The Future of Women\u27s Studies

from the UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE Because the degree which our students receive reads, B.A. General Studies, students have asked for some means to show on their transcript the women-oriented courses they have taken in their Women Studies concentration. Thus, beginning in summer 1975, many of the courses that would have been listed under General and Interdisciplinary Studies (GIS) will now be listed under Women 290 or Women 490. These new numbers are for special topics in Women Studies and augment our three (only) permanently numbered courses: Women 200 (Introduction to Women Studies), Women 310 (Women and the Law) and Women 499 (Special Problems—Independent Study). In addition, there are new and upper division courses being developed by faculty in various departments, and some of these will be given permanent status in those departments. Thus, majors in women studies will have not only an increase in women-numbered courses to choose from, but they also will be able to select a wider range of women-focused courses offered in traditional departments. Students who want to develop a specific disciplinary approach to the study of women will have an opportunity to do so beginning autumn 1975. ...from the UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI... ...from the UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT... ...from PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY... ...from the SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY... ...from STEPHENS COLLEGE..

Development of an In Vitro Model for the Multi-Parametric Quantification of the Cellular Interactions between Candida Yeasts and Phagocytes

We developed a new in vitro model for a multi-parameter characterization of the time course interaction of Candida fungal cells with J774 murine macrophages and human neutrophils, based on the use of combined microscopy, fluorometry, flow cytometry and viability assays. Using fluorochromes specific to phagocytes and yeasts, we could accurately quantify various parameters simultaneously in a single infection experiment: at the individual cell level, we measured the association of phagocytes to fungal cells and phagocyte survival, and monitored in parallel the overall phagocytosis process by measuring the part of ingested fungal cells among the total fungal biomass that changed over time. Candida albicans, C. glabrata, and C. lusitaniae were used as a proof of concept: they exhibited species-specific differences in their association rate with phagocytes. The fungal biomass uptaken by the phagocytes differed significantly according to the Candida species. The measure of the survival of fungal and immune cells during the interaction showed that C. albicans was the more aggressive yeast in vitro, destroying the vast majority of the phagocytes within five hours. All three species of Candida were able to survive and to escape macrophage phagocytosis either by the intraphagocytic yeast-to-hyphae transition (C. albicans) and the fungal cell multiplication until phagocytes burst (C. glabrata, C. lusitaniae), or by the avoidance of phagocytosis (C. lusitaniae). We demonstrated that our model was sensitive enough to quantify small variations of the parameters of the interaction. The method has been conceived to be amenable to the high-throughput screening of mutants in order to unravel the molecular mechanisms involved in the interaction between yeasts and host phagocytes