Autologous human serum for cell culture avoids the implantation of cardioverter-defibrillators in cellular cardiomyoplasty

Background: Current clinical experience with cellular cardiomyoplasty (using serum bovine-cultivated myoblasts) has demonstrated significant malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden deaths in patients. In some ongoing clinical trials the implantation of cardioverterdefibrillator is mandatory. We have hypothesized that contact of human cells with fetal bovine serum results after 3-week fixation of animal proteins on the cell surface, representing an antigenic substrate for immunological and inflammatory adverse events. Methods and Results: Autologous myoblasts were transplanted into infarcted LV in 20 patients (90% males, mean age 62±8 years). Cells were cultivated in a complete human medium during 3 weeks, using the patients' own serum obtained from a blood sample or from plasmapheresis. Injections were performed during CABG (2.1 grafts/pt). All patients had an uneventful recovery. At a mean follow-up of 14±5 months without mortality, no malignant cardiac arrhythmias are reported. LV ejection fraction improved from 28±3% to 52:k4.7% (p = 0.03), and regional wall motion score index (WMSI) from 3.1 to 1.4 (p = 0.04) in the cell-treated segments. Myocardial viability tests showed areas of regeneration. Patients moved from mean NYHA class 2.5 to class 1.2. Conclusions: A total autologous cell culture procedure was used in cellular cardiomyoplasty reducing the risk of arrhythmia. Human-autologous-serum cell expansion avoids the risk of prion, viral or zoonoses contamination. Since patients treated with noncultivated bone marrow cells are free of arrhythmia, the bovine-culture medium seems to be responsible for this complication. Cellular cardiomyoplasty may be efficient to avoid progression of ventricular remodeling and subsequent heart failure in ischemic heart disease

Unexpected removal of the most neutral cationic pharmaceutical in river waters

Contamination of surface waters by pharmaceuticals is now widespread. There are few data on their environmental behaviour, particularly for those which are cationic at typical surface water pH. As the external surfaces of bacterio-plankton cells are hydrophilic with a net negative charge, it was anticipated that bacterio-plankton in surface-waters would preferentially remove the most extensively-ionised cation at a given pH. To test this hypothesis, the persistence of four, widely-used, cationic pharmaceuticals, chloroquine, quinine, fluphenazine and levamisole, was assessed in batch microcosms, comprising water and bacterio-plankton, to which pharmaceuticals were added and incubated for 21 days. Results show that levamisole concentrations decreased by 19 % in microcosms containing bacterio-plankton, and by 13 % in a parallel microcosm containing tripeptide as a priming agent. In contrast to levamisole, concentrations of quinine, chloroquine and fluphenazine were unchanged over 21 days in microcosms containing bacterio-plankton. At the river-water pH, levamisole is 28 % cationic, while quinine is 91–98 % cationic, chloroquine 99 % cationic and fluphenazine 72–86 % cationic. Thus, the most neutral compound, levamisole, showed greatest removal, contradicting the expected bacterio-plankton preference for ionised molecules. However, levamisole was the most hydrophilic molecule, based on its octanol–water solubility coefficient (K ow). Overall, the pattern of pharmaceutical behaviour within the incubations did not reflect the relative hydrophilicity of the pharmaceuticals predicted by the octanol–water distribution coefficient, D ow, suggesting that improved predictive power, with respect to modelling bioaccumulation, may be needed to develop robust environmental risk assessments for cationic pharmaceuticals

ICT SKILLS ENHANCEMENT TRAINING IN TEACHER EDUCATION: THE CASE IN CENTRAL VISAYAS, PHILIPPINES

There are many evidence that the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education provides effective pedagogical benefits. This paper describes the ICT skills enhancement training among faculty members in the teacher education in the four provinces, in Central Visayas, Philippines. The technology literacy training was designed for teacher educators who have the minimal or no knowledge or who have the ability to explain and discuss the task, but have not experienced the actual process of ICT operations in the classroom. It aimed to enhance skills in ICT operations and concepts using international and local ICT competency standards for teacher education. A total of 60 trainees who are coming from 30 private and public higher education institutions in the region participated in the training. The success level of the training program was measured in terms of the effectiveness of the trainers, learning level acquired by trainees, effectiveness of the administration of the training, relevance of the topic, and adequacy of information shared by the trainers. The evaluation shows that trainers were extremely efficient, and training is excellent in terms of the administration, relevance of the topic, and adequacy of information shared by the trainers. This study concludes that the training program attained its objectives, and it turned out into a big success. To ensure sustainability, a structured training program should be conducted

“I AM OFFLINE”: MEASURING BARRIERS TO OPEN ONLINE LEARNING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Open online learning provides new opportunities for students and teachers. However, research shows that completion rates in open online courses are typically low. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the degree of the barriers to open online learning. The respondents are teachers at the tertiary level in the Philippines who experienced a full distance online learning. Responses from 44 respondents were included in the analysis using an adapted survey questionnaire. The study reveals that Internet cost and access and technical problems are substantial barriers to open online learning while social interaction is somewhat of a barrier. It is concluded that infrastructure and technical accessibility are the priority considerations in online learning