Induction of suppressive allogeneic regulatory T cells via rabbit antithymocyte polyclonal globulin during homeostatic proliferation in rat kidney transplantation

Experimental studies have shown that rabbit antithymocyte polyclonal globulin (ATG) can expand human CD4+CD25++Foxp3+ cells (Tregs). We investigated the major biological effects of a self‐manufactured rabbit polyclonal anti‐rat thymoglobulin (rATG) in vitro, as well as its effects on different peripheral T‐cell subsets. Moreover, we evaluated the allogeneic suppressive capacity of rATG‐induced Tregs in an experimental rat renal transplant model. Our results show that rATG has the capacity to induce apoptosis in T lymphocyte lymphocytes as a primary mechanism of T‐cell depletion. Our in vivo studies demonstrated a rapid but transient cellular depletion of the main T cell subsets, directly proportional to the rATG dose used, but not of the effector memory T cells, which required significantly higher rATG doses. After rATG administration, we observed a significant proliferation of Tregs in the peripheral blood of transplanted rats, leading to an increase in the Treg/T effector ratio. Importantly, rATG‐induced Tregs displayed a strong donor‐specific suppressive capacity when assessed in an antigen‐specific allogeneic co‐culture. All of these results were associated with better renal graft function in rats that received rATG. Our study shows that rATG has the biological capacity immunomodulatory to promote a regulatory alloimmune milieu during post‐transplant homeostatic proliferation.     

Prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in Tucumán,Argentina

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Tucumán, Argentina. METHODS: The study was conducted between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 1999, in Tucumán province in northwest Argentina. Outpatient and hospitalization medical records for all patients with RA aged > or = 16 years were reviewed. Diagnosis was by 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for RA and the population data were based on the 1991 national census. Prevalence rates, with 95% CI, were calculated using the number of San Miguel de Tucumán residents who fulfilled the 1987 ACR criteria for RA as numerator, and the city population aged > or = 16 as denominator. Crude and age-specific prevalence rates were calculated as number of cases/1,000 inhabitants. RESULTS: We identified 695 cases of RA. Sex-specific and overall prevalence rates (per 1,000) were 1.97 (95% CI 1.8-2) for all, 0.6 (95% CI 0.49-0.73) for men, 3.2 (95% CI 2.9-3.5) for women. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of RA is low in residents of Tucumán, Argentina, and comparable with rates observed in epidemiological surveys from Southern European countries.     

Valvuloplasty with balloon catheter in biologic prosthesis. Reality or illusion

We performed catheter balloon valvuloplasty (CBV) on 8 stenotic operatively-excised bioprosthetic valves (2 Hancock and 6 Ionescu Shiley). Pathology of valves before CBV included degenerative changes: commissural fusion by mounds of calcific deposits (2 valves), fibrotic and focally calcified leaflets (7 valves) and stiff and thick valves (1 valve). Inflation of the balloon resulted in commissural splitting (2 valves), leaflet cracks and fractures (3 valves). Removal of the deflated balloon catheter was associated with debris dislodgement (3 valves). In one case the valve was unable to close with potential for acute regurgitation. Thus, CBV of bioprosthetic valves can split fused commissures by similar mechanisms as in native valves. CBV may fracture calcific deposits causing acute emboli. It can also disrupt the leaflets causing acute insufficiency. The findings suggest a limited role of CBV in the treatment of stenotic bioprosthetic valves in mitral and aortic position.     

Mixing real and virtual components in automated manufacturing systems using PLM tools

The automation of manufacturing systems is one of the most important aspects that need to be taken care of during a design process. The Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools allow for the designing of automated systems even before acquiring all the hardware and/or software. This paper shows the use of this PLM kind of tools for mixing virtual and real components on an automated manufacturing system through the implementation of four different case scenarios: using the real process/real controller to the virtual process/virtual controller, real process/real controller to real process/virtual controller and finally, virtual process/real controller to virtual process/virtual controller. These scenarios will be described along with their purposes and the tools used to achieve them. Dassault Systemes DELMIA Automation is used as a PLM tool and is combined with the hardware and software required to achieve each case scenario. The case study used is the Flexible Manufacturing System in the Mechatronics laboratory at the Tecnológico de Monterrey; it’s also presented an implementation of these scenarios in a Manufacturing Systems Automation laboratory class. This study examines students’ use of technology for learning compared to more traditional learning methods. Results suggest that there is more than one good way to learn.     

Does the legalization of medical marijuana increase completed suicide?

Introduction: Suicide is among the 10 most common causes of death in the United States. Researchers have identified a number of factors associated with completed suicide, including marijuana use, and increased land elevation. Colorado is an ideal state to test the strength of these associations. The state has a completed suicide rate well above the national average and over the past 15 years has permitted first the medical and, as 2014, the recreational use of marijuana. Objectives: To determine if there is a correlation between medical marijuana use, as assessed by the number of medical marijuana registrants and completed suicides per county in Colorado. Methods: The number of medical marijuana registrants was used as a proxy for marijuana use. Analysis variables included total medical marijuana registrants, medical marijuana dispensaries per county, total suicide deaths, mechanism of suicide death, gender, total suicide hospitalizations, total unemployment, and county-level information such as mean elevation and whether the county was urban or rural. Analysis was performed with mixed model Poisson regression using generalized linear modeling techniques. Results: We found no consistent association between the number of marijuana registrants and completed suicide after controlling for multiple known risk factors for completed suicide. Conclusion: The legalization of medical marijuana may not have an adverse impact on suicide rates. Given the concern for the increased use of marijuana after its legalization, our negative findings provide some reassurance. However, this conclusion needs to be examined in light of the limitations of our study and may not be generalizable to those with existing severe mental illness. This finding may have significant public health implications for the presumable increase in marijuana use that may follow legalization.     

Taenia crassiceps WFU cysticerci synthesize corticosteroids in vitro: metyrapone regulates the production

Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps WFU cysticerci and tapeworms have the ability to synthesize sex steroid hormones and have a functional 3β-hydroxisteroid dehydrogenase. Corticosteroids (CS) like corticosterone and dexamethasone have been shown to stimulate in vitro estrogen production by Taenia crassiceps WFU cysticerci. The aim of this work was to study the ability of T. crassiceps WFU cysticerci to synthesize corticosteroids, and the effect of the inhibitor metyrapone on the CS synthesis. For this purpose T. crassiceps WFU cysticerci were obtained from the abdominal cavity of mice, thoroughly washed and pre-incubated in multiwells for 24 h in DMEM plus antibiotics/antimycotics. The tritiated CS precursor progesterone ((3)H-P4) was added to the culture media and parasites cultured for different periods. Blanks containing the culture media plus the (3)H-P4 were simultaneously incubated. Blanks and parasite culture media were ether extracted and analyzed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) in two different solvent systems. Corticosterone production was measured in the culture media by RIA. In some experiments metyrapone (0.1-0.5 mM) was added for 24, 48 or 72 h. Results showed that cysticerci mainly synthesized tritiated 11-deoxy corticosterone (DOC) and small amounts of corticosterone that was also detected by RIA. Small amounts of (3)H-11-deoxy cortisol were also found. Corticosteroid synthesis was time dependent. The addition of metyrapone significantly inhibited tritiated DOC, deoxycortisol and corticosterone synthesis. These results show for the first time that parasites have the capacity to synthesize CS that is modulated by metyrapone. Data suggest that DOC is the main corticosteroid in the parasites.     

Postprandial changes in plasma acylcarnitine concentrations as markers of fatty acid flux in overweight and obesity

This study determined whether reductions in postprandial plasma nonesterified fatty acid (FFA) flux would lead to reductions in plasma acylcarnitine (AC) concentrations. Plasma AC was measured by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in the fasting state and over 6 hours after a high-fat (50% energy) meal was fed to 16 overweight and obese subjects with a wide range of insulin sensitivities. Body composition was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; insulin sensitivity by insulin-modified, frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test; substrate oxidation by indirect calorimetry; blood metabolite and hormone concentrations biochemically; and fatty acid flux by using stable isotope tracers. Lean body mass and fasting fat oxidation correlated positively (r > 0.522, P < .05), whereas glucose oxidation correlated negatively (r < -0.551, P < .04), with fasting AC. Postprandially, plasma glucose, insulin, and triglyceride concentrations increased; and FFA concentrations decreased significantly. The responses of plasma AC species depended on chain length and saturation, with C14:0, C16:0, and C18:0 remaining unchanged, and unsaturated species (eg, C14:1, C14:2) falling significantly (21%-46%, P < .03). Postmeal nadir AC concentrations were positively associated with lean body mass, postprandial fatty acid flux, and FFA concentrations (r > 0.515, P < .05). By contrast, nadir AC correlated negatively with insulin sensitivity and spillover of meal-derived fatty acids (r < -0.528, P < .04). Conditions that impact fatty acid flux contribute to the control of postprandial plasma AC concentrations. These data underscore the need for a better understanding of postprandial fatty acid oxidation and dietary fat delivery in the setting of adipose insulin resistance to determine how postprandial lipemia contributes to chronic disease risk.     

Water and sustainable land use at the ancient tropical city of Tikal, Guatemala

The access to water and the engineered landscapes accommodating its collection and allocation are pivotal issues for assessing sustainability. Recent mapping, sediment coring, and formal excavation at Tikal, Guatemala, have markedly expanded our understanding of ancient Maya water and land use. Among the landscape and engineering feats identified are the largest ancient dam identified in the Maya area of Central America; the posited manner by which reservoir waters were released; construction of a cofferdam for dredging the largest reservoir at Tikal; the presence of ancient springs linked to the initial colonization of Tikal; the use of sand filtration to cleanse water entering reservoirs; a switching station that facilitated seasonal filling and release; and the deepest rock-cut canal segment in the Maya Lowlands. These engineering achievements were integrated into a system that sustained the urban complex through deep time, and they have implications for sustainable construction and use of water management systems in tropical forest settings worldwide.     

The Role of Parental Language Acculturation in the Formation of Social Capital: Differential Effects on High-risk Children

This person-centered study examines the extent to which parents’ language dominance influences the effects of an after school, multi-family group intervention, FAST, on low-income children’s emotional and behavioral outcomes via parents’ relations with other parents and with school staff. Social capital resides in relationships of trust and shared expectations, which are highly dependent on whether parents share the language of other parents and teachers. This study is based on a community epidemiologically-defined sample of Latino families (N = 3,091) in San Antonio, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. Latent profile analyses revealed three language profiles of parents across the two cities: English-dominant, Spanish-dominant, and bilingual. Path models revealed that FAST did not have a direct or indirect effect on children’s emotional and behavior functioning, although FAST increased parent–parent and parent-school social capital among Spanish-dominant parents in Arizona and these parent–parent relations were associated with better child outcomes. Implications for interventions are discussed.