The Purdue University Get Away Special II (PUGAS II)

The Purdue University Get Away Special Project (PUGAS) is a student-run organization dedicated to preparing payloads for flight on NASA's space shuttle. The first such payload (PUGAS I) flew on Challenger in 1983. The second payload (PUGAS II) should be ready by the end of 1988 and will include three experiments. The first experiment will involve the production of tin metal foam under microgravity conditions. The second experiment will focus on the desorption of water from carbon-epoxy composite materials. The third experiment will use a solid polymeric material to detect radiation in space

Sialoadhesin deficiency does not influence the severity of lupus nephritis in New Zealand Black x New Zealand White F1 mice

Acknowledgements This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship 087078 (to DK) and Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship 081882MA (to PRC). PAL was funded by a Wellcome Trust Programme Grant (083650/Z/07/Z). We thank the Renal Unit in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland, UK, for their support with the immunohistochemistry analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Developmental Regulation of Sialoadhesin (Sheep Erythrocyte Receptor), a Macrophage-Cell Interaction Molecule Expressed in Lymphohemopoietic Tissues

Stromal macrophages in lymphohemopoietic tissues express novel macrophagerestricted plasma membrane receptors involved in nonphagocytic interactions with other hemopoietic cells. One such receptor with lectinlike specificity for sialylated glycoconjugates on sheep erythrocytes and murine hemopoietic cells has been characterized immunochemically and termed sialoadhesin. We have examined sialoadhesin expression during mouse development to learn more about its regulation and function. Immunocytochemical, rosetting, and Western blot studies show that sialoadhesin is first detected on fetal liver macrophages on day 18 of development, 7 days after numerous F4/80+ macrophages are found within erythroblastic islands. In spleen and bone marrow, sialoadhesin appears between day 18 and birth, in parallel with myeloid development. Strongly labeled macrophages in the marginal zone of spleen, characteristic of adult lymphoid tissues, appeared gradually between 1–4 Isolation of fetal liver macrophages at day 14 confirmed that sialoadhesin was not involved in the binding of erythroblasts, which is mediated by a distinct cationdependent receptor (Morris et al., 1988, p. 649). Sialoadhesin could be expressed by isolated fetal liver macrophages after cultivation in adult mouse serum, a known source of inducer activity, but was not dependent on the presence of this inducer, unlike adultderived madrophages. Fetal plasma contained inducing activity on day 13, but adult levels were not reached until 2 weeks postnatally. These studies show that sialoadhesin is differentially regulated compared with the erythroblast receptor and F4/80 antigen, that it is not required for fetal erythropoiesis, and that its induction on stromal macrophages is delayed until the onset of myeloid and lymphoid development. Sialoadhesin provides a marker to study maturation and functions of macrophages during ontogeny of the lymphohemopoietic system

Quantitative Proteomics of Polarised Macrophages Derived from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Macrophages (M(Φ)) are highly heterogenous and versatile innate immune cells involved in homeostatic and immune responses. Activated M(Φ) can exist in two extreme phenotypes: pro-inflammatory (M1) M(Φ) and anti-inflammatory (M2) M(Φ). These phenotypes can be recapitulated in vitro by using ligands of toll-like receptors (TLRs) and cytokines such as IFNγ and IL-4. In recent years, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-derived M(Φ) have gained major attention, as they are functionally similar to human monocyte-derived M(Φ) and are receptive to genome editing. In this study, we polarised iPSC-derived M(Φ) to M1 or M2 and analysed their proteome and secretome profiles using quantitative proteomics. These comprehensive proteomic data sets provide new insights into functions of polarised M(Φ)

Non-invasive molecular imaging of inflammatory macrophages in allograft rejection.

BackgroundMacrophages represent a critical cell type in host defense, development and homeostasis. The ability to image non-invasively pro-inflammatory macrophage infiltrate into a transplanted organ may provide an additional tool for the monitoring of the immune response of the recipient against the donor graft. We therefore decided to image in vivo sialoadhesin (Sn, Siglec 1 or CD169) using anti-Sn mAb (SER-4) directly radiolabelled with (99m)Tc pertechnetate.MethodsWe used a heterotopic heart transplantation model where allogeneic or syngeneic heart grafts were transplanted into the abdomen of recipients. In vivo nanosingle-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging was performed 7 days post transplantation followed by biodistribution and histology.ResultsIn wild-type mice, the majority of (99m)Tc-SER-4 monoclonal antibody cleared from the blood with a half-life of 167 min and was located predominantly on Sn(+) tissues in the spleen, liver and bone marrow. The biodistribution in the transplantation experiments confirmed data derived from the non-invasive SPECT/CT images, with significantly higher levels of (99m)Tc-SER-4 observed in allogeneic grafts (9.4 (±2.7) %ID/g) compared to syngeneic grafts (4.3 (±10.3) %ID/g) (p = 0.0022) or in mice which received allogeneic grafts injected with (99m)Tc-IgG isotype control (5.9 (±0.6) %ID/g) (p = 0.0185). The transplanted heart to blood ratio was also significantly higher in recipients with allogeneic grafts receiving (99m)Tc-SER-4 as compared to recipients with syngeneic grafts (p = 0.000004) or recipients with allogeneic grafts receiving (99m)Tc-IgG isotype (p = 0.000002).ConclusionsHere, we demonstrate that imaging of Sn(+) macrophages in inflammation may provide an important additional and non-invasive tool for the monitoring of the pathophysiology of cellular immunity in a transplant model

NMR evidence for inhomogeneous glassy behavior driven by nematic fluctuations in iron arsenide superconductors

We present $^{75}$As nuclear magnetic resonance spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation rate data in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ and Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Cu$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ as a function of temperature, doping and magnetic field. The relaxation curves exhibit a broad distribution of relaxation rates, consistent with inhomogeneous glassy behavior up to 100 K. The doping and temperature response of the width of the dynamical heterogeneity is similar to that of the nematic susceptibility measured by elastoresistance measurements. We argue that quenched random fields which couple to the nematic order give rise to a nematic glass that is reflected in the spin dynamics.Comment: Accepted to Physical Review

Restoration management of phosphorus pollution on lowland fen peatlands: A data evidence review from the Somerset Levels and Moors

Eutrophication of wetlands caused by urban, industrial and agricultural run-off is an important environmental problem. Eutrophication is characterized by excessive plant and algal growth due to the increased availability of one or more growth “limiting nutrients”, in freshwater generally considered to be controlled by the bioavailability of phosphorus (P). The Somerset Levels and Moors (SLMs) catchments are subject to intensive agriculture and wastewater inputs which leads to nutrient contamination of the inflow waters, to the extent that they fail Water Framework Directive Good Status targets for P concentrations. In 2021, Natural England downgraded the status of the SLMs Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) to ‘Unfavourable Declining’, owing to poor water quality, mostly associated with P concentrations and associated duckweed and filamentous algal blooms. Macro-plant nutrient concentrations were analysed in ditches, dipwells, soil, sediment and harvested plant biomass across a number of sites to provide an assessment of the overall apportionment of P inputs and reservoirs. Here we present a combined dataset of stores, fluxes and loadings of P. The data show large temporal and spatial changes in the concentrations of P and nitrogen (N) across the peat rich soils. We suggest how an altered hydrological regime and plant biomass harvesting could be used to reduce further eutrophication and how legacy P stored in the peat body could be mobilized by flooding and over time evacuated from the wetland. The findings suggest how paludiculture (wet agricultural crops) and rewetting of the peat body may help to restore the Ramsar wetland. We discuss how complex biogeochemical interactions occur during the rewetting process and how the need to export P via new land management mitigation measures should be balanced against requirements to maximise regulating and provisioning ecosystem services