Evaluating frequency and quality of pathogen-specific T cells.

It is generally accepted that enumeration and characterization of antigen-specific T cells provide essential information about potency of the immune response. Here, we report a new technique to determine the frequency and potency of antigen-specific CD8 T cells. The assay measures changes of intracellular Ca(2+) in real time by fluorescent microscopy in individual CD8 T cells responding to cognate peptides. The T cells form continuous monolayer, enabling the cells to present the peptides to each other. This approach allows us to evaluate the kinetics of intracellular Ca(2+) signalling that characterizes the quality of T cell response. We demonstrate the usefulness of the assay examining the frequency and quality of cytomegalovirus-specific CD8 T cells from healthy donor and patient after haploidentical stem cell transplantation. The new assay has a potential to provide essential information determining the status of the immune system, disease morbidity, potency of therapeutic intervention and vaccine efficacy

After-hours primary care

After-hours primary care has the potential to improve consumer access to services and reduce the burden on hospital emergency departments. This RESEARCH ROUNDup outlines the function of five models of after-hours service provision, discusses Australian examples of after-hours services and presents information regarding each model’s effectiveness and shortcomings

Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Neural Interfaces

Mammalian nervous system contains billions of neurons that exchange electrical, chemical and mechanical signals. Our ability to study this complexity is limited by the lack of technologies available for interrogating neural circuits across their diverse signaling modalities without inducing a foreign-body reaction. My talk will describe neural interface strategies pursued in my group aimed at mimicking the materials properties and transduction mechanisms of the nervous system. Specifically, I will discuss (1) Fiber-based probes for multifunctional interfaces with the brain and spinal cord circuits; (2) Magnetic nanotransducers for minimally invasive neural stimulation; and (3) Active scaffolds for neural tissue engineering and interrogation. Fiber-drawing methods can be applied to create multifunctional polymer-based probes capable of simultaneous electrical, optical, and chemical probing of neural tissues in freely moving subjects[1]. Similar engineering principles enable ultra-flexible miniature fiber-probes with geometries inspired by nerves, which permit simultaneous optical excitation and recording of neural activity in the spinal cord allowing for optical control of lower limb movement[2]. Furthermore, fiber-based fabrication can be extended to design of scaffolds that direct neural growth[3] and activity[4] facilitating repair of damaged nerves. Molecular mechanisms of action potential firing inspire the development of materials-based strategies for direct manipulation of ion transport across neuronal membranes. For example, hysteretic heat dissipation by magnetic nanomaterials can be used to remotely trigger activity of neurons expressing heat-sensitive ion channels. Since the alternating magnetic fields in the low radiofrequency range interact minimally with the biological tissues, the magnetic nanoparticles injected into the brain can act as transducers of wireless magnetothermal deep brain stimulation[5, 6]. Similarly, local hysteretic heating allows magnetic nanoparticles to disrupt protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative disorders[7]. 1. Canales, A., Jia, X., Froriep, U.P., Koppes, R.A., Tringides, C.M., Selvidge, J., Hou, C., Wei, L., Fink, Y., Anikeeva, P., Multifunctional fibers for simultaneous optical, electrical and chemical interrogation of neural circuits in vivo. Nature Biotechnology, 2015. 33(3): p. 277-284. 2. Lu, C., Froriep, U.P., Canales, A., Koppes, R.A., Caggiano, V., Selvidge, J., Bizzi, E., Anikeeva, P., Polymer fiber probes enable optical control of spinal cord and muscle function in vivo. Advanced Functional Materials, 2014. 24(42): p. 6594-6600. 3. Koppes, R.A., Park, S., Hood, T., Jia, X., Poorheravi, N.A., Achyuta, A.K.H., Fink, Y. Anikeeva, P., Thermally drawn fibers as nerve guidance scaffolds. Biomaterials, 2016. 81: p. 27-35. 4. Park, S., Koppes, R. A., Froriep, U. P., Jia, X., Achyuta, A. K. H., McLaughlin, B. L., Anikeeva, P., Optogenetic control of nerve growth. Scientific Reports, 2015. 5. 5. Chen, R., Romero, G., Christiansen, M.G., Mohr, A., Anikeeva, P., Wireless magnetothermal deep brain stimulation. Science, 2015. 347(6229): p. 1477-1480. 6. Romero, G., Christiansen, M.G., Stocche Barbosa, L., Garcia, F., Anikeeva, P., Localized Excitation of Neural Activity via Rapid Magnetothermal Drug Release. Advanced Functional Materials, 2016. 7. Loynachan, C.N., Romero, G., Christiansen, M.G., Chen, R., Ellison, R., O\u27Malley, T.T., Froriep, U.P., Walsh, D.M., Anikeeva, P., Targeted Magnetic Nanoparticles for Remote Magnetothermal Disruption of Amyloid-β Aggregates. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2015. 4(14): p. 2100-2109

Non-Equilibrium Phonon Transport Across Nanoscale Interfaces

Despite the ubiquity of applications of heat transport across nanoscale interfaces, including integrated circuits, thermoelectrics, and nanotheranostics, an accurate description of phonon transport in these systems remains elusive. Here we present a theoretical and computational framework to describe phonon transport with position, momentum and scattering event resolution. We apply this framework to a single material spherical nanoparticle for which the multidimensional resolution offers insight into the physical origin of phonon thermalization, and length-scale dependent anisotropy of steady-state phonon distributions. We extend the formalism to handle interfaces explicitly and investigate the specific case of semi-coherent materials interfaces by computing the coupling between phonons and interfacial strain resulting from aperiodic array of misfit dislocations. Our framework quantitatively describes the thermal interface resistance within the technologically relevant Si-Ge heterostructures. In future, this formalism could provide new insight into coherent and driven phonon effects in nanoscale materials increasingly accessible via ultrafast, THz and near-field spectroscopies.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Primary health care and social networking: opportunities to enhance communication

The use of social networking technologies in health care and education is known as Health 2.0. Health 2.0 incorporates principles of open access, user-generated content and networking in order to personalise health care, collaborate and promote health education. Social networking technologies that are relevant to primary care include blogs, microblogging websites such as Twitter, wikis and podcasts. This RESEARCH ROUNDup focuses on the ways in which a range of emerging information and communication technologies can improve collaboration between primary health care professionals and across health care sectors

Social media: Opportunities to enhance communication and collaboration between Allied Health and other primary health care professionals

This poster asks how do allied health and other primary health care professionals currently use social media technologies? the current limitations and challenges and future directions

eHealth technologies in primary health care: current strengths and limitations

eHealth aims to improve the quality and safety of Australia’s health system by introducing a more efficient way to collect and share information such as prescriptions and test results. The primary health care sector could benefit substantially from the widespread use of eHealth technologies. The National E-Health Transition Authority is currently working with numerous stakeholders, including general practitioners and allied health professionals to develop an eHealth uptake plan. This RESEARCH ROUNDup focuses on the use of eHealth technologies in primary health care, by exploring the benefits and current limitations of a number of eHealth tools