Venous Graft-Derived Cells Participate in Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Background: Based on growing evidence that some adult multipotent cells necessary for tissue regeneration reside in the walls of blood vessels and the clinical success of vein wrapping for functional repair of nerve damage, we hypothesized that the repair of nerves via vein wrapping is mediated by cells migrating from the implanted venous grafts into the nerve bundle. Methodology/Principal Findings: To test the hypothesis, severed femoral nerves of rats were grafted with venous grafts from animals of the opposite sex. Nerve regeneration was impaired when decellularized or irradiated venous grafts were used in comparison to untreated grafts, supporting the involvement of venous graft-derived cells in peripheral nerve repair. Donor cells bearing Y chromosomes integrated into the area of the host injured nerve and participated in remyelination and nerve regeneration. The regenerated nerve exhibited proper axonal myelination, and expressed neuronal and glial cell markers. Conclusions/Significance: These novel findings identify the mechanism by which vein wrapping promotes nerve regeneration. © 2011 Lavasani et al

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Session S2G ENHANCING TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS: AN EXPERIMENT IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN

Abstract-- A multidisciplinary team of chemical engineering and computer science students collaborated to design a plant capable of producing commercial quantities of citric acid. This project required the students to produce a benchscale chemical engineering facility and a computer system to monitor production in accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. A previous attempt at student collaboration on a similar project produced less than stellar results. An evaluation of that experience revealed the most significant challenge to project success was establishing effective teamwork and appropriate technical communication across the two disciplines. This paper will describe the results of the most recent multidisciplinary team experiment, in which emphasis was placed on developing communication between student teams. A description of the synchronization of project development methodologies between the participating disciplines will be discussed as well as how this contributed to enhancing technical communication between the teams and enabled the latest project to progress to a successful conclusion

Prebiotic synthesis of carboxylic acids, amino acids and nucleic acid bases from formamide under photochemical conditions⋆

The photochemical transformation of formamide in the presence of a mixture of TiO2 and ZnO metal oxides as catalysts afforded a large panel of molecules of biological relevance, including carboxylic acids, amino acids and nucleic acid bases. The reaction was less effective when performed in the presence of only one mineral, highlighting the role of synergic effects between the photoactive catalysts. Taken together, these results suggest that the synthesis of chemical precursors for both the genetic and the metabolic apparatuses might have occurred in a simple environment, consisting of formamide, photoactive metal oxides and UV-radiation

Search for organic molecules on the surface of Mars: influence of the cation on the analysis of aromatic acids salts with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and implications for Mars

International audienceThe harsh oxidative and radiative conditions at the surface of Mars influence the fate of organic molecules that can be present in this environment. Aromatic carboxylic acids, such as phthalic acid or benzoic acid, are thought to be potential abundant organic species in the soil because they are in stable intermediate oxidation states and can be formed from the oxidation of Mono or Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) coming from endogenous or exogenous sources. Benner et al. (1) suggested that the low volatility of these salts could compromise their in situ detection through thermal extraction analyses as performed by analytic chemistry laboratories onboard past, present, and future Martian surface probes. However, no extended study was ever published considering the different conditions of thermal extraction that can be used, or the nature of the cation present in the salt. This is the reason why our team performed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses in the laboratory, of various aromatic acid salts bearing different cations, compatible with the elements present at the Mars surface, in order to assess the influence of the cation on the analysis. The extraction of the molecules from the test samples was done using pyrolysis, derivatization, and thermochemolysis in conditions aiming to reproduce those used, or to be used, by the three analytical laboratory dedicated to search for organic molecules on the Mars surface, i.e. the Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) experiment onboard the Viking probes, the Sample Analyzer at Mars (SAM) experiment onboard the Curiosity rover, and the Mars Organic Molecular Analyzer (MOMA) instrument of the Rosalind Franklin Exomars rover (2-4). The main objective is to determine the possibility to identify in situ the organic salts tested through their direct or indirect detection using the chemical species they produce when submitted to the different sample preparation treatment. This communication aims to present extensively the results obtained with the different cations and the different sample preparation conditions considered, and to discuss the detectability of these aromatic organic salts in situ

Monitoring Wildlife Interactions with Their Environment: an Interdisciplinary Approach *For Correspondence

ABSTRACT Objective: In a rapidly changing world, wildlife ecologists strive to correctly model and predict complex relationships between animals and their environment, which facilitates management decisions impacting public policy to conserve and protect delicate ecosystems. Recent advances in monitoring systems span scientific domains, including animal and weather monitoring devices and landscape classification mapping techniques. The current challenge is how to combine and use detailed output from various sources to address questions spanning multiple disciplines. Methods: WolfScout wildlife and weather tracking system is a software tool capable of filling this niche. WolfScout automates the integration of the latest technological advances in wildlife GPS collars, weather stations, drought conditions, and severe weather reports, and animal demographic information. The database stores a variety of classified landscape maps including natural and manmade features. Additionally, WolfScout's spatial database management system allows users to calculate distances between animals' location and landscape characteristics, which are linked to the best approximation of environmental conditions at the animal's location during the interaction. Results: The WolfScout system is an exemplary utility that provides researchers with an interdisciplinary approach to monitor wildlife interactions with their environment. To standardize information used in research projects, high quality data from multiple scientific fields is integrated and formatted for direct analysis. The animal, weather, and spatial calculations with landscape metadata can be extracted in various combinations through the web-interface dependent on the proposed hypotheses and desired mathematical models. Successful deployment at Fort Bragg Military Reserve resulted in management implications for wildlife-longleaf pine ecosystems