Recognition

"Indigeneity at the Crossroads of American Studies." Published as a special joint issue with American Studies, Volume 46, No. 3/4, Fall 2005

The immunogenicity of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and the implications for neural grafting trials in Parkinson's disease.

Dopaminergic (DA) cell replacement therapies are a promising experimental treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) and a number of different types of DA cell-based therapies have already been trialled in patients. To date, the most successful have been allotransplants of foetal ventral midbrain but even then, the results have been inconsistent. This coupled to the ethical and logistical problems with using this tissue has meant that an alternative cell source has been sought of which human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) sources have proven very attractive. Robust protocols for making mesencephalic DA (mesDA) progenitor cells from hPSCs now exist and the first in-human clinical trials have or are about to start. However, while their safety and efficacy are well understood, relatively little is known about their immunogenicity and in this review, we briefly summarise this with reference mainly to the limited literature on human foetal DA cells

Assessment of Peripheral Airway Function following Chronic Allergen Challenge in a Sheep Model of Asthma

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that the small airways contribute significantly to the pathophysiology of asthma. However, due to the difficulty in accessing distal lung regions in clinical settings, functional changes in the peripheral airways are often overlooked in studies of asthmatic patients. The aim of the current study was to characterize progressive changes in small airway function in sheep repeatedly challenged with house dust mite (HDM) allergen. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Four spatially separate lung segments were utilized for HDM challenges. The right apical, right medial, right caudal and left caudal lung segments received 0, 8, 16 and 24 weekly challenges with HDM respectively. A wedged-bronchoscope technique was used to assess changes in peripheral resistance (R(p)) at rest, and in response to specific and non-specific stimuli throughout the trial. Allergen induced inflammatory cell infiltration into bronchoalveolar lavage and increases in R(p) in response to HDM and methacholine were localized to treated lung segments, with no changes observed in adjacent lung segments. The acute response to HDM was variable between sheep, and was significantly correlated to airway responsiveness to methacholine (r(s) = 0.095, P<0.01). There was no correlation between resting R(p) and the number of weeks of HDM exposure. Nor was there a correlation between the magnitude of early-phase airway response and the number of HDM-challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that airway responses to allergic and non-allergic stimuli are localized to specific treated areas of the lung. Furthermore, while there was a decline in peripheral airway function with HDM exposure, this decrease was not correlated with the length of allergen challenge

Population exposure to smoking and tobacco branding in the UK reality show Love Island'

Background: Reality television shows are popular with children and young adults; inclusion of tobacco imagery in these programmes is likely to cause smoking in these groups. Series 3 of the UK reality show Love Island, broadcast in 2017, attracted widespread media criticism for high levels of smoking depicted. We have quantified this tobacco content and estimated the UK population exposure to generic and branded tobacco imagery generated by the show. Methods: We used 1-minute interval coding to quantify actual or implied tobacco use, tobacco paraphernalia or branding, in alternate episodes of series 3 of Love Island; and Census data and viewing figures from Kantar Media to estimate gross and per capita tobacco impressions. Results: We coded 21 episodes comprising 1001 minutes of content. Tobacco imagery occurred in 204 (20%) intervals; the frequency of appearances fell significantly after media criticism. An identifiable cigarette brand, Lucky Strike Double Click, appeared in 16 intervals. The 21 episodes delivered an estimated 559 million gross tobacco impressions to the UK population, predominantly to women, including 47 million to children aged <16; and 44 million gross impressions of Lucky Strike branding, including 4 million to children <16. Conclusion: Despite advertising legislation and broadcasting regulations intended to protect children from smoking imagery in UK television, series 3 of Love Island delivered millions of general and branded tobacco impressions both to children and adults in the UK. More stringent controls on tobacco content in television programmes are urgently needed

Monocyte Function in Parkinson's Disease and the Impact of Autologous Serum on Phagocytosis.

Background: Increasing evidence implicates involvement of the innate immune system in the initiation and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Monocytes and monocyte-derived cells perform a number of functions, such as phagocytosis, chemotaxis, and cytokine secretion, which may be particularly relevant to PD pathology. The behavior of these cells in early-moderate disease, in conditions more similar to the in-vivo environment has not been fully evaluated. Research Question: Does monocyte function, including phagocytosis, chemotaxis and cytokine secretion, differ in early-moderate PD compared to age and gender-matched controls? Methods: Participants included PD patients (n = 41) with early-moderate stage disease (Hoehn and Yahr ≤2) and age and gender matched controls (n = 41). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from whole blood and monocytes were further separated using CD14 magnetic beads. Functional assays, including bead phagocytosis (in standard medium and autologous serum), Boyden chamber trans-well chemotaxis, and cytokine secretion on lipopolysaccharide stimulation were performed. Monocyte surface markers relating to chemotaxis were measured using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Between-group analysis was performed using paired t-tests. Results: An autologous serum environment significantly increased bead phagocytosis compared to standard medium as expected, in both patients and controls. When in autologous serum, PD monocytes demonstrated enhanced phagocytosis compared to control monocytes (p = 0.029). The level of serum-based phagocytosis was influenced by complement inactivation and the origin of the serum. There were no significant differences between PD and controls in terms of standard medium based monocyte migration or cytokine secretion in this cohort. Conclusions: Autologous serum has a significant influence on monocyte phagocytosis and reveals increased phagocytic capacity in early-moderate PD compared to controls. These conditions may better reflect the function of monocytes in-vivo in PD patients than standard medium based phagocytosis assays. Further studies will be required to replicate these results in larger cohorts, including earlier and later stages of disease, and to understand which serum factors are responsible for this observation and the potential mechanistic relevance to PD pathogenesis.Funding for this work was provided by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, the Rosetrees Trust and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. RSW was supported by a Fellowship from Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. DKV is supported by a Junior Research Fellowship from Homerton College, Cambridge. KMS is supported by a Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust. CHWG is supported by a Clinician Scientist Fellowship from the Medical Research Council. RAB is an NIHR Senior Investigator and is supported by the Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute

The mystery of the missing Macowania - solved!

Macowania revoluta is endemic to the beautiful Amathole Mountains in the Eastern Cape province. First collected by Peter MacOwan in the eastern Amatholes in 1868, the species was described by Joseph Hooker in Icones Plantarum (published from 1867 to 1871). This mostly southern African genus, with M. revoluta being the ‘type’, was taxonomically revised in 1927 by Christo Smith. We suggest the common name of Amathole Macowania for this species.The National Research Foundation for M.Sc., PhD and Post-doctoral funding .http://www.botanicalsociety.org.za/Physic

Site investigation for the effects of vegetation on ground stability

The procedure for geotechnical site investigation is well established but little attention is currently given to investigating the potential of vegetation to assist with ground stability. This paper describes how routine investigation procedures may be adapted to consider the effects of the vegetation. It is recommended that the major part of the vegetation investigation is carried out, at relatively low cost, during the preliminary (desk) study phase of the investigation when there is maximum flexibility to take account of findings in the proposed design and construction. The techniques available for investigation of the effects of vegetation are reviewed and references provided for further consideration. As for general geotechnical investigation work, it is important that a balance of effort is maintained in the vegetation investigation between (a) site characterisation (defining and identifying the existing and proposed vegetation to suit the site and ground conditions), (b) testing (in-situ and laboratory testing of the vegetation and root systems to provide design parameters) and (c) modelling (to analyse the vegetation effects)