Vomocytosis: Too Much Booze, Base, or Calcium?

Macrophages are well known for their phagocytic activity and their role in innate immune responses. Macrophages eat non-self particles, via a variety of mechanisms, and typically break down internalized cargo into small macromolecules. However, some pathogenic agents have the ability to evade this endosomal degradation through a nonlytic exocytosis process termed vomocytosis. This phenomenon has been most often studied for Cryptococcus neoformans, a yeast that causes roughly 180,000 deaths per year, primarily in immunocompromised (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus [HIV]) patients. Existing dogma purports that vomocytosis involves distinctive cellular pathways and intracellular physicochemical cues in the host cell during phagosomal maturation. Moreover, it has been observed that the immunological state of the individual and macrophage phenotype affect vomocytosis outcomes. Here we compile the current knowledge on the factors (with respect to the phagocytic cell) that promote vomocytosis of C. neoformans from macrophages

Power System Protection Project - POWER Engineers

Our area of research is on protection for high voltage systems. We are attempting to understand how certain protection elements, such as relays and breakers, help defend system components against effects of electrical faults. These faults can cause large amounts of damage to system elements, like transformers and generation components, which can cost millions of dollars. In order to determine what must be done, we are using a program called Power Tools for Windows (PTW) to model a system and run fault analysis tests. After the model is functional, we will implement physical protective relays that utilize our design settings to verify that our model is valid