increased by 80.9% during the same period. Myocardial perfusion scintigraphy and stress echocardiography increased by 25.8% and 73.9%, respectively. The 268% increase in CTCA scans was yet greater. Trends in test utilisation during the study period showed important regional differences between devolved nations. Comparably, only small changes in rates of invasive coronary angiography and revascularisation have been reported during the study period. Conclusion: Non-invasive imaging in UK Trusts has increased substantially since 2010 with only a small decline in use of the ETT and minimal changes in rates of invasive coronary angiography and revascularisation in the same time period