Hematopoietic progenitor cell content of vertebral body marrow used for combined solid organ and bone marrow transplantation

While cadaveric vertebral bodies (VB) have long been proposed as a suitable source of bone marrow (BM) for transplantation (BMT), they have rarely been used for this purpose. We have infused VB BM immediately following whole organ (WO) transplantation to augment donor cell chimerism. We quantified the hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) content of VB BM as well as BM obtained from the iliac crests (IC) of normal allogeneic donors (ALLO) and from patients with malignancy undergoing autologous marrow harvest (AUTO). Patients undergoing WO/BM transplantation also had AUTO BM harvested in the event that subsequent lymphohematopoietic reconstitution was required. Twenty-four VB BM, 24 IC BM-ALLO, 31 IC AUTO, and 24 IC WO-AUTO were harvested. VB BM was tested 12 to 72 hr after procurement and infused after completion of WO grafting. IC BM was tested and then used or cryopreserved immediately. HPC were quantified by clonal assay measuring CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM, and by flow cytometry for CD34+ progenitor cells. On an average, 9 VB were processed during each harvest, and despite an extended processing time the number of viable nucleated cells obtained was significantly higher than that from IC. Furthermore, by HPC content, VB BM was equivalent to IC BM, which is routinely used for BMT. We conclude that VB BM is a clinically valuable source of BM for allogeneic transplantation. © 1995 by Williams & Wilkins

The Stress Transmission Universality Classes of Periodic Granular Arrays

The transmission of stress is analysed for static periodic arrays of rigid grains, with perfect and zero friction. For minimal coordination number (which is sensitive to friction, sphericity and dimensionality), the stress distribution is soluble without reference to the corresponding displacement fields. In non-degenerate cases, the constitutive equations are found to be simple linear in the stress components. The corresponding coefficients depend crucially upon geometrical disorder of the grain contacts.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Not fitting in and getting out : psychological type and congregational satisfaction among Anglican churchgoers in England

Listening to the motivations reported by individuals for ceasing church attendance and becoming church leavers, Francis and Richter identified high on the list the sense of "not fitting in". Drawing on psychological type theory, several recent studies have documented the way in which some psychological types are over-represented in church congregations and other psychological types are under-represented. Bringing these two observations together, the present study tested the hypothesis that church congregations have created type-alike communities within which individuals displaying the opposite type preferences are more likely to feel marginalised and to display lower levels of satisfaction with the congregations they attend. Data were provided by 1867 churchgoers who completed a measure of psychological type, together with measures of frequency of attendance and congregational satisfaction. These data confirmed that congregations were weighted towards preferences for introversion, sensing, feeling and judging, and that individuals displaying the opposite preferences (especially intuition, thinking and perceiving) recorded lower levels of congregational satisfaction. The implications of these findings are discussed for promoting congregational retention by enhancing awareness of psychological type preferences among those who attend

Moment-based parameter estimation in binomial random intersection graph models

Binomial random intersection graphs can be used as parsimonious statistical models of large and sparse networks, with one parameter for the average degree and another for transitivity, the tendency of neighbours of a node to be connected. This paper discusses the estimation of these parameters from a single observed instance of the graph, using moment estimators based on observed degrees and frequencies of 2-stars and triangles. The observed data set is assumed to be a subgraph induced by a set of $n_0$ nodes sampled from the full set of $n$ nodes. We prove the consistency of the proposed estimators by showing that the relative estimation error is small with high probability for $n_0 \gg n^{2/3} \gg 1$. As a byproduct, our analysis confirms that the empirical transitivity coefficient of the graph is with high probability close to the theoretical clustering coefficient of the model.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Adsorption hysteresis and capillary condensation in disordered porous solids: a density functional study

We present a theoretical study of capillary condensation of fluids adsorbed in mesoporous disordered media. Combining mean-field density functional theory with a coarse-grained description in terms of a lattice-gas model allows us to investigate both the out-of-equilibrium (hysteresis) and the equilibrium behavior. We show that the main features of capillary condensation in disordered solids result from the appearance of a complex free-energy landscape with a large number of metastable states. We detail the numerical procedures for finding these states, and the presence or absence of transitions in the thermodynamic limit is determined by careful finite-size studies.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figures. To appear in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Lewis X antigen mediates adhesion of human breast carcinoma cells to activated endothelium. Possible involvement of the endothelial scavenger receptor C-Type lectin

Lewis x (Lex, CD15), also known as SSEA-1 (stage specific embryonic antigen-1), is a trisaccharide with the structure Galβ(1–4)Fucα(1–3)GlcNAc, which is expressed on glycoconjugates in human polymorphonuclear granulocytes and various tumors such as colon and breast carcinoma. We have investigated the role of Lex in the adhesion of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and PMN to human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVEC) and the effects of two different anti-Lex mAbs (FC-2.15 and MCS-1) on this adhesion. We also analyzed the cytolysis of Lex+-cells induced by anti-Lex mAbs and complement when cells were adhered to the endothelium, and the effect of these antibodies on HUVEC. The results indicate that MCF-7 cells can bind to HUVEC, and that MCS-1 but not FC-2.15 mAb inhibit this interaction. Both mAbs can efficiently lyse MCF-7 cells bound to HUVEC in the presence of complement without damaging endothelial cells. We also found a Lex-dependent PMN interaction with HUVEC. Although both anti-Lex mAbs lysed PMN in suspension and adhered to HUVEC, PMN aggregation was only induced by mAb FC-2.15. Blotting studies revealed that the endothelial scavenger receptor C-type lectin (SRCL), which binds Lex-trisaccharide, interacts with specific glycoproteins of Mr␣∼␣28 kD and 10 kD from MCF-7 cells. The interaction between Lex+-cancer cells and vascular endothelium is a potential target for cancer treatment.Fil: Elola, Maria Teresa. Fundación Instituto Leloir; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Capurro, Mariana Isabel. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Barrio, Maria Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación para la Investigación, Docencia y Prevención del Cáncer; ArgentinaFil: Coombs, Peter J.. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Taylor, Maureen E.. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Drickamer, Kurt. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Mordoh, Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación para la Investigación, Docencia y Prevención del Cáncer; Argentin

Toward Good Read-Across Practice (GRAP) guidance.

Grouping of substances and utilizing read-across of data within those groups represents an important data gap filling technique for chemical safety assessments. Categories/analogue groups are typically developed based on structural similarity and, increasingly often, also on mechanistic (biological) similarity. While read-across can play a key role in complying with legislations such as the European REACH regulation, the lack of consensus regarding the extent and type of evidence necessary to support it often hampers its successful application and acceptance by regulatory authorities. Despite a potentially broad user community, expertise is still concentrated across a handful of organizations and individuals. In order to facilitate the effective use of read-across, this document aims to summarize the state-of-the-art, summarizes insights learned from reviewing ECHA published decisions as far as the relative successes/pitfalls surrounding read-across under REACH and compile the relevant activities and guidance documents. Special emphasis is given to the available existing tools and approaches, an analysis of ECHA's published final decisions associated with all levels of compliance checks and testing proposals, the consideration and expression of uncertainty, the use of biological support data and the impact of the ECHA Read-Across Assessment Framework (RAAF) published in 2015

Solution structure of a repeated unit of the ABA-1 nematode polyprotein allergen of ascaris reveals a novel fold and two discrete lipid-binding sites

Parasitic nematode worms cause serious health problems in humans and other animals. They can induce allergic-type immune responses, which can be harmful but may at the same time protect against the infections. Allergens are proteins that trigger allergic reactions and these parasites produce a type that is confined to nematodes, the nematode polyprotein allergens (NPAs). These are synthesized as large precursor proteins comprising repeating units of similar amino acid sequence that are subsequently cleaved into multiple copies of the allergen protein. NPAs bind small lipids such as fatty acids and retinol (Vitamin A) and probably transport these sensitive and insoluble compounds between the tissues of the worms. Nematodes cannot synthesize these lipids, so NPAs may also be crucial for extracting nutrients from their hosts. They may also be involved in altering immune responses by controlling the lipids by which the immune and inflammatory cells communicate. We describe the molecular structure of one unit of an NPA, the well-known ABA-1 allergen of Ascaris and find its structure to be of a type not previously found for lipid-binding proteins, and we describe the unusual sites where lipids bind within this structur

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy