Human platelet lysate as a fetal bovine serum substitute improves human adipose-derived stromal cell culture for future cardiac repair applications

Adipose-derived stromal cells (ASC) are promising candidates for cell therapy, for example to treat myocardial infarction. Commonly, fetal bovine serum (FBS) is used in ASC culturing. However, FBS has several disadvantages. Its effects differ between batches and, when applied clinically, transmission of pathogens and antibody development against FBS are possible. In this study, we investigated whether FBS can be substituted by human platelet lysate (PL) in ASC culture, without affecting functional capacities particularly important for cardiac repair application of ASC. We found that PL-cultured ASC had a significant 3-fold increased proliferation rate and a significantly higher attachment to tissue culture plastic as well as to endothelial cells compared with FBS-cultured ASC. PL-cultured ASC remained a significant 25% smaller than FBS-cultured ASC. Both showed a comparable surface marker profile, with the exception of significantly higher levels of CD73, CD90, and CD166 on PL-cultured ASC. PL-cultured ASC showed a significantly higher migration rate compared with FBS-cultured ASC in a transwell assay. Finally, FBS- and PL-cultured ASC had a similar high capacity to differentiate towards cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, this study showed that culturing ASC is more favorable in PL-supplemented medium compared with FBS-supplemented medium

The acoustic signature of decaying resonant phospholipid microbubbles

Sub-capillary sized microbubbles offer improved techniques for diagnosis and therapy of vascular related disease using ultrasound. Their physical interaction with ultrasound remains an active research field that aims to optimize techniques. The aim of this study is to investigate whether controlled microbubble disruption upon exposure to consecutive ultrasound exposures can be achieved. Single lipid-shelled microbubble scattered echoes have been measured in response to two consecutive imaging pulses, using a calibrated micro-acoustic system. The nonlinear evolution of microbubble echoes provides an exact signature above and below primary and secondary resonance, which has been identified using theoretical results based on the Mooney-Rivlin strain softening shell model. Decaying microbubbles follow an irreversible trajectory through the resonance peak, causing the evolution of specific microbubble spectral signatures. The characteristics of the microbubble motion causes varying amounts of shell material to be lost during microbubble decay. Incident ultrasound field parameters can thus accurately manipulate the regulated shedding of shell material, which has applications for both imaging applications and localized drug delivery strategies

Patterns and persistence in academic migration: 40 years of Australian academic migration

This chapter explores the migration decisions and motives of a group of academics who were recruited to three Australian higher education institutions during the period 1965–2003. The chapter furthers our understanding of historical patterns of academic mobility and the experience of academic mobility and adds to our understanding of the academic profession. The research used a micro approach to migration history and focussed on academic migrants’ decision-making processes. The research used semi-structured interviews with three groups of academics who were interviewed in 1982 and 2003. The academic migrants in this research were not committed to any particular institution or curriculum. What was most important in their migration decision was simply obtaining any academic position. Many, if not most of them, owed their academic careers to the growth in Australian higher education caused by its transition from an elite to a mass system. They obtained their academic posts because of the global nature of academic work. The question that arises from this study is what Australian universities will need to do to attract a new generation of academics as they compete in a global market for academic personnel.Anthony Pott

An open strip-field system at its tipping point in the German-Dutch River Dinkel catchment. Part 1

Three questions were addressed. Firstly, where in pre-19th century landscape did farmers hold strips, camps, meadows and shares in commons? Secondly, did farmers each own strips and camps or were some specialised strip and others exclusively camp farmers? Finally, can we corroborate or reject one of the alternative hypotheses: strip-field-first versus camp-first. The area of interest is the current cadastral district cum medieval parish Epe at today’s German-Dutch border as pars pro toto for the surrounding area of about 100 kilometer diameter in the NW European cover sand belt. Our key data source was the 1827 A.D. cadastre complemented by the historical topographic map and geological, soil and elevation maps. For population estimates, we used six tax registers from 1499-1750 A.D. All parcels per farmstead were identified in the cadastral registry, farms located on parcel maps and hamlet territories delineated as the aggregate of its farms. The following farm features were extracted from the cadastre and averaged per settlement: number of strips and strip-fields, parcel type, farm size, tenure, number of meadows, oak camps, crop camps and pasture camps. Next, the following landscape features were identified from the map set per settlement: farmstead pattern, type of settlement, commons, strip-field, soil and watercourse. We presented the historical context, followed by a description and discussion of farm and landscape features of settlement categories. Finally, we synthesised our findings and discussion, concluding with a hypothetical narrative consistent with our findings, and provided answers to our research questions.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rlsh202021-04-17hj2020Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog