Developing a tooth in situ organ culture model for dental and periodontal regeneration research

In this study we have realized the need for an organ culture tooth in situ model to simulate the tooth structure especially the tooth attachment apparatus. The importance of such a model is to open avenues for investigating regeneration of the complex tooth and tooth attachment tissues and to reduce the need for experimental animals in investigating dental materials and treatments in the future. The aim of this study was to develop a porcine tooth in situ organ culture model and a novel bioreactor suitable for future studies of periodontal regeneration, including application of appropriate physiological loading. The Objectives of this study was to establish tissue viability, maintenance of tissue structure, and model sterility after 1 and 4 days of culture. To model diffusion characteristics within the organ culture system and design and develop a bioreactor that allows tooth loading and simulation of the chewing cycle. Methods: Twenty-one porcine first molars were dissected aseptically in situ within their bony sockets. Twelve were used to optimize sterility and determine tissue viability. The remainder were used in a 4-day organ culture study in basal medium. Sterility was determined for medium samples and swabs taken from all tissue components, using standard aerobic and anaerobic microbiological cultures. Tissue viability was determined at days 1 and 4 using an XTT assay and Glucose consumption assays. Maintenance of structure was confirmed using histology and histomorphometric analysis. Diffusion characteristics were investigated using micro-CT combined with finite element modeling. A suitable bioreactor was designed to permit longer term culture with application of mechanical loading to the tooth in situ. Result: XTT and Glucose consumption assays confirmed viability throughout the culture period for all tissues investigated. Histological and histomorphometric analysis confirmed maintenance of tissue structure. Clear microbiological cultures indicated maintenance of sterility within the organ culture system. The novel bioreactor showed no evidence of medium contamination after 4 days of culture. Finite element modeling indicated nutrient availability to the periodontium. Conclusion: A whole tooth in situ organ culture system was successfully maintained over 4 days in vitro

Integrating Suspended Sediment Flux in Large Alluvial River Channels: Application of a Synoptic Rouse‐Based Model to the Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers

A large portion of freshwater and sediment is exported to the ocean by a small number of major rivers. Many of these megarivers are subject to substantial anthropogenic pressures, which are having a major impact on water and sediment delivery to deltaic ecosystems. Due to hydrodynamic sorting, sediment grain size and composition vary strongly with depth and across the channel in large rivers, complicating flux quantification. To account for this, we modified a semi‐empirical Rouse model, synoptically predicting sediment concentration, grain‐size distribution, and organic carbon (%OC) concentration with depth and across the river channel. Using suspended sediment depth samples and flow velocity data, we applied this model to calculate sediment fluxes of the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) and the Salween (Thanlwin), the last two free‐flowing megarivers in Southeast Asia. Deriving sediment‐discharge rating curves, we calculated an annual sediment flux of urn:x-wiley:jgrf:media:jgrf21236:jgrf21236-math-0001 Mt/year for the Irrawaddy and urn:x-wiley:jgrf:media:jgrf21236:jgrf21236-math-0002 Mt/year for the Salween, together exporting 46% as much sediment as the Ganges‐Brahmaputra system. The mean flux‐weighted sediment exported by the Irrawaddy is significantly coarser (D84 = 193 ± 13 μm) and OC‐poorer (0.29 ± 0.08 wt%) compared to the Salween (112 ± 27 μm and 0.59 ± 0.16 wt%, respectively). Both rivers export similar amounts of particulate organic carbon, with a total of urn:x-wiley:jgrf:media:jgrf21236:jgrf21236-math-0003 Mt C/year, 53% as much as the Ganges‐Brahmaputra. These results underline the global significance of the Irrawaddy and Salween rivers and warrant continued monitoring of their sediment flux, given the increasing anthropogenic pressures on these river basins

The yeast P5 type ATPase, Spf1, regulates manganese transport into the endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a large, multifunctional and essential organelle. Despite intense research, the function of more than a third of ER proteins remains unknown even in the well-studied model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One such protein is Spf1, which is a highly conserved, ER localized, putative P-type ATPase. Deletion of SPF1 causes a wide variety of phenotypes including severe ER stress suggesting that this protein is essential for the normal function of the ER. The closest homologue of Spf1 is the vacuolar P-type ATPase Ypk9 that influences Mn2+ homeostasis. However in vitro reconstitution assays with Spf1 have not yielded insight into its transport specificity. Here we took an in vivo approach to detect the direct and indirect effects of deleting SPF1. We found a specific reduction in the luminal concentration of Mn2+ in ∆spf1 cells and an increase following it’s overexpression. In agreement with the observed loss of luminal Mn2+ we could observe concurrent reduction in many Mn2+-related process in the ER lumen. Conversely, cytosolic Mn2+-dependent processes were increased. Together, these data support a role for Spf1p in Mn2+ transport in the cell. We also demonstrate that the human sequence homologue, ATP13A1, is a functionally conserved orthologue. Since ATP13A1 is highly expressed in developing neuronal tissues and in the brain, this should help in the study of Mn2+-dependent neurological disorders

Exploring Action Dynamics as an Index of Paired-Associate Learning

Much evidence exists supporting a richer interaction between cognition and action than commonly assumed. Such findings demonstrate that short-timescale processes, such as motor execution, may relate in systematic ways to longer-timescale cognitive processes, such as learning. We further substantiate one direction of this interaction: the flow of cognition into action systems. Two experiments explored match-to-sample paired-associate learning, in which participants learned randomized pairs of unfamiliar symbols. During the experiments, their hand movements were continuously tracked using the Nintendo Wiimote. Across learning, participant arm movements are initiated and completed more quickly, exhibit lower fluctuation, and exert more perturbation on the Wiimote during the button press. A second experiment demonstrated that action dynamics index novel learning scenarios, and not simply acclimatization to the Wiimote interface. Results support a graded and systematic covariation between cognition and action, and recommend ways in which this theoretical perspective may contribute to applied learning contexts

How to specify healthcare process improvements collaboratively using rapid, remote consensus-building: a framework and a case study of its application

Abstract: Background: Practical methods for facilitating process improvement are needed to support high quality, safe care. How best to specify (identify and define) process improvements – the changes that need to be made in a healthcare process – remains a key question. Methods for doing so collaboratively, rapidly and remotely offer much potential, but are under-developed. We propose an approach for engaging diverse stakeholders remotely in a consensus-building exercise to help specify improvements in a healthcare process, and we illustrate the approach in a case study. Methods: Organised in a five-step framework, our proposed approach is informed by a participatory ethos, crowdsourcing and consensus-building methods: (1) define scope and objective of the process improvement; (2) produce a draft or prototype of the proposed process improvement specification; (3) identify participant recruitment strategy; (4) design and conduct a remote consensus-building exercise; (5) produce a final specification of the process improvement in light of learning from the exercise. We tested the approach in a case study that sought to specify process improvements for the management of obstetric emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a brief video showing a process for managing a post-partum haemorrhage in women with COVID-19 to elicit recommendations on how the process could be improved. Two Delphi rounds were then conducted to reach consensus. Results: We gathered views from 105 participants, with a background in maternity care (n = 36), infection prevention and control (n = 17), or human factors (n = 52). The participants initially generated 818 recommendations for how to improve the process illustrated in the video, which we synthesised into a set of 22 recommendations. The consensus-building exercise yielded a final set of 16 recommendations. These were used to inform the specification of process improvements for managing the obstetric emergency and develop supporting resources, including an updated video. Conclusions: The proposed methodological approach enabled the expertise and ingenuity of diverse stakeholders to be captured and mobilised to specify process improvements in an area of pressing service need. This approach has the potential to address current challenges in process improvement, but will require further evaluation

Surface mountable delivery device. (ES); Dispositivo de suministro montable en superficie. (ES)

There is described a surface mountable delivery device which has a multi layer construction comprising a liquid permeable support layer adjacent to a porous reservoir layer, the porous reservoir layer being provided with a backing layer. The surface mountable delivery device may comprise of stickers, tapes, pads, tubes, socks, etc

Vernonia 2020 Vision: A Plan for the Future

The Vernonia 2020 Vision Plan was an endeavor by the City of Vernonia to involve citizens in long-term resiliency planning and visioning to complement the short-term recovery effort following a 500-year flood in December 2007. Bridges Planning Group facilitated the process, over the course of which residents identified the highest-priority barriers to resiliency and past and present efforts to overcome these barriers. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler and Ethan Seltzer

Surface mountable delivery device. (EP)

There is described a surface mountable delivery device which has a multi layer construction comprising a liquid permeable support layer adjacent to a porous reservoir layer, the porous reservoir layer being provided with a backing layer. The surface mountable delivery device may comprise of stickers, tapes, pads, tubes, socks, etc