The Growth of Fetal Human Sensory Ganglion Neurons in Culture: A Scanning Electron Microscopic Study

Sensory neurons of 8-week human fetal dorsal root ganglia were dissociated into single cells by trypsinization and cultured on coverslips for 4 months, in either serum-containing or serum-free chemically defined media. At different times the cultures were fixed and prepared for scanning electron microscopy. Fetal sensory neurons in culture regenerated axons within 24 hours which were characterized by axonal growth cones at their tips and the neuronal perikarya assumed spherical or a bonnet-like morphology

Human Neural Stem Cells Genetically Modified to Overexpress Akt1 Provide Neuroprotection and Functional Improvement in Mouse Stroke Model

In a previous study, we have shown that human neural stem cells (hNSCs) transplanted in brain of mouse intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) stroke model selectively migrate to the ICH lesion and induce behavioral recovery. However, low survival rate of grafted hNSCs in the brain precludes long-term therapeutic effect. We hypothesized that hNSCs overexpressing Akt1 transplanted into the lesion site could provide long-term improved survival of hNSCs, and behavioral recovery in mouse ICH model. F3 hNSC was genetically modified with a mouse Akt1 gene using a retroviral vector. F3 hNSCs expressing Akt1 were found to be highly resistant to H2O2-induced cytotoxicity in vitro. Following transplantation in ICH mouse brain, F3.Akt1 hNSCs induced behavioral improvement and significantly increased cell survival (50–100% increase) at 2 and 8 weeks post-transplantation as compared to parental F3 hNSCs. Brain transplantation of hNSCs overexpressing Akt1 in ICH animals provided functional recovery, and survival and differentiation of grafted hNSCs. These results indicate that the F3.Akt1 human NSCs should be a great value as a cellular source for the cellular therapy in animal models of human neurological disorders including ICH

Survival and Growth of Adult Human Oligodendrocytes in Culture: Scanning Electron Microscopy

The oligodendrocytes in culture serve as an important model for the study of demyelination diseases. We have previously originated a method of isolating human oligodendrocytes. In order to establish their three dimensional morphology, scanning electron microscopy of the cultured oligodendrocytes was performed. The oligodendrocytes bulk isolated from adult human brain were maintained in culture for more than 2 months. At the various periods in culture, the cells were studied by scanning electron microscopy and immunofluorescence staining using marker antibodies for the identification of oligodendrocytes. The three dimensional organization and the surface morphology of the cultured oligodendrocytes were investigated. They displayed an extensive network of the cell processes and characteristic surface morphology

Experimental study on the removal of sulfur compounds and siloxanes from biogas

Biogas is a renewable energy source, which can be produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic organisms from agriculture waste, manure, municipal waste, sewage, food waste, etc. The biogas consists primarily of methane and carbon dioxide, but also smaller amounts of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and volatile organic compounds including sulfur compounds, halogenated compounds and organic silicon compounds may be present. Here, methane which is the main component in the biogas may be used as a fuel in many applications such as heating, combined heat and power systems, fuel cells, etc. For the implementation of methane, therefore, the biogas needs purification to improve its quality in most cases by removing impurities from the biogas, resulting in no corrosion and scaling problems in the applications. In the present work, a hybrid biogas purification process, consisting of a physicochemical process with an adsorption for the removal of sulfur compounds and siloxanes and a membrane separation process for the removal of carbon dioxide, has been proposed. The main focus of this study is to examine the physical properties and adsorption characteristics of adsorbents being used to remove sulfur compounds and siloxanes from the biogas. Indeed, recent studies are on the desulfurization and siloxane removal process using an activated carbon and impregnated activated carbon. However, there are many different types of sulfur compounds and siloxanes in the biogas and each may have a different reaction rate and adsorption capacity. In this study, therefore, several commercially-available adsorbents are selected to analyze their removal capacities for the main components (methane) and major impurities in the biogas. The main impurities considered in this work are hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon disulfide (CS2), Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), based on the measurements from the on-site sewage treatment plant in Incheon, Korea. In the bench-scale adsorption experiments, iron oxide, activated carbon, impregnated activated carbon and inorganic adsorbents such as zeolite and silica gel are used as adsorbents for the removal of impurities from synthetic biogas and their physical properties are analyzed with XRF, SEM and BET analyses. The experimental results show that the adsorption capacity of hydrogen sulfide in the iron oxide (IO) is superior to those of the activated carbon (AC) and impregnated activated carbon (IAC) with a relatively good adsorption capacity (Figure 1). In addition, the removal efficiency of carbonyl sulfide and carbon disulfide with the activated carbon is more effective than using the iron oxide having a very poor adsorption capacity (Figure 2). It is also shown that both activated carbon and zeolite exhibit a high adsorption capacity of siloxanes D4 and D5. Especially, in case of siloxane D5, the zeolite has a better adsorption capacity than the activated carbon (Figure 3). More detailed results will be presented at the conference. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Human microglial cells synthesize albumin in brain

Albumin has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease since it can bind to and transport amyloid beta, the causative agent; albumin is also a potent inhibitor of amyloid beta polymerization. In a pilot phase study of Human Brain Proteome Project, we found evidence that albumin may be synthesized in immortalized human microglial cells, human primary microglial cells, and human fetal and adult brain tissues. We also found the synthesis and secretion is enhanced upon microglial activation by Amyloid [beta]~1-42~, lipopolysaccharide treatment or human Alzheimer's brain

Is the Molecular Berry Phase an Artifact of the Born-Oppenheimer Approximation?

We demonstrate that the molecular Berry phase and the corresponding nonanalyticity in the electronic Born-Oppenheimer wave function is, in general, not a true topological feature of the exact solution of the full electron-nuclear Schrodinger equation. For a numerically exactly solvable model we show that a nonanalyticity, and the associated geometric phase, only appear in the limit of infinite nuclear mass, while a perfectly smooth behavior is found for any finite nuclear mass.open

Absolute Upper Bound on the 1-loop Corrected mass of S1S_1 in the NMSSM

We examine in detail radiative corrections to the lightest scalar Higgs boson mass due to the top quark and scalar quark loops in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM). We take into account the nondegenerate state for the top scalar quark masses. In our analysis, the mass matrix of the top scalar quark contains the gauge terms. Therefore our formula for the scalar Higgs boson mass matrix at the 1-loop level includes the contribution of the gauge sector as well as the effect of the top scalar quark mass splitting. Thus we calculate the upper bound on the lightest scalar Higgs boson mass using our formula. We find that the absolute upper bound on the 1-loop corrected mass of the lightest scalar Higgs boson is about 156 GeV.Comment: 12 pages(Latex), 6 Postscript figures are included Figur

Hybrid Water Pump

This project seeks to use multiple sources to power a water pump. We will design a system which will combine inputs from solar and wind energy production to ensure the pump will have enough power to run. This will create a system powered by clean energy and will be self-sustained once completed. This will theoretically create a more sustainable source of power for the pump than only one of the sources. Because the power sources don’t require outside inputs (aside from sun and wind), the pump can be placed in a remote area. This could be very helpful in developing communities, where residents may not have a reliable power supply. This system will allow these types of communities to pump water from wells to bring back to their homes. This will also reduce dependence on non-renewable sources of energy. The system will consist of a solar panel, wind turbine, control system to integrate the sources, and the water pump. The system will be made to require minimal user input to run. Inside the control system, two DC-DC buck converters are used to regulate input voltages. Two diodes are used to joint 2 input sources and prevent backflow of energy. This method is selected instead of MISO (Multiple Inputs Single Output) converter due to its simplicity. An Arduino Uno microcontroller powered by AtMega328p microprocessor is used for displaying power reading from the two sources and the load. The microcontroller also control the relay for protection purposes. An adjustable speed drive and motors combination is studied and used for simulating the wind turbine generation. Relays and circuit breakers are also studied for circuit protection in renewable power systems. This project showcase the possibility of having a hybrid renewable system for common electrical appliances as well as pointing out some difficulties in such system