Bone marrow mononuclear cells and acute myocardial infarction

PMCID: PMC3340546This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Timelapse

We discuss the existence in an arbitrary frame of a finite time for the transformation of an initial quantum state into another e.g. in a decay. This leads to the introduction of a timelapse $\tilde{\tau}$ in analogy with the lifetime of a particle. An argument based upon the Heisenberg uncertainty principle suggests the value of $\tilde{\tau}=1 / M_0$. Consequences for the exponential decay formula and the modifications that $\tilde{\tau}$ introduces into the Breit-Wigner mass formula are described.Comment: 5 pages [2 figs], ReV-Te

A miniature membrane reactor for evaluation of process design options on the enzymatic degradation of pectin

The objective of this paper is to assess if a membrane microbioreactor system could potentially be used to diagnose consequences of different process design and reactor operation options relevant for larger-scale enzymatic degradation of pectin reactions. The membrane microbioreactor prototype was fabricated from poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) with a working volume of ~190 µL. The prototype also contained the necessary sensors and actuators, i.e., pressure transducer, mixing via magnetic stirrer bar and a temperature controller. The functionality of the prototype was demonstrated by performing a continuous enzymatic degradation of pectin experiment for a range of reactor conditions: different membrane molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) values, enzyme-to-substrate ratios (E/S), and substrate feeding rates (F) were assessed. Based on the experimental data, it was found that the apparent reaction rate increased from 0.11 µmol/h to 0.13 µmol/h when the E/S ratio was doubled from 0.2% (g/g) to 0.4% (g/g). In contrast, when the substrate feeding rate was reduced from 200 µL/h to 100 µL/h (i.e., longer residence time), a higher yield was achieved (producing a pectin fragment concentration of 0.82 mM in the permeate) and the apparent reaction rate increased by ~50% (i.e., from 0.11 µmol/h to 0.17 µmol/h). Clearly, this signifies that the substrate feeding rate is a critical variable that influences the conversion rate and the process yield. The data also showed that the process design affected the membrane rejection profile. The results obtained thus underlined the suitability of a miniature membrane reactor system for evaluating different process design options that are relevant for larger-scale reactions of enzymatic pectin degradation

Angular distribution studies on the two-photon ionization of hydrogen-like ions: Relativistic description

The angular distribution of the emitted electrons, following the two-photon ionization of the hydrogen-like ions, is studied within the framework of second order perturbation theory and the Dirac equation. Using a density matrix approach, we have investigated the effects which arise from the polarization of the incoming light as well as from the higher multipoles in the expansion of the electron--photon interaction. For medium- and high-Z ions, in particular, the non-dipole contributions give rise to a significant change in the angular distribution of the emitted electrons, if compared with the electric-dipole approximation. This includes a strong forward emission while, in dipole approxmation, the electron emission always occurs symmetric with respect to the plane which is perpendicular to the photon beam. Detailed computations for the dependence of the photoelectron angular distributions on the polarization of the incident light are carried out for the ionization of H, Xe$^{53+}$, and U$^{91+}$ (hydrogen-like) ions.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, published in J Phys

Mental health stigma at primary health care centres in Lebanon: qualitative study

Background: Mental health-related stigma is a global public health concern and a major barrier to seeking care. In this study, we explored the role of stigma as a barrier to scaling up mental health services in primary health care (PHC) centres in Lebanon. We focused on the experiences of Healthcare Providers (HCPs) providing services to patients with mental health conditions (MHCs), the views of policy makers, and the perceptions of stigma or discrimination among individuals with MHCs. This study was conducted as part of INDIGO-PRIMARY, a larger multinational stigma reduction programme. Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 45) were carried out with policy makers (n = 3), PHC management (n = 4), PHC staff (n = 24), and service users (SUs) (n = 14) between August 2018 and September 2019. These interviews explored mental health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of staff, challenges of providing treatment, and patient outcomes. All interviews were coded using NVivo and a thematic coding framework. Results: The results of this study are presented under three themes: (1) stigma at PHC level, (2) stigma outside PHC centres, and (3) structural stigma. SUs did not testify to discrimination from HCPs but did describe stigmatising behaviour from their families. Interestingly, at the PHC level, stigma reporting differed among staff according to a power gradient. Nurses and social workers did not explicitly report incidents of stigma but described patients with MHCs as uncooperative, underscoring their internalized negative views on mental health. General practitioners and directors were more outspoken than nurses regarding the challenges faced with mental health patients. Mental health professionals revealed that HCPs still hold implicitly negative views towards patients with MHCs however their attitude has improved recently. Our analysis highlights five layers of stigma affecting SUs. Conclusion: This qualitative study reveals that stigma was still a key concern that affects patients with MHC. SUs reported experiencing overt stigmatising behaviour in the community but less explicit discrimination in a PHC setting. Our findings emphasise the importance of (1) combatting structural stigma through legal reform, (2) addressing interpersonal stigma, (3) committing PHC management to deliver high quality mental health integrated services, and (4) reducing intrapersonal stigma by building public empathy. Keywords: Mental health Stigma; Primary health care (PHC); Qualitative researc

Randomised trial of combination cytokine and adult autologous bone marrow progenitor cell administration in patients with non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy - the regenerate-dcm randomized phase II

The REGENERATE-DCM trial is the first phase II randomized, placebo-controlled trial aiming to assess if granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) administration with or without adjunctive intracoronary (IC) delivery of autologous bone marrow-derived cells (BMCs) improves global left ventricular (LV) function in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and significant cardiac dysfunction. Methods and results Sixty patients with DCM and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at referral of ≤45%, New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification ≥2 and no secondary cause for the cardiomyopathy were randomized equally into four groups: peripheral placebo (saline), peripheral G-CSF, peripheral G-CSF and IC serum, and peripheral G-CSF and IC BMC. All patients, except the peripheral placebo group, received 5 days of G-CSF. In the IC groups, this was followed by bone marrow harvest and IC infusion of cells or serum on Day 6. The primary endpoint was LVEF change from baseline to 3 months, determined by advanced cardiac imaging. At 3 months, peripheral G-CSF combined with IC BMC therapy was associated with a 5.37% point increase in LVEF (38.30%+12.97 from 32.93%+16.46 P ¼ 0.0138), which was maintained to 1 year. This was associated with a decrease in NYHA classification, reduced NT-pro BNP, and improved exercise capacity and quality of life. No significant change in LVEF was seen in the remaining treatment groups. Conclusion This is the first randomized, placebo-controlled trial with a novel combination of G-CSF and IC cell therapy that demonstrates an improvement in cardiac function, symptoms, and biochemical parameters in patients with DCM.The trial was supported by unrestricted grants from the Heart Cells Foundation and Barts and the London Charity. Chugai Pharmaceutical donated supplies of G-CSF and pharmaceutical costs. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the Barts Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit (CVBRU)

Fucose-Containing Sulfated Polysaccharides from Brown Seaweeds Inhibit Proliferation of Melanoma Cells and Induce Apoptosis by Activation of Caspase-3 in Vitro

Fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides (FCSPs) extracted from seaweeds, especially brown macro-algae, are known to possess essential bioactive properties, notably growth inhibitory effects on tumor cells. In this work, we conducted a series of in vitro studies to examine the influence of FCSPs products from Sargassum henslowianum C. Agardh (FSAR) and Fucus vesiculosus (FVES), respectively, on proliferation of melanoma B16 cells and to investigate the underlying apoptosis promoting mechanisms. Cell viability analysis showed that both FCSPs products, i.e., FSAR and FVES, decreased the proliferation of the melanoma cells in a dose-response fashion, with FSAR being more potent at lower dosages, and FVES being relatively more anti-proliferative than FSAR at higher dosages. Flow cytometric analysis by Annexin V staining of the melanoma cells exposed to the FCSPs products confirmed that both FSAR and FVES induced apoptosis. The FCSPs-induced apoptosis was evidenced by loss of plasma membrane asymmetry and translocation of the cell membrane phospholipids and was accompanied by the activation of caspase-3. The FCSPs bioactivity is proposed to be attributable to distinct structural features of the FCSPs, particularly the presence of sulfated galactofucans (notably in S. henslowianum) and sulfated fucans (notably in F. vesiculosus). This study thus indicates that unfractionated FCSPs may exert bioactive effects on skin cancer cells via induction of apoptosis through cascades of reactions that involve activation of caspase-3