Primary osteoblast-like cells from patients with end-stage kidney disease reflect gene expression, proliferation, and mineralization characteristics ex vivo.

Osteocytes regulate bone turnover and mineralization in chronic kidney disease. As osteocytes are derived from osteoblasts, alterations in osteoblast function may regulate osteoblast maturation, osteocytic transition, bone turnover, and skeletal mineralization. Thus, primary osteoblast-like cells were cultured from bone chips obtained from 24 pediatric ESKD patients. RNA expression in cultured cells was compared with RNA expression in cells from healthy individuals, to RNA expression in the bone core itself, and to parameters of bone histomorphometry. Proliferation and mineralization rates of patient cells were compared with rates in healthy control cells. Associations were observed between bone osteoid accumulation, as assessed by bone histomorphometry, and bone core RNA expression of osterix, matrix gla protein, parathyroid hormone receptor 1, and RANKL. Gene expression of osteoblast markers was increased in cells from ESKD patients and signaling genes including Cyp24A1, Cyp27B1, VDR, and NHERF1 correlated between cells and bone cores. Cells from patients with high turnover renal osteodystrophy proliferated more rapidly and mineralized more slowly than did cells from healthy controls. Thus, primary osteoblasts obtained from patients with ESKD retain changes in gene expression ex vivo that are also observed in bone core specimens. Evaluation of these cells in vitro may provide further insights into the abnormal bone biology that persists, despite current therapies, in patients with ESKD

Calcium Sulfate and Platelet-Rich Plasma make a novel osteoinductive biomaterial for bone regeneration

BACKGROUND: With the present study we introduce a novel and simple biomaterial able to induce regeneration of bone. We theorized that nourishing a bone defect with calcium and with a large amount of activated platelets may initiate a series of biological processes that culminate in bone regeneration. Thus, we engineered CS-Platelet, a biomaterial based on the combination of Calcium Sulfate and Platelet-Rich Plasma in which Calcium Sulfate also acts as an activator of the platelets, therefore avoiding the need to activate the platelets with an agonist. METHODS: First, we tested CS-Platelet in heterotopic (muscle) and orthotopic (bone) bone regeneration bioassays. We then utilized CS-Platelet in a variety of dental and craniofacial clinical cases, where regeneration of bone was needed. RESULTS: The heterotopic bioassay showed formation of bone within the muscular tissue at the site of the implantation of CS-Platelet. Results of a quantitative orthotopic bioassay based on the rat calvaria critical size defect showed that only CS-Platelet and recombinant human BMP2 were able to induce a significant regeneration of bone. A non-human primate orthotopic bioassay also showed that CS-Platelet is completely resorbable. In all human clinical cases where CS-Platelet was used, a complete bone repair was achieved. CONCLUSION: This study showed that CS-Platelet is a novel biomaterial able to induce formation of bone in heterotopic and orthotopic sites, in orthotopic critical size bone defects, and in various clinical situations. The discovery of CS-Platelet may represent a cost-effective breakthrough in bone regenerative therapy and an alternative or an adjuvant to the current treatments

LED shipboard lighting a comparative analysis

This thesis attempts to answer the question provided by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) as to "why LEDs, given their better efficiency, reliability, and maintainability are so difficult to implement in the Navy with an emphasis on shipboard use." This project gives a brief background into LEDs and gives a critical look into the cost benefit analysis (CBA), from maintenance costs to military specifications, in an attempt to provide a more realistic CBA using a hybrid approach. In addition, to focus on hard quantifying benefits, such as productivity and health benefits, from switching to better quality lighting fixtures. Also examined are the organizational barriers affecting innovation takeoff of LEDs implementation within the Navy.http://archive.org/details/ledshipboardligh109454440US Navy (USN) author.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Factors That Influence the Performance of Complex Behaviors in a Terrestrial Vertebrate: Variability in the Kangaroo Rat Evasive Leap

Physical performance inextricably ties variation in physiology, morphology, and behavior to fitness. By studying how morphology is linked to performance, and the consequences of performance ability on survival and reproduction, evolutionary biologists can understand the selection pressures driving the evolution of particular morphological characteristics. However, many studies of performance are conducted in the lab in order to control external factors, allowing for detailed analyses of a few potentially influential variables but reducing the overall ecological realism of the results. The capacity for field studies to capture natural levels of variability helps to elucidate important ecological factors that influence locomotor performance and therefore drive individual fitness. This dissertation explores the evolution of bipedalism in rodents and the factors that affect their jump performance using a field-based approach. To do this, I investigated (1) the natural jump performance of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys) by filming their escapes from rattlesnake strikes, (2) the conditions under which they utilize these impressive jump escapes, (3) the relationship between hindlimb morphology and jump performance, and (4) how jump performance compares between bipedal and quadrupedal rodents. From these studies, I was able to determine their natural levels of performance, the ecological contexts that place selective pressure on jump performance, how those pressures on performance have shaped the evolution of their hindlimb morphology, and whether bipedality indeed confers improved jump performance when compared to quadrupedal rodents

Financial ratios in the evaluation of Kansas agricultural cooperatives

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industrie

Differential responses of prairie rodents to edge effects from recreational trails

Edge effects are a common phenomenon in which an ecological variable changes with respect to distance from a habitat edge. Recreational trails may constitute a habitat edge for prairie rodents because of high human presence, high predator presence, or limited shelter compared to the prairie core. Despite the prevalence of trails in conservation parcels, their effect on wildlife distribution remains largely unstudied. We examined the impacts of recreational trails on small mammal activity in the restored prairies of the Cowling Arboretum at Carleton College. The prairies were restored from 1995 to 2008 and now comprise a contiguous prairie block of approximately 155 ha. Over 2 consecutive summers, we used infrared motion-sensing cameras to record the relative amount of time rodents spend at baited stations placed at different distances from the trail. The results varied between taxa: voles (Microtus spp.) avoided trail edges whereas mouse (Cricetidae and Dipodidae) and thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) activity was unaffected by trail proximity. Trails may therefore have species-specific effects on small mammals, with potential consequences for the connectivity and distribution of populations