Human Amniotic Material Use in Post-Infarct Surgery to Mitigate Pathological Cardiac Outcomes

Many different factors contribute to the development and progression of heart disease. Although substantial advancements have recently been established in the treatment and prevention of heart disease, it continues to produce one in every four deaths in the United States3. This indicates a growing need for treatment options for both cardiovascular disease and its related complications. Human Amniotic Material (HAM) presents a treatment option for the preservation of myocardial functionality as well as prevention of post-operative pericardial inflammation and development of altered electrical activity in the heart. Our research has shown that the application of HAM led to a significant reduction in the development of post-operative atrial fibrillation in humans undergoing cardiac surgery. Furthermore, HAM injection in an ischemic mouse model led to reduced pathological remodeling of the left ventricle, demonstrating its ability to improve the retention of cardiac function in ischemic tissues

Ny forordning om kapitaldekning : Et europeisk verdipapiriseringsmarked under omveltning

Finanskrisen og den påfølgende lavkonjunkturen i industrialiserte land signaliserte et behov for endringer i den finansielle sektoren og det institusjonelle landskapet innen den Europeiske Union (EU). Et av disse tiltakene var sentralisering av finanstilsyn innen EU gjennom etableringen av European Banking Authority (EBA – på norsk Det europeiske banktilsynet), European Securities Market Authority (ESMA), og European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). Denne oppgaven fokuserer på EBA og et forslag til forordning som regulerer kapitaldekning (engelsk kallenavn; ”Capital Requirements Regulation”). Av praktiske hensyn fokuserer oppgaven på forslaget om uvektet egenkapitalandel for ikke-balanseførte eiendeler, som omfatter kontantstrømobligasjoner. Oppgaven klarlegger den rettskildemessige situasjonen for verdipapirisering. Videre redegjør oppgaven for de endelige formålene med forslaget, fullmaktene til EBA ift. uvektet egenkapitalandel, og hvordan EBA vil overvåke dette kapitalkravet. Verdipapirisering forklares og forholdet mellom uvektet egenkapital og verdipapirisering presenteres. Oppgaven gir en oversikt over bakgrunnen for at kapitalkravethar blitt lagt fram. Konsekvenser av uvektet egenkapitalandel for verdipapiriseringsindustrien blir utforsket. En vurdering av hvilke tiltak EBA kan gjennomføre for å avlaste markedssvikt presenteres. Emner som asymmetrisk informasjon, transaksjonskostnader, finansiell risiko og finansielle insentiver blir diskutert, og en makroøkonomisk vurdering på EU/EØS-nivå av uvektet egenkapitalandel gjennomføres for å klarlegge om forslaget vil ha en ønsket effekt på europeiske verdipapiriseringsmarkedet

A Spectral Subtraction Based Algorithm for Real-time Noise Cancellation with Application to Gunshot Acoustics

This paper introduces an improved spectral subtraction based algorithm for real-time noise cancellation, applied to gunshot acoustical signals. The derivation is based on the fact that, in practice, relatively long periods without gunshot signals occur and the background noise can be modeled as being short-time stationary and uncorrelated to the impulsive gunshot signals. Moreover, gunshot signals, in general, have a spiky autocorrelation while typical vehicle noise, or related, is periodic and exhibits a wider autocorrelation. The Spectral Suppression algorithm is applied using the pre-filtering approach, as opposed to post-filtering which requires a priori knowledge of the direction of arrival of the signals of interest, namely, the Muzzle blast and the Shockwave. The results presented in this work are based on a dataset generated by combining signals from real gunshots and real vehicle noise

Electroporation and Cell Killing by Milli- to Nanosecond Pulses and Avoiding Neuromuscular Stimulation in Cancer Ablation

Ablation therapies aim at eradication of tumors with minimal impact on surrounding healthy tissues. Conventional pulsed electric field (PEF) treatments cause pain and muscle contractions far beyond the ablation area. The ongoing quest is to identify PEF parameters efficient at ablation but not at stimulation. We measured electroporation and cell killing thresholds for 150 ns–1 ms PEF, uni- and bipolar, delivered in 10- to 300-pulse trains at up to 1 MHz rates. Monolayers of murine colon carcinoma cells exposed to PEF were stained with YO-PRO-1 dye to detect electroporation. In 2–4 h, dead cells were labeled with propidium. Electroporation and cell death thresholds determined by matching the stained areas to the electric field intensity were compared to nerve excitation thresholds (Kim et al. in Int J Mol Sci 22(13):7051, 2021). The minimum fourfold ratio of cell killing and stimulation thresholds was achieved with bipolar nanosecond PEF (nsPEF), a sheer benefit over a 500-fold ratio for conventional 100-µs PEF. Increasing the bipolar nsPEF frequency up to 100 kHz within 10-pulse bursts increased ablation thresholds by \u3c 20%. Restricting such bursts to the refractory period after nerve excitation will minimize the number of neuromuscular reactions while maintaining the ablation efficiency and avoiding heating

How to Alleviate Cardiac Injury From Electric Shocks at the Cellular Level

Electric shocks, the only effective therapy for ventricular fibrillation, also electroporate cardiac cells and contribute to the high-mortality post-cardiac arrest syndrome. Copolymers such as Poloxamer 188 (P188) are known to preserve the membrane integrity and viability of electroporated cells, but their utility against cardiac injury from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) remains to be established. We studied the time course of cell killing, mechanisms of cell death, and protection with P188 in AC16 human cardiomyocytes exposed to micro- or nanosecond pulsed electric field (μsPEF and nsPEF) shocks. A 3D printer was customized with an electrode holder to precisely position electrodes orthogonal to a cell monolayer in a nanofiber multiwell plate. Trains of nsPEF shocks (200, 300-ns pulses at 1.74 kV) or μsPEF shocks (20, 100-μs pulses at 300 V) produced a non-uniform electric field enabling efficient measurements of the lethal effect in a wide range of the electric field strength. Cell viability and caspase 3/7 expression were measured by fluorescent microscopy 2–24 h after the treatment. nsPEF shocks caused little or no caspase 3/7 activation; most of the lethally injured cells were permeable to propidium dye already at 2 h after the exposure. In contrast, μsPEF shocks caused strong activation of caspase 3/7 at 2 h and the number of dead cells grew up to 24 h, indicating the prevalence of the apoptotic death pathway. P188 at 0.2–1% reduced cell death, suggesting its potential utility in vivo to alleviate electric injury from defibrillation

Pulsed Electric Field Ablation of Esophageal Malignancies and Mitigating Damage to Smooth Muscle: An In Vitro Study

Cancer ablation therapies aim to be efficient while minimizing damage to healthy tissues. Nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) is a promising ablation modality because of its selectivity against certain cell types and reduced neuromuscular effects. We compared cell killing efficiency by PEF (100 pulses, 200 ns–10 µs duration, 10 Hz) in a panel of human esophageal cells (normal and pre-malignant epithelial and smooth muscle). Normal epithelial cells were less sensitive than the pre-malignant ones to unipolar PEF (15–20% higher LD50, p \u3c 0.05). Smooth muscle cells (SMC) oriented randomly in the electric field were more sensitive, with 30–40% lower LD50 (p \u3c 0.01). Trains of ten, 300-ns pulses at 10 kV/cm caused twofold weaker electroporative uptake of YO-PRO-1 dye in normal epithelial cells than in either pre-malignant cells or in SMC oriented perpendicularly to the field. Aligning SMC with the field reduced the dye uptake fourfold, along with a twofold reduction in Ca2+ transients. A 300-ns pulse induced a twofold smaller transmembrane potential in cells aligned with the field, making them less vulnerable to electroporation. We infer that damage to SMC from nsPEF ablation of esophageal malignancies can be minimized by applying the electric field parallel to the predominant SMC orientation

Research Photo: Electric Field Thresholds for Electroporation and Cell Death by Milli- to Nanosecond Pulses: How to Avoid Neuromuscular Stimulation in Cancer Ablation

Research photo: “Electric field thresholds for electroporation and cell death by milli- to nanosecond pulses: How to avoid neuromuscular stimulation in cancer ablation”https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/bioelectrics-2021retreat-images/1008/thumbnail.jp

Lerøy Seafood Group ASA : strategisk regnskapsanalyse og verdivurdering

Formålet med denne oppgaven er å vurdere verdien av egenkapitalen i Lerøy Seafood Group ASA ved bruk av fundamental verdsettelsesteknikk. Gjennomføring av fundamentalanalysen resulterer i et verdiestimat på aksjen til Lerøy Seafood Group ASA (heretter kalt Lerøy). Verdsettelsestidspunktet for verdiestimatet er per 31. desember 2016. Det endelige verdiestimatet vurderes opp mot børskursen på samme tidspunkt og gir opphav til en handlingsstrategi på aksjen. Første del av oppgaven er en strategisk analyse av Lerøy og utvalgte virksomheter i oppdrettsbransjen. Analysen dekker årene 2011 til 2016 og peker på betydelige miljømessige utfordringer for bransjen som helhet, der lakselusproblematikken utgjør en vesentlig barriere for videre vekst i norsk oppdrettsnæring. Mye ressurser anvendes for å løse det kompliserte problemet med lakselus. Samtidig har dette vært en av årsakene til at spotprisene på laks har steget betydelig de siste årene. Etterspørselen etter oppdrettslaks har vært og er fremdeles høy, og reduserte produksjonsvolumer har medført en sterk prisvekst. Kronekursen mot valutaer som euro og dollar er også en sentral del av prisveksten som har vært i spotmarkedet for laks. Andre del av oppgaven er en kvantitativ analyse av regnskapstall. Denne analysen viser at lønnsomheten for Lerøy og bransjen til tider har vært svært god. Gjennomsnittlig strategisk fordel for Lerøy over den historiske analyseperioden (2011-2016) er beregnet til 13,3%. Leverandørers forhandlingsmakt trekkes frem som en trussel mot fremtidig superprofitt i oppdrettsbransjen, der særlig leverandører av marine råstoff (fiskeolje) kan oppnå sterk forhandlingsmakt. Lerøys veletablerte merkevarenavn og råvaretilgang vurderes som verdifulle ressurser som kan gi oppgav til en varig strategisk fordel for Lerøy. Oppkjøpene av Havfisk ASA og Norway Seafoods Group AS gir Lerøy store muligheter for videreutvikling av nedstrømsaktiviteter innen hvitfisk. Det endelige fundamentale verdiestimatet beregnet i oppgaven er 47,811 kroner per aksje. Aksjekursen var pr. 31.12.2016 47,61 kroner, og basert på en feilmargin på +/- 10 % gir dette opphav til en hold-anbefaling på aksjen.nhhma