Introducing monitoring and automation in cartilage tissue engineering, toward controlled clinical translation

The clinical application of tissue engineered products requires to be tightly connected with the possibility to control the process, assess graft quality and define suitable release criteria for implantation. The aim of this work is to establish techniques to standardize and control the in vitro engineering of cartilage grafts. The work is organized in three sub-projects: first a method to predict cell proliferation capacity was studied, then an in line technique to monitor the draft during in vitro culture was developed and, finally, a culture system for the reproducible production of engineered cartilage was designed and validated. Real-time measurements of human chondrocyte heat production during in vitro proliferation. Isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC) is an on-line, non-destructive and high resolution technique. In this project we aimed to verify the possibility to apply IMC to monitor the metabolic activity of primary human articular chondrocytes (HAC) during their in vitro proliferation. Indeed, currently, many clinically available cell therapy products for the repair of cartilage lesions involve a process of in vitro cell expansion. Establishing a model system able to predict the efficiency of this lengthy, labor-intensive, and challenging to standardize step could have a great potential impact on the manufacturing process. In this study an optimized experimental set up was first established, to reproducible acquire heat flow data; then it was demonstrated that the HAC proliferation within the IMC-based model was similar to proliferation under standard culture conditions, verifying its relevance for simulating the typical cell culture application. Finally, based on the results from 12 independent donors, the possible predictive potential of this technique was assessed. Online monitoring of oxygen as a non-destructive method to quantify cells in engineered 3D tissue constructs. This project aimed at assessing a technique to monitor graft quality during production and/or at release. A quantitative method to monitor the cells number in a 3D construct, based on the on-line measurement of the oxygen consumption in a perfusion based bioreactor system was developed. Oxygen levels dissolved in the medium were monitored on line, by two chemo-optic flow-through micro-oxygen sensors connected at the inlet and the outlet of the bioreactor scaffold chamber. A destructive DNA assay served to quantify the number of cells at the end of the culture. Thus the oxygen consumption per cell could be calculated as the oxygen drop across the perfused constructs at the end of the culture period and the number of cells quantified by DNA. The method developed would allow to non-invasively monitoring in real time the number of chondrocytes on the scaffold. Bioreactor based engineering of large-scale human cartilage grafts for joint resurfacing. The aim of this project was to upscale the size of engineered human cartilage grafts. The main aim of this project consisted in the design and prototyping of a direct perfusion bioreactor system, based on fluidodynamic models (realized in collaboration with the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain), able to guarantee homogeneous seeding and culture conditions trough the entire scaffold surface. The system was then validated and the capability to reproducibly support the process of tissue development was tested by histological, biochemical and biomechanical assays. Within the same project the automation of the designed scaled up bioreactor system, thought as a stand alone system, was proposed. A prototype was realized in collaboration with Applikon Biotechnology BV, The Netherlands. The developed system allows to achieve within a closed environment both cell seeding and culture, controlling some important environmental parameters (e.g. temperature, CO2 and O2 tension), coordinating the medium flow and tracking culture development. The system represents a relevant step toward process automation in tissue engineering and, as previously discussed, enhancing the automation level is an important requirement in order to move towards standardized protocols of graft generation for the clinical practice. These techniques will be critical towards a controlled and standardized procedure for clinical implementation of tissue engineering products and will provide the basis for controlled in vitro studies on cartilage development. Indeed the resulting methods have already been integrated in a streamlined, controlled, bioreactor based protocol for the in vitro production of up scaled engineered cartilage drafts. Moreover the techniques described will serve as the foundation for a recently approved Collaborative Project funded by the European Union, having the goal to produce cartilage tissue grafts. In order to reach this goal the research based technologies and processes described in this dissertation will be adapted for GMP compliance and conformance to regulatory guidelines for the production of engineered tissues for clinical use, which will be tested in a clinical trial

Public initiatives of settlement transformation. A theoretical-methodological approach to selecting tools of multi-criteria decision analysis

In Europe, the operating context in which initiatives of settlement transformation are currently initiated is characterized by a complex, elaborate combination of technical, regulatory and governance-related factors. A similar set of considerations makes it necessary to address the complex decision-making problems to be resolved through multidisciplinary, comparative approaches designed to rationalize the process and treat the elements to be considered in systematic fashion with respect to the range of alternatives available as solutions. Within a context defined in this manner, decision-making processes must often be used to obtain multidisciplinary and multidimensional analyses to support the choices made by the decision-makers. Such analyses are carried out using multi-criteria tools designed to arrive at syntheses of the numerous forms of input data needed to describe decision-making problems of similar complexity, so that one or more outcomes of the synthesis make possible informed, well thought-out, strategic decisions. The technical literature on the topic proposes numerous tools of multi-criteria analysis for application in different decision-making contexts. Still, no specific contributions have been drawn up to date on the approach to take in selecting the tool best suited to providing adequate responses to the queries of evaluation that arise most frequently in the various fields of application, and especially in the settlement sector. The objective of this paper is to propose, by formulating a taxonomy of the endogenous and exogenous variables of tools of multi-criteria analysis, a methodology capable of selecting the tool best suited to the queries of evaluation which arise regarding the chief categories of decision-making problems, and particularly in the settlement sector

CULTURAL TRANSLATION OF TRADITIONAL FOOD FROM WEST-JAVA: A MEDIA TO PROMOTE THE TRADITIONAL CUISINE TO THE WORLD

Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world with a total of 17,054 islands. Each island has different customs, values and habits. As one of the elements of culture,Indonesian culinary is also a pride cultural element. Traditional Indonesian food is one ofthe attractions of foreign tourists and local tourists. In Indonesia there are many kinds oftraditional food. From 17,054 islands that make up the Indonesian archipelago, there is theisland of Java which is known for its unique history and its beauty. It is named WestJava.West Java Province, also known as the land of Sunda, has different kind of dishescomparing to other Indonesian cuisine. Sundanese people by utilizing the existing ingredients in the surrounding likes to create a unique food in terms of names and flavors.Name it colenak, combro, batagor, cireng, cimol, gehu, and so on. In translation, there isprocedure known as cultural equivalent. Cultural equivalent is an approximate translationwhere a source language of cultural word is translated by a target language cultural word(Newmark, 1988:82). The translation from kinds of food from West Java is a way topromote the traditional food to international world. The research is conducted usingdescriptive- qualitative method. In this study, the object of the research data is the typicalfood of West Java which is located in big cities in West Java, such as in Sumedang andGarut. The data are obtained by conducting survey method and questionnaire interview. The researcher goes to the area to capture the culinary trademarks in some areas in WestJava. The results of this research will give big effect to tourism development in West Java cuisine

Governance: A Soft Revolution with hard Political and Legal Effects

El supuesto básico de este artículo es que la gobernanza señala un alejamiento de los dos pilares del proyecto moderno: la democracia representativa y las instituciones legislativas. La gobernanza, como fenómeno institucional complejo, que va mucho mas allá de la participación, ha desestructurado sensiblemente los dos principales puntos de referencia de la democracia moderna: pueblo y territorio. Su trato inclusivo y abierto no ha impedido el surgimiento de un lado oscuro, hecho de modos exclusivos: un teatro sin publicidad. Desde la perspectiva de las transformaciones este artículo pone en evidencia la emergencia de una normatividad cambiante y fluida, capaz de adaptarse a las especificidades y a la variabilidad de situaciones y procesos, ofuscando inevitablemente la misma primacía de la legislación.The basic assumption of this article is that governance marks a departure from the two pillars of the project of modernity: representative democracy and legislative institutions. Governance, as a complex institutional phenomenon that goes far beyond participation, has significantly deconstructed the two main points of reference of modern democracy, that is, people and territory. Furthermore, its inclusive and open nature has not prevented the emergence of a dark side, made of exclusive modes: a theater without publicity. From the perspective of transformations, this article highlights the emergence of a changing and fluid normativity, one capable of adapting to the specificity and the variability of situations and processes, inevitably eclipsing the primacy of the legislation itself

THE ART OF RHETORIC USING STYLISTIC DEVICES IN WORLD UNIVERSITIES DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIP: A Study of Pragmatics

Debating is recognized as a way of doing persuasion in speech that deals with four points of debate pillars, for instance: assertion, reasoning, evidence, and link back. There are two formats on parliamentary debating competitions; Asian and British. The format of worlds is British Parliamentary debate, which consists of eight debaters divided into four teams, two on the pro-position and other two on the opposition, and allows debaters 15 minutes of preparation and doing the case building before engaging in the round (Harvey-Smith, 2011; Johnson, 2009; Lising, 2010). Over past few years, every country’s debater champions have been gathered and involved in a high level of debate atmosphere to compete each other as their country’s representatives to have worlds’ champion title. In conjunction to the glance of forewords, researcher will analyze annual world most prestigious debating championship, WUDC 2016, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. The study will use descriptive qualitative method. The source of this research is taken from video streaming on Youtube that shows ESL grand final round between University of Indonesia team A (Indonesia) as Prime Minister (PM) and RWTH Aachen team A (Germany) as leader of opposition (LO). This approach is intended to answer: (1) What stylistic devices appear in World Universities Debating Championship 2016? (2) What kinds of illocutionary act appear and how its perlocutionary impacts the opponent side’s respond that results in rebuttal? This analysis is based on Aristotle (1991) and Searle (1979) which result is expected to reveal the technique of how debaters unconsciously deliver their persuasive speech in front of adjudicator core

Application of a Multi-criteria and Participated Evaluation Procedure to Select Typology of Intervention to Redevelop Degraded Urban Area

Through urban redevelopment of a degraded area, the deficiency in urban planning and/or building developments can be remedied, allowing for the flourishing of activities that can provide economic stimulus while improving the living conditions of citizens; in this way the local economy can be relaunched. Evaluation methodologies and procedures can contribute to steering the choices made by Public Administration (PA) in creating programmes and hypothesis of intervention that may be considered sustainable and shared by stakeholders. The text proposes the application of an evaluation procedure (Capanne area in Terracina, Latina, Lazio Region), based on the integrated use of a Multi-Criteria Analysis technique - the Analytic Hierarchy Process, as well as a technique promoting participation and interaction among stakeholders, the Stakeholders Analysis. The evaluation procedure can be used to support the PA to make the decision related to the best type of hypothesis of intervention among those possible: the decision must be taken on the basis of identified Stakeholders' needs and available resources, in order to further exploit the unexpressed potential of the intervention area. The structural elements of the evaluation procedure are aligned to article 1 of the "Prime Ministerial Decree" regarding ‘Projects for the social and cultural regeneration of decaying urban areas’ (15 October 2015) in order to identify the type of intervention allowable for financing provided in the Decree

THE ROLE OF A SINGLE FATHER IN DEVELOPING AMERICAN FAMILY VALUES REFLECTED IN “JERSEY GIRL” MOVIE BY KEVIN SMITH

Keluarga merupakan suatu lembaga sosial yang terdiri dari beberapa individu yang berinteraksi satu sama lain dan memiliki peran sosial seperti suami, istri, adik, dan kakak. Di Amerika, terdapat berbagai tipe keluarga seperti nuclear family, extended family, dan keluarga orang tua tunggal.Hal ini dapat diteliti dalam film Jersey Girl. Untuk mendapatkan hasil analisis yang baik , digunakan dua metode penelitian yaitu metode penelitian dengan studi kepustakaan dan juga metode pendekatan secara historis dan eksponensial. Dalam film tersebut digambarkan dengan jelas kehidupan sebuah keluarga ayah tunggal di Amerika yang berusaha menjalankan perannya dalam mengembangkan nilai-nilai keluarga. Dan nilai kekeluargaan tersebut juga mempengaruhi hubungan antara anggota keluarga dan kondisi kehidupan sosial keluarga ayah tunggal di Amerika tersebut