Do We Teach English?

Not long ago I listened to a speech by the mayor of one of the. large cities of America. He gave a thoroughly interesting talk, one that hehi the rapt attention of an audience of six or eight hundred people. He was vigorous, fluent, concrete. But his language was marked by the syntax of a semi-literate person, though he is a college man. Such expressions as he who I was the guest of and I was setting across the table from him made one wince who was sensitive to correct English. So far as I know, the mayor had never been trained in debating; but when I listen to the garbled English used by many of our intercollegiate debaters, and too often, I am afraid, allowed to go uncorrected by coaches and judges, I wonder if we teachers of speech are doing what we tan to induce the use of correct and effective English

A Simulation Model of Periarterial Clearance of Amyloid-β from the Brain

The accumulation of soluble and insoluble amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brain indicates failure of elimination of Aβ from the brain with age and Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is a variety of mechanisms for elimination of Aβ from the brain. They include the action of microglia and enzymes together with receptor-mediated absorption of Aβ into the blood and periarterial lymphatic drainage of Aβ. Although the brain possesses no conventional lymphatics, experimental studies have shown that fluid and solutes, such as Aβ, are eliminated from the brain along 100 nm wide basement membranes in the walls of cerebral capillaries and arteries. This lymphatic drainage pathway is reflected in the deposition of Aβ in the walls of human arteries with age and AD as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Initially, Aβ diffuses through the extracellular spaces of gray matter in the brain and then enters basement membranes in capillaries and arteries to flow out of the brain. Although diffusion through the extracellular spaces of the brain has been well characterized, the exact mechanism whereby perivascular elimination of Aβ occurs has not been resolved. Here we use a computational model to describe the process of periarterial drainage in the context of diffusion in the brain, demonstrating that periarterial drainage along basement membranes is very rapid compared with diffusion. Our results are a validation of experimental data and are significant in the context of failure of periarterial drainage as a mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of AD as well as complications associated with its immunotherapy

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

A control mechanism for intra-mural peri-arterial drainage via astrocytes: How neuronal activity could improve waste clearance from the brain

The mechanisms behind the clearance of soluble waste from deep within the parenchyma of the brain remain unclear. Experimental evidence reveals that one pathway for clearance of waste, termed intra-mural peri-arterial drainage (IPAD), is the rapid drainage of interstitial fluid along basement membranes (BM) of the smooth muscle cells of cerebral arteries; failure of IPAD is closely associated with the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but its driving mechanism remains unclear. We have previously shown that arterial pulsations generated by the heart beat are not strong enough to drive IPAD. Here we present computational evidence for a mechanism for clearance of waste from the brain that is driven by functional hyperaemia, that is, the dilatation of cerebral arterioles as a consequence of increased nutrient demand from neurons. This mechanism is based on our model for the flow of fluid through the vascular BM. It accounts for clearance rates observed in mouse experiments, and aligns with pathological observations and recommendations to lower the individual risk of AD, such as mental and physical activity. Thus, our neurovascular hypothesis should act as the new working hypothesis for the driving force behind IPAD

A Simulation Model of Periarterial Clearance of Amyloid-beta from the Brain

The accumulation of soluble and insoluble amyloid-beta (A-beta) in the brain indicates failure of elimination of A-beta from the brain with age and Alzheimer's disease. There is a variety of mechanisms for elimination of A-beta from the brain. They include the action of microglia and enzymes together with receptor-mediated absorption of A-beta into the blood and periarterial lymphatic drainage of A-beta. Although the brain possesses no conventional lymphatics, experimental studies have shown that fluid and solutes, such as A-beta, are eliminated from the brain along 100 nm wide basement membranes in the walls of cerebral capillaries and arteries. This lymphatic drainage pathway is reflected in the deposition of A-beta in the walls of human arteries with age and Alzheimer's disease as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Initially, A-beta diffuses through the extracellular spaces of grey matter in the brain and then enters basement membranes in capillaries and arteries to flow out of the brain. Although diffusion through the extracellular spaces of the brain has been well characterised, the exact mechanism whereby perivascular elimination of A-beta occurs has not been resolved. Here we use a computational model to describe the process of periarterial drainage in the context of diffusion in the brain, demonstrating that periarterial drainage along basement membranes is very rapid compared with diffusion. Our results are a validation of experimental data and are significant in the context of failure of periarterial drainage as a mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of AD as well as complications associated with its immunotherapy

3‑Amido Pyrrolopyrazine JAK Kinase Inhibitors: Development of a JAK3 vs JAK1 Selective Inhibitor and Evaluation in Cellular and in Vivo Models

The Janus kinases (JAKs) are involved in multiple signaling networks relevant to inflammatory diseases, and inhibition of one or more members of this class may modulate disease activity or progression. We optimized a new inhibitor scaffold, 3-amido-5-cyclopropylpyrrolopyrazines, to a potent example with reasonable kinome selectivity, including selectivity for JAK3 versus JAK1, and good biopharmaceutical properties. Evaluation of this analogue in cellular and in vivo models confirmed functional selectivity for modulation of a JAK3/JAK1-dependent IL-2 stimulated pathway over a JAK1/JAK2/Tyk2-dependent IL-6 stimulated pathway