Cultural beliefs about health professionals and perceived empathy influence continuity of cancer screening following a negative encounter.

PubMed

Amador, Jael A; Flynn, Patricia M; Betancourt, Hector

2015-10-01

Negative health care encounters have implications for preventive medical services and continuity of health care. This study examined cultural and interpersonal psychological factors involved in health care interactions that may ameliorate the detrimental effects of negative encounters. A mixed-methods approach was implemented to examine the relations among positive cultural beliefs about health professionals, perceived professional empathy, interpersonal emotions, and continuity of cancer screening among 237 Latin American (Latino) and non-Latino White (Anglo) American women who reported a negative health care encounter. Multi-group structural equation modeling revealed that for Latino and Anglo women, positive cultural beliefs about health professionals in general were associated with higher perceptions of empathy regarding a professional involved in a negative encounter. In addition, for Latino women, perceptions of higher professional empathy and less negative emotions were associated with better continuity of cancer screening. Interventions designed to improve professionals' empathy skills and diverse patients' perceptions of professionals could improve patient-professional relations.

High-precision terahertz frequency modulated continuous wave imaging method using continuous wavelet transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yu; Wang, Tianyi; Dai, Bing; Li, Wenjun; Wang, Wei; You, Chengwu; Wang, Kejia; Liu, Jinsong; Wang, Shenglie; Yang, Zhengang

2018-02-01

Inspired by the extensive application of terahertz (THz) imaging technologies in the field of aerospace, we exploit a THz frequency modulated continuous-wave imaging method with continuous wavelet transform (CWT) algorithm to detect a multilayer heat shield made of special materials. This method uses the frequency modulation continuous-wave system to catch the reflected THz signal and then process the image data by the CWT with different basis functions. By calculating the sizes of the defects area in the final images and then comparing the results with real samples, a practical high-precision THz imaging method is demonstrated. Our method can be an effective tool for the THz nondestructive testing of composites, drugs, and some cultural heritages.

Nanopillar based electrochemical biosensor for monitoring microfluidic based cell culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gangadharan, Rajan

In-vitro assays using cultured cells have been widely performed for studying many aspects of cell biology and cell physiology. These assays also form the basis of cell based sensing. Presently, analysis procedures on cell cultures are done using techniques that are not integrated with the cell culture system. This approach makes continuous and real-time in-vitro measurements difficult. It is well known that the availability of continuous online measurements for extended periods of time will help provide a better understanding and will give better insight into cell physiological events. With this motivation we developed a highly sensitive, selective and stable microfluidic electrochemical glucose biosensor to make continuous glucose measurements in cell culture media. The performance of the microfluidic biosensor was enhanced by adding 3D nanopillars to the electrode surfaces. The microfluidic glucose biosensor consisted of three electrodes---Enzyme electrode, Working electrode, and Counter electrode. All these electrodes were enhanced with nanopillars and were optimized in their respective own ways to obtain an effective and stable biosensing device in cell culture media. For example, the 'Enzyme electrode' was optimized for enzyme immobilization via either a polypyrrole-based or a self-assembled-monolayer-based immobilization method, and the 'Working electrode' was modified with Prussian Blue or electropolymerized Neutral Red to reduce the working potential and also the interference from other interacting electro-active species. The complete microfluidic biosensor was tested for its ability to monitor glucose concentration changes in cell culture media. The significance of this work is multifold. First, the developed device may find applications in continuous and real-time measurements of glucose concentrations in in-vitro cell cultures. Second, the development of a microfluidic biosensor will bring technical know-how toward constructing continuous glucose monitoring devices. Third, the methods used to develop 3D electrodes incorporated with nanopillars can be used for other applications such as neural probes, fuel cells, solar cells etc., and finally, the knowledge obtained from the immobilization of enzymes onto nanostructures sheds some new insight into nanomaterial/biomolecule interactions.

Ethnocinema and the Impossibility of Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Anne

2014-01-01

The emerging methodology of ethnocinema fuses techniques from its ethnographic origins with its co-constitutive methods, and invites collaborators to creatively come together for mutual education and cultural transformation. Education as a site of the enactment and "politics of identity construction" continues to confront notions of…

Primary isolation of Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli from environmental sources

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Since the time of the first microbe hunters, primary culture and isolation of bacteria has been a foundation of microbiology. Like other microbial methods, bacterial culture and isolation methodologies continue to develop. Although fundamental concepts like selection and enrichment are as relevant t...

Examining the sources of variability in cell culture media used for biopharmaceutical production.

PubMed

McGillicuddy, Nicola; Floris, Patrick; Albrecht, Simone; Bones, Jonathan

2018-01-01

Raw materials, in particular cell culture media, represent a significant source of variability to biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes that can detrimentally affect cellular growth, viability and specific productivity or alter the quality profile of the expressed therapeutic protein. The continual expansion of the biopharmaceutical industry is creating an increasing demand on the production and supply chain consistency for cell culture media, especially as companies embrace intensive continuous processing. Here, we provide a historical perspective regarding the transition from serum containing to serum-free media, the development of chemically-defined cell culture media for biopharmaceutical production using industrial scale bioprocesses and review production mechanisms for liquid and powder culture media. An overview and critique of analytical approaches used for the characterisation of cell culture media and the identification of root causes of variability are also provided, including in-depth liquid phase separations, mass spectrometry and spectroscopic methods.

Methods for culturing saltwater rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) for rearing larval zebrafish.

PubMed

Lawrence, Christian; Sanders, Erik; Henry, Eric

2012-09-01

The saltwater rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis, is widely used in the aquaculture industry as a prey item for first-feeding fishes due to its ease of culture, small size, rapid reproductive rate, and amenability to enrichment with nutrients. Despite the distinct advantages of this approach, rotifers have only been sporadically utilized for rearing larval zebrafish, primarily because of the common misconception that maintaining cultures of rotifers is difficult and excessively time-consuming. Here we present simple methods for maintaining continuous cultures of rotifers capable of supporting even the very largest zebrafish aquaculture facility, with minimal investments in materials, time, labor, and space. Examples of the methods' application in one large, existing facility is provided, and troubleshooting of common problems is discussed.

Learning Music Literacies across Transnational School Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skerrett, Allison

2018-01-01

This article examines an adolescent's music literacy education across Caribbean and U.S. schools using qualitative research methods and theories of multimodality, transnationalism, and global cultural flows. Findings include that the youth's music literacy practices continuously shifted in response to the cultural practices and values of the…

Determination of specific growth stages of plant cell suspension cultures by monitoring conductivity changes in the medium.

PubMed

Hahlbrock, K; Ebel, J; Oaks, A; Auden, J; Liersch, M

1974-03-01

Conductivity changes in the medium of cultured soybean (Glycine max L.) cells were shown to be strictly correlated with nitrate uptake and growth of the cultures. A continuous record of the conductivity was used as a simple and reliable method of determining specific growth stages and concomitant peaks in the activities of nitrate reductase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase.

Pop Culture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Arthur Asa

Popular culture in America is comprehensively reviewed in this book. The book is designed for either high school or college level social studies or English courses and includes a variety of graphic illustrations that provide a thread of continuity throughout. Basically the author has developed a method of analysis that reveals how popular culture…

An automated laboratory-scale methodology for the generation of sheared mammalian cell culture samples.

PubMed

Joseph, Adrian; Goldrick, Stephen; Mollet, Michael; Turner, Richard; Bender, Jean; Gruber, David; Farid, Suzanne S; Titchener-Hooker, Nigel

2017-05-01

Continuous disk-stack centrifugation is typically used for the removal of cells and cellular debris from mammalian cell culture broths at manufacturing-scale. The use of scale-down methods to characterise disk-stack centrifugation performance enables substantial reductions in material requirements and allows a much wider design space to be tested than is currently possible at pilot-scale. The process of scaling down centrifugation has historically been challenging due to the difficulties in mimicking the Energy Dissipation Rates (EDRs) in typical machines. This paper describes an alternative and easy-to-assemble automated capillary-based methodology to generate levels of EDRs consistent with those found in a continuous disk-stack centrifuge. Variations in EDR were achieved through changes in capillary internal diameter and the flow rate of operation through the capillary. The EDRs found to match the levels of shear in the feed zone of a pilot-scale centrifuge using the experimental method developed in this paper (2.4×10 5 W/Kg) are consistent with those obtained through previously published computational fluid dynamic (CFD) studies (2.0×10 5 W/Kg). Furthermore, this methodology can be incorporated into existing scale-down methods to model the process performance of continuous disk-stack centrifuges. This was demonstrated through the characterisation of culture hold time, culture temperature and EDRs on centrate quality. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

NASA Classroom Bioreactor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scully, Robert

2004-01-01

Exploration of space provides a compelling need for cell-based research into the basic mechanisms that underlie the profound changes that occur in terrestrial life that is transitioned to low gravity environments. Toward that end, NASA developed a rotating bioreactor in which cells are cultured while continuously suspended in a cylinder in which the culture medium rotates with the cylinder. The randomization of the gravity vector accomplished by the continuous rotation, in a low shear environment, provides an analog of microgravity. Because cultures grown in bioreactors develop structures and functions that are much closer to those exhibited by native tissue than can be achieved with traditional culture methods, bioreactors have contributed substantially to advancing research in the fields of cancer, diabetes, infectious disease modeling for vaccine production, drug efficacy, and tissue engineering. NASA has developed a Classroom Bioreactor (CB) that is built from parts that are easily obtained and assembled, user-friendly and versatile. It can be easily used in simple school settings to examine the effect cultures of seeds or cells. An educational brief provides assembly instructions and lesson plans that describes activities in science, math and technology that explore free fall, microgravity, orbits, bioreactors, structure-function relationships and the scientific method.

Copper (II) Removal In Anaerobic Continuous Column Reactor System By Using Sulfate Reducing Bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilgin, A.; Jaffe, P. R.

2017-12-01

Copper is an essential element for the synthesis of the number of electrons carrying proteins and the enzymes. However, it has a high level of toxicity. In this study; it is aimed to treat copper heavy metal in anaerobic environment by using anaerobic continuous column reactor. Sulfate reducing bacteria culture was obtained in anaerobic medium using enrichment culture method. The column reactor experiments were carried out with bacterial culture obtained from soil by culture enrichment method. The system is operated with continuous feeding and as parallel. In the first rector, only sand was used as packing material. The first column reactor was only fed with the bacteria nutrient media. The same solution was passed through the second reactor, and copper solution removal was investigated by continuously feeding 15-600 mg/L of copper solution at the feeding inlet in the second reactor. When the experiment was carried out by adding the 10 mg/L of initial copper concentration, copper removal in the rate of 45-75% was obtained. In order to determine the use of carbon source during copper removal of mixed bacterial cultures in anaerobic conditions, total organic carbon TOC analysis was used to calculate the change in carbon content, and it was calculated to be between 28% and 75%. When the amount of sulphate is examined, it was observed that it changed between 28-46%. During the copper removal, the amounts of sulphate and carbon moles were equalized and more sulfate was added by changing the nutrient media in order to determine the consumption of sulphate or carbon. Accordingly, when the concentration of added sulphate is increased, it is calculated that between 35-57% of sulphate is spent. In this system, copper concentration of up to 15-600 mg / L were studied.

A sensible technique to detect mollicutes impurities in human cells cultured in GMP condition.

PubMed

Ugolotti, Elisabetta; Vanni, Irene

2014-01-01

In therapeutic trials the use of manipulated cell cultures for clinical applications is often required. Mollicutes microorganism contamination of tissue cultures is a major problem because it can determine various and severe alterations in cellular function. Thus methods able to detect and trace cell cultures with Mollicutes contamination are needed in the monitoring of cells grown under good manufacturing practice conditions, and cell lines in continuous culture must be tested at regular intervals. We here describe a multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay able to detect contaminant Mollicutes species in a single-tube reaction through analysis of 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer regions and Tuf and P1 cytoadhesin genes. The method shows a sensitivity, specificity, and robustness comparable with the culture and the indicator cell culture as required by the European Pharmacopoeia guidelines and was validated following International Conference on Harmonization guidelines and Food and Drug Administration requirements.

Vacuum-assisted cell loading enables shear-free mammalian microfluidic culture

PubMed Central

Kolnik, Martin; Tsimring, Lev S; Hasty, Je

2012-01-01

Microfluidic perfusion cultures for mammalian cells provide a novel means for probing single-cell behavior but require the management of culture parameters such as flow-induced shear stress. Methods to eliminate shear stress generally focus on capturing cells in regions with high resistance to fluid flow. Here, we present a novel trapping design to easily and reliably load a high density of cells into culture chambers that are extremely isolated from potentially damaging flow effects. We utilize a transient on-chip vacuum to remove air from the culture chambers and rapidly replace the volume with a liquid cell suspension. We demonstrate the ability of this simple and robust method to load and culture three commonly used cell lines. We show how the incorporation of an on-chip function generator can be used for dynamic stimulation of cells during long-term continuous perfusion culture. PMID:22961584

Enrichment of DNRA bacteria in a continuous culture

PubMed Central

van den Berg, Eveline M; van Dongen, Udo; Abbas, Ben; van Loosdrecht, Mark CM

2015-01-01

Denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) are competing microbial nitrate-reduction processes. The occurrence of DNRA has been shown to be effected qualitatively by various parameters in the environment. A more quantitative understanding can be obtained using enrichment cultures in a laboratory reactor, yet no successful DNRA enrichment culture has been described. We showed that a stable DNRA-dominated enrichment culture can be obtained in a chemostat system. The enrichment was based on the hypothesis that nitrate limitation is the dominant factor in selecting for DNRA. First, a conventional denitrifying culture was enriched from activated sludge, with acetate and nitrate as substrates. Next, the acetate concentration in the medium was increased to obtain nitrate-limiting conditions. As a result, conversions shifted from denitrification to DNRA. In this selection of a DNRA culture, two important factors were the nitrate limitation and a relatively low dilution rate (0.026 h−1). The culture was a highly enriched population of Deltaproteobacteria most closely related to Geobacter lovleyi, based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing (97% similarity). We established a stable and reproducible cultivation method for the enrichment of DNRA bacteria in a continuously operated reactor system. This enrichment method allows to further investigate the DNRA process and address the factors for competition between DNRA and denitrification, or other N-conversion pathways. PMID:25909972

Cultivation of Marine Sponges.

PubMed

Osinga; Tramper; Wijffels

1999-11-01

There is increasing interest in biotechnological production of marine sponge biomass owing to the discovery of many commercially important secondary metabolites in this group of animals. In this article, different approaches to producing sponge biomass are reviewed, and several factors that possibly influence culture success are evaluated. In situ sponge aquacultures, based on old methods for producing commercial bath sponges, are still the easiest and least expensive way to obtain sponge biomass in bulk. However, success of cultivation with this method strongly depends on the unpredictable and often suboptimal natural environment. Hence, a better-defined production system would be desirable. Some progress has been made with culturing sponges in semicontrolled systems, but these still use unfiltered natural seawater. Cultivation of sponges under completely controlled conditions has remained a problem. When designing an in vitro cultivation method, it is important to determine both qualitatively and quantitatively the nutritional demands of the species that is to be cultured. An adequate supply of food seems to be the key to successful sponge culture. Recently, some progress has been made with sponge cell cultures. The advantage of cell cultures is that they are completely controlled and can easily be manipulated for optimal production of the target metabolites. However, this technique is still in its infancy: a continuous cell line has yet to be established. Axenic cultures of sponge aggregates (primmorphs) may provide an alternative to cell culture. Some sponge metabolites are, in fact, produced by endosymbiotic bacteria or algae that live in the sponge tissue. Only a few of these endosymbionts have been cultivated so far. The biotechnology for the production of sponge metabolites needs further development. Research efforts should be continued to enable commercial exploitation of this valuable natural resource in the near future.

Handbook of Research on Teaching Methods in Language Translation and Interpretation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cui, Ying, Ed.; Zhao, Wei, Ed.

2015-01-01

As an area of research that continues to develop, the study of linguistics worldwide presents the opportunity for the improvement of cross-cultural communication through education and research. Language educators are charged with the task of instructing students to effectively communicate across cultures in a multi-lingual world. The…

Method and Apparatus for a Miniature Bioreactor System for Long-Term Cell Culture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleis, Stanley J. (Inventor); Geffert, Sandra K. (Inventor); Gonda, Steve R. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A bioreactor and method that permits continuous and simultaneous short, moderate, or long term cell culturing of one or more cell types or tissue in a laminar flow configuration is disclosed, where the bioreactor supports at least two laminar flow zones, which are isolated by laminar flow without the need for physical barriers between the zones. The bioreactors of this invention are ideally suited for studying short, moderate and long term studies of cell cultures and the response of cell cultures to one or more stressors such as pharmaceuticals, hypoxia, pathogens, or any other stressor. The bioreactors of this invention are also ideally suited for short, moderate or long term cell culturing with periodic cell harvesting and/or medium processing for secreted cellular components.

Insights into an Optimization of Plasmodium vivax Sal-1 In Vitro Culture: The Aotus Primate Model.

PubMed

Shaw-Saliba, Kathryn; Thomson-Luque, Richard; Obaldía, Nicanor; Nuñez, Marlon; Dutary, Sahir; Lim, Caeul; Barnes, Samantha; Kocken, Clemens H M; Duraisingh, Manoj T; Adams, John H; Pasini, Erica M

2016-07-01

Malaria is one of the most significant tropical diseases, and of the Plasmodium species that cause human malaria, P. vivax is the most geographically widespread. However, P. vivax remains a relatively neglected human parasite since research is typically limited to laboratories with direct access to parasite isolates from endemic field settings or from non-human primate models. This restricted research capacity is in large part due to the lack of a continuous P. vivax in vitro culture system, which has hampered the ability for experimental research needed to gain biological knowledge and develop new therapies. Consequently, efforts to establish a long-term P. vivax culture system are confounded by our poor knowledge of the preferred host cell and essential nutrients needed for in vitro propagation. Reliance on very heterogeneous P. vivax field isolates makes it difficult to benchmark parasite characteristics and further complicates development of a robust and reliable culture method. In an effort to eliminate parasite variability as a complication, we used a well-defined Aotus-adapted P. vivax Sal-1 strain to empirically evaluate different short-term in vitro culture conditions and compare them with previous reported attempts at P. vivax in vitro culture Most importantly, we suggest that reticulocyte enrichment methods affect invasion efficiency and we identify stabilized forms of nutrients that appear beneficial for parasite growth, indicating that P. vivax may be extremely sensitive to waste products. Leuko-depletion methods did not significantly affect parasite development. Formatting changes such as shaking and static cultures did not seem to have a major impact while; in contrast, the starting haematocrit affected both parasite invasion and growth. These results support the continued use of Aotus-adapted Sal-1 for development of P. vivax laboratory methods; however, further experiments are needed to optimize culture conditions to support long-term parasite development.

Insights into an Optimization of Plasmodium vivax Sal-1 In Vitro Culture: The Aotus Primate Model

PubMed Central

Obaldía, Nicanor; Nuñez, Marlon; Dutary, Sahir; Lim, Caeul; Barnes, Samantha; Kocken, Clemens H. M.; Duraisingh, Manoj T.; Adams, John H.; Pasini, Erica M.

2016-01-01

Malaria is one of the most significant tropical diseases, and of the Plasmodium species that cause human malaria, P. vivax is the most geographically widespread. However, P. vivax remains a relatively neglected human parasite since research is typically limited to laboratories with direct access to parasite isolates from endemic field settings or from non-human primate models. This restricted research capacity is in large part due to the lack of a continuous P. vivax in vitro culture system, which has hampered the ability for experimental research needed to gain biological knowledge and develop new therapies. Consequently, efforts to establish a long-term P. vivax culture system are confounded by our poor knowledge of the preferred host cell and essential nutrients needed for in vitro propagation. Reliance on very heterogeneous P. vivax field isolates makes it difficult to benchmark parasite characteristics and further complicates development of a robust and reliable culture method. In an effort to eliminate parasite variability as a complication, we used a well-defined Aotus-adapted P. vivax Sal-1 strain to empirically evaluate different short-term in vitro culture conditions and compare them with previous reported attempts at P. vivax in vitro culture Most importantly, we suggest that reticulocyte enrichment methods affect invasion efficiency and we identify stabilized forms of nutrients that appear beneficial for parasite growth, indicating that P. vivax may be extremely sensitive to waste products. Leuko-depletion methods did not significantly affect parasite development. Formatting changes such as shaking and static cultures did not seem to have a major impact while; in contrast, the starting haematocrit affected both parasite invasion and growth. These results support the continued use of Aotus-adapted Sal-1 for development of P. vivax laboratory methods; however, further experiments are needed to optimize culture conditions to support long-term parasite development. PMID:27463518

Uniform, stable supply of medium for in vitro cell culture using a robust chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Juan; Liu, Chong; Jiang, Yang; Liu, Tao; Chen, Li; Liu, Bo; Li, Jingmin

2018-06-01

A uniform, stable supply of medium is important for in vitro cell culture. In this paper, a microfluidic device is presented for culturing cells inside a robust chamber with continuous perfusion of medium. The device consists of a main channel, two bifurcated channels and a culture chamber. The culture chamber connects to the bifurcated channels via multiple paths, and distributes symmetrically on the main channel, to improve the efficiency of medium exchange. Furthermore, regular polygonal chambers with various numbers of edges have been designed, to study the effects of chamber shape on flow fields. The finite element method has been employed to predict the effects of multiple paths on the uniformity and stability of flow fields in the culture chamber. Particle tracking technology has been used to evaluate the flow fields in the chambers, and PC-12 cells have been cultured using the microfluidic device, to test its validity. The results of simulation and experiment indicate that the microfluidic design could provide a continuous interstitial-like flow microenvironment, with a relatively stable and uniform supply of medium.

Over a century of neuron culture: from the hanging drop to microfluidic devices.

PubMed

Millet, Larry J; Gillette, Martha U

2012-12-01

The brain is the most intricate, energetically active, and plastic organ in the body. These features extend to its cellular elements, the neurons and glia. Understanding neurons, or nerve cells, at the cellular and molecular levels is the cornerstone of modern neuroscience. The complexities of neuron structure and function require unusual methods of culture to determine how aberrations in or between cells give rise to brain dysfunction and disease. Here we review the methods that have emerged over the past century for culturing neurons in vitro, from the landmark finding by Harrison (1910) - that neurons can be cultured outside the body - to studies utilizing culture vessels, micro-islands, Campenot and brain slice chambers, and microfluidic technologies. We conclude with future prospects for neuronal culture and considerations for advancement. We anticipate that continued innovation in culture methods will enhance design capabilities for temporal control of media and reagents (chemotemporal control) within sub-cellular environments of three-dimensional fluidic spaces (microfluidic devices) and materials (e.g., hydrogels). They will enable new insights into the complexities of neuronal development and pathology.

Over a Century of Neuron Culture: From the Hanging Drop to Microfluidic Devices

PubMed Central

Millet, Larry J.; Gillette, Martha U.

2012-01-01

The brain is the most intricate, energetically active, and plastic organ in the body. These features extend to its cellular elements, the neurons and glia. Understanding neurons, or nerve cells, at the cellular and molecular levels is the cornerstone of modern neuroscience. The complexities of neuron structure and function require unusual methods of culture to determine how aberrations in or between cells give rise to brain dysfunction and disease. Here we review the methods that have emerged over the past century for culturing neurons in vitro, from the landmark finding by Harrison (1910) — that neurons can be cultured outside the body — to studies utilizing culture vessels, micro-islands, Campenot and brain slice chambers, and microfluidic technologies. We conclude with future prospects for neuronal culture and considerations for advancement. We anticipate that continued innovation in culture methods will enhance design capabilities for temporal control of media and reagents (chemotemporal control) within sub-cellular environments of three-dimensional fluidic spaces (microfluidic devices) and materials (e.g., hydrogels). They will enable new insights into the complexities of neuronal development and pathology. PMID:23239951

Characterizing steady states of genome-scale metabolic networks in continuous cell cultures.

PubMed

Fernandez-de-Cossio-Diaz, Jorge; Leon, Kalet; Mulet, Roberto

2017-11-01

In the continuous mode of cell culture, a constant flow carrying fresh media replaces culture fluid, cells, nutrients and secreted metabolites. Here we present a model for continuous cell culture coupling intra-cellular metabolism to extracellular variables describing the state of the bioreactor, taking into account the growth capacity of the cell and the impact of toxic byproduct accumulation. We provide a method to determine the steady states of this system that is tractable for metabolic networks of arbitrary complexity. We demonstrate our approach in a toy model first, and then in a genome-scale metabolic network of the Chinese hamster ovary cell line, obtaining results that are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations. We derive a number of consequences from the model that are independent of parameter values. The ratio between cell density and dilution rate is an ideal control parameter to fix a steady state with desired metabolic properties. This conclusion is robust even in the presence of multi-stability, which is explained in our model by a negative feedback loop due to toxic byproduct accumulation. A complex landscape of steady states emerges from our simulations, including multiple metabolic switches, which also explain why cell-line and media benchmarks carried out in batch culture cannot be extrapolated to perfusion. On the other hand, we predict invariance laws between continuous cell cultures with different parameters. A practical consequence is that the chemostat is an ideal experimental model for large-scale high-density perfusion cultures, where the complex landscape of metabolic transitions is faithfully reproduced.

Characterizing steady states of genome-scale metabolic networks in continuous cell cultures

PubMed Central

Leon, Kalet; Mulet, Roberto

2017-01-01

In the continuous mode of cell culture, a constant flow carrying fresh media replaces culture fluid, cells, nutrients and secreted metabolites. Here we present a model for continuous cell culture coupling intra-cellular metabolism to extracellular variables describing the state of the bioreactor, taking into account the growth capacity of the cell and the impact of toxic byproduct accumulation. We provide a method to determine the steady states of this system that is tractable for metabolic networks of arbitrary complexity. We demonstrate our approach in a toy model first, and then in a genome-scale metabolic network of the Chinese hamster ovary cell line, obtaining results that are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations. We derive a number of consequences from the model that are independent of parameter values. The ratio between cell density and dilution rate is an ideal control parameter to fix a steady state with desired metabolic properties. This conclusion is robust even in the presence of multi-stability, which is explained in our model by a negative feedback loop due to toxic byproduct accumulation. A complex landscape of steady states emerges from our simulations, including multiple metabolic switches, which also explain why cell-line and media benchmarks carried out in batch culture cannot be extrapolated to perfusion. On the other hand, we predict invariance laws between continuous cell cultures with different parameters. A practical consequence is that the chemostat is an ideal experimental model for large-scale high-density perfusion cultures, where the complex landscape of metabolic transitions is faithfully reproduced. PMID:29131817

A simple method for multiday imaging of slice cultures.

PubMed

Seidl, Armin H; Rubel, Edwin W

2010-01-01

The organotypic slice culture (Stoppini et al. A simple method for organotypic cultures of nervous tissue. 1991;37:173-182) has become the method of choice to answer a variety of questions in neuroscience. For many experiments, however, it would be beneficial to image or manipulate a slice culture repeatedly, for example, over the course of many days. We prepared organotypic slice cultures of the auditory brainstem of P3 and P4 mice and kept them in vitro for up to 4 weeks. Single cells in the auditory brainstem were transfected with plasmids expressing fluorescent proteins by way of electroporation (Haas et al. Single-cell electroporation for gene transfer in vivo. 2001;29:583-591). The culture was then placed in a chamber perfused with oxygenated ACSF and the labeled cell imaged with an inverted wide-field microscope repeatedly for multiple days, recording several time-points per day, before returning the slice to the incubator. We describe a simple method to image a slice culture preparation during the course of multiple days and over many continuous hours, without noticeable damage to the tissue or photobleaching. Our method uses a simple, inexpensive custom-built insulator constructed around the microscope to maintain controlled temperature and uses a perfusion chamber as used for in vitro slice recordings. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A Rotating Bioreactor for Scalable Culture and Differentiation of Respiratory Epithelium

PubMed Central

Raredon, Micha Sam Brickman; Ghaedi, Mahboobe; Calle, Elizabeth A.; Niklason, Laura E.

2015-01-01

Respiratory epithelium is difficult to grow in vitro, as it requires a well-maintained polarizing air–liquid interface (ALI) to maintain differentiation. Traditional methods rely on permeable membrane culture inserts, which are difficult to work with and are ill-suited for the production of large numbers of cells, such as the quantities required for cell-based clinical therapies. Herein, we investigate an alternative form of culture in which the cells are placed on a porous substrate that is continuously rolled, such that the monolayer of cells is alternately submerged in media or apically exposed to air. Our prototype bioreactor is reliable for up to 21 days of continuous culture and is designed for scale-up for large-scale cell culture with continuous medium and gas exchange. Normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells were cultured on an absorbent substrate in the reactor for periods of 7, 14, and 21 days and were compared to static controls that were submerged in media. Quantification by immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR of markers specific to differentiated respiratory epithelium indicated increased cilia, mucous production, and tight junction formation in the rolled cultures, compared to static. Together with scanning electron microscopy and paraffin histology, the data indicate that the intermittent ALI provided by the rolling bioreactor promotes a polarized epithelial phenotype over a period of 21 days. PMID:26858899

Low external pH replaces 2,4-D in maintaining and multiplying 2,4-D-initiated embryogenic cells of carrot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, D. L.; Krikorian, A. D.

1990-01-01

A mixed culture comprised of both embryonic globules and nonembryogenic callus was derived from seedling hypocotyls of Daucus carota cv. Scarlet Nantes on 2,4-D- containing medium using well-established methods. Then the mixed cultures were transferred to, and serially subcultured on, a hormone-free medium near pH 4. The medium contained 1 mM NH4+ as the sole nitrogen source. When cultured in this way, embryonic globules were able to multiply without development into later embryo stages. Nonembryogenic callus did not survive. Continuous culture of embryonic globules on this low pH hormone-free medium yielded cultures consisting entirely of preglobular stage proembryos (PGSPs). PGSP cultures have been maintained as such with continuous multiplication for nearly 2 years without loss of embryogenic potential. These hormone-free-maintained PGSPs continue their development to later embryo stages when cultured on the same hormone-free medium buffered at pH 5.8. We show that hormone-free medium near pH 4 can replace 2,4-D in its ability to sustain multiplication of 2,4-D-initiated embryogenic cells of carrot at an acceptable growth rate without their development into later embryo stages. This procedure provides selective conditions that do not permit the growth of non-embryogenic cells while providing an adequate environment for embryogenic cell proliferation and should prove invaluable in studying habituation.

Impacts of Latino Culture on the Leadership Styles of Latino Community College Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aguinaga, Jose Alberto

2012-01-01

The researcher for this mixed-methods study investigated if the leadership skills of Latino community college administrators were influenced by their Latino culture. Per the U.S. Census, the increasing number of Latino students entering higher education will continue to expand in the 21st century. Meeting the demand of a changing student body…

The Effects of the ARC Organizational Intervention on Caseworker Turnover, Climate, and Culture in Children's Service Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glisson, Charles; Dukes, Denzel; Green, Philip

2006-01-01

Objective: This study examines the effects of the Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity (ARC) organizational intervention strategy on caseworker turnover, climate, and culture in a child welfare and juvenile justice system. Method: Using a pre-post, randomized blocks, true experimental design, 10 urban and 16 rural case management teams…

Cultural Community Connection and College Success: An Examination of Southeast Asian American College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Museus, Samuel D.; Shiroma, Kiana; Dizon, Jude Paul

2016-01-01

Low rates of college success continue to be a persisting problem in the United States, particularly among Southeast Asian Americans and other populations of color. The purpose of the current inquiry was to understand how cultural community connections influence the success of Southeast Asian American college students. Qualitative methods were…

The Royal College experience and plans for the maintenance of certification program.

PubMed

Campbell, Craig M; Parboosingh, John

2013-01-01

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, in 2001, implemented a mandatory maintenance of certification (MOC) program that is required for fellows to maintain membership and fellowship. Participation in the MOC program is one of the recognized pathways approved by provincial medical regulatory authorities in Canada by which specialists can demonstrate their commitment to continued competent performance in practice. This article traces the historical beginnings of the MOC program, highlighting the educational foundation and scientific evidence that influenced its philosophy, goals, and strategic priorities. The MOC program has evolved into a complex system of continuing professional development to facilitate and enable a "cultural shift'' in how we conceptualize and support the continuing professional development (CPD) of specialists. The MOC program is an educational strategy that supports a learning culture where specialists are able to design, implement and document their accomplishments from multiple learning activities to build evidence-informed practices. In the future, the MOC Program must evolve from assisting fellows to use effective educational resources "for credit" to enable fellows, leveraging a competency-based CPD model, to demonstrate their capacity to continuously improve practice. This will require innovative methods to capture learning and practice improvements in real time, integrate learning during the delivery of health care, expand automation of reporting strategies, and facilitate new sociocultural methods of emergent learning and practice change. Collectively, these directions will require a research agenda that will generate evidence for how transformative cultural change in continuing professional education of the profession can be realized. Copyright © 2013 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

The Cultural Ecogram: A Tool for Enhancing Culturally Anchored Shared Understanding in the Treatment of Ethnic Minority Families

PubMed Central

YASUI, MIWA

2015-01-01

Ethnic and racial disparities in mental health care continue to exist, highlighting the increasing concern within the realm of clinical practice as to how clinicians are to effectively integrate the central role of culture and context into the treatment delivery process for culturally diverse children and families. The current paper presents the Cultural Ecogram, - a clinical engagement tool designed to facilitate the development of a culturally anchored shared understanding – as one method that may facilitate clinician-client shared understanding on the client’s cultural, ethnic and racial context central to the effective implementation of treatments with ethnic minority children and families. PMID:26273233

Importance of Typological Analysis in Architecture for Cultural Continuity: An Example from Kocaeli (Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayyıldız, Sonay; Ertürk, Filiz; Durak, Şahin; Dülger, Alper

2017-10-01

Cities are formed from historical layers. When different periods are examined, it is possible to reach out the information about the relation with the built environment created with the society’s owned culture and the location where the built environment is through these historical layers. Cultural and natural values owned by the city, shape the city identity. To have a city identity, it is necessary to provide the continuity of these values and to protect moral and material values which transfer messages of city’s past to its future. City identities in the World and in Turkey have been gradually disappearing because of the immigrations which are the results of globalization and industrialization. This situation creates the feeling of “Alienation” in the people who live in the city. Also in Kocaeli, which lost its’ agricultural city feature owned until 1960s and whose industrial city feature has come into prominence for 50 years, same problems can be observed. Traditional houses are formed depending on the society’s different cultural values. Some places in the traditional houses have disappeared completely or have become useless time-dependently. That’s why it is very important to reveal the local similarities. Thanks to the datum gathered by analysing with the Typology method, the historical traces will be the guiding light of continuing structuring and future. On this purpose, Kapanca Street has been chosen as study area. This street is one of the historical layers of Kocaeli city and which is one of the rare places still protecting the authenticity. There are 10 traditional registered houses belonging to the late Ottoman Period in the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century on this street. The values of Kapanca Street, which constitutes an important place in the historical identity of Kocaeli and has a historical background more than a century are thought to be in need of being recorded to provide the cultural continuity and to be transferred to future. The study has been done as two-stage. Firstly; A wide literature search about traditional house in Turkey, history of Kocaeli, type, typology, and typological analysis method which are related to topic, and area survey have been done. Other studies done with this analysis method have been observed and transmitted briefly. In the second step, Typological features of Kapanca Street have been presented by using the typological analysis method. With this study, differences about the city will have been stated and will have contributed to the city’s identity value and cultural continuity will have been provided.

Recommendations for Culturally Sensitive Research Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Awad, Germine H.; Patall, Erika A.; Rackley, Kadie R.; Reilly, Erin D.

2016-01-01

As the US continues to diversify, methods for accurately assessing human behavior must evolve. This paper offers multicultural research considerations at several stages of the research process for psychological research and consultation. Implications regarding the comparative research framework are discussed and suggestions are offered on how to…

Laboratory diagnosis of peritonitis in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

PubMed Central

Ludlam, H A; Price, T N; Berry, A J; Phillips, I

1988-01-01

The clinical course and laboratory diagnosis of peritonitis in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis was studied in 32 consecutive episodes. Peritonitis was associated with a failure in aseptic technique in eight episodes and with an exit-site infection in four episodes. Intraperitoneal vancomycin and ceftazidime were safe, effective, and convenient. Most patients administered their antibiotics at home, and symptoms usually resolved by day 4. Culture of the deposit obtained by centrifugation of 50 ml of effluent after leukocyte lysis provided the best rate of recovery (84% culture positive) but was technically demanding. Filtration of the same volume without leukocyte lysis was simple to perform and almost as effective. Enrichment was less satisfactory (65% culture positive) owing to the presence of antibiotic or infection with fastidious microorganisms. Culture of 50 ml of effluent after concentration by a commonly used laboratory technique, centrifugation without leukocyte lysis, performed poorly (59% culture positive at 48 h), as this method caused sequestration and death of microorganisms within the leukocytes. Culture of nearly 1 liter of effluent from 33 asymptomatic patients by the same techniques yielded no microorganisms. PMID:3183023

Fast screening of Bifidobacterium longum sublethal stress conditions in a novel two-stage continuous culture strategy.

PubMed

Mozzetti, V; Grattepanche, F; Berger, B; Rezzonico, E; Arigoni, F; Lacroix, C

2013-06-01

A central issue in the application of probiotics as food additives is their fastidious production and their sensitivity to many environmental stresses. The importance of inducible cell-protective mechanisms triggered by application of sublethal stresses for survival under stress conditions has been demonstrated. Continuous cultures could be a suitable and more efficient method to test stress factors on one culture instead of several repeated batch cultures. In this study, the application of a two-stage continuous culture of Bifidobacterium longum NCC2705 was investigated. The first reactor was operated under fixed conditions at 37 °C and pH 6.0 and used to produce cells with controlled physiology, mimicking cells in the late exponential growth phase. Stress pretreatment combinations of pH (6.0, 5.0 and 4.0), temperature (37, 45 and 47 °C) and NaCl (0, 5 and 10%) were tested in the second reactor. Of all tested combinations, only those of pH 4.0 significantly decreased cell viability in the second reactor compared to control conditions (37 °C, pH 6.0, 0% NaCl) and, therefore, could not be considered as sublethal stresses. Pretreatments with 5 or 10% NaCl had a negative effect on cell viability after gastric lethal stress. A significant improvement in cell resistance to heat lethal stress (56 °C, 5 min) was observed for cells pretreated at 47 °C. In contrast, heat pretreatment negatively affected cell viability after freeze drying and osmotic lethal stresses. The two-stage continuous culture allowed for efficient screening of several stress pretreatments during the same experiment with up to four different conditions tested per day. Optimal sublethal stress conditions can also be applied for producing cells with traditional batch cultures.

How mass spectrometric approaches applied to bacterial identification have revolutionized the study of human gut microbiota.

PubMed

Grégory, Dubourg; Chaudet, Hervé; Lagier, Jean-Christophe; Raoult, Didier

2018-03-01

Describing the human hut gut microbiota is one the most exciting challenges of the 21 st century. Currently, high-throughput sequencing methods are considered as the gold standard for this purpose, however, they suffer from several drawbacks, including their inability to detect minority populations. The advent of mass-spectrometric (MS) approaches to identify cultured bacteria in clinical microbiology enabled the creation of the culturomics approach, which aims to establish a comprehensive repertoire of cultured prokaryotes from human specimens using extensive culture conditions. Areas covered: This review first underlines how mass spectrometric approaches have revolutionized clinical microbiology. It then highlights the contribution of MS-based methods to culturomics studies, paying particular attention to the extension of the human gut microbiota repertoire through the discovery of new bacterial species. Expert commentary: MS-based approaches have enabled cultivation methods to be resuscitated to study the human gut microbiota and thus to fill in the blanks left by high-throughput sequencing methods in terms of culturing minority populations. Continued efforts to recover new taxa using culture methods, combined with their rapid implementation in genomic databases, would allow for an exhaustive analysis of the gut microbiota through the use of a comprehensive approach.

Live cell imaging compatible immobilization of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in microfluidic platform for biodiesel research.

PubMed

Park, Jae Woo; Na, Sang Cheol; Nguyen, Thanh Qua; Paik, Sang-Min; Kang, Myeongwoo; Hong, Daewha; Choi, Insung S; Lee, Jae-Hyeok; Jeon, Noo Li

2015-03-01

This paper describes a novel surface immobilization method for live-cell imaging of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for continuous monitoring of lipid droplet accumulation. Microfluidics allows high-throughput manipulation and analysis of single cells in precisely controlled microenvironment. Fluorescence imaging based quantitative measurement of lipid droplet accumulation in microalgae had been difficult due to their intrinsic motile behavior. We present a simple surface immobilization method using gelatin coating as the "biological glue." We take advantage of hydroxyproline (Hyp)-based non-covalent interaction between gelatin and the outer cell wall of microalgae to anchor the cells inside the microfluidic device. We have continuously monitored single microalgal cells for up to 6 days. The immobilized microalgae remain viable (viability was comparable to bulk suspension cultured controls). When exposed to wall shear stress, most of the cells remain attached up to 0.1 dyne/cm(2) . Surface immobilization allowed high-resolution, live-cell imaging of mitotic process in real time-which followed previously reported stages in mitosis of suspension cultured cells. Use of gelatin coated microfluidics devices can result in better methods for microalgae strain screening and culture condition optimization that will help microalgal biodiesel become more economically viable. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI BY THE TAQMAN FLUOROGENIC PROBE SYSTEM

EPA Science Inventory

Culturing of H. pylori from environmental sources continues to be an obstacle in detecting and enumerating this organism. Successful methods of isolation and growth from water samples have not yet been developed. In this study a method involving real tme PCR product detection wit...

Distance Delivery of Nutrition Education as a Method for Providing Continuing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Unusan, Nurhan; Aiba, Naomi; Yoshiike, Nobuo

2007-01-01

Distance learning applications in nutrition education have evolved together with communication technology. Distance delivery is transforming the culture of professional health education by expanding access to learners, introducing novel teaching and learning methods, as well as shifting the paradigm of how instructors and students interact. The…

A 100-Year Review: Yogurt and other cultured dairy products.

PubMed

Aryana, Kayanush J; Olson, Douglas W

2017-12-01

The history of the last 100 years of the science and technology of yogurt, sour cream, cultured butter, cultured buttermilk, kefir, and acidophilus milk has been one of continuous development and improvement. Yogurt leads the cultured dairy product category in terms of volume of production in the United States and recent research activity. Legal definitions of yogurt, sour cream and acidified sour cream, and cultured milk, including cultured buttermilk, are presented in the United States Code of Federal Regulations and summarized here. A tremendous amount of research has been done on traditional and novel ingredients, starter cultures and probiotics, mix processing, packaging, chemical aspects, physical and sensory properties, microstructure, specialized products, composition, quality and safety of yogurt and various manufacturing methods, addition of flavorings, viscosity measurements, and probiotic use for sour cream. Over time, there have arisen alternative manufacturing methods, flavor problems, addition of flavorings, and use of probiotics for cultured buttermilk. Many health benefits are provided by yogurt and other cultured dairy products. One hundred years of testing and development have led to wider uses of cultured dairy products and new processing methods for enhanced shelf life and safety. Future research directions will likely include investigating the effects of probiotic dairy products on gut microbiota and overall health. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cultural experiences of immigrant nurses at two hospitals in Chile

PubMed Central

Rodríguez, Gabriel; Angélica-Muñoz, Luz; Hoga, Luiza Akiko Komura

2014-01-01

Objective to explore the cultural experiences of nurses who immigrated to Chile. The study's theoretical framework was the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence. Method Leininger's Observation-Participation-Reflection method was developed at two hospitals in the city of Santiago, and ethnographic interviews were held with 15 immigrant nurses. Results among Purnell's 12 domains, the following were identified: Overview/heritage, Communication, Workforce issues, Family roles and organization, Biocultural ecology and Health-care practices. The difficulties were related to the language and its semantic meaning, the new responsibilities and the difficult relationship with colleagues. "In search of better horizons - the decision to immigrate", "Gaining confidence and establishing a support network - employability and professional performance" and "Seeking for people's acceptance - professional adaptation in a new cultural scenario" are cultural themes that represent their experiences. Conclusions the competence to offer cultural care demands the development of public policies and continuing education programs at health institutions, specifically focused on immigrant nurses. PMID:26107824

Perceptions of the host country's food culture among female immigrants from Africa and Asia: aspects relevant for cultural sensitivity in nutrition communication.

PubMed

Garnweidner, Lisa Maria; Terragni, Laura; Pettersen, Kjell Sverre; Mosdøl, Annhild

2012-01-01

To explore how female immigrants from Africa and Asia perceive the host country's food culture, to identify aspects of their original food culture they considered important to preserve, and to describe how they go about preserving them. Qualitative in-depth interviews. Oslo, Norway. Twenty one female immigrants from 11 African and Asian countries, residing in areas of Oslo with a population having a low-to-middle socioeconomic status and a high proportion of immigrants. Participants varied in years of residence, employment status, and marital status. Analysis of the interviews was guided by a phenomenological approach. Participants emphasized the importance of preserving aspects of their original food cultures and related these aspects to taste, preparation effort and method, and adherence to religious dietary rules. They often perceived the food of the host country as "tasteless and boring." The authors observed strict, flexible, or limited continuity with the original food culture. Some elements that possibly influenced participants' degree of continuity are indicated. Immigrants may strive to preserve aspects of their original food culture after immigration. Nutrition communication becomes more culturally sensitive when it takes such aspects into account. Copyright © 2012 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Infusing culture into oncology research on quality of life.

PubMed

Ashing-Giwa, Kimlin; Kagawa-Singer, Marjorie

2006-01-01

To review the literature relevant to understanding culturally informed oncology research, particularly as it relates to health-related quality of life. Published articles and books. A cultural perspective to the prevailing theory and research methods used in oncology research with respect to quality of life is imperative. A multidimensional and practical framework can be applied to increase cultural competence in research by addressing the purpose of the research, theoretical framework, and methodologic approaches. Culturally competent, multicultural research will help the scientific community better comprehend disparities that exist in health-related quality of life so that benefits can be experienced by all patients. Nursing practice and research must continue its leadership role to infuse cultural competence and reduce disparities in the healthcare system.

Half a century of cross-cultural psychology: A grateful coda.

PubMed

Lonner, Walter J

2015-11-01

This article provides brief commentaries on culture-oriented research in psychology and a synopsis of the author's 50-year involvement in cross-cultural psychology. Overviews of several areas with which he is more familiar are given. These include his career-long stewardship of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, of which he is founding and special issues editor, continuous involvement with the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, ongoing interest in the search for psychological universals, studying the influence of cultures on personality, values, and other psychological dimensions, monitoring the inclusion of culture in introductory psychology texts, contributions to cross-cultural counseling, and sustained involvement with the Online Readings in Psychology and Culture since its inception. Also included are comments on both the ever-expanding research on culture's influence on behavior and thought by a growing network of scholars who have different, yet complementary, agendas and research methods. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Lidocaine/monoethylglycinexylidide test, galactose elimination test, and sorbitol elimination test for metabolic assessment of liver cell bioreactors.

PubMed

Gerlach, Jörg C; Brayfield, Candace; Puhl, Gero; Borneman, Reiner; Müller, Christian; Schmelzer, Eva; Zeilinger, Katrin

2010-06-01

Various metabolic tests were compared for the performance characterization of a liver cell bioreactor as a routine function assessment of cultures in a standby for patient application in clinical studies. Everyday quality assessment (QA) is essential to ensure a continuous level of cellular functional capacity in the development of hepatic progenitor cell expansion systems providing cells for regenerative medicine research; it is also of interest to meet safety requirements in bioartificial extracorporeal liver support systems under clinical evaluation. Quality criteria for the description of bioreactor cultures were developed using primary porcine liver cells as a model. Porcine liver cells isolated by collagenase perfusion with an average of 3 x 10(9) primary cells were used in 39 bioreactors for culture periods up to 33 days. Measurements of monoethylglycinexylidide synthesis and elimination of lidocaine, galactose elimination, and sorbitol elimination proved to be useful for routine QA of primary liver cell cultures. We demonstrate two methods for dispensing test substances, bolus administration and continuous, steady-state administration. Bolus test data were grouped in Standard, Therapy, Infection/Contamination, and Cell-free control groups. Statistical analyses show significant differences among all groups for every test substance. Post hoc comparisons indicated significant differences between Standard and Cell-free groups for all elimination parameters. For continuous tests, results were categorized according to number of culture days and time-dependent changes were analyzed. Continuous administration enables a better view of culture health and the time dependency of cellular function, whereas bolus administration is more flexible. Both procedures can be used to define cell function. Assessment of cellular function and bioreactor quality can contribute significantly to the quality of experimental or clinical studies in the field of hepatic bioreactor development.

Quantitative monitoring of lipid accumulation over time in cultured adipocytes as function of culture conditions: toward controlled adipose tissue engineering.

PubMed

Or-Tzadikario, Shira; Sopher, Ran; Gefen, Amit

2010-10-01

Adipose tissue engineering is investigated for native fat substitutes and wound healing model systems. Research and clinical applications of bioartificial fat require a quantitative and objective method to continuously measure adipogenesis in living cultures as opposed to currently used culture-destructive techniques that stain lipid droplet (LD) accumulation. To allow standardization, automatic quantification of LD size is further needed, but currently LD size is measured mostly manually. We developed an image processing-based method that does not require staining to monitor adipose cell maturation in vitro nondestructively using optical micrographs taken consecutively during culturing. We employed our method to monitor LD accumulation in 3T3-L1 and mesenchymal stem cells over 37 days. For each cell type, percentage of lipid area, number of droplets per cell, and droplet diameter were obtained every 2-3 days. In 3T3-L1 cultures, high insulin concentration (10 microg/mL) yielded a significantly different (p < 0.01) time course of all three outcome measures. In mesenchymal stem cell cultures, high fetal bovine serum concentration (12.5%) produced significantly more lipid area (p < 0.01). Our method was able to successfully characterize time courses and extents of adipogenesis and is useful for a wide range of applications testing the effects of biochemical, mechanical, and thermal stimulations in tissue engineering of bioartificial fat constructs.

Comparison of four methods for rapid identification of Staphylococcus aureus directly from BACTEC 9240 blood culture system.

PubMed

Ozen, N S; Ogunc, D; Mutlu, D; Ongut, G; Baysan, B O; Gunseren, F

2011-01-01

Differentiation of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) from coagulase-negative staphylococci is very important in blood stream infections. Identification of S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) from blood cultures takes generally 18-24 h after positive signaling on continuously monitored automated blood culture system. In this study, we evaluated the performance of tube coagulase test (TCT), slide agglutination test (Dry Spot Staphytect Plus), conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and LightCycler Staphylococcus MGrade kit directly from blood culture bottles to achieve rapid identification of S. aureus by using the BACTEC 9240 blood culture system. A total of 129 BACTEC 9240 bottles growing gram-positive cocci suggesting Staphylococci were tested directly from blood culture broths (BCBs) with TCT, Dry Spot Staphytect Plus, conventional PCR and LightCycler Staphylococcus MGrade kit for rapid identification of S. aureus. The sensitivities of the tests were 99, 68, 99 and 100%, respectively. Our results suggested that 2 h TCT was found to be simple and inexpensive method for the rapid identification of S. aureus directly from positive blood cultures.

Continous application of bioorganic fertilizer induced resilient culturable bacteria community associated with banana Fusarium wilt suppression

PubMed Central

Fu, Lin; Ruan, Yunze; Tao, Chengyuan; Li, Rong; Shen, Qirong

2016-01-01

Fusarium wilt of banana always drives farmers to find new land for banana cultivation due to the comeback of the disease after a few cropping years. A novel idea for solving this problem is the continuous application of bioorganic fertilizer (BIO), which should be practiced from the beginning of banana planting. In this study, BIO was applied in newly reclaimed fields to pre-control banana Fusarium wilt and the culturable rhizobacteria community were evaluated using Biolog Ecoplates and culture-dependent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (CD-DGGE). The results showed that BIO application significantly reduced disease incidences and increased crop yields, respectivly. And the stabilized general bacterial metabolic potential, especially for the utilization of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds, was induced by BIO application. DGGE profiles demonstrated that resilient community structure of culturable rhizobacteria with higher richness and diversity were observed in BIO treated soils. Morever, enriched culturable bacteria affiliated with Firmicutes, Gammaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria were also detected. In total, continuous application of BIO effectively suppressed Fusarium wilt disease by stabilizing culturable bacterial metabolic potential and community structure. This study revealed a new method to control Fusarium wilt of banana for long term banana cultivation. PMID:27306096

Continous application of bioorganic fertilizer induced resilient culturable bacteria community associated with banana Fusarium wilt suppression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Lin; Ruan, Yunze; Tao, Chengyuan; Li, Rong; Shen, Qirong

2016-06-01

Fusarium wilt of banana always drives farmers to find new land for banana cultivation due to the comeback of the disease after a few cropping years. A novel idea for solving this problem is the continuous application of bioorganic fertilizer (BIO), which should be practiced from the beginning of banana planting. In this study, BIO was applied in newly reclaimed fields to pre-control banana Fusarium wilt and the culturable rhizobacteria community were evaluated using Biolog Ecoplates and culture-dependent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (CD-DGGE). The results showed that BIO application significantly reduced disease incidences and increased crop yields, respectivly. And the stabilized general bacterial metabolic potential, especially for the utilization of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds, was induced by BIO application. DGGE profiles demonstrated that resilient community structure of culturable rhizobacteria with higher richness and diversity were observed in BIO treated soils. Morever, enriched culturable bacteria affiliated with Firmicutes, Gammaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria were also detected. In total, continuous application of BIO effectively suppressed Fusarium wilt disease by stabilizing culturable bacterial metabolic potential and community structure. This study revealed a new method to control Fusarium wilt of banana for long term banana cultivation.

A mini-scale mass production and separation system for secretory heterologous proteins by perfusion culture of recombinant Pichia pastoris using a shaken ceramic membrane flask.

PubMed

Ohashi, R; Mochizuki, E; Suzuki, T

1999-01-01

The perfusion culture technique using a shaken ceramic membrane flask (SCM flask) was applied to the production of a secretory heterologous protein. A recombinant methylotrophic yeast strain, Pichia pastoris, was cultured aerobically on a reciprocal shaker using an SCM flask. High-level production of human serum albumin (HSA) was attempted by increasing both the cell concentration and the expression level of the recombinant gene. In the two-stage culture method, the cell concentration was first raised to 17 g/l by feeding glycerol, after which the expression of HSA was induced by feeding methanol. However, the concentration of HSA in the effluent filtrate was as low as 0.15 g/l, while the cell concentration continued to increase. In contrast, HSA was effectively produced by feeding methanol from an early stage of the culture. In this case, the HSA concentration reached 0.24 and 0.46 g/l, respectively, using the growth-associated production method without and with aeration into the head space of the SCM flask. The results showed that supplying sufficient oxygen together with the growth-associated induction method are effective for obtaining high-level expression of the methanol-inducible recombinant gene of P. pastoris. An HSA concentration in the filtrate of 1.5 g/l was finally achieved when the cell concentration was increased to 53 g/l by supplying oxygen-enriched gas to the SCM flask. The yield and productivity of HSA reached 2.6-fold and 10-fold those obtained in an ordinary fed-batch culture using a shake flask, and these levels were readily achieved by continuous replenishment of the culture supernatant. The achievements made in this study should contribute to the development of a handy bioreactor system for mini-scale mass production of target proteins with separation at high purity.

Cultivation of macroscopic marine algae and fresh water aquatic weeds

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ryther, J.H.

1982-02-01

The ORCA clone of the red seaweed Gracilaria tikvahiae has been in culture continuously for over two years. Yield for the past year has averaged 12 g ash-free dry wt/m/sup 2/ .day (17.5 t/a.y) in suspended 2600-1 aluminum tank cultures with four exchanges of enriched seawater per day and continuous aeration. Yields from nonintensive pond-bottom culture, similar to commercial Gracilaria culture methods in Taiwan, averaged 3 g afdw/m/sup 2/.day in preliminary experiments. Rope and spray cultures were not successful. Yields of water hyacinths from March 1978 to March 1979 averaged 25 g afdw/m/sup 2/.day (37 t/a.y). Season, nutrient availability (formmore » and quantity) and stand density were found to affect the relative proportions of structural and nonstructural tissue in water hyacinths and thereby significantly affect digestibility of and methane production by the plants. Pennywort (Hydrocotyle) grew poorly in winter and its annual yield averaged only one-third that of water hyacinth. Water lettuce (Pistia) appears more comparable to hyacinths in preliminary studies and its yields will be monitored throughout a complete year. Stable, continuous anaerobic digestion of both water hyacinths and Gracilaria has been maintained with an average gas production from both species of 0.4 1/g volatile solids at 60% methane.« less

Child Sexual Abuse and Continuous Influence of Cultural Practices: A Review

PubMed Central

Shafe, S; Hutchinson, G

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Aim: To provide information on the possible influence of cultural practices in perpetuating child sexual abuse and to examine documented examples of these cultural influences. Methods: A computer literature search was done of Medline, Science Direct, PSYCInfo, Embase and PubMed for keywords. There were also manual searches in the library of journals that are not accessible online. Keywords for searches included: sexual abuse, child abuse, psychopathology, name of countries (eg Jordan, China and Morocco), culture and cultural practices. Results: There is documented evidence of cultural practices that continue to fuel the persistently high level of child sexual abuse across the globe. The definition has evolved to now include simple genital-genital and non-genital contact such as oral-genital contacts, exhibitionism and pornography. Conclusions: Cultural practices are no longer restricted to one geographical collection of people due to migratory influence, as these practices may also spread to different groups who intermingle. There are few empirical studies of child sexual abuse in the Caribbean, but one factor that could be used as a proxy is age of first sexual activity. The World Bank reports that this age is youngest in the Caribbean and is likely to be significantly influenced by child sexual abuse. PMID:25803380

Psychological Distress in Afghan Refugees: A Mixed-Method Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Alemi, Qais; James, Sigrid; Cruz, Romalene; Zepeda, Veronica; Racadio, Michael

2013-01-01

Mental health problems disproportionately affect Afghan refugees and asylum seekers who continue to seek international protection with prolonged exposure to war. We performed a systematic review aimed at synthesizing peer-reviewed literature pertaining to mental health problems among Afghans resettled in industrialized nations. We used five databases to identify studies published between 1979 and 2013 that provided data on distress levels, and subjective experiences with distress. Seventeen studies met our inclusion criteria consisting of 1 mixed-method, 7 qualitative, and 9 quantitative studies. Themes from our qualitative synthesis described antecedents for distress being rooted in cultural conflicts and loss, and also described unique coping mechanisms. Quantitative findings indicated moderate to high prevalence of depressive and posttraumatic symptomatology. These findings support the need for continued mental health research with Afghans that accounts for: distress among newly resettled groups, professional help-seeking utilization patterns, and also culturally relevant strategies for mitigating distress and engaging Afghans in research. PMID:23784146

Cryopreservation studies of an artificial co-culture between the cobalamin-requiring green alga Lobomonas rostrata and the bacterium Mesorhizobium loti.

PubMed

Ridley, Christian J A; Day, John G; Smith, Alison G

2018-01-01

Algal-bacterial co-cultures, rather than cultures of algae alone, are regarded as having the potential to enhance productivity and stability in industrial algal cultivation. As with other inocula in biotechnology, to avoid loss of production strains, it is important to develop preservation methods for the long-term storage of these cultures, and one of the most commonly used approaches is cryopreservation. However, whilst there are many reports of cryopreserved xenic algal cultures, little work has been reported on the intentional preservation of both algae and beneficial bacteria in xenic cultures. Instead, studies have focused on the development of methods to conserve the algal strain(s) present, or to avoid overgrowth of bacteria in xenic isolates during the post-thaw recovery phase. Here, we have established a co-cryopreservation method for the long-term storage of both partners in a unialgal-bacterial co-culture. This is an artificial model mutualism between the alga Lobomonas rostrata and the bacterium Mesorhizobium loti , which provides vitamin B 12 (cobalamin) to the alga in return for photosynthate. Using a Planer Kryo 360 controlled-rate cooler, post-thaw viability (PTV) values of 72% were obtained for the co-culture, compared to 91% for the axenic alga. The cultures were successfully revived after 6 months storage in liquid nitrogen, and continued to exhibit mutualism. Furthermore, the alga could be cryopreserved with non-symbiotic bacteria, without bacterial overgrowth occurring. It was also possible to use less controllable passive freezer chambers to cryopreserve the co-cultures, although the PTV was lower. Finally, we demonstrated that an optimised cryopreservation method may be used to prevent the overgrowth potential of non-symbiotic, adventitious bacteria in both axenic and co-cultures of L. rostrata after thawing.

Definition and dynamic control of a continuous chromatography process independent of cell culture titer and impurities.

PubMed

Chmielowski, Rebecca A; Mathiasson, Linda; Blom, Hans; Go, Daniel; Ehring, Hanno; Khan, Heera; Li, Hong; Cutler, Collette; Lacki, Karol; Tugcu, Nihal; Roush, David

2017-12-01

Advances in cell culture technology have enabled the production of antibody titers upwards of 30g/L. These highly productive cell culture systems can potentially lead to productivity bottlenecks in downstream purification due to lower column loadings, especially in the primary capture chromatography step. Alternative chromatography solutions to help remedy this bottleneck include the utilization of continuous processing systems such as periodic counter-current chromatography (PCC). Recent studies have provided methods to optimize and improve the design of PCC for cell culture titers up to about 3g/L. This paper defines a continuous loading strategy for PCC that is independent of cell culture background and encompasses cell culture titers up to about 31g/L. Initial experimentation showed a challenge with determining a difference in change in UV280nm signal (ie. ΔUV) between cell culture feed and monoclonal antibody (mAb) concentration. Further investigation revealed UV280nm absorbance of the cell culture feedstock without antibody was outside of the linear range of detection for a given cell pathlength. Additional experimentation showed the difference in ΔUV for various cell culture feeds can be either theoretically predicted by Beer's Law given a known absorbance of the media background and impurities or experimentally determined using various UV280nm cell pathlengths. Based on these results, a 0.35mm pathlength at UV280nm was chosen for dynamic control to overcome the background signal. The pore diffusion model showed good agreement with the experimental frontal analysis data, which resulted in definition of a ΔUV setpoint range between 20 and 70% for 3C-PCC experiments. Product quality of the elution pools was acceptable between various cell culture feeds and titers up to about 41g/L. Results indicated the following ΔUV setpoints to achieve robust dynamic control and maintain 3C-PCC yield: ∼20-45% for titers greater than 10g/L depending on UV absorbance of the HCCF and ∼45-70% for titers of up to 10g/L independent of UV absorbance of the HCCF. The strategy and results presented in this paper show column loading in a continuous chromatography step can be dynamically controlled independent of the cell culture feedstock and titer, and allow for enhanced process control built into the downstream continuous operations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhanced biodiesel production in Neochloris oleoabundans by a semi-continuous process in two stage photobioreactors.

PubMed

Yoon, Se Young; Hong, Min Eui; Chang, Won Seok; Sim, Sang Jun

2015-07-01

Under autotrophic conditions, highly productive biodiesel production was achieved using a semi-continuous culture system in Neochloris oleoabundans. In particular, the flue gas generated by combustion of liquefied natural gas and natural solar radiation were used for cost-effective microalgal culture system. In semi-continuous culture, the greater part (~80%) of the culture volume containing vegetative cells grown under nitrogen-replete conditions in a first photobioreactor (PBR) was directly transferred to a second PBR and cultured sequentially under nitrogen-deplete conditions for accelerating oil accumulation. As a result, in semi-continuous culture, the productivities of biomass and biodiesel in the cells were increased by 58% (growth phase) and 51% (induction phase) compared to the cells in batch culture, respectively. The semi-continuous culture system using two stage photobioreactors is a very efficient strategy to further improve biodiesel production from microalgae under photoautotrophic conditions.

[Effects of continuous application of bio-organic fertilizer on banana production and cultural microflora of bulk soil in orchard with serious disease incidence].

PubMed

Zhong, Shu-tang; Shen, Zong-zhuan; Sun, Yi-fei; Lyu, Na-na; Ruan, Yun-ze; Li, Rong; Shen, Qi-rong

2015-02-01

A field experiment was conducted for two years to investigate the effects of different fertilization applications on the suppression of banana fusarium wilt disease, crop yield, fruit quality and culturable microflora in a banana orchard which has been monocultured with banana for 12 years and suffered serious banana fusarium wilt disease. The fertilizers included chemical fertilizer (CF), cow manure compost (CM), pig manure compost (PM) and bio-organic fertilizer (BIO). The banana soil microflora was invested using plate-counting method and culture-dependent polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis method (CD PCR-DGGE). Results showed that, compared with the other treatments, 2-year consecutive application of BIO significantly reduced the banana fusarium wilt disease incidence, and improved the banana mass per tree, crop yield, total soluble sugar content and the ratio of total soluble sugar to titratable acidity of fruits (sugar/acid ratio). Moreover, the analysis of culturable microflora showed that BIO application significantly increased the soil microbial biomass, soil culturable bacteria, bacillus and actinomycetes, and the ratio of bacteria to fungi (B/F) , while decreased the Fusarium oxysporum. Based on the CD PCR-DGGE results, the BIO application significantly altered the soil culturable bacterial structure and showed highest richness and diversity after 2 years of BIO application. The phylogenetic analysis of the selected bands showed that BIO application enriched the soil with the species of Paenibacillus sp., Burkholderia sp., uncultured Verrucomicrobia sp. and Bacillus aryabhattai, and depressed the species of Ralstonia sp., Chryseobacterium gleum, Fluviicola taffensis, Enterobacter sp. and Bacillus megaterium. These results confirmed that the continuous application of BIO effectively controlled the fusarium wilt disease, improved the crop yield and fruit quality, and modulated the soil culturable microflora under field condition.

The role of photo-osmotic adaptation in semi-continuous culture and lipid particle release from Dunaliella viridis

DOE PAGES

Davis, Ryan W.; Carvalho, Benjamin J.; Jones, Howland D. T.; ...

2014-05-13

Great efforts have been made to elucidate the phenotypic responses of alga to varying levels of nutrients, osmotic environments, and photosynthetically active radiation intensities, though the role of interactions among these variables is largely nebulous. We also describe a general method for establishing and maintaining semi-continuous cultures of the halophilic microalgal production strain, Dunaliella viridis, that is independent of variations in salinity and illumination intensity. Using this method, the cultures were evaluated to elucidate the overlapping roles of photosynthetic and osmotic adaptation on the accumulation and compositional variation of the biomass, photosynthetic productivity, and physiological biomarkers, as well as spectroscopicmore » and morphological details at the single-cell level. Correlation matrices defining the relationships among the observables and based on variation of the illumination intensity and salinity were constructed for predicting bioproduct yields for varying culture conditions. Following maintenance of stable cultures for 6-week intervals, phenotypic responses to photo-osmotic drift were explored using a combination of single-cell hyperspectral fluorescence imaging and flow cytometry. In addition to morphological changes, release of lipid microparticles from the cells that is disproportionate to cell lysis was observed under hypotonic drift, indicating the existence of a reversible membrane permeation mechanism in Dunaliella. Furthermore, this phenomenon introduces the potential for low-cost strategies for recovering lipids and pigments from the microalgae by minimizing the requirement for energy intensive harvesting and dewatering of the biomass. The results should be applicable to outdoor culture, where seasonal changes resulting in variable solar flux and precipitation and evaporation rates are anticipated.« less

The role of photo-osmotic adaptation in semi-continuous culture and lipid particle release from Dunaliella viridis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, Ryan W.; Carvalho, Benjamin J.; Jones, Howland D. T.

Great efforts have been made to elucidate the phenotypic responses of alga to varying levels of nutrients, osmotic environments, and photosynthetically active radiation intensities, though the role of interactions among these variables is largely nebulous. We also describe a general method for establishing and maintaining semi-continuous cultures of the halophilic microalgal production strain, Dunaliella viridis, that is independent of variations in salinity and illumination intensity. Using this method, the cultures were evaluated to elucidate the overlapping roles of photosynthetic and osmotic adaptation on the accumulation and compositional variation of the biomass, photosynthetic productivity, and physiological biomarkers, as well as spectroscopicmore » and morphological details at the single-cell level. Correlation matrices defining the relationships among the observables and based on variation of the illumination intensity and salinity were constructed for predicting bioproduct yields for varying culture conditions. Following maintenance of stable cultures for 6-week intervals, phenotypic responses to photo-osmotic drift were explored using a combination of single-cell hyperspectral fluorescence imaging and flow cytometry. In addition to morphological changes, release of lipid microparticles from the cells that is disproportionate to cell lysis was observed under hypotonic drift, indicating the existence of a reversible membrane permeation mechanism in Dunaliella. Furthermore, this phenomenon introduces the potential for low-cost strategies for recovering lipids and pigments from the microalgae by minimizing the requirement for energy intensive harvesting and dewatering of the biomass. The results should be applicable to outdoor culture, where seasonal changes resulting in variable solar flux and precipitation and evaporation rates are anticipated.« less

Microbial changes in conjunctival flora with 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

PubMed

Iskeleli, Güzin; Bahar, Hrisi; Eroglu, Ebru; Torun, Muzeyyen Mamal; Ozkan, Sehirbay

2005-05-01

To determine the effect of 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses on the conjunctival flora in asymptomatic wearers. The authors studied 29 eyes of 15 patients wearing Focus NIGHT & DAY silicone hydrogel contact lenses for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. The average age of the patients was 25.54 +/- 8.98 years. Cultures of the inferior cul-de-sac were taken bilaterally from all eyes, before and after lens wear in asymptomatic patients. The isolation and identification of bacteria were made by standard clinical laboratory methods. The number of eyes whose conjunctival cultures were sterile before using the lenses significantly decreased (P = 0.0005), and the number of eyes with a growth of coagulase-negative staphylococci and diphtheroid rods in their conjunctival cultures significantly increased after using these lenses (P = 0.001 and P = 0.031, respectively). Conversely, a statistically significant difference was not found in the number of eyes that carried Propionibacterium acnes and Fusobacterium nucleatum in their conjunctival cultures before and after using the 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel lenses (P = 0.998 and P = 0.488, respectively). The results suggest that the sterility of the conjunctiva significantly decreased after using 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses. In addition, the number of bacteria of the normal conjunctival flora significantly increased after the use of these lenses. Contamination by the bacteria of the eyelids may be a possible colonization factor in this study group. Therefore, it is appropriate to examine the patients who wear these lenses more frequently.

In vitro plant tissue culture: means for production of biological active compounds.

PubMed

Espinosa-Leal, Claudia A; Puente-Garza, César A; García-Lara, Silverio

2018-05-07

Plant tissue culture as an important tool for the continuous production of active compounds including secondary metabolites and engineered molecules. Novel methods (gene editing, abiotic stress) can improve the technique. Humans have a long history of reliance on plants for a supply of food, shelter and, most importantly, medicine. Current-day pharmaceuticals are typically based on plant-derived metabolites, with new products being discovered constantly. Nevertheless, the consistent and uniform supply of plant pharmaceuticals has often been compromised. One alternative for the production of important plant active compounds is in vitro plant tissue culture, as it assures independence from geographical conditions by eliminating the need to rely on wild plants. Plant transformation also allows the further use of plants for the production of engineered compounds, such as vaccines and multiple pharmaceuticals. This review summarizes the important bioactive compounds currently produced by plant tissue culture and the fundamental methods and plants employed for their production.

Stories from the Sharp End: Case Studies in Safety Improvement

PubMed Central

McCarthy, Douglas; Blumenthal, David

2006-01-01

Motivated by pressure and a wish to improve, health care organizations are implementing programs to improve patient safety. This article describes six natural experiments in health care safety that show where the safety field is heading and opportunities for and barriers to improvement. All these programs identified organizational culture change as critical to making patients safer, differing chiefly in their methods of creating a patient safety culture. Their goal is a safety culture that promotes continuing innovation and improvement, transcending whatever particular safety methodology is used. Policymakers could help stimulate a culture of safety by linking regulatory goals to safety culture expectations, sponsoring voluntary learning collaborations, rewarding safety improvements, better using publicly reported data, encouraging consumer involvement, and supporting research and education. PMID:16529572

Research Design for the Chief Joseph Dam Cultural Resources Project.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

peoples of Northeastern Washington. Written as a masters thesis ( UW 1933), this study of the Nespelem and the Sanpoll tribes, who lived in and around...Methods of Soil Analysis. American Society of Agronomy, Madison . Bonnichsen, R. and R.T. Will 1980 Cultural modification of bone: The experimental...Name 32 - 35 Skeletal Element Key TH0C Thoracic Centrum (continued) THEC Thoracic Zygapophsis LbbLrLVLUMB Lumbar Vertebra Indet LUMM Lumbar Vertebra I

Modifications of a Device for Maintenance of the Rumen Microbial Population in Continuous Culture

PubMed Central

Slyter, L. L.; Nelson, W. O.; Wolin, M. J.

1964-01-01

An improved and simplified apparatus for maintaining the rumen microbial population in continuous culture was constructed. All components were easily obtained from commercial sources or were simple to construct. Mechanical difficulties were minimal, and little attention was needed on the part of the operator. The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content of the cultures (100 to 150 μg/ml) varied little during 7 days of continuous culture, and protozoal concentration decreased from 105 per ml to a steady-state level of 2 × 103 per ml in 4 days. Volatile fatty acid and methane production followed the normal in vivo pattern for 7 days of continuous culture. DNA, protozoal concentrations, and fermentation patterns did not significantly change between 4 and 21 days of continuous culture. PMID:14201093

Direct Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Gram-Negative Bacilli in Blood Cultures by an Electrochemical Method

PubMed Central

Huang, Ay Huey; Wu, Jiunn Jong; Weng, Yu Mei; Ding, Hwia Cheng; Chang, Tsung Chain

1998-01-01

Nonfastidious aerobic gram-negative bacilli (GNB) are commonly isolated from blood cultures. The feasibility of using an electrochemical method for direct antimicrobial susceptibility testing of GNB in positive blood cultures was evaluated. An aliquot (10 μl) of 1:10-diluted positive blood cultures containing GNB was inoculated into the Bactometer module well (bioMérieux Vitek, Hazelwood, Mo.) containing 1 ml of Mueller-Hinton broth supplemented with an antibiotic. Susceptibility tests were performed in a breakpoint broth dilution format, with the results being categorized as resistant, intermediate, or susceptible. Seven antibiotics (ampicillin, cephalothin, gentamicin, amikacin, cefamandole, cefotaxime, and ciprofloxacin) were used in this study, with each agent being tested at the two interpretive breakpoint concentrations. The inoculated modules were incubated at 35°C, and the change in impedance in each well was continuously monitored for 24 h by the Bactometer. The MICs of the seven antibiotics for each blood isolate were also determined by the standardized broth microdilution method. Of 146 positive blood cultures (1,022 microorganism-antibiotic combinations) containing GNB tested by the direct method, the rates of very major, major, and minor errors were 0, 1.1, and 2.5%, respectively. The impedance method was simple; no centrifugation, preincubation, or standardization of the inocula was required, and the susceptibility results were normally available within 3 to 6 h after inoculation. The rapid method may allow proper antimicrobial treatment almost 30 to 40 h before the results of the standard methods are available. PMID:9738038

Do knowledge and cultural perceptions of modern female contraceptives predict male involvement in Ayete, Nigeria?

PubMed

Sanusi, A; Akinyemi, Oluwaseun O; Onoviran, Oghemetega O

2014-12-01

Male involvement is crucial to female contraceptive use. This study examined how male knowledge and cultural perceptions of modern female contraceptives influence involvement in contraceptive use. A cross-sectional survey of 389 men from Ayete, Nigeria was used to regress a continuous male involvement score on demographic variables, knowledge of at least one method of modern female contraception and a scored male perception variable using Ordinary Least Squares regression. Controlling for perception, the knowledge of at least one method of modern female contraception was not significantly associated with a change in male involvement (p=0.264). Increasing positive perception was associated with higher male involvement scores (p=0.001). Higher educated males, those with a current desire to have children and males whose partners were currently using a method had greater male involvement scores (p<0.05). Policy and intervention efforts should be focused on changing cultural perceptions, in addition to providing in-depth knowledge of contraceptive methods.

African refugees in Egypt: trauma, loss, and cultural adjustment.

PubMed

Henry, Hani M

2012-08-01

This study examined the influence of pre-immigration trauma on the acculturation process of refugees, as reflected in the manifestations of their continuing bonds with native cultures. Six African refugees who sought refuge in Egypt because of wars and political persecution were interviewed about the circumstances of their departure from their home countries, as well as their life experiences in Egypt. All participants kept continuing bonds with their native cultures, but these bonds manifested differently depending on their ability to assimilate pre-immigration trauma and cultural losses. Participants who successfully assimilated both pre-immigration trauma and cultural losses developed continuing bonds with their native cultures that helped them (a) integrate the Egyptian culture into their life experiences and (b) tolerate difficult political conditions in Egypt. Participants who could not assimilate their pre-immigration trauma and cultural losses also developed continuing bonds with their native culture, but these bonds only provided them with solace.

Micropropagation and maintenance of phytoplasmas in tissue culture.

PubMed

Bertaccini, Assunta; Paltrinieri, Samanta; Martini, Marta; Tedeschi, Mara; Contaldo, Nicoletta

2013-01-01

Maintenance of phytoplasma strains in tissue culture is achievable for all strains transmitted to periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), and also for other naturally infected plant host species. Shoots of 1-3 cm length are grown in a solid medium containing Murashige and Skoog (MS) micro- and macroelements and 0.12 mg/L benzylaminopurine. The continued presence of phytoplasmas in infected shoots of periwinkle that have been maintained in micropropagation for up to 20 years can be shown by diagnostic methods such as nested PCR tests using the 16S rDNA gene (see Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,and 26 for phytoplasma diagnostic methods).

Modifying the Toyota Production System for continuous performance improvement in an academic children's hospital.

PubMed

Stapleton, F Bruder; Hendricks, James; Hagan, Patrick; DelBeccaro, Mark

2009-08-01

The Toyota Production System (TPS) has become a successful model for improving efficiency and eliminating errors in manufacturing processes. In an effort to provide patients and families with the highest quality clinical care, our academic children's hospital has modified the techniques of the TPS for a program in continuous performance improvement (CPI) and has expanded its application to educational and research programs. Over a period of years, physicians, nurses, residents, administrators, and hospital staff have become actively engaged in a culture of continuous performance improvement. This article provides background into the methods of CPI and describes examples of how we have applied these methods for improvement in clinical care, resident teaching, and research administration.

Use of the Coelomic Grafting Technique for Prolonged ex utero Cultivation of Late Preprimitive Streak-Stage Rabbit Embryos.

PubMed

Püschel, Bernd; Männer, Jörg

2016-01-01

Due to its morphological similarity with the early human embryo, the pregastrulation-stage rabbit may represent an appropriate mammalian model for studying processes involved in early human development. The usability of mammalian embryos for experimental studies depends on the availability of whole embryo culture methods facilitating prolonged ex utero development. While currently used culture methods yield high success rates for embryos from primitive streak stages onward, the success rate of extended cultivation of preprimitive streak-stage mammalian embryos is low for all previously established methods and for all studied species. This limits the usability of preprimitive streak-stage rabbit embryos in experimental embryology. We have tested whether the extraembryonic coelom of 4-day-old chick embryos may be used for prolonged ex utero culture of preprimitive streak-stage rabbit embryos (stage 2, 6.2 days post coitum). We found that, within this environment, stage 2 rabbit blastocysts can be cultured at decreasing success rates (55% after 1 day, 35% after 2 days, 15% after 3 days) up to a maximum of 72 h. Grafted blastocysts can continue development from the onset of gastrulation to early organogenesis and thereby form all structures characterizing age-matched controls (e.g. neural tube, somites, beating heart). Compared to normal controls, successfully cultured embryos developed at a slower rate and finally showed some structural and gross morphological anomalies. The method presented here was originally developed for whole embryo culture of mouse embryos by Gluecksohn-Schoenheimer in 1941. It is a simple and inexpensive method that may represent a useful extension to presently available ex utero culture systems for rabbit embryos. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Anaerobic bioprocessing of low-rank coals. [Veillonella alcalescens and Propionibacterium acidipropionici

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jain, M.K.; Narayan, R.; Han, O.

1992-01-30

The overall goal of this project is to find biological methods to remove carboxylic functionalities from low-rank coals under ambient conditions and to assess the properties of these modified coals towards coal liquefaction. The main objectives of this quarter were: (1) continuation of microbial consortia development, (2) evaluation of the isolated organisms for decarboxylation, (3) selection of best performing culture (known cultures vs. new isolates), and (4) coal decarboxylation using activated carbon as blanks. The project began on September 12, 1990.

Bioprocess Intensification of Beer Fermentation Using Immobilised Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verbelen, Pieter J.; Nedović, Viktor A.; Manojlović, Verica; Delvaux, Freddy R.; Laskošek-Čukalović, Ida; Bugarski, Branko; Willaert, Ronnie

Beer production with immobilised yeast has been the subject of research for approximately 30 years but has so far found limited application in the brewing industry, due to engineering problems, unrealised cost advantages, microbial contaminations and an unbalanced beer flavor (Linko et al. 1998; Brányik et al. 2005; Willaert and Nedović 2006). The ultimate aim of this research is the production of beer of desired quality within 1-3 days. Traditional beer fermentation systems use freely suspended yeast cells to ferment wort in an unstirred batch reactor. The primary fermentation takes approximately 7 days with a subsequent secondary fermentation (maturation) of several weeks. A batch culture system employing immobilization could benefit from an increased rate of fermentation. However, it appears that in terms of increasing productivity, a continuous fermentation system with immobilization would be the best method (Verbelen et al. 2006). An important issue of the research area is whether beer can be produced by immobilised yeast in continuous culture with the same characteristic as the traditional method.

Cultural experiences of immigrant nurses at two hospitals in Chile.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Gabriel; Angélica-Muñoz, Luz; Hoga, Luiza Akiko Komura

2014-01-01

to explore the cultural experiences of nurses who immigrated to Chile. The study's theoretical framework was the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence. Leininger's Observation-Participation-Reflection method was developed at two hospitals in the city of Santiago, and ethnographic interviews were held with 15 immigrant nurses. among Purnell's 12 domains, the following were identified: Overview/heritage, Communication, Workforce issues, Family roles and organization, Biocultural ecology and Health-care practices. The difficulties were related to the language and its semantic meaning, the new responsibilities and the difficult relationship with colleagues. "In search of better horizons - the decision to immigrate", "Gaining confidence and establishing a support network - employability and professional performance" and "Seeking for people's acceptance - professional adaptation in a new cultural scenario" are cultural themes that represent their experiences. the competence to offer cultural care demands the development of public policies and continuing education programs at health institutions, specifically focused on immigrant nurses.

Sexual development in fish, practical applications for aquaculture.

PubMed

Cnaani, A; Levavi-Sivan, B

2009-01-01

Aquaculture is one of the fastest rising sectors of world food production. Hundreds of fish species are cultured, providing an affordable, high quality food source. Two aspects of sexual development are critically important for the continued improvement of cultured fish stocks: sexual dimorphism and control of reproduction. In this paper, we review the main methods used to control sex determination in fish and their application in some of the most widely cultured species. Specifically, we review the techniques available for the production of all-male, all-female, and sterile populations. Techniques for endocrinological control of reproduction are also discussed. 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Accessing 3D microtissue metabolism: Lactate and oxygen monitoring in hepatocyte spheroids.

PubMed

Weltin, Andreas; Hammer, Steffen; Noor, Fozia; Kaminski, Yeda; Kieninger, Jochen; Urban, Gerald A

2017-01-15

3D hepatic microtissues, unlike 2D cell cultures, retain many of the in-vivo-like functionalities even after long-term cultivation. Such 3D cultures are increasingly applied to investigate liver damage due to drug exposure in toxicology. However, there is a need for thorough metabolic characterization of these microtissues for mechanistic understanding of effects on culture behaviour. We measured metabolic parameters from single human HepaRG hepatocyte spheroids online and continuously with electrochemical microsensors. A microsensor platform for lactate and oxygen was integrated in a standard 96-well plate. Electrochemical microsensors for lactate and oxygen allow fast, precise and continuous long-term measurement of metabolic parameters directly in the microwell. The demonstrated capability to precisely detect small concentration changes by single spheroids is the key to access their metabolism. Lactate levels in the culture medium starting from 50µM with production rates of 5µMh -1 were monitored and precisely quantified over three days. Parallel long-term oxygen measurements showed no oxygen depletion or hypoxic conditions in the microwell. Increased lactate production by spheroids upon suppression of the aerobic metabolism was observed. The dose-dependent decrease in lactate production caused by the addition of the hepatotoxic drug Bosentan was determined. We showed that in a toxicological application, metabolic monitoring yields quantitative, online information on cell viability, which complements and supports other methods such as microscopy. The demonstrated continuous access to 3D cell culture metabolism within a standard setup improves in vitro toxicology models in replacement strategies of animal experiments. Controlling the microenvironment of such organotypic cultures has impact in tissue engineering, cancer therapy and personalized medicine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food and the Effect of Increasing Use of Culture-Independent Diagnostic Tests on Surveillance--Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 10 U.S. Sites, 2012-2015.

PubMed

Huang, Jennifer Y; Henao, Olga L; Griffin, Patricia M; Vugia, Duc J; Cronquist, Alicia B; Hurd, Sharon; Tobin-D'Angelo, Melissa; Ryan, Patricia; Smith, Kirk; Lathrop, Sarah; Zansky, Shelley; Cieslak, Paul R; Dunn, John; Holt, Kristin G; Wolpert, Beverly J; Patrick, Mary E

2016-04-15

To evaluate progress toward prevention of enteric and foodborne illnesses in the United States, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) monitors the incidence of laboratory-confirmed infections caused by nine pathogens transmitted commonly through food in 10 U.S. sites. This report summarizes preliminary 2015 data and describes trends since 2012. In 2015, FoodNet reported 20,107 confirmed cases (defined as culture-confirmed bacterial infections and laboratory-confirmed parasitic infections), 4,531 hospitalizations, and 77 deaths. FoodNet also received reports of 3,112 positive culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) without culture-confirmation, a number that has markedly increased since 2012. Diagnostic testing practices for enteric pathogens are rapidly moving away from culture-based methods. The continued shift from culture-based methods to CIDTs that do not produce the isolates needed to distinguish between strains and subtypes affects the interpretation of public health surveillance data and ability to monitor progress toward prevention efforts. Expanded case definitions and strategies for obtaining bacterial isolates are crucial during this transition period.

Addition of Carbon to the Culture Medium Improves the Detection Efficiency of Aflatoxin Synthetic Fungi

PubMed Central

Suzuki, Tadahiro; Iwahashi, Yumiko

2016-01-01

Aflatoxin (AF) is a harmful secondary metabolite that is synthesized by the Aspergillus species. Although AF detection techniques have been developed, techniques for detection of AF synthetic fungi are still required. Techniques such as plate culture methods are continually being modified for this purpose. However, plate culture methods require refinement because they suffer from several issues. In this study, activated charcoal powder (carbon) was added to a culture medium containing cyclodextrin (CD) to enhance the contrast of fluorescence and improve the detection efficiency for AF synthetic fungi. Two culture media, potato dextrose agar and yeast extract sucrose agar, were investigated using both plate and liquid cultures. The final concentrations of CD and carbon in the media were 3 mg/mL and 0.3 mg/mL, respectively. Addition of carbon improved the visibility of fluorescence by attenuating approximately 30% of light scattering. Several fungi that could not be detected with only CD in the medium were detected with carbon addition. The carbon also facilitated fungal growth in the potato dextrose liquid medium. The results suggest that addition of carbon to media can enhance the observation of AF-derived fluorescence. PMID:27854283

‘Talking a different language’: an exploration of the influence of organizational cultures and working practices on transition from child to adult mental health services

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Organizational culture is manifest in patterns of behaviour underpinned by beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions, which can influence working practices. Cultural factors and working practices have been suggested to influence the transition of young people moving from child to adult mental health services. Failure to manage and integrate transitional care effectively can lead to young people losing contact with health and social care systems, resulting in adverse effects on health, well-being and potential. Methods The study aim was to identify the organisational factors which facilitate or impede transition of young people from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adult mental health services (AMHS) from the perspective of health professionals and representatives of voluntary organisations. Specific objectives were (i) to explore organizational cultures, structures, processes and resources which influence transition from child to adult mental health services; (ii) identify factors which constitute barriers and facilitators to transition and continuity of care and (iii) make recommendations for service improvements. Within an exploratory, qualitative design thirty four semi-structured interviews were conducted with health and social care professionals working in CAMHS and AMHS in four NHS Mental Health Trusts and four voluntary organizations, in England. Results A cultural divide appears to exist between CAMHS and AMHS, characterized by different beliefs, attitudes, mutual misperceptions and a lack of understanding of different service structures. This is exacerbated by working practices relating to communication and information transfer which could impact negatively on transition, relational, informational and cross boundary continuity of care. There is also evidence of a cultural shift, with some positive approaches to collaborative working across services and agencies, involving joint posts, parallel working, shared clinics and joint meetings. Conclusions Cultural factors embodied in mutual misperceptions, attitudes, beliefs exist between CAMHS and AMHS. Working practices can exert either positive or negative effects on transition and continuity of care. Implementation of shared education and training, standardised approaches to record keeping and information transfer, supported by compatible IT resources are recommended, alongside management strategies which evaluate the achievement of outcomes related to transition and continuity of care. PMID:23822089

Overcoming the Discontinuity of Patriotic Education and Moral Development by Means of Regional Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tikhonova, Anna U.

2016-01-01

The paper analyzes studies on continuing education, explains the concept of "continuity of patriotic education and moral development by means of regional culture", determines the uniqueness of regional culture as the core of patriotic education and moral development, and characterizes the model of continuity of patriotic education and…

Semiautomated Method for Microbiological Vitamin Assays

PubMed Central

Berg, T. M.; Behagel, H. A.

1972-01-01

A semiautomated method for microbiological vitamin assays is described, which includes separate automated systems for the preparation of the cultures and for the measurement of turbidity. In the dilution and dosage unit based on the continuous-flow principle, vitamin samples were diluted to two different dose levels at a rate of 40 per hr, mixed with the inoculated test broth, and dispensed into culture tubes. After incubation, racks with culture tubes were placed on the sampler of an automatic turbidimeter. This unit, based on the discrete-sample system, measured the turbidity and printed the extinction values at a rate of 300 per hr. Calculations were computerized and the results, including statistical data, are presented in an easily readable form. The automated method is in routine use for the assays of thiamine, riboflavine, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamin, calcium pantothenate, nicotinic acid, pantothenol, and folic acid. Identical vitamin solutions assayed on different days gave variation coefficients for the various vitamin assays of less than 10%. Images PMID:4553802

Cross cultural training in primary mental health care consultations in Moldova - The tEACH perspective.

PubMed

Møller, Jane Ege; van Weel-Baumgarten, Evelyn

2017-09-01

This article reports experiences and challenges encountered in a cross-cultural training project in Moldova that was undertaken by tEACH, the teaching subcommittee of EACH: International Association for Communication in Healthcare, in cooperation with local and international stakeholders. As part of a major health policy reform, the aim was to equip a group of trainers with the skills to train Moldovan professionals in skills for primary mental health care, including communication skills. The project consisted of 3 weeks of training using mainly experiential teaching methods to allow participants to practice content and methods, including interactive lecturing, roleplay, feedback and video. A majority of the participants reported that they acquired key facilitation skills. They valued the opportunity to practice and receive feedback. However, some reported that there was too much focus on communication skills, which was thought to be less relevant in a Moldovan context. Furthermore our learner-centered approach was occasionally experienced as a lack of structure CONCLUSION: The tEACH expertise plays an important role in supporting trainers in cross-cultural contexts with effective communication skills methods. Teaching in a cross-cultural context is only successful through continuous dialogue with stakeholders and demands attention to cultural differences. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Successful operation of continuous reactors at short retention times results in high-density, fast-rate Dehalococcoides dechlorinating cultures.

PubMed

Delgado, Anca G; Fajardo-Williams, Devyn; Popat, Sudeep C; Torres, César I; Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa

2014-03-01

The discovery of Dehalococcoides mccartyi reducing perchloroethene and trichloroethene (TCE) to ethene was a key landmark for bioremediation applications at contaminated sites. D. mccartyi-containing cultures are typically grown in batch-fed reactors. On the other hand, continuous cultivation of these microorganisms has been described only at long hydraulic retention times (HRTs). We report the cultivation of a representative D. mccartyi-containing culture in continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTRs) at a short, 3-d HRT, using TCE as the electron acceptor. We successfully operated 3-d HRT CSTRs for up to 120 days and observed sustained dechlorination of TCE at influent concentrations of 1 and 2 mM TCE to ≥ 97 % ethene, coupled to the production of 10(12) D. mccartyi cells Lculture (-1). These outcomes were possible in part by using a medium with low bicarbonate concentrations (5 mM) to minimize the excessive proliferation of microorganisms that use bicarbonate as an electron acceptor and compete with D. mccartyi for H2. The maximum conversion rates for the CSTR-produced culture were 0.13 ± 0.016, 0.06 ± 0.018, and 0.02 ± 0.007 mmol Cl(-) Lculture (-1) h(-1), respectively, for TCE, cis-dichloroethene, and vinyl chloride. The CSTR operation described here provides the fastest laboratory cultivation rate of high-cell density Dehalococcoides cultures reported in the literature to date. This cultivation method provides a fundamental scientific platform for potential future operations of such a system at larger scales.

Community Nursing Care of Chinese-Australian Cancer Patients: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

McKenzie, Heather; Kwok, Cannas; Tsang, Heidi; Moreau, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Providing quality care and support to cancer patients from minority cultures can challenge community nurses when language barriers and cultural complexities intersect with the need for complex care. This article reports on a qualitative study that explores interactions between community nurses and Chinese-Australian cancer patients. The research method focused on particular nurse-patient encounters and involved preencounter and postencounter interviews with the nurse, postencounter interviews with the patient, and observation of the encounters. Participants included community nurses, Chinese cancer patients being cared for at home, and their carers if present. Four themes were conceptualized: (1) the impact of language barriers on nurse-patient interactions, (2) patient understandings of the scope and objectives of healthcare services, (3) cultural complexities and sensitivities, and (4) valued care and support. The study demonstrates that, although many nurses do provide comprehensive, culturally competent care, language barriers can lead to task-oriented rather than comprehensive approaches, and other cultural complexities do have an impact on patient experiences and on the quality of nurse-patient interactions. Nevertheless, most patient participants experienced a feeling of security as a result of regular contact with a community nursing service. Cancer patients with complex care needs but limited English proficiency require support to negotiate complicated community services networks. Culturally competent community nurses can provide this support. The study highlights the need for continuing cultural competence education for community nurses and the importance of careful discharge planning to ensure continuity of care for this vulnerable patient group.

Bioaugmentation for Groundwater Remediation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

continually grown and harvested , in fed batch mode where a culture is grown in a vessel and harvested and then another culture begun, or in a hybrid of...the two whereby the culture is maintained in a fermentor until a volume of culture is harvested and then replaced with fresh medium. The primary...producing cultures for bioaugmentation is a semi- continuous process whereby the culture is maintained in the fermentor until needed and then harvested

Long-term culture of rat hippocampal neurons at low density in serum-free medium: combination of the sandwich culture technique with the three-dimensional nanofibrous hydrogel PuraMatrix.

PubMed

Kaneko, Ai; Sankai, Yoshiyuki

2014-01-01

The primary culture of neuronal cells plays an important role in neuroscience. There has long been a need for methods enabling the long-term culture of primary neurons at low density, in defined serum-free medium. However, the lower the cell density, the more difficult it is to maintain the cells in culture. Therefore, we aimed to develop a method for long-term culture of neurons at low density, in serum-free medium, without the need for a glial feeder layer. Here, we describe the work leading to our determination of a protocol for long-term (>2 months) primary culture of rat hippocampal neurons in serum-free medium at the low density of 3×10(4) cells/mL (8.9×10(3) cells/cm2) without a glial feeder layer. Neurons were cultured on a three-dimensional nanofibrous hydrogel, PuraMatrix, and sandwiched under a coverslip to reproduce the in vivo environment, including the three-dimensional extracellular matrix, low-oxygen conditions, and exposure to concentrated paracrine factors. We examined the effects of varying PuraMatrix concentrations, the timing and presence or absence of a coverslip, the timing of neuronal isolation from embryos, cell density at plating, medium components, and changing the medium or not on parameters such as developmental pattern, cell viability, neuronal ratio, and neurite length. Using our method of combining the sandwich culture technique with PuraMatrix in Neurobasal medium/B27/L-glutamine for primary neuron culture, we achieved longer neurites (≥3,000 µm), greater cell viability (≥30%) for 2 months, and uniform culture across the wells. We also achieved an average neuronal ratio of 97%, showing a nearly pure culture of neurons without astrocytes. Our method is considerably better than techniques for the primary culture of neurons, and eliminates the need for a glial feeder layer. It also exhibits continued support for axonal elongation and synaptic activity for long periods (>6 weeks).

Modeling and Properties of Nonlinear Stochastic Dynamical System of Continuous Culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lei; Feng, Enmin; Ye, Jianxiong; Xiu, Zhilong

The stochastic counterpart to the deterministic description of continuous fermentation with ordinary differential equation is investigated in the process of glycerol bio-dissimilation to 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae. We briefly discuss the continuous fermentation process driven by three-dimensional Brownian motion and Lipschitz coefficients, which is suitable for the factual fermentation. Subsequently, we study the existence and uniqueness of solutions for the stochastic system as well as the boundedness of the Two-order Moment and the Markov property of the solution. Finally stochastic simulation is carried out under the Stochastic Euler-Maruyama method.

Continuous culture methodology for the screening of microalgae for oil.

PubMed

Del Río, Esperanza; Armendáriz, Ana; García-Gómez, Elena; García-González, Mercedes; Guerrero, Miguel G

2015-02-10

A basic criterion in the selection of microalgae suitable as source of oil for biodiesel should be their actual capacity to produce lipids or, more properly, the fatty acid yield. Performance assessment of 10 preselected microalgae under both batch and continuous culture points to the latter approach as the most adequate for evaluating fatty acid productivity. Differences were patent in continuous culture among strains that otherwise had analogous oil accumulation potential under batch culture. Some promising strains under batch culture (like Muriella aurantiaca and Monoraphidium braunii) exhibited, however, values for actual fatty acid productivity lower than 40 mgL(-1)d(-1) in continuous regime. The analysis performed in photochemostat under continuous culture regime revealed the great potential of Chlorococcum olefaciens, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Scenedesmus almeriensis as oil producing microalgae. Fatty acid productivity levels over 90 mgL(-1)d(-1) were recorded for the latter strains under moderate nitrogen limitation, conditions which led to an enrichment in saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, a more suitable profile as raw material for biodiesel. The continuous culture methodology employed represents a sound procedure for screening microalgae for biofuel production, providing a reliable evaluation of their fatty acid production capacity, under conditions close to those of outdoor production systems. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The renaissance of continuous culture in the post-genomics age.

PubMed

Bull, Alan T

2010-10-01

The development of continuous culture techniques 60 years ago and the subsequent formulation of theory and the diversification of experimental systems revolutionised microbiology and heralded a unique period of innovative research. Then, progressively, molecular biology and thence genomics and related high-information-density omics technologies took centre stage and microbial growth physiology in general faded from educational programmes and research funding priorities alike. However, there has been a gathering appreciation over the past decade that if the claims of systems biology are going to be realised, they will have to be based on rigorously controlled and reproducible microbial and cell growth platforms. This revival of continuous culture will be long lasting because its recognition as the growth system of choice is firmly established. The purpose of this review, therefore, is to remind microbiologists, particularly those new to continuous culture approaches, of the legacy of what I call the first age of continuous culture, and to explore a selection of researches that are using these techniques in this post-genomics age. The review looks at the impact of continuous culture across a comprehensive range of microbiological research and development. The ability to establish (quasi-) steady state conditions is a frequently stated advantage of continuous cultures thereby allowing environmental parameters to be manipulated without causing concomitant changes in the specific growth rate. However, the use of continuous cultures also enables the critical study of specified transition states and chemical, physical or biological perturbations. Such dynamic analyses enhance our understanding of microbial ecology and microbial pathology for example, and offer a wider scope for innovative drug discovery; they also can inform the optimization of batch and fed-batch operations that are characterized by sequential transitions states.

The Role of Critical Reflection in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shandomo, Hibajene M.

2010-01-01

The majority of the teacher candidates in my methods classes come from a background that is different from the primarily African American students at my professional development school. Because these teacher candidates continue to be predominantly White middle-class females, the gap between their cultural comfort zone and their students' cultural…

Capturing Visual Metaphors and Tales: Innovative or Elusive?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliot, Dely Lazarte; Reid, Kate; Baumfield, Vivienne

2017-01-01

Despite the exponential growth of visual research in the social sciences in the last three decades, continuing empirical enquiries are arguably more relevant than ever. Earlier research employed visual methods primarily to investigate distinct cultural practices, often seeking the views of marginalized, challenging or hard-to-reach participants.…

Quebec: La valse des valeurs (Quebec: The Waltz of Values).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ueberschlag, Roger

1991-01-01

In recent decades, Quebec has been continuously examining its educational values, addressing in particular the effectiveness of traditional educational methods and curricula, role of institutional culture in academic success, and value placed on ethnic integration. Priority should be given to cognitive development and systematic evaluation but…

Microfluidic chemostat and turbidostat with flow rate, oxygen, and temperature control for dynamic continuous culture.

PubMed

Lee, Kevin S; Boccazzi, Paolo; Sinskey, Anthony J; Ram, Rajeev J

2011-05-21

This work reports on an instrument capable of supporting automated microscale continuous culture experiments. The instrument consists of a plastic-PDMS device capable of continuous flow without volume drift or evaporation. We apply direct computer controlled machining and chemical bonding fabrication for production of fluidic devices with a 1 mL working volume, high oxygen transfer rate (k(L)a≈0.025 s(-1)), fast mixing (2 s), accurate flow control (±18 nL), and closed loop control over temperature, cell density, dissolved oxygen, and pH. Integrated peristaltic pumps and valves provide control over input concentrations and allow the system to perform different types of cell culture on a single device, such as batch, chemostat, and turbidostat continuous cultures. Continuous cultures are demonstrated without contamination for 3 weeks in a single device and both steady state and dynamically controlled conditions are possible. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

Kinetic Study of Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol Fermentation in Continuous Culture

PubMed Central

Buehler, Edward A.; Mesbah, Ali

2016-01-01

Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by clostridia has shown promise for industrial-scale production of biobutanol. However, the continuous ABE fermentation suffers from low product yield, titer, and productivity. Systems analysis of the continuous ABE fermentation will offer insights into its metabolic pathway as well as into optimal fermentation design and operation. For the ABE fermentation in continuous Clostridium acetobutylicum culture, this paper presents a kinetic model that includes the effects of key metabolic intermediates and enzymes as well as culture pH, product inhibition, and glucose inhibition. The kinetic model is used for elucidating the behavior of the ABE fermentation under the conditions that are most relevant to continuous cultures. To this end, dynamic sensitivity analysis is performed to systematically investigate the effects of culture conditions, reaction kinetics, and enzymes on the dynamics of the ABE production pathway. The analysis provides guidance for future metabolic engineering and fermentation optimization studies. PMID:27486663

Impulsive control of a continuous-culture and flocculation harvest chemostat model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tongqian; Ma, Wanbiao; Meng, Xinzhu

2017-12-01

In this paper, a new mathematical model describing the process of continuous culture and harvest of microalgaes is proposed. By inputting medium and flocculant at two different fixed moments periodically, continuous culture and harvest of microalgaes is implemented. The mathematical analysis is conducted and the whole dynamics of model is investigated by using theory of impulsive differential equations. We find that the model has a microalgaes-extinction periodic solution and it is globally asymptotically stable when some certain threshold value is less than the unit. And the model is permanent when some certain threshold value is larger than the unit. Then, according to the threshold, the control strategies of continuous culture and harvest of microalgaes are discussed. The results show that continuous culture and harvest of microalgaes can be archived by adjusting suitable input time, input amount of medium or flocculant. Finally, some numerical simulations are carried out to verify the control strategy.

An electrochemical approach to monitor pH change in agar media during plant tissue culture.

PubMed

Wang, Min; Ha, Yang

2007-05-15

In this work, metal oxide microelectrodes were developed to monitor pH change in agar media during plant tissue culture. An antimony wire was produced by a new approach "capillary melt method". The surface of the obtained antimony wire was oxidized in a potassium nitrate melt to fabricate an antimony oxide film for pH sensing. Characterization results show that the oxide layer grown on the wire surface consists of Sb(2)O(3) crystal phase. The sensing response, open-circuit potential, of the electrode has a good linear relationship (R(2)=1.00) with pH value of the test solution. Adding organic compounds into the test media would not affect the linear relationship, although the slope of the lines varied with different ingredients added. The antimony oxide electrodes were employed to continuously monitor pH change of agar culture media during a 2-week plant tissue culture of Dendrobium candidum. The antimony oxide electrode fabricated this way has the advantages of low cost, easy fabrication, fast response, and almost no contamination introduced into the system. It would be suitable for in situ and continuous pH measurement in many bio applications.

Suspension cell culture in microgravity and development of a space bioreactor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, Dennis R.

1987-01-01

NASA has methodically developed unique suspension type cell and recovery apparatus culture systems for bioprocess technology experiments and production of biological products in microgravity. The first space bioreactor has been designed for microprocessor control, no gaseous headspace, circulation and resupply of culture medium, and slow mixing in very low shear regimes. Various ground based bioreactors are being used to test reactor vessel design, on-line sensors, effects of shear, nutrient supply, and waste removal from continuous culture of human cells attached to microcarriers. The small (500 ml) bioreactor is being constructed for flight experiments in the Shuttle middeck to verify systems operation under microgravity conditions and to measure the efficiencies of mass transport, gas transfer, oxygen consumption, and control of low shear stress on cells.

Microbial electrosynthetic cells

DOEpatents

May, Harold D.; Marshall, Christopher W.; Labelle, Edward V.

2018-01-30

Methods are provided for microbial electrosynthesis of H.sub.2 and organic compounds such as methane and acetate. Method of producing mature electrosynthetic microbial populations by continuous culture is also provided. Microbial populations produced in accordance with the embodiments as shown to efficiently synthesize H.sub.2, methane and acetate in the presence of CO.sub.2 and a voltage potential. The production of biodegradable and renewable plastics from electricity and carbon dioxide is also disclosed.

Using Lean Process Improvement to Enhance Safety and Value in Orthopaedic Surgery: The Case of Spine Surgery.

PubMed

Sethi, Rajiv; Yanamadala, Vijay; Burton, Douglas C; Bess, Robert Shay

2017-11-01

Lean methodology was developed in the manufacturing industry to increase output and decrease costs. These labor organization methods have become the mainstay of major manufacturing companies worldwide. Lean methods involve continuous process improvement through the systematic elimination of waste, prevention of mistakes, and empowerment of workers to make changes. Because of the profit and productivity gains made in the manufacturing arena using lean methods, several healthcare organizations have adopted lean methodologies for patient care. Lean methods have now been implemented in many areas of health care. In orthopaedic surgery, lean methods have been applied to reduce complication rates and create a culture of continuous improvement. A step-by-step guide based on our experience can help surgeons use lean methods in practice. Surgeons and hospital centers well versed in lean methodology will be poised to reduce complications, improve patient outcomes, and optimize cost/benefit ratios for patient care.

Preparing culture change agents for academic medicine in a multi-institutional consortium: the C - change learning action network.

PubMed

Pololi, Linda H; Krupat, Edward; Schnell, Eugene R; Kern, David E

2013-01-01

Research suggests an ongoing need for change in the culture of academic medicine. This article describes the structure, activities and evaluation of a culture change project: the C - Change Learning Action Network (LAN) and its impact on participants. The LAN was developed to create the experience of a culture that would prepare participants to facilitate a culture in academic medicine that would be more collaborative, inclusive, relational, and that supports the humanity and vitality of faculty. Purposefully diverse faculty, leaders, and deans from 5 US medical schools convened in 2 1/2-day meetings biannually over 4 years. LAN meetings employed experiential, cognitive, and affective learning modes; innovative dialogue strategies; and reflective practice aimed at facilitating deep dialogue, relationship formation, collaboration, authenticity, and transformative learning to help members experience the desired culture. Robust aggregated qualitative and quantitative data collected from the 5 schools were used to inform and stimulate culture-change plans. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods were used. Participants indicated that a safe, supportive, inclusive, collaborative culture was established in LAN and highly valued. LAN members reported a deepened understanding of organizational change, new and valued interpersonal connections, increased motivation and resilience, new skills and approaches, increased self-awareness and personal growth, emotional connection to the issues of diversity and inclusion, and application of new learnings in their work. A carefully designed multi-institutional learning community can transform the way participants experience and view institutional culture. It can motivate and prepare them to be change agents in their own institutions. Copyright © 2013 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Organizational impact of nurse supply and workload on nurses continuing professional development opportunities: an integrative review.

PubMed

Coventry, Tracey H; Maslin-Prothero, Sian E; Smith, Gilly

2015-12-01

To identify the best evidence on the impact of healthcare organizations' supply of nurses and nursing workload on the continuing professional development opportunities of Registered Nurses in the acute care hospital. To maintain registration and professional competence nurses are expected to participate in continuing professional development. One challenge of recruitment and retention is the Registered Nurse's ability to participate in continuing professional development opportunities. The integrative review method was used to present Registered Nurses perspectives on this area of professional concern. The review was conducted for the period of 2001-February 2015. Keywords were: nurs*, continuing professional development, continuing education, professional development, supply, shortage, staffing, workload, nurse: patient ratio, barrier and deterrent. The integrative review used a structured approach for literature search and data evaluation, analysis and presentation. Eleven international studies met the inclusion criteria. Nurses are reluctant or prevented from leaving clinical settings to attend continuing professional development due to lack of relief cover, obtaining paid or unpaid study leave, use of personal time to undertake mandatory training and organizational culture and leadership issues constraining the implementation of learning to benefit patients. Culture, leadership and workload issues impact nurses' ability to attend continuing professional development. The consequences affect competence to practice, the provision of safe, quality patient care, maintenance of professional registration, job satisfaction, recruitment and retention. Organizational leadership plays an important role in supporting attendance at continuing professional development as an investment for the future. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Removal of metal from acid mine drainage using a hybrid system including a pipes inserted microalgae reactor.

PubMed

Park, Young-Tae; Lee, Hongkyun; Yun, Hyun-Shik; Song, Kyung-Guen; Yeom, Sung-Ho; Choi, Jaeyoung

2013-12-01

In this study, the microalgae culture system to combined active treatment system and pipe inserted microalgae reactor (PIMR) was investigated. After pretreated AMD in active treatment system, the effluent load to PIMR in order to Nephroselmis sp. KGE 8 culture. In experiment, effect of iron on growth and lipid accumulation in microalgae were inspected. The 2nd pretreatment effluent was economic feasibility of microalgae culture and lipid accumulation. The growth kinetics of the microalgae are modeled using logistic growth model and the model is primarily parameterized from data obtained through an experimental study where PIMR were dosed with BBM, BBM added 10 mg L(-1) iron and 2nd pretreatment effluent. Moreover, the continuous of microalgae culture in PIMR can be available. Overall, this study indicated that the use of pretreated AMD is a viable method for culture microalgae and lipid accumulation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cultural Consensus Theory: Aggregating Continuous Responses in a Finite Interval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batchelder, William H.; Strashny, Alex; Romney, A. Kimball

Cultural consensus theory (CCT) consists of cognitive models for aggregating responses of "informants" to test items about some domain of their shared cultural knowledge. This paper develops a CCT model for items requiring bounded numerical responses, e.g. probability estimates, confidence judgments, or similarity judgments. The model assumes that each item generates a latent random representation in each informant, with mean equal to the consensus answer and variance depending jointly on the informant and the location of the consensus answer. The manifest responses may reflect biases of the informants. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods were used to estimate the model, and simulation studies validated the approach. The model was applied to an existing cross-cultural dataset involving native Japanese and English speakers judging the similarity of emotion terms. The results sharpened earlier studies that showed that both cultures appear to have very similar cognitive representations of emotion terms.

Improved apparatus for continuous culture of hydrogen-fixing bacteria

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, J. F.; Litchfield, J. H.

1970-01-01

Improved apparatus permits the continuous culture of Hydrogenomonas eutropha. System incorporates three essential subsystems - /1/ environmentally isolated culture vessel, /2/ analytical system with appropriate sensors and readout devices, /3/ control system with feedback responses to each analytical measurement.

Continuous production of monoclonal antibody in a packed-bed bioreactor.

PubMed

Golmakany, Naghmeh; Rasaee, Mohammad Javad; Furouzandeh, Mehdi; Shojaosadati, Seyed Abbas; Kashanian, Soheila; Omidfar, Kobra

2005-06-01

In the present study the growth and MAb (monoclonal antibody) production of a mouse x mouse hybridoma cell producing anti-digoxin MAb was evaluated. The hybridoma cells entrapped within the support matrix Fibra-Cel were cultured in batch and continuous mode following special protocols. Cell-culture studies were performed in a 1-litre spinner basket containing 3 g.litre-1 support matrix. Batch culture was operated with the cell density of 42x10(6) cells. During the 7 days of culture, the medium was sampled daily in order to assess glucose and MAb concentrations and the lactate dehydrogenase released into the culture medium. After a culture period of 72 h, the cell density and MAb concentration were found to be 10.4x10(7) cells/3 g of NWPF (non-woven polyester fibre) discs and 250 microg/ml respectively. This yield gradually decreased to 0.55x10(6) cells/3 g of packaging material and 60 microg/ml respectively at the end of the batch culture. In the continuous-culture studies, the batch culture was initially operated for 64.5 h and then continuous flow was started at the dilution rates of 0.15, 0.2, 0.25 and 0.3 day-1 and finally stabilized at 0.25 day-1 within 288 h (12 days). The MAb concentration at steady state was found to be 116-120 microg/day per ml, and the yield of operation was 62.5 mg/day per ml, which was 3.5 times higher than that of batch culture. In conclusion, a packed-bed bioreactor with the support matrix Fibra-Cel, operated in continuous-feeding mode, is more efficient for large-scale MAb production than a batch culture. On the other hand, by using a continuous-culture system, a better supply of nutrients and removal of inhibitory metabolites and proteolytic enzymes was obtained.

Continuous monitoring of bacterial attachment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koeing, D. W.; Mishra, S. K.; Pierson, D. L.

1994-01-01

A major concern with the Space Station Freedom (SSF) water supply system is the control of longterm microbial contamination and biofilm development in the water storage and distribution systems. These biofilms have the potential for harboring pathogens as well as microbial strains containing resistance factors that could negatively influence crew health. The proposed means for disinfecting the water system on SSF (iodine) may encourage the selection of resistant strains. In fact, biofilm bacteria were observed in water lines from the Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102); therefore, an alternative remediation method is required to disinfect spacecraft water lines. A thorough understanding of colonization events and the physiological parameters that will influence bacteria adhesion is required. The limiting factor for development of this technology is the ability to continuously monitor adhesion events and the effects of biocides on sessile bacteria. Methods were developed to allow bacterial adhesion and subsequent biocidal treatment to be monitored continuously. This technique couples automated image analysis with a continuous flow of a bacterial suspension through an optical flow cell. A strain of Pseudomonas cepacia isolated from the water supply of the Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) during STS-39 was grown in a nitrogen-limited continuous culture. This culture was challenged continuously with iodine during growth, and the adhesion characteristics of this strain was measure with regard to flow rate. Various biocides (ozone, hypochlorite, and iodine) were added to the flow stream to evaluate how well each chemical removed the bacteria. After biocide treatment, a fresh bacterial suspension was introduced into the flow cell, and the attachment rate was evaluated on the previously treated surface. This secondary fouling was again treated with biocide to determine the efficacy of multiple batch chemical treatments in removing biofilm.

The Relationship Between Organizational Culture and Organizational Commitment in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences

PubMed Central

Azizollah, Arbabisarjou; Abolghasem, Farhang; Amin, Dadgar Mohammad

2016-01-01

Background and Objective: Organizations effort is to achieve a common goal. There are many constructs needed for organizations. Organizational culture and organizational commitment are special concepts in management. The objective of the current research is to study the relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment among the personnel of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive- correlational study. The statistical population was whole tenured staff of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences that worked for this organization in 2012-2013. Random sampling method was used and 165 samples were chosen. Two standardized questionnaires of the organizational culture (Schein, 1984) and organizational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 2002) were applied. The face and construct validity of the questionnaires were approved by the lecturers of Management and experts. Reliability of questionnaires of the organizational culture and organizational commitment were 0.89 and 0.88 respectively, by Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. All statistical calculations performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The level of significance was set at P<0.05. Findings: The findings of the study showed that there was a significant relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment (P value=0.027). Also, the results showed that there was a significant relation between organizational culture and affective commitment (P-value=0.009), organizational culture and continuance commitment (P-value=0.009), and organizational culture and normative commitment (P-value=0.009). PMID:26925884

Relationship between organizational culture and commitment of employees in health care centers in west of Iran

PubMed Central

Hamidi, Yadollah; Mohammadibakhsh, Roghayeh; Soltanian, Alireza; Behzadifar, Masoud

2017-01-01

Introduction Presence of committed personnel in each organization not only reduces their absenteeism, delays, and displacements but also leads to a dramatic increase in performance and efficiency of an organization, mental freshness of employees, better manifestation of noble objectives, and organizational mission as well as fulfillment of personal goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment of employees in administrative units of health care centers in the cities of Hamedan Province based on the Denison model in 2015. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 177 employees in administrative units of health care centers in the cities of Hamedan Province were selected by a multistage stratified sampling method. The data collection instruments included the standardized Denison organizational culture survey and organizational commitment questionnaire by Meyer and Allen. Data were analyzed by IBM-SPSS version 21 using descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment coefficient. Results Among the 12 indicators of organizational culture, the highest mean scores were assigned to empowerment (16.74), organizational learning (16.41), vision (16.4), and strategic direction (16.35); respectively. Furthermore, the indicators of capability development (14.2), core values (15.31), team orientation (15.45), and goals (15.46) received the lowest mean scores in this respect. Among the four dimensions of organizational culture, the highest mean score was related to “mission” in organizational culture and the lowest score was associated with “involvement.” Meyer and Allen’s organizational commitment model also had three components in which affective commitment in this study obtained the highest score (26.63) and continuance commitment received the lowest score (24.73). In this study, there was a significant correlation between all the components of organizational culture and organizational commitment of employees in administrative units of health care centers (p < 0.05). Conclusion Reflecting on all the dimensions and indicators of organizational culture can lead to an escalation of organizational commitment among employees. Furthermore, focus on factors affecting the improvement of continuance commitment can promote organizational commitment of employees in administrative units of health care centers. PMID:28243419

Ceramic Hollow Fibre Constructs for Continuous Perfusion and Cell Harvest from 3D Hematopoietic Organoids

PubMed Central

Tahlawi, Asma; Li, Kang

2018-01-01

Tissue vasculature efficiently distributes nutrients, removes metabolites, and possesses selective cellular permeability for tissue growth and function. Engineered tissue models have been limited by small volumes, low cell densities, and invasive cell extraction due to ineffective nutrient diffusion and cell-biomaterial attachment. Herein, we describe the fabrication and testing of ceramic hollow fibre membranes (HFs) able to separate red blood cells (RBCs) and mononuclear cells (MNCs) and be incorporated into 3D tissue models to improve nutrient and metabolite exchange. These HFs filtered RBCs from human umbilical cord blood (CB) suspensions of 20% RBCs to produce 90% RBC filtrate suspensions. When incorporated within 5 mL of 3D collagen-coated polyurethane porous scaffold, medium-perfused HFs maintained nontoxic glucose, lactate, pH levels, and higher cell densities over 21 days of culture in comparison to nonperfused 0.125 mL scaffolds. This hollow fibre bioreactor (HFBR) required a smaller per-cell medium requirement and operated at cell densities > 10-fold higher than current 2D methods whilst allowing for continuous cell harvest through HFs. Herein, we propose HFs to improve 3D cell culture nutrient and metabolite diffusion, increase culture volume and cell density, and continuously harvest products for translational cell therapy biomanufacturing protocols. PMID:29760729

Isolation and Characterization of Poliovirus in Cell Culture Systems.

PubMed

Thorley, Bruce R; Roberts, Jason A

2016-01-01

The isolation and characterization of enteroviruses by cell culture was accepted as the "gold standard" by clinical virology laboratories. Methods for the direct detection of all enteroviruses by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, targeting a conserved region of the genome, have largely supplanted cell culture as the principal diagnostic procedure. However, the World Health Organization's Global Polio Eradication Initiative continues to rely upon cell culture to isolate poliovirus due to the lack of a reliable sensitive genetic test for direct typing of enteroviruses from clinical specimens. Poliovirus is able to infect a wide range of mammalian cell lines, with CD155 identified as the primary human receptor for all three seroytpes, and virus replication leads to an observable cytopathic effect. Inoculation of cell lines with extracts of clinical specimens and subsequent passaging of the cells leads to an increased virus titre. Cultured isolates of poliovirus are suitable for testing by a variety of methods and remain viable for years when stored at low temperature.This chapter describes general procedures for establishing a cell bank and routine passaging of cell lines. While the sections on specimen preparation and virus isolation focus on poliovirus, the protocols are suitable for other enteroviruses.

Culturally Competent Practice: A Mixed Methods Study Among Students, Academics and Alumni of Clinical Psychology Master’s Programs in the Netherlands

PubMed Central

Geerlings, Lennie R. C.; Thompson, Claire L.; Kraaij, Vivian; Keijsers, Ger P. J.

2018-01-01

This is the first research into preparation for multicultural clinical psychology practice in Europe. It applies the theory of multicultural counselling competency (MCC) to a case study in the Netherlands. It was hypothesized that cross-cultural practice experience, identification as a cultural minority, and satisfaction with cultural training was associated with MCC. The Multicultural Awareness Knowledge and Skills Survey was completed by 106 participants (22 students, 10 academics, 74 alumni) from clinical psychology masters’ programs. MANOVA detected a main effect of cross-cultural experience on MCC for all groups and universities. The data were enriched with exploratory qualitative data from 14 interviews (5 students, 5 academics, 4 alumni). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed three themes: limitations of clinical psychology, strategies for culturally competent practice, and strategies for cultural competency development. These outcomes suggest that cultural competency continues to require attention in master’s programs. The paper makes recommendations for further research enquiry related to training clinical psychologists to practice in Europe’s multicultural societies. PMID:29899800

Mechanism for multiplicity of steady states with distinct cell concentration in continuous culture of mammalian cells.

PubMed

Yongky, Andrew; Lee, Jongchan; Le, Tung; Mulukutla, Bhanu Chandra; Daoutidis, Prodromos; Hu, Wei-Shou

2015-07-01

Continuous culture for the production of biopharmaceutical proteins offers the possibility of steady state operations and thus more consistent product quality and increased productivity. Under some conditions, multiplicity of steady states has been observed in continuous cultures of mammalian cells, wherein with the same dilution rate and feed nutrient composition, steady states with very different cell and product concentrations may be reached. At those different steady states, cells may exhibit a high glycolysis flux with high lactate production and low cell concentration, or a low glycolysis flux with low lactate and high cell concentration. These different steady states, with different cell concentration, also have different productivity. Developing a mechanistic understanding of the occurrence of steady state multiplicity and devising a strategy to steer the culture toward the desired steady state is critical. We establish a multi-scale kinetic model that integrates a mechanistic intracellular metabolic model and cell growth model in a continuous bioreactor. We show that steady state multiplicity exists in a range of dilution rate in continuous culture as a result of the bistable behavior in glycolysis. The insights from the model were used to devise strategies to guide the culture to the desired steady state in the multiple steady state region. The model provides a guideline principle in the design of continuous culture processes of mammalian cells. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Human cell culture in a space bioreactor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, Dennis R.

1988-01-01

Microgravity offers new ways of handling fluids, gases, and growing mammalian cells in efficient suspension cultures. In 1976 bioreactor engineers designed a system using a cylindrical reactor vessel in which the cells and medium are slowly mixed. The reaction chamber is interchangeable and can be used for several types of cell cultures. NASA has methodically developed unique suspension type cell and recovery apparatus culture systems for bioprocess technology experiments and production of biological products in microgravity. The first Space Bioreactor was designed for microprocessor control, no gaseous headspace, circulation and resupply of culture medium, and slow mixing in very low shear regimes. Various ground based bioreactors are being used to test reactor vessel design, on-line sensors, effects of shear, nutrient supply, and waste removal from continuous culture of human cells attached to microcarriers. The small Bioreactor is being constructed for flight experiments in the Shuttle Middeck to verify systems operation under microgravity conditions and to measure the efficiencies of mass transport, gas transfer, oxygen consumption and control of low shear stress on cells.

Telemedicine for Peer-to-Peer Psychiatry Learning between U.K. and Somaliland Medical Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keynejad, Roxanne; Ali, Faisal R.; Finlayson, Alexander E. T.; Handuleh, Jibriil; Adam, Gudon; Bowen, Jordan S. T.; Leather, Andrew; Little, Simon J.; Whitwell, Susannah

2013-01-01

Objective: The proportion of U.K. medical students applying for psychiatry training continues to decline, whereas, in Somaliland, there are no public-sector psychiatrists. This pilot study assessed the usefulness and feasibility of online, instant messenger, peer-to-peer exchange for psychiatry education between cultures. Method: Twenty medical…

Intercultural Communication Apprehension and Emotional Intelligence in Higher Education: Preparing Business Students for Career Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fall, Lisa T.; Kelly, Stephanie; MacDonald, Patrick; Primm, Charles; Holmes, Whitney

2013-01-01

Given the expanding globalized workforce, business educators continue to seek new ways to prepare students for intercultural encounters. Although immersion in other cultures is the optimal strategy, this method is not always feasible. As such, educators seek other mechanisms to simulate intercultural experiences. This study examines emotional…

A Mixed Methods Study of Culturally Responsive Teaching in Science and Math Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holocker, Angela Y.

2010-01-01

Through the dawn of education, student achievement has always been the primary focus of educators. The United States has not changed the structure of their educational institutions since the Industrial Revolution. With the achievement gap between mainstream and non-mainstream students continually growing, it is the responsibility of every educator…

Psychology and the Black Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Charles W.

The Social Sciences have a conceptual framework that is outside of cultural pluralism and hence, beyond a respect for the dignity of all individuals. There is a continual need to balance the control function of science with its function as a potential agent of social change. However, the scientific method is a controlled inquiry based on a…

Survey of Cancer Patient Safety Culture: A Comparison of Chemotherapy and Oncology Departments of Teaching Hospitals of Tehran

PubMed Central

Raeissi, Pouran; Sharifi, Marziye; Khosravizadeh, Omid; Heidari, Mohammad

2017-01-01

Background: Patient safety culture plays an important role in healthcare systems, especially in chemotherapy and oncology departments (CODs), and its assessment can help to improve quality of services and hospital care. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate and compare items and dimensions of patient safety culture in the CODs of selected teaching hospitals of Iran and Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional survey was conducted during a six-month period on 270 people from chemotherapy and oncology departments selected through a cluster sampling method. All participants answered the standard questionnaire for “Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture” (HSOPSC). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS/18 software. Results: The average score for patient safety culture was three for the majority of the studied CODs. Statistically significant differences were observed for supervisor actions, teamwork within various units, feedback and communications about errors, and the level of hospital management support. (p<0.05). Relationships between studied hospitals and patient safety culture were not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our results showed that the overall status of patient safety culture is not good in the studied CODs. In particular, teamwork across different units and organizational learning with continuous improvement were the only two properly operating items among 12 dimensions of patient safety culture. Therefore, systematic interventions are strongly required to promote communication. PMID:29072411

Improving Culturally Appropriate Care Using a Community-Based Participatory Research Approach: Evaluation of a Multicomponent Cultural Competency Training Program, Arkansas, 2015–2016

PubMed Central

Long, Christopher R.; Rowland, Brett; Moore, Sarah; Wilmoth, Ralph; Ayers, Britni

2017-01-01

Introduction The United States continues to become more racially and ethnically diverse, and racial/ethnic minority communities encounter sociocultural barriers to quality health care, including implicit racial/ethnic bias among health care providers. In response, health care organizations are developing and implementing cultural competency curricula. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, we developed and evaluated a cultural competency training program to improve the delivery of culturally appropriate care in Marshallese and Hispanic communities. Methods We used a mixed-methods evaluation approach based on the Kirkpatrick model of training evaluation. We collected quantitative evaluation data immediately after each training session (March 19, 2015–November 30, 2016) and qualitative data about implementation at 2 points: immediately after each session and 6 months after training. Individuals and organizational units provided qualitative data. Results We delivered 1,250 units of in-person training at 25 organizations. Participants reported high levels of changes in knowledge (91.2%), competence (86.6%), and performance (87.2%) as a result of the cultural competency training. Organizations reported making policy and environmental changes. Conclusion Initial outcomes demonstrate the value of developing and implementing cultural competency training programs using a CBPR approach. Additional research is needed to determine the effect on long-term patient outcomes. PMID:28771402

Continuous microbial cultures maintained by electronically-controlled device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eisler, W. J., Jr.; Webb, R. B.

1967-01-01

Photocell-controlled instrument maintains microbial culture. It uses commercially available chemostat glassware, provides adequate aeration through bubbling of the culture, maintains the population size and density, continuously records growth rates over small increments of time, and contains a simple, sterilizable nutrient control mechanism.

"RCL-Pooling Assay": A Simplified Method for the Detection of Replication-Competent Lentiviruses in Vector Batches Using Sequential Pooling.

PubMed

Corre, Guillaume; Dessainte, Michel; Marteau, Jean-Brice; Dalle, Bruno; Fenard, David; Galy, Anne

2016-02-01

Nonreplicative recombinant HIV-1-derived lentiviral vectors (LV) are increasingly used in gene therapy of various genetic diseases, infectious diseases, and cancer. Before they are used in humans, preparations of LV must undergo extensive quality control testing. In particular, testing of LV must demonstrate the absence of replication-competent lentiviruses (RCL) with suitable methods, on representative fractions of vector batches. Current methods based on cell culture are challenging because high titers of vector batches translate into high volumes of cell culture to be tested in RCL assays. As vector batch size and titers are continuously increasing because of the improvement of production and purification methods, it became necessary for us to modify the current RCL assay based on the detection of p24 in cultures of indicator cells. Here, we propose a practical optimization of this method using a pairwise pooling strategy enabling easier testing of higher vector inoculum volumes. These modifications significantly decrease material handling and operator time, leading to a cost-effective method, while maintaining optimal sensibility of the RCL testing. This optimized "RCL-pooling assay" ameliorates the feasibility of the quality control of large-scale batches of clinical-grade LV while maintaining the same sensitivity.

Influences of religion and culture on continuing bonds in a sample of British Muslims of Pakistani origin.

PubMed

Hussein, Hanan; Oyebode, Jan R

2009-11-01

This study considered the nature of continuing bonds with deceased relatives in a sample of Pakistani Muslims living in the United Kingdom. Ten participants were interviewed following a cultural psychology approach and transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. Dreaming, talking with others about the deceased, following the deceased's example, keeping memories and mementos, and doing actions thought to help the deceased were forms of continued relationship found. These were intertwined with the process of grieving and were influenced by the family, culture, and religion. Religion was a strong influence on the prominence given by participants to finishing well and on the notion of doing actions thought to help the deceased. Cultural mores, such as the community, and collectivist ethos and the expectation that emotion would be expressed around the time of death, were found to be supportive for some but sources of tension for other participants. Expressing a continuing bond through following the deceased's example so as to make them proud or happy seemed to be reinforced by cultural roots in respect for elders. Participants gave instances of tensions in areas such as expression of emotion and communality versus individualism that arose as a result of their position between two cultural frameworks, some illustrating how assimilation into the host culture set up conflict with the expected norms of their family/ancestral culture. The study highlights how understanding different cultural and religious influences may enrich the concept of continuing bonds.

Long-term memory color investigation: culture effect and experimental setting factors.

PubMed

Zhu, Yuteng; Luo, Ming Ronnier; Fischer, Sebastian; Bodrogi, Peter; Khanh, Tran Quoc

2017-10-01

Memory colors generated continuous interest in the color community. Previous studies focused on reflecting color chips and color samples in real scenes or on monitors. The cognitive effect of culture was rarely considered. In this paper, we performed a comprehensive investigation of the long-term memory colors of 26 familiar objects using the asymmetric color matching method among Chinese and German observers on a display. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the variations introduced by culture, context-based gray image, and initial matching color. Memory colors of important objects were collected and representative memory colors were quantified in terms of CIELAB L * , a * , and b * values. The intra- and inter-observer variations were analyzed by mean-color-difference-from-mean values and chromatic ellipses. The effects of different cultural groups and experimental settings were also shown.

Culturally Sensitive Intervention for Latina Women with Eating Disorders: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Reyes-Rodríguez, Mae Lynn; Baucom, Donald H.; Bulik, Cynthia M.

2014-01-01

Objective We describe cognitive-behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa (CBT-BN) with a Latina woman that incorporates culturally relevant topics. Method A single case report of a 31-year-old monolingual Latina woman with BN describes the application of a couple-based intervention adjunctive to CBT-BN. Results The patient reported no binge and purge episodes by session 20 and remained symptom free until the end of treatment (session 26). Improvement was observed in the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE) comparing baseline (EDE=5.74) with post treatment (EDE=1.25). Conclusions The case illustrates how cultural adaptations such as including a family member, being flexible on topics and scheduling, and providing culturally relevant interventions can lead to successful completion of a course of therapy and facilitate ongoing interventions to ensure continued recovery. PMID:25598951

The significance of 'facilitator as a change agent'--organisational learning culture in aged care home settings.

PubMed

Grealish, Laurie; Henderson, Amanda; Quero, Fritz; Phillips, Roslyn; Surawski, May

2015-04-01

To explore the impact of an educational programme focused on social behaviours and relationships on organisational learning culture in the residential aged care context. The number of aged care homes will continue to rise as the frail older elderly live longer, requiring more formal care and support. As with other small- to medium-sized health services, aged care homes are faced with the challenge of continuous development of the workforce and depend upon registered nurses to lead staff development. A mixed-method evaluation research design was used to determine the impact of an educational programme focused on social aspects of learning on organisational learning culture. One hundred and fifty-nine (pre) and 143 (post) participants from three aged care homes completed the Clinical Learning Organisational Culture survey, and three participant-researcher registered nurse clinical educators provided regular journal entries for review. While each site received the same educational programme over a six-month period, the change in organisational learning culture at each site was notably different. Two aged care homes had significant improvements in affiliation, one in accomplishment and one in recognition. The educators' journals differed in the types of learning observed and interventions undertaken, with Eucalyptus focused on organisational change, Grevillea focused on group (student) change and the Wattle focused on individual or situational change. Clinical educator activities appear to have a significant effect on organisational learning culture, with a focus on the organisational level having the greatest positive effect on learning culture and on individual or situational level having a limited effect. Clinical educator facilitation that is focused on organisational rather than individual interests may offer a key to improving organisational learning culture. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

"I Am a Human Being like You": An Identification Strategy to Maintain Continuity in a Cultural Contact Zone

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Sullivan-Lago, Ria; de Abreu, Guida; Burgess, Mark

2008-01-01

In this article, we discuss a qualitative study carried out in a cultural contact zone. Irish nationals, immigrants, and asylum seekers in Cork, Ireland, were interviewed about their cultural identities and future trajectories. Cultural Continuity theory was used as a model to offer an insight into the processes and strategies of the Dialogical…

Calming the mind: Healing after mass atrocity in Cambodia

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

After catastrophic events in which people’s survival has been threatened, as happened during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia 1975–1979, some continue to suffer from painful mental symptoms. Surveys carried out in Cambodia based on Western diagnostic categories have found a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety symptoms in the population. This study explored Cambodian approaches to healing trauma, examining the ways in which Cambodians appeal to elements of Buddhism in their efforts to calm their minds, situating this mode of coping in the context of broader Khmer Buddhist practice and understandings. Western psychology may have much to learn from local, contextualised methods of dealing with the aftermath of trauma, including Khmer understandings of distress and approaches to relief. Methods of assessment and treatment of distress cannot be transposed wholesale from one cultural setting to another but require considerable cultural adaptation. This kind of cultural interchange may give rise to innovative, hybrid discourses and methods that may have much to offer in the support of victims of organised violence. PMID:25653141

Calming the mind: Healing after mass atrocity in Cambodia.

PubMed

Agger, Inger

2015-08-01

After catastrophic events in which people's survival has been threatened, as happened during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia 1975-1979, some continue to suffer from painful mental symptoms. Surveys carried out in Cambodia based on Western diagnostic categories have found a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety symptoms in the population. This study explored Cambodian approaches to healing trauma, examining the ways in which Cambodians appeal to elements of Buddhism in their efforts to calm their minds, situating this mode of coping in the context of broader Khmer Buddhist practice and understandings. Western psychology may have much to learn from local, contextualised methods of dealing with the aftermath of trauma, including Khmer understandings of distress and approaches to relief. Methods of assessment and treatment of distress cannot be transposed wholesale from one cultural setting to another but require considerable cultural adaptation. This kind of cultural interchange may give rise to innovative, hybrid discourses and methods that may have much to offer in the support of victims of organised violence. © The Author(s) 2015.

Culture-independent diagnostics for health security

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Doggett, Norman A.; Mukundan, Harshini; Lefkowitz, Elliot J.

The past decade has seen considerable development in the diagnostic application of nonculture methods, including nucleic acid amplification-based methods and mass spectrometry, for the diagnosis of infectious diseases. The implications of these new culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) include bypassing the need to culture organisms, thus potentially affecting public health surveillance systems, which continue to use isolates as the basis of their surveillance programs and to assess phenotypic resistance to antimicrobial agents. CIDTs may also affect the way public health practitioners detect and respond to a bioterrorism event. In response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security, Los Alamosmore » National Laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cosponsored a workshop to review the impact of CIDTs on the rapid detection and identification of biothreat agents. Four panel discussions were held that covered nucleic acid amplification–based diagnostics, mass spectrometry, antibody-based diagnostics, and next-generation sequencing. Exploiting the extensive expertise available at this workshop, we identified the key features, benefits, and limitations of the various CIDT methods for providing rapid pathogen identification that are critical to the response and mitigation of a bioterrorism event. After the workshop we conducted a thorough review of the literature, investigating the current state of these 4 culture-independent diagnostic methods. Furthermore, this article combines information from the literature review and the insights obtained at the workshop.« less

Culture-independent diagnostics for health security

DOE PAGES

Doggett, Norman A.; Mukundan, Harshini; Lefkowitz, Elliot J.; ...

2016-06-17

The past decade has seen considerable development in the diagnostic application of nonculture methods, including nucleic acid amplification-based methods and mass spectrometry, for the diagnosis of infectious diseases. The implications of these new culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) include bypassing the need to culture organisms, thus potentially affecting public health surveillance systems, which continue to use isolates as the basis of their surveillance programs and to assess phenotypic resistance to antimicrobial agents. CIDTs may also affect the way public health practitioners detect and respond to a bioterrorism event. In response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security, Los Alamosmore » National Laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cosponsored a workshop to review the impact of CIDTs on the rapid detection and identification of biothreat agents. Four panel discussions were held that covered nucleic acid amplification–based diagnostics, mass spectrometry, antibody-based diagnostics, and next-generation sequencing. Exploiting the extensive expertise available at this workshop, we identified the key features, benefits, and limitations of the various CIDT methods for providing rapid pathogen identification that are critical to the response and mitigation of a bioterrorism event. After the workshop we conducted a thorough review of the literature, investigating the current state of these 4 culture-independent diagnostic methods. Furthermore, this article combines information from the literature review and the insights obtained at the workshop.« less

Culture-Independent Diagnostics for Health Security.

PubMed

Doggett, Norman A; Mukundan, Harshini; Lefkowitz, Elliot J; Slezak, Tom R; Chain, Patrick S; Morse, Stephen; Anderson, Kevin; Hodge, David R; Pillai, Segaran

2016-01-01

The past decade has seen considerable development in the diagnostic application of nonculture methods, including nucleic acid amplification-based methods and mass spectrometry, for the diagnosis of infectious diseases. The implications of these new culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) include bypassing the need to culture organisms, thus potentially affecting public health surveillance systems, which continue to use isolates as the basis of their surveillance programs and to assess phenotypic resistance to antimicrobial agents. CIDTs may also affect the way public health practitioners detect and respond to a bioterrorism event. In response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cosponsored a workshop to review the impact of CIDTs on the rapid detection and identification of biothreat agents. Four panel discussions were held that covered nucleic acid amplification-based diagnostics, mass spectrometry, antibody-based diagnostics, and next-generation sequencing. Exploiting the extensive expertise available at this workshop, we identified the key features, benefits, and limitations of the various CIDT methods for providing rapid pathogen identification that are critical to the response and mitigation of a bioterrorism event. After the workshop we conducted a thorough review of the literature, investigating the current state of these 4 culture-independent diagnostic methods. This article combines information from the literature review and the insights obtained at the workshop.

Producing Newborn Synchronous Mammalian Cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonda, Steve R.; Helmstetter, Charles E.; Thornton, Maureen

2008-01-01

A method and bioreactor for the continuous production of synchronous (same age) population of mammalian cells have been invented. The invention involves the attachment and growth of cells on an adhesive-coated porous membrane immersed in a perfused liquid culture medium in a microgravity analog bioreactor. When cells attach to the surface divide, newborn cells are released into the flowing culture medium. The released cells, consisting of a uniform population of synchronous cells are then collected from the effluent culture medium. This invention could be of interest to researchers investigating the effects of the geneotoxic effects of the space environment (microgravity, radiation, chemicals, gases) and to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies involved in research on aging and cancer, and in new drug development and testing.

Training and action for patient safety: embedding interprofessional education for patient safety within an improvement methodology.

PubMed

Slater, Beverley L; Lawton, Rebecca; Armitage, Gerry; Bibby, John; Wright, John

2012-01-01

Despite an explosion of interest in improving safety and reducing error in health care, one important aspect of patient safety that has received little attention is a systematic approach to education and training for the whole health care workforce. This article describes an evaluation of an innovative multiprofessional, team-based training program that embeds patient safety within quality improvement methods. Kirkpatrick's "levels of evaluation" model was adopted to evaluate the program in health organizations across one city in the north of England. Questionnaires were used to assess reaction of participants to the program (Level 1). Improvements in patient safety knowledge and patient safety culture (Level 2) were assessed using a 12-item multiple-choice questionnaire and a culture questionnaire. Interviews and project-specific quantitative measurements were used to assess changes in professional practice and patient outcomes (Levels 3 and 4). All aspects of the program were positively received by participants. Few participants completed the MCQ at both time points, but those who did showed improvement in knowledge. There were some small but significant improvements in patient safety culture. Interviews revealed a number of additional benefits beyond the specific problems addressed. Most importantly, 8 of the 11 teams showed improvements in patient safety practices and/or outcomes. This program is an example of interprofessional education in practice and demonstrates that team-based learning using quality improvement methods is feasible and can be effective in improving patient safety, but requires time and space for participants. Alignment with continuing education arrangements could support mainstream adoption of this approach within organizations. Copyright © 2012 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Manipulations of the reproductive system of fishes by means of exogenous chemicals

USGS Publications Warehouse

Patino, R.

1997-01-01

Environmental control of reproductive activity of captive fish is feasible (or potentially feasible) but, with few exceptions, is currently impractical for most species. Therefore, chemical methods of manipulating reproductive activity continue to be widely used in fish production operations worldwide. However, the control of fish reproduction in captivity cannot be exercised without regard to adequate environmental conditions, which can differ markedly for different species. This review provides a synopsis of relevant aspects of fish reproductive physiology and addresses current and promising future chemical methods of sex control, gonadal recrudescence, and spawning. Most research on the control of reproduction in fishes has focused on female physiology because ovarian development and maturation are easily disturbed by environmental stressors. Control of sex ratios by steroid treatment has become a well-established technique for several fish species, but the technique continues to be problematic in some cases. Final gonadal growth and spawning usually can be achieved by implant treatment with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs (GnRHa), which in some species have to be applied in combination with dopamine antagonists to enhance responsiveness to GnRHa. However, efforts to accelerate gonadal recrudescence and maturational competence by chemical means have yielded mixed results, reflecting a relative lack of understanding of the basic physiological and biochemic mechanisms controlling these processes. The potential benefits of using reproductive pheromone, to manipulate gonadal development and spawning has been demonstrated in a few species, but further research is needed to determine whether this technique is applicable to fish culture. Because a reliable supply of young fish is critical for the expansion and diversification of fish culture operations, the use of chemicals in combination with adequate environmental conditions to contain gametogenesis and spawning in fishes will continue to be an important tool for the fish culture.

Novel Membrane-Based Electrochemical Sensor for Real-Time Bio-Applications

PubMed Central

Alatraktchi, Fatima AlZahra'a; Bakmand, Tanya; Dimaki, Maria; Svendsen, Winnie E.

2014-01-01

This article presents a novel membrane-based sensor for real-time electrochemical investigations of cellular- or tissue cultures. The membrane sensor enables recording of electrical signals from a cell culture without any signal dilution, thus avoiding loss of sensitivity. Moreover, the porosity of the membrane provides optimal culturing conditions similar to existing culturing techniques allowing more efficient nutrient uptake and molecule release. The patterned sensor electrodes were fabricated on a porous membrane by electron-beam evaporation. The electrochemical performance of the membrane electrodes was characterized by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry, and the detection of synthetic dopamine was demonstrated down to a concentration of 3.1 pM. Furthermore, to present the membrane-sensor functionality the dopamine release from cultured PC12 cells was successfully measured. The PC12 cells culturing experiments showed that the membrane-sensor was suitable as a cell culturing substrate for bio-applications. Real-time measurements of dopamine exocytosis in cell cultures were performed, where the transmitter release was recorded at the point of release. The developed membrane-sensor provides a new functionality to the standard culturing methods, enabling sensitive continuous in vitro monitoring and closely mimicking the in vivo conditions. PMID:25421738

Two Cultures in Modern Science and Technology: For Safety and Validity Does Medicine Have to Update?

PubMed

Becker, Robert E

2016-01-11

Two different scientific cultures go unreconciled in modern medicine. Each culture accepts that scientific knowledge and technologies are vulnerable to and easily invalidated by methods and conditions of acquisition, interpretation, and application. How these vulnerabilities are addressed separates the 2 cultures and potentially explains medicine's difficulties eradicating errors. A traditional culture, dominant in medicine, leaves error control in the hands of individual and group investigators and practitioners. A competing modern scientific culture accepts errors as inevitable, pernicious, and pervasive sources of adverse events throughout medical research and patient care too malignant for individuals or groups to control. Error risks to the validity of scientific knowledge and safety in patient care require systemwide programming able to support a culture in medicine grounded in tested, continually updated, widely promulgated, and uniformly implemented standards of practice for research and patient care. Experiences from successes in other sciences and industries strongly support the need for leadership from the Institute of Medicine's recommended Center for Patient Safely within the Federal Executive branch of government.

An improved method for undertaking limiting dilution assays for in vitro cloning of Plasmodium falciparum parasites.

PubMed

Butterworth, Alice S; Robertson, Alan J; Ho, Mei-Fong; Gatton, Michelle L; McCarthy, James S; Trenholme, Katharine R

2011-04-18

Obtaining single parasite clones is required for many techniques in malaria research. Cloning by limiting dilution using microscopy-based assessment for parasite growth is an arduous and labor-intensive process. An alternative method for the detection of parasite growth in limiting dilution assays is using a commercial ELISA histidine-rich protein II (HRP2) detection kit. Detection of parasite growth was undertaken using HRP2 ELISA and compared to thick film microscopy. An HRP2 protein standard was used to determine the detection threshold of the HRP2 ELISA assay, and a HRP2 release model was used to extrapolate the amount of parasite growth required for a positive result. The HRP2 ELISA was more sensitive than microscopy for detecting parasite growth. The minimum level of HRP2 protein detection of the ELISA was 0.11 ng/ml. Modeling of HRP2 release determined that 2,116 parasites are required to complete a full erythrocytic cycle to produce sufficient HRP2 to be detected by the ELISA. Under standard culture conditions this number of parasites is likely to be reached between 8 to 14 days of culture. This method provides an accurate and simple way for the detection of parasite growth in limiting dilution assays, reducing time and resources required in traditional methods. Furthermore the method uses spent culture media instead of the parasite-infected red blood cells, enabling culture to continue. © 2011 Butterworth et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Long Term Ex Vivo Culture and Live Imaging of Drosophila Larval Imaginal Discs.

PubMed

Tsao, Chia-Kang; Ku, Hui-Yu; Lee, Yuan-Ming; Huang, Yu-Fen; Sun, Yi Henry

Continuous imaging of live tissues provides clear temporal sequence of biological events. The Drosophila imaginal discs have been popular experimental subjects for the study of a wide variety of biological phenomena, but long term culture that allows normal development has not been satisfactory. Here we report a culture method that can sustain normal development for 18 hours and allows live imaging. The method is validated in multiple discs and for cell proliferation, differentiation and migration. However, it does not support disc growth and cannot support cell proliferation for more than 7 to 12 hr. We monitored the cellular behavior of retinal basal glia in the developing eye disc and found that distinct glia type has distinct properties of proliferation and migration. The live imaging provided direct proof that wrapping glia differentiated from existing glia after migrating to the anterior front, and unexpectedly found that they undergo endoreplication before wrapping axons, and their nuclei migrate up and down along the axons. UV-induced specific labeling of a single carpet glia also showed that the two carpet glia membrane do not overlap and suggests a tiling or repulsion mechanism between the two cells. These findings demonstrated the usefulness of an ex vivo culture method and live imaging.

Continuous xylose fermentation by Candida shehatae in a two-stage reactor

Treesearch

M. A. Alexander; T. W. Chapman; T. W. Jeffries

1988-01-01

Recent work has identified ethanol toxicity as a major factor preventing continuous production of ethanol at the concentrations obtainable in batch culture. In this paper we investigate the use of a continuous two-stage bioreactor design to circumvent toxic effects of ethanol. Biomass is produced via continuous culture in the first stage reactor in which ethanol...

Production of minimally disturbed synchronous cultures of hematopoietic cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thornton, Maureen; Eward, Kathryn Leigh; Helmstetter, Charles E.; Edward, K. L. (Principal Investigator)

2002-01-01

A method is describedforproducing sizable quantities of synchronously dividing, minimally disturbed mammalian cells. Cultures were grown immobilized on surfaces such that cell division within the population resulted in the continuous release of synchronous newborn cells. As judged by the quality and duration of synchronous growth, cell size distributions, and DNA compositions, newborn mouse L1210 cells grew with a very high level of synchrony without overt evidence of growth disturbances. The technology should be applicable to a variety of hematopoietic cells, as evidenced by similar results with human MOLT-4 and U937 cell lines.

Cell separation and electrofusion in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, D. R.; Hofmann, G. A.

1990-01-01

In microgravity, free-fluid electrophoretic methods for separating living cells and proteins are improved significantly by the absence of gravity-driven phenomena. Cell fusion, culture, and other bioprocessing steps are being investigated to understand the limits of earth-based processing. A multistep space bioprocess is described that includes electrophoretic separation of human target cells, single-cell manipulations using receptor-specific antibodies, electrofusion to produce immortal hybridomas, gentle suspension culture, and monoclonal antibody recovery using continuous-flow electrophoresis or recirculating isoelectric focusing. Improvements in several key steps already have been demonstrated by space experiments, and others will be studied on Space Station Freedom.

Identification of Biocontrol Agents to Control the Fungal Pathogen, Geomyces destructans, in Bats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braunstein, S.; Cheng, T.

2013-12-01

The fungal pathogen Geomyces destructans (Gd) causes the disease White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in bats and is estimated to have killed millions of bats since its emergence in North America in 2006. Gd is predicted to cause the local extinction of at least three bat species if rates of decline continue unabated. Given the devastating impacts of Gd to bat populations, identifying a viable method for controlling the pathogen is pertinent for conservation of affected bat species. Our work focuses on identifying naturally-occurring skin bacteria on bats that are antagonistic to Gd that could potentially be used as a biocontrol. We cultured bacteria from skin swabs taken from wild bats (Myotis lucifugus, Eptesicus fuscus, Myotis sodalis, Perimyotis subflavus). We conducted challenge experiments to identify bacterial strains that inhibited Gd growth. Bacteria that exhibited antifungal properties were identified using 16S and gyrB markers. Our methods identified several bacteria in the Pseudomonas fluorescens complex as potential biocontrol agents. Future work will continue to test the viability of these bacteria as biocontrol agents via experimental treatments with live captive bats. The failure of previous non-biocontrol methods highlights the importance of developing these bacteria as a biologically-friendly method for controlling Gd. A bat infected with Geomyces destructans. Photo by West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Bacterial culture from the swab of a bat's wings

Culture evolves

PubMed Central

Whiten, Andrew; Hinde, Robert A.; Laland, Kevin N.; Stringer, Christopher B.

2011-01-01

Culture pervades human lives and has allowed our species to create niches all around the world and its oceans, in ways quite unlike any other primate. Indeed, our cultural nature appears so distinctive that it is often thought to separate humanity from the rest of nature and the Darwinian forces that shape it. A contrary view arises through the recent discoveries of a diverse range of disciplines, here brought together to illustrate the scope of a burgeoning field of cultural evolution and to facilitate cross-disciplinary fertilization. Each approach emphasizes important linkages between culture and evolutionary biology rather than quarantining one from the other. Recent studies reveal that processes important in cultural transmission are more widespread and significant across the animal kingdom than earlier recognized, with important implications for evolutionary theory. Recent archaeological discoveries have pushed back the origins of human culture to much more ancient times than traditionally thought. These developments suggest previously unidentified continuities between animal and human culture. A third new array of discoveries concerns the later diversification of human cultures, where the operations of Darwinian-like processes are identified, in part, through scientific methods borrowed from biology. Finally, surprising discoveries have been made about the imprint of cultural evolution in the predispositions of human minds for cultural transmission. PMID:21357216

Derivation, expansion and differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells in continuous suspension cultures

PubMed Central

Fluri, David A.; Tonge, Peter D.; Song, Hannah; Baptista, Ricardo P.; Shakiba, Nika; Shukla, Shreya; Clarke, Geoffrey; Nagy, Andras; Zandstra, Peter W.

2016-01-01

We demonstrate derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from terminally differentiated mouse cells in serum- and feeder-free stirred suspension cultures. Temporal analysis of global gene expression revealed high correlations between cells reprogrammed in suspension and cells reprogrammed in adhesion-dependent conditions. Suspension (S) reprogrammed iPSCs (SiPSCs) could be differentiated into all three germ layers in vitro and contributed to chimeric embryos in vivo. SiPSC generation allowed for efficient selection of reprogramming factor expressing cells based on their differential survival and proliferation in suspension. Seamless integration of SiPSC reprogramming and directed differentiation enabled the scalable production of functionally and phenotypically defined cardiac cells in a continuous single cell- and small aggregate-based process. This method is an important step towards the development of a robust PSC generation, expansion and differentiation technology. PMID:22447133

Using Superheroes to Visually and Critically Analyze Comics, Stereotypes, and Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Mike P.; Frey, Ryle

2017-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide teachers and students useful methods for utilizing the power of comic books as literacy sponsors in ELA classrooms. Given the continued boom in the popularity of comics in popular culture, this provides a relevant way to introduce students to visual and critical analysis. Engaging in meaningful analysis of…

Development of American and Foreign-National Female Graduate Students in Engineering at Research Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Briana Marie Keafer

2013-01-01

Women continue to be underrepresented among engineering faculty despite decades of reform and intervention. To understand why more graduate women do not pursue careers in academia, this mixed methods study focuses on the experiences of women currently in graduate engineering programs, and how the graduate culture shapes their development and…

How Schools Can Effectively Plan to Meet the Goal of Improving Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grumdahl, Constance Rae

2010-01-01

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to identify the impact on achievement when schools implement a continuous improvement model using Total Quality Management (TQM) principles aligned to strategic planning and the culture of the school. Data collection and analysis. The study combined qualitative and quantitative methods and was conducted in two…

Privileges, Privacy, and Protection of Youth Bloggers in the Social Studies Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berson, Ilene R.; Berson, Michael J.

2006-01-01

Internet users continue to develop new ways of communicating online and disseminating information; one of these methods, the blog, also known as web log, has become a significant cultural phenomenon. Blogs offer an interactive medium for internet users to create and contribute content to the web. In some social studies classrooms, teachers are…

Voices of Hispanic College Students: A Content Analysis of Qualitative Research within the "Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Storlie, Cassandra A.; Moreno, Luis S.; Portman, Tarrell Awe Agahe

2014-01-01

As Hispanic students continue to be an underrepresented cultural group in higher education, researchers are called to uncover the challenging and complex experience of this diverse group of students. Using the constant comparative method, these researchers conducted a content analysis of the qualitative research on the experiences of Hispanic…

How Counselors Are Trained to Work with Bisexual Clients in CACREP-Accredited Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonjo, Laurie Anne

2013-01-01

In spite of recent progress toward addressing the need for cultural competence with lesbian and gay-identified clients, bisexual-identified clients continue to be marginalized in the principles, theories, and methods of studying sexuality as well as in the training provided by counselor educators. A descriptive content analysis was conducted to…

Cell-specific Labeling Enzymes for Analysis of Cell–Cell Communication in Continuous Co-culture*

PubMed Central

Tape, Christopher J.; Norrie, Ida C.; Worboys, Jonathan D.; Lim, Lindsay; Lauffenburger, Douglas A.; Jørgensen, Claus

2014-01-01

We report the orthologous screening, engineering, and optimization of amino acid conversion enzymes for cell-specific proteomic labeling. Intracellular endoplasmic-reticulum-anchored Mycobacterium tuberculosis diaminopimelate decarboxylase (DDCM.tub-KDEL) confers cell-specific meso-2,6-diaminopimelate-dependent proliferation to multiple eukaryotic cell types. Optimized lysine racemase (LyrM37-KDEL) supports D-lysine specific proliferation and efficient cell-specific isotopic labeling. When ectopically expressed in discrete cell types, these enzymes confer 90% cell-specific isotopic labeling efficiency after 10 days of co-culture. Moreover, DDCM.tub-KDEL and LyrM37-KDEL facilitate equally high cell-specific labeling fidelity without daily media exchange. Consequently, the reported novel enzyme pairing can be used to study cell-specific signaling in uninterrupted, continuous co-cultures. Demonstrating the importance of increased labeling stability for addressing novel biological questions, we compare the cell-specific phosphoproteome of fibroblasts in direct co-culture with epithelial tumor cells in both interrupted (daily media exchange) and continuous (no media exchange) co-cultures. This analysis identified multiple cell-specific phosphorylation sites specifically regulated in the continuous co-culture. Given their applicability to multiple cell types, continuous co-culture labeling fidelity, and suitability for long-term cell–cell phospho-signaling experiments, we propose DDCM.tub-KDEL and LyrM37-KDEL as excellent enzymes for cell-specific labeling with amino acid precursors. PMID:24820872

Monitoring utilizations of amino acids and vitamins in culture media and Chinese hamster ovary cells by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Qiu, Jinshu; Chan, Pik Kay; Bondarenko, Pavel V

2016-01-05

Monitoring amino acids and vitamins is important for understanding human health, food nutrition and the culture of mammalian cells used to produce therapeutic proteins in biotechnology. A method including ion pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was developed and optimized to quantify 21 amino acids and 9 water-soluble vitamins in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and culture media. By optimizing the chromatographic separation, scan time, monitoring time window, and sample preparation procedure, and using isotopically labeled (13)C, (15)N and (2)H internal standards, low limits of quantitation (≤0.054 mg/L), good precision (<10%) and good accuracy (100±10%) were achieved for nearly all the 30 compounds. Applying this method to CHO cell extracts, statistically significant differences in the metabolite levels were measured between two cell lines originated from the same host, indicating differences in genetic makeup or metabolic activities and nutrient supply levels in the culture media. In a fed-batch process of manufacturing scale bioreactors, two distinguished trends for changes in amino acid concentrations were identified in response to feeding. Ten essential amino acids showed a zigzag pattern with maxima at the feeding days, and 9 non-essential amino acids displayed a smoothly changing profile as they were mainly products of cellular metabolism. Five of 9 vitamins accumulated continuously during the culture period, suggesting that they were fed in access. The method serves as an effective tool for the development and optimization of mammalian cell cultures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interaction of Electromagnetic Fields with Chondrocytes in Gel Culture

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-02-01

biosynthesis due to applied electromagnetic fields. The results suggest that both normal chondrocytes and swarm rat chondrosarcoma cells in agarose Culture...and Swarm rat chondrosarcoma cells in agarose iii culture can, under proper culture conditions, continue to synthesize ma- trix macromolecules at a...cartilagc, and in rat chondrosarcoma cells (a continuous cell line). The overt gene expression of chondrocytes results in the synthesis and deposition of a

Lessons from the Navajo: Assistance with Environmental Data Collection Ensures Cultural Humility and Data Relevance

PubMed Central

deLemos, Jamie; Rock, Tommy; Brugge, Doug; Slagowski, Naomi; Manning, Thomas; Lewis, Johnnye

2008-01-01

Background The Navajo Nation suffers from a legacy of environmental pollution from historical uranium mining activities, resulting in adverse public health outcomes and continuous exposure. Objective Partner with a Navajo graduate student and community members in a field campaign to characterize the spatial distribution and geochemistry of uranium for a multipathway uranium exposure assessment under development by the Dine Network for Environmental Health (DiNEH) project. Methods Attend community meetings, acquire Navajo language skills, and integrate local knowledge into sampling approach of sediment, water, and vegetation. Results Navajo participation (1) helped to foster trust in research efforts during community interactions, (2) taught aspects of Navajo culture and language to maintain positive and respectful relations, and (3) conveyed information on Navajo culture that would impact sampling strategies. Conclusions Community engagement helps to sustain equitable partnerships and aids in culturally appropriate, relevant data collection. PMID:19655034

Is it time to move to nucleic acid amplification tests screening for pharyngeal and rectal gonorrhoea in men who have sex with men to improve gonorrhoea control?

PubMed

Fairley, Christopher K; Chen, Marcus Y; Bradshaw, Catriona S; Tabrizi, Sepehr N

2011-03-01

The use of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT), as well as or in preference to culture for non-genital sites is now recommended both in Australia and overseas because of their greater sensitivity and improved specificity. A survey of 22 Australian sexual health clinics who each year test over 14500 men who have sex with men (MSM) show that culture remains the predominate method for detecting gonorrhoea at pharyngeal (64%) and rectal (73%) sites. This editorial discusses the potential disadvantages of using culture over NAAT in relation to optimal gonorrhoea control among MSM and advocates that significantly improved control would be achieved by moving to NAAT with the proviso that culture samples are taken wherever possible on NAAT-positive samples and from clients with urethritis to ensure continued surveillance for antimicrobial resistance.

Culture and context of HIV prevention in rural Zimbabwe: the influence of gender inequality.

PubMed

Duffy, Lynne

2005-01-01

After many years of HIV prevention in Zimbabwe, AIDS morbidity and mortality rates continue to rise. This study explores factors facilitating or hindering rural Ndau women's participation in HIV prevention that might influence health promotion programming. Ethnographic methods were used with a sample of 38 females and 10 males. Women's existence is revealed as difficult and oppressive. Their socialization to become workers and mothers occurs within a context of limited voice, subservience, violence, and economic powerlessness, all barriers to HIV prevention. Through analysis of sociocultural and economic factors, it is suggested that cultural beliefs and practices, along with national and international forces, support and sustain gender inequality. For a change in the AIDS crisis, prevention strategies need to be multifaceted, consider people's culture and context, and include gender analysis. It is imperative that nurses working with diverse populations be sensitive to culture while challenging unjust and oppressive systems.

Empirically Supported Treatment’s Impact on Organizational Culture and Climate

PubMed Central

Patterson-Silver Wolf, David A.; Dulmus, Catherine N.; Maguin, Eugene

2012-01-01

Objectives With the continued push to implement empirically supported treatments (ESTs) into community-based organizations, it is important to investigate whether working condition disruptions occur during this process. While there are many studies investigating best practices and how to adopt them, the literature lacks studies investigating the working conditions in programs that currently use ESTs. Method This study compared the culture and climate scores of a large organization’s programs that use ESTs and those programs indicating no EST usage. Results Of the total 55 different programs (1,273 frontline workers), 27 programs used ESTs. Results indicate that the programs offering an EST had significantly more rigid and resistant cultures, compared to those without any ESTs. In regard to climate, programs offering an EST were significantly less engaged, less functional, and more stressed. Conclusion Outcomes indicate a significant disruption in organizational culture and climate for programs offering ESTs. PMID:23243379

Empirically Supported Treatment's Impact on Organizational Culture and Climate.

PubMed

Patterson-Silver Wolf, David A; Dulmus, Catherine N; Maguin, Eugene

2012-11-01

OBJECTIVES: With the continued push to implement empirically supported treatments (ESTs) into community-based organizations, it is important to investigate whether working condition disruptions occur during this process. While there are many studies investigating best practices and how to adopt them, the literature lacks studies investigating the working conditions in programs that currently use ESTs. METHOD: This study compared the culture and climate scores of a large organization's programs that use ESTs and those programs indicating no EST usage. RESULTS: Of the total 55 different programs (1,273 frontline workers), 27 programs used ESTs. Results indicate that the programs offering an EST had significantly more rigid and resistant cultures, compared to those without any ESTs. In regard to climate, programs offering an EST were significantly less engaged, less functional, and more stressed. CONCLUSION: Outcomes indicate a significant disruption in organizational culture and climate for programs offering ESTs.

Discovery of the Meanings, Expressions, and Practices Related to Malaria Care Among the Maasai.

PubMed

Strang, Cecily W; Mixer, Sandra J

2016-07-01

Although malaria is preventable and treatable, morbidity and mortality from this disease continue among the Maasai of Southern Kenya. Prior to this study, the Maasai's generic and professional malaria care/cure practices were largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to discover, describe, and systematically analyze meanings, expressions, and practices that promote culturally congruent malaria care among this population. The qualitative, ethnonursing research method was used to conduct in-depth examination of the Maasai ethnohistory and culture relevant to malaria care and analyze data from 48 interviews conducted in Maasailand. Guided by the "culture care theory," four themes were discovered related to Maasai community, traditional, spiritual, and professional care/cure practices. These significant findings filled a research gap and contribute to nursing knowledge and caring practice. These study findings have implications for culturally congruent malaria care education, practice, research, policy, and partnership with traditional and professional caregivers. © The Author(s) 2015.

An in vitro hepatic zonation model with a continuous oxygen gradient in a microdevice.

PubMed

Sato, Asako; Kadokura, Kanae; Uchida, Hideyuki; Tsukada, Kosuke

2014-10-31

In a hepatic lobule, different sets of metabolic enzymes are expressed in the periportal (PP) and pericentral (PC) regions, forming a functional zonation, and the oxygen gradient is considered a determinant of zone formation. It is desirable to reproduce lobular microenvironment in vitro, but incubation of primary hepatocytes in conventional culture dishes has been limited at fixed oxygen concentrations due to technical difficulties. We designed a cell culture microdevice with an oxygen gradient to reproduce the hepatic microenvironment in vitro. The oxygen gradient during cell culture was monitored using a laser-assisted phosphorescence quenching method, and the cellular oxygen consumption rate could be estimated from changes in the gradient. Culture medium was continuously exchanged through microchannels installed in the device to maintain the oxygen gradient for a long term without transient hyper-oxygenation. The oxygen consumption rates of hepatocytes at 70.0mmHg and 31.4mmHg of partial oxygen pressure, which correspond to PP and PC regions in the microdevice, were 3.67×10(-10) and 3.15×10(-10)mol/s/10(6) cells, respectively. Antimycin A changed the oxygen gradient profile, indicating that cellular respiration can be estimated during cell culture. RT-PCR analysis of hepatocytes cultured under the oxygen gradient showed that mRNA expression of PEPCK and GK significantly increased in culture areas corresponding to PP and PC regions, respectively. These results indicate that the developed microdevice can reproduce the hepatic lobular microenvironment. The oxygen gradient in the microdevice can be closely controlled by changing the sizes of gas channels and the ambient oxygen concentration around the device; therefore, it could be expected to mimic the oxygen gradient of various organs, and it may be applicable to other pathological models. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

76 FR 34999 - Draft Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff; Establishing the Performance...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-15

... human specimens or bacterial growth detected by continuous monitoring blood culture systems. This draft... versus SA in either human specimens or bacterial growth detected by continuous monitoring blood culture... devices that detect MRSA by growth in culture media or those devices that test for the protein, penicillin...

Culture and Cultural Competence in Nursing Education and Practice: The State of the Art.

PubMed

Harkess, Linda; Kaddoura, Mahmoud

2016-07-01

The concept of cultural competency has developed a substantial presence in nursing education and practice since first attracting widespread attention in the 1990s. While several theories and corresponding measures of cultural competency have been advanced and tried, much work remains, as many nursing professionals continue to call for greater evidence-based research and attention to patient perspectives and outcomes. Using a method provided by Hawker et al. to appraise articles, this paper compares nine recent (2008-2013) studies (including two composite studies) related to cultural competency, undergraduate curricula, and teaching strategies in nursing to assess the state of the art in this important area of care. The studies applied phenomenological, study abroad, online, and service learning strategies, four of which relied on some version of Campinha-Bacote's IAPCC© model. These studies reported a general improvement in competency among students, though generally only to a level of cultural awareness, and admitted being constrained by several common limitations. Improved results and more realistic expectations in this area may require a closer understanding of the nature of the "culture" that underlies cultural competence. Harkess Kaddoura. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The experience of nurses in care for culturally diverse families: A qualitative meta-synthesis 1

PubMed Central

Murcia, Saidy Eliana Arias; Lopez, Lucero

2016-01-01

Abstract Objective: to understand the experience of nurses in care delivery to culturally diverse families. Method: qualitative meta-synthesis. Exhaustive search in seven databases, three repositories and a manual search in references without time limit, in English, Spanish and Portuguese, resulting in 1609 potentially relevant studies. These were assessed based on the title, summary and full text, determining the final inclusion of 14 studies. Two independent reviewers used the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) to assess the quality. The interpretative synthesis implied permanent contrast and consensus among the authors, revealing four categories and one meta-theme. Results: "taking care of a culturally diverse family, the experience of crossing a tightrope". Conclusion: the experience of nurses in care delivery to culturally diverse families is demanding and challenging because it imprints a constant tension among barriers, cultural manifestations and the ethical responsibility of care, incipiently revealing elements of cultural competency. The omission of information in the participants' reports in the studies represents a limitation. The findings offer a baseline for professionals and organizations to focus their intervention efforts on the continuing barriers in care delivery to culturally diverse families and strengthens the need for cultural competency training for nurses. PMID:27384469

Burns (Part 2). Tops and flops using cultured epithelial autografts in children.

PubMed

Meuli, M; Raghunath, M

1997-09-01

The goal of this article is to review the status of cultured epithelial autografts in clinical practice with particular focus on the pediatric subset of patients. The current indications include massive deep burns (>60 - 70% total body surface area), resurfacing-type postburn scar revisions, and skin defect coverage following excision of large skin lesions like giant nevi. Although this method can be lifesaving for massively burned patients, and although excellent functional and cosmetic results may be obtained under ideal circumstances, formidable problems continue to exist. Take is inconsistent, cultured grafts are extremely susceptible to infection, and skin breakdown during the first months post grafting may occur due to mechanical instability of the regenerating skin. It may take one more decade of concerted research, jointly performed by clinicians and tissue culture technology experts in order to fabricate more skin-like grafts which are robust, reliable, and less expensive. Then, "cultured skin" will conquer the world and benefit countless patients.

Use of culture care theory with Anglo- and African American elders in a long-term care setting.

PubMed

McFarland, M R

1997-01-01

The purpose of this study was to discover the care expressions, practices, and patterns of elderly Anglo- and African American elders. The domain of inquiry was the cultural care of elderly residents within the environmental context of a long-term care institution. The ethnonursing qualitative research method was used to conduct the study which was conceptualized within Leininger's theory of culture care diversity and universality. Four major themes were discovered: (a) Residents expressed and lived generic care to maintain their preadmission lifeways; (b) The nursing staff provided aspects of professional care to support satisfying lifeways for residents; (c) Institutional care patterns and expressions were viewed as a continuing life experience but with major differences between the apartment section and nursing home units; and (d) An institutional culture of the retirement home was discovered which reflected unique lifeways and shared care and health expressions and practices. These themes substantiated the culture care theory and revealed new modes of care for the elderly in an institutional setting.

Rapid fibroblast removal from high density human embryonic stem cell cultures.

PubMed

Turner, William S; McCloskey, Kara E

2012-10-28

Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were used to establish human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) cultures after blastocyst isolation(1). This feeder system maintains hESCs from undergoing spontaneous differentiation during cell expansion. However, this co-culture method is labor intensive, requires highly trained personnel, and yields low hESC purity(4). Many laboratories have attempted to minimize the number of feeder cells in hESC cultures (i.e. incorporating matrix-coated dishes or other feeder cell types(5-8)). These modified culture systems have shown some promise, but have not supplanted the standard method for culturing hESCs with mitomycin C-treated mouse embyronic fibroblasts in order to retard unwanted spontaneous differentiation of the hESC cultures. Therefore, the feeder cells used in hESC expansion should be removed during differentiation experiments. Although several techniques are available for purifying the hESC colonies (FACS, MACS, or use of drug resistant vectors) from feeders, these techniques are labor intensive, costly and/or destructive to the hESC. The aim of this project was to invent a method of purification that enables the harvesting of a purer population of hESCs. We have observed that in a confluent hESC culture, the MEF population can be removed using a simple and rapid aspiration of the MEF sheet. This removal is dependent on several factors, including lateral cell-to-cell binding of MEFs that have a lower binding affinity to the styrene culture dish, and the ability of the stem cell colonies to push the fibroblasts outward during the generation of their own "niche". The hESC were then examined for SSEA-4, Oct3/4 and Tra 1-81 expression up to 10 days after MEF removal to ensure maintenance of pluripotency. Moreover, hESC colonies were able to continue growing from into larger formations after MEF removal, providing an additional level of hESC expansion.

Cultural competence in the baccalaureate degree nursing curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silvestri, Angela

Health care providers are members of a helping profession and need to provide quality care to all members of society. As a result of current and projected demographic changes within the United States (U.S.), health care professionals are faced with the challenges of providing culturally competent care and fulfilling the role as the "helping profession." In the past 10 years, minority populations have increased in the U.S. For example, the African American population experienced an approximate 12.3% increase, and the Hispanic population increased by 43%. Just as it is necessary for health care professionals to respond to the increase in the geriatric population as a result of the Baby Boomer generation, it is crucial to address the needs of an increasingly culturally diverse population in the U.S. Preparing to care for a culturally diverse population begins during the teaching and learning process in the nursing curriculum. This study intended to identify the methods in which nursing programs are integrating cultural concepts in their plan of study. Josepha Campinha-Bacote's model titled "The Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Health Care Services" was used as the theoretical framework to guide this study. Campinha-Bacote has studied transcultural nursing and has added to the current body of nursing knowledge with regard to incorporating cultural concepts in the nursing curriculum. This model requires health care professionals to see themselves as becoming culturally competent rather than being culturally competent and involves the integration of cultural awareness, cultural skill, cultural knowledge, cultural encounters, and cultural desire. An electronic survey was sent using Survey Monkey to 298 schools in the Northeast and Southern regions of the United States. The survey was sent on January 19, 2012 and remained open for 20 days. Once the survey closed, statistical analyses were conducted using frequencies and cross-tabluations, and the findings were analyzed and reported. The results of the study indicated the following: (a) a low number of schools incorporating a stand-alone nursing course in the curriculum; (b) differences among various teaching methods among regions and program types; (c) differences among the incorporation of Campinha-Bacote's (2007b) cultural constructs in the curriculum; and (d) differences among various evaluation methods among regions and program types. Implications for nursing education include the following: (a) programs should make an effort to incorporate one-to-one instruction and simulation when planning teaching encounters in order to adequately address all learning domains; (b) when planning curriculum structure, programs should consider using a theoretical framework such as Campinha-Bacote's (2007b) "The Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Health Care Service" in order to address student learning needs thoroughly; (c) nursing faculty members need to be creative in their teaching and make a conscious effort to continually address cultural learning needs of their students; and (d) concept mapping should be used to determine where and how many times cultural concepts are addressed in the curriculum. Recommendations for future research include: (a) determining which teaching methods are most effective in promoting cultural competence; (b) determining the use and effectiveness of curriculum methods that incorporate Campinha-Bacote's (2007b) cultural constructs; (c) determining which evaluation methods are most effective in determining student ability to care for others of another culture; and (d) learning about faculty comfort and preparedness to teach culture-related nursing content. It is also recommended that the relationship between a stand-alone nursing course versus and integrated course and cultural competence be investigated.

Validation of the 3M molecular detection system for the detection of listeria in meat, seafood, dairy, and retail environments.

PubMed

Fortes, Esther D; David, John; Koeritzer, Bob; Wiedmann, Martin

2013-05-01

There is a continued need to develop improved rapid methods for detection of foodborne pathogens. The aim of this project was to evaluate the 3M Molecular Detection System (3M MDS), which uses isothermal DNA amplification, and the 3M Molecular Detection Assay Listeria using environmental samples obtained from retail delicatessens and meat, seafood, and dairy processing plants. Environmental sponge samples were tested for Listeria with the 3M MDS after 22 and 48 h of enrichment in 3M Modified Listeria Recovery Broth (3M mLRB); enrichments were also used for cultural detection of Listeria spp. Among 391 samples tested for Listeria, 74 were positive by both the 3M MDS and the cultural method, 310 were negative by both methods, 2 were positive by the 3M MDS and negative by the cultural method, and one sample was negative by the 3M MDS and positive by the cultural method. Four samples were removed from the sample set, prior to statistical analyses, due to potential cross-contamination during testing. Listeria isolates from positive samples represented L. monocytogenes, L. innocua, L. welshimeri, and L. seeligeri. Overall, the 3M MDS and culture-based detection after enrichment in 3M mLRB did not differ significantly (P < 0.05) with regard to the number of positive samples, when chi-square analyses were performed for (i) number of positive samples after 22 h, (ii) number of positive samples after 48 h, and (iii) number of positive samples after 22 and/or 48 h of enrichment in 3M mLRB. Among 288 sampling sites that were tested with duplicate sponges, 67 each tested positive with the 3M MDS and the traditional U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual method, further supporting that the 3M MDS performs equivalently to traditional methods when used with environmental sponge samples.

Does the Body Survive Death? Cultural Variation in Beliefs About Life Everlasting.

PubMed

Watson-Jones, Rachel E; Busch, Justin T A; Harris, Paul L; Legare, Cristine H

2017-04-01

Mounting evidence suggests that endorsement of psychological continuity and the afterlife increases with age. This developmental change raises questions about the cognitive biases, social representations, and cultural input that may support afterlife beliefs. To what extent is there similarity versus diversity across cultures in how people reason about what happens after death? The objective of this study was to compare beliefs about the continuation of biological and psychological functions after death in Tanna, Vanuatu (a Melanesian archipelago), and the United States (Austin, Texas). Children, adolescents, and adults were primed with a story that contained either natural (non-theistic) or supernatural (theistic) cues. Participants were then asked whether or not different biological and psychological processes continue to function after death. We predicted that across cultures individuals would be more likely to endorse the continuation of psychological processes over biological processes (dualism) and that a theistic prime would increase continuation responses regarding both types of process. Results largely supported predictions; U.S. participants provided more continuation responses for psychological than biological processes following both the theistic and non-theistic primes. Participants in Vanuatu, however, provided more continuation responses for biological than psychological processes following the theistic prime. The data provide evidence for both cultural similarity and variability in afterlife beliefs and demonstrate that individuals use both natural and supernatural explanations to interpret the same events. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Hydrogel-coated microfluidic channels for cardiomyocyte culture

PubMed Central

Annabi, Nasim; Selimović, Šeila; Cox, Juan Pablo Acevedo; Ribas, João; Bakooshli, Mohsen Afshar; Heintze, Déborah; Weiss, Anthony S.; Cropek, Donald; Khademhosseini, Ali

2013-01-01

The research areas of tissue engineering and drug development have displayed increased interest in organ-on-a-chip studies, in which physiologically or pathologically relevant tissues can be engineered to test pharmaceutical candidates. Microfluidic technologies enable the control of the cellular microenvironment for these applications through the topography, size, and elastic properties of the microscale cell culture environment, while delivering nutrients and chemical cues to the cells through continuous media perfusion. Traditional materials used in the fabrication of microfluidic devices, such as poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), offer high fidelity and high feature resolution, but do not facilitate cell attachment. To overcome this challenge, we have developed a method for coating microfluidic channels inside a closed PDMS device with a cell-compatible hydrogel layer. We have synthesized photocrosslinkable gelatin and tropoelastin-based hydrogel solutions that were used to coat the surfaces under continuous flow inside 50 μm wide, straight microfluidic channels to generate a hydrogel layer on the channel walls. Our observation of primary cardiomyocytes seeded on these hydrogel layers showed preferred attachment as well as higher spontaneous beating rates on tropoelastin coatings compared to gelatin. In addition, cellular attachment, alignment and beating were stronger on 5 % (w/v) hydrogel-coated devices than on 10 % (w/v) gel-coated channels. Our results demonstrate that cardiomyocytes respond favorably to the elastic, soft tropoelastin culture substrates, indicating that tropoelastin-based hydrogels may be a suitable coating choice for some organ-on-a-chip applications. We anticipate that the proposed hydrogel coating method and tropoelastin as a cell culture substrate may be useful for the generation of elastic tissues, e.g. blood vessels, using microfluidic approaches. PMID:23728018

Cultural Norms in Conflict: Breastfeeding Among Hispanic Immigrants in Rural Washington State.

PubMed

Hohl, Sarah; Thompson, Beti; Escareño, Monica; Duggan, Catherine

2016-07-01

Objectives To examine perceptions, experiences, and attitudes towards breastfeeding among Hispanic women living in rural Washington State. Methods Twenty parous Hispanic women of low acculturation, aged 25-48 years and residents in rural Washington State participated in an exploratory, face-to-face interview. Interviews were audio-recorded, translated and transcribed, and analyzed using a thematic content analysis approach. Results Nine emergent themes were grouped into three overarching categories: (1) Breast is best; (2) Hispanic cultural and familial expectations to breastfeed; and (3) Adapting to life in the United States: cultural norms in conflict. Women said they were motivated to breastfeed because of their knowledge and observations of its health benefits for mother and child. They said breastfeeding is ingrained in their Hispanic cultural heritage, and infant feeding choices of female family members were particularly influential in women's own decision to breastfeed. Women said they experienced embarrassment about breastfeeding in the United States and as a result, often chose to initiate formula feeding as a complement so as to avoid feelings of shame. Additionally, they faced economic pressure to work, key barriers for continued breastfeeding among Hispanics in the United States. Conclusions for Practice Knowledge of the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child and longstanding cultural practices of breastfeeding are not enough to encourage exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months among this rural Hispanic population. Continued support through family-level interventions as well as work place policies that encourage breastfeeding are needed for rural Hispanics to reach optimal breastfeeding rates.

Functions of autobiographical memory in Taiwanese and American emerging adults.

PubMed

Liao, Hsiao-Wen; Bluck, Susan; Alea, Nicole; Cheng, Ching-Ling

2016-01-01

The study addresses cultural and person-level factors contributing to emerging adult's use of memory to serve adaptive functions. The focus is on three functions: self-continuity, social-bonding and directing-behaviour. Taiwanese (N = 85, 52 women) and American (N = 95, 51 women) emerging adults completed the Thinking about Life Experiences scale, and measures of trait personality, self-concept clarity and future time perspective. Findings show that individuals from both cultures use memory to serve these three functions, but Taiwanese individuals use memory more frequently than Americans to maintain self-continuity. Culture also interacted with person-level factors: in Taiwan, but not America, memory is more frequently used to create self-continuity in individuals high in conscientiousness. Across cultures, having lower self-concept clarity was related to greater use of memory to create self-continuity. Findings are discussed in terms of how memory serves functions in context and specific aspects of the Taiwanese and American cultural context that may predict the functional use of memory in emerging adulthood.

Sensing Cell-Culture Assays with Low-Cost Circuitry.

PubMed

Pérez, Pablo; Huertas, Gloria; Maldonado-Jacobi, Andrés; Martín, María; Serrano, Juan A; Olmo, Alberto; Daza, Paula; Yúfera, Alberto

2018-06-11

An alternative approach for cell-culture end-point protocols is proposed herein. This new technique is suitable for real-time remote sensing. It is based on Electrical Cell-substrate Impedance Spectroscopy (ECIS) and employs the Oscillation-Based Test (OBT) method. Simple and straightforward circuit blocks form the basis of the proposed measurement system. Oscillation parameters - frequency and amplitude - constitute the outcome, directly correlated with the culture status. A user can remotely track the evolution of cell cultures in real time over the complete experiment through a web tool continuously displaying the acquired data. Experiments carried out with commercial electrodes and a well-established cell line (AA8) are described, obtaining the cell number in real time from growth assays. The electrodes have been electrically characterized along the design flow in order to predict the system performance and the sensitivity curves. Curves for 1-week cell growth are reported. The obtained experimental results validate the proposed OBT for cell-culture characterization. Furthermore, the proposed electrode model provides a good approximation for the cell number and the time evolution of the studied cultures.

Space Bioreactor Science Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, Dennis R. (Editor)

1987-01-01

The first space bioreactor has been designed for microprocessor control, no gaseous headspace, circulation and resupply of culture medium, and a slow mixing in very low shear regimes. Various ground based bioreactors are being used to test reactor vessel design, on-line sensors, effects of shear, nutrient supply, and waste removal from continuous culture of human cells attached to microcarriers. The small (500 ml) bioreactor is being constructed for flight experiments in the Shuttle middeck to verify systems operation under microgravity conditions and to measure the efficiencies of mass transport, gas transfer, oxygen consumption, and control of low shear stress on cells. Applications of microcarrier cultures, development of the first space bioreactor flight system, shear and mixing effects on cells, process control, and methods to monitor cell metabolism and nutrient requirements are among the topics covered.

Practice to research: integrating evidence-based practices with culture and context.

PubMed

Weisner, Thomas S; Hay, M Cameron

2015-04-01

There are ways to integrate culturally competent services (CCS) and evidence-based practices (EBP) which can improve the experiences of patients and their families and communities when faced with health problems, as well as the effectiveness and positive experiences of practitioners. CCS and EBP evidence should be jointly deployed for helping patients and clinicians. Partnership research models are useful for achieving the integration of CCS and EBP, since they involve close observation of and participation by clinicians and practitioners in the research process, and often use integrated qualitative and quantitative mixed methods. We illustrate this with 3 examples of work that can help integrate CCS and EBP: ongoing collection of information from patients, clinicians and staff, or "evidence farming"; close study and continuous improvement of activities and accommodations; and use of evidence of tacit, implicit cultural scripts and norms, such as being "productive," as well as explicit scripts. From a research practice point of view, collaborative partnerships will likely produce research with culture and context bracketed in, and will contribute stronger research models, methods, and units of analysis. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Technical Note: A minimally invasive experimental system for pCO2 manipulation in plankton cultures using passive gas exchange (atmospheric carbon control simulator)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Love, Brooke A.; Olson, M. Brady; Wuori, Tristen

2017-05-01

As research into the biotic effects of ocean acidification has increased, the methods for simulating these environmental changes in the laboratory have multiplied. Here we describe the atmospheric carbon control simulator (ACCS) for the maintenance of plankton under controlled pCO2 conditions, designed for species sensitive to the physical disturbance introduced by the bubbling of cultures and for studies involving trophic interaction. The system consists of gas mixing and equilibration components coupled with large-volume atmospheric simulation chambers. These chambers allow gas exchange to counteract the changes in carbonate chemistry induced by the metabolic activity of the organisms. The system is relatively low cost, very flexible, and when used in conjunction with semi-continuous culture methods, it increases the density of organisms kept under realistic conditions, increases the allowable time interval between dilutions, and/or decreases the metabolically driven change in carbonate chemistry during these intervals. It accommodates a large number of culture vessels, which facilitate multi-trophic level studies and allow the tracking of variable responses within and across plankton populations to ocean acidification. It also includes components that increase the reliability of gas mixing systems using mass flow controllers.

Application of a data reconciliation method to the stoichiometric analysis of Fibrobacter succinogenes growth.

PubMed

Guiavarch, Erell; Pons, Agnes; Creuly, Catherine; Dussap, Claude-Gilles

2008-12-01

Fibrobacter succinogenes S85, a strictly anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium, was grown in continuous culture in a bioreactor at different dilution rates (0.02 to 0.092 h(-1)) on a fully synthetic culture medium with glucose as carbon source. Glucose and ammonium sulfate consumption, as well as biomass, succinate, acetate, formate, and carbohydrate production were regularly measured. The relevant biomass elemental compositions were established for each dilution rate. Robustness of the experimental information was checked by C and N mass balances estimation, which were satisfactory. A detailed overall stoichiometry analysis of the process, including all substrates and products of the culture, was proposed. Online and off-line parameters measured during the culture brought a large number of data which were weighted by their respective variance associated to the measured value. The material balance resulted in an overdetermined linear system of equations made of weighted relationships including experimental data, elemental balances (C, H, O, N, S, Na), and an additional constraint. The mass balances involved in stoichiometric equations were solved using data reconciliation and linear algebra methods to take into account error measurements. This methodology allowed to establish the overall stoichiometric equation for each dilution rate studied.

Newly cultured bacteria with broad diversity isolated from 8 week continuous culture enrichments of cow feces on complex polysaccharides

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

One of the fascinating functions of the mammalian intestinal microbiota is the fermentation of plant cell wall components. Eight week continuous culture enrichments of cow feces with cellulose and xylan/pectin were used to isolate bacteria from this community. A total of 459 bacterial isolates were ...

Educational Success and Surrounding Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walters, Garrison

2016-01-01

The curriculum, instruction, and services we provide in schools, colleges, and universities matter a lot, but if we continue to ignore our students' "surrounding culture," progress toward a more educated nation will continue to be disappointing.

Leveraging Transcultural Enrollments to Enhance Application of the Scientific Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loudin, M.

2013-12-01

Continued growth of transcultural academic programs presents an opportunity for all of the students involved to improve utilization of the scientific method. Our own business success depends on how effectively we apply the scientific method, and so it is unsurprising that our hiring programs focus on three broad areas of capability among applicants which are strongly related to the scientific method. These are 1) ability to continually learn up-to-date earth science concepts, 2) ability to effectively and succinctly communicate in the English language, both oral and written, and 3) ability to employ behaviors that are advantageous with respect to the various phases of the scientific method. This third area is often the most difficult to develop, because neither so-called Western nor Eastern cultures encourage a suite of behaviors that are ideally suited. Generally, the acceptance of candidates into academic programs, together with subsequent high performance evidenced by grades, is a highly valid measure of continuous learning capability. Certainly, students for whom English is not a native language face additional challenges, but succinct and effective communication is an art which requires practice and development, regardless of native language. The ability to communicate in English is crucial, since it is today's lingua franca for both science and commerce globally. Therefore, we strongly support the use of frequent English written assignments and oral presentations as an integral part of all scientific academic programs. There is no question but that this poses additional work for faculty; nevertheless it is a key ingredient to the optimal development of students. No one culture has a monopoly with respect to behaviors that promote effective leveraging of the scientific method. For instance, the growing complexity of experimental protocols argues for a high degree of interdependent effort, which is more often associated with so-called Eastern than Western cultures. Conversely, the willingness to express new ideas regardless of one's status is a key to formation of new or disruptive hypotheses, and is more typically seen in Western than Eastern cultures. The opportunity posed by transcultural academic programs lies in: 1) participants learning which of their own preferred behaviors either promote or hinder excellence in scientific results, 2) observing and learning from others' behaviors, and 3) in learning to apply their individual strengths as part of a team. The term 'inclusion' provides a useful shorthand for how academic departments might approach the development of 'ideal' scientific behaviors in their students. An inclusive approach recognizes that a 'one size fits all' approach is not likely to succeed; different individuals have different preferred behaviors, which are not fully predicted by their home culture. It also implies the use of more group projects than many departments currently employ, in order to provide realistic learning laboratories for the students. An emphasis on behaviors can be an uncomfortable idea in 'hard science' circles, both in academia and in industry. However, as scientists we have a responsibility to develop our successors to deliver the best possible scientific results, and the growth of transcultural academic programs presents us an opportunity that we should not miss.

The Impact of a Career Development Course on Professionalism for College Students; Experiential Compared to Traditional Teaching Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stark, Brian

2010-01-01

Within an ever-evolving society, the social environment within the workplace continues to be an arena of conflict between currently held professional decorum and the up and coming trends of a laid-back popular culture. Increasing numbers of under-prepared students are exhibiting unprofessional behavior and skills while searching for employment.…

Digital Inventory and Documentation of Korea's Important Cultural Properties Using 3D Laser Scanning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dongseok, K.; Gyesoo, K.; Siro, K.; Eunhwa, K.

2015-08-01

As a country with 11 properties included on the World Heritage List and approximately 12,000 important cultural properties, Korea has been continuously carrying out the inventory and documentation of cultural properties to conserve and manage them since the 1960s. The inventory of cultural properties had been carried out by making and managing a register which recorded basic information mainly on state-designated cultural properties such as their size, quantity, and location. The documentation of cultural properties was also carried out by making measured drawings. However, the inventory and documentation done under the previous analog method had a limit to the information it could provide for the effective conservation and management of cultural properties. Moreover, in recent times important cultural properties have frequently been damaged by man-made and natural disasters such as arson, forest fires, and floods, so an alternative was required. Accordingly, Korea actively introduced digital techniques led by the government for the inventory and documentation of important cultural properties. In this process, the government established the concept of a digital set, built a more efficie nt integrated data management system, and created standardized guidelines to maximize the effectiveness of data acquisition, management, and utilization that greatly increased the level of digital inventory, documentation, and archiving.

FROM CUTTING TO CASTING: IMPACT AND INITIAL BARRIERS TO THE PONSETI METHOD OF CLUBFOOT TREATMENT IN CHINA

PubMed Central

Lu, Ning; Zhao, Li; Du, Qing; Liu, Yakun; Oprescu, Florin I; Morcuende, Jose A

2010-01-01

In 2005, a nationwide clubfoot treatment program focused on the Ponseti method -an effective, affordable and minimally-invasive method- was initiated in China. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and identify barriers to the program. A qualitative study (rapid ethnographic study) was conducted using semi-structured interviews of 44 physicians who attended four of the 10 Ponseti training workshops, focus groups with parents of children with clubfoot, and observation. Several barriers to the Ponseti method are quite unique due to China's size, socio-economics, culture, politics, and healthcare systems. The barriers were classified into seven themes: (i) physician education, (ii) caregiver compliance, (iii) culture, (iv) public awareness, (v) poverty, (vi) financial constraints for physicians/hospitals, and (vii) challenges of the treatment process. A number of suggestions that could be helpful in reducing or eliminating the effects of these barriers were also identified: (i) pamphlets explaining clubfoot and treatment for caregivers, (ii) directories of Ponseti providers, (iii) funding/financial support, and (iv) improving public awareness. The information from this study provides healthcare planners with knowledge to assist in meeting the needs of the population and continued implementation of effective and culturally appropriate awareness and treatment programs for clubfoot throughout China. PMID:21045964

Freeze-drying of yeast cultures.

PubMed

Bond, Chris

2007-01-01

A method is described that allows yeast species to be stored using a variation on the standard freeze-drying method, which employs evaporative cooling in a two-stage process. Yeast cultures are placed in glass ampoules after having been mixed with a lyoprotectant. Primary drying is carried out using a centrifuge head connected to a standard freeze-dryer. Once the centrifuge head is running, air is removed and evaporated liquid is captured in the freeze-dryer. Centrifugation continues for 15 min and primary drying for a further 3 h. The ampoules are constricted using a glass blowing torch. They are then placed on the freeze-dryer manifold for secondary drying under vacuum overnight, using phosphorus pentoxide as a desiccant. The ampoules are sealed and removed from the manifold by melting the constricted section. Although the process causes an initial large drop in viability, further losses after storage are minimal. Yeast strains have remained viable for more than 30 yr when stored using this method and sufficient cells are recovered to produce new working stocks. Although survival rates are strain specific, nearly all National Collection of Yeast Cultures strains covering most yeast genera, have been successfully stored with little or no detectable change in strain characteristics.

A Simplified and Systematic Method to Isolate, Culture, and Characterize Multiple Types of Human Dental Stem Cells from a Single Tooth.

PubMed

Bakkar, Mohammed; Liu, Younan; Fang, Dongdong; Stegen, Camille; Su, Xinyun; Ramamoorthi, Murali; Lin, Li-Chieh; Kawasaki, Takako; Makhoul, Nicholas; Pham, Huan; Sumita, Yoshinori; Tran, Simon D

2017-01-01

This chapter describes a simplified method that allows the systematic isolation of multiple types of dental stem cells such as dental pulp stem cells (DPSC), periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSC), and stem cells of the apical papilla (SCAP) from a single tooth. Of specific interest is the modified laboratory approach to harvest/retrieve the dental pulp tissue by minimizing trauma to DPSC by continuous irrigation, reduction of frictional heat from the bur rotation, and reduction of the bur contact time with the dentin. Also, the use of a chisel and a mallet will maximize the number of live DPSC for culture. Steps demonstrating the potential for multiple cell differentiation lineages of each type of dental stem cell into either osteocytes, adipocytes, or chondrocytes are described. Flow cytometry, with a detailed strategy for cell gating and analysis, is described to verify characteristic markers of human mesenchymal multipotent stromal cells (MSC) from DPSC, PDLSC, or SCAP for subsequent experiments in cell therapy and in tissue engineering. Overall, this method can be adapted to any laboratory with a general setup for cell culture experiments.

Identification of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria by fluorescence studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demchak, Jonathan; Calabrese, Joseph; Tzolov, Marian

2011-03-01

Several type strains of bacteria including Vibrio fischeri, Azotobacter vinelandii, Enterobacter cloacae, and Corynebacterium xerosis, were cultured in the laboratory following standard diagnostic protocol based on their individual metabolic strategies. The bacterial cultures were not further treated and they were studied in their pristine state (pure culture - axenic). The fluorescent studies were applied using a continuous wave and a pulsed excitation light sources. Emission and excitation spectra were recorded for the continuous wave excitation and they all show similar spectral features with the exception of the gram positive bacteria showing vibronic structures. The vibrational modes involved in these vibronic bands have energy typical for carbon-carbon vibrations. The fluorescence is quenched in addition of water, even a very thin layer, which confirms that the observed spectral features originate from the outer parts of the bacteria. These results allow to conclude that the fluorescence spectroscopy can be used as a method for studying the membranes of the bacteria and eventually to discriminate between gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The pulsed experiments show that the fluorescence lifetime is in the sub-microsecond range. The results indicate that the observed spectra are superposition of the emission with different lifetimes.

Lensless imaging system to quantify cell proliferation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinjimore Kesavan, S.; Allier, C. P.; Navarro, F.; Mittler, F.; Chalmond, B.; Dinten, J.-M.

2013-02-01

Owing to its simplicity, lensless imaging system is adept at continuous monitoring of adherent cells inside the incubator. The setup consists of a CMOS sensor with pixel pitch of 2.2 μm and field of view of 24 mm2, LED with a dominating wavelength of 525 nm, along with a pinhole of 150 μm as the source of illumination. The in-line hologram obtained from cells depends on the degree of cell-substrate adhesion. Drastic difference is observed between the holographic patterns of floating and adherent cells. In addition, the well-established fact of reduction of cell-substrate contact during cell division is observed with our system based on corresponding spontaneous transition in the holographic pattern. Here, we demonstrate that by recognizing this specific holographic pattern, number of cells undergoing mitosis in a cell culture with a population of approximately 5000 cells, can be estimated in real-time. The method is assessed on comparison with Edu-based proliferation assay. The approach is straightforward and it eliminates the use of markers to estimate the proliferation rate of a given cell culture. Unlike most proliferation assays, the cells are not harvested enabling continuous monitoring of cell culture.

Continuous production of ethanol with Zymomonas mobilis growing on Jerusalem artichoke juice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allais, J.J.; Torres, E.F.; Baratti, J.

1987-04-01

Recent work from the authors laboratory has shown that, compared to yeasts, much higher ethanol productivity and yield can be obtained in batch or continuous cultures using the bacterium Zymomonas mobilis grown on fructose media. In batch culture, hydrolyzed Jerusalem artichoke juice with sugar concentrations ranging from 100 to 250 g/L can be converted efficiently to ethanol. The present work describes the conversion of the hydrolyzed juice to ethanol in continuous culture. The extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin from the tubers of Jerusalem artichoke is also reported.

Surface modified alginate microcapsules for 3D cell culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yi-Wen; Kuo, Chiung Wen; Chueh, Di-Yen; Chen, Peilin

2016-06-01

Culture as three dimensional cell aggregates or spheroids can offer an ideal platform for tissue engineering applications and for pharmaceutical screening. Such 3D culture models, however, may suffer from the problems such as immune response and ineffective and cumbersome culture. This paper describes a simple method for producing microcapsules with alginate cores and a thin shell of poly(L-lysine)-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG) to encapsulate mouse induced pluripotent stem (miPS) cells, generating a non-fouling surface as an effective immunoisolation barrier. We demonstrated the trapping of the alginate microcapsules in a microwell array for the continuous observation and culture of a large number of encapsulated miPS cells in parallel. miPS cells cultured in the microcapsules survived well and proliferated to form a single cell aggregate. Droplet formation of monodisperse microcapsules with controlled size combined with flow cytometry provided an efficient way to quantitatively analyze the growth of encapsulated cells in a high-throughput manner. The simple and cost-effective coating technique employed to produce the core-shell microcapsules could be used in the emerging field of cell therapy. The microwell array would provide a convenient, user friendly and high-throughput platform for long-term cell culture and monitoring.

Growing Three-Dimensional Corneal Tissue in a Bioreactor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spaulding, Glen F.; Goodwin, Thomas J.; Aten, Laurie; Prewett, Tacey; Fitzgerald, Wendy S.; OConnor, Kim; Caldwell, Delmar; Francis, Karen M.

2003-01-01

Spheroids of corneal tissue about 5 mm in diameter have been grown in a bioreactor from an in vitro culture of primary rabbit corneal cells to illustrate the production of optic cells from aggregates and tissue. In comparison with corneal tissues previously grown in vitro by other techniques, this tissue approximates intact corneal tissue more closely in both size and structure. This novel three-dimensional tissue can be used to model cell structures and functions in normal and abnormal corneas. Efforts continue to refine the present in vitro method into one for producing human corneal tissue to overcome the chronic shortage of donors for corneal transplants: The method would be used to prepare corneal tissues, either from in vitro cultures of a patient s own cells or from a well-defined culture from another human donor known to be healthy. As explained in several articles in prior issues of NASA Tech Briefs, generally cylindrical horizontal rotating bioreactors have been developed to provide nutrient-solution environments conducive to the 30 NASA Tech Briefs, October 2003 growth of delicate animal cells, with gentle, low-shear flow conditions that keep the cells in suspension without damaging them. The horizontal rotating bioreactor used in this method, denoted by the acronym "HARV," was described in "High-Aspect-Ratio Rotating Cell-Culture Vessel" (MSC-21662), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 16, No. 5 (May, 1992), page 150.

Suivi in situ de cultures tridimensionnelles en bioreacteur a perfusion grace a la tomographie d'emission par positrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chouinard, Julie

The continuous assessment of developing tissue substitutes is crucial to understand their evolution over time. However, this represents quite a challenge when thick samples must be evaluated with standard microscopy techniques. Common characterization methods are time consuming and usually result in the destruction of the culture. Real-time, in situ, non-invasive and non-destructives methods are needed to monitor the growth of large non-transparent constructs in tissue engineering. Medical imaging modalities, which can provide information on the structure and function of internal organs and tissues in living organisms, have the potential of allowing repetitive monitoring of these 3D cultures in vitro. The working hypothesis of this thesis was to establish standard noninvasive and nondestructive real-time bioreactor imaging protocols for in situ monitoring of the viability and metabolism of endothelial cells when grown in perfused 3D fibrin gel scaffolds. To achieve this goal, a culture chamber with hollow fibers was designed and a pulsatile perfusion bioreactor system, able to promote cell survival and proliferation, was constructed and validated. Standard imaging protocols in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) are not adapted to image bioreactor systems. A suitable method had to be devised using the well-known radiotracer 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18FDG), a marker of glucose metabolism. Optimal uptake conditions were determined using cell monolayers and the best parameters were then applied on perfused 3D cultures to evaluate perfusion, cell viability and emerging cell structures. After only 12 hours of culture, the cell density could be estimated and cell structures were localized within the fibrin gels after 1-2 weeks of culture. PET is a promising tool for tissue engineering with many specific tracers available that might eventually be able to reveal new information on tissue development. Key words: Endothelial cells, Perfusion bioreactor, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18FDG), Tissue Engineering, 3D cultures, Fibrin.

The influence of day/night cycles on biomass yield and composition of Neochloris oleoabundans.

PubMed

de Winter, Lenneke; Cabanelas, Iago Teles Dominguez; Martens, Dirk E; Wijffels, René H; Barbosa, Maria J

2017-01-01

Day/night cycles regulate the circadian clock of organisms to program daily activities. Many species of microalgae have a synchronized cell division when grown under a day/night cycle, and synchronization might influence biomass yield and composition. Therefore, the aim of this study was to study the influence of day/night cycle on biomass yield and composition of the green microalgae Neochloris oleoabundans . Hence, we compared continuous turbidostat cultures grown under continuous light with cultures grown under simulated day/night cycles. Under day/night cycles, cultures were synchronized as cell division was scheduled in the night, whereas under continuous light cell division occurred randomly synchronized cultures were able to use the light 10-15% more efficiently than non-synchronized cultures. Our results indicate that the efficiency of light use varies over the cell cycle and that synchronized cell division provides a fitness benefit to microalgae. Biomass composition under day/night cycles was similar to continuous light, with the exception of starch content. The starch content was higher in cultures under continuous light, most likely because the cells never had to respire starch to cover for maintenance during dark periods. Day/night cycles were provided in a 'block' (continuous light intensity during the light period) and in a 'sine' (using a sine function to simulate light intensities from sunrise to sunset). There were no differences in biomass yield or composition between these two ways of providing light (in a 'block' or in a 'sine'). The biomass yield and composition of N. oleoabundans were influenced by day/night cycles. These results are important to better understand the relations between research done under continuous light conditions and with day/night cycle conditions. Our findings also imply that more research should be done under day/night cycles.

Overcoming institutional challenges through continuous professionalism improvement: the University of Washington experience.

PubMed

Fryer-Edwards, Kelly; Van Eaton, Erik; Goldstein, Erika A; Kimball, Harry R; Veith, Richard C; Pellegrini, Carlos A; Ramsey, Paul G

2007-11-01

The University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine is in the midst of an emerging ecology of professionalism. This initiative builds on prior work focusing on professionalism at the student level and moves toward the complete integration of a culture of professionalism within the UW medical community of including staff, faculty, residents, and students. The platform for initiating professionalism as institutional culture is the Committee on Continuous Professionalism Improvement, established in November 2006. This article reviews three approaches to organizational development used within and outside medicine and highlights features that are useful for enhancing an institutional culture of professionalism: organizational culture, safety culture, and appreciative inquiry. UW Medicine has defined professional development as a continuous process, built on concrete expectations, using mechanisms to facilitate learning from missteps and highlighting strengths. To this end, the school of medicine is working toward improvements in feedback, evaluation, and reward structures at all levels (student, resident, faculty, and staff) as well as creating opportunities for community dialogues on professionalism issues within the institution. Throughout all the Continuous Professionalism Improvement activities, a two-pronged approach to cultivating a culture of professionalism is taken: celebration of excellence and attention to accountability.

Blastocyst utilization rates after continuous culture in two commercial single-step media: a prospective randomized study with sibling oocytes.

PubMed

Sfontouris, Ioannis A; Kolibianakis, Efstratios M; Lainas, George T; Venetis, Christos A; Petsas, George K; Tarlatzis, Basil C; Lainas, Tryfon G

2017-10-01

The aim of this study is to determine whether blastocyst utilization rates are different after continuous culture in two different commercial single-step media. This is a paired randomized controlled trial with sibling oocytes conducted in infertility patients, aged ≤40 years with ≥10 oocytes retrieved assigned to blastocyst culture and transfer. Retrieved oocytes were randomly allocated to continuous culture in either Sage one-step medium (Origio) or Continuous Single Culture (CSC) medium (Irvine Scientific) without medium renewal up to day 5 post oocyte retrieval. Main outcome measure was the proportion of embryos suitable for clinical use (utilization rate). A total of 502 oocytes from 33 women were randomly allocated to continuous culture in either Sage one-step medium (n = 250) or CSC medium (n = 252). Fertilization was performed by either in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and embryo transfers were performed on day 5. Two patients had all blastocysts frozen due to the occurrence of severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Fertilization and cleavage rates, as well as embryo quality on day 3, were similar in the two media. Blastocyst utilization rates (%, 95% CI) [55.4% (46.4-64.1) vs 54.7% (44.9-64.6), p = 0.717], blastocyst formation rates [53.6% (44.6-62.5) vs 51.9 (42.2-61.6), p = 0.755], and proportion of good quality blastocysts [36.8% (28.1-45.4) vs 36.1% (27.2-45.0), p = 0.850] were similar in Sage one-step and CSC media, respectively. Continuous culture of embryos in Sage one-step and CSC media is associated with similar blastocyst development and utilization rates. Both single-step media appear to provide adequate support during in vitro preimplantation embryo development. Whether these observations are also valid for other continuous single medium protocols remains to be determined. NCT02302638.

Continuing Professional Development in Context: Teachers' Continuing Professional Development Culture in Germany and Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wermke, Wieland

2011-01-01

This article investigates the continuing professional development (CPD) culture of teachers, and asks how it is influenced by properties of the school system. It reports the results of a questionnaire study with 418 secondary teachers from Sweden and Germany. The results show highly significant differences between Swedish and German teachers'…

Measurement of Reactive Oxygen Species in the Culture Media Using Acridan Lumigen PS-3 Assay

PubMed Central

Uy, Benedict; McGlashan, Susan R.; Shaikh, Shamim B.

2011-01-01

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated continuously during aerobic metabolism. ROS are highly reactive molecules and in excessive amounts, can lead to protein and DNA oxidation, protein cross-linking, and cell death. Cell-culture models provide a valuable tool in understanding the mechanisms that lead to cell death. Accumulation of ROS within cells and/or their release into the culture media are highly cell type-specific. The ability to estimate ROS levels in the culture media is an important step in understanding the mechanisms contributing to disease processes. In this paper, we describe the optimization of a simple method to estimate ROS levels in the culture media using the Acridan Lumigen PS-3 reagent provided in the Amersham ECL Plus kit (GE Healthcare, UK). We have shown that the Acridan Lumigen PS-3 assay generates ROS-specific chemiluminescence in fresh as well as media stored at −20°C, in as little as 10–20 μl of samples. The method was able to detect the dose (of stimulants)- and time (acute and chronic)-dependent changes in ROS levels in media collected from various cell types. Our results suggest that the kit reagents, PBS buffer, and various media did not contribute significantly to the overall chemiluminescence generated in the assay; however, we suggest that the unused medium specific for each cell type should be used as blanks and final readings of test samples normalized against these readings. As this method uses commonly available laboratory equipment and commercially available reagents, we believe this assay is convenient, economical, and specific in estimating ROS released extracellularly into the culture media. PMID:21966257

Measurement of reactive oxygen species in the culture media using Acridan Lumigen PS-3 assay.

PubMed

Uy, Benedict; McGlashan, Susan R; Shaikh, Shamim B

2011-09-01

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated continuously during aerobic metabolism. ROS are highly reactive molecules and in excessive amounts, can lead to protein and DNA oxidation, protein cross-linking, and cell death. Cell-culture models provide a valuable tool in understanding the mechanisms that lead to cell death. Accumulation of ROS within cells and/or their release into the culture media are highly cell type-specific. The ability to estimate ROS levels in the culture media is an important step in understanding the mechanisms contributing to disease processes. In this paper, we describe the optimization of a simple method to estimate ROS levels in the culture media using the Acridan Lumigen PS-3 reagent provided in the Amersham ECL Plus kit (GE Healthcare, UK). We have shown that the Acridan Lumigen PS-3 assay generates ROS-specific chemiluminescence in fresh as well as media stored at -20°C, in as little as 10-20 μl of samples. The method was able to detect the dose (of stimulants)- and time (acute and chronic)-dependent changes in ROS levels in media collected from various cell types. Our results suggest that the kit reagents, PBS buffer, and various media did not contribute significantly to the overall chemiluminescence generated in the assay; however, we suggest that the unused medium specific for each cell type should be used as blanks and final readings of test samples normalized against these readings. As this method uses commonly available laboratory equipment and commercially available reagents, we believe this assay is convenient, economical, and specific in estimating ROS released extracellularly into the culture media.

Robust Formation and Maintenance of Continuous Stratified Cortical Neuroepithelium by Laminin-Containing Matrix in Mouse ES Cell Culture

PubMed Central

Nasu, Makoto; Takata, Nozomu; Danjo, Teruko; Sakaguchi, Hideya; Kadoshima, Taisuke; Futaki, Sugiko; Sekiguchi, Kiyotoshi; Eiraku, Mototsugu; Sasai, Yoshiki

2012-01-01

In the mammalian cortex, the dorsal telencephalon exhibits a characteristic stratified structure. We previously reported that three-dimensional (3D) culture of mouse ES cells (mESCs) can efficiently generate cortical neuroepithelium (NE) and layer-specific cortical neurons. However, the cortical NE generated in this mESC culture was structurally unstable and broke into small neural rosettes by culture day 7, suggesting that some factors for reinforcing the structural integrity were missing. Here we report substantial supporting effects of the extracellular matrix (ECM) protein laminin on the continuous formation of properly polarized cortical NE in floating aggregate culture of mESCs. The addition of purified laminin and entactin (a laminin-associated protein), even at low concentrations, stabilized the formation of continuous cortical NE as well as the maintenance of basement membrane and prevented rosette formation. Treatment with the neutralizing ß1-integrin antibody impaired the continuous NE formation. The stabilized cortical NE exhibited typical interkinetic nuclear migration of cortical progenitors, as seen in the embryonic cortex. The laminin-treated cortical NE maintained a continuous structure even on culture days 12 and 15, and contained ventricular, basal-progenitor, cortical-plate and Cajal-Retzius cell layers. The cortical NE in this culture was flanked by cortical hem-like tissue. Furthermore, when Shh was added, ventral telencephalic structures such as lateral ganglionic eminence–like tissue formed in the region adjacent to the cortical NE. Thus, our results indicate that laminin-entactin ECM promotes the formation of structurally stable telencephalic tissues in 3D ESC culture, and supports the morphogenetic recapitulation of cortical development. PMID:23300850

Illicit and prescription drug problems among urban Aboriginal adults in Canada: the role of traditional culture in protection and resilience.

PubMed

Currie, Cheryl L; Wild, T Cameron; Schopflocher, Donald P; Laing, Lory; Veugelers, Paul

2013-07-01

Illicit and prescription drug use disorders are two to four times more prevalent among Aboriginal peoples in North America than the general population. Research suggests Aboriginal cultural participation may be protective against substance use problems in rural and remote Aboriginal communities. As Aboriginal peoples continue to urbanize rapidly around the globe, the role traditional Aboriginal beliefs and practices may play in reducing or even preventing substance use problems in cities is becoming increasingly relevant, and is the focus of the present study. Mainstream acculturation was also examined. Data were collected via in-person surveys with a community-based sample of Aboriginal adults living in a mid-sized city in western Canada (N = 381) in 2010. Associations were analysed using two sets of bootstrapped linear regression models adjusted for confounders with continuous illicit and prescription drug problem scores as outcomes. Psychological mechanisms that may explain why traditional culture is protective for Aboriginal peoples were examined using the cross-products of coefficients mediation method. The extent to which culture served as a resilience factor was examined via interaction testing. Results indicate Aboriginal enculturation was a protective factor associated with reduced 12-month illicit drug problems and 12-month prescription drug problems among Aboriginal adults in an urban setting. Increased self-esteem partially explained why cultural participation was protective. Cultural participation also promoted resilience by reducing the effects of high school incompletion on drug problems. In contrast, mainstream acculturation was not associated with illicit drug problems and served as a risk factor for prescription drug problems in this urban sample. Findings encourage the growth of programs and services that support Aboriginal peoples who strive to maintain their cultural traditions within cities, and further studies that examine how Aboriginal cultural practices and beliefs may promote and protect Aboriginal health in an urban environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metabolomics approach to reduce the Crabtree effect in continuous culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Imura, Makoto; Iwakiri, Ryo; Bamba, Takeshi; Fukusaki, Eiichiro

2018-04-20

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an important microorganism for fermentation and the food industry. However, during production, S. cerevisiae commonly uses the ethanol fermentation pathway for glucose utilization if excess sugar is present, even in the presence of sufficient oxygen levels. This aerobic ethanol fermentation, referred to as "the Crabtree effect" is one of the most significant reasons for low cell yield. To weaken the Crabtree effect in fed-batch and continuous culture, sugar flow should be limited. In addition, in continuous culture, the dilution rate must be reduced to avoid washing out cells. However, under such conditions, production speed might be sacrificed. It is difficult to solve this problem with the tradeoff between cell yield and production speed by using conventional tactics. However, a metabolomics approach may be an effective way to search for clues regarding metabolic modulation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to reduce ethanol production in continuous culture of S. cerevisiae at a higher dilution rate through a metabolomics approach. We used a metabolomics analysis to identify metabolites that were drastically increased or decreased in continuous culture when the dilution rate shifted from biomass formation to ethanol fermentation. The individual addition of two of the selected metabolites, fumaric acid and malic acid, reduced ethanol production at a higher dilution rate. This result demonstrates the potential for using metabolomics approaches to identify metabolites that reduce ethanol production in continuous culture at high dilution rates. Copyright © 2018 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing the impact of continuous quality improvement/total quality management: concept versus implementation.

PubMed Central

Shortell, S M; O'Brien, J L; Carman, J M; Foster, R W; Hughes, E F; Boerstler, H; O'Connor, E J

1995-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relationships among organizational culture, quality improvement processes and selected outcomes for a sample of up to 61 U. S. hospitals. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: Primary data were collected from 61 U. S. hospitals (located primarily in the midwest and the west) on measures related to continuous quality improvement/total quality management (CQI/TQM), organizational culture, implementation approaches, and degree of quality improvement implementation based on the Baldrige Award criteria. These data were combined with independently collected data on perceived impact and objective measures of clinical efficiency (i.e., charges and length of stay) for six clinical conditions. STUDY DESIGN: The study involved cross-sectional examination of the named relationships. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Reliable and valid scales for the organizational culture and quality improvement implementation measures were developed based on responses from over 7,000 individuals across the 61 hospitals with an overall completion rate of 72 percent. Independent data on perceived impact were collected from a national survey and independent data on clinical efficiency from a companion study of managed care. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A participative, flexible, risk-taking organizational culture was significantly related to quality improvement implementation. Quality improvement implementation, in turn, was positively associated with greater perceived patient outcomes and human resource development. Larger-size hospitals experienced lower clinical efficiency with regard to higher charges and higher length of stay, due in part to having more bureaucratic and hierarchical cultures that serve as a barrier to quality improvement implementation. CONCLUSIONS: What really matters is whether or not a hospital has a culture that supports quality improvement work and an approach that encourages flexible implementation. Larger-size hospitals face more difficult challenges in this regard. PMID:7782222

Periodic harvesting of embryonic stem cells from a hollow-fiber membrane based four-compartment bioreactor.

PubMed

Knöspel, Fanny; Freyer, Nora; Stecklum, Maria; Gerlach, Jörg C; Zeilinger, Katrin

2016-01-01

Different types of stem cells have been investigated for applications in drug screening and toxicity testing. In order to provide sufficient numbers of cells for such in vitro applications a scale-up of stem cell culture is necessary. Bioreactors for dynamic three-dimensional (3D) culture of growing cells offer the option for culturing large amounts of stem cells at high densities in a closed system. We describe a method for periodic harvesting of pluripotent stem cells (PSC) during expansion in a perfused 3D hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor, using mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) as a model cell line. A number of 100 × 10(6) mESC were seeded in bioreactors in the presence of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) as feeder cells. Over a cultivation interval of nine days cells were harvested by trypsin perfusion and mechanical agitation every second to third culture day. A mean of 380 × 10(6) mESC could be removed with every harvest. Subsequent to harvesting, cells continued growing in the bioreactor, as determined by increasing glucose consumption and lactate production. Immunocytochemical staining and mRNA expression analysis of markers for pluripotency and the three germ layers showed a similar expression of most markers in the harvested cells and in mESC control cultures. In conclusion, successful expansion and harvesting of viable mESC from bioreactor cultures with preservation of sterility was shown. The present study is the first one showing the feasibility of periodic harvesting of adherent cells from a continuously perfused four-compartment bioreactor including further cultivation of remaining cells. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Digitally tunable physicochemical coding of material composition and topography in continuous microfibres.

PubMed

Kang, Edward; Jeong, Gi Seok; Choi, Yoon Young; Lee, Kwang Ho; Khademhosseini, Ali; Lee, Sang-Hoon

2011-09-04

Heterotypic functional materials with compositional and topographical properties that vary spatiotemporally on the micro- or nanoscale are common in nature. However, fabricating such complex materials in the laboratory remains challenging. Here we describe a method to continuously create microfibres with tunable morphological, structural and chemical features using a microfluidic system consisting of a digital, programmable flow control that mimics the silk-spinning process of spiders. With this method we fabricated hydrogel microfibres coded with varying chemical composition and topography along the fibre, including gas micro-bubbles as well as nanoporous spindle-knots and joints that enabled directional water collection. We also explored the potential use of the coded microfibres for tissue engineering applications by creating multifunctional microfibres with a spatially controlled co-culture of encapsulated cells.

Glucose metabolism in batch and continuous cultures of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus PAL 3.

PubMed

Luna, María F; Bernardelli, Cecilia E; Galar, María L; Boiardi, José L

2006-03-01

Periplasmic glucose oxidation (by way of a pyrrolo-quinoline-quinone [PQQ]-linked glucose dehydrogenase [GDH]) was observed in continuous cultures of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus regardless of the carbon source (glucose or gluconate) and the nitrogen source (N(2) or NH(3)). Its synthesis was stimulated by conditions of high energetic demand (i.e., N(2)-fixation) and/or C-limitation. Under C-excess conditions, PQQ-GDH synthesis increased with the glucose concentration in the culture medium. In batch cultures, PQQ-GDH was actively expressed in very early stages with higher activities under conditions of N(2)-fixation. Hexokinase activity was almost absent under any culture condition. Cytoplasmic nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-linked glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) was expressed in continuous cultures under all tested conditions, and its synthesis increased with the glucose concentration. In contrast, low activities of this enzyme were detected in batch cultures. Periplasmic oxidation, by way of PQQ-GDH, seems to be the principal pathway for metabolism of glucose in G. Diazotrophicus, and NAD-GDH is an alternative route under certain environmental conditions.

Feasibility of biodiesel production and CO2 emission reduction by Monoraphidium dybowskii LB50 under semi-continuous culture with open raceway ponds in the desert area.

PubMed

Yang, Haijian; He, Qiaoning; Hu, Chunxiang

2018-01-01

Compared with other general energy crops, microalgae are more compatible with desert conditions. In addition, microalgae cultivated in desert regions can be used to develop biodiesel. Therefore, screening oil-rich microalgae, and researching the algae growth, CO 2 fixation and oil yield in desert areas not only effectively utilize the idle desertification lands and other resources, but also reduce CO 2 emission. Monoraphidium dybowskii LB50 can be efficiently cultured in the desert area using light resources, and lipid yield can be effectively improved using two-stage induction and semi-continuous culture modes in open raceway ponds (ORPs). Lipid content (LC) and lipid productivity (LP) were increased by 20% under two-stage industrial salt induction, whereas biomass productivity (BP) increased by 80% to enhance LP under semi-continuous mode in 5 m 2 ORPs. After 3 years of operation, M. dybowskii LB50 was successfully and stably cultivated under semi-continuous mode for a month during five cycles of repeated culture in a 200 m 2 ORP in the desert area. This culture mode reduced the supply of the original species. The BP and CO 2 fixation rate were maintained at 18 and 33 g m -2  day -1 , respectively. Moreover, LC decreased only during the fifth cycle of repeated culture. Evaporation occurred at 0.9-1.8 L m -2  day -1 , which corresponded to 6.5-13% of evaporation loss rate. Semi-continuous and two-stage salt induction culture modes can reduce energy consumption and increase energy balance through the energy consumption analysis of life cycle. This study demonstrates the feasibility of combining biodiesel production and CO 2 fixation using microalgae grown as feedstock under culture modes with ORPs by using the resources in the desert area. The understanding of evaporation loss and the sustainability of semi-continuous culture render this approach practically viable. The novel strategy may be a promising alternative to existing technology for CO 2 emission reduction and biofuel production.

Gravity, chromosomes, and organized development in aseptically cultured plant cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krikorian, Abraham D.

1993-01-01

The objectives of the PCR experiment are: to test the hypothesis that microgravity will in fact affect the pattern and developmental progression of embryogenically competent plant cells from one well-defined, critical stage to another; to determine the effects of microgravity in growth and differentiation of embryogenic carrot cells grown in cell culture; to determine whether microgravity or the space environment fosters an instability of the differentiated state; and to determine whether mitosis and chromosome behavior are adversely affected by microgravity. The methods employed will consist of the following: special embryogenically competent carrot cell cultures will be grown in cell culture chambers provided by NASDA; four cell culture chambers will be used to grow cells in liquid medium; two dishes (plant cell culture dishes) will be used to grow cells on a semi-solid agar support; progression to later embryonic stages will be induced in space via crew intervention and by media manipulation in the case of liquid grown cell cultures; progression to later stages in case of semi-solid cultures will not need crew intervention; embryo stages will be fixed at a specific interval (day 6) in flight only in the case of liquid-grown cultures; and some living cells and somatic embryos will be returned for continued post-flight development and 'grown-out.' These will derive from the semi-solid grown cultures.

Cultural care of older Greek Canadian widows within Leininger's theory of culture care.

PubMed

Rosenbaum, J N

1990-01-01

Cultural care themes were abstracted from a large scale study of older Greek Canadian widows conceptualized within Leininger's theory of Cultural Care Diversity and Universality. Ethnonursing, ethnographic, and life health-care history methods were used. Data were collected using observation-participation and interviews in three Greek Canadian communities with 12 widowed key informants and 30 general informants. Enabling tools used were interview inquiry guides, Leininger's Life History Health Care Protocol, Leininger's Acculturation Rating and Profile Scale of Traditional and Non-Traditional Lifeways, and field journal recordings. Data were analyzed using Leininger's phases of analysis for qualitative data. The two major cultural care themes which were abstracted from the raw data and patterns were: (1) Cultural care for Greek Canadian widows meant responsibility for, reciprocation, concern, love, companionship, family protection, hospitality, and helping, primarily derived from their kinship, religious, and cultural beliefs, and values, and (2) Cultural care continuity diminished the spousal care void and contributed to the health of Greek Canadian widows. These findings will stimulate future nursing research related to cultural care of diverse populations and guide nursing practice to provide culturally congruent care which will assist widows to reduce their spousal care void. The author thanks Dr. Madeleine Leininger, Dr. Judith Floyd, Dr. Marjorie Isenberg, and Dr. Bernice Kaplan for their guidance in completing the large scale study on which this article is based.

Fabrication of a reticular poly(lactide-co-glycolide) cylindrical scaffold for the in vitro development of microvascular networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tung, Yen-Ting; Chang, Cheng-Chung; Ju, Jyh-Cherng; Wang, Gou-Jen

2017-12-01

The microvascular network is a simple but critical system that is responsible for a range of important biological mechanisms in the bodies of all animals. The ability to generate a functional microvessel not only makes it possible to engineer vital tissue of considerable size but also serves as a platform for biomedical studies. However, most of the current methods for generating microvessel networks in vitro use rectangular channels which cannot represent real vessels in vivo and have dead zones at their corners, hence hindering the circulation of culture medium. We propose a scaffold-wrapping method which enables fabrication of a customized microvascular network in vitro in a more biomimetic way. By integrating microelectromechanical techniques with thermal reflow, we designed and fabricated a microscale hemi-cylindrical photoresist template. A replica mold of polydimethylsiloxane, produced by casting, was then used to generate cylindrical scaffolds with biodegradable poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA). Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were seeded on both sides of the PLGA scaffold and cultured using a traditional approach. The expression of endothelial cell marker CD31 and intercellular junction vascular endothelial cadherin on the cultured cell demonstrated the potential of generating a microvascular network with a degradable cylindrical scaffold. Our method allows cells to be cultured on a scaffold using a conventional culture approach and monitors cell conditions continuously. We hope our cell-covered scaffold can serve as a framework for building large tissues or can be used as the core of a vascular chip for in vitro circulation studies.

Antimicrobial activity of Anonna mucosa (Jacq.) grown in vivo and obtained by in vitroculture.

PubMed

Barboza, Thiago José de Souza; Ferreira, Andréa Fonseca; Ignacio, Ana Claudia de Paula Rosa; Albarello, Norma

2015-01-01

Brazilian flora includes numerous species of medicinal importance that can be used to develop new drugs. Plant tissue culture offers strategies for conservation and use of these species allowing continuous production of plants and bioactive substances. Annona mucosa has produced substances such as acetogenins and alkaloids that exhibit antimicrobial activities. The widespread use of antibiotics has led to an increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria, which represents a serious risk of infection. In view of this problem, the aim of this work was to evaluate the antibacterial potential of extracts of A. mucosa obtained by in vitro techniques and also cultured under in vivo conditions. Segments from seedlings were inoculated onto different culture media containing the auxin picloram and the cytokinin kinetin at different concentrations. The calluses obtained were used to produce cell suspension cultures. The materials were subjected to methanol extraction and subsequent fractionation in hexane and dichloromethane. The antimicrobial activity against 20 strains of clinical relevance was evaluated by the macrodilution method at minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations. The extracts showed selective antimicrobial activity, inhibiting the growth of Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus thuringiensis at different concentrations. The plant tissue culture methods produced plant materials with antibacterial properties, as well as in vivo grown plants. The antibacterial activity of material obtained through biotechnological procedures of A. mucosa is reported here for the first time.

A Cell Culture Approach to Optimized Human Corneal Endothelial Cell Function

PubMed Central

Bartakova, Alena; Kuzmenko, Olga; Alvarez-Delfin, Karen; Kunzevitzky, Noelia J.; Goldberg, Jeffrey L.

2018-01-01

Purpose Cell-based therapies to replace corneal endothelium depend on culture methods to optimize human corneal endothelial cell (HCEC) function and minimize endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EnMT). Here we explore contribution of low-mitogenic media on stabilization of phenotypes in vitro that mimic those of HCECs in vivo. Methods HCECs were isolated from cadaveric donor corneas and expanded in vitro, comparing continuous presence of exogenous growth factors (“proliferative media”) to media without those factors (“stabilizing media”). Identity based on canonical morphology and expression of surface marker CD56, and function based on formation of tight junction barriers measured by trans-endothelial electrical resistance assays (TEER) were assessed. Results Primary HCECs cultured in proliferative media underwent EnMT after three to four passages, becoming increasingly fibroblastic. Stabilizing the cells before each passage by switching them to a media low in mitogenic growth factors and serum preserved canonical morphology and yielded a higher number of cells. HCECs cultured in stabilizing media increased both expression of the identity marker CD56 and also tight junction monolayer integrity compared to cells cultured without stabilization. Conclusions HCECs isolated from donor corneas and expanded in vitro with a low-mitogenic media stabilizing step before each passage demonstrate more canonical structural and functional features and defer EnMT, increasing the number of passages and total canonical cell yield. This approach may facilitate development of HCEC-based cell therapies. PMID:29625488

Antimicrobial activity of Anonna mucosa (Jacq.) grown in vivo and obtained by in vitroculture

PubMed Central

de Souza Barboza, Thiago José; Ferreira, Andréa Fonseca; de Paula Rosa Ignacio, Ana Claudia; Albarello, Norma

2015-01-01

Brazilian flora includes numerous species of medicinal importance that can be used to develop new drugs. Plant tissue culture offers strategies for conservation and use of these species allowing continuous production of plants and bioactive substances. Annona mucosa has produced substances such as acetogenins and alkaloids that exhibit antimicrobial activities. The widespread use of antibiotics has led to an increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria, which represents a serious risk of infection. In view of this problem, the aim of this work was to evaluate the antibacterial potential of extracts of A. mucosa obtained by in vitro techniques and also cultured under in vivo conditions. Segments from seedlings were inoculated onto different culture media containing the auxin picloram and the cytokinin kinetin at different concentrations. The calluses obtained were used to produce cell suspension cultures. The materials were subjected to methanol extraction and subsequent fractionation in hexane and dichloromethane. The antimicrobial activity against 20 strains of clinical relevance was evaluated by the macrodilution method at minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations. The extracts showed selective antimicrobial activity, inhibiting the growth of Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus thuringiensis at different concentrations. The plant tissue culture methods produced plant materials with antibacterial properties, as well as in vivo grown plants. The antibacterial activity of material obtained through biotechnological procedures of A. mucosa is reported here for the first time. PMID:26413061

Assessing the Use of Game-Based Exercises in the Staff Attack-the-Network Course

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

B-1 vi CONTENTS (continued) Page LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. EDGE PLAYER AVATAR ...players to control an in-game avatar (see Figure 1), navigate terrain, and use vehicles, 3 equipment, and tools for a variety of social-cultural task... Avatar . Figure 2. EDGE Operational Environment. Method The basic methodology consisted of collecting pre-test and post-test knowledge

Healthcare Mistreatment and Continuity of Cancer Screening among Latino and Anglo American Women in Southern California

PubMed Central

Betancourt, Hector; Flynn, Patricia M.; Ormseth, Sarah R.

2011-01-01

The aim of this research was to examine the relation of perceptions of healthcare mistreatment and related emotions to continuity of cancer screening care among women who reported healthcare mistreatment. The structure of relations among cultural beliefs about healthcare professionals, perceptions of mistreatment, mistreatment-related emotions, and continuity of screening was investigated. Participants included 313 Anglo and Latino American women of varying demographic characteristics from Southern California who were recruited using multistage stratified sampling. Structural equation modeling confirmed the relation of perceptions of mistreatment to continuity of care for both Anglo and Latino American women, with ethnicity moderating this association. For Anglo Americans, greater perceptions of mistreatment were negatively related to continuity of screening. However, for Latinas the relation was indirect, through mistreatment-related anger. While greater perceptions of mistreatment were associated with higher levels of anger for both ethnic groups, anger was negatively related to continuity of care for Latino but not for Anglo women. Furthermore, cultural beliefs about professionals were indirectly related to continuity of screening through perceptions of mistreatment and/or mistreatment-related anger. These findings highlight the importance of the role of cultural and psychological factors in research and interventions aimed at improving patient-professional relations with culturally diverse women. PMID:21391158

Monogenean Parasite Cultures: Current Techniques and Recent Advances.

PubMed

Hutson, Kate Suzanne; Brazenor, Alexander Karlis; Vaughan, David Brendan; Trujillo-González, Alejandro

2018-01-01

Global expansion in fish production and trade of aquatic ornamental species requires advances in aquatic animal health management. Aquatic parasite cultures permit diverse research opportunities to understand parasite-host dynamics and are essential to validate the efficacy of treatments that could reduce infections in captive populations. Monogeneans are important pathogenic parasites of captured captive fishes and exhibit a single-host life cycle, which makes them amenable to in vivo culture. Continuous cultures of oviparous monogenean parasites provide a valuable resource of eggs, oncomiracidia (larvae) and adult parasites for use in varied ecological and applied scientific research. For example, the parasite-host dynamics of Entobdella soleae (van Beneden and Hesse, 1864) and its fish host, Solea solea (Linnaeus, 1758), is one of the most well-documented of all monogeneans following meticulous, dedicated study. Polystoma spp. cultures provide an intriguing model for examining evolution in monogeneans because they exhibit two alternative phenotypes depending on the age of infection of amphibians. Furthermore, assessments of the ecological, pathological and immunological effects of fish parasites in aquaculture have been achieved through cultures of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 spp., Benedenia seriolae (Yamaguti, 1934), Neobenedenia Yamaguti, 1963 spp. and Zeuxapta seriolae (Meserve, 1938). This review critically examines methods to establish and maintain in vivo monogenean monocultures on finfish, elasmobranchs and amphibians. Four separate approaches to establish cultures are scrutinised including the collection of live infected hosts, cohabiting recipient hosts with infected stock, cohabiting hosts with parasite eggs or oncomiracidia (larvae) and direct transfer of live adult parasites onto new fish hosts. Specific parasite species' biology and behaviour permits predictive collection of parasite life stages to effectively maintain a continuous culture, while environmental parameters can be altered to manipulate parasite generation time. Parasite virulence and biosecurity are vital components of a well-managed culture to ensure appropriate animal welfare and uncontaminated surrounding environments. Contemporary approaches and techniques are reviewed to ensure optimised monogenean cultures, which ultimately can be used to further our understanding of aquatic parasitology and identify mechanisms to limit infestations in public aquaria, ornamental trade and intensive aquaculture. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

Automatic pH Control and Soluble and Insoluble Substrate Input for Continuous Culture of Rumen Microorganisms

PubMed Central

Slyter, Leonard L.

1975-01-01

An artifical rumen continuous culture with pH control, automated input of water-soluble and water-insoluble substrates, controlled mixing of contents, and a collection system for gas is described. Images PMID:16350029

[Isolation and culture of bovine choriocapillary endothelial cells using paramagnetic beads coated with Lycopersicon esculentum].

PubMed

Swiech-Zubilewicz, A; Soubrane, G; Mascarelli, F

2000-01-01

To establish a pure culture of choriocapillary endothelial cells as a model of angiogenesis in vitro. Bovine choriocapillary endothelial cells (BCEC) were obtained by the method described by Hoffmann et al. (6) using the polystyrene paramagnetic beads coated with Lycopersicon esculentum, which attach specifically to the rest of fucose on the surface of microvascular endothelial cells. The endothelial characteristic of the cultured cells was evaluated by immunocytochemistry using anti von Willebrand factor and anti-CD 31 antibodies. Proliferation and survival of BCEC were tested using haemacytometer of Mallasez. The purity of obtained BCEC culture was confirmed by positive immunocytochemical staining with anti von Willebrand and anti factor CD 31 antibodies in more than 95% of cells. The proliferation of cells in Endothelial Cell Medium resulted in twofold increase of number of cells during 4-day observation period. After reaching the confluence, the cells continued to proliferate with increase of the cell number by 60% during 4-day observation. The use of paramagnetic beads coated with specific lectine provide a pure isolation of BCEC, which can be maintained in culture with preservation of their characteristic.

Rapid diagnostic methods for influenza virus in clinical specimens - A comparative study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, A. S.; Olson, B.

1982-01-01

A comparison of five rapid viral diagnostic techniques for identifying influenza virus in nasopharyngeal aspirates has been made on patients with influenza-like illnesses. Initial results with immune electron microscopy were positive in only one of 11 specimens from which virus was isolated and further work abandoned. Four other rapid tests were carried out on 39 specimens from which influenza virus had been isolated in tissue culture in 28. Of these 28 specimens yielding virus, 24 (85.7 percent) were positive by an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) on nasopharyngeal cells, 18 (64.3 percent) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 19 (67.8 percent) by enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA), and 26 (92.8 percent) by a rapid tissue culture amplification method (TCA) in a continuous Rhesus monkey kidney line (LLC-MK2) with identification of virus by fluorescent antibody. In terms of sensitivity, simplicity, and rapidity, a combination of the IFAT and TCA methods seems to be very useful.

Microfluidic devices for cell cultivation and proliferation

PubMed Central

Tehranirokh, Masoomeh; Kouzani, Abbas Z.; Francis, Paul S.; Kanwar, Jagat R.

2013-01-01

Microfluidic technology provides precise, controlled-environment, cost-effective, compact, integrated, and high-throughput microsystems that are promising substitutes for conventional biological laboratory methods. In recent years, microfluidic cell culture devices have been used for applications such as tissue engineering, diagnostics, drug screening, immunology, cancer studies, stem cell proliferation and differentiation, and neurite guidance. Microfluidic technology allows dynamic cell culture in microperfusion systems to deliver continuous nutrient supplies for long term cell culture. It offers many opportunities to mimic the cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions of tissues by creating gradient concentrations of biochemical signals such as growth factors, chemokines, and hormones. Other applications of cell cultivation in microfluidic systems include high resolution cell patterning on a modified substrate with adhesive patterns and the reconstruction of complicated tissue architectures. In this review, recent advances in microfluidic platforms for cell culturing and proliferation, for both simple monolayer (2D) cell seeding processes and 3D configurations as accurate models of in vivo conditions, are examined. PMID:24273628

Culture and Sampling of Primary Adipose Tissue in Practical Microfluidic Systems.

PubMed

Brooks, Jessica C; Judd, Robert L; Easley, Christopher J

2017-01-01

Microfluidic culture of primary adipose tissue allows for reduced sample and reagent volumes as well as constant media perfusion of the cells. By continuously flowing media over the tissue, microfluidic sampling systems can more accurately mimic vascular flow in vivo. Quantitative measurements can be performed on or off chip to provide time-resolved secretion data, furthering insight into the dynamics of the function of adipose tissue. Buoyancy resulting from the large lipid storage capacity in this tissue presents a unique challenge for culture, and it is important to account for this buoyancy during microdevice design. Herein, we describe approaches for microfluidic device fabrication that utilize 3D-printed interface templating to help counteract cell buoyancy. We apply such methods to the culture of both isolated, dispersed primary adipocytes and epididymal adipose explants. To facilitate more widespread adoption of the methodology, the devices presented here are designed for user-friendly operation. Only handheld syringes are needed to control flow, and devices are inexpensive and disposable.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) transformation using mature embryos.

PubMed

Medvecká, Eva; Harwood, Wendy A

2015-01-01

In most protocols for the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of wheat, the preferred target tissues are immature embryos. However, transformation methods relying on immature embryos require the growth of plants under controlled conditions to provide a continuous supply of good-quality target tissue. The use of mature embryos as a target tissue has the advantage of only requiring good-quality seed as the starting material. Here we describe a transformation method based on the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of callus cultures derived from mature wheat embryos of the genotype Bobwhite S56.

Patient-based Cultural Competency Curriculum for Pre-Health Professionals

PubMed Central

Melamed, Esther; Wyatt, Lacey E.; Padilla, Tony; Ferry, Robert J.

2011-01-01

Background and Objectives The diverse US population requires medical cultural competency education for health providers throughout their pre-professional and professional years. We present a curriculum to train pre-health professional undergraduates by combining classroom education in the humanities and cross-cultural communication skills with volunteer clinical experiences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) hospital. Methods The course was open to a maximum of 15 UCLA junior and senior undergraduate students with a pre-health or humanities major and was held in the spring quarters of 2002–2004. The change in students' knowledge of cultural competency was evaluated using the Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture Quiz (QCQ) and through students' written assignments and evaluations. Results Trainees displayed a statistically significant improvement in scores on the QCQ. Participants' written assignments and subjective evaluations confirmed an improvement in awareness and a high motivation to continue learning at the graduate level. Conclusions This is the first evaluated undergraduate curriculum that integrates interdisciplinary cultural competency training with patient volunteering in the medical field. The didactic, volunteering, and writing components of the course comprise a broadly applicable tool for training future health care providers at other institutions. PMID:18979261

Simple explant culture of the embryonic chicken retina with long-term preservation of photoreceptors.

PubMed

Thangaraj, Gopenath; Greif, Alexander; Layer, Paul G

2011-10-01

Structurally stable in vitro-model systems are indispensible to analyse neural development during embryogenesis, follow cellular differentiation and evaluate neurotoxicological or growth factor effects. Here we describe a three-dimensional, long-term in vitro-culture system of the embryonic chick retina which supports photoreceptor development. Retinal tissue was isolated from E6 chick eye, and cultured as explants by continuous orbital rotation to allow free floatation without any supporting materials. Young stage (E6) immature retinas were cultured for various time periods in order to follow the differentiation of cell types and plexiform layers by immunocytochemical methods. These explants could be cultured for at least 2-3 weeks with remarkable retention of retinal architecture. Interestingly, photoreceptors developed in the absence of pigment epithelium. Electron microscopic studies revealed formation of structures resembling photoreceptor outer segments, a feature not reported previously. Thus, the verification of photoreceptors, Müller cells, inner retinal cells and the inner plexiform layer described in our study establishes this explant culture as a valuable in vivo-like model system. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimizing Culture Medium Composition to Improve Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Yields In Vitro from Subventricular Zone-Derived Neural Progenitor Cell Neurospheres

PubMed Central

Franco, Paula G.; Pasquini, Juana M.; Silvestroff, Lucas

2015-01-01

Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells (NSC/NPC) are gathering tangible recognition for their uses in cell therapy and cell replacement therapies for human disease, as well as a model system to continue research on overall neural developmental processes in vitro. The Subventricular Zone is one of the largest NSC/NPC niches in the developing mammalian Central Nervous System, and persists through to adulthood. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) enriched cultures are usefull tools for in vitro studies as well as for cell replacement therapies for treating demyelination diseases. We used Subventricular Zone-derived NSC/NPC primary cultures from newborn mice and compared the effects of different growth factor combinations on cell proliferation and OPC yield. The Platelet Derived Growth Factor-AA and BB homodimers had a positive and significant impact on OPC generation. Furthermore, heparin addition to the culture media contributed to further increase overall culture yields. The OPC generated by this protocol were able to mature into Myelin Basic Protein-expressing cells and to interact with neurons in an in vitro co-culture system. As a whole, we describe an optimized in vitro method for increasing OPC. PMID:25837625

pH measurement and a rational and practical pH control strategy for high throughput cell culture system.

PubMed

Zhou, Haiying; Purdie, Jennifer; Wang, Tongtong; Ouyang, Anli

2010-01-01

The number of therapeutic proteins produced by cell culture in the pharmaceutical industry continues to increase. During the early stages of manufacturing process development, hundreds of clones and various cell culture conditions are evaluated to develop a robust process to identify and select cell lines with high productivity. It is highly desirable to establish a high throughput system to accelerate process development and reduce cost. Multiwell plates and shake flasks are widely used in the industry as the scale down model for large-scale bioreactors. However, one of the limitations of these two systems is the inability to measure and control pH in a high throughput manner. As pH is an important process parameter for cell culture, this could limit the applications of these scale down model vessels. An economical, rapid, and robust pH measurement method was developed at Eli Lilly and Company by employing SNARF-4F 5-(-and 6)-carboxylic acid. The method demonstrated the ability to measure the pH values of cell culture samples in a high throughput manner. Based upon the chemical equilibrium of CO(2), HCO(3)(-), and the buffer system, i.e., HEPES, we established a mathematical model to regulate pH in multiwell plates and shake flasks. The model calculates the required %CO(2) from the incubator and the amount of sodium bicarbonate to be added to adjust pH to a preset value. The model was validated by experimental data, and pH was accurately regulated by this method. The feasibility of studying the pH effect on cell culture in 96-well plates and shake flasks was also demonstrated in this study. This work shed light on mini-bioreactor scale down model construction and paved the way for cell culture process development to improve productivity or product quality using high throughput systems. Copyright 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Building a global business continuity programme.

PubMed

Lazcano, Michael

2014-01-01

Business continuity programmes provide an important function within organisations, especially when aligned with and supportive of the organisation's goals, objectives and organisational culture. Continuity programmes for large, complex international organisations, unlike those for compact national companies, are more difficult to design, build, implement and maintain. Programmes for international organisations require attention to structural design, support across organisational leadership and hierarchy, seamless integration with the organisation's culture, measured success and demonstrated value. This paper details practical, but sometimes overlooked considerations for building successful global business continuity programmes.

Re-thinking the complexities of 'culture': what might we learn from Bourdieu?

PubMed

Lynam, M Judith; Browne, A J; Reimer Kirkham, S; Anderson, J M

2007-03-01

In this paper we continue an ongoing dialogue that has as its goal the critical appraisal of theoretical perspectives on culture and health, in an effort to move forward scholarship on culture and health. We draw upon a programme of scholarship to explicate theoretical tensions and challenges that are manifest in the discourses on culture and health and to explore the possibilities Bourdieu's theoretical perspective offers for reconciling them. That is, we hope to demonstrate the need to move beyond descriptions 'of' culture to an understanding of cultures as dynamic, and to show ways cultural practices create contexts that have the potential to foster or impede health. In our early research, largely undertaken in Canada's multicultural context, we sought to make visible the ways in which culture shaped conceptions of health and influenced health practices of immigrant groups. In recent years this focus has expanded to include populations that reflect the cultural and social diversity of our region. From the outset we attempted to move towards a conception of culture as negotiated, unifying, transformative and dynamic. While this position continues to hold appeal we are continually reminded that, despite our leanings towards constructivism, there is salience to the notion of culture as having enduring elements. It is this tension between the view of culture as embodied and enduring and culture as constructed and dynamic that we seek to examine. We explore whether Bourdieu's theoretical perspective offers promise for reconciling these apparently competing views. Using exemplars from our research we share insights that Bourdieu's work has offered to our analyses, thereby enabling us to move towards a view of culture that holds in tension these apparently contradictory positions of culture as both essence (albeit unstable, negotiated) and constructed.

Adapting cultural mixture modeling for continuous measures of knowledge and memory fluency.

PubMed

Tan, Yin-Yin Sarah; Mueller, Shane T

2016-09-01

Previous research (e.g., cultural consensus theory (Romney, Weller, & Batchelder, American Anthropologist, 88, 313-338, 1986); cultural mixture modeling (Mueller & Veinott, 2008)) has used overt response patterns (i.e., responses to questionnaires and surveys) to identify whether a group shares a single coherent attitude or belief set. Yet many domains in social science have focused on implicit attitudes that are not apparent in overt responses but still may be detected via response time patterns. We propose a method for modeling response times as a mixture of Gaussians, adapting the strong-consensus model of cultural mixture modeling to model this implicit measure of knowledge strength. We report the results of two behavioral experiments and one simulation experiment that establish the usefulness of the approach, as well as some of the boundary conditions under which distinct groups of shared agreement might be recovered, even when the group identity is not known. The results reveal that the ability to recover and identify shared-belief groups depends on (1) the level of noise in the measurement, (2) the differential signals for strong versus weak attitudes, and (3) the similarity between group attitudes. Consequently, the method shows promise for identifying latent groups among a population whose overt attitudes do not differ, but whose implicit or covert attitudes or knowledge may differ.

Recent advances in the microbiological diagnosis of bloodstream infections.

PubMed

Florio, Walter; Morici, Paola; Ghelardi, Emilia; Barnini, Simona; Lupetti, Antonella

2018-05-01

Rapid identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of the causative agent(s) of bloodstream infections (BSIs) are essential for the prompt administration of an effective antimicrobial therapy, which can result in clinical and financial benefits. Immediately after blood sampling, empirical antimicrobial therapy, chosen on clinical and epidemiological data, is administered. When ID and AST results are available, the clinician decides whether to continue or streamline the antimicrobial therapy, based on the results of the in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the pathogen. The aim of the present study is to review and discuss the experimental data, advantages, and drawbacks of recently developed technological advances of culture-based and molecular methods for the diagnosis of BSI (including mass spectrometry, magnetic resonance, PCR-based methods, direct inoculation methods, and peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in situ hybridization), the understanding of which could provide new perspectives to improve and fasten the diagnosis and treatment of septic patients. Although blood culture remains the gold standard to diagnose BSIs, newly developed methods can significantly shorten the turnaround time of reliable microbial ID and AST, thus substantially improving the diagnostic yield.

Limited use of Centritech Lab II Centrifuge in perfusion culture of rCHO cells for the production of recombinant antibody.

PubMed

Kim, Byoung Jin; Oh, Duk Jae; Chang, Ho Nam

2008-01-01

Perfusion cultures of recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cells, producing recombinant antibody against the S surface antigen of Hepatitis B virus, were carried out in continuous and intermittent mode using a Centritech Lab II Centrifuge. In the continuous perfusion process, despite the absence of shear stress from the pump head, long-term operation was not possible because of continuously repeated exposure to oxygen limitation and low temperature, as well as shear stress from centrifugal force. In the intermittent perfusion processes, the frequency of cell-passage through the centrifuge was substantially reduced, compared with the continuous perfusion mode; however, the degree of reduction could not guarantee stable long-term operation. Although various operating parameters were applied in the intermittent perfusion cultures, high cell densities could not be maintained stably. In a single bioreactor culture system, a specific cell that is returned from the centrifuge to the bioreactor could be transferred from the bioreactor to the centrifuge again in the next cycle. These repetitive damages, caused by shear stress from the pump head and centrifugal force, as well as exposure to suboptimal conditions such as oxygen limitation and low temperature below 37 degrees C, were more serious at higher perfusion rates. Subsequently, damaged cells and dead cells were continuously accumulated in the bioreactor. Culture temperature shift from 37 to 33 degrees C increased antibody concentrations but showed inhibitory effects on cell growth. The negative effects of lowering culture temperature on cell growth overwhelmed the positive effects on antibody production. To protect cells from shear stress, Pluronic F-68 was 2-fold concentrated in the culture medium; nevertheless, a significantly higher concentration of Pluronic F-68 (2 g/L) may have inhibitory effects on cell growth.

Detection and identification of intestinal pathogenic bacteria by hybridization to oligonucleotide microarrays

PubMed Central

Jin, Lian-Qun; Li, Jun-Wen; Wang, Sheng-Qi; Chao, Fu-Huan; Wang, Xin-Wei; Yuan, Zheng-Quan

2005-01-01

AIM: To detect the common intestinal pathogenic bacteria quickly and accurately. METHODS: A rapid (<3 h) experimental procedure was set up based upon the gene chip technology. Target genes were amplified and hybridized by oligonucleotide microarrays. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy strains of bacteria in pure culture belonging to 11 genera were successfully discriminated under comparatively same conditions, and a series of specific hybridization maps corresponding to each kind of bacteria were obtained. When this method was applied to 26 divided cultures, 25 (96.2%) were identified. CONCLUSION: Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli, Shigella sp., Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus sp., Bacillus cereus, Vibrio cholerae, Enterococcus faecalis, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Campylobacter jejuni can be detected and identified by our microarrays. The accuracy, range, and discrimination power of this assay can be continually improved by adding further oligonucleotides to the arrays without any significant increase of complexity or cost. PMID:16437687

USING ONLINE MARKETING TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN A WEB-BASED CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION CULTURAL COMPETENCE CURRICULUM

PubMed Central

Estrada, Carlos A.; Krishnamoorthy, Periyakaruppan; Smith, Ann; Staton, Lisa; Korf, Michele J.; Allison, Jeroan J.; Houston, Thomas K.

2012-01-01

Introduction CME providers may be interested in identifying effective marketing strategies to direct users to specific content. The use of online advertisements to recruit participants for clinical trials, public health programs, and Continuing Medical Education (CME) has been shown to be effective in some but not all studies. The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of two marketing strategies in the context of an online CME cultural competence curriculum (www.c-comp.org). Methods In an interrupted time-series quasi-experimental design, two marketing strategies were tested: a) wide dissemination to relevant organizations over a period of approximately four months, and b) Internet paid search using Google Ads (five consecutive eight-week periods--control 1, cultural/ CME advertisement, control 2, hypertension/ content advertisement, control 3). Outcome measures were CME credit requests, Web traffic (visits per day, page views, pages viewed per visit), and cost. Results Overall, the site was visited 19,156 times and 78,160 pages were viewed. During the wide dissemination phase, the proportion of visits requesting CME credit decreased between the first (5.3%) and second halves (3.3%) of this phase (p= .04). During the Internet paid search phase, the proportion of visits requesting CME credit was highest during the cultural/ CME advertisement period (control 1, 1.4%; cultural/CME ad, 4.3%; control 2, 1.5%; hypertension/content ad, 0.6%; control 3, 0.8%; p<.001). All measures of Web traffic changed during the Internet paid search phase (p<.01); however, changes were independent of the advertisement periods. The incremental cost for the cultural advertisement per CME credit requested was $0.64US. Discussion Internet advertisement focusing on cultural competence and CME was associated with about a three-fold increase in requests for CME credit at an incremental cost of under $1; however, Web traffic changes were independent of the advertisement strategy. PMID:21425356

Continuous production of lactic acid from molasses by perfusion culture of Lactococcus lactis using a stirred ceramic membrane reactor.

PubMed

Ohashi, R; Yamamoto, T; Suzuki, T

1999-01-01

A perfusion culture system was used for continuous production of lactic acid by retaining cells at a high density of Lactococcus lactis in a stirred ceramic membrane reactor (SCMR). After the cell concentration increased to 248 g/l, half of the culture broth volume was replaced with the fermentation medium. Subsequently, a substrate solution containing glucose (run 1) or molasses (run 2) was continuously supplied to the cells retained in the SCMR. Simultaneously, the culture supernatant was extracted using a ceramic filter with a pore size of 0.2 mum. The dilution rate was initially set at 0.4 h(-1) and gradually decreased to 0.2 h(-1) due to reduction in the permeability of the filter. The concentration of glucose in the substrate solution was adjusted to 60 g/l for the transition and the first period until 240 h, 90 g/l for the second period from 240 h to 440 h, and 70 g/l for the third period from 440 h to 643 h. The average concentration of lactic acid in the filtrate reached 46 g/l in the first period, 43 g/l in the second period, and 33 g/l for the third period. The productivity obtained for the first period reached 15.8 g.l(-1).h(-1), twice as much as that achieved in repeated batch fermentations. Based on the results obtained in run 1, the substrate solution containing 120 g/l of molasses was continuously supplied for 240 h in run 2. The concentration and productivity of lactic acid reached 40 g/l and 10.6 g.l(-1).h(-1), respectively, by continuously replenishing the culture medium at a dilution rate of 0.26 h(-1). These results demonstrated that the filtration capacity of the SCMR was sufficient for a continuous and rapid replenishment of molasses solution from the dense cell culture and, therefore, the perfusion culture system is considered to provide a low-cost process for continuous production of lactic acid from cheap resources.

Culture Methodology for Experimental Investigations Involving Rooted Submersed Aquatic Plants.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-11-01

stolons or runners are best planted as intact plants (Sculthorpe 1967). Many species can be propagated from seed in addition to the above methods...J. 1984. Growth response of Myriophyllwm spicatu and Hydrilla verticillata when exposed to continuous, low concentrations of fluridone . Tech. Rept. A...aquatic plants, water, and bottom sediments. Weed Sci. 20:482-486. Sastroutomo, S. S. 1980. Dormancy and germination in axillary turions of iijiilZla

Continuing Spanish in Grade Five: MLA Teacher's Guide. A Course of Study Including Methods, Materials, and Aids for Teaching Conversational Spanish to Fifth-Grade Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Mary P.; And Others

This is the third volume in a series of texts in a conversational Spanish course for elementary school children. Nine basic units present introductory linguistic patterns and cultural insights into the lives of the Spanish people. They include: (1) Review Unit 1, ("Cristobal Colon"), (2) Review Unit 2, (3) "Un Accidente,""La Navidad," and…

Russian Culture and Soviet Science.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-03-01

scientist the nature of the puzzles, but also provide him with a framework for their solutions by generating a web of expectations. The power of this...provide the scientist with both t’- puzzles and some expectation of the nature of their solutions . The web of expectations serves as a frame of...student to a paradigm 0 method of problem solution , the scientific community ensures the continuation of a strong consensus. After admitting new

A Bioreactor Method to Generate High-titer, Genetically Stable, Clinical-isolate Human Cytomegalovirus.

PubMed

Saykally, Victoria R; Rast, Luke I; Sasaki, Jeff; Jung, Seung-Yong; Bolovan-Fritts, Cynthia; Weinberger, Leor S

2017-11-05

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in transplant patients and a leading cause of congenital birth defects (Saint Louis, 2016). Vaccination and therapeutic studies often require scalable cell culture production of wild type virus, represented by clinical isolates. Obtaining sufficient stocks of wild-type clinical HCMV is often labor intensive and inefficient due to low yield and genetic loss, presenting a barrier to studies of clinical isolates. Here we report a bioreactor method based on continuous infection, where retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE-19) cells adhered to microcarrier beads are infected in a bioreactor and used to produce high-titers of clinical isolate HCMV that maintain genetic integrity of key viral tropism factors and the viral genome. In this bioreactor, an end-stage infection can be maintained by regular addition of uninfected ARPE-19 cells, providing convenient preparation of 10 7 -10 8 pfu/ml of concentrated TB40/E IE2-EYFP stocks without daily cell passaging or trypsinization. Overall, this represents a 100-fold increase in gain of virus production of 100-times compared to conventional static-culture plates, while requiring 90% less handling time. Moreover, this continuous infection environment has the potential to monitor infection dynamics with applications for real-time tracking of viral evolution.

Culture and Continuing Bonds: A Prospective Comparison of Bereavement in the United States and the People's Republic of China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lalande, Kathleen M.; Bonanno, George A.

2006-01-01

There has been an increased interest and debate regarding the adaptiveness of continuing bonds with the deceased. The authors used data from a cross-cultural study of 61 participants from the United States (US) and 58 participants from the People's Republic of China (PRC) who completed measures of continuing bonds and adjustment at 4 and 18 months…

Diversity and Intercultural Communication in Continuing Professional Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziegahn, Linda

2001-01-01

Responds to common myths about workplace diversity: (1) there is not much diversity in the workplace; (2) the way business is done is neutral; and (3) it is the responsibility of minority cultures to adapt to the dominant culture. Suggests responses for continuing professional educators. (JOW)

Method for high specific bioproductivity of .alpha.,.omega.-alkanedicarboxylic acids

DOEpatents

Mobley, David Paul; Shank, Gary Keith

2000-01-01

This invention provides a low-cost method of producing .alpha.,.omega.-alkanedicarboxylic acids. Particular bioconversion conditions result in highly efficient conversion of fatty acid, fatty acid ester, or alkane substrates to diacids. Candida tropicalis AR40 or similar yeast strains are grown in a medium containing a carbon source and a nitrogen source at a temperature of 31.degree. C. to 38.degree. C., while additional carbon source is continuously added, until maximum cell growth is attained. Within 0-3 hours of this point, substrate is added to the culture to initiate conversion. An .alpha.,.omega.-alkanedicarboxylic acid made according to this method is also provided.

Challenges in engineering large customized bone constructs.

PubMed

Forrestal, David P; Klein, Travis J; Woodruff, Maria A

2017-06-01

The ability to treat large tissue defects with customized, patient-specific scaffolds is one of the most exciting applications in the tissue engineering field. While an increasing number of modestly sized tissue engineering solutions are making the transition to clinical use, successfully scaling up to large scaffolds with customized geometry is proving to be a considerable challenge. Managing often conflicting requirements of cell placement, structural integrity, and a hydrodynamic environment supportive of cell culture throughout the entire thickness of the scaffold has driven the continued development of many techniques used in the production, culturing, and characterization of these scaffolds. This review explores a range of technologies and methods relevant to the design and manufacture of large, anatomically accurate tissue-engineered scaffolds with a focus on the interaction of manufactured scaffolds with the dynamic tissue culture fluid environment. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1129-1139. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Rotifer-Based Technique to Rear Zebrafish Larvae in Small Academic Settings.

PubMed

Allen, Raymond L; Wallace, Robert L; Sisson, Barbara E

2016-08-01

Raising zebrafish from larvae to juveniles can be laborious, requiring frequent water exchanges and continuous culturing of live feed. This task becomes even more difficult for small institutions that do not have access to the necessary funding, equipment, or personnel to maintain large-scale systems usually employed in zebrafish husbandry. To open this opportunity to smaller institutions, a cost-efficient protocol was developed to culture Nannochloropsis to feed the halophilic, planktonic rotifer Brachionus plicatilis; the rotifers were then used to raise larval zebrafish to juveniles. By using these methods, small institutions can easily raise zebrafish embryos in a cost-efficient manner without the need to establish an extensive fish-raising facility. In addition, culturing rotifers provides a micrometazoan that serves as a model organism for teaching and undergraduate research studies for a variety of topics, including aging, toxicology, and predator-prey dynamics.

Concussions and Risk Within Cultural Contexts of Play.

PubMed

Torres Colón, Gabriel Alejandro; Smith, Sharia; Fucillo, Jenny

2017-06-01

Concussions are a type of traumatic injury caused by a jolting of the brain that disrupts normal brain function, and multiple concussions can lead to serious long-term health consequences. In this article, we examine the relationship between college students' understanding of concussions and their willingness to continue playing despite the possibility of sustaining multiple head injuries. We use a mixed-methods approach that includes participant observation, cultural domain analysis, and structured interviews. Our research finds that students hold a robust cognitive understanding of concussion yet discursively frame concussions as skeletomuscular injuries. More importantly, students affirm the importance of playing sports for themselves and others, so their decisions to risk multiple concussions must be understood within cultural and biocultural contexts of meaningful social play. We suggest that peoples' decision to risk multiple head injuries should be understood as a desire for meaningful social play rather than an uninformed health risk.

The Simplexa™ Group A Strep Direct Assay: a sample-to-answer molecular assay for the diagnosis of group A streptococcal pharyngitis.

PubMed

Tabb, Michelle M; Batterman, Hollis J

2016-01-01

The Simplexa™ Group A Strep Direct assay is intended for use on the Integrated Cycler for detection of Group A Streptococcus (GAS) directly from throat swabs that have not undergone nucleic acid extraction. A prospective study of 1352 samples in 4 geographically diverse sites showed an overall prevalence of GAS of 15.4%. The assay demonstrated 97.4% sensitivity and 95.2% specificity versus culture. The positive predictive value compared to culture was 72.7%. However, 46 out of 57 discrepant samples were Group A Strep positive when tested using a bi-directional sequencing method illustrating the increased sensitivity of the assay compared to culture for detection of GAS. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of GAS allows for timely treatment to decrease complications of this prevalent organism that continues to cause substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Cultivation of parasites.

PubMed

Ahmed, Nishat Hussain

2014-07-01

Parasite cultivation techniques constitute a substantial segment of present-day study of parasites, especially of protozoa. Success in establishing in vitro and in vivo culture of parasites not only allows their physiology, behavior and metabolism to be studied dynamically, but also allows the nature of the antigenic molecules in the excretory and secretory products to be vigorously pursued and analyzed. The complex life-cycles of various parasites having different stages and host species requirements, particularly in the case of parasitic helminths, often make parasite cultivation an uphill assignment. Culturing of parasites depends on the combined expertise of all types of microbiological cultures. Different parasites require different cultivation conditions such as nutrients, temperature and even incubation conditions. Cultivation is an important method for diagnosis of many clinically important parasites, for example, Entamoeba histolytica, Trichomonas vaginalis, Leishmania spp., Strongyloides stercoralis and free-living amoebae. Many commercial systems like InPouch TV for T. vaginalis, microaerophilous stationary phase culture for Babesia bovis and Harada-Mori culture technique for larval-stage nematodes have been developed for the rapid diagnosis of the parasitic infections. Cultivation also has immense utility in the production of vaccines, testing vaccine efficacy, and antigen - production for obtaining serological reagents, detection of drug-resistance, screening of potential therapeutic agents and conducting epidemiological studies. Though in vitro cultivation techniques are used more often compared with in vivo techniques, the in vivo techniques are sometimes used for diagnosing some parasitic infections such as trypanosomiasis and toxoplasmosis. Parasite cultivation continues to be a challenging diagnostic option. This review provides an overview of intricacies of parasitic culture and update on popular methods used for cultivating parasites.

Cultivation of parasites

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Nishat Hussain

2014-01-01

Parasite cultivation techniques constitute a substantial segment of present-day study of parasites, especially of protozoa. Success in establishing in vitro and in vivo culture of parasites not only allows their physiology, behavior and metabolism to be studied dynamically, but also allows the nature of the antigenic molecules in the excretory and secretory products to be vigorously pursued and analyzed. The complex life-cycles of various parasites having different stages and host species requirements, particularly in the case of parasitic helminths, often make parasite cultivation an uphill assignment. Culturing of parasites depends on the combined expertise of all types of microbiological cultures. Different parasites require different cultivation conditions such as nutrients, temperature and even incubation conditions. Cultivation is an important method for diagnosis of many clinically important parasites, for example, Entamoeba histolytica, Trichomonas vaginalis, Leishmania spp., Strongyloides stercoralis and free-living amoebae. Many commercial systems like InPouch TV for T. vaginalis, microaerophilous stationary phase culture for Babesia bovis and Harada-Mori culture technique for larval-stage nematodes have been developed for the rapid diagnosis of the parasitic infections. Cultivation also has immense utility in the production of vaccines, testing vaccine efficacy, and antigen - production for obtaining serological reagents, detection of drug-resistance, screening of potential therapeutic agents and conducting epidemiological studies. Though in vitro cultivation techniques are used more often compared with in vivo techniques, the in vivo techniques are sometimes used for diagnosing some parasitic infections such as trypanosomiasis and toxoplasmosis. Parasite cultivation continues to be a challenging diagnostic option. This review provides an overview of intricacies of parasitic culture and update on popular methods used for cultivating parasites. PMID:25250227

Improvement on the productivity of continuous tequila fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae of Agave tequilana juice with supplementation of yeast extract and aeration.

PubMed

Hernández-Cortés, Guillermo; Valle-Rodríguez, Juan Octavio; Herrera-López, Enrique J; Díaz-Montaño, Dulce María; González-García, Yolanda; Escalona-Buendía, Héctor B; Córdova, Jesús

2016-12-01

Agave (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul) fermentations are traditionally carried out employing batch systems in the process of tequila manufacturing; nevertheless, continuous cultures could be an attractive technological alternative to increase productivity and efficiency of sugar to ethanol conversion. However, agave juice (used as a culture medium) has nutritional deficiencies that limit the implementation of yeast continuous fermentations, resulting in high residual sugars and low fermentative rates. In this work, fermentations of agave juice using Saccharomyces cerevisiae were put into operation to prove the necessity of supplementing yeast extract, in order to alleviate nutritional deficiencies of agave juice. Furthermore, continuous fermentations were performed at two different aeration flow rates, and feeding sterilized and non-sterilized media. The obtained fermented musts were subsequently distilled to obtain tequila and the preference level was compared against two commercial tequilas, according to a sensorial analysis. The supplementation of agave juice with air and yeast extract augmented the fermentative capacity of S. cerevisiae S1 and the ethanol productivities, compared to those continuous fermentations non supplemented. In fact, aeration improved ethanol production from 37 to 40 g L(-1), reducing sugars consumption from 73 to 88 g L(-1) and ethanol productivity from 3.0 to 3.2 g (Lh)(-1), for non-aerated and aerated (at 0.02 vvm) cultures, respectively. Supplementation of yeast extract allowed an increase in specific growth rate and dilution rates (0.12 h(-1), compared to 0.08 h(-1) of non-supplemented cultures), ethanol production (47 g L(-1)), reducing sugars consumption (93 g L(-1)) and ethanol productivity [5.6 g (Lh)(-1)] were reached. Additionally, the effect of feeding sterilized or non-sterilized medium to the continuous cultures was compared, finding no significant differences between both types of cultures. The overall effect of adding yeast extract and air to the continuous fermentations resulted in 88 % increase in ethanol productivity. For all cultures, pH was not controlled, reaching low pH values (from 2.6 to 3). This feature suggested a reduced probability of contamination for prolonged continuous cultures and explained why no significant differences were found between continuous cultures fed with sterilized or non-sterilized media. Concentrations of volatile compounds quantified in the distillates (tequila) were in the allowed ranges established by the Mexican regulation of tequila (NOM-006-SCFI-2012, Norma Oficial Mexicana: Bebidas alcohólicas-Tequila-specificaciones, 2012). The preference level of the distillates was similar to that of two well-known commercial tequilas. The results suggested the possibility of implementing this innovative technology on an industrial scale, attaining high productivities and using non-sterilized agave juice.

21 CFR 864.2280 - Cultured animal and human cells.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Cultured animal and human cells. 864.2280 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2280 Cultured animal and human cells. (a) Identification. Cultured animal and human cells are in vitro...

21 CFR 864.2240 - Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2240 Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment. (a) Identification. Cell and tissue culture...

21 CFR 864.2240 - Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2240 Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment. (a) Identification. Cell and tissue culture...

21 CFR 864.2240 - Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2240 Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment. (a) Identification. Cell and tissue culture...

21 CFR 864.2240 - Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2240 Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment. (a) Identification. Cell and tissue culture...

21 CFR 864.2240 - Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2240 Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment. (a) Identification. Cell and tissue culture...

The Cultural Adaptation Process during a Short-Term Study Abroad Experience in Swaziland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conner, Nathan W.; Roberts, T. Grady

2015-01-01

Globalization continuously shapes our world and influences post-secondary education. This study explored the cultural adaptation process of participants during a short-term study abroad program. Participants experienced stages which included initial feelings, cultural uncertainty, cultural barriers, cultural negativity, academic and career growth,…

[Primary culture of cat intestinal epithelial cell and construction of its cDNA library].

PubMed

Ye, L; Gui-Hua, Z; Kun, Y; Hong-Fa, W; Ting, X; Gong-Zhen, L; Wei-Xia, Z; Yong, C

2017-04-12

Objective To establish the primary cat intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) culture methods and construct the cDNA library for the following yeast two-hybrid experiment, so as to screen the virulence interaction factors among the final host. Methods The primary cat IECs were cultured by the tissue cultivation and combined digestion with collagenase XI and dispase I separately. Then the cat IECs cultured was identified with the morphological observation and cyto-keratin detection, by using goat anti-cyto-keratin monoclonal antibodies. The mRNA of cat IECs was isolated and used as the template to synthesize the first strand cDNA by SMART™ technology, and then the double-strand cDNAs were acquired by LD-PCR, which were subsequently cloned into the plasmid PGADT7-Rec to construct yeast two-hybrid cDNA library in the yeast strain Y187 by homologous recombination. Matchmaker™ Insert Check PCR was used to detect the size distribution of cDNA fragments after the capacity calculation of the cDNA library. Results The comparison of the two cultivation methods indicated that the combined digestion of collagenase XI and dispase I was more effective than the tissue cultivation. The cat IECs system of continuous culture was established and the cat IECs with high purity were harvested for constructing the yeast two-hybrid cDNA library. The library contained 1.1×10 6 independent clones. The titer was 2.8×10 9 cfu/ml. The size of inserted fragments was among 0.5-2.0 kb. Conclusion The yeast two-hybrid cDNA library of cat IECs meets the requirements of further screen research, and this study lays the foundation of screening the Toxoplasma gondii virulence interaction factors among the cDNA libraries of its final hosts.

Integration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Legionella pneumophila in drinking water biofilms grown on domestic plumbing materials.

PubMed

Moritz, Miriam M; Flemming, Hans-Curt; Wingender, Jost

2010-06-01

Drinking water biofilms were grown on coupons of plumbing materials, including ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) rubber, silane cross-linked polyethylene (PE-X b), electron-ray cross-linked PE (PE-X c) and copper under constant flow-through of cold tap water. After 14 days, the biofilms were spiked with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Legionella pneumophila and Enterobacter nimipressuralis (10(6) cells/mL each). The test bacteria were environmental isolates from contamination events in drinking water systems. After static incubation for 24 h, water flow was resumed and continued for 4 weeks. Total cell count and heterotrophic plate count (HPC) of biofilms were monitored, and P. aeruginosa, L. pneumophila and E. nimipressuralis were quantified, using standard culture-based methods or culture-independent fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). After 14 days total cell counts and HPC values were highest on EPDM followed by the plastic materials and copper. P. aeruginosa and L. pneumophila became incorporated into drinking water biofilms and were capable to persist in biofilms on EPDM and PE-X materials for several weeks, while copper biofilms were colonized only by L. pneumophila in low culturable numbers. E. nimipressuralis was not detected in any of the biofilms. Application of the FISH method often yielded orders of magnitude higher levels of P. aeruginosa and L. pneumophila than culture methods. These observations indicate that drinking water biofilms grown under cold water conditions on domestic plumbing materials, especially EPDM and PE-X in the present study, can be a reservoir for P. aeruginosa and L. pneumophila that persist in these habitats mostly in a viable but non-culturable state.

Establishment of a long-term primary culture of striatal neurons.

PubMed

Sebben, M; Gabrion, J; Manzoni, O; Sladeczek, F; Gril, C; Bockaert, J; Dumuis, A

1990-03-01

A new method of obtaining long-term primary cultures (lasting more than 8 weeks) of striatal neurons is described in this paper. The originality of the method consists of: (1) starting the culture for 3 days in a serum-free medium which allows attachment and neurite proliferation of neurons as well as the death of non-neuronal cells (mainly consisting of astrocytes); (2) introducing a limited amount of fetal calf serum (FCS) (2-5%) after 3 days in vitro (3 DIV), which likely provides optimal neuronal survival and attachment factors, and a limited amount of astrocyte proliferating factors. The period of introduction of serum, as well as the amount of serum introduced are critical factors. By phase contrast and transmission electron microscopy, we observed that neurons continued to develop neurite extensions, synaptic vesicles and synapse formations up to 50 DIV. Neuronal membranes, and synaptic contacts were particularly healthy up to 50 DIV. Interestingly, the number of astrocytes was constant between 30-50 DIV and limited to about 10%. We therefore obtained an equilibrium between neuronal and astrocyte differentiation and proliferation. It is likely that the small population of astrocytes, plus the low percentage of FCS added, provide essential factors for neuronal survival and differentiation, whereas a high density of differentiated neurons inhibited astrocyte cell proliferation. The clear-cut stability of these neuronal cultures goes in parallel with the stability of the pharmacological responses studied here: the coupling of carbachol and quisqualate receptors with the inositol phosphate production system. The culture method described here could be of particular interest to pursue biochemical, pharmacological and biological studies on neurons as well as on reciprocal interactions between neurons and astrocytes.

Enteric methane production and ruminal fermentation from forage brassica diets fed in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Brassicas provide forage for livestock during the late fall when traditional perennial cool-season forages are not productive. However, little research exists on ruminal fermentation and methane(CH4) production of brassicas fed as forage. A continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess nutr...

Culturally Responsive Literacy Practices in an Early Childhood Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Susan V.; Gunn, AnnMarie Alberton; Gayle-Evans, Guda; Barrera, Estanislado S.; Leung, Cynthia B.

2018-01-01

Early childhood educators continue to see an increase in their culturally diverse student population. As our country continues to grow as a multicultural nation, it is imperative that our early childhood classrooms embrace this rich diversity and provide experiences that affirm all students, families and communities. We (teacher educators)…

Effects of Organizational Role and Culture on Participation in Continuing Professional Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grzyb, Stanley W.; And Others

This study extends the investigation of professionals' reasons for participation in continuing education beyond personal and practice-based factors into the arena of organizational structure and culture. The Participation Reasons Scale (PRS) and the Respondent Information Form (RIF) were used to examine the motives influencing Army Engineers…

Lessons Learned: Engaging Culturally Diverse Families in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Intervention Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ratto, Allison B.; Anthony, Bruno J.; Pugliese, Cara; Mendez, Rocio; Safer-Lichtenstein, Jonathan; Dudley, Katerina M.; Kahn, Nicole F.; Kenworthy, Lauren; Biel, Matthew; Martucci, Jillian L.; Anthony, Laura G.

2017-01-01

Low-income and ethnic minority families continue to face critical disparities in access to diagnostic and treatment services for neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Despite the growing cultural diversity of the United States, ethnic minority children and families continue to…

Cultural Influences on the Professions in European Union Countries and Their Implications for Continuing Professional Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Anna; Thomas, Edward

1996-01-01

Although the European Union encourages professional mobility, the practice of continuing professional development (CPD) in pharmacy and law in various countries shows that cultural differences may hinder cross-border mobility. It is also surprising that universities are relatively little involved in CPD. (SK)

Multi-stage Continuous Culture Fermentation of Glucose-Xylose Mixtures to Fuel Ethanol using Genetically Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A

EPA Science Inventory

Multi-stage continuous (chemostat) culture fermentation (MCCF) with variable fermentor volumes was carried out to study utilizing glucose and xylose for ethanol production by means of mixed sugar fermentation (MSF). Variable fermentor volumes were used to enable enhanced sugar u...

Use of a novel continuous culture fermentor system for in vitro determination of enteric methane output from ruminants

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Continuous culture fermentor systems (CCFS) serve to evaluate the effect of diet on in vitro nutrient digestibility, fermentation, and microbial protein synthesis. Limitations of CCFS are: maintaining protozoa populations, and avoiding accumulation of undigested material in the vessels. Therefore, a...

Three Dimensional Primary Hepatocyte Culture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yoffe, Boris

1998-01-01

Our results demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of culturing PHH in microgravity bioreactors that exceeded the longest period obtained using other methods. Within the first week of culture, isolated hepatocytes started to form aggregates, which continuously increased in size (up to 1 cm) and macroscopically appeared as a multidimensional tissue-like assembly. To improve oxygenation and nutrition within the spheroids we performed experiments with the biodegradable nonwoven fiber-based polymers made from PolyGlycolic Acid (PGA). It has been shown that PGA scaffolds stimulate isolated cells to regenerate tissue with defined sizes and shapes and are currently being studied for various tissue-engineering applications. Our data demonstrated that culturing hepatocytes in the presence of PGA scaffolds resulted in more efficient cell assembly and formations of larger cell spheroids (up to 3 cm in length, see figure). The histology of cell aggregates cultured with PGA showed polymer fibers with attached hepatocytes. We initiated experiments to co-culture primary human hepatocytes with human microvascular endothelial cells in the bioreactor. The presence of endothelial cells in co-cultures were established by immunohistochemistry using anti-CD34 monoclonal Ab. Our preliminary data demonstrated that cultures of purified hepatocytes with human microvascular endothelial cells exhibited better growth and expressed higher levels of albumin MRNA for a longer period of time than cultures of ppfified, primary human hepatocytes cultured alone. We also evaluated microsomal deethylation activity of hepatocytes cultured in the presence of endothelial cells.In summary, we have established liver cell culture, which mimicked the structure and function of the parent tissue.

Familiarising the Stranger: Immigrant Perceptions of Cross-Cultural Interaction and Bicultural Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Korne, Haley; Byram, Michael; Fleming, Michael

2007-01-01

As contact between cultures continues to increase, the impact that this has on cultural identity and belonging is unclear. Cross-cultural or bicultural identification remains a relatively unexplored phenomenon. Is it possible, natural or potentially good to have an identity rooted in more than one culture? If so, how is cross-cultural identity…

Doing Culture, Doing Race: Everyday Discourses of "Culture" and "Cultural Difference" in the English as a Second Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Ena

2015-01-01

While current conceptualisations of the inextricable connection between language and culture in English language education are largely informed by complex sociocultural theories that view culture as constructed in and through social practices among people, classroom practices continue to be influenced by mainstream discourses of culture that…

A Droplet Microfluidic Platform for Automating Genetic Engineering.

PubMed

Gach, Philip C; Shih, Steve C C; Sustarich, Jess; Keasling, Jay D; Hillson, Nathan J; Adams, Paul D; Singh, Anup K

2016-05-20

We present a water-in-oil droplet microfluidic platform for transformation, culture and expression of recombinant proteins in multiple host organisms including bacteria, yeast and fungi. The platform consists of a hybrid digital microfluidic/channel-based droplet chip with integrated temperature control to allow complete automation and integration of plasmid addition, heat-shock transformation, addition of selection medium, culture, and protein expression. The microfluidic format permitted significant reduction in consumption (100-fold) of expensive reagents such as DNA and enzymes compared to the benchtop method. The chip contains a channel to continuously replenish oil to the culture chamber to provide a fresh supply of oxygen to the cells for long-term (∼5 days) cell culture. The flow channel also replenished oil lost to evaporation and increased the number of droplets that could be processed and cultured. The platform was validated by transforming several plasmids into Escherichia coli including plasmids containing genes for fluorescent proteins GFP, BFP and RFP; plasmids with selectable markers for ampicillin or kanamycin resistance; and a Golden Gate DNA assembly reaction. We also demonstrate the applicability of this platform for transformation in widely used eukaryotic organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger. Duration and temperatures of the microfluidic heat-shock procedures were optimized to yield transformation efficiencies comparable to those obtained by benchtop methods with a throughput up to 6 droplets/min. The proposed platform offers potential for automation of molecular biology experiments significantly reducing cost, time and variability while improving throughput.

Emerging identities: A proposed model for an interactive science curriculum for First Nations students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sable, Trudy

Mi'kmaw students face a complexity of personal, cultural, and social conditions within contemporary educational systems that affect their continued participation in the educational process offered within Atlantic Canada. Despite a variety of approaches developed by educators to address the high drop out rate and lack of interest in science, the statistics remain largely unchanged. Aboriginal educators are calling for a "new story" in education that better meets the needs of Aboriginal students. This study attempts to identify the conditions and contexts necessary to bridge the gap that currently exists for Aboriginal students in science studies. The research investigates the basic relationship between learning in general and the meaning-making processes engaged in by students of a Grade 7/8 class within a Mi'kmaw reserve school. It leads to a proposal for an alternative pedagogy, or a new narrative, for teaching science to Aboriginal students and the foundations for a culturally interactive science curriculum. For educators to understand the complexity of issues affecting Mi'kmaw student achievement in science requires a theoretical framework that allows the students' lived experience to emerge. Toward this end, the research includes both phenomenological and ethnographic approaches to understanding the lived experiences and cultural narratives based on interviews with the students, a field trip within the community, and a trial chemistry lesson. I examined how these students perceive themselves in different contexts and how their sense of identity establishes the meaningfulness of particular educational content. I also assessed how person, community/cultural and social contexts affect the students' learning. Part of creating this new narrative requires recognizing knowledge, including science, as a cultural product Taking this cultural view of scientific knowledge allows us to view learning as a process of identity formation and culture as a system of symbols including language itself This identity is based on personal, cultural, historical and social factors that come to bear on each student's definition of who they are and what knowledge is pertinent to survival and well being. Five fundamental themes emerged from the interviews and field trips---fragile ontologies, multiple layers of identity (personal, cultural, pan-tribal, and societal), border crossings, the continuing and emerging aspects of culture, and beyond borders to a spiritual narrative---and became the foundation for a culturally interactive science education model of learning. The model assists educators through a visualization of layers of identity, porous borders and seeming paradoxes, and "narrative unity" beyond boundaries---all of which affect the learning of science. The content of a culturally interactive curriculum is drawn from the cultural heritage of the students, giving them an historical context with which to identify. Working with Mi'kmaw language and notational representation is shown to assist educators in cultural border crossing and creating cultural continuity for the students. Taken into the classroom, this interactive paradigm could be adapted to pedagogical methods as "speaking together" times, in which students explore the processes of doing science while appreciating their own cultural traditions. In so doing, educators can come to know the larger narrative that gives shape to student's identities and ways of relating to the world. Then it becomes possible for educators to recognize the boundaries that obstruct or open a path to meaningful learning experiences.

Continuing Spanish in Grade Four: MLA Teacher's Guide. A Course of Study Including Methods, Materials, and Aids for Teaching Conversational Spanish to Fourth-Grade Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Mary P.; And Others

This is the second volume in a series of texts in a conversational Spanish course for elementary school children. Fourteen basic units present introductory linguistic patterns and cultural insights into the lives of the Spanish people. They include: (1) Review Unit 1, (2) Review Unit 2, (3) Special Unit A--"Cristobal Colon," (4) Review Unit 3, (5)…

Distance in War: The Experience of MQ-1 and MQ-9 Aircrew

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

ged, and psychologically impacted by the work they perform. The continuing ethical and moral relativism society uses to place new weapons and methods...outcome of such ignorance results in moral disengagement for the RPA aircrew. Within her article titled, “The End of Military Virtue,” author Laurie...imaginary precipice that we should attempt to turn back from. Based upon centuries of military technological and cultural advancements, we should

U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease Annual Progress Report, Fiscal Year 1985

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-10-01

response. 25. (U) 8410-8509-Tangential flow filtration was developed as a safer method of harvesting the 50-L anthrax fermenter cultures...yearly boosters. Efforts over several years have sought to improve this chemical vaccine through optimization of fermenter and recovery techniques so...A collaborative effort with WLAIR led to production of candidate human hybridomas to PA. Progrses: The 50-liter fermenter continues to be used

U.S. Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School Training Process: Discrete-Event Simulation and Lean Options

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

acknowledged that Continuous Improvement (CI), or Kaizen in Japanese, is practiced in some way, shape, or form by most if not all Fortune 500 companies...greater resistance in the individualistic U.S. culture. Kaizen generally involves methodical examination and testing, followed by the adoption of new...or streamlined procedures, including scrupulous measurement and changes based on statistical deviation formulas. Kaizen appears to be a perfect fit

Full-life chronic toxicity of sodium salts to the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer in tests with laboratory cultured food.

PubMed

Soucek, David J; Dickinson, Amy

2015-09-01

Although insects occur in nearly all freshwater ecosystems, few sensitive insect models exist for use in determining the toxicity of contaminants. The objectives of the present study were to adapt previously developed culturing and toxicity testing methods for the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae), and to further develop a method for chronic toxicity tests spanning organism ages of less than 24 h post hatch to adult emergence, using a laboratory cultured diatom diet. The authors conducted 96-h fed acute tests and full-life chronic toxicity tests with sodium chloride, sodium nitrate, and sodium sulfate. The authors generated 96-h median lethal concentrations (LC50s) of 1062 mg Cl/L (mean of 3 tests), 179 mg N-NO3 /L, and 1227 mg SO4 /L. Acute to chronic ratios ranged from 2.1 to 6.4 for chloride, 2.5 to 5.1 for nitrate, and 2.3 to 8.5 for sulfate. The endpoints related to survival and development time were consistently the most sensitive in the tests. The chronic values generated for chloride were in the same range as those generated by others using natural foods. Furthermore, our weight-versus-fecundity plots were similar to those previously published using the food culturing method on which the present authors' method was based, indicating good potential for standardization. The authors believe that the continued use of this sensitive mayfly species in laboratory studies will help to close the gap in understanding between standard laboratory toxicity test results and field-based observations of community impairment. © 2015 SETAC.

The Arabic culture of Jordan and its impacts on a wider Jordanian adoption of business continuity management.

PubMed

Sawalha, Ihab H; Meaton, Julia

2012-01-01

Culture is important to individuals and societies, as well as organisations. Failing to address cultural aspects will hinder the wider adoption and development of business continuity management (BCM) and will subsequently increase the vulnerabilities of organisations to crises, disasters and business interruptions. Three main issues are discussed in this paper. The first is the background to culture and the characteristics of the Jordanian culture. Secondly, the influence of the Arab culture on the wider adoption and development of BCM in Jordan is considered. Thirdly, the paper looks at potential factors that underpin the role of culture in the BCM process in Jordan. These issues are significant, as they represent the characteristics and influence of the Arab culture. This paper contributes to the understanding of the significance of culture in the adoption and development of BCM for organisations operating in Jordan and in the Arab world more generally. It also highlights current cultural changes and trends taking place in the Arab world in a time of huge political instability in the Middle East and Arab countries.

Co-interviewing across gender and culture: expanding qualitative research methods in Melanesia.

PubMed

Redman-MacLaren, Michelle L; Api, Unia K; Darius, Matupit; Tommbe, Rachael; Mafile'o, Tracie A; MacLaren, David J

2014-09-06

The social and cultural positions of both researchers and research participants influence qualitative methods and study findings. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), as in other contexts, gender is a key organising characteristic and needs to be central to the design and conduct of research. The colonial history between researcher and participant is also critical to understanding potential power differences. This is particularly relevant to public health research, much of which has emerged from a positivist paradigm. This paper describes our critical reflection of flexible researcher responses enacted during qualitative research in PNG. Led by a senior male HIV researcher from PNG, a male from a PNG university and a female from an Australian university conducted qualitative interviews about faith-based responses to HIV in PNG. The two researchers planned to conduct one-on-one interviews matching gender of participants and interviewer. However, while conducting the study, four participants explicitly requested to be interviewed by both researchers. This experience led us to critically consider socially and culturally situated ways of understanding semi-structured interviewing for public health research in Melanesia. New understandings about public health research include: (i) a challenge to the convention that the researcher holds more power than the research participant, (ii) the importance of audience in Melanesia, (iii) cultural safety can be provided when two people co-interview and (iv) the effect an esteemed leader heading the research may have on people's willingness to participate. Researchers who occupy insider-outsider roles in PNG may provide participants new possibilities to communicate key ideas. Our recent experience has taught us public health research methods that are gender sensitive and culturally situated are pivotal to successful research in Melanesia. Qualitative research requires adaptability and reflexivity. Public health research methods must continue to expand to reflect the diverse worldviews of research participants. Researchers need to remain open to new possibilities for learning.

Microbial investigation of biofilms recovered from endotracheal tubes using sonication in intensive care unit pediatric patients.

PubMed

Ferreira, Thiago de Oliveira; Koto, Rafael Yoshio; Leite, Gabriel Fialkovitz da Costa; Klautau, Giselle Burlamaqui; Nigro, Stanley; Silva, Cely Barreto da; Souza, Ana Paula Idalgo da Fonseca; Mimica, Marcelo Jenne; Cesar, Regina Grigolli; Salles, Mauro José Costa

2016-01-01

To compare cultured microorganisms identified on endotracheal tubes biofilms through sonication technique with traditional tracheal aspirate collected at extubation of pediatric intensive care unit patients. Demographic and epidemiological data were analyzed to identify factors possibly related with the microbiological profile of the two collection methods. Associations between categorical and continuous variables were analyzed using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test, or Student's t test. p-Value <0.05 were considered significant. Thirty endotracheal tubes and tracheal aspirates samples from 27 subjects were analyzed. Only one patient presented the clinical diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Overall, 50% of bacteria were Gram-negative bacilli, followed by Gram-positive bacteria in 37%, and fungi in 10%. No statistically significant difference on the distribution of Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria (p=0.996), and fungi (p=0.985) were observed between the collection methods. Pseudomonas spp. was the most frequent microorganism identified (23.8%), followed by Streptococcus spp. (18.5%), Acinetobacter spp. (15.9%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (11.2%), and Klebsiella spp. (8.6%). Concordant results between methods amounted to 83.3%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii showed carbapenem resistance in 50% and 43.7% of the isolates, respectively. In general, cultures after endotracheal tubes sonication (non-centrifuged sonication fluid and centrifuged sonication fluid) yielded bacteria with higher rates of antimicrobial resistance compared to tracheal aspirates cultures. Additionally, in 12 subjects (40%), we observed discrepancies regarding microbiologic profiles of cultures performed using the collection methods. Our study demonstrated that sonication technique can be applied to ET biofilms to identify microorganisms attached to their surface with a great variety of species identified. However, we did not find significant differences in comparison with the traditional tracheal aspirate culture approach. Copyright © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

The nature of the continuous non-equilibrium phase transition of Axelrod's model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peres, Lucas R.; Fontanari, José F.

2015-09-01

Axelrod's model in the square lattice with nearest-neighbors interactions exhibits culturally homogeneous as well as culturally fragmented absorbing configurations. In the case in which the agents are characterized by F = 2 cultural features and each feature assumes k states drawn from a Poisson distribution of parameter q, these regimes are separated by a continuous transition at qc = 3.10 +/- 0.02 . Using Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling we show that the mean density of cultural domains μ is an order parameter of the model that vanishes as μ ∼ (q - q_c)^β with β = 0.67 +/- 0.01 at the critical point. In addition, for the correlation length critical exponent we find ν = 1.63 +/- 0.04 and for Fisher's exponent, τ = 1.76 +/- 0.01 . This set of critical exponents places the continuous phase transition of Axelrod's model apart from the known universality classes of non-equilibrium lattice models.

Relationship between organizational culture and commitment of employees in health care centers in west of Iran.

PubMed

Hamidi, Yadollah; Mohammadibakhsh, Roghayeh; Soltanian, Alireza; Behzadifar, Masoud

2017-01-01

Presence of committed personnel in each organization not only reduces their absenteeism, delays, and displacements but also leads to a dramatic increase in performance and efficiency of an organization, mental freshness of employees, better manifestation of noble objectives, and organizational mission as well as fulfillment of personal goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment of employees in administrative units of health care centers in the cities of Hamedan Province based on the Denison model in 2015. In this cross-sectional study, 177 employees in administrative units of health care centers in the cities of Hamedan Province were selected by a multistage stratified sampling method. The data collection instruments included the standardized Denison organizational culture survey and organizational commitment questionnaire by Meyer and Allen. Data were analyzed by IBM-SPSS version 21 using descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment coefficient. Among the 12 indicators of organizational culture, the highest mean scores were assigned to empowerment (16.74), organizational learning (16.41), vision (16.4), and strategic direction (16.35); respectively. Furthermore, the indicators of capability development (14.2), core values (15.31), team orientation (15.45), and goals (15.46) received the lowest mean scores in this respect. Among the four dimensions of organizational culture, the highest mean score was related to "mission" in organizational culture and the lowest score was associated with "involvement." Meyer and Allen's organizational commitment model also had three components in which affective commitment in this study obtained the highest score (26.63) and continuance commitment received the lowest score (24.73). In this study, there was a significant correlation between all the components of organizational culture and organizational commitment of employees in administrative units of health care centers (p < 0.05). Reflecting on all the dimensions and indicators of organizational culture can lead to an escalation of organizational commitment among employees. Furthermore, focus on factors affecting the improvement of continuance commitment can promote organizational commitment of employees in administrative units of health care centers.

Historical and Cultural Perspectives on Centralization/Decentralization in Continuing Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edelson, Paul J.

1995-01-01

Views centralization/decentralization from four perspectives: historical, as an outgrowth of professionalism, in the culture of higher education, and management theory. Suggests that some form of centralized control will always be necessary if continuing education is to function in a larger organization, but smaller units may be the wave of the…

Anaerobic Biodegradation Of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether Under Iron-Reducing Conditions In Batch And Continuous-Flow Cultures

EPA Science Inventory

The feasibility of biodegradation of the fuel oxygenate methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) under iron-reducing conditions was explored in batch and continuous-flow systems. A porous pot completely-mixed reactor was seeded with diverse cultures and operated under iron-reducing...

Environmental Impact: Reinforce a Culture of Continuous Learning with These Key Elements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Brian; Gammell, Jessica

2017-01-01

Fostering a robust professional learning culture in schools is vital for attracting and retaining high-caliber talent. Education leaders are looking for guidance on how to establish and sustain an environment that fosters continuous learning. Based on their experience in helping educators design and implement professional learning systems, the…

The Role of Experience in the Making of Internationally-Minded Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cushner, Kenneth

2007-01-01

Schooling in general, and teacher education in particular, continues to address culture learning primarily from a cognitive orientation. That is, students read, watch films, listen to speakers, observe in classrooms and hold discussions around issues of cultural difference. This continues in spite of the growing body of research that demonstrates…

Cultural Continuity in EFL Teaching in International Higher Education: From a Discourse Perspective of Chinese Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Wenhui; Chen, Linhan

2015-01-01

This paper presents an ethnographic study of the application of cultural continuity in English as Foreign Language (EFL) teaching in International College, GDUFS China. Based on Holliday's (2001) findings and Brown's (2000) twelve "manifestos" together with interviews of the Chinese learners, the authors investigate the discoursal…

Continuing Bonds in Bereaved Pakistani Muslims: Effects of Culture and Religion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suhail, Kausar; Jamil, Naila; Oyebode, Jan; Ajmal, Mohammad Asir

2011-01-01

This study explores the bereavement process and continuing bond in Pakistani Muslims with the focus on how culture and religion influence these processes. Ten participants were interviewed and their transcribed interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Three main domains were identified from the narratives expressed by the…

Effect of summer annuals on ruminal fermentation and methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Summer annuals (SA) provide forage during the summer “forage slump”, yet research on ruminal fermentation and CH4 output of SA is lacking. A 4-unit, dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess nutrient digestibility, VFA production, bacterial protein synthesis, and CH4 output of...

Recommendations for Medical Training: A Native Hawaiian Patient Perspective

PubMed Central

Paloma, Diane SL; Maskarinec, Gregory G

2011-01-01

Background Culturally competent health care providers are needed to eliminate healthcare disparities. In the State of Hawai‘i, Native Hawaiians suffer some of the worst health disparities. Prior to implementing a cultural competency curriculum to address these disparities, the John A. Burns School of Medicine's Department of Native Hawaiian Health Cultural Competency Curriculum Development team asked Native Hawaiian patients about their experiences and recommendations. Methods We conducted four focus groups of Native Hawaiians to obtain recommendations on physician training, to be incorporated into the curriculum. Participants came from both rural and urban areas. Classical qualitative analysis of data identified recurrent themes. Results Five primary themes, arising in all four groups, were: (1) customer service; (2) respect for the patient; (3) inter-personal skills; (4) thoroughness of care; and (5) costs of medical care. Secondary themes, occurring in three of the four groups, were: (1) cultural competency training; (2) the training of medical office staff; (3) continuity of care; and (4) the role of the patient. Participants specifically requested that medical students receive cultural competency training about the host culture, its history, values, and traditional and alternative healing practices. Discussion The emphasis participants placed on the need for cultural competency training of physicians supports the need to address the role of culture in medical education. Although most of the issues raised are not unique to Hawai‘i, participants' recommendations to teach students about the host culture and traditional healing practices identify important themes not usually found in medical school curricula. PMID:22235153

The Relationship Between Organizational Culture and Organizational Commitment in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences.

PubMed

Azizollah, Arbabisarjou; Abolghasem, Farhang; Mohammad Amin, Dadgar

2015-12-14

Organizations effort is to achieve a common goal. There are many constructs needed for organizations. Organizational culture and organizational commitment are special concepts in management. The objective of the current research is to study the relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment among the personnel of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences.  This is a descriptive- correlational study. The statistical population was whole tenured staff of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences that worked for this organization in 2012-2013. Random sampling method was used and 165 samples were chosen. Two standardized questionnaires of the organizational culture (Schein, 1984) and organizational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 2002) were applied. The face and construct validity of the questionnaires were approved by the lecturers of Management and experts. Reliability of questionnaires of the organizational culture and organizational commitment were 0.89 and 0.88 respectively, by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. All statistical calculations performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The level of significance was set at P<0.05. The findings of the study showed that there was a significant relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment (P value=0.027). Also, the results showed that there was a significant relation between organizational culture and affective commitment (P-value=0.009), organizational culture and continuance commitment (P-value=0.009), and organizational culture and normative commitment (P-value=0.009).

[Mitigating the repress of cinnamic acid to cucumber growth by microbial strain].

PubMed

Yu, Guo-hui; Xie, Yin-hua; Chen, Yan-hong; Chen, Yuan-feng; Cheng, Ping

2006-12-01

Cucumber is one of the most important vegetable species. Its continuous planting has become a common practice demand in many areas of China, but an obstacle from continuous planting made sustainable production of this crop to be prohibited. The self-toxic effect was considered as an important negative factor to continuous cropping cucumber. And cinnamic acid was found to be the main substance to cause self-toxic. Strain Ha8, which isolated from waste water estuary in Zhuhai city and has been authenticated as Cellulosimicrobium cellulans, was found to be able to degrade cinnamic acid, benzoic acid, paraaminobenzoic acid and phenol. Its biologic degrading rate to cinnamic acid was 64.1% and its total degrading rate to cinnamic acid was 79.32% . Therefore, strain Ha8 was used to mitigate the growth stress of cucumber caused by cinnamic acid in the research. In the experiment by hydroponic culturing method, it was found that the stem length, root length, stem weight, leaf weight, root weight, numbers of flower and harvest weight of cucumbers were lower than those untreated ones when added 2micromol/L or 10micromol/L cinnamic acid in culturing solution. But when added 10(7)cfu/L of strain Ha8 and 2micromol/L or 10micromol/L cinnamic acid in same culturing solution, these parameters were higher than those treated only by 2mircomol/L or 10micromol/L cinnamic acid. The result shown that strain Ha8 could mitigate the self-toxic effect caused by cinnamic acid. In edaphic culturing experiments, it was found that organic fertilizer mixed with strain Ha8 could mitigate the growth stress of cucumber caused by 100mg/kg cinnamic acid. When added 3mg/kg sterilized organic fertilizer with strain Ha8 (> or = 10(6)cfu/g dry organic fertilizer) in the culturing soil, the result was satisfied. This treatment could not only improve the growth of cucumber, enhance their root dehydrogenase activity and output, promote their nutrition absorption rate, but also adjust the microbial groups in nonrhizospheric soil of cucumber, increase the number of beneficial bacteria and actinomycete, decrease the number of fungi.

Separation of cells from the rat anterior pituitary gland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hymer, W. C.; Hatfield, J. Michael

1984-01-01

Data concerned with analyzing the cellular organization of the rat anterior pituitary gland are examined. The preparation of the cell suspensions and the methods used to separate pituitary cell types are described. Particular emphasis is given to velocity sedimentation at unit gravity, density gradient centrifugation, affinity methods, fluorescence activated cell sorting, and density gradient and continuous-flow electrophoresis. The difficulties encountered when attempting to compare data from different pituitary cell separation studies are discussed, and results from various experiments are presented. The functional capabilities of the separated cell populations can be tested in various culture systems.

Unravelling Quality Culture in Higher Education: A Realist Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bendermacher, G. W. G.; oude Egbrink, M. G. A.; Wolfhagen, I. H. A. P.; Dolmans, D. H. J. M.

2017-01-01

There is a growing belief that higher education institutions should nurture a "quality culture" in which structural/managerial and cultural/psychological elements act in synergy to continuously improve education. Notwithstanding the positive connotation of the "quality culture" concept, its exact configuration remains subject…

7 CFR 58.330 - Butter starter cultures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Butter starter cultures. 58.330 Section 58.330 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Material § 58.330 Butter starter cultures. Harmless bacterial cultures when used in the development of...

Identification and root cause analysis of cell culture media precipitates in the viral deactivation treatment with high-temperature/short-time method.

PubMed

Cao, Xiaolin; Stimpfl, Gregory; Wen, Zai-Qing; Frank, Gregory; Hunter, Glenn

2013-01-01

High-temperature/short-time (HTST) treatment of cell culture media is one of the proven techniques used in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry for the prevention and mitigation of media viral contamination. With the HTST method, the formulated media is pasteurized (virus-deactivated) by heating and pumping the media continuously through the preset high-temperature holding tubes to achieve a specified period of time at a specific temperature. Recently, during the evaluation and implementation of HTST method in multiple Amgen, Inc. manufacturing facilities, media precipitates were observed in the tests of HTST treatments. The media precipitates may have adverse consequences such as clogging the HTST system, altering operating conditions and compromising the efficacy of viral deactivation, and ultimately affecting the media composition and cell growth. In this study, we report the identification of the composition of media precipitates from multiple media HTST runs using combined microspectroscopic methods including Raman, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The major composition in the precipitates was determined to be metal phosphates, including calcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, and iron (III) phosphate. Based on the composition, stoichiometry, and root-cause study of media precipitations, methods were implemented for the mitigation and prevention of the occurrence of the media precipitation. Viral contamination in cell culture media is an important issue in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry and may have serious consequences on product quality, efficacy, and safety. High-temperature/short-time (HTST) treatment of cell culture media is one of the proven techniques used in the industry for the prevention and mitigation of media viral contamination. With the HTST method, the formulated media is pasteurized (virus-deactivated) by heating at preset conditions. This paper provides the identification and root-cause study of the media precipitates that adversely affected the HTST process and discusses the possible solutions to mitigate the precipitation problem.

Depression, a Hidden Mental Health Disparity in an Asian Indian Immigrant Community.

PubMed

Roberts, Lisa R; Mann, Semran K; Montgomery, Susanne B

2015-12-23

Cultural influences are deeply rooted, and continue to affect the lives of Asian-Indian (AI) immigrants living in Western culture. Emerging literature suggests the powerful nature of traditions and culture on the lives, mental and physical health of AI immigrants, particularly women. The purpose of this study was to explore depression among AI women in Central California (CC). This mixed-methods research was conducted in collaboration with the CC Punjabi community and the support of local religious leaders. All interviews were conducted in Punjabi and English. Whenever possible we utilized validated scales aligned with emerging themes from the qualitative data, which also provided contextualization to survey responses. In all we conducted 11 key informant interviews, four focus groups (n = 47) and a rigorously developed anonymous survey (n = 350). Social dynamics and traditional expectations including gendered roles significantly affected mental health among women participants. Subgroups along the lines of language choice (Punjabi vs. English) experience and report depression differently in part due to the highly stigmatized nature of mental health issues in this model minority community. The findings of this study highlight the importance of utilizing mixed methods to access hard to reach populations regarding sensitive topics such as mental health.

Depression, a Hidden Mental Health Disparity in an Asian Indian Immigrant Community

PubMed Central

Roberts, Lisa R.; Mann, Semran K.; Montgomery, Susanne B.

2015-01-01

Cultural influences are deeply rooted, and continue to affect the lives of Asian-Indian (AI) immigrants living in Western culture. Emerging literature suggests the powerful nature of traditions and culture on the lives, mental and physical health of AI immigrants, particularly women. The purpose of this study was to explore depression among AI women in Central California (CC). This mixed-methods research was conducted in collaboration with the CC Punjabi community and the support of local religious leaders. All interviews were conducted in Punjabi and English. Whenever possible we utilized validated scales aligned with emerging themes from the qualitative data, which also provided contextualization to survey responses. In all we conducted 11 key informant interviews, four focus groups (n = 47) and a rigorously developed anonymous survey (n = 350). Social dynamics and traditional expectations including gendered roles significantly affected mental health among women participants. Subgroups along the lines of language choice (Punjabi vs. English) experience and report depression differently in part due to the highly stigmatized nature of mental health issues in this model minority community. The findings of this study highlight the importance of utilizing mixed methods to access hard to reach populations regarding sensitive topics such as mental health. PMID:26703654

Rapid identification of antibiotic resistance using droplet microfluidics.

PubMed

Keays, Marie C; O'Brien, Mark; Hussain, Anam; Kiely, Patrick A; Dalton, Tara

2016-04-02

Culturing bacteria and monitoring bacterial cell growth is a critical issue when dealing with patients who present with bacterial infections. One of the main challenges that arises is the time taken to identify the particular strain of bacteria and consequently, decide the correct treatment. In the majority of cases, broad spectrum antibiotics are used to target infections when a narrow spectrum drug would be more appropriate. The efficient monitoring of bacterial growth and potential antibiotic resistance is necessary to identify the best treatment options for patients. Minturising the reactions into microfluidic droplets offers a novel method to rapidy analyze bacteria. Microfluidics facilitates low volume reactions that provide a unique system where each droplet reaction acts as an individual bioreactor. Here, we designed and built a novel platform that allowed us to create and monitor E.coli microfluidic droplet cultures. Optical capacity was built in and measurements of bacterial cultures were captured facilitating the continuous monitoring of individual reactions. The capacity of the instrument was demonstrated by the application of treatments to both bacteria and drug resistant strains of bacteria. We were able to detect responses within one hour in the droplet cultures, demonstrating the capacity of this workflow to the culture and rapid characterization of bacterial strains.

Closed-channel culture system for efficient and reproducible differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into islet cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hirano, Kunio; Konagaya, Shuhei; Turner, Alexander

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are thought to be a promising cell-source solution for regenerative medicine due to their indefinite proliferative potential and ability to differentiate to functional somatic cells. However, issues remain with regard to achieving reproducible differentiation of cells with the required functionality for realizing human transplantation therapies and with regard to reducing the potential for bacterial or fungal contamination. To meet these needs, we have developed a closed-channel culture device and corresponding control system. Uniformly-sized spheroidal hPSCs aggregates were formed inside wells within a closed-channel and maintained continuously throughout the culture process. Functional islet-like endocrine cell aggregatesmore » were reproducibly induced following a 30-day differentiation protocol. Our system shows an easily scalable, novel method for inducing PSC differentiation with both purity and functionality. - Highlights: • A simple, closed-channel-based, semi-automatic culture system is proposed. • Uniform cell aggregate formation and culture is realized in microwell structure. • Functional islet cells are successfully induced following 30-plus-day protocol. • System requires no daily medium replacement and reduces contamination risk.« less

Refugee health and medical student training.

PubMed

Griswold, Kim S

2003-10-01

Cultural awareness training is an increasingly important priority within medical curricula. This article describes an academic family practice-community partnership focusing on health care needs of refugees that became the model for a medical school selective on cultural sensitivity training. The monthly Refugee Health Night program featured dinner with preceptors and patients, international sessions on special medical needs of refugees, and actual clinical encounters with patients. Students were not expected to become culturally competent experts but, rather, health care providers sensitive to and appreciative of cultural context, experience, and expectations. We worked with students to develop sensitive methods of inquiry about mental health, especially around issues of war and torture. We used problem-based cases to emphasize primary care continuity and the benefit of establishing trust over time. Over 2 years, 50 students and nearly 300 refugees (more than 73 families) participated. Students reported that their interactions with the refugees provided positive learning experiences, including expanded knowledge of diverse cultures and enhanced skills for overcoming communication barriers. Patients of refugee status were able to have emergent health care needs met in a timely fashion. Providing health care for refugee individuals and families presents many challenges as well as extraordinary opportunities for patients and practitioners to learn from one another.

Coastline Mapping and Cultural Review to Predict Sea Level Rise Impact on Hawaiian Archeological Sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clinton, J.

2017-12-01

Much of Hawaii's history is recorded in archeological sites. Researchers and cultural practitioners have been studying and reconstructing significant archeological sites for generations. Climate change, and more specifically, sea level rise may threaten these sites. Our research records current sea levels and then projects possible consequences to these cultural monuments due to sea level rise. In this mixed methods study, research scientists, cultural practitioners, and secondary students use plane-table mapping techniques to create maps of coastlines and historic sites. Students compare historical records to these maps, analyze current sea level rise trends, and calculate future sea levels. They also gather data through interviews with community experts and kupuna (elders). If climate change continues at projected rates, some historic sites will be in danger of negative impact due to sea level rise. Knowing projected sea levels at specific sites allows for preventative action and contributes to raised awareness of the impacts of climate change to the Hawaiian Islands. Students will share results with the community and governmental agencies in hopes of inspiring action to minimize climate change. It will take collaboration between scientists and cultural communities to inspire future action on climate change.

Miniaturized Mass-Spectrometry-Based Analysis System for Fully Automated Examination of Conditioned Cell Culture Media

PubMed Central

Weber, Emanuel; Pinkse, Martijn W. H.; Bener-Aksam, Eda; Vellekoop, Michael J.; Verhaert, Peter D. E. M.

2012-01-01

We present a fully automated setup for performing in-line mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of conditioned media in cell cultures, in particular focusing on the peptides therein. The goal is to assess peptides secreted by cells in different culture conditions. The developed system is compatible with MS as analytical technique, as this is one of the most powerful analysis methods for peptide detection and identification. Proof of concept was achieved using the well-known mating-factor signaling in baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our concept system holds 1 mL of cell culture medium and allows maintaining a yeast culture for, at least, 40 hours with continuous supernatant extraction (and medium replenishing). The device's small dimensions result in reduced costs for reagents and open perspectives towards full integration on-chip. Experimental data that can be obtained are time-resolved peptide profiles in a yeast culture, including information about the appearance of mating-factor-related peptides. We emphasize that the system operates without any manual intervention or pipetting steps, which allows for an improved overall sensitivity compared to non-automated alternatives. MS data confirmed previously reported aspects of the physiology of the yeast-mating process. Moreover, matingfactor breakdown products (as well as evidence for a potentially responsible protease) were found. PMID:23091722

Leadership behaviours, organizational culture and intention to stay amongst Jordanian nurses.

PubMed

AbuAlRub, R F; Nasrallah, M A

2017-12-01

To investigate the impact of leadership behaviours of nurse managers and organizational culture on Jordanian nurses' intention to stay at work in public, private and university hospitals. Leadership behaviours of nurses and organizational culture are considered important factors in enhancing retention of nurses. A correlational design was used in the study. A sample of 285 Jordanian nurses was conveniently selected to complete a self-administered questionnaire that consisted of three measures; Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practise Inventory, Professional Organizational Culture questionnaire and McCain's Intent to Stay Scale. Nurse managers' leadership behaviours and organizational culture were positively associated with the level of intention to stay at work. The study variables explained almost 43% of the variance in nurses' intention to stay at work. The limitation of the study was the use of convenience sampling method. The results asserted that transformational leadership styles of nurse managers enhance positive hospitals' culture as well as the intention of nurses to stay at work. Nurse executives should promote leadership behaviours of nurse managers through training. The regulatory bodies of nursing profession in collaboration with nurse educators and administrators should help in developing competencies for nurse managers that are based on transformational leadership and incorporate such competencies in nursing education programs as well as continuous education programs. © 2017 International Council of Nurses.

Bridging the Abyss

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olcott, Marianina

2007-01-01

This paper seeks to explain the epistemological bases for the two cultures and to show why this disciplinary divide continues to plague American academic culture. Next, we discuss strategies for bridging the two cultures through general education curricula which promote mutual understanding of the two cultures while educating students in basic…

Higher Education for Cultural Liberation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Donald H.

1993-01-01

D. M. Stewart draws no implications for connecting African history and culture to academic achievement. Racism continues to exist; and only education that leads to cultural liberation, political solidarity, and economic strengths will prevail against it. Howard University must see itself as a center for academic and cultural excellence. (SLD)

Storytelling in Mexican Homes: Connections Between Oral and Literacy Practices

PubMed Central

Reese, Leslie

2013-01-01

The study focuses on storytelling among Mexican families, documenting the frequency of storytelling in the homes of working and middle class Mexican families, the range of topics of the stories, characteristics and genres of stories, and intergenerational continuity of storytelling practices. Also examined are potential associations between storytelling practices and children’s performance on language and early reading tasks. This qualitative study draws from interview data with 30 families, supplemented with survey and outcome data from the larger mixed method project of which it forms a part. Storytelling continues to be a widespread but not frequent activity, including genres of family anecdotes, horror stories, folktales, and historical recounts. Storytelling as a cultural resource is discussed. PMID:23565052

Storytelling in Mexican Homes: Connections Between Oral and Literacy Practices.

PubMed

Reese, Leslie

2012-01-01

The study focuses on storytelling among Mexican families, documenting the frequency of storytelling in the homes of working and middle class Mexican families, the range of topics of the stories, characteristics and genres of stories, and intergenerational continuity of storytelling practices. Also examined are potential associations between storytelling practices and children's performance on language and early reading tasks. This qualitative study draws from interview data with 30 families, supplemented with survey and outcome data from the larger mixed method project of which it forms a part. Storytelling continues to be a widespread but not frequent activity, including genres of family anecdotes, horror stories, folktales, and historical recounts. Storytelling as a cultural resource is discussed.

Low intensity infrared laser induces filamentation in Escherichia coli cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fonseca, A. S.; Presta, G. A.; Geller, M.; Paoli, F.

2011-10-01

Low intensity continuous wave and pulsed emission modes laser is used in treating many diseases and the resulting biostimulative effect on tissues has been described, yet the photobiological basis is not well understood. The aim of this wok was to evaluate, using bacterial filamentation assay, effects of laser on Escherichia coli cultures in exponential and stationary growth phase. E. coli cultures, proficient and deficient on DNA repair, in exponential and stationary growth phase, were exposed to low intensity infrared laser, aliquots were spread onto microscopic slides, stained by Gram method, visualized by optical microscopy, photographed and percentage of bacterial filamentation were determined. Low intensity infrared laser with therapeutic fluencies and different emission modes can induce bacterial filamentation in cultures of E. coli wild type, fpg/ mutM, endonuclease III and exonuclease III mutants in exponential and stationary growth phase. This study showed induction of bacterial, filamentation in E. coli cultures expose to low intensity infrared laser and attention to laser therapy protocols, which should take into account fluencies, wavelengths, tissue conditions, and genetic characteristics of cells before beginning treatment.

[Pilot tests using molecular diagnostic assay cervicovaginal infection during pregnancy].

PubMed

Beltrán-Montoya, J; Escudero-Gontes, S; Martínez-Huerta, N E; Ávila-Vergara, M A; Morales-Hernández, V; Canchola-Sotelo, C; Palacios-González, B; Vadillo-Ortega, F

2016-08-01

The prevalence of cervicovaginal infections during pregnancy has been associated with adverse perinatal outcomes however, the actual approach used for diagnosis is not effective. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnosis of vaginal infections in pregnant women using clinical, molecular diagnostic and traditional microbiological culture in a pilot study, to determine the prevalence and association with the development of preterm labor. We performed a nested cross-sectional study composed by 54 women in a cohort of pregnant women in Mexico City. Cervicovaginal infections were evaluated by clinical methods, microbiology culture and a commercially available molecular biology test. Prevalence of cervicovaginal infections during pregnancy was estimated between 28% and 50% according to methodologies. Considering the clinical diagnosis of preterm labor as the gold standard, all diagnostic tests were poor as predictors of preterm labor. Traditional approaches to establish the significance of cervicovaginal infection in pregnancy are exhausted, so be sought new ways to understand this complex relationship. Meanwhile it is recommended to continue to use traditional methods to identify infections during pregnancy in both knowledge of new methods aimed at understanding these relationships are sophisticated.

Establishment of Canine-Derived Giardia duodenalis Isolates in Culture.

PubMed

Tysnes, Kristoffer R; Robertson, Lucy J

2016-06-01

Researchers continue to rely on axenic cultivation of Giardia duodenalis trophozoites in vitro to study the life cycle and host-parasite interactions of G. duodenalis and to develop vaccines and drugs to prevent and treat giardiasis. The majority of in vitro studies of G. duodenalis have used a small subset of isolates, mostly of assemblage A, and these isolates are usually originally isolated from humans. The most commonly used isolate for lab studies is known as WB. Canine giardiasis is a disease of veterinary importance, but it may also be of relevance in zoonotic transmission. Few G. duodenalis isolates from dogs have been adapted to in vitro culture, probably because the methods used are not suitable for the canine-specific genotypes that tend to dominate in most dog populations. In the current study, an experimental approach to cultivating canine-derived isolates of G. duodenalis was attempted by modification of the standard protocol based on physiological differences between the human and canine digestive system. An adapted method is described for improving the rate of in vitro excystation of cysts isolated from dogs by chemically weakening the cyst wall. A new canine-derived assemblage A G. duodenalis isolate was successfully adapted to axenic culture by using this method; the dog apparently had a mixed infection of assemblages A and D, but the assemblage A successfully outcompeted the assemblage D under conditions of in vitro culture. Based on the results, reasons regarding why humans do not seem to be suitable hosts for G. duodenalis in assemblages C and D are discussed.

A Continuous Culture System for Assessing Microbial Activities in the Piezosphere

PubMed Central

Pérez-Rodríguez, Ileana

2015-01-01

Continuous culture under elevated pressures is an important technique for expanding the exploration of microbial growth and survival in extreme environments associated with the deep biosphere. Here we present a benchtop stirred continuous culture bioreactor capable of withstanding temperatures ranging from 25 to 120°C and pressures as high as 69 MPa. The system is configured to allow the employment of media enriched in dissolved gases, under oxic or anoxic conditions, while permitting periodic sampling of the incubated organisms with minimal physical/chemical disturbance inside the reactor. In a pilot experiment, the fermentative growth of the thermopiezophilic bacterium Marinitoga piezophila was investigated continuously for 382 h at 65°C and at pressures ranging from 0.1 to 40 MPa while the medium flow rate was varied from 2 to 0.025 ml/min. The enhanced growth observed at 30 and 40 MPa and 0.025 ml/min supports the pressure preferences of M. piezophila when grown fermentatively. This assay successfully demonstrates the capabilities of the bioreactor for continuous culturing at a variety of dilution rates, pressures, and temperatures. We anticipate that this technology will accelerate our understanding of the physiological and metabolic status of microorganisms under temperature, pressure, and energy regimes resembling those of the Earth's piezosphere. PMID:26209666

Experiences of international students from Asian backgrounds studying occupational therapy in Australia.

PubMed

Lim, Jung Wook; Honey, Anne; Du Toit, Sanet; Chen, Yu-Wei; Mackenzie, Lynette

2016-10-01

International students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experience personal and academic challenges when studying health sciences in Australia. Given recent discussions about cultural specificity in occupational therapy and its status as an emerging profession in most Asian countries, this study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of international students from Asian backgrounds studying occupational therapy in Australia. A phenomenological approach was used to understand the experiences of participants. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight international occupational therapy students from Asian countries studying in Australia. Data were analysed using hermeneutic methods. Participants described three interlinked and ongoing experiences: (1) Discovering and engaging with occupational therapy; (2) Fitting into my new role; and (3) Anticipating my role at home. Whilst theoretical aspects of occupational therapy were seen as compatible with participants' home cultures, application was seen as problematic due to the differences in structure and institutional culture of the healthcare systems. Although students made adaptations to fit in as occupational therapy students in Australia, they continued to see themselves as different, and their adaptation also influenced how they saw themselves in relation to their home culture. Findings can contribute to creating culturally sensitive education for occupational therapy students from Asian countries. To best serve these students, educators should consider ways to facilitate transitions both out of and back into students' home cultures. © 2016 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Patient Safety Culture Assessment in Oman

PubMed Central

Al-Mandhari, Ahmed; Al-Zakwani, Ibrahim; Al-Kindi, Moosa; Tawilah, Jihane; Dorvlo, Atsu S.S.; Al-Adawi, Samir

2014-01-01

Objective To illustrate the patient safety culture in Oman as gleaned via 12 indices of patient safety culture derived from the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC) and to compare the average positive response rates in patient safety culture between Oman and the USA, Taiwan, and Lebanon. Methods This was a cross-sectional research study employed to gauge the performance of HSPSC safety indices among health workers representing five secondary and tertiary care hospitals in the northern region of Oman. The participants (n=398) represented different professional designations of hospital staff. Analyses were performed using univariate statistics. Results The overall average positive response rate for the 12 patient safety culture dimensions of the HSPSC survey in Oman was 58%. The indices from HSPSC that were endorsed the highest included ‘organizational learning and continuous improvement’ while conversely, ‘non-punitive response to errors’ was ranked the least. There were no significant differences in average positive response rates between Oman and the United States (58% vs. 61%; p=0.666), Taiwan (58% vs. 64%; p=0.386), and Lebanon (58% vs. 61%; p=0.666). Conclusion This study provides the first empirical study on patient safety culture in Oman which is similar to those rates reported elsewhere. It highlights the specific strengths and weaknesses which may stem from the specific milieu prevailing in Oman. PMID:25170407

Cultural Competence and Related Factors Among Taiwanese Nurses.

PubMed

Lin, Chin-Nu; Mastel-Smith, Beth; Alfred, Danita; Lin, Yu-Hua

2015-12-01

Taiwan is a multicultural and multiethnic society with a growing number of immigrants who have diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural needs. Although this diversity highlights the pressing need for culturally competent healthcare providers, cultural competence is a concept that is little understood and implemented only sporadically in Taiwan. This study investigates the cultural competence of Taiwanese nurses and the related factors of influence. An online self-report survey was used to collect data from 221 Taiwanese nurses from December 2012 through January 2013. Data from the demographic questionnaire, the Nurses' Cultural Competence Scale, and the Perceived Nurses' Cultural Competence Rating were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent sample t tests, and multiple regressions. The cultural competence of the participants was in the "low to moderate" range, with relatively higher mean scores for the subscales of cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity and relatively lower scores for the subscales of cultural knowledge and cultural skills. Participants generally perceived themselves as being "not culturally competent." Variables found to predict cultural competence included years of work experience, hours of continuing education related to cultural nursing care, and frequency of caring for clients from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Participating Taiwanese nurses rated their level of cultural competence as in the low-to-moderate range and self-perceived as being not culturally competent. These findings support the need to further expand and enhance cultural-competence-related continuing education and to address the topic of cultural care in the nursing curricula.

Educating clinicians about cultural competence and disparities in health and health care.

PubMed

Like, Robert C

2011-01-01

An extensive body of literature has documented significant racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. Cultural competency interventions, including the training of physicians and other health care professionals, have been proposed as a key strategy for helping to reduce these disparities. The continuing medical education (CME) profession can play an important role in addressing this need by improving the quality and assessing the outcomes of multicultural education programs. This article provides an overview of health care policy, legislative, accreditation, and professional initiatives relating to these subjects. The status of CME offerings on cultural competence/disparities is reviewed, with examples provided of available curricular resources and online courses. Critiques of cultural competence training and selected studies of its effectiveness are discussed. The need for the CME profession to become more culturally competent in its development, implementation, and evaluation of education programs is examined. Future challenges and opportunities are described, and a call for leadership and action is issued. Copyright © 2010 The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Psychiatric diagnosis – is it universal or relative to culture?

PubMed Central

Canino, Glorisa; Alegría, Margarita

2009-01-01

Background There is little consensus on the extent to which psychiatric disorders or syndromes are universal or the extent to which they differ on their core definitions and constellation of symptoms as a result of cultural or contextual factors. This controversy continues due to the lack of biological markers, imprecise measurement and the lack of a gold standard for validating most psychiatric conditions. Method Empirical studies were used to present evidence in favor of or against a universalist or relativistic view of child psychiatric disorders using a model developed by Robins and Guze to determine the validity of psychiatric disorders. Results The prevalence of some of the most common specific disorders and syndromes as well as its risk and protective factors vary across cultures, yet comorbid patterns and response to treatments vary little across cultures. Cross-cultural longitudinal data on outcomes is equivocal. Conclusions The cross-cultural validity of child disorders may vary drastically depending on the disorder, but empirical evidence that attests for the cross-cultural validity of diagnostic criteria for each child disorder is lacking. There is a need for studies that investigate the extent to which gene–environment interactions are related to specific disorders across cultures. Clinicians are urged to consider culture and context in determining the way in which children’s psychopathology may be manifested independent of their views. Recommendations for the upcoming classificatory system are provided so that practical or theoretical considerations are addressed about how culture and ethnic issues affect the assessment or treatment of specific disorders in children. PMID:18333929

The Culture of Science and the Rhetoric of Scientism: From Francis Bacon to the Darwin Fish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lessl, Thomas M.

2007-01-01

The culture of modern science continues to establish its public identity by appealing to values and historical conceptions that reflect its appropriation of various religious ideals during its formative period, most especially in the rhetoric of Francis Bacon. These elements have persisted because they continue to achieve similar goals, but the…

Effect of incremental flaxseed supplementation of an herbage diet on methane output and ruminal fermentation in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 4-unit dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess the effect of increasing flax supplementation of an herbage-based diet on nutrient digestibility, bacterial N synthesis and methane output. Treatments were randomly assigned to fermentors in a 4 x 4 Latin square design with 7 ...

Influences of Religion and Culture on Continuing Bonds in a Sample of British Muslims of Pakistani Origin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hussein, Hanan; Oyebode, Jan R.

2009-01-01

This study considered the nature of continuing bonds with deceased relatives in a sample of Pakistani Muslims living in the United Kingdom. Ten participants were interviewed following a cultural psychology approach and transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. Dreaming, talking with others about the deceased, following the…

Traditional ranching heritage and cultural continuity in the southwestern United States

Treesearch

Carol Raish; Alice M. McSweeney

2008-01-01

This study, conducted among ranchers on the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests in the Southwestern United States, examines the role of ranching in maintaining traditional heritage and cultural continuity. The mainly Hispanic ranching families of northern New Mexico first came into the region in 1598 with Spanish colonization. Many of the villages received community...

Effect of sprouted barley grain supplementation of an herbage or haylage diet on ruminal fermentation and methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 4-unit dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess the effect of supplementing 7-d sprouted barley (SB) or barley grain (BG), with a pasture (orchardgrass) or haylage diet, on nutrient digestibility, VFA production, bacterial protein synthesis, and methane production. Treatmen...

Affective, Normative, and Continuance Commitment Levels across Cultures: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, John P.; Stanley, David J.; Jackson, Timothy A.; McInnis, Kate J.; Maltin, Elyse R.; Sheppard, Leah

2012-01-01

With increasing globalization of business and diversity within the workplace, there has been growing interest in cultural differences in employee commitment. We used meta-analysis to compute mean levels of affective (AC; K=966, N=433,129), continuance (CC; K=428, N=199,831), and normative (NC; K=336, N=133,277) organizational commitment for as…

Effect of oilseed source on ruminal fermentation and methane production of a grass-legume diet in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Addition of oilseeds to pasture-based ruminant diets has been shown to decrease enteric CH4 emissions. However, little research has directly compared the effect of oilseed source on ruminal fermentation and Methane (CH4) production. A 4-unit continuous culture fermentor system was used to test 4 oil...

More than a Food Fight: Intellectual Traditions and Cultural Continuity in Chilocco's "Indian School Journal, 1902-1918"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bess, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Through his many works calling for the evolution of indigenous theory, Duane Champagne has emphasized the importance of recovering indigenous voices such as Chilocco Indian Industrial School graduate Mack Setima's and documenting forms of cultural continuity. According to Champagne, case studies such as K. Tsianina Lomawaima's scholarship on…

The Role of Cultural Context in Continuing Vocational Training: A Study on Auto Repairmen in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akbas, Oktay

2011-01-01

This study analysed how auto repairmen working in micro-enterprises undertake continuing vocational training in relation to cultural context. The study was conducted in Kirikkale, a city in central Anatolia in Turkey. To this end, the descriptive research technique of structured interview was used. Interviews with 33 auto repairmen were recorded…

Camelina seed supplementation at two dietary fat levels changes ruminal bacterial community composition in a dual-flow continuous culture system

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study sought to determine the effects of camelina seed (CS) supplementation at different dietary fat levels on the ruminal bacterial community composition in dairy cows, and how it relates to changes in ruminal fermentation and metabolism in a dual-flow continuous culture system. Diets were ran...

Effect of feeding warm-season annuals with orchardgrass on ruminal fermentation and methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 4-unit, dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess nutrient digestibility, volatile fatty acids (VFA) production, bacterial protein synthesis and CH4 output of warm-season summer annual grasses. Treatments were randomly assigned to fermentors in a 4 × 4 Latin square design us...

Suddenly included: cultural differences in experiencing re-inclusion.

PubMed

Pfundmair, Michaela; Graupmann, Verena; Du, Hongfei; Frey, Dieter; Aydin, Nilüfer

2015-03-01

In the current research, we examined whether re-inclusion (i.e. the change from a previous state of exclusion to a new state of inclusion) was perceived differently by people with individualistic and collectivistic cultural backgrounds. Individualists (German and Austrian participants) but not collectivists (Chinese participants) experienced re-inclusion differently than continued inclusion: While collectivistic participants did not differentiate between both kinds of inclusion, individualistic participants showed reduced fulfilment of their psychological needs under re-inclusion compared to continued inclusion. The results moreover revealed that only participants from individualistic cultures expressed more feelings of exclusion when re-included than when continually included. These exclusionary feelings partially mediated the relationship between the different states of inclusion and basic need fulfilment. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

The University Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simplicio, Joseph

2012-01-01

In this article the author discusses the role university culture can play on a campus and how it can impact policy and practice. The article explores how a university's history, values, and vision form its culture and how this culture in turn affects its stability and continuity. The article discusses how newcomers within the university are…

Beyond Decision Making: Cultural Ideology as Heuristic Paradigmatic Models.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitley, L. Darrell

A paradigmatic model of cultural ideology provides a context for understanding the relationship between decision-making and personal and cultural rationality. Cultural rules or heuristics exist which indicate that many decisions can be made on the basis of established strategy rather than continual analytical calculations. When an optimal solution…

21 CFR 864.2220 - Synthetic cell and tissue culture media and components.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Synthetic cell and tissue culture media and... HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2220 Synthetic cell and tissue culture media and components. (a) Identification. Synthetic...

How do mental health practitioners operationalise cultural competency in everyday practice? A qualitative analysis.

PubMed

Mollah, Tooba Noor; Antoniades, Josefine; Lafeer, Fathima Ijaza; Brijnath, Bianca

2018-06-20

Despite continued policy and research emphasis to deliver culturally competent mental healthcare, there is: (1) limited evidence about what frontline practitioners consider to be culturally competent care and; (2) what helps or hinders them in delivering such care in their everyday practice. The aims of this article are to address these gaps. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 mental health practitioners working with immigrant patients to explore their understandings and experiences of culturally competent care. Interviews were conducted between September 2015 and February 2016 in the state of Victoria, Australia. Data were thematically analysed. There were common understandings of cultural competence but its operationalisation differed by profession, health setting, locality, and years of experience; urban psychiatrists were more functional in their approach and authoritarian in their communication with patients compared to allied health staff in non-specialist mental health settings, in rural areas, with less years of experience. Different methods of operationalising cultural competence translated into complex ways of building cultural concordance with patients, also influenced by health practitioners' own cultural background and cultural exposures. Limited access to interpreters and organisational apathy remain barriers to promoting cultural competency whereas organisational support, personal motivation, and professional resilience remain critical facilitators to sustaining cultural competency in everyday practice. While there is need for widespread cultural competence teaching to all mental health professionals, this training must be specific to different professional needs, health settings, and localities of practice (rural or urban). Experiential teaching at tertiary level or professional development programs may provide an avenue to improve the status quo but a 'one-size-fits-all' model is unlikely to work.

Light as an Energy Source in Continuous Cultures of Bacteriorhodopsin-Containing Halobacteria

PubMed Central

Rodriguez-Valera, F.; Nieto, J. J.; Ruiz-Berraquero, F.

1983-01-01

The role of light as an energy source for slightly aereated cultures of halobacteria was studied, using continuous cultures with low nutrient concentrations and a low oxygen supply. A series of experiments were carried out with non-illuminated and differently illuminated cultures and with different oxygen transfer rates. Under low oxygen availability, light proved to be a decisively important energy source that allowed the populations to reach higher growth rates and much higher population densities. Oxygen influenced the growth over only a minimal level, below which neither the illuminated nor the dark cultures were affected by the oxygen transfer rate. From these results, it appears that the bacteriorhodopsin-mediated energy supply could have a very important role for the ecology of halobacteria in their microaerophilic habitats. In the illuminated cultures, cells that originated purple colonies on plates appeared. These cells, which could be bacteriorhodopsin-constitutive mutants, are now being studied. PMID:16346250

Substrate micropatterns produced by polymer demixing regulate focal adhesions, actin anisotropy, and lineage differentiation of stem cells.

PubMed

Vega, Sebastián L; Arvind, Varun; Mishra, Prakhar; Kohn, Joachim; Sanjeeva Murthy, N; Moghe, Prabhas V

2018-06-12

Stem cells are adherent cells whose multipotency and differentiation can be regulated by numerous microenvironmental signals including soluble growth factors and surface topography. This study describes a simple method for creating distinct micropatterns via microphase separation resulting from polymer demixing of poly(desaminotyrosyl-tyrosine carbonate) (PDTEC) and polystyrene (PS). Substrates with co-continuous (ribbons) or discontinuous (islands and pits) PDTEC regions were obtained by varying the ratio of PDTEC and sacrificial PS. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultured on co-continuous PDTEC substrates for 3 days in bipotential adipogenic/osteogenic (AD/OS) induction medium showed no change in cell morphology but exhibited increased anisotropic cytoskeletal organization and larger focal adhesions when compared to MSCs cultured on discontinuous micropatterns. After 14 days in bipotential AD/OS induction medium, MSCs cultured on co-continuous micropatterns exhibited increased expression of osteogenic markers, whereas MSCs on discontinuous PDTEC substrates showed a low expression of adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation markers. Substrates with graded micropatterns were able to reproduce the influence of local underlying topography on MSC differentiation, thus demonstrating their potential for high throughput analysis. This work presents polymer demixing as a simple, non-lithographic technique to produce a wide range of micropatterns on surfaces with complex geometries to influence cellular and tissue regenerative responses. Gaining a better understanding of how engineered microenvironments influence stem cell differentiation is integral to increasing the use of stem cells and materials in a wide range of tissue engineering applications. In this study, we show the range of topography obtained by polymer demixing is sufficient for investigating how surface topography affects stem cell morphology and differentiation. Our findings show that co-continuous topographies favor early (3-day) cytoskeletal anisotropy and focal adhesion maturation as well as long-term (14-day) expression of osteogenic differentiation markers. Taken together, this study presents a simple approach to pattern topographies that induce divergent responses in stem cell morphology and differentiation. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A Cultural Resources Survey Testing, and Geomorphic Examination of Ditches 10, 12 and 29, Mississippi County, Arkansas

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-04-01

cattails (Tpha latifi’i)ia), various grape vines (Vitis sp.), Button bush (Cenhalanthus occi- !entaIis), and Hibiscus (Hibiscus sp.). The latter were an...had developed and continue to work with important methods of locational analysis (Chisolm 1970; Dacey 1966; Morrill 1962, 1968; Vining 1955) and...Aasen INTRODUCTION Changes in the Holocene vegetation have not been widely studied in the southern Midwest . Palynological studies of two locations

Letter to Freud: on the plight of psychoanalysis.

PubMed

Mendes, Dinah M

2011-12-01

In the form of a letter, the writer communicates to Freud her appreciation for the incomparable richness and complexity of the psychoanalytic enterprise in its century-long evolution from classical, Freudian origins to new developments in theory and technique. At the same time, concern is expressed about the continuity and survival of psychoanalysis in a cultural milieu that has absorbed its once radical ideas about sexuality and unconscious motivation while resisting its viability as a method of treatment.

Survey on current hydrotherapy use among North American burn centers.

PubMed

Davison, Peter G; Loiselle, Frederick B; Nickerson, Duncan

2010-01-01

The authors have reviewed hydrotherapy practices in North American burn centers and described the epidemiology of hydrotherapy-associated nosocomial infections. A web-based survey was distributed to the directors of all burn care facilities listed by the American Burn Association. Questions addressed aspects of practice, including the method, additives, disposable liners, decontamination practices, nosocomial pathogens, and perceptions regarding the "ideal" method of hydrotherapy. The response rate was 44%, 59 of 142 centers, or 827 of 1900 beds. Hydrotherapy is regularly used by 83% of centers. Among these centers, 10% use exclusively immersion hydrotherapy (IH), 54% use exclusively shower cart hydrotherapy (SCH), and 35% use a combination of IH and SCH. Disposable liners are used at 80% of centers. Tap water alone is used by 51% of centers, 27% add detergent, 16% chlorhexidine, and 7% povidone-iodine. The majority of centers (57%) do not routinely culture their hydrotherapy equipment, 20% culture weekly, 7% monthly, and 17% less than once per month. Directors believe that Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus are the most common nosocomial pathogens, followed by Acinetobacter species and Candida albicans. The relative frequency of occurrence of the first three pathogens did not vary with regard to the hydrotherapy method used. Given the opportunity to redesign, 45% of burn unit directors would implement SCH only, 42% a combination of SCH and IH, 2% exclusively IH, and 11% no hydrotherapy or bedside irrigation only. The prevalence of hydrotherapy use at North American burn centers has decreased since 1990 (83% vs 95%), yet continues to be used at the majority of centers. The use of IH has also declined (55% vs 81%). The trend away from the exclusive use of IH will likely continue, because more centers incorporate showering methods.

Cultural shift towards sustainability in the construction industry of Hong Kong.

PubMed

Yip Robin, C P; Poon, C S

2009-08-01

Sustainable development is forward-looking; it is a continuous mission for future developments of human society. A genuinely sustainable society is one that initiates developments in sustainable ways. The development of a genuinely sustainable society is supported by its citizens who think and act according to a recognized code of conduct - the sustainable culture. Similar to other forms of culture, sustainable culture of a society is not static, but changes over time. The changes found in a sustainable culture are reflections of the status of sustainability in a society and these changes should be measured from time to time. The resulting measurement gives very important information for decision-makers, in the government and in the private sector, to examine the magnitude of changes that have taken place in a given period of time. The results will also enable them to review and adjust policies in order to better accommodate changes according to the trends of society. This paper provides a method - the T-model, to investigate and measure the extent of change of sustainable culture through two extensive surveys among participants of the construction industry of Hong Kong. The change in sustainable culture is reflected by the change in attitude and practice among construction participants, this can be found in their performance in project development, design and construction operations. The data of these changes are collected and converted to numerical scores. The T-model synthesized these scores and revealed the change of sustainable culture within the specific study time frame.

Stable expression of recombinant human coagulation factor XIII in protein-free suspension culture of Chinese hamster ovary cells.

PubMed

Chun, B H; Bang, W G; Park, Y K; Woo, S K

2001-11-01

The recombinant a and bsubunits for human coagulation factor XIII were transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. CHO cells were amplified and selected with methotrexate in adherent cultures containing serum, and CHO 1-62 cells were later selected in protein-free medium. To develop a recombinant factor XIII production process in a suspension culture, we have investigated the growth characteristics of CHO cells and the maintenance of factor XIII expression in the culture medium. Suspension adaptation of CHO cells was performed in protein-free medium, GC-CHO-PI, by two methods, such as serum weaning and direct switching from serum containing media to protein-free media. Although the growth of CHO cells in suspension culture was affected initially by serum depletion, cell specific productivity of factor XIII showed only minor changes by the direct switching to protein-free medium during a suspension culture. As for the long-term stability of factor XIII, CHO 1-62 cells showed a stable expression of factor XIII in protein-free condition for 1000 h. These results indicate that the CHO 1-62cells can be adapted to express recombinant human factor XIII in a stable maimer in suspension culture using a protein-free medium. Our results demonstrate that enhanced cell growth in a continuous manner is achievable for factor XIII production in a protein-free medium when a perfusion bioreactor culture system with a spin filter is employed.

Long term organ culture of human prostate tissue in a NASA-designed rotating wall bioreactor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Margolis, L.; Hatfill, S.; Chuaqui, R.; Vocke, C.; Emmert-Buck, M.; Linehan, W. M.; Duray, P. H.

1999-01-01

PURPOSE: To maintain ex vivo integral prostatic tissue including intact stromal and ductal elements using the NASA-designed Rotating Wall Vessel (RWV) which maintains colocalized cells in an environment that promotes both three-dimensional cellular interactions together with the uniform mass transfer of nutrients and metabolic wastes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Samples of normal prostate were obtained as a byproduct of transurethral prostatectomy or needle biopsy. Prostatic tissue dissected into small 1 x 1 mm. blocks was cultured in the Rotating Wall Vessel (RWV) Bioreactor for various time periods and analyzed using histological, immunochemical, and total cell RNA assays. RESULTS: We report the long term maintenance of benign explanted human prostate tissue grown in simple culture medium, under the simulated microgravity conditions afforded by the RWV bioreactor. Mesenchymal stromal elements including blood vessels and architecturally preserved tubuloglandular acini were maintained for a minimum of 28 days. Cytokeratins, vimentin and TGF-beta2 receptor and ligand were preserved through the entire culture period as revealed by immunocytochemistry. Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) was continuously expressed during the culture period, although somewhat decreased. Prostatic specific antigen (PSA) and its transcript were down regulated over time of culture. Prostatic carcinoma cells from the TSU cell line were able to invade RWV-cultured benign prostate tissue explants. CONCLUSIONS: The RWV bioreactor represents an additional new technology for culturing prostate tissue for further investigations concerning the basic physiology and pathobiology of this clinically important tissue.

Culturability as an indicator of succession in microbial communities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garland, J. L.; Cook, K. L.; Adams, J. L.; Kerkhof, L.

2001-01-01

Successional theory predicts that opportunistic species with high investment of energy in reproduction and wide niche width will be replaced by equilibrium species with relatively higher investment of energy in maintenance and narrower niche width as communities develop. Since the ability to rapidly grow into a detectable colony on nonselective agar medium could be considered as characteristic of opportunistic types of bacteria, the percentage of culturable cells may be an indicator of successional state in microbial communities. The ratios of culturable cells (colony forming units on R2A agar) to total cells (acridine orange direct microscopic counts) and culturable cells to active cells (reduction of 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride) were measured over time in two types of laboratory microcosms (the rhizosphere of hydroponically grown wheat and aerobic, continuously stirred tank reactors containing plant biomass) to determine the effectiveness of culturabilty as an index of successional state. The culturable cell:total cell ratio in the rhizosphere decreased from approximately 0.25 to less than 0.05 during the first 30-50 days of plant growth, and from 0.65 to 0.14 during the first 7 days of operation of the bioreactor. The culturable cell:active cell ratio followed similar trends, but the values were consistently greater than the culturable cell:total cell ratio, and even exceeded I in early samples. Follow-up studies used a cultivation-independent method, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (TRFLP) from whole community DNA, to assess community structure. The number of TRFLP peaks increased with time, while the number of culturable types did not, indicating that the general decrease in culturability is associated with a shift in community structure. The ratio of respired to assimilated C-14-labeled amino acids increased with the age of rhizosphere communities, supporting the hypothesis that a shift in resource allocation from growth to maintenance occurs with time. Results from this work indicate that the percentage of culturable cells may be a useful method for assessing the successional state of microbial communities.

[Primary culture of human normal epithelial cells].

PubMed

Tang, Yu; Xu, Wenji; Guo, Wanbei; Xie, Ming; Fang, Huilong; Chen, Chen; Zhou, Jun

2017-11-28

The traditional primary culture methods of human normal epithelial cells have disadvantages of low activity of cultured cells, the low cultivated rate and complicated operation. To solve these problems, researchers made many studies on culture process of human normal primary epithelial cell. In this paper, we mainly introduce some methods used in separation and purification of human normal epithelial cells, such as tissue separation method, enzyme digestion separation method, mechanical brushing method, red blood cell lysis method, percoll layered medium density gradient separation method. We also review some methods used in the culture and subculture, including serum-free medium combined with low mass fraction serum culture method, mouse tail collagen coating method, and glass culture bottle combined with plastic culture dish culture method. The biological characteristics of human normal epithelial cells, the methods of immunocytochemical staining, trypan blue exclusion are described. Moreover, the factors affecting the aseptic operation, the conditions of the extracellular environment, the conditions of the extracellular environment during culture, the number of differential adhesion, and the selection and dosage of additives are summarized.

Microbial flora analysis for the degradation of beta-cypermethrin.

PubMed

Qi, Zhang; Wei, Zhang

2017-03-01

In the Xinjiang region of Eurasia, sustained long-term and continuous cropping of cotton over a wide expanse of land is practiced, which requires application of high levels of pyrethroid and other classes of pesticides-resulting in high levels of pesticide residues in the soil. In this study, soil samples were collected from areas of long-term continuous cotton crops with the aim of obtaining microbial resources applicable for remediation of pyrethroid pesticide contamination suitable for the soil type and climate of that area. Soil samples were first used to culture microbial flora capable of degrading beta-cypermethrin using an enrichment culture method. Structural changes and ultimate microbial floral composition during enrichment were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. Four strains capable of degrading beta-cypermethrin were isolated and preliminarily classified. Finally, comparative rates and speeds of degradation of beta-cypermethrin between relevant microbial flora and single strains were determined. After continuous subculture for 3 weeks, soil sample microbial flora formed a new type of microbial flora by rapid succession, which showed stable growth by utilizing beta-cypermethrin as the sole carbon source (GXzq). This microbial flora mainly consisted of Pseudomonas, Hyphomicrobium, Dokdonella, and Methyloversatilis. Analysis of the microbial flora also permitted separation of four additional strains; i.e., GXZQ4, GXZQ6, GXZQ7, and GXZQ13 that, respectively, belonged to Streptomyces, Enterobacter, Streptomyces, and Pseudomonas. Under culture conditions of 37 °C and 180 rpm, the degradation rate of beta-cypermethrin by GXzq was as high as 89.84% within 96 h, which exceeded that achieved by the single strains GXZQ4, GXZQ6, GXZQ7, and GXZQ13 and their derived microbial flora GXh.

The decision-making process for the fate of frozen embryos by Japanese infertile women: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Previous studies have found that the decision-making process for stored unused frozen embryos involves much emotional burden influenced by socio-cultural factors. This study aims to ascertain how Japanese patients make a decision on the fate of their frozen embryos: whether to continue storage discard or donate to research. Methods Ten Japanese women who continued storage, 5 who discarded and 16 who donated to research were recruited from our infertility clinic. Tape-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed for emergent themes. Results A model of patients’ decision-making processes for the fate of frozen embryos was developed, with a common emergent theme, “coming to terms with infertility” resulting in either acceptance or postponing acceptance of their infertility. The model consisted of 5 steps: 1) the embryo-transfer moratorium was sustained, 2) the “Mottainai”- embryo and having another child were considered; 3) cost reasonability was taken into account; 4) partner’s opinion was confirmed to finally decide whether to continue or discontinue storage. Those discontinuing, then contemplated 5): the effect of donation. Great emotional conflict was expressed in the theme, steps 2, 4, and 5. Conclusions Patients’ 5 step decision-making process for the fate of frozen embryos was profoundly affected by various Japanese cultural values and moral standards. At the end of their decision, patients used culturally inherent values and standards to come to terms with their infertility. While there is much philosophical discussion on the moral status of the embryo worldwide, this study, with actual views of patients who own them, will make a significant contribution to empirical ethics from the practical viewpoint. PMID:22607034

POTENTIALLY PATHOGENIC FREE-LIVING AMOEBAE IN SOME FLOOD-AFFECTED AREAS DURING 2011 CHIANG MAI FLOOD

PubMed Central

Wannasan, Anchalee; Uparanukraw, Pichart; Songsangchun, Apichart; Morakote, Nimit

2013-01-01

SUMMARY The survey was carried out to investigate the presence of potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae (FLA) during flood in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2011. From different crisis flood areas, seven water samples were collected and tested for the presence of amoebae using culture and molecular methods. By monoxenic culture, FLA were detected from all samples at 37 °C incubation. The FLA growing at 37 °C were morphologically identified as Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria spp. and some unidentified amoebae. Only three samples (42.8%), defined as thermotolerant FLA, continued to grow at 42 °C. By molecular methods, two non-thermotolerant FlA were shown to have 99% identity to Acanthamoeba sp. and 98% identity to Hartmannella vermiformis while the two thermotolerant FLA were identified as Echinamoeba exundans (100% identity) and Hartmannella sp. (99% identity). This first report of the occurrence of FLA in water during the flood disaster will provide information to the public to be aware of potentially pathogenic FLA. PMID:24213194

Potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae in some flood-affected areas during 2011 Chiang Mai flood.

PubMed

Wannasan, Anchalee; Uparanukraw, Pichart; Songsangchun, Apichart; Morakote, Nimit

2013-01-01

The survey was carried out to investigate the presence of potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae (FLA) during flood in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2011. From different crisis flood areas, seven water samples were collected and tested for the presence of amoebae using culture and molecular methods. By monoxenic culture, FLA were detected from all samples at 37 °C incubation. The FLA growing at 37 °C were morphologically identified as Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria spp. and some unidentified amoebae. Only three samples (42.8%), defined as thermotolerant FLA, continued to grow at 42 °C. By molecular methods, two non-thermotolerant FlA were shown to have 99% identity to Acanthamoeba sp. and 98% identity to Hartmannella vermiformis while the two thermotolerant FLA were identified as Echinamoeba exundans (100% identity) and Hartmannella sp. (99% identity). This first report of the occurrence of FLA in water during the flood disaster will provide information to the public to be aware of potentially pathogenic FLA.

Population dynamics among Asmat hunter-gatherers of New Guinea: data, methods, comparisons.

PubMed

Van Arsdale, P W

1978-12-01

Since 1953 the Asmat hunter-gatherers of Irian Jaya have been experiencing rapid cultural change, yet demographically they still can be classified as "living primitives." Methods of nonstandard data analysis are used in an effort to provide specific information on age-sex structure, fertility, birthrates, death rates, population growth, internal migration, and life expectancy and to aid in the development of a 2-part model of population growth encompassing the immediate precontact and contact eras. The population data upon which the discussion is based were obtained in 1973 and 1974 as part of a broader field study that aimed at assessing the impact of externally induced culture change. Special attention is given to the continuing although reduced impact of infanticide. Brief comparisons with other Melanesian and 3rd world societies are presented; the Asmat average annual growth rate of 1.5% since 1st permanent contact in 1953 contrasts with the generally higher rates reported for most of these other groups.

Methods to preserve potentially toxigenic fungi.

PubMed

Guimarães, Lucas Costa; Fernandes, Ana Paula; Chalfoun, Sara Maria; Batista, Luís Roberto

2014-01-01

Microorganisms are a source of many high-value compounds which are useful to every living being, such as humans, plants and animals. Since the process of isolating and improving a microorganism can be lengthy and expensive, preserving the obtained characteristic is of paramount importance, so the process does not need to be repeated. Fungi are eukaryotic, achlorophyllous, heterotrophic organisms, usually filamentous, absorb their food, can be either macro or microscopic, propagate themselves by means of spores and store glycogen as a source of storage. Fungi, while infesting food, may produce toxic substances such as mycotoxins. The great genetic diversity of the Kingdom Fungi renders the preservation of fungal cultures for many years relevant. Several international reference mycological culture collections are maintained in many countries. The methodologies that are most fit for preserving microorganisms for extended periods are based on lowering the metabolism until it reaches a stage of artificial dormancy. The goal of this study was to analyze three methods for potentially toxigenic fungal conservation (Castellani's, continuous subculture and lyophilization) and to identify the best among them.

Culturally capable and culturally safe: Caseload care for Indigenous women by Indigenous midwifery students.

PubMed

West, R; Gamble, J; Kelly, J; Milne, T; Duffy, E; Sidebotham, M

2016-12-01

Evidence is emerging of the benefits to students of providing continuity of midwifery care as a learning strategy in midwifery education, however little is known about the value of this strategy for midwifery students. To explore Indigenous students' perceptions of providing continuity of midwifery care to Indigenous women whilst undertaking a Bachelor of Midwifery. Indigenous Bachelor of Midwifery students' experiences of providing continuity of midwifery care to Indigenous childbearing women were explored within an Indigenous research approach using a narrative inquiry framework. Participants were three Indigenous midwifery students who provided continuity of care to Indigenous women. Three interconnected themes; facilitating connection, being connected, and journeying with the woman. These themes contribute to the overarching finding that the experience of providing continuity of care for Indigenous women creates a sense of personal affirmation, purpose and a validation of cultural identity in Indigenous students. Midwifery philosophy aligns strongly with the Indigenous health philosophy and this provides a learning platform for Indigenous student midwives. Privileging Indigenous culture within midwifery education programs assists students develop a sense of purpose and affirms them in their emerging professional role and within their community. The findings from this study illustrate the demand for, and pertinence of, continuity of care midwifery experiences with Indigenous women as fundamental to increasing the Indigenous midwifery workforce in Australia. Australian universities should provide this experience for Indigenous student midwives. Copyright © 2016 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Short communication: effect of oilseed supplementation of an herbage diet on ruminal fermentation in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A four-unit continuous culture fermentor system was used to evaluate the effects of oilseed supplementation of an herbage-based diet on ruminal fermentation. Treatments were randomly assigned to fermentors in a 4 x 4 Latin square design with 7 d for diet adaptation and 3 d for data and sample collec...

Effect of starchy or fibrous carbohydrate supplementation of orchardgrass on ruminal fermentation and methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 4-unit dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess the effect of supplementing an orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) herbage diet with 2 levels [5 and 10% of total dry matter (DM) fed] of starchy (barley grain; BAR) or fibrous (beet pulp; BP) carbohydrates on nutrient diges...

Effect of starchy or fibrous carbohydrate supplementation of an herbage diet on ruminal fermentation and methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 4-unit dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess the effect of supplementing 2 levels (5 and 10% of diet DM) of starchy (barley grain: BAR) or fibrous (beet pulp: BP) carbohydrate (CHO) to an orchardgrass diet on nutrient digestibility, VFA production, bacterial protein synt...

Molasses supplementation of grazing dairy cows: summary of case study, continuous culture fermenter trials, and controlled research farm study

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This fact sheet summarizes the results of a three-tiered research approach (case study, two continuous culture fermenter studies, and a controlled research farm study) to evaluate molasses as an alternative supplement source for grazing dairy cows. A two-year case study of a New York organic dairy f...

Parent and Staff Expectations for Continuity of Home Practices in the Child Care Setting for Families with Diverse Cultural Backgrounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Gioia, Katey

2009-01-01

The use of childcare services for very young children (birth to three years) has increased dramatically in the past two decades (Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2004). This article investigates the expectations for cultural continuity of caregiving practices (with particular emphasis on sleep and feeding) between…

Cultural Factors Related to Smoking in San Francisco's Irish Bars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Satterlund, Travis D.; Antin, Tamar M. J.; Lee, Juliet P.; Moore, Roland S.

2009-01-01

California's Smoke-Free Workplace Act was extended to include bars in 1998. While the majority of bars in the state have become smoke free, in many bars patrons and staff continue to smoke despite the law. The authors present findings from a study which assessed cultural factors related to continued smoking in bars in the city of San Francisco. In…

Sophisticated Chaos: The Influence of Academic Discourse on Student Success in First-Year English Composition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Sharon L.

2010-01-01

Students' conceptualizations of academic writing are often based on their cultural and social expectations of what it means to be a student or an instructor in the academy. These expectations are as varied as any target population and continue to grow as multi-cultural heritages continue to expand. First-year student writers' performances are…

Effect of starchy or fibrous carbohydrate supplementation of an herbage diet on ruminal fermentation and methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess the effect of supplementing 2 levels (5 or 10% of diet DM) of starchy (barley: BAR) or fibrous (beet pulp: BP) carbohydrate (CHO) to an orchardgrass diet on nutrient digestibility, VFA production, bacterial protein synthesis, and met...

Effect of sprouted barley grain supplementation of an herbage-based or haylage-based diet on ruminal fermentation and methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 4-unit dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess the effect of supplementing 7-d sprouted barley (SB) or barley grain (BG) with an herbage-based or haylage-based diet on nutrient digestibility, volatile fatty acid (VFA) profiles, bacterial protein synthesis, and methane outp...

Planning by Using Digital Technology in the Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage Sites - a Case Study of Qiong-Lin Settlement in Kinmen Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, W. B.; Ye, Y. N.

2017-08-01

ICOMOS Florence Declaration in 2014, encourages an in-depth reflection on human values through cultural heritage and landscapes, which emphasizes the importance of historical heritage sites, in order to achieve the application of cultural heritage records through the public participation, sharing new technology platform and facilitation tools for knowledge diffusion, for instance. Nikos adopted digitized intangible cultural heritage within i-Treasures project to create a novel digital platform in 2016. Nowadays, the display platform developed based on geographic information system has been gradually accepted and widely used to distribute cultural heritage information, aiming to combine geography, time, events, issues, trends with the interactive maps to show the context of data changes from the consideration of planarity; for example, Burnaby City in Canada has cooperated with the Columbia University to create a navigation platform for guidance of tangible cultural heritage based on story maps in order to provide public recognition function. In this study, Qiong-Lin Settlement in Kinmen Area was taken as an example to illustrate the developing process of an overall planning framework for reappearing the glory of historic settlements of cultural heritage sites with digital technology, which included tangible and intangible cultural heritage preservation and transmission planning, community participation and digital navigation programs. The digital technology with the GIS-based digital platform can provide more diverse and interesting information while using an intuitive, graphical user story mapping interface. So that tangible cultural heritage can be effectively understood, interpreted and preserved with the value-added methods, and also intangible cultural heritage can be continuously transmitted to establish a complete system of cultural heritage preservation. The main contents include several navigation technologies, such as 3D laser scanning, UAV images, photogrammetry, panorama, audio/video, geographic information systems etc.

Design and characterization of a new bioreactor for continuous ultra-slow uniaxial distraction of a three-dimensional scaffold-free stem cell culture.

PubMed

Weiss, S; Henle, P; Roth, W; Bock, R; Boeuf, S; Richter, W

2011-01-01

A computer controlled dynamic bioreactor for continuous ultra-slow uniaxial distraction of a scaffold-free three-dimensional (3D) mesenchymal stem cell pellet culture was designed to investigate the influence of stepless tensile strain on behavior of distinct primary cells like osteoblasts, chondroblasts, or stem cells without the influence of an artificial culture matrix. The main advantages of this device include the following capabilities: (1) Application of uniaxial ultra-slow stepless distraction within a range of 0.5-250 μm/h and real-time control of the distraction distance with high accuracy (mean error -3.4%); (2) tension strain can be applied on a 3D cell culture within a standard CO(2) -incubator without use of an artificial culture matrix; (3) possibility of histological investigation without loss of distraction; (4) feasibility of molecular analysis on RNA and protein level. This is the first report on a distraction device capable of applying continuous tensile strain to a scaffold-free 3D cell culture within physiological ranges of motion comparable to distraction ostegenesis in vivo. We expect the newly designed microdistraction device to increase our understanding on the regulatory mechanisms of mechanical strains on the metabolism of stem cells. Copyright © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Using Critical Race Theory to Analyze Science Teachers Culturally Responsive Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, Tamara; Brand, Brenda R.

2012-01-01

Culturally responsive science teaching is using knowledge about the culture and life experiences of students to structure learning that is conducive to their needs. Understanding what teachers need to prepare them to be culturally responsive is a matter of continuous debate. As the focus of multicultural education ventures farther away from its…

Education Abroad and Domestic Cultural Immersion: A Comparative Study of Cultural Competence among Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare Landa, Melissa; Odòna-Holm, Jocelyn; Shi, Lijuan

2017-01-01

As the demographics of the United States continue to shift, American classrooms reflect the richness of cultural diversity and the vibrancy of immigrant populations. Education abroad programs provide opportunities for preservice teachers to develop their cultural competence, required for effectively teaching children from a range of cultural…

Organizational Culture at the University Level: A Study Using the OCAI Instrument

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fralinger, Barbara; Olson, Valerie

2007-01-01

Organizational culture is a primary component of functional decision making in universities. In order for administrators, faculty, and staff to effectively coordinate an efficient academic environment for health education, continuing cultural assessment and change are necessary. The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of culture at…

Addressing Cross-Cultural Teamwork Barriers: Implications for Industry Practice and Higher Education Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levitt, Steven R.

2016-01-01

This study explores cultural factors affecting international team dynamics and the implications for industry practice and higher education. Despite decades of studying and experience with cultural diversity, international work groups continue to be challenged by ethnocentrism and prejudices. Central to the context is that cultural differences in…

Stock culture heterogeneity rather than new mutational variation complicates short-term cell physiology studies of Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 in continuous culture.

PubMed

Nahku, Ranno; Peebo, Karl; Valgepea, Kaspar; Barrick, Jeffrey E; Adamberg, Kaarel; Vilu, Raivo

2011-09-01

Nutrient-limited continuous cultures in chemostats have been used to study microbial cell physiology for over 60 years. Genome instability and genetic heterogeneity are possible uncontrolled factors in continuous cultivation experiments. We investigated these issues by using high-throughput (HT) DNA sequencing to characterize samples from different phases of a glucose-limited accelerostat (A-stat) experiment with Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 and a duration regularly used in cell physiology studies (20 generations of continuous cultivation). Seven consensus mutations from the reference sequence and five subpopulations characterized by different mutations were detected in the HT-sequenced samples. This genetic heterogeneity was confirmed to result from the stock culture by Sanger sequencing. All the subpopulations in which allele frequencies increased (betA, cspG/cspH, glyA) during the experiment were also present at the end of replicate A-stats, indicating that no new subpopulations emerged during our experiments. The fact that ~31 % of the cells in our initial cultures obtained directly from a culture stock centre were mutants raises concerns that even if cultivations are started from single colonies, there is a significant chance of picking a mutant clone with an altered phenotype. Our results show that current HT DNA sequencing technology allows accurate subpopulation analysis and demonstrates that a glucose-limited E. coli K-12 MG1655 A-stat experiment with a duration of tens of generations is suitable for studying cell physiology and collecting quantitative data for metabolic modelling without interference from new mutations.

Stock culture heterogeneity rather than new mutational variation complicates short-term cell physiology studies of Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 in continuous culture

PubMed Central

Nahku, Ranno; Peebo, Karl; Valgepea, Kaspar; Barrick, Jeffrey E.; Adamberg, Kaarel

2011-01-01

Nutrient-limited continuous cultures in chemostats have been used to study microbial cell physiology for over 60 years. Genome instability and genetic heterogeneity are possible uncontrolled factors in continuous cultivation experiments. We investigated these issues by using high-throughput (HT) DNA sequencing to characterize samples from different phases of a glucose-limited accelerostat (A-stat) experiment with Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 and a duration regularly used in cell physiology studies (20 generations of continuous cultivation). Seven consensus mutations from the reference sequence and five subpopulations characterized by different mutations were detected in the HT-sequenced samples. This genetic heterogeneity was confirmed to result from the stock culture by Sanger sequencing. All the subpopulations in which allele frequencies increased (betA, cspG/cspH, glyA) during the experiment were also present at the end of replicate A-stats, indicating that no new subpopulations emerged during our experiments. The fact that ~31 % of the cells in our initial cultures obtained directly from a culture stock centre were mutants raises concerns that even if cultivations are started from single colonies, there is a significant chance of picking a mutant clone with an altered phenotype. Our results show that current HT DNA sequencing technology allows accurate subpopulation analysis and demonstrates that a glucose-limited E. coli K-12 MG1655 A-stat experiment with a duration of tens of generations is suitable for studying cell physiology and collecting quantitative data for metabolic modelling without interference from new mutations. PMID:21700661

Formation of glycosidases in batch and continuous culture of Bacteroides fragilis.

PubMed Central

Berg, J O; Nord, C E; Wadström, T

1978-01-01

Nine strains of bacteroides fragilis were cultivated in stirred fermentors and tested for their ability to produce glycosidases. B. fragilis subsp. vulgatus B70 was used for optimizing the production of glycosidases. The highest bacterial yield was obtained in proteose peptone-yeast extract medium. The optimum pH for maximal bacterial yield was 7.0, and the optimum temperature for growth was 37 degrees C. The formation of glycosidases was optimal between pH 6.5 and 7.5, and the optimum temperature for synthesis of glycosidases was between 33 and 37 degrees C. Culture under controlled conditions in fermentors gave more reproducible production of glycosidases than static cultures in bottles. The strain was also grown in continuous culture at a dilution rate of 0.1 liter/h at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C with a yield of 2.0 mg of dry weight per ml in the complex medium. The formation of glycosidases remained constant during the entire continuous process. PMID:25044

Continuous production of ethanol from hexoses and pentoses using immobilized mixed cultures of Escherichia coli strains

PubMed Central

Unrean, Pornkamol; Srienc, Friedrich

2010-01-01

We have developed highly efficient ethanologenic E. coli strains that selectively consume pentoses and/or hexoses. Mixed cultures of these strains can be used to selectively adjust the sugar utilization kinetics in ethanol fermentations. Based on the kinetics of sugar utilization, we have designed and implemented an immobilized cell system for the optimized continuous conversion of sugars into ethanol. The results confirm that immobilized mixed cultures support a simultaneous conversion of hexoses and pentoses into ethanol at high yield and at a faster rate than immobilized homogenous cells. Continuous ethanol production has been maintained for several weeks at high productivity with near complete sugar utilization. The control of sugar utilization using immobilized mixed cultures can be adapted to any composition of hexoses and pentoses by adjusting the strain distribution of immobilized cells. The approach, therefore, holds promise for ethanol fermentation from lignocellulosic hydrolysates where the feedstock varies in sugar composition. PMID:20699108

A method to quantify infectious airborne pathogens at concentrations below the threshold of quantification by culture

PubMed Central

Cutler, Timothy D.; Wang, Chong; Hoff, Steven J.; Zimmerman, Jeffrey J.

2013-01-01

In aerobiology, dose-response studies are used to estimate the risk of infection to a susceptible host presented by exposure to a specific dose of an airborne pathogen. In the research setting, host- and pathogen-specific factors that affect the dose-response continuum can be accounted for by experimental design, but the requirement to precisely determine the dose of infectious pathogen to which the host was exposed is often challenging. By definition, quantification of viable airborne pathogens is based on the culture of micro-organisms, but some airborne pathogens are transmissible at concentrations below the threshold of quantification by culture. In this paper we present an approach to the calculation of exposure dose at microbiologically unquantifiable levels using an application of the “continuous-stirred tank reactor (CSTR) model” and the validation of this approach using rhodamine B dye as a surrogate for aerosolized microbial pathogens in a dynamic aerosol toroid (DAT). PMID:24082399

Pediatric Complicated Pneumonia Caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 3 in 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccinees, Portugal, 2010-2015.

PubMed

Silva-Costa, Catarina; Brito, Maria João; Pinho, Marcos D; Friães, Ana; Aguiar, Sandra I; Ramirez, M; Melo-Cristino, Jose

2018-07-01

Despite use of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, incidence of pleural effusion and empyema (pediatric complicated pneumococcal pneumonia [PCPP]) is reportedly increasing globally. We cultured and performed PCR on 152 pleural fluid samples recovered from pediatric patients in Portugal during 2010-2015 to identify and serotype Streptococcus pneumoniae. We identified only 17 cases by culture, but molecular methods identified S. pneumoniae in 68% (92/135) of culture-negative samples. The most frequent serotypes were 3, 1, and 19A, together accounting for 62% (68/109) of cases. Nineteen cases attributable to 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) serotypes (mostly serotype 3) were detected among 22 children age-appropriately vaccinated with PCV13. The dominance of the additional serotypes included in PCV13 among PCPP cases in Portugal continues, even with PCV13 available on the private market (without reimbursement) since 2010 and with average annual coverage of 61% among age-eligible children. Our data suggest reduced effectiveness of PCV13 against serotype 3 PCPP.

Family Ties and Health Cross-Nationally: The Contextualizing Role of Familistic Culture and Public Pension Spending in Europe

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Objectives. Although previous research theorizes that cross-national variation in the relationship between family ties and health is due to nation-level differences in culture and policy/economics, no study has examined this theorization empirically. Method. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this study uses multilevel modeling to analyze individual-, nation-, and cross-level effects for 30,291 older adults in 14 nations. Results. Family ties to spouses/partners and parents are associated with better health, but ties to coresident children are associated with poorer health in certain contexts. Familistic culture and public pension spending have a weak but statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between intergenerational family ties and health. Discussion. This article underscores the complexity of family and highlights the need for continued theorization and measurement at the nation level to promote older adults’ health in diverse contexts. PMID:24043356

Possible Barriers to Enrollment in Substance Abuse Treatment among a Diverse Sample of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: Opinions of Treatment Clients

PubMed Central

Masson, Carmen L.; Shopshire, Michael S.; Sen, Soma; Hoffman, Kim; Hengl, Nicholas; Bartolome, John; McCarty, Dennis; Sorensen, James L.; Iguchi, Martin

2012-01-01

This mixed methods study examined motivations and barriers to substance abuse treatment entry and treatment continuation among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) substance users. AAPI substance users (N = 61) were recruited from substance abuse treatment programs in California and Hawaii. Semi-structured interviews and interviewer-administered surveys assessed barriers and facilitators to entering substance abuse treatment. Barriers included peer pressure, family influences, and face loss concerns. Facilitators included peer support, involvement in the criminal justice system, a perceived need for treatment, and culturally competent substance abuse treatment services. Family and peer influences may act as both facilitators and impediments. AAPI substance using populations face many of the same individual-level and structural and systems barriers to entry to treatment as other substance using populations. However, similar to other racial/ethnic minority groups, it is important to address cultural differences and develop culturally competent substance abuse treatments for the AAPI population. PMID:22985677

Living with heterogeneities in bioreactors: understanding the effects of environmental gradients on cells.

PubMed

Lara, Alvaro R; Galindo, Enrique; Ramírez, Octavio T; Palomares, Laura A

2006-11-01

The presence of spatial gradients in fundamental culture parameters, such as dissolved gases, pH, concentration of substrates, and shear rate, among others, is an important problem that frequently occurs in large-scale bioreactors. This problem is caused by a deficient mixing that results from limitations inherent to traditional scale-up methods and practical constraints during large-scale bioreactor design and operation. When cultured in a heterogeneous environment, cells are continuously exposed to fluctuating conditions as they travel through the various zones of a bioreactor. Such fluctuations can affect cell metabolism, yields, and quality of the products of interest. In this review, the theoretical analyses that predict the existence of environmental gradients in bioreactors and their experimental confirmation are reviewed. The origins of gradients in common culture parameters and their effects on various organisms of biotechnological importance are discussed. In particular, studies based on the scale-down methodology, a convenient tool for assessing the effect of environmental heterogeneities, are surveyed.

Possible barriers to enrollment in substance abuse treatment among a diverse sample of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: opinions of treatment clients.

PubMed

Masson, Carmen L; Shopshire, Michael S; Sen, Soma; Hoffman, Kim A; Hengl, Nicholas S; Bartolome, John; McCarty, Dennis; Sorensen, James L; Iguchi, Martin Y

2013-03-01

This mixed methods study examined motivations and barriers to substance abuse treatment entry and treatment continuation among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) substance users. AAPI substance users (N = 61) were recruited from substance abuse treatment programs in California and Hawaii. Semi-structured interviews and interviewer-administered surveys assessed barriers and facilitators to entering substance abuse treatment. Barriers included peer pressure, family influences, and face loss concerns. Facilitators included peer support, involvement in the criminal justice system, a perceived need for treatment, and culturally competent substance abuse treatment services. Family and peer influences may act as both facilitators and impediments. AAPI substance using populations face many of the same individual-level and structural and systems barriers to entry to treatment as other substance using populations. However, similar to other racial/ethnic minority groups, it is important to address cultural differences and develop culturally competent substance abuse treatments for the AAPI population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Methods for the cultural adaptation of a diabetes lifestyle intervention for Latinas: an illustrative project.

PubMed

Osuna, Diego; Barrera, Manuel; Strycker, Lisa A; Toobert, Deborah J; Glasgow, Russell E; Geno, Cristy R; Almeida, Fabio; Perdomo, Malena; King, Diane; Doty, Alyssa Tinley

2011-05-01

Because Latinas experience a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications, there is an urgent need to reach them with interventions that promote healthful lifestyles. This article illustrates a sequential approach that took an effective multiple-risk-factor behavior-change program and adapted it for Latinas with type 2 diabetes. Adaptation stages include (a) information gathering from literature and focus groups, (b) preliminary adaptation design, and (c) preliminary adaptation test. In this third stage, a pilot study finds that participants were highly satisfied with the intervention and showed improvement across diverse outcomes. Key implications for applications include the importance of a model for guiding cultural adaptations, and the value of procedures for obtaining continuous feedback from staff and participants during the preliminary adaptation test.

Developing a Continuous Bioprocessing Approach to Stromal Cell Manufacture.

PubMed

Miotto, Martina; Gouveia, Ricardo; Abidin, Fadhilah Zainal; Figueiredo, Francisco; Connon, Che J

2017-11-29

To this day, the concept of continuous bioprocessing has been applied mostly to the manufacture of molecular biologics such as proteins, growth factors, and secondary metabolites with biopharmaceutical uses. The present work now sets to explore the potential application of continuous bioprocess methods to source large numbers of human adherent cells with potential therapeutic value. To this purpose, we developed a smart multifunctional surface coating capable of controlling the attachment, proliferation, and subsequent self-detachment of human corneal stromal cells. This system allowed the maintenance of cell cultures under steady-state growth conditions, where self-detaching cells were continuously replenished by the proliferation of those remaining attached. This facilitated a closed, continuous bioprocessing platform with recovery of approximately 1% of the total adherent cells per hour, a yield rate that was maintained for 1 month. Moreover, both attached and self-detached cells were shown to retain their original phenotype. Together, these results represent the proof-of-concept for a new high-throughput, high-standard, and low-cost biomanufacturing strategy with multiple potentials and important downstream applications.

Dignifying Black Children's Lives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hale, Janice E.

1992-01-01

Maintains that educators need to dignify the language and cognitive experiences of African-American children. Asserts that African-American culture emphasizes charismatic and stylistic uses of language. Teachers must understand African-American cultural styles if they are to create cultural continuity for African-American children who attend…

Effects of polyurethane matrices on fungal tannase and gallic acid production under solid state culture*

PubMed Central

Treviňo, Lucia; Contreras-Esquivel, Juan C.; Rodríguez-Herrera, Raul; Aguilar, Cristóbal Noé

2007-01-01

The influence of the physical structure of polyurethane matrix as a support in a solid state culture in tannase production and gallic acid accumulation by Aspergillus niger Aa-20 was evaluated. Three different polyurethane matrices were used as the support: continuous, semi-discontinuous and discontinuous. The highest tannase production at 2479.59 U/L during the first 12 h of culture was obtained using the discontinuous matrix. The gallic acid was accumulated at 7.64 g/L at the discontinuous matrix. The results show that the discontinuous matrix of polyurethane is better for tannase production and gallic acid accumulation in a solid state culture bioprocess than the continuous and semi-discontinuous matrices. PMID:17910122

Algae for biofuel: will the evolution of weeds limit the enterprise?

PubMed Central

Bull, J. J.; Collins, Sinéad

2012-01-01

Algae hold promise as a source of biofuel. Yet the manner in which algae are most efficiently propagated and harvested is different from that used in traditional agriculture. In theory, algae can be grown in continuous culture and harvested frequently to maintain high yields with a short turnaround time. However, the maintenance of the population in a state of continuous growth will likely impose selection for fast growth, possibly opposing the maintenance of lipid stores desiriable for fuel. Any harvesting that removes a subset of the population and leaves the survivors to establish the next generation may quickly select traits that escape harvesting. An understanding of these problems should help identify methods for retarding the evolution and enhancing biofuel production. PMID:22946819

Geomorphology's role in the study of weathering of cultural stone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pope, Gregory A.; Meierding, Thomas C.; Paradise, Thomas R.

2002-10-01

Great monumental places—Petra, Giza, Angkor, Stonehenge, Tikal, Macchu Picchu, Rapa Nui, to name a few—are links to our cultural past. They evoke a sense of wonderment for their aesthetic fascination if not for their seeming permanence over both cultural and physical landscapes. However, as with natural landforms, human constructs are subject to weathering and erosion. Indeed, many of our cultural resources suffer from serious deterioration, some natural, some enhanced by human impact. Groups from the United Nations to local civic and tourism assemblies are deeply interested in maintaining and preserving such cultural resources, from simple rock art to great temples. Geomorphologists trained in interacting systems, process and response to thresholds, rates of change over time, and spatial variation of weathering processes and effects are able to offer insight into how deterioration occurs and what can be done to ameliorate the impact. Review of recent literature and case studies presented here demonstrate methodological and theoretical advances that have resulted from the study of cultural stone weathering. Because the stone was carved at a known date to a "baseline" or zero-datum level, some of the simplest methods (e.g., assessing surface weathering features or measuring surface recession in the field) provide useful data on weathering rates and processes. Such data are difficult or impossible to obtain in "natural" settings. Cultural stone weathering studies demonstrate the importance of biotic and saline weathering agents and the significance of weathering factors such as exposure (microclimate) and human impact. More sophisticated methods confirm these observations, but also reveal discrepancies between field and laboratory studies. This brings up two important caveats for conservators and geomorphologists. For the conservator, are laboratory and natural setting studies really analogous and useful for assessing stone damage? For the geomorphologist, does cultural stone data have any real relevance to the natural environment? These are questions for future research and debate. In any event, cultural stone weathering studies have been productive for both geomorphologists and conservators. Continued collaboration and communication between the geomorphic, historic preservation, archaeological, and engineering research communities are encouraged.

Lean management systems: creating a culture of continuous quality improvement.

PubMed

Clark, David M; Silvester, Kate; Knowles, Simon

2013-08-01

This is the first in a series of articles describing the application of Lean management systems to Laboratory Medicine. Lean is the term used to describe a principle-based continuous quality improvement (CQI) management system based on the Toyota production system (TPS) that has been evolving for over 70 years. Its origins go back much further and are heavily influenced by the work of W Edwards Deming and the scientific method that forms the basis of most quality management systems. Lean has two fundamental elements--a systematic approach to process improvement by removing waste in order to maximise value for the end-user of the service and a commitment to respect, challenge and develop the people who work within the service to create a culture of continuous improvement. Lean principles have been applied to a growing number of Healthcare systems throughout the world to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of services for patients and a number of laboratories from all the pathology disciplines have used Lean to shorten turnaround times, improve quality (reduce errors) and improve productivity. Increasingly, models used to plan and implement large scale change in healthcare systems, including the National Health Service (NHS) change model, have evidence-based improvement methodologies (such as Lean CQI) as a core component. Consequently, a working knowledge of improvement methodology will be a core skill for Pathologists involved in leadership and management.

Effect of supplementing orchardgrass herbage with a total mixed ration or flaxseed fermentation profile and bacterial protein synthesis in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 4-unit dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to evaluate the effects of herbage, a total mixed ration (TMR) and flaxseed on nutrient digestibility and microbial N synthesis. Treatments were randomly assigned to fermentors in a 4 x 4 Latin square design. Each fermentor was fed a to...

Effect of introducing legumes containing condensed tannins in an orchardgrass diet on forage nutritive value and enteric methane output in continuous culture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Legumes containing condensed tannins (CT) have been shown to reduce enteric CH4 in ruminants; however, research is lacking on how increased CT levels affect forage nutritive value and CH4 output. A 4-unit, dual-flow continuous culture fermentor system was used to assess CH4 output of CT legumes in a...

Bricolage, Metissage, Hybridity, Heterogeneity, Diaspora: Concepts for Thinking Science Education in the 21st Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roth, Wolff-Michael

2008-01-01

The ongoing globalization leads to an increasing scattering of cultural groups into other cultural groups where they the latter continue to be affiliated with one another thereby forming diasporic identities. Diasporic identities emerge from a process of cultural bricolage that leads to cultural metissage and therefore hybridity and heterogeneity.…

Culture and Psychiatric Symptoms in Puerto Rican Children: Longitudinal Results from One Ethnic Group in Two Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duarte, Cristiane S.; Bird, Hector R.; Shrout, Patrick E.; Wu, Ping; Lewis-Fernandez, Roberto; Shen, Sa; Canino, Glorisa

2008-01-01

Background: The development of youth psychopathology may be associated with direct and continuous contact with a different culture (acculturation) and to distress related to this process (cultural stress). We examine cultural experiences of Puerto Rican families in relation to youth psychiatric symptoms in two different contexts: one in which…

Mapping the Framing of Culture in U.S. Adult Education over the Past Decade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Haijun; Yelich Biniecki, Susan M.

2015-01-01

We are working with more culturally diverse adult learner populations than we have ever had in adult and continuing higher education (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). Culture has become one of the most popular discussion topics in adult learning classrooms and both instructors and students are showing great interest in culture's interaction with…

Family support for the elderly in Korea: continuity, change, future directions, and cross-cultural concerns.

PubMed

Sung, K T

2001-01-01

This article discusses major issues and concerns regarding family support for parents and elderly people in industrialized and urbanized Korea. It summarizes new trends in family support for elderly members, continuing influences of the traditional value of family support (filial piety), growing needs for public services for elderly people and their families, urgent calls for the state to assume greater responsibilities for providing social security and services for the elderly, needs for cross-cultural studies of family support, and certain cultural similarities and differences to be considered. The article concludes with some suggestions for future research.

Australian nursing and midwifery educators delivering evidence-based education in Tanzania: A qualitative study.

PubMed

Gower, Shelley; van den Akker, Jose; Jones, Mark; Dantas, Jaya A R; Duggan, Ravani

2016-05-01

Since 2011, Western Australian nursing and midwifery educators have been providing evidence-based continuing education to Tanzanian health professionals. Despite thorough preparation before departure, differences in local resource levels and available facilities have necessitated impromptu adaptation of curriculum content and delivery methods to ensure an effective program was delivered. This study explored the personal, cultural and teaching strategies utilised by Western Australian nursing and midwifery educators in Tanzania and examined if the transferability of education packages was influenced by the educators' cultural competence. Using a qualitative exploratory approach, data was collected from 15 Western Australian nursing and midwifery educators using a demographic survey and in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. The core themes identified from the analysis were Determination to learn, Assessing needs, Communication skills and Greater understanding. These findings are described using the conceptual framework of Campinha-Bacote's The Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Healthcare Services. With appropriate levels of cultural competence, international health professionals can be effective at providing ongoing professional development to colleagues in developing country contexts, which may help address difficulties with retention and motivation of staff. It is essential that prior to departure cultural competence training is provided to educators to enhance their teaching capacity and effectiveness in international settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keratinocytes propagated in serum-free, feeder-free culture conditions fail to form stratified epidermis in a reconstituted skin model.

PubMed

Lamb, Rebecca; Ambler, Carrie A

2013-01-01

Primary human epidermal stem cells isolated from skin tissues and subsequently expanded in tissue culture are used for human therapeutic use to reconstitute skin on patients and to generate artificial skin in culture for academic and commercial research. Classically, epidermal cells, known as keratinocytes, required fibroblast feeder support and serum-containing media for serial propagation. In alignment with global efforts to remove potential animal contaminants, many serum-free, feeder-free culture methods have been developed that support derivation and growth of these cells in 2-dimensional culture. Here we show that keratinocytes grown continually in serum-free and feeder-free conditions were unable to form into a stratified, mature epidermis in a skin equivalent model. This is not due to loss of cell potential as keratinocytes propagated in serum-free, feeder-free conditions retain their ability to form stratified epidermis when re-introduced to classic serum-containing media. Extracellular calcium supplementation failed to improve epidermis development. In contrast, the addition of serum to commercial, growth media developed for serum-free expansion of keratinocytes facilitated 3-dimensional stratification in our skin equivalent model. Moreover, the addition of heat-inactivated serum improved the epidermis structure and thickness, suggesting that serum contains factors that both aid and inhibit stratification.

Keratinocytes Propagated in Serum-Free, Feeder-Free Culture Conditions Fail to Form Stratified Epidermis in a Reconstituted Skin Model

PubMed Central

Lamb, Rebecca; Ambler, Carrie A.

2013-01-01

Primary human epidermal stem cells isolated from skin tissues and subsequently expanded in tissue culture are used for human therapeutic use to reconstitute skin on patients and to generate artificial skin in culture for academic and commercial research. Classically, epidermal cells, known as keratinocytes, required fibroblast feeder support and serum-containing media for serial propagation. In alignment with global efforts to remove potential animal contaminants, many serum-free, feeder-free culture methods have been developed that support derivation and growth of these cells in 2-dimensional culture. Here we show that keratinocytes grown continually in serum-free and feeder-free conditions were unable to form into a stratified, mature epidermis in a skin equivalent model. This is not due to loss of cell potential as keratinocytes propagated in serum-free, feeder-free conditions retain their ability to form stratified epidermis when re-introduced to classic serum-containing media. Extracellular calcium supplementation failed to improve epidermis development. In contrast, the addition of serum to commercial, growth media developed for serum-free expansion of keratinocytes facilitated 3-dimensional stratification in our skin equivalent model. Moreover, the addition of heat-inactivated serum improved the epidermis structure and thickness, suggesting that serum contains factors that both aid and inhibit stratification. PMID:23326335

Experience of migrant care and needs for cultural competence training among public health workers in Korea.

PubMed

Chae, Duckhee; Lee, Jina; Asami, Keiko; Kim, Hyunlye

2018-05-01

This study explored the experiences of public health workers (PHWs) providing health care for migrants living in Korea and clarified needs for cultural competence training. Twenty-six PHWs from five public health centers in Gwangju city, South Korea, participated in this exploratory qualitative study. Five semi-structured focus group interviews of PHWs were conducted from September to December 2016. A directed content analysis approach was conducted using four categories: perceived characteristics of migrants, interaction between PHWs and migrants, interaction between PHWs and organizations/systems, and cultural competence training needs. PHWs perceived that migrants lacked autonomy in health decisions and awareness of health behaviors. PHWs experienced difficulties in communicating and in establishing trusting relationships. They found clients hard to reach and easy to miss, a lack of continuity in health care programs, and inadequate human and material resources. They preferred passive teaching methods to activity-based simulation. PHWs believed essential training should be provided through e-learning to all PHWs, including management. PHWs reported experiencing multiple challenges from a lack of preparedness for culturally competent care and their clients' vulnerability. Development of cultural competence training is suggested through e-learning that reflects the PHWs' experiences and provides systematic support. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Disease concepts and treatment by tribal healers of an Amazonian forest culture

PubMed Central

Herndon, Christopher N; Uiterloo, Melvin; Uremaru, Amasina; Plotkin, Mark J; Emanuels-Smith, Gwendolyn; Jitan, Jeetendra

2009-01-01

Background The extensive medicinal plant knowledge of Amazonian tribal peoples is widely recognized in the scientific literature and celebrated in popular lore. Despite this broad interest, the ethnomedical systems and knowledge of disease which guide indigenous utilization of botanical diversity for healing remain poorly characterized and understood. No study, to our knowledge, has attempted to directly examine patterns of actual disease recognition and treatment by healers of an Amazonian indigenous culture. Methods The establishment of traditional medicine clinics, operated and directed by elder tribal shamans in two remote Trio villages of the Suriname rainforest, presented a unique investigational opportunity. Quantitative analysis of clinic records from both villages permitted examination of diseases treated over a continuous period of four years. Cross-cultural comparative translations were articulated of recorded disease conditions through ethnographic interviews of elder Trio shamans and a comprehensive atlas of indigenous anatomical nomenclature was developed. Results 20,337 patient visits within the period 2000 to 2004 were analyzed. 75 disease conditions and 127 anatomical terms are presented. Trio concepts of disease and medical practices are broadly examined within the present and historical state of their culture. Conclusion The findings of this investigation support the presence of a comprehensive and highly formalized ethnomedical institution within Trio culture with attendant health policy and conservation implications. PMID:19821968

Research on Historic Bim of Built Heritage in Taiwan - a Case Study of Huangxi Academy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Y. C.; Shih, T. Y.; Yen, Y. N.

2018-05-01

Digital archiving technology for conserving cultural heritage is an important subject nowadays. The Taiwanese Ministry of Culture continues to try to converge the concept and technology of conservation towards international conventions. However, the products from these different technologies are not yet integrated due to the lack of research and development in this field. There is currently no effective schema in HBIM for Taiwanese cultural heritage. The aim of this research is to establish an HBIM schema for Chinese built heritage in Taiwan. The proposed method starts from the perspective of the components of built heritage buildings, up to the investigation of the important properties of the components through important international charters and Taiwanese laws of cultural heritage conservation. Afterwards, object-oriented class diagram and ontology from the scale of components were defined to clarify the concept and increase the interoperability. A historical database was then established for the historical information of components and to bring it into the concept of BIM in order to build a 3D model of heritage objects which can be used for visualization. An integration platform was developed for the users to browse and manipulate the database and 3D model simultaneously. In addition, this research also evaluated the feasibility of this method using the study case at the Huangxi academy located in Taiwan. The conclusion showed that class diagram could help the establishment of database and even its application for different Chinese built heritage objects. The establishment of ontology helped to convey knowledge and increase interoperability. In comparison to traditional documentation methods, the querying result of the platform was more accurate and less prone to human error.

Increased antibiotic resistance exhibited by the biofilm of Vibrio cholerae O139.

PubMed

Gupta, Preeti; Mankere, Bharti; Chekkoora Keloth, Shami; Tuteja, Urmil; Pandey, Pratibha; Chelvam, Kulanthaivel Thava

2018-04-24

Vibrio cholerae, the aetiological agent of the deadly diarrhoeal disease cholera, is known to form biofilm. The antibiotic susceptibility status of biofilm of V. cholerae O139, an important epidemic strain in India and other countries, has not previously been studied in detail. Antibiotic susceptibility status of planktonic and biofilm cultures of V. cholerae O139 was evaluated by determining MIC, MBC and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) values of five different classes of antibiotics using established methods. Effects of antibiotic treatment on planktonic and biofilm cultures were analysed by scanning electron microscopy. The virulence of the antibiotic-surviving population (ASP) was evaluated using an infant mouse model. The frequency of spontaneous mutants and inheritability of antibiotic resistance were determined with standard methods. The antibiotic resistance exhibited by biofilm of V. cholerae O139 was found to be significantly higher (P < 0.05) than its planktonic counterpart. The biofilm-associated antibiotic resistance was found to be transient and exclusive to the biofilm culture. The frequency of ASP clones among antibiotic-treated biofilm cultures occurred at a rate of 0.012%-0.95% and these clones were found to retain the virulence and antibiotic resistance of their parent strains. The biofilm of V. cholerae O139 was found to be resistant to different types of antibiotics tested. This unconventional biofilm resistance highlights the hidden danger of antimicrobial escape by V. cholerae, increased risk of cholera transmission and its continued persistence in the environment.

From "models" to "reality", and Return. Some Reflections on the Interaction Between Survey and Interpretative Methods for Built Heritage Conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ottoni, F.; Freddi, F.; Zerbi, A.

2017-05-01

It's well known that more and more accurate methodologies and automatic tools are now available in the field of geometric survey and image processing and they constitute a fundamental instrument for cultural heritage knowledge and preservation; on the other side, very smart and precise numerical models are continuously improved and used in order to simulate the mechanical behaviour of masonry structures: both instruments and technologies are important part of a global process of knowledge which is at the base of any conservation project of cultural heritage. Despite the high accuracy and automation level reached by both technologies and programs, the transfer of data between them is not an easy task and defining the most reliable way to translate and exchange information without data loosing is still an open issue. The goal of the present paper is to analyse the complex process of translation from the very precise (and sometimes redundant) information obtainable by the modern survey methodologies for historic buildings (as laser scanner), into the very simplified (may be too much) schemes used to understand their real structural behaviour, with the final aim to contribute to the discussion on reliable methods for cultural heritage knowledge improvement, through empiricism.

Plasmodium falciparum in vitro continuous culture conditions: A comparison of parasite susceptibility and tolerance to anti-malarial drugs throughout the asexual intra-erythrocytic life cycle.

PubMed

Duffy, Sandra; Avery, Vicky M

2017-12-01

The continuous culture of Plasmodium falciparum is often seen as a means to an end, that end being to probe the biology of the parasite in question, and ultimately for many in the malaria drug discovery arena, to identify means of killing the parasite in order to treat malaria. In vitro continuous culture of Plasmodium falciparum is a fundamental requirement when undertaking malaria research where the primary objectives utilise viable parasites of a desired lifecycle stage. This investigation, and resulting data, compared the impact culturing Plasmodium falciparum long term (4 months) in different environmental conditions had on experimental outcomes and thus conclusions. The example presented here focused specifically on the effect culture conditions had on the in vitro tolerance of Plasmodium falciparum to standard anti-malarial drugs, including artemisinin and lumefantrine. Historical data from an independent experiment for 3D7-ALB (5% O 2 ) was also compared with that obtained from this study. We concluded that parasites cultured for several months in media supplemented with a serum substitute such as Albumax II ® or within hyperoxic conditions (21% O 2 ), demonstrate highly variable responses to artemisinin and lumefantrine but not all anti-malarial drugs, when compared to those cultured in human serum in combination with Albumax II ® under normoxic conditions (5% O 2 ) for the parasite. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

How Does Patient Safety Culture in the Surgical Departments Compare to the Rest of the County Hospitals in Xiaogan City of China?

PubMed Central

Wang, Manli; Tao, Hongbing

2017-01-01

Objectives: Patient safety culture affects patient safety and the performance of hospitals. The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) is generally used to assess the safety culture in hospitals and unit levels. However, only a few studies in China have measured surgical settings compared with other units in county hospitals using the HSOPSC. This study aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses of surgical departments compared with all other departments in county hospitals in China with HSOPSC. Design: This research is a cross-sectional study. Methods: In 2015, a Chinese translation of HSOPSC was administered to 1379 staff from sampled departments from 19 county hospitals in Xiaogan City (Hubei Province, China) using a simple random and cluster sampling method. Outcome Measures: The HSOPSC was completed by 1379 participants. The percent positive ratings (PPRs) of 12 dimensions (i.e., teamwork within units, organizational learning and continuous improvement, staffing, non-punitive response to errors, supervisor/ manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety, feedback and communication about errors, communication openness, hospital handoffs and transitions, teamwork across hospital units, hospital management support for patient safety, overall perception of safety, as well as frequency of events reported) and the positive proportion of outcome variables (patient safety grade and number of events reported) between surgical departments and other departments were compared with t-tests and X2 tests, respectively. A multiple regression analysis was conducted, with the outcome dimensions serving as dependent variables and basic characteristics and other dimensions serving as independent variables. Similarly, ordinal logistic regression was used to explore the influencing factors of two categorical outcomes. Results: A total of 56.49% of respondents were from surgical departments. The PPRs for “teamwork within units” and “organizational learning and continuous improvement” were ≥75%, which denoted strengths, and the PPRs for “staffing” and “non-punitive response to errors” were ≤50%, which denoted weaknesses in surgical units and other units. Three dimensions for surgical departments were weaker than those for other departments (p < 0.05). The staff from surgical units reported more events compared with the other units, but only a few respondents in surgical settings evaluated patient safety grade as good/excellent. Four dimensions influenced patient safety grade, and three dimensions influenced event reporting in surgical units. Conclusions: Strategies including recruiting workers, using the reporting system, and building a non-punitive culture should be adopted in the surgical units of county hospitals in China to improve safety culture. Supervisors should also prioritise patient safety. PMID:28954427

Organizational culture change in U.S. hospitals: a mixed methods longitudinal intervention study.

PubMed

Curry, Leslie A; Linnander, Erika L; Brewster, Amanda L; Ting, Henry; Krumholz, Harlan M; Bradley, Elizabeth H

2015-03-07

Improving outcomes for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a priority for hospital leadership, clinicians, and policymakers. Evidence suggests links between hospital organizational culture and hospital performance; however, few studies have attempted to shift organizational culture in order to improve performance, fewer have focused on patient outcomes, and none have addressed mortality for patients with AMI. We sought to address this gap through a novel longitudinal intervention study, Leadership Saves Lives (LSL). This manuscript describes the methodology of LSL, a 2-year intervention study using a concurrent mixed methods design, guided by open systems theory and the Assess, Innovate, Develop, Engage, Devolve (AIDED) model of diffusion, implemented in 10 U.S. hospitals and their peer hospital networks. The intervention has three primary components: 1) annual convenings of the ten intervention hospitals; 2) semiannual workshops with guiding coalitions at each hospital; and 3) continuous remote support across all intervention hospitals through a web-based platform. Primary outcomes include 1) shifts in key dimensions of hospital organizational culture associated with lower mortality rates for patients with AMI; 2) use of targeted evidence-based practices associated with lower mortality rates for patients with AMI; and 3) in-hospital AMI mortality. Quantitative data include annual surveys of guiding coalition members in the intervention hospitals and peer network hospitals. Qualitative data include in-person, in-depth interviews with all guiding coalition members and selective observations of key interactions in care for patients with AMI, collected at three time points. Data integration will identify patterns and major themes in change processes across all intervention hospitals over time. LSL is novel in its use of a longitudinal mixed methods approach in a diverse sample of hospitals, its focus on objective outcome measures of mortality, and its examination of changes not only in the intervention hospitals but also in their peer hospital networks over time. This paper adds to the methodological literature for the study of complex interventions to promote hospital organizational culture change.

Bacterial diversity associated with the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis sp. complex determined by culture-dependent and -independent methods.

PubMed

Ishino, Ryota; Iehata, Shunpei; Nakano, Miyo; Tanaka, Reiji; Yoshimatsu, Takao; Maeda, Hiroto

2012-03-01

The bacterial communities associated with rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis sp. complex) and their culture water were determined using culture-dependent and -independent methods (16S rRNA gene clone library). The bacterial communities determined by the culture-independent method were more diverse than those determined by the culture-dependent method. Although the culture-dependent method indicated the bacterial community of rotifers was relatively similar to that of the culture water, 16S rRNA gene clone library analyses revealed a great difference between the two microbiotas. Our results suggest that most bacteria associated with rotifers are not easily cultured using conventional methods, and that the microbiota of rotifers do not correspond with that of the culture water completely.

Traditional and Modern Cell Culture in Virus Diagnosis.

PubMed

Hematian, Ali; Sadeghifard, Nourkhoda; Mohebi, Reza; Taherikalani, Morovat; Nasrolahi, Abbas; Amraei, Mansour; Ghafourian, Sobhan

2016-04-01

Cell cultures are developed from tissue samples and then disaggregated by mechanical, chemical, and enzymatic methods to extract cells suitable for isolation of viruses. With the recent advances in technology, cell culture is considered a gold standard for virus isolation. This paper reviews the evolution of cell culture methods and demonstrates why cell culture is a preferred method for identification of viruses. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of both traditional and modern cell culture methods for diagnosis of each type of virus are discussed. Detection of viruses by the novel cell culture methods is considered more accurate and sensitive. However, there is a need to include some more accurate methods such as molecular methods in cell culture for precise identification of viruses.

Testing plasmid stability of Escherichia coli using the Continuously Operated Shaken BIOreactor System.

PubMed

Sieben, Michaela; Steinhorn, Gregor; Müller, Carsten; Fuchs, Simone; Ann Chin, Laura; Regestein, Lars; Büchs, Jochen

2016-11-01

Plasmids are common vectors to genetically manipulate Escherichia coli or other microorganisms. They are easy to use and considerable experience has accumulated on their application in heterologous protein production. However, plasmids can be lost during cell growth, if no selection pressure like, e.g., antibiotics is used, hampering the production of the desired protein and endangering the economic success of a biotechnological production process. Thus, in this study the Continuously Operated Shaken BIOreactor System (COSBIOS) is applied as a tool for fast parallel testing of strain stability and operation conditions and to evaluate measures to counter such plasmid loss. In specific, by applying various ampicillin concentrations, the lowest effective ampicillin dosage is investigated to secure plasmid stability while lowering adverse ecological effects. A significant difference was found in the growth rates of plasmid-bearing and plasmid-free cells. The undesired plasmid-free cells grew 30% faster than the desired plasmid-bearing cells. During the testing of plasmid stability without antibiotics, the population fraction of plasmid-bearing cells rapidly decreased in continuous culture to zero within the first 48 h. An initial single dosage of ampicillin did not prevent plasmid loss. By contrast, a continuous application of a low dosage of 10 µg/mL ampicillin in the feed medium maintained plasmid stability in the culture. Consequently, the COSBIOS is an apt reactor system for measuring plasmid stability and evaluating methods to enhance this stability. Hence, decreased production of heterologous protein can be prevented. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1418-1425, 2016. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Differences Between Japanese and U.S. Children's Performance on "Zoo U": A Game-Based Social Skills Assessment.

PubMed

Craig, Ashley B; DeRosier, Melissa E; Watanabe, Yayoi

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to test whether and how performance on a digital game-based social skills assessment tool, "Zoo U" (3C Institute, Durham, NC), differed for children in the United States and Japan across six core social skills. "Zoo U" was administered to 497 third and fourth grade children from the United States and Japan (46 percent Japanese) by teachers and researchers, respectively. U.S. children received the original version of "Zoo U," and Japanese children received a fully translated Japanese version of the program. Scoring of each of the six social skills is built into the "Zoo U" software, with specific scoring algorithms for each grade level that provide both a continuous scale score and cutoffs for three distinct performance categories: high, average, and low. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to assess differences by cultural group on each of the six continuous social skill scores, controlling for gender and grade level. Results revealed significant differences on four of the six skills in expected directions. Chi-squared and odds ratios analyses were then conducted on the assignment of children into each of the performance categories by cultural group, revealing additional nuance to the cultural differences identified in the MANOVA consistent with existing literature. We were able to replicate known cultural differences between U.S. and Japanese children with a simple direct translation of a Web-based social skills assessment game, "Zoo U." Our results provide preliminary support for the potential of game-based assessment methods to provide efficient and valid social skill assessments to children around the world.

Use of electrospinning and dynamic air focusing to create three-dimensional cell culture scaffolds in microfluidic devices.

PubMed

Chen, Chengpeng; Mehl, Benjamin T; Sell, Scott A; Martin, R Scott

2016-09-21

Organs-on-a-chip has emerged as a powerful tool for pharmacological and physiological studies. A key part in the construction of such a model is the ability to pattern or culture cells in a biomimetic fashion. Most of the reported cells-on-a-chip models integrate cells on a flat surface, which does not accurately represent the extracellular matrix that they experience in vivo. Electrospinning, a technique used to generate sub-micron diameter polymer fibers, has been used as an in vitro cell culture substrate and for tissue engineering applications. Electrospinning of fibers directly into a fully sealed fluidic channel using a conventional setup has not been possible due to issues of confining the fibers into a discrete network. In this work, a dynamic focusing method was developed, with this approach enabling direct deposition of electrospun fibers into a fully sealed fluidic channel, to act as a matrix for cell culture and subsequent studies under continuous flowing conditions. Scanning electron microscopy of electrospun polycaprolactone fibers shows that this method enables the formation of fibrous layers on the inner wall of a 3D-printed fluidic device (mean fiber size = 1.6 ± 0.6 μm and average pore size = 113 ± 19 μm(2)). Cells were able to be cultured in this 3D scaffold without the addition of adhesion proteins. Media was pumped through the channel at high flow rates (up to 400 μL min(-1)) during a dynamic cell culture process and both the fibers and the cells were found to be strongly adherent. A PDMS fluidic device was also prepared (from a 3D printed mold) and coated with polycaprolactone fibers. The PDMS device enables optical detection and confocal imaging of cultured cells on the fibers. Finally, macrophages were cultured in the devices to study how the fibrous scaffold can affect cell behavior. It was found that under lipopolysaccharide stimulation, macrophages cultured on PCL fibers inside of a channel secreted significantly more cytokines than those cultured on a thin layer of PCL in a channel or directly on the inner channel wall. Overall, this study represents a new approach for in vitro cell studies, where electrospinning can be used to easily and quickly create 3D scaffolds that can improve the culture conditions in microfluidic devices.

Culture and Psychiatric Symptoms in Puerto Rican Children: Longitudinal Results from one Ethnic Group in Two Contexts

PubMed Central

Duarte, Cristiane S.; Bird, Hector R.; Shrout, Patrick E.; Wu, Ping; Lewis-Fernandez, Roberto; Shen, Sa; Canino, Glorisa

2008-01-01

(a) Background The development of youth psychopathology may be associated with direct and continuous contact with a different culture (acculturation) and to distress related to this process (cultural stress). We examine cultural experiences of Puerto Rican families in relation to youth psychiatric symptoms in two different contexts: one in which migrant Puerto Ricans reside on the mainland as an ethnic minority and another in which they reside in their place of origin. (b) Methods Sample Probability samples of 10 to 13 year old youth of Puerto Rican background living in the South Bronx, New York City (SB) and in the San Juan Metropolitan area in Puerto Rico (PR) (N=1,271) were followed over time. Measures Three assessments of internalizing psychiatric symptoms (elicited through the DISC-IV) and of antisocial behaviors (ASB) quantified through a six-point index were carried out. Independent variables included scales of adult and child acculturation and cultural stress, and other putative correlates. Data Analysis Within each study site, multilevel linear regression models were examined. (c) Results Parental acculturation was associated with ASB in youth at both sites, but youth acculturation itself was not related to psychiatric symptoms. At both contexts, cultural stress was a more consistent correlate of youth psychiatric symptoms than acculturation after controlling for nativity, maternal education, child gender, stressful life events and parental psychopathology. However, the strength of the youth cultural stress association decreased over time. (d) Conclusion The association between cultural factors and child psychiatric symptoms is not restricted to contexts where an ethnic group is a minority. PMID:18400061

The Case for an Arts-Based Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuht, Amy Colcord; Gates, Janie Yuguchi

2007-01-01

Continuation schools were developed to enable students to continue earning a high school diploma while they worked, often full time, to support themselves and their families. Traditionally, continuation schools were home to poor teachers, narrowed curriculum and an unwelcoming culture. Intuitively, students attending today's continuation schools…

Auto-catalysed progression of aneuploidy explains the Hayflick limit of cultured cells, carcinogen-induced tumours in mice, and the age distribution of human cancer.

PubMed Central

Rasnick, D

2000-01-01

Evidence continues to accumulate that aneuploidy, an imbalance in the number of chromosomes, is responsible for the characteristic phenotypes of cancer, including the abnormal cellular size and morphology of cancer cells, the appearance of tumour-associated antigens, as well as the high levels of membrane-bound and secreted proteins responsible for invasiveness and loss of contact inhibition. Aneuploidy has also been demonstrated to be the self-perpetuating source of the karyotypic instability of cancer cells. Here it is shown that the auto-catalysed progression of aneuploidy explains the kinetics of the finite lifetime of diploid cells in culture, the time course of the appearance of papillomas and carcinomas in benzo[a]pyrene-treated mice, and the age-dependence of human cancers. Modelling studies indicate that the ease of spontaneous transformation of mouse cells in culture may be due to a chaotic progression of aneuploidy. Conversely, the strong preference towards senescence and resistance to transformation of human cells in culture may be the result of a non-chaotic progression of aneuploidy. Finally, a method is proposed for quantifying the aneuploidogenic potencies of carcinogens. PMID:10839979

Auto-catalysed progression of aneuploidy explains the Hayflick limit of cultured cells, carcinogen-induced tumours in mice, and the age distribution of human cancer.

PubMed

Rasnick, D

2000-06-15

Evidence continues to accumulate that aneuploidy, an imbalance in the number of chromosomes, is responsible for the characteristic phenotypes of cancer, including the abnormal cellular size and morphology of cancer cells, the appearance of tumour-associated antigens, as well as the high levels of membrane-bound and secreted proteins responsible for invasiveness and loss of contact inhibition. Aneuploidy has also been demonstrated to be the self-perpetuating source of the karyotypic instability of cancer cells. Here it is shown that the auto-catalysed progression of aneuploidy explains the kinetics of the finite lifetime of diploid cells in culture, the time course of the appearance of papillomas and carcinomas in benzo[a]pyrene-treated mice, and the age-dependence of human cancers. Modelling studies indicate that the ease of spontaneous transformation of mouse cells in culture may be due to a chaotic progression of aneuploidy. Conversely, the strong preference towards senescence and resistance to transformation of human cells in culture may be the result of a non-chaotic progression of aneuploidy. Finally, a method is proposed for quantifying the aneuploidogenic potencies of carcinogens.

Endocarditis Due to Rare and Fastidious Bacteria

PubMed Central

Brouqui, P.; Raoult, D.

2001-01-01

The etiologic diagnosis of infective endocarditis is easily made in the presence of continuous bacteremia with gram-positive cocci. However, the blood culture may contain a bacterium rarely associated with endocarditis, such as Lactobacillus spp., Klebsiella spp., or nontoxigenic Corynebacterium, Salmonella, Gemella, Campylobacter, Aeromonas, Yersinia, Nocardia, Pasteurella, Listeria, or Erysipelothrix spp., that requires further investigation to establish the relationship with endocarditis, or the blood culture may be uninformative despite a supportive clinical evaluation. In the latter case, the etiologic agents are either fastidious extracellular or intracellular bacteria. Fastidious extracellular bacteria such as Abiotrophia, HACEK group bacteria, Clostridium, Brucella, Legionella, Mycobacterium, and Bartonella spp. need supplemented media, prolonged incubation time, and special culture conditions. Intracellular bacteria such as Coxiella burnetii cannot be isolated routinely. The two most prevalent etiologic agents of culture-negative endocarditis are C. burnetti and Bartonella spp. Their diagnosis is usually carried out serologically. A systemic pathologic examination of excised heart valves including periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining and molecular methods has allowed the identification of Whipple's bacillus endocarditis. Pathologic examination of the valve using special staining, such as Warthin-Starry, Gimenez, and PAS, and broad-spectrum PCR should be performed systematically when no etiologic diagnosis is evident through routine laboratory evaluation. PMID:11148009

Algal culture studies related to a Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Radmer, R. O.; Ollinger, O.; Venables, A.; Fernandez, E.

1982-01-01

Studies with algal cultures which relate to closed ecological life support systems (CELSS) are discussed. A description of a constant cell density apparatus for continuous culture of algae is included. Excretion of algal by-products, and nitrogen utilization and excretion are discussed.

21 CFR 866.2320 - Differential culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Differential culture medium. 866.2320 Section 866.2320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2320 Differential culture...

21 CFR 866.2360 - Selective culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Selective culture medium. 866.2360 Section 866.2360 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2360 Selective culture...

21 CFR 866.2330 - Enriched culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Enriched culture medium. 866.2330 Section 866.2330 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2330 Enriched culture...

21 CFR 866.2360 - Selective culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Selective culture medium. 866.2360 Section 866.2360 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2360 Selective culture...

21 CFR 866.2390 - Transport culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Transport culture medium. 866.2390 Section 866.2390 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2390 Transport culture...

21 CFR 866.2390 - Transport culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Transport culture medium. 866.2390 Section 866.2390 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2390 Transport culture...

21 CFR 866.2300 - Multipurpose culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Multipurpose culture medium. 866.2300 Section 866.2300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2300 Multipurpose culture...

21 CFR 866.2320 - Differential culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Differential culture medium. 866.2320 Section 866.2320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2320 Differential culture...

21 CFR 866.2360 - Selective culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Selective culture medium. 866.2360 Section 866.2360 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2360 Selective culture...

21 CFR 866.2360 - Selective culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Selective culture medium. 866.2360 Section 866.2360 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2360 Selective culture...

21 CFR 866.2320 - Differential culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Differential culture medium. 866.2320 Section 866.2320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2320 Differential culture...

21 CFR 866.2330 - Enriched culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Enriched culture medium. 866.2330 Section 866.2330 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2330 Enriched culture...

21 CFR 866.2390 - Transport culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Transport culture medium. 866.2390 Section 866.2390 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2390 Transport culture...

21 CFR 866.2360 - Selective culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Selective culture medium. 866.2360 Section 866.2360 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2360 Selective culture...

21 CFR 866.2390 - Transport culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Transport culture medium. 866.2390 Section 866.2390 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2390 Transport culture...

21 CFR 866.2300 - Multipurpose culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Multipurpose culture medium. 866.2300 Section 866.2300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2300 Multipurpose culture...

21 CFR 866.2390 - Transport culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Transport culture medium. 866.2390 Section 866.2390 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2390 Transport culture...

21 CFR 866.2320 - Differential culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Differential culture medium. 866.2320 Section 866.2320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2320 Differential culture...

21 CFR 866.2330 - Enriched culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Enriched culture medium. 866.2330 Section 866.2330 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2330 Enriched culture...

21 CFR 866.2300 - Multipurpose culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Multipurpose culture medium. 866.2300 Section 866.2300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2300 Multipurpose culture...

21 CFR 866.2330 - Enriched culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Enriched culture medium. 866.2330 Section 866.2330 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2330 Enriched culture...

21 CFR 866.2330 - Enriched culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Enriched culture medium. 866.2330 Section 866.2330 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2330 Enriched culture...

21 CFR 866.2320 - Differential culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Differential culture medium. 866.2320 Section 866.2320 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2320 Differential culture...

21 CFR 866.2300 - Multipurpose culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Multipurpose culture medium. 866.2300 Section 866.2300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2300 Multipurpose culture...

21 CFR 866.2300 - Multipurpose culture medium.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Multipurpose culture medium. 866.2300 Section 866.2300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2300 Multipurpose culture...

21 CFR 610.18 - Cultures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Cultures. 610.18 Section 610.18 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) BIOLOGICS GENERAL... contamination and deterioration. (b) Identity and verification. Each culture shall be clearly identified as to...

Development and characterization of cell culture systems from Puntius (Tor) chelynoides (McClelland).

PubMed

Goswami, M; Sharma, B S; Tripathi, A K; Yadav, Kamalendra; Bahuguna, S N; Nagpure, N S; Lakra, W S; Jena, J K

2012-05-25

Puntius (Tor) chelynoides, commonly known as dark mahseer, is a commercially important coldwater fish species which inhabits fast-flowing hill-streams of India and Nepal. Cell culture systems were developed from eye, fin, heart and swim bladder tissues of P. chelynoides using explant method. The cell culture system developed from eye has been maintained towards a continuous cell line designated as PCE. The cells were grown in 25cm(2) tissue culture flasks with Leibovitz' L-15 media supplemented with 20 % fetal bovine serum (FBS) at 24°C. The PCE cell line consists of predominantly fibroblast-like cells and showed high plating efficiency. The monolayer formed from the fin and heart explants were comprised of epithelial as well as fibroblast-like cells, a prominent and rhythmic heartbeat was also observed in heart explants. Monolayer formed from swim bladder explants showed the morphology of fibroblast-like cells. All the cells from different tissues are able to grow at an optimum temperature of 24°C and growth rate increased as the FBS concentration increased. The PCE cell line was characterized using amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) & 16S rRNA genes which confirmed that the cell line originated from P. chelynoides. Cytogenetic analysis of PCE cell line and cells from fin revealed a diploid count of 100 chromosomes. Upon transfection with pEGFP-C1 plasmid, bright fluorescent signals were observed, suggesting that this cell line can be used for transgenic and genetic manipulation studies. Further, genotoxicity assessment of PCE cells illustrated the utility of this cell line as an in vitro model for aquatic toxicological studies. The PCE cell line was successfully cryopreserved and revived at different passage levels. The cell line and culture systems are being maintained to develop continuous cell lines for further studies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Addressing the hidden dimension in nursing education: promoting cultural competence.

PubMed

Carter, Kimberly F; Xu, Yu

2007-01-01

The authors describe a cultural competence quality enhancement process to address the retention challenge of students who speak English as second language and international students as part of a school of nursing's continuous program quality improvement to achieve excellence. The process, strategies, outcomes, and evaluation of the training program are detailed within the given geographical, institutional, and curriculum context. Lessons and continuing challenges are also specified.

The Problem of Taste within the Problematic of Culture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenster, Mark

Theories of taste are efforts to understand the processes of signification by which cultural forms take on meaning, and how subjects are inserted into such processes. One of these theories is the notion of "taste cultures," set forth by Herbert Gans in the 1960s and continued by George Lewis into the 1980s. A taste culture is an…

Induction and identification of rabbit peripheral blood derived dendritic cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jing; Yang, FuYuan; Chen, WenLi

2012-03-01

Purpose: To study a method of the induction of dendritic cells (DCs) from rabbit peripheral blood. Methods: Peripheral blood cells were removed from rabbit, filtered through nylon mesh. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from the blood cells by Ficoll-Hypaque centrifugation (density of 1.077g/cm3).To obtain DCs, PBMC were cultured in RPMI1640 medium containing 10% fetal calf serum, 50U/mL penicillin and streptomycin, referred to subsequently as complete medium, at 37°C in 5% CO2 atmosphere for 4 hours. Nonadherent cells were aspirated, adherent cells were continued incubated in complete medium, supplemented with granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF, 50ng/ml),and interleukin 4 (IL-4, 50ng/ml) for 9 days. Fluorescein labeled antibodies(anti-CD14, anti-HLA-DR, anti-CD86) were used to sign cells cultured for 3,6,9 days respectively, Then flow cytometry was performed. Results: Ratio of anti-HLA-DR and anti-CD86 labeled cells increased with induction time extension, in contrast with anti-CD14. Conclusion: Dendritic cells can be effectively induced by the method of this experiment, cell maturation status increased with induction time extension.

Ethnicity and Population Structure in Personal Naming Networks

PubMed Central

Mateos, Pablo; Longley, Paul A.; O'Sullivan, David

2011-01-01

Personal naming practices exist in all human groups and are far from random. Rather, they continue to reflect social norms and ethno-cultural customs that have developed over generations. As a consequence, contemporary name frequency distributions retain distinct geographic, social and ethno-cultural patterning that can be exploited to understand population structure in human biology, public health and social science. Previous attempts to detect and delineate such structure in large populations have entailed extensive empirical analysis of naming conventions in different parts of the world without seeking any general or automated methods of population classification by ethno-cultural origin. Here we show how ‘naming networks’, constructed from forename-surname pairs of a large sample of the contemporary human population in 17 countries, provide a valuable representation of cultural, ethnic and linguistic population structure around the world. This innovative approach enriches and adds value to automated population classification through conventional national data sources such as telephone directories and electoral registers. The method identifies clear social and ethno-cultural clusters in such naming networks that extend far beyond the geographic areas in which particular names originated, and that are preserved even after international migration. Moreover, one of the most striking findings of this approach is that these clusters simply ‘emerge’ from the aggregation of millions of individual decisions on parental naming practices for their children, without any prior knowledge introduced by the researcher. Our probabilistic approach to community assignment, both at city level as well as at a global scale, helps to reveal the degree of isolation, integration or overlap between human populations in our rapidly globalising world. As such, this work has important implications for research in population genetics, public health, and social science adding new understandings of migration, identity, integration and social interaction across the world. PMID:21909399

Cultural border crossing in three urban classrooms: A mixed methods study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roopnarine, Rupnarain

This study examined the effects of the instruction of four youth cultural border crossing behaviors: flexibility, being at ease, playfulness, and citizenship as an intervention aimed at helping students to transition across three borders, student to student, student to science, and student to teacher. The research involved 12 ninth- and 10th-grade students in a large urban school district in three diverse classrooms, A, B, and C. Four students in each classroom volunteered for the study. The students in Groups A and B were in 9th grade Living Environment and students in Group B were in 10th grade chemistry. These students participated in this instructional intervention for three months. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods based on participant observations, interviews, and questionnaire. The result indicated that there was no significant effect of the cultural border crossing instructions on the students' interactions across the three borders examined. However, the instructions helped Group A and Group B to be more flexible but not group C. Also, the instructions helped Group A to be more playful and at ease but not Group B and C. The instructions also helped Group A to show more citizenship but not Group B and C. In addition, there was no difference between the pretest and posttest cultural bother crossing behavior. Moreover, qualitative data analysis showed that the participants were more flexible, at ease, and playful among peers than across student to teacher and student to science borders. Also, the use of citizenship in the three groups showed no effect on the participants' interaction with peers. Although, the findings showed no effect of cultural border crossing instructions on students' interactions, it is suggested that we continue to find ways to help students feel more comfortable in science.

On measuring cell confluence in phase contrast microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dempsey, K. P.; Richardson, J. B.; Lam, K. P.

2014-03-01

A principal focus highlighting recent advances in cell based therapies concerns the development of effective treatments for osteoarthritis. Earlier clinicaltrials have shown that 80% of patients receiving mesenchymal stem cell(MSC) based treatment have improved their quality of life by alleviating pain whilst extending the life of their natural joints. The current challenge facing researchers is to identify the biological differences between the treatments that have worked and those which have shown little improvement. One possible candidate for the difference in treatment prognosis is an examination of the proliferation of the ( type) cells as they grow. To further understanding of the proliferation and differentiation of MSC, non-invasive live cell imaging techniques have been developed which capture important cell events and dynamics in cell divisions over an extended period of time. An automated image analysis procedure capable of tracking cell confluence over time has also been implemented, providing an objective and realistic estimation of cell growth within continuous live cell cultures. The proposed algorithm accounts for the halo artefacts that occur in phase microscopy. In addition to a favourable run-time performance, the method was also validated using continuous live MSC cultures, with consistent and meaningful results.

21 CFR 864.2360 - Mycoplasma detection media and components.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products... microbial contaminant in cell cultures. (b) Classification. Class I (general controls). These devices are...

A novel method to analyze social transmission in chronologically sequenced assemblages, implemented on cultural inheritance of the art of cooking.

PubMed

Isaksson, Sven; Funcke, Alexander; Envall, Ida; Enquist, Magnus; Lindenfors, Patrik

2015-01-01

Here we present an analytical technique for the measurement and evaluation of changes in chronologically sequenced assemblages. To illustrate the method, we studied the cultural evolution of European cooking as revealed in seven cook books dispersed over the past 800 years. We investigated if changes in the set of commonly used ingredients were mainly gradual or subject to fashion fluctuations. Applying our method to the data from the cook books revealed that overall, there is a clear continuity in cooking over the ages--cooking is knowledge that is passed down through generations, not something (re-)invented by each generation on its own. Looking at three main categories of ingredients separately (spices, animal products and vegetables), however, disclosed that all ingredients do not change according to the same pattern. While choice of animal products was very conservative, changing completely sequentially, changes in the choices of spices, but also of vegetables, were more unbounded. We hypothesize that this may be due a combination of fashion fluctuations and changes in availability due to contact with the Americas during our study time period. The presented method is also usable on other assemblage type data, and can thus be of utility for analyzing sequential archaeological data from the same area or other similarly organized material.

The production and growth characteristics of yeast and mycelial forms of Candida albicans in continuous culture.

PubMed

Shepherd, M G; Sullivan, P A

1976-04-01

The growth characteristics of Candida albicans CM145,348 have been examined under aerobic conditions in continuous culture. At different steady states the environment was controlled with respect to the concentrations of dissolved oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, the pH, and the temperature. Dry matter, substrate concentration, yield, specific oxygen uptake, specific carbon dioxide release and respiration quotient were examined as a function of the dilution rate. The morphology depended on the carbon source. Maltose produced a mycelial morphology, whereas with lactate a yeast culture was obtained. With fructose or glucose as a carbon source a mixed morphology of yeast, pseudo-mycelial and mycelial forms was produced. A larger number of different growth conditions were examined in batch culture but a mixed morphology was always obtained.

Optical biosensor optimized for continuous in-line glucose monitoring in animal cell culture.

PubMed

Tric, Mircea; Lederle, Mario; Neuner, Lisa; Dolgowjasow, Igor; Wiedemann, Philipp; Wölfl, Stefan; Werner, Tobias

2017-09-01

Biosensors for continuous glucose monitoring in bioreactors could provide a valuable tool for optimizing culture conditions in biotechnological applications. We have developed an optical biosensor for long-term continuous glucose monitoring and demonstrated a tight glucose level control during cell culture in disposable bioreactors. The in-line sensor is based on a commercially available oxygen sensor that is coated with cross-linked glucose oxidase (GOD). The dynamic range of the sensor was tuned by a hydrophilic perforated diffusion membrane with an optimized permeability for glucose and oxygen. The biosensor was thoroughly characterized by experimental data and numerical simulations, which enabled insights into the internal concentration profile of the deactivating by-product hydrogen peroxide. The simulations were carried out with a one-dimensional biosensor model and revealed that, in addition to the internal hydrogen peroxide concentration, the turnover rate of the enzyme GOD plays a crucial role for biosensor stability. In the light of this finding, the glucose sensor was optimized to reach a long functional stability (>52 days) under continuous glucose monitoring conditions with a dynamic range of 0-20 mM and a response time of t 90  ≤ 10 min. In addition, we demonstrated that the sensor was sterilizable with beta and UV irradiation and only subjected to minor cross sensitivity to oxygen, when an oxygen reference sensor was applied. Graphical abstract Measuring setup of a glucose biosensor in a shake flask for continuous glucose monitoring in mammalian cell culture.

Neurite extension and neuronal differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural stem cells on polyethylene glycol hydrogels containing a continuous Young's Modulus gradient.

PubMed

Mosley, Matthew C; Lim, Hyun Ju; Chen, Jing; Yang, Yueh-Hsun; Li, Shenglan; Liu, Ying; Smith Callahan, Laura A

2017-03-01

Mechanotransduction in neural cells involves multiple signaling pathways that are not fully understood. Differences in lineage and maturation state are suggested causes for conflicting reports on neural cell mechanosensitivity. To optimize matrices for use in stem cell therapy treatments transplanting human induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural stem cells (hNSC) into lesions after spinal cord injury, the effects of Young's Modulus changes on hNSC behavior must be understood. The present study utilizes polyethylene glycol hydrogels containing a continuous gradient in Young's modulus to examine changes in the Young's Modulus of the culture substrate on hNSC neurite extension and neural differentiation. Changes in the Young's Modulus of the polyethylene glycol hydrogels was found to affect neurite extension and cellular organization on the matrices. hNSC cultured on 907 Pa hydrogels were found to extend longer neurites than hNSC cultured on other tested Young's Moduli hydrogels. The gene expression of β tubulin III and microtubule-associated protein 2 in hNSC was affected by changes in the Young's Modulus of the hydrogel. The combinatory method approach used in the present study demonstrates that hNSC are mechanosensitive and the matrix Young's Modulus should be a design consideration for hNSC transplant applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 824-833, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The continuity of Rumoh Aceh spaces on the development of houses in Gampong Lambheu, Aceh Besar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizky, S. F.; Loebis, M. N.; Pane, I. F.

2018-03-01

The objective of this research was to find out the continuity of seuramoe keu, tungai/rambat, and seuramoe likeut (three fundamental spaces in rumoh Aceh) in three development stages of houses since 1980 until present time. The development starts from the stilt house (santeut), non-stilt house, up to the contemporary house. In the period in which modern life has an impact in changing people lifestyles and then affects the mindset of the need for spaces, the study of the continuity of the three spaces mentioned reflects how far the culture of the people of Aceh in the past persist today, considering architecture, including spaces, is the reflection of the socio-cultural of inhabitants/community. The study was conducted by observing the spaces on seven sample houses and by interviewing the house owners to find out the factors that affect the existence/non-existence of spaces. The results showed that the three spaces (seuramoe keu, tungai, and seuramoe likeut) undergone the continuity despite the differences occurred in the interior compared to rumoh Aceh, meanwhile the continuity factor was based on the culture of life that is still firmly held by Acehnese.

River Continuity Restoration and Diadromous Fishes: Much More than an Ecological Issue.

PubMed

Drouineau, H; Carter, C; Rambonilaza, M; Beaufaron, G; Bouleau, G; Gassiat, A; Lambert, P; le Floch, S; Tétard, S; de Oliveira, E

2018-04-01

Ecosystem fragmentation is a serious threat to biodiversity and one of the main challenges in ecosystem restoration. River continuity restoration (RCR) has often targeted diadromous fishes, a group of species supporting strong cultural and economic values and especially sensitive to river fragmentation. Yet it has frequently produced mixed results and diadromous fishes remain at very low levels of abundance. Against this background, this paper presents the main challenges for defining, evaluating and achieving effective RCR. We first identify challenges specific to disciplines. In ecology, there is a need to develop quantitative and mechanistic models to support decision making, accounting for both direct and indirect impacts of river obstacles and working at the river catchment scale. In a context of dwindling abundances and reduced market value, cultural services provided by diadromous fishes are becoming increasingly prominent. Methods for carrying out economic quantification of non-market values of diadromous fishes become ever more urgent. Given current challenges for rivers to meet all needs sustainably, conflicts arise over the legitimate use of water resources for human purposes. Concepts and methods from political science and geography are needed to develop understandings on how the political work of public authorities and stakeholders can influence the legitimacy of restoration projects. Finally, the most exciting challenge is to combine disciplinary outcomes to achieve a multidisciplinary approach to RCR. Accordingly, the co-construction of intermediary objects and diagrams of flows of knowledge among disciplines can be first steps towards new frameworks supporting restoration design and planning.

River Continuity Restoration and Diadromous Fishes: Much More than an Ecological Issue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drouineau, H.; Carter, C.; Rambonilaza, M.; Beaufaron, G.; Bouleau, G.; Gassiat, A.; Lambert, P.; le Floch, S.; Tétard, S.; de Oliveira, E.

2018-04-01

Ecosystem fragmentation is a serious threat to biodiversity and one of the main challenges in ecosystem restoration. River continuity restoration (RCR) has often targeted diadromous fishes, a group of species supporting strong cultural and economic values and especially sensitive to river fragmentation. Yet it has frequently produced mixed results and diadromous fishes remain at very low levels of abundance. Against this background, this paper presents the main challenges for defining, evaluating and achieving effective RCR. We first identify challenges specific to disciplines. In ecology, there is a need to develop quantitative and mechanistic models to support decision making, accounting for both direct and indirect impacts of river obstacles and working at the river catchment scale. In a context of dwindling abundances and reduced market value, cultural services provided by diadromous fishes are becoming increasingly prominent. Methods for carrying out economic quantification of non-market values of diadromous fishes become ever more urgent. Given current challenges for rivers to meet all needs sustainably, conflicts arise over the legitimate use of water resources for human purposes. Concepts and methods from political science and geography are needed to develop understandings on how the political work of public authorities and stakeholders can influence the legitimacy of restoration projects. Finally, the most exciting challenge is to combine disciplinary outcomes to achieve a multidisciplinary approach to RCR. Accordingly, the co-construction of intermediary objects and diagrams of flows of knowledge among disciplines can be first steps towards new frameworks supporting restoration design and planning.

Strategy for selecting disposable bags for cell culture media applications based on a root-cause investigation.

PubMed

Wood, Joseph; Mahajan, Ekta; Shiratori, Masaru

2013-01-01

The use of disposable bags for cell culture media storage has grown significantly in the past decade. Some of the key advantages of using disposable bags relative to non-disposable containers include increased product throughput, decreased cleaning validation costs, reduced risk of cross contamination and lower facility costs. As the scope of use of disposable bags for cell culture applications increases, problematic bags and scenarios should be identified and addressed to continue improving disposables technologies and meet the biotech industry's needs. In this article, we examine a cell culture application wherein media stored in disposable bags is warmed at 37°C before use for cell culture operations. A problematic bag film was identified through a prospective and retrospective cell culture investigation. The investigation provided information on the scope and variation of the issue with respect to different Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines, cell culture media, and application-specific parameters. It also led to the development of application-specific test methods and enabled a strategy for disposable bag film testing. The strategy was implemented for qualifying an alternative bag film for use in our processes. In this test strategy, multiple lots of 13 bag film types, encompassing eight vendors were evaluated using a three round, cell culture-based test strategy. The test strategy resulted in the determination of four viable bag film options based on the technical data. The results of this evaluation were used to conclude that a volatile or air-quenched compound, likely generated by gamma irradiation of the problematic bag film, negatively impacted cell culture performance. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Exploring the Meta-Pragmatic Realm in English Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McConachy, Troy

2013-01-01

As the speakership of English worldwide continues to grow, English language teachers are required to devise ways to prepare their learners for communicating successfully across cultures. As pragmatics is particularly tied up with culture, the ways in which individuals from different cultures will orient to pragmatic phenomena in their interaction…

East-West Perspectives on Elder Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tam, Maureen

2012-01-01

This paper describes and conceptualizes the meaning of lifelong learning from two cultural perspectives--East and West. It examines the different principles underpinning lifelong learning that explain why and how elders in the two cultures engage differently in continued learning. Finally, it discusses the cultural impact on elder learning by…

Cultural Awareness and Competency Development in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leavitt, Lynda, Ed.; Wisdom, Sherrie, Ed.; Leavitt, Kelly, Ed.

2017-01-01

As the world becomes more globalized, student populations in university settings will continue to grow in diversity. To ensure students develop the cultural competence to adapt to new environments, universities and colleges must develop policies and programs to aid in the progression of cultural acceptance and understanding. "Cultural…

To Know the Language: Leveraging Cultural Knowledge for Job Creation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antoine, Jurgita

2018-01-01

From the beginning, preservation and continuity of tribal histories and cultures have been at the center of the strategic vision for tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) (Bordeaux, 1989). TCUs have developed the infrastructure and networks to support the revitalization, preservation, and teaching of Indigenous languages and cultures. But while…

21 CFR 866.2450 - Supplement for culture media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Supplement for culture media. 866.2450 Section 866.2450 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2450 Supplement for culture...

21 CFR 866.2450 - Supplement for culture media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Supplement for culture media. 866.2450 Section 866.2450 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2450 Supplement for culture...

21 CFR 866.2450 - Supplement for culture media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Supplement for culture media. 866.2450 Section 866.2450 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2450 Supplement for culture...

21 CFR 866.2450 - Supplement for culture media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Supplement for culture media. 866.2450 Section 866.2450 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2450 Supplement for culture...

21 CFR 866.2450 - Supplement for culture media.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Supplement for culture media. 866.2450 Section 866.2450 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2450 Supplement for culture...

Culture and Self in Career Development: Working with American Indians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juntunen, Cindy L.; Cline, Kara

2010-01-01

The career development concerns of American Indians continue to receive limited attention in the vocational or career literature. To address this deficit, the current article will apply the cultural formulation approach to career counseling with American Indians. This article presents information on factors related to cultural and self-identity…

Learning in Cultural Context: Developing Destinies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogoff, Barbara

2012-01-01

Over more than three decades spent researching cultural aspects of how children learn, the author has had the opportunity to learn about how individuals and cultural communities change and continue. During her research on children's learning by observing and "pitching in" in a Mayan community in Guatemala, the author learned a great deal…

21 CFR 864.2260 - Chromosome culture kit.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Chromosome culture kit. 864.2260 Section 864.2260 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2260 Chromosome...

Cross-Cultural Considerations in the Education of Young Immigrant Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keengwe, Jared, Ed.; Onchwari, Grace, Ed.

2014-01-01

As the American immigrant population continues to expand, immigrant children and children of immigrants are entering the public school system. To be most effective, new teaching pedagogies must take cultural diversity into account. "Cross-Cultural Considerations in the Education of Young Immigrant Learners" explores some of the…

Roles for SOF in a Staggering Nigeria

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

languages and approximately 350 ethno-linguistic groups, Nigeria can indubitably be dubbed a cultural patchwork. Three dominant groups, the Ibo, Yoruba ...critical factors ................................................................................................................ 4 A cultural patchwork...continue to be the U.S. military force of choice for operations and exercises within Africa.”10 Culturally attuned, experienced in working with

Online Learning: Cross-Cultural Development in Time Poor Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cameron, Heather; Limberger, Jacqui

2004-01-01

Faced with a unique problem of providing cross-cultural awareness training on a continuing basis, Griffith University, located in Brisbane, Queensland developed an innovative program to meet the challenges it faced. A key strategy in the University's Indigenous Recruitment Strategy was to establish a cross-cultural awareness program sensitising…

21 CFR 864.2260 - Chromosome culture kit.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Chromosome culture kit. 864.2260 Section 864.2260 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2260 Chromosome...

21 CFR 864.2260 - Chromosome culture kit.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Chromosome culture kit. 864.2260 Section 864.2260 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2260 Chromosome...

21 CFR 864.2260 - Chromosome culture kit.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Chromosome culture kit. 864.2260 Section 864.2260 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2260 Chromosome...

21 CFR 864.2260 - Chromosome culture kit.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Chromosome culture kit. 864.2260 Section 864.2260 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products § 864.2260 Chromosome...

Community Mapping as a Tool for Developing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Tambra O.; Bryson, Brandy S.

2018-01-01

Despite more than two decades of research supporting the use of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to increase academic outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students, teacher education programs continue to struggle with helping preservice teachers to develop this pedagogical stance. This article explores the process and outcomes of a…

Integrating cultural resources and wilderness character

Treesearch

Jill Cowley; Peter Landres; Melissa Memory; Doug Scott; Adrienne Lindholm

2012-01-01

Cultural resources are an integral part of wilderness and wilderness character, and all wilderness areas have a human history. This article develops a foundation for wilderness and cultural resource staffs to continue communicating with one another in order to make better decisions for wilderness stewardship. Following a discussion of relevant legislative history, we...

Understanding the Process of Contextualization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyatt, Tasha

2015-01-01

The literature on culture and education points to the importance of using students' cultural knowledge in the teaching and learning process. While the theory of culturally relevant education has expanded in the last several decades, the practical implementation continues to lag far behind. This disparity points to the lack of tools and other…

[Mitigative effect of micribial degradation on autotoxicity of Panax ginseng].

PubMed

Li, Yong; Long, Qi-Liang; Ding, Wan-Long; Zhao, Dong-Yue

2014-08-01

Continuously cropping obstacle restricts ginseng production and rational use of land resource severely, and autotoxicity is one of the most important factors. In our previous work, ginseng autotoxin degrading bacteria were isolated, in the present re- search, plate culturing method and traditional physiological and biochemical method were used to analyze biological indices and protective enzyme activities, in order to elucidate the mitigative effect of autotoxin degrading bacteria on autotoxicity of P. ginseng. Results indicated that, except for palmitic acid, autotoxicity of benzonic acid, diisobutyl phthalate, diisobutyl succinate, and 2,2-bis (4- hydroxyphenyl) propane on the growth of ginseng seeds was significantly alleviated after autotoxins degrading bacteria was inoculated, and which have no evident difference with control. Except for benzoic acid, enzyme activity of SOD, POD and CAT in other autotoxin degrading treatments decreased significantly. The present research showed that, microbial degradation could alleviate the autotoxicity of autotoxins on ginseng seeds effectively, and which will be helpful for the resolution of ginseng continuously cropping obstacle problem.

Risk Factors for Contact Lens Bacterial Contamination During Continuous Wear

PubMed Central

Szczotka-Flynn, Loretta B.; Bajaksouzian, Saralee; Jacobs, Michael R.; Rimm, Alfred

2009-01-01

Purpose Microbial contamination of contact lenses is associated with corneal infection and inflammation. This study determined which microbiological, clinical and demographic factors are associated with bacterial contamination of a silicone hydrogel contact lens when worn for continuous wear. Methods Two hundred five normal subjects were enrolled in the Longitudinal Analysis of Silicone Hydrogel (LASH) Contact Lens Study and were fitted with lotrafilcon A lenses for monthly continuous wear and followed for 1 year. Lenses were aseptically removed after 1 week and 4 months of wear and cultured using an agar sandwich technique. Lids and conjunctiva were routinely cultured at baseline, and after 1 week and 4 months of continuous wear. Lenses and ocular sites were considered to have substantial microbial bioburden when they harbored pathogenic organisms or high levels of commensal organisms. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine whether substantial conjunctival or lid bioburden, subject demographics, lens wearing history, symptoms, and biomicroscopic signs were associated with lens bioburden. Results About one-third (32.4%) of subjects had substantial bacterial bioburden in either eye across multiple visits. Over half (53.2%) and about one-tenth (11.7%) of subjects had substantial lid and conjunctival bioburden, respectively, and 11.2% discontinued due to discomfort. The adjusted odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) for presence of substantial lens bioburden were 2.49 (1.17–5.30), 4.24 (1.45–12.40), and 4.11 (1.17–14.46) for substantial lid bioburden, substantial conjunctival bioburden, and lens discomfort, respectively. Conclusions Bacterial contamination of silicone hydrogel contact lenses is common during continuous wear. Substantial lens bioburden is associated with discomfort precluding successful continuous wear. The presence of substantial lid and conjunctival bioburden are associated with a 2.5 fold and over 4 fold greater risk of substantial lens bioburden and are likely the major routes of contamination. PMID:19786927

Comparison of the lysis centrifugation method with the conventional blood culture method in cases of sepsis in a tertiary care hospital.

PubMed

Parikh, Harshal R; De, Anuradha S; Baveja, Sujata M

2012-07-01

Physicians and microbiologists have long recognized that the presence of living microorganisms in the blood of a patient carries with it considerable morbidity and mortality. Hence, blood cultures have become critically important and frequently performed test in clinical microbiology laboratories for diagnosis of sepsis. To compare the conventional blood culture method with the lysis centrifugation method in cases of sepsis. Two hundred nonduplicate blood cultures from cases of sepsis were analyzed using two blood culture methods concurrently for recovery of bacteria from patients diagnosed clinically with sepsis - the conventional blood culture method using trypticase soy broth and the lysis centrifugation method using saponin by centrifuging at 3000 g for 30 minutes. Overall bacteria recovered from 200 blood cultures were 17.5%. The conventional blood culture method had a higher yield of organisms, especially Gram positive cocci. The lysis centrifugation method was comparable with the former method with respect to Gram negative bacilli. The sensitivity of lysis centrifugation method in comparison to conventional blood culture method was 49.75% in this study, specificity was 98.21% and diagnostic accuracy was 89.5%. In almost every instance, the time required for detection of the growth was earlier by lysis centrifugation method, which was statistically significant. Contamination by lysis centrifugation was minimal, while that by conventional method was high. Time to growth by the lysis centrifugation method was highly significant (P value 0.000) as compared to time to growth by the conventional blood culture method. For the diagnosis of sepsis, combination of the lysis centrifugation method and the conventional blood culture method with trypticase soy broth or biphasic media is advocable, in order to achieve faster recovery and a better yield of microorganisms.

Pediatric Ventilator-Associated Infections: The Ventilator-Associated INfection Study.

PubMed

Willson, Douglas F; Hoot, Michelle; Khemani, Robinder; Carrol, Christopher; Kirby, Aileen; Schwarz, Adam; Gedeit, Rainer; Nett, Sholeen T; Erickson, Simon; Flori, Heidi; Hays, Spencer; Hall, Mark

2017-01-01

Suspected ventilator-associated infection is the most common reason for antibiotics in the PICU. We sought to characterize the clinical variables associated with continuing antibiotics after initial evaluation for suspected ventilator-associated infection and to determine whether clinical variables or antibiotic treatment influenced outcomes. Prospective, observational cohort study conducted in 47 PICUs in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Two hundred twenty-nine pediatric patients ventilated more than 48 hours undergoing respiratory secretion cultures were enrolled as "suspected ventilator-associated infection" in a prospective cohort study, those receiving antibiotics of less than or equal to 3 days were categorized as "evaluation only," and greater than 3 days as "treated." Demographics, diagnoses, comorbidities, culture results, and clinical data were compared between evaluation only and treated subjects and between subjects with positive versus negative cultures. PICUs in 47 hospitals in the United States, Canada, and Australia. All patients undergoing respiratory secretion cultures during the 6 study periods. None. Treated subjects differed from evaluation-only subjects only in frequency of positive cultures (79% vs 36%; p < 0.0001). Subjects with positive cultures were more likely to have chronic lung disease, tracheostomy, and shorter PICU stay, but there were no differences in ventilator days or mortality. Outcomes were similar in subjects with positive or negative cultures irrespective of antibiotic treatment. Immunocompromise and higher Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction scores were the only variables associated with mortality in the overall population, but treated subjects with endotracheal tubes had significantly lower mortality. Positive respiratory cultures were the primary determinant of continued antibiotic treatment in children with suspected ventilator-associated infection. Positive cultures were not associated with worse outcomes irrespective of antibiotic treatment although the lower mortality in treated subjects with endotracheal tubes is notable. The necessity of continuing antibiotics for a positive respiratory culture in suspected ventilator-associated infection requires further study.

A continuous culture system of direct somatic embryogenesis in microspore-derived embryos of Brassica juncea.

PubMed

Prabhudesai, V; Bhaskaran, S

1993-03-01

An efficient culture system has been developed for repeated cycles of somatic embryogenesis in microspore-derived embryos of Brassica juncea without a callus phase. Haploid embryos produced through anther culture showed a high propensity for direct production of somatic embryos in response to 2 mgL(-1) BA and 0.1 mgL(-1) NAA. The embryogenic cultures which comprised the elongated embryonal axis of microspore-derived embryos when explanted and grown on the medium of same composition produced a large number of secondary embryos. These somatic embryos in turn underwent axis elongation and produced more somatic embryos when explanted and cultured. This cycle of repetitive somatic embryogenesis continued with undiminished vigour passage after passage and was monitored for more than a year. Somatic embryos from any passage when isolated at cotyledonary stage and grown on auxin-free medium for 5 days and then on a medium containing NAA (0.1 mgL(-1)), developed into complete plants with a profuse root system and were easily established in the soil. The cytology of the root tips of these plants confirmed their haploid nature. The total absence of callus phase makes the system ideal for continuous cloning of androgenic lines, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and mutation induction studies.

Adaptation to Cadmium by Klebsiella aerogenes Growing in Continuous Culture Proceeds Mainly via Formation of Cadmium Sulfide

PubMed Central

Aiking, Harry; Kok, Karin; van Heerikhuizen, Harm; van 't Riet, Jan

1982-01-01

The adaptation of Klebsiella aerogenes to high levels of cadmium was studied in continuous culture under conditions of glucose limitation. When up to 6 × 10−4 M cadmium was added to a culture in steady state, growth ceased instantaneously but resumed within 5 h (dilution rate, 0.1 h−1). When again in steady state, these adapted cells exhibited a far greater tolerance to cadmium than did unadapted cells (not previously exposed to cadmium) when tested on solid media containing different concentrations of cadmium. This relative insensitivity of adapted cells to cadmium was subsequently lost in continuous culture within 5 days after omitting cadmium from the influent medium. Thus, the phenomenon was an inducible physiological process. Adapted cells contained substantial amounts of cadmium (up to 2.4% of the bacterial dry weight). The cadmium content of the cells was dependent on growth conditions and was found to be proportional to the inorganic sulfide content of the cells in all cases. This suggested that formation of CdS is probably the most important mechanism of detoxification in this organism. The presence of large numbers of electron-dense granules on the cell surface (absent in cultures without added cadmium) provided additional support for this conclusion. Images PMID:16346119

Promoting collaboration and cultural competence for physician assistant and physical therapist students: A cross-cultural decentralized interprofessional education (IPE) model.

PubMed

Oliveira, Kathleen De; North, Sara; Beck, Barbra; Hopp, Jane

2015-01-01

As the United States health care model progresses towards medical teams and the country's population continues to diversify, the need for health professional education programs to develop and implement culturally specific interprofessional education (IPE) becomes increasingly imperative. A wide range of models exists for delivering and implementing IPE in health education, but none have included the cultural components that are vital in educating the health professional. A cross-cultural decentralized IPE model for physician assistant (PA) and physical therapy (PT) students was developed. This three-part IPE series was created using an established cultural curricular model and began with the exploration of self, continued with the examination of various dimensions of culture, and concluded with the exploration of the intersection between health and culture. We assessed student satisfaction of the IPE experiences and students' engagement and attitudes towards IPE using a three-item open-ended questionnaire administered after each cross-cultural activity and the Interprofessional Education Series Survey (IESS) upon the completion of the series. IESS responses showed that PA and PT students reported benefits in interprofessional collaboration and cultural awareness and expressed overall satisfaction with the series. Qualitative analysis revealed growth in student response depth consistent with the scaffolded focus of each IPE module in the series. The trends in this three-part series suggest that institutions looking to develop culturally inclusive IPE educational initiatives may have success through a decentralized model mirroring the effective cultural progression focused on addressing exploration of self, examination of various dimensions of culture, and exploration of the intersection between health and culture.

Defining the culture of your practice.

PubMed

Weinstock, Donna

2014-01-01

Your practice should want patients to understand and appreciate its uniqueness and beliefs. Simply stated, the culture of your practice is the excellent care you provide and how your practice is able to achieve that excellence. Defining and sharing your culture will encourage patients to choose your practice for their healthcare. Monitoring and continually updating your definition of "culture" will help your practice thrive and maintain high standards.