Image analysis as PAT-Tool for use in extrusion-based bioprinting

The technology of bioprinting is arousing a growing interest in biopharmaceutical research and industry. In order to accelerate process development in the field of bioprinting, image-based analysis methods are non-invasive, time- and cost-saving tools which are useable for printer characterization, bioink printability evaluation, and process optimization. Image processing can also be used for the study of reproducibility, since reliable production is important in the transition from research to industrial application, and more precisely to clinical studies. This study revolves around the establishment of an automated and image-based line analysis method for bioprinting applications which enables an easy comparison of 3D-printed lines. Diverse rheological properties of bioinks and the printing process affect the geometry of the resulting object. The line represents a simple geometry, where the influence of the rheological properties and printing parameters is directly apparent. Therefore, a method for line analysis was developed on the basis of image recognition. At first, the method is tested for several substances such as Nivea®, pure and colored Kolliphor solutions, and two commercially available hydrogel formulations which can be used as bioinks. These are Biogelx™-ink-RGD by Biogelx and Cellink® Bioink by Cellink. The examination of limitations showed that transparent materials such as Kolliphor-based solutions cannot be analyzed with the developed method whereas opaque materials such as Nivea® and both bioinks can be analyzed. In the course of process characterization, the method was used to investigate the shrinkage behavior for both bionks. With the help of the line analysis tool, a shrinkage behavior of both bioinks was demonstrated and thus, process time could be identified as a critical process parameter

Structured Data Storage for Data-Driven Process Optimisation in Bioprinting

Bioprinting is a method to fabricate 3D models that mimic tissue. Future fields of application might be in pharmaceutical or medical context. As the number of applicants might vary between only one patient to manufacturing tissue for high-throughput drug screening, designing a process will necessitate a high degree of flexibility, robustness, as well as comprehensive monitoring. To enable quality by design process optimisation for future application, establishing systematic data storage routines suitable for automated analytical tools is highly desirable as a first step. This manuscript introduces a workflow for process design, documentation within an electronic lab notebook and monitoring to supervise the product quality over time or at different locations. Lab notes, analytical data and corresponding metadata are stored in a systematic hierarchy within the research data infrastructure Kadi4Mat, which allows for continuous, flexible data structuring and access management. To support the experimental and analytical workflow, additional features were implemented to enhance and build upon the functionality provided by Kadi4Mat, including browser-based file previews and a Python tool for the combined filtering and extraction of data. The structured research data management with Kadi4Mat enables retrospective data grouping and usage by process analytical technology tools connecting individual analysis software to machine-readable data exchange formats

The Grizzly, March 25, 1983

New Editors Elected: Romer, Hong, Pasekoff Named • Superstars Tournament Needs Participants • DuPont Gives Third Consecutive Chemistry Grant • The A\u27s Come to UC • Third Annual Special Olympics This Weekend • Summer in Japan • Folk Singers at Bomberger • Letters to the Editor: An Epilogue to Zeta Chi • USGA Holds Election • USGA Notes • Voight at Bat • 13 Spend Break in Quebec • To Hell With the USFL • College Bowl Goes to Maryland • 1983 Room Selection Procedure • Bear\u27s Den Replaces Cafe International • Cycling Marathon: Ride for Your Life • Men\u27s Lacrosse Slow Getting Started • Men\u27s and Women\u27s Track Win Openershttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1097/thumbnail.jp

First on-sky demonstration of an integrated-photonic nulling interferometer: the GLINT instrument

The characterization of exoplanets is critical to understanding planet diversity and formation, their atmospheric composition, and the potential for life. This endeavour is greatly enhanced when light from the planet can be spatially separated from that of the host star. One potential method is nulling interferometry, where the contaminating starlight is removed via destructive interference. The GLINT instrument is a photonic nulling interferometer with novel capabilities that has now been demonstrated in on-sky testing. The instrument fragments the telescope pupil into sub-apertures that are injected into waveguides within a single-mode photonic chip. Here, all requisite beam splitting, routing, and recombination are performed using integrated photonic components. We describe the design, construction, and laboratory testing of our GLINT pathfinder instrument. We then demonstrate the efficacy of this method on sky at the Subaru Telescope, achieving a null-depth precision on sky of ∼10⁻⁴ and successfully determining the angular diameter of stars (via their null-depth measurements) to milliarcsecond accuracy. A statistical method for analysing such data is described, along with an outline of the next steps required to deploy this technique for cutting-edge science

Updated threshold dose-distribution data for sesame

Sesame is classified as a “major” food allergen for which mandatory disclosure is required. Understanding reaction thresholds and how these vary within the allergic population is crucial in providing appropriate dietary advice to patients, providing guidance to the food industry, and informing dosing regimens for oral food challenges (FC). However, the largest data series used to derive a threshold dose-distribution for sesame included blinded challenge data from just 40 individuals.1 Data from low-dose, open FC can be used to supplement that from blinded FC, reducing uncertainty in estimating threshold dose-distributions for allergenic foods which otherwise lack sufficient data.2 We, therefore, undertook a systematic search of the literature and performed dose-distribution modelling of individual patient FC data (including open FC) to update estimated eliciting doses for sesame

SoTL Lab: Undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research in teaching and learning in CSD

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Communication Sciences and Disorders SoTL Lab was designed to provide hands-on research experiences to undergraduate students on a large scale. Student reflections on experiences within the SoTL Lab identify the value of collaboration, development of confidence, and exposure to the entire research process as key outcomes. These experiences foster development of research skills and may lead students to consider academic careers

Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for ~4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic

Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Exhibit Heterogeneous CD52 Expression Levels and Show Differential Sensitivity to Alemtuzumab Mediated Cytolysis

Alemtuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets cell surface CD52 and is effective in depleting lymphocytes by cytolytic effects in vivo. Although the cytolytic effects of alemtuzumab are dependent on the density of CD52 antigen on cells, there is scant information regarding the expression levels of CD52 on different cell types. In this study, CD52 expression was assessed on phenotypically distinct subsets of lymphoid and myeloid cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from normal donors. Results demonstrate that subsets of PBMCs express differing levels of CD52. Quantitative analysis showed that memory B cells and myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) display the highest number while natural killer (NK) cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and basophils have the lowest number of CD52 molecules per cell amongst lymphoid and myeloid cell populations respectively. Results of complement dependent cytolysis (CDC) studies indicated that alemtuzumab mediated profound cytolytic effects on B and T cells with minimal effect on NK cells, basophils and pDCs, correlating with the density of CD52 on these cells. Interestingly, despite high CD52 levels, mDCs and monocytes were less susceptible to alemtuzumab-mediated CDC indicating that antigen density alone does not define susceptibility. Additional studies indicated that higher expression levels of complement inhibitory proteins (CIPs) on these cells partially contributes to their resistance to alemtuzumab mediated CDC. These results indicate that alemtuzumab is most effective in depleting cells of the adaptive immune system while leaving innate immune cells relatively intact

Confronting historical legacies of biological anthropology in South Africa-Restitution, redress and community-centered science: The Sutherland Nine

We describe a process of restitution of nine unethically acquired human skeletons to their families, together with attempts at redress. Between 1925-1927 C.E., the skeletonised remains of nine San or Khoekhoe people, eight of them known-in-life, were removed from their graves on the farm Kruisrivier, near Sutherland in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. They were donated to the Anatomy Department at the University of Cape Town. This was done without the knowledge or permission of their families. The donor was a medical student who removed the remains from the labourers' cemetery on his family farm. Nearly 100 years later, the remains are being returned to their community, accompanied by a range of community-driven interdisciplinary historical, archaeological and analytical (osteobiographic, craniofacial, ancient DNA, stable isotope) studies to document, as far as possible, their lives and deaths. The restitution process began by contacting families living in the same area with the same surnames as the deceased. The restitution and redress process prioritises the descendant families' memories, wishes and desire to understand the situation, and learn more about their ancestors. The descendant families have described the process as helping them to reconnect with their ancestors. A richer appreciation of their ancestors' lives, gained in part from scientific analyses, culminating with reburial, is hoped to aid the descendant families and wider community in [re-]connecting with their heritage and culture, and contribute to restorative justice, reconciliation and healing while confronting a traumatic historical moment. While these nine individuals were exhumed as specimens, they will be reburied as people