Manufacturing Dendritic Cells for Immunotherapy: Monocyte Enrichment

Dendritic cells play a key role in activation of the immune system as potent antigen-presenting cells. This pivotal position, along with the ability to generate dendritic cells from monocytes and ready uptake of antigen, makes them an intriguing vehicle for immunotherapy for a variety of indications. Since the first reported trial using dendritic cells in 1995, they have been used in trials all over the world for a plethora of indications. Monocyte-derived dendritic cells are generated from whole blood or apheresis products by culturing enriched monocytes in the presence of interleukin (IL)-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). A variety of methods can be used for enrichment of monocytes for generation of clinical-grade dendritic cells and are summarized herein

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Suicidal Behaviors, And Body Investment in Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Young Adults

College-aged individuals who identify with a sexual minority orientation are at high risk for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behaviors. Research is lacking on identification of factors contributing to increased risk for this population. This study examined two facets of body investment, body protection and body feelings, as they relate to NSSI, individual and total suicidal behaviors, and sexual orientation. It was hypothesized that NSSI and individual suicidal behaviors would be more frequent in the sexual minority sample compared to the heterosexual sample, body protection and body feelings would be poorer in sexual minorities compared to the heterosexual sample, and low body protection and body feelings would be associated with increased NSSI and total suicidal behaviors. Results indicated no significant difference of prevalence of NSSI and suicidal behaviors between the heterosexual and sexual minority samples. However, sexual minorities reported more suicidal ideation. Increased suicidal behaviors and suicidal ideation, and decreased body protection were significantly correlated with sexual orientation. Decreased body protection was a significant predictor of NSSI frequency, and poor body feelings and decreased body protection were significant predictors of suicidal behavior for the whole sample. Findings of this study may provide direction for important sexual minority research and treatment

SUBVERSIA: THE \u3ci\u3esub\u3c/i\u3eURBAN SUBVERSIVE

The palimpsest is, by definition, \u27writing material (as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased.\u27 It provides a conceptual field for the layering of text, or meaning, over time. This text may be built up by successive authors and can be altered by additions and erasures. Traces of these amendments remain, providing a history of revision of the original text. Additions that comment on and interpret the primary text are called marginalia. Landscape operates as a palimpsest, with written, rewritten, erased, and revised layers of history. While typically considered ahistoric, the suburban commercial strip also operates as a palimpsest, one composed more of systems and processes, both natural and artificial, than of historic references. It is the role of the margin to comment upon the main text of the site, to reveal the layers of history, systems, and processes imbedded within it, and to add an additional layer of meaning and function to the existing landscape palimpsest that is absent from the normative condition. The primary text of the most recent layer of the suburban strip palimpsest consists of a system of roads, parking lots, and buildings- primarily big-box retail. This system is monoprogrammatically consumptive and prescriptive, and seeks a homogenous landscape and inhuman scale in order to maximize profitability. This is achieved through cut/fill construction, providinging large expanses of unnaturally flat terrain and massive earthworks of retention. The natural topography and natural systems of the landscape are subsumed and subjugated by this system, often by a thin veneer, ephemeral in both construction and in program. The residual landscape of the margin resides between these elements, and its resultant architecture must, in contrast and as commentary, provide varying scales and typologies of non-prescriptive space that are inherently bound to the imbedded layers of the site. Movements made in the marginal conditions have resultant reverberations in the main text of the site, and space is created as a direct result of these movements. An architecture of erasure in the margins and redistribution in the primary text will reveal some imbedded layers through void, call attention to others through accretion, and provide spaces for subversive non-consumptive counterprogramming

Girls on Fire: The Evolution of Female Characters in Young Adult Literature

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A Most Precious Right: Equal Protection, Voter Photo Identification, and the Battle Brewing in Texas

On a Tuesday in November, millions of Americans showup and cast their votes, even in the face of cynicism,perceived futility, and disappointment with the politiciansin Washington. It is the birthright of every citizen, andthere is simply nothing more fundamentally American.The future of this right is now uncertain in the wake of theUnited States Supreme Court decisions Crawford andShelby County. This Note suggests finding certainty byre-framing the current test for the constitutionality of statevoting restrictions, the Anderson-Burdick Balancing Test.This new imagining of the current test hinges onidentifying the nature of the burden being placed on votersby the state restriction. Instead of a one-size-fits-all test,courts would choose between two standards-AndersonorBurdick. This Note explores this new iteration of the testthrough a case study of the interaction of several Texasstate laws and policies that could lead to thedisenfranchisement of thousands of United States citizenssimply because they were born to undocumentedimmigrants

Should We Flip the Script?: A Literature Review of Deficit-Based Perspectives on First-Year Undergraduate Students’ Information Literacy

This mixed method systematic review considers recent literature on the information literacy (IL) skills of first-year undergraduate students. The review uncovers the following themes: faculty and librarians perceive first-year students as lacking IL skills; students have varying perceptions of their IL skills; assessment studies yield conflicting findings on first-year students\u27 IL; communication between high school and college librarians is challenging; and some IL researchers emphasise and leverage first-year students\u27 prior knowledge and experience in IL instruction. These themes emerge from extensive searches in four research databases for scholarly and professional articles written in English within the past ten years. With the exception of a few articles, studies reviewed consistently express their findings in terms of students’ gaps or deficits. We question whether this is the most productive basis for developing effective IL programs. Instead, we call for further investigation of students’ existing knowledge and skills as a basis for implementing constructivist and strengths-based pedagogies

Investigation of high-frequency ultrasound biomicroscopy for examining arteriopathy in hand transplant patients.

The fourth hand transplant recipient in Louisville lost his graft at nine months post transplant from ischemia due to severe graft arteriopathy. Conventional imaging techniques and clinical measurements, including CT angiography and measurements of brachial indices via ultrasound, did not indicate that the patient was in such a severe condition in the days prior to amputation. Histological analysis of tissue from the amputated graft revealed massive intimal hyperplasia, a hallmark of chronic rejection. The purpose of this study was to describe a method to allow non-invasive monitoring of wall thicknesses in the radial, ulnar, palmar arch, and digital arteries of the transplanted hand. A novel ultrasound biomicroscopy unit (Vevo 2100) was used to image the blood vessels of the transplanted and native hands in four hand transplant recipients, ranging from 16 months to 11 years post transplant. The unit has a potential resolution of 30 µm, which allowed measurement of the intima and media layers of the arteries. The intima, media, and lumen measurements were compared in the native and transplanted hand in all four patients. Significant increases in intima thickness were found in the transplanted hands. In addition, the transplanted hand had significantly higher intima to lumen diameter ratios. From Doppler waveforms, it was found that that peak velocities were lower in the transplanted hand. Finally, hoop stress calculations revealed that the hoop stress seen in the arterial walls was lower in the transplanted hand. The ultrasound biomicroscopy unit provided an accurate, repeatable, and real-time method to investigate the arteriopathy of hand transplant patients. In the future, it will provide a way for clinicians to monitor the progression of arteriopathy in the hand, including intimal hyperplasia

Functional evolution of the feeding system in rodents

The masticatory musculature of rodents has evolved to enable both gnawing at the incisors and chewing at the molars. In particular, the masseter muscle is highly specialised, having extended anteriorly to originate from the rostrum. All living rodents have achieved this masseteric expansion in one of three ways, known as the sciuromorph, hystricomorph and myomorph conditions. Here, we used finite element analysis (FEA) to investigate the biomechanical implications of these three morphologies, in a squirrel, guinea pig and rat. In particular, we wished to determine whether each of the three morphologies is better adapted for either gnawing or chewing. Results show that squirrels are more efficient at muscle-bite force transmission during incisor gnawing than guinea pigs, and that guinea pigs are more efficient at molar chewing than squirrels. This matches the known diet of nuts and seeds that squirrels gnaw, and of grasses that guinea pigs grind down with their molars. Surprisingly, results also indicate that rats are more efficient as well as more versatile feeders than both the squirrel and guinea pig. There seems to be no compromise in biting efficiency to accommodate the wider range of foodstuffs and the more general feeding behaviour adopted by rats. Our results show that the morphology of the skull and masticatory muscles have allowed squirrels to specialise as gnawers and guinea pigs as chewers, but that rats are high-performance generalists, which helps explain their overwhelming success as a group

Dating, dining, and ducks: Monitoring the recovery of campus lakes after dredging

Dr. Emily Kane, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology ($30,000.00) Monitored pond recovery after recent dredging by involving students to survey these ponds each month for 1 year. Results were shared in hopes of promoting an understanding of campus biodiversity, the ecology of these ponds, and the importance of sustainable activities

Understanding the intensity of UK policy commitments to nuclear power: the role of perceived imperatives to maintain military nuclear submarine capabilities

The UK Government has long been planning to build up to 16 GWe of new nuclear power – a proportional level of support unparalleled in other liberalised energy markets. Despite many challenging developments, these general nuclear attachments show no sign of easing. With many viable alternative strategies for efficient, secure, low-carbon energy services, it is difficult to explain these commitments solely in terms of officially-declared policy rationales. A variety of possible reasons are suggested for the persistent intensity of UK attachments to civil nuclear power. Each is taken here as a basis for systematic hypothesis testing. And one additional hypothesis is also interrogated that has hitherto been virtually entirely neglected – about maintaining national capabilities to build and operate nuclear propelled submarines. To explore and test this idea, this paper analyses linkages between UK military and civilian nuclear sectors in terms of high-level policy processes around supply chains, skills and expertise. Especially interesting is the critical juncture between 2003-2006, when stated policy moved radically from nuclear power as ‘unattractive’ to calls for a ‘nuclear renaissance’. In this period, especially intense activity can be observed around UK nuclear submarine capabilities. Among many factors, we conclude it is difficult fully to comprehend the persistent intensity of official UK attachments to nuclear power, without also considering aims to maintain nuclear submarine capabilities. Yet this aspect is entirely undocumented anywhere in UK energy policy literatures. To acknowledge this, is not to entertain a conspiracy theory. It can be understood instead, in terms of more distributed and relational dynamics of power. Building on literatures in political science, we refer to this as a ‘deep incumbency complex’. Such an evidently under-visible phenomenon would hold important mplications not only for UK nuclear strategies, but also the wider state of British democracy