The Challenge of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Expansion: Current and Prospective Answers

In the field of cell therapy, allogenic human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) are often used in clinical trials, creating a demand for cell mass production using efficient dynamic bioreactor systems. As an advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP), such cells should meet certain special requirements, including product specifications requiring a production process compatible with good manufacturing practice (GMP). The development of processes in which the cells are the product therefore remains a significant challenge. This chapter describes the requirements at different steps in the upstream and downstream phases of such dynamic processes. Potential solutions are presented and future prospects are discussed, including the selection of media and carriers for the strictly adherent growing cells, allowing efficient cell adhesion and detachment. Strategies for dynamic cultivation in bioreactors are described in detail for fixed‐bed and stirred‐tank reactors based on GMP requirements and the integration of process analytical technology (PAT). Following cell harvest, separation and purification, the formulation and storage of the product are also described. Finally, the chapter covers important cell quality characteristics necessary for the approval of ATMPs

High Performance Algorithms for Counting Collisions and Pairwise Interactions

The problem of counting collisions or interactions is common in areas as computer graphics and scientific simulations. Since it is a major bottleneck in applications of these areas, a lot of research has been carried out on such subject, mainly focused on techniques that allow calculations to be performed within pruned sets of objects. This paper focuses on how interaction calculation (such as collisions) within these sets can be done more efficiently than existing approaches. Two algorithms are proposed: a sequential algorithm that has linear complexity at the cost of high memory usage; and a parallel algorithm, mathematically proved to be correct, that manages to use GPU resources more efficiently than existing approaches. The proposed and existing algorithms were implemented, and experiments show a speedup of 21.7 for the sequential algorithm (on small problem size), and 1.12 for the parallel proposal (large problem size). By improving interaction calculation, this work contributes to research areas that promote interconnection in the modern world, such as computer graphics and robotics.Comment: Accepted in ICCS 2019 and published in Springer's LNCS series. Supplementary content at https://mjsaldanha.com/articles/1-hpc-ssp

A Study of Projections for Key Point Based Registration of Panoramic Terrestrial 3D Laser Scans

Abstract This paper surveys state of the art image features and descriptors for the task of 3D scan registration based on panoramic reflectance images. As modern terrestrial laser scanners digitize their environment in a spherical way, the sphere has to be projected to a two-dimensional image. To this end, we evaluate the equirectangular, the cylindrical, the Mercator, the rectilinear, the Pannini, the stereographic, and the z-axis projection. We show that the Mercator and the Pannini projection outperform the other projection methods

Streaming visualisation of quantitative mass spectrometry data based on a novel raw signal decomposition method

As data rates rise, there is a danger that informatics for high-throughput LC-MS becomes more opaque and inaccessible to practitioners. It is therefore critical that efficient visualisation tools are available to facilitate quality control, verification, validation, interpretation, and sharing of raw MS data and the results of MS analyses. Currently, MS data is stored as contiguous spectra. Recall of individual spectra is quick but panoramas, zooming and panning across whole datasets necessitates processing/memory overheads impractical for interactive use. Moreover, visualisation is challenging if significant quantification data is missing due to data-dependent acquisition of MS/MS spectra. In order to tackle these issues, we leverage our seaMass technique for novel signal decomposition. LC-MS data is modelled as a 2D surface through selection of a sparse set of weighted B-spline basis functions from an over-complete dictionary. By ordering and spatially partitioning the weights with an R-tree data model, efficient streaming visualisations are achieved. In this paper, we describe the core MS1 visualisation engine and overlay of MS/MS annotations. This enables the mass spectrometrist to quickly inspect whole runs for ionisation/chromatographic issues, MS/MS precursors for coverage problems, or putative biomarkers for interferences, for example. The open-source software is available from http://seamass.net/viz/

A sensor skid for precise 3d modeling of production lines

ABSTRACT: Motivated by the increasing need of rapid characterization of environments in 3D, we designed and built a sensor skid that automates the work of an operator of terrestrial laser scanners. The system combines terrestrial laser scanning with kinematic laser scanning and uses a novel semi-rigid SLAM method. It enables us to digitize factory environments without the need to stop production. The acquired 3D point clouds are precise and suitable to detect objects that collide with items moved along the production line

Rekonstruktive Inklusionsforschung aus praxeologisch-wissenssoziologischer Perspektive

Im Kontext einer rekonstruktiven Inklusionsforschung praxeologischer Provenienz werden drei aktuelle Forschungsprojekte präsentiert, die sich durch einen gemeinsamen methodologisch-methodischen Ansatz auszeichnen: Praxeologische Wissenssoziologie und Dokumentarische Interpretation von Unterrichtsvideografien (Bohnsack 2010; Bohnsack, Fritzsche & Wagner-Willi 2015). Unter Bezugnahme auf ihre Gegenstände – insbesondere Leistungslogiken und Adressierungspraxen – wird das Potential dieses Ansatzes für eine Rekonstruktion der schulischen Unterrichtspraxis in ihrer Mehrdimensionalität in formal inklusiven und exklusiven Organisationen diskutiert. Über die analytische Dimension hinaus werden zudem einige Überlegungen für die inklusive Schulentwicklung skizziert. (DIPF/Orig.

Unterrichtsmilieus in inklusiven und exklusiven Schulformen. Eine qualitativ-rekonstruktive Studie zur Herstellung von Leistungsdifferenzen im Fachunterricht der Sekundarstufe I

Der Beitrag präsentiert das Forschungsdesign und erste Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Studie zur fachunterrichtlichen Herstellung von Leistungsdifferenz in kontrastierenden Schulformen der Sekundarstufe I und stellt die in diesem Rahmen verorteten Dissertationsprojekte zu Adressierungspraxen bzw. zu Leistungslogiken des videografisch erhobenen Unterrichts vor. (DIPF/Orig.

Bioreactor Expansion of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells According to GMP Requirements

In cell therapy, the use of autologous and allogenic human mesenchymal stem cells is rising. Accordingly, the supply of cells for clinical applications in highest quality is required. As hMSCs are considered as an advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP), they underlie the requirements of GMP and PAT according to the authorities (FDA and EMA). The production process of these cells must therefore be documented according to GMP, which is usually performed via a GMP protocol based on standard operating procedures. This chapter provides an example of such a GMP protocol for hMSC, here a genetically modified allogenic cell line, based on a production process in a microcarrier-based stirred tank reactor including process monitoring according to PAT and final product quality assurance

Algorithmic Solutions for Computing Precise Maximum Likelihood 3D Point Clouds from Mobile Laser Scanning Platforms

Mobile laser scanning puts high requirements on the accuracy of the positioning systems and the calibration of the measurement system. We present a novel algorithmic approach for calibration with the goal of improving the measurement accuracy of mobile laser scanners. We describe a general framework for calibrating mobile sensor platforms that estimates all configuration parameters for any arrangement of positioning sensors, including odometry. In addition, we present a novel semi-rigid Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm that corrects the vehicle position at every point in time along its trajectory, while simultaneously improving the quality and precision of the entire acquired point cloud. Using this algorithm, the temporary failure of accurate external positioning systems or the lack thereof can be compensated for. We demonstrate the capabilities of the two newly proposed algorithms on a wide variety of datasets