Non-invasive imaging of hypoxia in tissue engineering

In tissue engineering, cells are grown on biomaterials in vitro and subsequently implanted. A critical parameter in effective proliferation and differentiation is the availability of nutrients. Few tools are currently available to monitor the nutritional status of cells. In this study, we have employed A4-4 cells [1], a Chinese hamster ovary cell line stably transfected with a luciferase gene driven by the hypoxia responsive element (HRE) from the promoter region of the VEGF gene [2, 3]. HRE activity, and thus luciferase activity, directly correlates with decreasing cellular O2 levels.The aim of this study is to investigate whether the HREluciferase construct can be used for non-invasive imaging of hypoxia in tissue engineering

An enquiry into the use of activity corridors as a spatial strategy to restructure South African cities : a review and evaluation of activity corridor theory and practice, with reference to the Durban Municipal Area.

Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.No abstract available

Chromosome specific DNA hybridization in suspension for flow cytometric detection of chimerism in bone marrow transplantation and leukemia

Flow cytometry was used to measure the fluorescence intensity of nuclei that were subjected to fluorescent in situ hybridization in suspension with chromosome specific DNA probes. Paraformaldehyde-fixed nuclei were protein digested with trypsin and hybridized simultaneously with a biotin-and DIG labeled chromosome specific centromere probe. A number of probes were tested in the suspension hybridizations. The method yielded fluorescent hybridization signals that allow discrimination between Y chromosome positive and negative nuclei when analyzed by flow cytometry. The method is especially suited for analysis of bone marrow cells derived from patients who have received a sex-mismatched allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Male leukemia cells with a trisomy for chromosome 8 were mixed with normal female cells and simultaneously hybridized in suspension with a DIG labeled probe specific for chromosome 8 and the biotin labeled Y chromosome probe. Y chromosome positive or negative nuclei were s

The use of FISH with chromosome-specific repetitive DNA probes for the follow-up of leukemia patients

The use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the purpose of repeated follow-up examination of bone marrow samples from 38 leukemia patients was investigated. On the basis of conventional cytogenetic analysis, patients with acute leukemia whose leukemic cells carried numerical chromosomal aberrations were selected and followed with repetitive DNA probes that specifically hybridize to one chromosome type. Repeated cytogenetic metaphase analyses would have been laborious and not sensitive or quantitative enough to follow declining numbers of aberrant cells. FISH, as an interphase cytogenetic technique, provides a rapid and simple alternative with high sensitivity. Although FISH data before and after chemotherapy were in agreement with bone marrow cytology in 30 of 38 patients, discrepancies were noticed in specific cases. These could be explained by the presence of cytogenetically distinct subclones that behave differently during treatment, the presence of differentiated leukemic cells, changes in the chromosomal constitution caused by clonal relapse, or the fact that a numerical aberration is found by conventional chromosome banding analysis while the target region to which the probe is directed is still present in the nucleus as a diploid set

Term Rewriting on GPUs

We present a way to implement term rewriting on a GPU. We do this by letting the GPU repeatedly perform a massively parallel evaluation of all subterms. We find that if the term rewrite systems exhibit sufficient internal parallelism, GPU rewriting substantially outperforms the CPU. Since we expect that our implementation can be further optimized, and because in any case GPUs will become much more powerful in the future, this suggests that GPUs are an interesting platform for term rewriting. As term rewriting can be viewed as a universal programming language, this also opens a route towards programming GPUs by term rewriting, especially for irregular computations

Correlation of High-Resolution X-Ray Micro-Computed Tomography with Bioluminescence Imaging of Multiple Myeloma Growth in a Xenograft Mouse Model

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable B-cell neoplasia in which progressive skeletal lesions are a characteristic feature. Earlier we established an animal model for human MM in the immune-deficient RAG2-/-γc-/- mouse, in which the growth of luciferase-transduced MM cells was visualized using noninvasive bioluminescence imaging (BLI). This model appeared well suited to study disease progression and response to therapy by identifying the location of various foci of MM tumor growth scattered throughout the skeleton and at subsequent time points the quantitative assessment of the tumor load by using BLI. We report here on the corresponding high-resolution X-ray micro-computed tomographic (micro-CT) analysis to study skeletal defects in the mice with full-blown MM. Several anatomical derangements were observed, including abnormalities in geometry and morphology, asymmetrical bone structures, decreased overall density in the remaining bone, loss of trabecular bone mass, destruction of the inner microarchitecture, as well as cortical perforations. Using the combination of BLI, micro-CT imaging, and immune-histopathological techniques, we found a high correlation between the micro-CT-identified lesions, exact tumor location, and infiltration leading to structural lesions and local bone deformation. This confirms that this animal model strongly resembles human MM and has the potential for studying the biology of MM growth and for preclinical testing of novel therapies for MM and for repair of MM-induced bone lesions

ID3.24 - Updated design for release 6.0 of the TENCompetence software

Vogten, H., Martens, H., Heyenrath, S., Lemmers, R., Alberts, J., Finders, A., & Schaeps, L. (2009). ID3.24 - Updated design for release 6.0 of the TENCompetence software. TENCompetence.Describes the software architecture of release 6.0 of the PCM, the final release of the project, to developers that need to use, extend or change the PCM server. The views from the 4+1 approach by Kruchten are used to describe the software architecture.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

Evaluatie Archeologie 2020 Kenniswinst archeologieregelgeving

De Vlaamse Regering vraagt aan het agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed elk jaar een rapport waarin wat betreft archeologie o.a. volgende elementen aan bod komen (in navolging van het Onroerenderfgoeddecreet, artikel 5.6.1, §2: een overzicht van het aantal vooronderzoeken en opgravingen alsook de duur ervan een overzicht van de resultaten van deze onderzoeken een overzicht van de voorgestelde en goedgekeurde maatregelen uit de archeologienotas de financiële implicaties van het archeologisch onderzoek en de werking van het archeologischsolidariteitsfonds. Dit rapport biedt een antwoord op de tweede vraag