Microfabrication of elastomeric polymers for organ-on-a-chip engineering and injectable tissues

Recent advances in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) biology enable derivation of essentially any cell type in the human body, and development of three-dimensional (3D) tissue models for drug discovery, safety testing, disease modelling and regenerative medicine applications. However, limitations related to cell maturation, vascularization, cellular fidelity and inter-organ communication still remain. Relying on an engineering approach, microfluidics and microfabrication techniques our laboratory has developed new technologies aimed at overcoming them. Since native heart tissue is unable to regenerate after injury, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) represent a promising source for human cardiomyocytes. Here, biological wire (Biowire) technology will be described, developed to specifically enhance maturation levels of hPSC based cardiac tissues, by controlling tissue geometry and electrical field stimulation regime (Nunes et al Nature Methods 2013). We will describe new applications of the Biowire technology in engineering a specifically atrial and specifically ventricular cardiac tissues, safety testing of small molecule kinase inhibitors, potential new cancer drugs, and modelling of left ventricular hypertrophy using patient derived cells. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Genomic characterization of multidrug-resistant Bacillus toyonensis strain 4HC1 isolated from marine plastic in Norway

Bacillus toyonensis is widespread in nature. Multidrug-resistant B. toyonensis strain 4HC1 was isolated from polyethylene submerged in the water column near a beach in Øygarden, Norway. We analysed the whole genome sequence of strain 4HC1 in order to understand the genetic basis of the observed phenotypic antibiotic resistance.publishedVersio

The logistics of selling a destination\u27s tourism product

Tourism demand is becoming increasingly more discerning. It expects a well-designed and diverse product. This can be achieved with properly organised receiving-tourism facilities and services, and an array of attractions and entertainment events. Parallel to enhancing attractiveness, it is also necessary to strengthen and intensify internal and external marketing to ensure that a destination product and, in particular, its segments will find customers on the market

The hotel enterprise: a business system of project business on the tourism business market

As a business system, an enterprise represents a complex, dynamic, stochastic, open and organisational system. Certain specific features of a hotel enterprise as a business system of project business result from the activity it performs and from project-based business and development management. As an enterprise based on project business, its distinguishing features include the interconnectedness of business subsystems and the overlapping a hotel enterprise’s business function

Biomimetic approach to cardiac tissue engineering

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 2004."September 2004."Includes bibliographical references.(cont.) biochemical and morphological properties in the pretreated group. Finally, in order to mimic capillary structure cardiac fibroblasts and myocytes were co-cultured on a scaffold with a parallel channel array that was perfused with culture medium supplemented with synthetic oxygen carrier (PFC emulsion). Presence of the PFC emulsion resulted in significantly higher cell density and improved contractile properties compared to the constructs cultivated in the culture medium alone, by increasing total oxygen content and effective diffusivity.Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the Western world. Tissue engineering may offer alternative treatment options or suitable models for studies of normal and pathological cardiac tissue function in vitro. Current tissue engineering approaches have been limited by diffusional oxygen supply, lack of physical stimuli and absence of multiple cell types characteristic of the native myocardium. We hypothesized that functional, clinically sized (1-5 mm thick), compact cardiac constructs with physiologic cell densities can be engineered in vitro by mimicking cell microenvironment present in the native myocardium in vivo. Since cardiac myocytes have limited ability to proliferate we developed methods of seeding cells at high densities while maintaining cell viability. Cultivation of cardiac constructs in the presence of convective-diffusive oxygen transport in perfusion bioreactors, maintained aerobic cell metabolism, viability and uniform distribution of cells expressing cardiac markers. To improve cell morphology and tissue assembly cardiac constructs were cultivated with electrical stimulation of contraction in a physiologically relevant regime. Electrical stimulation enabled formation of tissue with elongated cells aligned in parallel and with organized ultrastructure remarkably similar to the one present in the native heart. To investigate the effect of multiple cell types on the properties of engineered cardiac tissue cardiac fibroblasts and cardiac myocytes were cultivated synchronously, separately or serially (pretreatment of scaffolds with fibroblasts followed by the addition of myocytes). Presence of fibroblasts remarkably improved contractile response of the engineered cardiac constructs with the superiorby Milica Radisic.Ph.D

Las relaciones diplomáticas y comerciales entre Argentina e Irán en el período 1940-1950

El objetivo del trabajo a presentar es tratar de conocer mejor las relaciones diplomáticas y comerciales entre Irán y Argentina, desde sus comienzos en 1947 hasta 1953, aproximadamente, buscando la relación que "pudo" haber existido entre los cambios comerciales, con los avances y retrocesos en las relaciones diplomáticas entre ambos, utilizando para ello documentos y estadísticas de la época. (Párrafo extraído del texto a modo de resumen)Mesa 1: Medio Oriente: política, diplomacia y religiónInstituto de Relaciones Internacionales (IRI