Proposal for the creation of a national network of global studies high schools

This is a proposal to seek private and public funding to create a national network of global studies high schools (GSHS). The aim of a network of GSHSs is to enlarge the leadership corps of the next generation and to equip its members to address mounting global challenges to the security, material welfare, and freedoms of the American people, the citizens of open societies everywhere, and those who are striving to join their ranks.Title VI National Resource Center Grant (P015A060066)published or submitted for publicationnot peer reviewe

Application of the migratory nature of human mesenchymal stem cells to optimise microcarrier-based expansion processes

As the number of mesenchymal stem cell based therapies proceeding through clinical trials increases so does the demand for well characterized, scalable expansion technologies that can yield the estimated number of cells required. Microcarriers used in conjunction with stirred tank bioreactors provide a suitable platform for this large scale expansion. Research has proven that mesenchymal stem cells migrate between microcarriers during culture in agitated systems. A series of experiments have been conducted using Pall SoloHill microcarriers to determine whether this bead-to-bead transfer mechanism can be exploited to streamline various unit operations of the expansion process such as the initial bioreactor inoculation. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Grounded Theory Method and Symbolic Interactionism: Freedom of Conceptualization and the Importance of Context in Research

Der symbolische Interaktionismus (SI), eine Perspektive zum Verständnis menschlichen Verhaltens, wird gemeinhin als Grundlage für die Grounded-Theory-Methodologie (GTM) angesehen. Der Zweck der GTM besteht jedoch darin, aus Daten eine substanzielle, erklärende Sozialtheorie zu erstellen, ohne sich auf vorherige Annahmen zu stützen. Daher argumentieren einige, dass SI eine unnötige theoretische Einschränkung des Hauptziels der GTM – der freien Konzeptualisierung von Daten – darstelle. In diesem Artikel verwenden wir Beispiele aus einer laufenden konstruktivistischen Grounded-Theory-Studie über die Aushandlung der Rollen von Krankenschwestern in der Allgemeinmedizin in Neuseeland, um zu zeigen, was SI in Bezug auf die konzeptionelle Entwicklung und das Verständnis des Kontextes beitragen kann. Wir argumentieren, dass durch das Stellen von drei Fragen aus einer symbolisch-interaktionistischen Perspektive in jeder Phase des Forschungsprozesses die Freiheit der Konzeptualisierung erhöht und das Bewusstsein für kontextuelle Belange gefördert werden kann, um eine bessere Brücke zwischen den Weltsichten zu schlagen.Symbolic interactionism (SI), a perspective used to understand human conduct, is commonly said to underpin grounded theory methodology (GTM). However, the purpose of GTM is to produce substantive explanatory social theory from data without reliance on prior assumptions. Therefore, some argue that SI is an unnecessary theoretical constraint on the principal aim of GTM—the free conceptualization of data. In this article we use examples from an ongoing constructionist grounded theory study into the negotiation of nurses' roles in general practice in New Zealand, to demonstrate how SI can inform GTM regarding conceptual development and context. We argue that by asking three questions from a symbolic interactionist perspective, at each stage of the research process, freedom of conceptualization may be enhanced and awareness of contextual matters promoted to better bridge world views

Servant Leadership on Burnout among Physicians in Residency Training

Physicians in residency training (PIRTs) in the United States are facing extreme burnout. The prevalence of burnout among physicians in residency training may cause adverse consequences such as medical malfeasance, alcoholism, or suicide due to physical and mental exhaustion. The purpose of this study was to analyze the servant leadership style of physician trainers and burnout among PIRTs in academic medical centers in the United States to ultimately increase wellness and thereby mitigate burnout. Servant leadership was the theoretical foundation for this study. This research investigated whether servant leadership characteristics of physician trainers played a statistically significant role in burnout of PIRTs while controlling for demographic variables (age, gender, and years in residency training). A sample of 122 PIRTs in academic medical centers in the United States were recruited through email lists and others with explicit permission from program administrators and senior leaders. Each participant answered a servant leadership survey, Oldenburg burnout inventory, and a learning climate questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the independent variable, servant leadership, and the dependent variable, burnout. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant, negative relationship between the perceived servant leadership of physician trainers and the burnout of PIRTs. Overall, PIRTs had a moderate degree of burnout. Physician trainers generally showed a high degree of servant leadership characteristics. Implications for positive social change include educators and leaders in academic medical centers potentially using servant leadership characteristics to mitigate burnout among PIRTs while contributing to a collaborative learning environment

A potentially scalable method for the harvesting of hMSCs from microcarriers

The use of hMSCs for allogeneic therapies requiring lot sizes of billions of cells will necessitate large-scale culture techniques such as the expansion of cells on microcarriers in bioreactors. Whilst much research investigating hMSC culture on microcarriers has focused on growth, much less involves their harvesting for passaging or as a step towards cryopreservation and storage. A successful new harvesting method has recently been outlined for cells grown on SoloHill microcarriers in a 5L bioreactor [1]. Here, this new method is set out in detail, harvesting being defined as a two-step process involving cell 'detachment' from the microcarriers' surface followed by the 'separation' of the two entities. The new detachment method is based on theoretical concepts originally developed for secondary nucleation due to agitation. Based on this theory, it is suggested that a short period (here 7min) of intense agitation in the presence of a suitable enzyme should detach the cells from the relatively large microcarriers. In addition, once detached, the cells should not be damaged because they are smaller than the Kolmogorov microscale. Detachment was then successfully achieved for hMSCs from two different donors using microcarrier/cell suspensions up to 100mL in a spinner flask. In both cases, harvesting was completed by separating cells from microcarriers using a Steriflip® vacuum filter. The overall harvesting efficiency was >95% and after harvesting, the cells maintained all the attributes expected of hMSC cells. The underlying theoretical concepts suggest that the method is scalable and this aspect is discussed too

Multiparameter flow cytometry for the characterization of human embryonic stem cells

Using multiparameter staining methods and flow cytometry to investigate the pluripotency of HUES7 human embryonic stem cell cultures, it was found that the multidimensional approach of marker co-expression allowed the different cell populations to be easily identified and demonstrated cross reactivity between the SSEA 4 and SSEA 1 antibodies, resulting in a substantial false positive SSEA 1 population. It is the accepted norm to apply control gates at a 95 % confidence level of the isotype control; however, this study found that adjusting the control gate to a 99 % confidence level significantly reduced the effect of this cross reactivity. Though conversely, this gating shift also decreased the positive marker expression of SSEA 4 and Tra-1-60, indicating that there is a need for strongly expressing markers coupled with increased optimization of fluorophore/antibody combinations before a gating strategy of 99 % can be implemented on a more routine basis

A quantitative approach for understanding small-scale human mesenchymal stem cell culture implications for large-scale bioprocess development

Human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) therapies have the potential to revolutionise the healthcare industry and replicate the success of the therapeutic protein industry; however, for this to be achieved there is a need to apply key bioprocessing engineering principles and adopt a quantitative approach for large-scale reproducible hMSC bioprocess development. Here we provide a quantitative analysis of the changes in concentration of glucose, lactate and ammonium with time during hMSC monolayer culture over 4 passages, under 100% and 20% dissolved oxgen (dO2), where either a 100%, 50% or 0% growth medium exchange was performed after 72h in culture. Yield coefficients, specific growth rates (h-1) and doubling times (h) were calculated for all cases. The 100% dO2 flasks outperformed the 20% dO2 flasks with respect to cumulative cell number, with the latter consuming more glucose and producing more lactate and ammonium. Furthermore, the 100% and 50% medium exchange conditions resulted in similar cumulative cell numbers, whilst the 0% conditions were significantly lower. Cell immunophenotype and multipotency were not affected by the experimental culture conditions. This study demonstrates the importance of determining optimal culture conditions for hMSC expansion and highlights a potential cost savings from only making a 50% medium exchange, which may prove significant for large-scale bioprocessing